Nell Greenfieldboyce

Sand from fracking could pose lung disease risk to workers

Nell Greenfieldboyce — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 17:18:15 +0000

When workplace safety expert Eric Esswein got a chance to see fracking in action not too long ago, what he noticed was all the dust.

It was coming off big machines used to haul around huge loads of sand. The sand is a critical part of the hydraulic fracturing method of oil and gas extraction. After workers drill down into rock, they create fractures in that rock by pumping in a mixture of water, chemicals and sand.

When fetuses yawn in the womb

Nell Greenfieldboyce — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 23:11:56 +0000

Why people yawn is a mystery.

Hello? - Elephant mimics human speech at zoo

Nell Greenfieldboyce — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 04:38:32 +0000

Scientists say an Asian elephant at a South Korean zoo can imitate human speech, saying five Korean words that are readily understood by people who speak the language.

The male elephant, named Koshik, invented an unusual method of sound production that involves putting his trunk in his mouth and manipulating his vocal tract.

"This is not the kind of sound that Asian elephants normally make, and it's a dead-on match of the speech of his trainers," says Tecumseh Fitch of the University of Vienna in Austria.

Many birds are excellent vocal mimics, but this isn't common among mammals.

Human

Debate heats up about contentious bird flu research

Nell Greenfieldboyce — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 15:29:26 +0000

What was supposed to be a 60-day moratorium on certain experiments involving lab-altered bird flu has now lasted more than eight months. And there's no clear end in sight.

Researchers still disagree on how to best manage the risks posed by mutant forms of highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu. The altered viruses are contagious between ferrets, which are the lab stand-in for humans.

Scientist cleared in polar bear controversy popularizing global warming

Nell Greenfieldboyce — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 01:18:53 +0000

A long, controversial investigation of a polar bear scientist has ended with his government employer saying it does not look like he engaged in any scientific misconduct.

Charles Monnett is a wildlife researcher with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, part of the Department of the Interior.

After 35 years, Voyager nears edge of solar system

Nell Greenfieldboyce — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 03:32:46 +0000

The Voyager 1 spacecraft's 35th anniversary is proving to be unexpectedly exciting, as scientists gathered this week to examine new hints that the spacecraft is on the verge of leaving our solar system.

Voyager 1 is now more than 11 billion miles away from Earth. It blasted off in September 1977, on a mission to Jupiter and Saturn.

Subtracting calories may not add years to life

Nell Greenfieldboyce — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 14:12:19 +0000

Scientists have known for decades that lab rats and mice will live far longer than normal if they're fed a super-low-calorie diet, and that's led some people to eat a near-starvation diet in the hopes that it will extend the human life span, too.

But a new study in monkeys suggests they may be disappointed.

The long-awaited results of this study, which started back in 1987, show that rhesus monkeys fed a diet with 30 percent fewer calories than normal did not live unusually long lives.

The monkey study is about as close as it's possible to get to knowing how caloric restriction might

Bird flu studies mired in export control law limbo

Nell Greenfieldboyce — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 17:33:54 +0000

Scientists who created mutant forms of bird flu want to see their research published, and an influential advisory committee recently gave them the green light after a debate that lasted for months.

But one of the manuscripts is now being blocked from publication because of Dutch legal controls on the export of technology that could potentially be used for weapons.

It's just the latest example of how complicated international export control laws have affected the debate over what to do about two studies on bird flu.

The experiments were done in the U.S.

Scientific journals plan to publish contentious bird flu research

Nell Greenfieldboyce — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 15:31:00 +0000

A government advisory committee has reconsidered its advice to keep certain details of bird flu experiments secret.

Revised versions of manuscripts that describe two recent studies can be openly published, the committee now says.

Expert Panel To Give Controversial Bird Flu Research A Second Look

Nell Greenfieldboyce — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 18:07:26 +0000

Two controversial studies on bird flu will once again be reviewed by an expert committee that advises the government on what to do with biological research that could pose potential dangers.

The move is just the latest development in a fierce ongoing debate about genetically altered flu viruses created in laboratories at Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands and at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The announcement came today at a scientific conference attended by about a thousand biodefense experts in

Scientists take cautious tack on bird flu research

Nell Greenfieldboyce — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 08:01:58 +0000

Last month, scientists around the world agreed to temporarily halt certain genetic experiments with bird flu viruses. More than three weeks of that 60-day moratorium have already passed.

International Meeting On Controversial Bird Flu Research Draws Near

Nell Greenfieldboyce — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:20:48 +0000

The World Health Organization has just one week left to prepare for a highly anticipated meeting on controversial bird flu research.

What slew mastodon found in Washington could be revolution

Nell Greenfieldboyce — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 21:24:46 +0000

More than 13,000 years ago, hairy elephant-like creatures with giant tusks roamed North America. These mastodons were hunted by some of the earliest people to live here, and scientists recently learned a bit more about those mysterious cultures by taking a new look at an old mastodon bone.

This particular mastodon took his last breath in what is now the state of Washington, on the north side of the Olympic Mountains. His bones rested underground until the late 1970s.