Sleep changes predict onset of physical changes associated with puberty

A new study suggests that changes in children's sleep patterns that typically occur between the ages of 11 and 12 years are evident before the physical changes associated with the onset of puberty.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 4 Dec 2009 | 9:00 am

Mice holding back muscular dystrophy research?

Humans and mice have previously unknown and potentially critical differences in one of the genes responsible for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Researchers have found that two major features of a key DMD gene are present in most mammals, including humans, but are specifically absent in mice and rats, calling into question the use of the mouse as the principal model animal for studying DMD.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 4 Dec 2009 | 9:00 am

'Ich' discovery could yield new ways to treat devastating freshwater fish parasite

Researchers have made an "unexpected" dual discovery that could open new avenues for treating Ichthyophthirius multifiliis, or "Ich", a devastating single-celled protozoan parasite that commonly attacks freshwater fish.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 4 Dec 2009 | 9:00 am

What happens when an enormous star blows up?

What happens when a really gargantuan star -- one hundreds of times bigger than our sun -- blows up? Although a theory developed years ago describes what the explosion of such an enormous star should look like, no one had actually observed one -- until now.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 4 Dec 2009 | 9:00 am

Newly Discovered Fat Molecule: An Undersea Killer With An Upside

A chemical culprit responsible for the rapid, mysterious death of phytoplankton in the North Atlantic Ocean has been found. This same chemical may hold unexpected promise in cancer research.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 4 Dec 2009 | 9:00 am

New tool in fight against autoimmune diseases, blood cancers

Scientists have described a new, highly pragmatic approach to the identification of molecules that prevent a specific type of immune cells from attacking their host. The findings add a powerful new tool to the ongoing search for potential treatments for autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis (MS), as well as blood cancers, such as myeloid leukemia.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 4 Dec 2009 | 9:00 am

MRI helps detect life-threatening pregnancy complication

A new study has revealed that MRI is a highly accurate means of identifying placenta accreta, a potentially life-threatening and increasingly common condition that is the leading cause of death for women just before and after giving birth.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 4 Dec 2009 | 6:00 am

Glial cells can cross from the central to the peripheral nervous system

Glial cells, which help neurons communicate with each other, can leave the central nervous system and cross into the peripheral nervous system to compensate for missing cells, according to new research. The animal study contributes to researchers' basic understanding of how the two nervous systems develop and are maintained, which is essential for the effective treatment of diseases such as multiple sclerosis.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 4 Dec 2009 | 6:00 am

By feeding the birds, you could change their evolutionary fate

Feeding birds in winter is a most innocent human activity, but it can nonetheless have profound effects on the evolutionary future of a species, and those changes can be seen in the very near term.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 4 Dec 2009 | 6:00 am

Poisonous Catfish Described

In contrast to the exhaustive research into venom produced by snakes and spiders, venomous fish have been neglected and remain something of a mystery. Now, a study of 158 catfish species has catalogued the presence of venom glands and investigated their biological effects.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 4 Dec 2009 | 6:00 am

Iron Curtain kept out alien birds

During the Cold War, the Iron Curtain prevented many alien bird species from colonising Eastern Europe, suggests a study.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 4 Dec 2009 | 3:03 am

Choosing a mate

In the first instalment of her new weekly column, the Guardian's Evolutionary Agony Aunt Carole Jahme shines the cold light of evolutionary psychology on readers' problems

I don't know who to choose

From Carry, age 33, by email
I am childless but want kids. There are two men in my life. There's a lovely older guy, aged 53. He's sophisticated and engaging and very kind and I love his company. But recently I met a 28-year-old guy. He's sexy and full of energy and I feel really attracted to him. He's newly arrived in Britain from Poland and is unemployed. I don't know who to choose. Please help!

Carole replies:
A worldwide study of sexual preferences revealed that females feel more secure if they have a mate in reserve. It seems you have the best of both worlds. The older male is established and able to offer you security and thus provide for any children you may have with him, but you should be aware that male fertility and the condition of sperm decline with age.

The younger male, on the other hand, is likely to have a higher sperm count. He excites you more sexually, but as yet he cannot provide for you or your future children. However, the "sexy son hypothesis" states that sons born of sexy strangers will mature to become sexy men themselves, thus providing granny with plenty of grandchildren.

Some Darwinists might say your optimal strategy would be to pair-bond with the older male but surreptitiously allow the younger, sexy male to fertilise you. But be careful, most men consider being cuckolded the greatest of betrayals.

Good luck!

David M. Buss et al. International Preferences in Selecting Mates: A Study of 37 Cultures. Journal of Cross-cultural Psychology (1990); 21(1): 5-47.

I want to divorce him

From Suzie, age 47, by email
I've been with my husband for 20 years, we have two daughters, I love him but he is mad in some way. He has never been diagnosed with anything, but he is always chopping and changing his projects, he is self-employed but never makes any money. I work full time and I'm worn out. I support him, I fund our lives, I do everything with the girls.

There's no one else and I don't want my kids to suffer, but I want to divorce him.

Carole replies:
Twenty years ago you saw potential in your mate, but he has disappointed you. Perhaps you have stayed with him because you fear he cannot cope alone? You have daughters and they are no doubt aware of your feelings, even if you haven't said anything.

We have not evolved to stay with one mate for the whole of our adult lives. Some of us do so and enjoy it, but others don't. If your partner is weakening you it will be harder for you to invest time and energy in your daughters, who will need advice and support from their mum until they are settled adults. Then they will require support from you to look after their own offspring.

You should have your husband medically assessed. It may be that some form of genetic disorder underlies his erratic behaviour, in which case he will need counselling and support. But you will also need to inform your daughters so that, if they are carriers, they do not themselves mate with men suffering from the same condition.

My friends think I'm a loser

From Jenny, age 39, by email
I'm a twice-divorced mum with three sons, the youngest from my second marriage. I keep choosing useless men. I've turned to drink and drugs a bit to get me by. I've not worked for a few years. My elder sons see their dad sometimes but the youngest doesn't see his dad at all. Out of all my friends I'm the one with problems, I can tell when I confide in them that they think I'm a loser. I'm broke and I'm not sure how to change things.

Carole replies:
Don't let your self-respect fall by allowing yourself to feel that your friends' lives are better than your own. Everyone has problems, but maintaining your self-respect will help you to maintain your social status. A low-status chimpanzee mother has low-status infants, and humans are no different, so you must retain your self-respect at all costs.

You obviously want to make changes, which is good. Why not ask your sons what they think? Young children have opinions – they are wired for survival and will ask for changes that will benefit themselves. Having said that, youngsters do tend to think short-term and some of their suggestions might not be feasible, but seeing their points of view will be useful to you.

If you keep prioritising your sons you will, in a roundabout way, be helping yourself.

Certain genes are connected with addictions to alcohol and other drugs such as cocaine. For example, an irregular form of the "D2" gene can result in having a third fewer dopamine receptors than normal. Those with the unusual D2 may unconsciously be trying to raise their dopamine levels with stimulants. You need to understand your genetic makeup to be able to take control. Why not ask your GP for a blood test? In the meantime try raising your dopamine levels naturally by laughing and playing with your sons.

You can email your questions to Carole by clicking here. Please put "Ask Carole" in the subject line.

