Archeology, Paleontology, Evolution, Genetics & Ancient History (46) Heavens Above & Star-gazing (8)

Space, The Future, New Frontiers (127)

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$5-million gift aimed at stem-cell research *
A Toronto foundation giving the Robarts Research Institute a $5-million boost for stem-cell research wants the money to trigger more backing for London researchers. [More]

'How will I cope?' First, by reaching out *
My patient looked out her window in the early autumn evening thinking that life was not only good, but couldn't be better. [More]

'Mom' -- Man awakes from 19-year coma *
Terry Wallis, who had been in a coma since a 1984 car accident, regained consciousness last month to the surprise of doctors and the delight of his family, including his mother, who heard his first word in 19 years. [More]

'Museum without walls' displays Egypt's glories *
Experiencing the glories of Egypt, both ancient and modern, will become a lot easier starting today thanks to a groundbreaking joint effort of the Egyptian government and a Toronto-based team of Web designers. [More]

'Spiderman gloves' within reach, scientists say *
Scientists working to replicate the incredible stickiness of gecko lizard's feet have come up with a sort of tape that could allow people to climb, superhero-style, on glass ceilings and walls. [More]

* Dancing with Einstein *
The year 2005 will mark the 50th anniversary of the death of Albert Einstein and the 100th anniversary of what is often called his annus mirabilis. That is, the year when a 26-year-old patent clerk published three of his four greatest works, including the theory of relativity with its iconic E=MC(squared) equation. [More]

13 West Nile cases suspected in Saskatchewan *
The number of probable human cases of West Nile virus in Saskatchewan rose to 13 Tuesday from nine Monday. [More]

A disease to fight famine? *
Feeling hungry, but aren't tempted to eat? Want instead to start running and keep chugging as long as you can? [More]

A few scientists of note *
In science, respect is sometimes measured by how much other people talk about you. Well, maybe not talk, but "cite" -- as in include a reference to your work in a footnote. [More]

A good month to be born *
Are you alive because of the time of year your great-grandmother was born? We're not talking about anything astrological, but what appears to have been seasonal rhythms in human reproduction in Canada toward the end of the 19th century. [More]

A guide to the facts of a deadly disease *
In Canada, 10,000 cows have been tested for BSE in the decade since the last case. All were cleared. [More]

A hip replacement from the horse's mouth *
Horse teeth, if you get close enough to have a good look, are brown. That's because the enamel that makes human teeth shiny and white is covered with a bone-like layer called cementum... [More]

A horse is a horse, of course *
Scientists in Italy say they have created the world's first cloned horse, raising the possibility of a sequel to the next Seabiscuit or a carbon copy of Kentucky Derby champion Funny Cide. [More]

A little poison may not be a dangerous thing *
A controversial theory called hormesis is picking up support in scientific circles. It holds that radiation, toxic chemicals or lack of food can be good for you in small doses or for short periods. ANNE McILROY reports. [More]

A little sprite breathes free *
Two-year-old Daphné Spence no longer needs a respirator thanks to a technology that may not be available much longer, writes ANDRÉ PICARD. [More]

A moment to remember *
Scientists believe you recall something when brain cells storing information about it all vibrate in sync with electro-chemical impulses. ANNE McILROY reports on research into how memory works. [More]

A N.Z. dropout proffers an astonishing answer to an ancient riddle *
A 27-year-old New Zealand university dropout says he has resolved a physics riddle that has puzzled philosophers and scientists for 2,500 years -- and in the process, he may have proven there is no such thing as a fixed moment in time. [More]

A ray of hope for a nation riddled by AIDS *
Lower drug prices, enlightened policies and an innovative doctor work wonders [More]

A robot that likes to play with test tubes *
Researchers build an artificial scientist that can come up with a hypothesis, design experiments and analyze data. Getting it to work in the messy real world was a big accomplishment. DAVID AKIN reports. [More]

A U.S. epidemic *
The U.S. Center for Disease Control is reporting that as of Aug. 26, there are 1,355 reported human cases of West Nile Virus in the United States, with 19 deaths reported. Why are the media not warning Canadians about travel to the United States? [More]

A victory for South Africa's martyr-in-chief *
In the continental AIDS crisis, Africans have been shocked to find themselves fighting not just Western drug companies, but one another. STEPHANIE NOLEN, The Globe's new Africa bureau chief, recounts an AIDS drama with that rarest of things, a happy ending. But at great cost: Activist Zackie Achmat nearly lost his life. His old African National Congress comrade, President Thabo Mbeki, had to sacrifice his pride. Their standoff lasted nearly five years [More]

A West Nile primer *
Who is in danger of getting sick and how do you protect yourself? ANNE McILROY supplies some answers [More]

A year late, Ontario readies West Nile test *
A leading-edge West Nile test that Ontario is expected to have ready for this summer was actually slated to be completed more than a year ago. [More]

Aborted fetuses used in fertility treatment *
Fetal ovarian tissue could relieve shortage of human eggs, Israeli scientists maintain [More]

Access to care for HIV/AIDS African goal *
Those being treated only tiny proportion of continent's 30 million victims, UN says [More]

Accurate weather forecasts? We'd be on cloud nine *
How do you measure something you can see but can't touch? [More]

Active volcano: Flirting with danger *
Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands -- A volcanic eruption on a little-known U.S. island now knee-deep in ash is prompting concern over an inadequate warning system for Pacific volcanoes. [More]

Adopted monkeys don't fall far from the tree *
Firing the latest volley in the nature-versus-nurture debate, a U.S. scientist has discovered that rhesus monkeys cared for by a foster parent are more likely to behave like their birth parent than their surrogate. [More]

Africa's HIV babies given hope *
For Stephanie Jones, the babies offer proof -- 300 of them born during the past 18 months at Coronation Hospital in a rough area of Johannesburg. [More]

AIDS advances on the Russian front *
HIV has struck the country with a vengeance, the UN reported this week, and Canadians are helping to man the barricades. CAROLYNNE WHEELER reports from Siberia. [More]

AIDS ends African success story *
With nearly 38 per cent of adults infected, formerly prosperous Botswana is reeling. [More]

AIDS virus traced back to monkeys *
The ancestry of the virus that caused the AIDS epidemic has been traced to two strains of virus found in monkeys in Africa. [More]

Alberta confirms first West Nile case *
Alberta has its first case of West Nile virus in a human, health officials confirmed Tuesday. [More]

Alberta grizzlies fitted with digital cameras *
Don't back away or play dead -- smile! That grizzly has a digital camera! [More]

An idea we can't throw back *
The only way to meet the future demand for fish will be farming, says WILLIAM HOGARTH, the man responsible for America's coastal waters. {Note: the editors of evalu8.org do not endorse this point of view, and object to having wild and farmed salmon grouped as if they were measured together. They were not; findings were significantly different for wild and farmed salmon.} [More]

Anatomy of a leap second *
Reader Robert Findlay has asked for a simple explanation of how and why a standard metric second is calculated -- a timely question this week, given what almost happened on Tuesday. [More]

Animals always pay *
If we have to slaughter cattle en masse because of mad-cow fears, will we think about their suffering? asks law professor RONALD SKLAR [More]

Animation technology helps a boy walk *
The same technology that brought Gollum to life in the movie Lord of the Rings is helping an Alberta boy stand on his own two feet. [More]

Antibiotic resistance levelling off *
Canadians' resistance to antibiotics appears to have levelled off after dramatic increases during the first part of the 1990s, a coalition of industry groups said in a report issued Tuesday. [More]

Antibiotic use linked to breast-cancer risk *
But researchers urge extreme caution in interpreting results of U.S. study. [More]

Ape diet a cholesterol-buster, researcher says *
Study finds it as effective as popular drug [More]

Appetite-curbing hormone found to cut calorie intake 30 per cent *
Scientists have discovered a potential bonanza for the diet industry: a naturally occurring hormone that appears to dramatically reduce the urge to eat [More]

April's lost years *
On her way to visit her wedding photographer, April Ferguson was hit by a car. When she came out of her coma, she couldn't remember being engaged. What do you do when the past is as uncertain as the future? HEIDI STASESON reports [More]

Aquatic pit bull threatens U.S. waterways *
Predatory snakehead native to Russia and China may alter ecological balance. [More]

Asteroid impact tied to 'Great Dying' *
Antarctic discovery suggests giant rock struck the Earth 251 million years ago, eradicating almost all forms of life. [More]

At 84, original 'abductee' still wants to believe *
You could say Betty and Barney Hill's last meal -- at least, the last while they still led normal lives -- was eaten in Montreal, one of their favourite cities. [More]

August full moon *
This month's full moon takes place August 9, 2006. The Farmer's Almanac refers to this one as the Sturgeon Moon. . . [More]

Awash in a sea of synthetics *
A flood of junk is flowing into the sea -- some to circulate endlessly in currents, some to be eaten by fish, and then by us, warns TV documentary maker IAN CONNACHER. [More]

B.C. outbreak not SARS, UN health body confirms *
The has concluded that a respiratory disease that swept through a Vancouver-area nursing home this summer is not SARS. [More]

B.C. SARS mystery remains *
A respiratory outbreak near Vancouver this summer was not caused by the SARs virus, follow-up testing has confirmed. But rather than being a source of relief, the findings are bringing to the fore serious questions about why Canada's premier laboratory raised the SARS alarm in the first place. [More]

Babies teach chemists the secret of soft skin *
It's vernix, a coating formed in the womb, and a synthetic version is on the way. [More]

Baby teeth prove rich stem-cell source *
The Tooth Fairy may have to leave a little more cash: US researchers have found that baby teeth are rich in stem cells and may provide an alternative source of raw material for promising but controversial research on cells taken from human embryos. [More]

Banks start dismantling SARS 'clean teams' *
Life is slowly returning to normal on Bay Street, where most of Canada's major banks have begun dismantling the so-called "clean teams" they created last month to deal with a potential SARS outbreak in their trading rooms. [More]

Baseball mystery explained *
Ah, it's spring and that means a young man's fancies turn to thoughts of . . . baseball. [More]

Battling new bugs *
Lydia Dotto (Outbreak: The Climate Connection -- Aug. 30) gave an excellent account of the effects of environmental, climatic and ecosystem change on the risks of infectious diseases. [More]

Beauty and the beast *
Margo Wilson is not much in love with how the media have portrayed research she and husband Martin Daly recently reported. [More]

Beijing bans Canadian birds *
China has joined other Asian governments in banning imports of Canadian poultry after avian flu was reported in birds on a farm in British Columbia. [More]

Bill Gates gives $168-million for research *
Bill Gates continues to rewrite philanthropic record books, with the announcement yesterday of his biggest single-day donation, a dizzying $168-million (U.S.). [More]

Biodiversity critical for humanity, forum told *
French President Jacques Chirac opened an international conference on biodiversity Monday with a warning that humans risk their own future if the destruction of other species continues unabated. [More]

Biovail drug campaign causes dilemma in U.S. *
Prescription payment for 'research' study [More]

Bird flu not being spread by people, WHO says *
Genetic evidence shows bird flu is not being passed from person to person in Vietnam, reassuring news that suggests the outbreaks that have killed 18 people have not become an epidemic, the World Health Organization said yesterday. [More]

Bird flu toll rises to 20 *
A 13-year-old boy died of bird flu in Thailand on Saturday, an official said, bringing to 20 the human death toll from the disease that's also killed millions of chickens and ducks across Asia and is now feared to have jumped to other animals. [More]

Bird-flu blueprint sees up to 58,000 deaths *
Health Canada's preparedness document says pandemic would hit children, elderly. [More]

Black henna ink unsafe, Health Canada warns *
The ingredient para-phenylenediamine, or PPD, in black henna temporary tattoo ink and paste is unsafe and shouldn't be used, Health Canada has warned. [More]

Blackout: The matrix of our troubles *
Build a brittle grid, and sooner or later it will seize up. That's as true of computers or air traffic as it is of energy. It's time for a systemic redesign, say SARAH WOLFE and THOMAS HOMER-DIXON [More]

Blood-testing device sidelined by SARS *
Patient trials of Star Trek-style analyzer on hold while hospitals deal with crisis [More]

Boost home-care services, new health report urges *
The current approach to home care in Canada -- using it to get people out of hospital sooner after surgery rather than to provide long-term support for patients with chronic-health problems -- is "misguided" and inefficient, a new report says [More]

BPD: Bordering on chaos *
They phone in the middle of the night, make endless demands and can be violent, so it's no wonder, writes ANNE McILROY, that people with borderline personality disorder are so difficult to treat. [More]

Bradbury celebrates 83rd birthday *
Science fiction author Ray Bradbury celebrated his 83rd birthday with this wish... [More]

Bread mould? Ho hum *
When all the 21,000 to 31,000 genes in humans were mapped, the news was front-page ecstasy everywhere. But when the 10,000 genes in bread mould were similarly mapped recently, the reaction of the world's media was a yawn. [More]

Breakthrough sees brain cells talk to microchip *
Study using snails raises long-range hopes for repairing sight and restoring memory. [More]

Breast-cancer risk may rise with use of antidepressants *
Taking antidepressant drugs could lead to a "modest" increase in the risk of developing breast cancer, a Canadian study suggests. [More]

British-built landing craft set to seek signs of life on Mars *
Britain doesn't have its own space agency or any rocket capability, but a tiny, low-cost, British-built landing craft is to be blasted off today on a six-month trip through space toward Mars, in a bold effort to find out whether life exists there. [More]

Brits to send Beagle to Mars *
"Hey Rover...Fetch!" [More]

Brockville man dies alone in hospital as SARS keeps family out *
As Thomas Farmer lay dying, the elderly and frail Brockville man made one phone call from hospital to his daughter, telling her that he was fading fast, was all alone and wanted his family at his side. [More]

BSE in ALTA: Meat is safe, experts say *
The risk is too tiny to worry about, researchers declare [More]

BSE tests on first herd prove negative *
At least 140 more animals will be slaughtered and examined for mad-cow disease in the coming days, health officials say, as the hunt for the cause of the disease enters a new phase. [More]

BSE: Seek and ye shall find *
If Canada tests widely for BSE, another case will turn up. Can we convince consumers that this means the system works? asks doctor VIVIAN McALISTER [More]

Buried dolphin corpse serves science *
Dinosaur 'fuzz' may have been collagen, not feathers, South African scientists say. [More]

Burning issues in Texas *
the end of summer passes, many Canadians are tempted not so much to seize the day as embrace the sun. While an understandable instinct, we also should appreciate the sun-borne ills a long winter protects us against [More]

Call of the city lures vets to pet practice *
Bulwark of disease control in livestock may be threatened as graduates shun rural areas [More]

Calusa Nature Center and Planetarium unveils spectacular new mural-sized image *
A new mural-sized image taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is unveiled to the public at the Calusa Nature Center Planetarium, January 12. . . [More]

Canada can carry much more *
Canadian firms stand ready to manufacture affordable AIDS drugs. The WTO has even relaxed its patent rules. So why won't the PM give the green light? demands lawyer RICHARD ELLIOTT [More]

Canada's child cancer shame *
About 1,300 children and teenagers are diagnosed with cancer in Canada each year -- the commonest cause of disease-related death in our children. [More]

Canada's drug policies 'parasitic,' U.S. says *
Interview with FDA head sparks debate on issue of reliance on American research [More]

Canada's physics Shangri-la *
How is the Perimeter Institute competing with Stanford and Harvard, drawing big-name scientists from around the world? It has oodles of money. Now, it has to show that it is the best. STEPHEN STRAUSS reports. [More]

Canadian may hold key to identifying Chilean blob *
Large lump of flesh could be the remains of a giant octopus or a decaying whale [More]

Carmelite nuns of Montreal: HARD-WIRED FOR GOD *
Only something extraordinary could entice the Carmelite nuns of Montreal to break their vow of silence and venture out of the cloister, ANNE McILROY says. They have joined forces with science to look for a concrete sign from God -- inside the human brain. [More]

CBC's big fat doc skips thin issue *
Not long ago, everybody was up in arms, complaining that television is responsible for forcing people -- especially young women -- to be skinny. The consensus was that everybody on TV is thin and that this presents us an unrealistic ideal. [More]

CDC: West Nile doubles again in U.S. *
West Nile virus activity has again doubled, now affecting more than 1,400 people in the United States, federal officials said Wednesday. [More]

Chicken-farm workers didn't catch avian flu, tests show *
Three workers at a Vancouver-area chicken farm who got sick about the same time as chickens at the farm were dying weren't suffering from the avian flu virus, tests have shown. [More]

Chickens poxed in B.C. *
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Thursday that it has confirmed a case of low-risk H7 avian flu on a chicken farm in British Columbia. [More]

Child , 2 seniors, die as flu bug spreads *
This year's flu, expected to be the worst in decades, is hitting children so hard that infectious-disease specialists are urging parents to consider having them vaccinated. [More]

Children can suffer hardened arteries, study says *
Researchers in Finland and the United States have shown for the first time that hardening of the arteries -- a classic sign of heart disease -- can begin in childhood. [More]

Children may outgrow peanut allergies: study *
Children with peanut allergies may outgrow their allergy over time, says a new study published in the July issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. [More]

Children's allergies overestimated, study finds *
Up to 30 per cent of parents believe their children have food allergies when in fact only between 4 and 8 per cent of children do, a report in the Canadian Medical Association Journal says. [More]

Children's health in crisis, Iraqi doctors say *
Dirty water, disease and malnutrition result in rising postwar death rate [More]

China lifts ban on animals linked to SARS *
The ban, which involved 54 types of wildlife, lasted for five months [More]

