NEW SCIENTIST PRESS RELEASE
EMBARGO: NOT FOR PUBLICATION BEFORE THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 1997
ORDER #1 YOU CAN RUN, BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE... Smart bullets that follow the twists and turns of their victims after they have left the barrel of a gun are being developed in a US Air Force project. Page 20
ORDER #2: JABS TAKE A STAB AT HEART DISEASE A vaccine which could block the transformation of "good" cholesterol into "bad" cholesterol is in the early stages of development at a Massachusetts biotechnology company. If proven effective in humans, the vaccine could be administered as a twice-yearly booster to reduce cholesterol and thus help fight heart disease. Page 18
ORDER #3: TUMOR CELLS CAN MEND THEIR WAYS Cancerous cells can be forced to behave like normal cells by fine-tuning their chemical communication with their environment, say researchers in the US. They hope that this startling discovery could add a new dimension to breast cancer research. Page 17
ORDER #4: FOAM FILTER SPEEDS UP TEST FOR WATER PARASITE
Sponges squashed into water mains could be a quick and easy way for water companies to detect parasites such as the deadly Cryptosporidium before they reach the taps of consumers. Page 23
ORDER #5: INSECT SEX ORGANS RISE FROM THE DEAD The phalloblaster sounds like a bizarre plaything for sadomasochists. In fact, this Australian invention promises to revolutionise the science of insect classification by inflating the genitalia of dead insects to help entomologists identify their specimens. Page 10
ORDER #6: USED OIL RIG TO FLOAT ON THE OPEN MARKET For sale: North Sea oil production platform, one careful user, intact and ready to operate anywhere in the world. In an unusual offer, Phillips Petroleum of Bartlesville, Oklahoma, is prepared to refloat their 110,000-tonne platform, called Maureen, and tow it anywhere in the world for the highest bidder. Page 5
ORDER #7: CHEAP SOLAR CELLS HAVE THEIR DAY IN THE SUN Solar power may be on the verge of a commercial breakthrough, researchers at the Materials Research Society conference in San Francisco said last week. Three companies will soon start marketing panels made from "amorphous" silicon, a more disordered form of the material that is cheaper and much easier to process into solar cells. Page 12
ORDER #8: LIGHTNING BRINGS ELVES TO LIFE The curious red flashes of light nicknamed "elves" that flicker above thunderstorms are powered by lightning, say researchers in California. They have shown that the flashes, which apear at altitudes of about 90 kilometres, are rings of light that move outwards like ripples on a pond. Page 17
ORDER #9: SMART STAGE HOGS THE LIMELIGHT A collaboration between a computer scientist and a performer from Arizona State University has led to the development of an "intelligent stage" which can recognise and respond to movement and thus allow actors to control their own lighting and sound effects. Page 21
ORDER #10: PRIVACY POLICE CAUTION BIG BROTHER Britain's plan to make closed-circuit television a key part of the war on crime could fall foul of new European legislation aimed at protecting people's privacy which will prohibit criminal convictions based on video evidence alone. Page 4
ORDER #11: ALL THE WORLD'S A LAB Virtual laboratories linked over the Internet are changing the way science is done. So-called "collaboratories" give scientists at small institutes access to data from the world's biggest experiments. Pages 24-27
ORDER #12: SQUEEZING THE DEATH OUT OF FOOD High pressure treatment can kill bacteria in food as effectively as heat and irradiation, say researchers in Japan and America. The treatment, which involves pressures of up to 9,000 atmospheres, even improves the taste and texture of certain foods such as jams and meats. Pages 28-32
ORDER #13: LIFTING TITAN'S VEIL Saturn's largest moon has an atmosphere 1.5 times thicker than Earth's and may have oceans and continents as well. All will be revealed when a European probe called Huygens lands there in 2004. Pages 34-37
ORDER #14: PLAYING TO WIN
Nobody knows how information stored in our genes is released from its nuclear limbo. But scientists in America think they are getting close. Pages 38-40
-ENDS-
April 9, 1997
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