A senior Environmental Protection Agency official resigned Sunday in an effort to end the furor over his remarks two years ago that the EPA should make examples of polluters the way Romans crucified people to quash rebellions. Read full article > >

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EPA official who compared enforcement to crucifixion resigns

A new book claims that legendary Washington Post executive editor Ben Bradlee once harbored doubts about whether star reporter Bob Woodward was completely “straight” when recounting in his best-selling Watergate book some of the dramatic, cinematic elements of the scandal. Read full article > >

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New book on Bradlee: Editor harbored doubts about details of ‘All the President’s Men’

A month after receiving a heart transplant at Inova Fairfax Hospital, a vigorous-looking former vice president Richard B. Cheney told an audience of cardiologists he felt “uniquely blessed” that his 35-year battle with heart disease had so neatly tracked the arc of medical progress. Read full article > >

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Cheney praises cardiology advances

Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) believes it is time the sex life of the screwworm got its due. On Wednesday afternoon, Cooper rose to the defense of taxpayer-funded research into dog urine, guinea pig eardrums and, yes, the reproductive habits of the parasitic flies known as screwworms–all federally supported studies that have inspired major scientific breakthroughs. Together with two House Republicans and a coalition of major science associations, Cooper has created the first annual Golden Goose Awards to honor federally funded research “whose work may once have been viewed as unusual, odd, or obscure, but has produced important discoveries benefiting society in significant ways.” Read full article > >

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Why ‘the sex life of the screwworm’ deserves taxpayer dollars

The first American case of mad cow disease since 2006 was found this week in a dairy cow in California, but the animal had not been slaughtered for food, government officials said. Known formally as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, the infection decimated English cattle herds in the 1980s and 1990s. It was also linked to about 225 cases worldwide of a fatal human brain aliment known as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Read full article > >

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Mad cow disease discovered in California animal, but food supply declared safe

Click to watch video The nation's fourth case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), sometimes referred to as “mad cow disease,” has been confirmed in a dairy cow in central California, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Tuesday. The carcass was at a Baker Commodities Inc. rendering facility in Hanford, California, according to Executive Vice President Dennis Luckey. The company renders animal byproducts and had randomly selected the animal for testing last Wednesday, he said. “We are in the business of removing dead animals from dairies in the Central Valley,” he told CNN in a telephone interview. “As part of that program, we participate in the BSE surveillance program.” Public health officials said the risk to public was extremely low. The sample was sent to UC Davis for initial testing, which came back inconclusive. It was then sent to the USDA's laboratory in Ames, Iowa, where it tested positive, the agency said. The carcass was in quarantine Tuesday night. “We're waiting now for USDA to tell us how to dispose of it,” Luckey said. Luckey would not divulge on which farm the animal was found. He said his company tests 1,000 to 2,000 animals a year, which he described as “a small percentage” of the overall number of animals it renders. Had it been rendered, it could have been turned into an element of a number of products, including chemicals or feed for poultry or livestock, he said. But it would not likely have spread the disease, since USDA regulations prohibit high-risk parts of the cow, such as brains and spinal cords, from entering the food chain. Eating contaminated meat or some other animal products from cattle that have bovine spongiform encephalopathy is thought to be the cause of the fatal brain disease in humans that is called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. The fatal disease was blamed for the deaths of 150 people in Britain, where there was an outbreak in the 1980s and 1990s. In people, symptoms of the disease include psychiatric and behavioral changes, movement deficits, memory disturbances and cognitive impairments. BSE can cause infected animals to display nervousness or aggression, difficulty in coordination and standing up, decreased milk production or loss of body weight, according to the agency. It is usually transmitted between cows through the practice of recycling bovine carcasses for meat and bone meal protein, which is fed to other cattle. In this case, the USDA reports that it was a rare form of BSE not likely carried by contaminated feed. The USDA said it remains confident in the health of the national herd and the safety of beef and dairy products. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the odds of a person contracting mad cow disease, even after consuming contaminated products, are less than one in 10 billion. California Department of Public Health Director and Public Health Officer Dr. Ron Chapman issued a statement Tuesday saying residents do not need to take any specific precautions. Unlike most other meat-borne illnesses, such as those caused by E.-coli bacteria, cooking does not kill the infectious agent that causes mad cow disease. Consumers who wish to exercise extra caution can follow the advice presented by the Web-based consumer advocacy group Consumeraffairs.com, which advises the avoidance of brains, neck bones and beef cheeks, bone marrow and cuts of beef that are sold on the bone. The group also says to choose boneless cuts of meat and ground beef only if it has been ground in the store. “Evidence shows that our systems and safeguards to prevent BSE are working, as are similar actions taken by countries around the world,” said John Clifford, the USDA's chief veterinary officer. Last year, 29 cases of BSE were reported worldwide, down 99% since the peak of 37,311 cases in 1992. “This is directly attributable to the impact and effectiveness of feed bans as a primary control measure for the disease,” he said. “A case of a single cow with bovine spongiform encephalopathy is not a reason for significant concern on the part of consumers, and there is no reason to believe the beef or milk supply is unsafe,” said Sarah Klein, food safety attorney for the Center for Science in the Public Interest. “If the cow were exposed to the typical strain of BSE via animal feed – and the government says that's not the case here – that would have represented a significant failure.” But she said the government would have had a difficult time tracking down other cattle that may have been eaten the same feed because the nation lacks an effective animal ID program. Take Our Poll

