Face transplant death
The first person to get both a face and a double hand transplant died on 15 June after a heart attack during an operation to treat a facial infection. It鈥檚 not clear if the French man鈥檚 death was linked to the grafts. His surgeon says that it is unlikely but tests are ongoing to determine this.
FDA to control tobacco
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The US Senate has voted to hand regulation of the tobacco industry to the Food and Drug Administration. Under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, the FDA will have the power to restrict the marketing of tobacco products, which should raise the bar on the quality of science needed to stand up any health claims.
Panda love
Female giant pandas can tell suitors apart by their love calls (Biology Letters, ). Zoos might record and play back the calls to encourage the endangered animals to breed, say the researchers.
Telescope 鈥榦pens eyes鈥�
The , launched into space in May to observe far-infrared radiation from newborn stars, has released the hatch protecting its mirrors and instruments. Already 1.5 million kilometres from Earth, the telescope will begin observing the heavens within weeks.
Crash still a mystery
The head of the French investigation into the mid-Atlantic loss of the Air France Airbus A330 on 1 June has warned commentators not to try to decipher the automatic maintenance alerts sent out before it crashed. Paul-Louis Arslanian says the data is 鈥渘ot designed for investigations鈥�. The plane鈥檚 intact tail fin was recovered at sea last week and its distance from other wreckage suggested it may have sheered off at altitude.