We've seen the plasma beam toothbrush, where a blast of room-temperature plasma destroys plaque and bacteria in your mouth. Now researchers at Drexel University have applied the technology to raw chicken and found that the gentle blue blast of ionized matter effectively removes pathogens on the poultry's surface.

When raw chicken breasts had a normal amount of pathogens (Salmonella enterica and Campylobacter jejuni were the culprits that were tested), the plasma almost completely eliminated them. The technology is still too expensive to fit into the highly streamlined production lines that bring skinless, boneless, sanitized poultry to your table, but -- not least because it is equally effective on antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria -- the proof of concept is an intriguing one.

The researchers suggest that the treatment could significantly increase the shelf life of raw meat by removing microorganisms responsible for spoilage. They don't mention, though, the first idea that popped into my mind: delicious chicken sashimi.

Since unveiling the 911 Carrera in 1963, Porsche has built many dozens of variations, ranging from convertibles to racing editions to subtly tweaked versions distinguishable only to board members of the Porsche Club of America. Full-blown generational revamps have been rarer. When the seventh Porsche 911 arrives this month, 90 percent of the vehicle's components will be new or redesigned. The result is a car that corners more evenly and consumes less gas, yet is substantially quicker than its predecessors.

LIGHTER BODY

Designers cut 100 pounds by using a higher proportion of lightweight aluminum- steel composite in the body. As the car travels faster, an adaptive rear spoiler shifts position, applying as much as 200 pounds of downforce to the rear wheels and increasing stability.

MORE-EFFICIENT ENGINE

The standard 3.4-liter, 350-horsepower flat-six boxer engine is 16 percent more efficient than the outgoing engine yet more powerful by five horsepower. The pricier 911 S comes with a 400-horsepower, 3.8-liter flat-six and runs from 0 to 60 in as little as 3.9 seconds.

FUEL-SAVING TRICKS

Both new 911s come with a stop-start system that powers down the engine at stoplights and fires it back up once the driver touches the accelerator. When coasting, the car's "sailing" mode automatically idles the engine for further fuel savings.

SEVEN-SPEED STICK

After years of pushing "automated manual" transmissions, Porsche does stick-shift fans a favor by offering the new 911 with the first seven-speed manual transmission. A shift lock prevents drivers from selecting the highway-speed overdrive gear prematurely.

COMPUTER ASSISTANCE

A torque-vectoring system slows down the inside rear wheel to pivot the 911 more quickly around corners. Anti-roll assist (Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control) senses cornering forces and adjusts the suspension to keep the body flat through turns.

ENGINE: 3.4-liter flat-six (3.8-liter flat-six in 911 S)
TOP SPEED: 178 mph (187 mph for 911 S)
PRICE: From $83,050

Clara Lazen is the discoverer of tetranitratoxycarbon, a molecule constructed of, obviously, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon. It's got some interesting possible properties, ranging from use as an explosive to energy storage. Lazen is listed as the co-author of a recent paper on the molecule. But that's not what's so interesting and inspiring about this story. What's so unusual here is that Clara Lazen is a ten-year-old fifth-grader in Kansas City, MO.

Kenneth Boehr, Clara's science teacher, handed out the usual ball-and-stick models used to visualize simple molecules to his fifth-grade class. But Clara put the carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen atoms together in a particular complex way and asked Boehr if she'd made a real molecule. Boehr, to his surprise, wasn't sure. So he photographed the model and sent it over to a chemist friend at Humboldt State University who identified it as a wholly new but also wholly viable chemical.

The chemical has the same formula as one other in HSU's database, but the atoms are arranged differently, so it qualifies as a unique molecule. It doesn't exist in nature, so it'd have to be synthesized in a lab, which takes time and effort. So Boehr's friend, Robert Zoellner, wrote a paper on it instead, to be published in Computational and Theoretical Chemistry. Listed as a co-author: Clara Lazen.

Boehr says the discovery and subsequent publication has incited a new interest in science and chemistry at his school--and Clara seems particularly pleased, saying she's now much more interested in biology and medicine.

[The Mary Sue via Gizmodo]

This week's Images of the Week gallery includes a cocktail that looks, according to the person who made it, like an "alien brain hemorrhage," we've got the other side of that amazing "blue marble" picture of Earth, we've got a handmade net fort we are dying to play in, and we've got internal organs made out of elegantly rolled paper. It's a good week, is all we're saying.

Click to launch this week's Images of the Week gallery.

At Lake Vostok, the coldest place on earth, a Russian team of scientists have been attempting to drill through a two-mile-thick ice layer into the subterranean lake, which has been isolated for some 20 million years. But the team has not been heard from for five days, according to a report by the Global Post.

The ancient, pristine cache of fresh water below the miles of ice is a unique environment. It may be supersaturated with dissolved gases and geyser up when the drill penetrates the last few feet. It may also hold unknown lifeforms, such as ancient extremophile bacteria. We anxiously await word.

