Bionics: The next generation

EPFL's Dr Stephanie Lacour shows the BBC around her lab and describes what flexible electronics could do

Continue reading the main story Bionic bodies Can you build a human body? 'Day in the life with my bionic body' Watch In pictures: Prosthetics in time Building the Six-Million-Dollar Man A new generation of bionics which can connect wirelessly with the nervous system and feel are under development.

Animal tests have already been conducted in which devices are implanted directly into the nerve to process and transmit signals wirelessly to an external device.

Other researchers are developing prosthetic skin which might wrap around a bionic limb and feed back sensory information to the nervous system, in theory enabling users to detect and feel objects.

The current generation of bionic hands can pinch or grasp using two or more electrodes fitted inside the portion of the prosthetic which fits over the stump.

Continue reading the main story“Start QuoteThe prosthetic skin would be full of electronic sensor function that would mimic the sense of touch we have in human skin”

End QuoteStephanie LacourEPFL These electrodes are positioned to pick up signals from the user's peripheral nerve system that are naturally amplified by muscles in the stump.

Progress is almost continuous. German company Otto Bock has developed a hand incorporating multiple electrodes which can drive wrist flexing and rotation.

While Scottish company Touch Bionics builds hands which use software to control individual finger movement, so that the hand can clasp around objects.

The surgical rewiring of nerves in an amputee can also offer a great deal, enabling those with no arm at all, for example, to drive bionic arms with elbow and hand movement.

But there are problems. Sweat on the skin or any movement in the prosthetic can disrupt the signal to the bionic limb. The prosthetics can also rub against the skin and cause discomfort and sores.

The next generation of bionics will try to overcome these problems and offer some sensory feedback to the user.

Wireless bionics

Researchers in Britain have already developed the Intraosseous Transcutaneous Amputation Prosthesis (ITAP), a rod screwed into the bone of an amputee onto which prosthetics can be fitted directly and securely, be they hands, legs or fingers.

The rod means higher loads can be carried than with traditional prosthetics which fit over the stump of an amputee like a glove. It also avoids friction between the prosthetic and the skin.

Warning over 'black market food'

Chinese arrests over milk scandal Economic strife, unemployment and the high cost of living could lead to a growth in black market food sales and food fraud. That was the warning at a London conference on global food risk.

Food is an essential for all of us, but in these straitened times, it's an expense as well.

As a result, people may go to great lengths to get it for less - while those who produce it may cut corners to boost their sometimes meagre profits.

The food we buy in supermarkets must meet rigorous standards to make sure it is safe to eat - but those standards increase the costs.

Stealing an animal from a farmer's field or buying goods out of the back of a van is certainly cheaper, and those in the know fear the temptation of those options could prove too strong for some.

Continue reading the main storyThreats to our food Unintentional contamination - accidental damage, for example, due to poor storage Deliberate - for personal, malicious or ideological reasons Indirect - for financial gain, for example, by watering down a product Looking ahead to the next 12 months, Fiona Lickorish, an expert in food trends, says: said: "I think black market food is still going to be around and probably getting worse if what's going on with the economy isn't improving.

"I think there will be a trickle down to people at the lowest level who will find it very difficult to afford their food bills."

She adds grimly: "If I was a farmer I would be locking up my sheep because we're already seeing a much higher incidence of rustling.

"If you were clever you could get yourself a mobile slaughterhouse, get rustling, and be selling into the black market."

Indirect risk

Ms Lickorish was one of several figures giving their views at a London conference on future food risks this week.

Another was Terry Donohoe, head of strategy and policy at the chemical safety division of the Food Standards Agency.

He describes three kinds of food threat - unintentional, deliberate and indirect - and it's the latter that's causing most concern at the moment.

Continue reading the main storyPolicing the problem The FSA investigated 1,505 incidents in 2010 and issued 70 food alerts Five countries - Iran, China, the US, Turkey and Spain - are responsible for 50% of the rogue products detected in Europe The three most active policemen of food quality are the UK, Germany and Italy As opposed to deliberate contamination - which may be done for malicious or ideological reasons by anybody from a disgruntled employee to a terrorist - indirect contamination is for financial gain, and while harming people might never be the intention, it could still be the end result.

Practically speaking, it means changing a product in some way to try to squeeze more value out of it - watering it down, using substandard ingredients, skipping a rule or regulation or two.

An extreme example was seen in China in 2008 when melamine was added to milk formula in an apparent effort to cheat checks on its protein levels - six babies died.

Alec Kyriakides, head of product quality at Sainsbury's, told the conference this type of food fraud was his biggest worry at present.

"If you look at motivation, what creates an environment where people undertake that activity, I think we are moving into that type of environment.

"We have to look at our control programmes, we have to be vigilant."

Being vigilant, everyone agreed, means trying to identify the weak points in the food supply chain - these are often the points at which the value of the goods undergoes a significant jump, between farmer and wholesaler, or wholesaler and retailer.

Those weak points could be an individual or company under financial pressure - with something to gain from creaming off a bit extra - or perhaps a part of the world where standards are not rigorously enforced.

Insects and GM

Ms Lickorish, a principal research fellow at Cranfield University, is into a brand of work called horizon scanning.

Rather than spotting the latest food fads, she tries to identify longer term and "megatrends" - ones driven by fundamental change - like urbanisation or an ageing population.

For example, mankind's consumption of meat has tripled in the past three decades and is forecast to double again by 2050 - horizon scanners are trying to envisage how we might cope with that huge demand.

Continue reading the main story“Start QuoteYou only need a food price spike to see how people's attitude to GMOs changes”

End QuoteFiona LickorishCranfield University One option will be to look to new countries to supply it, but not everyone has the same high food safety and animal welfare standards of the UK.

