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'Smart' Surveillance System May Tag Suspicious Or Lost PeopleEngineers here are developing a computerized surveillance system that, when completed, will attempt to recognize whether a person on the street is acting suspiciously or appears to be lost. Intelligent video cameras, large video screens and geo-referencing software are among the technologies that will soon be available to law enforcement and security agencies.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 24 Dec 2008 | 7:00 pm Why Do We Believe in Santa?Having kids believe there's a jolly man in a red suit who visits on Christmas Eve isn't detrimental, although some parents can feel they're outright lying to their children, according to a new analysis. If children attribute the same supernatural powers to Santa as they do to God, why do they stop believing in Santa, but continue their belief in God?Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 24 Dec 2008 | 7:00 pm Probiotics May Help People Taking AntibioticsUp to one in five people on antibiotics stop taking their full course of antibiotic therapy due to diarrhea. Physicians could help patients avoid this problem by prescribing probiotics, according to a new study.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 24 Dec 2008 | 7:00 pm Slamming Brakes On Deadly Ovarian Cancer Cells: Blocking Proteins Coded By Notorious Cancer-causing GeneOvarian cancer cells are "addicted" to a family of proteins produced by the notorious oncogene, MYC, and blocking these Myc proteins halts cell proliferation in the deadliest cancer of the female reproductive system.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 24 Dec 2008 | 7:00 pm Does Global Warming Lead To A Change In Upper Atmospheric Transport?Most atmospheric models predict that the rate of transport of air from the troposphere to the above lying stratosphere should be increasing due to climate change. Surprisingly, an international group of researchers has now found that this does not seem to be happening. On the contrary, it seems that the air air masses are moving more slowly than predicted. This could also imply that recovery of the ozone layer may be somewhat slower than predicted by state-of-the-art atmospheric climate models.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 24 Dec 2008 | 7:00 pm New Type Of Laser DiscoveredResearchers have discovered an entirely new mechanism for making common electronic materials emit laser beams. The finding could lead to lasers that operate more efficiently and at higher temperatures than existing devices, and find applications in environmental monitoring and medical diagnostics.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 24 Dec 2008 | 7:00 pm CAT Scan Reveals Inner Workings Of Volcano IslandOn the ground and in the water, researchers have been collecting imaging data on the Soufriere Hills Volcano in Montserrat to understand the internal structure of the volcano and how and when it erupts.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 24 Dec 2008 | 4:00 pm Ocean Acidification From Carbon Dioxide Emissions Will Cause Physiological Impairment To Jumbo SquidThe elevated carbon dioxide levels expected to be found in the world's oceans by 2100 will likely lead to physiological impairments of jumbo squid.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 24 Dec 2008 | 4:00 pm Newly Discovered Esophagus Stem Cells Grow Into Transplantable Tissue, Study FindsResearchers have discovered stem cells in the esophagus of mice that were able to grow into tissue-like structures and when placed into immune-deficient mice were able to form parts of an esophagus lining.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 24 Dec 2008 | 4:00 pm Tumor Suppressor Gene: Gene Function 'Lost' In Melanoma And GlioblastomaResearchers have found a gene they say is inactivated in two aggressive cancers -- malignant melanoma, a form of skin cancer, and glioblastoma multiforme, a lethal brain tumor. They add that because this gene, known as PTPRD, has recently been found to be inactivated in several other cancers as well, their discovery suggests that PTPRD may play a tumor suppressor role in a wide variety of different cancers.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 24 Dec 2008 | 4:00 pm Police Incompetence Threatens Justice for ChildrenThe case of Caylee Anthony reveals some trends about police work in missing persons cases.Source: Livescience.com | 24 Dec 2008 | 2:21 pm Spirituality Spot Found in Brain (LiveScience.com)LiveScience.com - What makes us feel spiritual? It could be the quieting of a small area in our brains, a new study suggests. The area in question - the right parietal lobe - is responsible for defining "Me," said researcher Brick Johnstone of Missouri University. It generates self-criticism, he said, and guides us through physical and social terrains by constantly updating our self-knowledge: my hand, my cocktail, my witty conversation skills, my new love interest ... ...Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 24 Dec 2008 | 2:19 pm Spirituality Spot Found in BrainExperiences of selflessness, a core aspect of spirituality, may be the product of reduced activity in a specific brain region.Source: Livescience.com | 24 Dec 2008 | 2:11 pm Mistletoe Meds Fight Cancer, Studies ShowFermented mistletoe gives a boost to traditional cancer therapies.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 24 Dec 2008 | 2:03 pm More than 200 NI rivers pollutedThree-quarters of Northern Ireland's rivers are polluted beyond acceptable levels, assembly members are told.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 24 Dec 2008 | 1:57 pm The Nation's Weather (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:14 pm Taiwan party labels 'panda diplomacy' propaganda (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 24 Dec 2008 | 10:00 am Why some Scottish salmon are leaping for joy this yearThe BBC News website takes a look at Scotland's most significant salmon conservation project.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 24 Dec 2008 | 7:18 am Genes Seem to Affect Tissues Differently (HealthDay)HealthDay - TUESDAY, Dec. 23 (HealthDay News) -- The same gene acting very differently in different tissues may contribute to certain human traits, including how likely a person is to get a disease, a new report says.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 24 Dec 2008 | 4:48 am NYC man admits he helped air Hezbollah TV (AP)AP - The owner of a satellite TV company pleaded guilty Tuesday to providing material aid to a terrorist organization by letting customers receive broadcasts from Hezbollah's television station.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 24 Dec 2008 | 1:37 am Orangutans learn to trade favoursScientists show orangutans are capable of helping each other to obtain food by trading tokens.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:56 am Ancient water source vital for AustraliaSYDNEY (Reuters) - An ancient underground water basin the size of Libya holds the key to Australia avoiding a water crisis as climate change bites the drought-hit nation.Source: Reuters: Science News | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:35 am Happy Birthday EarthriseForty years ago, the crew of Apollo 8 reached lunar orbit - mankind's first close encounter with another world.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:14 am Animal rights extremists still targeting Huntingdon Life Sciences laboratoryAnimal rights activists are continuing a campaign of threats and intimidation against scores of companies linked to the controversial animal research laboratory Huntingdon Life Sciences, despite a £3.5m police undercover sting which will put key extremists behind bars. Four leading activists were convicted yesterday for a six-year campaign of blackmail against firms linked to HLS. Three others pleaded guilty before the trial. Police sources said the seven extremists, all of whom claimed their actions were on behalf of the Animal Liberation Front, targeted thousands of individuals and hundreds of companies in attacks designed to shut down HLS. The firm is licensed to carry out testing for pharmaceutical and other companies. All seven were members of Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (Shac). They face up to 14 years in prison when they are sentenced next month. Yesterday, a jury at Winchester crown court took 33 hours to convict Heather Nicholson, 41, Kim Gerrah Selby, 20, Daniel Wadham, 21 and Gavin Medd-Hall, 45, of conspiracy to blackmail. One juror requested not to be in court when the verdicts were given for fear of reprisals. Gregg Avery, 45, his wife, Natasha Avery, and Daniel Amos, 22, had earlier pleaded guilty to the same charge. Trevor Holmes, 51, was acquitted. The Averys and Nicholson were founding members of Shac and veteran activists. All seven were considered key figures within the Animal Liberation Front. During the three-month trial, the jury heard how employees of firms linked in any way to HLS would be targeted at work and at home. Groups of extremists wearing masks would turn up at night with sirens, fireworks and klaxons. They would daub slogans with paint on the individual's home and car. In some cases families received hoax bombs, and many employees were smeared by false campaigns alleging they were paedophiles. The intimidation included sending used sanitary towels in the post, saying they were contaminated with HIV. The blackmail would only stop when the firm put out a "capitulation statement" to Shac saying they would not supply HLS. But despite the success of the police operation, launched in 2005, the Shac campaign goes on. On its website yesterday was a list of companies to target, including those who trade on the New York Stock Exchange Euronext, which now lists HLS shares. "Customers are the main thing