Hospital blunders
One in 10 patients in the UK is harmed by a medical error while in hospital, and about one-third of these problems could easily be avoided, a survey in Quality and Safety in Health Care has found (vol 16, p 434). Diagnostic errors were less common, but more preventable, than surgical errors.
Genetic tests warning
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Genetic testing kits sold directly to the public need better regulation, the UK鈥檚 Human Genetics Commission says in a report published on Tuesday. The science is not yet strong enough to be offering tests of multiple genes to identify people at particular risk of common diseases, says Christine Patch, one of the authors of the report.
Europe鈥檚 place in space
Europe finally gets its own stake in the International Space Station this week. The launch of the European Space Agency鈥檚 Columbus science laboratory to the ISS was scheduled for Thursday, and will be Europe鈥檚 first permanent base for running experiments in orbit. Work on the module began in 1982.
Dark stars
The universe鈥檚 first stars may have been dark. A team led by Douglas Spolyar of the University of California, Santa Cruz, calculated how neutralino particles 鈥� a possible candidate for dark matter 鈥� may have affected gas in the first stars. The calculations showed that while neutralinos would heat the star, they would suppress the fusion reactions that make it shine. The study will appear in Physical Review Letters.
Cities vs the sea
Storm surges and floods exacerbated by global warming will threaten trillions of dollars鈥� worth of buildings, infrastructure and real estate in rich coastal cities by 2070, warns a report from the OECD published on Tuesday. Miami faces the most damage, with $3.5 trillion of exposed assets, followed by Guangzhou in China with $3.3 trillion and New York with $2.1 trillion.
