Fruit Flies Raised in Outer Space Have Weak Immune System

An experiment that involved Drosophila fruit flies being raised in outer space at the Space Shuttle Discovery showed that the flies have a weaker immune system compared to regular Drosophila flies raised on Earth.

The flies were sent into space aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery as eggs. It takes about 10 days for the flies to develop into adults and after the return trip, scientists found that the space flies had a weak immune response system to fungus. However, the immune system reacted normally to bacteria.

Scientists noted that the flies also showed a high expression of heat-shock protein genes that moderate the Toll pathway which mediates fungus infections. They also believe that aside from the heat-shock proteins, microgravity could also interfere with the protein behaviors outside the cell which are important for Toll pathway signalling.

The 12 day space mission brings to light the link between gravity and the immune system.

Discovery of Higgs Particle Chosen As Scientific Breakthrough of the Year by the AAAS

The discovery of the Higgs Particle was chosen as the scientific breakthrough of the year by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

The announcement was made in Melbourne, Australia at the opening of the 2012 International Conference on High Energy Physics (ICHEP).

The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) announced its discovery of the Higgs particle in early July 2012. This discovery capped decades of research and hardwork in finding the elusive particle.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world's largest general scientific society. The AAAS is affiliated with 261 societies and serves around 10 million members.

The AAAS publishes the journals Science, Translational Medicine and Science Signaling. The peer reviewed journal, Science, has over 1 million readers and has the largest paid circulation of the world.

The mission of AAAS is to "advance science and serve society" through initiatives in science policy; international programs; science education; and more.

New Wasp Species Discovered in Indonesia: Megalara Garuda, The King of Wasps

Wasps are insects in the order Hymenoptera and suborder Apocrita. These insects are neither a subspecies of the bee or of the ant.

Wasps prey on other insects. Wasps contribute to the natural control and natural biocontrol of other species. Parasitic wasps are increasingly used in agricultural pest control as they prey mostly on pest insects and have little impact on crops.

Contrary to popular belief, most wasps are solitary and do not sting or attack humans. Only a few are aggressive such as the Yellow Jacket. Wasps are distinguishable from bees by their pointed lower abdomens and the narrow "waist," called a petiole, that separates the abdomen from the thorax. There are about 30,000 sub species of wasps identified to date.

A new and unusual wasp species has been discovered during an expedition to the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.

It was independently also found in the insect collections of the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, where it was awaiting discovery since the 1930s, when it had been collected on Sulawesi. The new species is pitch-black, has an enormous body size, and its males have long, sickle-shaped jaws. The findings have now been described in the open access journal ZooKeys.