NEW SCIENTIST PRESS RELEASE
EMBARGO: NOT FOR PUBLICATION BEFORE
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1997
ORDER #1: LIVE AND DANGEROUS
Doctors who have made headlines around the world by volunteering to be
injected with a controversial AIDS vaccine could be facing much bigger
dangers than they realized. Research now suggests that the vaccine could
cause AIDS. Page 5
ORDER #2: EATEN ALIVE
A rare form of the horrific "flesh-eating" disease necrotising fasciitis may
be on the upsurge in Canada, infectious disease specialists warn. Five
cases caused by group B Streptococcus have appeared in Montreal since April
1996. Only four had been documented worldwide in the past 40 years. Page 12
ORDER #3: TRUST ME, I'M A COMPUTER
Alcoholics are twice as likely to confess a drinking problem to a computer
than to a doctor, say researchers in Wisconsin. The finding may lead to
better and cheaper ways to diagnose mental illness or psychiatric
difficulties. Page 11
ORDER #4: INVISIBLE WORLDS
The universe is home to as many invisible galaxies as visible ones,
according to astronomers in Scotland. This, they claim, explains two
mysteries at once: why images of distant quasars can appear distorted
despite the absence of a visible object in its path, and what became of the
many blue galaxies that populated the Universe when it was young. Page 15
ORDER #5: MUCK INTO MEDICINE
Guided by the maxim that where there's muck there's money, a Canadian
biotechnology company says it has found a way to raid the treasure trove of
potentially useful compounds made by soil-dwelling microorganisms. It also
plans to extract drugs from lichens. Page 8
ORDER #6: CANCER SETBACK
Biologists who thought they had found the molecular "fountain of youth" that
gives cancer cells their longevity may have to resume the search. Findings
from experiments in genetically engineered mice have dented hopes of
developing drugs that fight cancer by making tumours grow old and die. Page 12
ORDER #7: ERRORS OF EMISSION
Recycling and waste incineration, often seen as "green" alternatives to
landfill, are contaminating the environment with large amounts of the
notorious poison dioxin. In a review carried out for the Environment
Agency, metal recycling is identified as a major source of dioxin that has
been largely overlooked by green campaigners and regulators. Page 21
ORDER #8: HOWEVER HOT, JUST BURY THE LOT
Experts advising the British government have devised a bold plan for
overcoming objections to the deep burial of nuclear waste: make the waste
more dangerous. It is being sugested that 860 cubic metres of high level
waste and up to 6,000 cubic metres of spent fuel from nuclear reactors could
be buried alongside medium level radioactive waste. Page 20
ORDER #9: NOAH'S FLOOD
Scientists suspect that 7,000 years ago, vast swathes of land bordering the
Black Sea were suddenly engulfed by water in a matter of days. This Great
Flood may have inspired the myths of Noah and Gilgamesh. Pages 24-27
ORDER #10: GOD OF THE QUANTUM VACUUM
Who says scientists don't believe in God? In the big bang, the birth of
time and the inflation of the early Universe, many cosmologists still see
the hand of the Almighty at work. Pages 28-31
ORDER #11: DECLINE AND FALL
Computer scientists are making history repeat itself, and are revealing the
forces that brought about the growth and collapse of long-gone
civilisations. Pages 32-37
ORDER #12: GOOD VIBRATIONS
Inspired by a parasitic fly that wears its ears on its chest, engineers are
designing a hearing aid that is smaller and more effective than anything
around today. Pages 38-40
- ENDS -
October 1, 1997
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Issue cover date: October 4, 1997
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