Eventually a simple blood test will lead to accurate "made to measure" treatments

• to identify, attack and kill the causes of each patient's own individual cancer, they claim.

• Professor Mike Stratton, of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, a world leading research centre in Cambridge who carried the studies, said: "What you are seeing today is going to transform the way that we see cancer.
  "This is a really fundamental moment in the history of cancer research."


Grim beauty Deadly diseases under the microscope Photo: Wellcome Images

• All cancers are caused by damage or mutations to the DNA of formerly healthy cells acquired during a person’s lifetime.
  This damage causes them to grow into abnormal lumps or tumors and spread around the body disrupting its normal processes and eventually – if unchecked – causing death.

• In lung cancer the damage is almost entirely caused by smoking and in skin cancer or malignant melanoma by ultra violent sunlight.
  The Sanger Institute studies used powerful new DNA sequencing technologies to decode completely the genome of both tumor tissue and normal tissue from a lung cancer and a malignant melanoma patient.
• They then compared and contrasted the two to discover the differences and see what damage has occurred to cause the disease. » The full Telegraph Uk article » By Richard Alleyne, Science Correspondent.

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• The New York Times - Learning Network - Learning About Cell Renewal Throughout the Body -
  Overview: Students learn about the latest research on cell and tissue renewal. They then explore the various internal body parts and systems examined in these studies.  Go to this Health and Science Lesson.
• The New York Times - Learning Network - Talking about Breast Cancer:
  Students share words and associations related to cancer. They then investigate and participate in dialogues about the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. Go to this Health, Science and Life's Lesson.
• The New York Times - Learning Network - Evaluating the Changing Perceptions of Cigarette Smoking -
  Overview: Students learn about the changing public perception of cigarettes over the century. They design a survey on people's views on cigarette smoking for homework. Go to this Health and Science Lesson.

• The New York Times - Learning Network - A Matter of Gravity: Developing Space-Based Experiments -
  Overview | In this lesson, students read about a new contest seeking student science experiments to be conducted on the International Space Station. They learn more about space-based research, design experiments they would like to see carried out in microgravity and develop scripts for video pitches to promote their ideas. » Go to this Science Lesson.

Image source

• The uncertainty arises mainly because weather stations were never intended to provide a climatic record. The temperature series they give tend therefore to be patchy and even where the stations are relatively abundant, as in western Europe and America, they often contain inconsistencies.
• To most scientists, rising sea-levels, melting glaciers, warmer ocean depths and so forth are convincing.
• A new study, however, provides further evidence that the numbers are probably about right. » The full Economist article - Published: October 22, 2011.

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• A Learning Foundation Lesson - Is That A fact? -
  Overview | Understanding the difference between fact and opinion is critical to our ability to examine our reactions to events and people. Stereotypes and prejudices are often based on opinions that are perceived as facts. » Go to this ESL and Science Lesson.
• The New York Times - Learning Network - What’s Next: Updating Science Textbooks With New Discoveries -
  Overview | How are discoveries and breakthroughs made in science? What kinds of scientific developments merit inclusion in course textbooks? In this lesson, students consider the nature of scientific research and explore recent and anticipated advancements in science. They then create digital supplements to update their own science textbooks. » Go to this ScienceLesson.

The scientific evidence supports the notion that humans evolved to be runners.

• In a 2007 paper in the journal Sports Medicine, Daniel E. Lieberman, a Harvard evolutionary biologist, and Dennis M. Bramble, a biologist at the University of Utah, wrote that several characteristics unique to humans suggested endurance running played an important role in our evolution.
• Most mammals can sprint faster than humans — having four legs gives them the advantage.
• But when it comes to long distances, humans can outrun almost any animal. Because we cool by sweating rather than panting, we can stay cool at speeds and distances that would overheat other animals. On a hot day, the two scientists wrote, a human could even outrun a horse in a 26.2-mile marathon. » The full New York Times article - By Tara Parker-Pope - Published: October 26, 2009.

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• The New York Times - Learning Network - Investigating the Complex Significance of Bones -
  Overview | Students examine the literal, physiological and figurative significance of bones through experimentation, then create their own skeleton-related exhibits for a "Bone and Skeleton Museum." » Go to this Health and Science Lesson.

