Newswise — IN NEWS THIS WEEK:
SOONER OR LATER, THE WATER WILL ARRIVEForecasters say the conditions are ripe for a major hurricane to hit the north-east coast of America. If one hits near New York, an area of more than 250 square kilometres could be affected by floods, forcing 2.2 million people to be evacuated from the city. Some scientists are proposing to build a barrier system similar to, but much larger than, the Thames barrier that protects London. It would undoubtedly be an expensive project, but a small price tag compared to estimates of damages from a severe hurricane ploughing through Manhatten. Pages 8-9
AN EPIDEMIC OF HOME-MADE HITSA study published this month suggests that a growing number of people are tampering with prescription drugs to get high " and the internet is just making it easier for people. Websites are telling abusers how you can use drugs recreationally: such as injecting or chewing drugs extracted from skin patches. Yet a single patch contains potentially lethal painkillers. Toxicologists are calling on pharmaceutical companies to make their drugs tamper proof. Pages 6-7
LETTING THEM CRY WILL END IN MORE TEARSThe hands-off approach to bawling babies could backfire. A researcher in London suggests that comforting your baby on demand could minimise fussing and crying, at least during the first few weeks of life. Page 17
THE CODE THAT KEEPS YOUR FINGERPRINTS SECUREIt could soon become much harder for thieves to steal your digital identity. Unlike conventional biometrics that store the raw details of a fingerprint or iris scan, a new technique generates a unique code that cannot be used to reconstruct the original fingerprint or scan. An America company have created an algorithm that ensures the raw details need never be stored " making the code useless to anyone but the owner of the original body part. Page 28
THE POWER OF CHOCOLATEUK researchers have powered a fuel-cell by feeding bacteria with chocolate. Sugar-loving bacteria consumed chocolate-factory waste, and produced hydrogen which powered a fuel cell. The fuel cell then generated enough electricity to drive a small fan. The process could provide a use for chocolate waste that would otherwise end up in a landfill. Page 25
'ALIEN CODE' LEADS TO FASTER VACCINESFour years ago, researchers scared the world by making the polio virus from scratch. Now the same team in New York are using the same method to create weakened viruses that could speed up the development of new vaccines. The sickly viruses would find it harder to make protein and therefore replicate more slowly, making them less dangerous. Page 16
WHY WATER FREEZES FASTER AFTER HEATINGWhy does hot water freeze quicker than cold water? This bizarre property of water which has remained a mystery since the Greek philosopher Aristotle first observed it, may at last have been solved. A US scientist says the answer is all to do with solutes. Page 10
FEATURES:
HOW TO LIVE TO 100"¦and enjoy itCentenarians are the fastest-growing demographic in the developed world. There haven't been any miracle anti-ageing pills"¦yet (see page 39), so we must be stretching our lifespan by the way we live. New Scientist takes a look at the emerging science of longevity to find out how we can maximise our chances of hitting the grand old age of 100. (Pages 33-43)
"¢ Go for the burn. Many researchers believe that small doses of "stressors" such as poisons, radiation and heat, can actually reverse the ageing process. The idea is that stressors kick-start the body's self-repair mechanism with enough oomph to repair unrelated damage as well.
"¢ Don't be a loner. Close relationships with friends, family or even pets will do the trick. But research shows that the biggest longevity boost comes from being married.
"¢ Consider relocation. Some believe that your environment accounts for up to 70 per cent of a longer life.
"¢ Make a virtue out of a vice. Your best shot at becoming a centenarian is to become a nun. But what's the point in living to 100 if you can't have fun getting there? If you're going to have a vice, choose carefully, and make sure you get a lot of pleasure out of it.
"¢ Exercise the grey cells. Many studies have shown that mental gymnastics " from learning a language to doing crosswords " can fend off dementia in old age.
"¢ Smile! A happier life leads to a longer one. Having a sunny disposition can help you cope better with stress and increase your chances of recovering from diseases.
"¢ Watch what you eat. Restricting calorie intake has been proven to extend the lives of mice by about 30 per cent. Is it likely to have the same effect on humans?
"¢ Get a life. Regular thrills and new experiences don't extend longevity unfortunately, but they will make the years seem like they're passing slower.
"¢ Do animals hold the key? Can we learn any secrets from sea urchins and rockfish which manage to live for 200 years?
ON THE RIGHT TRACKWith over 25 million digital music tracks now online, it's not surprising that searching for that tune takes a little time. You can list your own collections by artist or genre, but it's not always accurate, and searching by text can take time. Now teams are clambering to be the first to develop software that can search for tracks online using the music characteristics - like the instruments played, tempo or harmony - from a sample tune on your playlist - Pages 30-32
FLY ANOTHER DAYWhen NASA's Pioneer 10 probe disappeared in 2003, it was 400,000 kilometres off track. And now it seems its twin Pioneer 11 is about to follow the same course. Some physicists believe that we could have gravity all wrong. Now several teams are about to pore through 30 years' worth of measurements about the spacecrafts' trajectories " in what will be the very first reconstruction of a space mission " to hunt for any anomalies. Pages 46-49
IF REPORTING ON ANY OF THE STORIES ABOVE, PLEASE CREDIT NEW SCIENTIST AS THE SOURCE, AND IF PUBLISHING ONLINE, PLEASE INCLUDE A LINK TO: http://www.newscientist.com
New Scientist is the world's leading science and technology news weekly, boasting a circulation of 165,000.
RSS