Smashing success
The LHC is now officially a collider. After a year of repairs, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, near Geneva, Switzerland, finally smashed protons head-on at 13:22 GMT on Monday. Two beams of protons with a total energy of 900 gigaelectronvolts collided at the heart of the ATLAS detector. At full throttle, the LHC is designed to reach energies of 14 teraelectronvolts.
Snails in a spin
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When does a snail鈥檚 shell get its twist? By gently prodding snail embryos with fine glass rods, Japanese researchers were able to temporarily change the shell鈥檚 direction of rotation. This could shed light on when a snail鈥檚 鈥渉andedness鈥� gene kicks in during development (Nature, ).
Baby immunity
Breast milk contains stem cells that may help to shape infants鈥� gut and immune systems. One type of stem cell develops into epithelial cells and another into immune cells, Mark Cregan, now at Swiss company Medela Healthcare, told Unicef鈥檚 Baby Friendly Initiative conference in Bournemouth, UK, this week.
Swine flu mutates
Fears that pandemic swine flu is becoming nastier may be premature. A mutation found in one severe and two fatal cases of the virus in Norway does allow the virus to bind more deeply in the lungs. However, it has also been reported in mild cases in other countries, says the World Health Organization.
Gorilla warning
A colony of 125,000 western lowland gorillas found last year in the Republic of the Congo is facing threats from loggers, migrants and industry, warns a paper in Oryx (). The researchers call for the swamp forest where the gorillas live to be fully protected.