The Great Beyond

“We plan to use the sequence to establish a breeding programme for bluefin tuna as most aquaculture farmers presently use wild juveniles. We want to establish a complete aquaculture system that will produce fish that have good strength, are resistant to disease, grow quickly and taste delicious.”
Kazumasa Ikuta, director of research at the Yokohama-based Fisheries Research Agency, says he expects to have sequenced the bluefin tuna genome within two months (Daily Telegraph).

“The dinosaurs have been nicknamed after characters created by poet Banjo Paterson who is said to have written Waltzing Matilda in Winton in 1885.”
Anna Bligh, premier of Queensland, announces the discovery of three new dinosaurs in Australia: Australovenator wintonensis, Diamantinasaurus matildae and Wintonotitan wattsi (Brisbane Times).

“This is a pattern that we hadn’t really recognized before.”
Chris Landsea, atmospheric scientist at the hurricane research division of NOAA in the US, comments on a new paper about El Niño and hurricanes (Science News).

“[We need a] network of people involved in intelligence-gathering to be able to deal swiftly with even the faintest hint of revolution.”
An un-named vice-chancellor at a UK university reveals his paranoia (The Times Higher).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on July 03, 2009
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“The agreements will reduce Indonesia’s debt payments to the United States by nearly $30 million over the next eight years. In return, the Government of Indonesia has committed these funds to support grants to protect and restore the country’s tropical forests.”
The US Department of State announces a ‘debt-for-trees’ deal with Indonesia.

“Toyota’s patent-filing strategy has made it far too risky to copy the Prius without Toyota’s blessing.”
Justin Blows, patent attorney at Griffith Hack Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys in Australia, says the car company holds all the cards in the race to develop and sell hybrid cars (WSJ).

“The climate change is happening, it’s coming quicker and earlier than we thought and our way of living is just not sustainable.”
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt says the European Union should be better, faster and stronger in tackling climate change (BBC).

“We’re to blame — we should have done this earlier but everything was done in a hurry.”
K. Sankar, a Wildlife Institute of India tiger expert, tells the Times that three Bengal tigers placed in an empty reserve in Rajasthan last year could be siblings, meaning inbreeding problems in the long term.

Posted by Daniel Cressey on July 01, 2009
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“I was so willing to go to jail for catching water on my roof and watering my garden, but now I’m not a criminal.”
Tom Bartels, a video producer in Colorado, comment on changes that make it legal to catch a raindrop in his state (NY Times).

“We can either heat our homes and have hot baths, or fly but not both.”
Lord Redesdale, vice-chairman of the UK’s all-party parliamentary climate change group, comments on a report on the country’s energy infrastructure from the Royal Society (BBC).

“I know you would love to make a story out of all this, but it’s quite hard work.”
Vivienne Cox, managing director of BP Alternative Energy, denies that her standing down means the company is moving away from alternative energy. She says she wants to spend more time with her family (Guardian).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on June 29, 2009
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“A homeless man is on trial in San Mateo County on charges that he smacked a fellow transient in the face with a skateboard as the victim was engaged in a conversation about quantum physics, authorities said Wednesday.”
The San Francisco Chronicle reports on an unfortunate end to a scientific disagreement (hat tip: Bad Astronomy).

“The aeroplane could do it theoretically non-stop - but not the pilot. We should fly at roughly 25 knots and that would make it between 20 and 25 days to go around the world, which is too much for a pilot who has to steer the plane.”
Bertrand Piccard comments on his solar plane, which he hopes to fly around the world (BBC).

“What I am saying is based on what I expect. It is not just in my dreams.”
Andreas Carlgren, Sweden’s environment minister, pledges to push for tough carbon targets as his country prepares to assume the EU presidency (European Voice).

“A system for allowing a shoe wearer to lean forwardly beyond his center of gravity by virtue of wearing a specially designed pair of shoes which will engage with a hitch member movably projectable through a stage surface.”
Michael Jackson’s patent for the ‘method and means for creating anti-gravity illusion’ (European Patent Office).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on June 26, 2009
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“We see crop circles in the poppy industry from wallabies that are high.”
Lara Giddings, the attorney general for Tasmania, reveals an unexpected side-effect of growing poppies for medicine (BBC).

“We don’t have any plans to change colours at this time.”
John Huston, of the company that owns Chicago’s iconic Sears Tower, says wind turbines, roof gardens and solar panels are all coming in, but the building will not be painted silver to save energy (AP).

“The large majority of subsidies are spent on vessels fishing stock that are already overfished.”
Marcus Knigge, of Pew Environment Group, says EU fishing subsides have been making fish stocks worse (Guardian).

“Sharks are very vulnerable to over-fishing because they tend to grow and mature slowly and have a small number of young. Demand for shark fins is a driving force in over- fishing of sharks worldwide.”
Sonja Fordham is co-author of a new study painting another depressingly bleak picture of the state of our sharks (Bloomberg).

“I’m hopeful that half or more of the patients that undergo stem cell transplantation may either be cured or have a long-term remission. We think it’s likely that about 50% of people [in the trial] will be cured.”
Chris Hawkey, a gastroenterologist at Nottingham University, reports good news from his clinical trial of a Crohn’s disease treatment (Guardian).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on June 25, 2009
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“You, the Iraqi brains, are an important part of driving the path we are on. We are happy to see ... these brains come back again, and I hope their return will not be just for a short time.”
Sadeq al-Rikabi, political advisor to Iraq’s prime minister Nuri al-Maliki, addresses a conference hosted by the Ministry of Science and Technology (Reuters).

“The deadest spot in the ocean.”
Steven D’Hondt describes the South Pacific Gyre, subject of his latest research paper (University of Rhode Island press release).

“So much forest gone, and all in two years, my God. If nothing is done, there'll be no forest left in one to two years.”
Riswan Zen, an analyst for Indonesian conservation group Yayasan Ekosistem Lestari, comments on the destruction of forest in the Tripa region (Independent).

“Extraordinarily well engineered.”
Former head of the Food and Drug Administration, David Kessler, gives his verdict on the Snickers bar (and other elements of modern food) via the New York Times.

Posted by Daniel Cressey on June 23, 2009
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“They both have the same objective, which is to find a target or prey or victim. They have to lurk. They want to be efficient in their search.”
D. Kim Rossmo, of Texas State University-San Marcos, has co-authored a paper on shark hunting habits and thinks they have some similarities to serial killers (AP).

“They were still huge animals, I don’t think anyone would dispute that. They might be half as big, but half of something that's really huge is still really huge.”
Geoffrey Birchard, of George Mason University in Virginia, says that while his new paper has revised the sizes of dinosaurs downwards, they’re still not small (LiveScience).

“The negative impacts of overdevelopment of hydropower would destroy the river's diverse aquatic life.”
Conservationists in China protest the proposal of a new dam on the Yangtze River (Wall Street Journal).

“Several dams on branches of the Yellow River in Gansu province are near collapse only one or two years after their construction.”
The China Daily newspaper reports that poor construction procedures, and embezzlement of construction funds are among the factors being blamed.

Posted by Daniel Cressey on June 22, 2009
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"What better way than to have real-time information on a huge sign in the middle of Manhattan?"
Kevin Parker, CEO of Deutsche Bank's asset management, explains the awareness-promoting benefits of a 70-foot digital billboard displaying the world's carbon emissions in New York's Madison Square Garden (New York Daily News).

"We won't put our long-term success on the line with short-term budget cuts. That's why our R&D budget is one of the largest in the automotive industry, and we intend to keep it that way." Science|Business reports that German car makers pledge to maintain R&D spending - here quoting Dieter Zetsche, the head of Daimler AG. GM officials agree (Nature).

"This work would face possible plagiarism sanctions in almost any academic environment." Law professor Michael Geist, a "one-man IP wrecking ball" (Ars Technica) finds that a report on the digital economy produced by the (part state-funded) Conference Board of Canada plagiarized a US lobby group report.

Posted by Richard Van Noorden on June 19, 2009
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“Medical device maker Medtronic Inc. says it paid nearly $800,000 over the past three years to a former Army surgeon accused of fabricating a study that reported positive results for one of the company's key spine products.”
The Wall Street Journal reports on the latest development in the case of Timothy R. Kuklo.

“Today you find cell phone towers in almost every part of Africa. We have never been able to establish weather monitoring on that scale, until now.”
Former UN chief Kofi Annan, now at the Global Humanitarian Forum, announces a plan to put automatic weather stations on phone masts in Africa (BBC).

“We see these subsidies as worthwhile for society, because biogas is a secure supply, and it’s utilizing resources that would have a negative impact on water quality and the climate.”
Jens Bo Holm-Nielsen, of Aalborg University in Denmark, comments on subsidies that are driving up numbers of biogas plants in Europe (Wall Street Journal).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on June 18, 2009
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“I still think that anyone who is not a little scared by the changes that WolframAlpha brings hasn’t thought about it enough yet.”
Maria Andersen, a maths teacher at Muskegon Community College, comments on the potential of new search engine WolframAlpha to ‘assist’ pupils with their maths problems (Chronicle of Higher Ed).

