Flies offered unlimited alcohol behave a lot like human alcoholics

When given the chance to consume alcohol at will, fruit flies behave in ways that look an awful lot like human alcoholism. A new study considers alcohol self-administration in insects.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 13 Dec 2009 | 3:00 pm

How can some athletes play on through intense pain?

How can some sportsmen and women, in the heat of the moment, play on through pain that would floor anyone else? Bert Trautmann, the Manchester City goalkeeper, famously played on through to the end of the 1956 FA Cup final -- holding on for a 3-1 win -- despite suffering a broken neck from a collision in the second half.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 13 Dec 2009 | 3:00 pm

Syntax in our primate cousins

Monkeys of a certain forest-dwelling species called Campbell's monkeys emit six types of alert calls. The primates combine these calls into long vocal sequences which allow them to convey messages about social cohesion or various dangers, including predation.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 13 Dec 2009 | 3:00 pm

Glacial rebound: 10,000-year study of strata compaction and sea-level rise on English coast

Glacial rebound -- the rise or fall of land masses that were depressed by the huge weight of ice sheets during the last glacial period -- explains differences in relative sea levels along the English coast, according to a new study.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 13 Dec 2009 | 3:00 pm

Scientists identify natural anti-cancer defenses

Researchers have discovered a novel molecular mechanism that prevents cancer. They have found that the SOCS1 molecule prevents the cancer-causing activity of cytokines, hormones that are culprits in cancer-prone chronic inflammation diseases such as Crohn's, in smokers and people exposed to asbestos.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 13 Dec 2009 | 3:00 pm

Clinical trial advances new approach to re-sensitizing breast cancer

A new drug cocktail might be the right mix to fight breast cancer after it becomes resistant to standard therapy. Details of a new study supporting this approach suggest it's possible to re-sensitize tumors thus allowing treatments to work again.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 13 Dec 2009 | 3:00 pm

Bacteria provide new insights into human decision making

Scientists studying how bacteria under stress collectively weigh and initiate different survival strategies say they have gained new insights into how humans make strategic decisions that affect their health, wealth and the fate of others in society.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 13 Dec 2009 | 9:00 am

Understanding ocean climate

High-resolution computer simulations are helping to describe the inflow of North Atlantic water to the Arctic Ocean and how this influences ocean climate.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 13 Dec 2009 | 9:00 am

Alcohol consumption increases risk of breast cancer recurrence, study finds

Alcohol may raise the risk of breast cancer recurrence, according to a new study. Obese women who drink alcohol may be at greater risk of recurrence. Alcohol was not related to risk of overall death.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 13 Dec 2009 | 9:00 am

Researchers show 'trigger' to stem cell differentiation

A gene which is essential for stem cells' capabilities to become any cell type has been identified by researchers. The discovery represents a further step in the ever-expanding field of understanding the ways in which stem cells develop into specific cells, a necessary prelude towards the use of stem cell therapy as a means to reverse the consequences of disease and disability.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 13 Dec 2009 | 9:00 am

Panda genome resembles dog: Chinese media (AFP)

AFP - A detailed genome map of the giant panda completed by Chinese scientists has shown that the notoriously shy animal is genetically similar to the dog, state media reported Sunday.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 13 Dec 2009 | 2:38 am

Fury at Copenhagen police tactics

Climate activists criticise Danish police for heavy-handed tactics after they detained 968 people at a Copenhagen summit rally.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 13 Dec 2009 | 2:29 am

Denmark: nearly 1,000 climate protesters released (AP)

AP - Danish police on Sunday released hundreds of activists who were detained during a mass rally demanding strong action from delegates at the U.N. climate conference.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 13 Dec 2009 | 2:10 am

Climate talks step up a gear as ministers huddle (AFP)

AFP - Negotiations to forge an epoch-making pact on climate change went behind closed doors on Sunday, with a select group of environment ministers from 48 countries poring over a draft deal.

