Archive by date | July 2009

Man vs Orang in swinging science

Man vs Orang in swinging science

How do orangutans swing through the trees? Carefully.

That awful joke takes us smoothly into the first of two studies today on the science of swinging.

First up: in a paper published in PNAS three researchers describe their work on how Sumatran orangutans move on spindly branches that appear incapable of holding their hefty weight. It seems that the animals carefully avoid setting up resonance effects of the kind that causes bridges to wobble when people march in step across them.

Pfizer to settle Nigerian litigation Thursday

Pfizer is again reportedly close to agreeing a $75 million settlement over a drug trial in Nigeria that allegedly left 11 children dead and others injured.

Earlier this year in April it was reported that this settlement related to the trial of Trovan had been agreed (see: Pfizer settles Nigerian drug case out of court – April 06, 2009). Pfizer denied any wrongdoing in the trial, which Kano State prosecutors alleged was illegal. Pfizer, in contrast, says the trial was carried out with the consent of the Nigerian government, and conformed to standard ethical practices.

Now the agreement has been officially announced.

True-blue treatment for spinal cord injury

True-blue treatment for spinal cord injury

Here’s one way in which candy might be good for you. A chemical dye similar to the compound that gives a blue hue to some types of Jell-O and M&Ms could protect injured spinal cords from further damage. Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center in upstate New York found that rats injected with a dye called Brilliant Blue G (BBG) recovered from spinal injury and regained the ability to walk, albeit with a limp, whereas control rats remained paralyzed. The only side effect: the rats turned blue.

Mixed showing for science agencies in public appreciation poll

Mixed showing for science agencies in public appreciation poll

A poll by Gallup has put NASA and the Centers for Disease Control as the federal agencies deemed to be doing their jobs best by the US public. For the space agency, 58% of the public thought it was doing a good or excellent job, with appreciation of the CDC running at 61%.

It’s not all good for science bodies though. The Food and Drug Administration put in a rather poor show, with only 38% rating it good or excellent.

Foot-and-mouth lab gets funding for refurb

A multi-million refurb on the site at the epicentre of the UK’s 2007 foot-and-mouth disease outbreak has done a Lazurus and come back to life.

Earlier this year plans to do up the Institute for Animal Health at Pirbright to the tune of £120 million appeared to have been scuppered when the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs backed off (see: Britain hits a hurdle in replacing key animal-pathogen facility).

But yesterday the Government announced it would be funding a £100 million overhaul, with investment from a different sector, the newly formed Department of Business, Innovation and Skills.

Dawkins agrees with priest on evolution

It’s not everyday you’ll find Richard Dawkins agreeing with a priest who was hounded out of his job for daring to suggest creationists shouldn’t be totally ostracised.

However Dawkins and Reverend Professor Michael Reiss have both put their names to a demand that evolution should not be excluded from primary schools in the UK.

On Nature News

DNA barcodes for plants a step closer

Biologists agree on genetic sequences to uniquely identify plant species.

UK universities urged to build more industry links

Business secretary calls for wider commercial interest in British science.

African disease labs to get health check

Rating system for labs could improve diagnosis and lift standards.