Terms and conditions
Please say whether you wish to be named in connection with your enquiry and if so by what name. We reserve the right to edit questions. If you mail us a question, you agree that your email may be published on the site.

We regret that Carole cannot answer all the mails we receive. We cannot provide urgent advice and suggest that if you need such advice you seek it immediately without waiting for a response from Carole. With regards to legal, medical or financial issues, we recommend seeking the advice of a listed professional. We will not be held liable for any loss, damage or injury you incur as a result of using this site or as a result of any advice given. We will not enter into personal correspondence via email.

Carole is UK-based and as such any advice she gives is intended for a UK audience only.

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 4 Dec 2009 | 1:31 am

Nepalese cabinet holds Everest meeting (AFP)

AFP - Nepalese ministers equipped with oxygen tanks battled freezing temperatures for a cabinet meeting in the shadow of Mount Everest on Friday to highlight the impact of climate change on the Himalayas.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 4 Dec 2009 | 1:13 am

US military offers $40,000 challenge

• Cash prize for first to locate 10 secret balloons
• Scheme attempts to examine power of online networks

For most of us, social networking sites are just for fun - checking what our friends are doing, organising our weekends or playing games when the boss is not looking. But the stakes for users of sites like Facebook and Twitter are set to increase dramatically tomorrow, as the US government launches a competition that offers cunning web users the chance to win thousands of dollars.

In a nine-day challenge run by Darpa, the US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency, members of the public are being offered a grand prize of $40,000 if they successfully use the internet and social networks to track down a series of balloons hidden across America.

Under the rules of the competition, known as the Darpa Network Challenge, 10 large red balloons will be launched simultaneously at secret location across the United States tomorrow. Players have until December 14 to find out where they were located, and the first person - or group of people - to track them all down will scoop the jackpot, the equivalent of more than £24,000.

The rules are relatively loose: the balloons, which each measure eight feet in diameter, will be placed at fixed locations that are easily accessible and visible from nearby roads but will only be visible for one day. More than 300 teams have already signed up to take part and officials expect a number - from offering a reward online to sifting through various social networking sites to scan for sightings of the balloons.

"The most innovative ideas we probably haven't heard about yet, because there is an incentive to keep them secret," said Peter Lee, director of the agency's transformational convergence technology office.

On the surface, the premise seems a little wacky for a government agency that uses its annual budget of more than $3bn to create technology for use by the US military. After all, the organisation, has helped fund technological breakthroughs such as the internet and unmanned aerial vehicles in its different incarnations over the years.

But despite the whimsical nature of the task, Darpa officials say they are not running the challenge for fun.

According to the event's organisers, the challenge is an attempt to find out more about how large-scale problems can be solved by using the net and social networks to enhance "timely communication, wide-area team building and urgent mobilisation".

The idea is that through observing how the various groups attempting the task fare, the organisation will learn a significant amount about the way computer systems and popular websites can be used to harness collective intelligence.

"We are not interested in the balloons - we already know where those are," said the group's deputy director, Norman Whitaker. "It's the techniques people use to solve the challenge we're focused on."

It is not the first time Darpa has taken an offbeat approach to its research for the Pentagon. In recent years, the agency has run a number of other competitions open to the public, including a series of races pitting computer-controlled driverless cars against each other.

The latest challenge has already attracted a wide spread of interest from academics and computer scientists, as well as from some more unexpected quarters.

Record-breaking balloon artist Larry Moss has said that he will also be attempting to locate the targets. Moss, who is based in Rochester, New York, says that if he wins the top prize, he will spend his winnings making a special tribute balloon in the shape of a giant flying cupcake.

"It's a logical extension of my plans," he said.

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 4 Dec 2009 | 1:13 am

Nepal holds highest Cabinet meeting at Mt. Everest (AP)

AP - Nepal's top politicians strapped on oxygen tanks Friday and held a Cabinet meeting amid the frigid, thin air of Mount Everest to highlight the danger global warming poses to glaciers, ahead of next week's international climate change talks.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 4 Dec 2009 | 12:15 am

Amazon lumberjacks take lead in sustainable forestry (AFP)

AFP - In the heart of the Amazon, a group of lumberjacks is pioneering the sustainable exploitation of the world's biggest rainforest doing their part to combat global warming.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 4 Dec 2009 | 12:12 am

Samoan Tsunami wave was 46 feet high (AP)

AP - The tsunami that killed more than 200 people in the Samoan islands and Tonga earlier this year towered up to 46 feet (14 meters) high — more then twice as tall as most of the buildings it slammed into, scientists said Friday.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 3 Dec 2009 | 11:23 pm

Hot water for the Twalas, hot debate at Copenhagen (AP)

AP - The shopping list includes wind farms, seawalls and even real estate — new homelands for flooded-out islanders. And poor countries want to present the bill to the rich at next week's climate talks in Copenhagen.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 3 Dec 2009 | 10:51 pm

UN body enters climate e-mail row

The UN Panel on Climate Change says claims UK scientists manipulated global warming data should be investigated.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 3 Dec 2009 | 10:25 pm

Vitamin D May Be Tied to Heart Disease Via Genes (HealthDay)

HealthDay - THURSDAY, Dec. 3 (HealthDay News) -- New research points to the possibility of a genetic link between vitamin D and heart disease.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 3 Dec 2009 | 9:50 pm

EPA Forbidden From Protecting Public

Here's surprise and an anti-surprise. Anti-surprise first: In many ways U.S. laws do a lousy job protecting Americans from toxic chemicals. Surprise: the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Lisa P. Jackson, made this point in great detail to ...
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 3 Dec 2009 | 7:57 pm

Global warming may require higher dams, stilts (AP)

AP - With the world losing the battle against global warming so far, experts are warning that humans need to follow nature's example: Adapt or die.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 3 Dec 2009 | 7:37 pm

Most Awesome Surfing Known to Woman

This is one amazing video from Billabong. It shows one of the world's most talented young woman surfers, Maya Gabeira of Rio de Janeiro, getting seemingly buried in a monstrous tube at Teahupoo, Tahiti, on October 14. But wait! Then ...
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 3 Dec 2009 | 7:20 pm

Food sustainability: Modified opinions

Historians of the future may mark the early 21st century as the point where the science of agriculture finally broke into public understanding. Ten years of ill-tempered debate over genetically modified organisms (GMOs) has had many malign effects, not least adding to public scepticism about science and scientists. But it has had one benign one. It has pumped dye into the veins of the global food business, graphically illustrating the monopolistic ambitions of agribusiness and ultimately, perhaps, its ability to control the very food we eat.

On Wednesday night a debate on GMOs at the illustrious Royal Society of Chemistry HQ in London suggested a breakthrough. Afterwards the feeling was that it was a win on points for the GM sceptics. This is not what was meant to happen: the scientific community, and the government, insist Britain's future food sustainability depends on employing some form of GM to increase yields, as the Royal Society recently argued. But they can take heart: the debate was less a defeat for GM than for the way it has developed. The corollary is that if the government really believes that the only way to increase yields is through GM technology, it will have to fund this itself.

