Science Headlines for November 7, 2008

Is Stuttering In Our DNA?

Bruce Willis, Marilyn Monroe, and Carly Simon all suffered from stuttering. Today, three million more Americans do, too. Most are able to overcome the handicap, which afflicts 5% of all children -- but childhood suffering from stuttering can be traumatic, producing educational, social, and occupational disadvantages. Scientists are now investigating the genetic factors that underlie stuttering.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 8 Nov 2008 | 1:00 am

'Beauty Machine' Makes Average Face A Knockout With A Single Click

Our mothers told us that true beauty is more than skin deep — but researchers are now challenging Mom. They’ve built a beauty machine that, with the press of a button, turns a picture of your own ordinary face into that of a cover model.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 8 Nov 2008 | 1:00 am

Robots Show That Brain Activity Is Linked To Time As Well As Space

Humanoid robots have been used to show that that functional hierarchy in the brain is linked to time as well as space. Researchers in Japan have created a new type of neural network model which adds to the previous literature that suggests neural activity is linked solely to spatial hierarchy within the animal brain.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 7 Nov 2008 | 10:00 pm

Diabetes, High Blood Pressure May Cause People With Alzheimer's Disease To Die Sooner

People with Alzheimer's disease who also have diabetes or high blood pressure may die sooner than people without such disorders, according to a new study.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 7 Nov 2008 | 10:00 pm

Surprisingly, Female Models Have Negative Effect On Men

A leading researcher of media effects on body image looked at the effect of male magazines on college-age men. Completing three different studies, she found that unlike their female classmates, it was not the same-sex models that affected the males negatively, but quite the opposite.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 7 Nov 2008 | 10:00 pm

Computers Effective In Verifying Mathematical Proofs

New computer tools have the potential to revolutionize the practice of mathematics by providing more-reliable proofs of mathematical results than have ever been possible in the history of humankind. These tools, based on the notion of "formal proof," have in recent years been used to provide nearly infallible proofs of many important results.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 7 Nov 2008 | 7:00 pm

James Bond Girl Draws Attention To Babies Born With Extra Fingers Or Toes

One of the Bond Girls in the new James Bond movie is drawing attention to a relatively common congenital condition called polydactyly -- extra fingers or toes. Gemma Arterton, who plays Agent Fields in "Quantum of Solace," opening Nov. 14, was born with six digits on each hand. The extra fingers were removed during childhood.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 7 Nov 2008 | 7:00 pm

Achilles' Heel Of Pancreatic Cancer Discovered

Researchers have discovered a metabolic deficiency in pancreatic cancer cells that can be used to slow the progress of the deadliest of all cancers.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 7 Nov 2008 | 7:00 pm

Social Interactions Can Alter Gene Expression In Brain, And Vice Versa

Our DNA determines a lot about who we are and how we play with others, but recent studies of social animals (birds and bees, among others) show that the interaction between genes and behavior is more of a two-way street than most of us realize.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 7 Nov 2008 | 7:00 pm

Kidney Transplantation Can Improve Mental Performance, Study Finds

Individuals with kidney disease often suffer from cognitive impairment, but kidney transplantation can improve their mental performance, according to new research.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 7 Nov 2008 | 7:00 pm

New Beauty Machine Makes Everyone Gorgeous (LiveScience.com)

LiveScience.com - Researchers have created a "beauty machine" they say can turn a woman's photo into the likeness of a cover model with the push of a button.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 7 Nov 2008 | 1:40 pm

New Beauty Machine Makes Everyone Gorgeous

A person's photo can be turned into the likeness of a cover model with the push of a button.
Source: Livescience.com | 7 Nov 2008 | 1:29 pm

Bullies may get kick out of seeing others in pain

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Brain scans of teens with a history of aggressive bullying behavior suggest that they may actually get pleasure out of seeing someone else in pain, U.S. researchers said on Friday.

Source: Reuters: Science News | 7 Nov 2008 | 1:15 pm

Bullies Enjoy Seeing Others Suffer

Brain scans show that unusually aggressive youth may actually enjoy inflicting pain on others.
Source: Livescience.com | 7 Nov 2008 | 12:52 pm

Teens do not see science as route to good career

Two-thirds of teenagers do not believe science qualifications would help them to have rewarding careers.

A poll of 1,000 16- to 18-year-olds found that just over a quarter (28%) saw the sciences as relevant.

The study said that students were unaware of the range of career options – including in sectors such as fashion and sport – that studying sciences could open up for them.

