Worm bites off enough to chew: Ingenious evolutionary trick

Dramatic scenes are played out under Ralf Sommer’s microscope: his research object, the roundworm Pristionchus pacificus bites another worm, tears open a hole in its side and devours the oozing contents. The squirming victim does not stand a chance in this duel: Caenorhabditis elegans may be a close relative of Pristionchus; unfortunately, however, it does not have the same strong "teeth". Pristionchus’ impressive hunting technique though is not the focus of interest for the biologists. Their concern is the development of its mouthparts.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 5 Jul 2010 | 3:00 pm

Nano-sized advance toward next big treatment era in dentistry

Scientists are reporting an advance toward the next big treatment revolution in dentistry -- the era in which root canal therapy brings diseased teeth back to life, rather than leaving a "non-vital" or dead tooth in the mouth. Researchers now describe a first-of-its-kind, nano-sized dental film that shows early promise for achieving this long-sought goal.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 5 Jul 2010 | 3:00 pm

Super-high pressures used to create super battery: 'Most condensed form of energy storage outside of nuclear energy'

Using super-high pressures similar to those found deep in the Earth or on a giant planet, researchers have created a compact, never-before-seen material capable of storing vast amounts of energy.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 5 Jul 2010 | 3:00 pm

Treating tongue tie could help more babies breastfeed

When the connective tissue under a newborn's tongue is too tight, it prevents the baby from being able to breastfeed properly. A simple surgical snip can fix the problem, but many doctors do not perform the procedure.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 5 Jul 2010 | 3:00 pm

Ultrafine particles in air pollution may heighten allergic inflammation in asthma

Even brief exposure to ultrafine pollution particles near a freeway is potent enough to boost the allergic inflammation that exacerbates asthma, according to new research.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 5 Jul 2010 | 3:00 pm

More than 2 billion people worldwide lack access to surgical services

More than two billion people worldwide do not have adequate access to surgical treatment, according to a new study.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 5 Jul 2010 | 3:00 pm

Our brains are more like birds' than we thought

For more than a century, neuroscientists believed that the brains of humans and other mammals differed from the brains of other animals, such as birds (and so were presumably better). Researchers have now found that a comparable region in the brains of chickens concerned with analyzing auditory inputs is constructed similarly to that of mammals.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 5 Jul 2010 | 9:00 am

Mountain mice show adaptation to altitude

Mice at altitude have adapted to use oxygen more efficiently during exercise than their low-altitude counterparts by showing a fuel preference for carbohydrates over fats, Canadian and Peruvian scientists reveal. It is very likely that a similar strategy has also evolved in other mammals, including high-altitude native humans.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 5 Jul 2010 | 9:00 am

Personalized approach to smoking cessation may be reality in 3-5 years

A personalized approach to smoking cessation therapy is quickly taking shape. New evidence suggests that combining information about a smoker's genetic makeup with his or her smoking habits can accurately predict which nicotine replacement therapy will work best.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 5 Jul 2010 | 9:00 am

Cancer stem cells are not 'one size fits all,' lung cancer models show

Cancer stem cells have enticed scientists because of the potential to provide more durable and widespread cancer cures by identifying and targeting the tumor's most voracious cells. Now, researchers have identified cancer stem cells in a model of the most common form of human lung cancer and, more significantly, have found that the cancer stem cells may vary from tumor to tumor, depending upon the tumor's genetic signature.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 5 Jul 2010 | 9:00 am

The next trailblazer of Australian science

Suzanne Cory is the first woman to take on the top job at the Australian Academy of Science.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/news/rss/today/~4/rGVliZyE7aQ" height="1" width="1"/>
Source: NatureNews - All articles published today - nature.com science feeds | 5 Jul 2010 | 8:12 am

Linking nationality and IQ is wrong | Gavin Evans

A study claiming people who live in countries where disease is rife have lower IQs is flawed on many levels

The idea of a link between nationality and intelligence has a long pedigree – certainly as ancient as slavery and colonialism. And in its faux-scientific form, well, Darwin dabbled, Churchill embraced and Hitler implemented.

The latest burst comes from Randy Thornhill of the University of New Mexico, who once proposed the idea that men evolved with a genetic predisposition to rape (raising the question of why these genes are so much more prevalent in, say, Serbia or South Africa, than Tanzania or Sweden).

He and his team are back with their latest idea: a direct link between levels of infectious disease and average national IQ.

Their underlying case is perfectly valid – when children devote energy to fighting infection, brain development is sometimes sacrificed. But their evidence at a national level is more dubious, based on comparing World Health Organisation data with average IQ scores. The obvious point is that coalescence is not the same thing as causation. In other words, there might be a range of other reasons why people in disease-ridden countries don't excel in IQ tests.

And it is also worth pointing out that it has been warmer countries (some in malaria zones – a key disease highlighted by Thornhill) that have been the catalyst for civilisation: Mesopotamia, China, Egypt, Greece.

