The pick of the science news
Mapping the stars
This year is the International Year of Astronomy (see main feature, above), and an ambitious new survey hopes to improve understanding of the universe's history by mapping the formation of galaxies. The Spitzer Extragalactic Representative Volume Survey (Servs) will use an infra-red array camera on Nasa's Spitzer Space Telescope to generate a huge map of the sky and chart the distribution of stars and black holes, from when the universe was less than a billion years old until now. "It will allow us to study the formation and evolution of massive galaxies like our own Milky Way in a truly representative volume of the universe for the first time," says project leader Dr Mark Lacy.
Scrawny but healthy genes
A gene called "scrawny" appears to help stem cells multiply in number and yet retain their ability to develop into a variety of cell types.
Researchers at the Carnegie Institution in Baltimore have found that, in fruit flies, the scrawny gene helps wrap DNA so as to silence genes that would otherwise turn the stem cell into a more specialised version, like a skin or gut cell.
The study, to be published tomorrow in the print version of Science magazine, also found that mutant fruit flies without the scrawny gene prematurely lost many of their stem cell populations.
By numbers
41
The percentage decrease of heart-attack admissions to hospitals in Pueblo, Colorado following the city's ban on smoking in public
5
The number of years spent on Mars by the rovers Spirit and Opportunity, which have beamed 250,000 images of the red planet back to Earth
Claire O'Connell
e-mail: 1000.claire@gmail.com
In the jaws of the Great White
You may want to put your lunch down for this one. A three-metre-long female Great White Shark, found dead in New Zealand's Kaipara Harbour, underwent a public autopsy in the Auckland Museum earlier today.
A video broadcast of the dissection, which examines the shark's stomach contents, measures its internal organs, looks at its gills and removes its jaws, will be available today at www.aucklandmuseum.com from 2pm.
The event organisers hope to raise awareness of the marine predator, which despite its fearsome reputation has been listed as a vulnerable species, targeted for the trade in its teeth, jaws and fins.