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Learning How the Body's Skeletal Muscle Groups Work -
  Overview | Students gain a greater understanding of the anatomy and physiology of the muscular system, the skeletal system and connective tissue by researching joints in the body. They also reflect on the effects of injuries on their joints and learn about new treatment methods. Go to this Health and Science Lesson.
• The New York Times - Learning Network - Investigating and Discussing Darwinism ... (Explaining Life’s Complexities)
  Overview | learn about theories of 'intelligent design' in evolutionary science...  Go to this Science Lesson.

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• The New York Times - Learning Network - Ideas in Motion: Illustrating Basic Science Concepts -
  Overview | What can we learn from comics or graphic novels? How do visual representations of science concepts aid our understanding of them? In this lesson, students explore different ways of representing topics in science. They address whether entertainment can also be educational, and write their own comic strips that explain science concepts. Go to this Science Lesson.

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• The New York Times - Learning Network - Biology in Film: Using Animation to Study Cell Structure -
  Overview | How can animations help convey the dynamic nature of cellular processes? What can we learn from animation that cannot be learned as easily from still images? In this lesson, students watch high-definition animations that depict the processes of DNA transcription and translation, and then write voice-over scripts. Go to this Science Lesson.

Cynthia Dunbar of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute in Maryland, said producing blood from a patient's own skin cells had the potential to make bone marrow transplants and a shortage of blood donors "a thing of the past".... Continued after the photograph

Depending on the chemicals used, the skin cells became various kinds of cell that together make up healthy blood. They included early stage red blood cells, which carry oxygen around the body, white blood cells, which fight infection, and platelets that enable blood to clot.
The team, whose work is published in the journal Nature, is the first to show it is possible to convert human skin cells directly into blood. "We have shown this works
using human skin. We know how it works and believe we can even improve on the process," said Bhatia.Mickie Bhatia, scientific director at the university's Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute. » The full Guardian article - By Ian Sample, science correspondent - Published: November 2010 12.00

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• The New York Times - Learning Network - What’s Next: Updating Science Textbooks With New Discoveries -
  Overview | How are discoveries and breakthroughs made in science? What kinds of scientific developments merit inclusion in course textbooks? In this lesson, students consider the nature of scientific research and explore recent and anticipated advancements in science. They then create digital supplements to update their own science textbooks. Go to this Science and Health Lesson.

Meat Farmers Brace for Limits on Antibiotics
• Proponents of strong controls note that the European Union barred most nontreatment uses of antibiotics in
  2006 and that farmers there have adapted without major costs. Following a similar path
  in the United States, they argue, would have barely perceptible effects on consumer
  prices.

• As drug-resistant strains of microbes evolve on the farms, they are passed along in meat
  sold in grocery stores. They can infect people as they handle the uncooked product or
  when eating, if cooking is not thorough. The dangerous strains can also enter the
  environment via manure or the clothes of farm workers.
• Genetic studies of drug-resistant E. coli strains found on poultry and beef in grocery
  stores and strains in sick patients have found them to be virtually identical, and further
  evidence also indicated that the resistant microbes evolved on farms and were
  transferred to consumers, said Dr. James R. Johnson, an infectious-disease expert at the
  University of Minnesota. Hospitals now find that up to 30 percent of urinary infections
  do not respond to the front-line treatments, ciprofloxacin and the drug known as
  Bactrim or Septra, and that resistance to key newer antibiotics is also emerging. E. coli is
  also implicated in serious blood, brain and other infections. » Read the full New York Times Article - By Erik Eckholm - Published: September 15, 2010

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• The New York Times - Learning Network - Outbreak! -
  Overview | Students reflect on and research drug-resistant bacteria and the use of antibiotics. They then use their research to make board games that focus on the microscopic interactions among bacteria, antibodies, antibiotics and the cells of the immune system. Go to this Health and Science Lesson.
• The New York Times - Learning Network - It Might Come in Handy -
  Overview | Students will learn about the latest study on routine hand washing practices. They will then research some of the possible communicable diseases that can be transmitted by having lax hygiene. Go to this Health and Science Lesson.

