PhysOrg.com

Filipina with upside-down feet walks for 1st time
(AP) -- A Filipino teenager who came to New York so doctors could perform surgery to untwist her severely clubbed feet took her first unaided steps Wednesday in pink-and-white sneakers - the first shoes she's ever worn.

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Tigers disappear from Himalayan refuge
World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is alarmed by the dramatic decline of at least 30 percent in the Bengal tiger population of Suklaphanta Wildlife Reserve in Nepal, once a refuge that boasted among the highest densities of the endangered species in the Eastern Himalayas. The recent survey of April 2008 showed a population of between 6-14 tigers, down from 20-50 tigers in 2005.

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Species extinction threat underestimated due to math glitch, says study
Extinction risks for natural populations of endangered species are likely being underestimated by as much as 100-fold because of a mathematical "misdiagnosis," according to a new study led by a University of Colorado at Boulder researcher.

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Bayreuth's Wagner festival will offer opera online
(AP) -- Germany's annual Bayreuth opera festival is going digital, streaming video and audio of its opening performance of "Die Meistersinger von Nuernberg" live via the Internet. The catch is the price - $77.

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New laser spectrometer opens the way for more effective carbon trading, drug development and carbon dating
Carbon offsets increasingly are becoming a major component in the arsenal for reducing global warming. Even Bon Jovi, the Rolling Stones and the Dave Matthews Band are doing it: acquiring carbon offsets to reduce the carbon footprint of their tours. As more organizations and businesses start trading in carbon offsets, the need for accurate measurements of carbon emissions also is becoming critically important for fair and exact exchanges.

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Browser pioneer Andreessen joins Facebook board
(AP) -- Marc Andreessen, an entrepreneur and software engineer behind the Web's earliest browsers, has joined the board of the online hangout Facebook.

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Taking action against hospital acquired infection
Patients enter hospitals every day for a variety of reasons but usually without the thought of developing a new health problem. Yet every year thousands of hospitalized Americans acquire infections during hospital stays, causing risk of complications, prolonged stays and an increased burden on the health-care system.

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Penguins setting off sirens over health of world's oceans
Like the proverbial canary in the coal mine, penguins are sounding the alarm for potentially catastrophic changes in the world's oceans, and the culprit isn't only climate change, says a University of Washington conservation biologist.

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Researchers call for independent body to monitor deaths in wars and other crises... and more
The accurate documentation of deaths during wars and other humanitarian emergencies is critical to grading the severity of the crisis and adjusting relief operations accordingly, and yet collection of data on death rates is often incomplete, say two researchers in this week's PLoS Medicine.

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WHO: New quick TB test rolled out in Africa
(AP) -- A new test to quickly diagnose drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis will be rolled out in four African countries this year, the World Health Organization said Monday.

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