[Global Post]

We don't see a lot of cryptozoology - the study of animals that have not yet been proven to exist - in the pages of PopSci these days, but that's what we have the archives for. Buried within the decades upon decades of "real" science, filled with "facts" and "research" are some gems of articles, where we chart the progress of believers searching for creatures we strongly suspect they may never find, but secretly hope they will.

Click here to launch the gallery

In this week's archive gallery, you'll see blurry photographs of the Loch Ness monster, examine various contraptions used to look for or catch sea serpents, read an offer for a free dragon egg that seems almost too good to be true, learn how to make silver bullets and hear all about Sir Edmund Hillary's expedition to find the Abominable Snowman (spoiler: his plan involves using compressed carbon dioxide to shoot a hypodermic needle at it).

The creators of Modernist Cuisine are getting ready to watch the big game just like anybody else: infusing water with cheddar cheese, blending an emulsified sauce with engineered tapioca starch, and deep-frying delicious snacks for all to enjoy.

Chris Young and team have made the Wylie Dufresne-inspired recipe available on their site, and it looks delicious. You mix the cheese-infused water with starches to make a paste, which you then dry and fry till puffy. ("The residual water expands 1,600 times in volume as it turns to steam, forming bubbles in the gel that harden when cooked.") Meanwhile you've made a cheese sauce, and turned it into a powder using a miraculous ingredient called N-Zorbit which turns oils into fluffy dust. The latter gets dusted on the puffs, and the game is on.

[Modernist Cuisine]

Look at this video game. It's a great motivator to keep your monitor spotlessly clean -- go on, get your chemical-impregnated microfiber cloth and give it a wipedown right now -- but is it actually fun? I contend not.

Next week on PopSci.com we investigate, adumbrate, and celebrate the Future of Fun, including a tour of modern playgrounds, an online arcade of the most innovative games you can play in your browser, and yes, the contention that fun is becoming more and more quotidian and effortful as it gets repurposed for dubious utilitarian ends.

(After playing for an hour, my score is now averaging under 3 seconds on Where's the Pixel -- can you beat that?)

See you next week.

In this economy, a job is a job. And while we await the day that we can hire our robot companions to handle our household duties, humanoid semi-celeb Geminoid-F is exploring other possibilities at a Takashimaya department store in Tokyo. Here, Geminoid is blazing a trail for androids everywhere by taking a job in a storefront window to see how the humans passing by respond.

The idea, according to Geminoid-F's creator, is to see how people respond to an android in the window rather than the usual mannequin. Mannequins, after all, are static and don't show off clothing in a real-world, kinetic way. Ideally a store would have live models in their displays, but that's simply impractical. But he thinks androids can fill that role admirably, interacting with passersby while showing off clothing worn by a real human analog.

So Geminoid-F sits there coyly, acting as though she's waiting for a friend. She's programmed with emotions and 65 different actions triggered by her sensor data. She doesn't speak to anyone, but occasionally she will look up at viewers, and perhaps return a friendly smile. But mostly she just ignores you and stares at her mobile device. These robots are getting more and more realistic all the time.

[DigInfo News]

Whoa, you guys. This is one of our favorite Baarbarian illustrations ever. That weird story about the blue goo spheres dropping from the sky did seem like something dreamt up by a sheep.

Want to win this sleepy Baarbarian illustration on a T-shirt? It's easy! The rules: Follow us on Twitter (we're @PopSci) and retweet our This Week in the Future tweet. One of those lucky retweeters will be chosen to receive a custom T-shirt with this week's Baarbarian illustration on it, thus making the winner the envy of their friends, coworkers and everyone else with eyes. (Those who would rather not leave things to chance and just pony up some cash for the t-shirt can do that here.) The stories pictured herein:

• Mitt Romney: The Uncanny Candidate?
• FYI: Do Animals Dream?
• Video: People Flying, Superhero Style, Over New York City
• Translucent Blue Spheres Rain Down in the UK, Mystifying Meteorologists
• FYI: Will Listening to Mozart Really Make Me Smarter?

And don't forget to check out our other favorite stories of the week:

• The Most Amazing Science Images of the Week, January 30-February 3, 2012
• Archive Gallery: PopSci Hunts For Mythical Beasts
• 10-Year-Old Accidentally Creates New Molecule in Science Class
• Russian Scientists Drilling into "Alien" Antarctic Lake Vostok Fall Silent
• Is This New Study the Nail in the Coffin of "Arsenic Life"?
• 2011 Visualization Challenge Winners Teach Science Through Art
• Hilarious "Theory of Everything" Paper Provokes Kerfuffle
• Translating Brain Waves to Reconstruct Sounds and Conversations You've Heard
• The Best Way to Unbuild a Dam
• Video: A New 'Smart Bullet' Deploys Fins and Guides Itself to a Laser-Designated Target