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

Science not faked, but not pretty (AP)

AP - E-mails stolen from climate scientists show they stonewalled skeptics and discussed hiding data — but the messages don't support claims that the science of global warming was faked, according to an exhaustive review by The Associated Press.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 12 Dec 2009 | 6:22 pm

Anchovy is king in Peru, for now (AFP)

AFP - The most fished species in the world, anchovy stock is at historic highs in Peru that may be short-lived due to climate change and overfishing.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 12 Dec 2009 | 5:50 pm

How a glass or two of champagne really does lift the heart

Fizz made with black grapes shares benefits of red wine for heart and blood circulation, scientists find

Scientists are delivering some unexpected cheer this Christmas. They have found that a couple of glasses of champagne a day are good for your heart and blood circulation.

Nor, they believe, are the benefits limited to expensive fizz: cheaper alternatives such as cava and prosecco may offer similar effects.

The research is the handiwork of a team led by Dr Jeremy Spencer of Reading University, working with scientists in France, and is to be published in the British Journal of Nutrition this week.

"We have found that a couple of glasses a day has a beneficial effect on the walls of blood vessels – which suggests champagne has the potential to reduce strokes and heart disease," Dr Spencer told the Observer. "It is very exciting news."

Two glasses a day of red wine, previous research has found, helps ward off heart and circulation problems. Most of that effect comes from chemicals called polyphenols, which affect circulation by slowing down the removal of nitric oxide from the blood. In turn, elevated levels of nitric oxide cause blood vessels to dilate, which lowers blood pressure and reduces risks of heart problems and strokes.

Polyphenols are found in relatively high levels in red but not white wine. However, they are found in champagne, which is made from two varieties of black grape, pinot noir and pinot meunier, and one of white, chardonnay. "The question was: would champagne have the same impact as red wine or would it have the limited impact of white wine?" said Spencer.

The team found that champagne had a far greater impact on nitric oxide levels in the blood than did a polyphenol-free alternative of alcohol and carbonated water. In short, its polyphenols have the ability to improve blood pressure and reduce heart disease risks. "Our data suggests that a daily moderate consumption of champagne wine may improve vascular performance via the delivery of phenolic constituents," state the researchers in their paper. They have yet to test other types of fizz, such as cava and prosecco, but Spencer said there was "no reason" in principle that they should not perform in the same way.

Red wines and champagne are not the only sources of polyphenols available to consumers, the team pointed out. They are also found in high levels in cocoa beans. So you could achieve the same gains without alcohol by with a mug of cocoa at bedtime, added Spencer. "The benefit is certainly the same but it doesn't seem as much fun somehow."

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 12 Dec 2009 | 5:10 pm

Heart attack chemical detected in cocaine users

Nearly half of all cocaine users are testing positive for a potentially fatal chemical caused by mixing the drug with alcohol.

Cocaethylene, a heart attack-inducing chemical formed in the liver when cocaine and alcohol are mixed, is present in 45% of users, according to new research. Hair tests conducted on 1,728 volunteers nationwide revealed the extent of the danger posed by the chemical, which is thought to be responsible for a rise in heart attacks among under-40s.

Hair tests provide "very accurate readings of when and how much cocaine or alcohol has been consumed, and the levels of cocaethylene being formed in the body", according to Avi Lasarow, of Trimega Laboratories, which carried out the research.

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 12 Dec 2009 | 5:07 pm

My week | Simon Singh

The noted science writer considers his forthcoming libel action and the campaign to reform England's libel laws

I returned to Imperial College, my alma mater, to attend the 60th birthday dinner of Felix, the college newspaper. As I am being sued for libel at the moment, it was interesting to hear that the threat to free speech also has an impact on student journalism. The newspaper's motto is "Keep the Cat Free" and it has always been willing to criticise the student union, but last year the union's constitution was used to prevent the publication of certain articles. In response, the editor modified the newspaper's cat logo to show Felix gagged with a red snooker ball.

