SCIENCE IN THE NEWS
from Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society


Today's Headlines - February 27, 2008

Plaza in Peru May Be the America's Oldest Urban Site

from the Los Angeles Times (Registration Required)

LIMA, PERU -- An ancient stone plaza unearthed in Peru dates back more
than
five millenniums and is the oldest known urban settlement in the
Americas,
according to experts here.

Archaeologists say the site, uncovered amid a complex of ruins known as
Sechin Bajo, is a major discovery that could help reshape their
understanding of the continent's pre-Columbian history.

Carbon dating by a German and Peruvian excavation team indicates that
the
circular plaza is at least 5,500 years old, dating to about 3,500 BC,
said
Cesar Perez, an archaeologist at Peru's National Institute of Culture
who
supervised the dig. That would make it older than the Great Pyramid of
Giza.

To read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/custom/scimedemail/la-fg-
peru26feb26,0,6450418.story

Or: http://tinyurl.com/2mlzzm


Bacteria Disappearing from Our Bodies May Harm Human Health

from the Boston Globe (Registration Required)

CAMBRIDGE - Not feeling quite yourself? No wonder. In a sense, you
aren't
really you.

Scientists estimate that 90 percent of the cells contained in the human
body belong to nonhuman organisms - mostly bacteria, but also a
smattering
of fungi and other eensy entities. Some 100 trillion microbes nestle in
niches from our teeth to our toes.

But what's setting science on its heels these days is not the boggling
numbers of bugs so much as the budding recognition that they are much
more
than casual hitchhikers capable of causing disease. They may be so
essential to well-being that humans couldn't live without them.

To read more:
http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2008/02/25/of_microbes_and_m
en/

Or: http://tinyurl.com/2obewk


Studies Show Scope of Damage to Reefs

from the San Diego Union-Tribune (Registration Required)

The few pristine coral reefs remaining in the world are teeming with
biological diversity - a stark contrast to the damaged reefs where
microbes, algae and small fish have replaced sharks, snappers and other
large predators.

That's the conclusion of a landmark pair of studies to be published
online
[today] by a multidisciplinary team of researchers, including some from
UCSD's Scripps Institution of Oceanography and San Diego State
University.

Authors of the peer-reviewed reports, which will appear in the journal
Public Library of Science ONE, described them as the first studies to
assess a range of coral ecosystems from the top to the bottom of the
food
chain.

To read more: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/science/20080226-9999-
1n26reef.html

Or: http://tinyurl.com/3dqm7x


'Doomsday' Vault Opens Its Doors

from BBC News Online

Leading dignitaries have attended the official opening of a 'doomsday'
seed
vault built 426ft inside a mountain on a remote Arctic island. Norwegian
Prime Minister Jen Stoltenberg and Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai
placed the first seeds in the depository during the ceremony.

The vault, designed to withstand all natural and human disaster, will
house
samples of all known food crops. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault took 12
months and cost 5 million (British pounds) to construct.

During the ceremony, Mr Stoltenberg unlocked the vault before being
joined
by environmental campaigner Ms Maathai to place the first consignment of
seeds in the -18C freezer.

To read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7264758.stm

Or: http://tinyurl.com/yoxhhc


The End of Cosmology?

from Scientific American

One hundred years ago a Scientific American article about the history
and
large-scale structure of the universe would have been almost completely
wrong. In 1908 scientists thought our galaxy constituted the entire
universe. They considered it an "island universe," an isolated cluster
of
stars surrounded by an infinite void.

We now know that our galaxy is one of more than 400 billion galaxies in
the
observable universe. In 1908 the scientific consensus was that the
universe
was static and eternal. The beginning of the universe in a fiery big
bang
was not even remotely suspected. The synthesis of elements in the first
few
moments of the big bang and inside the cores of stars was not
understood.

... It is hard to think of an area of intellectual inquiry that has
changed
more in the past century than cosmology, and the shift has transformed
how
we view the world. But must science in the future always reflect more
empirical knowledge than existed in the past? Our recent work suggests
that
on cosmic timescales, the answer is no.

