New Scientist is carrying this report summarizing new findings regarding a biological construct I'd never heard of... "nanobacteria". Smaller than most viruses, they were first described by a Finnish group in 1998. The evidence was heavily criticised and then largely discredited on later examinations, and the consensus for a long time was that the particles didn't exist, or were perhaps some form of bizzare chemical crystallization not seen before.

However, a new group of scientists from the Mayo clinic have come back to the subject, and not only have they replicated the Finnish results, they've also produced more experimental evidence that seems to imply nanobacteria does in fact exist. However, this would appear to be a very hotly debated issue in microbiology, and it would seem the Mayo people have a lot of convincing to do.