NEW SCIENTIST PRESS RELEASE
EMBARGO: NOT FOR PUBLICATION BEFORE THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 1997
ORDER #1: GAS ATTACKS LEAVE 'FINGERPRINTS' IN BLOOD A poison gas attack may leave hundreds dead or dying. But the gas quickly disappears from the body, making it difficult to prove that poison gas was the culprit. Now Dutch researchers say they can tell months afterwards if someone was the victim of a gas attack. Page 23
ORDER #2: HUMAN ORIGINS THROWN INTO DOUBT Chimpanzees may have once walked upright, but lost the ability and returned to the trees, says an Australian researcher. His controversial claim is that humans diverged from chimpanzees much later than the 5 million years ago that anthropologists generally believe. Page 18
ORDER #3: SQUEEZING THE BITTERNESS OUT OF GRAPEFRUIT Grapefruit juice without the usual sharp tang could be on sale within 2 years, thanks to an industrial technique that extracts the bitter components. Sepragen, based in Hayward, California, says its system is the first large-scale application of chromatography. Page 24
ORDER #4: FAT CATS Following a report saying that 33 per cent of men and 36 per cent of women in the US are overweight, American veterinary researchers say their pets are little better, with a quarter of dogs and cats being too fat. Page 13
ORDER #5: PAMPERED POOCHES ARE CANINE PETER PANS If your dog seems immature, don't be surprised; many breeds of dog just never grow up, according to a team of behavioural scientists at the University of Southampton. Page 5
ORDER #6: JAPAN GROWS GREEN GUITARS FROM CEDAR Acoustic guitars may soon sound a lot sweeter to environmentalists. Japanese researchers say that they have discovered a sustainable replacement for Brazilian rosewood, an endangered tree that has traditionally been used to make the backs and sides of the best guitars. Page 6
ORDER #7: NEW FISH FARM PESTICIDES TO FLOOD SCOTTISH LOCHS
Two new toxic chemicals will soon be discharged into lochs in Scotland, with the permission of the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. The agency is under pressure from salmon farmers who want to douse their fish with chemicals to control sea lice. Page 10
ORDER #8: KILLER GENE MAKES THE PIPS SQUEAK The writing may be on the wall for oranges with pips. Biologists in Australia and Japan have genetically engineered tobacco plants so that they destroy their own seeds. They say the same technique should work in citrus crops. Page 11
ORDER #9: SAWDUST, COFFEE AND DIRT Just about anything can end up in medicines commonly sold to the world's poorest people. For example, the parents of 109 Nigerian children had to watch them die after feeding them a medicine sold as a paracetamol syrup which actually contained industrial solvent. Pages 16-17
ORDER #10: YES, DASHING FOR COVER IS THE WAY TO STAY DRY
If you are caught in a downpour, it is better to run for shelter than walk, researchers in the US advise. This may sound obvious, but an earlier study in Britain suggested that you would get just as wet running as walking. Page 19
ORDER #11: DID MOUNTAINS GIRDLE HALF THE GLOBE? The Himalayas, the Alps and the Caucasus mountains were once part of a gargantuan mountain range, according to two Australian geologists. Some 40 to 45 million years ago, they say, an unbroken chain of mountains stretch all the way from Spain, through Asia, to the southwest Pacific, possibly as far as New Zealand. Page 20
ORDER #12: INTO THE BLUE We've waited a long time for cheap blue lasers. Now a small Japanese company has come up with a way to make them, paving the way for everything from flat screen displays to video compact discs. Pages 28-31
ORDER #13: RETURN OF THE PELICAN Dead and dying ecosystems can repair themselves at astonishing rates, according to Romanian researchers. The conclusion is based on a study of the Danube delta which was drained by Romania's communist dictators in the 1970s but has now been flooded again. Pages 32-35
ORDER #14: WE HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY Scientists have discovered a way of hitching human cells onto silicon chips. The research opens the way for a new generation of "cyber" products that plug directly into the human body. Pages 36-39
ORDER #15: CRASHING THE BARRIERS There are some problems that science will never solve, say mathematicians. But what will they be and does it really matter? Pages 40-43
-ENDS-
March 25, 1997
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