Future entrants to the EU might seem like a welcome option, but Turkey, for example, has a high number of incidents of foot and mouth disease, so we couldn't start immediately trading livestock with them, the conference was told.

People may also look to alternative sources for protein, namely insects, and more of us may take up DIY urban farming.

The growth of mobile slaughterhouses might have potential for illegal uses, but they could also be a way of satisfying a growing demand for locally-sourced meat, while reducing fears associated with animal movement.

Ms Lickorish also believes we're likely to see a resurgence in GMOs - genetically modified organisms - in food products, arguing that "you only need a food price spike to see how people's attitude to GMOs changes".

"The majority of people don't care where their food comes from as long as it's safe and cheap," she adds.

Dr Andrew Wadge, chief scientist at the FSA, thinks the success of GM will come down to what kind of benefits the public see from it.

He compares it with the microwave - people put aside any issues they might have with the technology because it's so useful - GM just has to become indispensable in the same way.

Ingenious labelling

Speaking of technology, horizon scanners have also spotted some exciting things in the food pipeline - things we might all see on our shelves in the next few years.

Intelligent packaging made with special paper that wards off bacteria and could help keep food fresh longer.

Ultra violet chopping boards which destroy 99.9% of bacteria.

And ingenious labels which use the ammonia given off by meat as it degrades. Ammonia alters the label's barcode to gradually render it unreadable and unsaleable when the product has fallen below a certain standard.

Innovations of these sorts could hopefully reduce food poisoning and food waste, thanks to more accurate use-by dates.

Like so many trends, though, new technology could be something of a double-edged sword.

Scientists are also creating micro-tools that, in theory at least, we could all use to test food and drink for pathogens and pesticides.

This might help keep us healthier, but it might, Ms Lickorish says, actually lead to more food scares, not less, if we're all able to scrutinise our restaurant meals or supermarket sandwiches before we eat them.

Audiences 'at risk' from on-stage smoking

Audiences 'should not be exposed to smoke' from actors, says Prof Sargent Should actors be allowed to smoke on stage during a play if it's what the director and the play demand? Or would banning them be 'political correctness gone mad'?

The question arises because one of the world's top experts on diseases connected to smoking has complained to the National Theatre in London that he was shocked to witness members of the cast smoking in character during a production which was set in a red-light district.

Prof James D Sargent of the Dartmouth Medical School in the US has just published a big study of the effects of the ban on smoking in public places in Germany in the journal Clinical Research in Cardiology.

He and his colleagues found that heart attacks fell there by 8% after the ban came into place.

Prof Sargent has also studied Britain, and on his last visit went to a production of Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors at what is arguably Britain's premier theatre.

During the interval, some actors remain on stage as the set is changed and smoke as part of their performance as low-life characters lounging outside sex-shops and bars as the production demands.

But Prof Sargent does not accept that it was necessary for the drama: "It puts the audience at risk", he told the BBC.

"At the end of the interval, you could see the smoke in the air and clearly smell it."

He is adamant that this is dangerous.

There is no scientific evidence, he said, that the air has to be thick with smoke for it to be harmful, adding that there is an increased risk, he said, with relatively small amounts.

'Pot and soap'

The National Theatre said the actors smoked tobacco on stage because of the dramatic needs of the production.

But she would not comment on whether there was a health risk to the audience or to the cast, or whether the risk had been assessed.

Britain has a tough ban on smoking in public places, but she said theatres were exempt if there was "artistic licence".

She said the actors were only smoking for around five minutes, though she accepted that there "was a problem at one performance" where it went on for longer.

In films, actors are nowadays often asked to smoke non-nicotine cigarettes - in film, what the cigarette smells like doesn't matter because the audience can't smell it.

In the American series "Mad Men", for example, which is set in early 60s New York when offices were smoking zones, the actors often smoked herbal cigarettes.

Matthew Weiner, the creator of the series, was quoted in the New York Times as saying: "You don't want actors smoking real cigarettes. They get agitated and nervous. I've been on sets where people throw up, they've smoked so much".

The star of the show, John Hamm, who plays Don Draper, was asked what the herbal cigarettes tasted like. "Terrible", he said. "They taste like a mixture between pot and soap".

Burns unit 'as good as world best'

Professor Peter Dziewulski explains the benefits of the new approach

Former soldier designs burns app A major burns unit in Essex has reported dramatic improvements in survival rates, placing it on a par with the best in the world.

The progress, published in the Journal of Trauma, is particularly marked in children and young people.

St Andrew's Centre for Plastic Surgery and Burns in Chelmsford says the figures reflect advances in surgery and intensive care.

The British Burn Association says the findings are "exciting".

The Chelmsford burn service is one of several regional centres across the UK. It treats about three out of four major burns patients requiring intensive care in London and south east England.

An audit of survival rates at the unit going back to the early 1980s has been published in the Journal of Trauma.

The most dramatic progress is in children and young adults. In the 1980s they would typically have had a 50:50 chance of surviving a severe burn across half the body.

Now for children the odds are the same with for those with almost 100% burns.

What is an 13% increased risk of death?

Eating an extra portion of red meat every day will increase your risk of death by 13% annually, according to a new study. It sounds scary - but is it?

Harvard Medical School researchers have concluded that a diet high in red meat can shorten life expectancy.

They studied the diets and health of more than 120,000 people over the course of more than 20 years and found that red meat is associated with an increased risk of fatal heart disease and terminal cancer.

Over the study period, an extra portion of unprocessed red meat was associated with an overall 13% increased risk of death annually (and the figure for processed meat was even higher).

But what does this mean?

The easiest way to understand it is to think of how this might affect two friends who live very similar lives, according to David Spiegelhalter, a Cambridge University biostatistician, and the Winton Professor of the Public Understanding of Risk.

