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Upfront– IRAQ WAR’S LEGACY OF LOOTING The looting of Iraq’s cultural treasures made headlines around the world in the wake of the invasion by the US and its allies in March 2003. Now the extent of the harm to archaeological sites in southern Iraq has been quantified, thanks to commercial satellite images. Modern-day Iraq contains relics from some of the world’s oldest cities and is often referred to as the “cradle of civilisation”. Anecdotal reports and helicopter flyovers suggested the looting of artifacts has been widespread. To find the extent of the problem, archaeologist Elizabeth Stone at Stony Brook University in New York examined images from Digital Globe Corporation, a private satellite imaging company. The looming conflict sparked DGC’s interest in Iraq and from February 2003 it took many
high-resolution images of the country. Stone examined almost 10,000 square kilometres of imagery, containing some 1900 archaeological sites. By scrutinising the darkness and sharpness of shadows, she was able to identify holes made by looters and whether they were preexisting or new. In this way she was able to assess the severity of looting before and after the war. She says 15.75 square kilometres of land have been intensively looted, including 213 archaeological sites. This is an area many times greater than all the archeological excavations undertaken in southern Iraq (Antiquity, vol 82, p 125). Stone estimates that hundreds of thousands of tablets, coins, cylinder seals, statues, terracottas, bronzes and other objects have been stolen.
Patients beware
the Supreme Court agreed, saying that this ruled out legal action. This worries public health experts because recent reports from the Government Accountability Office, the Institute of Medicine and some of the FDA’s own advisers have concluded that the FDA lacks the staff and funding to properly oversee patient safety. When the FDA fails, say experts, legal action is needed to protect patients. Some members of Congress have vowed to reverse the court decision, but the problem could get worse first as the ruling may be extended later this year to include cases involving drug manufacturers.
–History for the taking–
CARBON-NEUTRALITY has never been more highly prized. Half of New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions come from the guts of sheep and cows; Norway spews ever more gases from its North Sea oil platforms; Iceland has soaring emissions thanks to its aluminium smelters. But all have promised to cut their emissions to zero by becoming founding members of the Climate Neutral Network, set up by the UN Environment Programme at a meeting in Monaco last week. This is a big turnaround for Iceland, which negotiated a 10 per cent rise in its emissions under the Kyoto protocol, but now plans to become the world’s first economy run on hydrogen manufactured using clean
“Costa Rica is the first tropical nation to reverse deforestation” geothermal energy. Despite its rising emissions, Norway is promising to be carbon-neutral by 2030, partly by capturing emissions and burying them under the North Sea. New Zealand 6 | NewScientist | 1 March 2008
has big plans for renewable power generation and electric cars. But all are put in the shade by the fourth national member of the network, Costa Rica. The central American country is the first tropical nation to reverse deforestation. Thanks to conservation and replanting, its forest cover has increased from 21 per cent in 1987 to 52 per cent today. With most of its electricity coming from hydro-generation, Costa Rica expects to be the world’s first carbon neutral country in time to celebrate 200 years of independence in 2021, says environment and energy minister Roberto Dobles. HUGO WILCOX/FOTO NATURA/MINDEN
Squeaky clean
WHEN Charles Riegel underwent surgery after a heart attack in 1996, no one could have guessed that his operation would lead to a Supreme Court decision that could affect the safety of patients across the US. During surgery, an inflatable catheter designed to open Riegel’s coronary artery ruptured, leaving him severely injured. Riegel and his wife sued Medtronic, the manufacturer of the device, but defence lawyers argued that the firm could not be held responsible as the catheter had been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Last week,
Bats hit hard IT’S another pathological puzzle for North American biologists. Two years after the mysterious “colony collapse disorder” decimated the bee population, a fatal illness is sweeping through bat caves of the north-eastern US. White-nose syndrome leaves bats abnormally thin, with a white fungus furring their noses. It wiped out 90 per cent of the bats in the two caves in New York state where it was first identified last –Tough times for little brown bats– winter. Now it seems to have www.newscientist.com
