Nick and Vanessa Lachey Expecting a Boy

"It's a BOY. Nick and I are incredibly excited to share the news that we are expecting a baby boy," the Wipeout host announced on her website Wednesday. "We can't wait to meet him soon!!!"

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Video: Anthony Mackie talks role as Abe Lincoln?s sidekick

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You wanted to know: what is this virus that infects the phytoplankton? (Part One)

So far I?ve told you about the phytoplankton we?re studying ? the coccolithophores, how we figure out where they?re going to be, and how we collect them. But there?s a key element that?s missing in this description: the virus that infects them. And a lot of you wanted to know about it.

What kind of viruses are in the ocean? Are they the same as viruses on land? Todd from New York

Viruses are the most abundant biological thing in the ocean, but we know very little about them. For a long time, people thought phytoplankton were very long-lived. They died when they were eaten, or floated down too deep, but otherwise scientists couldn?t figure out what would make the little plants die. Turns out viruses kill lots of phytoplankton.

There are probably hundreds of thousands of marine viruses that we?ve never even seen before. Generally, marine viruses are different from the ones we find on land, simply because they infect different kinds of organisms ? marine ones. The science team onboard the Knorr does know something about the particular virus we?re looking for, though.

What virus are they investigating that is infecting Emiliania huxleyi? Are they going to isolate this and attempt a genome? Gaytana Balestrier from Willingboro

The virus in question is called a coccolithovirus (fitting, since it infects coccolithophores). It?s really big (as far as viruses go) ? about 160-180 nanometers in diameter. That?s about twice the size of the human flu virus. In fact, the coccolithovirus that these scientists are looking for has the largest genome of any marine virus. It has 472 genes that code for proteins. By comparison, the influenza virus only has 8 protein-coding genes.

Two different genomes from viruses that infect Ehux were sequenced in 2005. In total, nine different coccolithovirus genomes have been sequenced so far, each one infecting a different species of coccolithophore. The one that infects Ehux is called Emiliania huxleyi virus 86, or EhV-86 for short.

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Two Ehux cells: on the left a healthy one, on the right a cell full of viruses.

How was the relationship between this phytoplankton and its virus first found? Brenda Wright from Salt Lake City

In 1999, a marine biologist named Willie Wilson observed the Ehux virus for the first time. In the years following, he and other biologists ? including some of the ones on this ship ? found this intriguing interaction between the coccolithophores and the virus. (To hear Willie explain the epic battle between phytoplankton and viruses on Radiolab, click here.)

Before we get to what?s cool about this virus in particular, we have to talk about what usually happens during viral infection. Viruses are pretty much bundles of DNA or RNA packaged inside some kind of protein shell. They can come in all shapes, sizes, and configurations.

Unlike the cells that make up plants and animals, viruses don?t replicate through cell division. They don?t have all the parts they need. Remember, they?re just a ball of genetic material. So instead, they hijack their host?s cells. A virus will attach onto a healthy cell, and inject a little packet of genetic material into the host. It then uses the cells machinery to replicate itself over and over again. Eventually, most viruses cause the cell to lyse, or burst.

To be continued. Come back tomorrow to find out how this particular virus infects Ehux.

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During this trip, I?ll be answering your questions about the science, this boat, and life onboard. Want to know how we search for plankton, why we?re here, or what the food is like? Just ask me! And if you?re wondering how I got here, check out the groups that made this adventure possible: Mind Open Media and COSEE NOW.

Previously in this series:

All Aboard: how you can be a part of our research blog
You wanted to know: what are these phytoplankton?
You wanted to know: what am I bringing to sea?
Greetings from Ponta Delgada! We set sail tomorrow.
Steaming North: how the scientists are trying to find plankton
The superstar sensor: what is a CTD?
Status Update: Day 3 at the Cyclonic Eddy

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Developing countries to the rescue at G-20

LOS CABOS, Mexico (AP) ? The scene at the just-concluded Group of 20 summit held in this seaside resort would have been unthinkable a decade ago: Hundreds of dignitaries gathered in opulent Mexican hotels and convention halls to hammer out an economic bailout for Europe. Meanwhile, the leaders of Brazil and China kicked in tens of billions of dollars to the International Monetary Fund to rescue downtrodden Spain and Greece.

Although the gathering didn't produce a solution for the ailing euro zone, it did outline the globe's new balance of power. Developing countries projected optimism and wealth over the summit's two days, while European and U.S. leaders struggled just to stay solvent.

A lot has clearly changed since the 1990s, when Asian and Latin American economies were slogging through recessions while Washington-based power brokers ordered up the very kind of austerity-minded prescriptions now sparking street protests in Europe.

