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Science, Health, and Related Policies

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Recent News Stories

• Veto Seems More Likely in Battle Over Tobacco Bill
  N.Y. Times--In its sharpest criticism yet of the tobacco legislation pending in Congress, the Bush administration has said it “strongly” opposes the effort to give the Food and Drug Administration regulatory authority over tobacco. [Read more]
• Ex-EPA Official Says White House Pulled Rank
  Washington Post-- A former Environmental Protection Agency official yesterday contradicted EPA administrator Stephen L. Johnson's congressional testimony on one of the administration's key global warming decisions. [Read more]
• FEMA seeks immunity from Katrina victims' lawsuits over trailer fumes
  A.P.--The Federal Emergency Management Agency is requesting immunity from lawsuits filed on behalf of Gulf Coast hurricane victims who claim they were exposed to dangerous fumes while living in government-issued trailers. [Read more]
• Senate passes bill to help community health centers
  Deseret News--The Senate on Monday passed a bill by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., to reauthorize a federal program for community health centers to help low-income people. [Read more]
• FDA finds salmonella strain in jalapeno pepper
  L.A. Times--The strain blamed for an outbreak that has sickened thousands shows up in a Mexican-grown pepper in Texas. Officials warn against eating fresh jalapenos. [Read more]
• Court Affirms Online Content Law Unconstitutional
  N.Y. Times--A federal appeals court Tuesday agreed with a lower court ruling that struck down as unconstitutional a 1998 law intended to protect children from sexual material and other objectionable content on the Internet. [Read more]
• Bill would create nanotech clearinghouse
  Federal Computer Week--A Senate bill to reauthorize funding for nanotechnology research would mandate creating a publicly available database of the projects funded in several areas, including environmental, educational and nanomanufacturing. [Read more]
• Astronauts To Test New Technology On Moon
  CBS News--Before NASA astronauts rocket to Mars, they're supposed to return to the moon in a sweet new ride to test-drive everything from high-tech maps and buggies to new spacesuits and next-generation power sources. [Read more]
• New California law allows cities to give loans for energy-saving improvements
  L.A. Times--Berkeley and Palm Desert are pioneering the effort to let homeowners and businesses borrow at low interest rates to pay for solar panels, high-efficiency air conditioners and other upgrades. [Read more]
• In California Neighbors’ Dispute, Officials Find It’s Time to Speak for the Trees
  N.Y. Times--California's governor signed into law a bill that gives trees the right to grow as they please — as long as they predate any solar panels they might be shading. [Read more]
• How Anecdotal Evidence Can Undermine Scientific Results
  Scientific American--The recent medical controversy over whether vaccinations cause autism reveals a habit of human cognition—thinking anecdotally comes naturally, whereas thinking scientifically does not. [Read more]
• A New (and Unlikely) Tell-All
  N.Y. Times--Jason K. Burnett, Washington’s environmental whistle-blower du jour, is an example of a once rare, now almost common, phenomenon: a political appointee willing to tell much of what he knows of the inner workings of the formerly opaque Bush administration. [Read more]
• Facing the Freshwater Crisis
  Scientific American--As demand for freshwater soars, planetary supplies are becoming unpredictable. Existing technologies could avert a global water crisis, but they must be implemented soon. [Read more]
• Twenty Percent of U.S. Software is Unlicensed, Says Study
  Government Technology--The national average for software piracy in 2007 was 20 percent, meaning that one in five pieces of PC software in use in the United States was unlicensed. [Read more]
• Utilities say grid can handle rechargeable cars
  Washington Times--Rechargeable cars, industry officials say, consume about four times the electricity as plasma TVs. Officials say that experience of dealing with plasma TVs will help them deal with the vehicle fleet changeover. [Read more]
• Nissan Says Electric Cars Will Be Quickly Profitable
  N.Y. Times--The electric cars that Nissan Motor plans to start selling by 2010 will have varying capabilities depending on a given country’s driving patterns, but all will be priced competitively and will generate profits, company executives said Tuesday. [Read more]
• Direct Mail Tries to Go Green. No, Really.
  N.Y. Times--Most marketers readily concede it: getting rid of direct mail — or junk mail, as environmentalists and most recipients call it — would save a lot of trees. But they are not about to render bulk mailings obsolete. [Read more]
• New Geoengineering Scheme Tackles Ocean Acidification, Too
  Wired--A scheme to dump quicklime into the oceans to sequester more carbon in their depths is being revived by a British management consultant with backing from Shell. [Read more]
• Bracing the Satellite Infrastructure for a Solar Superstorm
  Scientific American--A recurrence of the 1859 solar superstorm would be a cosmic Katrina, causing billions of dollars of damage to satellites, power grids and radio communications. [Read more]
• World's fastest train under Olympic starter's orders
  New Scientist--The fastest conventional rail service on the planet will begin next Friday, linking Beijing with one of China's Olympic co-host cities, nearby Tianjin. [Read more]
• Chinese pollution powers up demand for green technology
  Washington Times--China recently overtook the United States as the world's biggest carbon polluter, but in a nation known for its dirty technology, a surprising business trend is emerging - green entrepreneurs. [Read more]
• World Bank Criticized on Environmental Efforts
  N.Y. Times--The World Bank and its partners need to do a far better job of considering the environmental effects of projects they finance in poor countries, its internal review group concludes in a new report. [Read more]
• Global Warming 'Consensus' Takes a 'Hit' -- or Not?
  ABC News-- Fox News headlines "Scientific Consensus About Global Warming Takes Another Big Hit" saying that APS has reversed its stance on climate change, except it hasn't. [Read more]
• Unlike McCain, many seniors surf the Web
  CNN-- If Sen. John McCain is really serious about becoming a Web-savvy citizen, perhaps Kathryn Robinson can help. Robinson is now 106 -- that's 35 years older than McCain -- and she began using the Internet at 98, at the Barclay Friends home in West Chester, Pennsylvania, where she lives. [Read more]
• Health officials back move away from handwritten doctors' prescriptions
  Chicago Tribune-- Those hard-to-read scribbled prescriptions from doctors could soon become a rarity. Beginning Jan. 1, the federal government will boost Medicare's payments to doctors that send prescriptions electronically to a pharmacy rather than writing them out on paper and handing them to the patient. [Read more]