The winning argument on Wednesday was not really about science at all, but about the ethics of a method of increasing yields that delivers such power into the hands of the multinationals. Yesterday the Soil Association published a report claiming that next year's GM soya bean seed will cost US farmers almost half as much again as this year's. Genetically modified seed is, as a technology, intended primarily to benefit the corporations that develop it. Claims that it is the way to save the world came later. This does not necessarily make it a bad technology; it only means – as Sussex University's Erik Millstone argued in the debate – its commercial trajectory is too narrow to provide much in the way of answers to global hunger. It is a technology developed for large-scale agriculture in advanced capitalist economies that has scant regard for other producers or other economic models. It has been accompanied by unsubstantiated claims which, according to independent scientists backed by the powerful voice of Scientific American, cannot be tested, since all research on GM seed has to be licensed as part of the impenetrable defences erected by agribusiness around its expensive patents.

This model excludes all kinds of developments that might make a more significant contribution to food sustainability than merely increasing yield (often by enabling heavier use of herbicides or pesticides). Food sustainability in an era of climate change requires not only, nor even primarily, higher yields, but greater resilience – the ability to survive in harsher conditions and on poorer soils. There is work to be done on developments that would lower the need for high-cost (and often high-carbon) inputs, by for example developing crops grown as annuals into perennials, or breeding varieties that do not require soil cultivation, or that improve the soil by fixing nitrogen.

Here, GM may be a small part of the answer. But it has a mixed record in Asia, where it has tended to enrich the rich and impoverish the poor, and it is unlikely to be any part of the answer to food security in Africa for the foreseeable future. As the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation pointed out last year, there is enough food for everyone. It just isn't available in the right places. Subsistence farmers are cut off from all but the most local markets, and if they take the risk of buying commercial GM seed their increased yield might just lower local prices. They need simpler improvements. And globally the need is for publicly funded science to investigate sustainable agriculture in the widest possible meaning of the word: better farming practices, a viable pricing system and, for the global north, a radical change in patterns of consumption.

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 3 Dec 2009 | 5:05 pm

Richard Branson joins the space race

For $200,000, you too could soon be blasting out of the Earth's atmosphere thanks to Richard Branson. But is this really a revolution in space travel?

The Mojave desert, 160km north of Los Angeles, is best known for its unforgiving weather and ancient, almost alien, landscape. On Monday, however, it will play host to a very modern spectacle when Sir Richard Branson unveils the latest stage of his scheme to transform space travel into a cheap, commercial proposition.

On a barren airstrip tucked into the edge of the desert, the 59-year-old billionaire will pull back the curtain on Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo (SS2) – the carbon-composite craft about the size of a Gulfstream jet (and a third of the size of the Space Shuttle) which aims to carry paying passengers out of the Earth's atmosphere to the brink of space.

Already, 300 wealthy adventurers are said to have signed up for the proposed $200,000, two-and-a-half-hour flights – among them scientists Stephen Hawking and 90-year-old James Lovelock, and celebrities such as X-Men director Brian Singer and former Dallas star Victoria Principal. In stark contrast to the complexity of an astronaut's training, a flight with Virgin Galactic will only require three days' pre-training. It is rumoured that the very first passengers will be Branson himself, along with his two children and parents.

In all, SS2's 12ft long pressurised cabin is designed to carry six "space tourists" and two pilots beyond the Kármán line (the generally acknowledged boundary of space, 100km up). For a few minutes, they will experience weightlessness while gazing out of aeroplane-style windows at the curvature of the Earth, the thin surface of the atmosphere and, perhaps, other planets. By then the rocket's engines will have been switched off, so the ensuing silence will add to the power of the experience (trial reports from the prototype SpaceShipOne even described hearing the "ping ping" of molecules striking the bottom of the craft as it re-entered the atmosphere).

The engineering acumen behind this hugely ambitious project is led by 66-year-old Burt Rutan, an aerospace maverick who has broken records and barriers throughout his career. Under Rutan's direction, SS2 has been in development for nearly five years, alongside the construction of WhiteKnightTwo – the 140ft wingspan "mothership" that will ferry the smaller rocket ship 50,000ft into the sky before it detaches, then blasts up to the edge of space at up to 2,600mph.

The construction of both craft out of carbon composite materials – making them much lighter and more fuel efficient – is crucial to the success of cheap commercial space flight. WhiteKnightTwo is the largest all-composite aircraft ever built, and the weight reduction is reckoned by Virgin Galactic to improve fuel consumption by up to 60% – something that has obvious implications for the aircraft industry in the longer term.

Rutan's team have also designed SS2 to curl up or "feather" its wings once out of the atmosphere, meaning it can fall back like a shuttlecock at a near-vertical angle without the need for pilot control, before reforming its wings at 60,000ft for the final gliding descent to the "spaceport's" runway.

While each Space Shuttle mission is estimated to cost around $1bn, a Virgin Galactic flight (obviously much shorter, and far less complex) is put at less than $2m. But it is still a huge financial undertaking, and even with those 300 or so advanced bookings (flights are eventually anticipated to run once or even twice a day), Branson has sold part of the business to investors based in Abu Dhabi to bring in $280m of much-needed capital. He is surely also right when he says that "$200,000 is still too expensive for the majority of people".

The biggest challenge came in 2007, however, when an explosion at the company's factory killed three engineers and left three others seriously injured. With typical understatement, a distraught Rutan called the blast, which happened when a rocket test stand exploded during a fairly routine trial, "a tough thing". Development was put on hold for a year.

Even now, many observers remain unsure that the project can be entirely safe, and, to his credit, Rutan does not mince words on the subject, suggesting it should be compared to the early days of traditional aviation. "This is designed to be at least as safe as the early airliners in the 1920s," he has said. "But don't believe anyone who tells you that the safety will be the same as a modern airliner, which has been around for 70 years."

For Branson and Virgin, though, who also have new Formula One racing and submarine exploration projects under way, breaking boundaries and taking calculated risks are all part of the brand.

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 3 Dec 2009 | 5:05 pm

What Drugs Are Our Astronauts On?

Science fiction is full of imagined space drugs, but just what substances are our astronauts really on?
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 3 Dec 2009 | 3:11 pm

First Photo Taken of Object Around Sun-Like Star, Scientists Say (SPACE.com)

SPACE.com - Astronomers say they have taken the first direct image of a planet-like object orbiting a star much like our own sun.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 3 Dec 2009 | 3:01 pm

NASA Perplexed Over New Rocket's Parachute Failure (SPACE.com)

SPACE.com - NASA is still perplexed over the parachute failure that damaged its new Ares I-X test rocket during its October test launch, but otherwise the debut flight went well, mission managers said.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 3 Dec 2009 | 3:01 pm

First Photo Taken of Object Around Sun-Like Star, Scientists Say

Scientists reveal what they call the first direct image of a planet-like object orbiting a sun-like star.
Source: Livescience.com | 3 Dec 2009 | 2:39 pm

Dinosaurs from the Inside Out

In 1993's groundbreaking Jurassic Park, several unfortunate souls (Samuel L. Jackson! Newman! that whiny accountant guy on the john!) got to see the inside of a dinosaur ... the hard way. But on Discovery Channel's new show Clash of the ...
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 3 Dec 2009 | 2:36 pm

Warmest December 3 in U.S. Northeast in a decade (Reuters)

Reuters - The U.S. Northeast, the world's biggest heating oil market, is experiencing its warmest December 3 in more than a decade, according to weather forecasters.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 3 Dec 2009 | 2:01 pm

Normally neurotic

Claustrophobia isn't rare. So why was my only way out of an airport to run up the down escalator?