keeping HLS in business," the posting read. "It's simple No Customers = No HLS. "HLS struggle to keep shareholders because of our campaign ... when new ones come to light demonstrations and action alerts will happen across the globe." Police sources said the campaign's continuation did not detract from the success of the operation. "These things will never go away," a source said. "But we hope the debate will come back to reasoned discussion and a political settlement." An HLS spokesman said: "Freedom of expression and lawful protest are important rights, but so is the right to conduct vital biomedical research or to support organisations that perform such research without being harassed and threatened." Detective Chief Inspector Andy Robbins of Kent police led the two-year operation. He said: "The verdict reflects the continuing commitment of law enforcement and the Crown Prosecution Service to bring to justice those who seek to repress reasonable discussion and who commit serious offences in the name of animal rights." Alastair Nisbet from the CPS said the investigation was "made all the more difficult by the fact that the defendants concealed their criminal activities behind a cloak of lawful protest, by their use of encryption and file-wiping software on their computers, and by the routine destruction of any documents that they thought might incriminate them". guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More FeedsSource: Science | guardian.co.uk | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:01 am The victim: how an indirect connection to Huntingdon Life Sciences made one man an ALF targetWilliam Denison compared his family's hounding by extremists to 'Chinese water torture'Source: Science | guardian.co.uk | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:01 am Activists celebrate as insurers pull plug on £1.1bn Ilisu dam project in TurkeyInsurers delivered a victory for environmentalists and dealt a body blow to Turkey's economic regeneration plans yesterday by pulling the plug on a bitterly contested dam project that critics claimed would wreck habitats, displace people and drown ancient archaeological treasures. A consortium of German, Austrian and Swiss insurance firms ordered a halt to the £1.1bn Ilisu dam in Turkey's impoverished south-east after concluding that it failed to meet standards set by their governments and the World Bank. The decision means suppliers underwritten by the insurers will have to stop work on the dam, located by the banks of the Tigris near Turkey's borders with Iraq and Syria, for 180 days and casts doubts on its long-term viability. Environmentalists, heritage organisations and human rights groups campaigned against the project claiming it would have meant the loss of around 80 towns, villages and hamlets and the destruction of large areas of farmland. They argued that the mainly Kurdish local population had not been properly consulted and that between 50,000 and 80,000 people would be forced from their homes without compensation. Heritage campaigners also claimed that the project would flood ruins from ancient Mesopotamia in the town of Hasankeyf and other sites, which are believed to contain evidence of 100,000 years of human occupation. Turkey insists the project - first planned in the 1980s and due for completion in 2013 - is vital for generating electricity, water, jobs and prosperity in a region long blighted by poverty and a violent guerrilla war between the militant Kurdistan Workers party (PKK) and the Turkish military. It aimed to generate 1,200MW of electricity. The ruling Justice and Development party (AKP), which has made regeneration of the south-east a priority as it seeks to win Kurdish votes, has rejected claims that archaeological relics would be lost. The Ilisu project is part of a wider network of dams known as the South-eastern Anatolia Project (GAP), which aims to transform the south-east into the country's breadbasket. The decision to suspend it was based on an agreement by the German, Austrian and Swiss governments that it must meet 150 World Bank conditions on the environment, heritage sites, neighbouring states and human relocation to continue. Erich Stather, Germany's secretary for economic cooperation and development, accused Turkey of playing "little games". Germany has said Turkey pushed ahead with compulsory land purchases even as discussions continued over how to comply with World Bank rules. Turkey has also been accused of failing to properly consult Iraq and Syria. