It's a bit unnerving that Scott O'Neill bursts out laughing at the basic premise behind the story you are beginning to read. He is dean of the science faculty at Monash University in Australia and lead scientist for research on developing bacteria-infected mosquitoes as a public health tool.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden, April 25, 2002 (ENS) - Potato chips, french fries, baked potatoes and bread may contain high levels of a probable human carcinogen known as acrylamide, Swedish researchers said yesterday. No acrylamide has been found in boiled foods.

If aliens ever sent us a message, scientists hope to pick it up in a remote part of northern California. There, in a clearing nestled amid the volcanoes of the Cascade Range, 42 radio dishes point together at the sky. The dishes, each 20 feet across, form a single, giant scientific instrument called the Allen Telescope Array.

Credit: iStockphoto/Thinkstock The vast majority of adults have had a sore back at some point in their lives. If they're lucky, the pain subsides after a few days or weeks. But for some, whose initial injuries appear no different than the fortunate ones, back pain lasts for years.

Dinosaur debate gets cooking Researchers deflate evidence for cold-blooded dinosaurs Web edition : Wednesday, June 27th, 2012 Life stories written in mammal bones are being used to debunk a key argument for cold-bloodedness in dinosaurs.

Sugar-free sweeteners fool the body's internal computer Diet soft drinks usually have no sugar, but that doesn't mean they're not sweet. These beverages often contain ingredients that mimic sugar's sweetness without the big calorie count. In a new study, psychologists from San Diego report that the sugar-free sweeteners confuse not only taste buds but also the brain.

Some brains may be primed for pain Addiction-related process may keep people hurting long after an injury heals A signal in the brain can predict who will continue to suffer back pain more than a year after an initial injury.

Lead poisoning stymies condor recovery Iconic species may not stand on its own without complete shift to nontoxic ammunition Web edition : Tuesday, June 26th, 2012 The California condor's return to flying free in the wild after a close brush with extinction may be an illusory recovery.

Flying predators probably gobbled up the biggest of the large flying insects 150 million years ago About 300 million years ago, long before the first dinosaurs appeared, a different type of oversized critter inhabited Earth: giant insects. Scientists suspect bugs grew bigger then because the atmosphere contained more oxygen than it does now.

When volcanoes erupt, they can release ash, chunks of rock and torrents of lava. Now scientists have found that eruptions also can spew massive amounts of a chemical called bromine. This gas helps destroy the ozone layer, a segment of the upper atmosphere that protects life on Earth from the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays.

i diigo a story about this the other day from a different website so its cool to see how these two articles are similar.

Peacocks ruffle feathers, make a rumble Male birds emit low-pitched sounds inaudible to human ears Web edition : Monday, June 18th, 2012 ALBUQUERQUE - Unbeknownst to humans, peacocks may be having infrasonic conversations. New recordings reveal that males showing off their feathers make deep rumbling sounds that are too low pitched for humans to hear.

Giant celestial disk hard to explain Star's oversized debris ring challenges theories of planet formation Web edition : Friday, June 15th, 2012 ANCHORAGE, Alaska - About 80 light-years away, an enormous, dusty ring swirls around a sunlike star, with a defined inner edge that is probably sculpted by a planet orbiting at 140 times Earth's distance from the sun.

Psychologist suggests synthesthesia may underlie creature's apparent memory feats Web edition : Friday, June 15th, 2012 View the video In what seems like a blow for humanity, a very smart chimpanzee in Japan crushes any human challenger at a number memory game.

Invasive mite worsens honeybee viruses Parasite's move into Hawaiian islands lets obscure pathogen go big and bad Web edition : Friday, June 8th, 2012 A mite that parasitizes honeybees can turn formerly small-time, local virus strains into widespread, dominant hazards.

Grasshoppers' terror outlives them Carcasses of jumpy insects taint soil Web edition : Thursday, June 14th, 2012 Terrified insects can haunt their homeland after they die. Chemical remnants of fear in the rotting corpses of grasshoppers slow the decomposition of dead grass and other debris important for fertilizing new plant growth, a new study finds.

Metal water bottles may leach BPA The estrogen-mimicking pollutant traces to a polymer resin lining affected bottles Web edition : Monday, July 11th, 2011 Consumers who switched from polycarbonate-plastic water bottles to metal ones in hopes of avoiding the risk that bisphenol A will leach into their beverages aren't necessarily any better off, a new study finds.

Youngsters can sniff out old people's scent And it isn't all that bad Web edition : Wednesday, May 30th, 2012 "Old people smell" is for real - and it isn't mothballs, Jean Naté or pipe tobacco. It's a mild and not unpleasant odor compared with the intense, unpleasant smell emitted by 40- to 50-something guys, a new study finds.