NEW SCIENTIST PRESS RELEASE
ORDER #1: SUFFER THE CHILDREN
Tampering with genes in human sperm and eggs is outlawed, since any
unforeseen side effects would be passed on to future generations.But
US health officials are worried that human reproductive cells have
accidentally been contaminated during gene therapy trials. Page 7
ORDER #2: UNDERMINING OUR LIVES?
Bernard Cohen, a radiation physicist at the University of Pittsburgh,
has completed the biggest ever study into what is supposedly the most
important cause of lung cancer other than smoking - radon gas. His
investigation, which drew on data from almost half a million homes in
the US, suggests that below a certain level of exposure the risk of
contracting lung cancer from radon is zero. Pages 20-21
ORDER #3: FROM A WATERY GRAVE
Whale corpses rotting deep in the Pacific Ocean are yielding bacterial
enzymes that could let us wash our dirty laundry in cold water.
Samples from whale carcasses have been shown to contain enzymes that
digest oils and fats at temperatures ideal for cold-water detergents.
Page 24
ORDER #4: HORMONE HISTORY
Spanish researchers have found that Bakelite, used to make moulded
plastic products since 1909, mimics the effects of the female sex
hormone estrogen. This discovery could push back the problems
associated with human exposure to endocrine disrupters by many years.
Page 22
ORDER #5: WHO'S WATCHING YOU?
Detector vans could soon be roaming the streets looking for companies
that have not paid their software licence fees. Computer scientists
have found a way to display a hidden message - such as
software licence number - on a computer screen which can then be read
up to 40 metres away on a television screen.
Page 11
ORDER #6: MEDICINE ON A PLATE
In Europe, there are no laws to prevent unscrupulous companies making
bogus health claims about their food products. Consumer
groups have now joined forces with the
food industry and trading standards officers to draft a code to police
the claims made for "functional foods".
Page 13
ORDER #7: LANDMINE PYROTECHNICS
By turning a traditional firework into a blowtorch, defence
researchers in Britain have devised a cheap, safe and simple method of
burning landmines to a cinder without having to explode them. Operated
by battery from a distance of 50 metres, FireAnt torches the mine,
burning out the explosives in a few minutes. Page 10
ORDER #8: BEYOND REALITY
Information, you may think, is an image, a recording or a page of
text--anything that can be reduced to the digital bits of the computer
age. But physicists now have a more peculiar idea. Looking at how
information behaves in the quantum world of atoms and electrons, they
are beginning to see information as a superweird new substance, more
ethereal than matter or energy, but every bit as real and perhaps even
more fundamental.
Pages 27-30
ORDER #9: OPEN WIDE, WE'RE GOING TO EXPLORE
Your mouth harbours an elaborate ecosystem of fungi, viruses,
parasites and, above all, bacteria. Fighting tooth decay by
annihilating them all, even the harmless ones, is like taking a
sledgehammer to crack a nut. Now there's a more subtle way to stop the
rot. Pages 32-37
ORDER #10: SCRAMBLE FOR SPACE
What do you get if you combine the fuel efficiency of a jet engine
with the raw, crackling power of a rocket? Enough power to send NASA's
first spaceplane into orbit, and a motor that could one day make
rockets obsolete. Pages 38-41
ORDER #11: THE PEOPLE EATERS
After thirty years of fierce controversy, the idea that cannibalism
was a common practise of our human ancestors is gaining ground, backed
by rigorous analysis of bones from around the world. Pages 43-46
PLEASE MENTION NEW SCIENTIST AS THE SOURCE OF THESE ITEMS
- ENDS -
Issue cover date: 14 March, 1998
For fax copies of full stories or to arrange an interview, please contact
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