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More FeedsSource: Science | guardian.co.uk | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:01 am Targeted firm forced to hide share tradingDespite yesterday's conviction of four animal rights activists, Huntingdon Life Sciences still takes extraordinary precautions to continue trading. The company was once listed openly on the London stock exchange, but this meant that for a small fee protesters could buy access to the company's shareholder register, allowing them to widen their campaign of intimidation to target investors. Soon trading in Huntingdon's shares petered out as City dealers refused to touch them and the company's share price nosedived. Huntingdon switched its official headquarters to the US, setting up a new holding company in Maryland, where investors remain anonymous unless they own more than 5% of a company. This new shell company, Life Sciences Research (LSR), took over Huntingdon at the start of 2002. LSR was ready to join the New York stock-market in 2005 but abandoned its move at the last minute amid fears of a violent protest in the US. Eventually LSR made it to the NYSE Arca exchange, which uses an electronic trading system that makes it harder to trace which individuals or institutions are trading in a company's shares. Earlier this year, LSR was worth around $400m (£272m) before it was sucked up in the stockmarket downturn. Huntingdon says it has not suffered as a result of its flight to the US, reporting revenues of $236.8m last year, a 23% increase on the previous year. But it still has to use the UK government for banking and insurance facilities because financial institutions fear they will be targeted by activists if they are linked to Huntingdon. Its managing director, Brian Cass, has accused the financial services industry of treating Huntingdon as "radioactive". guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More FeedsSource: Science | guardian.co.uk | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:01 am Campaigns, protests and prison terms: how activists formed militant cellProfiles of five of the extremists behind the Huntingdon Life Sciences blackmail campaignSource: Science | guardian.co.uk | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:01 am Secrets of survivalPolice believe Donna Molnar survived because snow quickly covered her body to form an insulating layer against the sub-zero temperatures of the Canadian winter. Crucially, her mouth and nose were left unobstructed, so she could still breathe. When the body starts to lose more heat than it can easily generate, it is forced to risk losing parts it can cope without. Older people reach this point more quickly, and in Molnar's case it is likely that her body stopped warming her hands and feet, instead making sure it kept the heart and brain alive. If her fingers and toes became extremely cold during her ordeal, she may have serious frostbite and could require surgery to remove them. Others who have been caught out in snowstorms have not been as lucky as Molnar appears to have been. In 1999, Jamie Andrew lost both hands and feet to frostbite after being caught in a five-day storm in the French Alps. His climbing partner, Jamie Fisher, died of hypothermia. Some surgeons believe freezing conditions can help people survive serious injuries by slowing down the rate the brain uses oxygen. At Massachusetts general hospital in Boston, trauma surgeon Hasan Alam is experimenting with injections of chilled preservation fluid, which may in future be used to put patients into suspended animation. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More FeedsSource: Science | guardian.co.uk | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:01 am PlantwatchIf proof were needed of the cold end to autumn, then Tim Sparks has evidence. He studies phenology, the timings of the seasons, and each year on the same dates in autumn he photographs the trees outside his offices at Monks Wood, Cambridgeshire. On 2 December this year the trees were bare of leaves - whereas on the same date in 2005 the leaves were still largely green. It just shows how the British climate blows hot and cold from year to year. Some commentators, though, see this year's cool weather as proof that climate change doesn't exist. But by looking back over decades and centuries of old phenology records we can see an unmistakeable pattern of rising temperatures. One particularly important study dates back to 1736, by Robert Marsham, a wealthy landowner at the village of Stratton Strawless, Norfolk. Each year he meticulously noted 27 different indications of spring, such as the flowering of wood anemones or the first call of the cuckoo. His records showed that late springs followed bitterly cold winters, as happened after the huge volcanic eruption of Laki in Iceland in 1783. And Marsham's family continued his records up to 1958, the longest single phenology record in Britain. This, and other studies, clearly show how springtimes are now tending to arrive earlier and autumns are later, despite the wild yearly fluctuations. The picture is unmistakeable - that Britain's climate is growing warmer at an unprecedented rate. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More FeedsSource: Science | guardian.co.uk | 24 Dec 2008 | 12:00 am Gas exporting states agree Qatar-based 'gas OPEC' (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 23 Dec 2008 | 9:33 pm 'Pinups for Pit Bulls' Rally for Breed"Fight the deed, not the breed" is the motto of these pioneering pinup models.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 23 Dec 2008 | 8:13 pm Cocaine Turns Honeybees Into Liars