"You're not the only one," said the kindly airport worker as she drove me across the tarmac, blood pouring from my knee, humiliating apologies flowing from my mouth. We had flown in to Stansted at around 10pm, following signs to arrivals. Escalators took us down to the platform for a shuttle back to the terminal.

So far, so efficient. But the shuttle is underground. I, like the character I play in The Thick of It, am badly claustrophobic. I had used it on the way out because a) I didn't know it was going to go underground, and b) it was empty. But now the carriage was full. I stood back with my husband and family, and suggested we wait for the next one. It, too, was almost full. Suddenly this was not just an underground train, but one at the height of rush hour. Anyone who has suffered from a phobia or anxiety attack will know what I mean: I simply couldn't get on it. Even after years of fairly successful and certainly pricey cognitive therapy, nothing was going to get me on that train. My husband and kids were happy to use it, but I decided to return to the upper floor, reasoning that there must be another route. After all, claustrophobia's quite common, so surely the airport would have a plan for the more neurotic customer.

There were no staff members to advise me – and no way out without using a lift. By now, I was in the grip of a full-blown panic. I was trapped on a tube platform and the only way out was to get on the tube. This is the stuff of anxiety dreams – trust me, I have them regularly.

I weighed up my options. Emergency exit: possibly alarmed, airport security, guns – not a good idea. Get on the tube and risk my panic attack worsening in front of crowds of strangers? No. I did the only thing I could – I ran full pelt up a down escalator like a wild-eyed, straw-haired, designer-jacketed loon. Just as I was congratulating myself on making it to the top, I tripped, skidded downwards on my knees, clambered to my feet, fell again, and eventually hauled myself off the top of the escalator in ripped jeans, blood streaming from my leg. In my desperate attempt to avoid an irrational danger I had put myself in the way of a real one. And there was still no alternative route. I found an emergency phone, and began grovelling.

I should point out that Stansted is not the only environment hostile to claustrophobics. I have bitter memories of a hotel in Amsterdam where the only way I could either enter or leave my room was to have a member of staff with a security pass escort me on the stairs. It seems no one had considered the possibility that some guests might not want to use a lift. And my amicable relationship with an Oscar-winning director almost came to an ugly conclusion at a TV studio when he gallantly offered to escort me down the fire escape stairs and an hour later we were hopelessly lost in the building's concrete bowels.

Having a phobia puts you in a strange netherworld somewhere between disability and "normal". Because there is no physical impairment, society at large is bewildered by this apparently wilful inability to do what is expected. You have been provided with a sealed metal box inside a concrete tube to take you where you need to go; what's not to like?

In The Thick of It, we've used my character's claustrophobia for comic effect, because laughing at its absurdity is the only reliable way I know of dealing with it. As I sat shaking in the airport car with the orange "crazy woman on board" light flashing, I realised that the best metaphor for being a phobic is going up an escalator the wrong way – it's feasible, it gets you where you want to go, but you risk leaving your dignity in a heap at the bottom, trampled by the feet of all the "normal" people waiting to use the lift.

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 3 Dec 2009 | 2:00 pm

Taking the pulse of the North Atlantic

Employing the services of commercial ships plying the North Atlantic, an international team of scientists has made the first detailed and large-scale measurements of the exchange -- or flux -- of carbon dioxide between the atmosphere and the oceans. Their ...
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 3 Dec 2009 | 1:21 pm

Ed Miliband attacks Tory climate 'saboteurs'

The climate change secretary, Ed Miliband, launched a ferocious attack on Conservative politicians who have cast doubt on the science of climate change in the run-up to the global UN summit in Copenhagen.

He said the former chancellor Nigel Lawson and former shadow home secretary David Davis were irresponsible and were acting as "saboteurs".

Miliband's comments follow articles from both men in the wake of the publication of emails hacked from the University of East Anglia's Climate research unit (CRU), which sceptics claim reveal wrongdoing by prominent climate scientists.

"It is profoundly irresponsible for people like Nigel Lawson, who has held high office, and David Davis to be doing what they are doing. It is very dangerous. People sabotaging the [Copenhagen] process deserve the name saboteur," Miliband said. "There are interests who do not want an agreement at Copenhagen. Anyone who comes forward at this moment and starts saying 'we can stick our heads in the sand' is irresponsible."

Davis wrote in the Independent that the Earth appeared to be cooling, not warming, and that the leaked emails seemed to show leading scientists "conspiring to rig the figures to support their theories".

But this was dismissed by Miliband. "This is scientific consensus from around the world. It's as universal a view as you can get. One chain of emails does not undo scientific consensus."

UEA announced that an independent review into the row over the leaked emails would be conducted by Sir Muir Russell, a physicist and former senior civil servant. The university said the inquiry would look at the key allegations, including whether the leaked exchanges between the scientists demonstrated any manipulation or suppression of data, the CRU's approach to assembling and presenting research findings and whether the department complied with freedom of information requests.

Bob Ward, at the London School of Economics and one of the prominent voices who called for a review, welcomed the news: "This appears to be a very good appointment. One concern is that the results may not be published until the spring. This is probably necessary to allow a thorough investigation, but it does mean that those who are using 'climategate' as a propaganda tool for their own political ends might be able to enjoy many more weeks of mischief-making."

The publicity surrounding the leaked emails has brought the sceptical views of other Tory politicians into the limelight, including Peter Lilley and several backbenchers. Last week two Conservative MEPs voted against a motion calling for 80% carbon emission cuts by 2050, while last year a poll asked MPs if humans were to blame for climate change: 35% of the Conservative MPs responding said no, or don't know, compared with 12% for Labour and 4% for the Liberal Democrats.

David Cameron has faced claims this week that the green policies that have featured prominently in the repositioning of the party do not have broad support. "David Cameron might cycle for the cameras – but his party is chugging off in the other direction in a fleet of gas guzzlers," said Miliband.Cameron also suffered embarrassment this week due to an overly green statement from prospective parliamentary candidate Zac Goldsmith, who told the Guardian that no new nuclear power stations would be built under a Conservative government. Tory policy is that Britain needs new nuclear reactors to ensure energy security and to cut carbon emissions.

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 3 Dec 2009 | 1:09 pm

Swine Flu Vaccine Seekers Swindled

An Internet scam falsely claims Americans aged 18 and older must create a vaccination profile.
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 3 Dec 2009 | 1:00 pm

New weapon against climate change

Battery-powered underwater glider known as the Scarlet Knight tracks temperature variations in the most inhospitable locations

When a shiny, winged yellow tube touches land in Spain this weekend it will be completing a transatlantic trip that scientists compare to Charles Lindbergh's famous flight across the same ocean.

More crucially, this battery-powered underwater glider will have proved itself an effective weapon against climate change, according to scientists. "This is the first time an underwater glider has ever crossed the Atlantic," said oceanographer Scott Glenn from Rutgers University in New Jersey. His team are preparing to pick up the Scarlet Knight, named after the university football team, in the waters off the Spanish port of Vigo. "If we can do that now, then we can cross the ocean with 10 and then we can do it with 100."

