|
|
|
|
Visual Learners Convert Words To Pictures In The Brain And Vice Versa, Says Psychology StudyUsing functional magnetic resonance imaging technology, a new study reveals that people who consider themselves visual learners, as opposed to verbal learners, have a tendency to convert linguistically presented information into a visual mental representation. The opposite also appears to be true from the study's results.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 28 Mar 2009 | 9:00 pm Drinking Very Hot Tea Can Increase The Risk Of Throat CancerPeople are advised to wait a few minutes before drinking a cup of freshly-boiled tea today as a new study finds that drinking very hot tea (70 degrees C or more) can increase the risk of cancer of the esophagus, the muscular tube that carries food from the throat to the stomach.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 28 Mar 2009 | 9:00 pm Sexual Reproduction: Birds Do It, Bees Do It; Termites Don't, NecessarilyScientists have shown for the first time that it is possible for certain female termite "primary queens" to reproduce both sexually and asexually during their lifetimes. The asexually produced babies mostly grow to be queen successors -- so-called "secondary queens" -- that remain in the termite colony and mate with the king. This produces large broods of babies without the dangers of inbreeding, as secondary queens have no genes in common with the king.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 28 Mar 2009 | 9:00 pm Environmental Cleaning Intervention Reduces Transmission Of Multidrug-resistant Organisms In ICUsA new study presents hospital cleansing methods to reduce spread of infectious diseases such as MRSA and VRE.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 28 Mar 2009 | 9:00 pm Hollow Gold Nanospheres Show Promise For Biomedical And Other ApplicationsA new metal nanostructure has already shown promise in cancer therapy studies and could be used for chemical and biological sensors and other applications as well. The hollow gold nanospheres have a unique set of properties, including strong, narrow and tunable absorption of light.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 28 Mar 2009 | 9:00 pm Underground Subatomic-particle Measurements Yield Meteorological CluesWhen high-energy cosmic rays interact with molecules in the atmosphere, they produce muons, negatively charged elementary particles that can be detected at ground level or underground. The rate of these muons detected by underground detectors has been found to correlate strongly with temperature changes in the upper air.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 28 Mar 2009 | 9:00 pm Climate And Habitat Diversity Affect Variety Of Animal Species In SpainThe Iberian Peninsula is one of the richest regions of Europe in terms of animal biodiversity. Spanish researchers have shown that the variation in terrestrial vertebrate diversity in Spain is influenced above all by climate.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 28 Mar 2009 | 3:00 pm New Protein Important In Breast Cancer Gene's Role In DNA Repair IdentifiedA new study has identified genes associated with the BRCA1 protein and their involvement in the DNA repair pathway, helping to clear the way for researchers to better understand what goes wrong when the BRCA1 gene is mutated and the repair pathway goes haywire. Identifying patients with mutations in these BRCA1-associated genes may help better fight breast cancer.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 28 Mar 2009 | 3:00 pm Smokers May Have Increased Risk Of PancreatitisSmoking appears to be associated with an increased risk of acute and chronic pancreatitis, according to a new article. In addition, the risk of developing the disease may be higher in those who smoke more.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 28 Mar 2009 | 3:00 pm Crabs Not Only Suffer Pain, But Retain Memory Of ItNew research has shown that crabs not only suffer pain but that they retain a memory of it. The study looked at the reactions of hermit crabs to small electric shocks.Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 28 Mar 2009 | 3:00 pm Teen Leaders More Likely to Have Kids Later (LiveScience.com)LiveScience.com - We live in an age of overachieving young people. These kids do great in school, are sports team captains, have lots of friends who follow them around in awe, and get raises at their part-time jobs because they have the skills to get others to work hard too. Some of these kids are overworked and overwhelmed, but others seem to thrive. This sort of busy child will surely get into a good college (unless she burns out before filling out the applications), and those fine-tuned social skills will presumably pay off in terms of getting a decent job and making money. ...Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 28 Mar 2009 | 1:32 pm Russian capsule docks at space station (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 28 Mar 2009 | 1:32 pm Russian rocket docks on International Space StationMOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's Soyuz TMA-14 spacecraft docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday, state RIA news agency reported, citing mission control.Source: Reuters: Science News | 28 Mar 2009 | 1:26 pm Shuttle Discovery on track for afternoon landing (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 28 Mar 2009 | 1:25 pm Sydney first major city to mark Earth Hour 2009 (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 28 Mar 2009 | 12:50 pm US takes new climate change agenda to global talks (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 28 Mar 2009 | 11:11 am World cities begin big switch-offMillions of people worldwide are being urged to switch off lights for an hour, in a major climate change protest.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 28 Mar 2009 | 10:06 am Hurricane Season 2008 (weather.com)weather.com -Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 28 Mar 2009 | 10:05 am U.S. mileage standards for cars up for first timeWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Friday imposed the first increase in mileage standards for passenger cars and boosted the floor for sport utilities and pickups beginning with model year 2011 vehicles.Source: Reuters: Science News | 28 Mar 2009 | 9:06 am New eruptions at Alaska's Mount Redoubt volcano (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 28 Mar 2009 | 4:24 am NJ officials find 80 cats in feces-filled home (AP)AP - One New Jersey SPCA official said it's probably the worst case he's ever seen. An estimated 80 cats and one dog were found living in a home in a million-dollar neighborhood in Morris County. SPCA spokesman Matthew Stanton said there's 2 feet of feces in one room of the home on Farm Road in Chester Township. Investigators wore masks to help them breathe through the stench of urine.Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 28 Mar 2009 | 12:27 am Sitting in a tin can, not far from central Moscow• 105-day experiment to simulate rocket ride In a car park not so far away ... It is a big brother experiment like no other, an experiment which will boldly go where few have gone - or probably wanted to go - before. Six apparently fearless volunteers are to take part in a unique test by being locked up in what amounts to a series of small steel tins off a parking lot in Moscow for 105 days as scientists simulate a space rocket ride to Mars. On Tuesday the team will step into a chain of cramped metal capsules, connected by cables and corrugated metal pipes, in a hangar at the back of the Institute of Medical and Biological Problems (IMBP) in the Russian capital, swing close the hatch and "blast off". The idea is for the 550 cubic-metre "ground exploration complex" (GEC) to recreate as closely as possible the atmosphere of a spacecraft racing through the solar system, bombarded by cosmic radiation. Any return flight to Mars - at least 34 million miles from our planet - would take between 18 months and three years, including landing and exploration. The volunteers - four Russians, a French airline pilot and a German army engineer - will be kept under constant camera surveillance to record the physical and psychological impact of their time in the isolation chamber. They will eat packaged rations, wash with damp tissues and spend several hours each day conducting experiments, just as astronauts would on a real space flight. They will use the same toilet as crew on the international space station, which has fans to propel waste into a "sanitary receptacle". They will eat together, work out in a tiny gym - and may even get in to the odd punch-up. Mark Belokovksy of the IMBP admitted the psychological pressure of living in close quarters with five other human beings could crack even the toughest guinea pigs. "Tension is inevitable," he said candidly. The fact the 105-day "flight" will be a single-sex trip on this occasion may be a blessing. During a similar experiment in 1999 the participants were given vodka to celebrate New Year's Eve: two members then got in a fist fight after one tried to kiss a female volunteer from Canada. The capsules have no windows and the explorers' only contact with the outside world will be via an internal email system and a delayed radio link to the "control centre" positioned alongside the GEC. Each member of the team has a narrow bed and only three cubic metres of personal space. They can take one bag with books and DVDs with them, but will have no access to television or the internet. "Just like cosmonauts we will have eight hours sleep, eight hours work and eight hours for personal matters - intake of food, physical exercise and free time," said Sergei Ryazansky, 34, a space research expert, who will lead the crew. Crew members are expected to deal with all but the severest medical emergencies themselves - one of the Russian volunteers is a doctor - although each maintains the right to quit the project at any moment without giving a reason. While the virtual journey cannot