Newswise — INVESTIGATIVE REPORT* - WHEN LOOKS CAN KILLThe American Society of Plastic Surgeons estimates that last year Americans underwent at least 10.2 million cosmetic surgery procedures. Cosmetic surgery has gone mainstream. In this special report New Scientist asks: are the nip and tuck generation facing dangers far worse than a botched operation? Alarmingly, recent studies are finding unexpected links between cosmetic surgery and suicide. Pages 18-21
*This is one of a series ofNew Scientist special investigative reports focusing on issues relating to science, technology and medicine in the US.
NEWS:
E-VOTING YOU CAN TRUSTWhen US voters go to the polls for mid-term elections in November, the vast majority will use electronic voting machines. But the big question is: can e-voting machines be trusted? A US computer scientist at the University of Maryland believes the future of voting lies with systems that use cryptography to protect user privacy, while allowing the voter to check that their vote has been counted correctly. Pages 30-31
CAPTURED, THE SWEET SCENT OF HAPPINESSIt would be the ultimate perfume: a scent that evokes happiness in everyone that smells it. While a way off yet, a company in the UK has developed a method using evidence from brain scans that could bring the perfume a step closer. While most responses to smells are learned, researchers have found that there are some pleasant fragrances that are hard-wired into our brains, regardless of a person's cultural background. Page 14
INFORMED CONSENTIt's a life and death situation: someone is unconscious in the back of an ambulance and the hospital is miles away. Paramedics have a blood substitute in their packs which might just keep the patient alive until he or she can receive a blood transfusion at the hospital. The problem is the treatment is experimental and still being tested. Consent is obviously unobtainable from the patient, so what do you do? Last week the US Food and Drug Administration held a public hearing to review its guidelines for handling these kinds of emergency situations. Up for discussion is the trial artificial blood substitute, PolyHeme, which has already been used in trauma patients in the US. Pages 8-9
OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF LUCKInvading mice are eating their way through the world's most important seabird colonies in the South Atlantic, while cats are eating endangered iguanas in the Caribbean. And it's all happening on British territory, on the surviving fragments of empire. This is the message from a meeting of environmentalists last week, blaming government indifference to threatened wildlife on these 14 UK overseas territories. Page 10
THE FASTEST ROUTE TO YOUR DESTINATIONOn facing a huge traffic jam ahead of you, you cleverly duck down a side street, only to find everyone else has done the same thing and you're faced with another queue. Now US researchers have developed a smart electronic map which is currently being tested in Seattle. The system can help drivers find the best route by predicting the traffic on all nearby roads, using information collated on vehicle speeds, the day of the week, time, and weather conditions. Page 32
FEATURES:FUTURE CHILDHaving children is not what it was. In rich societies we are having fewer children, ever later in life. IVF is now commonplace and we are on the brink of even bigger changes. Soon maybe even eggs and sperm won't be essential. In this special report New Scientist looks at the future of reproduction.
SEX IS FOR FUN, IVF IS FOR CHILDRENWill we one day come to see natural conception as irresponsible? With the development of pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), increasing numbers of fertile couples with a family history of a serious disease, are opting for IVF with PGD so they can chose their child will not inherit it. Others are using the same technique to choose the sex of their child. There are of course costs and risks involved, but could IVF-PGD one day become the preferred method of conception? Pages 42-45
METHUSELAH MUMSWomen who are having children are now often leaving it later in life. The most dramatic changes being in the older age groups, with a staggering 70 per cent increase in the number of women in the US aged 40-44 giving birth for the first time. But the health risks to mum and child rise rapidly for mothers who leave having a baby until the age of 40 plus. So can advances in technology and fertility treatments buy women time who want to have a baby? Pages 47-51
THE EGG AND SPERM RACEMillions of women, who are delaying having children until later in life for one reason or another, may find that they are no longer fertile. Donated eggs are an option, but hard to come by and most women prefer a child that is genetically their own. Many groups around the world are racing to produce fertile human eggs and sperm from stem cells. The implications would be huge: from genetically engineered people to gay couples having their own biological children. Pages 52-54
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