Those gliders will, like the Scarlet Knight, be equipped with sensors to track temperature change and currents just under the sea's surface. The oceans have a profound influence on the planet's climate but data is hard to collect. "This is the start of a new generation of gliders that will help monitor climate change so the politicians can make better informed decisions," said Glenn. "Climate change is the grand challenge of this future generation. We have to do this within the lifetime of our children."

The gliders can collect data even in the inhospitable North Atlantic and near the melting polar ice caps. They can reach depths of 200 metres (650ft) and withstand seven-metre waves. "They swim like dolphins. We can put them into storms and places not safe for human beings," said Glenn. "If you lose one, then all you are losing is electronics.""The vision is of omnipresence, of being able to be all over the ocean by having lots of inexpensive robots tweeting back messages."

The Scarlet Knightis also will deliver letters written by US children but its historic trip is unlikely to herald a change in passenger traffic: it is took more than seven months to get to Spain from New Jersey, where it was launched on 29 April. With no propeller, it is moved by a small piston that alters its internal pressure, causing it to dive or rise. Wings then turn the up-down movement into forward motion.

Gliders occasionally bob to the surface to transmit data and receive instructions about what course to take. They use tiny amounts of electricity, allowing their batteries to run for up to a year. "It uses the power of about three Christmas lights," said Glenn. "This glider still retains a third of its battery power."

New battery technologies should allow a glider to "fly" around the world within in 10 years, he said.The 60kg (132lb), 2.5-metre-long Scarlet Knight has arrived at the exact spot the team was aiming for. "We would have been happy with reaching anywhere that flies a European flag," Glenn said.

The glider's success has already attracted attention, with the US navy planning to order up to 300.

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 3 Dec 2009 | 12:56 pm

Dams Could Alter Local Weather, Cause More Rain

As if America’s aging dams were not in enough trouble already, new research suggests that their reservoirs could be increasing the intensity of extreme rainstorms in their immediate vicinities.

That’s a problem because the dams were designed for the climate that existed in the area before they were built. If by virtue of their creation, they increase the chance that an extreme weather event will exceed the dams’ capacity, they could be less safe than previously thought.

“What if the dam itself, its reservoir, could have accelerated or intensified the heavy rainfall patterns?” said Faisal Hossain, a hydrologist at Tennessee Tech University, who has co-authored a paper and editorial on the topic accepted for publication in Natural Hazards Review and Water Resources Research, respectively.

There is strong evidence that a standing body of water, like a lake, can alter precipitation patterns, Hossain said. Increasing the amount of liquid water in a region increases the amount of evaporation in a region, too. That water vapor will eventually condense and fall as precipitation. So, it’s logical to think that a dam’s reservoir could have the same impact. And dams allow irrigation, which can transform the land in the area, possibly leading to local climactic impacts.

Marshall Shepherd, a research meteorologist at the University of Georgia, called the findings “interesting and plausible” in an e-mail to Wired.com.

“The literature contains many examples of how extreme land use changes alter precipitation patterns,” wrote Shepherd, whose own work focuses on climactic changes induced by cities.

Shepherd would like to see more detailed analysis of the mechanics behind how a dam could change local precipitation.

That kind of work could help explain why the changes Hossain and his collaborators have observed vary so much between sites. Some areas like southern Africa and Europe show as much as a 20 percent increase in extreme precipitation events after dams were built, but other areas, particularly in the United States, show just a percent or two increase.

Still, even a relatively small increase in the amount of precipitation could become a problem. As dams age, they lose some of their storage capacity as silt builds up along the reservoir bed, cutting the volume of water that physically fits in the reservoir. Hossain pointed to Lake Mead as an example, which he says has lost about 30 percent of its storage capacity.

Reservoirs with less room for precipitation are more susceptible to overflowing. One solution to the problem could be to decrease the amount of water in the reservoir to provide more space for rainwater.

“You can always lower the level of a reservoir to handle when that heavy cloudburst or flood happens,” said Hossain.

But that could negatively impact dams’ hydroelectric and irrigation capacity and may not be popular with the dam’s users. Before such steps are taken, however, scientists will have to determine how much of problem the dam’s alteration of local climate could be, Hossain admits.

Image: NASA/Lake Powell

See Also:

• Man-Made Dam May Have Triggered Great China Quake
• Old American Dams Quietly Become a Multibillion-Dollar Threat …
• U.S. and China Water Down Climate Change Report
• Senate Begins Largely Symbolic Climate-Change Debate
• Ocean Fertilization Works — Unless It Doesn’t
• Fifty Percent Chance Lake Mead Will Be Dry By 2021, Models Show …
• Top 5 Ways to Cause a Man-Made Earthquake

WiSci 2.0: Alexis Madrigal’s Twitter, Google Reader feed, and green tech history research site; Wired Science on Twitter and Facebook.

Source: Wired: Wired Science | 3 Dec 2009 | 12:51 pm

Cool find in hunt for exoplanets

Astronomers have spotted what may prove to be the coolest planet outside our Solar System that has ever been seen directly.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 3 Dec 2009 | 12:26 pm

How Brain Scans Are Used In Murder Trials

Courts use results from a brain scan to determine if the defendant was lying.
Source: Livescience.com | 3 Dec 2009 | 12:14 pm

Feeding Birds Could Create New Species

Something as simple as feeding birds can change their biological fate, and even seed the formation of a new species.

Central European blackcap warblers that spend the winter in the birdfeeder-rich United Kingdom are on a different evolutionary trajectory than those that migrate to Spain. The population hasn’t yet split into two species, but it’s headed in that direction.

“This is reproductive isolation, the first step of speciation,” said Martin Schaefer, a University of Freiburg evolutionary biologist.

Blackcap migration routes are genetically determined, and the population studied by Schaefer has historically wintered in Spain. Those that flew north couldn’t find food in barren winter landscapes, and perished. But during the last half-century, people in the U.K. put so much food out for birds that north-flying blackcaps could survive.

About 30 percent of blackcaps from southern Germany and Austria now migrate to the United Kingdom, shaving 360 miles from their traditional, 1,000-mile Mediterranean voyage. Because they’ve less distance to travel, they tend to arrive home first in the summertime and to live in prime forest-edge spots. All this makes the U.K. migrants more likely to mate with each other than with their old-fashioned brethren.

From these groupings, subtle differences are emerging. The U.K. birds tend to have rounded wings, which sacrifice long-distance flying power for increased maneuverability. Now that they don’t need wide bills to eat Mediterranean olives in winter, their bills are becoming narrower and better-suited to summer insect diets. They’re also slightly darker.

Schaefer thinks it unlikely that humans will keep feeding the blackcaps long enough for them to become truly separate species, but it’s possible. He’s now studying the fate of hybrid offspring born to British and Spanish migrants, that split the difference between their parents and winter in southwest France. If the hybrids have trouble surviving, the population will likely diverge even further, and now-subtle differences will become pronounced as blackcaps favor their closest kin.

Perhaps the most striking aspect of the findings, published Thursday in Current Biology, is the manner in which the populations diverged, said Schaefer. Reproductive isolation usually begins when a population is separated by a mountain or a sea, as with Darwin’s famous Galapagos finches. “Here it’s prompted by a very innocent human activity,” said Schaefer.

1) A United Kingdom-migrating blackcap at left, and a Mediterranean-migrating blackcap at right./ Martin Schaefer. 2) Beat Walser.

