SCIENCE
February 6, 2010 | By Thomas H. Maugh II
An object imaged last week by the Hubble Space Telescope looks at first glance to be a comet, but a closer examination indicates that it is something researchers have never seen before -- the aftermath of two asteroids colliding. The scattered debris that looks like a comet's tail is actually the result of two asteroids colliding nearly head-on at more than 11,000 mph and scattering pieces in all directions, NASA announced Tuesday. The asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, where the collision occurred, contains the remains of many such events from the distant past, but this is the first time that researchers have observed such debris so soon after a collision.
SCIENCE
February 6, 2010 | By Thomas H. Maugh II
The odds of a third wave of pandemic H1N1 influenza hitting this spring seem to be declining, but authorities are concerned that the virus is still spreading, though at a reduced rate from its peak, and is not disappearing as would be expected in a normal influenza outbreak, federal officials said Friday. "I think the most likely scenario now . . . is ongoing transmission of the virus, which continues to circulate," said Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
February 6, 2010 | By Thomas H. Maugh II
Dr. Thomas L. Petty, the Colorado lung specialist who pioneered the use of continuous oxygen therapy for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other lung disorders, died at his home in Denver on Dec. 12 from pulmonary hypertension. He was 76. More than 1 million people in the United States now use oxygen therapy at home, largely as a result of his research. He had needed oxygen therapy for several years while continuing his practice, giving him a unique perspective into the problems faced by lung patients.
SCIENCE
February 4, 2010 | By Thomas H. Maugh II
Newly computer-processed images of Pluto taken by the Hubble Space Telescope show that it is not simply a ball of ice and rock, but a dynamic world that undergoes dramatic atmospheric changes produced by its seasons, NASA said Thursday. The images show an icy and dark molasses-colored world that is highly mottled and whose northern hemisphere is now getting brighter. The images show that the body -- once considered the ninth and most distant planet but now reduced to the status of dwarf planet -- also turned noticeably redder in the two years after the turn of the millennium for reasons that are not clear, and that its equator features a large bright spot whose origin remains a mystery.
SCIENCE
February 3, 2010 | By Thomas H. Maugh II
Turkeys, the only domesticated animals from the New World that are now used globally, were actually domesticated twice -- once in Mesoamerica as was previously believed and once in what is now the southwestern United States. The new findings, reported this week by Canadian and American researchers in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, come from a DNA analysis of ancient turkey bones and coprolites, the polite name for fossilized excrement. Surprisingly, the researchers found that both strains of domesticated turkeys are now extinct, replaced by more highly inbred strains.
SCIENCE
February 2, 2010 | By Shari Roan
Widely used antidepressants may help patients recover cognitive functions, such as memory skills, that are damaged following a stroke, according to research released Monday. Escitalopram, a type of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, or SSRI, was linked to improved cognitive functioning in a group of stroke patients who did not have symptoms of depression, scientists found. Previous research showed antidepressants were associated with improved cognitive functioning in stroke patients who were given the drug because they were depressed.
SCIENCE
February 2, 2010 | By Thomas H. Maugh II
An object imaged last week by the Hubble Space Telescope looks at first glance to be a comet, but a closer examination indicates it is something researchers have never seen before -- the immediate aftermath of two asteroids colliding. The scattered debris that looks like a comet's tail is actually the result of two asteroids colliding nearly head-on at more than 11,000 miles per hour, scattering pieces in all directions, NASA announced Tuesday. The asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, where the collision occurred, contains the remains of many such events from the distant past, but this is first time that researchers have observed such debris so soon after a collision.
SCIENCE
February 2, 2010 | By Thomas H. Maugh II
An infection of the uterine cavity during pregnancy combined with premature birth doubles the risk that an African American child will develop asthma, researchers have found. The combination also increases risk for some other ethnicities, though less severely. About 8% of pregnancies are marked by such bacterial infections, called chorioamnionitis, but it is not yet clear what proportion of asthma is induced by them, said the lead author, Dr. Darios Getahun of Kaiser Permanente's Department of Research and Evaluation in Pasadena.
SCIENCE
February 2, 2010 | By Thomas H. Maugh II
Twelve years after Dr. Andrew Wakefield published his research in the international medical journal the Lancet purporting that the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine causes autism, the journal on Tuesday formally retracted the paper. The action came less than a week after the U.K. General Medical Council's Fitness to Practice Panel concluded that Wakefield had provided false information in the report and acted with "callous disregard" for the children in the study. The council is now considering whether Wakefield is guilty of serious professional misconduct.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
January 31, 2010 | By Thomas H. Maugh II
Lawrence Garfinkel, the statistician who overcame his lack of a doctoral degree and training in oncology to become one of the driving forces in demonstrating that smoking causes lung cancer, died Jan. 21 in Seattle. He was 88. The cause of death was cardiovascular disease, according to his son Martin. Garfinkel oversaw the training of thousands of volunteers for the American Cancer Society and helped conduct two of the largest epidemiological studies ever, enrolling more than 2.2 million men and women.