- Email: [email protected]
US energy independence by 2020 is a pipe dream
For daily news stories, visit newscientist.com/news
NICE idea, wrong approach. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney announced last week that he wants the US to be energy independent by 2020,
Jerry Lampen/Reuters
Independence day
60 Seconds
“Figures reveal that 49 per cent of the petroleum used in the US in 2010 was imported”
Self-interested chimps
“Quote to go in here over four lines range left like this Quote to go in her like this xxxxx”
nasa/getty
through boosting domestic energy production, including offshore drilling. That’s unlikely to stop the US relying on oil imports, though. Figures from the US Energy Information Administration Cannabis and IQ reveal that 49 per cent of the IQ SCORES really do go to pot petroleum used in the US in 2010 after years of cannabis use. The was imported, and that may only most detailed study yet of the fall to 36 per cent by 2035. drug’s long-term effects shows It might be better to accept that oil imports are essential, says that those who start a weed habit as teens enter middle age David Greene of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Knoxville, with a significantly lower IQ Tennessee. Instead, the US should than non-users. Evidence is growing that work out the economic costs of cannabis-based drugs can have foreign oil dependence, and then shrink those to an acceptable level health benefits, but suspicions remained that persistent cannabis (Energy Policy, doi.org/cdft5k). use from an early age could have a Doing so would require boosting domestic oil and gas production, as Romney proposes. “People with the most persistent dependence But it will also be essential to cut on cannabis showed the consumption through strict fuel greatest decline in IQ” economy regulations and greenhouse gas emissions detrimental effect on cognition. standards – something Romney’s Confirming those suspicions is plan does not mention. tricky, though, since cognitive impairment observed later in life could have been present before the drug was first used. Madeline Meier at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and her colleagues used a detailed health study which followed 1000 people in Dunedin, New Zealand, from birth until age 38. The data allowed them to compare IQ tests taken by the participants at age 13 – before any of them began using cannabis – with the same participants’ IQ scores as adults. –Simply unflappable– The study showed that those
–Too much, too young–
who developed the most persistent dependence on the drug showed the greatest subsequent decline in IQ, losing an average of 6 points. Within that group, those who began taking the drug before their 18th birthday saw the biggest drop in IQ score, losing 8 points on average (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, doi.org/h7w).
Doping fight over INNOCENT or not, seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong’s decision to stop fighting allegations of doping is certainly bad news for athletes looking for better ways to cheat. Armstrong faced charges, including the use of blood booster EPO and blood transfusions, from the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). The agency said it had persuaded several of Armstrong’s former teammates to testify against him. That testimony will no longer be heard in public. Whenever potentially revealing testimony is aired in public, those thinking about doping gain a new resource to draw on, says Graham Arthur, legal director at UK AntiDoping (UKAD). The information that the Armstrong witnesses were prepared to reveal will still be used by USADA in its fight against drugs cheats, says Arthur.
Punishing third-party theft may be a uniquely human trait. Although chimps punish those who steal food from them, they ignore thieves stealing from others, even when the victim is a relative (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, doi.org/h72).
Doorway decisions People with anorexia may have an unusual perception of their own size, but they have no problem sizing up others. Volunteers with the condition made wrong guesses as to whether they could fit through doors of various widths, but accurately judged whether other people could get through (PLoS ONE, doi.org/h7j).
Hurricane test As we went to press, tropical storm Isaac was threatening to make landfall at New Orleans, Louisiana, as a category 1 hurricane. The state has declared a federal disaster, and Mississippi, Florida and Alabama also declared emergencies. Seven years since hurricane Katrina, officals say the New Orleans levees are now equipped to protect the city.
Illness mimics AIDS It’s AIDS without the HIV. A disease that depresses the immune system has emerged in Thailand and Taiwan. Researchers studying people with the non-contagious condition found antibodies in their blood to interferon-gamma, a substance vital for combating infections, and say this may be the cause (New England Journal of Medicine, doi.org/h7x).
Bugs cut down to size New findings from boreholes on seabed microorganisms have massively cut their numbers. Earth’s total number of microbes is now thought to be at least 50 per cent lower than previous estimates. That still leaves us with some 2.9×1029 microbes (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, doi.org/h73).