The British Chiropractic Association's case against me has dominated my life for the last 18 months. I met my legal team, Adrienne Page and Robert Dougans, to work out the key research projects. We were recently given permission to appeal over an adverse ruling on the meaning of my article and the date for the appeal has been set for 22 February. Winning the appeal (even partially) will make an enormous difference to my chance of defending my article about the lack of evidence concerning chiropractic treatment of childhood asthma, ear infections and colic.

The appeal decision on meaning (the preliminary stage of the legal process) will eventually come almost two years after the article was published, so the trial and further appeals could lead to a battle that lasts for another two years. I will battle on even if I lose the appeal.

One reason for continuing is that my case helps to highlight some of the problems at the heart of the English libel system. Legally, the odds are stacked in favour of claimants and against journalists. Financially, the costs are so utterly extreme that journalists often cannot afford to defend themselves, hence apologies are given and articles retracted, even if the journalist believes that the contents are accurate.

The result is that those with money and power can sue journalists, scientists, medical researchers, academic journals, bloggers, local newspapers and even national newspapers and effectively silence them. The end result is that you do not get read the whole truth.

On Wednesday, there was the launch of a campaign for libel reform, which was followed by a parliamentary launch. It was amazing to see such an eclectic mix of supporters speaking up for libel reform, including Fiona Godlee (British Medical Journal editor), Dave Gorman, Malcolm Grant (provost of University College, London) and MPs from all the major parties, including Evan Harris, Michael Gove and Denis MacShane.

The roots of the campaign can be traced back to humble beginnings in May, when the charity Sense About Science began rallying scientists and the blogger Jack of Kent organised a pub rally in support of libel reform. In parallel, Index on Censorship and English PEN published a report on libel reform. So far, however, the mainstream media have largely ignored the issue, but last week there was some good coverage of the campaign launch and let's hop that will continue in the months ahead. The highlight of my week was waking up to see Dara O'Briain arguing for libel reform on the BBC's Breakfast news.

I will not go into all the gory details, but the bottom line is that England is universally acknowledged as having the most censorious libel laws in the free world. In 2008, the United Nations Human Rights Committee criticised the UK because the "practical application of the law of libel has served to discourage critical media reporting on matters of serious public interest, adversely affecting the ability of scholars and journalists to publish their work, including through the phenomenon known as 'libel tourism'".

America is in the process of protecting its citizens from our unjust libel laws by stating that English libel judgments cannot be enforced on the other side of the Atlantic. In the meantime, major American publishers have suggested that they will stop publishing in the UK and block internet access to their sites in order to protect themselves from our libel laws.

In mainland Europe, legal experts ask why our libel process is more than 100 times more expensive than in their own countries. The result is that intimidation via English libel laws forces authors either to back down or risk losing everything. Peter Wilmshurst, an eminent cardiologist, is currently being sued for libel for questioning the data surrounding a new heart device. If he loses, perhaps on a technicality, he will face bankruptcy.

The week ends back at Imperial College with a lecture. My goal will be to persuade every science student and researcher to sign up to libel reform. This issue affects everyone, but in science it is critical that we can freely criticise ideas. This is not about protecting those writers who are malicious or reckless, as the law should not and will not protect them, but it is about allowing the robust criticism of ideas despite pressure from those with vested interests.

I suspect that I will be preaching to the converted, as Imperial College was home to one of world's great free speech advocates. The college emerged out of the Royal College of Science, and HG Wells established the Royal College of Science Magazine in 1891. He went to become a founder member of PEN, the writers' association, and helped draw up the PEN charter, which includes the statement: "PEN stands for the principle of unhampered transmission of thought within each nation and between all nations; and members pledge themselves to oppose any form of suppression of freedom of expression in their country and community."

