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Mapping the Distant Universe

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Mapping the Distant Universe SEVEN DAYS The news in brief POLICY Canada’s election National elections in Canada on 2 May brought bad news for environmentalists, even though the Green Party won its first-ever parliamentary seat. After five years of minority rule, the Conservative Party won an outright majority; the party is generally hostile to efforts to address climate change, and is enthusiastic about extracting oil from western Canada’s tar GROUP WORKING COSMOLOGY LYMAN-ALPHA A. SLOSAR/BOSS sands. See go.nature.com/ w1yicg for more. Scientist glut? 300 million parsecs Amid concerns over the increasing demand for grants and the length of time it takes to train a scientist, the US Mapping the distant Universe National Institutes of Health (NIH) has asked a panel of The first three-dimensional map of the distant 14,000 quasars, the luminous nuclei of early external advisers to report Universe, showing clumps of hydrogen gas galaxies. Their light is absorbed at particular on what a future biomedical- between 3 billion and 3.7 billion parsecs wavelengths as it passes through the hydrogen. research workforce should away, was released on 1 May at a meeting of Ripples in this gas (a two-dimensional slice look like. It will tackle the American Physical Society in Anaheim, is pictured, with density of gas increasing questions such as how many California. The map — the fruits of the from blue to red) could shed light on how scientists the United States Baryonic Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey dark energy drove the expansion of the early needs, and how the country experiment — was made by measuring Universe. See go.nature.com/fromkf for more. should train them. The group, named on 27 April, will make its recommendations 2010 by the Council of the Both drugs block HCV’s Pharma takeover to NIH director Francis European Union to halt protease enzyme. If approved Teva Pharmaceuticals, the Collins’ advisory committee, biodiversity loss by 2020. by the FDA, they would be world’s largest generic drug possibly by summer 2012. See the first therapeutics on the maker, headquartered near go.nature.com/rfowsx BUSINESS market to directly target HCV, Tel Aviv, Israel, announced on for more. which is currently treated 2 May a US$6.8-billion deal to Hepatitis advance with general antivirals and buy Cephalon, which makes Biodiversity plan Two new drugs against the immune-boosting proteins. the narcolepsy treatment On 3 May, the European hepatitis C virus (HCV) See go.nature.com/qjoqfn modafinil. Cephalon, based Commission published a have won unanimous votes for more. in Frazer, Pennsylvania, new plan to improve Europe’s of confidence from advisers had been fighting off a biodiversity over the next to the US Food and Drug Health-care buyout hostile $5.7-billion takeover decade. The strategy includes Administration (FDA). On US health-care giant bid from Canadian firm targets on sustainable 27 April, the FDA’s Antiviral Johnson & Johnson will Valeant Pharmaceuticals of agriculture, safeguarding fish Drugs Advisory Committee take over medical-device Mississauga, Ontario. stocks, controlling invasive recommended approving manufacturer Synthes in a species and protecting boceprevir, developed by deal worth 19 billion Swiss Stem-cell joy and restoring ecosystems. Merck, headquartered in francs (US$21.8 billion), Shares in several stem-cell It falls roughly into line Whitehouse Station, New the companies announced firms rallied in the wake of a with agreements made at Jersey. The next day, the same on 27 April. Synthes, US appeals court decision to a biodiversity summit in committee gave its support headquartered in Solothern, overturn an injunction that Nagoya, Japan, last October to telaprevir, developed by Switzerland, makes implants, would freeze federal funding (see Nature 468, 14; 2010) Vertex Pharmaceuticals in biomaterials and instruments for research on human and targets agreed in March Cambridge, Massachusetts. for orthopaedic surgery. embryonic stem cells. After 10 | NATURE | VOL 473 | 5 MAY 2011 © 2011 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved SEVEN DAYS THIS WEEK the 29 April ruling, StemCells, after diesel generators kicked Advanced Cell Technology, in. See go.nature.com/bwbadj Pluristem Therapeutics, for more. COMING UP UNIV. MICHIGAN UNIV. Aastrom Biosciences and Geron all saw gains. See page Fukushima safety 9–13 MAY 15 for more on the decision. A scientific adviser to Japan’s The European Materials government resigned from his Research Society PEOPLE post on 29 April, complaining teams up with its US that the safety limit set for counterpart to hold the Russian space chief radiation in schools around first bilateral conference Russia’s prime