MAGAZINE ISSUE DATE: 1 OCTOBER 2005 (Vol. 187 No 2519)
NEWS:
SHOT IN THE ARM FOR TIRED MALARIA DRUGMalaria is on the march again across Africa. But Australian-led research shows help may be at hand for millions of infected people in the form of an old, cheap anti-malarial drug that is poised to make a comeback after parasite resistance had left it almost useless. Tests show that chloroquine's potency is restored when combined with another drug, called primaquine. Page 14
URGENT CALL TO END RUNWAY NEAR-MISSESThe head of the US air accident investigation body is calling for significant improvements to the technology used to prevent runway collisions, which are occurring with "alarming frequency" . He claims the current system which relies on an alert from the air traffic controller often means pilots don't have enough time to react. Pages 22-23
THE COACH YOU CAN'T IGNORERather than being shouted at by a coach, sports stars may soon find themselves being pushed around by their clothing. A team in the Netherlands have designed tactile sports garments which have already been tested on rowers. Sensors in the garment monitor the speed of the athlete's movements. If the rower deviates from the optimum speed, vibrating pads prompt the wearer to use more of certain muscle groups. Page 21
WHY THE UNIVERSE IS EXPANDING WITHOUT USCosmologists accept that the universe is expanding. But if space expands do we all get bigger with it? Although the standard answer is "no" , an American physicist decided to find an explanation. He has calculated that while some objects are stretched by cosmological expansion, others, like you and me, are not. Page 13
PILL-SIZED CAMERA GETS TO GRIPS WITH YOUR GUTIt sounds painful " a robotic camera capsule that can clamp itself onto your gut wall. The radio-controlled camera can park at any site of interest on command, giving doctors greater control over what images it takes of the intestine. The Italian researchers have tested the device out on pig tissue, but hope to begin human trials soon. Page 24
NASA SETS ITS SIGHTS ON THE MOONLast week NASA unveiled a "high priority" list of where on the moon astronauts might land. The sites show a number of reasons to revisit the moon. Some sites should reveal more about the moon's geological history, while others may offer valuable resources that might support a future human settlement or missions beyond the moon. Page 7
CLIMATE DOESN'T SWING TO THE RHYTHM OF THE SUNAn analysis of trees preserved in bogs in Ireland challenges climate sceptics who say that current climate warming is due to an increase in solar activity. The Australian study is the first to chart both changes in climate and changes in the sun's activity using data from the same source. The data shows there is no simple relationship between the peaks in the sun's activity and peaks in warmer conditions. Page 11
TOAST AS YOU LIKE IT (SHORT ARTICLE)A toaster that uses radiation to prevent toast burning has been given the go-ahead in the UK. By combining a household smoke detector with an electric toaster, it promises to deliver "perfect toast every time" . Page 21
FEATURES:
SLIMMING FOR SLACKERSThe human gut contains thousands of species of bacteria, but every individual is different. One American researcher believes that your gut microbes could predispose you to obesity " i.e. some may have more microbes that are better than others at extracting fat from food and storing it. He also believes that by manipulating the inhabitants in your gut he can make you thin again. Pages 38-41
STRAP IN, TURN ON, BLAST OFFThe dream of strapping on an engine to your back and leaping into the sky has been around for decades. But jetpack travel has never really caught on with commuters, and the story has been one of lethal rocket fuel, successive failures, and even kidnap and murder. Yet there are still a small number of enthusiasts who are keeping the dream alive. Pages 26-30
ROCK IDOLThe T. rex may not have become such a household name as the most ferocious monster ever to walk the earth, if it wasn't for some fierce rivalry between American museums a century ago and a cleverly planned publicity stunt. Pages 30-33
SOMETHING FOR NOTHINGThe same force that pushes two metal plates together in a vacuum may be pulling the universe apart. And if we knew more about this "zero point energy" we would know if the universe will keep blowing up forever or eventually collapse. Pages 34-37
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