Stop the bleeding A BLOOD-clotting powder derived from potato starch could soon be helping to save lives. The powder forms an instant clot on contact with blood by soaking up water and concentrating clotting factors, says researcher Mark Ereth of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Unlike existing protein-based clotting agents, Ereth's powder does not have to be … 51¶¯Âþ
Humans Washington diary AS CONGRESS prepares to wrap up its legislative year and race home to fight for re-election, one item is glaringly absent: a law making it a crime to make a cloned human. Ask any member of Congress whether they would support such a law, and the answer would be a resounding yes. The trouble is … Opinion
Who are we? THERE is a popular image of human evolution that you'll find all over the place, from the backs of cereal packets to advertisements for expensive scientific equipment. On the left of the picture there's an ape – stocky, jutting jaw, hunched in the knuckle-walking position. On the right, a man – graceful, high forehead, striding … Features
On the brink Spix's Macaw: The race to save the world's rarest bird by Tony Juniper, Fourth Estate, £16.99, ISBN 1841156507 Reviewed by Roy Herbert SPIX'S macaw was named after the first man who shot one in 1819, which seems miserably appropriate. An exceptionally beautiful blue bird with a long tail, it lived in Brazil, where Spix had … Books & Arts
Feedback PEOPLE only smoke in black and white, apparently. Reader Philip Harvey has a copy of The Hustler on DVD, a black and white film in which many people smoke almost constantly. On the front and rear covers of the DVD are pictures from the film that have been through a colorisation process. Nobody in these … Regulars