Cities Less Dangerous Than Rural Regions, Traffic Accident Study Shows

Transportation researchers in Germany analyzed traffic accident statistics and came to a surprising result: city dwellers have less severe traffic accidents than rural inhabitants. This invalidates one of the most important arguments in favor of a house in the countryside.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 8 Sep 2009 | 9:00 am

Bats Without Borders: World's Largest Bats Need International Protection

Scientists warn that the world's largest species of fruit bat, known as the "large flying fox," could be driven to extinction in Peninsular Malaysia at the current hunting rate allowed of around 22,000 every year.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 8 Sep 2009 | 9:00 am

Using Microbes For The Quick Clean Up Of Dirty Oil

Microbiologists have used mixed consortia of bacteria to break down and remove toxic compounds from crude oil and tar sands. These acidic compounds persist in the environment, and can take up to 10 years to break down. By using this microbial mixture, complete degradation of specific compounds was achieved in only a few days.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 8 Sep 2009 | 9:00 am

Designing Probiotics That Ambush Gut Pathogens

Researchers in Australia are developing diversionary tactics to fool disease-causing bacteria in the gut. Many bacteria, including those responsible for major gut infections, such as cholera, produce toxins that damage human tissues when they bind to complex sugar receptors displayed on the surface of cells in the host's intestine.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 8 Sep 2009 | 9:00 am

Brain Defect Implicated In Early Schizophrenia

In the first functional magnetic resonance imaging study of its kind, neurologists and psychiatrists have identified an area of the brain involved in the earliest stages of schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders. Activity in this specific region of the hippocampus may help predict the onset of the disease, offering opportunities for earlier diagnosis and for the development of drugs for schizophrenia prevention.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 8 Sep 2009 | 9:00 am

'Liposuction Leftovers' Easily Converted To Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Researchers have found that fat cells left over from liposuction can be easily coaxed into become induced pluripotent stem cells.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 8 Sep 2009 | 9:00 am

New Research Strategy For Understanding Drug Resistance In Leukemia

Researchers have developed a new approach to identify specific genes that influence how cancer cells respond to drugs and how they become resistant. This strategy, which involves producing diverse genetic mutations that result in leukemia and associating specific mutations with treatment outcomes, will enable researchers to better understand how drug resistance occurs in leukemia and other cancers, and has important long-term implications for the development of more effective therapies.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 8 Sep 2009 | 6:00 am

Half Of Fish Consumed Globally Is Now Raised On Farms, Study Finds

Aquaculture, once a fledgling industry, now accounts for 50 percent of the fish consumed globally, according to a new report by an international team of researchers. And while the industry is more efficient than ever, it is also putting a significant strain on marine resources by consuming large amounts of feed made from wild fish harvested from the sea, the authors conclude.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 8 Sep 2009 | 6:00 am

Anticancer Compound Found In Common Weed: American Mayapple

A common weed called American mayapple may soon offer an alternative to an Asian cousin that's been harvested almost to extinction because of its anti-cancer properties. The near-extinct Asian plant, Podophyllyum emodi, produces podophyllotoxin, a compound used in manufacturing etoposide, the active ingredient in a drug used for treating lung and testicular cancer. Podophyllyum emodi is a cousin of the common mayapple weed found in the United States.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 8 Sep 2009 | 6:00 am

Infections May Lead To Faster Memory Loss In Alzheimer's Disease

Getting a cold, stomach bug or other infection may lead to increased memory loss in people with Alzheimer's disease, according to new research.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 8 Sep 2009 | 6:00 am

Patients denied osteoporosis drug

Better, but more expensive, treatment will not be assessed by Nice for three years

Thousands of British women are being denied modern drugs to treat a common bone-thinning disease because guidelines surrounding its use are too stringent, doctors warn.

The majority of patients who are diagnosed with osteoporosis, which causes the bones to become dangerously brittle in old age, are prescribed a weekly pill, even though a more effective once-a-year injection is available.

A significant number of patients refuse to take the weekly alendronate pill because of its uncomfortable side-effects, but are not offered the alternative of a drug infusion called zoledronate, because they are not ill enough to qualify for it, doctors said.