China lifts ban on wild-animal sales *
Ruling sparks fears trade in exotic species could be source of another SARS outbreak [More]

China's taste for exotic flesh ripens the risk of another SARS *
She calls herself Miss Chan, and she offers you a world of illicit wildlife to titillate your taste buds. [More]

Chlorine fingered in surge of Paris asthma *
Chlorine used to disinfect indoor swimming pools could be one of the causes behind an astonishing surge in childhood asthma in developed countries in the past few decades, a new study indicates. [More]

Cholesterol drugs may do harm, doctors say *
Cholesterol-lowering drugs may do more harm than good, according to a group of drug specialists at the University of British Columbia. [More]

Chrétien Brothers link worlds of science and politics *
Michel Chrétien has been influential in shaping the PM's legacy of revitalizing university research [More]

Citizens asked to help control mosquitoes *
Officials want property owners to remove water to fight West Nile [More]

Cleaning instructions complex, hospital says *
Firm that built prostate-test device says human error, not its manual, to blame. [More]

Colour-coding showed me the way *
Lifesavers come in many shapes and forms. In my case, coloured Post-it notes were the answer. [More]

Columbia tragedy preventable, shuttle pioneer says *
Space program pioneers told Columbia investigators Wednesday that shuttle wings were never designed to be struck by anything and they suggested NASA should have taken the potential problem much more seriously. [More]

Committee wants more money for AIDS strategy *
[More]

Companies struggle to end growing threat of trans fats *
Voortman Cookies Ltd. may be one of the first companies to eliminate trans fats from its products, but others are also scrambling to tackle the issue, which one leading public-health expert has called the "biggest food-processing disaster in history." [More]

Computer use, stress linked to RSI increase *
About 2.3 million Canadian adults suffer from repetitive-strain injuries, and almost one-third of them live in chronic pain, according to Statistics Canada. [More]

Computers replace petri dishes in biological labs *
A few years ago Jim Roehr, a senior scientist at Aventis, found himself wasting precious hours chasing down members of his drug research team just to collect their latest findings. [More]

Could you live with a chip on your shoulder? *
Two states, Wisconsin and North Dakota, recently passed laws prohibiting the forced implantation of microchips in humans. Others -- Ohio, Oklahoma, Colorado and Florida -- are studying similar legislation. [More]

Creatine helps brain, researchers discover *
Dietary additive used by athletes to build muscle may aid memory [More]

Cruise ship hit by virus skips Canada *
A cruise across the North Atlantic, which was supposed to include a stop in Canada, was cut short yesterday after more than 300 passengers and crew members became sick with a highly contagious stomach virus... [More]

Customized cures *
New drugs could soon offer personalized treatment for cancer, reports PATRICIA YOUNG [More]

Cut cholesterol without leaving the kitchen *
A healthier diet can reduce cholesterol levels radically in a very short time, almost as effectively as a routinely prescribed drug, researchers in Toronto have demonstrated. [More]

Cutbacks fed SARS calamity, critics say *
SARS: The Ontario government decided its labs and scientists were redundant. The impact was disastrous. [More]

Dancing at the Dead Sea: Homo sapiens: hurtling toward suicide *
You know our messy living space of a planet isn't in great shape when Alanna Mitchell, a sharp-eyed Globe and Mail journalist raised by an equally sharp-eyed field biologist, travels toward the world's most abused landscapes with one big awful question on her mind: "Are humans a suicidal species? [More]

Death by overwork doubles in Japan *
A record number of Japanese managers, engineers and workers died of overwork last year, the government said this week, showing that the country's economic slump hasn't reduced pressures on Japanese to work long hours. [More]

Decoding of SARS virus reveals animal origins *
The prime viral suspect behind the worldwide SARS outbreak is a measly microbe of no more than 10 genes that began its life in an animal long ago, mutating millions of times before picking up the power to infect people... [More]

Did Kepler kill Tycho? *
Two writers believe the mathematician, in his desperate bid to deduce the true nature of the planetary orbits, poisoned the astronomer to gain access to his log books. DAN FALK checks out their evidence. [More]

Did Neanderthals and humans mix? *
One of the abiding questions in human evolution is the intimacy of the relationship between early people and their clear, near relations, the Neanderthals. [More]

Dinosaur footprints in Gobi solve mysteries *
Since 1948, the barren Nemegt area of Mongolia's Gobi Desert has been a fossil hunter's nirvana. Bones from thousands of dinosaurs and other creatures that roamed the shores of an ancient river 83 million to 65 million years ago have been dug up. [More]

Discovery Channel Store *
The Discovery Channel Store reaches beyond the television screen to bring the wonder and mystery of our world to you. They've scoured the globe to provide you access to the most informative, interactive and engaging products available. Explore your world and entertain your brain Discovery style! [More]

Discovery could lead to BSE test, vaccine *
Canadian researchers have made a discovery that could lead to a diagnostic test or even a vaccine for mad-cow disease and other illnesses caused by tiny rogue proteins known as prions. [More]

Discovery could save threatened ocean life *
For the first time since scientific study of the world's oceans began, researchers have discovered a predictable series of gathering spots for key species of travelling sea life, a find that means scientists now understand how to save these species from extinction. [More]

Discovery may ease risks of cancer treatment *
Canadian researchers are working on a breakthrough in what can be the most perilous period of a cancer patient's life -- the time after chemotherapy and radiation, when the immune system has been so weakened that it can no longer resist infection. [More]

DNA match of 9/11 victims limited *
Up to 1,000 of World Trade Center dead may never be identified, pathologist says [More]

Doctors tout traditional remedies *
But their work is stymied without financial backers, STEPHANIE NOLEN reports. [More]

Doing battle with mad-cow disease *
Once again, a deadly disease has attracted unfavourable international attention to this country. The world will take note of our response to the latest challenge: a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, mad-cow disease) in Alberta. Canada must pass this critical inspection. [More]

Domestic cats could carry SARS virus *
Research raises awareness, but experts stress pets needn't be banished [More]

Don't get cracking: seeking a stronger eggshell -- EggDefense to the rescue *
Max Hincke wants to build a better egg. [More]

Don't skew the science *
Some of the most influential scientists in the United States have gone public with disquieting accusations that the Bush administration has suppressed and distorted scientific findings, manipulated research and stacked government advisory panels to suit its political objectives. [More]

Drop in childhood cancer linked to folic-acid intake *
Adding folic acid to processed foods results in a 60-per-cent reduction in the incidence of neuroblastoma, a deadly childhood cancer, a Canadian study says. [More]

Drop-outs granted patents for hydrogen production *
Two cousins discover inexpensive method to produce non-polluting gas using discarded aluminum cans and Drano. [More]

Drug makers should join fight against AIDS *
As Stephen Lewis, the United Nations special AIDS envoy, eloquently reminded the world again this week, the AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa is a horrific scourge that urgently requires a massive inflow of affordable anti-viral drugs and billions of dollars worth of other assistance from rich countries. [More]

Dyslexia treatable, new program shows *
After three weeks, reading was improved, brain activity resembled usual patterns [More]

E-nose can sniff ailments *
University of Pennsylvania researchers have demonstrated the promise of a hand-held "electronic nose" for diagnosing pneumonia and sinusitis by analyzing a patient's exhaled breath. The e-nose device could make it faster, easier and cheaper to spot some respiratory diseases and, as a result, reduce unnecessary prescriptions. [More]

Early bird sings better, scientists say *
Calmer atmospheric conditions at dawn result in more consistent song quality [More]

Early tests point to West Nile in N.B. *
Preliminary tests on a man in his 60s indicate New Brunswick could have its first confirmed case of West Nile virus, the province's chief medical health officer said Monday. [More]

Earth uses self-cooling mechanism, study finds *
The Earth is apparently geologically programmed not to let the atmosphere get too hot. And if the temperature does spike, global cooling processes can kick in as little as a decade later, new European research says. [More]

Eat the whole tomato, scientists urge *
Supplements containing the antioxidant lycopene may be ineffective at warding off prostate cancer, researchers said Tuesday. [More]

Eat, drink and be wary in a universe of diets *
For acolytes of the late diet guru Robert C. Atkins, the news could scarcely have been worse. . . [More]

Ebola vaccine could stop outbreaks *
U.S. government researchers said yesterday they had developed a vaccine that protected monkeys against Ebola virus with a single dose, offering a new way to stop an outbreak of the deadly disease. [More]

Edmond Scientific's Scientifics *
Combined, Edmund Scientific and Science Kit boast over 100 years experience in the world of science -- experience they will use to make sure that the high standards set by Scientifics in the past will continue long into the future. [More]

Eeyor-eka: U.S. scientists clone a mule *
Owner of racing hybrids puts up funding; horse clones imminent, researchers say [More]

Electric conversations *
Researchers have figured out how a small fish uses electricity to navigate and communicate in the murky Amazon River. ANNE McILROY reports [More]

Embryo research 'a fact' in Canada *
Research on human embryos is common at infertility clinics in Canada and has been for years, a prominent medical ethicist says. [More]

Engaging in forgetful behaviour *
A neuroscientist believes his research provides physical evidence that repressed memories may be real. ANNE McILROY reports. [More]

Epilepsy gene identified by Canadian-led team *
A gene responsible for a deadly form of epilepsy affecting teenagers has been identified by an international research team led by Canadians [More]

EU commits $1-billion to battle against disease *
The international fight against the world's most vicious diseases received a major boost yesterday when the European Union and France both promised major new donations to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. [More]

Eureka! Alberta a big science hub *
New Economy -- now there's a term you haven't heard too often since the great tech boom ended in 2000 -- is usually thought of as being synonymous with information and communications technology. [More]

Exercise lowers risk of breast cancer: study *
Moderate exercise, such as brisk walking 30 minutes a day, can reduce a woman's risk of developing breast cancer by almost 20 per cent, according to new research [More]

Experience the human body in all its elegance and complexity at Science World this fall *
Science World to bring Gunther von Hagens' BODY WORLDS 3: The Anatomical Exhibition of Real Human Bodies to Vancouver, BC from September 15, 2006 to January 14, 2007 [More]

Experts fear rapid spread in humans if virus mutates *
Avian influenza is an infectious disease of birds caused by type A strains of the influenza virus. The disease occurs worldwide and was first identified in Italy more than a century ago. There are 15 known virus subtypes. [More]

Experts prescribe national health team *
A blue-ribbon panel studying the fallout from the SARS crisis will recommend that Ottawa spend hundreds of millions of dollars on public health, including a national disease centre that could quickly co-ordinate responses to health emergencies, sources have told The Globe and Mail. [More]

Farm lifestyle linked to fewer allergies *
Growing up around farm animals may protect children from allergies and asthma, a Canadian study presented to the American Thoracic Society says. [More]

Fat is the new tobacco: Heart and Stroke Foundation *
Canadians' struggle to control their weight poses a public health risk on par with the fight to curb tobacco use in the 1970s, the Heart and Stroke Foundation said Tuesday. [More]

Fats linked to breast cancer *
Those derived from animals, not plants, raise the risk of disease, new study finds [More]

Few fear spread of contagion *
Citizens confident public-health workers, governments will contain SARS, mad-cow [More]

Five B.C. poultry farm workers fall ill *
Five workers at a B.C. chicken farm where avian flu has occurred are showing flu-like symptoms. [More]

Flipping and flopping toward the tulips *
Like the observant pagans who laid out Stonehenge and the pyramids of Central America, we have marked the annual, prodigal journey of the sun across the horizon on our hillside in the country. Standing on a certain rock looking west, you can see three markers in the grass beyond Martini Point, one that shows where the sun sets in a blaze on June 21, one where it sets in golden hue on the equinoxes, and one where it glimmers on December's shortest day. [More]

Flu forces special measures *
Two hospitals in Southern Ontario are taking SARS-like precautions to cope with outbreaks of influenza, the latest sign of an unusually severe flu season striking nationwide. [More]

Flu in Nunavut closes schools *
Influenza in Nunavut is causing school closings, cancellations of public hearings and grocery-store clerks to wear masks. [More]

Flu season strikes early in West *
Flu season has hit Canada early, clogging emergency rooms in Edmonton and prompting calls from health officials across the country for people to get immunized as soon as possible. [More]

Flu strain striking young children *
The answer to your first question is six months... [More]

Focus, please: It pays to get right to the point *
You may have to refocus all your ideas about focusing. [More]

Folic acid crucial for mothers, research suggests *
Canadian researchers have made a startling discovery about the benefits of folic acid. The nutrient, which is added to foods to prevent neural-tube defects such as spina bifida, also appears to prevent one of the most common forms of childhood cancer. [More]

For whom Nobel tolls: Canada fails to teach the drama of science *
Britain, which outscores Canada in international science tests, is launching an innovative pilot project to help its students do even better. [More]

Forensic science gains cachet *
But demand for specialists fails to match glamorized image. [More]

Fossil find fills gap in human evolution *
We were never Neanderthals... [More]

Fossils show animals took land bridge from Asia *
Ancestors to modern North American black bears, wolverines and other animals walked here across a land bridge from Asia, an important new fossil find in the Canadian Arctic shows. [More]

Frankenfood: Science losing the agitprop battle *
There are now 19,600 references to Frankenfood in Google, and that number that does not capture the terms larger effectiveness as a way of demonizing genetically engineered food. [More]

Frozen arsenic a miner miracle *
Deep underground, nearly 100 metres under the Canadian Shield, a slick, greyish-brown sludge seeps through a concrete bulkhead blocking off a chamber in an old gold mine. With a yellow shaft of light from his miner's lamp, Bill Mitchell points out the tiny stalactites hanging from the rock overhead and the oozy pools gathering underfoot [More]

G8 retreating from disease commitments, activists say *
Signs indicate leaders ready to back away from pledges to aid ill in poor countries [More]

Gene Therapy . . . the Natural Way *
Is it the end of the nature-nurture debate? As ANNE McILROY reports, new research implies that the quality of parental care can alter children's genetic makeup. [More]

Genes may indicate health-specific diet *
Someday you may sit down to a breakfast prepared not simply to slake your appetite but to satisfy what your genes say you need to be healthy. [More]

Genome decoding completed *
An international consortium of scientists announced Monday that it has completed the map of the human genetic code to an accuracy of 99.99 per cent and said the accomplishment opens a new era for biology and medicine. [More]

Get a grip: SARS is nasty but it's not the next plague *
Fear of SARS is gripping Toronto. Many believe the outbreak is growing in strength and spreading rapidly in the community. And some people are calling for drastic measures. These fears are not warranted. [More]

Getting to the issue of the heart *
An irregular heart beat is more common among men but much more hazardous when it occurs in women, according to the first major study to examine gender differences in the ailment. [More]

Glen Hillson: Early AIDS patient succumbs, age 51 *
Glen Hillson's long, courageous fight is over. One of the first patients diagnosed with the then-mysterious and terrifying AIDS virus in the early 1980s, Mr. Hillson stared death in the face for more than 20 years, until it seemed he would never succumb. [More]

Global vitamin program to reduce infant mortality *
A Canadian-backed global plan to add vitamins to food should result in an immediate reduction in infant mortality and crippling diseases, its organizers say. [More]

God and the brain *
Mario Beauregard, a neuroscientist with the University of Montreal's psychology department, won a two-year $100,000 (U.S) grant from mutual-fund titan John Templeton to study spirituality. [More]

Golf really is for the birds *
At the risk of irritating the environmental activists out there, here is some fascinating research coming to the annual meeting of the American Ornithologists' Union next month: It seems the game is good for birds. [More]

Grass is greener with global warming, study says *
The planet is growing greener because climate changes have made it easier for plants to get the water, sunlight and temperatures they need, according to a study released yesterday. [More]

Groups against spraying to fight adult mosquitoes *
Spraying chemicals to kill adult mosquitoes could worsen the outbreak of West Nile virus this summer, a new national coalition of environmental and health groups said yesterday. [More]

Hand sanitizer sales soar in wake of SARS outbreak *
Matthew Medland has been selling hand sanitizer in Ontario for about 12 years but has never seen sales spike as much as they have since the outbreak of SARS a month ago. [More]

Healing Powers: All about Adam *
ALEXANDRA GILL meets a 16-year-old kid from BC who offers distant-healing treatments through his website -- and counts rocker Ronnie Hawkins among his patients. [More]

Health of B.C. firefighters a growing concern *
The Kelowna fire is no longer advancing into this Okanagan city, but it's still burning out of control and taking its toll on the health of firefighters. [More]

Health officials baffled as West Nile cases cluster in Saskatchewan *
By any known method of predicting West Nile virus infections, Saskatchewan should not be the epicentre of the disease this year, health officials say. [More]

Health workers trained to spot West Nile virus *
[More]

Health-care systems weak in rural China *
Widening gap between rich, poor leaves some areas unprepared to fight disease. [More]

Heart disease killing women, study finds *
Despite its reputation as a man's problem, heart disease now kills significantly more women than men, according to a new international study. [More]

Herbal medicine, pure and simple *
Greenhouses may solve two problems: the risk of extinction of certain plants caused by indiscriminate collection in the wild and vast variations in the key biological chemicals, depending on growing conditions. STEPHEN STRAUSS reports. [More]

Hidden danger lurks in children's snacks *
Many snacks popular with children contain alarming amounts of trans fatty acids, a hidden, manufactured fat that many scientists consider a serious health hazard, research commissioned by The Globe and Mail and CTV News shows. [More]

High anxiety *
Nervousness, panic and shyness are now part of the most-diagnosed group of mental illnesses -- and drug companies just happen to have an array of products to treat them. Is marketing the tail wagging this dog? ANNE McILROY investigates how anxiety became the new depression. [More]

