Feel that face transplant
Although she can鈥檛 smile properly yet, the recipient of the world鈥檚 first face transplant is doing well, according to the first scientific report of the operation. The transplant team says in The Lancet that Isabelle Dinoire can now feel sensation in her face, proof that nerves from the transplanted tissue are connecting with her own.
New front against malaria
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Astemizole, an antihistamine drug on the market in many Asian countries, has shown promise against resistant forms of malaria, say researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland. The drug worked well in mice infected with malaria parasites resistant to standard therapies, they report in Nature Chemical Biology.
Trawl to a halt
Four major fishing companies, from Australia, Mauritius, New Zealand and Namibia, called a voluntary halt on 6 July to trawling in 11 deep-sea areas of the southern Indian Ocean. The aim is to protect the sea floor and conserve biodiversity. The combined area covers some 310,000 square kilometres.
Giant galactic blob
A blob of gas 200,000 light years across appears to be falling onto a core of dark matter. Discovered using the Very Large Telescope in Chile, it is seen at a time when the universe was only 2 billion years old. The peculiar spectrum of the blob鈥檚 light suggests that it is made of cold gas being gathered together by dark matter to form a large galaxy.
Keep quiet for whales
To protect whales and dolphins off the coast of Hawaii, a federal judge in California has temporarily banned the US navy from using powerful sonar equipment during a military exercise in the area. The navy, whose exercise involves 40 ships and 6 submarines, must wait until 18 July to appeal.