"It's bad medical practice. You can't tell a patient they can't have this treatment because they are not ill enough," said David Reid, professor of rheumatology at Aberdeen University.

Half of women and a fifth of men over 50 suffer bone fractures due to osteoporosis, and only a 20% of all patients who fracture a hip in a fall survive for more than a year. In Britain alone, 480,000 women are prescribed drugs to treat osteoporosis.

Alendronate is an older drug and costs £50 a year to treat each patient, but unless it is taken in line with a strict dietary regime, it can cause indigestion and other side-effects. Zoledronate costs around £250 a year, but doctors argue it could help thousands of patients who give up taking alendronate.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice), which advises the NHS on drug use is not scheduled to assess zoledronate for another three years, the doctors told the British Science Association festival in Guildford.

"There is a clear benefit to many patients in the ease of taking a once-a-year treatment, rather than having to take pills every day or every week, with a complex fasting regime," Rob Dawson at the National Osteoporosis Society said.

"We accept the need for Nice to put zoledronic acid through a proper appraisal, but we want this to be done through a much more enlightened process than other osteoporosis treatments have been through. Otherwise Nice stand in the way of medical progress," he added.

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 8 Sep 2009 | 3:52 am

Underwater laser pops in navy ops

US military researchers have shown how laser light can be used to drive small underwater explosions for communications.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 8 Sep 2009 | 3:36 am

OPEC set to hold supply steady, likes oil price (Reuters)

Reuters - Oil at close to $70 means OPEC will almost certainly keep existing output cuts in place when it meets in Vienna on Wednesday, although it could seek to tighten compliance with existing targets, ministers and delegates said.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 8 Sep 2009 | 3:32 am

The Nation's weather (AP)

AP - Several weather disturbances were forecast to produce areas of active weather across the nation Tuesday.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 8 Sep 2009 | 2:43 am

Behaving badly

Green concerns mean totems such as GDP have to go
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 8 Sep 2009 | 2:26 am

Space crews say goodbye, shuttle departing Tuesday (AP)

AP - The farewell hugs and handshakes are over. Now all that's left for the crews of the space shuttle and space station is the release of the docking latches.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 8 Sep 2009 | 1:56 am

Indian villagers flee elephants

Hundreds of villagers are forced into camps in the Indian state of Orissa after repeated attacks by an elephant herd.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 8 Sep 2009 | 1:02 am

Floating challenge

World's first full- size floating wind turbine is unveiled
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 7 Sep 2009 | 11:51 pm

NASA Tracks Chinese Satellite Debris Headed Near Space Station (SPACE.com)

SPACE.com - NASA is tracking a piece of leftover space junk from a 2007 Chinese anti-satellite test that is expected to fly near the International Space Station twice on Wednesday, a day after the shuttle Discovery leaves the orbiting lab.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 7 Sep 2009 | 10:01 pm

In tiny `Tuk,' they man climate's front line (AP)

AP - Caught between rising seas and land melting beneath their mukluk-shod feet, the villagers of Tuktoyaktuk are doing what anyone would do on this windy Arctic coastline. They're building windmills.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 7 Sep 2009 | 10:00 pm

Forget Apple, Here’s the Real Snow Leopard

Even as Apple’s newest operating system puts snow leopards on desktops around the world, the real animal fights for survival in the mountain wilderness of Central Asia.

Declared endangered in 1972, between 3,500 and 7,000 cats remain in the wild. Their numbers are thought to be dwindling, though exact figures are hard to come by. Snow leopards are solitary, elusive and perfectly suited to their harsh homelands; researchers who study them can go for years without seeing one.

In 2008, a consortium of scientists and conservation groups launched the first long-term snow leopard study. Using camera traps and GPS-enabled collars, they hope to gather basic information about the animals’ range and behavior, and use this information to better protect them.

Wired.com talked to Tom McCarthy, director of field programs for the Snow Leopard Trust, about their work.

