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Burn paradox: Protected forests burn more
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Stem cell clinic shut
first flight on 4 June bolstered its case, but SpaceX still needs to build an ejection system. In the event of a stalled or exploding rocket, this would hurl the crew capsule away from the rocket and parachute it to safety. Such a system whisked two Soviet astronauts to safety in 1983 when their rocket exploded on the launch pad. NASA has set the bar higher by requiring that future launchers are also capable of ejecting mid-flight, a scenario which makes it harder to control the capsule, says Robert Dickman of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
60 Seconds
although the clinic has a permit to extract and store stem cells, it has no permission to carry out treatments with them. The non-profit International Society of Stem Cell Research in Deerfield, Illinois, has warned
THE government of Costa Rica has closed a private clinic offering stem-cell treatments, on the grounds that there is no proof the treatments work. According to Reuters, doctors “Many unproven stem-cell at the Cell Medicine clinic in the capital, San José, claimed to extract therapies remain on offer, marketed using anecdotal stem cells from fat or bone reports of success” marrow, then re-inject them to treat a range of conditions, against so-called “stem-cell including diabetes and spinal tourism”, but unproven therapies injury. The treatments cost up to $30,000, and many of the patients remain on offer around the world, marketed mainly through were “tourists” from the US. anecdotal reports of success. The health ministry says that
Burn paradox
No ladders for snakes
fabio pupin/flpa
HERE is a paradox for those trying COULD snakes worldwide be going France, Italy and Nigeria, with females the same way as frogs and fish? A more seriously affected than males. to save the rainforests. Reducing study of 11 snake species in locations The causes of these steep declines the rate of deforestation often are unknown, but the team believes makes the number of forest fires go across the UK, France, Italy, Nigeria, and Australia suggests that snake they reflect a change in the quality of up. Yes, up. populations may be suffering a habitats, such as a growing shortage The finding came from a study of appropriate ground cover, or less of satellite images of Amazonia by widespread decline. Christopher Reading of the UK abundant prey. Worryingly, half of Luiz Aragão of the University of Exeter, UK, and Yosio Shimabukuro Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and the species in parks and reserves an international team aggregated suffered sharp declines (Biology at the National Institute of Space data on snake populations from past Letters, DOI: 10.1098/rsbl20100373). Research in São Paulo, Brazil studies, including surveys that they The number of regions for which (Science, vol 328, p 1275). Pristine the researchers have long-term data forests and farmed areas are largely carried out themselves. They found that 11 of the 17 populations of is limited, so they cannot yet prove fire-free. But fires proliferate in snakes studied plummeted between that they are witnessing a global half-destroyed forests, where 1998 and 2002, and remained low decline. “We want to flag up what we traditional farmers practice slashuntil the studies ended in 2008 and think may be happening so that other and-burn farming in clearings. snake researchers can start looking This is just the kind of forest that 2009. Five populations were stable, with one increasing slightly. at their data and see whether they’ve appears to have benefited from The crash was seen in the UK, got similar patterns,” says Reading. recent Brazilian efforts to reduce the rate of forest loss in the Amazon. The study found that 59 per cent of forest areas where deforestation rates dropped between 2000 and 2007 have more fires than they did before. This is more than a statistical quirk. In the past two weeks, climate negotiators meeting in Bonn, Germany, have been trying to thrash out rules for REDD, a way of paying developing countries to cut deforestation and so cut carbon emissions. But if reduced deforestation results in more fires, the carbon-saving could be much less than expected. –Losing ground: the western whip snake–
Hearts heart height Shorter people are 1.5 times as likely as their taller counterparts to develop heart disease, reveals an analysis of more than 3 million people. Short people were classified as under 160.5 centimetres high and tall people over 173.9 cm (European Heart Journal, DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehq183).
Asteroid dust at last? After a troubled rendezvous with an asteroid, the Japanese craft Hayabusa is finally nearing Earth – three years late. In 2005, the spacecraft landed on Itokawa, where it was supposed to be the first to grab a dust sample. Though the mission went awry, Hayabusa may have trapped some dust. We should find out on 13 June, when it is expected to drop its sample capsule over the Australian outback.
Strokes suckered The effects of a massive stroke have been relieved in 27 patients using a tiny vacuum cleaner–like catheter which “sucks up” blood clots in the brain, restoring blood flow and preventing brain damage, say doctors at the Canadian Stroke Congress in Quebec City this week.
Oldest leather shoe A pit in Armenia has yielded the world’s oldest leather shoe, a one-piece design with eyelets and leather laces. At 5500 years old, the shoe is between 300 and 400 years older than those found on Ötzi the alpine “iceman”, which only had soles of leather with grass uppers (PLoS ONE, DOI: 10.1371/journal. pone.0010984).
Oil bad for business Continued reliance on oil is risky and expensive for business, says a report by analysts Lloyd’s 360 Risk Insight and UK think tank Chatham House. Oil prices could spike at about $200 per barrel in the next couple of years, and the report recommends investment in renewable energy for long-term price and supply security.
