A Week of Science 
(17/03/2006 to 23/03/2006)

IOL Health & Science Staff

Mar. 25, 2006

Israel Finds H5N1 in Birds

March 17, 2006

Israel detected its first cases of H5N1 bird flu on Friday, saying the virus had killed thousands of turkeys and chicken on two farms, and it hospitalized one person suspected of being infected. Officials said they were double-checking the results and expected final confirmation soon.

Hackers get Mac running Windows

March 17, 2006

Hackers have managed to get Microsoft's Windows XP operating system running on an Apple Mac computer. The success ends a competition started to see if the feat was even possible when Apple unveiled computers that used Intel chips. The pair who managed the feat won $13,854 (£7,895) in prize money for their trouble.

Who Launches New Stop TB Strategy to Fight The Global Tuberculosis Epidemic

March 17, 2006

A new strategy to fight one of the world's leading killers – tuberculosis (TB) – was launched today by the World Health Organization (WHO). The new "Stop TB Strategy" addresses the current challenges facing countries in responding to TB – how to continue scaling-up TB control activities while also addressing the spread of TB and HIV co-infection and multi-drug-resistant TB (MDR-TB). Both TB/HIV, especially in Africa, and MDR-TB, particularly in eastern Europe, are seriously hampering global control efforts to reduce the 1.7 million deaths caused by TB every year.

Egyptian woman 'Dies of Bird Flu'

March 18, 2006

A 30-year-old woman who died this week was Egypt's first human victim of bird flu, state television has said. Reports said the woman, who maintained a domestic bird farm despite a ban on the practice, died of a fever at Cairo's main hospital on Friday. Samples have been sent to the UK for further tests.

Researchers Reveal Possibility of Separating Anticancer Properties of Vitamin D

March 18, 2006

At the right dose, vitamin D is important for bone development and may help protect against the development of several cancers, particularly colorectal cancer. However, large quantities designed to exploit the vitamin's anticancer properties can lead to a toxic overdose of calcium in the blood. Now, research done at Georgetown University's Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center indicates that it may be possible to separate the anticancer properties of vitamin D from its other functions.

Google Ordered to Hand Over Data

March 19, 2006

A federal judge has ordered internet search engine Google to turn over some search data, including 50,000 web addresses, to the US government. The Justice Department had wanted access to search records to help prevent access to online pornography. The judge said privacy considerations led him to deny part of the department's request.

Egypt: Man Recovers from Bird Flu as Wave of Foot-And-Mouth is Reported

March 20, 2006

Health ministry officials reported the gradual recovery of a farmer from Qaliubiya province, 40 kilometers north of Cairo, who was taken ill with the H5N1 avian virus on Thursday. He was treated with Tamiflu at a Qaliuybiya hospital, and his life is no longer in danger," said Ministry of Health official Sayyid al-Abbasi. "He's well now, though he's still under surveillance. Potentially deadly, the disease can be cured with Tamiflu capsules if detected in time. related news, reports of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in cattle have increased rapidly in recent weeks. Although FMD is a relatively constant feature of farm life, a new wave of the disease has struck Egyptian cattle with unusual strength, say local veterinarians.

U.S. Study Defines Two Clear Bird Flu Strains

March 20, 2006

The H5N1 strain of bird flu in humans has evolved into two separate strains, U.S. researchers reported on Monday, which could complicate developing a vaccine and preventing a pandemic. One strain, or clade, made people sick in Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand in 2003 and 2004 and a second, a cousin of the first, caused the disease in people in Indonesia in 2004. The U.S. Health and Human Services Department has already recognized the two strains and approved the development of a second H5N1 vaccine based on the second clade.

Chinese Academy of Sciences Gets First Constitution

March 21, 2006

The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has published its first constitution since it was set up as China's premier scientific research centre 50 years ago. The academy's newly announced Middle and Long-term Development Plan (2006-2020) outlines its research priorities for the next 15 years. These are drug and bio-fuel development, nanotechnology and new materials, genomics and proteomics, renewable energy and technologies for capturing carbon dioxide emissions, sustainable agriculture, and the next generation of the Internet and computing.

Dirty Water Kills a Child Every 15 Seconds – UNICEF

March 21, 2006

Waterborne diseases kill four children a minute, the U.N. children's agency said as activists urged the world to improve water safety for some 400 million children. The call came from young campaigners meeting at the Children's World Water Forum (CWWF) in Mexico City. UNICEF, which helped organize the conference, said children paid the highest price in a world where over 1 billion people do not have safe water and one in three lacks a basic toilet.

For Challenging the Global Status Quo on Water, Indian-Born Canadian in Mexico Wins 2006 Stockholm Water Prize

March 22, 2006

Professor Asit K. Biswas, a tireless water proponent who constantly challenges the "status quo" and who helped foster a critical re-think among United Nations agencies, national governments, professional associations and others about how to improve delivery of water and sanitation services and management of our water resources, was today named the 2006 Stockholm Water Prize Laureate.

NASA Radar Plane Gauges Arctic Snow Layer

March 22, 2006

A radar-equipped NASA plane is flying low over the Arctic this week to measure the snow on top of sea ice, a finding with implications for polar bears and possibly humans. Polar bears raise their young in snow dens sitting atop sea ice so the depth of that snow is critical to their survival, The temperature under a layer of snow rarely falls below freezing so polar bears often let snow drift around their bodies to form an insulating layer of warmth. Without enough snow on the sea ice, polar bears can't build their dens.

Apple Attacks Plan To Open ITunes

March 22, 2006

Apple has criticized a French law that could break the locks tying songs from the iTunes store to iPod players. In a statement Apple said that if the law were passed it would result in "state-sponsored piracy". The French government said the law was drawn up to ensure no single company dominated the fast growing music download market.

Egypt: Fourth Suspected Human Case of Avian Flu Stable, Government Says

March 22, 2006

The fourth suspected human case of bird flu is steadily recovering, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The Ministry of Health announced his condition on 21 March, bringing the total count of confirmed and suspected human infections in Egypt up to four in less than one week. Meanwhile, the condition of a third human case of avian influenza is stable, Ministry of Health officials said on Tuesday, and a speedy recovery is expected.

Soil Erosion Threatens Environment and Human Health, Study Reports

March 23, 2006

Around the world, soil is being swept and washed away 10 to 40 times faster than it is being replenished, Erosion is a slow and insidious process, Yet, controlling soil erosion is really quite simple: The soil can be protected with cover crops when the land is not being used to grow crops." The vast majority -- 99.7 percent -- of human food comes from cropland, which is shrinking by more than 10 million hectares (almost 37,000 square miles) a year due to soil erosion.

Bird Flu Can't Spread Easily In Humans: Expert

March 23, 2006

Scientists said on Wednesday they may have uncovered why the H5N1 avian flu that is so lethal in birds has not been able to spread easily among humans. It is because bird flu viruses attach to receptors, or molecules on cells, in different regions of the respiratory system from human influenza viruses.

Source: ABC News