geekosystem

A team of researchers led by the University of Florida has found further evidence that some Earth-based life could survive in the to-say-the-least-inhospitable conditions of Mars. After testing 26 strains of bacteria under increasingly harsh conditions meant to represent those found on the Red Planet, the team was left with one -- Serratia liquefaciens -- could stand the low temperatures, pressures and oxygen-free conditions created in the lab to mimic those on the surface of Mars.

I can't possibly improve upon Tampa Bay news station WTSP's headline on this story, so I'm not even going to try: A University of Florida student and Publix employee named Zachary Garcia idly Googled himself only to discover that his photo had been circulated by the Polk County Sheriff's Office in connection with a murder. But the suspect in the felony murder case in question was Zachery Garcia -- that's Zachery with an "e." Zachary Garcia, the one who's not a murder suspect:

"I was just very shocked to find my picture and the article saying that I was convicted of a felony murder charge," he said, "and I was just very shocked and angry that someone put my name up there and said I did something I didn't do." "Everybody makes mistakes," Garcia added. "I work at Publix and I might get somebody's sub (order) wrong. But for somebody to get (the photo of a suspect) wrong...it's not a sandwich, it's somebody's life you're playing with."

And now as this story spreads, non-murder suspect Zachary Garcia is going to see his name pop up in all of these murder-related stories about how Googling his name used to erroneously cause his photo to turn up in connection with a murder case. D'oh! (WTSP via Fark)

The next time you stop to smell the roses, you might be shocked to find an unfamiliar odor in place of the allergy-inducing floral bouquet. Scientists at the University of Florida have isolated the 13 genes that key for fragrance in flowers, and have already begun experimenting with how altering these genes affect both odor, and the taste of the fruit that develops later in the plants life cycle.