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ORDER #1: WILL CLONED COWS RISE FROM THE DEAD? Dolly the sheep may soon be joined by a herd of cloned cows as Danish researchers use genetic material from dead cows to clone cattle, pointing to the disturbing possibility of applying the technology to dead humans. Page 5
ORDER #2: SUPERMOTHS SPELL TROUBLE FOR NATURAL PESTICIDE
Resistance to the most important biopesticide now in use could evolve far faster than farmers had hoped. Research from the US into diamondback moths exposed to toxins made by the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis suggests that widespread resistance could emerge in just a few years. Page 5
ORDER #3: MYSTERY OF THE MISSING PENIS The fact that almost all bird species no longer have a penis has led biologists to wonder what the evolutionary advantage was fro underendowed males. But researchers in Britain and Canada think the organ was lost because females prefer their mate without it. Page 19
ORDER #4: 'FLY SWATTER' HUNTS SATELLITE SNOOPS The US Army is developing a weapon to destroy enemy spy satellites which would be tested in space next year. Resembling a fly swatter, it is designed to smack a satellite hard enough to disrupt its electronics but not to break it to pieces. Page 7
ORDER #5: COLD WAR WASTE FOULS THE CLYDE Toxic waste thrown overboard into the Holy Loch on the Clyde estuary when it was used as a US nuclear submarine base has transformed it into one of the dirtiest stretches of coastal water in the world. But one of Britain's leading marine scientists says that the Ministry of Defence plans to clean up the loch could make the problem even worse by threatening human health. Page 4
ORDER #6: FURRY SUBVERSIVES UNDERMINE BRITAIN'S RAILWAYS
Railtrack's new excuse for late trains isn't leaves or the wrong kind of snow, but rabbits. Embankments and cuttings riddled with the warrens of burrowing bunnies are at risk of collapsing in heavy rain, claims Railtrack. Page 6
ORDER #7: ODD TIMING KEEPS CICADAS IN THEIR PRIME The strange underground life of periodic cicadas, insects that enclose themselves in a burrow for either 13 or 17 years virtually to the day, has long intrigued biologists. A researcher in Japan now believes that their life cycle is a genetic hangover from their struggle to survive the ice age. Page 18
ORDER #8: VACCINE PROMISES TO STOP THE SLAUGHTER Hundreds of thousands of pigs are being slaughtered in the Netherlands and
Germany this week in an effort to contain Europe's latest outbreak of swine fever. But a new vaccine that could have prevented the killing has been developed by Dutch scientists and will be available next year. Page 20
ORDER #9: PLANTS ACQUIRE TASTE FOR 'BLOOD' Count Dracula's mythical thirst for blood now has an astonishing parallel in the plant world that could mean bumper harvests for farmers. When implanted with a gene that makes a bacterial version of haemoglobin, tobacco plants thrive and outgrow natural relatives, say researchers in sweden. Page 21
ORDER #10: GLASS PHARMACY Biochemists have developed simple sugars that keep drugs in a state of suspended animation. The new technique could preserve drugs for years on end and make them easier to take, too. Pages 24-27
ORDER #11: HOW RIGHT CAN YOU BE? When it comes to making predictions, even a near perfect track record can be almost useless, say mathematicians. So what hope is there for accurate weather forecasting? Pages 28-31
ORDER #12: THE SECRET IS IN THE FRIDGE Scientists at the European Space Agency have developed a way of cooling spacecraft to within a fraction of absolute zero. The technique should allow detectors to peer further into the Universe than ever before. Pages 32-35
ORDER #13: IT TAKES TWO
The supermaterials of the future will be metals that are reinforced with microscopic wires of other metals, according to American metallurgists. These materials will be stronger, stiffer and lighter than ordinary alloys. Pages 36-
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-ENDS-
March 4, 1997
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