1 September 2012| NewScientist | 5
NICE idea, wrong approach. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney announced last week that he wants the US to be energy independent by 2020,
Jerry Lampen/Reuters
Independence day
60 Seconds
“Figures reveal that 49 per cent of the petroleum used in the US in 2010 was imported”
Self-interested chimps
“Quote to go in here over four lines range left like this Quote to go in her like this xxxxx”
nasa/getty
through boosting domestic energy production, including offshore drilling. That’s unlikely to stop the US relying on oil imports, though. Figures from the US Energy Information Administration Cannabis and IQ reveal that 49 per cent of the IQ SCORES really do go to pot petroleum used in the US in 2010 after years of cannabis use. The was imported, and that may only most detailed study yet of the fall to 36 per cent by 2035. drug’s long-term effects shows It might be better to accept that oil imports are essential, says that those who start a weed habit as teens enter middle age David Greene of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Knoxville, with a significantly lower IQ Tennessee. Instead, the US should than non-users. Evidence is growing that work out the economic costs of cannabis-based drugs can have foreign oil dependence, and then shrink those to an acceptable level health benefits, but suspicions remained that persistent cannabis (Energy Policy, doi.org/cdft5k). use from an early age could have a Doing so would require boosting domestic oil and gas production, as Romney proposes. “People with the most persistent dependence But it will also be essential to cut on cannabis showed the consumption through strict fuel greatest decline in IQ” economy regulations and greenhouse gas emissions detrimental effect on cognition. standards – something Romney’s Confirming those suspicions is plan does not mention. tricky, though, since cognitive impairment observed later in life could have been present before the drug was first used. Madeline Meier at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and her colleagues used a detailed health study which followed 1000 people in Dunedin, New Zealand, from birth until age 38. The data allowed them to compare IQ tests taken by the participants at age 13 – before any of them began using cannabis – with the same participants’ IQ scores as adults. –Simply unflappable– The study showed that those
–Too much, too young–
who developed the most persistent dependence on the drug showed the greatest subsequent decline in IQ, losing an average of 6 points. Within that group, those who began taking the drug before their 18th birthday saw the biggest drop in IQ score, losing 8 points on average (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, doi.org/h7w).
Doping fight over INNOCENT or not, seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong’s decision to stop fighting allegations of doping is certainly bad news for athletes looking for better ways to cheat. Armstrong faced charges, including the use of blood booster EPO and blood transfusions, from the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). The agency said it had persuaded several of Armstrong’s former teammates to testify against him. That testimony will no longer be heard in public. Whenever potentially revealing testimony is aired in public, those thinking about doping gain a new resource to draw on, says Graham Arthur, legal director at UK AntiDoping (UKAD). The information that the Armstrong witnesses were prepared to reveal will still be used by USADA in its fight against drugs cheats, says Arthur.
Punishing third-party theft may be a uniquely human trait. Although chimps punish those who steal food from them, they ignore thieves stealing from others, even when the victim is a relative (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, doi.org/h72).
Doorway decisions People with anorexia may have an unusual perception of their own size, but they have no problem sizing up others. Volunteers with the condition made wrong guesses as to whether they could fit through doors of various widths, but accurately judged whether other people could get through (PLoS ONE, doi.org/h7j).
Hurricane test As we went to press, tropical storm Isaac was threatening to make landfall at New Orleans, Louisiana, as a category 1 hurricane. The state has declared a federal disaster, and Mississippi, Florida and Alabama also declared emergencies. Seven years since hurricane Katrina, officals say the New Orleans levees are now equipped to protect the city.
Illness mimics AIDS It’s AIDS without the HIV. A disease that depresses the immune system has emerged in Thailand and Taiwan. Researchers studying people with the non-contagious condition found antibodies in their blood to interferon-gamma, a substance vital for combating infections, and say this may be the cause (New England Journal of Medicine, doi.org/h7x).
Bugs cut down to size New findings from boreholes on seabed microorganisms have massively cut their numbers. Earth’s total number of microbes is now thought to be at least 50 per cent lower than previous estimates. That still leaves us with some 2.9×1029 microbes (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, doi.org/h73).
1 September 2012| NewScientist | 5