Cocaine is a terrible drug — not just for humans, but for honeybees as well, whom it turns into exaggerating liars. When researchers applied a drop of cocaine to the backs of feeding bees, they returned to their hive and gave a waggle dance — the stepping pattern by which bees communicate food location, and the one thing I retained from my 8 a.m. Biology 101 class — that described the pollen as being far better than it was. These findings, scheduled to publish on Friday in the Journal of Experimental Biology, are more than a slightly surreal way of passing time: they suggest that honeybees are affected by cocaine in ways similar to humans, and may be useful as experimental models of drug addiction. According to the press release, the researchers "hope to find out whether the drug has as devastating an effect on honeybee society as it does on human society." One looks forward to the developmental studies on crack larvae. Citation: "Effects of cocaine on honey bee dance behaviour." By Barron, A. B., Maleszka, R., Helliwell, P. G. and Robinson, G. E. Journal of Experimental Biology No. 212, Dec. 26, 2008. Video: Honeybee waggle dance / Sinankosak/YouTube See Also:
WiSci 2.0: Brandon Keim's Twitter stream and Del.icio.us feed; Wired Science on Facebook. Source: Wired: Wired Science | 23 Dec 2008 | 7:28 pm The Smallest Welding Job Ever
If you think you're good at precision welding, think again. Beverley Inkson can connect nanowires together with microscopic bits of melted tin. Her tricks could be used to repair electronics and build tiny sensors. "Scientists have developed many ways to make individual nano-objects, but not many ways to securely join them together," said Inkson. "Most everyday joining techniques cannot be applied at the nanoscale, where nano-objects, a thousand times smaller than a human hair are easily destroyed by heat." Her team at Sheffield University can connect those fragile objects without damaging them. They explained how to do it in a report to Nano Letters this month. Other researchers have fused sturdy, 650-nanometer, platinum wires together, but their techniques would melt smaller objects. Inkson can join gold or alloy wires that are only 55 nanometers wide, roughly the same width as the lines in your desktop's processor. By laying a nanowire across the objects that she wants to weld, and then passing just the right pulse of electricity through it, Inkson can connect the minuscule objects. She uses a tool called a nanomanipulator to pick the wires up, move them around, and electrify them. "The solder wire melts and flows onto the joint," says Inkson. "The welding can be watched in real-time inside an electron microscope, allowing the choice of exactly where, and how much, nanosolder is applied."
Top: Scanning Electron Microscope image of weleded gold nanowires that spell out the word NANO. Bottom: The cone-shaped tips of a nanomanipulator move a sacrificial nanowire into place and electrically heat it to join two other wires together. Courtesy of Beverley Inkson Citation: Yong Peng, Tony Cullis and Beverley Inkson, Bottom-up Nanoconstruction by the Welding of Individual Metallic Nanoobjects Using Nanoscale Solder, Nano Lett., Article ASAP See Also:
Source: Wired: Wired Science | 23 Dec 2008 | 7:23 pm Africa's Oldest Chimp, a Conservation Hero, DiesThe life of 66-year-old chimpanzee Gregoire is celebrated by his caretakers.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 23 Dec 2008 | 7:03 pm Reindeer Could Remain on the RunCaribou, aka reindeer, could soon become endangered by threats such as oil exploration and climate change.Source: Livescience.com | 23 Dec 2008 | 6:17 pm Finding Chemo: Scanning the Sea Floor for New Drugs
SANTA CRUZ, California — Seafaring microbes and a room full of robots may be the key to the next big pharmaceutical breakthrough. Two new compounds, one that kills the parasites that cause African sleeping sickness and one that destroys breast cancer cells, have surfaced in an automated lab at the University of California, Santa Cruz. A direct pipeline from the ocean to chemical-scanning robots makes it possible for researchers to screen thousands of unstudied chemicals each day. “These marine sediments could contain the next big anti-cancer drug,” said chemist Scott Lokey, who runs the UC Santa Cruz Chemical Screening Center. The sea is teeming with microbes, fungi and invertebrates, which produce and use chemicals for everything from defense to communication. Natural compounds are a huge source of inspiration for pharmaceuticals, but most marine chemicals remain unexplored. That’s changing as human lab assistants are replaced by machines. The screening center in Santa Cruz, a small room filled