Many young people have preconceived ideas about science subjects leading solely to laboratory jobs and wearing a white coat, it said.

The survey by the Science Council, which represents learned societies and professional institutions, warned that British pupils' negative view of science subjects was preventing huge numbers of them from having fulfilling and potentially lucrative careers.

Diana Garnham, the council's chief executive, said: "This research highlights the huge misperception about what studying the sciences can lead to.

"Scientists work everywhere in the economy making use of their science skills in industries such as finance, fashion, art and design, and sport.

"It's important we explain these options to students so they can make an informed choice about their career."

The science minister, Lord Paul Drayson, said: "I want to shake this image problem that science has.

"I'm sure teenagers would agree that Lewis Hamilton's formula one race engineers have an exciting life.

"We need to make them realise it's because of what they studied at school."

The findings come after the English funding council announced a revival in the number of students taking up science, maths and language subjects at A-level and university last month.

The research coincides with the launch of Future Morph - a new online resource for students, teachers and parents aimed at changing perceptions of the careers open to students with science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) qualifications.

The most likely reason students gave for avoiding a Stem subject was that they are "too difficult" (30%), they are "not interesting or enjoyable enough" (27%) and that they will "limit my career options" (23%).

Increasing the number of students studying Stem subjects and going into related careers is important for the UK economy, the council argued.

Doorstep Astronomy: The Autumn Dipper (SPACE.com)

SPACE.com - High overhead around the 8 p.m. local standard time is a bright configuration of stars that people unfamiliar with the sky often mistake for the Big Dipper. Big it is, but – at least in an official sense – a dipper it is not.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 7 Nov 2008 | 12:31 pm

Health Study Distorted by Media

Studies are often exaggerated by journalists who fail to put numbers into context and perspective.
Source: Livescience.com | 7 Nov 2008 | 12:22 pm

The Nation's Weather (AP)

AP - More heavy snow and strong winds were forecast Friday across the northern Plains, where a blizzard warning was in effect. Parts of the Dakotas could see up to 6 inches of snow, though 1 to 4 inches were likely in most places.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 7 Nov 2008 | 12:20 pm

Lucky escape

Good luck saves a gorilla ranger captured by militia
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 7 Nov 2008 | 11:28 am

Green spaces 'reduce health gap'

A bit of greenery near people's homes can cut the "health gap" between rich and poor, researchers suggest.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 7 Nov 2008 | 11:18 am

Teachers TV: The creationism controversy in the classroom

Is teaching evolution being threatened by a rise in creationism, and can religious belief and scientific theory be included in the same lessons?
Source: Science | guardian.co.uk | 7 Nov 2008 | 11:09 am

Scientists say peridotite rock can soak up CO2

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A rock found mostly in Oman can be harnessed to soak up the main greenhouse gas carbon dioxide at a rate that could help slow global warming, scientists say.

Source: Reuters: Science News | 7 Nov 2008 | 10:16 am

UN official hopes for US role in climate change (AP)

AP - The head of the U.N.'s climate change body said Friday that he hopes the United States will take a more active role in fighting global warming once Barack Obama becomes president.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 7 Nov 2008 | 9:53 am

Creationism survey is not all it seems

I'm not quite sure what to make of this survey from the website and TV station Teachers TV. It apparently shows that 29% of teachers think creationism should be taught as science and 18% of science teachers think evolution and creationism should be given equal status.

To anyone who cares about science, evidence and rational argument these results should be shocking. Any science teacher who is at all ambiguous about the difference between a scientific based explanation for the diversity of life and a faith based one that contradicts a mountain evidence is not doing their job.

But we should take this survey with a pinch of salt. Firstly, the sample of 1210 is self-selecting - these are people who responded to a survey that was emailed to 10,600 education professionals. So it is possible that people at both extremes of the debate would be more likely to reply.

Also, only a minority of the respondents would actually be teaching evolution anyway - 336 were at primary school, 61 weren't teachers at all and just 248 are actually science teachers. Does it matter what an English or Religious Education teacher thinks about what is taught in science lessons?

One of the most controversial findings was that 31% of the total (and 18% of science teachers) believed that intelligent design and creationism deserved "equal status" in the classroom. But unfortunately, the question did not specify which classroom it was referring to - science or RE?

Nonetheless, I was most struck by the fact that 29% disagreed or strongly disagreed with the government's guidelines on teaching evolution. These state:

Creationism and intelligent design are not part of the science national curriculum programmes of study and should be taught as science.

