Forget brushing. Researchers have discovered a way to target the bacteria that cause cavities with a targeted antibiotic rinse, leaving the several hundred other species of non-harmful bacteria in your mouth untouched.

…and genetic. Researchers have discovered an enzyme whose presence is associated with an increase in pain sensations and a gene that suppresses that enzyme. How much you want to bet tetrahydrobiopterin is the next performance-enhancing drug?

So, you’re a musician, and you’re feeling a bit left out of this massively-multiplayer online revolution that’s going on? No need for envy – now beatmakers and bedroom producers can get their collaborative jam on using netpd, a free open-source program that allows sound sculptors across the globe to link up and create an interactive multi-user masterpiece that can be tweaked and adjusted in real time by any of the contributors. This could be the shot in the arm the dance music scene has been waiting for.

Instantaneous translation technology is one of the oldest staples of science fiction stories, but it’s moving very close to being a reality. One recent manifestation is a device being developed at Carnegie Mellon University which uses electrodes mounted on the face and throat to detect the electrical impulses that fire facial muscles when a person talks, and using those movements to identify the phonemes of the speaker’s mother tongue. The as-yet unattained goal is to convert into the other language ‘on the fly’, so it would be like watching a dubbed movie when someone using the device was talking to you. I suspect Borat is being used as a test subject.

Sometimes the best of intentions can still lead to a remarkably silly idea. Say you wanted to maximise the chance of kids escaping unharmed from the rifle sights of a crazy who was shooting up a school – how would you go about it? Why, by making textbook jackets out of kevlar, of course! To quote the article:

“Crozier says the idea is still in its initial stages and he has no idea how much it would cost to cover the books.”

When he finds that out, I believe the idea will have reached its final stages.