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American doctors inject more than 3 million doses of Botox to temporarily smooth their patients' wrinkles and frown lines. But before each batch is shipped, the manufacturer puts it through one of the oldest and most controversial animal tests available.

check the potency

injects mice with Botox until it finds a dose at which half of the animals die

California proposes $7 billion for prison healthcare

The Schwarzenegger administration says the plan is aimed at bringing care up to constitutional standards. The amount is nearly triple what had been previously proposed.

In a proposal that would nearly double the state's prison construction program, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration asked lawmakers Friday to approve $7 billion in new spending to bring medical and mental healthcare in California prisons up to constitutional standards.

9-year-old Hannah Poling of Athens, Ga.,

fueled the controversy about childhood vaccines

Hannah was 19 months old and developing normally until 2000, when she received five shots against nine infectious diseases. She became sick and later was given a diagnosis of autism.

toll from fierce fighting in Baghdad’s Sadr City has risen to at least 200 dead and more than 1,000 injured, according to doctors in the besieged suburb.

reports from Sadr City hospitals suggest far higher casualty figures than previously reported, although they cannot be independently verified

doctors claimed only a minority of the dead appeared to be militants.

mayor wants the FBI to investigate whether the local county sheriff has violated any civil rights laws with his recent high-profile crackdowns on illegal immigrants.

drawn protests from civil rights and immigrant-rights advocates, but they have drawn support from backers of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and from people who believe the government hasn't done enough against illegal immigration.

"saturation patrols"

Fewer U.S. teens got pregnant in 2004 but more women in their 20s had out-of-wedlock pregnancies, according to new federal statistics

more women are keeping their babies even if they are not married, with the exception of black women.

45 percent of all pregnancies are among women who are not married,

Many deported migrants give up after one try

U.S. crackdown is causing the longest and most significant drop in illegal migration from Mexico since the Sept. 11 attacks.

U.S. economic downturn, tighter security and a more perilous and expensive journey are persuading many who try to sneak into the U.S. to give up sooner.

Researchers discover gene that blocks HIV

A team of researchers at the University of Alberta has discovered a gene that is able to block HIV, and in turn prevent the onset of AIDS.

Stephen Barr, a molecular virologist in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, says his team has identified a gene called TRIM22 that can block HIV infection in a cell culture by preventing the assembly of the virus

Somebody asked me the other day what the life cycle impacts of a wind turbine are and how long it would take to pay back the energy used to manufacture one of those tall majestic beasts. Considerable amounts of raw materials and energy are required to make these big windy wonders. I was stumped of course as that information is not something one can just come up with.

The life cycle assessment of a 3.0 MW wind turbine indicates that it would have to generate electricity for only 6.8 months , of their assumed 20 year useful life, before it produces as much energy as is used during the manufacturing phase.

“This, they say, means the turbine model earns its own worth more than 35 times during its energy production lifetime.”

Satellite could plummet to Earth

A "large" US spy satellite has gone out of control and is expected to crash to Earth some time in late February or March, government sources say. Officials speaking on condition of anonymity said the satellite had lost power and propulsion, and could contain hazardous materials. The White House said it was monitoring the situation. A spokesman said "numerous" satellites had come out of orbit and fallen back to Earth harmlessly over the years.

Questioned by The Associated Press, he would not be drawn on whether the US would try to destroy the satellite, perhaps with a missile.

Tax Rebate Deal Reached To Stimulate Economy

Uncle Sam seems ready to give the U.S. economy a shot in the arm. Democrats and Republicans agreed on a tax rebate deal Thursday that will most likely be mailed to taxpayers this spring. Federal lawmakers hope sending out the rebate checks will send people into stores, thus jumpstarting the economy.  But some experts said that money's better in the bank.

ndividual taxpayers will receive up to $600; $1,200 for couples with an additional $300 allocated per child.

The Claim: Too Much Cola Can Cause Kidney Problems

It is well known that too much soda can increase the risk of diabetes and obesity. But when it comes to kidney problems, is there a difference between colas and other kinds of soda?

Colas contain high levels of phosphoric acid, which has been linked to kidney stones and other renal problems.

Assessing the Life Cycle of Wind Turbine Production

One of the major strengths to renewable energy generation -- whether wind, solar or other technologies -- is that after a project is completed, the systems produce power for decades with little or no additional investments.

Like any manufactured item, there is an environmental cost to the manufacture of renewable energy hardware

team of Japanese boffins may have accidentally struck gold in the fight against global warming:

they have devised a way to neutralise the perilous belches of 1.5 billion cows

dramatically reduce the environmental damage caused by the world’s cattle herds

German nudists will be able to start their holidays early by stripping off on the plane if they take up a new offer from an eastern German travel firm.

start taking bookings from Friday for a trial nudist day trip from the eastern German town of Erfurt to the popular Baltic Sea resort of Usedom, planned for July 5 and costing 499 euros ($735).

OssiUrlaub.de

A researcher inspired by a famous “Seinfeld” episode has concluded that double dipping is just plain gross.

food microbiologist’s undergraduate students examined the effects of double dipping using volunteers, wheat crackers and several sample dips

three to six double dips transferred about 10,000 bacteria from an eater’s mouth to the remaining dip sample.

Brain rewards aggression much like it does sex, food, drugs

New research from Vanderbilt University shows for the first time that the brain processes aggression as a reward—much like sex, food and drugs—offering insights into our propensity to fight and our fascination with violent sports like boxing and football.

"Aggression occurs among virtually all vertebrates and is necessary to get and keep important resources such as mates, territory and food,"

alien mussel, which multiplies so fast it chokes out natives species, clogs pipes and causes havoc, prompted the East Bay Municipal Utility District Thursday to ban some recreational boating

first in what is expected to be a widespread campaign to stop the tiny monster cousins known as the quagga and zebra mussels from ravaging Northern California reservoirs as they have the Great Lakes

believed to have spread on the hulls of boats

most vocal Kremlin critic in Russia's presidential contest was barred from the ballot Sunday

election authorities who said tens of thousands of signatures on his nominating petitions were faked.

denial of registration to former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov will likely fuel criticism of the election

Scientists Build First Man-Made Genome; Synthetic Life Comes Next

Scientists have built the first synthetic genome by stringing together 147 pages of letters representing the building blocks of DNA.

The researchers used yeast to stitch together four long strands of DNA into the genome of a bacterium called Mycoplasma genitalium.