Any science teacher who disagrees with that should be seeking alternative employment.

The developmental biologist Prof Lewis Wolpert at University College London said he was concerned about the findings.

"It is worrying, it's certainly worrying. It means they have a very poor understanding of science," he said. "Creationism has got nothing to do with science."

Audio slideshow

Tour some of the beautiful buildings of Kew Gardens
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 7 Nov 2008 | 8:01 am

China aims to land moon-buggy by 2012

BEIJING (Reuters) - China aims to put an unmanned buggy on the moon by 2012, local media reported on Friday, laying the ground for its greater ambitions of putting a man on the moon.

Source: Reuters: Science News | 7 Nov 2008 | 7:42 am

Scientists coax brain cells in mice to regenerate

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Scientists have found a way to get damaged nerve cells in the brains of mice to repair themselves, a finding that may lead to new treatments for spinal cord and brain injuries.

Source: Reuters: Science News | 7 Nov 2008 | 7:33 am

Panel rejects idea of stopping LA elephant exhibit (AP)

AP - A City Council committee has rejected a move to stop work on a $40 million elephant enclosure at the Los Angeles Zoo.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 7 Nov 2008 | 5:27 am

Engineers' Miniature Solar Cells Much Smaller Than This: o

Engineers have constructed a solar array smaller than a dime out f 20 solar cells, each cell tinier than a quarter of this lowercase "o."

The mini photoelectric device only generates seven volts of electricity, but that could be enough to power microsensors like those military planners imagine will provide the soldier of the future with first-person-shooter-like battlefield intelligence. That's why the Army is a major sponsor of the project, which is described in the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy.

Unlike conventional silicon solar cells, the new device is created from carbon-based, organic polymers, which the study's authors argue could transform electronics, even though right now they are far less efficient than silicon cells.

"The world’s next generation of microelectronics may be dominated by 'plastic electronics’ and
organic solar cells are expected to play an important role in these future technologies," writes lead author, Xioamei Jiang.

The Army is leading the charge on microscale power production for one simple reason. Energy — in the form of batteries — is expensive and heavy on the battlefield, so the armed forces have been pouring money into alternative-energy projects that could provide long-lasting, self-produced, and cheap electricity. One alt energy startup founder noted earlier this year that soldiers can pack 30 pounds of batteries for a 24-hour mission, which ends up costing the military $57,000 per soldier per year.

Jiang began building the solar power array in an effort to power a microscopic sensor known as a microelectromechanical system, which uses carbon nanotubes to sense dangerous chemicals. The array can't fully power the system yet, but they anticipate that a future generation of the array could charge the detector, perhaps by next year.

The Army's interest is broad. They are looking into a wide variety of low-power sensors that monitor the soldier's body and environment. When integrated with other technologies, they could eventually provide real-time data about the soldier's mind, body and military situation.

"You can start to imagine how power becomes a very, very important parameter to the soldier," Barry Perlman, associate director for technology at the Army's Communications Electronics Research and Development Center at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, told Wired.com earlier this year. "Every sensor needs power ... so we have quite a few people concerned with how to generate power."

Citation: Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy. "Fabrication of organic solar array for applications in microelectromechanical systems" DOI: 10.1063/1.2998825

Image: Courtesy Xiaomei Jiang. The surface area of the total device is 2.2 centimeters squared.

WiSci 2.0: Alexis Madrigal's Twitter , Google Reader feed, and webpage; Wired Science on Facebook.

Source: Wired: Wired Science | 7 Nov 2008 | 12:46 am

Common Lab Gear Could Contaminate Critical Research

Highly reactive chemicals can easily leak from plastic lab equipment used by scientists worldwide, interfering with results and potentially contaminating everything from basic biological research to drug development.

That's the troubling implication of an article published today in Science by researchers who realized that two plastic additives had skewed their own research on an enzyme targeted by a Parkinson's disease drug.

"It's tough to extrapolate from just the results in our department," said University of Alberta pharmacologist Andrew Holt, "but even if we can't be sure of the numbers, we can be fairly confident that a large number of life science labs are going to be affected in some way by the plastics they're using."

The best-known plastic additive is bisphenol A, a hard plastic ingredient that has drawn headlines for its hormone-disrupting effects in animals and, perhaps, humans. But there are dozens of so-called bioactive plastic additives that can affect proteins and other biological materials.

