nature.com
Alien birds may be last hope for Hawaiian plants
Invasive birds are now the main reason that some native forests thrive.[see more details in nature.com]
Bacteria may be wiring up the soil
Microbes charge debate over nano networks.[see more details in nature.com]
California universities maintain tobacco habit
[see more details in nature.com]
Chemists poke holes in ozone theory
Reaction data of crucial chloride compounds called into question.[see more details in nature.com]
Copycat consolidation
As more blockbuster drugs come off patent, generic drugmakers face a changing landscape. Meredith Wadman looks at their strategies for survival.[see more details in nature.com]
Correction
[see more details in nature.com]
Do flu vaccines work for the elderly?
Review suggests study is needed on influenza jabs and how they are used.[see more details in nature.com]
Dropping a line from space
Tether offers down-to-Earth approach to payload delivery.[see more details in nature.com]
Enter the dragon
Once a poor village, Shenzhen is now one of the wealthiest cities in China. David Cyranoski learns its plans for the future.[see more details in nature.com]
Europe plots course for funding navigation system
Money raised to salvage Galileo.[see more details in nature.com]
FDA poised for broader powers over drugs on sale
[see more details in nature.com]
Genome abuse
Citizens are right to resist government pressure to expand population DNA databases.[see more details in nature.com]
HIV vaccine failure prompts Merck to halt trial
[see more details in nature.com]
Kelp forests widespread in tropical waters
Cold-loving seaweed not limited to chilly waters after all.[see more details in nature.com]
Mammoth hair offers new style of research
Study reveals valuable store of ancient DNA in museum samples.[see more details in nature.com]
Meteorite proves to be a hit in Peru
[see more details in nature.com]
Mixing the oceans proposed to reduce global warming
Could nutrients from the deep help remove carbon dioxide from the air?[see more details in nature.com]
Passing the test
What role should the federal government have in pre-college science education? David Goldston looks at why the US Congress is acting now to help define that.[see more details in nature.com]
Pressure for environmental disclosure increases
Companies urged to measure their carbon costs.[see more details in nature.com]
Prospects
[see more details in nature.com]
Prospects power up for nuclear energy
[see more details in nature.com]
Sidelines
[see more details in nature.com]
South African scheme lures in top talent
Government adds 51 research chairs to its universities.[see more details in nature.com]
Space experiments should be done on the cheap
We rarely learn anything Earth-shaking from space labs, says Philip Ball - which is why inexpensive missions like Foton-M3 are the way to go.[see more details in nature.com]
Spaceflight boosts bacterial deadliness
Microgravity increases virulence of Salmonella in space.[see more details in nature.com]
Stone tool reveals lengthy Polynesian voyage
Adzes form the first hard evidence of two-way travel between Hawaii and Tahiti.[see more details in nature.com]
The long and winding road
German scientists must persevere in the stem-cell debate, despite the occasional setback.[see more details in nature.com]
The theatre: Bringing the past to life
Can a stage spectacular based on a TV documentary bring science to life and please the punters too? Brendan Maher joins a palaeontologist to watch the dinosaurs walk.[see more details in nature.com]
Tiny RNAs, big problems
Spread of breast cancer to other body parts is linked to microRNA.[see more details in nature.com]
Toxic alert
A method of knocking out genes in mice needs more discrimination than many have recognized.[see more details in nature.com]
UN climate talks
Some 80 heads of state gathered in New York City on Monday to discuss climate change. News@nature.com checks on their progress.[see more details in nature.com]
New York Times
Ethanol?s Boom Stalling as Glut Depresses Price
An oversupply of ethanol is suddenly plaguing farmers, in part because distribution of the fuel has not kept pace with new distilleries.[see more details in New York Times]
Re-engineering Engineering
In an era when software matters more than steel, Olin College wants to produce technologists with soul.[see more details in New York Times]
sciencedaily.com
Autism Symptoms Can Improve Into Adulthood, Study Shows
Hallmarks of autism are characteristic behaviors -- repetitive motions, problems interacting with others, impaired communication abilities -- that occur in widely different combinations and degrees of severity among those who have the condition. A new study shows that symptoms can improve with age.[see more details in sciencedaily.com]
Children Of Lesbian Couples Are Doing Well, Study Finds
A study of families in the Netherlands indicates that children raised by lesbian couples "do not differ in well being or child adjustment compared with their counterparts in heterosexual-parent families." Among the most interesting findings, lesbian biological mothers were significantly more satisfied with their partners as a co-parent than were heterosexual mothers.[see more details in sciencedaily.com]
Climate Change May Increase Heat-related Deaths By 2050s, Says Study