Image: Steve Winter

Source: Wired: Wired Science | 7 Sep 2009 | 10:00 pm

Swedish Astronaut Shares Space Shuttle Sweets (SPACE.com)

SPACE.com - Before boarding a space shuttle to leave the International Space Station, Swedish astronaut Christer Fuglesang shared how "sweet" a spacecraft the orbiter could be.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 7 Sep 2009 | 8:00 pm

How 'fussy food' holds key to bumblebees' survival

Details of how scientists plan to bring a previously extinct bumblebee back to the UK have been revealed.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 7 Sep 2009 | 7:20 pm

World's smallest parrot filmed

The world's smallest parrot has been filmed in the wild for the first time by a BBC expedition team.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 7 Sep 2009 | 7:15 pm

Virus linked to prostate tumours

Scientists produce compelling evidence that a virus which causes cancer in animals is linked to prostate cancer in humans.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 7 Sep 2009 | 5:44 pm

Moths as good as mice for many drug tests - study

LONDON (Reuters) - Moths, caterpillars and fruit flies could soon take the place of millions of mice used every year by scientists testing drugs, researchers said Tuesday.
Source: Reuters: Science News | 7 Sep 2009 | 5:30 pm

Post-wildfire worries: floods, damaged ecosystem (AP)

AP - Southern California's huge wildfire has turned nearly a quarter of the 1,000-square-mile Angeles National Forest into a moonscape of barren mountains looming above thousands of homes that now face the threat of flash floods and mudslides.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 7 Sep 2009 | 5:25 pm

Letter: Commitments to carbon cuts

We have publicly committed our councils to cutting their carbon dioxide emissions by 10% during 2010. There are compelling business reasons why we have joined the 10:10 campaign. Legislation and regulation will increasingly penalise organisations which do not take bold steps to cut their emissions. The increasing cost of oil and other fossil fuels makes it crucial that we reduce our dependence on these energy sources. Given the forecast for the local government financial settlement for the next few years, cutting our spending on energy is one way to reduce costs.

There are also equally important moral reasons why joining 10:10 is critical to our future. Local authorities provide services for the entire population and together employ more staff than virtually any other UK business or organisation. We therefore need to demonstrate leadership at this critical time in history. If we can deliver a 10% cut in our emissions in 2010 then so can other businesses and organisations. The importance of the climate change talks in Copenhagen in December cannot be overstated. Early commitment to the 10:10 campaign has the potential to influence those talks to make urgent cuts in global emissions a reality.

We urge other councils to join the 10:10 campaign and be part of the solution

Cllr Keith House Leader, Eastleigh council, Cllr Mehboob Khan Leader, Kirklees council, Cllr Chris Roberts Leader, Greenwich council, Cllr Sophie Linden Cabinet member, Hackney council, Cllr Terry Stacy Leader, Islington council, Cllr Serge Lourie Leader, London Borough of Richmond, Cllr John Tanner Board member, Oxford city council, Cllr Satpal Parmar Commissioner for environment, Slough council, Cllr Chas Fellows Leader, Stroud council, Cllr Deborah Urquhart, Cabinet member, West Sussex county council

• Notwithstanding the inconsistencies within the 10:10 initiative reflected in letters published last week (2 July, 3 July and 5 July), it is a proposal that shows leadership to politicians, whose impotency on the issue of global heating is nauseously frustrating, but wholly predictable, given that political promises and policies are mortgaged against growing GDPs.

Another policy option that has received little attention is that of the control of the principal generators of climate heating – business organisations. As a business school dean I am clearly not anti-business, but a new model is needed.

The implications of climate heating make the issue of organisational control central to a new business model. This needs to see the enactment of charter revocation laws for organisations that fail to comply with required CO₂ and other greenhouse gas reductions, illegal logging, river pollution, etc. Second, the singular shareholder wealth-maximising objective must be removed from company law to prevent executives hiding behind the law as an excuse for their own lack of commitment. Profit would thus become a constraint, not an objective.

Professor Alan Lovell

Dean, Glamorgan Business School

• I fully support Lord May's call to religious leaders to play a role in mobilising people to take action against global warming (Report, 7 September). The Methodist church urged Christians to acknowledge their complicity in systems which have exploited creation, and commit themselves to making our planet a safer space, at the Methodist conference in Wolverhampton in July. The conference also pledged to reduce the church's carbon emissions by 80% by 2050.

