Oxygen reprieve
The International Space Station will soon get a breath of fresh air. A US-built oxygen generator will arrive on the next space shuttle, due for launch in May. The crew currently relies on the Russian-built Elektron generator, which often breaks down, leaving them dependent on stored oxygen.
Shaken baby verdicts
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Only three people convicted of shaking their babies to death in the UK will have their cases reopened. The decision, announced on Tuesday, ends the review of 88 cases ordered in 2003 by Attorney General Lord Goldsmith. The review was prompted by the acquittal of three women after the appeal courts judged their convictions were based on misleading expert evidence.
Whales killed for dog food
Dogs in Japan are enjoying whale-meat dinners, according to the UK-based Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society. Japan catches more than 1000 minke whales a year, as well as smaller numbers of other species, but demand for the meat is falling so websites are now selling surplus meat as dog food.
No breast cancer link
Weak electromagnetic fields from electrical wiring and appliances don鈥檛 cause breast cancer, the UK鈥檚 Health Protection Agency announced last week, after a report by an independent advisory group into the risks. Nor is there any evidence that the fields disrupt the production and function of melatonin, a hormone considered to protect against breast cancer.
In the soup
The cherished idea, first suggested by Charles Darwin, that life on Earth emerged billions of years ago from a warm prebiotic soup may not be correct after all. 杏吧原创s at a meeting of the Royal Society in London on Tuesday said that when DNA molecules and amino acids form in warm volcanic puddles they bind strongly to clay particles and can take no further part in reactions.