... because of the possibility that both humans and chimps inherited an instinct for aggressive territoriality from their joint ancestor who lived some five million years ago. Only two previous cases of chimp warfare have been recorded, neither as clear-cut as the Ngogo case.
Dr. John Mitani’s team has now put a full picture together by following chimps on their patrols, witnessing 18 fatal attacks over 10 years and establishing that the warfare led to annexation of a neighbor’s territory. (Continued after the picture...)

The benefits of chimp warfare are clear enough, at least from the perspective of human observers. Through decades of careful work, primatologists have documented the links in a long causal chain, proving for instance that females with access to more fruit trees will bear children faster.
Dr. Mitani, however, is reluctant to infer any genetic link between human and chimp warfare, despite the similarity of purpose, cost and tactics. “It’s just not at all clear to me that these lethal raids are similar sorts of phenomena,” he said. More interesting than warfare, in his view, is the cooperative behavior that makes war possible. » The full New York Times article - By Nicholas Wade - Published: June 21, 2010

The cooperative behavior that makes war possible.

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• The New York Times - Learning Network - Examining Military Coups Around the World -
  Overview | Students will consider military coups and their aftermaths, research famous coups... illustrating those events, and write letters from the perspectives of ousted leaders examined during class. Go to this Law and Society Lesson.
• The New York Times - Learning Network - State of Independence -
  Overview | Students learn about the May 2006 referendum in Montenegro that established the land’s independence from Serbia. They then research other regions around the world in which political movements are seeking independence for their territories and role play from the perspectives of the various parties involved. Go to this Law and Society Lesson.
• The New York Times - Learning Network - The Fight for Human Rights -
  Overview | Students explore the concept of human rights by developing and defending their own ‘Bills of Human Rights’ and by writing a reflective essay that compares their notions of human rights and the protection of them to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.Go to this Law and Society Lesson.

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Exhibit A: Exploring and Learning at Science Museums -
  Overview | What do science museums have to offer? How can visiting a science museum complement classroom curriculum and reinforce science standards? What can students get out of a trip to a science museum? In this lesson, students reflect on the exhibits, learning experiences and purposes of science museums, then prepare for and visit a local science museum where they engage in an open-ended scavenger hunt. Afterward, they develop scripts for a museum guide to use with visitors and/or generate ideas for their own science museum. Go to this Health and Science Lesson.

The cervical cancer vaccine is the first vaccine ever designed to prevent a cancer. In the United States - where cervical cancer strikes about 10,000 women a year and causes up to 4,000 deaths - the impact of the cervical cancer vaccine will be tremendous. Worldwide, the impact may be even greater. According to the World Health Organization, there were 500,000 new cases of cervical cancer in 2005. Mayo Clinic: questions and answers article.

The New York Times - Learning Network - The Vaccination Question:
Students share opinions about common vaccines, then consider facts and opinions about the HPV vaccine and hold a “fishbowl” discussion. They then survey members of the community to determine their perspectives on the issue. Go to this Health and Science Lesson.

• The New York Times - Learning Network - A Matter of Time: Conducting Experiments on Perception and Estimations of Time -
  Overview | How good are you at estimating time? Why does time seem to “fly when you’re having fun”? How do our brains perceive or track the passing of time? In this lesson, students estimate time spent on two short activities, one fun and one tedious, and then analyze and discuss their results and experiences. They then design and conduct their own time-related investigations.  Go to this Science Lesson.