The National Eco-Congregation Scheme, which helps churches make the link between environmental issues and Christian faith, is popular among Methodist congregations, and Rev David Gamble, president of the Methodist conference, has spoken out in support of the Climate Change Day of Prayer on 4 October in the run-up to the UN climate change summit.

The Methodist church supports the 10:10 campaign and Tamsin Omond, the 10:10 interfaith co-ordinator, has met Methodist church staff to discuss it. Social justice has always been a strong feature of Methodism and climate change is one of the most pressing issues of today. As a people of faith, we must act.

Rev Dr Martyn Atkins

General secretary, Methodist Church

• Lord May is right to say religious leaders should challenge their flocks to tackle climate change. The ace religions hold up their sleeves, however, is not their moral authority but their core values. The main driver of climate change is consumption-based growth that relies on a materialism that is inimical to spiritual wellbeing. Confronting consumerism is the real task for religious leaders – one that requires rather more courage than challenging us to cut our energy consumption.

John Woods

Holywood, Co Down

• I grew up in an unheated, uninsulated house save for a fireplace with an oven above in which reposed bricks to be carried up to our frosted bedrooms. All the week's wash was done by hand, as was the washing-up and all other cleaning. A large garden was assiduously cultivated to provide the year's vegetables. On the rare occasions we travelled we used bus and train. My first car was bought without credit in my 32nd year. We have lived within our means all our life and not a pennyworth of fuel or power has ever been wasted; we could not afford to. Most importantly, we decided not to have children. How does that rate for a "carbon footprint"? Now unable to use our bicycles and legs to travel beyond a short distance, we will be using our little car more. We do not use computers or television at all. We have done our 10:10. It is up to others, especially the young, to rein in their unearned extravagances.

M Barnett

Leominster, Herefordshire

• So the 10:10 campaign urges us to stop flying altogether, or to limit ourselves to one short-haul return flight a year (How to save your 10%, G2, 1 September). I guess that means I can't take up your reader offer (2 September) to "Follow the Fall Colours" through east coast America.

Catherine Crichton

Dublin, Ireland

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 7 Sep 2009 | 5:05 pm

The journey to the creature crater

Mount Bosavi, home to a host of newly discovered wildlife in Papua New Guinea, could hardly be more remote – so how did the scientists find their way there, asks Patrick Barkham

One name has always been on the lips of scientists who have spent their careers studying the tropical jungles of Papua New Guinea: Mount Bosavi. Biologists had long harboured a hunch that this extinct volcano, its enormous crater filled with rainforest, could contain a treasure trove of undiscovered species. Animals unable to move beyond the 1,000-metre crater walls were thought likely to have evolved in distinct ways after thousands of years in isolation.

Western scientists, however, had been unable to get inside the volcano in the inaccessible Southern Highlands – until this year, when an expedition led by Dr George McGavin from Oxford University's Museum of Natural History was filmed by the BBC. "Imagine the Swiss Alps covered in jungle," says the series' producer Steve Greenwood, who was charged with sorting the formidable logistics of their mission.

He and a researcher first flew by helicopter to the nearest village, Fogomaya, 15 miles or a four-day trek from the crater. The villagers first encountered westerners in the 1950s but were still cut off from television and the cash economy; elders could recall a childhood of stone tools and the arrival of the first metal axe in the village. With the help of a translator (the local language, Kasua, is spoken by fewer than 1,000 people), Greenwood asked tribal elders permission to explore the volcano.

They also had to explain to local hunter-gatherers the concept of paying them to help establish a base camp near the village. Elders, trackers and boatmen were among 25 local people employed by the international team of 25 scientists and filmmakers, who also required a cook, a medic and a climbing expert to help them scale trees.

Concerned not to eat the village out of food, the scientists employed local people to plant sweet potatoes and a spinach-like crop in preparation for their expedition in January, reducing the amount of corned beef and rice flown in via helicopters, the only means of transport to the village.

The Kasua hunters had some knowledge of the crater – although even they judged it too inaccessible to visit regularly – and they helped guide an advance party, including the climbing expert, up the mountain and into the crater. The forward team found a recent landslip that could be flattened out, where they could land a helicopter from base camp.

