FDA weakness, "suicide nodes" and a real-life Speedy Gonzales

from the New York Times (Registration Required): The Food and Drug Administration cannot guarantee the safety of the nation's drug supply because it inspects few foreign drug manufacturers and the inspections it does carry out abroad are less rigorous than those performed in this country, witnesses told a Congressional subcommittee yesterday. While foreign companies manufacture as much as 80 percent of all ingredients used by American drug makers, the drug agency's record keeping is so poor that it cannot say which of those have not been inspected, according to the testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. "More than nine years after we issued our last report on this topic, F.D.A.'s effectiveness in managing the foreign drug inspection program continues to be hindered by weaknesses in its data systems," Marcia Crosse, director of health care for the Government Accountability Office, said in a statement to the committee.

from New Scientist: A selfless act of destruction - exemplified by the way honeybees die to defend their hive - has inspired a novel way of securing computer networks against malicious hackers. The approach works by giving all the devices on a network - or "nodes" - the ability to destroy themselves, taking any nearby malevolent device with them. "Bee stingers are a relatively strong defence mechanism for protecting a hive, but whenever the bee stings, it dies," says Tyler Moore, a security engineer at the University of Cambridge in the UK. Self-sacrifice provides a check against malicious nodes attacking legitimate ones. "Our suicide mechanism is similar in that it enables simple devices to protect a network by removing malicious devices - but at the cost of its own participation," Moore adds.

from BBC News Online: Almost 20 years after it was first conceived, what will become the world's most powerful optical telescope is about to open its eyes. Lying beneath the clear skies of Arizona, the $120m Large Binocular Telescope will allow astronomers to probe the Universe further back in time and in more detail than ever before. "The LBT is a very exciting step forward for astronomy," said Professor Gerry Gilmore of the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Cambridge, UK. "Not only is it big, but it is proving the practical implementation of some of the new technologies which will be critical for all next-generation large telescopes." Unlike most telescopes today, which consist of one light collecting mirror, the binocular telescope will consist of two 8.4m (27.5ft) discs used in tandem. ... Using two mirrors will give LBT the equivalent light-gathering capacity of a single 11.8m (39ft) instrument and the resolution of an even bigger telescope.

from the Chicago Tribune (Registration Required): KRUGER NATIONAL PARK, South Africa - Something unexpected is happening in the grasslands of South Africa's premier game reserve, forcing grazers like zebras and wildebeest to move out of some areas while tree-loving species like elephants and leopards move in. The savannas, home to the continent's great grazing herds, are starting to disappear, possible victims of global warming. For the first time in eons, fast-increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere seem to be giving shrubs and trees a competitive advantage over grass, leaving once-open areas vulnerable to encroaching vegetation. Noting the invasion of underbrush with alarm, conservation scientists say climate change is presenting them with a new challenge: to adapt their thinking about an environment that is changing before their eyes.

from Scientific American: Researchers have for the first time shown that as many as 1.3 million cases of cancer a year may one day be successfully treated or even prevented by targeting and destroying the viruses that cause them. Scientists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University in New York City say the finding could pave the way for conquering human cancers that are linked to preexisting viral infections, among them liver cancer (caused by the hepatitis B and C viruses), cervical cancer (from human papillomavirus) and lymphomas caused by the Epstein-Barr virus. They key, they say, is to find and destroy the viruses before they turn cancerous. In an attempt to do this, the researchers used a technique known as radioimmunotherapy in which radioisotopes ... mounted on antibodies ... are injected into the body. Once inside, researchers found that the antibodies zeroed in on their targets - viral antigens - and the radioisotopes destroyed nearby cancer cells without damaging surrounding healthy tissue.

from the Guardian (UK): Scientists have created a real-life Speedy Gonzales by genetically engineering a mouse which can easily outrun its natural cousins. When let loose on a treadmill in the laboratory, the mouse ran for up to six hours without stopping, covering as many kilometres before finally taking a rest. Normal mice gave up after covering just 200 metres at the same speed. The souped-up rodent consumes 60 percent more food than other mice, but remains fitter and leaner. Surprisingly, the species also lives longer and is able to breed until a later age. Richard Hanson and Parvin Hakimi at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, created the mouse by altering a gene that controls a key enzyme called PEPCK-C which is involved in energy metabolism.

from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: NEW YORK -- Chicago drivers have a new way to pay for gasoline: with their fingertips. Ten Shell gas stations in the Windy City are testing biometric systems that let consumers walk up to the pump, scan their fingertips on a device and fill up their vehicles. The systems, also installed at Shell convenience stores, are directly linked to customers' checking or credit-card accounts for payment. ... Customers will be able to initially scan their fingerprints at a kiosk inside the gas station and can link payment information either at the store or online. The biometric devices, made by a San Francisco-based company called Pay By Touch, are one part of a technological trifecta Shell is rolling out at its gas stations. Shell has partnered with Fuelcast Media International LLC to offer local news, weather and sports on digital screens at the pump. ... In addition, gas station attendants are testing hand-held wireless devices that allow full-service customers to pay electronically at their car window.

from Nature News: From its roof garden to its forests, fish, penguins and bats, the new headquarters of the California Academy of Sciences will be teeming with life when it opens to the public late next year. But the museum won't just preach about saving Earth's gems. It will live by its own philosophy, thanks to 'green architecture' that makes the building itself healthier than its predecessor for people and the planet. Today, the academy receives the keys to its new building, which will replace its old headquarters in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. The headquarters have housed the academy's collections since 1916, but when the building was damaged during the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake, the academy decided to commission renowned architect Renzo Piano to design the $484-million new headquarters on the site of its old home.

from National Geographic News: A new genetic study claims to have settled a long-standing debate about which living group of mammals is most closely related to primates, which include monkeys, apes, and lemurs. Our nearest nonprimate relatives are not tree shrews as once thought, researchers say - but another group of tree-dwelling mammals known as colugos, also known as flying lemurs. Colugos are squirrel-size creatures that live in the rain forests of Southeast Asia. Only two species are known to exist. Like flying squirrels, colugos have a wide membrane of skin between their limbs that, when fully extended, forms a kind of sail - allowing the animals to glide from tree to tree.

from the Scientist: In a speech at this year's AAAS meeting in San Francisco, Google cofounder Larry Page proclaimed that "science has a serious marketing problem." As a solution, he suggested that tenure and grants be tied to the media impact of research. Page is just one of several leaders who have called attention to the urgent need for new directions in science communication. Yet unfortunately, still missing from much of the general discussion is a systematic understanding of how the public uses the media to form opinions about science-related topics, and a strategy for moving forward. The dominant assumption is that ignorance is at the root of conflict over science. ... The facts are assumed to speak for themselves and to be interpreted by all citizens in similar ways. If the public does not accept or recognize these facts, then the failure in transmission is blamed on journalists, "irrational" beliefs, or both. Yet many scientists ignore the possibility that their communication efforts might be part of the problem.