The Good News
- In a preliminary trial, stem cell therapy helped patients with multiple sclerosis reverse some neurological losses, marking the first time such improvements have ever been observed.
- A simple checklist helped surgical teams cut death rates by nearly half and reduce major complications of surgery by more than a third in a pilot study at eight hospitals worldwide.
- The United States has become the top producer of wind power in the world (surpassing previous front-runner Germany), with a 50 percent increase in wind capacity in 2008, according to an industry report.
The Bad News
- Tree death rates in old-growth forests in the western United States have more than doubled in recent decades, probably due to regional warming, according to a USGS report.
- In a rat study, exposure to nicotine during adolescence sent animals into a depression-like state in adulthood, with decreased sensations of pleasure and increased susceptibility to anxiety.
- The global trade in frog legs threatens to drive the amphibians to extinction, according to a new international study. As many as a billion frogs are killed and eaten every year.