My libel case will keep me busy, distracted and mildly depressed for the next two years, but I hope that my spirits will be lifted by the notion that the campaign for libel reform may succeed. If tens of thousands sign the petition for libel reform (www.libelreform.org), then maybe Wells's vision of free speech will find a home not just in America, Europe and the rest of the free world, but also in England.

The Singh CV

The Life

Born in Wellington, Somerset, 1964. Educated at Wellington School, Imperial College, London, and Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Appointed MBE in 2003. Lives in London with his wife, Anita Anand.

The Work

TV director and producer, 1990-1997 (Tomorrow's World, Horizon), then full-time writer. Author of Fermat's Last Theorem, The Code Book, Trick or Treatment? and Big Bang. Also broadcaster and lecturer. This week featuring in Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People at London venues. the Bloomsbury Theatre and Hammersmith Apollo.

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 12 Dec 2009 | 5:05 pm

Bell Labs' latest Nobel laureates, creators of 4bn images and counting

Willard Boyle and George Smith invented the CCD and we saw the world as never before

FOR MUCH OF the 20th century, the world's premier industrial research facility was Bell Labs, research wing of the giant AT&T telephone corporation, in Murray Hill, New Jersey. From it came many key technologies which define the contemporary world. All of modern electronics, for example, stems from the invention of the transistor by three Bell scientists, John Bardeen, Walter Brattain and William Shockley.

Bell scientists also were responsible for the laser, many of the technologies used in radio astronomy and mobile phones, wireless local area networking, information theory, the Unix operating system and the C programming language. Seven Nobel prizes have been awarded for work done at Murray Hill.

The latest of these (for physics) was presented in Oslo last week to Willard Boyle and George Smith, who on 17 October 1969 were trying to come up with an idea that would stop their boss's boss switching resources from their work to another department working on sexy new kinds of computer memory. In a discussion that lasted "not more than an hour" (as Smith later recalled) they came up with a device that changed the way we see the world. They called it a charge-coupled device or CCD, and it developed into the sensor at the heart of most digital cameras in use today.

If you want to see the fruits of their work, log on to Flickr.com, the world's leading image-hosting site. Launched in 2004, it was bought by Yahoo in 2005 and now holds more than 4bn images. Since you began reading this column, more than 600 pictures have been uploaded to it, automatically resized and each assigned a unique URL. It is one of the wonders of the modern world.

Of course you could view Flickr as a giant shoebox, in the sense that shoeboxes were traditionally the place where analogue photographs were stored. But that would be to underestimate its significance. For one thing, most images on Flickr are tagged by their owners, and one can then search for pictures tagged with a given word. A search for "Ireland", for example, brings up more than 2m images.

Most, as you would expect, are pretty banal – holiday snapshots, stag nights in Dublin, beach scenes, photographs of grandma with the statutory telegraph pole growing out of her head, family groups cut off at the knees and so on. But the search also reveals hundreds of terrific pictures, and a few images of staggering originality or beauty. And all are available for viewing by anyone, anywhere, with an internet connection.

To appreciate what this means, you have to think back to film photography. Then, most of us took a camera on holidays and came back with a half-exposed roll of film which languished in the camera until Christmas, when it would be finished off with a dozen festive pictures of family, friends and uncles befuddled by drink. The film would then be taken into Jessops for processing, after which the resulting prints would be handed round whatever social circle was present – after which they would find their way into a shoebox and thence to the attic. Compared to Flickr, this wasn't just a different world: it was a different universe.

Our present universe was made possible by what Boyle and Smith cooked up in that magical hour in October 1969. Of course it took a great deal of technical and manufacturing ingenuity to get the CCD from the crude prototypes knocked up in Bell Labs to the mass-produced sensors that now record the images that feed Flickr's insatiable appetite. But it happened, and cameras went from being expensive, delicate pieces of equipment to cheap add-on facilities for virtually every consumer device. We've moved from when you only carried a camera when you intended to take photographs to an era in which almost anyone with mobile phone also carries a camera.

