EMBARGO: NOT FOR PUBLICATION BEFORE 1400 HOURS (EST)
WEDNESDAY, 2 FEBRUARY 2000
ORDER #1: DOWN BUT NOT OUT
The World Health Organization plans to eradicate polio by 2005. Once the disease has died out we can stop vaccinating people. Or can we? Some polio experts fear that it won't be that easy - the weakened virus used for the vaccine could revert to the dangerous type once the disease has been destroyed. Pages 20-21
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns2224184
ORDER #2: MONKEY BUSINESS
A controversial theory about why monkeys and mammals change the colour of their fur seemed so wacky that most researchers politely ignored it. But evidence is now emerging that the mammalogist who proposed the theory of metachromism may have been right after all. Pages 31-35
ORDER #3: KILLER FROM THE SEA
The world's coral reefs could keep crops weed-free. Biologists from Queensland have stumbled across new, natural weedkiller compounds in reefs which could be developed into herbicides harmless to people, animals and crop plants. Page 7
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns2224179
ORDER #4: EAU D'ASTEROID (SHORT STORY)
If you want your armpits to smell of a chunk of meteorite then a bizarre new fragrance developed by ICI in Kent is for you. The smell was developed to show that the company can recreate just about any stench that may be demanded. Page 17
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns2224183
ORDER #5: SWITCH ON
Bugs living on the seafloor may soon be powering equipment such as sensors and sonar beacons. Different reactions from microorganisms living in seawater create an electrical potential difference that can be harnessed in a fuel cell to provide a never-ending source of electricity. Page 10
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns2224181
ORDER #6: KEEPING AN EYE ON THE OCEAN
Seals and yachts could help oceanographers reveal data from the depths of remote ocean areas where existing data is scarce. By attaching electronic probes to the animals and boats, researchers in California hope to monitor everything from temperature to phytoplankton levels. Page 10
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns2224180
ORDER #7: THE FIELD WORKERS
Stimulate the brain with a magnet and you could start to look at how particular parts of the brain control different behaviours. Researchers hope that this magnetic stimulation technique could even enhance learning or lift people out of depression. Pages 36-39
ORDER #8: THE WRONG TRAP
A new digital speed trap system that is impossible for drivers to beat may turn out to be a lot more expensive than British police departments had bargained for. An American patent lawyer has revealed that he has been granted a US patent on a similar idea, and hopes to claim substantial royalties for its use. Page 17
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns2224182
ORDER #9: SOFT LANDING
A massive shuttlecock-shaped inflatable heat shield could make space flight cheaper. The heat shield, due to be tested next week, should be sufficient to decelerate the spacecraft on its return to Earth. Without the need for a parachute, the craft's size shrinks, cutting costs. Page 6
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns2224178
ORDER #10: BACKWARDS TO THE FUTURE
There could be places, perhaps even within our Galaxy, where stars unexplode, eggs unbreak and where people grow younger every day. Marcus Chown investigates the world where time could run backwards. Pages 26-30
http://www.newscientist.com/features/features.jsp?id=ns2224159
ORDER #11: IT'S A FUNNY OLD WORLD
We know less about the 3D space we have spent several million years living in than we do about spaces with any other number of dimensions. For this reason 3D space is becoming a hot topic in maths. Pages 41-43
ORDER #12: CAMELS WIN PRIZES
Why would a research scientist want to work for a prince? New Scientist asked Lulu Skidmore who runs the Camel Reproduction Centre for Sheikh Mohammed of Dubai. Pages 45-47
http://www.newscientist.com/opinion/opinion.jsp?id=ns2224185
-- ENDS --
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Issue cover date:- 5 FEBRUARY 2000
US GEOGRAPHIC INDEX:
CALIFORNIA: Order # 6
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Order # 5
MASSACHUSETTS: Order # 8
OREGON: Order # 5
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