Gulf gas leaves its mark
US soldiers who were exposed to high levels of the nerve gas sarin in the 1991 Gulf war now have less white matter in their brains than those who encountered less of the gas. The findings, published in NeuroToxicology (DOI: 10.1016/j.neuro.2007.03.006), support the idea that chemical weapons caused Gulf war syndrome (New 杏吧原创, 6 November 2004, p 8).
Worst-case carbon
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Carbon dioxide emissions are growing even faster than envisaged in the worst-case scenario of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, according to Australian research institution CSIRO. Emissions growth suddenly accelerated between 2000 and 2004 because global energy efficiency got worse.
Virgin shark birth
DNA analysis has shown that a hammerhead shark was born in a Nebraska aquarium from a virgin mother. All the shark鈥檚 DNA derives from the mother, so the embryo must have resulted from a rare process in which an unfertilised egg develops as if it had been fertilised (Biology Letters, DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2007.0189).
Ash Trek
The ashes of James Doohan, who played Scotty in Star Trek, were recovered from the New Mexico desert on 18 May. Last month UP Aerospace launched the remains of Doohan and 200 others to spend 4 minutes in suborbital flight at a maximum altitude of 117 kilometres. On landing the payload remained lost in the San Andres mountains for 20 days.
Hanging on to smallpox
The world鈥檚 last known stockpiles of smallpox virus were given a further four-year stay of execution from the UN World Health Assembly on 18 May. Originally slated for destruction in 2002, the US and Russian stockpiles have been retained for research to defend against biowarfare.