CT scans proved valuable Two studies published in the American Journal of Roentgenology show the need to check X-rays and CT scans for unusual features, and also point out swine flu can be tricky to diagnose in some of the sickest patients.
(in one study) CT scans of patients with severe cases of swine flu showed many had pulmonary emboli, which block the arteries in the lungs, a team at the University of Michigan found.
Anticoagulant drugs can break up these clots and save lives.
A team at the University of Michigan found..."The majority of patients undergoing chest X-rays with H1N1 have normal radiographs (X-rays)," Pulmonary emboli are also not normally seen in flu," Dr. Prachi Agarwalshe said in a statement.
"CT scans proved valuable in identifying those patients at risk of developing more serious complications as a possible result of the H1N1 virus, and for identifying a greater extent of disease than is appreciated on chest radiographs." The full Reuters article » (Reporting by Maggie Fox; Editing by Julie Steenhuysen and Cynthia Ostemran)

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Researching the 2009 Influenza A (H1N1) Pandemic -
  Overview: Students engage in an inquiry into influenza A (H1N1), considering the virus and the pandemic from multiple perspectives and acting as advisers to share factual information they learn with their classmates and school communities. Go to this Health and Science Lesson.
• The New York Times - Learning Network - Understanding the History of Twentieth Century Pandemic Flu Outbreaks -
  Overview: Students will examine the different types of pandemic flu viruses and virus “scares” that have occurred over the past hundred years by creating a master chart that displays the origins, transmission, symptoms, and socio-historical impact of each virus. Go to this Health and Science Lesson.

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Evaluating How DNA Databases Are Used to Solve Crimes -
  Overview: Students reflect on their opinions about the use of DNA databases in criminal investigations. They then generate a list of questions they have about DNA and its importance, prepare and give brief presentations, and then further discuss their positions on how DNA information should be collected and used by police.  Go to this Law and Science Lesson.
• The New York Times - Learning Network - Analyzing Media Coverage of Crime -
  Overview: Students will compare the coverage of two crime stories, analyzing both for objectivity, language, emotional impact, and local and national dissemination. Go to this Media and Law Lesson.

The enterprise has steadily borne fruit. The detection rate in Bangladesh inched up to more than 70 percent in 2006, according to the World Health Organization, and the cure rate to 89 percent. Among the 22 countries that are considered to be heavily burdened by tuberculosis, few have reached those levels, the health organization says. Go to the article

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Exploring the Impact of Disease on the Global Population -
  Overview: Students investigate the nature, causes and statistics of diseases in lesser developed countries and explore ways in which disease impacts the global population. Go to this Health and Building Society Lesson
• Related Lesson New York Times - Learning Network - Nothing to Sneeze At -

  Enlisting (Thai) villagers in 2006 flu battle - set a global example  "Thailand has mobilized about 750,000 volunteers (under the Thaksin government) one for every 15 rural households." 'This is something that all over the world we've been trying to promote. And this is probably the best example that I've ever seen.' said William Aldis, the representative of the World Health Organization in Thailand." Go to the article - By Thomas Fuller - International Herald Tribune

  Go to this Health and Building Society Lesson

For the final exam, the students have an hour to make sense of a crime scene mocked up in the woods with the help of the New Rochelle police. Here the core message of the semester is brutally distilled: that science, like life and its end, can be messy and uncertain, that you must notice what others overlook, and that if you collect and bag your evidence but fail to seal it, your teacher will dump your hard work in the trash. Remember, you’re a forensic scientist. You’re not just playing one on TV. From this New York Times Article » By Natalie Angier.

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Examining the "Science" in Forensic Science -
  Overview | Students reflect on forensic science and its popularity and then act as forensic experts investigating photographs of Frances Glessner Lee's miniature crime-scene dioramas. Go to this Science and Media Lesson.

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Science in the Court Room -
  Overview | Students reflect on their opinions about the use of DNA databases in criminal investigations. They then generate a list of questions they have about DNA and its importance, prepare and give brief presentations, and then further discuss their positions on how DNA information should be collected and used by police.Go to this Law and Science Lesson.

A dangerous germ that has been spreading around the country causes more life-threatening infections than public health authorities had thought and is killing more people in the United States each year than the AIDS virus, federal health officials reported yesterday.
The microbe, a strain of a once innocuous staph bacterium that has become invulnerable to first-line antibiotics, is responsible for more than 94,000 serious infections and nearly 19,000 deaths each year, the Centers for Disease Controland Prevention calculated. Read Article » By Rob Stein - The Washignton Post

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Learning About Hand Washing and Communicable Disease -
  Overview: Students will learn about the latest study on routine hand washing practices. They will then research some of the possible communicable diseases that can be transmitted by having lax hygiene. Add this article: "Good Hygiene key to fighting (2006) bird flu" - from the Hong Kong Government site, then Go to this Health and Science Lesson.

