— There’s a widening transatlantic split over spliffs. While scientists in the UK sounded the alarms over the risk of psychosis associated with a potent form of marijuana called skunk, lawmakers in the US state of New Jersey took a step toward approving medical marijuana. (BBC News, WSJ)

— On both sides of the pond, the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) made headlines – though for different reasons. The US Food and Drug Administration is expected to delay its ruling on the safety of the chemical, which mimics the hormone estrogen and is linked in some studies to cancer. Meanwhile, Breast Cancer UK launched a campaign appealing to the British Health Secretary to ban BPA in baby products, such as bottles. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The Telegraph)

— Amy Gutmann, president of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, has been picked by Obama to lead the new Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues. As a scholar of democracy, she has published on a wide range of topics, from affirmative action to religious freedom. The bioethics debate will likely heat up if universal health care makes headway in the US; so Gutmann might have her work cut out for her. (Nature News)

— A review of Jane Austen’s letters indicates that she may have died from bovine tuberculosis, which she could have contracted from drinking cow’s milk. Experts have previously attributed her death at age to the hormonal disorder Addison’s disease or lymphoma. Exactly why she included such a miserable cast of characters in Mansfield Park (except Edmund!) is a entirely separate mystery, though. (The Guardian)

Image: Flickr/Ben Sutherland via Creative Commons