Overall increases in heat-related premature mortality are likely by the 2050s, according to a recent study. In metropolitan New York, researchers estimate a 47 percent to 95 percent increase in summer heat-related deaths when compared to the 1990s.[see more details in sciencedaily.com]
Engineered Eggshells To Help Make Hydrogen Fuel
Engineers have found a way to turn discarded chicken eggshells into an alternative energy resource. The patented process uses eggshells to soak up carbon dioxide from a reaction that produces hydrogen fuel. It also includes a unique method for peeling the collagen-containing membrane from the inside of the shells, so that the collagen can be used commercially.[see more details in sciencedaily.com]
Experimental Drug Boosts Survival In Recurrent Ovarian Cancer
An experimental drug has shown promise in extending the survival period for women with recurrent ovarian cancer whose treatment options have dwindled. Early testing data showed that pertuzumab added weeks to the lives of Stage 3 ovarian cancer patients whose disease had returned after treatment with existing chemotherapy.[see more details in sciencedaily.com]
FDA Targets Companies Marketing Cough Supressants With Often-abused Hydrocodone
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced its intention to take enforcement action against companies marketing unapproved prescription drug products containing hydrocodone, a narcotic widely used to treat pain and suppress coughs. The action does not affect other hydrocodone formulations, which have FDA approval. Hydrocodone is one of the strongest medications available to treat pain or to suppress cough. The drug has also been an extremely popular drug of abuse and can lead to serious illness, injury, or death, if improperly used. Hydrocodone overdose can result in breathing problems or cardiac arrest, and its use may impair motor skills and judgment.[see more details in sciencedaily.com]
Fish Diet Linked To Evolution, Ten Million Year Old Chipped Teeth Show
Chips from 10 million years ago have revealed new insights into fish diets and their influence on fish evolution, according to a new article in Science. The chips were found, along with scratches, on the teeth of fossil stickleback fish and reveal for the first time how changes in the way an animal feeds control its evolution over thousands of years. This kind of study has previously not been possible because although fossils preserve direct evidence of evolutionary change over thousands and millions of years, working out exactly what a long-dead fossil animal was eating when it was alive, and establishing a link between feeding and evolution, is very difficult.[see more details in sciencedaily.com]
One Of The Mechanisms That Prevents Spread Of Colon Cancer Discovered
The first step in the development of colon cancer is the formation of benign tumors, called adenomas, in the intestine. Over time, these tumors may progress to produce colon cancer if they undergo a series of mutations and genetic alterations. Researchers have discovered a new mechanism by which the benign tumor cells receive instructions to grow in confined compartments, and no to invade other areas of the tissue.[see more details in sciencedaily.com]
Program Provides Blueprint For Recruiting Minorities To Science And Engineering
Strategies for recruiting under-represented minority students to science and engineering fields and supporting their successful completion of science degrees have been documented.[see more details in sciencedaily.com]
Scientists Call For 80 Percent Drop In U.S. Emissions By 2050 To Avoid Dangerous Warming
By 2050, the United States must cut its emissions by at least 80 percent below those created in the year 2000 if the world is to avoid potentially dangerous impacts of human-induced climate change, according to a new report. To avoid the most severe effects of climate change, the world must stabilize the concentration of heat trapping gases in the atmosphere at no more than 450 parts per million, according to researchers.[see more details in sciencedaily.com]
Tiny Animals Exposed To Outer Space
For the first time ever, animals are being exposed to the natural space environment, with both vacuum conditions and cosmic radiation. One of the aims of sending the tiny tardigrades into space is to find out whether they can cope with the rugged conditions in space, which has previously been predicted but never tested.[see more details in sciencedaily.com]
sciencemag.org
[NEWS] ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY: Tougher Ozone Accord Also Addresses Global Warming
Negotiators meeting last week to strengthen the Montreal Protocol made significant progress in combating global warming by recognizing the fact that most of the ozone-depleting chemicals affected by the treaty are also potent greenhouse gases and that restricting them pays double dividends.Author: Eli Kintisch
[see more details in sciencemag.org]
[NEWS FOCUS] BIOSAFETY BREACHES: Accidents Spur a Closer Look at Risks at Biodefense Labs
Failure to report a Brucella infection and other problems at a Texas university have microbiologists searching for ways to ensure safety and public trust.Author: Jocelyn Kaiser
[see more details in sciencemag.org]
[NEWS FOCUS] COSMOLOGY: A Singular Conundrum: How Odd Is Our Universe?