To read more: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=the-end-of-cosmology

Or: http://tinyurl.com/2fkw2x


Drug-Resistant TB Rates Soar in Former Soviet Regions

from the New York Times (Registration Required)

Drug-resistant tuberculosis cases in parts of the former Soviet Union
have
reached the highest rates ever recorded globally, the World Health
Organization said Tuesday. The rates could soar even higher, spreading
the
potentially fatal disease elsewhere, a top W.H.O. official said,
releasing
findings from the largest global survey of the problem.

The highest rate was in Baku, Azerbaijan, where 22.3 percent of new
tuberculosis cases were resistant to the standard anti-TB drug regimen
during the survey period, from 2002 to 2006. That exceeded the previous
high of 14.2 percent, in Kazakhstan.

Drug-resistant TB is widespread in the Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang
regions of China, where the rates are about 7.25 percent, the W.H.O.
said.
The survey, the first in four years, shows that earlier predictions were
correct and that governments have lost control of tuberculosis in many
areas.

To read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/27/health/27tb.html

Or: http://tinyurl.com/26zn6g


Prozac Does Not Work in Most Depressed Patients

from New Scientist

The antidepressant Prozac and related drugs are no better than placebo
in
treating all but the most severely depressed patients, according to a
damaging assessment of the latest generation of antidepressants.

SSRIs, or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, were supposed to
revolutionise care of depression - by treating symptoms without the side
effects of older drugs, such as tricyclics.

But despite selling in vast quantities, a new meta-analysis of these
drugs,
from data presented to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA),
appears
to suggest that for most patients they do not work. A previous study had
indicated that the benefits of antidepressants might be exaggerated.

To read more:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13375-prozac-does-not-
work-in-most-depressed-patients.html

Or: http://tinyurl.com/2ug7np


Sea Reptile Is Biggest on Record

from BBC News Online

A fossilised "sea monster" unearthed on an Arctic island is the largest
marine reptile known to science, Norwegian scientists have announced.
The 150 million-year-old specimen was found on Spitspergen, in the
Arctic
island chain of Svalbard, in 2006.

The Jurassic-era leviathan is one of 40 sea reptiles from a
fossil "treasure trove" uncovered on the island. Nicknamed "The
Monster,"
the immense creature would have measured 50ft from nose to tail. And
during
the last field expedition, scientists discovered the remains of another
so-
called pliosaur which is thought to belong to the same species as The
Monster - and may have been just as colossal.

The expedition's director Dr Jorn Hurum, from the University of Oslo
Natural History Museum, said the Svalbard specimen is 20 percent larger
than the previous biggest marine reptile - another massive pliosaur from
Australia called Kronosaurus.

To read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7264856.stm

Or: http://tinyurl.com/2vbu8l


U.S. Researchers Sequence Genome of Corn, a Key Crop

from the San Diego Union-Tribune (Registration Required)

WASHINGTON (Associated Press) - Researchers have sequenced the gene map
of
corn, also known as maize, a key crop across much of the world and a
source
of food, oil and products ranging from shoe polish to ethanol.

They said their sequence, to be released at a meeting in Washington
Thursday, would help plant scientists improve varieties of corn and
other
cereal crops, including rice, wheat and barley.

"Scientists now will be able to accurately and efficiently probe the
corn
genome to find ways to improve breeding and subsequently increase crop
yields and resistance to drought and disease," Richard Wilson of
Washington
University in St. Louis, whose team led the effort, said in a statement.

To read more:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/science/20080226-0703-corn-
genome-.html

Or: http://tinyurl.com/39g5v7


Mysteries of "Sacrificial" Maya Blue Pigment Solved?

from National Geographic News

An ancient clay bowl from Mexico is providing new clues to the
production
and role of a hardy blue pigment widely employed by the ancient Maya.

The find also helps explain a mysteriously thick layer of blue silt that
archaeologists reported at the bottom of a sacrificial sinkhole where
the
bowl was recovered more than a century ago.

The pigment, known commonly as Maya blue, was used to paint offerings,
pottery, murals, and even the bodies of humans before ritual sacrifices.
Scientists have long known the basic chemical components of the pigment,
which has a remarkable ability to resist age, acid, weathering, and even
modern chemical solvents.

To read more:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/02/080226-maya-
blue.html

Or: http://tinyurl.com/2te4k2