Researchers from the School of Medicine at the University of California have shown that the more germs a child is exposed to, the better their immune system in later life. Their study found that keeping a child's skin too clean impaired the skin's ability to heal itself. From the article: "'These germs are actually good for us,' said Professor Richard Gallo, who led the research. Common bacterial species, known as staphylococci, which can cause inflammation when under the skin, are 'good bacteria' when on the surface, where they can reduce inflammation."

paltemalte writes "Simon Marlow has posted an announcement of Haskell 2010, a new revision of the Haskell purely functional programming language. Good news for everyone interested in SMP and concurrency programming."

Jim Piculas, a substitute teacher in Florida, recently lost his job. The reason he was fired is magically ridiculous. Among other issues he has been accused of Wizardry. That's right, Wizardry. Jim does a 30-second magic trick where a toothpick disappears then reappears. The trick is so good that it has propelled his community 200 years in the past.