Science Headlines for November 14, 2008

Images captured of 4 planets outside solar system (AP)

AP - Earth seems to have its first fuzzy photos of alien planets outside our solar system, images captured by two teams of astronomers. The pictures show four likely planets that appear as specks of white, nearly indecipherable except to the most eagle-eyed experts. All are trillions of miles away three of them orbiting the same star, and the fourth circling a different star.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 14 Nov 2008 | 11:37 am

Ancient Greeks pre-empted Dead Parrot sketch

ATHENS (Reuters) - "I'll tell you what's wrong with it. It's dead, that's what's wrong with it."

Source: Reuters: Science News | 14 Nov 2008 | 11:28 am

World recession deepens ahead of Washington crisis summit (AFP)

AFP - The blast of recession hit Europe on Friday as leaders from more than 20 rich and emerging countries headed for a crisis summit in Washington and OPEC called a special meeting on slumping oil prices.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 14 Nov 2008 | 11:25 am

Vote on which species you think the world could not survive without

Plankton, bats, primates, fungi and bees - which species would have the greatest impact on our planet if it were lost?
Source: Science | guardian.co.uk | 14 Nov 2008 | 10:11 am

Rare dinosaur nest offers look into bird evolution (Reuters)

Reuters - Canadian researchers say they've narrowed down the likely owner of a dinosaur nest, abandoned on a river's edge 77 million years ago, adding the discovery offers a unique look at dinosaur reproduction and the evolution of birds.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 14 Nov 2008 | 8:19 am

Rare dinosaur nest offers look into bird evolution

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Canadian researchers say they've narrowed down the likely owner of a dinosaur nest, abandoned on a river's edge 77 million years ago, adding the discovery offers a unique look at dinosaur reproduction and the evolution of birds.

Source: Reuters: Science News | 14 Nov 2008 | 8:19 am

UN: Clouds of pollution threaten glaciers, health (AP)

AP - A dirty brown haze sometimes more than a mile thick is darkening skies not only over vast areas of Asia, but also in the Middle East, southern Africa and the Amazon Basin, changing weather patterns around the world and threatening health and food supplies, the U.N. reported Thursday.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 14 Nov 2008 | 6:07 am

Breeding success for Farne birds

Seabird colonies on the Farne Islands have enjoyed successful breeding seasons, bucking the UK trend, the National Trust says.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 14 Nov 2008 | 1:23 am

First person: 'I could have 300 siblings'

As a child, Jo Rose discovered her father was a sperm donor. At 36, she still hasn't found him. She describes the battle to have her rights recognised, and find her identity
Source: Science | guardian.co.uk | 14 Nov 2008 | 12:08 am

In pictures: Darwin's Big Idea exhibition, Natural History Museum

From 14 November 2008 to 19 April 2009 the Natural History Museum in London is staging Darwin's Big Idea, an exhibition to mark the 200th anniversary of his birth
Source: Science | guardian.co.uk | 14 Nov 2008 | 12:06 am

Alert over clubber with HIV

Women in Leicester urged to get check-up if they had unprotected sex between 2002 and 2007
Source: Science | guardian.co.uk | 14 Nov 2008 | 12:06 am

To understand a mockingbird: specimens that sparked Darwin's theory of evolution

The significance of the two birds lying side by side on a purple cushion with tags dangling from their feet is easy to miss. But the subtle differences - a strip of white on the wing, a smudge of dark on the breast - set Charles Darwin on course to develop the most important scientific theory ever conceived: the evolution of species through natural selection.

The mockingbirds are perhaps the most important specimens Darwin collected from the Galapagos during his five-year voyage aboard HMS Beagle in the 1830s, and today they go on show as part of a major exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London. It reveals Darwin as a tenacious scientist, a pragmatic lover, and a man pained by losing his religion.

The exhibition is the centrepiece of a nationwide programme to mark the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birthday next February. Alongside specimens brought back from the voyage are notebooks describing his earliest hunches on evolution, personal letters, and hairs from his long, wispy beard recently discovered wrapped in tissue in a box kept by his daughter.