with whirring white robots, is similar to some private pharmaceutical labs. But the UC Santa Cruz researchers have an advantage: collaborations with globe-trotting, scuba-diving scientists who deliver deep-sea compounds right into the robots’ (mechanical) hands. “It’s one of very few screening centers that has natural product specialists as part of the department,” says Roger Linington, a UC Santa Cruz chemist whose lab collects extracts from bottom-dwelling marine microbes as deep as 2,000 feet below sea level. Once these mysterious chemicals are purified, they are handed off to the robots, which stamp the extracts onto colonies of bacteria, yeast or human cancer cells. A robotic microscope beams light through the resulting cultures and images the cells growing there. The light reveals what Lokey calls “zones of death” — areas where compounds have killed cells or halted their growth. “It’s basically an assembly line for doing small-molecule screening,” he said. In its first year of operation, the lab has already had two interesting hits. One, the as-yet-unnamed product of a rod-shaped marine bacterium, is 98 percent efficient at killing the parasite that causes African sleeping sickness, a fatal disease common in sub-Saharan Africa. The other, dubbed “tamoxilog,” is biologically similar to tamoxifen, a drug commonly used to treat breast cancer, though preliminary tests suggest tamoxilog is twice as powerful. These discoveries wouldn’t have been possible without robotics, the researchers say. Tamoxilog was gathering dust, along with thousands of other samples, in the National Cancer Institute’s molecular library just waiting for someone to pick it up. Likewise, the sheer number of oceanic compounds yet to be explored would overwhelm human lab technicians. Researchers must run both tamoxilog and the possible anti-parasitic drug through a gauntlet of tests before either comes close to clinical trials on humans. Meanwhile, Lokey and his team will continue sorting through their collection of compounds, running up to 30,000 scans a day. For Linington, whose lab discovered the anti-African sleeping sickness compound in the Gulf of Maine, the chance to scan so many chemicals could mean new cures for neglected diseases. “We’ll collect on everything from coral reefs to rubble,” Linington said. “Microbial diversity gives us chemical diversity.” — Stephanie Pappas for Wired.com Image: Images by cancer cells before (left) and after treatment with a cancer fighting compound (left) taken by UCSC Chemical Screening Center. Video: UCSC Chemical Screening Center See Also:
Source: Wired: Wired Science | 23 Dec 2008 | 6:16 pm Cousin Marriage OK by Science
In an age of sexual liberation, marriage between cousins remains taboo, at least in the United States — and from a scientific perspective, laws against the unions are a socially legitimized form of genetic and sexual discrimination.
Whatever their motivations, the laws are not supported by science. According to the National Society of Genetic Counselors, birth defects are 2 to 3 percent more common in children born to first cousins than among the general population — a real risk, but not enough to justify the bans. "It's a form of discrimination that nobody talks about. People worry about not getting health insurance — but saying that someone shouldn't marry based on how they're related, when there's no known harm, to me is a form of discrimination," said Robin Bennett, a University of Washington genetic counselor who led the NSGC study. Precise statistics on cousin-union frequency in the United States are hard to come by, she said, but discrimination and ignorance have serious consequences. "I'm aware of people who have been afraid to tell people that they're in love with their cousins, who've become pregnant and potentially terminated a pregnancy based on false information," said Bennett. "Or they didn't marry the person they loved because of their concerns." "The laws against cousin marriage are archaic, outdated and counterproductive," said Ottenheimer. Repealing these laws doesn't seem likely in the near future: Gay marriage remains a more pressing issue. But anyone who wants to fight for cousin marriage won't have to fight against science. "Ultimately it's a political question about what you allow
individuals to do, and what that says about the structure of society,"
said Spencer. See Also:
WiSci 2.0: Brandon Keim's Twitter stream and Del.icio.us feed; Wired Science on Facebook. Source: Wired: Wired Science | 23 Dec 2008 | 5:36 pm Scotland prepares to host Europe's first 'dark sky park'From the car park in the foothills of the Range of the Awful Hand, it is a short walk to what may be the darkest place in the country. Drive up here after sunset and you are unlikely to set eyes on another soul, yet the site is famous among a small group of enthusiasts who come here in the black of night to stand, watch and wonder. The patch of ground in the imposing row of mountains is surrounded by 300 square miles of moorland, woods and lochs that form the rugged wilderness of Galloway Forest Park in southern Scotland, and in a few weeks, officers at the forest will take steps towards making it Europe's first official dark sky park. It is the profound lack of light that makes the area worthy of recognition and such a spectacular place to look at nature. The spot is so remote that on a cloudless night it offers an unrivalled view of the heavens: a rare chance to see shooting stars and the distant Andromeda galaxy, the aurora borealis and stellar nurseries where suns are born to warm alien planets. Only two other parks in the world, one in Pennsylvania, the other in Utah, have been recognised by the International Dark-Sky Association, a US-based organisation that seeks to preserve and celebrate the darkest corners of the Earth. To earn dark sky park status, officials in Galloway will submit digital photographs of the night sky taken through a fisheye lens. Their application must be supported by readings from light meters at different points in the park, and a list of measures that are being taken within the forest to prevent lights in and around the handful of farm buildings from spilling upwards into the sky and ruining the view. Registering the park in Galloway will be a British highlight of Unesco's International Year of Astronomy (IYA) in 2009. If the park's accreditation is successful, others including Exmoor National Park, the Brecon Beacons and the Peak District are expected to follow suit. Interest in preserving areas where the glow of the city has yet to encroach on the night sky follows work by the Campaign for Dark Skies, a group set up by the British Astronomical Society in 1989 to highlight the growing issue of light pollution. With increasing urbanisation come better-lit streets, roads and buildings, which send light needlessly up into the sky, obscuring all but the brightest stars. According to some estimates, the amount of light that leaks into space costs around £110m a year. "If you go out in an urban street and look up at night, you might see 50, maybe 100 stars at best. But come to our park and when you look up and let your eyes adjust, there are so many stars you can't count them. You see shooting stars, satellites and the Milky Way, with its billions of stars. You don't even need a high-powered telescope: a pair of binoculars is brilliant," said Keith Muir, recreation officer at Galloway Forest Park. Steven Owens, an astronomer who is coordinating the UK's involvement in the IYA, said: "We've become a very urban population, and in doing so we've cut ourselves off from experiences people have had for hundreds and thousands of years. "People have been looking up at the night sky, telling stories and passing on myths and legends for the entirety of recorded human history. But when we moved into cities, we lost that very deep connection with the universe. In setting up dark sky parks, we're trying to reconnect people with nature." The darkness of the night sky is judged on what is called the Bortle scale, where night-time illumination over London ranks as a 10, while that over an oil rig in the Pacific ranks as one. Galloway scores around three on the scale, making its skies the darkest in Europe. Marek Kukula, an astronomer at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, said designated dark sky parks were needed to put the brakes on the rapidly vanishing natural beauty of the night sky. "This is a part of our heritage that we're losing. If we concreted over the countryside and bulldozed the forests, there would be an outcry, but this has sneaked up on us, and people don't realise what we are doing. The night sky is an amazing spectacle that 90% of the population doesn't get to see," he said. Next year, astronomers led by Dan Hillier at the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh aim to set up partnerships between local parks and astronomers to raise awareness of stargazing across the UK for those without easy access to the more remote corners of the country. The best time to view the night sky, especially in Scotland, is in the winter when the nights are darker and longer. Amateur astronomers recommend using websites and magazines to find out what will be in the sky and when. "You might be able to see Venus and Jupiter on the horizon at sunset. And if you go somewhere perfectly dark and look just beneath the belt of Orion the Hunter, you'll see a fuzzy blob. It might not look much, but it's a stellar nursery where new stars are born," said Owens. After midnight on 3 January and before dawn the next day, Britain will have a prime view of the Quadrantid meteor shower, when astronomers expect to see around 100 shooting stars an hour. The brilliant streaks of light are caused by the Earth hurtling through giant clouds of dust particles, which burn up in the upper reaches of the atmosphere. