Today's Health/Science: cold comfort, biofuel lessons from termites, harpooning swordfish, mercy and medicine, diabetes and body clock

If there's any good news about the common cold, it might be this: You don't have to stop kissing your sniffling loved one's lips just to avoid catching their colds. But you probably will want to stop holding hands.

The termite is a model bug bioreactor, adept at the difficult task of breaking down wood and turning it into fuel. What scientists have learned so far, however, suggests it won't be easy to duplicate nature.

With fisheries around the world under pressure to find more sustainable and environmentally friendly means of bringing their product to market, a group of about 60 Nova Scotia fishermen, many from the small community of Cape Sable, is practicing the ancient art of harpoon swordfishing.

Dr. Stephen Bergman has just put the bookend on a ride that began in 1978 when he wrote a book, under the pen name Samuel Shem, called "The House of God."

Also, should I take an aspirin before a plane flight to avoid getting blood clots and are there cubes in cubic zirconia?

Plus, experiments that elude the senses and a gene that could be drug target for sickle cell anemia (second item).

Also in today's Globe: Flaws in the body's system for regulating sleep also are associated with diabetes, a genetic link suggests, and may provide new clues for how to treat the disease, researchers say.