Even during recent economic crises in the U.S. and Europe, China has been posting annual growth rates topping 8 percent. Countries with booming Chinese trade, such as Argentina and Ethiopia, have similarly seen their economies thrive. China's economy surpassed Japan's over the past year to become the world's second biggest; Brazil's overtook the U.K.'s to take sixth place.

"It is a different picture and reflects the fact that (developing) economies are not only the largest and fastest growing economies but are among the biggest economies in the world," said Uri Dadush, director of the international economics program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "Clearly, neither the Americans nor the Europeans are in any position to tell the biggest economies what to do."

Mexican President Felipe Calderon cut to the point while speaking to reporters Tuesday afternoon as he noted developing world contributions to the IMF for a possible European bailout. Although the countries still have lower standards of living, their economies are growing and many have amassed large foreign reserves.

China had pledged $43 billion to the fund, while India, Mexico, Brazil and Russia each chipped in $10 billion. The United States, Calderon drily noted, was not giving a single penny, due to "serious restrictions of a legal and political nature." In other words, coughing up billions to save Europe was impossible for deadlocked U.S. politicians, especially in an election year and as the country struggled with its own budget deficits, economic analysts said.

University of Maryland economist Phillip Swagel, a former Treasury Department official in the George W. Bush administration, said developing countries' new economic power was already translating into growing political might.

In fact, the BRICS countries representing Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa were the ones making demands on Europe during the summit, saying they should be given a bigger role in the governance of the IMF if they were going to send billions to the fund. Europeans have traditionally led the organization since its founding nearly seven decades ago.

"With their resources comes a greater say," Swagel said. "It's a big change. We were once telling Asian counties what to do."

The power shift was clear in the air-conditioned hallways and balmy outdoor lounges of the G-20 where dignitaries and reporters mingled.

News crews from Ethiopia and China filled press conferences, while Brazilian and Russian leaders drew the most attention. Humbled European heads of state stepped before TV cameras to thank China for helping out while promising that their countries would do better.

Heloisa Castro, a Washington-based reporter for the Brazilian network Record TV, said Brazilians were energized by their new prominence, after so many decades of suffering dreadful busts and booms. Still, she said, they had no right to preach solutions to Europe, a point President Dilma Rousseff made to an international gaggle of reporters Tuesday.

Preventing European and U.S. turmoil from dragging down Brazil was the order of the day, Castro said, as economic growth in some developing countries has slowed sharply this year.

"I think it's very curious that now, we who have been through all these IMF adjustment programs in the past with their draconian conditions, we now are seeing European countries go through the same thing," Castro said. "But if the economies in Europe and the U.S. go down, we all suffer. We can't only live with the BRICS countries."

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Recent Cases | Bark & Co Solicitors London News | Digg

R v Asil Nadir

Description: Bark & Co has been instructed by the former CEO of Polly Peck International (PPI) in an alleged multi-million pound fraud. The client faced 66 counts of Fraud & Theft, but failed to appear in the 1993 trial. Mr Nadir has returned to the UK to fight to clear his name. The trial is due to commence in January 2012. Significance: One of the first high profile SFO prosecutions.

R v Ravjani & Others

Bark & Co represented a client accused significant involvement in a complex contra-trading MTIC fraud. The alleged fraud was of a scale that prompted the Government to proffer the case as an explanation as to why the UK balance of payments were adrift for a particular year. Unfortunately, reporting restrictions prevent us from publishing the full outcome at this time. (Last updated: 03.12.2011)

R v X

Description: This matter involves an insider trading investigation at a number of banks and hedge funds and other large financial institutions conducted by the FSA and SOCA which Reuters reports has ?sent shockwaves through the country?s financial industry?. Significance: This case involves significant press interest and involves the representation of a director at a very high profile financial institution.

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Biomedical beauties: Wellcome Image Awards winners

19:30 20 June 2012

The Wellcome Image Awards celebrate the way photography and micrography can show unexpected biomedical structures and patterns. The winning images will be on display at the Wellcome Collection in London from 21 June. Caroline Morley

Image 1 of 6

This was the overall winner. It shows the surface of the brain of a person with epilepsy. The image was taken before an intracranial electrode recording procedure, in which a flexible electrode grid was attached to the brain's surface. The patient was then taken to the telemetry ward, where their brain activity was recorded. The surgeon used the recordings to identify the specific areas of the brain to be removed in a subsequent operation. This patient made a full recovery and no longer suffers from seizures.

(Image: Robert Ludlow, UCL Institute of Neurology, London)

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