The additives are used to prevent static buildup, reduce stickiness and eliminate bacterial colonization. But many have been shown to interact with proteins, and to leach from food containers into their contents. Holt's team is just the first to quantify this in a laboratory context — and in labs, where researchers can use thousands of pipettes and other disposable tools in a day, there's no way to avoid plastic.

"Interpretation of data is being complicated by these issues, to the extent that it seems possible that incorrect conclusions have been made based on 'contaminated' data, and that such conclusions have been published," wrote Holt and his colleagues. "Our progress ... is being hampered and costing more than it should."

Holt's team first noticed the phenomenon while researching the effects of ammonium chloride on monoamine oxidase B, an enzyme linked to Parkinson's disease. They observed that extremely tiny amounts still had a powerful blocking effect on the enzyme. Wondering if something in their microfuge might be to blame, they added pure water to its tubes — and the water gained the same enzyme-blocking qualities.

They tested fifteen more types of microfuge tubes, and found that some had no effect, while others had more. Eventually they identified two responsible compounds, one an antibacterial agent and the other a fatty acid. When they checked the literature, they found that those compounds, and hundreds of related substances, are used routinely in laboratory equipment.

Holt then tested his lab's pipette tips and microplates; once again, they found additives. When he told other researchers in his department, three of 20 teams reported evidence of interference, including a colleague working on the GABA neurotransmitter, key to the central nervous system and a target of tranquilizer drugs.

Tufts University endocrine disruptor researcher Maricel Maffini, who was not involved in the study, reported similar observations from her own lab. Researchers there test plastics for potential hormone-changing effects whenever they switch vendors. She agreed with Holt that the impact on research could be significant and widespread.

"How can we trust the data that is produced in research laboratories? How many of those results are false positive? How many are false negative?" she said. "The bottom line is, this is raising a lot of questions."

For the time being, Holt has found a temporary solution in washing his lab equipment repeatedly with methanol and pure water. But this is labor-intensive and can double the amount of time required for an experiment. In the future, he said, makers of lab equipment — who until now have kept their formulations proprietary — should let researchers know the ingredients, giving them a chance to research the side effects and select equipment that won't interfere with the targets of their studies.

"The sorts of plastics we're talking about are used in virtually every laboratory, every life science laboratory, doing medical research globally," said Holt. "Now that we know it's a problem, we can do something about it."

Bioactive Contaminants Leach from Disposable Laboratory Plasticware [Science]

Image: Goldmund100

WiSci 2.0: Brandon Keim's Twitter stream and Del.icio.us feed; Wired Science on Facebook.

Source: Wired: Wired Science | 7 Nov 2008 | 12:37 am

Creationism should be taught as science, say 29% of teachers

Twenty-nine per cent of teachers believe that creationism and intelligent design should be taught as science, according to an online survey of attitudes to teaching evolution in the UK. Nearly 50% of the respondents said they believed that excluding alternatives to evolution was counter-productive and would alienate pupils from science.

The survey, by the website and TV station Teachers TV, also found strong support for the views of Prof Michael Reiss, the former director of education at the Royal Society, who resigned in September over comments about including creationism in science lessons.

Nearly nine in 10 respondents agreed with Reiss that teachers should engage with pupils who raise creationism or intelligent design in science lessons. Reiss said at the time that creationism was not science and he did not advocate giving it equal time alongside evolution, but he was forced to step down after furious reactions to his comments in the media from some Royal Society fellows.

"This poll data confirms that the debate on whether there is a place for the teaching of creationism in the classroom is still fierce," said Andrew Bethell, chief executive of Teachers TV. Teachers TV emailed 10,600 education professionals, of which 1,210 responded. Because the sample is self-selecting, only those teachers with the strongest views might have replied.

Most controversially, 29% said they either disagreed or strongly disagreed with the government's guidelines on teaching evolution which states that "creationism and intelligent design are not part of the science national curriculum programmes of study and should not be taught as science". Fifty-three per cent agreed or strongly agreed with the statement.

Thirty-one per cent of respondents and 18% of the 248 science teachers in the sample said they thought creationism or intelligent design should be given the same status as evolution in the classroom, although this question did not specify whether it was referring to science lessons or the curriculum in general. Twenty-two respondents said they had been pressured to teach creationism or intelligent design by their school.

In September Reiss advocated a pragmatic approach to tackling creationism in science classes. "I feel that creationism is best seen by science teachers not as a misconception but as a world view." He said that teachers should not dismiss pupils with creationist views, but engage with them.