Darwin was a student clergyman when he joined HMS Beagle on its voyage round the world. At the time, many believed the species on Earth were unrelated and unchanged since the moment of creation, and the planet was only 6,000 years old.

Towards the end of the journey, Darwin collected specimens in the Galapagos, beginning in San Cristóbal island. There he saw mockingbirds that looked similar to those he had seen in South America, but on Floreana, a neighbouring island, the mockingbirds were consistently different. They had darker breast markings, white bands on their wings, and longer beaks. The observation was Darwin's first hint that species might evolve over time.

In a notebook dated March 1837, he wrote: "If there is the slightest foundation for these remarks, the zoology of archipelagoes will be well worth examining; for such facts would undermine the stability of species."

Alex Gaffikin, exhibition developer at the museum, said: "It's one of those theories that completely changes the way you think about the world. When you stop to think about it, that everything is related, it blows your mind, as it did Darwin's."

Sometimes Darwin's discoveries owed more to fortuity than forethought. His search for the Lesser Rhea, an ostrich-like bird he heard could be found in Patagonia, ended one day when he realised he was eating one - shot by the ship's artist.

Upon his return to England, Darwin spent much of his time at Down House in Kent in a comfortable, cluttered study that has been reconstructed for the exhibition. He had an upholstered chair fitted with wheels, allowing him to reach everything without getting up.

Pages from his personal notebook dated July 1838 reveal his quandary over whether to marry his first cousin, Emma Wedgwood. In favour of marrying, he listed "children", "a friend in old age" and "an object to be loved and played with - better than a dog anyhow". In the end, these outweighed the alternatives, "no children", "no one to care for" and "freedom to go where one liked".

Emma wrote to her aunt: "He is the most open, transparent man I ever saw, and every word expresses his real thoughts." When Darwin finally proposed, her father wept "tears of joy". They had 10 children.

It was at Down House that Darwin received the letter that shocked him into writing On the Origin of Species. Alfred Wallace, a biologist 16 years his junior, described a theory very similar to his own. Friends brokered a truce and papers from both men were read out at the Linnaean Society in London on July 1 1858. A year later, Darwin finished the book, but was so anxious about how it would be received he said it "felt like confessing a murder".

Lorraine Cornish at the Natural History Museum said: "It was a bestseller. People were buying it at Waterloo station. The man in the street was suddenly looking at science very differently."

While Darwin was distressed at the upset his theory caused, particularly to his wife, others relished the confrontation it brought with the church and wider scientific community. On November 23 1859, Thomas Huxley, a young biologist, wrote to Darwin: "I am sharpening up my claws and beak in readiness."

Darwin's dilemma: To marry or not

Marry

Children - (if it Please God) - Constant companion, (& friend in old age) who will feel interested in one, - object to be beloved & played with. - -better than a dog anyhow. - Home, & someone to take care of house - Charms of music & female chit-chat. - These things good for one's health. - Forced to visit & receive relations but terrible loss of time. -

My God, it is intolerable to think of spending one's life, like a neuter bee, working, working, & nothing after all. - No, no won't do. - Imagine living all one's day solitarily in smoky dirty London House. - Only picture to yourself a nice soft wife on a sofa with good fire, & books & music perhaps - Compare this vision with the dingy reality of Grt. Marlbro' St.

Marry - Marry - Marry Q.E.D.

Not Marry

No children, (no second life), no one to care for one in old age.- What is the use of working 'in' without sympathy from near & dear friends-who are near & dear friends to the old, except relatives. Freedom to go where one liked - choice of Society & little of it. - Conversation of clever men at clubs - Not forced to visit relatives, & to bend in every trifle. - to have the expense & anxiety of children - perhaps quarelling - Loss of time. - cannot read in the Evenings - fatness & idleness - Anxiety & responsibility - less money for books &c - if many children forced to gain one's bread. - (But then it is very bad for ones health to work too much). Perhaps my wife wont like London; then the sentence is banishment & degradation into indolent, idle fool

Obese women 'more likely to miscarry'

Overweight women are more likely to lose a healthy baby, according to a study. The researchers said the findings supported advice that obese women should lose weight before trying to conceive.