MATT MOYER/GETTY
Upfront– IRAQ WAR’S LEGACY OF LOOTING The looting of Iraq’s cultural treasures made headlines around the world in the wake of the invasion by the US and its allies in March 2003. Now the extent of the harm to archaeological sites in southern Iraq has been quantified, thanks to commercial satellite images. Modern-day Iraq contains relics from some of the world’s oldest cities and is often referred to as the “cradle of civilisation”. Anecdotal reports and helicopter flyovers suggested the looting of artifacts has been widespread. To find the extent of the problem, archaeologist Elizabeth Stone at Stony Brook University in New York examined images from Digital Globe Corporation, a private satellite imaging company. The looming conflict sparked DGC’s interest in Iraq and from February 2003 it took many
high-resolution images of the country. Stone examined almost 10,000 square kilometres of imagery, containing some 1900 archaeological sites. By scrutinising the darkness and sharpness of shadows, she was able to identify holes made by looters and whether they were preexisting or new. In this way she was able to assess the severity of looting before and after the war. She says 15.75 square kilometres of land have been intensively looted, including 213 archaeological sites. This is an area many times greater than all the archeological excavations undertaken in southern Iraq (Antiquity, vol 82, p 125). Stone estimates that hundreds of thousands of tablets, coins, cylinder seals, statues, terracottas, bronzes and other objects have been stolen.
Patients beware
the Supreme Court agreed, saying that this ruled out legal action. This worries public health experts because recent reports from the Government Accountability Office, the Institute of Medicine and some of the FDA’s own advisers have concluded that the FDA lacks the staff and funding to properly oversee patient safety. When the FDA fails, say experts, legal action is needed to protect patients. Some members of Congress have vowed to reverse the court decision, but the problem could get worse first as the ruling may be extended later this year to include cases involving drug manufacturers.
–History for the taking–
CARBON-NEUTRALITY has never been more highly prized. Half of New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions come from the guts of sheep and cows; Norway spews ever more gases from its North Sea oil platforms; Iceland has soaring emissions thanks to its aluminium smelters. But all have promised to cut their emissions to zero by becoming founding members of the Climate Neutral Network, set up by the UN Environment Programme at a meeting in Monaco last week. This is a big turnaround for Iceland, which negotiated a 10 per cent rise in its emissions under the Kyoto protocol, but now plans to become the world’s first economy run on hydrogen manufactured using clean
“Costa Rica is the first tropical nation to reverse deforestation” geothermal energy. Despite its rising emissions, Norway is promising to be carbon-neutral by 2030, partly by capturing emissions and burying them under the North Sea. New Zealand 6 | NewScientist | 1 March 2008
has big plans for renewable power generation and electric cars. But all are put in the shade by the fourth national member of the network, Costa Rica. The central American country is the first tropical nation to reverse deforestation. Thanks to conservation and replanting, its forest cover has increased from 21 per cent in 1987 to 52 per cent today. With most of its electricity coming from hydro-generation, Costa Rica expects to be the world’s first carbon neutral country in time to celebrate 200 years of independence in 2021, says environment and energy minister Roberto Dobles. HUGO WILCOX/FOTO NATURA/MINDEN
Squeaky clean
WHEN Charles Riegel underwent surgery after a heart attack in 1996, no one could have guessed that his operation would lead to a Supreme Court decision that could affect the safety of patients across the US. During surgery, an inflatable catheter designed to open Riegel’s coronary artery ruptured, leaving him severely injured. Riegel and his wife sued Medtronic, the manufacturer of the device, but defence lawyers argued that the firm could not be held responsible as the catheter had been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Last week,
Bats hit hard IT’S another pathological puzzle for North American biologists. Two years after the mysterious “colony collapse disorder” decimated the bee population, a fatal illness is sweeping through bat caves of the north-eastern US. White-nose syndrome leaves bats abnormally thin, with a white fungus furring their noses. It wiped out 90 per cent of the bats in the two caves in New York state where it was first identified last –Tough times for little brown bats– winter. Now it seems to have www.newscientist.com