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Taylor shakes off Apple
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Weedy benefits
the extinct category is largely because proving extinction is difficult, says Craig Hilton-Taylor, head of the IUCN’s Red List Unit. But evidence is growing that the world is entering another period of mass extinction. Gerardo Ceballos at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and his team found that vertebrate species have been lost at up to 114 times the normal rate during the past century (Science Advances, doi.org/5mm). Both Ceballos’s team and the IUCN stress that averting a dramatic loss of biodiversity is still possible through conservation efforts.
60 Seconds
Washington DC and 23 US states have introduced laws permitting the use of medical marijuana – but this doesn’t mean it is an effective treatment. The drug is not currently tested
DON’T expect a medical miracle from marijuana. A review of 79 clinical trials has found little evidence that the drug is effective in treating conditions such as “There is little evidence chronic pain and depression. that marijuana is effective “Most trials reported greater in treating chronic pain improvement in symptoms and depression” with cannabinoids compared with control groups,” says Penny Whiting of the University through the US Food and Drug of Bristol, UK – but in many cases Administration, as all others the results were not statistically are, which is akin to “putting significant (JAMA, DOI: 10.1001/ the cart before the horse”, say jama.2015.6358). Deepak Cyril D’Souza and Mohini Over the past 20 years, Ranganathan at Yale University.
Taylor shakes off Apple
Telescope to rise
Chad Batka/NYT/Redux/eyevine
GET out the shovels. After a BABY, now we’ve got bad blood. When mega pop star Taylor Swift complains, two-month pause and potential you’d better listen. This week, tech abandonment, construction on giant Apple bowed to Swift after she Hawaii’s Thirty Meter Telescope complained its upcoming streaming was set to resume on 24 June. service was unfair on artists. Work ground to a halt in April Earlier this month, Apple unveiled after native Hawaiians raised an app called Apple Music, an audio concerns and held protests, saying streaming service with a monthly that the project disregarded their subscription fee. It will be launched culture and local ecology. on the iPhone at the end of June, When it is finished in the early when it will compete with Spotify, 2020s, the TMT will be the largest Pandora and others. of the 13 telescopes on Mauna It had already seen a backlash from Kea’s 4200-metre peak. With nine indie labels, which complained that times the collecting area of the Apple wasn’t going to pay artists or current biggest, the TMT could producers for the music played during capture the universe’s first light. three-month free trials for new users. However, plans to build the On Sunday, Swift joined the chorus telescope, in addition to the of critics with an open letter online, existing dozen, were met with criticism and activism from native Hawaiians and others. On 26 May, after talks, Hawaii’s governor David Ige stated the TMT could move forward, provided that a quarter of the other telescopes shut before the 2020s and that much of the land be returned to the state by 2033. Before work resumes, Ige said on 20 June, the TMT team will inspect the site and fence its perimeter. Those wishing to honour traditions related to the mountain will be allowed to enter. The group Sacred Mauna Kea Hui promised to continue blockades. –Swift knew Apple was trouble–
calling the decision “shocking” and saying she would withhold her latest album, 1989, from Apple Music. “Three months is a long time to go unpaid, and it is unfair to ask anyone to work for nothing,” she wrote. Streaming services are already tough on artists. A single play on a popular app like Spotify or Pandora earns them only a fraction of a cent. Jay-Z’s Tidal, meanwhile, charges higher prices for better-quality audio and claims to pay artists more. Hours after Swift published her letter, Apple capitulated, announcing that it would pay artists during the free trial period after all. “We hear you, [Taylor Swift],” tweeted Eddie Cue, a senior vice-president at Apple.
Neanderthal grandma A 40,000-year-old human jawbone found in a Romanian cave may have had a Neanderthal great-greatgrandparent. Its DNA contained the strongest Neanderthal signature from any prehistoric or modern human ever tested (Nature, DOI: 10.1038/nature14558).
Third try for SpaceX Private space firm SpaceX is gearing up for its third attempt to land a rocket on a platform in the Atlantic. In the first two tries, the rocket reached the barge it was aiming for, but exploded instead of landing softly. Success could mark the start of a new era of reusable spacecraft.
Cancer deaths Family doctors could prevent an extra 5000 cancer deaths a year in England, according to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Its new guidelines for identifying cancers earlier say GPs should focus more on symptoms and save time by ordering tests themselves rather than referring cases to specialists.
Rampant racehorses They’re romping ahead of their ancestors. Racehorses are faster than ever, says a study on more than 616,000 race times of some 70,000 horses between 1850 and 2012. Speeds of elite-race winners have increased by about 10 per cent for flat races across all distances (Biology Letters, DOI: 10.1098/ rsbl.2015.0310).
Skinny-jeans scare Don’t squat in your skinnies! A 35-year-old woman was hospitalised for four days after hours squatting in skinny jeans while helping a relative move house. Doctors found evidence of nerve and muscle damage in her lower legs (Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, DOI: 10.1136/jnnp-2015-310628), and her calves were so swollen that the jeans had to be cut off.
