The most thing we should worry about when entering the lab, and what was drilled into our minds throught all our science classes and our courses laboratory introductory session, was our safety. With regards to germs, microbes, bacteria, viruses etc, and their stunning ability to evolve into a stronger species rather rapidly considering the time-span through which scientists have been practicing science, smart people have managed to use solar energy in such a way that reduces our anxiety around those organisms much more than 70% ethanol and heat.
 
At least in the dental industry, the tools used by dentists have been protected - to an extent - in a method, I personally view as brilliant. "First uses of new solar energy technology: Killing germ ...

Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia is the term for the fear of the number 666.

The island of Socotra is one of the most isolated non-volcanic landforms in the world. Sitting 240 km east of the Horn of Africa and 380 km south of the Arabian Peninsula, its geographic isolation over millions of years has ensured that a third of its plant species are found nowhere else on Earth. Clockwise from the top are dragon blood trees, desert roses, and a native succulent, Dorstenia gigas. ...

Sea pigs are marine animals around 15 cm long that live about 1,000 metres down on the deep sea floor. They are scotoplanes (sea cucumbers) and their 'legs' are actually elongated feet which are used to push food into their mouths. The apparent antennae on the front of the head are also feet, used to tread the deep sea water. They feed on deep ocean mud and thrive on the organic material present there. The sea pigs are not considered as a threat to humans and they are not an endangered species. ...

Four species of legless lizard have been identified in the sand dunes of Antioch, California. This picture introduces Anniella grinnelli, one of the recently found species. It has a bright yellow belly and a lilac back with deep purple lines, and was named after Joseph Grinnell, the first director of the Berkeley Zoology Museum.

People who suffer from congenital analgesia can’t feel pain, and often end up hurting themselves as they don’t know when something is too hot, or making them bleed. Researchers have discovered that mutations in the gene SCN11A are responsible for this disorder, which blocks the transmission of pain signals. ...

Hummingbirds, like this little golden rufous hummingbird, have up to 1,500 feathers, which is the fewest number of feathers of any bird species in the world.