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Cellphone radiation affects cells in living humans
CHRISTOPHER MORRIS/V11
60 SECONDS
Space competition CHINA’S reputation in human spaceflight goes from strength to strength. Last week, NASA chief Mike Griffin admitted at a congressional hearing that China is a serious competitor for the US. His speech marks a turnaround: “A few years ago, I was not
“China plans to launch at least 10 space missions this year, including one for Venezuela” particularly concerned about Chinese primacy in human spaceflight relative to that of the US,” he said. China’s rapid progress and a visit to the country changed his mind. China still has some catching up to do. So far, it has only launched two crewed missions. But on Tuesday, the state media reported that the country plans to launch at least 10 missions this year – a record number. These include two Shenzhou spacecraft, two environmental satellites and a communications satellite for Venezuela. There are worries that the rivalry between the US and China could spill over into an arms race in space. This week, China said a US plan to fire a missile at a crippled reconnaissance satellite was a threat to space security, despite having shot down one of its own weather satellites in January 2007.
There may be more life-supporting worlds close to home than we thought. As many as 60 per cent of sun-like stars in the Milky Way may boast rocky planets similar to Earth, according to dust observations by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope presented on Sunday at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in Boston.
Did bubbles down Boeing?
Cellphone alarm? RADIATION from cellphones is too weak to heat biological tissue or break chemical bonds in cells, but the radio waves they emit may still affect cell behaviour. “Our study suggests that it is possible that mobile phone radiation alters the expression of some proteins in living humans,” says Dariusz Leszczynski at the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, in Helsinki. Leszczynski exposed 10 female
“It is possible that mobile phone radiation alters the expression of some proteins”
PIETER TELEMANS/PANOS
volunteers to radiation at 900 megahertz from GSM phones to simulate an hour-long phone call. He screened 580 different proteins in their skin cells and found that the numbers of two proteins were altered in all of the volunteers: one protein increased by 89 per cent, the other decreased by 32 per cent (BMC Genomics, DOI: 10.1186/ 1471-2164-9-77). Although similar effects have been observed in cultured cells, this is the first study to show molecular effects of phone radiation on humans. It does not necessarily mean that the radio waves have a negative health –When people and animals mix…– effect, Leszczynski says. “But it
www.newscientist.com
No dearth of Earths
The British Airways Boeing 777 jet that crash-landed at London’s Heathrow Airport on 17 January may have lost –Something’s happening behind the ears– engine power because of bubbles in its fuel. These bubbles could have created does mean that the human body high-energy shock waves that recognises this low-level radiation damaged the fuel pumps, says the and reacts to it.” UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch. The precise role of these proteins is not known, nor which Robots to liberate lab rats genes code for them. The proteins were detected by molecular Two of the world’s largest research weight and electrical properties. organisations jointly vowed last Leszczynski now plans to run a week to use fewer animals for toxicity larger study to identify the testing in future. Instead, the US proteins and establish any health Environmental Protection Agency impact the changes may have. and the National Institutes of Health will co-develop robotic toxicityscreening systems relying on human tissues and cells. NUCLEAR forensics needs an urgent shot in the arm if it is to Salt leads to sugar keep track of the growing black market in radioactive materials. If you want to reduce the amount of That’s the conclusion of a new sugary drinks consumed by children, report by the American Physical work on what they eat. Those with Society and the American a higher salt intake consume more Association for the Advancement sugary drinks. By halving the of Science, which warns of a salt in their diet, they could end up shrinking pool of expertise drinking two cans fewer per week and resources. According to (Hypertension, DOI: 10.1161/ the International Atomic Energy HYPERTENSIONAHA.107.100990). Agency, more than 1000 cases of illegal nuclear trafficking were Tiger trail discovered between 1993 and 2007. “The personnel and equipment An uninterrupted “genetic corridor” are not as well suited to deal with spanning 8000 kilometres and eight such events as they could be, and countries between Bhutan and Burma the pipeline to replace them is should be established to allow tigers near empty,” says the report’s lead to roam and breed more freely than author Michael May of Stanford at present. Proposed by the Wildlife University, California. Conservation Society and the Panthera Up to half of the US Foundation, the plan’s aim is to help Department of Energy’s nuclear tigers avoid inbreeding and to boost forensic scientists are expected their dwindling numbers. to retire in the next 15 years.
