MAGAZINE ISSUE DATE: 25 OCTOBER 2003, Vol. 180 No. 2418
THE POWER TO PICK THE BEST EMBRYOBritish researchers have managed to grow hundreds of cells from a single cell taken from an early mouse embryo. They now hope to use the same technique on human embryos. If successful, doctors would have hundreds of cells rather than one or two to carry out pre-implantation genetic testing during IVF " making the task easier and more accurate. Page 12
'CELLPHONE RADAR' TRACKS TRAFFIC FLOWSignals from cellphone masts can be used to track aircraft and ships or spot speeding motorists, according to two British companies currently testing the system. Because the system uses passive radar, it could be used to work out the position and speed of motorists without alerting drivers that they are being watched. Civil liberties groups are concerned however, that the system could be used to track individual people. Page 23
DESTROYING ANTIBIOTICS MAKES THEM WORK BETTERWhen people take an antibiotic, most of it is absorbed in the blood through the upper gut, but some reaches the lower gut where it cannot be absorbed and instead kills countless gut bacteria " causing upset stomachs. Now a Finnish company have developed a pill which allows antibiotics to be absorbed as usual in the upper gut, while inactivating any drug left over in the lower gut. Page 14
CYBER-ASTRONOMER SCOURS THE SKIESIntelligent software agents have passed their first test by automatically taking full control of one of the world's most powerful telescopes. The agents are designed to spot oddities in images of star fields, such as when a star is brighter than normal, and contact other telescopes in different parts of the world to compare live images of the event. Page 24
DEAD COULD HELP THE LIVING SEEAccording to Canadian researchers, we could one day be curing some kinds of blindness by injecting retinal stem cells into the eye. So far the team has isolated retinal stem cells from humans and injected them into the eyes of mice. The cells generated all the different retinal cell types. Now, they need to test function by "showing that they can make a blind mouse see" . Page 18
ROBOT SKIN STRETCHES TO THE TASKAmerican researchers have found a solution to the difficult requirements of robot skin " which needs to be elastic to allow movement and yet carry wiring to sense its environment. Their answer is to use broad corrugated metal strips that can stretch twice their length and still conduct electricity. Page 25
FACIAL TUMOURS KILL TASMANIAN DEVILSA mystery disease causing facial tumours has wiped out a third of all Tasmanian devils in the past three years. These animals are an important part of Tasmania's ecology, and scientists fear the problem is having a knock-on effect on other mammals. Page 9
FEATURES:-
WHAT DOESN'T KILL YOU30 years ago doctors were told never to give beta blocker drugs to patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) because common sense told them it could only make symptoms worse. Today, doctors are dishing them out like smarties and now they've proved to be the best medicine around for CHF. One man who believes in this paradoxical effect is on the lookout for other drugs that may make your symptoms worse first to make you better in the long run. Pages 36-39
LAST CHANCE FOR KYOTOThe most ambitious effort to avert global environmental disaster is in danger of collapse. When the US rejected the Kyoto protocol in 2002, all eyes were on Russia to sign up instead. But now it looks like Russia may also turn its back on the treaty. From 1999 Russia's economy has been booming, driving up emissions of greenhouse gases. Russia will now have to pay to join the Kyoto club " and needs to decide if signing will stifle its expansion. Pages 42-45
THE ANIMATION GAMEFilm makers have hijacked computer games to create machinima " a new underground film movement that could give Hollywood a run for its money. Today's computer games make ideal virtual film sets where robotic actors are recorded, edited and played back as a movie. Pages 28-31
HIGHWAY TO HELLFor some unfortunate stars, life begins in a mass of swirling hot gas right on the edge of a black hole. These stars are destined to have very short lives, spiralling inwards to their death inside the black hole. Pages 32-35
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