Science is neat!

Apparently, black or green tea has antibacterial properties, especially against oral bacteria. Recent research has indicated that drinking tea may reduce the bacteria that cause bad breath. Of course, that doesn’t take into account the sugar and milk I put in my black tea, but at least the unsweetened green stuff is doing me good. So drink up!

I’m not sure how big a grain of salt to take this with, but Scientific American has just published an overview article on the state of the art of parallel universes.

The San Diego Zoo recently announced the first healthy clone of an endangered species, a Javan banteng. The clone is an early sign of success for the “frozen zoo” concept, where cells from endangered species are stored in hopes that cloned animals can be produced at a later time.

The process is still very inefficient, with 45 embryos and 30 cows required to give birth to a single banteng healthy enough to live past a few days. However, scientists at CRES are hoping that the process will provide greater genetic diversity to existing zoo populations.

Whoo! Starchaser is going to unveil their manned capsule on Thursday. After some drop-and-retrieve tests, they’re going to launch the one-man craft on their previously-tested NOVA II rocket, first unmanned and then with a test pilot. Cool stuff!