See Also:

• Birth of New Species Witnessed by Scientists
• Help Science: Build Your Own Bird Tracker, Cheap
• Birds, Humans Increasingly on Collision Course
• Flying Transformers: Birds Gear Up for Migration

Citation: “Contemporary Evolution of Reproductive Isolation and Phenotypic Divergence in Sympatry along a Migratory Divide.” By Gregor Rolshausen, Gernot Segelbacher, Keith Hobson and H. Martin Schaefer. Current Biology, Vol. 19, No 23, Dec. 3, 2009.

Brandon Keim’s Twitter stream and reportorial outtakes; Wired Science on Twitter. Brandon is currently working on a book about ecosystem and planetary tipping points.

Source: Wired: Wired Science | 3 Dec 2009 | 12:00 pm

Obituary: Jerry Morris

The first physician to show the link between exercise and health

Jerry Morris, who has died aged 99, was the first researcher to demonstrate the connection between exercise and health. He also helped redefine public health with a focus on the role that lifestyle plays in the development of chronic disease, and provided the research tools for investigating the determinants of health. His vision of public health was founded on the idea of the "community physician", a new breed of public health doctor.

He was born in Liverpool, to a family of newly arrived immigrants. His father, Nathan, was a Hebrew scholar and teacher from eastern Poland. Jerry was one of three talented brothers: Max would become a leading headteacher and an influential president of the National Union of Teachers; Isaiah would win the Military Cross during the second world war and was killed in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. The family moved to Glasgow, where Jerry was educated. In 1934 he qualified in medicine at University College hospital, London, and then gained wide clinical experience. He spent most of the second world war as a clinical specialist in the Royal Army Medical Corps in India and Burma, rising to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. During his army service in India, he participated in an early demonstration of the efficacy of penicillin.

An important association in Jerry's life had begun before the war – his relationship with the social statistician and pioneer of the postwar welfare state, Richard Titmuss. He made contact with Titmuss after reading his Poverty and Population, published in 1938. Thus began what Titmuss's daughter, Ann Oakley, has called "an unusually vital working partnership" in both research and policy which lasted until Titmuss's death in the early 1970s. During the war, despite Jerry's absence in India, the two produced three papers which were hailed by the social medicine pioneer John Ryle as the "first example of a practical social medicine". Juvenile rheumatism, rheumatic heart disease and peptic ulcer were chosen because they demonstrated the influence of social factors.

In 1948, this joint interest led to the foundation of the Medical Research Council's social medicine unit, with Jerry as its director. Initially at the Central Middlesex hospital in Willesden, a powerhouse of social medicine activity, from 1956 it was based at the London hospital, where Jerry was appointed to the chair in social medicine. Finally (1967-75) the unit was at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), where Jerry was also professor of public health until his retirement in 1978.

The work at the Central Middlesex involved new areas of concern such as coronary heart disease and physical activity, on which seminal papers were published in the 1950s, together with a focus on infant mortality. The finding that sedentary bus drivers had much higher rates of heart disease than the active conductors who rushed up and down the steps of the double-decker had all Jerry's qualities of imaginative epidemiological research design. It also significantly altered the focus in earlier research on occupation and social class towards a concern for lifestyle.

Chronic disease epidemiology, the study of the distribution of disease in populations, was the bedrock of this new public health outlook. Jerry's book Uses of Epidemiology (1957) was the cornerstone and technical blueprint for public health activities. His association with Titmuss and Brian Abel Smith as policy advisers influenced the reform of health and social services under the Labour governments of the 1960s and 70s. His membership of the Seebohm committee on the future of the personal social services, and Titmuss's parallel involvement in the Todd commission on medical education in 1968, with much private exchange between the two men, pushed these matters forward.

The old medical officer of health, running health services within local government, became the new community physician within the health service as new social services departments were established in the local authorities. Morris intended the community physician to be the key strategist in the reorganised NHS in the 1970s, responsible for "community diagnosis". He stressed the complementarity between community and clinical medicine. His involvement in the formation of the faculty of community medicine (now public health) in 1972 confirmed public health as a medical occupation separate from social researchers and non-medical practitioners. But the reality of these changes did not correspond to the initial high hopes. Public health as a profession entered the doldrums in the 1970s and early 80s, not helped by the arrival of general management, which took some of the strategic role.

At the London School, the two-year MSc in social, later community, medicine which Jerry established trained a new generation of public health leaders, who studied in areas ranging from social science to operational research. Iain Chalmers, June Crown, Beulah Bewley and John Ashton were all graduates of this course. Young public health lecturers on the school staff, including Michael Marmot, became his proteges.

Jerry was a key member of many postwar health committees, from the first Royal College of Physicians committee on smoking and air pollution in the late 1950s, where he urged a focus on the media – then a novelty – and on the economics of smoking, to the Black report on inequalities in the late 1970s, where he debated with Peter Townsend whether initiatives should be health service or community-based. In the early 1980s he was also chair of the national committee on nutrition education, which had a run-in with the Thatcher government because its report upset the food industry.

He maintained his interest in exercise research in retirement and was presented with an Olympic gold medal in 1996. In his 90s, a Department of Health research grant enabled him to work on establishing the minimum income necessary for healthy living, research which occupied his later years.

Jerry came regularly to the office until a few weeks before his death. He was a familiar figure in the corridors of the LSHTM, taking a keen interest in the work of colleagues and refusing to admit to any disability. Music and the theatre were his passions, along with a determination to improve things.

He married Galina Schuchalter in 1939. She died in 1997 and a son also predeceased him. He is survived by a son, David, a daughter, Julie, and two grandchildren.

•Jeremy Noah Morris, public health physician and reformer, born 6 May 1910; died 28 October 2009

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 3 Dec 2009 | 11:40 am

Ted Turner, Bison Breeder?

The billionaire media mogul will host bison from Yellowstone National Park on his private ranch.
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 3 Dec 2009 | 11:36 am

Download Your Own Robot Scientist

Ever wanted to have a robot to do your research for you? If you are a scientist, you have almost certainly had this dream. Now it’s a real option: Eureqa, a program that distills scientific laws from raw data, is freely available to researchers.

The program was unveiled in April, when it used readouts of a double-pendulum to infer Newton’s second law of motion and the law of conservation of momentum. It could be an invaluable tool for revealing other, more complicated laws that have eluded humans. And scientists have been clamoring to get their hands on it.

“We tend to think of science as finding equations, like E=MC2, that are simple and elegant. But maybe some theories are complicated, and we can only find the simple ones,” said Hod Lipson of Cornell University’s Computational Synthesis Lab. “Those are unreachable right now. But the algorithms we’ve developed could let us reach them.”

Eureqa is descended from Lipson’s work on self-contemplating robots that figure out how to repair themselves. The same algorithms that guide the robots’ solution-finding computations have been customized for analyzing any type of data.

The program starts by searching within a dataset for numbers that seem connected to each other, then proposing a series of simple equations to describe the links. Those initial equations invariably fail, but some are slightly less wrong than others. The best are selected, tweaked, and again tested against the data. Eureqa repeats the cycle over and over, until it finds equations that work.

