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4 | NewScientist | 5 November 2011 CHINA FOTO PRESS/GETTY AN ANNOUNCEMENT for children being treated for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: the drugs used do not seem to increase the risk of stroke, heart attack or sudden death from heart failure. Fears about cardiovascular side effects surfaced in 2006, when the US Food and Drug Administration was looking into 25 reports of sudden deaths among people taking the stimulants, 19 of them children. A team led by William Cooper of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, has now studied more than 1.2 million children and young adults, following each for more than two years on average. They recorded just 81 serious cardiovascular events, and these were no more likely to have occurred in the minority taking stimulant drugs (The New England Journal of Medicine, Attention please DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1110212). However, given that the drugs may be taken for years at a time, questions about their long-term effects will remain. In addition to 2.7 million or more children, it is thought that at least 1.5 million adults in the US are currently taking stimulants for ADHD. Older adults may be at some risk, given that cardiovascular disease is more common with advancing age. “I worry that this study will be taken as a licence to use the drugs even more liberally,” says cardiologist Steven Nissen at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. Net-united nations THE whole world has finally decided to talk about the internet. The London Conference on Cyberspace, the first international gathering of its kind, brought together senior political figures from across the world and tech royalty such as Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales. Among the topics scheduled for discussion were how to ensure global access to the internet and dealing with net’s darker elements: child safety, cybercrime and cyberwar. As New Scientist went to press, state repression was a major theme: nations that try to cut off internet use, particularly during times of peaceful uprisings, came in for harsh criticism. “We reject the view that government suppression of the internet, phone networks and social media at times of unrest is acceptable,” said UK Foreign Secretary William Hague. Underlining this point, Yemeni activist and blogger, Atiaf Alwazir, said: “Before the internet in Yemen, everything was controlled. This has changed: now we are in control.” 3... 2... 1... Dock THE launch of an uncrewed spacecraft called Vessel of the Gods brings China one step closer to its goal of building a space station within the decade. Shenzhou-8 blasted off from Inner Mongolia on 1 November. As New Scientist went to press, the craft was due to spend two days in orbit before automatically docking with Tiangong-1, known as the Heavenly Palace in Chinese, a prototype science lab that –Pristine for how long?– –Heavenbound vessel– Grand Canyon mines row US POLITICIANS are at loggerheads over whether to allow uranium mining in north Arizona, near the Grand Canyon. Mining would create jobs, but might pollute the Colorado river, which provides the Southwest US with irrigation and domestic water. The White House wants to ban all new mining claims in the area for 20 years, but a group of Republicans is backing legislation that would render the ban meaningless. A steep rise in metal prices during the last decade led mining companies to register interest in exploiting thousands of new sites across the US, including several hundred near the Grand Canyon. In 2009, secretary of the interior Ken Salazar put a two-year freeze on anyone even seeking permission to mine in three areas around the Grand Canyon. The US Geological Survey has since found that uranium mining there could increase the levels of radioactive materials and heavy metals in the Colorado river. On 26 October, the Bureau of Land Management released its Final Environmental Impact Statement, which backs extending Salazar’s moratorium for 20 years. Arizona congressman Raúl Grijalva praised the bureau’s research, which he thinks will help maintain the Grand Canyon as a tourist attraction. However, Republican lawmakers, led by Arizona senator John McCain, have proposed a new mining act, which would overturn the ban and instead require Congressional approval for any moratorium. “I worry that this study will be taken as a licence to use ADHD drugs even more liberally” MOREY MILBRADT/BRANDX/GETTY UPFRONT