minister, they resulted in falsified data. the Fukushima nuclear plant on energy, in Nice, Vladimir Putin, has fired the Bhrigu, now in India, has been was an ad hoc measure and France. chief of the nation’s space barred from receiving US not in line with international go.nature.com/tgxfsi agency, Anatoly Perminov. federal funding for three years. standards. Toshiso Kosako, a Perminov, who has headed See go.nature.com/lexd9a radiation-safety expert at the 12 MAY Roscosmos since March for more. University of Tokyo, said the Ministers from eight 2004, will be replaced by government’s safety limit — 20 Arctic nations discuss deputy defence minister Research head quits millisieverts a year — was too how to manage the Vladimir Popovkin. A change Roger Beachy has resigned as high. Local parents and lobby region at the Arctic had been widely rumoured director of the US National groups have demanded that the Council’s biennial after December 2010, when Institute of Food and government set stricter limits. meeting in Greenland. three satellites for Russia’s Agriculture (NIFA) to spend go.nature.com/zeeks2 global navigation network, more time with his family. RESEARCH GLONASS, crashed into the Beachy, an eminent plant 10–13 MAY Pacific Ocean on launch. biotechnologist who retains Greenland ice The workings and a position at Washington Ice sheets in Greenland may governance of the Lab saboteur University in St Louis, has led be more stable than previously Intergovernmental Panel The US Office of Research NIFA since its inception in thought, results from the North on Climate Change Integrity last week issued a 2009. See page 19 for more. Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling are up for review at the finding of research misconduct (NEEM) project suggest. In panel’s 33rd general against former University EVENTS the Eemian interglacial period assembly, in Abu Dhabi. of Michigan postdoctoral (130,000–115,000 years ago), go.nature.com/utykml fellow Vipul Bhrigu. Last year Tornado damage temperatures were as much as Bhrigu was caught on video Powerful storms and 5 °C warmer than today and sea (pictured) sabotaging the tornadoes that devastated levels rose by up to 7–8 metres. of Wisconsin in Madison. See work of a student in his lab the southern United States But new ice cores suggest that go.nature.com/nqewa6 for (see Nature 467, 516–518; last week, killing around melting of the Greenland ice more. 2010). At the time he was 350 people, also knocked out sheet at that time caused global ordered to pay more than power to the Browns Ferry sea levels to rise by only 1 or EU biology links US$30,000 by a Michigan nuclear plant near Athens, 2 metres; the remainder may Three ambitious biological court for destroying property. Alabama. But the plant’s three have been made up by ice loss sciences infrastructure The federal government reactor units, which have a from Antarctica. The findings projects, costing €700 million now says his acts constituted combined capacity of around were presented on 28 April at (US$1 billion), were given research misconduct because 3.3 gigawatts, shut down safely a symposium at the University the go-ahead in Europe on 3 May. One network will update and link facilities in 26 European countries that TREND WATCH HOW TRADE AFFECTS CARBON FOOTPRINTS maintain collections of key Rich regions have achieved cuts in carbon emissions since research microbes. Another 1990, but largely by importing more goods from elsewhere. Developed nations are responsible project will link facilities in UNITED KINGDOM EUROPE for more carbon dioxide emissions ecosystem science, and a third 150 Change in than they produce, because they region’s CO2 will connect facilities and 100 SOURCE: G. PETERS/CICERO import goods made in other production create data repositories for countries. A study of emissions 50 researchers in systems biology. from 113 countries for 1990 0 Change in The new projects, starting in to 2008 (G. P. Peters et al. Proc. region’s CO2 2014–15, are part of an updated Natl Acad. Sci. USA doi:10.1073/ –50 footprint wish list of science facilities emissions (megatonnes) (includes pnas.1006388108; 2011) shows 2 –100 Kyoto target: imports) drawn up by Europe’s leading that developed countries (as –150 8% cut researchers, the European (46 Mt CO ) from 1990 to 2008 from 2 classed under the Kyoto Protocol) –200 Strategy Forum on Research increased their CO2 footprint by Kyoto target: Infrastructures. See go.nature. –250 8% cut 7% — even though they reported (346 Mt CO ) com/dtuiwn for more. 2% production cuts. The chart –300 2 shows the effect for the United Change in annual CO –350 NATURE.COM Kingdom and Europe. For daily news updates see: www.nature.com/news 5 MAY 2011 | VOL 473 | NATURE | 11 © 2011 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.
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