Venomous Cone Snails Weaponize Insulin to Stun Prey

	Is the Personal Robot Finally Here? She's a personal assistant, photographer, butler and home security guard all in one — and she's a robot. Read More » Mars Rover Opportunity Marks 11-Year Anniversary with Stunning Photo NASA's Opportunity rover celebrated 11 years on Mars Saturday (Jan. 24), and the robot's handlers are marking the occasion with a gorgeous panoramic photo that Opportunity took of its Red Planet home. Opportunity landed on Mars on the night of Jan. 24, 2004, a few weeks after its twin, Spirit, made its Red Planet debut. The rovers were tasked with three-month missions to search for signs of past water activity on the Red Planet. Both Spirit and Opportunity found plenty of such evidence, and then kept rolling long after their warranties expired. Read More » Needle-Free Tattoos Can Check Diabetics' Sugar Levels A temporary electronic "tattoo" may one day offer diabetics a bloodless way to check blood sugar levels, researchers say. People with diabetes must test their glucose levels several times a day, using devices with a tiny needle to draw blood from a fingertip. "Monitoring glucose in a noninvasive fashion is certainly one of the most important fields in the area of wearable health sensors," lead study author Amay Bandodkar, a nanoengineer at the University of California at San Diego, told Live Science. Now Bandodkar, along with Joseph Wang at UCSD and their colleagues, have developed a flexible device that sticks to skin like a rub-on tattoo and sends a mild electrical current over the skin to detect a person's blood sugar levels, without needles. Read More » Venomous Cone Snails Weaponize Insulin to Stun Prey At least two species of cone snailhave turned insulin into an underwater weapon, a new study finds. When these stealthy aquatic snails approach their prey, they release insulin, a hormone that can cause blood sugar levels to plummet. The sudden influx of insulin can enter their gills and get into their bloodstream. "The snail has a very large mouth, and it kind of catches the fish within the large mouth," said the study's lead researcher, Helena Safavi, a research assistant professor of biology at the University of Utah. Read More » Ancient Knife-Toothed Reptile Is Crocodile Cousin It's unclear where the reptile, Nundasuchus songeaensis, falls on the evolutionary tree, said Sterling Nesbitt, an assistant professor of geology at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. The researchers announced their findings yesterday (Jan. 20) in a statement. Read More »