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Understanding the History of Twentieth Century Pandemic Flu Outbreaks -
  Overview: Students will examine the different types of pandemic flu viruses and virus “scares” that have occurred over the past hundred years by creating a master chart that displays the origins, transmission, symptoms, and socio-historical impact of each virus. Go to this Health and Science Lesson.

Bone is built of two basic components: flexible fibers of collagen and brittle chains of the calcium-rich mineral hydroxyapatite. But those relatively simple ingredients, the springy and the salty, are woven together into such a complex cat’s cradle of interdigitating layers that the result is an engineering masterpiece of tensile, compressive and elastic strength. “We only wish we could mimic it,” Dr. Ritchie said. Read the full New York Times article - By Natalie Angier.

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes -
  Overview: Students gain a greater understanding of the anatomy and physiology of the muscular system, the skeletal system and connective tissue by researching joints in the body. They also reflect on the effects of injuries on their joints and learn about new treatment methods. Go to this Health and Science Lesson.
• The New York Times - Learning Network - Investigating the Complex Significance of Bones -
  Students examine the literal, physiological and figurative significance of bones through experimentation, then create their own skeleton-related exhibits for a "Bone and Skeleton Museum." Go to this Health and Science Lesson.

Although doing many things at the same time — reading an article while listening to music, switching to check e-mail messages and talking on the phone — can be a way of making tasks more fun and energizing, “you have to keep in mind that you sacrifice focus when you do this,” said Edward M. Hallowell, a psychiatrist and author of “CrazyBusy: Overstretched, Overbooked, and About to Snap!” (Ballantine, 2006). More in this NYT Article »

Try this fun Zen exercise.

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Evaluating the Costs and Benefits of Multitasking -
Overview: Students examine the effects of multitasking and evaluate its impact on their own efficiency.  Go to this Science and Health Lesson.

The new cells come from patients with 10 incurable genetic diseases and conditions, including Parkinson's, the paralyzing disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, juvenile diabetes and Down's Syndrome.
"They allow researchers ... to watch the disease progress in a dish, to watch what goes right or wrong," said Harvard's Dr. Doug Melton, who will head up the distribution of the cells. "I think we'll see in the years ahead that this opens the door to a new way of treating degenerative diseases."
Every cell in the human body contains the same genetic instructions, and in people with inherited genetic diseases, every cell carries the same mistakes, Daley and Melton said. More in this Article » By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor - Reuters

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Learning How Stem Cells Can Repair the Body -
Overview: Students research stem cells to learn how they function, the distinguishing characteristics of types of stem cells, and how stem cells may be manipulated by scientists to help bodies heal and regenerate unhealthy or damaged cells.  Go to this Health and Science Lesson.

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Learning About Cell Renewal Throughout the Body -
Overview: Students learn about the latest research on cell and tissue renewal. They then explore the various internal body parts and systems examined in these studies.  Go to this Health and Science Lesson.

Dead zones occur when excess nutrients, primarily nitrogen and phosphorus, enter coastal waters and help fertilise blooms of algae, a process called eutrophication. Major nutrient sources include fertilisers and the burning of fossil fuels.

The result is an increase of nutrients in the water - usually nitrogen or phosphorus - that triggers a frenzy of action from microscopic organisms.

First phytoplankton take up the nutrients and produce organic matter than eventually sinks to the bottom and dies. There bacteria consume the organic matter and use up the oxygen as they do so. Article link - Telegraph.co.uk News.

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Creating a Classroom Ocean Exhibit to Increase Awareness of Marine Health and Sustainability -
Overview: Students brainstorm topics related to the health of our world's oceans. They then create presentations about specific issues affecting oceans for display in a classroom exhibit. They then write letters of invitation to guests to view the exhibit. Go to this Science and ESL Lesson.

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Exploring Natural and Human Threats on Fresh Water and Marine Ecosystems
Overview: Students examine various fresh water and marine ecosystems, researching the aquatic life they support, threats from nature and humans, and preservation efforts. Go to this Science Lesson.

