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Antarctic ice loss is speeding up
RYAN MCVAY/PHOTOPISC
60 SECONDS
Reptile peril SNAKE oil, tortoise blood and caiman fat are lubricating a slippery slope towards extinction for many reptiles. At least 165 reptile species are used in concoctions prepared by folk healers around the world, and 88 are already on endangered species lists, according to a report
“While some reptile products are clinically proven, the efficacy of most is unknown” in Biodiversity and Conservation (DOI: 10.1007/s10531-007-93050). “East Asian freshwater turtles are under critical threat largely because of over-collection by the traditional medicine and food industries,” says lead author Rômulo Alves of the State University of Paraíba in Campina Grande, Brazil. While some reptile products are clinically proven, the efficacy of most of remains unknown. At worst, poor product hygiene can lead to dangerous illnesses such as salmonella infections, which have repeatedly occurred when people take rattlesnake pills. Alves has previously found that folk cures made from animal products fly off the shelves even in cities with good access to modern medicines, leaving him with scant hope of a fall in demand. “Conservation strategies will need to address the cultural aspects of folk medicine,” he says.
Australia’s federal court ruled on Tuesday that whaling by Japan in Australian waters is illegal. The conservation group Humane Society International estimates that more than 1300 whales were killed in Australian Antarctic waters between 2000 and 2006 by Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha, which has a permit to kill 985 whales this season. The government must now enforce the ruling.
Dying denied trial drugs
Gender bias IF YOU thought the glass ceiling for female scientists had been shattered, think again. Women are more likely to have their research published if the referees who peer review their work are unaware of their gender, a new study suggests. It has long been suspected that “single-blind” peer review – in which reviewers know a researcher’s identity but not vice versa – can lead to bias. Gender, nationality and nepotism have
“Double-blind peer review, in which no identities are revealed, would be fairer”
ITALO MOURTHE
also been identified as biasing factors in the application process for research fellowships. Some suggest that double-blind peer review, in which neither side knows the other’s identity, would be a fairer system. To find out if this is true, Amber Budden at the University of Toronto in Canada and her colleagues looked at the gender of the authors of papers accepted by Behavioural Ecology before and after it switched to double-blind peer review in 2001. In the four years following the switch, 8 per cent more female authors had papers published compared to the previous four years (Trends in Ecology and –In need of protection– Evolution, DOI: 10.1016/
www.newscientist.com
Anti-whalers’ victory
Terminally ill patients in the US have lost their final appeal to gain access to experimental and unapproved drugs. On –Mind the glass ceiling– 14 January the Supreme Court rejected a joint appeal by the Abigail Alliance and j.tree.2007.07.008 ). While Budden the Washington Legal Foundation, who accepts that there may be other had argued that dying patients had a explanations, she believes the constitutional right to such drugs (see findings should provoke wider New Scientist, 18 August, p 6). discussion about the advantages of double-blind peer review. Bull-sized “mouse” “There is no reason why all journals should not move to A huge fossil skull found in Uruguay double-blind peer review,” adds suggests that a 1-tonne rodent was Terry Marsh of UK lobbying group roaming the skirting boards of South Women into Science, Engineering America 4 million years ago. The fossil and Construction. will help reconstruct the appearance of the ancestors of today’s much smaller rodents (Proceedings of the Royal Society B, DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2007.1645). FRESH evidence of melting came from both poles this week. Air-miss data released Until recently, conflicting results have meant estimates of After weeks of criticism, NASA caved in ice loss at the poles vary widely. on Monday and released crucial data on Now an international team has pilots’ near misses and accidents in a used satellite data and climate format anyone can work with. The modelling to show that, in the 16,000 pages of raw data had previously decade ending in 2006, annual been published in PDF format, making it ice loss from West Antarctica almost impossible for outsiders to feed increased by 59 per cent while it into their computers. Researchers losses from the Antarctic Peninsula want to mine the data to reveal just leapt by 140 per cent (Nature how risky air travel really is. Geoscience, DOI: 10.1038/ngeo102). These results tie in nicely with Name that dog recent results obtained by other methods, bringing consensus Computers can now recognise individual over ice loss a bit closer. dogs from their barks alone – something Also this week, a separate team most humans cannot do. Software used glacier and meteorological developed at Eötvös Loránd University data in Greenland to show that in Budapest, Hungary, can identify key local warming since 1990 has features of barks and distinguish resulted in the most severe whether the dog was barking at a melting in 50 years (Journal of stranger or at a ball (Animal Cognition, Climate, DOI: 10.1175/2007/ DOI: 10.1007/s10071-007-0129-9). JCLI1964.1).
