Health & Science

• Saturday, October 9th 2010 - 00:32 UTC

  Tuesday, should be Rescue Day for the 33 Chilean trapped miners

  

  Chilean rescue teams hope to start evacuating next Tuesday the 33 miners who have been trapped 700 metres underground for two months in a survival story that has gripped the world.

• Wednesday, October 6th 2010 - 22:51 UTC

  Strong controversy in US over possible approval of genetically modified salmon

  

  The possible approval of genetically modified salmon has led to vigorous dispute in the USA. The recommendation by experts that that further testing should be conducted for the time being was the conclusion of a hearing arranged by the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and echoed broadly in the media. The salmon would have been the first genetically modified animal approved for human consumption.

• Wednesday, October 6th 2010 - 19:15 UTC

  Japan requests OIE free of FMD status; Korea de-listed resumes pork exports

  

  Japan formally requested the World Organization for Animal health, OIE, to declare the country free of foot and mouth disease do it can resume beef exports. Japan suffered an outbreak of FMD which forced the termination of 289.000 livestock.

• Tuesday, October 5th 2010 - 21:50 UTC

  Catholic Church insists in questioning Nobel Prize to in vitro fertilization

  

  International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations has declared its disagreement with Prof. Robert Edwards being awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine for his work in developing in vitro fertilization. The problems of infertility, the group said in an official statement, must be solved within an ethical framework which respects the dignity of the embryo as a human being.

• Friday, October 1st 2010 - 05:12 UTC

  Fossil of giant penguin, double the size of an Emperor, found in Peru

  

  The fossil of a giant penguin that lived 36 million years ago has been discovered in Peru. Scientists say the find shows that key features of the plumage were present quite early on in penguin evolution.

• Thursday, September 30th 2010 - 02:14 UTC

  Milky Way neighbours? US astronomers discover potentially habitable Earth-size planet

  

  United States astronomers have found a new, potentially habitable Earth-sized planet. It is one of two new planets discovered around the star Gliese 581, some 20 light years away, report the Carnegie Institution and the Santa Cruz, University of California.

• Wednesday, September 29th 2010 - 19:27 UTC

  Chilean government says trapped miners could be out by mid-October

  

  While rescuers have insisted that the 33 Chilean trapped miners at San Jose mine will be evacuated in early November, the government has suggested that the rescue will most likely be as early as mid-October.

• Friday, September 24th 2010 - 03:15 UTC

  Research lab in extreme south Chile “cautious” about recovery of the ozone layer

  

  Last September 17 and for two days the ozone layer hole recorded a minor event over the city of Punta Arenas in the extreme south of Chile, although not sufficiently weak as to have recorded an increase in potentially dangerous ultraviolet radiation.

• Friday, September 24th 2010 - 03:08 UTC

  Argentine Patagonia fossil reveals the origin of sunflower

  

  Sunflowers are likely to have sprung up about 50 million years ago in Argentine Patagonia, suggests a fossil report according to an article in the current edition of Science magazine.

• Sunday, September 12th 2010 - 06:57 UTC

  Glow of eyes could help detect mad cow disease, says Iowa university report

  

  Cattle infected with mad cow disease give off a tell-tale glow in their eyes, according to new research published in the journal Analytical Chemistry. In future, the discovery could lead to a long-sought test to detect infection with the agent that causes mad cow disease, preventing it from spreading throughout the food supply for humans.