The open-access Public Library of Science (PLoS) has launched PLoS Currents, a website for the rapid communication of research results and ideas. The first research theme at PLoS Currents is influenza. The opening of PLoS Currents: Influenza was announced by Harold Varmus, Chairman and Co-Founder of PLoS.

Yesterday marked a new record in the divergence between oil and natural gas prices. As noted in a small item in the Wall Street Journal, the ratio of oil prices ($ per barrel) to natural gas prices ($ per million BTU) hit a record 24.5 at yesterday's close.

A new type of vaccine against influenza, made with virus-like particles, has been shown to protect ferrets from infection with the 2009 H1N1 swine-origin strain. What is a virus-like particle, and how is it produced? If you have been taking influenza 101, you know that new virus particles are produced in infected cells by budding.

I learned of the Bartimaeus trilogy, by Jonathan Stroud, from a list of ten fantasy series to get you over Harry Potter Withdrawal. The author of the list claims Stroud's series is actually better plotted than Rowling's, so this week I picked up The Amulet of Samarkand from the local library. It is certainly well written and nicely paced.

The ACLU has filed an interesting lawsuit in Georgia challenging the state's kosher labeling laws. At first I thought the argument was that the state could not crack down on deceptive labeling. But it turns out, as the ACLU's complaint makes clear, that there is not consensus about the requirements of kashruth among Jews (particularly between Orthodox and others, but even among different Orthodox sects). This forces the state to choose sides in essentially theological disputes, which, the ACLU quite sensibly argues, entangles the government in religion and constrains the religious freedom of rabbis and others who choose to practice a form of kosher observance different from whatever the state defines.

The guns in RIAA v. Tenenbaum have gone temporarily silent; now, there's post-game analysis and preparations for the next phase: challenging the jury's award of $675,000 in damages ($22,500 per song, at 30 songs).

James Grimmelmann and a team of students at New York Law School have launched an elaborate web site called "The Public Index" to facilitate conversation about the proposed settlement of the Google Book litigation. As the site's home page explains: Here, you can browse and annotate the proposed settlement, section-by-section.

As the mother of three boys, shopping for school clothes is always a drag for me. The only reason they would voluntarily enter a store is if they had a very extensive video game collection for sale. My husband is much the same way except he's more lured by sport paraphernalia than video games. Adding to the difficulty is my husband is a large man who stands 6-foot-3.

The number of cancer cases reported in the United States each year is expected to increase 45 percent by 2030, according to a new study performed at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Caner Center in Houston.

As most of us know, a laundry list of side effects have been linked to chemotherapy. And while many of these side effects drastically reduce the quality of life in the short-term, the good news is that most of these symptoms eventually subside once treatment concludes.

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