"The excess miscarriage rate in overweight and obese women is due to the loss of chromosomally normal embryos," said Inna Landres, of Stanford University School of Medicine. "It's important to identify elevated BMI [body mass index] as a risk factor for miscarriage and counsel those women who are affected on the importance of lifestyle modification."

Landres' team carried out genetic analyses on 204 miscarriages in women with an average age of 35.

Of the 153 women who had a BMI of less than 25, 36.6% had miscarried foetuses with no chromosome defects, either via insertions or deletions of DNA. This compared with 52.9% of the 51 overweight women (with a BMI of more than 25).

The results were presented at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine annual meeting in San Francisco.

One possible cause is insulin resistance, the early stages of type II diabetes, which affects a woman's hormonal state.

Mark Hamilton, who is chairman of the British Fertility Society but was not involved in the study, said obesity was a recognised cause of miscarriage. He added: "This study will aid our understanding of the known association with being overweight and reproductive loss."

Video - Direct from the Moon: on National Geographic Channel

Intimate portraits of Earth's natural satellite from Japan's Kaguya high definition spacecraft.
Source: Livescience.com | 14 Nov 2008 | 12:03 am

Video - Unlocking the Great Pyramid: National Geographic

Clues to the construction of the Great Pyramid at Giza, Egypt
Source: Livescience.com | 13 Nov 2008 | 11:58 pm

Long-lost lunar photos get another day in the sun (AP)

AP - The old moon has never looked this good. Mankind's first up-close photos of the lunar landscape have been rescued from four decades of dusty storage, and they've been restored to such a high quality that they rival anything taken by modern cameras.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 13 Nov 2008 | 11:24 pm

Weather good for Friday shuttle launch: NASA (AFP)

AFP - Weather conditions have improved for Friday's launch of the space shuttle Endeavour and its seven astronauts on a mission to the International Space Station, NASA meteorologists said Thursday.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 13 Nov 2008 | 11:10 pm

Cast of Millions Puts on Calif. Earthquake Drill

Southern Californians practice earthquake response.
Source: Livescience.com | 13 Nov 2008 | 10:00 pm

U.S. 'Super Bugs' Invading South America

Two clones of highly antibiotic-resistant organism strains, which previously had only been identified in the United States, are now causing serious sickness and death in several Colombian cities including the capital Bogotá, according to an article in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 13 Nov 2008 | 10:00 pm

Marine Plankton Found In Amber

Marine microorganisms have been found in amber dating from the middle of the Cretaceous period. The fossils were collected in Charente, in France. This completely unexpected discovery will deepen our understanding of these lost marine species as well as providing precious data about the coastal environment of Western France during the Cretaceous.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 13 Nov 2008 | 10:00 pm

Sex Differences Narrow In Death After Heart Attack, Study Shows

In recent years, women, particularly younger women, experienced larger improvements in hospital mortality after myocardial infarction than men, according to a new study.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 13 Nov 2008 | 10:00 pm

Arsenic-free Water Provides Hope To Millions Of People In South East Asia

A new technology could provide safe drinking water for over 70 million people in South East Asia. The joint collaboration has resulted in the world’s first low-cost technology to provide arsenic-free water to people in India and surrounding countries.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 13 Nov 2008 | 10:00 pm

Brain Implants May Help Stroke Patients Overcome Partial Paralysis

Scientists have shown for the first time that neuroprosthetic brain implants may be able to help stroke patients with partial paralysis.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 13 Nov 2008 | 10:00 pm

Decisions, Decisions: Feedback Influences Decision Making

Numerous studies have shown that people will choose differently, depending on whether they are choosing based on experience or description. But, what is it that causes people to choose differently in the two situations? The results of a new study suggest that feedback plays a key role in decision making. The findings indicate that feedback after repeated choice may drive people towards rational decision making.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 13 Nov 2008 | 10:00 pm

