the-BA : Science News Digest

Animal testing - in the news again this week (Image: RDS/Wellcome Trust Photographic Library)

In the news this week, pro-vivisectionists go on the offensive in Oxford, a German cat dies of bird flu and Jeremy Clarkson does his bit to help climate change...

Over the weekend, Oxford – the scene of a number of anti-vivisection protests after construction began on an £18 million research laboratory – found itself hosting another demonstration, this time by the pro-vivisection lobby.

As the Daily Telegraph reports, the group, Pro-Test, is led by an unlikely front man...

'He is 16 and works from a bedroom strewn with empty Coke cans and fried chicken boxes. But Laurie Pycroft, a school drop-out, is leading the fightback against animal rights extremists.'

Pycroft, who has received death threats for his stance, has also received much interest for his blog, in which he writes about his views on animal testing.

Professor Sir David King, the government's chief scientific adviser, told the BBC this week that he expects bird flu to arrive in the UK and remain for years. Farmers apparently have reacted with "surprise" at his comments.

Still, at least his comments were far more tempered than an ad which appeared in the press recently. The ad, which was condemned this week by the Advertising Standards Authority, was titled "Bird Flu Panic!" and said scientists had claimed that an epidemic could lead to 25 per cent of the country's population dying within 18 months.

Meanwhile, cat owners in Germany were being warned to keep their cats indoors after a cat there died from the deadly H5N1 strain, as the Guardian reports.

In an interview with the Times this week, Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks accused 4x4 drivers of being crass and irresponsible, warning that drivers of gas-guzzling cars are to be penalised under measures being developed to tackle climate change.

Desperately trying to prove himself crass and irresponsible, Jeremy Clarkson wrote: 'I care more about the colour of the gear knob on my Mercedes SLK than the amount of carbon dioxide it produces. I’m not going show any interest in what comes out the back until there is 100 per cent agreement among scientists that CO2 will cause catastrophic climate change.'

We’re not holding out much hope that he will be endorsing Click for the Climate, which launches at the start of National Science Week next week.

Despite scientists condemning the rise in short haul flights as being a significant contributor to carbon dioxide emissions, EasyJet’s new chief executive, Andy Harrison, this week described the airline as "environmentally friendly". In an interview with the Guardian, Mr Harrison claimed that the airline was far more green conscious than its rivals.

Meanwhile, BBC News Online reported that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the global scientific body on climate change, will report soon that freak weather patterns can only be explained by greenhouse gas emissions. They had previously said gases such as CO2 were "probably" to blame.

In other news this week...

School tuck shops and vending machines are to be banned from selling junk food such as crisps, chocolate bars and sugary drinks. (Daily Mail)

Geneticists have drawn up the most accurate tree of life yet and pinpointed what they believe to be the organism from which all other life on Earth evolved. (Guardian)

Russia plans to hit a golf ball into Earth orbit from the International Space Station. If NASA approves the plan, the ball would set records for the longest drive ever made – but some experts warn that a mishap could cause "catastrophic" damage to the station. (New Scientist Space)

And finally – what, with climate change and bird flu dominating the news, you might be feeling a little pessimistic. And if you think we’re all doomed, then you may well be...

The Daily Mail this week reported that men with a positive view of life are half as likely to die of heart disease or stroke than their more pessimistic peers.

Ah well. Time to get back to my half-empty cup of tea...