Old stem cells are go
It鈥檚 official: the most popular line of human embryonic stem cells qualifies for US federal funding. When President Barack Obama ended restrictions limiting funding of ESC research to around 20 lines, it wasn鈥檛 clear whether these old lines would meet new 鈥渋nformed consent鈥� requirements. Now the most popular of the older lines, plus some others, have been found to make the grade.
Too sleepy to over-drink
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A gene variant in about 10 per cent of people of African descent may make them too sleepy to get drunk. So say researchers who found that African Americans with a variant of the ADH1B*3 gene, known to reduce the risk of alcoholism, were more likely to report feeling sleepy when they drank (Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, vol 34, p 1).
Nuke count
After years of secrecy, the US has disclosed that it has 5113 nuclear warheads. The US government says it announced the number as an incentive to other nations to follow suit. Yet the total US arsenal could be many thousands more, because disabled or dismantled warheads were omitted from the count.
Climate jury named
The fate of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change could be decided by a 12-member committee appointed this week by the InterAcademy Council, a body that represents all the world鈥檚 science academies. The IPCC Review Committee will look at everything from how errors in climate research are corrected to the criteria the IPCC applies for inclusion in its reports.
Rogue sat
A satellite that may have been zapped by a solar storm is out of control. Galaxy 15 could interfere with the signals of other satellites as it strays towards them, its operator Intelsat fears.