Archaeologists unearth 8th century church in Syria (AP)

AP - Archaeologists in central Syria have unearthed the remnants of an 8th century church, an antiquities official said Thursday. A Syrian-Polish archaeological team recently discovered the church in the ancient city of Palmyra, said Walid al-Assaad, the head of the Palmyra Antiquities and Museums Department. He did not say specifically when the church was discovered or the exact date the church was built.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 13 Nov 2008 | 9:19 pm

Wide-hipped fossil changes picture of Homo erectus

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The fossil of a wide-hipped Homo erectus found in Ethiopia suggests females of the pre-human species swayed their hips as they walked and gave birth to relatively developed babies with big heads, researchers said on Thursday.

Source: Reuters: Science News | 13 Nov 2008 | 9:08 pm

Tech Puts JFK Conspiracy Theories to Rest

A new investigation into the JFK assassination debunks theories with hi-tech forensics.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 13 Nov 2008 | 9:00 pm

Study yields clues to why some tumors spread

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A small fragment of genetic material may mean the difference between an easily treated local tumor and an aggressive cancer that spreads throughout the body, U.S. researchers said on Thursday.

Source: Reuters: Science News | 13 Nov 2008 | 8:46 pm

WITNESS: Zero G -- like being born

Tim Hepher has been a journalist with Reuters for 14 years, with experience covering trade wars and takeover battles, and now specializes in aerospace business in Paris. In the following story, he describes a parabolic flight where he somersaulted weightless with space officials and politicians.

Source: Reuters: Science News | 13 Nov 2008 | 8:09 pm

Telescopes Capture First Images of Alien Planets

Astronomers identify fuzzy specks as four planets outside our solar system.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 13 Nov 2008 | 8:00 pm

Weather improving for Friday night shuttle launch (AP)

AP - NASA grew more optimistic of launching space shuttle Endeavour on Friday on a space station delivery mission as forecasters offered a more promising outlook for the nighttime liftoff.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 13 Nov 2008 | 7:57 pm

Mystery solved: How bleach kills germs

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Bleach has been killing germs for more than 200 years but U.S. scientists have just figured out how the cleaner does its dirty work.

Source: Reuters: Science News | 13 Nov 2008 | 7:46 pm

Telescopes get visual of planets around another sun

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Telescopes on land have caught the first real visual images of multiple planets orbiting another star.

Source: Reuters: Science News | 13 Nov 2008 | 7:34 pm

Major Breakthrough: First Photos of Planets Around Other Stars

Astronomers announce the first-ever direct images of exoplanets.
Source: Livescience.com | 13 Nov 2008 | 7:26 pm

The Exciting Evolution of ... Rocks (LiveScience.com)

LiveScience.com - Every rock tells a story. And some of those stories are about the history of life.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 13 Nov 2008 | 7:07 pm

First Direct Image of Multiple Exoplanets Orbiting a Star

For the first time, astronomers have taken a visual image of a multiple-planet solar system beyond our own.

Using the Gemini North telescope and the W. M. Keck Observatory on Hawaii's Mauna Kea, researchers observed in infrared light three planets orbiting around a star about 130 light-years away from Earth, called HR 8799. The discovery, published today in Science Express, is a step forward in the hunt for planets, and life, beyond Earth.

The alien system is supersized compared to our own: All three planets are gas giants, weighing roughly 10, 10 and 7 times the mass of Jupiter, circling a parent star 1.5 times the mass of our sun, and 5 times as bright. The giant bodies (two of which are pictured above) are orbiting at roughly 25, 40, and 70 times the distance between Earth and our sun. If there are Earth-sized planets present, they are too small to see with current technology.

"This is the beginning of a capability that is really going to move the search forward," Peter Michaud of Gemini Observatory told Wired.com. "Now we can refine the technologies and continue the exploration process until we perhaps someday find something more similar to the Earth. Those goals are pretty exciting in terms of gaining a perspective on our place in the universe."

