TO KNOW OR NOT TO KNOW"¦Every American between the ages of 13 and 64 could be advised to take a routine HIV test, regardless or not of whether they are at high risk of contracting the disease, according to new guidelines expected to be published by the US Centers for Disease Control. The World Health Organisation is expected to follow suit with routine testing elsewhere. But the recommendations could raise a raft of issues including the availability of drugs, the rights of individuals and what is in the interest of the public. NEWS Pages 8-9
OZONE HOLE ALTERS ANTARCTIC SEA LIFEThe ozone hole over Antarctica could be having a bigger impact on life in the region than anyone realised, according to a new analysis by researchers at the Australian Antarctic Division in Tasmania. In clear, summer skies under the ozone hole, higher levels of UVB light can significantly reduce phytoplankton blooms. The team says this will then have a knock-on effect on the rest of the food web. NEWS Page 18
WHY THIS MIGHT LOOK FAMILIARYou may have often wondered what triggers that strange sense of déjà vu, where you experience familiarity about something or someone you have seen. Now, researchers in the UK are using hypnosis on volunteers to induce déjà vu in the lab. They hope to be able to support a possible theory on the cause of the phenomenon, and throw light on the workings of the human memory. NEWS Page 16
THE TEEN GENEWhat triggers puberty and why does the average age seem to be falling? In the past few years scientists have identified the key protein that controls puberty, known as kisspeptin. Its discovery has opened up possibilities of treatments for people with disorders of puberty. And, more controversially, it could also be developed as a drug for parents wanting to delay their child's sexual maturity to be better in line with social maturity. FEATURE Pages 35-38
LACK OF SLEEP ZAPS MEN'S BRAIN POWERSharing a bed with someone could actually make you stupid if you're a man " temporarily.In a small survey, a team of researchers in Austria found that even without having sex, bed sharing disturbs men's sleep more than women's. Further more, lack of sleep led to increased levels of stress hormones in men, and reduced their ability to perform simple cognitive tests the next day. SHORT NEWS STORY Page 22
STATIC HELPS SATELLITES SWARMStatic electricity could be used to control satellites in space using much less fuel. Researchers at the European Space Agency have shown that static electricity can be used to make a group of small satellites attract and repel each other. They hope the technique can be used to control a group of small telescopes on a mission searching for signs of extraterrestrial life. NEWS Page 32
DIG HERE FOR TREASURES OF THE ANCIENT WORLDTechniques borrowed from physics are adding a new range of tools to archaeologists' kit. Unlike conventional hand-held devices, they can be towed behind vehicles to produce a picture of a subterranean scene in a fraction of the time. The sensors have already speeded up the process of mapping artefacts in archaeological sites in the UK. NEWS Pages 30-31
RELIC NEUTRINOS JOIN HUNT FOR DARK ENERGYThe search for the mysterious dark energy could soon move underground. Millions of core-collapsed supernovae that have gone off throughout the history of the universe have spewed out neutrinos. And US researchers believe that these supernovae relic neutrinos, which can be detected in giant underground water tanks, may become the new probes for dark energy. NEWS Page 17
BUBBLE OUSTS BLACK HOLE AT CENTRE OF THE GALAXYCosmologists believe the supermassive objects at the centres of galaxies must be black holes. And that these black holes are responsible for X-ray flares coming from the centre of the galaxy. However, a physicist in the US believes that hypothetical objects called axions, considered as a possible candidate for dark matter, could solve the mystery. He thinks that giant bubbles of axions have created the supermassive object at the centre of our galaxy. They could even explain the puzzling pattern of X-ray emissions from the heart of the Milky Way. NEWS Page 11
HOW DID IT COME TO THIS?After the Exxon Valdez oil tanker disaster in 1989, governments and shipping authorities drafted a plan to upgrade the global fleet of more than 2000 unsafe oil tankers. There are many large dry docks in Europe and China that could easily break ships of this size, to unload and safely dispose of the oil sludge, toxic metals and hazardous chemicals. So why are these ships being broken for scrap on the beaches of India, Bangladeshi and Pakistan - spewing toxic waste into the environment? FEATURE Pages 39-41
LAST EXIT TO ANDROMEDASome of the Milky Way's stars are being thrown out of the galaxy. Nine of these "hypervelocity" stars have been seen racing out of the Milky Way at speeds of around 850 kilometres a second - most likely having been flung from the centre of our galaxy. But the galaxy's loss may be a gain for astronomers, as these stars can tell us some deep secrets about the cosmos. FEATURE Pages 42-45
UNNATURAL SELECTIONAttacks by computer worms on the internet spread like wildfire because most desktop computers run the same operating systems. It explains why are computers are so vulnerable, but could also offer a solution. If our computers aren't "diverse" enough why not add some "software diversity" so that no two computers are completely alike? Worms and viruses would then find it much harder to spread. FEATURE Pages 46-49
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