Nuclear drain
23 February 2008 | NewScientist | 5
60 SECONDS
Space competition CHINA’S reputation in human spaceflight goes from strength to strength. Last week, NASA chief Mike Griffin admitted at a congressional hearing that China is a serious competitor for the US. His speech marks a turnaround: “A few years ago, I was not
“China plans to launch at least 10 space missions this year, including one for Venezuela” particularly concerned about Chinese primacy in human spaceflight relative to that of the US,” he said. China’s rapid progress and a visit to the country changed his mind. China still has some catching up to do. So far, it has only launched two crewed missions. But on Tuesday, the state media reported that the country plans to launch at least 10 missions this year – a record number. These include two Shenzhou spacecraft, two environmental satellites and a communications satellite for Venezuela. There are worries that the rivalry between the US and China could spill over into an arms race in space. This week, China said a US plan to fire a missile at a crippled reconnaissance satellite was a threat to space security, despite having shot down one of its own weather satellites in January 2007.
There may be more life-supporting worlds close to home than we thought. As many as 60 per cent of sun-like stars in the Milky Way may boast rocky planets similar to Earth, according to dust observations by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope presented on Sunday at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in Boston.
Did bubbles down Boeing?
Cellphone alarm? RADIATION from cellphones is too weak to heat biological tissue or break chemical bonds in cells, but the radio waves they emit may still affect cell behaviour. “Our study suggests that it is possible that mobile phone radiation alters the expression of some proteins in living humans,” says Dariusz Leszczynski at the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, in Helsinki. Leszczynski exposed 10 female
“It is possible that mobile phone radiation alters the expression of some proteins”
PIETER TELEMANS/PANOS
volunteers to radiation at 900 megahertz from GSM phones to simulate an hour-long phone call. He screened 580 different proteins in their skin cells and found that the numbers of two proteins were altered in all of the volunteers: one protein increased by 89 per cent, the other decreased by 32 per cent (BMC Genomics, DOI: 10.1186/ 1471-2164-9-77). Although similar effects have been observed in cultured cells, this is the first study to show molecular effects of phone radiation on humans. It does not necessarily mean that the radio waves have a negative health –When people and animals mix…– effect, Leszczynski says. “But it
www.newscientist.com
No dearth of Earths
The British Airways Boeing 777 jet that crash-landed at London’s Heathrow Airport on 17 January may have lost –Something’s happening behind the ears– engine power because of bubbles in its fuel. These bubbles could have created does mean that the human body high-energy shock waves that recognises this low-level radiation damaged the fuel pumps, says the and reacts to it.” UK’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch. The precise role of these proteins is not known, nor which Robots to liberate lab rats genes code for them. The proteins were detected by molecular Two of the world’s largest research weight and electrical properties. organisations jointly vowed last Leszczynski now plans to run a week to use fewer animals for toxicity larger study to identify the testing in future. Instead, the US proteins and establish any health Environmental Protection Agency impact the changes may have. and the National Institutes of Health will co-develop robotic toxicityscreening systems relying on human tissues and cells. NUCLEAR forensics needs an urgent shot in the arm if it is to Salt leads to sugar keep track of the growing black market in radioactive materials. If you want to reduce the amount of That’s the conclusion of a new sugary drinks consumed by children, report by the American Physical work on what they eat. Those with Society and the American a higher salt intake consume more Association for the Advancement sugary drinks. By halving the of Science, which warns of a salt in their diet, they could end up shrinking pool of expertise drinking two cans fewer per week and resources. According to (Hypertension, DOI: 10.1161/ the International Atomic Energy HYPERTENSIONAHA.107.100990). Agency, more than 1000 cases of illegal nuclear trafficking were Tiger trail discovered between 1993 and 2007. “The personnel and equipment An uninterrupted “genetic corridor” are not as well suited to deal with spanning 8000 kilometres and eight such events as they could be, and countries between Bhutan and Burma the pipeline to replace them is should be established to allow tigers near empty,” says the report’s lead to roam and breed more freely than author Michael May of Stanford at present. Proposed by the Wildlife University, California. Conservation Society and the Panthera Up to half of the US Foundation, the plan’s aim is to help Department of Energy’s nuclear tigers avoid inbreeding and to boost forensic scientists are expected their dwindling numbers. to retire in the next 15 years.
Nuclear drain
23 February 2008 | NewScientist | 5