The big question, of course, is whether this is improving our general level of photographic skill. One would expect that it is, given that craft skills are acquired by trial and error, and digital photography enables one immediately to spot – and correct – errors. The evidence of Flickr is that the general standard of photography is improving, even when one discounts the fact that digital cameras make it difficult to take badly exposed or out-of-focus pictures. The world may be going to the dogs – but at least we are taking better photographs.

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 12 Dec 2009 | 5:05 pm

Why Britain faces a bleak future of food shortages

Britain faces a 'perfect storm' of water shortage and lack of food, says the government's chief scientist, and climate change and crop and animal diseases will add to future woes. Science is now striving to find solutions

It was an ecological disaster that occurred on the other side of the planet. Yet the drought that devastated the Australian wheat harvest last year had consequences that shook the world. It sent food prices soaring in every nation. Wheat prices across the globe soared by 130%, while shopping bills in Britain leapt by 15%.

A year later and the cost of food today has still to fall to previous levels. More alarmingly, scientists are warning that far worse lies ahead. A "perfect storm" of food shortages and water scarcity now threatens to unleash public unrest and conflict in the next 20 years, the government's chief scientist, Professor John Beddington, has warned.

In Britain, a global food shortage would drive up import costs and make food more expensive, just as the nation's farmers start to feel the impact of disrupted rainfall and rising temperatures caused by climate change. "If we don't address this, we can expect major destabilisation, an increase in rioting and potentially significant problems with international migration, as people move to avoid food and water shortages," he told a conference earlier this year.

The reliable availability of food – once taken for granted – has become a major cause for alarm among politicians and scientists. Next month several of Britain's research councils, together with the Food Standards Agency, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department for International Development – will announce a taskforce that will channel the UK's efforts in feeding its own population and playing a full role in preventing starvation in other nations.

The problem is summed up by Professor Janet Allen, director of research at the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). "We will have to grow more food on less land using less water and less fertiliser while producing fewer greenhouse gas emissions," she said.

No one said science was easy, of course. Nevertheless, the scale of the problem is striking. It is also unprecedented, says Professor Mike Bevan, acting director of the John Innes Centre in Norfolk. "We are going to have to produce as much food in the next 50 years as was produced over the past 5,000 years. Nothing less will do."

It is a staggering goal that highlights the depth of the food security crisis that Britain and the world face. Over the next 40 years Britain's population will rise from 60 to 75 million while the world's will leap from 6.8 to 9 billion. Feeding all these people will stretch human ingenuity to its limit. Crop yields will have to jump, a goal that will have to be achieved in the middle of global climatic disruption. At the same time, farmers will find many aids – in particular, chemical fertilisers – that they have come to rely on will no longer be available .

"People do not quite realise the scale of the issue," added Bevan. "This is one of the most serious problems that science has ever faced." In Britain the lives of hundreds of thousands of people will be threatened by food shortages. Across the globe, tens of millions – if not hundreds of millions – will be affected.

Consider the problems that affect just one crop: wheat. This is the most widely grown cereal in Britain. British farmers excel at its cultivation. Today yields in Britain average between 8 and 10 tonnes a hectare, some of the highest in the world. Yet only 50 years ago UK yields were only 4 or 5 tonnes a hectare.

It took a green revolution in the 1960s that involved the development of new crop varieties, greater use of agro-chemicals and changes in farming practices to double production by the 1980s. Now a second revolution of equivalent magnitude is urgently required, say food scientists.

"We can certainly do it, although it won't be easy," said Bevan. For a start, farmers will have to increase yields using greatly reduced amounts of agro-fertilisers because their manufacture is energy-intensive. Some 3% of the world's energy is used in the manufacture of fertilisers and in a post-Copenhagen world, dominated by renewable energy, such carbon consumption is likely to be prohibited. "What we need are major research programmes to create new crop yields that, in effect, make their own fertiliser and will also be disease-resistant and more resistant to droughts and rising temperatures," added Bevan.

