'Optical Biopsy' For Breast Cancer Increasingly Accurate, Research Finds

Most biopsies following mammograms reveal benign abnormalities, not cancer. But women may not have to endure the medical costs, stress and potential complications that accompany such invasive biopsies forever. A biomedical engineering researcher is making progress on an "optical biopsy" that has the potential to determine whether growths are cancerous without ever puncturing the skin.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 8 Nov 2009 | 3:00 pm

Hubble Image Showcases Star Birth In M83, The Southern Pinwheel

The spectacular new camera installed on NASA's Hubble Space Telescope during Servicing Mission 4 in May has delivered the most detailed view of star birth in the graceful, curving arms of the nearby spiral galaxy M83. Nicknamed the Southern Pinwheel, M83 is undergoing more rapid star formation than our own Milky Way galaxy, especially in its nucleus.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 8 Nov 2009 | 3:00 pm

Warmer Homes Mean Better Health For Poor People, Study Suggests

Being warm enough at home might lead to better health, according to a new review. Positive effects included reductions in breathing-related concerns such as cold and flu symptoms, first diagnosis of nasal allergies and wheezing and dry coughs at night. Better heating also appeared to have on impact on first diagnosis of high blood pressure and heart disease, and there were also indications of less depression or anxiety.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 8 Nov 2009 | 3:00 pm

Nothing But Net: The Physics Of Basketball Free Throws

Pay attention, Shaq: Two engineers have figured out the best way to shoot a free throw -- a frequently underappreciated skill that gets more important as the game clock winds down.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 8 Nov 2009 | 3:00 pm

Precuneus Region Of Human And Monkey Brain Is Divided Into Four Distinct Regions

New research provides a comprehensive comparative functional anatomy study in human and monkey brains which reveals highly similar brain networks preserved across evolution. Scientists examined patterns of connectivity to show that the precuneus, long thought to be a single structure, is actually divided into four distinct functional regions.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 8 Nov 2009 | 3:00 pm

Raising 'Good' Cholesterol Levels May Benefit Clogged Arteries

A drug that raises levels of 'good' cholesterol, when taken in addition to standard statin therapy to lower 'bad' cholesterol, can reduce the furring up of arteries in patients with established heart disease, a new study has shown.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 8 Nov 2009 | 3:00 pm

Plastic Surgeons Offer Microsurgery Technique For Breast Reconstruction, Tummy Tuck After Mastectomy

A new microsurgery by plastic surgeons called the Deep Inferior Epigastric Perforator (DIEP) flap procedure can offer women seeking breast reconstruction after a mastectomy some of the advantages of a more natural breast with the effects of a tummy tuck. Although it is more complex surgery, it preserves muscles for quicker recovery and less postoperative pain, researchers say.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 8 Nov 2009 | 9:00 am

Novel Cancer Detection Method Uses Tiny Silica Beads To Adhere To Cells

A novel method of detection of cervical cancer cells has now been developed. The method uses nonspecific adhesion of silica beads to cells.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 8 Nov 2009 | 9:00 am

Pathogen Protection And Virulence: Dark Side Of Fungal Membrane Protein Revealed

Researchers have discovered a fungal protein that plays a key role in causing disease in plants and animals and which also shields the pathogen from oxidative stress.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 8 Nov 2009 | 9:00 am

Seafloor Fossils Provide Clues To Climate Change

Deep under the sea, a fossil the size of a sand grain is nestled among a billion of its closest dead relatives. Known as foraminifera, these complex little shells of calcium carbonate can tell you the sea level, temperature, and ocean conditions of Earth millions of years ago. That is, if you know what to look for.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 8 Nov 2009 | 9:00 am

China sends panda expert to Taiwan to aid breeding (AP)

AP - Nothing like a little time apart to rekindle the affections that could lead to a baby panda.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 8 Nov 2009 | 1:54 am

Australian spearfisher survives shark attack (AFP)