But a more profound objection relates to Thornhill's obdurate belief that IQ is a true measure of "crystallised general intelligence" rather than just a measure of ability to perform in IQ tests.

The killer blow was delivered more than 20 years ago by the New Zealand academic Jim Flynn, who proved that average IQ test scores increased progressively in most countries (now known as the "Flynn effect"). If American children of a century ago took IQ tests of today their average score would be well below 70. In Britain, the average IQ has risen by 27 points since the war.

The reason has nothing to do with evolution. In fact, there is an emerging scientific consensus that human intelligence is unlikely to have evolved over the last 45,000 years, and perhaps more (for example, an engraved ochre plaque found near Cape Town, containing intricate symbolic designs, was carbon-dated at more than 70,000 years).

According to Flynn, generational rises are prompted by increased exposure to abstract logic. Other reasons might include nutrition levels, time spent in school, environmental stimuli and familiarity with aptitude testing. It makes no sense to compare average IQ scores of different populations because they are unlikely to have identical exposure to all of these factors.

So while it might be true that, on average, Ashkenazi Jews or Chinese people have higher average IQs than Ethiopians or Caucasian Britons, this does not mean that one group is innately more intelligent than another.

Yet this is precisely what Richard Lynn (quoted in the article) and other evolutionary psychologists such as Steven Pinker have argued – a perspective based on combining a discredited view of IQ with a faulty grasp of evolutionary theory.

Thornhill's disease-based hypothesis is less objectionable, but he is indulging in just-so story logic when he extends this to speculating that whole nations have adapted their immune systems at the expense of their brains: a modern version of a horribly ancient conclusion.

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 5 Jul 2010 | 4:10 am

Road pricing 'inevitable' for UK

Charging motorists per mile travelled is "inevitable" if future traffic gridlock is to be avoided, a charity suggests.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 5 Jul 2010 | 3:47 am

BP oil spill costs pass $3bn mark

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has cost BP a total of $3.12bn to date, the company says, up $500m from last week.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 5 Jul 2010 | 3:46 am

The nation's weather (AP)

AP - Active weather will continue throughout the central U.S. on Monday as a frontal system moves slowly through the Midwest.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 5 Jul 2010 | 3:28 am

Planck reveals 'spectacular sky'

Europe's Planck space telescope produces its first full-sky image, a key step in its quest to decode the "oldest light" in the Universe.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 5 Jul 2010 | 3:23 am

Japanese lab finds 'minute particles' in asteroid pod (AFP)

AFP - Japan's space agency said Monday it has found "minute particles" of what it hopes is asteroid dust in the capsule of the space probe Hayabusa which returned to Earth last month.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 5 Jul 2010 | 3:12 am

BP costs for oil spill response pass $3 billion (AP)

AP - BP's costs for the disastrous Gulf of Mexico oil spill climbed nearly half a billion dollars in the past week, raising the oil giant's tab to just over $3 billion for work on cleaning and capping the gusher and payouts to individuals, businesses and governments.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 5 Jul 2010 | 2:59 am

US geologist jailed for eight years in China (AFP)

AFP - A US geologist was sentenced to eight years in jail in China on Monday on state secrets charges related to the sale of a database about China's oil industry, a US official and a rights group said.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 5 Jul 2010 | 2:31 am

Cold winter snap halts advancing pythons in the US

A cold snap last winter may have helped arrest the spread of Burmese pythons through the US.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 5 Jul 2010 | 2:26 am

BP oil spill costs rise above $3 billion (AP)

AP - BP says that it has now spent more than $3 billion in attempts to stop an oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico and to settle damage claims.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 5 Jul 2010 | 2:13 am

Dolphin 'superpod' seen off Skye

A massive pod of dolphins thrills wildlife spotters off Skye.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 5 Jul 2010 | 2:00 am

Cold snap halts advancing pythons

A cold snap last winter may have helped arrest the spread of Burmese pythons through the US.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 5 Jul 2010 | 1:56 am

US resumes oil skimming after Hurricane Alex (AFP)

AFP - Efforts to clean up the Gulf of Mexico oil spill gathered steam Monday after Hurricane Alex prompted a five-day shutdown, amid new questions over how BP would pay for the mounting costs.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 5 Jul 2010 | 1:35 am

Conservationists protest Malaysia coal plant plan (AP)

AP - Conservationists criticized a plan Monday to build a coal-fired power plant in an environmentally fragile state on Borneo island, but energy officials said the project will provide a much-needed electricity supply boost.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 5 Jul 2010 | 1:29 am

Obama backs giant solar project

The US is to provide nearly $2bn in loan guarantees to create one of the world's biggest solar energy plants in Arizona.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 4 Jul 2010 | 11:22 pm

Brunel's 'jewel'

SS Great Britain: From seabed to national treasure
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 4 Jul 2010 | 11:20 pm

Science Weekly: The carbon footprint of everything

Mike Berners-Lee helps us to size up the carbon footprint of things we've never even considered, from searching on Google to the unexpected factors affecting different modes of transport.