Continue reading the main story“Start QuoteWhen he's sitting eating his extra burger, that person is losing half an hour of life ”

End QuoteDavid Spiegelhalter Imagine that the two friends are men aged 40, who are the same weight, do the same amount of exercise and do the same job.

The only difference between them is that one eats an extra portion of red meat every day - an extra 85g, or 3oz.

"Let's say that every work lunchtime one of them had a hamburger and the other didn't.

"What the study found is that the one who likes the meat had a 13% extra risk of dying. They're both going to die in the end, but one has got this extra annual risk of dying."

But what does that extra risk amount to in practice - for these two average people? The paper doesn't say.

Spiegelhalter has been working it out.

"The person who eats more meat is expected to live one year less than the person who doesn't eat so much meat. You'd expect the 40-year-old who does eat the extra meat to live, on average, another 39 years, up to age 79, and the person who doesn't eat so much meat, you'd expect him to live until age 80."

So all those headlines, and it turns out we are talking about whether you might live to age 79 or 80.

Continue reading the main storyMore or Less: Behind the stats

Listen to More or Less on BBC Radio 4 and the World Service, or download the free podcast

Download the More or Less podcast Maybe you feel willing to sacrifice that year in order to enjoy a life full of roast beef and steak sandwiches.

But Spiegelhalter says there is another way to look at the statistics, which might make the issue seem more urgent. That one year off the life of this 40-year-old hypothetical burger eater is equivalent to losing half an hour a day.

"On average, when he's sitting eating his extra burger, that person is losing half an hour of life because of that meal. On average, it's equivalent - scaled up over a lifetime - to smoking two cigarettes a day, which is about half an hour off your life.

"Or, it's equivalent to being a bit overweight - about 5kg overweight - which I am, so I'm losing, on average, every day, half an hour off my life expectancy."

Which is why Spiegelhalter had just been out for a run when he spoke to the BBC. (And perhaps why he became the first OBE to take part in BBC Television's Winter Wipeout assault course challenge.)

Mary Rose ship skeletons studied

A reconstruction of the Mary Rose, which sank in 1545 Should shipwrecks be left alone?The wreck that revealed the RoseVisitors get access to Mary Rose Skeletons recovered from the wreck of a King Henry VIII's warship the Mary Rose are being studied to discover more about life in medieval times.

Swansea University sports scientists are hoping to find out more about the toll on the bodies of archers who had to pull heavy bows.

It is documented that archers were aboard the ship when it sank in 1545.

The wreck was raised from the Solent in 1982, containing thousands of medieval artefacts.

The ship, which is now based in Portsmouth where a new museum is being built to house her, also had 92 fairly complete skeletons of the crew of the Mary Rose.

Nick Owen, a sport and exercise bio mechanist from the College of Engineering at Swansea University, said: "This sample of human remains offers a unique opportunity to study activity related changes in human skeletons.

"It is documented that there was a company of archers aboard when the ship sank, at a time when many archers came from Wales and the south west of England.

"These archers had specialist techniques for making and using very powerful longbows. Some bows required a lifetime of training and immense strength as the archers had to pull weights up to 200lbs (about 90kg)."

He said archers were the elite athletes of the Tudor age, requiring great skill and strength to fire up to 12 arrows a minute, holding a heavy bow in one arm.

Continue reading the main story“Start QuoteThey know so much about the ship and every object on there - but nothing about the people on board”

End QuoteNick OwenSwansea University "It is known that archers were on board as 'arm guards' that they used were found. But they don't know which skeletons they would be.

"So we are analysing the lower arm bones as those are the ones that are likely to show a difference," he said.

"In fact, on one of the skeletons we have looked at, the surface area of the joint between the lower arm and elbow is 48% larger than on the joint on the other arm."

Effect on skeletons

Alexzandra Hildred, curator of ordnance at the Mary Rose Trust said that in the Tudor age, it was a requirement by law for every man and boy to practice archery regularly from an early age.

"Many of the skeletons recovered show evidence of repetitive stress injuries of the shoulder and lower spine," she said.

School bags 'causing back pain'

Do backpacks damage backs? Rucksacks loaded with school books have been linked to higher levels of back pain in a study of Spanish school children.

The findings, reported in Archives of Disease in Childhood, said many pupils had "excessively loaded" backpacks.

This was linked to higher levels of back pain in the 1,403 school children taking part in the study.

The research took place at Hospital da Costa in Burela and University Hospital Son Dureta in Palma.

The report's authors said school children should not carry anything which weighs more than 10% of their body weight.

Measurements were taken from pupils aged 12-17 from 11 schools in Northern Spain. It showed that nearly two thirds of pupils had backpacks which broke the 10% rule.

The weight of the bags was then analysed for back pain, measured as at least 15 days in a year with back pain.

The pupils were split into four groups based on the weight of their bags. Pupils in the group with the heaviest bags were 50% more likely to have reported back pain than in the group with the lightest bags.

The report said back pain was a bigger problem in school girls and that the risk increased with age.

The authors concluded: "The results obtained have strong implications.

"Many children transport excessively loaded backpacks, an excess which would not be allowed for workers in employment."

Sean McDougal, from the charity Backcare, said: "The average child in the UK is carrying 15-20% of their body weight to school and back.

"Children are also in the habit of carrying bags over just one shoulder."

He advises taking to school only what is needed on any given day and ensuring that backpacks are worn over both shoulders.

Action plan after hospital death

Trust Medical Director Tony Stevens said a full investigation was under way

"I have no reason to believe a person died alone. What we are looking into is whether a particular patient received the level of care that is required."

Dr Stevens said the quality of care given by doctors and nurses was not a concern, nor was it about a problem with triage - where patients are seen initially for an assessment about the urgency of treatment needed. He said he was satisfied that a safe system was in place.

"We are focused on patients and we are delivering the best care," he said.

"But we came under sustained pressure last week which required our staff to work incredibly hard over a long period of time."