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Mad cow disease confirmed in California

They were a mismatched pair who somehow managed to re­arrange the national immigration debate and the half-shadow world in which illegal immigrants live and work in the United States. One, Kris Kobach, was a telegenic law professor who was worried about foreign terrorists. The other, Michael Hethmon , was a bookish lawyer afraid that immigrants would overburden the environment. Read full article > >

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Self-deportation proponents Kris Kobach, Michael Hethmon facing time of trial

Bioscience firm Life Technologies is to invest £12.5m into its base near Glasgow helping it expand and create new jobs.

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Science firm in £12.5m expansion

Traditional Chinese medicine is enjoying increasing popularity all over the world. But two recently published studies show that the treatments can be harmful. The papers focus attention on the fact that not all of the ingredients in TCM treatments are listed, or even legal, and that some can cause cancer. Read full article > >

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Samples of traditional Chinese medicine are found to contain harmful ingredients

Loud explosion shakes homes.

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Daylight Meteor Over CA, NV

Seafood counters used to be simpler places, where a fish was labeled with its name and price. Nowadays, it carries more information than a used-car listing. Where did it swim? Was it farm-raised ? Was it ever frozen? How much harm was done to the ocean by fishing it? Read full article > >

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Some question whether sustainable seafood delivers on its promise

Just because the wonder drugs of the ’90s have disappointed doesn’t mean the science should be completely discarded. But it does mean we need a more sophisticated theory of depression.

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The Science and History of Treating Depression

A group of high school students in California have launched a rubber chicken to the edge of space, all in the name of science.

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VIDEO: Rubber chicken sent to edge of space

Rockville-based Human Genome Sciences has rejected a buyout offer from GlaxoSmithKline estimated to be worth $2.59 billion, the company said Thursday. But it said it will explore options with the British drugmaker that could include a sale. Read full article > >

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Human Genome Sciences rejects $2.59B buyout offer from drugmaker Glaxo

Twenty-thousand physicians in four Midwest states received a glimpse into their financial future last month. Landing in their e-mail inboxes were links to reports from Medicare showing the amount their patients cost on average as well as the quality of the care they provided. The reports also showed how Medicare spending on each doctor’s patients compared with their peers in Kansas, Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska. Read full article > >

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Medicare moves to tie doctors’ pay to quality and cost of care