Melting away
19 January 2008 | NewScientist | 7
60 SECONDS
Reptile peril SNAKE oil, tortoise blood and caiman fat are lubricating a slippery slope towards extinction for many reptiles. At least 165 reptile species are used in concoctions prepared by folk healers around the world, and 88 are already on endangered species lists, according to a report
“While some reptile products are clinically proven, the efficacy of most is unknown” in Biodiversity and Conservation (DOI: 10.1007/s10531-007-93050). “East Asian freshwater turtles are under critical threat largely because of over-collection by the traditional medicine and food industries,” says lead author Rômulo Alves of the State University of Paraíba in Campina Grande, Brazil. While some reptile products are clinically proven, the efficacy of most of remains unknown. At worst, poor product hygiene can lead to dangerous illnesses such as salmonella infections, which have repeatedly occurred when people take rattlesnake pills. Alves has previously found that folk cures made from animal products fly off the shelves even in cities with good access to modern medicines, leaving him with scant hope of a fall in demand. “Conservation strategies will need to address the cultural aspects of folk medicine,” he says.
Australia’s federal court ruled on Tuesday that whaling by Japan in Australian waters is illegal. The conservation group Humane Society International estimates that more than 1300 whales were killed in Australian Antarctic waters between 2000 and 2006 by Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha, which has a permit to kill 985 whales this season. The government must now enforce the ruling.
Dying denied trial drugs
Gender bias IF YOU thought the glass ceiling for female scientists had been shattered, think again. Women are more likely to have their research published if the referees who peer review their work are unaware of their gender, a new study suggests. It has long been suspected that “single-blind” peer review – in which reviewers know a researcher’s identity but not vice versa – can lead to bias. Gender, nationality and nepotism have
“Double-blind peer review, in which no identities are revealed, would be fairer”
ITALO MOURTHE
also been identified as biasing factors in the application process for research fellowships. Some suggest that double-blind peer review, in which neither side knows the other’s identity, would be a fairer system. To find out if this is true, Amber Budden at the University of Toronto in Canada and her colleagues looked at the gender of the authors of papers accepted by Behavioural Ecology before and after it switched to double-blind peer review in 2001. In the four years following the switch, 8 per cent more female authors had papers published compared to the previous four years (Trends in Ecology and –In need of protection– Evolution, DOI: 10.1016/
www.newscientist.com
Anti-whalers’ victory
Terminally ill patients in the US have lost their final appeal to gain access to experimental and unapproved drugs. On –Mind the glass ceiling– 14 January the Supreme Court rejected a joint appeal by the Abigail Alliance and j.tree.2007.07.008 ). While Budden the Washington Legal Foundation, who accepts that there may be other had argued that dying patients had a explanations, she believes the constitutional right to such drugs (see findings should provoke wider New Scientist, 18 August, p 6). discussion about the advantages of double-blind peer review. Bull-sized “mouse” “There is no reason why all journals should not move to A huge fossil skull found in Uruguay double-blind peer review,” adds suggests that a 1-tonne rodent was Terry Marsh of UK lobbying group roaming the skirting boards of South Women into Science, Engineering America 4 million years ago. The fossil and Construction. will help reconstruct the appearance of the ancestors of today’s much smaller rodents (Proceedings of the Royal Society B, DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2007.1645). FRESH evidence of melting came from both poles this week. Air-miss data released Until recently, conflicting results have meant estimates of After weeks of criticism, NASA caved in ice loss at the poles vary widely. on Monday and released crucial data on Now an international team has pilots’ near misses and accidents in a used satellite data and climate format anyone can work with. The modelling to show that, in the 16,000 pages of raw data had previously decade ending in 2006, annual been published in PDF format, making it ice loss from West Antarctica almost impossible for outsiders to feed increased by 59 per cent while it into their computers. Researchers losses from the Antarctic Peninsula want to mine the data to reveal just leapt by 140 per cent (Nature how risky air travel really is. Geoscience, DOI: 10.1038/ngeo102). These results tie in nicely with Name that dog recent results obtained by other methods, bringing consensus Computers can now recognise individual over ice loss a bit closer. dogs from their barks alone – something Also this week, a separate team most humans cannot do. Software used glacier and meteorological developed at Eötvös Loránd University data in Greenland to show that in Budapest, Hungary, can identify key local warming since 1990 has features of barks and distinguish resulted in the most severe whether the dog was barking at a melting in 50 years (Journal of stranger or at a ball (Animal Cognition, Climate, DOI: 10.1175/2007/ DOI: 10.1007/s10071-007-0129-9). JCLI1964.1).
Melting away
19 January 2008 | NewScientist | 7