The trust director said it was focusing on getting people through A&E as quickly as possible and encouraging people who could get help from GPs not to come to the hospital.

"The key going forward is to ensure that we minimise the number of people who need to come to hospital," he said.

Director of the Royal College of Nursing NI Janice Smyth said fundamental reform of the health system in Northern Ireland was needed. She said too many people were turning up in hospitals because not enough services were available in the community.

She added that nursing staff's professional judgement was being compromised because of the volume of work they were being expected to get through.

Last November, Belfast City Hospital's Accident and Emergency Unit closed its doors and the Royal became the main hub of emergency care in Belfast.

Mr Compton said the latest action plan was "not to do" with this "temporary closure".

NHS parking fee rises criticised

The Patients Association says prices are too high for those who have to attend hospital regularly Reinstate Scottish hospital parking charges?Different types of NHS under devolutionHospital parking charges to stay More than a quarter of hospital trusts in England increased car parking charges for patients and visitors in the year to last April, figures show.

While some cut prices, others more than doubled them, according to data from 197 hospital and mental health trusts.

A patients' group branded the fees a "tax on the sick" and called for NHS parking to be free, as in most of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

PIPs: 7,000 more fitted pre-2001

The implants were manufactured by the French company Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) Over 2,800 PIP patients go to NHSImplant furore 'justifies' reform Around 7,000 more women in the UK have been fitted with banned PIP breast implants than previously thought, according to the government.

The original warnings were about breast implants fitted since 2001, however, it has since emerged that thousands were fitted before then.

It brings the total number of women affected in the UK to 47,000.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said the women "will be provided with all the help they need from the NHS".

He added: "The French regulator has confirmed this week that more women may be affected by the criminal activity of the French breast implant manufacturer PIP.

"These women are the victims of a fraudulent company and I know this situation is causing a huge amount of anxiety.

The Department of Health said approximately one in five breast implants needed to be replaced within a decade, so some of the women would already have had their PIP implants removed.

Support

It is thought 95% of women had the operation privately, 5% on the NHS. Implants fitted by the NHS will have them removed and replaced.

Continue reading the main story“Start QuoteThese women are the victims of a fraudulent company”

End QuoteAndrew LansleyHealth Secretary The government said private clinics had a "moral duty" to remove implants. However, the health service in England is acting as a "last resort" if clinics refuse or no longer exist.

If there is a medical need, which includes distress, and the patient cannot receive an operation from their private company, the NHS will step in to remove, but not replace, the implant.

The former president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS), Nigel Mercer, said: All women with PIPs - now regardless of date of implantation - should seek advice from their implanting surgeon or clinics to have these defective devices removed or replaced, preferably before rupture.

"The BAAPS have always maintained that these implants are sub-standard and have no place inside the human body."

Poor literacy 'early death link'

Participants in the study were tested on aspirin dosage instructions Poor numeracy 'is ruining lives' One in three adults aged over 65 in England have difficulty understanding basic health-related information, suggests a study in the BMJ.

They are more than twice as likely to die within five years as adults with no literacy problems, it was found.

The University College London study tested nearly 8,000 adults on their understanding of aspirin instructions.

The Patients Association said patients should help draft information leaflets so they are "relevant and clear".

The researchers, from the department of epidemiology and public health at University College London, said that limited or low health literacy among older people has implications for the design and delivery of health services for this section of the population.

Using a short test containing four questions, based on instructions similar to those found on a packet of aspirin, the researchers assessed the participants' ability to read and understand the information.

Continue reading the main story“Start QuotePatients must be involved in the development of these information leaflets from the outset ”

End QuoteKatherine MurphyPatients Association They found that 67.5% had high health literacy (achieved the maximum score), 20% were classed as medium (made one error) and 12.5% had low health literacy (got two, one or no questions correct).

In the study, almost half of the adults aged over 80 could not correctly answer all four questions, compared to one-quarter of the adults aged 60 or less.

'Worrying'

The study followed the participants for an average of five years after the test.

During this time, 6.1% (321) died in the high health literacy category, 9% (143) in the medium category and 16% (157) in the low literacy category.

The researchers said that lower health literacy was linked to a higher prevalence of depressive symptoms, physical limitations and chronic diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, stroke and asthma - but higher health literacy scores were linked to stronger cognitive abilities, including verbal fluency and working memory, they said.

When researchers adjusted for factors such as wealth, education, income, ethnicity and basic health, the link between low health literacy and mortality risk reduced, "but remained significant", the study said.

Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the Patients' Association said it was worrying that so many people struggle to understand health-related information.

"How are patients expected to make informed decisions if they do not fully understand the information being given to them?

"Patients must be involved in the development of these information leaflets from the outset to make sure they provide relevant and clear information."

Michelle Mitchell, director general of Age UK, said health professionals have a responsibility to give patients information that makes sense.

"That way, patients will be better empowered to manage their own health conditions and make the positive lifestyle choices that lead to better health and wellbeing."

Cot deaths advice 'not targeted'

Official advice is to put babies on their backs to sleep in a cot or crib, not on a sofa 'Cot death risk' to small babiesPlea to reduce stillbirth numbers A campaign to change babies' sleeping positions and reduce cot death rates in the 1990s failed to get the message across to deprived communities, a study has suggested.

It took up to 15 years for the death rate to reach "a low and stable rate" in those areas, researchers found.

The University of Cambridge study looked at sudden infant deaths in Scotland from 1985 to 2008.

Future campaigns should target people in areas of high deprivation, it said.

The 'Back To Sleep' campaign, which was launched in November 1991, aimed to get parents to put their babies to sleep on their backs.

This was known to lower the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) or cot death, which affected about 1 in 500 live-born babies in the 1980s.

At present, fewer than one in 2,000 babies in the UK dies from SIDS.

