News: IBM addresses overtime by cutting salaries

IBM had a unique response to employee complaints that they were not being compensated for overtime... they cut their salaries. IBM had originally applied for, and received, an exemption from having to pay overtime to thousands of their employees. The employees were upset and started a lawsuit. IBM responded by dropping the exemption, then cutting the salaries of their employees by 15% to compensate for the overtime they now have to pay. As a result, the employees now must work overtime to earn the same salary they previously earned in a regular work week. Worse yet, the cut also applies to employees who never worked overtime at all. Found on Slashdot

Tech: Bone marrow key to successful organ transplants

Researchers have discovered that if they transplant bone marrow in addition to transplanting an organ, they can "reeducate" the immune system to accept the new organ, allowing the patient to be weaned off immune-suppressing drugs within one year. Currently, organ transplants in which the donor is not an ideal genetic match can result in a person having to take immune-suppressing drugs for the rest of their lives.

News: Christian fundamentalists to picket Ledger's funeral

PZ Meyers writes in his blog Pharyngula that Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas plans to picket Heath Ledger's funeral because he played a gay character in Brokeback Mountain. Found on ScienceBlogs

News: Teen's immune system replaed by that of donor

A 15-year-old liver transplant recipient shocked medical authorities when it was discovered that not only had her blood type changed to that of the donor, but that stem cells from the new liver had infiltrated her bone marrow, changing her immune system so that she no longer required immune-suppressing drugs. Thanks to travis_w for alerting me to this story.

News: Asteroid near miss on January 29th

On January 29, an asteroid measuring 150 metres by 600 metres will pass within 537,000 kilometres of earth at 3:33 am Eastern time. Those of you with a backyard telescope should be able to catch a glimpse if you look along the path shown here. The next time an asteroid this size makes this close an approach will be 2027 so you'd better hope for good weather.

News: Genetic link to addictive and compulsive disorders

German scientists have found a gene that makes it more difficult for men to learn from their mistakes. Men with what is referred to as an A1 mutation have fewer D2 (dopamine) receptors in their brain so are less strongly affected by negative feedback. This mutation is apparently present in more than one-third of the population, but the article does not indicate whether this is a gender-specific problem, only that the experiments were conducted solely using male volunteers. The researchers theorize that this may be why the A1 mutation is linked to addictive and compulsive disorders. Found on Slashdot

News: Cognos sold to IBM

IBM, it appears, has been busy. In addition to cutting salaries to its employees, it is buying Canadian software company Cognos for $5 billion. This adds to the growing list of Canadian companies being purchased by non-Canadian businesses.  Earlier this month, Vancouver-based MDA announced that it was selling it's Radarsat and Canadarm interests to US-based ATK for $1.3 billion. ATK is an arms manufacturer that builds land mines and cluster bombs for the US military and its allies.