“This gives Glaxo instant gratification. It generates sales immediately and allows GSK to expand in emerging markets with a ready made mix of products.”
Navid Malik, analyst at Matrix Corp, comments on GSK’s link up with of Indian generic drug maker Dr Reddy’s (Financial Times).

“I’m absolutely confident we will see the elements of the Humboldt payload eventually deployed on Mars, but probably in a more dedicated circumstance.”
David Southwood, science director of the European Space Agency, comments on the fact that the science instrument package called Humboldt will not go up on the ExoMars mission (BBC).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on June 16, 2009
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“We just looked at each other and said, ‘Hey, we’re actually observing again!’”
Peter Backus, manager of observing programmes at the alien hunting SETI Institute, comments on the first results from the Allen Telescope Array (MSNBC).

“There was significant risk that operators and even members of the public could have been harmed if there had not been fortunate and appropriate intervention of a contractor who just happened to be in the right plant area when things went wrong.”
The UK’s Nuclear Installation Inspectorate admits that a nuclear accident was on the cards at the Sizewell A power station in 2007 until a contractor decided to wash some clothes at a launderette serendipitously near a leak (Daily Mail).

“The funny thing is that it is the second smallest known mushroom in this genus and it grows sideways, almost limp.”
Bob Drewes, curator of herpetology at the California Academy of Sciences, is remarkably sanguine about a new species of mushroom being named after his [censored] (SiliconValley.com).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on June 12, 2009
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“The weakest target any country has pledged so far”
Kristian Tangen of Point Carbon describes Japan’s new greenhouse gas emissions targets.

"This lawsuit is a fictionalized, inaccurate account of Tesla's early years -- it's twisted and wrong, and we welcome the opportunity to set the record straight.”
Electric car manufacturer Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk’s team hit back over lawsuit filed against him by Tesla founder Martin Eberhard.

"The whole Caribbean has been flattened in the past decade, mainly as a result of climate change."
Nicholas Dulvy from Simon Fraser University, Canada tells us the bad news about the extent of coral reef damage in the Caribbean.

Posted by Katharine Sanderson on June 11, 2009
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“This cancer drug approval for dogs is an important step forward for veterinary medicine.”
Bernadette Dunham, director of FDA’s center for veterinary medicine, comments on the approval of the first drug specifically made for treating canine cancer (AP).

“You cannot blame fat people for global warming - that is just victimisation - but there is a problem with food policy that has encouraged over-consumption and is spoiling the environment.”
Tim Lobstein, director of policy at the International Association for the Study of Obesity, responds to claims by UK government advisor Jonathan Porritt that “fat is a climate change issue” (Daily Telegraph).

“We would really prefer to do it in space or on Mars but living in the time that we do, this was the closest we could get to zero gravity.”
Noah Fulmore comments on his forthcoming zero gravity wedding on a 'Vomit Comet' (New York Daily News).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on June 04, 2009
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"There's a really good contrast between the dark poo stains and the ice."
British Antarctic Survey scientist Phil Trathan explains how spotting penguins from space is best done by following what they leave behind.

"If we were a business you wouldn't worry about nationality, you would just take the best students from wherever they came from the in the world."
Roy Anderson, rector of Imperial College London wants to set up a UK-version of the US's Ivy League of privately funded universities.

Posted by Katharine Sanderson on June 02, 2009
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"As you walk through this desert you encounter an oasis, which is the inside of your nose"
Researcher Julia Segre, of the National Human Genome Research Institute in Bethesda, Maryland explains her research showing that the human skin hosts a much more diverse set of bacteria than previously thought.

"Canada must develop and implement regulations urgently if we are to have a chance of influencing US decisions."
Enviro-group the Pembina Institute lets its feelings known about Canada's delay in implementing greenhouse gas emissions rules.

“Clients have asked for more flexibility into 2010 and 2011, especially the large clients, who have delayed 30 percent.”
The economic downturn hits windpower company Gamesa.

Posted by Katharine Sanderson on June 01, 2009
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“This first observational proof of General Relativity sent shockwaves through the scientific establishment.”
Today marks the 90th anniversary of Eddington’s test of Einstein’s famous theory.

“Leaders must lead and Dr. McLeroy has proven conclusively that he is less concerned with leading the board than he is with fighting the battle.”
The Texas Senate on Thursday refused to confirm evolution-unbeliever Don McLeroy as State Board of Education chairman, senator for Austin, Kirk Watson, explains why.

"Yinghuo" means light from firefly in Chinese.
China announces that its Mars probe will be ready for launch in the second half of this year, and choose a name for it.

"We have this big ball, right? And we hold our little targets inside of there, and the light focuses on there, and that's where all the action happens."
The National Ignition Facility finally opens in San Francisco, and Ed Moses, director, explains to Fox News how it works.

Posted by Katharine Sanderson on May 29, 2009
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Curiosity is an everlasting flame that burns in everyone’s mind
Mars Science Laboratory gets a new name.

"We want fairly urgent action by government because charities are currently weathering the storm that's been caused by the recession"
Research charities face tough times in the financial downturn.

"It went down like a rock"
The world's second largest artificial reef is created when a US warship is sunk off the coast of Florida.

Posted by Katharine Sanderson on May 28, 2009
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“The sunlight comes down and it actually goes back up – there is no greenhouse effect.”
Steven Chu, the US Secretary of Energy advocates painting roofs white to combat global warming, on a recent meeting in London. (Independent)

"For a vehicle that was designed to travel 1 km over its lifetime, going 16+ km is a pretty substantial accomplishment”
Steve Squyres, PI for the Mars rovers celebrates Opportunity reaching the 10 mile mark (Space.com)

“We can be confident that they held their heads upright.”
Roger Seymour explains his research that shows dinosaurs with long necks used those necks to hold their heads high. (BBC)

Posted by Katharine Sanderson on May 27, 2009
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“He was a renaissance person. He had such an impact on American science and technology.”
Former University of California San Diego chancellor Robert Dynes comments on first chancellor of UCSD, Herb York, who died on Tuesday (SD Union-Tribune).

“Never before has any ape species been seen treating its own offspring as a consumable resource.”
David Dellatore, of Oxford Brookes University, comments on footage of orang-utans cannibalising the bodies of their deceased babies (BBC).

“Did you guys see my house? I’m trying to figure out if my lawn is getting mowed there.”
US President Barack Obama talks to astronauts aboard the International Space Station (AP).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on May 21, 2009
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“It’s disappointing that some have chosen to misrepresent a serious piece of work that aims to support Britain’s poultry industry and ensure that ducks are kept at the high welfare standards which consumers expect.”
A spokesman for the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is unhappy about criticism of a study being portrayed as showing that ‘ducks like water’ (The Herald).

“We are at a turning point in ESA’s human spaceflight activities. Last year, with the launch of the Columbus laboratory and the Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle, ESA became a fully-fledged member of the International Space Station partnership.”
European Space Agency Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain unveils his new astronauts, who are Italian, German, Danish, British and French.

“Antimatter atoms exist, but it is very difficult to make them. It would take us billions of years to produce the amount which is used in the film.”
Rolf-Dieter Heuer, director-general of CERN, says the science in forthcoming movie Angels and Demons is not entirely accurate (Reuters).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on May 20, 2009
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“The discovery of so many leaks in so many places over recent years suggests that there is a real problem with the safety culture across the whole nuclear navy.”
John Ainslie, coordinator of the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, comments on the latest news of nuclear leaks from British submarines (Guardian).

“Give them a few penguins and let that be an end to it.”
The original offer by Bernhard Blaskiewitz, the director of the Berlin zoo, over demands from Neumünster zoo for a share of the money generated by polar bear Knut. The zoos are now in a court fight (Guardian).

“Walker – who published his findings in Nature in 1981 – had to work with very incomplete skeletons, and his discoveries were not at the time seen as particularly significant. Today, however, they are recognised as among the most important in avian palaeontology.”
From the Daily Telegraph obituary of Cyril Walker, who died 6 May 6 aged 70.

Posted by Daniel Cressey on May 19, 2009
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“We found these bones along with a lot of carnivore teeth. So we suspect these carnivores were feeding on the hatchling dinosaurs.”
Tetsuto Miyashita, of the University of Alberta, comments on a new dino find (CanWest News).

“So, first we worked through mice and showed we could do it with mice. And now we've shown that we can actually transfer these genes into monkeys and protect these animals from SIV [simian immunodeficiency virus].”
Philip Johnson, chief scientific officer at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, comments on his new paper in Nature Medicine that is raising HIV vaccine research hopes (Forbes).

“This was never a strategy the defence discussed.”
A spokesperson for the attorney of former astronaut Lisa Nowak says she will not plead insanity if the case against her reaches court (Florida Today).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on May 18, 2009
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“We took this very seriously, but the evidence suggests that this is a naturally occurring virus, not a laboratory-derived virus.”
Keiji Fukuda, WHO deputy director general, rejects suggestions that the current H1N1 virus came from a lab (NY Times).