The Cambridge study found a sharp decline in the rate of sudden infant death syndrome among women living in areas of low socioeconomic deprivation in Scotland between 1990 and 1993.

Continue reading the main storyADVICE ON SIDS Place your baby on their back to sleep (and not on the front or side). Cut smoking in pregnancy, including dads. Don't let anyone smoke in the same room as your baby. The safest place for your baby to sleep is in a crib or cot in a room with you for the first six months. Never sleep with your baby on a sofa or armchair. Do not let your baby get too hot, and keep your baby's head uncovered.

Source: Foundation for the Study of Infant Death Syndrome

Yet among women living in areas of high socioeconomic deprivation, the study found a much slower decline in the rate of sudden infant death syndrome between 1992 and 2004.

'Abrupt decline'

Prof Gordon Smith, author of the study from the department of obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of Cambridge, said the campaign had a global reach but needed to be more targeted.

"Ultimately, Back To Sleep was a huge success and helped to stimulate an abrupt decline in the rate of sudden infant death syndrome all over the world.

"Clearly, however, it was much slower where deprivation was high."

The study found that in the UK in areas of low deprivation, the maximum beneficial effect was achieved in just two to three years.

Continue reading the main story“Start QuoteWe may need to make special efforts in future public health campaigns to reach the most deprived sections of society.”

End QuoteProf Gordon SmithUniversity of Cambridge "In contrast, it took 10 to 15 years for the campaign to reach the same low levels in deprived communities," Prof Smith said.

He said that any future campaigns seeking to reduce risk factors for stillbirth and infant death should bear this in mind.

"One lesson we can learn from this is that we may need to make special efforts in future public health campaigns to reach the most deprived sections of society, the people who often need to hear the message most."

'Good access'

Ian Currie, from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said it was worrying that rates reduced more slowly in deprived areas.

"More certainly needs to be done to raise awareness amongst all women as to the possible causes of infant mortality and stillbirth. Women living in deprived communities especially need extra support and good access to information.

"Other factors associated with infant death and stillbirth include smoking in pregnancy, alcohol consumption and obesity. It is vital that pregnant women receive appropriate levels of support before birth and post birth."

Prof George Haycock, scientific adviser for the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths, said the study was well-constructed.

He said: "We agree with Prof Smith and his colleagues that the 1991 campaign did reduce the SIDS rate - 70% in the UK - but that there is no doubt that other pieces of advice and factors may well have contributed to the decline."

A 'Vertical Greenhouse' Could Make a Swedish City Self-Sufficient

The future of urban farming is under construction in Sweden as agricultural design firm Plantagon works to bring a 12-year-old vision to life: The city of Linkoping will soon be home to a 17-story "vertical greenhouse."

The greenhouse will serve as a regenerating food bank, tackling urban sprawl while making the city self-sufficient. Plantagon predicts that growing these plants in the city will make food production less costly both for the environment and for consumers, a key shift as the world's population grows increasingly urban-80 percent of the world's residents will live in cities by 2050, the United Nations estimates. "Essentially, as urban sprawl and lack of land will demand solutions for how to grow industrial volumes in the middle of the city, solutions on this problem have to focus on high yield per ground area used, lack of water, energy, and air to house carbon dioxide," Plantagon CEO Hans Hassle says.

The greenhouse is a conical glass building that uses an internal "transportation helix" to carry potted vegetables around on conveyors. As plants travel around the helix, they rotate for maximum sun exposure. Hassle says the building will use less energy than a traditional greenhouse, take advantage of "spillage heat" energy companies cannot sell, digest waste to produce biogas and plant fertilizers, and decrease carbon dioxide emissions while eliminating the environmental costs of long-distance transportation. And growing plants in a controlled environment will decrease the amount of water, energy, and pesticides needed. 

Farming Communities Facing Crisis over Nitrate Pollution, Study Says

Nitrate contamination in groundwater from fertilizer and animal manure is severe and getting worse for hundreds of thousands of residents in California's Central Valley farming communities, according to a study released Tuesday by researchers at the University of California, Davis.

Nearly 10 percent of the 2.6 million people living in the Tulare Lake Basin and Salinas Valley might be drinking nitrate-contaminated water, researchers found. And if nothing is done to stem the problem, the report warns, nearly 80 percent of residents could be at risk of health and financial problems by 2050.

High nitrate levels in drinking water have been linked to thyroid cancer, skin rashes, hair loss, birth defects and "blue baby syndrome," a potentially fatal blood disorder in infants.

The report is the most comprehensive assessment so far of nitrate contamination in California's agricultural areas.

The problem is much, much, much worse than we thought," said Angela Schroeter, agricultural regulatory program manager for the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, a state water agency.

Fifty-Five Members Of Congress Call On FDA To Require Labeling Of Genetically Engineered Foods

This morning a bicameral letter signed by 55 Members of Congress was sent to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Margaret Hamburg calling on the agency to require the labeling of genetically engineered (GE) foods. The bicameral, bipartisan letter led by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Congressman Peter DeFazio (D-OR) was written in support of a legal petition filed by the Center for Food Safety (CFS) on behalf of the Just Label It campaign and its nearly 400 partner organizations and businesses; many health, consumer, environmental, and farming organizations, as well as food companies, are also signatories.  Since CFS filed the labeling petition in October 2011, the public has submitted over 850,000 comments in support of labeling.

"Consumers are being misled about the foods they are purchasing," said Andrew Kimbrell, Executive Director for the Center for Food Safety.  "FDA's two-decade old decision is bad policy based on outdated science and must be revoked.  The American consumer deserves the same fundamental freedoms and choices of other nations' citizens."

In the U.S. there is overwhelming public demand-consistently near 95%-for the labeling of GE foods.  The U.S. policy of not requiring GE labeling makes it a stark outlier among developed and developing nations.  Nearly 50 countries have mandatory labeling policies for GE foods including South Korea, Japan, the United Kingdom, Brazil, China, Australia, New Zealand, the entire European Union, and many others.

