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	Saturday, 30 August 2003

gainsay Dictionary.com Word of the Day] 11:38:45 PM

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This has to be good news. Bugs that eat toxic waste discovered. The industrial solvents tetrachloroethene (PCE) and trichloroethene (TCE) are prominent groundwater pollutants that have not had effective cleanup processes. As the solvents break down, they create the toxic chemicals dichloroethenes and the carcinogenic vinyl chlorides. A paper in today's Nature describes a microbe that destroys dichloroethenes and vinyl chlorides as part of its metabolism. The bacterium was found in contaminated soil samples and may have uses in cleaning up industrial waste sites. Promising trials show that the bacterium is able to rapidly destroy enough of the toxins to be worth considering for clean up operations. Abstract at Nature [David Harris: Science news] 11:31:48 PM

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Scientists are smart, according to IQ tests. A televised IQ test pitting different groups against each other ended with scientists topping the IQ league tables. Next best were teachers and celebrities. Tied in third were construction workers and students. Last were blondes and bodybuilders. Interestingly, all groups scored well above the notional average IQ of 100. More at The Scientist (free registration required) Who woulda thunk it? [David Harris: Science news] 11:27:05 PM

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Male sweat relaxes women. "Men's underarms may hold clue to new fertility drug" reports Nature Science Update. "New research shows that [male] armpit sweat calms female volunteers." It was already known that female pheromones could synchronise female menstrual cycles but it seems there is no end to what sweat can do for us! I love being reminded that we are after alljust jumped-up animals. [David Harris: Science news] 11:20:30 PM

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