AFP - A man spearfishing in South Australia was mauled in a shark attack Sunday, officials said as a report warned of several sightings of the deadly predators in the area.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 8 Nov 2009 | 12:31 am

W. Africa's last giraffes make surprising comeback (AP)

AP - A crisp African dawn is breaking overhead, and Zibo Mounkaila is on the back of a pickup truck bounding across a sparse landscape of rocky orange soil.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 8 Nov 2009 | 12:11 am

Rajaratnam: a 'living buddha' under suspicion (AFP)

AFP - Raj Rajaratnam, a billionaire financier facing insider trading charges in the United States, is recalled in stone in one of the villages he helped recover from the Asian tsunami in 2004.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 7 Nov 2009 | 11:13 pm

Japan eyes solar station in space as new energy source (AFP)

AFP - It may sound like a sci-fi vision, but Japan's space agency is dead serious: by 2030 it wants to collect solar power in space and zap it down to Earth, using laser beams or microwaves.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 7 Nov 2009 | 10:14 pm

G-20 finance officials: Too early to end stimulus (AP)

AP - Finance officials from rich and developing countries have pledged to maintain emergency support for their economies until recovery is assured, but failed to reach a clear agreement to bear the cost of fighting climate change.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 7 Nov 2009 | 6:13 pm

Scheme 'can cut extra emissions'

A new business scheme could slash energy bills and cut carbon emissions by 50% more than anticipated, a study will claim.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 7 Nov 2009 | 5:52 pm

The big issue: Cannabis debate

I agree with the government for sacking Professor David Nutt, who is telling people that cannabis is less dangerous than alcohol or cigarettes ("Ministers face rebellion on drug chief's sacking", News).

I have manic depression, diagnosed after I had my first breakdown, aged 15. Twenty four years on and I am still suffering.

Cannabis has been instrumental in my affliction. I smoked my first joint a couple of months before my initial breakdown. Since then, during hypomanic phases, I smoked more, resulting in being arrested about five times and sent to the locked ward of the Royal Edinburgh mental asylum around 10 times. Almost every bad episode of my illness has been preceded by smoking cannabis, though I have never taken it regularly or heavily. Three years ago, my psychiatrist said he would not continue to treat me if I ever took cannabis again. I have never taken it since.

It is obvious when you spend time in mental asylums that the people there are atrociously affected when they take cannabis. It is teenagers who are most damaged. David Nutt should visit some locked wards and speak to some psychiatrists and their patients. I have smoked cigarettes and drunk moderately since an early age, but these have caused nothing like the damage of cannabis. It is the immediate hit, the spiralling thoughts and inner revelations that are so dangerous.

Archie Linklater,

Gorgie, Edinburgh

■ You say in your leader ("Why do politicians shun science?", News) that the dismissal of Professor Nutt "demonstrates how profoundly disfigured our politics is becoming", yet you also insult Professor Nutt when you say he did not "get the politics and did not help his case with some ill-judged intervention". This throwaway remark is surely as worthless as that of the politicians criticised in the same article.

Prof Nutt is an eminent scientist in his field. He has simply produced the scientific evidence relating to drugs. It is not his job to "get the politics", nor to time his "intervention". Your judgmental remarks add to the hysterical witch hunt of scientists in many parts of the media and devalue the rest of your writing on the subject, which has been generally cogent and thoughtful.

Prof Nutt should be hailed as the modest hero that he is. He should be reinstated immediately, given a public apology and his policies adopted forthwith. This episode is horribly reminiscent of the shameful treatment of another eminent scientist, Dr David Kelly, and the lack of science-based evidence for weapons of mass destruction.

Mark Bolland

London N1

■ Professor David Nutt seemed to have lost all sense of reason in his article "Since Brown took over, our advice has been undermined by government" (News commentary).