Even though they chose the dry season (wet, rather than very wet, says Greenwood), conditions often prevented the helicopter's entry into the crater. Scientists and crew would spend two weeks in the crater before being taken back to base camp.

"You are hot, sweaty and stinking pretty much all the time," says Greenwood. "It's challenging, but we all realised we were so lucky to be in a place before the impact of humans became obvious." And the results were as spectacular as all those scientists had predicted, with more than 40 previously unidentified species discovered in just five weeks of exploration, including 16 new kinds of frog, three new fish and a giant rat.

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 7 Sep 2009 | 5:05 pm

Science in schools 'remains elitist'

Boring lessons, geeky stereotypes and poor careers advice have turned many pupils off science. That has to change, says science minister Lord Drayson, as a new children's science education centre opens in London

Blue Peter presenter Helen Skelton assumed her cousin Kate's job was boring. Kate was a scientist, after all. It was only since Kate died a fortnight ago, aged 27, that Skelton realised how wrong she had been.

She discovered that Kate was in fact a globetrotting atmospheric chemist who measured the ozone layer around the world and had just finished a PhD.

"I never really asked what she did," Skelton says. "I thought it was just some boring science thing. When I found out, I was blown away. Maybe if I'd known more about science, I would have gone into that too."

Skelton was speaking to scientists and teachers as she opened a new children's science education centre, Centre of the Cell, in Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, in east London, last week.

So why do so many young people still perceive science as "geeky" and "boring"? The science minister, Lord Drayson, visiting the centre on its opening day, thinks it is partly the curriculum's fault and partly the fault of career advisers and teachers.

"The science curriculum should be more practical," he says, in an interview with Education Guardian. "The feedback we are getting says what inspires young people is the chance to do hands-on experiments and tackle real-world problems. Health and safety regulations have limited schools' ability to do this. We need to maintain an excitement in science and show it's not about learning dull facts."

Some science teachers protest. David Daniels, principal of Petchey academy in Hackney in east London and a former physics teacher, says school science is "broad enough and offers sufficient depth to suit any child, whatever their ability".

But Drayson is not the first person in recent months to point to failings in the science curriculum.

In March, 21st Century Science GCSE, a course that started three years ago with the aim of making science more relevant to young people, was criticised by the exams regulator, Ofqual. Its investigation of the qualification – which includes topics on global warming and genetically modified foods – found a "lack of challenge" in papers and too many multiple-choice questions.

Then came a study which showed that four out of five students training to be science teachers on undergraduate courses had fewer than two A-levels.

Drayson says too many young people are ill-advised on which subjects to study at school. This prevents them from becoming scientists later down the line, he says: "Young people don't understand well enough how the choices they make at school affect their life choices in the future."

Again, Daniels disagrees. "I can't imagine a secondary school allowing children to make choices without in-depth guidance," he says.

But things could be looking up. This summer's GCSE and A-level results indicated that attempts to ignite pupils' interest in science were starting to pay off. There was a leap in the number of students taking individual science GCSEs: those taking biology rose by 18% in the last year to more than 100,000, while chemistry and physics rose 20% and 21% respectively, with at least 91,000 entries each.

A-level physics is also on the rise: 5% more teenagers studied it at A-level this year than last.

Drayson, a multimillionaire and amateur racing driver, says he was "pleasantly surprised" by the results. "We are making progress. Young people are thinking about what they are going to do in the future."

But it isn't enough, he insists. Schools and society have to be more inventive if we are to create the next generation of scientists. "We have got to find imaginative ways of helping young people end up doing research. It's about career advisers finding ways for young people to meet science heroes," he says.

"Let's get them to understand what these heroes do and they'll think 'I'd like to do that myself. Now I understand why we are learning this stuff at school and why it is important.'"

Fran Balkwill, professor of cancer and inflammation at Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, agrees.

Balkwill was awarded the Michael Faraday prize in 2005 for her outstanding work in communicating the concepts, facts and fascination of science in a way that appeals to children of all ages, backgrounds and nationalities.

