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Vaping vs smoking
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Vaping vs smoking
Tonnes of antibiotics are used as growth promoters on farms in China. Now a study has found that a third of Escherichia coli bacteria sampled from chicken farms and meat in shops in China resisted carbapenems, and a quarter of those also resisted colistin. The study also found such bacteria in flies at chicken farms. Bacterial DNA from farms, flies and human patients was similar enough to suggest flies are spreading resistance from farms to people (Nature Microbiology, doi.org/bzd3). This is an immense public health concern, says the team.
60 SECONDS
had been vaping for six months or more had very low levels of some of the worst carcinogens found in tobacco smoke (Annals of Internal Medicine, doi.org/bzdx). The team says this provides reassurance that vaping is safer
IS VAPING electronic cigarettes really safer than smoking? When it comes to carcinogens, it seems so. “Less than half of current smokers in the UK believe that e-cigarettes are less harmful,” “Using e-cigarettes says Lion Shahab of University alone results in very College London. His team screened urine and saliva samples low exposure to toxins and carcinogens” from 181 people, looking for chemicals linked to cancer. “We found using e-cigarettes alone than smoking. But some are still results in very low exposure to sceptical. Last week, another study toxins and carcinogens,” he says. found vaping may raise the risk of Compared with current heart disease (JAMA Cardiology, smokers, former smokers who 10.1001/jamacardio.2016.5303).
Tech turns on Trump
Vaquita down to 30
JASON HENRY/THE NEW YORK TIMES/REDUX/EYEVINE
THE world’s smallest porpoise MORE than 100 technology firms have signed a legal brief opposing is in dire straits. There are only President Trump’s immigration 30 vaquitas left on the planet, ban, arguing that it will harm the according to a report by the US economy. International Committee for Apple, Facebook, Google, the Recovery of the Vaquita. Microsoft and Twitter are among the Vaquita numbers have 127 signatories on the letter, which plummeted by 90 per cent has been filed to a US appeals court over the past five years. Between in support of a lawsuit brought by 2015 and 2016, almost half the the State of Washington. remaining vaquitas died. The lawsuit challenges Trump’s Vaquitas live exclusively executive order blocking nationals in a small area in the Gulf of from seven Muslim-majority California, Mexico, where illegal countries from entering the US. Last fishing with gill nets is the main Friday, a federal judge put the order cause of their demise. Gill nets temporarily on hold. are commonly used to fish for The tech firms argue that the the totoaba, an endangered executive order violates the US species sought after in Asia for constitution and “is inflicting the supposed medicinal properties of its swim bladder. “They’re essentially taking out two endangered species in one fell swoop,” says Kate O’Connell, a marine wildlife consultant at the Animal Welfare Institute. “We know what the problem is: it’s gill nets. We’ve known for 30 years that gill nets kill vaquita and we have done nothing, and I find that heartbreaking.” Illegal fishing is still going on despite a ban, which ends in April. One hope is a mooted effort to place some of the vaquitas in a temporary sanctuary – but catching them might prove tricky. –Business backlash–
substantial harm on US companies”. They say that the ban will prevent them from hiring the best talent and that “American workers and the economy will suffer as a result”. Uber has also signed the brief. The taxi firm faced a mass boycott after it was accused of profiting from a taxi driver strike at New York’s JFK airport in protest at the ban. CEO Travis Kalanick stepped down from Trump’s business council following the uproar. SpaceX and Tesla, owned by Elon Musk, were not originally signatories, but signed the brief after it was released. Musk has been criticised for continuing to advise Trump, but has argued that “engaging on critical issues will on balance serve the greater good”.
SpaceX recycling Private space flight firm SpaceX is getting ready to reuse a rocket. The Falcon 9 first stage booster first flew in April 2016, now the company has test-fired it to see if it’s ready to fly again. That flight will be no earlier than March – but if it works, it’s a step towards cheaper, more efficient space travel.
Death by black hole A black hole has been feasting on the same star for an entire decade. XJ1500+0154 was first spotted in July 2005 and is still giving off bright X-rays today as it continues its meal. Watching this so-called tidal disruption event in a galaxy 1.8 billion light years away will help explain how quickly supermassive black holes can grow (Nature Astronomy, doi.org/bzcq).
Heart repair Exercise doesn’t just make your heart go faster – it might fix it too. After mice spent 30 minutes running on a treadmill, researchers saw changes in the gene activity in their hearts. Increased activity of genes involved in repairing DNA may help explain why exercise protects against heart disease (Experimental Physiology, doi.org/bzdg).
Sea acidification boon Tiny marine snails have challenged assumptions that ocean acidification driven by carbon emissions will make the oceans sterile. One species of snail living near carbon dioxide-rich ocean vents thrives there – the CO2 fuels the growth of the algae it feeds on (Current Biology, doi.org/bzd5).
Thought control Sensors have let people control virtual arms using their thoughts alone. Implanted in the spine, the sensor interprets signals directly from a person’s motor neurons, and could one day let amputees have finer control over prosthetic limbs (Nature Biomedical Engineering, DOI: 10.1038/s41551-016-0025).