He says that cannabis is "never lethal". Tell that to the families of users who have taken their own lives or killed someone while under the influence of the drug. He says that possession "of a single joint" can now lead to five years' imprisonment. This is the maximum for possession and judges have a range of punishment from absolute discharge to the five-year maximum. In most cases, the offence is dealt with by a police caution. There is more to politics than academic evidence. There are public attitudes to the issue. It is too late to control drugs such as nicotine and alcohol effectively but let's keep other popular drugs on the danger list.

Peter Jones

Newark, Notts

■ It's not the job of the government's scientific advisers to offer scientific advice to the government. They should be providing a rationale for government policy, the way military intelligence advisers did in the run-up to the Iraq invasion.

Eric Alexander

High Wycombe, Bucks

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 7 Nov 2009 | 5:07 pm

UK scholars linked to 'stolen' bowls of Babylon

Suppressed report reveals archaeological treasures were dug up after Gulf war

A secret report on the chequered history of priceless Aramaic bowls loaned to a leading university has exposed an apparent attempt to cover up UK academic connections to a potentially deadly trade in stolen Iraqi antiquities.

The findings of the study, which was suppressed by a controversial legal agreement in 2007, have at last solved a long-standing archaeological mystery.

Commissioned by University College London in 2005, it confirms the expert view that the bowls were stolen from the historical site of Babylon and should be returned to Iraq or handed over to the police. The report was completed in 2006 but suppressed a year later in a legal settlement made between the university and the putative owner of the bowls, the multimillionaire Norwegian collector, Martin Schøyen.

But a copy of its findings recently placed in the House of Lords library reveals that specialists in archaeology are convinced that the incantation bowls, dating from the fifth to eighth centuries, must have come from Iraq illegally. They believe the rare finds were probably dug up from the remains of Babylon some time after the 1991 Gulf war and were not found in Jordan, as believed by Schøyen. The UCL report concludes that "the bowls are subject to the Iraq United Nations sanctions order 2003 as cultural objects illicitly removed from Iraq after 6 August 1990 and that UCL has therefore a duty to deliver them to a constable".

The learned team of academics and researchers who worked on the report concluded that both the university and Schøyen were guilty of not showing enough curiosity about the source of the 654 bowls, although it is not suggested that Schøyen knew they might have been looted when he bought them. The team recommended they be returned immediately and asked for the findings to be made public. But in 2007 the report's three authors were made to keep quiet about their conclusions and UCL paid an undisclosed sum of compensation to Schøyen. The authors are believed to have been unhappy about the legal gag.

This weekend one of them, UCL's director of museums and collections, Sally McDonald, said she was unable to comment further on the report. At a press conference in June 2007 UCL and Schøyen released a joint statement that now appears to be a misrepresentation of the report's findings. It read: "In 2003 questions were raised in the media with regard to the origin of these bowls, as a result of which UCL, with the agreement of the Schøyen Collection, initiated an inquiry into their provenance.

"Following a searching investigation by an eminent panel of experts, and further inquiries of its own, UCL is pleased to announce that no claims adverse to the Schøyen Collection's right and title have been made or intimated."

But one of the suppressed report's two other authors, the Cambridge academic Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn, has called for the Iraqi government to demand the return of the bowls or to threaten to sue UCL and Schøyen. "It is reasonably clear the bowls left Iraq in recent years, and I expect that the Iraqi government will be in contact with the British government to demand their return," he said. "It is very important that the continued looting of antiquities ceases, and for that to happen wealthy collectors and museums have to stop buying them."

Professor Peter Stone, a Newcastle University expert in looted Iraqi antiquities, argues that the trade in stolen pieces is potentially even more dangerous, putting lives in peril as well as the archaeological legacy of the region.

"This is the first I have heard about the real contents of this UCL report," he said. "The bowls themselves have already lost about 70% of their archaeological value because they have been removed from their geographical context. They are now chiefly valuable as objects of art history. But stopping the trade in these looted objects remains crucial. As the US Marines have recently pointed out, there is a strong case that the money made by illegally digging up artefacts in historic sites is being used to buy guns for the insurgent forces."