"Not many children seem to see science as a stable career," she says. "It's very difficult for them to get a good idea of what science really is within the science curriculum. A lot of children go for money-making careers in the City because they don't see science as a career which is stable or that gives much money.

"But if you look at surveys, a science degree, in the long run, enables people to earn comparable amounts – and, of course, it is fascinating and a chance to do some good, too."

Drayson knows this well. When he was running a biotechnology company, Powderject, he was constantly losing his best scientists to the City because it offered better pay, he says.

But new ways of tackling the problem are being tried out – and the Centre of the Cell could be one of them. It is the first science education centre in the world to be located in the middle of a working laboratory, the medical school research labs of Barts and the London medical and dentistry school in Whitechapel, east London.

School parties can visit, free of charge, its giant cell "nucleus", seemingly suspended in mid-air. The nucleus opens to reveal interactive games, while an easy-to-understand presentation is beamed on to the walls. Afterwards, pupils get to meet researchers working in the labs, who will explain what they do.

Drayson is so taken with this project, he thinks scientists should take an equivalent of the Hippocratic oath and swear to communicate what they do to the public in an engaging way.

"Science is still elitist," he says. "I think it's because we don't have enough opportunities for people to actually see real science being done. We need young people to see scientists at work."

The project may help to dispel stereotypes that science is "boring". But Drayson, himself, is guilty of perpetuating these – he describes his younger self as a "science and technology geek".

Some in the world of science, including at the Institute of Physics, have suggested that science graduates should have their student loans paid off by the government if they choose to become teachers. Many already receive "golden hello" payments from schools of up to £5,000. The Department for Children, Schools and Families says applications for trainee science teachers are up 42% on last year.

"There are now huge opportunities for science graduates to come back and do that PhD, or teach, or start a science spin-out," Drayson says.

But what is the benefit of studying science if those students then choose a different career – such as politics?

"We need more scientists in politics," Drayson says. "Working on something scientific gives you an understanding of what it is to deal with the unknown, to deal with a problem. How do you then define that problem and find a way into it? Politics involves a lot of that.

"What I want is the democratisation of science and technology," he adds, whipping out his iPhone. "People can write their own software for this phone on the Apple website. What we need is for people to think this kind of science and technology is theirs for the taking."

• See inside Centre of the Cell

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 7 Sep 2009 | 5:05 pm

Maldives to miss climate summit

The president of the Maldives says he will not go to key climate talks in Copenhagen in December unless someone else pays.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 7 Sep 2009 | 4:19 pm

New tropical depression forms in eastern Atlantic (Reuters)

Reuters - A new tropical depression has formed in the far eastern Atlantic Ocean and is expected to strengthen into a tropical storm later on Monday or Tuesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 7 Sep 2009 | 3:22 pm

Kuwait foresees no OPEC oil output cut (AFP)

AFP - Kuwait's oil minister said on Monday he saw no need to cut oil output and believed OPEC members were in agreement to maintain production.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 7 Sep 2009 | 1:29 pm

New Japan leaders vow 25 percent cut in emissions (AP)

AP - Japan's incoming prime minister promised Monday to aim for a 25 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 — among the most ambitious cuts proposed by an economic power and significantly more aggressive than the current plan.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 7 Sep 2009 | 1:25 pm

Virus linked to most aggressive form of prostate cancer

US researchers identify XMRV virus as possible cause of fast-growing prostate tumours

Scientists working on prostate cancer have found evidence that the most aggressive forms of the disease may be caused by a virus.

A team of US researchers found traces of virus inside fast-growing prostate tumours, suggesting it could play a role in the development of the cancer.

The virus, known as XMRV (xenotropic murine leukaemia virus-related virus), is known to cause leukaemia and tumours in animals, but has never been proved to cause cancer in humans.

If a link between the virus and human prostate cancer is confirmed, it would pave the way for better screening programmes, antiviral treatments and protective vaccines that could have a dramatic impact on public health.

Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer among British men, accounting for a quarter of all cases diagnosed. In the past 30 years, cases have tripled, though much of this increase is due to more stringent screening using the PSA test. Globally, 670,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year.

Although survival rates have more than doubled since the 1970s, prostate cancer remains the second most deadly cancer in British men, after lung cancer.