High-tech scarecrows *
A Canadian company has created 'scarebots' to ward off hungry birds [More]

Holes remain in airport's SARS screen *
More than a week after Canadian officials assured the World Health Organization that airline passengers leaving Canada would be screened for SARS, little monitoring appears to be taking place. [More]

Home care, now more than ever *
Quarantines. Control of infectious disease. Assuring safe, clean drinking water. Sound familiar? [More]

Hopes rise in battle to foil incurable killer *
On each leg, Kevin Gagné has a tiny, one-centimetre-square scar he playfully calls his "tattoos." The marks come from having been injected 25 times in each leg as part of a groundbreaking experiment. [More]

How to find a diamond in the rough *
Thomas Stachel destroys diamonds, crushing them in a handheld device in his lab at the University of Alberta. [More]

How to West Nile-proof your kids *
A point-form guide. [More]

HRT nearly doubles heart attack risk in first year *
Women who take hormone replacement pills after menopause nearly double their risk of heart attacks during the first year of treatment, a landmark study concludes. [More]

Hubble's star is fading *
The telescope has changed our understanding of how the universe works. However, with no more service missions planned, it will probably stop functioning by 2007. PAUL TAYLOR reports. [More]

Human cannibalism was once common, prion gene suggests *
Early humans may have regularly dined on each other. That is the unappetizing conclusion of British researchers who have discovered that a gene that protects against prion diseases -- infectious diseases that can be spread through eating contaminated flesh -- is found in people all over the world. [More]

Human embryo shortage stymies stem-cell research *
Canadian hopes of new treatments from embryonic stem-cell research -- one of the most promising areas of modern medicine -- could be thwarted by a shortage of surplus human embryos available for research, a new study suggests. [More]

Human genes fit on dime-size chip *
Scientists from two rival companies announced Thursday they had succeeded in placing vital bits of man's 30,000 genes on a chip the size of a dime, bringing so-called personalized medicine one step closer to reality. [More]

Human impact delaying ice age, study finds *
Earth's current climate may last for at least another 15,000 years, barring any effects from human intervention, according to a new study of Antarctic ice published in the latest issue of the journal Nature. [More]

Human-to-human monkeypox jump suspected *
Officials are investigating whether two Wisconsin health care workers may have contracted monkeypox from patients, in what would be the first known transmission of the virus from one human to another in the United States. [More]

Humans produce ozone, researchers find *
Created by immune-system antibodies, the gas may cause respiratory problems [More]

IMI sticks with redesigned test *
Launches tape-based skin cholesterol exam [More]

In favour of kissin' cousins *
One of the great mysteries of biology is the one that Charles Darwin supposedly resolved: the origin of species. Darwin argued that useful traits would arise through mutation and then be selected in a natural setting. The end result would be a new species. [More]

In hospital, SARS battle still not over *
Part of the money raised by rock concert will benefit health-care workers in area [More]

In search of a SARS vaccine: 'It's been a heck of a ride' *
It usually takes years to develop a vaccine for a particular disease. A B.C.-led team came up with three strong candidates in about 12 months. MARK HUME tells a story of many 'eureka moments.' [More]

In sickness and in health *
If I wrote a book that promised to share the secret to vitality and long life, it would be called Dumb Luck. [More]

Indian companies to fight tuberculosis in workplace *
Indian companies such as Reliance Industries Ltd. and the Aditya Birla Group have formed an alliance to help prevent the spread of tuberculosis among their employees in a country where one in every three people carries the disease. [More]

Influenza cuts feverish swath across Canada *
More than five million people can expect to be infected, Ontario microbiologist says. [More]

Influenza epidemic of 1918-19 led to cessation of Stanley Cup *
Long before SARS, professional sports was faced with the challenge of carrying on business during an epidemic. The Spanish influenza pandemic of 1918-19 caused the only instance of a major North American sports championship being cancelled because of illness: the Stanley Cup. [More]

Interpretation: Could be good or bad *
So much of what is dangerous has been quantified, yet we continue to interpret the world in much the same verbal, non-mathematical way as humans have done since they first evolved. We don't cross the street saying to ourselves, "I have a .0006-per-cent chance of being hit by a car while doing this." We don't sunbathe on the beach thinking, "My risk of skin cancer has gone up .00014 per cent." [More]

Invaders at the gate *
From snakehead fish in Maryland to zebra mussels in the Great Lakes, invasions by foreign species are a growing problem. [More]

Investigators narrow mad-cow search *
Alberta's baffling case of mad-cow disease may never be solved, officials said yesterday as they tried to pinpoint the cow's DNA profile to determine whether the infection spread. [More]

Is it true that high-dose Vitamin E could increase all-cause mortality? *
After reviewing a draft of the full paper, which will be published in January 2005, we believe the research is flawed, and we see little or no evidence to support the authors' conclusions. [More]

Isolation period extended in BC *
New Westminster hospital closes a floor, puts suspected cases off-limits for 12 days [More]

It takes your breath away *
Researchers are not in the habit of regaling outsiders with accounts of the often weird circumstances that get their inquiries kick-started, no matter how delicious the connections. But breaking with convention, we offer the strange link between the SARS epidemic and an explanation of why some climbers die while scaling Mount Everest. [More]

It'll grow back *
Scientists are studying newts, starfish and even some mice, all of which can regenerate lost or damaged body parts, reports ANNE McILROY. The question is, can they teach humans a genetic trick or two? [More]

It's a small world when disease strikes *
Despite our modern scientific knowledge, doctors are often operating in the dark. [More]

It's a snail parasite vs the West Nile mosquito *
With the peak season for the West Nile virus upon us, many people reach for a fly swatter to kill those pesky mosquitoes, but Manfred Rau, a McGill University parasitologist, reaches for a snail instead. [More]

It's scrap, not junk *
In biology, nothing has been more dismissive than the term applied to upwards of 95 per cent of DNA whose purpose doesn't seem to be to produce any of the proteins -- think insulin or adrenaline -- every organism needs to grow and thrive. [More]

It's the MOST: 'Humble' Canadian space telescope set for launch *
Numerous scientific fingers are being anxiously crossed and recrossed as astronomers from Toronto to Plesetsk, Russia, await news of the launch today of Canada's small and "humble" space telescope. [More]

Italy confirms 108th case of mad cow *
The Health Ministry confirmed Italy's 108th case of mad cow disease Thursday, saying a four-year-old cow from a breeding farm in Pordenone had tested positive [More]

It’s Spring! *
Okay, it's official. Today is the first day of Spring. [More]

Janusz Zurakowski, 89 *
Janusz Zurakowski was chosen to take Canada's first supersonic fighter jet on its maiden flight one blustery March morning almost 46 years ago. [More]

Joanne Rowlings and PMS hormone instincts are right: It turns out sinful dark chocolate is healthy *
If you justify gobbling chocolate by saying it's good for your health, new research shows you should choose dark rather than milk chocolate. And don't drink a glass of milk with it. [More]

John Moffat, Maverick physicist *
John Moffat, who corresponded with Einstein, has always been a non-conformist. While at U of T, he came up with the idea that the speed of light has varied over time. DAN FALK reports on a career spanning half a century. [More]

Keeping the biotech genie in the bottle *
Just two years ago, a couple of artists opened a small boutique called Gene Genies Worldwide in a trendy part of Pasadena, CA. [More]

Killer culture: Viruses in the Movies *
The virus as a metaphor infected our popular culture long before SARS and mad cow hit the headlines. But this time there is no cure, writes LIAM LACEY [More]

Largest Arctic ice shelf breaks up, wiping out unique ecosystem *
The largest Arctic ice shelf is beginning to rip itself apart, 4,500 years after it first began forming. [More]

Latest death at B.C. facility adds to puzzle around virus *
Medical experts say symptoms of illness not severe enough to be defined as SARS [More]

Leaders hope plan to attract research will boost Toronto economy *
In the aftermath of SARS, an "unprecedented" alliance of public- and private-sector interests will unveil plans today to boost the economy of the Toronto region by making it a magnet for some of the world's top researchers and research-driven industry. [More]

Legionnaires' outbreak shuts McCain factory *
A McCain Foods Ltd. French fries plant in France halted production yesterday after Legionnaires' disease was discovered in its cooling system, amid an outbreak that has killed 10 people. [More]

LEIDA FINLAYSON 1971-2003 *
The project was the brain-child of a therapist who suggested it would provide a diversion during cancer treatment [More]

Lessons in picking the top science story *
There is nothing like the New Year to make one look back over the past year with bright and sometimes teary eyes. Everyone has been coming up with their top 10, or 25, or 100 lists of the most science important stories of 2003. [More]

Liberal deal aims to foil rebel MPs *
The federal government has gone around its rebellious back bench to strike a bargain with the New Democratic Party for support on a controversial bill regulating human reproductive technology. [More]

Life on the research farm *
Let me fill you this week with images of endlessly ejaculating pigs, endlessly omnivorous chickens and the endlessly bumpy future of GM agriculture. [More]

Light show: where thunderbolts strike the most *
Lightning is an awesome spectacle, a display of nature's raw and devastating power, streaking across the sky for all to see.

The most powerful bolts contain hundreds of millions of volts, and have enough energy to light up a small city. Every year, lightning occurs an average of 2.7 million times in Canada; a handful of people are struck, and six to 10 usually die. Lightning also triggers more than half of all forest fires. [More]

Mad cow vaccine in works *
A neurologist at the University of Toronto says a vaccine for mad cow disease could be a year away. [More]

Mad-cow fears spread to Saskatchewan *
The search for the origin of the Alberta cow that became Canada's first case of mad cow disease in a decade spread to neighbouring Saskatchewan on Wednesday. [More]

Mad-cow hits Alberta *
A case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, better known as BSE or mad-cow disease, has been found in Alberta, federal Agriculture Minister Lyle Vanclief said Tuesday. [More]

Major developments on SARS *
A team of Canadian politicians and health officials left for Geneva yesterday evening, optimistic that the World Health Organization will rescind its travel advisory on Toronto after being presented with evidence that the city is safe. [More]

Major strides made on West Nile vaccine *
A vaccine developed from a strain of the West Nile virus has shown promising signs that it could eventually be used to protect humans from the deadly disease. [More]

Malaria: 'Forgotten epidemic' rears head *
Shivering and sweating feverishly, Felicia Egbuchue took the malaria medicine her doctor prescribed. Although it had cured her in years past, this time it didn't. She was rushed to the hospital and hooked up to an intravenous drip. [More]

Margaret Atwood: The art of the matter *
Science is a tool -- the arts express those dreams for which we want to use our tools, says MARGARET ATWOOD, who delivered the 2004 Kesterton Lecture. [More]

Mars mission faces a hurdle: Astronauts may arrive paralyzed *
With the recent success of the rover Spirit, and the anticipated landing of Opportunity later this month, a manned mission to Mars is the talk of the planet. [More]

McLellan backs disease-centre plan *
Ottawa, provinces expected to spend $1-billion a year to secure public health [More]

Meat with a pedigree *
There is nothing like an economic disaster to demonstrate that what we don't know can hurt us. [More]

Mediterranean diet and healthy lifestyle add years to life *
Adherence to a Mediterranean style diet, coupled with a few healthy lifestyle habits, can add years of life even among individuals aged 70 to 90 years. [More]

Memory lapses linked to high blood pressure *
A 'senior moment' something to worry about... [More]

Mercurial designs for a material world *
In the first of a three-part series on place and placelessness, LISA ROCHON inquires into how we are losing and finding ourselves in an increasingly globalized world. (Read part two.) [More]

Merit found amid video-game mayhem *
Violence aside, researchers argue skills can be gained by playing regularly [More]

Meteor blamed for second mass extinction *
A massive asteroid may have collided with the Earth 251 million years ago and killed 90 per cent of all life, an extinction even more severe than the meteorite impact that snuffed out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago. [More]

Mind over matter *
Paralyzed patients are taught to use their brain waves to move a white ball on a computer screen so they can communicate. ANNE McILROY reports on a German neuroscientist's pioneering work... [More]

Mission accomplished: a nut-free PB&J sandwich *
The much-maligned lunchbox staple could be on the verge of a comeback, writes STEPHEN STRAUSS. And this time it's allergy-free. [More]

Moon could turn red Thursday night *
Note: On the West Coast, if you are high up when the moon rises, you will have a better chance of seeing it on the horizon; it will not only be red, it will also be HUGE! [More]

More and more otherwise-healthy adult Canadians are dying from the effects of excess weight *
Canadians' expanding middles are killing them in middle age: New research shows that about one in every 10 deaths among adults aged 20 to 64 is directly attributable to excess weight. [More]

More Ontario hospitals report lapses in disinfecting instruments *
The list of Ontario hospitals coming clean about disinfection lapses lengthened again yesterday, as Brantford General announced that it was recalling 328 patients for HIV and hepatitis tests. [More]

More West Nile cases detected *
Signs the West Nile virus is on the rise in Canada were evident in several provinces on Friday. [More]

Mummy tells tale of infection *
Chagas disease, a deadly parasitic blood illness that recently has drawn attention in North America, has infected some South and Central Americans for at least 9,000 years, researchers said Monday. [More]

Mystery B.C. virus claims another victim *
A mysterious respiratory ailment in Surrey, B.C., that has raised fears the world may be seeing a new SARS outbreak appears to have claimed another life. [More]

Mystery illness hits more troops *
Two more soldiers overseas have come down with serious pneumonia, bringing the unexplained cases to 17, the U.S. Army said Monday. [More]

N.B. patient had rare illness, autopsy reveals *
CJD case may be linked to 1992 operation but not to mad-cow disease, doctors say. [More]

N.Z. man may have human form of mad-cow *
New Zealand health officials said yesterday they were investigating if a farm worker had an aggressive type of brain-wasting illness caused by eating beef infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, also known as mad-cow disease. [More]

NASA delays Mars rover launch *
NASA delayed the launch of its second Mars rover until at least Monday after problems resurfaced Sunday with the cork insulation on the rover's rocket. [More]

New cancer gene discovered *
An international team of researchers, including several from British Columbia, has discovered a new gene for breast and ovarian cancer they believe may be a missing link between hereditary and sporadic forms of breast cancer. [More]

New dinosaur discovered in India *
U.S. and Indian scientists said Wednesday that they have discovered a new dinosaur species in India after finding bones in the western part of the country. [More]

New elements revealed *
Russian and American scientists say they have created two new "superheavy" elements that will reside at the extreme end of chemistry's periodic table of elements. [More]

New form of mad cow discovered *
Italian scientists have found a second form of mad-cow disease that more closely resembles the human Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease than the usual cow form of the illness. [More]

New hope from an unknown vitamin *
Preliminary research links a substance called PQQ with enhanced fertility, reports ANNE McILROY [More]

New oil helps lower cholesterol, study says *
A new blend of cooking oil developed by Canadian researchers could turn French fries into diet food. But you may not be able to get it in Canada. [More]

New research could end whale hunt *
Industry wiped out many more mammals than was previously believed, study shows [More]

New shuttle flaw found *
Investigators said Thursday they discovered a dangerous new threat to the United States' remaining three space shuttles, a fault affecting the heavy bolts that connect the powerful solid-rocket boosters to the external fuel tanks. [More]

New species found in race to map oceans *
Findings of marine census may reveal how fish 'shuttle' across the Atlantic. [More]

New study drives nail in coffin of HRT therapy *
Estrogen-progestin pills may cause an aggressive form of breast cancer and make it harder to find tumors until they have reached a later, less-curable stage, according to one of the biggest, most authoritative analyses yet. [More]

New technique lets MRI scanner see individual cells *
Canadian researchers have found a way to use ordinary hospital MRI scanners to see individual white blood cells, a discovery that could lead to the earlier diagnosis of diseases such as cancer and multiple sclerosis. [More]

Nicotine's good side *
Studies suggest the substance can help with Parkinson's, schizophrenia and Alzheimer's, but researchers are in no way recommending that you take up smoking. SIMON SMITH reports [More]

No blood recall, officials say *
Alberta donations will stay in system despite high level of West Nile cases. [More]

Noise Pollution: Why a songbird decided to change its tune *
Scientists have wondered for years whether the noise from cars, trucks, planes and other machinery is harmful, especially to wildlife [More]

Old and can't spell *
For all those who fret that the number of times they spell "slough" as "slew" and "kohl" as "coal" is ballooning as they age, new research has a balm: Don't worry. What is happening is perfectly normal -- at least if you are an English speaker. [More]

One man, several women *
As Canada debates what should constitute a legal and natural marriage, researchers in Italy and Switzerland have thrown a historical spanner into the nuptial works. [More]

Optimism cold comfort for chills, study says *
Not worrying may help you be happy, but optimism won't help you endure that nastiness known as the Canadian winter. [More]

Orca successfully reunited with kin *
Scientists confirm orphaned killer whale accepted by its aunts and grandmother [More]

Ottawa fears revolt on embryo legislation *
Senior government officials are growing increasingly fearful of a back-bench uprising that threatens to scuttle a long-awaited bill regulating the controversial use of human embryos for medical research [More]

Ottawa man tests positive for West Nile virus *
An Ottawa man has tested positive for West Nile virus, health officials said yesterday, the second confirmed case in Canada this summer. An investigation is under way to determine where the patient, an elderly man being treated in hospital, was infected. [More]

Parasite may pose a risk to blood supply *
A parasitic infection that is common is Latin America is threatening the U.S. blood system, and Canadian officials say they are evaluating the risk it poses here. [More]

Paul Martin flunks a science test *
The proposals in the Speech from the Throne don't come close to fitting into Canada's research and development needs, says PRESTON MANNING. [More]