“This is the first evidence that monkeys, like people, have ‘would-have, could-have, should-have’ thoughts.”
Ben Hayden, of Duke University Medical Center, comments on new research published in Science (AFP).

“The long-term impact of West Antarctica is not be [sic] as serious as previously believed. But 17 million people in Bangladesh alone would be displaced by a sea level rise of 1.5 metres.”
Jonathan Bamber, of Bristol University, says melting of Antarctica’s ice sheet won’t be quite as bad as we thought, although it will still be pretty bad (Reuters).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on May 15, 2009
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“It turned out the sub-bottom is like an inky sand art. Or a Chinese brush painting of mountains.”
Melissa Clarke, a graphic artist in Brooklyn, describes making art based on scientific measurements of the Hudson River (Columbia University State of the Planet blog).

“In an era when a 5 per cent treatment effect over placebo is considered a perfectly acceptable basis to market multi-billion dollar drugs, why should poor old Mrs Putt have to demonstrate such a high threshold of effectiveness?”
Julie Robotham, of the Knight Science Journalism Tracker, playfully sides with a ‘psychic’ who failed to demonstrate her powers in a recent test.

“The medical profession has to wake up if we're going to save billions of lives. … Being a climatologist and jumping up and down pulling my hair out and saying 'we're all going to die in a horrible way' does not work.”
Climatologist Mark Maslin explains why medical journal the Lancet has got together with medics to call climate change “the biggest global health threat of the 21st Century” (BBC).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on May 14, 2009
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“This innovation sounds like it could be really useful to help people learn what they are looking at. It will be interesting to see how much the camera on the phones will be able to pick up.”
Carolin Crawford, of Cambridge University’s institute of astronomy, comments on Google’s latest toy, which will identify stars and planets via users’ mobile phone cameras (Times).

“It was stunning. I don't know if I was surprised or simply blown away by what we came across.”
Kirk Olson, of the University of Massachusetts, has seen a mega-herd of Mongolian gazelles gathering (BBC).

“The blue whale, the biggest animal that has ever inhabited the planet, seems to be on the move in the Pacific Ocean in ways that could reflect the revival of old migratory patterns disrupted by decades of intensive whaling in the 20th century.”
Andrew Revkin, of the New York Times, reports on a new study published in Marine Mammal Research.

“[Carbofuran] can over-stimulate the nervous system, causing nausea, dizziness, confusion and, at very high exposures, respiratory paralysis and death.”
The EPA comments on the pesticide carbofuran, which it has just banned (AP).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on May 12, 2009
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“They take a few liberties, but we can forgive them for that.”
James Gillies, a CERN spokesman, comments on forthcoming film ‘Angels & Demons’, which features the particle physics facility (Independent).

“The rapid appearance and sheer scale made us suspect it had accumulated offshore and been transported in.”
Dongyan Liu, a marine biologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Yantai, Shandong, knows where the giant algae bloom that nearly ruined the Olympic sailing in China came from (BBC).

“We have had to throw away almost all of the extant technologies that we've been using for decades.”
Chris German, of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, explains the difficulties faced in constructing Nereus, the first autonomous vehicle to visit the Challenger Deep (BBC).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on May 07, 2009
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“With Anaconda, we have an invention that changes conventional thinking and it can help to meet government targets for cutting CO2 by providing renewable wave energy from our coastal waters.”
Paul Auston, chairman Checkmate Seaenergy Ltd, comments on his company’s new wave power machine (BBC).

“The international trade community all agree that this EU ban is illegal.”
Canadian MP Gerry Byrne says Europe’s ban on seal fur from his country is not on (CTV).

“We have recovered a wolf population. The populations are viable, they are in great shape, they have extreme genetic diversity and so the Endangered Species Act did its job to bring wolves back.”
Ed Bangs, wolf recovery coordinator for the US Fish and Wildlife Service in the western state of Montana, comments on the animal’s removal from the list of endangered species in the United States (AFP).

“We generally admit a signal as being something which is newly emerged, like turning on a light bulb. However, if we have a light bulb which has been left turned on continuously, turning it off can be a good signal, too.”
Dong-Hwan Choe, of the University of California, Riverside, comments on his research showing ants produce an ‘I’m still alive’ chemical to stop colleagues throwing their bodies out of the nest (NY Times).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on May 06, 2009
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“It was explained to us how it was supposed to work and, I think, from the technical point of view, there is no doubt that this concept would work.”
Christian Bank, designer of manned space systems at EADS-Astrium, comments on rumours that Russia’s next space craft will have rocket powered landings, rather than using a parachute (BBC).

“That’s not our tortoise. We do not have a missing tortoise”
Mary Dixon, a spokeswoman for the group that runs the Bronx Zoo in New York, denies that a large tortoise found wandering the city that never sleeps was a victim of the recent round of animal redundancies at the zoo (NY Times).

“NASA is cautious about exposing the crew to any and all viruses and bacteria in the preflight phase, whether that be swine flu or the common cold. NASA does not have to alter their current posture, because their current posture is already very conservative, as even a routine [common cold] can be problematic on a space mission.”
NASA spokesman Bill Jeffs says all precautions are being taken to prevent swine flu being carried into space (Space.com).

“I felt guilty. They need somebody.”
Retired Air Force General Lester Lyles says he feels bad about pulling out of the race to be next NASA administrator (Dayton Daily News, hat tip: NASA Watch).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on April 30, 2009
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“Public officials and civic leaders were inclined to look the other way so long as resurrectionists kept to what one anatomist in 1896 called the ‘prudent line of stealing only the bodies of the poor’.”
John Harley Warner, expert in the history of medicine at Yale University, has co-authored a book on photographs of historic dissections (Insider Higher Ed – slightly gruesome photographs at this link).

“As of now, half of Americans live in an area where they are at risk.”
Norman Edelman, chief medical officer for the American Lung Association, comments on a new report from his group detailing America’s most polluted cities (Forbes).

“My belief is that it’s an older woman or her estate, from the world war two generation which is much more comfortable being anonymous. Women of that generation had no automatic opportunity to go to college even if they came from a family with money, and the role of women in leadership positions was still new and exciting.”
Melissa Berman, of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisers, speculates about the identity of a mystery donor behind donations to US universities worth $75 million (Guardian).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on April 29, 2009
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“The size of the site is huge. ... At the beginning of the excavation, I thought that we may rewrite the history of the area, and I was right.”
Archaeologist Abdul Rahman Al-Ayedi comments on a new archaeological find in Egypt (Reuters).

“I realised I’d have to search every inch of Victoria to find all my letters. So I just settled into the zen of trying to solve my puzzle.”
Rhett Dashwood has constructed an alphabet from pictures on Google Earth (Sydney Morning Herald).

“This star chart was the single most critical navigational device we used while on the moon.”
Buzz Aldrin explains the value of one of the many Moon items up for auction shortly (Guardian).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on April 27, 2009
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“It was all quite painless.”
Peter Terren discuses recreating Rodin’s The Thinker with a Tesla coil (The Age).

“It was really a surprise. We did not suspect the spiders could go into a coma.”
Julien Petillon, of the University of Rennes, discovered Wolf Spiders can survive being submerged in water for 16 hours (Discovery / MSNBC).

“The data appears to have been interpreted to support a pre-conceived hypothesis.”
Merck senior researcher Briggs Morrison discusses a paper on Vioxx in an email to colleagues now being discussed in an Australian court (Sydney Morning Herald).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on April 23, 2009
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“All of us at NSF join in thanking Greenlandic and Danish authorities for their good work in carrying out the search and rescue operation.”
Karl Erb, director of the National Science Foundation’s Office of Polar Programs, welcomes the rescue of a man from one of its missions who was lost for three days in Greenland (Fox News).

“The body shape is lean and mean and built for speed and they can be hideously fast and aggressive.”
Derek Gow comments on his new herd of rare ‘Nazi cows’, recently introduced into the UK (Times).

“The failure is a significant setback for Roche.”
David Kagi, an analyst at the Swiss brokerage Sarasin, comments to MarketWatch on the news that the value of Roche fell by as much as $10 billion on the back of poor trial results for key drug Avastin.

Posted by Daniel Cressey on April 22, 2009
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“This transaction will create a new world-leading specialist dermatology business and re-energise our existing dermatology products.”
Andrew Witty, GSK chief executive, comments on the company’s $3.6bn move for Stiefel Laboratories (Financial Times).

“We still have every intention of pursuing a drilling program in the Beaufort and the Chukchi.”
Pete Slaiby, Shell's Alaskan general manager, says the oil company is determined to drill for oil and gas off Alaska despite a court ruling last week that federal leasing under which it acquired Chukchi Sea exploration rights is illegal (Reuters).

“It’s been a labour of love which presented enormous challenges. It embodies everything I love about this fascinating shark.”
Alastair Gibson, former chief mechanic at Honda's F1 team, comments on his move into art with a £25,000 two-and-a-half metre shark made from carbon fibre and parts from Jenson Button’s 2008 Formula 1 car (Daily Telegraph).

