Statins: Still worth taking
Statins, the drugs used to lower levels of bad cholesterol and reduce the risk of coronary disease are in the press again following a meta-analysis of the link between statins and type-2 diabetes.
Picture post: NASA fails to spare Pluto’s blushes
New pictures of Pluto taken by the Hubble space telescope show that the dwarf planet became significantly redder between 2000 and 2002. The images are the most detailed pictures taken of Pluto and are made up from a suite of images taken in 2002 and 2003. Comparing these images with those from 1994 reveals that Pluto’s northern hemisphere has brightened and its southern hemisphere has darkened.
deCODE makes a comeback
Two months after filing for bankruptcy, a subsidiary of the 14-year-old genomics company deCode, based in Reykjavik, Iceland, will be resurrected as a privately owned company. Read more
FDA expresses “some concern” about Bisphenol A
The US Food and Drug Administration has reversed its position on bisphenol A (BPA), announcing today that the chemical is of “some concern” to the health of fetuses, infants, and young children. Read more
DARPA to universities: Let’s collaborate
This afternoon, Regina Dugan, the new-ish director of the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) gave US President Barack Obama’s science advisory panel a briefing on what makes the mysterious funding agency unique and how she will guide its future. Read more
US Supreme Court to act on Asian carp invasion
As early as this Friday, the US Supreme Court could force Illinois to close two locks in order to prevent the Asian carp from spreading to Lake Michigan, reports the Chicago Tribune.
Technology veteran appointed US “cyber-czar”
Howard A. Schmidt, a former George W. Bush administration official, is now part of US President Barack Obama’s team as an advisor on government computer security strategies. Read more
Bird-like dinosaur poisoned its prey
A bird-like dinosaur used venom to kill its prey, paleontologists say. Read more
US murderer executed with a single drug
This morning, convicted murderer Kenneth Biros became the first person executed in the United States using an overdose of thiopental sodium rather than the typical three-drug cocktail. Despite objections that the new procedure could take more than twice as long to kill, it took just ten minutes, according to the local news site Vindy.com.
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Experiments reveal that crabs and lobsters feel pain
US research ethics agency upholds decision on informed consent
Chemistry credit disputes under the spotlight
Chemistry credit disputes under the spotlight
Contamination created controversial ‘acid-induced’ stem cells