What took Newton years to calculate, Eureqa returned in a few hours on a decent desktop computer. Lipson and other researchers hope Eureqa can perform the same wizardry with data that now defies scientists, especially those working at the frontiers of biology, where genomes, proteins and cell signals have proven fantastically difficult to analyze. Their interactions appear to follow rules that traditional analytical methods can’t easily reveal.

“There’s a famous quote by Emerson Pugh: ‘If the human brain were so simple that we could understand it, we would be so simple that we couldn’t.’ I think that applies to all of biology,” said John Wikswo, a Vanderbilt University biophysicist who’s using the Eureqa engine in his own lab. “Biology is complicated beyond belief, too complicated for people to comprehend the solutions to its complexity. And the solution to this problem is the Eureqa project.”

Lipson made Eureqa available for download early in November, after being overwhelmed by requests from scientists who wanted him to analyze their data. In the meantime, he and Michael Schmidt, a Cornell University computational biologist responsible for much of Eureqa’s programming, continue to develop it.

An ongoing challenge is the tendency of Eureqa to return equations that fit data, but refer to variables that are not yet understood. Lipson likened this to what would happen if time-traveling scientists presented the laws of energy conservation to medieval mathematicians.

“Algebra was known. You could plug in the variable, and it would work. But the concept of energy wasn’t there. They didn’t have the vocabulary to understand it,” he said. “We’ve seen this in the lab. Eureqa finds a new relationship. It’s predictive, it’s elegant, it has to be true. But we have no idea what it means.”

Lipson and Schmidt are now devising “algorithms to explain what our algorithm is finding,” perhaps by relating unknown concepts to simpler, more familiar terms. “How do you explain something complicated to a child? That’s what it involves,” said Lipson. “It’s machine teaching, rather than machine learning.”

One set of incomprehensibly meaningful discoveries comes from Eureqa’s analysis of cellular readouts gathered by Gurol Suel, a University of Texas Southwestern molecular microbiologist who studies how cells divide and grow. But even if Eureqa can’t yet explain what it found, it’s still useful, said Suel.

“You can use this as a starting point for further investigations. It lets you think about new ideas of what’s going on in the cell, and generate new hypotheses about the properties of biological systems,” said Suel.

Sometimes Eureqa will require more data than it’s given before finding answers. In those cases, the program may be able to identify information gaps, and recommend experiments to fill them.

That functionality is included in the latest build of the program, and is being taken even further in a new Lipson-Wikswo project. They’re hooking a version of Eureqa directly to Wikswo’s experimental gadgetry.

“The program is going to adjust the valves, feeding different nutrients and toxins to the cells,” and it does this faster than any researcher, said Wikswo. “It comes up with the equations, plus the experiments needed to come up with the equations. It’s Eureqa on steroids.”

According to Wikswo, who studies the effects of cocaine on white blood cells, Eureqa can propose experiments that researchers would have difficulty imagining.

“In most of science, you try to keep everything constant except for one variable. You turn one knob at a time, and see how the system responds. That’s wonderful for linear systems,” he said. “But most biology is complex and non-linear. Emergent behaviors are very hard to understand unless you turn many knobs at a time, and we can’t figure out which knobs to turn. So we’re going to let Eureqa pick them.”

The Cornell team hasn’t counted downloads of their program, but it’s likely being used by researchers outside biology. As long as data fits on a spreadsheet, Eureqa can analyze it.

“In the past year, people have contacted us with some wild application ideas,” said Schmidt. “Everything from predicting the stock market to modeling the herding of cows.”

Images: 1) Hod Lipson running Eureqa in his office. 2) Diagrams of information flow through one of Lipson’s self-repairing robots (left) and Eureqa (right).

Eureqa downloads and tutorials.

See Also:

• Computer Program Self-Discovers Laws of Physics
• Open-Source Biomodels: Molecules First, Then the World
• There’s No Such Thing as a ‘Simple’ Organism
• Humans No Match for Go Bot Overlords

Brandon Keim’s Twitter stream and reportorial outtakes; Wired Science on Twitter. Brandon is currently working on a book about ecosystem and planetary tipping points.

Source: Wired: Wired Science | 3 Dec 2009 | 11:35 am

Climate change Russian roulette

We need to avoid a global hangover the day after the summit in Copenhagen. A breakthrough is possible, but only with sacrifices

Mounting scepticism and deadlocked negotiations have culminated in an announcement that the Copenhagen climate conference will not result in a comprehensive global climate deal. Disappointing? Certainly. But the summit was always meant to be a transitional step. The most important thing to consider is where we will go from here.

The phrase "the day after" is most commonly associated with the word "hangover". The absence of a binding agreement could mean a global hangover, and not just for a day. Fed up with apocalyptic predictions, people wanted a miracle in Copenhagen. So a perceived failure may cause a massive, perhaps irreversible, loss of confidence in our politicians. No surprise, then, that governments have sought to manage our expectations carefully.

Decision-makers have not faced up to just how close the world may be to the climate "tipping point". But, while a runaway climate remains a risk, runaway politics are already a fact. Official negotiations are removed from reality. According to the latest science, the current proposals under negotiation will result in warming of more than 4C during this century – double the 2C maximum endorsed by the G8 and other leaders. That leaves a higher than 50% probability of the world's climate moving past its tipping point.

An agreement based on the parameters that are now on the negotiating table would thus put us in a position more dangerous than a game of Russian roulette. To avoid both the global hangover of no deal and the self-deception of a weak deal, a breakthrough is needed – and can still be achieved in Copenhagen.

A two-step process is now our best bet. States should make a political commitment to a framework that includes overall objectives, an institutional framework and specific pledges of early action and financing. The declaration must stipulate that a legally binding agreement must be finalised by a second session, COP15-bis, in 2010. That would allow the US and other countries to enact the necessary legislation, and provide United Nations negotiators time to translate the COP15 declaration into an appropriate, workable legal structure. If this means a total reworking of the current document, so be it.

In addition, it might be necessary to have a review conference in 2015 to adjust our targets and plans to the new realities. Therefore, it is more important than ever that heads of state attend the Copenhagen conference, as this two-step solution will only work with strong, direct intervention by leaders.

In 1985 during the height of the cold war, when negotiations were bogged down at the US-Soviet Union Geneva summit, the negotiators were instructed by their leaders annoyed by lack of progress: "We do not want your explanations why this can't be done. Just do it!" And it was done by the morning. Today's leaders must come to Copenhagen and say: "We want this done!"

To move forward, the Copenhagen meeting must break the political deadlock between industrialised and developing states. Climate injustice must be redressed, as developing countries bear the brunt of the impact and face massive adaptation costs. Rich countries need to put serious money on the table. Claims that they lack the needed resources ring hollow, as trillions of dollars were found to bail out banks in the financial crisis.

Poor countries are aware of their power to block progress. Veto power is effectively shifting from the UN security council to G77 plus China. Who would have imagined in the west 10 years ago that the future and their children's wellbeing would depend upon decisions taken in Beijing or Delhi or Addis Ababa?

So the industrialised countries need to put a real financing offer on the table as soon as possible to allow time for a positive reaction and announcements of commitments from developing countries. In particular, commitment to an early-start fund – at least $20bn to immediately assist the least developed countries – is critical. This would help establish the trust that is now sorely lacking, and create conditions to restart productive negotiations.