Paving the way for female Viagra *
A UBC researcher has boldly gone where no scientist has gone before -- and mapped the previously unidentified nerves that cause sexual pleasure in women. GWENDOLYN RICHARDS reports. [More]

PC grids take aim at SARS in battle against disease *
Your personal computer can play a role in fighting SARS in its spare time in a volunteer project connecting PCs to a 60,000-machine computing grid. [More]

Peanut-allergy vaccine offers sufferers hope *
A vaccine that seems to help tone down the body's overreaction to peanuts may offer the first real hope of protecting children with peanut allergies, U.S. researchers say. [More]

Pharmaceutical firm stakes its future on early detection *
Synx ready to market heart failure tester [More]

Philippines restricts foreign kidney trade *
New law ensures outsiders do not outbid citizens for desperately needed organs [More]

Poultry disease threatens Thailand's exports *
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra invited foreign reporters to join his cabinet for a chicken lunch yesterday as he tried to soothe public fears after an outbreak of poultry cholera. [More]

Predictions of El Nino's return heating up *
Scientists point to ocean pimples, big waves. . . [More]

Probe clears colleagues of MD with AIDS *
Regulatory body cites lapses in tracking ailing surgeon's work at Montreal hospital. [More]

Probes to Mars will seek evidence of life *
The race to find evidence of life on Mars was to have begun in earnest this weekend with the launch of the first of two NASA robotic rovers that will head to the Red Planet to look for traces of water. [More]

Program to track childhood cancer gutted *
The federal government has gutted a program that tracked childhood cancer rates, delays in diagnoses and treatment outcomes in what some say could have a huge impact on care. [More]

Project to study cows' production of methane *
A project looking for ways to reduce the amount of methane gas cows put out began in New Brunswick this weekend. [More]

Prostate screening mixed blessing, study suggests *
Annual screening for prostate cancer in men over 55 is a mixed blessing, according to a new study. [More]

Protect against summer's parade of pests *
Mosquitoes, ticks, black flies and spiders -- summer's parade of pests have made their debut. With fears of West Nile virus and other diseases, cottagers can do several things to protect themselves against insect intruders. [More]

Province fights workers' charge hospital made them sick *
For 11 months, Duncan MacIntyre has suffered soaring headaches, dizziness, tremors, vertigo and fatigue so extreme he spent most of last summer in bed. [More]

PSA prostate blood test overrated, study says *
The widely used PSA blood test, designed to look for early signs of prostate cancer, misses 82 per cent of tumours in men under 60, a study released yesterday says. [More]

Que. tech firm hits new high *
U.S. regulator approves TSO3's device for sterilizing equipment in hospitals [More]

Quebec teenager wins top science-fair prize *
Cancer-therapy entry beats 1300 others [More]

Quebec, Ontario tackling West Nile virus earlier *
A worker stamped through bogs of stagnant water in the suburban woods of Montreal yesterday in a new, 21st-century rite of spring in Canada: the destruction of potentially deadly mosquito larvae. [More]

Race for flu shots depletes firm's reserves *
The world's largest manufacturer of the flu vaccine reported yesterday its cupboards are bare after the Canadian government bought up its remaining doses to replenish the country's stocks. [More]

Rapid Arctic warming over past 20 years has scientists puzzled *
Satellite images show that the Arctic has been warming eight times faster in the past 20 years than in the past 100, according to U.S. researchers who said yesterday this rapid climate change is a worrying trend -- but they still don't know why it's happening. [More]

Reach for the stars -- again *
Beep-beep-beep: Shrill, innocuous-sounding noises from the sky shocked the world on Oct. 4, 1957. Short-wave radio users the world over captured signals from the Soviet satellite Sputnik as it circled Earth. The launch was a monumental feat, one that shook the United States out of its state of complacency and provoked a cascade of events that led to the space race and the birth of NASA. [More]

Real 'smart chip' developed, scientists say *
Researchers at the University of Calgary have found that nerve cells grown on a microchip can learn and memorize information which can be communicated to the brain. [More]

Recent findings on lycopene and prostrate cancer *
A recent study from Harvard Medical School on over 47,000 men from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS) showed that there was a significantly lower risk of developing prostate cancer in men with the highest intake of lycopene... [More]

Reeve's optimism renewed in Israel *
Actor Christopher Reeve said Wednesday that his optimism about recovering from a catastrophic spinal injury has been boosted by meeting disabled Israelis and the country's cutting-edge medical researchers. [More]

Research could lead to a cure for BSE and CJD *
British researchers have prevented and reversed a chronic brain-wasting illness in lab mice, a major scientific breakthrough that could lead to a cure for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans or bovine spongiform encephalopathy in cattle. [More]

Research pans tomato extract *
Better eat the whole tomato. New research suggests that men who take a tomato extract called lycopene to ward off prostate cancer would be better off eating the entire fruit -- or even pizza with tomato sauce. [More]

Researchers aim to reconstruct mummy *
Even 2300-year-old female Egyptian mummies can't avoid the burning mortality issue of the day: Did she die of SARS? [More]

Researchers cultivate decaf beans *
Decaf brew from a coffee plant that has been genetically modified to produce beans with very little caffeine could one day come to a coffee shop near you. [More]

Researchers identify possible fat protein *
The identification of a new protein on fat cells may help doctors tackle the growing scourge of obesity, McGill researchers said Thursday. [More]

Rising breast-cancer risk tracked *
Extended-family research finds women born before 1940 have less risk. [More]

RNA's back door into genes *
The biotechnology field is littered with the debris of would-be miracle cures. [More]

Salmon: a slippery subject *
"Farmed salmon are laced with toxins, study finds," read a headline in The Globe and Mail last week. The research on which the article was based, published in the journal Science, has reignited the debate about the safety of eating fish. It has also left many readers puzzled about whether salmon -- long touted as brain food and heart-healthy -- is still a good choice. [More]

Salmon: To eat it or not *
Every once in a while, a story erupts in the media that seems designed to punish all journalists whose life goal it was never to take a statistics course. Such a brouhaha recently broke out in the strange form of a disputatious salmon filet. [More]

SARS and Death's sting *
The SARS uproar has deflected attention from another nasty newcomer, whose sneak attack last year killed just as many Canadians. No one really knows what the West Nile virus will do this summer, JOHN ALLEMANG reports, but the overburdened health-care system badly needs a break [More]

SARS Ban lifted, but effects linger *
Toronto officials say damage to city and rest of country will last for years. [More]

SARS danger over, MD says *
SARS is as good as dead, according to one of Canada's leading infectious-disease experts. [More]

SARS in HK: On the inside looking in *
In a city ravaged by SARS, CHARLES FORAN has been teaching a course on Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient. It's a strange climate, he writes, in which to explore themes of heroism, loss and the triumph of the public good. [More]

SARS ruled out in nursing home deaths *
SARS has been ruled out as the cause of an illness at a Vancouver-area nursing home. [More]

SARS study contains surprising revelations *
Two in every three people infected with SARS in Ontario have been women and the average age of those sickened by the mysterious virus is only 45, according to the most detailed research published to date. [More]

SARS test proves promising *
Next step will be to determine how to get same results from living patients [More]

SARS-like illness dwindles in B.C. *
The outbreak of a SARS-like illness at a British Columbia health care facility is dwindling, but the mystery surrounding what the illness was continues. [More]

SARS-like virus puts lab on edge *
Life almost normal again at Winnipeg research facility, but vigilance remains [More]

SARS-stricken Toronto likely back on WHO list *
Toronto's SARS woes increased yesterday with news that eight new cases have been added to the latest outbreak, including two patients who have died -- and expectations that the city will again land on the World Health Organization's list of areas where the disease is spreading. [More]

SARS: $1 flights to Toronto quickly sell out *
SARS-weary Torontonians flocked downtown last night lured by special deals offered to kick-start the city's faltering economy. [More]

SARS: BC group files data patent application *
Within days of decoding the genetic makeup of the SARS virus, B.C. researchers were grappling with another issue: the intense pressure to get sole rights to their own data so they could share it with the world. [More]

SARS: Beijing ramps up quarantine measures *
The mysterious virus SARS is slowly but surely bringing the world's most-populous country, and in particular its capital, Beijing, to its knees. [More]

SARS: China still does not get it *
The dismissal on Easter Sunday of Chinese Health Minister Zhang Wenkang and Beijing Mayor Meng Xuenong for their role in covering up the seriousness of the SARS epidemic was the biggest governmental shakeup in more than a decade and has far-reaching ramifications. [More]

SARS: Disease update *
adapted from the Health Canada Web site... [More]

SARS: Not so fast, Toronto *
Don't knock the World Health Organization. It's our front-line defence against epidemics and it needs our support, says health researcher PRABHAT JHA [More]

SARS: Teens rebel against quarantine *
Students straying after 1,500 ordered to remain at home [More]

SARS: WHO to probe rural China *
Worries that SARS might be spreading to Hebei province sparks investigation [More]

SARS: WHO warning unhealthy for Air Canada, CEO says *
Air Canada's revenue is under "tremendous additional strain" because of the World Health Organization advisory that customers avoid travel to Toronto, president and chief executive officer Robert Milton told employees. [More]

Saving soil that isn't as common as dirt *
Soil doesn't have an elevated place in the English lexicon. Things are as common as dirt, as plentiful as dirt and as cheap as dirt. [More]

Science journal to put research on-line *
A new on-line journal wants to radically alter the exchange of scientific information by making vital research available for free to anyone who logs on the Internet. [More]

Science looks at taming golf's yips *
Bob Jensen's nickname is "No Way" — appropriate when he stands over a one-foot putt under pressure. [More]

Science savvy students Stump for Youth Science Month *
BC students vie for a chance at the Canada-Wide Science Fair. [More]

Science. Fiction *
I am a devotee of fiction about science. Not science fiction, though I occasionally crack a Michael Crichton novel for the dope on dinosaur DNA or nanotechnology. [More]

Science: Sailing on a sunbeam *
In the interest of smooth stellar sailing, NASA has announced that it will help a small U.S. aerospace company to perfect a technology that would use sunbeams to travel to the stars. [More]

Scientist likely got SARS in laboratory, WHO says *
A Singapore researcher who tested positive for SARS is very likely to have contracted the virus at a laboratory where intensive research on the disease had been done, a World Health Organization official said yesterday [More]

Scientists astonished by Mars pictures *
NASA's Opportunity rover zipped its first pictures of Mars to Earth early Sunday, delighting and puzzling scientists just hours after the spacecraft bounced to a landing on the opposite side of the red planet from its twin rover, Spirit. [More]

Scientists astonished by underwater eruption *
Hoping to learn more about undersea volcanoes, scientists sent a camera-equipped submarine down to take a look. They got more than they bargained for, witnessing a deep-sea eruption. [More]

Scientists eye drug. Fast action on SARS *
A SARS vaccine could be mere months away, but getting it approved, manufactured and distributed to Canadians may prove more of a challenge, says a health researcher who is developing ways to prevent the disease. [More]

Scientists revise view of 1918 pandemic *
The 1918 flu that killed 20 million people appears to be more birdlike than previously thought, according to findings by U.S. and British researchers that could help explain why it was the deadliest influenza strain ever recorded. [More]

Scientists testing dangers of bird flu *
Scientists are embarking on a series of experiments with the bird flu virus ravaging Asian poultry to see how dangerous it would be if it adapted to humans, the chief influenza expert at the UN health agency said. [More]

Scientists work up a disappearing act *
The invisibility cloak that allowed Harry Potter to wander unseen through the halls of Hogwarts is no longer confined to the realm of fiction. [More]

Scratch one menopause myth *
A new study disputes the widely held notion that menopause makes women scatterbrained and forgetful. [More]

Screening for asteroids *
A volunteer in an astronomy project scrolled through thousands of telescope images on the Internet and discovered an asteroid by noticing its telltale streaks. [More]

Secrets of the web *
Spiders are among the better studied creatures in biology, in part because there are a lot of them -- more than 30,000 species -- and in part because they do the coolest things. [More]

Serfs of science *
Fame and money are gained on the backs of students toiling away in labs for pitiful pay. No wonder many are considering moving out of Canada or to another field entirely. PAUL TADICH reports [More]

Shape of proteins holds key to treating diseases *
The key to treating many deadly diseases -- including cancer and Parkinson's disease -- may lie in finding drugs to block the errant proteins that can wreak havoc in the human body. [More]

Shhhhh. We're making a building *
When you're looking at extremely small things, it's important that the lab is perfectly still. JILL MAHONEY explains what it takes to erect a nanotechnology centre. [More]

Short means more *
If you want to cut down on your drinking, maybe all you have to do is change the shape of your glass. This bit of counterintuitive advice flows from soon-to-be-published perceptual research conducted by Brian Wansink and Koert Van Ittersum of the University of Illinois. [More]

Sindi Hawkins has bone-marrow transplant *
B.C. cabinet minister battles acute leukemia. [More]

Six new probable cases of West Nile suspected *
new probable cases of West Nile virus have surfaced in Saskatchewan, bringing the total number of people infected in the province to nine, health officials announced last night. [More]

Skipping stones: It's a science,say physicists from France *
Balderdash, reply world record holders, it's really nothing but a fine art. [More]

Skulls enliven debate on earliest Americans *
Ancient tribe's roots differ from those of modern natives, researchers say [More]

Smart-home scenario coming soon *
An elderly man suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer's disease turns on the stove and then wanders out of his kitchen... [More]

SOCIAL STUDIES -- December 1, 2003 *
A DAILY MISCELLANY OF INFORMATION BY MICHAEL KESTERTON. [More]

SOCIAL STUDIES -- Thursday, September 4, 2003 *
A DAILY MISCELLANY OF INFORMATION BY MICHAEL KESTERTON [More]

Solar blast's hefty punch sets record *
Storm is among the most powerful in recent memory, but power systems appear to survive. [More]

Something new under the sun *
Maybe all those chemicals in sunscreen aren't good for you. ANNE McILROY tells how Canadian scientists have figured out how to keep them off your skin [More]

Source of flesh-eating disease still unknown *
More testing will be carried out in the United States in an effort to pinpoint the source of two cases of flesh-eating disease. [More]

Spoken Here...Last words? *
Only 30 people speak fluent Mohawk, but Manx is making a slow comeback. Montreal writer Mark Abley has travelled the world in search of the human stories behind dying languages, RAY CONLOGUE writes. [More]

Sponge grows own fibre optics *
More flexible than man-made version -- is this a vote of confidence for Spongebob Squarepants? [More]

Sports fans get brain workout *
Hey, mom, I'm exercising my brain: Whether watching a game or playing, cerebral patterns are quite similar, researcher says. [More]

Spring Forward 2007 *
An earlier time has changed how early we convert to Daylight Saving Time. [More]

Spring Forward 2009 *
Must Canadians march lock-step with the U.S. on this issue? You decide. [More]

Spring Forward 2010 *
Higher accident rate, missed appointments -- is Daylight Savings the way to go? [More]

Spring is coming earlier all the time *
in North America, spring no longer falls on March 21. In 2005, for instance, the vernal equinox, the first day of spring for the Northern Hemisphere fell on Sunday, March 20, at 7:33 a.m. ET. And this year -- in the West -- it starts March 20 at 10:26 a.m. [More]

Stargazers spellbound by Venus transit *
When scientists first worked out the Earth's distance from the sun, the transit of Venus was crucial. “This sight is by far the noblest astronomy offers,” Edmond Halley, of comet fame, declared in 1691. [More]

Still hope for folate to prevent birth defect *
Fortifying foods such as flour and pasta with folic acid has dramatically reduced the rate of children with devastating birth defects, including spina bifida. [More]

Study backs use of deet on young children *
Parents anxious to protect their children against West Nile virus may be able to safely use deet more frequently than Health Canada recommends, a medical article rushed to print yesterday suggests. [More]

Study explains disease, dementia link *
Canadian scientists have discovered why people infected with AIDS lose their memories and co-ordination, according to a new study that also outlines a promising way to prevent those signs of dementia. [More]

Study links aspirin to pancreatic cancer *
U.S. researchers have found evidence that long-term use of aspirin increased the risk of pancreatic cancer in a large group of women. [More]

Study links hypertension, blood-vessel inflammation *
New research suggests that high blood pressure is an inflammatory disease caused, at least in part, by an overstimulation of the immune system. [More]

Study links obesity levels in parents and children *
But genetics not as dominant a factor as imitation of poor lifestyle choices. [More]

Study of herpes may slow spread of AIDS *
Research will examine whether treating the infection could cut HIV transmission [More]

Study says echinacea has no effect on kids *
The popular herbal medication echinacea has been found no more effective than a placebo in treating children with a cold, a new study shows. [More]

Study shows pandemic path a bird flu can take *
Killer of millions in 1918 was able to make human-to-human infection leap. [More]

Sudanese 'nodding syndrome' confounds experts *
Martha Halim lives in fear. She is terrified of the moon's phases, afraid of eating and fearful of fires, rivers and ponds. [More]

Summer Solstice: The Longest Day of the Year *
On or around June 21 each year, the rays of the sun are perpendicular to the Tropic of Cancer at 23°30' North latitude. This day is the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. [More]

Sun's blast could play havoc with Earth *
Solar flare may disrupt communications while enhancing Northern Lights [More]

Sunblock and bug repellent -- a dangerous cocktail? *
Just when you thought it was safe to go outside this summer, swabbed in DEET and smeared in sunblock, a new health alert about mixing the two has come out of the University of Manitoba. [More]