“Irrespective of any reform, a number of fishing fleets are two-three times the size needed to catch the available fish.”
Uta Bellion, director of the Pew Environment Group's EU marine programme, comments on the European Commission’s new green paper on fisheries policy (BBC).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on April 21, 2009
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“The Great Wall of China is even greater than once thought.”
AP reports that the Great Wall is even greater than we thought, with an extra 300-odd kilometres newly detected.

“The Saturn V is a great choice to model as it will help this project connect to all Americans as a symbol of not only our national pride, but also our achievements in space engineering.”
Jeff Taylor of Loki Research and Engineering comments on a project that will soon attempt to launch a 10 metre model Saturn V rocket (Rocketry Planet, hat tip: Wired).

“Le Mans is all about pressure and stress, dangerous twists and turns, red-eyed fatigue and rivals trying to cut you up. Who would be better qualified than a politician?”
Geoff Hoon, UK transport secretary, comments on the fact that science minister Lord Drayson will be competing in this year’s 24 hour Le Mans race (Sunday Times).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on April 20, 2009
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“What we’ve got to get people used to is the idea that electric cars will become quite normal, quite usual.”
UK transport secretary Geoff Hoon tells the Guardian that incentives of up to £5,000 will be offered to people buying electric cars.

“When US researchers are being actively approached for ideas to use the stimulus money to think big and to hire and retain their researchers, their Canadian counterparts are now scrambling to identify budget cuts for their labs, while worrying about the future of their graduating students.”
In Canada, 2,000 researchers have signed an open letter to the Prime Minister complaining about the recent budget (Globe and Mail).

“Every drop of water requires desalination. One leaf of salad has to be flown eight hours from New Zealand. Cameron would have absorbed so many resources that he was not invited.”
Film director Werner Herzog explains why his two-person crew got to film a documentary in Antarctica and Titanic director James Cameron’s 35-person crew didn’t (Guardian).

“Biomass is a limited resource, and we must make sure it is not wasted on inefficient generators that do not take advantage of the emissions savings to be made from combined heat and power.”
Tony Grayling, head of climate change and sustainable development at the UK’s Environment Agency, comments on a new report suggesting switching to biomass fuel could release more carbon dioxide than fossil fuels (BBC).

“A news agency item, Volcano begins to erupt on Galapagos island, reported that flowing lava could affect "iguanas, wolves and other fauna" on Fernandina island. The surprising reference to wolves probably stemmed from a mistranslation of one of the South American terms for sea lion, lobo marino (sea wolf).”
The Guardian newspaper corrects its invention of a new species of wolf on the Galapagos islands (Regret the Error blog).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on April 16, 2009
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“This significant breakthrough gives a means of preserving the valuable genetics of our elite racing and milk producing camels in the future.”
Lulu Skidmore, Scientific Director of the Camel Reproduction Centre in Dubai, says the world’s first cloned camel has arrived (Gulf News).

“We don’t typically name US space station hardware after living people and this is no exception.”
Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA’s associate administrator for space operations, explains why comedian Steven Colbert will not be getting a room on the International Space Station named after him, despite winning a poll (AP).

“In social insects, there are a number of different types of reproduction. But this species has evolved its own unusual mode.”
Anna Himler, of the University of Arizona, is part of a team that discovered the first asexual ants (BBC).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on April 15, 2009
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“As academics involved in research on the uses and abuses of state power, it is becoming increasingly apparent that members of staff in universities and colleges are being drawn into a role of policing immigration.”
A group of UK academics are urging a boycott of new student immigration rules (Guardian letters, Guardian article).

“It’s staggering how much power is potentially available in space. And I say ‘potentially’ because a lot remains unknown about the cost and other details.”
Jonathan Marshall, spokesman for Pacific Gas and Electric Co, discusses plans to put solar panels into orbit and ‘beam’ the power down to Earth (SF Chronicle).

“I've never seen a problem that wouldn't be easier to solve with fewer people, or harder, and ultimately impossible, with more.”
UK wildlife broadcaster David Attenborough offers his support to the Optimum Population Trust, which wants fewer people on Earth (BBC).

“We didn't pay 37 million zlotys ($11 million) for the largest elephant house in Europe to have a gay elephant live there.”
Michal Grzes, a councillor in Poznan, Poland, says a new zoo addition is a waste of money, as 'Ninio the gay elephant' will not help the breeding programme (Reuters, Reuters video).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on April 14, 2009
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“This may implicate a universal structure of the first genetic codes anywhere.”
Ralph Pudritz, an astrophysicist at McMaster University in Hamilton, comments on new amino acid research that suggests, in Wired’s words, that the “building blocks of life may be more than merely common in the cosmos”.

“It's a matter of survival for us, also. So we are among the most vulnerable countries, economically.”
Mohammad Al Sabban, Saudi Arabia's lead climate negotiator, sees threats in tough action on carbon dioxide emissions (Reuters).

‘Nano song’ wins prize.
The excellent nano-song featured recently on this blog won both the ‘People’s Choice’ and ‘Critics’ Choice’ in the American Chemical Society’s What is Nano? video contest (press release).

“I was counting away like a madman, but it just wouldn’t work.”
Emelie Baedecke Yllner, comments on the accident that saw Swedish maths students at the Royal Institute of Technology set three impossible questions in a five question paper (Svd.se via The Local).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on April 08, 2009
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“We wanted to see if this program can have a palpable effect. The answer is: without a doubt.”
Eran Bendavid of Stanford University comments on his research into the effectiveness of the George W. Bush’s President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (Bloomberg).

“The interrogation process is contrary to international law and the participation in such a process is contrary to international standards of medical ethics.”
The Red Cross says medical professionals monitoring interrogations in Guantanamo Bay violated medical ethics (AP).

“A lot of the impacts we’re seeing are running ahead of our expectations.”
William Hare of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research talks to Reuters, as it announces a poll of 11 global warming experts found 10 think it ‘unlikely’ that warming can be limited to 2 degrees C.

Posted by Daniel Cressey on April 07, 2009
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“We can tell within 30 seconds whether it's going to be a big or small quake. We can sense the scale and how much damage it's likely to cause.”
Wu Yih-min, of the National Taiwan University Department of Geosciences, says his group has invented a cheap device that can give crucial warnings just before earthquakes (Reuters).

“We need our top scientific minds on this. Get me India on the phone!”
Writers on the children’s movie Monsters vs Aliens have slipped a science policy joke into the mouth of their cartoon US president (movie, see also: SAJA blog).

“Although there is a long way to go, methods that can induce a pleasurable scratch sensation without damaging the skin, via mechanical stimuli or drugs that can inhibit these neurons, could be developed to treat chronic itch.”
Gil Yosipovitch, of Wake Forest University in North Carolina, discusses research that identifies neurons which appear to be blocked by scratching (BBC).

“The Canadian Press moved a story April 3 that erroneously reported The Wilkins Ice Shelf was originally part of Jamaica. In fact the Ice Shelf, located on the western side of the Antarctic was originally the size of Jamaica.”
The Regret the Error blog highlights a scientific example of that moment every journalist dreads: the mistake.

Posted by Daniel Cressey on April 06, 2009
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“I think they can generalize to human eyes somehow, and interpret human eyes as eyes.”
Auguste Bayern, of the University of Oxford, discusses research showing that jackdaws can interpret the movement of human eyes (LiveScience).

“This morning I got a worrying email from Vanessa Woods, a bonobo expert who’s at a bonobo research facility in DRC.”
Science journalist Carl Zimmer is worried about the bonobo. You should be too (The Loom blog).

“It’s a clean technology. We can't do anything that kills our organisms.”
Angela Belcher, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is making viruses make batteries (Reuters).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on April 03, 2009
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“We hung the [robot] arm over the right wing, we panned it to the location and took a look and I said to myself, ‘we are going to die’. There was so much damage.”
Shuttle commander Robert Gibson discusses a very close call on a secret space mission (CBS Space Place). [Hat tip: Bad Astronomy.]

“This one fed on meat. Its name is tyrannosaurus rex.”
Petr Springer, a five-year-old boy in Czechoslovakia can distinguish 69 dinosaur species (Czech News Agency).

“Takeda is making meaningful changes in structure and governance through this reorganization.”
Yasuchika Hasegawa, president of Japan’s biggest pharma firm Takeda, announces that the company is shifting its global research and development headquarters from Osaka to Illinois (AP).

“Discretion is important, so please only discuss your application with your partner and/or immediate family.”
The UK’s ‘security intelligence agency’ MI5 is recruiting a chief scientific advisor. British citizens who fancy becoming chief science spook should start polishing their CVs (Nature Jobs). [Hat tip: Research Fortnight.]

Posted by Daniel Cressey on April 01, 2009
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“We’re just very proud to build this, do some testing and demonstrate to America that we're moving beyond the space shuttle onto another generation of spacecraft.”
Don Pearson, project manager for the Post-Landing Orion Recovery Test, comments on the unveiling of a full-size mock-up of NASA’s new space vehicle on the National Mall in Washington (Reuters).

“These ancient lions were like a supersized version of today's lions, up to 25 per cent bigger than those we know today and, in the Americas, with longer legs adapted for endurance running.”
Ross Barnett, of the University of Oxford’s Department of Zoology, discusses his research on the skulls of cats (Daily Telegraph).