In this country, one such programme dedicated to improving wheat varieties is scheduled to be launched next year as part of Britain's food security initiative. This will exploit cutting-edge DNA technology to speed up wheat breeding projects to develop new drought-resistant, low-fertiliser strains, though the programme will stop short of the creation of genetically modified strains. "The wheat we use today is a hybrid, created by ancient farmers 10,000 years ago, from three different species of wild grass," said Bevan. "We are going back to these first types of grass and from varieties of these create fresh hybrids."

The importance of creating new crop varieties is also demonstrated by another threat to food production, the appearance of new crop diseases. For example, in 1999 a new variety of the wheat disease – black stem rust – appeared in Uganda. Since then, Ug99 has spread across Africa and Asia, destroying harvests and threatening the lives of millions. However, scientists have recently discovered a strain of wheat, known as Sharon grass, that is resistant to Ug99, raising hopes that the outbreak could be contained. "Creating ranges of new crop varieties is going to be vital in feeding the world," said Allen.

The farmers of tomorrow will not only have to improve yields using less fertiliser, they will also have to be increasingly wary of new agricultural pests and diseases as global temperatures have risen and more and more devastating varieties of viruses and fungi have spread around the globe. Britain will not be immune.

A classic example is provided by bluetongue disease, a virus that affects cattle, sheep, deer and goats and is spread by midges. Sheep are especially vulnerable and one in three can die if infected. The disease was unknown in north-west Europe until 2006, when an outbreak occurred in Holland and spread to nearby countries. Then, in 2007, it spread to Britain. Only swift action by agricultural authorities halted its advance. In future this will be harder to achieve.

"The problem is that the life cycles of diseases such as bluetongue speed up as temperatures go up," said Dr Chris Oura, of the Institute for Animal Health in Newbury. "The warmer it gets, the more infective they become." Bluetongue could soon return. More importantly, it is only one of many other exotic, potentially devastating livestock ailments that could be spread by insects.

"Bluetongue appeared out of the blue. And that could happen again. Other diseases like epizootic haemorrhagic disease (EHD) and African horse sickness are also spread by midges and threaten Europe and Britain," added Oura.

However, it is not just global warming that is increasing the risk of deadly new epidemics of livestock disease. Globalisation itself threatens to bring infestation in its wake. An important, and very worrying, example is provided by African swine fever virus, said Oura. "As its names suggests, it infects pigs. There is no cure and no vaccine and it kills every animal it infects. Recently the disease emerged from Mozambique and has spread along shipping routes around the coast of Africa and into central Asia. Should it appear in Britain, it would be devastating. And were it to strike in China, where there is a massive consumption of pork, it would be a disaster. Apart from the hardship there, pork prices around the world would soar." British pig farmers might do well, but the public would face a major jump in the price of a basic commodity.

The key to preventing such a scenario is science, said Oura. "We had the right vaccine to deal with the strain of bluetongue that hit Britain. We now need to develop vaccines that will halt diseases like EHD or African swine fever and contain them long before they ever hit our shores." This work is another key priority for researchers.

Changes are not confined to exotic foreign viruses. Many of the pests that have been part of the British agricultural scene for centuries are also likely to gain new leases of life as climate change takes a grip on the country. A perfect example is provided by the aphid. "Aphids are one of the country's main agricultural pests and they inflict about £100m of damage to cereal crops a year," said Richard Harrington, of the Rothamsted agricultural research centre. "But as the weather gets warmer and warmer, aphids are now arriving in fields far earlier than they used to do, and that is bad news. Crops in early spring are younger and more susceptible both to the damage inflicted by the aphid itself and also by the viruses they carry. It's a double whammy and it is leading to increases in crop loss – unless we find new ways to tackle aphid infestation."