recreate weightlessness - without going into space that is only possible for brief periods in an aircraft - separate tests may be used to simulate the long-term effects of zero gravity. Head-down bed-rest tests, where a volunteer stays for weeks or months in a bed that slopes by six to eight degrees towards the head, recreate the redistribution of blood in the body without gravity. Other experiments will monitor microbiological contamination using an "electronic nose" and examine the effect of long periods of restricted activity on the bones of the crew members. Since the Apollo flights of the late 1960s and early 1970s there have been no manned flights beyond Earth's orbit. While a flight to Mars is thought to be 20 to 30 years away, Belokovsky said conducting such experiments brought the date ever closer. "The knowledge gleaned from the experiment will be invaluable in planning for such a trip," he said. Volunteers on the 105-day stint will receive a payment of €15,000 (£14,000), but Belokovksy said money was not the main motivating factor. "They are driven by the chance to take part in an experiment of international significance," he said. 'Like being stuck in a lift'What will happen to the huamn guinea pigs? Dr Claudia Herbert, chartered clinical psychologist and clinical director of the Oxford Stress and Trauma Centre, explains: "Obviously three months in a capsule is going to be a highly stressful experience and I wonder what preparation and testing the Russian authorities have conducted in choosing and preparing these volunteers for the experiment. They are going into a small social group from which no one can escape, with different personalities, temperaments, cultures and languages. It will be like being stuck in a lift, which can be very stressful even in ordinary conditions - we all have a personal space which we do not like to be invaded by others. What happens in groups is that somebody will crystalise as the leader and in these circumstances, depending on how carefully the group has been chosen and bearing in mind the sort of people who volunteer for these sorts of exercises, there may be two or three displaying leadership characteristics. They are likely to be risk takers and strong personalities, which in itself can make cooperation difficult. It would be good if they have had some mindfulness training: clearing their minds, meditating, taking deep breaths: being aware what is going on in your own mind and learning not to be affected by others. I hope the volunteers do not have vulnerability factors such as traumas from their past that they may not have thought about but which may now surface in such stressful conditions." guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Source: Evolution, genetics, medicine, physics & astronomy news | guardian.co.uk | 28 Mar 2009 | 12:01 am Media reports on suicide can be fatalThis week, in my crescendoing tirade against journalism, we shall review the evidence that the media actually kills people. The suicide of Sylvia Plath's son has filled the news. The media obsessed - understandably - over genetics, when mental illness is probably the single biggest risk factor, but the coverage has been universally thoughtful, considerate, informed, and responsible. This is not always the case. But before we get there, one important cause of suicide seems to have been missed. In The Sorrows of Young Werther by Goethe the hero shoots himself because his love is unattainable. The book was banned after men throughout Europe were reported to be dressing like Werther, copying his affectations, and taking their own lives in the same style. But a myth about a book is not enough: you need research. And it has been shown repeatedly that suicide increases in the month after a front page suicide story. There is also evidence that the effect is bigger for famous people and gruesome attempts. Overdoses increased by 17% in the week after a prominent overdose on Casualty (watched by 22% of the population at the time). In 1998 the Hong Kong media reported heavily on a case of carbon monoxide poisoning by a very specific method, using a charcoal burner. In the 10 months preceding the reports, there had been no such suicides. In November there were three; then in December there were 10; and over the next year there were 40. And it's not pie in the sky to suggest the media should be careful in how they discuss suicide. After the introduction of media reporting guidelines in Austria, there was a significant decrease in the number of people throwing themselves under trains. So organisations such as the Samaritans suggest that journalists avoid crass phrases such as "a successful suicide attempt". They suggest that journalists avoid explicit or technical details of suicide methods, for reasons you can now understand. They suggest that journalists include details of further sources for help and advice, since an article about suicide represents a great opportunity to target people at risk with useful information. And they recommend avoiding simplistic explanations