“What is going on has an adverse effect on our work.”
Cosmonaut Gennady Padalka says diplomatic squabbles are preventing Russians on the International Space Station from using American toilets or sharing their food (AP). [Hat tip – NASA Watch]

“It was like nothing we’d ever seen before.”
Owen Gilbert, a grad student at Rice University, discusses his research on a giant colony of clonal amoebas (NY Times).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on March 31, 2009
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“It has been an incredibly difficult challenge.”
Richard Jenkins comments on setting a new wind-powered land speed record of 126.1-mph (Wired).

“What we've done is pin down where the dust comes from – it comes from Patagonia.”
David Sugden, of the University of Edinburgh, explains his researching showing South American glaciers are responsible for layers of dust in Antarctic ice (Reuters).

“We were really sorry for causing any hassle and we are in the process of paying for the slight damages that the triceratops sustained whilst we lifted it over the fence.”
Steve Fry, student at Kingston Maurward College in England, apologises for ‘borrowing’ a giant dinosaur from the Dinosaur Museum in Dorchester (Daily Mail).

“The fish oil affects the methane-producing bacteria in the rumen part of the cow's gut, leading to reduced emissions.”
Lorraine Lillis, of University College Dublin, explains how feeding cows omega 3 oils might reduce their greenhouse gas emissions (Daily Telegraph).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on March 30, 2009
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“The investigators are not to blame. They can't tell if a cotton bud has DNA sticking to it.”
Ulrich Goll, justice minister for the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg in Germany, announces that a woman sought by police after her DNA was found at six murder scenes may be an innocent if careless employee in the factory that produces swabs for collecting DNA samples from murder scenes (BBC). [Hat tip: Good Morning Silicon Valley.]

“By saying that condoms exacerbate the problem of HIV/AIDS, the Pope has publicly distorted scientific evidence to promote Catholic doctrine on this issue.”
Medical journal The Lancet wades in on the Pope’s recent condom comments (AFP).

“With vertebrates we are asked to err on the side of caution and I believe this is the approach to take with these crustaceans.”
Bob Elwood, of Queen's University in Belfast, comments on his research suggesting hermit crabs can feel pain (BBC).

“…to increase the effectiveness of cooperation with the border agencies (coast guards) of neighboring states in the fight against terrorism on the high seas, combat smuggling and illegal migration and defend marine life and resources.”
The Russian National Security Council explains why retreating ice means it is considering a new Arctic military force (Wired).

“As a scientist it was my priority on this project to develop tools to help us predict eruptions and ultimately reduce the loss of lives. As a musician and artist too, it was a natural step for me to take these seismic sonification sounds and apply them to the arts.”
Domenico Vicinanza explains why he worked to get a modern dance company moving to music generated from seismic data (press release).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on March 27, 2009
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“According to the global-warming people, I say what I say because I’m paid by the oil industry. Of course I’m not, but that’s part of their rhetoric.”
Freeman Dyson, in The New York Times, on the row he stirred up by casting doubt on global warming.

“These rumours contradict all scientific facts.”
Egypt’s health and interior ministries deny that a killer text message is causing deaths through the cell phone network (AFP).

“No plan that we had before has been cut.”
Energy company Iberdrola Renovables denies reports that it is planning to slash investment in UK wind farms (Reuters).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on March 26, 2009
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“I have serious concerns that your memorandum goes beyond legitimate privacy concerns and appears to run contrary to many statutes protecting executive branch communications with members of Congress.”
Senator Charles Grassley, scourge of drug company links to academia, thinks an FDA memorandum might discourage whistleblowing (Bloomberg).

“The Government needs to be saying ‘It is socially unacceptable to be against wind turbines in your area - like not wearing your seat belt or driving past a zebra crossing.’”
UK climate change minister Ed Miliband gets controversial on wind farms (Daily Telegraph).

“Making NASA’s scientific and astronomical data more accessible to the public is a high priority for NASA, especially given the new administration’s recent emphasis on open government and transparency.”
Ed Weiler, of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington, explains why the agency is putting even more of its images up for grabs online (Wired).

“Obviously, this [statute] was intended to deal with a rogue state, intended to deal with terrorists. It wasn’t intended to deal with a housewife.”
Lawyer Robert Goldman says his client shouldn’t have been charged under terrorism laws for trying to harm a love rival with chemicals from a lab (AP).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on March 25, 2009
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“I know it didn't turn out the way we wanted it to, but you guys did a great job.”
Astronaut Steven Swanson talks to colleagues on the International Space Station about their attempts to unstuck a jammed piece of equipment on the outside of the ISS. Eventually Swanson’s colleagues Richard Arnold and Joseph Acaba ended up just securing the stuck cargo platform (Reuters).

The Colbert Node
NASA is refusing to say whether it will go with the results of its online poll to pick a name for a new node on the International Space Station. The suggestion that accrued the most votes was ‘Colbert’, after the US comedian (Boston Globe).

“There will be thousands of cases in our archives that could benefit from this technique.”
Martin Bill, of the UK’s Forensic Science Service, says a new DNA technique could lead to developments in numerous ‘cold cases’ (Daily Telegraph).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on March 24, 2009
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“If this was a year ago, the outcome would have been a totally different situation.”
Jake Chait, of the I.M. Chait Gallery in New York, explains that the credit crunch has even reached the fossil market, as a 9-foot-long dryosaurus skeleton fails to reach its reserve price (NY Daily News).

“I truly believe that this is a different time. The opportunities are enormous, despite all the economic and other challenges.”
Jane Lubchenco, the new administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, talks to the NY Times Dot Earth blog.

2009 Mission Madness
NASA devises a silly game to waste time one. Go Skylab!

Posted by Daniel Cressey on March 23, 2009
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“This behaviour suggests it is aware of its susceptibility to the harsh African sun, and adapted a unique behaviour to improve its chances of survival.”
A pink albino elephant is already learning to stay out of the sun, says Mike Chase, of conservation charity Elephants Without Borders (BBC).

“This mouth is kind of nasty. I always use the analogy of a pencil sharpener.”
Jean-Bernard Caron, associate curator of invertebrate paleontology at the Royal Ontario Museum, discusses new research on an ancient sea beastie (Toronto Star).

“It was like a low-stakes X Prize for music…”
Wired presents the first annual Guthman Musical Instrument Competition in pictures.

“It carried out all tasks ... without any parts of it making any mistakes.”
Iran’s recently launched satellite has carried out its mission, says an expert known only as Ebrahimi. What that mission was is still a mystery (Boston Globe).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on March 20, 2009
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“Sir Elton John will focus his address on the HIV/AIDS epidemic, how biotechnology has influenced prevention and treatment of the disease and an outlook of the challenges and solutions that lie ahead.”
The Bio International Convention explains why the Rocket Man has been invited to give its keynote speech.

“I am pleased with the result, and I hope this sets a precedent that will support anyone who shares my views on climate change and the environment.”
Tim Nicholson reacts to a judge's ruling that he can claim he was unfairly dismissed from his job due to his “philosophical belief in climate change” (Independent).

“In using robotic fish we are building on a design created by hundreds of millions of years’ worth of evolution which is incredibly energy efficient.”
Rory Doyle, a scientist at the BMT Group consultancy firm, explains why robot carp could be measuring pollution in a port in Spain (Daily Telegraph).

“It is our hope that it will come to the forefront of public attention along with Hawaii's other numerous endangered plants.”
Patrick Leonard, of the Fish and Wildlife Service, discusses the Phyllostegia hispida vine from the island of Molokai, which has just been listed as an endangered species in the US (AP).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on March 19, 2009
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“If there aren’t investment opportunities which compete with other projects we won't put money into it.”
Linda Cook, oil giant Shell’s executive director of gas and power, says the company is backing biofuels over wind, solar and hydro power, which are not cost-competitive with other options (Guardian).

“One hundred kW threshold has been viewed traditionally as a proof of principle for ‘weapons grade’ power levels for high-energy lasers.”
Dan Wildt, vice president of directed energy systems at Northrop Grumman, says electric lasers are now at ‘battlefield strength’ (Wired).

“There is nothing like a ‘shark horror’ story to quicken an old journo’s pulse rate.”
Australian journalist Joe Morris explains how he became ‘the leading light of the ‘Shark Scare’ story’ (Ranters blog).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on March 18, 2009
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“I'm not going to answer that question. I am a Christian, and I don't think anybody asking a question about my religion is appropriate.”
Gary Goodyear, Canada’s federal Minister of State for Science and Technology, refuses to answer the question ‘do you believe in evolution’ (Globe and Mail).

“We will not meet the challenges of climate change without the far wider use of civil nuclear power.”
UK prime minister Gordon Brown addresses a conference in London (Reuters).

“This structure is a true conundrum, and certainly worthwhile investigating further, because it forms part of the historic and cultural seascape of the area.”
Ziggy Otto, of Pembrokeshire College, comments on a huge ancient fish trap discovered off the Welsh coast (BBC).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on March 17, 2009
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"Bletchley Park has a real role to play in supporting the economy of Milton Keynes"
The World War II code-breaking centre is getting an extra £600,000 for vital repairs over three years. Local councillor Vanessa McPake feels the boost to local tourism is more important, however (BBC).

