THE GREAT AMERICAN VOTING EXPERIMENTAcross the US on 2 November voters will be registering their intent for the president of the United States of America. Most will be using conventional paper ballots, but many others will be using new electronic technologies, making the coming election a huge experiment for electronic voting. But concerns are being voiced about whether electronic voting machines will send votes to the wrong candidate, miscount, or even facilitate electronic fraud. Some are calling for a paper trail for every e-vote, in the event of malfunctioning machines, or in case a recount is ever needed. NEWS Pages 6-8
FLU CRISIS NEED NOT COST LIVESThe US has received only half the flu vaccine doses it was expecting this winter, yet it will not necessarily lead to more deaths as long as people follow official advice. The Centres for Disease Control are urging healthy people under 65 not to get vaccinated to ensure what vaccine there is goes to those most at risk. NEWS Pages 10-11
HOW TO TURN A SUPERBUG INTO AN ORDINARY BUGA UK company may have discovered a compound that renders the MRSA superbug vulnerable to the antibiotic it is normally resistant to " methicillin. The team claim that a certain glycine compound restores methicillin's killing power. If successful, it could be given to patients with methicillin to treat MRSA infection and reduce the need to use other antibiotics such as vancomycin - which doctors resort to when nothing else works. NEWS Page 9
ZAP! SOME MORE BACTERIA ARE GENETICALLY MODIFIEDFrench researchers have shown that soil bacteria take up any stray DNA present when they are zapped by lightning. The researchers believe this previously unknown phenomenon is widespread, speeding up the rate at which bacteria evolve. NEWS Page 17
TREES IMPLICATED IN AIR POLLUTIONThe introduction of catalytic converters and more efficient engines has dramatically reduced emissions of pollutants called volatile organic compounds. But those cuts have been more than offset by the amount of VOCs churned out by trees. This is according to an American study which challenges the notion that planting trees is a good way to clean up the atmosphere. NEWS Page 18 GLAD TO BE ASEXUALIn our highly sexed society imagine how hard it is convincing people that you've got absolutely no interest in sex, at all, and that there's absolutely nothing wrong with you. Many are declaring asexuality as another sexual orientation " and one that should no longer be ignored. A few recent studies suggest there is a population out there who are perfectly healthy and happy but have a lifelong aversion to sex. And there might be almost as many asexual people as there are gay individuals. FEATURE Pages 38-43
BEAN THERE, DUNG THATThe idea of drinking coffee made from beans that have passed through an animal and then dug out of their dung, may not appeal. But this exotic beverage, called kopi luwak, is so sought after that coffee enthusiasts are said to be on waiting lists for years to get a taste. And it's not cheap at $1000 a kilogram! FEATURE Pages 44-45
DINOSAURS DIED OUT AT HEIGHT OF SUCCESSDinosaurs were wiped out in their prime, according to a new analysis of dinosaur fossils around the world. The team found that at the final stages of the Cretaceous period diversity had soared and the animals were far more specialised that ever before. NEWS Page 12
LIQUID UNIVERSEPhysicists in New York have finally recreated the conditions moments after the birth of the cosmos. It turns out, though, that the nature of matter is inextricably tied to the vacuum in which it resides " and that the vacuum itself is a complex place haunted by strange creatures of various kinds. FEATURE Pages 35-37
TECHNOLOGY SPECIAL: PHOTOGRAPHYIt's a more common sight now to see tourists pointing mobile phones to take photos than focusing a lens on a camera. Camera technology is changing fast, and this is just the start.The next generation of digital cameras will soon be used as photocopiers, as scanners to pay for goods, or as biometric devices to recognise fingerprints. And some experts are trying to take the camera out of your hands completely. Pages 25-26People are finding all sorts of uses for their camera phones, to find love, to send police vital evidence, or to capture a new style of art. Pages 26-28Cameras can now spot objects the size of a mobile phone from space. While a new type of camera technology can photograph the impossible: Hyperspectral imaging can render camouflage next to useless, or help doctors see problems long before X-rays. Pages 28-30With keen digital photographers happily snapping thousands of images a month, the digital industry is already making it easier to label and store them on a computer. And now camera phones could do the same, with the first step towards useful photo tagging. Page 32
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