Super, but not useful *
One of the odder things about this year's Nobel Prize in physics is that it was given for research in two cold-temperature phenomena that have very different application pathways in the modern world. [More]

Superbug gaining on antibiotics *
Deaths in Britain from an increasingly drug-resistant superbug are 15 times higher than they were a decade ago, according to new figures released Thursday. [More]

Supernova sheds light on stellar theory *
Radio signals emanating from remains of star 30 million light years away prove how black holes and neutron stars form. [More]

Surgeons face complications in twins operation *
Neurosurgeons working to separate Iranian twin sisters joined at the head cut through brain tissue a millimetre at a time Monday after rerouting a thick shared vein that helped blood flow through their brains, a hospital official said. [More]

Sweeping flu strain not targeted by annual shot *
Canadians are facing a miserable flu season with the early and unexpected arrival of a particularly nasty strain of the virus that was not targeted in this year's shots. [More]

Taiwan accuses China of blocking SARS aid *
China has again blocked Taiwan from gaining status at the World Health Organization and faces accusations that Taiwanese are dying of SARS because Beijing took steps to delay WHO assistance to the hard-hit island. [More]

Tempest in a teacup *
Ah, it's Saturday and time for a cup of tea. But how shall we make it? Do we follow the chemists' rules or the physicists' rules? If this is not a question you have been asking yourself, then you are unaware of a dispute that has been boiling (ha-ha) in Britain. [More]

Tests leave Hemosol in critical condition *
Results of U.S. trials for the firm's blood substitute threaten the biotech's very survival, LEONARD ZEHR writes [More]

Tests of diabetes product 'positive,' ConjuChem says *
ConjuChem Inc. has reported "positive preliminary results" from four continuing Phase I/II clinical trials for its compound to treat Type 2 diabetes. [More]

The bottom line: Learn to love your tush *
Dr. Linda Rabeneck has a mission -- to save women's lives by getting them to take a simple test. [More]

The buzz about bees *
Genes, genes everywhere, and what's a soul to think? Scientists announced last month that they had sequenced the genes of the first farmed animal. It wasn't the pig, or the cow or the chicken, but the stinging honey bee. [More]

The case of the missing ducks *
A huge drop in the population of scaups and scoters is baffling biologists. The answer may lie in Canada's western boreal forest. ALANNA MITCHELL reports on efforts to unravel the mystery [More]

The cost of a normal life *
Sufferers of rare conditions such as Fabry disease need very expensive drugs, and they must fight provincial wrangling over providing treatment... [More]

The eyes have it -- Science or Science-Fiction? *
ALEXANDRA GILL suspends her disbelief and tests a British scientist's theory that we really can tell when someone's watching us [More]

The gift of dyslexia *
They may take longer to learn to read, but dyslexics outshine the rest of us in skills such as spatial perception. ALANNA MITCHELL examines a new movement that's taking the stigma out of the condition [More]

The great vaccination debate *
With polio vanquished and other deadly diseases in decline, many parents are saying no to the needle. But as more children go unprotected, could some lethal illnesses be poised for a comeback? PAUL TAYLOR reports. [More]

The Ice Dreams lolly -- What a treat. No mess *
As the melting, messy Popsicle season begins, parents and children in Canada may be excused more than a passing envy for what a British grocery-store chain has been calling "the world's first non-drip lolly." [More]

The link between sex, food *
One of the continual debates in evolutionary biology hinges on the relationship between food and sex. We're not talking aphrodisiacs, but the effect food has on the ratio of girl babies to boy babies. [More]

The Most Violent People on Earth *
Teenagers are the usual targets of efforts to prevent violence and delinquency. But as ERIN ANDERSSEN and ANNE McILROY report, science has discovered that human viciousness actually peaks in toddlers. Luckily, two-year-olds can't do much harm. But if you don't help the worst cases by then, you might never be able to help them at all. [More]

The nintendonitis generation feels PC pain *
Addicted to video games and the Web, children are showing symptoms of injury. [More]

The Oceans in Crisis *
Newfoundland isn't the half of it. This week's scientific bombshell reveals that all the world's oceans are emptying of fish, ALANNA MITCHELL writes. But the cod fishery is the worst-case scenario -- and to deny that, experts say, is sheer idiocy... [More]

The Owls are not as they seem: Owls use tool to attract food, research shows *
Birds have no need to search for lunch because tasty dung beetles come to them. [More]

The physics of van Gogh *
The vivid orange-red moon peeking behind a cliff in Vincent van Gogh's Moonrise intrigued physicist Donald Dr. Olson. [More]

The real reason women smokers are at greater risk *
Should cancer of the lung be added to the list of health risks women face just because they are women? [More]

The soul in science *
The West may lead the world in research and technology, but Muslim scientists have much to contribute in integrating inquiry with ethics, says SHEEMA KHAN [More]

The spooky place where art meets science *
Stem-cell revelations, nanotechnology used to make molecular graffiti -- they're at the Subtle Technologies festival of art and science. Psychic birds didn't make the cut, STEPHEN STRAUSS writes. [More]

The Viagra effect: a rise in AIDS for the 50-plus set? *
It makes for an intriguing scenario, one worthy of a moralistic movie of the week: Aging Casanovas, powered by Viagra, cutting a swath across the retirement homes and brothels of the nation and coming face to face with the stark reality of sex in the post-AIDS world. [More]

The voracious world of viruses *
We've had antibiotics to fight bacteria for over 50 years, but little progress has been made against the more insidious viral infections. It may be that the only thing we can rely on is our own immune system. ANNE McILROY reports [More]

The year ends with a pop *
It sometimes seems as if the whole purpose of science is to explain how weird stuff you never heard of works. [More]

There's no there there *
In the final part of a series on place and placelessness, LISA ROCHON laments that Toronto's new Dundas Square fails on many levels as a public space (read parts one and two). [More]

Third Canadian dies of West Nile complications *
A Manitoba man has died from West Nile virus and an underlying medical condition, provincial health authorities announced Thursday [More]

Threat of West Nile follows on heels of SARS *
Canadian experts are predicting an early mosquito season this year -- bringing with it the deadly West Nile virus. [More]

Three BC farms quarantined over mad-cow *
Three farms in British Columbia have been added to a widening cattle quarantine by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, as part of an effort to contain the spread of mad-cow disease in Canada. [More]

Tiny fly is big in tests *
Two Memorial University of Newfoundland scientists have just announced that they have been able to cure Parkinson's disease through genetic manipulation. [More]

TM Bioscience unveils genetic test kit *
TM Bioscience Corp. of Toronto has launched a genetic test kit for use by diagnostic laboratories and drug companies to predict how patients will react to a broad range of prescription and over-the-counter medications. [More]

Top adviser on science a new post for Ottawa *
A little noted fact about the Paul Martin government: For the first time in Canadian history, the Prime Minister has a national science adviser. [More]

Toronto doctor dies of SARS *
A 54-year-old doctor died of SARS Wednesday, the first physician to succumb to the disease in Canada. [More]

Tourist gives birth after ectopic pregnancy *
A Jamaican tourist has given birth to a healthy baby boy after a rare ectopic pregnancy. [More]

Toxic drug causes lasting damage to brain *
The first time Caitlin used crystal methamphetamine, she marvelled at how alert -- even brave -- she grew, especially when night fell. At 13, she was fending for herself on the streets of a tough suburban Vancouver neighbourhood. The drug chased off hunger too and made the damp West Coast chill endurable. [More]

Trans fats almost everywhere, tests find *
New Globe series examines restaurant fare for prevalence of 'silent killer'. [More]

Treatment a potential blockbuster *
Vasogen's therapy to reverse inflammation offers hope to patients with congestive heart failure, LEONARD ZEHR writes [More]

Twins joined at head begin life as separate beings *
After more than a day's worth of surgery, two-year-old Egyptian twins who were joined at the top of their head began life as fully separate beings yesterday. [More]

Two Alberta researchers shed light on electric idea *
Canadian researchers have discovered a new way to generate electricity -- something that nobody in the scientific world has been able to accomplish since Michael Faraday in 1839. [More]

Two more die from avian flu *
Two four-year-old boys were confirmed yesterday as the latest victims of the bird flu virus sweeping Asia, bringing the human death toll to 22. [More]

Two new cases of SARS suspected in Toronto *
Health systems and officials around the world have to work together to contain the spread of SARS and to plan for the emergence of other new infectious pathogens, participants at an international conference on SARS said Thursday. [More]

U.S. agency troubled by drop in science studies *
There is a troubling decline in the number of U.S. students training to be scientists, according to the Washington-based National Science Board. [More]

U.S. cases of West Nile triple in a week *
The number of West Nile virus cases in the United States has tripled since last week and will likely top last year's record total, a U.S. health official said yesterday in the latest warning of the mosquito-borne disease. [More]

Uncle Sam's city plan (part two of three) *
In the second part of a series on place and placelessness, LISA ROCHON explores the effects of US-style urbanization. (Read part one.) [More]

Unfit young could face heart attacks *
Fat, sedentary Canadians will likely suffer more illness than parents, study suggests. [More]

Unlocking the mysteries of milk *
If the latest promises of science are to be believed, the advertisements informing us that "milk does a body good" may soon have to be revised to read: "Better milk does a body even better." [More]

US study finds obesity raises risk of birth defects *
Obese and overweight women face significantly increased risks of having babies with heart abnormalities and other birth defects, according to a US government study. [More]

Vaccine for West Nile set for human trials *
North America braces for another potentially devastating outbreak of West Nile virus this summer, the first clinical trial of a vaccine for humans is set to begin in Kansas. [More]

Vaccine option possible against bird flu *
International public health, food and animal experts will announce today their recommendations for stepping up the fight against avian influenza, but early indications are they will give their blessing to mass vaccination for poultry. [More]

Vaccine protects monkeys against Ebola virus *
U.S. government researchers said yesterday they had developed a vaccine that protects monkeys against Ebola virus with a single dose, offering a new way to stop an outbreak of the deadly disease. [More]

Vancouver injection clinic opens for addicts *
With the kind of hype normally reserved for a Hollywood movie premiere, Vancouver has opened North America's first legal shooting gallery for drug addicts. [More]

Vancouver nursing-home ailment not SARS *
A mysterious respiratory ailment that has broken out at a Vancouver-area nursing home is not caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome virus, public-health officials said yesterday. [More]

Ventilation won't protect non-smokers, expert says *
A U.S. scientist says ventilation systems in bars and restaurants won't protect non-smokers from second-hand smoke. [More]

Vernal Equinox 2009 *
The Vernal Equinox is one of the four great seasonal changes every year. [More]

Vicks trick could aid polar-bear adoptions *
Ointment on cubs fools 'foster' moms [More]

Viral therapy kills brain tumours in mice *
Scientists have developed a virus that appears capable of eradicating brain tumours in 60 per cent of the mice treated, leaving healthy tissue untouched and dying out when the cancer is gone. [More]

Virus-plagued ocean liner declared safe for cruise *
The ocean liner Regal Princess, the passengers of which were stricken with a contagious stomach virus, was scheduled to depart yesterday for a 20-day voyage to New England and Canada after being sanitized from top to bottom. [More]

Voluntary AIDS testing creates waves *
The government of Botswana is offering AIDS testing to anyone who is treated at a health clinic, a simple step that may herald a major change in how the disease is handled throughout the developing world. [More]

VSM on cutting edge of safer brain surgery *
MEG machines offer top accuracy in treating tumours, damaged areas. [More]

Walsh sets her sights on fight for vision care *
Comedian Mary Walsh's brush with blindness came as suddenly as one of her characters about to ambush a politician. [More]

Want a virus-proof computer? Animals may provide a clue *
When a deadly new virus, such as Ebola or SARS, hits a human population, it never kills everyone it infects. Some people have immune systems that eventually adapt and overpower the invader. [More]

We should test every cow *
Instead of criticizing the Japanese for closing their door to our cattle, we should be learning from them, says Alberta political scientist WENRAN JIANG. [More]

Well-being and Breast Care *
They used to avoid it, but now masseurs are focusing attention on the breast -- for health reasons, writes JESSICA JOHNSON [More]

West Nile arrives in B.C. *
British Columbia reported its first probable case of West Nile virus Thursday, although officials say the woman involved was most likely infected while travelling in the United States. [More]

West Nile called factor in second Ontario death *
An elderly Ottawa man died yesterday of complications from the West Nile virus, becoming the second person in Canada to die from an illness stemming from the disease in as many days. [More]

West Nile case confirmed in Saskatchewan *
Saskatchewan has confirmed Canada's first domestic case of West Nile virus in a human this year. [More]

West Nile case confirmed in Toronto area *
The Greater Toronto Area has its first human case of West Nile virus this year, a 54-year-old Markham man who has tested positive for the disease. [More]

West Nile cases *
A breakdown of human West Nile cases for 2003 as of yesterday, drawn from reports issued by provincial Ministries of Health in Canada and by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (figures include probable and confirmed cases) [More]

West Nile cases exceed 400 in Saskatchewan *
The number of human cases of West Nile virus in Saskatchewan has cracked the 400 mark. [More]

West Nile cases jump dramatically in the U.S. *
West Nile virus cases have tripled since last week, a top U.S. health official said Thursday, warning that this year may surpass last year's record numbers. [More]

West Nile confirmed in New Brunswick birds *
Two more cases of West Nile virus have been confirmed in New Brunswick birds, health officials said yesterday. The dead crows were discovered in Memramcook and Moncton. [More]

West Nile hits Prairies hard *
Donated blood recalled in Saskatchewan as virus strikes the West, spares the East [More]

West Nile present across country *
West Nile virus is present across the country and will inevitably infect Canadians before the mosquito season is over. [More]

West Nile severity easing, experts say *
West Nile virus is present across the country and will inevitably infect Canadians before the mosquito season is over. [More]

West Nile solution: Kill them all *
There's a sure way of avoiding the sometimes deadly virus. Use biotechnolgoy to wipe out all the mosquitoes that carry it. STEPHEN STRAUSS looks at the methods [More]

West Nile virus continues its western sweep *
Manitoba finds first case, Saskatchewan lists more as disease extends its reach [More]

West Nile virus fight to employ larvicide *
Facing the impending West Nile virus threat, at least half a dozen Ontario municipalities plan to use chemical agents to kill mosquito larvae, some of them before Victoria Day. [More]

West Nile virus found in donated blood *
Routine screening of blood donations detected Alberta's first provincially contracted case of the West Nile virus in a human, health officials said yesterday. [More]

Whales once numbered in millions *
Some types of whales were far more common that is typically thought before the hunting frenzies of the 19th and early 20th centuries began to wipe them out, a pair of geneticists said Thursday. [More]

What it takes to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa *
As the United States, Canada and more than 40 other donor countries gather today in Paris to discuss AIDS funding, officials are well aware that getting the epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa under control will require more than billions of dollars in new spending commitments and a massive inflow of affordable drugs [More]

What's in a name? *
Happy naming day, Element 110, happy naming day to you. [More]

Where are the big cats? *
Trips to Australia often include excursions to view kangaroos and wallabies, but not safaris to observe lions, tigers and leopards. The reason is simple: The big cats aren't there. [More]

Where the best isn't enough *
Ninety per cent of the world's HIV/AIDS infections are in Africa, and the bulk of the rest are also in the developing world. It is an overwhelming reality, and the first nation to make any serious effort to come to grips with it is Botswana, which is offering free treatment for all its people with HIV/AIDS. [More]

Whisker's wiggle a no-brainer *
Activating a single brain cell in a rat can make its whiskers twitch, a discovery researchers say could help decipher how the brain controls movement. [More]

WHO calls for flu shots to help diagnose SARS *
Fearing the coming flu season will bring a new round of SARS hysteria, the World Health Organization says those at high risk of developing influenza should be immunized as a matter of urgency. [More]

WHO experts search Chinese restaurant *
World Health Organization experts on Saturday searched a restaurant where China's second suspected SARS patient works and where civet cats and other wild animals thought to be possible transmitters of the virus were served. [More]

WHO official targets global eradication of polio *
David Heymann, an epidemiologist with the World Health Organization, was thrust into the limelight when he was charged with stopping SARS. His reward for succeeding is even more daunting: Finish the job of eradicating polio by 2005. [More]

WHO seeks eradication of polio by 2005 *
A shortage of money is undermining the World Health Organization's goal of eradicating polio from the globe within two years, its new chief said Tuesday. [More]

WHO sends virologist to study B.C. virus *
The World Health Organization has sent top virologist Dr. Katrin Leitmeyer to Canada to join other experts in their examination of a mysterious SARS-like virus that swept through a British Columbia Lower Mainland nursing home. [More]

WHO targets polio in Africa despite local resistance *
The World Health Organization plans to launch a massive immunization campaign Monday, targeting 63 million children in 10 African countries as a polio outbreak spreads from heavily Muslim northern Nigeria. [More]

Who were the first North Americans? *
Archeological evidence contradicts the previously accepted theory that hunters from northern Asia crossed a land bridge to Alaska 11,500 years ago. ANNE McILROY explores the controversy over where the ancestors of modern native peoples came from [More]

Why a high fever can be good for baby *
Few things are more frightening to new parents than to see their baby burning up from a high fever. But a new study suggests a few bouts of fever at a very young age can ensure better health later in childhood. [More]

Why identical twins stop being identical *
Because DNA 'epigenetics' has kicked in. PAUL TAYLOR explores a new branch of science. [More]

Why pro tennis players are better than you *
There is nothing more humbling for sporting amateurs than watching a master athlete anticipate the reactions of an opponent before he or she apparently even moves a muscle. And there is no better example of this magic than the fluid and instinctive movements of tennis champions. [More]

