15 June 2013 | NewScientist | 7
when unexplained cases of pneumonia are identified, MERS should be considered,” said the World Health Organization in a statement on Monday, following a summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
As of last Friday, 55 cases had been confirmed, 31 of which were fatal. Most of the cases were in four Middle Eastern countries, with 40 in Saudi Arabia itself. But infected travellers have spread the disease elsewhere, hence the WHO’s warning.
Although the route of infection remains unknown, the first case of person-to-person transmission occurred in France in April.
US hits peak carbonHAS the US peaked? The latest data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) shows its emissions fell by 3.8 per cent in 2012, to a level not seen since the mid-1990s.
The nation has cut its carbon dioxide emissions in four out of the last five years, largely by switching from coal to natural gas – a cleaner fuel. But the encouraging trend could be reversed. US power companies favour gas because it is cheaper than coal these days, but gas producers are anxious to increase their profits. In the first quarter of 2013, gas prices rose by 40 per cent, triggering a rise in coal use of 14 per cent, compared with the same time last year. If coal makes a comeback, US emissions could start rising again.
All this is happening against a backdrop of increasing global emissions, which rose to another record high in 2012. On current trends, the world will warm by 3 °C by 2100. It needn’t be so. The IEA says the world can still limit warming to 2 °C by boosting energy efficiency, limiting the building of the least efficient coal power plants, not venting methane at oil and gas fields, and cutting subsidies to the fossil fuel industry.
Cress that glowsIF THE idea of reading by the light of a plant takes your fancy, you’re in good company. The Glowing Plant project raised $484,013 on crowdfunding website Kickstarter last week.
The money will be used to add synthetic DNA to thale cress so that it glows. But opponents of synthetic biology are outraged because those who pledged over $40 to the project will receive a pack of seeds, allowing them to grow their own plants. The worry is that the synthetic DNA will proliferate as the engineered
plants cross with wild plants.Co-founder Antony Evans says
he is confident that his seeds will not need federal approval. Allison Snow of Ohio State University in Columbus says that the bioluminescence genes are
unlikely to pose significant risks. But she notes that thale cress is distributed widely across temperate zones, so some gene flow into wild plants is inevitable.
CALL it a cod comeback, or at least the beginnings of one. The fish has been so over-exploited that eco-conscious consumers avoid it, but North Sea stocks are now rising.
If the recovery continues, the fish could qualify for Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) approval, a stamp indicating that the fish meets the independent body’s standards for sustainability, says a report from the MSC and other fishing organisations. This backs up a European Commission assessment from last month, which also found that cod numbers were recovering.
But it is too soon for a cod-and-chips party. “Serious concerns remain,” says the commission in its assessment. The European Union has slashed cod
catches and the number of days at sea boats are allowed to fish for cod. Vessels are required to leave areas if their nets contain too many baby cod – but “more needs to be done”, the commission says.
Stocks are still less than half the level considered safe from collapse, and catches are above the maximum deemed sustainable, mainly because of by-catch of cod alongside other fish. The good news, says Saskia Richartz of environmental group Greenpeace, is that the past three years have seen high levels of cod spawning and good survival rates of young fish. However, Richartz fears the good news will lead to pressure to increase catches before these young fish can spawn.
North Sea cod are recovering
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Plan B for everyoneWomen of all ages can now buy Plan B emergency contraception without a prescription in the US. The Obama administration decided on Monday to drop its lengthy fight to keep age restrictions on the drug. Previously only women aged 17 and over could get the drug over the counter.
Lone wolf no moreThe US Fish and Wildlife Service wants to take the grey wolf off its list of endangered species, because populations have grown significantly in northern states like Montana. Only the Mexican wolf would remain on the list: the subspecies, which lives in south-western states, is still struggling.
Radio AppleApple has unveiled iTunes Radio – an online streaming service that will directly challenge competitors such as Spotify and Pandora. Music can be tailored to a user’s listening history, or songs streamed from a chosen band or singer. An ad-free version of the service will cost $29 a year.
Sperm bank for beesBees will soon be able to visit the sperm bank. Researchers plan to store frozen semen from US and European honeybees. The stored samples will help with cross-breeding programmes, which aim to produce hardier bees that will not succumb to colony collapse disorder – the abrupt and mysterious disappearance of a bee colony.
Goodbye spaceboyChris Hadfield is hanging up his spacesuit for the time being. The astronaut captivated the world with his regular updates from the International Space Station, including tweets, photos and an orbital version of David Bowie’s Space Oddity, which went viral last month. He is retiring from the Canadian Space Agency after returning from his third space mission in May.
For daily news stories, visit newscientist.com/news
“The worry is that synthetic dNA will proliferate as the engineered plants cross with wild plants”
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