One answer is to use increased amounts of pesticides. However, this solution is limited by the spread of pesticide-resistance and by the EU's increased antipathy to their use because of potentially toxic side-effects. "It is quite clear that we need to take a more sustainable route to pest control," added Harrington.

One ingenious solution involves planting nettles around wheat fields. Parasitic wasps arrive to feed off the aphids that are found in nettles. Then, as the neighbouring wheat grows and aphid infestations arrive, there is a ready supply of wasp predators to deal with them.

"About 40% of crops in Britain are vulnerable to destruction by weeds, fungi and insects," added Dr Tom Hooper, another Rothamsted researcher. "We have got to find sustainable ways to prevent that from happening if we want to maintain and increase food production in future."

Of course, some answers to the threat of the forthcoming perfect storm and the threat to our food security involve political and economic solutions as well. The end of cheap supermarket deals, restraints on water use and the need to change farming practice have all been touted. In the case of farming practices, economists argue that small farms are too inefficient and should be incorporated into larger outfits, for example. Owners of small hill farms oppose the idea, however.

Economic or political changes will certainly be needed if Britain is to face the challenge ahead. However, it is now accepted that science will play the principal role in Britain's battle to ensure the nation can rely on food security in the future. Whether it has the funds to do so remains uncertain. A total of £600m was cut from the nation's science funding last week. Scarcely an auspicious start to our battle to survive the perfect storm.

BBSRC: www.foodsecurity.ac.uk

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 12 Dec 2009 | 5:05 pm

Alternative Therapies Debunked or Denounced in 2009 (LiveScience.com)

LiveScience.com - If there's a silver lining in the continued popularity of non-scientific healing techniques, it's the fact that the scientific community is at long last putting these so-called treatments and potions through vigorous testing. And one by one they fail to live up to their purported benefits.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 12 Dec 2009 | 4:21 pm

One-Stop Climate Info Shop

Researchers have set up a new web site to house climate data for everyone to peruse.
Source: Livescience.com | 12 Dec 2009 | 2:35 pm

Brazil and the Magic Bean Stock

Jatropha is one bean in the bio-fuel swirl that's worth book-marking to see if it ever makes something of itself. This little weed first caught my attention a year ago when it fueled a 747 on a two hour flight. ...
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 12 Dec 2009 | 1:39 pm

Friday News Feedbag for Dec. 11, 2009

If this is your first exposure to the Friday News Feedbag...we're glad to have you in the club. Welcome to Feedbag Nation. Below you'll find an video link to a weekly podcast where you can watch three of us Discovery ...
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 12 Dec 2009 | 11:24 am

Scientists: Climate talks aim too low for target (AP)

AP - The cuts in greenhouse gases offered at the 192-nation climate conference are "clearly not enough" to assure the world it will head off dangerous global warming, a key U.N.-affiliated scientist said Saturday.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 12 Dec 2009 | 10:53 am

Iraq eyes top spot after oil auction 'victory' (AFP)

AFP - Iraq on Saturday awarded oil contracts to foreign giants at an auction it hopes will hike output to 12 million barrels a day and put it on a par with the world's top producer Saudi Arabia.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 12 Dec 2009 | 8:49 am

Turtles Act Like Chameleons

Turtles have a little something in common with chameleons.
Source: Livescience.com | 12 Dec 2009 | 5:27 am

The nation's weather (AP)

AP - More active weather was forecast across the country on Saturday, with widespread rain and high elevation snow expected in the West and significant rain predicted in the Southeast and the Mississippi Valley.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 12 Dec 2009 | 4:04 am

Iraq oil deal auction a "success," sees huge output (Reuters)

Reuters - Iraq, emerging from the shadow of war, expects to boost its oil output to rival the level of top producer Saudi Arabia after awarding some of its most attractive oilfields to global oil companies this week.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 12 Dec 2009 | 2:53 am

Melting pot

Copenhagen's other big battle - over money
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 12 Dec 2009 | 2:03 am