In its 1992 policy statement, FDA allowed GE foods to be marketed without labeling on the basis that they were not "materially" different from other foods.  However, the agency severely limited what it considered "material" by targeting only changes in food that could be recognized by taste, smell, or other senses - applying 19th century science to the regulation of 21st century food technologies.  The outdated standard has no legal basis in the statute and was adopted by FDA despite a lack of scientific studies or data to support the assumption that GE foods are not materially different from conventional foods.

Marin's Organic War on Pests

Veteran county landscape chief David Hattem and his colleagues are waging a nontoxic war against pests, armed with weeding gloves, mulch, custom vermin traps, rodent-hunting owls and other organic weapons including predatory insects.

You could hardly see the 2,000 tiny encarsia formosa stingless wasp pupae, or the 1,000 delphastus catalinae beetles Hattem spread in the foliage and interior gardens inside the Marin County Civic Center on Thursday. They joined 250 cryptolaemus beetles released in the building a couple weeks ago.

The predatory critters feast on white flies and mealybugs while posing no harm to workers, visitors or gardens. It was the third time in a year that bugs have been unleashed to combat other bugs at the Civic Center.

Hattem's crew in the past year also battled an invasion of sow bugs at the county jail with organic "Eco Exempt" products, erected owl nesting boxes at the Civic Center, deployed several dozen custom box rat traps with small entry holes that block other animals, pulled weeds by hand and installed "sheets" of mulch to repel invasive plant growth.

It's all part of the county's award-winning integrated pest management program that has become a national model of how to curb weeds, rats, wasps, garden bugs and related pests without harming the environment. The goal is to minimize use of chemicals while eliminating use of toxic material whenever possible.

Regional Democrats urge FDA to label GMOs

Santa Cruz - Highlighting a growing issue in California and across the county, a group of 55 Democratic lawmakers on Monday urged the Food and Drug Administration to require the labeling of genetically modified foods.

A letter sent to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg endorses the approach taken by a group of environmentalists, food labeling advocates and organic food producers who are petitioning the agency to reverse a 20-year-old, hands-off policy toward alerting consumers to genetically altered foods.

"Two decades later, I think we've seen a shift in consumer dialogue. People want more information," said Colin O'Neil, a regulatory policy analyst at the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Food Safety, who praised the letter.

In 1992, the FDA declined to label genetically altered food, reasoning that if it looks, smells and tastes similar to non-modified foods, no label was needed. But later FDA rulings - including one dealing with irradiated food - have taken a stricter line and called for more disclosure.

"At issue is the fundamental right consumers have to make informed choices about the food they eat," the lawmakers' letter reads. "Labeling foods doesn't imply a product is unsafe or will be confusing to consumers as some may argue."

FDA officials could not be immediately reached for comment. More than four dozen countries require labels on genetically altered food.

The letter was signed by both California's U.S. Senators, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, and 14 Democratic members of Congress, including Reps. Anna Eshoo, of Palo Alto, and Sam Farr, of Carmel, the latter of whom represents the fertile Salinas and Pajaro valleys.

The federal petition is separate from a statewide initiative now circulating to put food labeling on the November ballot. The California effort would slap a general label on any genetically modified food, while the FDA petition aims to note which specific ingredients have been modified.

Organic Produce from China: Can You Trust it?

A few days ago, my mother forwarded me a link to a local TV news report accusing Whole Foods of selling organic frozen vegetables, under its 365 brand, that were picked and packaged in China -- including one called California Blend. While some Chinese farmers, no doubt, stick to guidelines for growing organic by curtailing their use of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers, many may not, and it's tough for a consumer to discern from the packaging, according to Charles Benbrook, chief scientist of the non-profit Organic Center.

I stopped by Whole Foods today and found frozen organic edamame that came from China -- see the photo of the product above -- but was unable to find other frozen vegetables from China.

Whole Foods spokesperson Heather McCready told me via e-mail that the company was well aware of the "misleading and inaccurate" news report that first ran in May 2008.

"As of the summer of 2010, we are no longer sourcing any of our Whole Foods Market 365 Everyday Value frozen vegetables from China EXCEPT for frozen edamame (shelled and unshelled, organic and conventional)," McCready wrote. "We want to be clear that we didn't stop sourcing from China because of quality or food safety concerns."

Whole Foods said it was a business decision made after finding other suppliers in the United States and elsewhere that could supply the same or better quality at cheaper prices.

I did notice that several packages of the store's organic frozen vegetables were packaged in Mexico and wondered how much trust consumers can put into organic seals from other countries. In the United States, the organic seal falls under the regulation of the US Department of Agriculture with strict standards on the use of artificial chemicals, irradiation, and genetic engineering. That seal can also be used for foods packaged in other countries that have US accredited inspectors.

Fake Meat America Could Love by Tom Philpott

I've always recoiled from highly processed and packaged fake meat: you know, turkeyesque tofu logs for the holiday table, or pink, spongy "not-dogs" for the summer grill. But in last Sunday's New York Times, Mark Bittman raised a provocative question:

 Isn't it preferable, at least some of the time, to eat plant products mixed with water that have been put through a thingamajiggy that spews out meatlike stuff, instead of eating those same plant products put into a chicken that does its biomechanical thing for the six weeks of its miserable existence, only to have its throat cut in the service of yielding barely distinguishable meat?  Why, in other words, use the poor chicken as a machine to produce meat when you can use a machine to produce "meat" that seems like chicken?            