Several viruses are already known to cause cancer in humans, including the human papillomavirus (HPV), which is the cause of nearly every case of cervical cancer.

The identification of the HPV virus as a cause of cancer prompted pharmaceutical companies to develop vaccines to protect against the infection, which is spread by sexual contact. Last year, the government began offering jabs to protect schoolgirls from the two most common strains of the virus.

In the latest study, researchers led by Ila Singh, a pathologist at the University of Utah, examined tissue from 101 healthy prostates and 233 malignant prostate tumours. They found the XMRV virus in 27% of the tumours and in 6% of the healthy samples.

Further testing showed that the chance of finding virus in the tumour cells was higher in more aggressive cancers.

The healthy prostate tissue that tested positive for the virus might have become infected only recently, and could be at risk of developing cancer later on, the scientists said.

"We still don't know if this virus causes cancer in people, but that is an important question we're going to investigate," Singh said.

The study, which is published in the US journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, raises questions about how the virus is transmitted, whether it is capable of spreading prostate cancer, and if it causes tumours in other parts of the body.

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 7 Sep 2009 | 1:00 pm

Call to review 'honesty test'

Researchers say the current "honesty test" should be reviewed after discovering big differences in judging what makes a dishonest act.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 7 Sep 2009 | 11:09 am

All the golden gossip from the British Science Festival

Sue Nelson reports from the British Science Festival
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 7 Sep 2009 | 11:00 am

An orchestra of lost instruments

Get ready to hear the sound of an epigonion, a phormix, an aulos and a bit of driving barbiton

An orchestra of ancient instruments, many of which exist only in paintings and yellowing manuscripts, will perform its first concert at the end of the year.

Many of the instruments have not been heard since the times of Socrates in the fifth century BC, though some of the instruments date back even further, to the bronze age a thousand years earlier.

Scientists are reconstructing the sounds of the instruments, including the earliest predecessors of the bass guitar, harp and oboe, by building mathematical models of them on computers, using descriptions in ancient texts and paintings on artefacts recovered from archaeological sites in Greece.

Researchers on the project have already recreated the sound of an instrument called the epigonion, the earliest form of harp, which was commonly played in Greece around 430BC. A real epigonion has never been unearthed.

The team used a beefed-up internet network called Géant to harness computing power from centres around the world. With this, they could work out how each of the 40 strings of the instrument would sound when plucked in 127 different ways, from softly to hard.

Domenico Vicinanza, who works of the project at the Cambridge-based company Danté, said researchers created software to replicate every characteristic of the instrument, which was built from pig-gut strings and a hollow wooden soundboard.

"By reconstructing these ancient instruments we are claiming back the music we have lost to the past," Vicinanza said. "We know the grandchildren of these instruments, but these are the mothers and fathers."

The epigonion has a sound somewhere between a harp and a harpsichord, though Vicinanza describes the sound as more crisp.

On a standard computer, the work would have taken an estimated 2,700 hours, but took only 10 hours using computers linked by the second generation internet network.

The team is now recreating a collection of other ancient instruments, including the phormix, a lyre-type instrument from 1,580BC, an early form of oboe called an aulos, and the barbiton, ancestor to the bass guitar.

In performance, the orchestra will plug into a computer network that will convert their music into sounds created by the ancient instruments.

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 7 Sep 2009 | 10:59 am

Racing green: Recycled car set to debut

Car powered by wine and chocolate and made from carrot tops and drinks bottles will line up in Formula Three race

A racing car built from recycled drinks bottles, old aircraft panels and carrot tops will line up for its first competitive race next month.

The Formula Three car, which runs on fuel derived from chocolate waste and wine dregs, will take part in a race at the iconic Brands Hatch circuit in Kent.

Engineers at Warwick University built the vehicle as part of a project designed to push green technology to its limits.

The £500,000 car has a top speed of 170mph and can accelerate faster than a conventional Formula Three car, reaching 60mph from a standing start in around 2.5 seconds.

"We want to show that green can be fun, that it can be sexy," said Kerry Kirwan, project leader at the Warwick Manufacturing Group.

