NNB contributor Tinker Ready wrote an article about Massachusetts launching a $10 million research grant program as part of Governor Deval Patrick’s $1 billion life sciences plan. State officials are moving ahead with this program, even before state legislators take up the life sciences bill.

Harvard researchers made it to the front cover of Nature this week. Not them actually, but a 15 to 20 million year-old bee encased in amber discovered in the Dominican Republic. It was still carrying pollen from an orchid plant it had visited, making it a hero in the orchid community. That tiny fluff of pollen is the first fossil remains from orchids, the most diverse family of plants on Earth. With this evidence, researchers now think that orchids first came about 76 to 84 million years ago. (From news@nature)

The work of MIT chemists is showcased on the cover of Science. They’ve figured out how tiny marine organisms create one type of the toxin called red tide which harms humans, wildlife and coastal fisheries. They were able to generate the toxin in their lab, something other researchers had struggled to do for years. Knowing the chemical cascade that leads to the toxin can help researchers better understand what triggers the organisms to make such large quantities of it. (From the Boston Globe)

And finally, the Boston Business Journal is reporting that Google has picked a location for its expanded Cambridge office. It will be in the heart of Kendall Square (who isn’t, these days?!). Google’s Cambridge office currently employs 50 people (double the number from four months ago), but its new space is big enough for at least 200 more, according to the article. Google says it’s setting up shop in Boston to tap into the local talent from universities and startups.