“We were never good at math in my family. I thought I was voting for p-i-e.”
Rep. John D Murtha (D-Pa) looks forward to the prospect of Pi Day, 14 March (Politico).

"We protest a launch and strongly demand it be canceled."
Japan's Prime Minister, Taro Aso, objects to North Korea's plan to launch a rocket over Japan sometime between 4 and 8 April.

Posted by Richard Van Noorden on March 13, 2009
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"Our business requires perfection and our vehicle was not perfect today."
NASA launch director Mike Leinbach reflects on the gas leak that prevented the space shuttle Discovery launching on Wednesday. It will now not take off until Sunday 15 March (Space.com).

"What I don't want NASA to do is just limp along."
Barack Obama says NASA is an agency afflicted by "a sense of drift" and that it needs "a new mission that is appropriate for the 21st century" (Orlando Sentinel).

"I cannot begin to comprehend why a person would take this course."
Steven Shafer, editor-in-chief of Anesthesia and Analgesia, a journal which is retracting [pdf] articles penned by a leading anesthesiology researcher, Scott Reuben. Reuben is accused of faking data in at least 21 published studies, published over 13 years. (Anesthesiology News; see also BMJ (subscription required); New York Times; Boston Globe; Wall Street Journal; Scientific American).

Posted by Richard Van Noorden on March 12, 2009
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“One of the ways that animals learn what's good to eat in the world, is on the basis of what mom ate during pregnancy.”
Steven Youngentob, of the State University of New York in Syracuse, comments on his research showing that alcohol may taste sweeter to rats if their mother drank while pregnant (New Scientist).

“Hi my name is Christine Shrock, I'm 18 and my project is Effects of Lid Dynamics on the Binding of MDM2 to the Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 with Implications for Cancer Therapeutics.”
Scientific American catches up with the finalists of the Intel Science Talent Search, “the Super Bowl of science” or “the baby Nobels”.

“Jerry and Ben just haven't stopped flirting. The fact they have turned out to be gay has played havoc with our breeding plans.”
Grace Rawnsley, of the Wetlands Trust in the UK, explains a setback to a programme to breed two male and one female New Zealand Blue Ducks (Chester Chronicle).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on March 10, 2009
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“Why not turn their Real-Time PCR thermal cycler into an ass-kicking robot?”
Tyler Kay, of marketing company Bison, explains the logic behind a Roche advert that sees a lab-machine transform into a ninja robot (Wired).

“Some experts are concerned that unless there is an independent program, then Japan may be left behind in terms of space development.”
An unnamed official from Japan’s Strategic Headquarters for Space Policy explains why the country is considering putting robots on the Moon by 2020 and an astronaut on the Moon by 2030 (Reuters).

“No parking whitebeam.”
A new species of tree in Wales has been named after a sign once fixed to it (Western Mail).

“If anybody doubted the greening of Peter Mandelson and his willingness to take the green agenda on his shoulders we’ve seen it in practice on our television screens already this morning.”
UK prime minister Gordon Brown comments on a green custard attack on Business Secretary Mandelson. The attacker was supposedly protesting about plans to expand a major British airport (The Times).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on March 06, 2009
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“Overall, the trend is towards net loss.”
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds comments on a study analysing the impact of climate change on Europe’s birds (BBC).

“There were no surprises in Genentech’s presentation. They had the platform and I don’t think they impressed.”
Carri Duncan, an analyst at Sal. Oppenheim in Zurich, comments on the latest instalment of the ongoing Roche / Genentech saga (Bloomberg).

“I find this troubling as I have documented several instances where pharmaceutical companies have attempted to intimidate academic critics of drugs.”
US Senator Charles Grassley comments on allegations that a Pfizer employee took photos of students protesting at drug industry links to academia, in the latest round of his battle against big pharma (NY Times).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on March 04, 2009
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"You know all this [expletive deleted] that's going on around the world, weather-wise, well, we're seeing it in Arlington [location of the Rangers Ballpark]. The jet stream at The Ballpark ain't what it used to be. That's changing. I think it'll help our arms."
Rudolpho 'Rudy' Jaramillo, hitting coach for the Texas Rangers, hopes that global warming will help the team's pitching [hat tip: The Guardian, Star-Telegram.com]

“Maybe the best we can do is join in a bipartisan agreement to engage only in the harmless type of science-hating everyone can love: UFOs, psychics and underwater kingdoms that appear on Google maps”
Columnist Joel Stein, writing in the Los Angeles Times, finds liberals hate science just as much as the far right - and searches for common ground between them.

"You can't expect tigers to become vegetarians. They need meat and humans trespassing their territory are relatively easy targets."
Nurazam Nurdin of the Nature Conservation Agency asks sympathy for Sumatran tigers, who are attacking humans in desperation for food as their forest habitats are illegally eroded. The Sumatran tiger is in danger of becoming the first major mammal to become extinct in the 21st century, The Times reports.

Posted by Richard Van Noorden on March 03, 2009
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“Patents whose procedures are hard to reproduce are familiar to every industrial chemist, unfortunately, but coming across one that seems completely mistaken in its most important details is rare. And this is the first time I’ve seen one of these dragged out into the open literature for a give-and-take with the original authors about whether they’re delusional or not.”
Chemist Derek Lowe looks over a spat between researchers (In the pipeline blog).

“It had grabbed the tube that pulls out the water and caused it to spray outside the tank.”
Nick Fash, of the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium, explains how an octopus came to flood the facility (LA Times).

“Thanks to lessons learnt in crane school we now have the feathery-fingered skills to raise crane chicks.”
Debbie Pain, director of conservation at the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, on plans to reintroduce cranes to the UK (Daily Telegraph).

“In hospital they told me that I was very very lucky.... I still have all my fingers but it could up end really worse if the magnets collided in a other way.”
The dangers of neodymium magnets explained by ‘Dirk from the Netherlands’ (Magnet Nerd).
WARNING – NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH, LINK CONTAINS ACCIDENT PHOTOS.

Posted by Daniel Cressey on February 27, 2009
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“We can do personalized genetics on these dogs. We’ve found out a lot about how to study disease.”
Gordon Lark, of the University of Utah, approves of Barack Obama’s choice of pooch for the White House, a choice Wired calls ‘solidly scientific’.

“This puts us in a pretty good position to launch by the middle of the month.”
Allard Beutel, a spokesman at Kennedy Space Center, comments on a new 12 March launch date for the next space shuttle mission (Gannett News Service).

"The review will be conducted by eminent representatives of the science and policy domains from the EU and US."
The European Union notes that Elias Zerhouni, the former director of the US National Institutes of Health, is to sit on a panel charged with reviewing the European Research Council’s structure and funding mechanisms. Vaira Vike-Freiberga, President of Latvia from 1999-20007 and a former professor of psychology, will chair the panel, which also includes David Sainsbury, the UK’s former science minister.

“If people enjoy using these games, then they should continue to do so - that's a no-brainer. But if people are under the illusion that these devices are scientifically proven to keep their minds in shape, they need to think again.”
Martyn Hocking, editor of consumer magazine Which?, comments after a “panel of experts” concludes there is no evidence playing Brain Training games actually improve memory (Guardian).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on February 26, 2009
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“Our country's lunar exploration research and development project will be opened to all of society, bringing in a competitive mechanism.”
Chinese newspaper Guangming Daily reports that China will implement a competitive bidding system for the construction of parts of its forthcoming Moon probe (via Reuters).

“It dragged me across the boat and would have pulled me in had my colleague not grabbed my trousers - it was like the whole earth had just moved. I knew it was going to a big one.”
Ian Welsh was on a stingray tagging project in Thailand when he caught a big surprise (Daily Telegraph).

“If you want some truly original seating for your living room, these giant foam dinosaur bones are where it's at.”
The Dvice website has the near-perfect answer for palaeontology fans in need of a sofa.

Posted by Daniel Cressey on February 25, 2009
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“The Formula That Killed Wall Street”
Wired looks at the maths behind the credit crunch.

“Now you have an opportunity within this crisis, so let the experiment begin.”
Kert Davies, research director of Greenpeace, in the Guardian’s special report ‘can economic rescue plans also save planet?’

Video: Oktapodi
They may not have won the Oscar they were up for, but the team behind this octopus romance animation have produced perhaps the best thing on the internet [hat tip: Newsweek].

“She was a major force in the field of finding near-Earth asteroids, discovering or co-discovering almost 900 asteroids in her lifetime, as well as several comets.”
Phil Plait comments on ‘asteroid hunter’ Eleanor Helin, who died recently (Bad Astronomy).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on February 24, 2009
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"The archive presents all of the negatives we hold from twenty-five separate expeditions."
Heather Lane, librarian at the Scott Polar Research Institute, discusses making photos from historic arctic missions available online (BBC).