But senior Royal Society fellows disagreed with his position. "I think it is outrageous that this man is suggesting creationism should be discussed in a science classroom," said Sir Richard Roberts, winner of the 1993 Nobel prize for Medicine.

The Rich, Mixed Legacy of Michael Crichton

Michael Crichton sometimes butchered the details of the science he described, but he rarely failed to convey its wonder. He built a scientific legacy that was rich, but uneven, according to scientists, some of whose research inspired Crichton's work.

Prior to his death from cancer on Tuesday, Crichton wrote or directed nine films, including Jurassic Park and Twister, and created the smash television hit ER. But he is best known for his 17 novels, which sold more than 150 million copies worldwide.

Before fathering the modern techno-thriller genre, Crichton graduated from Harvard Medical School, did research at the Salk Institute and tutored anthropology at Cambridge University. Accordingly, his protagonists were paleontologists and doctors and psychologists. His villains were dinosaurs and viruses and swarming nanobots.

"Crichton's Jurassic Park books were at first a kind of pain in the ass to me because people were always asking questions about whether or not you could make dinosaurs from old DNA," said Rob DeSalle, an American Museum of Natural History geneticist and author of Science in Jurassic Park and the Lost World.

Though many of the details in his books wouldn't stand up to peer review, and he angered some scientists — particularly with his 2004 climate change broadside State of Fear — even Crichton's critics acknowledge the appeal of his stories and the influence they had on the public.

"I grew to really like the books," said DeSalle. "They were great devices to teach from ... any uninterested student of biology who reads the books or sees the movies, gets interested right away."

Sometimes the underpinnings of Crichton's science went unexplained. The killer plague of Andromeda Strain, for example, was a microbe without DNA or RNA that turned matter into energy and clotted blood.

But at other times, Crichton was just wrong. Dinosaurs can't, and almost certainly won't ever, be cloned from DNA found in blood inside a mosquito trapped in amber. (Incidentally, said DeSalle, the DNA sequence printed in The Lost World was provided by NIH researcher Mark Boguski; translated into amino acid bases, it contained the Easter egg message "Mark Was Here NIH.")

Then there were the nanobots of Prey, which self-assembled into swarms that attacked people and took over their consciousness. Crichton's treatment of nanotech was debunked by Center for Responsible Nanotechnology co-founder Chris Phoenix. "Imagine a horror story about baseball, in which the batter keeps hitting the ball hard enough to kill the fans," wrote Phoenix. "The story might be entertaining, but it's obviously unrealistic."

But the science community's harshest criticisms were reserved for Crichton's 2004 State of Fear, in which eco-terrorists keep research funding flowing by causing unnatural disasters that they blame on global warming. In arguments later cited by such climate change denialists as Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe, Crichton attacked the connection between greenhouse gas emissions and rising global temperatures — a position that was already scientific consensus, and has become an even stronger consensus since.

"Does Crichton really use the scientific method? Or is it something closer to scientific fraud?" wrote Columbia University climate researcher James Hansen.

But despite their problems, Crichton's books were sheer fun and sheerly popular. "I stand a bit in awe of the massive influence he has had on the image of science in our culture," wrote climate journalist Chris Mooney, who elsewhere savaged State of Fear, on The Intersection. "His legacy is far bigger than this one late in life work, and whatever else you say, one has to respect and acknowledge his cultural impact."

"For all his exaggerations," said New York Medical College cell biologist Stuart Newman, whose human-animal embryo patent application is mentioned in Next, Crichton "had a good effect on the general culture that science thrives within. No one was so attuned to what could possibly go wrong."

Indeed, Ronald Bailey of Reason takes Crichton to task in his obituary for precisely that reason, criticizing him for exploiting and overhyping the ways in which science might turn on its masters. And Gavin Schmidt, Hansen's colleague at Columbia University, describes Crichton's depictions of scientists as "consistently negative, feeding the old Frankenstein stereotype updated to more modern concerns.... Given the importance of science in many of the key policy decisions that will be made in the coming years, that is very unfortunate."

But even Bailey admits that Next ends "with a vision of a happy trans-species blended family, including a multi-lingual African grey parrot and four-year old humanzee, as being pretty normal for the 21st century."

One thing is certain: Above all, Crichton's absence will be felt.

Image: From Universal Studio's Jurassic Park ride / Scott Kinmartin

WiSci 2.0: Brandon Keim's Twitter stream and Del.icio.us feed; Wired Science on Facebook.

Source: Wired: Wired Science | 6 Nov 2008 | 11:24 pm

Was That a Real Hologram on CNN?