Finding distant solar systems isn't new — the current exoplanet count is above 300 — but almost none of those planets were directly imaged. Instead, most were discovered using a technique called spectroscopy, which measures the slight wobble of a host star as it is tugged by orbiting planets.

"With spectroscopy, you see the effects of the planet, but you don’t actually see the planet," Michaud said.

The research team, led by Christian Marois of the National Research Council of Canada's Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, took advantage of a technology called adaptive optics, which uses a flexible mirror on the telescope to compensate for the distortion of light caused by turbulence in the Earth's atmosphere.

Imaging the planets was made slightly easier by the fact that the bodies are not just reflecting light from their star, but are also glowing themselves. Scientists estimate they formed about sixty million years ago, and haven't yet cooled completely from the process of contracting into planets.

"These are really young planets, in a young system, and are still warm," Michaud said. "That's why we see them in the infrared — that made it favorable."

The astronomers confirmed that the planets are orbiting the star, and don't just happen to lie in the background, by observing their relative motions.

See Also:

Nearby Solar System Looks Like Our Own at Time Life Formed

Image: Gemini North Observatory: Two of the planets orbiting around the star, which has been blocked in this image due to its brightness in order to increase visibility of the planets.

Video: 2MASS/UMass/IPAC-Caltech/NASA/NSF

Source: Wired: Wired Science | 13 Nov 2008 | 7:04 pm

The Exciting Evolution of ... Rocks

Diversity of minerals on Earth due to plate tectonics, evolution of life.
Source: Livescience.com | 13 Nov 2008 | 7:02 pm

Bird-Like Dinosaur Sat On Eggs

A bird-like nest of eggs likely belonged to a small, meat-eating dinosaur.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 13 Nov 2008 | 7:00 pm

Life and Minerals Evolve Together

Life influences the origin of minerals, just as minerals influenced the origin of life.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 13 Nov 2008 | 7:00 pm

Exoplanets finally come into view

Two studies show the first direct images of planets outside our Solar System, including a three-planet system.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 13 Nov 2008 | 7:00 pm

Environmentally Friendly Acrylic Glass Made Of Sugar: New Enzyme Could Revolutionize Production Of Plastics

Acrylic glass could be made from natural raw materials such as sugars, alcohols or fatty acids, according to new research. Compared with the previous chemical production process, a biotechnological process is far more environmentally friendly.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 13 Nov 2008 | 7:00 pm

Relative Risk Of Brain Cancer: Tell Your Doctor If Tumors Run In The Family

Doctors know that you’re at a higher risk for breast, colon and prostate cancers if they’ve been found in your family. Brain cancer can now be placed on that same list, says a new study by Tel Aviv University and the University of Utah.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 13 Nov 2008 | 7:00 pm

Plants Can Accumulate Nanoparticles In Tissues

Plants can take up nanoparticles and accumulate them in their tissues, according to new research. The laboratory study, which involved pumpkin plants, indicates a possible pathway for nanoparticles to enter the food chain. The research also reveals a new experimental approach for studying nanoparticles and their potential impacts.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 13 Nov 2008 | 7:00 pm

Large Waist Can Almost Double Your Risk Of Premature Death, Says Europe-wide Study

Having a large waistline can almost double your risk of dying prematurely even if your body mass index is within the 'normal' range, according to a new study of over 350,000 people across Europe.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 13 Nov 2008 | 7:00 pm

Living with Penguins

NSF field scientists learn penguin physiology secrets in Antarctica. Credit: National Science Foundation
Source: Livescience.com | 13 Nov 2008 | 6:11 pm

Study: Calif Dirty Air Kills More than Car Crashes

Study finds lowering air pollution would save more lives in CA that preventing all motor vehicle fatalities.
Source: Livescience.com | 13 Nov 2008 | 5:40 pm

Vietnam to grow genetically modified crops: reports (AFP)