Why some haunts haunt you *
Air currents and electromagnetic fields blamed for strange aura of spooky places [More]

Will kill 670 minke whales next year, Norway says *
Norway said yesterday it plans to kill 670 minke whales next year in its controversial commercial hunt, a slight decline from this year's quota of 711. [More]

Williams's DNA reported missing *
Ted Williams was decapitated by surgeons at the cryonics company where his body is suspended in liquid nitrogen, and several samples of his DNA are missing, Sports Illustrated reports. [More]

Winter Solstice: Return of the Light *
The winter solstice, the day the "sun stands still," marks the longest night and the shortest day of the year (it occurs December 21 to 22, this year). [More]

Woman's hands re-attached *
A woman who had both her hands severed by a machete in a violent dispute with a neighbour will likely need months of physical therapy, a doctor said Thursday. [More]

World's deepest-diving sub vanishes *
The world's deepest-diving submarine has disappeared in the choppy Pacific Ocean off Japan, a blow to deep-sea research on everything from earthquakes to rare bacteria, an official said Monday. [More]

WTO seals deal on cheap drugs *
The World Trade Organization on Saturday sealed its agreement to allow poor countries to import cheap copies of patented drugs for killer diseases like HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. [More]

Yes, we'll have no bananas *
Thanks to selective breeding, our favourite fruit can neither reproduce nor defend itself from disease. There's a lesson here, says biologist ROBERT ALISON [More]

Secondary Sites:
'Umami' and when tastebuds turn grey *
If your steak doesn't have the sizzle it used to, don't blame the cook. The problem may be your aging palate, writes STEPHEN STRAUSS [More]

724 deaths from SARS reported worldwide *
China reported its lowest increase in new SARS cases in months yesterday, but the health chief in Taiwan's capital quit over a major outbreak in a hospital. [More]

A bone-marrow lottery win (Mackwood) *
Very few international donors gave to Canadians -- those deemed a perfect match. They are lottery odds and we inexplicably won. [More]

A few crass words about the artful poor *
Have you ever wondered why people tell you it's crass to discuss money? To shut poor people up, is why. The idea that personal finances are not a fit topic for polite company is a luxury affordable only to the middle class and those further up that gilded ladder we're always hearing about... [More]

A mystical skeptic: Rational Mysticism: Dispatches from the Border between Science and Spirituality ****
On this Easter weekend, Christians consider the proposition that a crucified Jew who troubled the Roman authority was raised from the dead to promise eternal, redemptive life to his followers. On this Passover weekend, Jews consider the proposition that an invisible God, through the agency of a prince of Egypt, redeemed them from bondage into a land promised to them eternally. [More]

A timely example of why we must have the CBC *
Tonight, the CBC is doing one of those things that it inevitably does and that Canadians expect it to do. It's not just journalism. It's an act of creating context and it connects Canada to far-flung parts of the world. [More]

AIDS 'superinfections' on the rise *
Evidence is growing that "superinfection" with more than one strain of HIV may be more common than previously thought, which could complicate efforts to make a vaccine, experts said Monday at an international AIDS conference. [More]

AIDS rate among U.S. gays on rise, CDC reports *
The number of gay and bisexual men diagnosed with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, climbed for the third consecutive year in the United States in 2002, fuelling fears the disease might be poised for a major comeback in this vulnerable group. [More]

Ain't no ocean deep enough *
Extinct volcanoes far below the sea are magnets for marine life, some of it new to science. But even at that depth, nothing is safe from fishing boats equipped with sophisticated tracking technology, ALANNA MITCHELL reports [More]

Alberta and BC ripe for West Nile virus *
Unseasonably warm, dry weather in Alberta and British Columbia has created the perfect conditions for a serious outbreak of West Nile virus, warned a Harvard Medical School expert yesterday. [More]

Alberta consumers buy up cheap beef *
Alberta feedlot owners set up shop in two provinces Friday and sold hamburger for just over $2 a kilogram in an effort to get the beef industry moving despite the mad cow scare. [More]

Alberta magpie province's first West Nile case *
A magpie found near Camrose, southeast of Edmonton, has tested positive for the West Nile virus, becoming the province's first ever case, officials said yesterday. [More]

Another suspected case of SARS found in China *
Investigators scoured an apartment block in southern China on Sunday to determine if it played any role in the infection of a SARS patient who lived there -- the season's only confirmed case of the virus so far -- while a new suspected case of the virus emerged in the same region. [More]

Are hospitals in safe hands? *
The places we go when we're sick can make us sicker, warns infectious disease specialist WILLIAM BOWIE. The price of freedom from germs is eternal vigilance [More]

B.C safe-injection site wins police immunity *
North America's first sanctioned injection site for illegal drug-users could be up and running by September, after Health Canada yesterday granted the proposed venue an unprecedented exemption from police action. [More]

B.C. Constable leaves no bone unturned *
B.C. sleuth follows several new leads in bid to identify mysterious remains [More]

Barb Tarbox, 42: Anti-smoking crusader dies *
Cancer victim Barb Tarbox spent her last months travelling across Canada to deliver a powerful anti-smoking message to thousands of teenagers. [More]

Big payoff in preventing diabetes, researchers say *
The 3.6 per cent of Saskatchewan residents who have Type 2 diabetes account for 15 per cent of all health-care spending in the province, according to new research that underscores the economic impact of the swelling obesity epidemic. [More]

Big SARS outbreak feared *
More than 20 patients are being watched as potential new SARS cases in Toronto, shattering any notion that the city has truly licked this disease. [More]

Biovail says research and others say conflict *
Should doctors be paid to prescribe certain drugs? Most patients and specialists in medical ethics would probably argue they should not, because doing so might pose a conflict of interest, and cause them to prescribe drugs that might not be as effective. But what if the doctor in question is involved in a research trial? Shouldn't he or she be compensated for collecting data on the drug? [More]

Blood officials knew in '81 of hep-C test, memos show *
Senior officials at the Canadian Red Cross knew in 1981 that a test was available that could prevent transmission of some cases of hepatitis C through blood transfusions, according to newly obtained documents. [More]

Breaking the food chains *
When Florence Wambugu lectured at the University of Toronto last week there was a security guard on hand, just in case. Sometimes demonstrators show up when she speaks. To them, this stately, eloquent Kenyan woman has a dangerous message. [More]

Breast cancer up 24 per cent in latest HRT study *
The medical complications associated with hormone replacement therapy continue to mount -- and mount and mount. [More]

BSE: Huge costs and mistakes led to crisis of confidence *
Tough steps, including mass slaughter, are now having an effect in battling BSE [More]

Canada's global AIDS funding criticized *
Ottawa's contribution to the fight against global AIDS is pitifully small, international AIDS activists charged yesterday, as the G8 summit ended with no new announcement on Canadian funding. [More]

Canada's handling of BSE assessed *
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) said Monday it is bringing a team of international experts to Canada later this week to assess the agency's handling of the mad-cow investigation. [More]

Canada's national pest *
Beavers are industrious. Maybe too industrious. They are wreaking havoc throughout the country, cutting down trees and flooding land with their dams. MARTIN MITTELSTAEDT reports on the not-so-lovable rodent [More]

Canada's UN ranking drops *
Just when Canadians started feeling good about themselves over winning the race to play host to the 2010 Winter Olympics, the United Nations has pulled Canada down a few notches on its annual quality-of-life ranking. [More]

Canadian health officials rapped by WHO *
The World Health Organization has criticized Canadian health authorities for failing to notify people properly that they may have been exposed to SARS. [More]

Canadian research could turbo-charge Net *
When University of Toronto professor Ted Sargent looked into the heart of a laser, he saw something remarkable; the potential to significantly increase the speed of worldwide communications. [More]

Caring for chronically ill can kill, new study says *
Everyone knows that caring for a chronically ill loved one is stressful, but new research shows that the unrelenting demands of caregiving can be so stressful that it damages the immune system and can also cause premature aging. [More]

Celebrate Environment Week at Generation 2010 *
Come and Enjoy a Two-Day, Free Family Festival at Science World -- June 6th and 7th, 2003, Vancouver, BC [More]

Celebrating the siesta: Most of us already know that a good nap is the best cure *
Don't be shy about nodding off. I'll understand; you're only making sure you're going to be as alert as possible for that pivotal, wind-up paragraph at the end [More]

Childhood cancer hurts adult survivors *
Nearly half of all survivors of childhood cancer develop significant physical and mental health problems in adulthood, according to new research. [More]

Childhood Memory: What's the first thing you recall? *
If you think you can remember being born, think again. You need to have a sense of self before memories become permanent. STEPHEN STRAUSS reports [More]

China cool toward MD who told SARS truth *
Whistle blower treated both as hero and political threat, writes GEOFFREY YORK in Beijing [More]

China revives Bethune's spirit in SARS fight *
Canadian doctor's legend used to laud modern 'white-coated warriors' battling the deadly epidemic, writes GEOFFREY YORK [More]

China's war against SARS now includes death penalty *
Beijing unveils Draconian new measures in bid to stem spread of deadly disease [More]

Clothes of the future *
There you are, unhappy, bored and too lazy even to flick on the television. What better way to lift your spirits than by slipping on a JoyDress... [More]

Clueing in to Climate Change on Earth Day *
An exciting and educational multimedia activity for the whole family -- Vancouver, BC, April 22 to May 7, 2004 [More]

Collateral damage of a drug war *
When it comes to the "war on drugs," Canada's stance is not unlike its position on the war in Iraq: We're not the United States. Our government supports needle exchange, has recommended the legalization of marijuana, and is allowing the first trial use of prescription heroin in North America. [More]

Come and See What Generation 2010 Will Be... *
An initiative culminating in a fun-filled festival to inspire children and families in British Columbia to strive for excellence in sport and sustainable energy practices by leveraging the Energy and the Passion of the 2010 Olympic Winter and Paralympic Winter Games. [More]

Could Canada have handled SARS better? *
It is becoming all too convenient for Canadian political leaders to indulge in WHO-bashing. Whether the World Health Organization was right or wrong last week in urging travellers to avoid Toronto for the time being, Canada should be looking with a cool, critical eye at how it has done in trying to control the outbreak of a deadly, and economically destabilizing, infectious disease. [More]

Cracking the code of Sir Francis Drake *
It was a whim that led former B.C. cabinet minister Samuel Bawlf to wonder if Drake might have sailed the coast of British Columbia before Captain Cook. As MARK HUME reports, it became a fascination [More]

Daily pill could boost heart health, doctors say *
The creation of a one-size-fits-all pill that combines six heart medications could reduce the number of heart attacks and strokes by more than 80 per cent if everyone over the age of 55 took it, a team of British doctors said yesterday. [More]

Dangerous fats lurk in seemingly healthy snacks *
Granola bars, microwave popcorn among foods found loaded with trans fatty acids. [More]

Dicey proposition -- a selection of letters to the editor *
Letters in response to a recent feature by Sheema Khan (Sheema Khan, chair of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (Canada), holds a PhD in chemical physics from Harvard University)... [More]

Doctors' office battles to survive SARS *
While three of his partners fight infection, one struggles to hold practices together... [More]

Does West Nile imperil your children? Maybe not *
Despite our modern scientific knowledge, doctors are often operating in the dark [More]

Don't blame the backpack *
The first study to examine schoolbags and back pain finds an unexpected cause for kids' complaints. ANDRE PICARD reports [More]

Don't Bogart those police dollars *
Decriminalizing marijuana will free up resources to fight real crime, says crime analyst SAMUEL PORTEOUS [More]

Donald Low: Outspoken MD frank about SARS numbers, effects *
He's a medical maverick who has time and again been the most outspoken voice during Toronto's SARS outbreak, repercussions be damned. [More]

Drug sites: worth a try *
The safe-injection site for heroin and cocaine users that opened in Vancouver this week is an important step toward treating addictions as primarily a medical problem, rather than a legal one. [More]

Drug tests favour sponsor's product, study says *
Drug testing funded by the pharmaceutical industry is four times more likely to show results favouring the sponsor's product than publicly funded research, a new report has found. [More]

Edmonton scientist gets $1.6-million for virtual reality work *
Musicians thousands of miles apart could jam in cyberspace and engineers from different continents could analyze designs in virtual reality if a University of Alberta researcher's work pays off. [More]

Edward Teller, 95 *
Edward Teller, a member of the Manhattan Project that created the first atomic bomb and who later emerged as the foremost champion of the vastly more destructive hydrogen bomb, has died. He was 95. [More]

Environment: The killing fields *
This weekend, Canadians pull out the stops in pursuit of the perfect lawn. But does their secret weapon in the war on weeds know the difference between friend and foe? MARTIN MITTELSTAEDT on the case against 2,4-D [More]

Epidemic feared if SARS spreads to native reserves *
Federal health officials have drawn up emergency plans to prevent SARS from racing through native reserves, warning that overcrowding and disease make reserves breeding grounds for outbreaks. [More]

EU nearer to easing ban on GM foods *
The European Parliament passed tough rules on genetically modified products Wednesday, opening the way to lift the European Union's ban on their sale as long as they are clearly labelled. [More]

Experts dispute ossuary findings *
The Israel Antiquities Authority has declared the inscription on the James ossuary a fake, but that conclusion likely won't mark the end of the controversy over its authenticity. [More]

Farmed salmon are laced with toxins, study finds *
Farm-raised Atlantic salmon, one of the world's most popular health foods, are so laced with PCBs and other pollutants that they should be eaten only infrequently because they pose an increased risk of cancer, a new study contends in the prestigious journal Science. [More]

FBI says cellphones can trigger bombs *
Cell phones modified so they could detonate bombs by remote control were found by investigators probing the recent Saudi Arabia bombings, raising concern that such methods could be used in the United States by terrorists. [More]

Fighting the SARS effect? Try a Woodstock *
Ontario's Ministry of Tourism is betting $5.2-million that some of the biggest names in Canadian rock music can dispel the SARS-seeded clouds of gloom hovering over Toronto. [More]

First Antarctic total solar eclipse in a century observed *
Scientists in Antarctica bundled up Monday against sub-freezing temperatures to watch the first total solar eclipse recorded on the icy continent in a century. [More]

First case of SARS strikes Russia *
Russia reported its first case of SARS yesterday. A man living in Blagoveshchensk on the Amur River, which forms the frontier with China, came down with the syndrome as Chinese President Hu Jintao tried to persuade the world his country -- hit the hardest and at epidemic levels -- could contain the disease. [More]

Fitness in young adults helps stave off diabetes *
Risk factors for heart disease, stroke can't just be blamed on aging, study says. [More]

Five deaths in Toronto fuel fears over SARS *
Health officials deliver mixed message about state of current outbreak in Ontario [More]

Flower power missing, and Future Futures *
One of the more curious things in science happens when a scintillating advance is proclaimed by media everywhere and then, as far as the ordinary person can tell, vanishes. [More]

Flu threat puts parents on alert *
One child dies in Peterborough from bug... [More]

Food agency launches probe into power bars, sports drinks *
Internal report by federal inspectors questions safety of consumer fad foods. [More]

Forward, into the past *
Why are our imaginations retreating from science and space, and into fantasy? asks SPIDER ROBINSON [More]

G8 leaders all smiles *
World leaders clamped a harmonious face on a summit simmering with Iraq war disputes Sunday, striking a united front with pledges of billions of dollars to fight AIDS and hunger in poor countries. [More]

Genetic damage linked to chemical found in chips *
A compound common in potato chips, French fries and many other foods can cause genetic damage in animal cells even in very low levels, a new study has found. [More]

Get health council going, worried Romanow urges *
A proposed national council on health care could fall by the wayside if it takes the provinces and Ottawa much longer to negotiate it, Roy Romanow said yesterday. [More]

Go ahead — have some fries *
Pass the fries. Researchers say new findings about genetic mutations caused by a compound in French fries, potato chips and other foods are not worrisome enough to warn people off some of their favourite snacks. [More]

Happy Father's Day *
It may not qualify as rocket science, but new research out of the United States suggests that dads fare less well on Father's Day than moms on Mother's Day. Nonetheless, stoic fathers end up happier than mothers with what they do get. [More]

Health Canada delays smallpox vaccinations *
Health Canada has postponed plans to vaccinate about 500 health-care workers against smallpox because of legal concerns involving compensation in case of adverse reactions, the CBC reported yesterday. [More]

Health Canada dope stinks, patients say *
Cannabis emptor: Medical marijuana called disgusting, weak and ineffective [More]

Health Canada launches West Nile phone line *
The toll-free line is 1-800-816-7292. Information on the virus can also be found on the Health Canada Web site at www.westnilevirus.gc.ca. [More]

Health Canada readies release of dope manual *
Draft version of document shows patients to receive warnings against marijuana use [More]

Health care: We have a plan *
Margaret Wente has it exactly right when she quotes Dr. Gerard McKenzie, with approval, as saying, "All the incentive for the hospital is to not treat patients. [More]

Health council must weigh benefit and harm of medicine *
Some provincial governments have resorted to remarkable political posturing rather than sign on to the national health council recommended in the Romanow report. Fortunately, it now appears that Ottawa will forge ahead with or without support from B.C., Alberta and Ontario. [More]

Heart disease to strike teens, conference hears *
Today's children face a future of heart disease, potentially as early as their late teen years, if parents and policymakers don't urgently address the exploding problem of childhood obesity, a U.S. cardiovascular expert warned yesterday. [More]

Help for psychopaths? *
Having successfully trained healthy volunteers and paralyzed patients to control their brain waves, Dr. Niels Birbaumer began wondering if he might be able to help psychopaths.

