EMBARGO: NOT FOR PUBLICATION BEFORE Thursday, July 24, 1997
In this weeks New Scientist:
ORDER # 1: THE ULTIMATE DONORBEFORE
Newborn babies with congenital defects may one day be give corrective
surgery using tissues that they donated while still in the womb. New
Scientist, 26 July, p 13.
ORDER # 2: WARP FACTOR ZERO
The best ideas yet for explaining how the starship Enterprise might zoom
around the galaxy has run into a technical hitch. American physicists say
that a cunning scheme for faster-than-light space travel is doomed to
failure because it would need more than the entire energy of the Universe
to work. New Scientist, 26 July, page 6.
ORDER # 3: THE LONGEST HOUR
An intensive care unit fits on a stretcher is being developed for the US
Army in a bid to cut battlefield casualties. The Life Support for Trauma
and Transport Unit (LSTAT) has been developed because, for a wounded
soldier, the most dangerous period is the first 60 minutes after the
initial trauma, the time when casualties are often still en route to a
field hospital. Page 16
ORDER # 4: CHINESE WHISPERS
In Mandarin Chinese, the word ma may mean mother, horse or to scold,
depending on the tone. Yet 50 million profoundly deaf people in China are
unable to make these distinctions. Conventional hearing aids are no help
because they just amplify sounds. Now, an international research team have
the prototype for a hearing aid that amplifies the tonal differences
between words. New Scientist, 26 July, page 8
ORDER # 5: TIME OFF IN LOO
People are much more likely to become ill when they rest and relax on
vacation, than during the stress-ridden work week. Rosie Mestel
investigates the science behind the sickness. New Scientist, 26 July, pages
28-29.
ORDER # 6: STAND BY TO RECEIVE LANDING PARTY
The science fiction dream of beaming objects from one place to another by
the transmission of pure information may soon materialize. Physicists in
Paris have made one of the key steps-creating specially prepared atoms
that would be needed at either end of the teleportation process. Pages 6 &
7.
ORDER # 7: WOOLLY JUMPERS
Newborn lambs in New Zealand are being fitted with woollen jumpers to help
them survive freezing weather. The garment, called a woolover, covers 96
per cent of a lamb, leaving just its head, legs and a narrow strip along
its belly exposed. Page 24
ORDER # 8: FOR THE LOW JUMP
Eight parachutists are to attempt a unique, low-altitude descent in
September. The jump from an altitude of just 75 metres - lower than Big Ben
but higher than Nelsons Column - will cap a decade of work trying to create
a parachute that allows paratroopers to descend safely form aircraft flying
below the gaze of enemy radar. Page 21
ORDER # 9: FLYING START
Before leaveing the nest, some birds go on a crash diet and do press-ups to
make sure their wings will be able to carry them, says a Scottish
zoologist. page 7
ORDER # 10: DAM THE MEDITERRANEAN
The northern hemisphere risks being plunged into a new ice age unless we
build a giant barrage across the Strait of Gibraltar to hold in the waters
of the Mediterranean. The dramatic claims are made by an American
oceanographer, who says the events that will lead to an ice age were set in
motion when Egypt dammed the River Nile at Aswan in 1958. Page 10
ORDER # 11: RING OF CONFIDENCE
The worlds newest and most compact breathing apparatus is being put through
its paces in a mock emergency next week. The device stores air, not in a
cylinder, but in a doughnut-shaped toroid. Page 9.
ORDER # 12: DEADLY MUCK
Farmers who spread sewage sludge on their fields are polluting the
atmosphere with the toxic heavy mercury, say American researchers. Page 22
ORDER # 13: ARE YOU LOOKING AT ME?
A biologist has measured a mysterious, human sixth sense for the first time
using a repeatable experiment. Page 39
ORDER # 14: LICK AND LEARN Page 39
Scientists are developing a sparkling ice cream that will be as refreshing
as carbonated soft drinks. Pages 40-41
ORDER # 15: EATEN ALIVEPages 40-41
Blood-sucking insects have developed ingenious ways of penetrating the
human skin to get to the delicious, red liquid below. And vegetarians are
at the top of their menu. Pages 30-31
ORDER # 16: TORQUE OF THE DEVIL
A small spinning toy behaves in a way that physicists find hard to explain.
New Scientist looks at Rebellious Celts on page 35.
ORDER # 17: CHATEAU LAFEET
The delicate fragrance of cat pee is one of the key components of Sauvignon
blanc, while cow urine and horse manure are crucial to the noses of an old
Riesling and complex Bordeaux. Smell scientists reveal the shocking truth
about wine. Pages 36-38
For fax copy of full stories, or to arrange an interview, contact Anthony
Nelson on 202-331-2080 or e-mail: [email protected]. In Europe, please
contact Lucy Banwell, IPC Press Office Tel: (0171) 261-6415 or e-mail:
[email protected]
New Scientist is the recipient of 23 major awards, including this years
Utne Readers alternative press award in the Emerging Issues category. New
Scientist Planet Science provides internet users with news, features,
reviews and comment drawn weekly from the pages of New Scientist magazine,
as well as extra material exclusive to the web site. The site can be found
at http://www.newscientist.com
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