21 November 2009 | NewScientist | 7

Philadelphia and colleagues have found they seem to result in fewer injuries than more conventional methods such as batons.

The team examined over 24,000 cases where police had used force, including almost 5500 involving a Taser. After controlling for factors such as the amount of resistance shown by the suspect, they found that Taser use reduced the overall risk of injury by 65 per cent (American Journal of Public

Health, vol 99, p 2268).However, MacDonald is careful

to note that the study does not shed light on why some deaths have been linked to Tasers.

Double jeopardy

THE US Food and Drug Administration is unimpressed by the fad for drinks that contain a double hit – alcohol and caffeine. Unless makers supply the FDA with scientific evidence that the drinks are safe they could be banned within months.

The agency is worried that consuming the drinks – which can mask the effect of alcohol – leads to rash behaviour, car crashes, violence and assaults. The FDA issued the ultimatum last week in response to a request made by the National Association of Attorneys General . “Caffeine added to alcohol poses a significant public health threat,” said a task force headed by the attorney-generals of Utah, Guam and Connecticut.

The FDA allows caffeine concentrations of up to 200 parts per million in soft drinks, but adding caffeine to alcohol is unregulated. At least two of the 27 companies contacted have already withdrawn their drinks.

In 2006, Cecile Marczinski and Mark Fillmore of the University of Kentucky found that consumers of the drinks felt they were less inebriated than when imbibing alcohol alone , even though they made just as many errors in standard tests of alertness and reaction time.

China’s green plans

IT’S a road map that will only allow green cars. By 2050, all new power sources in China will be either renewable or nuclear – and this change to a low-carbon future can take place while boosting economic growth.

China’s low-carbon road map, presented to the Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development in Beijing last week, claims that the global shift towards low-carbon technology “will allow China to capitalise on new growth opportunities as a

supplier to satisfy increasing global demand” for such technologies.

To achieve a low-carbon economy by 2050, the report says the country must cut back its mining industry, introduce energy

efficiency measures, construct compact eco-cities, invest in public transport and renewable energy, and install carbon capture and storage facilities.

“China can capitalise on the global shift to low-carbon technology by supplying such devices to the world”

WOULD you pay $250,000 for a pair

of gloves? That’s what NASA is

offering to the winners of its

Astronaut Glove Challenge.

Bending fingers inside

pressurised gloves in space is

difficult – a day’s worth of precision

work often results in bruises,

abrasions and damaged fingernails.

So NASA is holding a competition

this week in Titusville, Florida.

At least two teams are expected

to compete. Among them will

be engineer Peter Homer, who took

home $200,000 at the first challenge

in 2007 and is now developing his

glove for use on suborbital flights.

Unlike the previous competition,

this year’s competitors have

been asked to include the glove’s

outermost layer, the thermal

micrometeoroid garment. This layer

is designed to provide insulation

from temperature swings and solar

radiation and to protect against

micrometeoroids and space debris.

To qualify for a prize, competing

gloves will have to best the

performance of NASA’s current

model. Gloves will be evaluated on

how easily they can be bent while

pressurised and how well

competitors are able to perform

30 minutes of dexterity tests. The

gloves will also be filled with water

to test their strength.

NASA will award $250,000 to the

top performer and $100,000 to the

runner-up. An additional $50,000

will go to the best outer layer design.

NASA seeks its one true glove

–Try fixing a telescope in these–

NASA

60 SECONDS

Not too old to growEarth’s oldest trees are experiencing

a growth spurt. A tree ring study

suggests the Great Basin bristlecone

pines of the western US have grown

faster in the past 50 years than they

have in 3.7 millennia because of

rising temperatures (Proceedings of

the National Academy of Sciences,

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0903029106).

…nor too bigSomething else has got bigger in

recent years: Russia’s landmass.

Geologists say an earthquake on

Sakhalin Island in 2007 and a

volcanic eruption on Matua Island

in 2009 increased the nation’s size

by 4.5 square kilometres. The

earthquake lifted part of the sea

floor and turned it into dry land .

Allergy surgeThe number of American children

diagnosed with food allergies soared

by 18 per cent between 1997 and

2007. Allergies now affect 4 per cent

of under-17s (Pediatrics, DOI:

10.1542/peds.2009-1210). The

problem may be worse: one study

cited by the researchers found that

9 per cent of children tested positive

for antibodies to peanuts.

Food for life on Titan?Saturn’s moon Titan may be better

suited to life than we thought.

Titan’s hydrocarbon lakes are loaded

with acetylene, which could serve

as food for cold-resistant life, says

Daniel Cordier of the Ecole Nationale

Supérieure de Chimie in Rennes,

France. His team calculated the

lake’s composition using data from

the Cassini-Huygens probe (arxiv.

org/abs/0911.1860).

End of DeCodeDeCode Genetics, based in Reykjavik,

Iceland, has filed for bankruptcy. Set

up 13 years ago, the firm aimed to

uncover links between genes and

disease by analysing the health

records and DNA of Icelanders. It

discovered genes linked to several

diseases, including osteoporosis.

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