for suicide. From the weekly mass of reports that trample on this perfectly good common sense, one article from the Telegraph at the tail end of last year particularly sticks in my memory. It is very different from the coverage of Plath's son. "Man cut off own head with chainsaw" was the headline. "A man cut off his head with a chainsaw because he did not want to leave his repossessed home." What the Telegraph published was a horrific, comprehensive, explicit and detailed instruction manual. This information was so appallingly technical and instructive that after some discussion we have decided that the Guardian will not print it, even in the context of a critique. It gives truly staggering details on exactly what to buy, how to rig it up, how to use it, and even how to make things more comfortable while waiting for death to come. Suicidal thoughts are common. They pass. Journalists get these kinds of stories from inquests, which are open to the public because we decided as a community, centuries ago, that it was important to be transparent about the judicial process. Perhaps Plath's son will have a public inquest. Perhaps the media will cover it in the same way that the Telegraph covered the chainsaw case. I doubt they will, and I very much hope they won't. It's just hard to tell which is the journalist's true voice: the caring, compassionate, informed consolation, or the murderously detailed chainsaw voyeurism. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Source: Evolution, genetics, medicine, physics & astronomy news | guardian.co.uk | 28 Mar 2009 | 12:01 am Bottled Water Sexes Up Snails
Polycarbonate water bottles have received plenty of bad press for releasing potentially toxic compounds into unsuspecting drinkers, but there may be another culprit: everyday plastic packaging. A German study of commercially-available bottled water found contamination by chemicals that mimic natural sex hormones. When the researchers raised snails in the water, they bred with extreme rapidity — a warning sign that the chemicals were active. Contamination levels were twice as high in brands packaged in plastic instead of glass, suggesting that plastic was the culprit. Citation: "Endocrine disruptors in bottled mineral water: total estrogenic burden and migration from plastic bottles." By Martin Wagner and Jörg Oehlmann. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, Vol. 16 No. 2, March 2009. Image: Flickr/Shazari See Also:
Brandon Keim's Twitter stream and Del.icio.us feed; Wired Science on Facebook. Source: Wired: Wired Science | 27 Mar 2009 | 11:11 pm Space Smells Funny, Astronauts SaySmell of space will linger with space shuttle astronauts upon their return.Source: Livescience.com | 27 Mar 2009 | 9:24 pm Russia, Azerbaijan in talks on gas deal: Gazprom (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 27 Mar 2009 | 8:02 pm Space shuttle crew prepares ship for landingCAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - The shuttle Discovery's astronauts packed their gear and tested the spaceship's landing systems on Friday, aiming for a Saturday touchdown in Florida at the end of a scheduled 13-day flight.Source: Reuters: Science News | 27 Mar 2009 | 7:23 pm How to Defend Earth Against an Asteroid Strike
In troubled economic times, it's often hard to convince the government to fund space science. Heck, at least those much-studied fruit flies live on our planet. But there's one field of research that the public should be happy to support: keeping the Earth from being pummeled by asteroids. And there is no shortage of ideas for how to do this. Earlier this month, a skyscraper-sized asteroid passed within 50,000 miles of Earth — a galactic hair's breadth separating the planet from an impact like one that flattened 800 square miles of Siberian tundra in 1908. Then there's an asteroid spotted in 2004 and called Apophis. Astronomers originally thought it might hit Earth in 2029. Then they decided that it couldn't. Finally they moved back the clock to 2036. The uncertainty is understandable, but not exactly reassuring. And even if Apophis misses, some other rock big enough to put a serious dent in Earth and everything living here will take dead aim for us someday. It's just a matter of time. Some researchers put the odds of a civilization-wrecker at one in the next 300,000 years, others at 1 in 10 for the next century. But when our luck finally runs out, humanity will have something even more useful: guns. As described in the scheduled proceedings of the upcoming first International Academy of Astronautics Planetary Defense conference, engineers have come up with plenty of ways to nudge an Earth-bound asteroid off-course, or failing that, obliterate it from its existence. Here are some of their ideas. Direct nuclear explosions. As immortalized in the movie Armageddon, we could blow an asteroid out of the sky like so much interplanetary skeet. But there's a catch: The pieces could still hit Earth, and we might not have enough firepower to do serious damage. It's a last-minute, last-ditch