Look who’s watching

Google representatives have been asked to appear before European data protection officials over concerns about the way the site collects data on web users. The date for the inquisition has, however, not been fixed.

Denmark scraps tax on fat

IN A blow to the anti-obesity drive across the globe, Denmark’s tax ministry has scrapped tax on food high in fat content within a year of implementing it. The ministry also decided against the sugar tax it had proposed to introduce this year.

That which is injurious to health

Ben Goldacre is a regular troublemaker for establishments practising dodgy science. In one of his columns in The Guardian he wrote, “Unpicking bad science is the best way to explain good science.” Goldacre is a medical doctor and a science researcher. His weekly column Bad Science takes up cudgels against dubious research, exposes fishy practices in pharma majors and takes us to the seamy areas of science policy.

GM maize and its health implications for humans

What are the major takeaways from the research? It shows multiple impacts, most acutely in liver and kidney function and immune system disturbances. Most worrying is the extraordinarily large number of tumours developing earlier and more aggressively in the rats. I am shocked because it was so unexpected. Interviewee:  Michael Antoniou

News Snippets

>> On August 5, colourful beach umbrellas along Italy’s sun-soaked coast were kept closed in protest against a government plan to auction patches of seafront. Although it is state property, access to much of the Italian coast has long been controlled by beach clubs. The beach clubs say the plan favours multinational companies and will put 30,000 beach business and 600,000 workers at risk.

Sunshine sector loses sheen

Solace in money plant

INSTITUTIONAL investors have found the right formula to tide over the contagious recession and unstoppable inflation in Europe and North America: invest in trees. A recently released survey of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) finds that more and more institutional investors are putting in money in forestry to protect their investments from spiralling down. The survey covered 42 investors having US $32 billion worth of investments in forestry.

Irrational routes to science

A video clip using images of lipsticks, killer heels and a handsome male laboratory worker to encourage women to pursue science careers has been condemned as sexist and demeaning. Science: It’s a Girl Thing, produced by the European Commission (EC), has generic pictures of beakers and words like “hydrogen” with pictures of skinny models.

Higgs hypothesis gathers mass

The oldest dot

The red dots, hand stencils and animal figures found on some of the cave walls of Spain, including the World Heritage sites of Altamira, El Castillo and Tito Bustillo, could be the oldest cave art in Europe. The cave arts have long been recognised for their antiquity.