NEWSCIENTIST PRESS RELEASE
EMBARGO: NOT FOR PUBLICATION BEFORE THURSDAY, APRIL 3, 1997
ORDER #1: PARKINSON'S HOPES STEM FROM CELL TRIGGER Injections of a protein called sonic hedgehog into the brains of people with Parkinson's disease may be able to restore the number of dopamine-producing cells in the brain and safeguard them from further damage. Page 24
ORDER #2: ORGANIC MOLECULES ON JUPITER'S MOONS The Galileo spacecraft may have caught a glimpse of molecules containing carbon and nitrogen on the surface of two of Jupiter's moons. The presence of these elements, which are vital for creating life, adds these worlds to the growing list of places in the solar system that may have once harboured living creatures. Page 21
ORDER #3: ROW OVER STERILISATION DIVIDES INDIA Critics of a controversial technique for sterilising women are preparing to take the Indian government to court for turning a blind eye to its use in a number of Indian cities. The government has not approved the method, yet trials of the technique are going ahead under the auspices of non-governmental organisations. Page 4
ORDER #4: ORGANS FOR RESEARCH ARE ON THE CARDS People in Britain who are willing for their organs to be used for medical research after their death may soon be able to declare their wishes on officially recognised organ donor cards. Page 5
ORDER #5: 'HOPELESS' HIV TESTING FAILS BRITAIN'S UNBORN CHILDREN
Hundreds of British babies have been needlessly infected with HIV, say leading AIDS researchers. They want Britain to follow the lead of healthcare systems in the US and France, where pregnant women are routinely offered HIV tests. Women who test positive can then be treated with the drug AZT, which reduces the chance that their child will be infected with the virus. Page 6
ORDER #6: VIENNESE VICE SQUAD SPARKS NET STRIKE Austria's electronic borders were closed last week as Internet service providers protested at what they see as heavy-handed methods employed by police to control pornography on the Net. Page 7
ORDER #7: BRENT SPAR MAY BE JUST THE BEGINNING Oil companies could be forced to dispose of virtually all disused North Sea oil platforms on land, starting later this year. This month, the Dutch government will table tough new rules for decommissioning platforms that would allow only those in the deepest water to be left in the sea. Page 10
ORDER #8: BOHEMIAN RHINOS RAISE BREEDING HOPES The Cold War set NATO against a string of Soviet military bases throughout Eastern Europe. Now the two may come together to help save one of the world's most endangered species. Page 11
ORDER #9: SOUTHERN OCEANS HOLD KEY TO CLIMATE The waxing and waning of ocean currents almost as far south as Antarctica may have triggered regular growth spurts in Arctic ice sheets over the past 140,000 years. Researchers in Britain and Germany studying fossilised protozoans in the southern Atlantic say that their finding may lead to better predictions of the rate of global warming. Page 21
ORDER #10: PICKING UP THE TWISTER'S BAD VIBRATIONS Keeping your ear to the ground could give you early warning of an approaching tornado. Now an electronic ear that will do the job for you is in prospect. Page 26
ORDER #11: PALMTOP PLANES
American researchers are developing tiny spyplanes powered by jet engines the size of shirt buttons. The aircraft will be small enough to fit in a soldier's backpack, will carry solid state cameras, infrared sensors or radar detectors and broadcast images back to a Gameboy-style control unit. Pages 36-41
ORDER #12: MUD STICKS Mudslinging works and election strategists know this, say American propaganda experts. Negative campaigning is here to stay. Pages 28-30
ORDER #13: TIME TO DIE The electron may be not be a fundamental particle after all. A mysterious series of high energy collisions in a particle accelerator in Germany indicates that the electron, 100 years old this month, may be made up of even smaller particles. Pages 32-35
ORDER #14: JUPITER'S ODD BUNCH The Galileo spacecraft is sending back images showing that the Jovian moons are stranger than anybody had imagined. Now scientists must come up with some explanations. Pages 42-45
-ENDS-
April 1, 1997
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