AFP - Vietnam plans to test genetically modified (GM) agricultural crops from now until 2010 and then grow them on a large scale, media reports in the communist country said on Thursday.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 13 Nov 2008 | 5:13 pm

Scientists Determine the Fishiest Election Ever

Stickleback fish follow the crowd when choosing a leader.
Source: Livescience.com | 13 Nov 2008 | 5:03 pm

How Bleach Kills Bacteria

Chemical in bleach disables key protein in bacteria, killing them off.
Source: Livescience.com | 13 Nov 2008 | 5:02 pm

L.A. Preps for the Big One With Massively Multiplayer Earthquake

Disaster preparedness is about as sexy as flossing regularly, but a new alternate reality game could put the fun into contemplating the destruction of Los Angeles.

Aftershock, run by the Institute for the Future and Art Center College of Design, is based on a 300-page U.S. Geological Survey scenario report that details the extensive damage that Southern California could experience in the aftermath of a 7.8-magnitude quake on the San Andreas Fault. The game began on Thursday and will run for three weeks, prompting users to complete real-world missions — and submit content based on them to the gaming community.

"Disaster preparedness was at the point where the messaging had hit the limit. You can give people this really elegantly designed flyer, and they stick it in a drawer and it hits them in the head during the earthquake," said Jason Tester, the lead game designer at the IFTF. "[The game] says, 'You are experiencing a real earthquake.' We're trying to make it feel visceral."

The new game is part of the largest earthquake preparedness drill ever attempted, the USGS-run Great Southern Californian Shakeout. At 10 a.m. local time Thursday, millions of Californians crawled under their desks in response to an imaginary major earthquake.

Aftershock will begin where the earthquake drill ends. It's not so much about what to do during an earthquake, but how to survive the fallout of the disaster. By providing an intellectual exercise to imagine how bad an earthquake could be, Tester and his co-gamemasters hope that they'll be able to not just increase awareness, but change people's behavior.

Tester said that the game is an attempt to bring the reality of the so-called Big One home to a younger demographic by borrowing the tropes of gaming. It is one of an increasing number of serious games attempting to deal with real-world problems through collaborative online action. Last year's World Without Oil had players imagine the world in the midst of an acute crude shortage and the IFTF's Superstruct asks players to craft solutions to a half-dozen near-future scenarios.

"Think of the scenario as DOS," said Jason Tester, the lead game designer at the IFTF. "[Aftershock] is like the GUI to the scenario."

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

Source: Wired: Wired Science | 13 Nov 2008 | 4:58 pm

Frozen Semen Works in Rhinoceros Artificial Insemination

Female white rhino gives birth to baby after artificial insemination.
Source: Livescience.com | 13 Nov 2008 | 3:38 pm

Brain Stimluation May Ease Obessive Compulsiveness

Brain stimulation is shown to be effective against obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 13 Nov 2008 | 3:35 pm

Saudi doctors work to change attitudes to female genital mutilation

It was encouraging to see the uncompromising light of science being shone on the practice of female genital mutilation this week at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine's annual meeting in San Francisco.

Crucially, the illumination came from two specialists in reproductive medicine within Saudi Arabia, a country where FGM is frequently practised.

The results presented in their talk, entitled "Female circumcision is detrimental to women's sexual satisfaction", may seem so blindingly obvious as to be worthless. But as they explained, the study is part of an effort to build a collection of rigorous evidence about the long-term effects of FGM so that attitudes can be changed from within the countries where it is practised.

"I think the local people can make a change. If we can convince people that there is a complication, we can do something to change this tradition," said Dr Sharifa Sibiani from the King Abdulaziz University Hospital in Jeddah.

She said the study would be more powerful than any research carried out in the west, because local people would regard that as an attempt by foreigners to denigrate their traditions. "The change must come from inside, not from outside, because otherwise they will reject it."

The World Health Organisation defines FGM as, "all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons."

It affects 100m to 140m women worldwide and is particularly prevalent in parts of Africa. In Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia and Mali, for example, more than 80% of women have undergone FGM.