12 June 2010 | NewScientist | 5
Stem cell clinic shut
first flight on 4 June bolstered its case, but SpaceX still needs to build an ejection system. In the event of a stalled or exploding rocket, this would hurl the crew capsule away from the rocket and parachute it to safety. Such a system whisked two Soviet astronauts to safety in 1983 when their rocket exploded on the launch pad. NASA has set the bar higher by requiring that future launchers are also capable of ejecting mid-flight, a scenario which makes it harder to control the capsule, says Robert Dickman of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
60 Seconds
although the clinic has a permit to extract and store stem cells, it has no permission to carry out treatments with them. The non-profit International Society of Stem Cell Research in Deerfield, Illinois, has warned
THE government of Costa Rica has closed a private clinic offering stem-cell treatments, on the grounds that there is no proof the treatments work. According to Reuters, doctors “Many unproven stem-cell at the Cell Medicine clinic in the capital, San José, claimed to extract therapies remain on offer, marketed using anecdotal stem cells from fat or bone reports of success” marrow, then re-inject them to treat a range of conditions, against so-called “stem-cell including diabetes and spinal tourism”, but unproven therapies injury. The treatments cost up to $30,000, and many of the patients remain on offer around the world, marketed mainly through were “tourists” from the US. anecdotal reports of success. The health ministry says that
Burn paradox
No ladders for snakes
fabio pupin/flpa
HERE is a paradox for those trying COULD snakes worldwide be going France, Italy and Nigeria, with females the same way as frogs and fish? A more seriously affected than males. to save the rainforests. Reducing study of 11 snake species in locations The causes of these steep declines the rate of deforestation often are unknown, but the team believes makes the number of forest fires go across the UK, France, Italy, Nigeria, and Australia suggests that snake they reflect a change in the quality of up. Yes, up. populations may be suffering a habitats, such as a growing shortage The finding came from a study of appropriate ground cover, or less of satellite images of Amazonia by widespread decline. Christopher Reading of the UK abundant prey. Worryingly, half of Luiz Aragão of the University of Exeter, UK, and Yosio Shimabukuro Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and the species in parks and reserves an international team aggregated suffered sharp declines (Biology at the National Institute of Space data on snake populations from past Letters, DOI: 10.1098/rsbl20100373). Research in São Paulo, Brazil studies, including surveys that they The number of regions for which (Science, vol 328, p 1275). Pristine the researchers have long-term data forests and farmed areas are largely carried out themselves. They found that 11 of the 17 populations of is limited, so they cannot yet prove fire-free. But fires proliferate in snakes studied plummeted between that they are witnessing a global half-destroyed forests, where 1998 and 2002, and remained low decline. “We want to flag up what we traditional farmers practice slashuntil the studies ended in 2008 and think may be happening so that other and-burn farming in clearings. snake researchers can start looking This is just the kind of forest that 2009. Five populations were stable, with one increasing slightly. at their data and see whether they’ve appears to have benefited from The crash was seen in the UK, got similar patterns,” says Reading. recent Brazilian efforts to reduce the rate of forest loss in the Amazon. The study found that 59 per cent of forest areas where deforestation rates dropped between 2000 and 2007 have more fires than they did before. This is more than a statistical quirk. In the past two weeks, climate negotiators meeting in Bonn, Germany, have been trying to thrash out rules for REDD, a way of paying developing countries to cut deforestation and so cut carbon emissions. But if reduced deforestation results in more fires, the carbon-saving could be much less than expected. –Losing ground: the western whip snake–
Hearts heart height Shorter people are 1.5 times as likely as their taller counterparts to develop heart disease, reveals an analysis of more than 3 million people. Short people were classified as under 160.5 centimetres high and tall people over 173.9 cm (European Heart Journal, DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehq183).
Asteroid dust at last? After a troubled rendezvous with an asteroid, the Japanese craft Hayabusa is finally nearing Earth – three years late. In 2005, the spacecraft landed on Itokawa, where it was supposed to be the first to grab a dust sample. Though the mission went awry, Hayabusa may have trapped some dust. We should find out on 13 June, when it is expected to drop its sample capsule over the Australian outback.
Strokes suckered The effects of a massive stroke have been relieved in 27 patients using a tiny vacuum cleaner–like catheter which “sucks up” blood clots in the brain, restoring blood flow and preventing brain damage, say doctors at the Canadian Stroke Congress in Quebec City this week.
Oldest leather shoe A pit in Armenia has yielded the world’s oldest leather shoe, a one-piece design with eyelets and leather laces. At 5500 years old, the shoe is between 300 and 400 years older than those found on Ötzi the alpine “iceman”, which only had soles of leather with grass uppers (PLoS ONE, DOI: 10.1371/journal. pone.0010984).
Oil bad for business Continued reliance on oil is risky and expensive for business, says a report by analysts Lloyd’s 360 Risk Insight and UK think tank Chatham House. Oil prices could spike at about $200 per barrel in the next couple of years, and the report recommends investment in renewable energy for long-term price and supply security.
12 June 2010 | NewScientist | 5