The tongue is more flexible, sensitive and tireless. And like other facial muscles, its functions tend to be spared in accidents that can paralyze most of the rest of the body, because the tongue is attached to the brain, not the spinal cord.
Read this NYT article » By Su-Hyun Lee

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Exploring State-of-the-Art Medical Technology -
Overview: Students explore new medical technologies to exhibit in an "Amazing Medical Machines" technology fair. Go to this Health and Science lesson.

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Understanding and Diagramming the Power of the Brain to Cause Motion -
Overview: Students test and reflect on how the brain receives, interprets and translates contradictory verbal and auditory cues into movement. Then, after learning about a new innovation in brain research and robotics, they diagram the brain and nervous system activities involved in voluntary motion and incorporate this knowledge into a creative work of science fiction. Go to this Health, Science and Building Society lesson.

"I think the leukemia taught me to think step by step," Van der Weijden said. "When you're laying in the hospital bed and feeling so much pain and feeling so tired, you don't want to think about next week or next month, you're only thinking about the next hour."You just be patient. You lay in your bed and just wait. It's almost the same strategy I've used here, to stay in the pack, to be patient, and stay easy just waiting for your chance." Read IHT Article » - The Associated Press

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Creating “Life Lists” of Personal Goals -
Overview: Students consider what it means to live a life well-lived by creating life lists of goals they would like to accomplish and analyzing patterns in the lists of their peers. Go to this Life's Lesson.

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Learning How Stem Cells Can Repair the Body -
Overview: Students research stem cells to learn how they function, the distinguishing characteristics of types of stem cells, and how stem cells may be manipulated by scientists to help bodies heal and regenerate unhealthy or damaged cells.  Go to this Health and Science Lesson.

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Learning About Cell Renewal Throughout the Body -
Overview: Students learn about the latest research on cell and tissue renewal. They then explore the various internal body parts and systems examined in these studies.  Go to this Health and Science Lesson.

"The thing that's killing people is inaction," said Dr. Michael Sayre of Ohio State University, who headed the association's team that drafted the new recommendations.
Sayre said people not trained in CPR should do two things when they encounter an adult who has suddenly collapsed: first, call emergency services; and second, begin pushing "hard and fast" in the center of the person's chest.
This is necessary to maintain vital blood flow, according to experts. Chest compressions should continue until emergency medical services responders arrive, Sayre said. Read Article » By Will Dunham - Reuters

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Understanding Medical Responses to Emergencies -
Overview: Students review their understanding of cardiopulmonary resuscitation. They then learn about other types of medical responses to common emergency situations and evaluate the importance of CPR. Go to this Health and Science Lesson.

Lee was injured on July 2, 2006, during a geological field trip in the desert of California, when the car he was driving overturned. He emerged from a coma three days later, but his fourth cervical vertebra had been fractured.
Nevertheless, he was back to work in early 2007.
Every time he tested out a new device and adapted it for his own use, Lee said, he felt a little thrill, as if he had solved a scientific problem.
During lunch with colleagues recently, Lee amazed onlookers as he touched a headset microphone attached to his wheelchair with his right cheek to move the chair backward, and so prevent bedsores.
On his way back to his office from the cafeteria, Lee used his right cheek again to shift the wheelchair into cruise control mode. That mode buffers the shock when he uses his head to steer the wheelchair on a bumpy road.
"It's like downhill skiing," he said. - Read this NYT article » By Su-Hyun Lee

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Understanding and Diagramming the Power of the Brain to Cause Motion - Overview: Students test and reflect on how the brain receives, interprets and translates contradictory verbal and auditory cues into movement. Then, after learning about a new innovation in brain research and robotics, they diagram the brain and nervous system activities involved in voluntary motion and incorporate this knowledge into a creative work of science fiction. Go to this Health, Science and Building Society lesson.