Subtleties in the big bang afterglow could hint that the universe is arranged around an "axis of evil." Or they may be the products of random chance. With only one universe to study, researchers may be hard pressed to say one way or the other.Author: Adrian Cho
[see more details in sciencemag.org]
[NEWS FOCUS] ECOLOGY: Setting the Forest Alight
KODINSK, RUSSIA--To validate satellite data for carbon-emissions modeling, researchers this summer torched a jack-pine forest in Canada and tried to ignite a stand of larch in Siberia.Author: Paul Webster
[see more details in sciencemag.org]
[NEWS FOCUS] EDUCATION RESEARCH: U.S. Says No to Next Global Test of Advanced Math, Science Students
After U.S. high school students did poorly on the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study in 1995, the government has decided not to participate in another version to be given next year.Author: Jeffrey Mervis
[see more details in sciencemag.org]
[NEWS] NEUROSCIENCE: Uncovering the Magic in Magnetic Brain Stimulation
A detailed look at the effects of transcranial magnetic stimulation, reported on page of this issue of Science, shows that TMS can boost or dampen the firing of neurons depending on ongoing brain activity.Author: Greg Miller
[see more details in sciencemag.org]
sciencenow
A Not-So-Innovative Office of Innovation
The Commerce Department launches a miniversion of the much-reviled Technology Administration[see more details in sciencenow]
Big Radio From the Stars
A gigantic but fleeting one-time radio source blares from deep space[see more details in sciencenow]
FDA Oversight of Trials Found Lacking
Report blames agency for not adequately protecting patients[see more details in sciencenow]
In the Deep, a Tropical Surprise
Kelp forests may exist throughout the tropics, new study finds[see more details in sciencenow]
Once More Into the Fray
Meerkats sprint toward danger and learn in the process[see more details in sciencenow]
Satellite Images Reveal Burmese Atrocities
Pictures of burned villages and military camps conflict with government accounts[see more details in sciencenow]
Small Molecules, Big Problem
Minute RNAs unleash breast cancer cells[see more details in sciencenow]
Solving the Antidepressant Paradox
Variations in two genes help explain why people who take the drugs become more suicidal[see more details in sciencenow]
Space Germs Could Yield Earthly Cures
Taking bacteria on a shuttle ride reveals some of their best-kept secrets[see more details in sciencenow]
yahoo news
3 quakes strike in Pacific Ocean (AP)
AP - Three strong earthquakes struck Sunday near New Zealand and the U.S. territory of Guam in remote parts of the Pacific Ocean, monitoring agencies said.[see more details in yahoo news]
Asia could win next 'Space Race', US scientists fear (AFP)
AFP - Fifty years after the launch of Sputnik left the United States scrambling to play catch-up in the first Space Race, US scientists fear history may be repeating itself as Asia emerges as the rising force in space exploration.
[see more details in yahoo news]
Magnitude 7.4 quake hits near New Zealand (Reuters)
Reuters - A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 7.4 hit some 500 km (300 miles) southwest of New Zealand on Sunday, but there were no reports of damage and authorities discounted the risk of a major tsunami.[see more details in yahoo news]
Melissa weakens in Atlantic (AP)
AP - Tropical Storm Melissa weakened into a depression Sunday, while the remnants of Tropical Storm Karen limped along in the eastern Atlantic, forecasters said.
[see more details in yahoo news]
Stormy Midwest, Northwest (weather.com)
weather.com -[see more details in yahoo news]
Western storms, eastern warmth (weather.com)
weather.com -[see more details in yahoo news]