But will this knowledge help us save the planet?

Mike's book How Bad Are Bananas? is out now.

Composer Michael Zev Gordon tells us about a piece of music put together using DNA coding. Allele is being performed by the New London Chamber Choir conducted by James Weeks. You can hear it on 9 July at the Diamond Synchrotron, 10 July at the Cheltenham Music festival and 13 July at the Royal Society of Medicine.

Listen to the composition in full at the end of the podcast.

The science Twittersphere has been buzzing about an article written by Guardian columnist Simon Jenkins in which he delivered his latest attack on science, describing Royal Society president Martin Rees as 'shameless' and 'two-faced'. Rather than anger it prompted an unconventional and hilarious reaction. People took to their blogs to rubbish science in the style of Jenkins, and the hashtag #SpoofJenks and Twitter account @SpoofJenks were born.

We called Jenkins to get his reaction.

In the newsjam we look at how disease levels in a country could affect IQ and a genetic test that purports to predict long life. Plus, why there's controversy over the appointment of "Dumb and Dumber" to the UK's health select committee.

The Guardian's Nell Boase, science correspondent Ian Sample and the Observer's science editor Robin McKie all take part in the programme.

Follow the podcast on our Science Weekly Twitter feed and receive updates on all breaking science news stories from Guardian Science.

Email scienceweeklypodcast@gmail.com.

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Listen back through our archive.

Subscribe free via iTunes to ensure every episode gets delivered. (Here is the non-iTunes URL feed).

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 4 Jul 2010 | 5:01 pm

(AP)

AP - Quake with a magnitude of 6.3 rattles northern Japan, no danger of tsunami.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 4 Jul 2010 | 4:57 pm

Russian cargo docks with space station on 2nd try

MOSCOW (Reuters) - An unmanned Russian cargo ship docked successfully Sunday at the International Space Station (ISS) on its second attempt after missing it Friday due to a faulty radio link, a Russian space official said.
Source: Reuters: Science News | 4 Jul 2010 | 1:05 pm

Astronaut Sends Fourth of July Message From Space (SPACE.com)

SPACE.com - An American astronaut spending the Fourth of July in space wished the United States a happy Independence Day from orbit on Sunday.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 4 Jul 2010 | 12:45 pm

Capsule delivers supplies to astronauts

Food and water brought to three Russian and three US astronauts aboard space station 220 miles above the Earth

An unmanned Russian space capsule carrying tons of food, water and supplies to the international space station docked with the orbiting laboratory today, two days after the first attempt went awry.

A video feed from Russian mission control just outside Moscow reported the docking took place on automatic systems without problems.

The space station has three Russian and three US astronauts aboard as it orbits 220 miles above the Earth.

The Progress cargo ship was to have docked with the space station on Friday, but failed. Russian controllers said the failure was due to the activation of a transmitter for the manual rendezvous system, which overrode the automated system.

Russian station commander Alexander Skvortsov said the Progress was rotating uncontrollably as it neared the station during Friday's docking attempt, but officials from Nasa and Russia later said the ship was never out of their control.

After the failed docking, it was moved to about 180 miles away from the station. A series of engine firings yesterday reoriented the Progress.

The Progress ships have been the backbone of Russia's unmanned cargo ship programme for years. Their importance will increase with the end of the US space shuttle programme next year.

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 4 Jul 2010 | 11:49 am

Station Cargo Ship Docks On 2nd Try

A robotic Russsian cargo ship arrived at the International Space Station on Sunday after a communications glitch caused the freighter to abort its first rendezvous and docking on Friday. Flying on autopilot, the Progress spacecraft eased into a parking slip ...
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 4 Jul 2010 | 11:28 am

Russian freighter docks in space

An unmanned Russian cargo ship docks successfully with the International Space Station, two days after an attempt failed.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 4 Jul 2010 | 11:24 am

Is Bug Spray Dangerous? (LiveScience.com)

LiveScience.com - A summer necessity, bug spray keeps insects away - but is it also bad for our health? Researchers are debating whether the anti-pest sprays with which we douse ourselves are putting our health in danger.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 4 Jul 2010 | 10:05 am

Is Bug Spray Dangerous?

A summer necessity, bug spray keeps insects away – but is it also bad for our health?
Source: Livescience.com | 4 Jul 2010 | 8:09 am

Red Dwarfs May Be Safe Havens For Life

We have a glimmer of hope that habitable planets may survive around a red dwarf star without their atmospheres being fried by blistering ultraviolet radiation.
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 4 Jul 2010 | 5:16 am

Pulsars: The Cosmic Timekeepers That Need Tweaking

The universe has its own cosmic clocks: the spinning collapsed stars known as pulsars. But why are they ticking slightly out of step?
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 4 Jul 2010 | 3:58 am