Forced confinement and Binary systems

[dracodraconis]

Source: Nature The US Environmental Protection Agency was issued a strongly worded slap by the US Supreme Court when they were told that, yes, air pollution caused by vehicles are also their problem. Specifically, ...Under the clear terms of the Clean Air Act, EPA can avoid taking further action only if it determines that greenhouse gases do not contribute to climate change or if it provides some reasonable explanation as to why it cannot or will not exercise its discretion to determine whether they do." in the words of Justice John Stevens. The EPA had been contending that carbon dioxide emissions were not pollutants and so not under their jurisdiction as defined in the Clean Air Act. This means that the EPA must actually study the effects of carbon dioxide emission on the atmosphere rather than simply claim that it is not their problem.

Source: PhysOrg Russia is beginning a 500 day study of the effects of long-term isolation of a research crew in preparation for any potential future Mars missions. Next, spring, the 6-member crew will near Moscow and remain there for 500 days. Communications with the outside world will feature a 20 minute delay, and they will be forced to contend with simulated emergencies. The mission will simulate the launch, a 250-day transit, an excursion to the surface, and the 250-day return leg.

Source: Space.com Astronomers have discovered that debris discs, believed to be the precursors of planetary systems, are just as common around binary star systems, even "tight binaries", as around single stars such as in our own solar system. This greatly expands the range of star systems to examine for the possibility of life-bearing worlds because binary systems outnumber single-star systems. In fact, two-thirds of all star systems in the observable portion of our galaxy are multi-star systems, many of them binary systems.

Source: Nature Scientists have discovered a way to strip the antigens out of blood to convert it to the universally acceptable type-O coveted by medical professionals. Type-O blood is used in all emergency situations where there is insufficient time to determine the patient's blood type. As a result, type-O blood is constantly in short supply. It is also interesting to note that Native Americans are almost exclusively Type-O, as well as more than half of African Americans, and that the donor population is shrinking due to fears about transmitting blood-borne illnesses.

Source: New Scientist Small interfering RNA (siRNA) have been suggested as a way to combat HIV, if only they could get the molecules into the HIV cells. Stanford researchers have demonstrated that siRNA molecules can be embedded in carbon nanotubes which are able to enter the HIV cells and, hopefully, deposit the molecule. Early results are good, pointing the way to a potential future treatment method.