"He was a very intuitive character, and although he was not an academic he understood the value of education in general and higher education in particular."
David Greenaway, vice-chancellor of the University of Nottingham, remembers Lord Dearing, who died recently (Times Higher Education).

"There was just a sense of unease that we did not quite have the rigor that we typically expect for a question like this."
John Shannon, space shuttle programme manager, discusses why the next mission has been delayed (AP).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on February 23, 2009
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“Dealing with climate change will require a much broader strategy, even larger federal investments in clean-energy technologies and an effort to put a price on greenhouse gas emissions to unlock private investment on an enormous scale. But this is a useful down payment, which could also help reduce the nation’s reliance on foreign oil.”
The NY Times editorialises about Obama’s stimulus package and energy.

“In Peru, [the glaciers] are melting very quickly. More than 20 percent of the glacial ice caps have disappeared since the 1970s.”
World Bank climate change specialist Walter Vergara warns that the future of South America’s Andes glaciers is in doubt (AFP).

“People will be brought to task.”
Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen comments after a jury finds Pfizer has overcharged for drugs in the state of Wisconsin (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on February 18, 2009
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“It is really important that as a small country we can show our participation in large international efforts here in Antarctica.”
Belgian defence minister Pieter De Crem inaugurates the country’s new ‘zero emissions’ science base in Antarctica (AP).

“They entered briefly into contact at very low speed.”
The French Defence Ministry makes a collision between two nuclear submarines sound almost harmless (Bloomberg).

“One of the distinguishing factors of Liberty is that every single student here takes a class called creationist studies.”
Liberty University campus pastor Johnnie Moore tells the Lynchburg News and Advance about his institution’s creationist ways.

Posted by Daniel Cressey on February 16, 2009
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Nature reporters are still at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Chicago. Here are some recent dispatches from the science news front line. Full coverage is over on our In the Field blog.

Bowser blazes the trail
Whenever I see Elaine Ostrander talk about dogs, I feel sorry for human geneticists. Ostrander, a researcher at the U.S. National Human Genome Research Institute on Bethesda, Maryland, studies the hundreds of dog breeds that exist in the world. And because human breeders have simplified dog genetics enormously, it’s a lot easier to answer questions about the genetic basis of all kinds of traits in dogs than it is in humans.

Darwin the Buddhist
Ordinarily, Paul Ekman is to be found doing rigorous, detailed studies of facial expression, body movement, emotion and deception...

Climate issue getting "more complicated"
A leader of the the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change told the meeting today that the world's climate is likely to change much faster than predicted, leaving the world with two choices: start cutting carbon emissions earlier, or make the cuts deeper.

Posted by Daniel Cressey on February 16, 2009
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“Today, all the research councils have committees setting up the ‘grand challenges’ for their disciplines. Personally, I think this is bullshit. Clever people will find grand challenges that other people haven't even thought of.”
Chemist Graham Richards discuss research and commercializing research with the Guardian.

“My own story was really nothing special. I made $30,000 for the year, which is less than some of these doctors make in a weekend.”
Daniel Carlat, a psychiatry professor at Tufts University in Boston, discusses medicine’s ties to drug money with Reuters.

RIP Xiangzhong ‘Jerry’ Yang.
The man who “was born in poverty to a family of pig farmers in rural China but escaped to become a leading researcher in cloning technology” has died (LA Times).

Papers with good titles: Getting Smashed: The deposition of amphorae and the drinking of wine in Gaul during the late Iron Age.

Posted by Daniel Cressey on February 10, 2009
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If you haven't had enough Darwin yet, here are some more tidbits.

“I think in many respects Wallace was as talented, if not more talented, than Darwin.”
David Grimaldi, curator of invertebrate zoology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, sings the praises of the poor man who has been forgotten in all this Darwin worship (Washington Post).

Previously
Darwin 200 - February 02, 2009
Darwin 200 redux

Posted by Daniel Cressey on February 09, 2009
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“This observation adds to the growing evidence that dolphins may be included in the list of mammals that practice infanticide.”
Researchers tell an unpleasant tale in Marine Mammal Science. Repeat after me … dolphins are not cute animals.

“I go into 2009 with my eyes wide open and a sense of confidence.”
Andrew Witty, chief executive of GSK, announces more restructuring and more job losses (Financial Times).

“From an agronomic standpoint, it has all of the issues of GM rape, but is arguably worse.”
Richard Roush, of the University of Melbourne, doesn’t like a new herbicide resistant oilseed rape (New Scientist).

“The situation down here is getting very, very chaotic and very aggressive.”
Anti-whaling activist Paul Watson’s ship has collided with a Japanese whaling vessel (AP).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on February 06, 2009
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Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb and a central figure in a major nuclear smuggling ring, has been freed.

A brief order issued on 6 February by the Islamabad High Court released the 72-year-old metallurgist from house arrest. Khan had been confined since 2004, after confessing to selling Pakistani nuclear technology to Iran, North Korea, and Libya.

Khan's freedom has gradually returned over the past year or so. While he remains a pariah in the West, he enjoys overwhelming public support in Pakistan, where he is revered as a national hero. He has given a few interviews in recent months, and even started his own website.

It's a little unclear what happens next. The government has asked Khan to let them know if he's planning any domestic travel, and there's no word on whether he'll be able to take trips abroad. In interviews he says he's done with smuggling and will devote the remainder of his life to education.

Posted by Geoff Brumfiel on February 06, 2009
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“I’ve been working with ants for eight years, and have never seen a traffic jam — and I've tried.”
Audrey Dussutour, of the University of Sydney, discusses how ants smooth movement could help gridlocked roads (Wired).

“What we are seeing is not necessarily optimism, but a pullback in the pessimism.”
David Kelly, chief market strategist at JPMorgan Funds, looks at a big pharma-led rise in the stock market (Bloomberg).

“We want to make sure we got this right. This has important consequences for us.”
Shuttle program manager John Shannon discusses why NASA has delayed the next shuttle flight (Reuters).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on February 04, 2009
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“The whalers are deploying water cannons, concussion grenades, acoustic weapons, and throwing solid brass and lead balls at Sea Shepherd crew members."
Paul Watson, captain of anti-whaling ship Steve Irwin, on the latest run in with the Japanese whaling fleet (Times).

“All legal means available will be used to ensure these pirates do not board Japanese ships or threaten the lives of the crews or the safety of the vessels."
Glenn Inwood, of the Japanese Institute of Cetacean Research, comments on the same incident (Times).

"The delivered kid was genetically identical to the bucardo."
Jose Folch, director of the bucardo project at the University of Zaragoza in northern Spain, comments on the birth of a clone of the extinct Pyrenean ibex (bucardo). The animal died shortly after its birth (Independent).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on February 02, 2009
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“Emergency is too strong a word for Pfizer's $68 billion agreement to buy Wyeth, but not by much.”
The Wall Street Journal isn’t impressed by the latest pharma industry mega-merger.

“All of this is consistent with climate change, and all of this is consistent with what scientists told us would happen.”
Australia’s Climate Change Minister Penny Wong lays the blame for repeated heatwaves at the door of climate change (Reuters).

“The National Park Service is using members of the public to solve with rifles that which should be the bailiwick of wolves.”
Rob Edward, of the WildEarth Guardians group, complains about plans to use ‘volunteer sharpshooters’ to cull elk in the Rocky Mountain National Park (Colorado Independent).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on January 29, 2009
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“Just as people respond better to the personal touch, cows also feel happier and more relaxed if they are given a bit more one-to-one attention.”
Catherine Douglas, of Newcastle University, comments on her research showing that cows given names can produce an extra pint and a half of milk a day. Of course this probably just indicates that farmers who name their cows are generally nicer to them (Daily Mail).

“Even though we could not find a definitive explanation for this higher incidence, the existence of other ‘twin towns’ around the world – most of them in remote isolated areas with high levels of inbreeding just as Linha São Pedro – shows that external influence is not needed for this to happen.”
Ursula Matte, of the medical genetics unit at Porto Alegre Hospital in Brazil, rejects suggestions that Josef Mengele created a ‘tribe of twins’ in the city of Cândido Godói (New Scientist).

“I hereby declare a state of national emergency with particular emphasis on the existing and potentially affected counties.”
Liberia's president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf takes action against a crop-devastating caterpillar problem (BBC).

“I think that whalers will be satisfied by this quota.”
Iceland Fisheries Minister Einar Gudfinnsson comments on a six-fold increase in whaling quotas (AFP).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on January 28, 2009
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“This is a long-awaited day for the world of ocean research.”
Robert Gagosian, president of the Consortium for Ocean Leadership, comments on the sea-trials of re-fitted research vessel JOIDES Resolution (NSF press release; hat tip: Deep Sea News).

“It’s not the only explanation. But there is a discernible and substantial role of genes in your social network position.”
Study author Nicholas Christakis of Harvard on his research, which seems to show that popularity might depend on genes (Scientific American).

“There’s been an unusually high number of births and we’re extremely pleased about it. It’s a postwar baby boom.”
Virunga National Park Director Emmanuel de Merode on a boom in gorilla numbers in the strife-ridden Democratic Republic of Congo (Bloomberg).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on January 27, 2009
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“Epidemiological tests show that the patient previously had exposure to live poultry markets.”
The Chinese Health Ministry comments on the sixth human case of bird flu detected in China this year (Reuters).