option. Nearby nuclear explosions. Rather than blowing it up, a nuclear explosion could reroute a space rock's trajectory clear of Earth. This would need to be done decades before the asteroid reached us. They are, after all, not easy to steer. But models suggest it could work. Laser sublimation. Several spacecraft could use machines that direct beams of concentrated sunlight to the surface of an appropriately icy asteroid. As it heats up, it'll spew a plume of debris and change course. Of course, anyone who's ever tried to set a ball of paper aflame with a magnifying glass knows it's not easy. Now imagine that the ball was rotating and traveling faster than sound. Electric propulsion. To adjust course, land a spacecraft on an asteroid, fire up some rockets and push off. It's a potentially powerful approach, but controlling that push on a spinning rock will be difficult. Gravity tractor (pictured above). Every object exerts a gravitational pull, including a single spacecraft. Merely by hovering above the asteroid, it could pull the rock off course. The approach could even be tried with the asteroid belt-exploring Dawn spacecraft, scheduled to finish its tasks by 2015. This is potentially much easier than electric propulsion, but not quite as powerful. Solar sails. Installing a photon-catching sail on an asteroid would be even harder than landing a ship, but it would certainly be prettier. None of these approaches will work unless people see the asteroid in time to plan for it. Under NASA's Near Earth Objects program, six U.S. observatories "search every clear night for these kinds of objects. They are tracked, cataloged and stored," said Steve Chesley, an astronomer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "NASA's goal is to find 90 percent of those that are one kilometer across and larger. We're at 82 percent right now, and we've only been aggressively searching at current levels for eight to 10 years. Those ones just haven't flown into view." Chesley declined to comment on the program's budgetary status, but other astronomers have called for an expansion of its shoestring $4.1 million budget. Congress asked NASA in 2005 to increase its survey efforts, but then-agency director Michael Griffin refused to divert the estimated $1 billion needed for an overhaul away from other projects. "A survey isn't something you can do just once and close the book and walk away. Even if you've discovered an asteroid, you can only predict out so far ... a couple hundred years into the future at most. The asteroids need to continue to be observed," said Chesley. "Without early discovery, there are no options. All the deflection technology in the world will not save you if you haven't discovered the asteroid before it comes to you." Video: 1. Kinross19/YouTube 2. cspanjunkiedotorg/YouTube 3. European Space Agency Image: NASA
Brandon Keim's Twitter stream and Del.icio.us feed; Wired Science on Facebook. Source: Wired: Wired Science | 27 Mar 2009 | 7:20 pm SLIDE SHOW: The Week's Top StoriesWith the eruption of Mount Redoubt and Midwest floods, it was a rough week for Mother Earth.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 27 Mar 2009 | 7:08 pm SLIDE SHOW: Battling RiversThe North Dakota floods highlight the ongoing struggle between rivers and civilization.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 27 Mar 2009 | 6:18 pm Wind powered car breaks recordAfter 10 years, British engineer Richard Jenkins breaks the world land speed record for a wind-powered vehicle.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 27 Mar 2009 | 5:49 pm Dust Plays Role in Atlantic WarmingCould a decline in dust from Africa be partly responsible for recent warming trends?Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 27 Mar 2009 | 5:45 pm Hot Tea Linked to Throat CancerDrinking hot tea puts people at higher risk of throat cancer, research shows.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 27 Mar 2009 | 4:05 pm Human-Made CO2 on Exponential RiseHuman-produced CO2 has been growing 2.3 percent since recording began in 1958.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 27 Mar 2009 | 3:52 pm Red River Tops Record Height, Breaching DikesThe Red River rises to a 112-year high, breaching dikes and forcing evacuations.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 27 Mar 2009 | 3:32 pm Teen Leaders More Likely to Have Kids LaterLeadership and overachievement might be a good predictor of which kids will go on to become parents.Source: Livescience.com | 27 Mar 2009 | 3:03 pm Implanted. Enhanced. Invaded?: Human-Robot MergersThe coming convergence of human and machine comes up from the bottom (with micro-bots and nano-cytes) and down from the top (with "mecha"). [Story]Source: Livescience.com | 27 Mar 2009 | 2:29 pm Robot Madness: Will Cyborgs Compromise Privacy?"Smart" systems embedded with human bodies may threaten privacy.Source: Livescience.com | 27 Mar 2009 | 2:23 pm Why science mattersAs the qualifications watchdog Ofqual demands an overhaul of the GCSE science