Bittman's point is spot-on. You can't directly eat the kind of corn and soy that dominates US farmland-it isn't readily digestible. Modern livestock farms are really factories for turning those crops into animal flesh that can be transformed into steaks, chops, wings, nuggets, and whatnot. And in doing so, Bittman points out, factory farms rack up enormous collateral damage: horrific suffering for sentient creatures, huge stores of manure that can't be safely recycled into soil, over-reliance on antibiotics, routine abuse of labor in factory-scale slaughterhouses, and more.

It's especially tragic, then, the meat produced in these factories is pretty flavorless, especially if you've tasted a truly free-range chicken against a factory one, or a grass-fed burger alongside its feedlot analogue. So why, Bittman asks, not leave the birds, hogs, and cows out of it and just directly consume the feed crops after they've been processed to taste something like meat? By doing do, you sacrifice little or no flavor, while sidelining a whole raft of destructive practices.

Bittman points to a company called Savage River Farms that has produced a soy-based product that mimics chicken, down to the way it shreds. Bittman says he couldn't tell it from real chicken when he was served a burrito made with it.

Can Grass-Based Ranching be Scaled up Sustainably?

You've probably never heard of Frank Stronach. Sure, he's a Canadian billionaire - yes, they have them there! - and an auto-parts cum horseracing magnate. But rather than hanging up his wrench spurs retiring, he's decided to try his hand at turning grass-fed beef back into a mass-market product.

According to this report in Macleans (Canada's equivalent of TIME magazine), Stronach is buying up land outside of Ocala, Fla., at a furious pace - 70,000 acres and counting. His plan: to create a massive ranch with "30,000 cattle, a 61,000-sq.-foot abattoir that would slaughter up to 300 cows a day, and a biomass power plant that would extract methane from manure." It's a grand vision:

 Stronach's Adena Springs ranch plans to market its beef to Florida grocery stores for consumers keen on fresh local produce, as well as serve the meat at Stronach's network of racetracks. There are plans for a restaurant chain that would serve Adena Meats, and Stronach hopes to expand the business across the United States and Canada.

But it's not just the numbers that caught my eye. So did the fact that he intends to put slaughter facilities on the ranch itself and to raise and finish the cattle on grass. According to Adena Springs' General Manager Mark Roberts, Stronach - echoing many a sustainable livestock farming advocate - expects the cows "will have all good days and then one bad day."

Despite those sentiments, at the scale he's planning, he's not exactly a latter-day Joel Salatin (who believes the proper scale for an individual operation is small). And he stands in contrast even to one of the few "large-scale" natural meat operations already out there - Niman Ranch, which achieved its significant capacity through a network of small farms.

A Brief History of Genetically Engineered Trees

Even the introduction of non-GE tree monocultures has been proven to have an incredibly damaging effect on local eco-systems and communities. Eucalyptus trees are already considered to be an invasive species in Florida and California and have a whole host of associated problems due their flammability and high demand for water.

Despite all the evidence, the USDA continues to support development of these and other GE trees, so what are the links between the multinational companies and the regulatory bodies that are supposed to protect the environment? With ArborGen's pending controversial application to the USDA to grow flowering GE Eucalyptus trees in commercial plantations across the US it seems appropriate to have a look at the history of GE field trials across the globe and the regulation (or lack of it) that has been in place over the last 20 years.

Early GE Trials

The first field trials of GE trees were started in Belgium in 1988 when researchers began to develop GE Poplars which were genetically modified to be resistant to herbicides. By 1999 the Biotech nightmare was a reality with multinationals such as Monsanto, International Paper, Fletcher Challenge Forests and the Westvaco Corporation supporting GE tree trials at over 116 sites in 17 countries including Australia, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Finland, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, UK, USA and Uruguay.

The first trees to get the GE treatment were the fast growing varieties such as Eucalyptus, Poplars and Pines with the intention to produce crops that were herbicide and/or insect resistant, faster growing and produced higher yields for the timber and pulp industries.  Naturally all of these tendencies would result in higher profit margins for the companies that were investing in them rather than enhanced benefit to the environment.

Low Doses, Big Effects: Scientists Seek 'Fundamental Changes' in Testing, Regulation of Hormone-like Chemicals

Small doses can have big health effects.

That is a main finding of a report, three years in the making, published Wednesday by a team of 12 scientists who study hormone-altering chemicals.

Dozens of substances that can mimic or block estrogen, testosterone and other hormones are found in the environment, the food supply and consumer products, including plastics, pesticides and cosmetics. One of the biggest, longest-lasting controversies about these chemicals is whether the tiny doses that most people are exposed to are harmful.

In the new report, researchers led by Tufts University's Laura Vandenberg concluded after examining hundreds of studies that health effects "are remarkably common" when people or animals are exposed to low doses of endocrine-disrupting compounds. As examples, they provide evidence for several controversial chemicals, including bisphenol A, found in polycarbonate plastic, canned foods and paper receipts, and the pesticide atrazine, used in large volumes mainly on corn.

The scientists concluded that scientific evidence "clearly indicates that low doses cannot be ignored." They cited evidence of a wide range of health effects in people - from fetuses to aging adults - including links to infertility, cardiovascular disease, obesity, cancer and other disorders.

"Whether low doses of endocrine-disrupting compounds influence human disorders is no longer conjecture, as epidemiological studies show that environmental exposures are associated with human diseases and disabilities," they wrote. 

Occupy Monsanto to Visit a Genetically Modified Congress

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WASHINGTON DC - Occupy Monsanto's agents of change with the Genetic Crimes Unit (GCU), a group designed to protect America from genetically modified foods, will wear bio-hazmat suits when they visit Congress. The group will gather at Capitol South Metro station at noon on March 16 to highlight how chemical company Monsanto is contaminating our political process. The GCU opposes Monsanto's bid to increase spraying of food with toxic weed killers like 2,4 D (the main ingredient in Agent Orange), genetic contamination of the organic food supply, and other risks associated with genetically modified food (GMOs).