The problem was that the location of (63-year-old Brooke Zepp's) cancerous tumor was so deep that (surgeons) would not be able to get to it to remove it without damaging organs.
The organs, including her small intestine, liver, spleen, pancreas, as well as parts of her large intestine, were outside of her body for about an hour-and-a-half and were kept chilled.
Zepp is now recovering and is doing quite well, as the surgery was a success. Read Article »

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Doctor's Dilemma -
Overview: Students consider the bioethical dilemmas faced by doctors and write case studies about relevant issues within a particular medical decision. Go to this Health and Science Lesson.

• A Learning Foundation Lesson - Compare and Contrast the Florida case to the New York Times "Doctor's Dilema case" - Go to this ESL and Health Lesson.

Bacteria are by far the most active ice nuclei in nature," said Brent C. Christner, an assistant professor of biological sciences at Louisiana State University.
Christner and colleagues sampled snow from Antarctica, France, Montana and Canada's Yukon and found that as much as 85% of the nuclei were bacteria, he said. The bacteria finding was most common in France, followed by Montana and the Yukon, and was even present in Antarctica.
The most common bacteria found were Pseudomonas syringae, which can cause disease in several types of plants including tomatoes and beans. Read this LA Times Article »From the Associated Press

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Creating a Book of Seasonal Riddles -
Overview: Students use descriptive language to write riddles on their favorite seasonal subjects; they then illustrate the "answers" to their riddles using the medium of their choice, and compile both riddles and illustrations to create a book. Go to this Science and ESL Lesson.

For decades, researchers believed that if people with diabetes lowered their blood sugar to normal levels, they would no longer be at high risk of dying from heart disease. But a major U.S. study of more than 10,000 middle-aged and older people with Type 2 diabetes has found that lowering blood sugar actually increased their risk of death, researchers reported.
The results do not mean blood sugar is meaningless. Lowered blood sugar can protect against kidney disease, blindness and amputation. But the findings inject an element of uncertainty into what has been dogma: that the lower the blood sugar the better, and that lowering blood-sugar levels to normal saves lives.
Read Article » By Gina Kolata - New York Times

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Finding Evidence to Support or Refute Commonly-Accepted Scientific Claims -
Overview: Students investigate commonly-accepted scientific claims and gather evidence that supports or refutes them. They synthesize their learning by writing their own "Really?" columns modeled after those found in The New York Times’s weekly Science Times section. Go to this Health and Science Lesson.

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Identifying the Key Issues Concerning Home- and Hospital-Based Health Care -
Overview: Students share opinions about where patients might be treated for a range of ailments. They then investigate the key issues related to home- and hospital-based health care and write a reflection paper. Go to this Health and Science Lesson.

The patients also receive a drug and radiation to the thymus to eliminate a type of immune system cell, known as a T cell, that typically attacks any tissue perceived as foreign.
On the day of the procedure, surgeons attach the new kidney while injecting the donor's bone marrow into a blood vessel in the patient's arm. The donor's bone marrow mixes with the patient's, creating a temporary state called mixed chimerism. This tricks the patient's immune system into recognizing for years - and possibly forever - the donated organ as part of the self. Read Article » By Patricia Wen - Boston Globe

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Identifying Characteristics and Functions of Human Body Organs -
Overview: Students solve a riddle about the appendix and learn about the paradox surrounding this organ. They then research other human body organs to create a paper model of the human body, and write riddles highlighting identifying characteristics of each. Go to this Health and Science Lesson.

Electrical resistance arises because the electrons that carry current bounce off the nuclei of the atoms, like balls in a diminutive pinball machine. The nuclei recoil and vibrate, sapping energy from the electrons.
Superconductivity was discovered in 1911 by a Dutch physicist, Heike Kamerlingh Onnes. He observed that when mercury was cooled to below minus-452 degrees Fahrenheit, about 7 degrees above absolute zero, electrical resistance suddenly disappeared, and mercury was a superconductor. Read Article »

Although the findings do not change the relationship of Homo erectus as a direct ancestor of Homo sapiens, scientists said, the surprisingly diminutive erectus skull implies that this species was not as humanlike as once thought. Article source: A pair of fossils shakes up the human family tree By John Noble Wilford - International Herald Tribune

 "Creation or Evolution?" by David Ross
World Wise School - Learning to identify and modify generalizations. This activity introduces students to the difficult concept of generalization so that they will challenge generalizations made about people... Go to this Lesson Worksheet.
The New York Times - Learning Network - Investigating and Discussing Darwinism ... (Explaining Life’s Complexities)
Overview: Students learn about theories of ’intelligent design’ in evolutionary science... Go to this Science Lesson.  

