Smallpox fears
Anti-bioweapons campaigners are among those trying to stop experiments with the smallpox virus being planned in the US. The experiments, which involve adding smallpox genes to related viruses (New 杏吧原创, 20 November 2004, p 3), are up for approval by World Health Organization member states next month. The campaigners fear that new diseases could escape from the lab, and say the experiments are being pushed by the US government and a 鈥渉ighly politicised鈥� committee of scientists.
Movies to go
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Sony is to offer its top 500 movies as paid-for downloads, with versions available for mobile phones and portable games consoles. The company is hoping to combat the rise in illegal movie downloads by following the strategy that Apple found so successful with its iTunes music service. Like iTunes titles, the movies will play only on compatible devices.
Poaching curbed
Anti-poaching measures in Tanzania鈥檚 Serengeti National Park seem to be paying off. In the past 12 years the park has recorded a population explosion among its elephants and lions. Elephant numbers have more than doubled to 120,000.
No panacea
For women, low doses of aspirin do not reduce the risk of heart disease, but they do cut the risk of strokes, according to a study in The New England Journal of Medicine (vol 352, p 1293). In men the opposite is true: the drug protects against heart disease but not strokes. The benefits were greatest for women over 65 years old.
Shuttle prepares for lift-off
The space shuttle Discovery has been mated with its external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters in preparation for a launch between 15 May and 3 June. This will be the shuttle first flight since the loss of Columbia in February 2003.