the-BA : Science News Digest

In the news this week: climate change porn, global warming despair and environmental disaster. But things aren’t all bad, there’s also extraordinary new treatments for cancer and obesity, a Japanese moon base and eggs that let you know when they’re cooked.

Climate change and environmental issues have dominated the news this week. The Guardian reports that Labour-leaning think-tank, the Institute for Public Policy Research, has accused environmental groups, media organisations and the British government of broadcasting apocalyptic and alarmist visions of climate change that amount to ‘climate porn’. In a study entitled ‘Warm words’, the group argues that the message being delivered is “confusing, contradictory and chaotic” and, like a “disaster movie,” it counsels “despair” and disempowers the public by suggesting that the situation is beyond their control. The study, whose results were published on Thursday, examined 600 newspaper and magazine articles, 90 TV advertisements and websites run by green groups and the government.

Tony Blair and Arnold Schwarzenegger defied President George W Bush for the second time in a week on Monday, by announcing agreements to cut greenhouse gas emissions that side-step the US administration’s stance on global warming. The Telegraph reports that the Prime Minister and the Governor of California met to lay down the framework for a transatlantic ‘carbon trading’ scheme that would encourage companies to reduce their emissions. The meeting came just hours after Blair proposed a UK-California conference to promote stem cell research, in direct opposition to President Bush’s recent veto of a bill that would have expanded federal funds for embryonic stem cell research, reported previously in Science News Digest.

Emergency funding cuts at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) will reduce the department’s annual budget by about £200 million (5 percent) and will result in wildlife protection, waste management, fishery protection, canal repair and flood defence projects being scaled back, reports the Independent. Environmentalists have reacted with dismay to the news and Sir Martin Doughty, chairman of the new wildlife watchdog, Natural England (which is due to replace English Nature in October), said that the cuts risked "the wheels coming off the organisation" before it is even launched.

The Daily Mail reports that the government should quickly to begin burying the UK’s growing stockpile of nuclear waste, according to the findings of a 30-month study issued by the independent Committee on Radioactive Waste Management on Monday. Sir David Wallace, vice president of the Royal Society agreed with the report, saying: “It is important that we act with urgency because identifying appropriate sites and then consulting on and building these deep storage facilities will take decades.”

As the conflict in the Middle East worsens, BBC News reports that The United Nations Environment Programme has expressed “grave concern” about an oil slick in Lebanese coastal waters that now covers 50 miles of coastline. The spill, which consists of thousands of tonnes of heavy fuel oil, was caused by Israeli bombing raids on the Jiyyeh power station 19 miles south of Beirut and has been called an “environmental disaster” by local environment groups. The Lebanese government says that it lacks the equipment to effectively contain the spill and is being assisted by the UN and other international organisations.

In other science news…

BBC News reports that an anti-obesity vaccine that significantly slowed weight gain and cut body fat in tests on rats, shows promise for human treatments. The vaccine acts against ghrelin, a hormone that occurs naturally in the body, regulates energy balance and stimulates hunger and weight gain. When injected with the vaccine, rats gained less body fat, while eating the same amount as rats which had not been vaccinated. Described this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the vaccine has been developed by an American team and may be useful for stopping “yo-yo dieting,” the cycle of repeated loss and regain of weight. A British obesity expert warned that the study was interesting science, but might not be safe for people.

Nature News reports that the Japanese space agency has reaffirmed unofficial plans to send astronauts to the moon by 2020 and to construct a habitable base there by 2030. Speaking at a lunar exploration symposium in Tokyo this week, Junichiro Kawaguchi, head of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) provoked surprise among other space experts by announcing the bold deadlines, even though funding for the for the project, which would be expected to cost up to 3 trillion yen ($26 billion), has not yet been allocated. The project is set to begin next year with the launch of a satellite into lunar orbit, which will then be followed over the next decade by three unmanned spacecraft with a mission to collect samples and conduct research. Once the lunar base has been constructed, JAXA envisions astronauts making the facility their home for periods of 6 months.

Sutent, a new “smart” drug that attacks cancer on two fronts was launched on Monday and could bring new hope to thousands of cancer patients, reports the Daily Mail. The drug, produced by pharmaceutical firm Pfizer, is a more advanced version of Glivec, the first “smart” cancer drug, launched in 2001. It works by blocking an enzyme that causes cancer cells to multiply uncontrollably and form tumours. In addition, the new drug prevents blood vessels growing near tumours, cutting off their blood supply and starving them of oxygen and nutrients. Although licensed to treat cancers affecting the kidneys and gut, early trials indicate that it may also be effective against breast, lung and pancreatic cancers.

And finally...

The Times reports that revolutionary “self-timing” eggs will soon begin appearing on supermarket shelves in an initiative launched by the quality assurance scheme Lion Quality Eggs. The new technology was developed after the scheme received thousands of requests asking for information on the correct way to boil this perennial breakfast favourite. The eggs will be marked with thermochromic (heat-sensitive) invisible ink, that turns black the minute the eggs are ready and consumers will be able to choose between eggs marked ‘soft’, ‘medium’ or ‘hard’.

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