11 February 2017 | NewScientist | 5
Vaping vs smoking
Tonnes of antibiotics are used as growth promoters on farms in China. Now a study has found that a third of Escherichia coli bacteria sampled from chicken farms and meat in shops in China resisted carbapenems, and a quarter of those also resisted colistin. The study also found such bacteria in flies at chicken farms. Bacterial DNA from farms, flies and human patients was similar enough to suggest flies are spreading resistance from farms to people (Nature Microbiology, doi.org/bzd3). This is an immense public health concern, says the team.
60 SECONDS
had been vaping for six months or more had very low levels of some of the worst carcinogens found in tobacco smoke (Annals of Internal Medicine, doi.org/bzdx). The team says this provides reassurance that vaping is safer
IS VAPING electronic cigarettes really safer than smoking? When it comes to carcinogens, it seems so. “Less than half of current smokers in the UK believe that e-cigarettes are less harmful,” “Using e-cigarettes says Lion Shahab of University alone results in very College London. His team screened urine and saliva samples low exposure to toxins and carcinogens” from 181 people, looking for chemicals linked to cancer. “We found using e-cigarettes alone than smoking. But some are still results in very low exposure to sceptical. Last week, another study toxins and carcinogens,” he says. found vaping may raise the risk of Compared with current heart disease (JAMA Cardiology, smokers, former smokers who 10.1001/jamacardio.2016.5303).
Tech turns on Trump
Vaquita down to 30
JASON HENRY/THE NEW YORK TIMES/REDUX/EYEVINE
THE world’s smallest porpoise MORE than 100 technology firms have signed a legal brief opposing is in dire straits. There are only President Trump’s immigration 30 vaquitas left on the planet, ban, arguing that it will harm the according to a report by the US economy. International Committee for Apple, Facebook, Google, the Recovery of the Vaquita. Microsoft and Twitter are among the Vaquita numbers have 127 signatories on the letter, which plummeted by 90 per cent has been filed to a US appeals court over the past five years. Between in support of a lawsuit brought by 2015 and 2016, almost half the the State of Washington. remaining vaquitas died. The lawsuit challenges Trump’s Vaquitas live exclusively executive order blocking nationals in a small area in the Gulf of from seven Muslim-majority California, Mexico, where illegal countries from entering the US. Last fishing with gill nets is the main Friday, a federal judge put the order cause of their demise. Gill nets temporarily on hold. are commonly used to fish for The tech firms argue that the the totoaba, an endangered executive order violates the US species sought after in Asia for constitution and “is inflicting the supposed medicinal properties of its swim bladder. “They’re essentially taking out two endangered species in one fell swoop,” says Kate O’Connell, a marine wildlife consultant at the Animal Welfare Institute. “We know what the problem is: it’s gill nets. We’ve known for 30 years that gill nets kill vaquita and we have done nothing, and I find that heartbreaking.” Illegal fishing is still going on despite a ban, which ends in April. One hope is a mooted effort to place some of the vaquitas in a temporary sanctuary – but catching them might prove tricky. –Business backlash–
substantial harm on US companies”. They say that the ban will prevent them from hiring the best talent and that “American workers and the economy will suffer as a result”. Uber has also signed the brief. The taxi firm faced a mass boycott after it was accused of profiting from a taxi driver strike at New York’s JFK airport in protest at the ban. CEO Travis Kalanick stepped down from Trump’s business council following the uproar. SpaceX and Tesla, owned by Elon Musk, were not originally signatories, but signed the brief after it was released. Musk has been criticised for continuing to advise Trump, but has argued that “engaging on critical issues will on balance serve the greater good”.
SpaceX recycling Private space flight firm SpaceX is getting ready to reuse a rocket. The Falcon 9 first stage booster first flew in April 2016, now the company has test-fired it to see if it’s ready to fly again. That flight will be no earlier than March – but if it works, it’s a step towards cheaper, more efficient space travel.
Death by black hole A black hole has been feasting on the same star for an entire decade. XJ1500+0154 was first spotted in July 2005 and is still giving off bright X-rays today as it continues its meal. Watching this so-called tidal disruption event in a galaxy 1.8 billion light years away will help explain how quickly supermassive black holes can grow (Nature Astronomy, doi.org/bzcq).
Heart repair Exercise doesn’t just make your heart go faster – it might fix it too. After mice spent 30 minutes running on a treadmill, researchers saw changes in the gene activity in their hearts. Increased activity of genes involved in repairing DNA may help explain why exercise protects against heart disease (Experimental Physiology, doi.org/bzdg).
Sea acidification boon Tiny marine snails have challenged assumptions that ocean acidification driven by carbon emissions will make the oceans sterile. One species of snail living near carbon dioxide-rich ocean vents thrives there – the CO2 fuels the growth of the algae it feeds on (Current Biology, doi.org/bzd5).
Thought control Sensors have let people control virtual arms using their thoughts alone. Implanted in the spine, the sensor interprets signals directly from a person’s motor neurons, and could one day let amputees have finer control over prosthetic limbs (Nature Biomedical Engineering, DOI: 10.1038/s41551-016-0025).
11 February 2017 | NewScientist | 5