Being too clean may impair the skin's ability to stay healthy and heal itself, new research suggests.
Scientists in the US discovered that bacteria on the surface of the skin play an active role in combating inflammation.
The bugs dampen down over-active immune responses which can lead to rashes or cause cuts and bruises to become swollen and painful. "These germs are actually good for us," said Professor Richard Gallo, who led the research at the University of California at San Diego. (PA)
Houston, we have a baby!
Shuttle Atlantis astronaut Randy Bresnik awoke early yesterday to a much-anticipated call that his new daughter had been born.
Mr Bresnik's wife, Rebecca, gave birth to Abigail Mae Bresnik just after midnight. At the time, Mr Bresnik was in orbit 220 miles above Earth with 11 astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station.
Mr Bresnik blasted off last Monday for an 11-day mission.
"I'm a little disappointed that he won't be able to be there but understanding that we don't choose the timing and excited for him that he's doing what he's doing," Rebecca Bresnik said in an interview before last week's launch.
The Bresniks had expected their baby to be born on Friday. Rebecca had hoped the baby would not be born during one of Bresnik's two spacewalks. On that count, she was successful - yesterday the crew had a half-day off. The couple, who had been told they could not have children, last year adopted a boy from Ukraine. (Reuters)
'Female' tortoise is a male
Zookeepers in the US are the ones feeling slow because after more than 50 years, the tortoise they called Mary is actually a male.
Officials at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo in Ohio said it can be tough to establish the sex of a giant Aldabra tortoise because the reproductive organs normally aren't visible. But Mary's maleness was unexpectedly revealed earlier this month during a routine exam.
Spokesman Tom O'Konowitz said that the zoo has decided to rename the tortoise Terry. When the 400-pound reptile arrived at the zoo in 1955, it was assumed he was a she because of a flatter shell, shorter tail and all-around smaller size than most males. (PA)
Tractor charge
Police in the US said a man was drunk when he hopped on a lawn tractor and drove it to buy more beer.
Ford Earl Broome, 63, of Export, Pennsylvania, was stopped by a state trooper near a tavern, and was questioned because he smelled of alcohol and appeared to be drunk.
Mr Broome denied drinking, but then acknowledged he "drank a little" before driving the tractor to a bar to buy more beer. Police said Mr Broome's blood-alcohol content was about double the state's legal limit for drivers. (PA)
Jackson's glove sells for $350,000
Michael Jackson's famous white glove sold for $350,000 at a memorabilia auction last Saturday, soaring far past pre-sale estimates, while a black jacket he wore during a 1989 world tour fetched $225,000.
The Jackson memorabilia was the highlight of an auction of hundreds of rock'n'roll items.
Darren Julien, CEO of Julien's Auctions, which ran the auction, called the glove "the Holy Grail of Michael Jackson," and many expected it to sell for far more than its pre-sale estimate of about $50,000. With the added commission, the final price excluding taxes, ran to some $420,000.
Bidding for the black, strap and zipper-laden jacket Jackson wore during the 1989 "Bad" tour soared to $225,000, more than 20 times its estimate. Fans and dealers turned out at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York's Times Square for the sale that included a car driven by Jackson, as well as David Bowie's guitar and memorabilia from The Beatles to Bo Diddley.
The glove was worn by Jackson when he first staged the famous moonwalk dance at the 1983 Motown 25 TV special. The opening bid of $10,000 leaped immediately to $120,000 before peaking at $350,000. (Reuters)
Holidays while on sick leave
A Canadian woman on long-term sick leave who said she lost her benefits because of photos on Facebook is fighting to get them reinstated.
Nathalie Blanchard has been on leave from her job at IBM in Bromont, Quebec, for the last year after being diagnosed with major depression and was receiving monthly sick-leave benefits from insurance giant Manulife.
But the payments were stopped because Manulife decided she was capable of work based on photos posted on Facebook, including ones showing her having a good time at a Chippendales bar show, at her birthday party and on a sun holiday. (PA)
Stowaway cat survives
A stowaway cat survived a trip from Egypt after it became trapped in a container ship, a council said.
The male ginger and white cat, named Pharaoh by his rescuers, was shut in a container which was brought to the Port of Felixstowe, a Suffolk County Council spokesman said.
The hungry animal was found in a freight depot a month after it left Port Said in Egypt. (PA)