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More FeedsSource: Science | guardian.co.uk | 23 Dec 2008 | 5:28 pm Misery makersColds and flu viruses remain mysteriousSource: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 23 Dec 2008 | 5:23 pm Ancient Family Heirlooms Used to Snort HallucinogensAnthropologists ponder the mystery of three inhaling bowls found in the Antilles.Source: Livescience.com | 23 Dec 2008 | 5:09 pm On Earth, Evolution Booms in BurstsLife on Earth has evolved in fits and starts, according to controversial new research.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 23 Dec 2008 | 5:03 pm Ariane rocket launches satellites for EutelsatKOUROU, French Guiana (Reuters) - A European Ariane-5 rocket blasted off from French Guiana on Saturday putting into orbit two satellites for Europe's telecoms operator Eutelsat, officials said.Source: Reuters: Science News | 23 Dec 2008 | 4:55 pm Scientists recreate nerve disease to study itCHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. scientists have created the first human model for studying a devastating nerve disease, which allows them to watch how the disease develops and could help researchers find a way to treat it.Source: Reuters: Science News | 23 Dec 2008 | 4:54 pm Looking sheepishNew technology aims to frustrate sheep rustlersSource: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 23 Dec 2008 | 4:41 pm Ancient Tombs Unveiled Near CairoNewly found tombs reveal the sprawling necropolis south of Cairo is larger than thought.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 23 Dec 2008 | 4:30 pm Activists guilty of hate campaignFour animal rights activists are guilty of a blackmail campaign against firms that supplied Huntingdon Life Sciences.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 23 Dec 2008 | 4:06 pm Christmas Lights May Pose Lead HazardChristmas lights might be bad for our health, according to a new study.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 23 Dec 2008 | 3:30 pm Caffeine Works Better for MenCaffeine affects men more strongly than women, and while decaf coffee perks up both the sexes, it works better on women.Source: Livescience.com | 23 Dec 2008 | 3:13 pm Why Some of Us Hate to CryMost of us like to cry, but a new study reveals why it doesn't benefit all of us.Source: Livescience.com | 23 Dec 2008 | 2:44 pm New Spy Tricks Hide Messages in Plain SightMeet cryptography's evil twin: the power to hide codes in everyday communications.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 23 Dec 2008 | 2:30 pm Scientists No Closer to Curing HangoversHangover cures vary worldwide, from tripe soup in Mexico, vitamin concoctions in America, and pickle juice in Poland, connected by one fact: They don't really work.Source: Livescience.com | 23 Dec 2008 | 2:13 pm Blind man gives demonstration of 'blindsight'A man who was left completely blind by a series of strokes has delighted scientists by negotiating a maze of obstacles without using his cane. The man, known only as TN, walked around chairs and boxes without knocking into them in an extraordinary demonstration of "blindsight", a strange ability some blind people have to detect objects they cannot see. Scans of the man's brain revealed that a succession of strokes had left him unable to see, while brain regions known to process visual information were completely inactive. Nevertheless, the man is able to react to facial expressions, registering emotions such as joy and anger. Scientists at the University of Tilburg in the Netherlands believe people with blindsight are unwittingly tapping into alternative brain circuitry that lets them process information their eyes are receiving. In the experiment, scientists created an obstacle course from boxes and chairs and asked the man to negotiate it without his stick or help from another person. When he completed the course without bumping into anything, onlookers applauded in amazement. "This is absolutely the first study of this ability in humans," said Beatrice de Gelder, who led the study, which appears in the journal Current Biology. "We see what humans can do, even with no awareness of seeing or any intentional avoidance of obstacles. It shows us the importance of these evolutionarily ancient visual paths. They contribute more than we think they do for us to funciuton in the real world." Scientists have seen blindsight in monkeys with similar brain damage. The study reveals that untapped neural pathways exist in the brain that allow people to orient themselves and quickly detect obstacles, even if they are not conscious of seeing them. "All the time, we are using hidden resources of our brain and doing things we think we are unable to do," said de Gelder. "There is much that patients can do outside the grip of their being too aware of what they cannot do," she added. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More FeedsSource: Science | guardian.co.uk | 23 Dec 2008 | 1:58 pm
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