Return of El Ni帽o
The 鈥渃hild鈥� El Ni帽o is back. Meteorologists say the weather event will be weak to moderate at first, but may strengthen later this year. The effects of El Ni帽o include powerful storm systems in the western US, floods in Central and South America, and droughts in south-east Asia. The last event was in 2006.
Oysters back too
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After decades of overharvesting, oysters are returning to Chesapeake Bay on the US east coast. Experimental reefs created five years ago are now home to more than 185 million native oysters, say researchers at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg (Science, ).
Bomb pull-forward
The US Department of Defense has asked Congress for an extra $68 million to develop a 13-tonne 鈥渂unker-busting鈥� bomb called the Massive Ordnance Penetrator. The Pentagon declined to say why it now wants the bomb by July 2010 鈥� a year earlier than planned.
Vampires with SARS?
Vampire bats in Brazil carry a virus resembling the one that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The virus doesn鈥檛 hurt the bats, but further tests by Paulo Eduardo Brand茫o and his colleagues at the University of S茫o Paulo should reveal whether it could cause SARS or any other disease in humans.
Alternative bonanza
Americans spent $33.9 billion on complementary and alternative medicine in 2007, amounting to 11.2 per cent of total personal expenditure on medicines. About 38 per cent of the adult population bought complementary and alternative products, according to a report released on 30 July by the US National Center for Health Statistics.