27 June 2015 | NewScientist | 7
Weedy benefits
the extinct category is largely because proving extinction is difficult, says Craig Hilton-Taylor, head of the IUCN’s Red List Unit. But evidence is growing that the world is entering another period of mass extinction. Gerardo Ceballos at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and his team found that vertebrate species have been lost at up to 114 times the normal rate during the past century (Science Advances, doi.org/5mm). Both Ceballos’s team and the IUCN stress that averting a dramatic loss of biodiversity is still possible through conservation efforts.
60 Seconds
Washington DC and 23 US states have introduced laws permitting the use of medical marijuana – but this doesn’t mean it is an effective treatment. The drug is not currently tested
DON’T expect a medical miracle from marijuana. A review of 79 clinical trials has found little evidence that the drug is effective in treating conditions such as “There is little evidence chronic pain and depression. that marijuana is effective “Most trials reported greater in treating chronic pain improvement in symptoms and depression” with cannabinoids compared with control groups,” says Penny Whiting of the University through the US Food and Drug of Bristol, UK – but in many cases Administration, as all others the results were not statistically are, which is akin to “putting significant (JAMA, DOI: 10.1001/ the cart before the horse”, say jama.2015.6358). Deepak Cyril D’Souza and Mohini Over the past 20 years, Ranganathan at Yale University.
Taylor shakes off Apple
Telescope to rise
Chad Batka/NYT/Redux/eyevine
GET out the shovels. After a BABY, now we’ve got bad blood. When mega pop star Taylor Swift complains, two-month pause and potential you’d better listen. This week, tech abandonment, construction on giant Apple bowed to Swift after she Hawaii’s Thirty Meter Telescope complained its upcoming streaming was set to resume on 24 June. service was unfair on artists. Work ground to a halt in April Earlier this month, Apple unveiled after native Hawaiians raised an app called Apple Music, an audio concerns and held protests, saying streaming service with a monthly that the project disregarded their subscription fee. It will be launched culture and local ecology. on the iPhone at the end of June, When it is finished in the early when it will compete with Spotify, 2020s, the TMT will be the largest Pandora and others. of the 13 telescopes on Mauna It had already seen a backlash from Kea’s 4200-metre peak. With nine indie labels, which complained that times the collecting area of the Apple wasn’t going to pay artists or current biggest, the TMT could producers for the music played during capture the universe’s first light. three-month free trials for new users. However, plans to build the On Sunday, Swift joined the chorus telescope, in addition to the of critics with an open letter online, existing dozen, were met with criticism and activism from native Hawaiians and others. On 26 May, after talks, Hawaii’s governor David Ige stated the TMT could move forward, provided that a quarter of the other telescopes shut before the 2020s and that much of the land be returned to the state by 2033. Before work resumes, Ige said on 20 June, the TMT team will inspect the site and fence its perimeter. Those wishing to honour traditions related to the mountain will be allowed to enter. The group Sacred Mauna Kea Hui promised to continue blockades. –Swift knew Apple was trouble–
calling the decision “shocking” and saying she would withhold her latest album, 1989, from Apple Music. “Three months is a long time to go unpaid, and it is unfair to ask anyone to work for nothing,” she wrote. Streaming services are already tough on artists. A single play on a popular app like Spotify or Pandora earns them only a fraction of a cent. Jay-Z’s Tidal, meanwhile, charges higher prices for better-quality audio and claims to pay artists more. Hours after Swift published her letter, Apple capitulated, announcing that it would pay artists during the free trial period after all. “We hear you, [Taylor Swift],” tweeted Eddie Cue, a senior vice-president at Apple.
Neanderthal grandma A 40,000-year-old human jawbone found in a Romanian cave may have had a Neanderthal great-greatgrandparent. Its DNA contained the strongest Neanderthal signature from any prehistoric or modern human ever tested (Nature, DOI: 10.1038/nature14558).
Third try for SpaceX Private space firm SpaceX is gearing up for its third attempt to land a rocket on a platform in the Atlantic. In the first two tries, the rocket reached the barge it was aiming for, but exploded instead of landing softly. Success could mark the start of a new era of reusable spacecraft.
Cancer deaths Family doctors could prevent an extra 5000 cancer deaths a year in England, according to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Its new guidelines for identifying cancers earlier say GPs should focus more on symptoms and save time by ordering tests themselves rather than referring cases to specialists.
Rampant racehorses They’re romping ahead of their ancestors. Racehorses are faster than ever, says a study on more than 616,000 race times of some 70,000 horses between 1850 and 2012. Speeds of elite-race winners have increased by about 10 per cent for flat races across all distances (Biology Letters, DOI: 10.1098/ rsbl.2015.0310).
Skinny-jeans scare Don’t squat in your skinnies! A 35-year-old woman was hospitalised for four days after hours squatting in skinny jeans while helping a relative move house. Doctors found evidence of nerve and muscle damage in her lower legs (Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, DOI: 10.1136/jnnp-2015-310628), and her calves were so swollen that the jeans had to be cut off.
27 June 2015 | NewScientist | 7