In what could be a major medical breakthrough, or a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence, a 42-year-old American man was cured of AIDS after receiving a bone marrow transplant in Berlin, Germany two years ago. The transplant was performed as part of a treatment for his leukemia.

The unnamed man received the marrow from a donor who had a very rare genetic mutation which doctors say leaves a person almost 100% immune to AIDS and the virus that causes it. After radiation treatment for his cancer, and treatments involving several types of AIDS medications, the transplant was performed. As a result of the transplant, the man appears to have been cured of AIDS.

Dr. Gero Hütter, a doctor at Medical University of Berlin, Germany, presented his findings in a paper earlier in the year titled Treatment of HIV-1 Infection by Allogeneic CCR5-Δ32/Δ32 Stem Cell Transplantation: A Promising Approach. In the report, Hütter and his team stated that the man was free of AIDS in just under 70 days. The American Foundation for AIDS Research stated in September during a conference that the man was "functionally cured" of AIDS.

   
At 8:34 pm Indian time Friday night (1504 UTC), India became the fourth country to land its flag on the Moon. The unmanned lunar orbiter Chandrayaan-1 ejected its Moon Impact Probe, which hurtled across the surface of the Moon at 1.5 kilometres per second (3000 miles per hour), and successfully crash landed near the Moon's south pole. Besides carrying three important scientific instruments, the lunar probe also carried the image of the Indian national flag, painted on all sides.

Chandrayaan-1 (meaning 'Moon craft' in Sanskrit) reached its target lunar orbit on Wednesday. The orbiter will remain in a circular orbit 102 kilometres above the Moon's surface for two years. Its instruments will be gradually commissioned over the next few days.

With this landing, India became both the fourth country to place a flag on the Moon and the fifth group to send a spacecraft to the Moon. The other countries which have sent spacecraft to the Moon are the United States, the former Soviet Union, Japan, and China, along with the European Space Agency (ESA), a consortium of 17 countries. Japan and China currently each have scientific satellites orbiting the Moon, though China has not yet put a spacecraft on the moon's surface.

Wake turbulence from a larger aircraft is believed to be the cause of a crash of a Mexican government Learjet 45 into rush-hour traffic in Mexico City earlier this month. All nine on board, including Interior Minister Juan Camilo Mourino, and five on the ground were killed.

As well as Mourino, anti-drug advisor Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos died in the wreck, leading to speculation of murder. There have been rumours the jet may have been sabotaged or bombed, but both of these have been ruled out, as have mechanical failure.

To try to prevent conspiracy theories, there has been unusual openness to the press over the accident. The investigation is being led by Mexico, who have been joined by teams from Britain and the United States.

The Bee Hummingbird is the smallest bird in the world, weighing 1.8 g (0.06 oz) and measuring about 5 cm (2 in). A typical North American hummingbird, such as the Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus), weighs approximately 3 g (0.106 ounces) and has a length of 10–12 cm (3.5–4 inches). The largest hummingbird is the Giant Hummingbird (Patagona gigas), with some weighing as much as 24 g (0.85 oz) and measuring 21.5 cm (8.5 in).

Most species exhibit conspicuous sexual dimorphism, with males brightly colored and females displaying cryptic coloration.Iridescent plumage is present in both sexes of most species, with green being the most common color. Highly modified structures within certain feathers, usually concentrated on the head and breast, produce intense metallic iridescence.