Return of a river
After almost 100 dry years, water is once again flowing down long stretches of the Owens River in Inyo county, California. In 1913 the Owens was redirected to supply Los Angeles 鈥� the dealings inspired the film Chinatown 鈥� but court action has now forced the city to mount a huge restoration project.
No smoke for kids
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Cigarette smoking is to become an adult-only activity in the UK from October. A plan to raise the minimum age for buying tobacco from 16 to 18 years was announced on 1 January and follows a ban on smoking in all enclosed public places and workplaces, which takes effect nationwide in July.
Help for infertile apes
A human fertility drug has helped a gorilla have a baby. The 30-year-old western lowland gorilla at Bristol Zoo Gardens, UK, was suffering from diminished ovarian reserve, a condition only previously diagnosed in humans, and so was treated with the drug clomifene. Captive breeding of western lowland gorillas, which are endangered, is regarded as crucial to saving the species.
Where gases go to water
An observatory for monitoring the destruction of greenhouse gases by tropical oceans was opened this week on S茫o Vicente, one of the Cape Verde Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. To be run by the UK Natural Environment Research Council and its international partners, the observatory will study the chemical reactions between the gases and the surface of the ocean.
The truth is online
UFO believers and sceptics alike will soon have extra fuel for their arguments. News agency Reuters says that the French National Space Studies Centre (CNES) is to make its archive of 6000 reports, filed by the public and airline professionals over almost 30 years, available on its website.