exam, teacher Alom Shaha argues that impressing on young people the worth of science is just as important. He's created a film that he hopes will do just that If you don't have a grasp of science, how will you stay out of the clutches of charlatans? Alom Shaha in an early video he made while toying with the script for his film The seeds of my "Why is Science Important?" project were sown in I teach part-time at a comprehensive school in north London, the In between trying to get them to understand the difference between parallel and series circuits or to believe that Newton's First Law really is true, I wanted to convey to them why they should bother with science. But how could I convince such diverse students that science can and does enhance their lives, that it's something worth doing for reasons beyond the need to pass exams? Anyone who knows me will confirm that I wear my passion for science on my sleeve, but I don't think that's enough. Nor do I think it's enough to assume that the importance of science is somehow implicit in the courses I teach, that it will somehow seep into my students' consciousness through the sheer number of hours they spend doing so-called science at school. So, as a science TV producer, I decided to make a film about it. I secured funding from the Wellcome Trust and a little extra money from Teachers TV. As part of my research and development for the film, I decided to set up a "collaborative blog" in which I would ask the great and the good of the science world, working scientists, science teachers and anyone else who had an opinion on the matter, "Why is science important?" My plan was that bits from the blog would appear in the film and bits of the film would appear on the blog and that the two would inform and enrich each other. And indeed this is what happened. Dr Mark Miodownik, a personal friend and reader in computational materials science at King's College London, was one of the first people to respond to my request to take part in the project. His assertion that "Science is your mum" helped kickstart everything that followed. Dr Mark Miodownik: Dissing science is like dissing your mum Astronomer Dr Francisco Diego of University College London appears in the complete film talking about the importance of astronomy. I decided he had to be in the film following his original answer, below. Dr Francisco Diego: Science will tell us whether we're alone in the universe Rosie Coates, a former student of mine, made a key point about science and its importance in understanding and protecting our environment. We elaborated on this idea in the film, but her original response makes the point just as powerfully. Rosie Coates: Science forewarns us about the effects we're having on the environment One of my disappointments with the project is that I didn't manage to involve as many other teachers as I wanted. However, the following response from physics teacher Becky Parker earned its place in the film. Becky Parker: Science helps us appreciate how lucky we are to be on this amazing planet When I stared this project, I was hoping for a range of answers that would demonstrate why science is important to individuals, to society and to culture. More importantly, I was hoping for answers that would be both meaningful and convincing not just to my own students, but to students everywhere, and to all the other people out there who may never have stopped to think about why science is important. My goal for the project was to make it easier for any science teacher to answer that inevitable question, "What's the point of all this?" The results have surpassed my best expectations – I have received over 75 responses to my question, from high-profile science writers such as Simon Singh as well as from fellow science teachers such as Becky Parker and David Perks. I had a bunch of video clips and even had a couple of people send in comic strips that conveyed their answers. Despite a request I made on the website, however, I never did get an answer delivered in mime. The past few months have been exhausting. I wouldn't recommend trying to produce and direct a film while teaching in a secondary school to anyone. But the end result has been worth it. The project has become a kind of joint love letter to science and I am looking forward to sharing it with my students for years to come. You can watch the complete film, Why is Science Important? by Alom Shaha, here. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Source: Evolution, genetics, medicine, physics & astronomy news | guardian.co.uk | 27 Mar 2009 | 2:21 pm Lobsters and Crabs Feel Pain, Study ShowsCrustaceans show all the trademark signs of pain and stress, research suggests.