“They do come on slowly and if there are steps or objects in the way, people can fall over, have accidents and that's the biggest danger.”
David Adams, spokesman for The Royal National College for the Blind, isn’t happy about European plans to do away with traditional light bulbs (BBC).

“Call it a gut feeling.”
The LA Times puns its way through the news that DNA from human gut parasites can be used to track human migrations.

Posted by Daniel Cressey on January 26, 2009
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“We don't comment on marketplace rumor."
Pharma company Pfizer is purportedly trying to buy rival Wyeth for $60 billion dollars, but a Wyeth spokesman refuses to comment.

“I think we are seeing a funding future that is a reflection of the world's current economy.”
Jules Duga has co-authored a report suggesting that the US will spend less on R&D in 2009, the first decrease in a decade.

Anti-evolution biologist has his court case against his old bosses dismissed, again.
An appeals court has upheld a ruling that Nathaniel Abraham's lawsuit, claiming he was asked to resign from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute for telling his supervisor that he didn’t believe in evolution, was not filed in time.

"Our goal is to develop, form and finance one or two companies a year.”
Johnson & Johnson is the latest member to join a global consortium of pharma companies that will fund research together and co-own the results, says Daphne Zohar, founder of PureTech. The total in the pot is now $52 million.

Posted by Asher Mullard on January 23, 2009
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“We are seeing some signs that consumers and patients are becoming more frugal.”
William Weldon, Chief Executive of Johnson & Johnson, explains why his company has seen its first revenue decline in 76 years.

Vietnam is the most vulnerable nation to global warming
A sea level rise of 1 meter could potentially displace about 10.8% of the Vietnamese population, according to a World Bank report.

“We are calling for international assistance to combat these insects.”
Ravenous caterpillars are destroying crops and terrorizing villagers in Liberia, says Agriculture Minister Christopher Toe.

Posted by Asher Mullard on January 22, 2009
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"This image reminds me of the vast and incredible power of the neocortex, and of the amazing capability of the human body."
An anonymous neuroscientist shows off his Ramon y Cajal drawing of a human motor cortex pyramidal cell - in tattoo form.

"Africa is the most politically correct region in which to develop [the United Nations' Clean Development Mechanism] projects and we want to be there"
CarbonStream Africa, a South African/Norwegian initiative to boost carbon emissions trading in sub-Saharan Africa and raise the continent's lagging profile in the $120 billion global carbon market, launches

Posted by Katharine Sanderson on January 21, 2009
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"For the Persians to kill 20 men in a space less than 2m high or wide, and about 11m long, required superhuman combat powers - or something more insidious"
News reaches us that in the 3rd century AD, Persians used chemical weapons against the Romans.

Today's announcement apparently formalizes the project's status, as we're about to enter a new administration -- and that may not be coincidental.
More big money for a user facility upgrade at the US Department of Energy: A $1 billion construction project for a neutron source, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Spallation source.

City boffins send worms into orbit
University of Nottingham, UK, scientists plan to use worms aboard the Space Station to study muscle wasting.

Posted by Katharine Sanderson on January 20, 2009
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"The virtual cows have been named Myrtle, Buttercup, Jesse, Ethel, Daisy and Boris"
New Zealand scientists make fake cows to look into methane emissions. These faux-beasts have artificial stomachs, the contents of which ferment to leave nicely filled "poo jars".

Malvinder Singh, Ranbaxy’s chief executive, said he aimed to “take products back to the US market at the earliest possible time.”
Indian generics company Ranbaxy hopes to get around the FDA's ban on imports from the company by buying production facilities in the US, or in another country where those facilities have already approved by the FDA.

Posted by Katharine Sanderson on January 19, 2009
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"There is not much we do in space any more that is really new, but this is really new."
The US Defense Department is using 'top secret' microsatellites to inspect a crippled US spacecraft, says John Pike, head of a military think tank.

"The change is to underline our 'excellence with impact' agenda."
Chloë Somers, from Research Councils UK, discusses new requirements whereby grant seekers have to assess the economic and social impact of their work.

"The Mesopotamians had different-coloured farm animals 5,000 years ago and, in that regard, they were no different to Paris Hilton, who has a pink Chihuahua…"
Ancient farmers may have selectively bred coloured animals to make them easy to spot or for amusement’s sake, says Greger Larson, of the University of Durham.

Posted by Asher Mullard on January 16, 2009
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“Do you have a grove of bamboo that is taking over your property -- at least an acre or more?”
The Washington Post reports on the fact that the National Zoo is running out of food for its pandas.

“Photos from the accident site, which happened in the Altai region on January 9, give the initial impression that passengers in the crashed helicopters were hunting for Argali mountain sheep.”
The WWF wants an investigation into the deaths of a party of senior Russian politicians in a helicopter crash. It says they may have been illegally hunting endangered sheep (Reuters).

RIP Arne Naess
The Norwegian philosopher “whose ideas about promoting an intimate and all-embracing relationship between the earth and the human species inspired environmentalists and Green political activists around the world” died on Monday, reports the NY Times.

“Here's a way to increase the available funding to NIH without increasing the NIH budget: halt funding to NCCAM, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. “
An online attempt to get Barack Obama to stop funding research on alternative medicine has begun (hat tip: Pharyngula).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on January 15, 2009
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“It would be inappropriate for me to comment further right now.”
Angela Sekson, an Eli Lilly spokeswoman, remains tight lipped about speculation the drug company will soon pay $1.4 billion to settle charges it illegally marketed on of its drugs (NY Times).

“We try to think of organisms as engaging in a work of self-preservation. To be living is to be engaged in that work. To die is to cease to be engaged.”
Bioethicist Gilbert Meilaender tells Wired why the definition of death is being changed.

“In my view, this is the earliest archaeological evidence for the use of chemical warfare, which was later used by the ancient Greeks.”
Simon James, of the University of Leicester, says the Persians used chemicals in a vicious fight with the Romans in 256 (Science News).

“Even if caffeine were responsible for hallucinations in some way, the part it plays would be small compared to other factors in life.”
Simon Jones, of Durham University, plays down his research suggesting a link between nasty instant coffee and hallucinations (BBC).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on January 14, 2009
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“A key question for us is ‘where has all the Australian poo gone?’”
Alan Cooper, director of the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, discusses research on faeces from giant extinct birds (University of Adelaide ).

“I almost fell off my chair. I could not believe what I was seeing.”
John Coates, of the University of Cambridge, departs from the traditional cry of ‘eureka’ upon discovering financial traders with shorter ring fingers seem to lose the most money (ScienceNow).

“They’re a complete mystery to me. I think they must divide their minds.”
Atheist-du-jour Richard Dawkins talks to the LA Times about religious scientists, and other things.

“We’re not giving up.”
Rick Doblin, president of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, wants to grow marijuana for medical research in Massachusetts, and he isn’t planning on letting the DEA stop him (Boston Globe).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on January 13, 2009
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“Cyprus will in fact become more like Abu Dhabi or other states that we know because there is just not enough water.”
Geophysicist Manfred Lange sees trouble ahead for the Mediterranean island (Reuters).

“Our study shows that between 2000 and 2007 there has been widespread ecosystem devastation and decades of conservation effort compromised.”
Dana Bergstrom, of the Australian Antarctic Division, says the removal of cats from a sub-Antarctic island has caused a devastating increase in rabbit numbers (BBC).

“We anticipate Roche will ultimately be forced to offer in excess of $100 a share to secure Genentech board approval.”
Analysts at Morgan Stanley comment on the latest moves on what is potentially the biggest biotech deal ever (Reuters).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on January 12, 2009
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“The worldwide trend is to kill two birds with one stone by investing in action against global warming and linking that to taking care of both the environment and the economy.”
Ichiro Sumikura, a Japanese environment ministry official, outlines plans to go green to beat the credit crunch (Reuters).

“This was the first human bird flu case reported in Beijing since 2003.”
State news agency Xinhua on the latest bird flu death in China.

“We are not saying that people with [Post Traumatic Stress Disorder] should play Tetris but we do think it is hugely valuable to understand how the brain works and how it produces intrusive flashback memories.”
Emily Holmes of Oxford University comments on research that suggests playing Tetris may reduce the impact of traumatic stress (BBC).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on January 07, 2009
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RIP pharmalot
The interweb will be missing one of its best pharma-industry blogs this year.

‘3 Cheap, Safe Ways to Destroy Deadly Explosives’
Wired looks at ingenious solutions to a global problem.

“We’re certainly hoping not to find any human bits inside, but you never know.”
Tom Trinski, marine curator at Auckland Museum, is going to dissect a shark live on the internet (Times).

“We’re a little freaked out by this. We’ve never seen anything like it.”
Rebecca Dmytryk, of the nonprofit WildRescue, discusses a bout of mysterious pelican deaths in California (LA Times).

Posted by Daniel Cressey on January 06, 2009
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