It is not an obvious next step, until you consider that people who learn how to control their brain waves are actually directing an increased flow of blood to specific areas of the brain. That's what Dr. Birbaumer found when he used neuroimaging equipment to take pictures of the brains of his patients at work. [More]

High heels and arthritis not linked, study finds *
Debutantes and drag queens take heart: New research shows that, contrary to common belief, wearing high heels does not contribute to arthritis later in life. [More]

Higher risk of dementia linked to HRT *
Post-menopausal women who take hormone replacement therapy have twice the risk of developing Alzheimer's as those who do not, according to new research. The combination of estrogen and progestin also increases the risk of women suffering from stroke, a related study found. [More]

Homesick Afghan boy undergoes heart tests *
Frail and exhausted, a nine-year-old Afghan boy was feeling heartsick in every possible way Saturday as he rested in the intensive care unit of an Ottawa children's hospital. [More]

Hong Kong declared free of locally spreading SARS *
The World Health Organization yesterday removed Hong Kong from its list of areas with recent local transmission of SARS, leaving Beijing, Taiwan and Toronto on the list. [More]

Hospitals acted too slowly on SARS, nurses charge *
Two Toronto hospitals have been forced to defend themselves against accusations that they weren't quick enough to act on undiagnosed cases of SARS that were raising serious concern among nurses. [More]

Hospitals shed SARS gear as threat eases *
Some masks, gowns starting to come off in switch to strict 'new normal' vigilance [More]

How much job risk is reasonable? *
There are low-risk jobs and high-risk jobs, most fairly easy to identify. Police officers and soldiers, for example, are obviously in high-risk jobs, as are many construction workers. And while we would not, pre-SARS, have labelled all health care workers high-risk, we certainly do now. [More]

How SARS quietly survived in Toronto *
The SARS outbreak: Life goes on at hospital hit by resurgent virus [More]

Infectious diseases are a call to action *
Over the past five years, successive waves of infectious diseases have shocked the nation with their unexpectedness and broad impact, and the decreasing intervals between the outbreaks make these events even more concerning. [More]

Inferior masks hastened SARS: report *
The spread of SARS among Toronto health-care workers was hastened by the use of unfitted face masks considered obsolete for more than 30 years in the United States, a preliminary report co-authored by Health Canada revealed yesterday. [More]

Inspectors await more results of mad-cow testing *
As the search for the origins of an Alberta cow diagnosed with mad-cow disease widens, officials from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Thursday that test results expected back today could be delayed. [More]

Insulin-cell transplant spares teen life of pain *
New Brunswick girl first Canadian child to undergo operation for rare condition. [More]

Invasion of the Great Lakes *
This week, a Commons committee warned of an ecological 'meltdown' because so many non-native species are converging on the mighty habitat. MARK STEVENSON travels the waterway to examine the damage they have caused [More]

Karoshi: There must be better ways to get a break *
Did you know that 317 Japanese died last year due to overwork? They call it karoshi. This corrosive factoid made me drop my spoon in my bran flakes and catapulted me into the contemplation of things I really shouldn't have been thinking about before going to work. [More]

Krakatoa author: 'I still marvel at things' ****
There are few subjects that aren't of interest to the magpie mind of author Simon Winchester. ALEXANDRA GILL discusses his book on Krakatoa, a first love in Canada and his famous mentor [More]

Kremlin's decree sows seed of discontent *
Scientists fear rare plant species won't survive move to new location [More]

Lack of surgery follow-up cited in bypass study *
One-third of patients who undergo heart bypass surgery fail to fill the prescription for drugs designed to prevent a recurrence of heart troubles, according to a new study. [More]

Laughter: the best medicine? *
Members of the world's 1,500 laughing clubs believe we can guffaw our way to good health, reports STEPHEN STRAUSS. Skeptics say the joke may be on them... [More]

Learn from SARS crisis, university report urges *
Public-health officials here and elsewhere can learn ethical lessons from the SARS outbreak, a report by the University of Toronto's Joint Centre for Bioethics suggests. [More]

Learning to love Toronto *
Funny, but The Toronto Song -- a decade-old ditty by the Edmonton comedy troupe Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie -- doesn't seem quite so catchy these days. [More]

Lessons learned from SARS crisis *
The need for contingency plans is just one of the realizations of small businesses sucker-punched by the outbreak [More]

Lies are written all over your face *
Analysing 'micro-expressions' is one of several techniques used in the search for truth, justice reporter KIRK MAKIN writes [More]

Look who's driving the green agenda *
Auto workers are not generally thought of as being in the vanguard of environmental protection. So it's a surprise that the Canadian Auto Workers union (CAW) is proposing one of Canada's most promising revolutions in environmental policy in years. [More]

Lunar eclipse to occur early Tuesday ayem *
The West gets a rare glimpse of a wonder of nature late Monday night in the Western sky. [More]

Mad cow hunt moves south *
Investigators revealed Wednesday the search for the birth farm of the original mad cow has now expanded into the United States. [More]

Mad-cow panic more harmful than disease itself *
We've seen this movie before. And we should assume that the rerun will be ugly indeed, both for Canadian agriculture and the broader economy. When human health is at issue, however tiny the risk, cooler heads do not prevail. [More]

Mad-cow quarantine grows *
northern Alberta cow infected with mad cow disease was stumbling and unable to stand before it was shipped off for slaughter, says the farmer who owned the animal. [More]

Man seems to have SARS, Singapore tells WHO *
Singapore reported a possible return of SARS yesterday, hours after the World Health Organization warned that the deadly virus could reappear [More]

Man wins reduced conviction in AIDS case *
A Newfoundland man who had repeated unprotected sex with his girlfriend after he had been diagnosed with HIV cannot be convicted of aggravated assault, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled yesterday. [More]

Mea culpa: We marketers helped make your kids fat *
Marketing techniques could aid the battle against obesity, say professors KARL MOORE and LAURETTE DUBÉ [More]

Milk can help girls lose weight, study says *
Weight-conscious adolescent girls have a better chance of losing their flabby midriffs if they ditch soft drinks in favour of milk, a preliminary U.S. study presented at an obesity conference suggests. [More]

Miracle of the Dead Sea Scrolls *
Some of the world's oldest biblical material is about to go on display in Canada for the first time and prove that tattered, 2,000-year-old fragments can still draw a crowd [More]

Morbid thoughts in morbid times *
During the first round of SARS here, I asked Ontario Health Minister Tony Clement, through an aide, if the experience had made him think any differently about privatization versus the public role in health care. I did so because, on TV, he often looked like a man genuinely trying to learn and grapple, not just calculate his best strategic response or facial expression. The answer came back: Nope, no change. [More]

Mothers under observation after medical student falls ill *
Two dozen new mothers have been swept up in the latest SARS outbreak as disturbing news surfaced that a medical student came down with the virus just hours after working in the delivery room of a Toronto hospital. [More]

Move to decriminalize pot draws criticism *
Saying that "most Canadians" believe that marijuana laws are outdated, the government on Tuesday unveiled legislation that will reduce penalties for possessing small amounts of the drug. Below certain quantities, possession will no longer be treated as a criminal offence. [More]

Nature via Nurture: A genetic truce *
Are humans hard-wired to behave aggressively? Y chromosome could be the culprit in war." Like all of us, the British biologist and popular-science writer Matt Ridley has heard such pseudo-explanatory claptrap too often, hence Nature via Nurture, his attempt to explain why recent discoveries in the life sciences tell us as much about how experience shapes us as about genetic influences. [More]

New SARS cluster feared in Whitby, ON *
Doctors are trying to determine whether 15 patients who developed SARS-like symptoms after attending a dialysis clinic in Whitby actually have the disease -- a finding that would be a huge setback in the fight against the virus. [More]

New SARS outbreak linked to lax precautions *
SARS survived unnoticed in the orthopedic ward of a Toronto hospital for more than a month, quietly infecting patients and their families, then made a forceful resurgence when health-care workers were allowed to take off their masks. [More]

NIH may petition Bush on stem cells *
If it turns out White House restrictions are slowing federally funded studies of embryonic stem cells, the head of the U.S. National Institutes of Health says he will ask President Bush to revisit the issue. [More]

Nurse may be new SARS case *
Governments should have co-operated more in handling virus, Romanow says [More]

Nurse remembered as 'bright beacon of light' *
Nurses fought tears and saluted yesterday as a casket bearing one of their own was escorted past the honour guard they formed outside St. Michael's Cathedral. [More]

Nursing aide unwittingly spread SARS *
First Canadian health-care worker to die of virus set off panic in native Philippines [More]

Nutrition lessons from The Simpsons? *
Research suggests that kids who imitate Bart -- and avoid eating like Homer -- are developing healthy lifestyle habits, STEPHEN STRAUSS reports. [More]

Officials find link in SARS outbreaks *
Officials find link in SARS outbreaks: An elderly infected woman may be the connection between the two outbreaks [More]

Okay to ban GM food, European court rules *
The European Union's high court ruled Tuesday that Italy and other EU governments can temporarily ban genetically modified foods while they examine health risks, but must provide "detailed grounds," not general fears, to do so. [More]

On another matter *
There may be nothing new under the sun, but something novel has definitely jumped out at physicists working in some of the coldest, darkest regions imaginable. [More]

Oncologist battles SARS, assumptions *
From her hospital bed in Toronto, a doctor wonders if medical establishment is right... [More]

One in six adults suffers arthritis, survey finds *
More than four million Canadians -- one in six adults -- already suffer from arthritis, and the number is expected to climb by one million per decade, according to the first comprehensive survey of the common disease. [More]

Ontario assails West Nile scientist *
The Ontario government tried yesterday to discredit the scientist who had been working on a West Nile virus test more than a year ago as it announced that the same test will now be ready for this mosquito season. [More]

Ontario prepares West Nile battle plan *
In a bid to fight the expected return of the mosquito-borne West Nile virus, the Ontario government will require municipalities to prepare plans to spread larvicide on suspected breeding sites in populated areas, Premier Ernie Eves announced yesterday. [More]

Ontario reports first West Nile case this year *
Canada has its first probable case of West Nile virus of the 2003 season, Ontario officials announced Thursday. [More]

Ontario SARS death toll hits 31 *
Ontario health officials said Sunday that another person has died of SARS, and the investigation continues into whether five other recent deaths were SARS-related. [More]

Oracles, sorcerers and prayers in a SARS-ravaged countryside *
In the depths of SARS-ravaged Shanxi province, the story is told of a miracle baby that uttered a warning as it emerged from the womb, urging everyone to drink green-bean soup at midnight on May 6 to protect themselves from the deadly disease. [More]

Osteoporosis linked to lack of estrogen-regulating protein *
British scientists experimenting with mice believe they may have found why post-menopausal women often suffer from osteoporosis. [More]

Ottawa failing to report inactive TB, auditor says *
The federal government does not tell public health officials about refugee claimants with inactive tuberculosis, whose infection could be activated and contracted by others, Auditor-General Sheila Fraser reported yesterday. [More]

Ottawa set to sell its medical marijuana *
The federal government is going to share its stash of marijuana, selling the drug to hundreds of critically ill Canadians at bargain prices. [More]

Ottawa should proceed with council: Romanow *
The federal government should move unilaterally on creating a national health council if it can't get provincial consensus, Roy Romanow says. [More]

Our beef is with bureaucrats *
For years, our food industry regulators relaxed amid lax monitoring and the mantra that mad-cow couldn't happen here, says author ANDREW NIKIFORUK [More]

Out of the blue, a gift of life *
Sheryl Wymenga looks perfectly sane and healthy, for a woman who has just flown halfway across the continent to give away a chunk of her innards to somebody she met on the Internet. [More]

Pack bug repellent, camp parents asked *
Officials say West Nile risk to children extremely low, but revise some programs. [More]

Patient in Toronto may have West Nile *
Public-health officials are investigating at least one suspected case of West Nile virus in a patient at North York General hospital, The Globe and Mail has learned. [More]

Pesticide panic zaps the facts *
Which is worse: brain cancer in children, or dandelions in the grass? [More]

Progress is seen in battle against SARS *
Doctors battling the deadly SARS virus in this city seem once again to have wrestled it into submission as case loads drop, hospitals reopen and international medical officials express cautious optimism. [More]

Prostate cancer drug shows promise, risk *
Scientists have discovered the first drug that promises to prevent prostate cancer, but deciding who should use it won't be easy: Sexual side effects aside, it may actually increase aggressive tumours in some men. [More]

Provinces delay medicare watchdog *
President of CMA fears governments plan to use agency as bargaining chip [More]

Psychological effects of SARS strong, study says *
While 42 Canadians have died of SARS since March, countless more continue to feel the psychological effects of the new pneumonia-like disease. [More]

Puzzling case raises fresh SARS questions *
Can it be spread before symptoms show? [More]

Quigley prepares for NEXT cough/cold season with new products *
The Quigley Corp. recently introduced a "Cold-Eeze" moisturizing nasal spray that contains its zinc gluconate ingredient as well as an aloe vera gel. [More]

RBC reinstates SARS 'clean team' *
Royal Bank of Canada has relaunched its "clean team" of traders, who are moving today to a secret site to isolate themselves from other employees during the current outbreak of SARS in Toronto. [More]

Reefer madness *
Canada's Health Minister may need to take a little of her own medicine, says PAUL SULLIVAN [More]

Residents clean up in hygiene study *
SARS outbreak spurs hand washing [More]

Respiratory illness still a puzzle *
Canadian officials vow to stay vigilant [More]

Rural trees suffer more from ozone, study finds *
Pollution needs time to 'cook' in heat, sun, then drifts downwind from urban areas [More]

Russia prepares to end its embrace of abortion *
Tighter laws reverse tradition of tolerance [More]

SARS an invader from outer space? *
An international group of scientists has come to believe that the deadly SARS virus is an invader from outer space. Obviously, when the space aliens said "Take me to your leader," everyone naturally thought of Toronto's Discount-retailer-slash-Mayor, Mel Lastman... [More]

SARS and Toronto: The cure starts here *
A critical need exists in Toronto for a world-class virology-microbiology institute aimed at the study, prevention and treatment of infectious diseases. And now is the time to build it. [More]

SARS carriers infected 16 people on four airplanes *
Health chiefs from around the globe were screened for SARS by rubber-gloved nurses in lab coats on Monday as they arrived for the first annual meeting of the World Health Organization since the emergence of the new disease. [More]

SARS cases rise again *
Ontario public health officials announced Monday that the number of "active probable" SARS cases in the province has risen to 62 from 52 reported the day before. [More]

SARS causes critical delays for cancer operations *
Defending against killer virus has created surgery backlog, GLORIA GALLOWAY reports [More]

SARS fears deals blow to T.O. tourism *
The latest outbreak of SARS cases in Toronto has dealt another crushing blow to the tourism industry just as it was beginning to see signs of recovery from the SARS scare earlier in the spring. [More]

SARS fears grip Beijing, leaving many near hysteria *
Some anxious residents microwave money to disinfect it, others abandon pets because of rumours they transmit virus [More]

SARS fears move to obstetrics ward *
Toronto's SARS outbreak took a distressing turn Friday with news that a medical student was likely coming down with SARS when he was present for the delivery of a set of twins at a downtown hospital during a full day's work earlier this week. [More]

SARS in Toronto: MD at pains to explain city's setback to Chinese *
In Beijing to tout success story, Ontario's chief coroner calls new cases regrettable... [More]

SARS nightmare persists for health-care workers *
While Torontonians settle in to enjoy a post-SARS summer, health-care workers are still reeling from the fallout from severe acute respiratory syndrome. Tecla Lin, 58, died on Saturday after caring for fellow nurses sickened in the initial outbreak. She herself had been critically ill since March and had transmitted SARS to her husband. He died in late April. [More]

SARS now 'stopped dead in its tracks,' WHO says *
Canadian SARS cases took another significant plunge yesterday as the chief of the World Health Organization declared the disease has been "stopped dead in its tracks." [More]

SARS nurses to get extra pay *
Those on frontlines in four Toronto hospitals will receive double the normal rate, Clements says [More]

SARS outbreak 'over the peak' around the world *
The SARS outbreak is "over its peak" in countries around the world, including China, the hardest-hit by the lethal flu-like disease, a World Health Organization official said Thursday. [More]

SARS Outbreak brings tears, heartache *
SARS quarantines mean no wedding for Toronto couple, no kisses for kids [More]

SARS patients responded well in drug-combination test, researchers say *
A drug cocktail shows promise in the treatment of SARS, according to the results of a small Canadian study. [More]

SARS ruled out in seven Ontario patients *
In a bit of good news on the SARS front, Ontario health officials say at least seven of 15 dialysis patients at a Whitby, Ont., facility do not have SARS. [More]

SARS testing botched *
A report from Canada's national laboratory grudgingly admits what many in the scientific world have been saying for months: last summer's panic over a suspected SARS outbreak in a Vancouver suburb was a false alarm. [More]

SARS update April 24, 2003 *
The World Health Organization warned travellers to steer clear of Toronto, Beijing, north China's Shanxi province in a bid to halt the spread of SARS. The advice to postpone non-essential travel to the three destinations will be re-examined in three weeks' time, which is twice the maximum incubation period of SARS. [More]

SARS virus has staying power, studies show *
Can lurk on plastic surfaces, survive cold, linger in human feces for days, experts say. [More]

SARS wave in Toronto probably on decline, Low says *
A key member of the SARS-containment team in Toronto said Thursday that the number of cases from the most recent outbreak could ultimately total 60 or 70, but that the worst probably is past. [More]

SARS: Cautious to a fault *
When nine members of a Texas air-force base were quarantined for suspected SARS last week after picking up a cough during an hour spent at a Toronto airport, it seemed proof that everything truly is bigger in the Lone Star State -- including the paranoia. [More]

SARS: China's scanners win coroner's praise *
Ontario official is less impressed with severe penalties for spreading SARS [More]

SARS: Health care workers critically ill *
The death Sunday of an Ontario nurse — the first health care worker in Canada to succumb to SARS — makes clear the need to better protect front-line workers, a nurses' union said Monday. [More]

SARS: How the quest for a quick victory led to costly error *
Just two weeks ago, Toronto health officials were so convinced they had beaten SARS into submission that they dismantled key elements of their containment team while lead members took off on international tours to describe how the city defeated the disease. [More]

SARS: No sympathy for Canada's whining *
Canada's campaign in Geneva to convince the WHO to rescind its Toronto travel advisory is shortsighted. Rather than simply fighting to have the advisory lifted, Canadians should look carefully at the far-reaching -- if sometimes draconian -- SARS policies put in place in the countries nearest the epicentre of the outbreak. [More]

SARS: Peeling away the mysteries of a virus *
Findings suggest SARS may have jumped from rare animal species such as civet cat [More]

SARS: Teen's case raises doubts about 10-day quarantine *
A Toronto teenager developed SARS 12 days after her SARS-infected parent was hospitalized, a finding that suggests the incubation period for the disease may be longer than had been thought. [More]

SARS: Toronto faces 'new normal' *
Hospitals resuming measures abandoned when first outbreak seemed under control [More]

SARS: Toronto set to cope with new outbreak *
[More]

SARS: US experts eye Toronto regimen *
U.S. health experts swept into Toronto last night to conduct an external audit on how the city has handled SARS.

