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By Natasha Gilbert of Nature magazine Our last line of defence against hospital 'superbugs' is faltering, with resistance to the antibiotics usually used to tackle intractable pneumonia and urinary tract infections on the rise and spreading across European countries. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) in Solna, Sweden, announced last week that 29 new cases of bacteria resistant to the broad-spectrum carbapenem antibiotics had been reported across a total of six European Union (EU) countries between early October 2010 and the end of March 2011. The figures coincide with the publication, on 17 November, of a European Commission strategy to tackle antibiotic resistance.

Is the northern hairy-nosed wombat (Lasiorhinus krefftii ) the most interesting endangered species in the world? Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t but it has definitely attracted the attention of the Dos Equis beer commercial spokesperson known only as “the Most Interesting Man in the World.” The television advertising icon and Dos Equis have launched an auction for a jar of what they call The Most Interesting Jam a concoction made from ingredients suggested by Facebook fans and supposedly hand-mixed by the Most Interesting Man in the World himself with all proceeds going to benefit the Wombat Foundation, an organization set up to protect the critically endangered northern hairy-nosed wombat.

Help The Scripps Research Institute find a cure for drug-resistant malaria [More]

The Desceliers map of 1550. On a Renaissance map of the world, there is a small white elephant standing near the Arctic coast of Russia. How it got there is a mystery

By Monya Baker of Nature magazine The first company to test a human embryonic stem-cell product in patients has become the first big player to bail out of the field. [More]

In 2009 the San Francisco police arrested Lily Haskell when she allegedly attempted to come to the aid of a companion who had already been taken into custody during a peace demonstration. The authorities released her quickly, without pressing charges. But a little piece of Haskell remained behind in their database.

Mutations alter the information contained in genes. "Epigenetic" marks on genes do not affect the information but do influence gene activity, as the simplified diagrams below show

Millions of pacemakers have been successfully implanted in the past half century to regulate erratic heartbeats , but the electrical leads, which connect the device to the heart, complicate the surgery and increase infection risks. The heart's continuous and vigorous beating also creates strain on the leads and can damage them over time. [More]

Thanksgiving is just days away, a time to feast with family. And to avoid food-borne bacterial infections. [More]

This year has been a painful one for fans of the NFL's Indianapolis Colts, the perennial contender that has fallen to 0–10 on the season . Perhaps Hoosiers can take some small comfort in the thought of a world where star quarterback Peyton Manning is healthy rather than hobbled and the Colts are undefeated rather than winless. If the cosmological concept of the multiverse is correct , such a world could exist right now.

More than 10 million people have watched a YouTube video of an iPhone being pulverized in a blender. It's actually a commercial for Blendtec -- a company most viewers had probably never heard of. But with the viral clip, Blendtec let social networking spread its name and message rather than paying for a mass advertising campaign.

This Friday (Nov.

Male nursery web spiders often woo potential lady-friends with gifts wrapped in silk. Mating may ensue, during which a female unspools the present, expecting to find a tasty treat

Climate change can influence how infectious diseases affect the world, particularly illnesses spread by vectors like mosquitoes. Now scientists have developed some understanding about how rainfall and temperature can influence malaria, dengue and West Nile virus infections as well as ways to combat them

By Meredith Wadman of Nature magazine The largest and most high-profile chimpanzee research centre in the United States has acknowledged to Nature that 137 infant chimpanzees have been born to federally owned animals under its care since 2000, despite a government moratorium on such births. [More]