If you're a typical westerner, you ate nearly 100 kilograms of meat last year. This was almost certainly the costliest part of your diet, especially in environmental terms. The clamour for people to eat less meat to save the planet is growing ever louder. "Less meat = less heat", proclaimed Paul McCartney in the run-up to last December's conference on global warming in Copenhagen.
It could be the biggest breakthrough since the discovery of penicillin: a new generation of antivirals that work against a huge range of viruses, including ones that don't exist yet.
Connecting areas with the most stable climate and the greatest diversity of species has helped reveal which part of a forest has the highest biodiversity.
Companiese that advertise prescription drugs directly to consumers may not get as much bang for their buck as they - or their critics - assume. Direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of drugs is only permitted in the US and New Zealand and has long been controversial. Both proponents and opponents assume the ads increase prescriptions, with the former arguing they benefit society by raising awareness of diseases and available treatments and the latter that they pump up demand for drugs unnecessarily.