Typically, the procedure is carried out by a Daya (an elderly female birth attendant) when a baby girl is a few days old, but it can be done at any time during childhood, adolescence, before marriage or during a first pregnancy.

The scope of the operation – which is often carried out in non-sterile conditions using household implements – can vary considerably from removing the clitoris to cutting away all of the woman's external genitalia before stitching the wound back together leaving only a tiny hole for menstruation and urination.

Sibiani's colleague Prof Abdulrahim Rouzi said he knew of a case in which a newly married woman bled to death as a consequence of this more substantial form of FGM. "[My colleague in Sudan] saw an 18-year-old woman dying in front of him because her husband could not penetrate [during sex] – so he had brought a knife and cut her," he said.

Although FGM is most prevalent in Muslim communities, it pre-dates Islam (and also Judaism) and is not mentioned in the Qur'an.

For their study, Sibiani and Rouzi interviewed 260 women who were attending the obstetrics and gynaecology clinic at King Abdulaziz University Hospital between February 2007 and March 2008. Half had been subjected to FGM and half had not.

The team asked them to complete a questionnaire on their attitudes towards sex and their experience during intercourse. "To our knowledge, there is no study in the literature to assess female sexual dysfunction after female genital mutilation," said Sibiani.

They found that women with FGM were no more likely to suffer pain during intercourse or experience lowered sexual desire. However, FGM made them less likely to experience arousal, lubrication, orgasm and satisfaction during sex.

Rouzi said it was vital to have concrete evidence to help change attitudes. "We want to document the complications so we can go and argue that there is no real basis for this cultural practice," he said. "I'm interested in presenting a scientific-based discussion."

The study will be published soon in the journal Fertility and Sterility.

California Stars in Massive Earthquake Drill

The largest disaster drill in U.S. history will have millions of people ducking for cover.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 13 Nov 2008 | 2:35 pm

Bone Marrow Transplant Appears to Cure AIDS

An AIDS patient seems to have been cured by a bone marrow transplant.
Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 13 Nov 2008 | 2:22 pm

Chimp rescue

Rangers confiscate chimp that was being kept as a pet
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 13 Nov 2008 | 2:05 pm

EU seeks to expand energy grids

The European Commission unveils plans to diversify the EU's energy imports and reduce reliance on Russia.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 13 Nov 2008 | 2:04 pm

Overweight women more likely to miscarry healthy babies

Overweight women are more likely to miscarry a healthy baby, according to research involving 204 women who had suffered a miscarriage.

The researchers said the findings back up advice that obese women should lose weight before trying to conceive.

"The excess miscarriage rate in overweight and obese women is due to the loss of chromosomally normal embryos," said Dr Inna Landres of Stanford University School of Medicine. "It's important to identify elevated BMI [body mass index] as a risk factor for miscarriage and counsel those women who are affected on the importance of lifestyle modification."

Landres' team carried out genetic analyses of 204 foetuses miscarried by women with an average age of 35.

Of the 153 women with normal body weight (a BMI of less than 25), 36.6% had miscarried foetuses with no chromosome defects – insertions or deletions of DNA. This compared with 52.9% of the 51 overweight women (BMI over 25).

The results were presented at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine annual meeting in San Francisco.

One possible cause of the effect is insulin resistance, which is the precursor of type 2 diabetes. This affects a woman's hormonal state, which could impact the pregnancy. Also, excess adipose (fatty) tissue leads to higher levels of oestrogen and testosterone in the body.

'We are trying to figure out what is a preventable loss of pregnancy, whether it is a natural cause or maternal influence," said co-author Dr Ruth Lathi.

Dr Mark Hamilton at the University of Aberdeen, who chairs the British Fertility Society and was not involved in the study, said obesity is a recognized cause of miscarriage. "It has not been defined if that risk is related to genetic problems for the embryos or the obesity itself is linked to implantation mechanisms," he said.

"This study will aid our understanding of the known association with being overweight and reproductive loss. We need more follow-up studies on this."

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