Giant Eye, Hurricane Dolly, More

Visionary new Tosca set graces the world's biggest floating stage for the 63rd Bregenz Festival of opera on the Bodensee (Lake Constance), which began Wednesday and runs until August 23.
Formed by a glacier during the Ice Age, the Bodensee is shared by Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, though its borders are disputed. Austria, for example, sees the lake as undivided and jointly controlled by the three countries, whereas Switzerland contends that borders run through the middle of the lake.

HIV drugs 'add 13 years of life'

Life expectancy for people with HIV has increased by an average of 13 years since the late 1990s thanks to better HIV treatment, a study says.
Researchers said it meant HIV was now effectively a chronic condition like diabetes, rather than a fatal disease, the Lancet reported. The team, involving Bristol University staff, looked at over 43,000 patients. The study found a person now diagnosed at 20 years old could expect to live for another 49 years. But the Antiretroviral Therapy Cohort Collaboration, which includes scientists from across Europe and Northern America, warned this was still short of the life expectancy for the wider population which stands at about 80. Antiretroviral treatment for HIV consists of drugs which work against the infection itself by slowing down the replication of the virus in the body. This method of therapy was introduced in the 1990s, but has since become more effective and better tolerated. The researchers looked at life expectancy during three time periods after the introduction of the drugs - 1996-9, 2000-2 and 2003-5 - in high income countries. Just over 2,000 patients died during the study periods. They found that while patients aged 20 diagnosed in the 1990s could expect to live another 36 years, that had increased by 13 years by 2003-5. During the middle time period, life expectancy stood at an extra 41 years.
Success
Researcher Professor Jonathan Sterne said: "These advances have transformed HIV from being a fatal disease, which was the reality for patients before the advent of combination treatment, into a long-term chronic condition."

Life from Venus blown to Earth?

Life on Venus could be blown to Earth by powerful winds, scientists claim.
Previous research has considered the possibility of micro organisms existing in Venus's atmosphere despite extreme temperatures on its surface. But two scientists at the Cardiff Centre for Astrobiology say microbes from Venus could actually be blown into the Earth's atmosphere by solar winds. Their findings follow analysis of data from the European Space Agency's Venus Express probe, launched in 2005. They suggest that under certain conditions, these microbes from high in Venus's atmosphere could be blown into the Earth's atmosphere.This process would only take days or weeks. But the Sun, Earth and Venus must be suitably aligned, which last happened in 2004 and will not happen again until 2012. Prof Wickramasinghe said: "Venus and Earth have often been referred to as sisters because of their geological similarities. "Our research proposes that the two sisters may be biologically interconnected as well." "The idea of life on Venus, particularly the clouds where the temperature and pressure are similar to the Earth, has been floated around for a while but is not really very likely," he said.He added that it was "most unlikely" anyway that microbes from Venus could be transferred to the Earth's atmosphere by solar winds. The Venus Express probe, launched in November 2005, is orbiting the planet to study its atmosphere. Scientists hope to learn how Venus, which is similar to Earth in size, mass and composition, evolved so differently over the last 4.6 billion years. The mission was the first to be sent to the planet in 15 years.