The common cold? Not any more
It used to be called the common cold. Now scientists are starting to put some not-so-common names to the hundreds of viruses that make people cough, sneeze, wheeze and worse. This week they described how new research techniques are uncovering a host of new respiratory viruses -- including a new, monster-sized virus -- and spurring efforts to better understand the role of these viruses in disease.
Caves on mars?
WASHINGTON -- An orbiting spacecraft has found evidence of what look like seven caves on the slopes of a Martian volcano, the space agency NASA said on Friday. The Mars Odyssey spacecraft has sent back images of very dark, nearly circular features that appear to be openings to underground spaces.
La Nina impact into 2008:
WASHINGTON -- The weather anomaly La Nina could influence global weather patterns through the early part of 2008, according to the National Weather Service. The U.S. agency said La Nina conditions have developed across the equatorial Pacific Ocean during the past few months, though some forecasting models have predicted a more rapid development than has occurred.
Growing wind market
BEIJING -- China could become the world's top wind power market in three to five years but will grow faster if it reforms its subsidy system, executives of major wind turbine maker Vestas said on Friday. Chief Executive Ditlev Engel, in China to open the second and third in a series of seven plants due to come on line by the first quarter of 2008, said he was convinced Vestas could compete with cheaper local rivals on quality.
Genome deciphered
WASHINGTON -- Scientists have mapped the genome of a worm that causes elephantiasis in what they called on Thursday an important step toward developing new drugs or vaccines to fight the mosquito-borne disfiguring disease. Elephantiasis is marked by hideous swelling of the arms, legs, head, genitals or breasts. It is caused by small, thread-like parasitic worms that can live for years inside the human body and thrive in the human lymphatic system.
Caviar out, sturgeon in
MOSCOW -- The rich may have to take black caviar off the menu to let sturgeon stocks recover, Russia's first Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said on Friday. Ivanov, widely regarded as a leading contender to succeed President Vladimir Putin in 2008, said he could do without caviar if sturgeon fishing was banned.
Dinosaur had feathers
WASHINGTON -- The vicious little dinosaur Velociraptor was a feathered fiend, according to scientists who found evidence of quills on this well-known meat-eater's forearm. In research published on Thursday, paleontologists said a forearm bone of Velociraptor found in Mongolia's desolate Gobi desert retained structures, or quill knobs, where a series of feathers were anchored to the bone with ligaments.
Arctic ice at a low
WASHINGTON -- Arctic sea ice melted to its lowest level ever this week, shattering a record set in 2005 and continuing a trend spurred by human-caused global warming, scientists said on Thursday. "It's the biggest drop from a previous record that we've ever had and it's really quite astounding," said Walt Meier, a research scientist at the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center in Colorado.
Do steroids fuel home runs?
WASHINGTON -- Steroids can help batters hit 50 percent more home runs by boosting their muscle mass by just 10 percent, a U.S. physicist said on Thursday. Calculations show that, by putting on 10 percent more muscle mass, a batter can swing about 5 percent faster, increasing the ball's speed by 4 percent as it leaves the bat.