The car's chasis was salvaged from a scrapped vehicle, as was the two litre BMW diesel engine. More than half of the body panels are from materials destined for landfill, such as old carbon fibre aircraft panels. With a driver, the car weighs 550kg and produces 230 brake horsepower.

The car's steering wheel was produced by a Scottish company that turns fibres from carrot waste into fishing rods and other products. "For some reason the steering wheel came out purple. We think some beetroot might have got into it," said Kirwan.

To comply with race regulations, the wheels, tires and cockpit are built to standard Formula Three specifications.

Kirwan said the technology being developed for the car should in time be picked up by road car manufacturers. Much of the panelling used in the car is categorised as waste that manufacturers pay to dispose of.

"We're not saying that this is the answer to the world's environmental problems, but it's a step in the right direction," Kirwan said. "We believe it's the greenest car in its class."

In test drives, the car has already reached a top speed of 135mph. At Brands Hatch, the engineers hope to achieve 150mph. At race speed, the car manages a fuel efficiency of 35 miles per gallon.

The driver, 20-year-old Aaron Steele, will race the car at Brands Hatch on 17th October.

"We're now happy that the car's ready to go in [for the race] and not come last," said Kirwan.

The car was completed three months ago and has undergone trials at the Goodwood racing course in West Sussex.

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 7 Sep 2009 | 8:26 am

Powerful Ideas: Cars Could Run on Watermelons

Sugar from watermelons could be a sweet deal for your car.
Source: Livescience.com | 7 Sep 2009 | 7:17 am

iCub the robot helps scientists understand humans

LYON, France (Reuters) - Robots that can make their own decisions have so far been confined to science fiction movies, but a child-sized figure with big eyes and a white face is trying hard to turn fiction into reality.
Source: Reuters: Science News | 7 Sep 2009 | 4:53 am

Extinct bumblebee to be reintroduced

Descendants of the lost UK bumblebee will be brought from New Zealand to Dungeness in what could be a landmark repopulation programme

British conservationists have drawn up plans to repopulate the countryside with a species of bumblebee that was declared extinct here nearly a decade ago.

The short-haired bumblebee officially died out in the UK in 2000, but descendents of the doomed community live on in small pockets of New Zealand, where they were taken to pollinate red clover in the late 19th century.

If the project is a success, it will mark the first time bees have been reintroduced to any country after the indigenous population died out.

Bumblebees and honeybees have been in decline nationwide in recent years. Bumblebees have suffered a dramatic loss of natural habitat, including wild flower and hay meadows, while disease and parasites have wiped out colonies of honeybees.

Scientists at the Bumblebee Conservation Trust will visit MacKenzie County in New Zealand's south island this autumn, and spend up to two months hunting and capturing queen bees as they emerge from hibernation. The area is one of the last strongholds of short-haired bumblebees in New Zealand.

Any queens that are netted will be reared in captivity on the island, by feeding them nectar and pollen collected from a variety of flowers. The queens will have mated before being caught, and can lay enough eggs to produce a colony of hundreds of sterile worker bees. Details of the project are unveiled at the British Science Association festival in Guildford today.

Scientists hope some of the bumblebee colonies raised in captivity will grow large enough to produce a second generation of queen bees. These will be flown back to Britain during the hibernation season and could be released into their new habitat in Dungeness in Kent as early as next spring.

"It's going to be difficult, but this might be our last chance," said Ben Davill, director of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust.

The short-haired bumblebee is one of two species to be declared extinct in Britain in the past 70 years, the other being Cullum's bumblebee. The insects have been hit hard by changes in agriculture, which have seen crop farmers replace nitrogen-replacing clover leys with fertiliser and hay meadows with silage.

The majority of Britain's remaining 24 bumblebee species are able to feed on a wide range of flowers, but the short-haired bumblebee is a more fussy eater and only visits a few types of flower that produce high quality pollen.

Nikki Gammans, who is running the reintroduction project, has been working with local farmers, landowners and the public in Kent to restore the habitat in Dungeness by ensuring it has enough flowers to sustain the bees when they are released. "We are doing our best for this and all bumblebee species and hopefully they can do the rest," said Gammans.

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 7 Sep 2009 | 3:03 am