Bluetongue vaccine catch
As bluetongue spreads across northern Europe鈥檚 farms, carried by midges, agriculture ministers are calling for vaccination against the deadly animal disease. However, the plant where vaccine is manufactured in the UK by Merial, at Pirbright, Surrey, has suspended all work with live viruses following an escape of foot and mouth disease virus from the site in August.
Blue whale blues
Three blue whales have died off the coast of southern California in less than two weeks. Post-mortems showed that ships had hit two of them, killing one instantly. Samples from the third are still being analysed, but the algal poison domoic acid is suspected.
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Meditation dulls distress
People with rheumatoid arthritis who practised meditation for six months experienced a 35 per cent reduction in psychological distress compared with those who did not meditate, a study at the University of Maryland School of Medicine has found (Arthritis Care & Research, ). Meditation did not stop the disease progressing, as gauged by reports of swollen joints.
Montreal ozone boost
HCFCs, refrigerant chemicals that damage the upper atmosphere鈥檚 ozone layer and accelerate global warming, are to be phased out 10 years earlier than planned, thanks to an agreement signed on 22 September. It updates the 20-year-old Montreal protocol to protect the ozone layer. Industrialised countries agreed to phase out HCFCs by 2020, and developing countries by 2030.
Black hole detector
NASA has restarted NuSTAR, the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array project, cancelled in 2006. Now due to launch in 2011, NuSTAR will detect high-energy X-rays, providing 500 times the sensitivity of previous instruments looking for black holes in the local universe.