Leaders must be honest about the scale of the challenge and recognise that a systemic and transformational change, not incremental gestures, is required. The official response to climate change must be recalibrated to the level and urgency of the threat. A new global agreement must be science-based, not a lowest-common-denominator compromise watered down by vested interests.

Sensible risk management today dictates that atmospheric carbon should be stabilised at 350 parts per million of CO₂ equivalent (ppm CO₂e), not the current pathway of 450-500ppm CO₂e. This requires emission reductions of 45-50% in industrialised countries by 2020, and almost complete de-carbonisation by 2050, not the levels of 15-25% by 2020 and 60-80% by 2050 that are now on the table. Major developing countries must also commit to nationally appropriate mitigation actions. But the rich must move first. Their inaction over the last 20 years does not give them the right to point fingers.

Governments should not withhold the truth from their citizens. Everyone will have to make sacrifices. But do you want your home to be cheap, dirty, and dangerous or clean, decent, and safe? Are you ready to say, "OK, kids, I inherited this house, but I neglected to maintain it, so you will have to worry that the roof might collapse at any time"? That is not the type of legacy that any of us would want to leave our children.

• Mikhail Gorbachev, former president of the Soviet Union, is founding president of Green Cross International; Alexander Likhotal is president of Green Cross International and a member of the Climate Change Task Force (CCTF).

• Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2009

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 3 Dec 2009 | 11:00 am

Study finds weed killer affects frogs sexually

OTTAWA (Reuters) - The widely used weed killer atrazine affects the sexual development of frogs, raising questions about the effects of its use in the environment, the University of Ottawa said on Thursday.
Source: Reuters: Science News | 3 Dec 2009 | 10:36 am

Feeding birds 'changes evolution'

Bird-feeders, hung in many a garden, can affect the way our feathered friends evolve, according to scientists.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 3 Dec 2009 | 10:27 am

Record solar plane's first 'hop'

A solar-powered plane prototype has left the ground for the first time in its first stage towards a round-the-world journey.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 3 Dec 2009 | 10:11 am

Human Feeding Creates New Population of Birds

The simple feeding of birds can alter their future.
Source: Livescience.com | 3 Dec 2009 | 10:01 am

Hydrogen Plane Breaks Endurance Record

While we were distracted by things like turkey and holiday plans, a hydrogen-powered fuel cell unmanned air vehicle dubbed the Ion Tiger was breaking an unofficial endurance record. The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory's aircraft, dubbed the "Ion Tiger," flew for ...
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 3 Dec 2009 | 9:52 am

Chair for climate e-mail review

Sir Muir Russell will head an independent review into e-mails leaked from a leading UK climate research unit.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 3 Dec 2009 | 9:33 am

Senior civil servant to investigate leaked emails between climate scientists

Investigator appointed by University of East Anglia to examine whether hacked exchanges suggest wrongdoing

A senior civil servant has been appointed to conduct an independent review by next spring into emails hackers stole and published from the University of East Anglia's climate research unit (CRU). The announcement that Sir Muir Russell will investigate allegations of wrongdoing on the behalf of the CRU came as Saudi Arabia's lead climate negotiator said the emails would have a "huge impact" on UN climate talks starting in Copenhagen next week.

Announcing Russell's appointment, the university said the inquiry would look at four key allegations including examining whether the leaked exchanges between climate scientists demonstrated any manipulation or suppression of data. The review will also look at the CRU's approach to assembling and presenting research findings, assess whether the department complied with freedom of information requests and investigate the security of data held by the university.

Bob Ward, policy and communications director at the Grantham Research at LSE and one of the prominent voices who called for a review, welcomed the news. "This appears to be a very good appointment and the terms of reference look right. One concern is that the results may not be published until the spring. This is probably necessary to allow a thorough investigation, but it does mean that those who are using 'climategate' as a propaganda tool for their own political ends might be able to enjoy many more weeks of mischief-making," Ward said.

The University of East Anglia's vice-chancellor, Professor Edward Acton, said: "The reputation and integrity of UEA is of the upmost importance to us all. We want these allegations about CRU to be examined fully and independently. That is why I am delighted that Sir Muir has agreed to lead the independent review and he will have my and the rest of the university's full support."

Russell is a science graduate with a long history in the civil service, including roles in the home affairs secretariat of the Cabinet Office and the Scottish Executive. He is not a climate scientist and has no previous association with UEA.

However, Ward warned that the review, which is to begin soon, was unlikely to silence campaigning by climate sceptics. "The big question is whether so-called 'sceptics' will complain because the investigation will not be headed by one of their own, and whether they will suspend their campaigns of disinformation about this affair until the investigation is completed," he said.

Separately today, Saudi Arabia's lead climate negotiator Mohammed al-Sabban told the BBC that the leaked emails would have a "huge impact" on the Copenhagen summit starting on Monday. He said the emails cast doubt upon man's influence on global warming and could deter countries from offering emissions cuts at the conference. Saudi Arabia, on of the world's biggest oil producers, has long taken a sceptical view of climate change.

On Tuesday, the head of the CRU, Phil Jones, said he would be standing down while an inquiry was carried out. "After a good deal of consideration I have decided that the best way to achieve this is by stepping aside from the director's role during the course of the independent review and am grateful to the university for agreeing to this. The review process will have my full support," Jones said.

The emails were obtained by hacking a server at the university and critics claim they show evidence of collusion between climate scientists. A police investigation is also under way into the source of the theft.

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 3 Dec 2009 | 9:12 am

Sound Body Equals Sound Mind, Study Finds

A large study shows exercise may benefit the brain.
Source: Livescience.com | 3 Dec 2009 | 9:02 am

There's a New Cyber Crime Sheriff in Town: You!

Oh, if only fighting cyber crime were really as tough and sexy as portrayed by Bruce Willis' character in the film Live Fast and Die Hard. The truth is that bringing cybercriminals to justice is painstaking, and requires a lot ...
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 3 Dec 2009 | 9:02 am

Tiger Woods Should Have Used SpoofCard

Oh man. What's going on Tiger Woods? It seems like his world is crashing down around him. Literally. I know he's all about his privacy. Won't talk to the media about personal stuff. But now this voice mail, which he ...
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 3 Dec 2009 | 8:07 am

Feds Release New Embryonic Stem Cell Lines

A new batch of 13 human embryonic stem cell lines were made available for research yesterday.
Source: Livescience.com | 3 Dec 2009 | 7:59 am

Mice With No Dad Live Longer

A study suggests that genes from males may hurt lifespan.
Source: Livescience.com | 3 Dec 2009 | 7:47 am

Study Reveals the Angriest Americans

Survey finds connection between anger and age, stressors and education level.
Source: Livescience.com | 3 Dec 2009 | 7:42 am

Are Large Dams Altering Extreme Weather Patterns?

Dams can radically alter irrigation patterns in the surrounding land and impact climate patterns.
Source: Livescience.com | 3 Dec 2009 | 7:39 am

How vine seeds use their wings to disperse like gliders

Remarkable footage is captured of falling Alsomitra vine seeds, which use wings to disperse like giant gliders.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 3 Dec 2009 | 3:14 am

California burning

The value of forest fires in Yosemite National Park
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 3 Dec 2009 | 2:34 am

Deadline extended for Jason funds

European nations are given a few more weeks to find the money to fund a key Earth observation satellite.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 3 Dec 2009 | 2:29 am