The incantation bowls, which were placed above doorways by Mesopotamian Jews as spiritual protection, are thought to be in a UCL store in London or Kent and cannot be used for research. They were borrowed from Schøyen in 1996 by Professor Mark Geller of UCL's Institute of Jewish Studies in an informal arrangement to allow the bowls to be catalogued by experts. A decade later Schøyen, probably the world's greatest private collector of manuscripts and texts, began proceedings against UCL for failing to return the bowls as agreed.

He stated: "The Schøyen Collection has become frustrated with the waste of time and money caused by a lengthy and inconclusive inquiry into provenance and with the spurious reasons given for not returning the bowls."

The UCL report was suppressed as part of the legal settlement of this case.

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 7 Nov 2009 | 5:06 pm

China lower risk than UK for green investors, claims Deutsche Bank

Study condemning UK energy strategy set to embarrass government as it prepares to unveil new climate change initiative

Britain's claim to be a world leader in green energy investment has been called into question by an authoritative new study that will embarrass ministers as they prepare to launch an important climate change initiative tomorrow.

A report from Deutsche Bank says that the UK does not have the right climate change strategy to attract international investment and is lagging behind other countries, such as Germany, France and China.

Britain's energy strategy lacks the level of transparency and certainty required to encourage investment, according to Deutsche Bank's study on the best places to do business. It comes as ministers prepare to launch six draft national policy statements on energy and climate change policies tomorrow.

"What investors want is transparency, longevity and certainty – TLC – in policy regimes to mobilise capital," said Kevin Parker, global head of Deutsche Bank's asset management division, which is based in New York.

"Many major emitters such as the US and the UK do not have enough TLC in their policy frameworks. Our rankings show that China has a lower risk for climate change investors, as does Germany, but the research also shows that in order to avoid catastrophic climate change, they have demonstrated their ability to deliver scale."

The Department of Energy and Climate Change said its host of new initiatives to streamline planning and ensure the building of new infrastructure, such as clean coal plants, is proof of its positive commitment to moving to a low-carbon economy.

"You will have seen [from] the recent announcement from RWE and E.ON about spending £15bn and creating thousands of jobs here in new nuclear plants that investment does seem to be coming," said a DECC spokesman.

But Deutsche Bank says Japan and Australia are among the countries that represent lower risk profiles than the UK because they have more comprehensive and integrated government plans.

Parker and his colleagues are particularly keen on feed-in tariffs – which pay consumers to generate their own electricity and sell it back to the grid – to encourage green power, which have been very successfully used in Germany. Britain was originally opposed to this kind of incentive but has recently accepted that they should be introduced, although, crucially, ministers have yet to indicate what price utilities will pay to those consumers who generate their own power.

Deutsche Bank claims that the UK has attracted $17bn (£10bn) in capital investment as a result of climate change policies, compared to $36bn in Germany and $41bn in China. It admits the UK figure is still "substantial" but largely puts this down to the fact that the City is a major centre for the capital markets.

The national policy documents the government will unveil tomorrow will cover energy sectors including gas, the electricity grid and, in particular, nuclear. The nuclear document will give detailed analysis of the 11 sites put forward by developers for new plants and give initial verdicts on their suitability.

Those areas are expected to include those nominated already by EDF and RWE, such as Sizewell in Suffolk and Wylfa on the Isle of Anglesey..

Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, is also expected to give a draft "justification" statement explaining there is a national need for new nuclear stations.

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 7 Nov 2009 | 5:06 pm

In brief | Travel

Powder to the people

Renowned ski guide Felix Tanquay has come up with a new concept to guarantee British skiers the best snow possible in the Alps. This winter his Verbier-based company, Powder Extreme, is launching "Mystery Tours", where guests fly to Geneva to be met by a guide who will make a "last-second" decision as to where the best snow is at that time – and take you off there. The trips will be geared to off-piste skiing, so the destinations are likely to be chosen from among the top freeride resorts, including Alagna, Engelberg, Andermatt, La Grave and Tignes. The tours cost CHF999 (£595), including transport from Geneva, lift pass, three nights' B&B and three days of freeride coaching. The first tour leaves on 14 January; for details call 00 41 764 798771;powder-extreme.com.