The Lindners share a defective copy of a gene known as BRCA1 (for breast cancer gene 1) that raises their risk of developing breast cancer sometime in their lives to between 60 percent and 90 percent.
Deborah Lindner began to seek support elsewhere, (and contacted) Bright Pink, a group of young women who have tested positive for the BRCA genes.
Lindsay Avner, its founder, lived in Chicago, and their meeting over coffee in the hospital lounge one evening in March lasted four hours. Avner, 24, had had a prophylactic mastectomy last year.
"You've got to see my breasts," she told Deborah Lindner, escorting her into the bathroom.
Avner's surgeon at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan had used a technique that preserved the breast skin and nipples, leaving a scar only under the breast. Deborah, still in her scrubs, said, "Wow."
Deborah scheduled the double mastectomy with Dr. D.J. Winchester at Evanston Northwestern hospital for the last weekend in June, three days after her medical board exams.

The surgery and reconstruction took seven and a half hours, twice as long as the doctors had expected. The incisions were small, Winchester explained when he came out, and hidden under the breast, so it had taken a long time to scrape out all the breast tissue. - The full IHT article - By Amy Harmon.

The New York Times - Learning Network - Talking about Breast Cancer:
Overview Eventually a simple blood test will lead to accurate "made to measure" treatments that can identify, attack and kill the causes of each patient's own individual cancer, they claim.
Professor Mike Stratton, of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, a world leading research centre in Cambridge who carried the studies, said: "What you are seeing today is going to transform the way that we see cancer.
"This is a really fundamental moment in the history of cancer research."

Grim beauty Deadly diseases under the microscope Photo: Wellcome Images

All cancers are caused by damage or mutations to the DNA of formerly healthy cells acquired during a person’s lifetime.
This damage causes them to grow into abnormal lumps or tumours and spread around the body disrupting its normal processes and eventually – if unchecked – causing death.
In lung cancer the damage is almost entirely caused by smoking and in skin cancer or malignant melanoma by ultra violent sunlight.
The Sanger Institute studies used powerful new DNA sequencing technologies to decode completely the genome of both tumour tissue and normal tissue from a lung cancer and a malignant melanoma patient.
They then compared and contrasted the two to discover the differences and see what damage has occurred to cause the disease. The full Telegraph Uk article » By Richard Alleyne, Science Correspondent.

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Learning About Cell Renewal Throughout the Body -
  Overview | Students learn about the latest research on cell and tissue renewal. They then explore the various internal body parts and systems examined in these studies. Go to this Health and Science Lesson.
• The New York Times - Learning Network - Talking about Breast Cancer:
  Overview | Students share words and associations related to cancer. They then investigate and participate in dialogues about the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. Go to this Health, Science and Life's Lesson.
• The New York Times - Learning Network - Evaluating the Changing Perceptions of Cigarette Smoking -
  Overview | Students learn about the changing public perception of cigarettes over the century. They design a survey on people's views on cigarette smoking for homework. Go to this Health and Science Lesson.

Dam-building, over-extraction for drinking, industry and agriculture, invasive species, climate change, pollution and shipping were among the various activities whose impact the group assessed.

Five of its "top 10" are in Asia, such as the Yangtse, Mekong, and Ganges, though Europe's Danube and North America's Rio Grande are also included. - Article link - BBC News

• The New York Times - Learning Network - Wondrous Water -
  Overview | reflect on the importance of water in their lives. Then they investigate the properties of water through a series of experiments and activities. Finally, they synthesize what they have learned about water to create a super hero comic strip with water as the main character. Go to this Health,Science,ESL Lesson.
• The New York Times - Learning Network - The World’s Water Woes -
  Overview | Students discuss their community’s water sources and assess the factors affecting the water availability and quality. They research water disputes around the world and understand common factors among them. Go to this Health and Science Lesson.