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


Today's Headlines - February 6, 2008

Three-Parent Embryo Formed in Lab

from BBC News Online

Scientists believe they have made a potential breakthrough in the
treatment
of serious disease by creating a human embryo with three separate
parents.

The Newcastle University team believe the technique could help to
eradicate
a whole class of hereditary diseases, including some forms of epilepsy.
The
embryos have been created using DNA from a man and two women in lab
tests.

It could ensure women with genetic defects do not pass the diseases on
to
their children. The technique is intended to help women with diseases of
the mitochondria - mini organelles that are found within individual
cells.

To read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7227861.stm

Or: http://tinyurl.com/335vfz


Building Blocks of Life Detected in Distant Galaxy

from National Geographic News

The discovery of an amino acid precursor in a far-flung galaxy is fresh
evidence that life has potential to form throughout the universe,
scientists say.

Researchers using the world's largest radio telescope - the Arecibo
Observatory in Puerto Rico - have detected methanimine in the distant
galaxy Arp 220.

Researchers had previously detected evidence of formaldehyde, ammonia,
hydrogen cyanide, and possibly formic acid in the star-forming region.
Methanimine can form the simplest amino acid, glycine, when it reacts
with
either hydrogen cyanide or formic acid.

To read more:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/02/080204-galaxy-
life.html

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


Smoking Found to Disrupt Sleep

from the Baltimore Sun

Smokers who have long been harangued about the medical consequences of
their habit have a new one to ponder: It might be harming their sleep.

A new study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine found
that smokers are four times as likely as nonsmokers to report trouble
sleeping and feeling rested the next day.

Measurements of brain activity showed that they aren't experiencing as
much
deep sleep during the night, a possible side effect of nicotine.

To read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-
te.smoking05feb05,0,2262829.story

Or: http://tinyurl.com/2nko5y


Super Tuesday: Markets Predict Outcome Better Than Polls

from Scientific American

In late March 1988 three economists from the University of Iowa were
nursing beers at a local hangout in Iowa City, when conversation turned
to
the news of the day. Jesse Jackson had captured 55 percent of the votes
in
the Michigan Democratic caucuses, an outcome that the polls had failed
to
intimate.

The ensuing grumbling about the unreliability of polls sparked the germ
of
an idea. At the time, experimental economics ... had just come into
vogue,
which prompted the three drinking partners to deliberate about whether a
market might do better than the polls.

A market in political candidates would serve as a novel way to test an
economic theory asserting that all information about a security is
reflected in its price.

To read more:
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=markets-predict-outcome-
better-than-polls

Or: http://tinyurl.com/2pgp7x


Exploding Black Holes Could Expose Hidden Dimensions

from New Scientist

Cosmic flares shot from exploding black holes could provide long-sought
proof of extra spatial dimensions, new calculations suggest. Theoretical
physicist Stephen Hawking predicted that black holes evaporate through a
quantum process known as "Hawking evaporation" and can explode in brief
bursts of energy before vanishing completely.

Only mini-black holes roughly as massive as an asteroid or smaller would
be
able to evaporate completely within the lifetime of the universe. And
such
tiny black holes may have been created in large numbers within 1 second
of
the big bang, as elementary particles clumped together at extreme
energies.

Now, researchers led by Michael Kavic of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg,
US,
say the evaporation of such "primordial" black holes could emit
detectable
radiation - if the universe contains additional dimensions beyond the
familiar three of space and one of time.

To read more:
http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn13279-exploding-black-
holes-could-expose-hidden-dimensions.html

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


White House Went Too Far in Sonar Case, Judge Rules

from the Washington Post (Registration Required)

The Bush administration overreached when it sought to limit the Navy's
obligations under national environmental laws related to sonar training
exercises off California, a federal judge ruled [Monday].

In a sharply worded decision that will keep the Navy from continuing a
series of 14 planned exercises, U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie
Cooper
wrote that the Navy and the administration had improperly declared that
an
emergency would be created if they had to accept court-mandated steps to
minimize risk to whales and other sea mammals.

Because no real emergency exists, she said, the White House cannot
override
her decisions and those of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th
Circuit.

To read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2008/02/04/AR2008020402612.html

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


Space Shuttle Atlantis to Launch with Columbus Lab

from the Christian Science Monitor

The United States and Russia are about to get a new long-term neighbor
on
the International Space Station.

The space shuttle Atlantis is set for launch Thursday - barring bad
weather - to carry Europe's $1.6 billion Columbus laboratory to the
orbiting outpost. Coming after a two-month delay due to technical
problems,
the launch is a coming-out party of sorts for Europe's
manned-spaceflight
program.

It is also a test case for legal agreements on collaborative space
exploration. The Columbus lab plays a key role in the European Union's
long-
term plans for manned spaceflight, including future planetary
exploration.
After nearly 25 years of designs and redesigns, renegotiated agreements,
and launch delays, Europe will finally see its hardware in orbit.

To read more: http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0206/p03s01-stss.html

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


Human Hearts Shrink at Age 50

from Newsday

The human heart undergoes an inevitable -- and inexplicable -- shrinkage
at
the half-century mark, a phenomenon that its Long Island discoverer is
calling the "age 50 effect," a mysterious development that affects both
genders.

"This is the first time that this kind of narrow time window has emerged
for such a dramatic change," said Dr. Nathaniel Reichek, director of
research and education at St. Francis Hospital, The Heart Center in
Roslyn.

Although other medical investigators, including researchers with the
Framingham Heart Study in Massachusetts and the Mesa Study at Johns
Hopkins
University, have uncovered similar evidence, Reichek and his team have
defined it, and timed chronologically when it occurs.

To read more: http://www.newsday.com/news/health/ny-
hshart0206,0,3009927.story

Or: http://tinyurl.com/35xm58


The Moon: Destination or Distraction?

from Nature News

A high-level meeting next week will offer scientists a chance to
re-examine
NASA's commitment to human exploration of the Moon. The 12 February
workshop is organized by the Planetary Society, a space-exploration
advocacy group based in Pasadena, California.

It is timed to come four years after President George W. Bush called for
a
return to the Moon in his Vision for Space Exploration (VSE), and a week
after the last of the budget requests with which he might have furthered
that vision. As such, it might thus mark the opening of the post-Bush
era
in space exploration.

Conceived in the wake of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, the VSE's
goals were to finish the International Space Station (ISS), replace the
shuttle, return crews to the Moon, and eventually explore Mars. But the
expense of shuttle operations and ISS construction has led to cuts in
the
VSE's budget, as well as in that for space science.

To read more: http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080206/full/451612a.html

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


Joshua Lederberg, 82; Genetics Pioneer Won Nobel Prize

from the Los Angeles Times (Registration Required)

Joshua Lederberg, who won a Nobel Prize for discovering that bacteria
could
have sex, thereby establishing the foundation of modern genetics and
biotechnology, died of pneumonia Saturday in New York City. He was 82.

The prodigy's pioneering work while he was still in graduate school made
him one of the first researchers to manipulate genes in a living
organism.
It opened the door to an understanding of how bacteria evolved and the
mechanisms by which they develop and transfer antibiotic resistance.

It also set the stage for a long and fruitful career in space biology
and
artificial intelligence, as well as four decades on government advisory
commissions on health policy, national security and arms control.

To read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/custom/scimedemail/la-me-
lederberg5feb05,0,7764620.story

Or: http://tinyurl.com/yr42mj