Out of this world

How do you fancy three nights in a hotel...in space? A Barcelona-based company plans to open the world's first cosmic hotel, The Galactic Suite Space Resort (galacticsuite.com), by 2012. It will take a day-and-a-half to reach the space pod, where guests will don Velcro suits, allowing them to stick to the spacecraft walls, to avoid the awkward effects of weightlessness. A single pod, accommodating four paying guests and two astronauts, will be in orbit 280 miles above the Earth, circling the planet every 80 minutes. A three-night stay will set you back a cool S$4.4m, though that does include an eight-week training course on a tropical island

Swiss bliss

Low-cost ski carrier Snowjet (020 8652 1222; snowjet.co.uk) is launching a new route from London Stansted to Sion in Switzerland, ideal for skiers heading to the resorts of Nendaz (15 minutes), Verbier (one hour), Saas Fee (one hour 20 minutes) and Zermatt (one hour 45 minutes). Flights will operate every Saturday and Sunday from 19 December from £49 one way.

Calling redcoats

Fancy yourself as a Butlins Redcoat? For the first time, the company is offering online auditions through YouTube. Simply film a video of your best magic tricks or juggling skills and upload it to youtube.com/user/wearebutlins by 15 November. If Butlins like what they see, you will be invited to a face-to-face audition. But you'll need to be good – there are just 20 new places up for grabs.

Dominica on foot

When you think of a hiking holiday, the Caribbean is probably one of the last places that come to mind. But that is soon to change, thanks to the opening of the Waitukubuli National Trail on Dominica. The Caribbean's first long-distance hiking trail is due to open within the next two years and covers the length of the island from north to south. Totalling 115 miles, it takes walkers through rainforests, past rivers and along old Carib/Kalinago paths first cut by indigenous people. For further information on Dominica see discoverdominica.com.

Durham sparkle

A new light festival is set to transform the streets, landmarks and gardens of the city of Durham from Thursday to Sunday. Entitled Lumiere (lumieredurham.co.uk), the festival comprises a series of lightworks by artists in public, private and semi-private spaces. Highlights include a series of huge swinging pendulums of light suspended high in the Cathedral nave; shining pebbles on the bed of the river Wear; and French street theatre company Quidams, who will lead their audience through the city streets.

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

Law change call for space flight

A law change is needed before Scotland can be considered as a launch site for commercial space flights, Virgin Galactic says.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 7 Nov 2009 | 4:33 pm

Yemen joins gas exporters' club (AFP)

AFP - Yemen, one of the world's poorest countries, joined the international club of gas exporters Saturday with pumping starting at a newly built liquefied natural gas plant in the Gulf of Aden.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 7 Nov 2009 | 9:44 am

Aussie Birds Shrinking, Heading Poleward

As temperatures rise, Australian birds are moving toward the pole.
Source: Livescience.com | 7 Nov 2009 | 8:27 am

Seattle team wins $900,000 in Space Elevator Games (AP)

AP - A Seattle team has collected a $900,000 prize in a NASA-backed competition to develop the concept of an elevator to space — an idea spurred by science fiction novels.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 7 Nov 2009 | 6:53 am

The Many Mysteries of Neanderthals (LiveScience.com)

LiveScience.com - Editor's Note: This is Part 6 in a 10-part LiveScience series on the origin, evolution and future of the human species and the mysteries that remain to be solved.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 7 Nov 2009 | 6:51 am

Prized mushroom collection returns to China (AP)

AP - A Chinese scholar persecuted during the Cultural Revolution for smuggling a rare collection of mushrooms out of China before World War II was honored Saturday when the collection was returned more than 70 years later.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 7 Nov 2009 | 6:26 am