Every detail, down to how to remove masks and gloves after treating SARS patients, must be studied, said Dick Zoutman, a scientist advising officials about it. [More]

Satellite to collect data on ozone layer *
Effects of CFCs ban purpose of research [More]

Scope of SARS outbreak understated, critics say *
Two more patients die as controversy grows over actions of health authorities [More]

Scotiabank reactivates its SARS 'clean team' *
The Bank of Nova Scotia has reactivated its isolated "clean team" of key trading employees as a result of the recent recurrence of SARS in Toronto. [More]

Second Ontario nurse dies of SARS *
Canada's second health-care worker to die of SARS infected her husband who also died from the disease, hospital officials confirmed Sunday. [More]

Signs of West Nile in Alberta show virus extending its range *
Five provinces confirm disease in birds; no human cases known so far this year [More]

Singapore confirms new case of SARS *
Health officials in Singapore say that laboratory tests confirm that a 27-year-old man has contracted SARS -- the first case of the deadly respiratory illness since July -- but they insist that the chance of another major outbreak is minimal [More]

Singapore reports new SARS case *
Singapore health officials confirmed on Monday that a local patient has tested positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, in what may be the world's first new case of the disease in three months [More]

SOCIAL STUDIES -- December 4, 2003 *
A DAILY MISCELLANY OF INFORMATION BY MICHAEL KESTERTON. [More]

Source of Alberta's mad cow a mystery *
Another 650 animals on five Alberta farms were marked for slaughter Tuesday as investigators pressed on with their search for the parents of an animal that tested positive for mad-cow disease. [More]

Sources of dioxin *
When it comes to dioxin, although we need to limit our animal-fat consumption, we also need go beyond beef and start looking at the burger box, too (Girls Urged To Limit Dioxin-Laced Foods -- July 3). [More]

Stars and SARS: the fallout continues *
Toronto is a safe place to visit, the World Health Organization decided last week, but some celebrities, it seems, haven't heard the word. Moreover, the SARS panic appears to be confusing their knowledge of geography. [More]

Stem cells trigger organ regeneration *
Canadian researchers have discovered that stem cells can prompt a damaged organ to regenerate. [More]

Stem-cell drug may help hearts *
Patients show increased use of tissue after suffering serious attacks [More]

Stones concert set to roll *
This time, it's really official. After weeks of mounting rumour and anticipation, the Rolling Stones have confirmed plans to play an outdoor concert at Toronto's Downsview Park on July 30... [More]

Swedish police can't trace DNA from baseball cap *
Investigators collected DNA from a baseball cap apparently left behind by the man who killed Swedish foreign minister Anna Lindh, but have found no match in a national criminal database, police said yesterday. [More]

Tainted-blood victims still waiting for aid *
Tainted blood victims who were excluded from a 1998 compensation package should be able to collect some of the $800-million surplus in the fund, advocates say. [More]

Taiwan angry at continued SARS travel advisory *
Taiwan was angry Wednesday about a World Health Organization decision not to lift a SARS travel advisory for the island as it has done for Canada, where -- despite the WHO vote of confidence -- a recent U.S. visitor caught the virus before returning home. [More]

Taiwan announces 12 more deaths *
Taiwan announced 12 new SARS fatalities and 22 more cases yesterday, taking the world's death toll to more than 700 and Taiwan's total number of infections to 570. [More]

Taiwan SARS rate soars; eight more patients die *
Taiwan's SARS crisis escalated yesterday with 65 new cases and eight deaths. The new cases -- nearly double the previous daily record -- took Taiwan's toll from severe acute respiratory syndrome to 483 infections and 60 deaths, according to the Department of Health. [More]

Taiwan struggles to curb rising SARS toll *
Taiwan's SARS crisis escalated yesterday with a record 65 new cases and eight deaths after an island-wide travel alert issued by the World Health Organization. [More]

Teens showing signs of heart disease *
Overweight has become the new normal, study of Scouts and Guides suggests. [More]

Test touts good Italian cholesterol *
U.S. researchers have used a synthetic version of "good cholesterol" to almost magically reverse the effects of one of the most common forms of heart disease. [More]

Tests reveal no further sign of mad-cow *
Tests done on cattle from a quarantined herd in Alberta have come back negative, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced Wednesday, and the remaining cattle will be released from quarantine. [More]

The battle to suppress a strong health council *
When Roy Romanow issued the report of his royal commission on health care last November, the recommendation that shone brightest was for a national health council. [More]

The dilemma: trans-free or tastier food *
Ingredient is hazardous to health, but it makes edibles stay fresh longer. [More]

The downside of medical testing *
If you are like most people, you've probably had a medical test recently. We are all inundated with advice to get more tests, whether it's from a partner, a parent, a health advocacy group or a caregiver. Testing makes us feel better, suggests that we are getting to the bottom of things. [More]

The face of AIDS in Mozambique *
Graça Nevas is Mozambique's 'AIDS celebrity' after saying on television 'the disease exists, I have it,' STEPHANIE NOLEN reports. [More]

The fat and the furious *
Fatness is a small yet virulent item in the news lately: as a subject of discussion, it is germane to the lives of civilians and stars, many of whom are, or have been similarly afflicted. [More]

The good, bad and fatty *
Light on the tongue, sugarless, beloved by children, the Giant Goldfish crackers seemed to countless parents a guilt-free way to pacify a hungry, bored toddler. But laboratory tests done for The Globe and Mail and CTV have found an alarmingly high amount of trans fats in those seemingly innocuous crackers. It's the same with granola bars, microwave popcorn and many other processed foods. [More]

The gospel according to Woody *
'My god is nature,' says actor, vegan and committed eco-activist Woody Harrelson, whose message of organic living is on full display in the documentary Go Further [More]

The perils of sharing bed with baby *
SATURDAY SPECIAL: Exhausted from childbirth, Miranda Halladay took a nap with her healthy new son. When she awoke three hours later, he didn't. [More]

The Primal Teen: What the New Discoveries About the Teenage Brain Tell Us About Our Kids -- Families: Please excuse the mess *
There's a reason teenagers sometimes seem crazy, writes MICHAEL VALPY. Underneath that baseball cap, there's a brain that's still under construction [More]

The Science of Coffee *
...a deeper look at the coffee plant [More]

The wages of SARS for stars *
Eleven acts and an agent to reap big bucks at next week's concert, JAMES ADAMS says, but no money planned for SARS relief [More]

The year of living statistically *
It's May, at the height of the SARS panic in Toronto, when the hum of the mantras is first heard. People are dropping like flies, the number of cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome is ballooning, some idiot religious cult is disobeying the quarantine rules because God says don't bother, the virus is said to be able to live for 24 hours on inanimate objects -- when suddenly, just like that, everything gets calm again. [More]

There's a plus side to the SARS crisis *
Apart from the fact that we all now know how to wash our hands so thoroughly they are as withered as prunes, there have been some positive work-related outcomes of the SARS crisis. [More]

Time to fight fat *
If you're obese and your kids are fat, don't be alarmed: You're in excellent and growing company. [More]

Time to rethink tonsillectomies? *
Back in the 1960s and 1970s, getting your tonsils removed was a rite of passage -- as was the week of frozen drinks and ice cream that typically followed the operation. [More]

Tiny bubbles? Fish may be talking *
The sound was unmistakably rude. University of British Columbia biologist Ben Wilson was alone in his lab late one night with a tank full of herring when he heard what he thought was somebody blowing a raspberry. [More]

To draw conclusions from the SARS fight *
Toronto's experience with SARS has been a hot and cold shower for the spirits... [More]

Toilet seats and spit bags new weapons in SARS wars *
Amid Chinese show of high-tech devices, simple idea to stem the phlegm stands out [More]

Toronto & SARS: Deserted by tourists, King is a lonely street *
Restaurant and hotel business drying up as visitors steer clear of theatre district [More]

Toronto dodges second WHO travel advisory *
UN agency holds off, but cites concerns about spread of SARS, possible exports [More]

Toronto hit with four new SARS cases *
Toronto health officials announced four news cases of SARS in Toronto and have instituted new quarantine restrictions for anyone who has recently visited a North York hospital. [More]

Toronto hit with SARS bombshell *
Four more people believed stricken; hundreds asked to go into quarantine [More]

Toronto off WHO's SARS list *
The World Health Organization has removed Toronto from its list of areas with recent local transmission of SARS. [More]

Toronto sees 40th SARS death *
A 76-year-old woman succumbed to SARS late last week, bringing the death toll due to 40 in Toronto. [More]

Toronto's rough cuts *
SARS, a stronger dollar and uncertainty over government funding are causing havoc in the $3-billion film-and-TV industry of Canada's largest city, GAYLE MacDONALD writes (though some Canadian cities are faring better). [More]

Treat heart disease with exercise, MDs told *
Regular physical activity can outperform costly drugs and surgery, study concludes. [More]

Trying to save Hong Kong after SARS *
The Hong Kong economy, which grew 2.3 per cent last year, had been expected to grow faster this year. When Financial Secretary Anthony Leung presented his budget in March, he predicted that real growth this year would reach 3 per cent. Others were even more optimistic. But that was before SARS struck. [More]

TV worse than chocolate for fat kids *
Children who watch more than three hours of television a day are 50 per cent more likely to be obese than kids who watch fewer than two hours, according to new Canadian research to be published Thursday in the International Journal of Obesity. [More]

Two deaths removed from SARS-suspect list *
Two of five people thought to have succumbed to SARS at a Toronto hospital last week did not have the disease, but another two have tested "weakly positive" for the coronavirus linked to the deadly illness. [More]

U.S. got lucky, experts agree *
Medical officials tracking SARS in Canada and East Asia say fate is the primary factor that has allowed the United States to avoid outbreaks of the deadly disease, though precautions against bioterrorism taken after Sept. 11, 2001, have helped. [More]

U.S. official wary of Canadian drugs *
The U.S. official in charge of drug safety warned yesterday that Americans' health is being endangered by potentially unsafe Canadian drugs imported through controversial Internet pharmacies. [More]

U.S. probes pneumonia cases in Iraq *
A U.S. Army medical team is heading to Iraq to look into what has caused 15 serious cases of pneumonia among troops in the area, including two fatalities, military officials said yesterday. [More]

U.S. SARS warning 'ludicrous,' MD charges *
Americans who have recently returned from Toronto are still being warned by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control that they could have caught SARS in the city, a prospect a leading Toronto SARS expert calls ludicrous. [More]

Untie nurses' hands: SARS is a full-time fight *
Registered nurses in Ontario want to regain control of their practice. Who can blame them? They're trying to make the most of an impossible situation created by years of misguided policy decisions by the Ontario government and health-care employers. [More]

US vows to support global anti-smoking treaty *
The United States said it would support a global anti-smoking treaty fully at this week's world health meeting, startling observers by dropping its objections to the pact, which included concern about banning advertising. [More]

Use of medical imaging shows big increase *
First in-depth look at MRI, CT scans reveals distribution, wait periods and access vary widely. [More]

Vegging Out *
No longer the sole orbit of middle-aged ex-hippies, fanatical animal-rights activists, anemic health nuts and flaky movie stars, vegetarianism today is embraced by a wide assortment of people. And they are being converted younger than ever... [More]

Virus tears at China's political, social fabric *
Nobody expected it to happen so fast.

Less than two months into his presidential term, Chinese leader Hu Jintao is facing both a career-threatening crisis and a historic opportunity for reform. [More]

Vitamin could prevent arthritis *
Scientists hope adding vitamin D to the diet could help prevent one of the most common and painful forms of arthritis. [More]

Vitamin E, beta-carotene do little for heart: study *
Vitamin E and beta-carotene pills are useless for warding off major heart problems, and beta-carotene, a source of vitamin A, may be harmful, an analysis of key studies has concluded. [More]

Vitamin pills may not reduce risk of key diseases *
But it's okay to take them, task force says [More]

Wal-Mart Canada staff miss meeting *
Stay home because of 'SARS issue'... [More]

We knew about trans fats *
In 1978, I enrolled in the newly created B.Sc. nursing program at McMaster University. One of our professors was Dr. Ross H. Hall, an unassuming, elderly biochemist -- who happened to be involved in cutting-edge food-science research. [More]

We must take action in Congo *
Lee Hamilton: Violence and suffering are at intolerable levels in Congo, where recent atrocities have received global attention. Before conditions go from bad to worse, Canada, the United States and the international community must act to restore some sense of order. [More]

Wen Jiabao's gesture *
On Monday night, millions of Chinese television viewers were treated to a remarkable sight: a government leader visiting AIDS patients at a Beijing hospital. [More]

West Nile fears spark blood drive *
Canadian Blood Services has launched an unprecedented national drive to stockpile red blood cells in case West Nile virus develops in humans before a screening test is available. [More]

West Nile found in crow in Ottawa *
The discovery of the carcass of a crow in Ottawa not far from Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's residence and Parliament Hill is increasing concern that the deadly West Nile virus is hitting Canada earlier this year than in the past. [More]

West Nile screening of blood begins *
In a bid to allay public fears about West Nile virus, Canadian Blood Services announced yesterday that it has begun to screen some of its blood products for the disease. [More]

West Nile victims sue Ontario government *
'Counting dead birds was not enough' [More]

West Nile Virus: No spray of hope *
Massive insecticide spraying of adult mosquitoes won't stop West Nile virus, says pesticide expert BARRIE WEBSTER. Let's get them when they're young [More]

West Nile-virus fears build, tests abound *
Doctors expect the year's first human case to appear between now and early August [More]

When the TSE quakes *
When the stock market dipsy-doodles, does it seem as though the Earth is quaking beneath your investments? [More]

WHO approves anti-tobacco accord *
The World Health Organization adopted a sweeping anti-tobacco treaty Wednesday in an unprecedented global push to regulate a product it says kills half of its regular users. [More]

WHO fears SARS spreads in new ways *
Even as the SARS epidemic seems to be easing in China, health experts are increasingly worried that a rising percentage of the latest SARS cases are spreading from mysterious and unknown sources. [More]

WHO frees Beijing of SARS travel warning *
The World Health Organization lifted its last SARS travel warning yesterday, declaring the disease under control in Beijing, the hard-hit capital of China where the outbreak began. [More]

WHO holds off on new travel advisory *
Ontario health officials expressed relief Tuesday that the World Health Organization is not issuing another SARS-related travel advisory for Toronto "at this time." [More]

WHO removes Hong Kong from SARS list *
The World Health Organization removed Hong Kong from its list of SARS-infected areas Monday, but warned the territory to keep up its guard against future outbreaks that might put it back on the list. [More]

WHO travel advisory widens to all of Taiwan *
The World Health Organization extended its travel advisory to all of Taiwan yesterday as the island reported 35 new SARS cases and officials warned that the outbreak has yet to peak. [More]

WHO voices 'major concern' about SARS in Toronto *
UN agency cites export of disease to U.S. and questions on possible cases in Whitby [More]

WHO warns not to let guard down against SARS *
Countries must remain on guard against SARS even though the disease is being brought under control globally, a top World Health Organization official said Sunday while another WHO official said a cure for SARS is unlikely soon following a conference that failed to agree on how to treat the deadly virus. [More]

Why women live longer: It's behaviour, not biology *
Canadian women outlive their male counterparts, but if you scratch below the surface, the situation isn't quite so rosy: Women suffer far more physical disabilities and more mental illness, and they are far more likely to live in pain and poverty, a new report says. [More]

Winnipeg syphilis cases worry authorities *
A syphilis outbreak in Winnipeg is getting worse. The regional health authority says it has identified 22 cases since the outbreak began in January. [More]

Young and shunned in Canada *
With 50,000 young people on the street in Canada, film director Daniel Cross thought it time to show what life is like for squeegee kids, REBECCA CALDWELL writes [More]

Young patients push stroke rehabilitation to new frontier *
"Before 1995, when clot-busting drugs were introduced, there was absolutely no treatment for stroke" [More]