The GCU will arrive at the metro station wearing bio-hazmat suits to assess whether Members of Congress and their staff have been victims of genetic crimes. The GCU will hold a banner that reads, "Congress is Genetically Modified," as they circulate on Capitol Hill sidewalks. This day of action is part of a larger international call to 'Occupy Monsanto' taking place all over the globe including Spain, Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and at least 28 cities throughout the US.

"In the name of Wall Street profits, chemical corporations such as Monsanto genetically engineer crops to withstand high doses of their toxic weed killers that contaminate our food and water, and have not been proven safe. We deserve to know what we are eating. Virtually every major country requires labeling of GMOs in foods so their citizens can make informed choices, including all of Europe, Japan and even China," said GCU's Ariel Vegosen. "Monsanto's lobbying dollars are pouring into politicians so its clear we have a GMO contaminated US Congress that threatens our health and the health of the planet," says Vegosen.

WHO: Occupy Monsanto's Genetic Crimes Unit (GCU)
WHAT: ID'ing Victims of Monsanto's Genetic Crimes by GCU Agents in Bio-Hazmat Suits
WHEN: Friday, March 16, Noon
WHERE: Cannon Building: Independence Ave. SE, Washington, DC, 20540, corner NJ Ave

Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) has introduced three bills addressing concerns with GMOs. In addition, more than 900,000 people have signed onto the JustLabelit.org citizens' petition to the Food and Drug Administration for GMO labeling (the most to sign an FDA petition ever). Last fall about 100 people marched in the Right2Know March from New York to the White House to demand President Obama keep his campaign promise to label GMO foods.

California Farms Get Testy Over Water Quality

The world's most pervasive groundwater pollution problem - nitrate in drinking water - is under scrutiny in the richest farming region of the United States.

This week, a report for the California Legislature revealed that 250,000 people living in Central California, including four of the top five agricultural counties in the U.S., are currently at risk for nitrate contamination in their drinking water. Many of them are among the poorest Californians.

Nitrate, in this instance, is a byproduct of nitrogen fertilizer. In drinking water, high concentrations of it can interfere with the oxygen-carrying capacity of infants younger than six months, and, if left untreated, may lead to death from "blue baby" syndrome. Some studies suggest that long-term consumption of nitrate in drinking water may increase the risk of Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and cancer, including non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Europe began tackling the problem in 1991 by designating "vulnerable zones" where the groundwater and streams were polluted with nitrate. Those zones now encompass 40 percent of the landmass in the continent. Today, 27 countries test for nitrate at 31,000 monitoring stations on or near farmland; and, with some overlap, at 27,000 monitoring stations in lakes, streams, and the ocean. Since 1991, reports show, nitrate use has dropped off sharply in Europe.

GE Mosquito Makes Floridians Part of Oxitec's Grand Experiment

"We cannot stress strongly enough how dangerously misguided this application is. Oxitec hopes to use the neighborhoods and precious ecosystem of the Keys as their private, for-profit laboratory. The shame of it is, the company has no evidence the GE mosquitoes will even work in their stated aim of controlling Dengue fever. This feels much more like Oxitec testing its living, breeding technology than a serious attempt to control disease, and the people of Florida deserve protection.

"The Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Germany said in February that the 'risk assessment' conducted in advance of the release of Oxitec's GE mosquitoes in another country has been 'scientifically deficient' and made 'questionable pivotal scientific assertion.

Environmental Groups Sue EPA Over Gulf Dead Zone

Several environmental groups are suing the government to curb pollution of the Mississippi River with fertilizers and other contaminants blamed with creating a "dead zone" the size of Massachusetts in the Gulf of Mexico.

In separate federal lawsuits filed Tuesday, the groups asked judges to force the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to set base guidelines for state water quality standards and for wastewater treatment, both aimed at reducing pollution in the Mississippi River Basin.

The basin stretches from the Rocky Mountains in the west all the way to New York state in the east. It funnels water south through the agricultural heartland and industrial states to Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico.

Along the way, it gathers nitrogen that stimulates excessive algae growth in the dead zone from rainfall, runoff from farms and livestock production and wastewater treatment plants.

"The Mississippi River and the entire Gulf of Mexico has long been treated as the nation's sewer," Matt Rota, director of science and water policy for the Gulf Restoration Network told reporters at a news conference on Wednesday.

"Current efforts by the EPA and the Mississippi River states just simply are not enough," Rota said, describing the dead zone as "one of the many ongoing insults to the Gulf ecosystem."

The Gulf Restoration Network, the Natural Resources Defense Council and other groups said they filed the lawsuits after petitions to the EPA in 2007 for stronger wastewater treatment rules and in 2008 on water quality standards went unfulfilled.

The EPA, which denied the petition to set water quality standards for nutrients last year, said it was reviewing the lawsuits. It has not responded to the petition to update the wastewater treatment standards.

Wisconsin Legislation May Strip Towns of Authority to Stop Fracking

One of the few tools for Wisconsin citizens to protect their health and land from the hazards of expanded frac sand mining across the state could be weakened by a newly introduced bill in the state legislature.

The state's Senate is considering a piece of legislation today aimed at "limiting the authority" of Wisconsin cities, villages or towns to enact a "development moratorium ordinance" -- a mechanism used recently by several local governments across the state to set aside time so they can investigate the effects of proposed mining on their community.

Sand mining corporations have expanded operations in Wisconsin over the past few years, taking advantage of the lax regulations of non-metallic mining in the state. They are after the state's sand resources, which are high in silica content, for use in the controversial "natural" gas and oil extraction process of "fracking" -- which has been linked to contaminated water supplies across the country. Much of Wisconsin's sand is the ideal shape and strength -- and the state's geologic profile has made it more accessible here than in other parts of the country -- turning the state into a top targeted provider for the "natural" gas and oil industry.