Damning report
US researchers who deliberately and secretly infected more than 1000 Guatemalan prisoners and soldiers with syphilis between 1946 and 1948 were guilty of 鈥済ross violations of ethics鈥�, concludes a report this week by the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues. The report carries evidence that researchers knew at the time that their work was unethical.
Live long and slumber
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The secret to everlasting youth is a good nap. When enter torpor, the caps on the ends of their chromosomes get longer. Normally these caps, called telomeres, get shorter as an animal ages, but somehow the process is reversed in these hamsters ().
Powerful coconuts
Coconuts and sunshine will soon power the South Pacific islands of Tokelau, home to about 1500 people. Tokelau鈥檚 leader, Foua Toloa, announced this week that by mid-2012 solar energy will supply 93 per cent of Tokelau鈥檚 electricity, with the rest coming from coconut oil.
Mossy millipede
Rolling stones may gather no moss, but some millipedes can. Recently discovered in Colombia, Psammodesmus bryophorus carries 10 species of moss on its underside. It is not clear why, but initial studies suggest the plants may be beneficial to their host ().
Soyuz crash cause
A clogged fuel line caused a Soyuz rocket to crash in August, Russia鈥檚 space agency says. It is not clear, though, whether the glitch can be fully addressed in other Soyuz craft in time to avoid evacuating the International Space Station. Crewed launches to the ISS have been grounded in the wake of the crash.