CNN's election coverage had reporter Jessica Yellin beamed in.
Source: Livescience.com | 6 Nov 2008 | 11:02 pm

Ancient cave yields clues to Chinese history (AP)

AP - A stalagmite rising from the floor of a cave in China is providing clues to the end of several dynasties in Chinese history. Slowly built from the minerals in dripping water over 1,810 years, chemicals in the stone tell a tale of strong and weak cycles of the monsoon, the life-giving rains that water crops to feed millions of people.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 6 Nov 2008 | 10:44 pm

Why Are Lips Red?

Did you know that the outline or the border of your lips is a special feature of humans only?
Source: Livescience.com | 6 Nov 2008 | 9:46 pm

Ancient Cave Yields Clues to Chinese History

A stalagmite rising from a cave floor is providing clues to the end of several dynasties in Chinese history.
Source: Livescience.com | 6 Nov 2008 | 9:15 pm

Monsoon link to fall of dynasties

The demise of some of China's ruling dynasties was linked to changes in the strength of monsoon rains, a study suggests.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 6 Nov 2008 | 8:58 pm

Mystery 'Gunshot' Sounds Are Whale Threats

North Atlantic right whales sometimes make a loud gunshot-like noise whose purpose has so far been elusive to scientists.
Source: Livescience.com | 6 Nov 2008 | 8:28 pm

Canada Offers Continental Climate Pact

Canada's prime minister offers to work with president-elect Obama to curb global warming.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 6 Nov 2008 | 8:11 pm

Cosmetic Surgery Sales Sag

Plastic surgeons ramp up promotions.
Source: Livescience.com | 6 Nov 2008 | 8:03 pm

Portable power: Tiny solar cells show promise

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Researchers have developed some of the tiniest solar cells ever made and said on Thursday the organic material could potentially be painted on to surfaces.

Source: Reuters: Science News | 6 Nov 2008 | 8:01 pm

Ancient Cave Sheds Light on China's Past

Thousands of years of Chinese history are illuminated by a single stalagmite.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 6 Nov 2008 | 7:11 pm

Signs of Late Volcanism Seen on Moon

Young mare basalts on moon's farside show volcanism persisted.
Source: Livescience.com | 6 Nov 2008 | 7:07 pm

How Anesthesia Knocks You Out

Scientists figure out which brain regions are targeted by anesthesia.
Source: Livescience.com | 6 Nov 2008 | 7:02 pm

Lemming Numbers Dwindling Under Warming

Warming shortens the period when lemmings can burrow in wintry havens.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 6 Nov 2008 | 6:11 pm

Migraines cut breast cancer risk 30 percent: study

CHICAGO (Reuters) - In a puzzling twist, women who have a history of migraine headaches are far less likely to develop breast cancer than other women, U.S. researchers said on Thursday.

Source: Reuters: Science News | 6 Nov 2008 | 4:57 pm

Obama's Most Important Science Decision: Picking EPA Head

The incoming Environmental Protection Agency head — the nation's premier science official — will confront a host of environmental challenges that directly and immediately affect the nation's economic and social health: dying oceans, dwindling fresh water supplies and climate change. They will also inherit a culture hobbled for the last eight years by political interference.

It's absolutely critical, then, that Barack Obama choose a new EPA chief wisely.

Leading candidates for the position, reports Bloomberg News, include former Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection head Kathleen McGinty; California Air Resources Board leader Mary Nichols; Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection leader Ian Bowles; Kansas governor Kathleen Sibelius; New Jersey environmental commissioner Lisa Jackson; and environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Only Kennedy strikes me as weak. His environmental track record is excellent, but he's clung to the vaccines-causing-autism hypothesis long after large-scale epidemiological studies have discredited it as anything but a statistically insignificant cause. America doesn't need more political officials who skew science to fit personal beliefs. And perhaps more importantly, heading the EPA, with its thousands of employees and $7.2 billion budget, will be a far more difficult managerial task than negotiating environmental lawsuits.

Of the other candidates, McGinty, Bowles and Sebelius have excellent track records on clean energy, and Jackson has a strong record on conservation and pollution control.

But my own selection would likely be Nichols: she served in the EPA under Clinton, and California has led the battle to regulate carbon dioxide emissions as pollution. That gives her a head start on what is arguably the most pressing environmental issue we now face.

Who is your pick?

Source: Wired: Wired Science | 6 Nov 2008 | 3:31 pm

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