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 27 Mar 2009 | 2:20 pm Pope distorts evidence about condoms, says LancetMedical journal calls for pope's 'outrageous and wildly inaccurate' claims over HIV/Aids to be retracted The medical journal the Lancet has accused Pope Benedict XVI of distorting scientific evidence to promote Catholic doctrine following his remarks about condom use and HIV. The attack — which also said that the pope did not know what he was talking about and had put millions of lives at risk — followed his statement last week during a visit to Africa that the use of condoms increased HIV infection rates. This was later amended by the Vatican, which said that condom use merely increased the risk of transmission. The pope's remarks, made to journalists on a flight to Cameroon at the start of his visit, overshadowed his trip and provoked condemnation from health and aid agencies, as well as protests from the UN and the governments of Germany, France and Belgium. Today's Lancet editorial said the Pope's statement was "outrageous and wildly inaccurate". It added: "By saying that condoms exacerbate the problem of HIV/Aids, the pope has publicly distorted scientific evidence to promote Catholic doctrine. "Whether the pope's error was due to ignorance or a deliberate attempt to manipulate science to support Catholic ideology is unclear ... When any influential person, be it a religious or political leader, makes a false scientific statement that could be devastating to the health of millions of people, they should retract or correct the public record. Anything less from Pope Benedict would be an immense disservice to the public and health advocates, including many thousands of Catholics who work tirelessly to try and prevent the spread of HIV/Aids worldwide." The pope's latest remarks have led some observers to question his judgment after recent controversies surrounding the Vatican over relations with other religions and the decision to rescind the excommunication of the English bishop Richard Williamson. The decision was made days after it emerged he had made contentious comments about the Holocaust, prompting accusations that he was a Holocaust denier. Observers believe that the pope, 81, an academic theologian who has spent much of his career inside the Vatican, is reluctant to seek advice and relies on a small coterie around him. His remarks about condoms amplified the Catholic hierarchy's opposition to artificial birth control, which has rumbled on and alienated many liberal Catholics over the last 40 years since it was published in an official church document in the 1960s. The arguments used by church authorities in defending their opposition to condoms have become increasingly convoluted. But medical experts see them as a vital part of the strategy for preventing the spread of HIV, particularly in Africa. The pope's argument that condoms do not prevent Aids echoes previous claims made by some senior clergy that the virus can pass through rubber. However, other senior Catholics, including the cardinals of Belgium and Westminster, have suggested that condom use may prevent the greater evil of infecting partners with a deadly disease. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Source: Evolution, genetics, medicine, physics & astronomy news | guardian.co.uk | 27 Mar 2009 | 2:10 pm Microbes' Toxic Metal-Digestion Secret RevealedScientists figure out how some bacteria break down toxic metals.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 27 Mar 2009 | 2:10 pm Boiling Mad: Crabs Feel PainNot only do crabs suffer pain, but they retain a memory of it, study finds.Source: Livescience.com | 27 Mar 2009 | 1:52 pm Space shuttle ready to head homeSpace shuttle Discovery is packing up to return to Florida on Saturday, but its experiments are not yet finished.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 27 Mar 2009 | 1:33 pm The Truth on Whether 'Opposites Attract'A new study finds that when it comes to personality, people seek partners with their same qualities.Source: Livescience.com | 27 Mar 2009 | 1:12 pm Solar cells get energy from where? GCSE science put to the testThe new qualifications watchdog has demanded immediate action from the government on GCSE science standards.Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 27 Mar 2009 | 1:07 pm Making Nano-Scale Solar Cells in ChinaBehind the Scenes feature about creating next-generation solar cells while an expatriate in China.Source: Livescience.com | 27 Mar 2009 | 1:06 pm Quiz: 21st century GCSE exam papersNew GCSE science papers, which feature multiple choice questions, are accused of 'dumbing down'. But how well would you do?Source: Evolution, genetics, medicine, physics & astronomy news | guardian.co.uk | 27 Mar 2009 | 1:03 pm Italian dig uncovers "oldest" temple in CyprusNICOSIA (Reuters) - An Italian archaeologist says she has discovered what is believed to be the oldest site of religious worship in Cyprus, a temple which is about 4,000 years old.Source: Reuters: Science News | 27 Mar 2009 | 12:12 pm New MRI techniques could mean faster scans: studyLONDON (Reuters) - Two new techniques using different approaches to see molecular changes inside people's bodies could lead to faster, more detailed imaging scans that better detect health problems, researchers said on Thursday.Source: Reuters: Science News | 27 Mar 2009 | 12:09 pm
|
