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Kidney failure isn't always fatal these days. Hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis can keep someone alive until a transplant donor shows up. Kidney problems kill about a million folks each year. It's not the leading cause of death for my 7,250,000,000-plus neighbors, but that's still a lot of deaths. Scientists in Japan grew working kidneys in rats and pigs. We're years away from grow-your-own kidneys for patients: but I think that's coming. Meanwhile, a scientist in England wants permission to collect people for genetic experiments. The Francis Crick Institute, Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority, and BBC News describe the proposal more discretely. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

The last I heard, Rubenstein's robot swarm was pretty good at forming different shapes: but not much else. ( August 22, 2014 ) What we're learning about how fire ants build their nests may change that. Scientists discovered that the pests use different excavating techniques, depending on what sort of soil they're in. Other scientists found stretchy nerves in rorqual whales. The nerves are made from the same stuff found in other animals — what makes them stretchy is how the nerve fibers fold up.... ...Looking up rorqual whales and baleen encouraged a (very brief) tangent on evolution. I figure I'd better review why I don't argue with the Almighty about this world's development: and don't fear a robot revolution.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Bovine tuberculosis may not be a big problem, if Ministry of Agriculture in Northwest A&F University, Yangling, research pays off. Meanwhile, we may be learning who made Europe look and sound the way it does today: and scientists at the Max Plank Institute discovered how a uniquely-human gene helps our brains grow.... I've seen attitudes toward science and technology shift, quite a bit. I grew up when quite a few folks still thought human ingenuity would solve all our problems: or at least make "the future" a magical place to live.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

DNA evidence in a court case isn't new: but deer DNA in a poaching trial is. Less than two decades after a cloned sheep 's birth, British Members of Parliament okayed human cloning: using DNA from three people. Scientists who think this is a good idea may be right: at least for some versions of the new tech. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Chicks and humans associate small numbers with the left side and large ones with the right. A scientists says this may mean that our 'number line' is a very old piece of neural hardware. Other scientists are studying part of a skull that's from one of the earliest of today's sort of human to leave Africa. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Malaria that's resistant to a very successful anti-malaria drug is spreading. The good news is that scientists know where this particular strain's immunity came from. Other scientists say that "society needs to be prepared" for designer babies, and that "it is time for a serious public debate on the issue." More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Scientists found the genetic code mice use for growing paws — in spotted gar, after they thought about what happened to fish 300,000,000 years back. An amateur fossil hunter found a complete ichthyosaur skeleton in Wales , professional fossil hunters found parts of a critter that isn't quite an ichthyosaur in China, and other paleontologists described a cat-size dinosaur that lived in what's now Montana. Still other scientists named a Cambrian — thing — after an esteemed colleague. Quite a few Cambrian critters are just like nothing that lives on today's Earth. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

A researcher with a digital camera noticed faint marks on a half-million-old shell. It's the earliest known abstract mark: made by Homo erectus. Scientists discovered genetic traces of a previously-unknown group of people, Denisovans , in a Neanderthal's DNA a year ago. Detailed analysis of the Neanderthal DNA reveals details of that Neanderthal family's history: and a few genes from another previously-unknown group.... ...The woman we know as KNM ER 3733 lived about 1,700,000 years ago.... ...The human family has changed a bit since her time: most of us have shorter arms and legs now; our foreheads are smoother and more nearly vertical; and we're probably better at singing opera. I'll get back to that.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

A company whose DNA test was banned by the FDA is back: in the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, scientists are learning that complex organic compounds may be forming in Titan's atmosphere: another piece to the puzzle of how life began. Another team found that up to half of Earth's water came from interstellar space. Finally, a quick look at astrobiology and assumptions about intelligent life in the universe.... ...We've known that traits are inherited for a thousand generations, maybe more, and applied that knowledge. The deal Jacob made with Laban in Genesis 30:17 - 3:13 at least hints that Jacob knew how to make sure many dark sheep and spotted or speckled goats were born.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Paleontologists uncovered a huge pair of arms, plus assorted ribs and vertebrae, in the Gobi Desert 49 years back. Discoveries since 2006 supplied the missing pieces of Deinocheirus, the largest known theropod dinosaur. Other scientists are filling in more of humanity's family history, with 45,000-year-old DNA. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

We've been learning a great deal about human origins in the last century: and discovering that there's much more to learn. Scientists studying bones from a cave used by both Neanderthals and the current human model found DNA from a girl who was 'none of the above.' She's from a previously-unknown species, or sub-species, of human Other scientists discovered that chimpanzees communicate in an unexpectedly 'human' way. We live in an exciting era: or a disturbing one, depending on a person's assumptions and preferences.... ... Denisovans lived in or near the Altai mountains about 41,000 years before we started playing baseball. Some scientists call them a different species, others say they're a subspecies of homo sapiens sapiens . Either way, they're part of the human family. We don't know much about the Denisovans yet, apart from a bit of finger bone, two teeth, and a toe bone. That's not much to work with: but scientists found i

After an utterly unscientific survey, I found that lists of dangerous animals include critters like sidewinders, piranha, and tarangual hawks . The latter are smaller than hawks but big for insects: and that's another topic. A few list-makers are savvy enough to include mosquitoes. These blood-sucking pests aren't dangerous by themselves: it's the lethal diseases they carry. The good news is that scientists are learning how to kill mosquitoes without poisoning people.... ...Health and Using the Brains God Gave Us... ..."Is being healthy okay?" Maybe that sounds like a daft question, or maybe not. Reading some of the more maudlin 19th-century 'lives of the saints,' a person could get the impression that sainthood required either a messy martyrdom, or dying of some horrible disease: smiling all the way. There's more to sainthood than that, and that's yet another topic. ( February 14, 2010 ) I occasionally run into news about someone who