Nature released in its December 22, 2005 issue a timeline of events in the scandal involving South Korean scientist Woo Suk Hwang, who not only exhibited questionable ethics by using eggs from a junior female lab member, but faked his headline-making cloning experiments. The harvesting of eggs from a junior lab member was supposedly uncoerced, but there is a high likelihood that there was pressure of one form or another in this high stakes game of big-money research. As they say, where there's smoke, there's fire. The South Korean media reported the source of the eggs on November 21, and less than a month later, on December 13, reports surfaced that Hwang and his team had faked data from their 2005 Science paper, in which Hwang's group claimed to have established 11 embryonic stem-cell lines from the skin cells of individuals. In a related article in the same issue of Nature (see Where now for stem-cell cloners? (subscription required)), scientists say that "complete loss of confidence in Hwang's work has set the field back by years. It has also taken away what seemed to be firm confirmation of the feasibility of using cloning to produce patient-matched stem cells."

Cell phone: check. Laptop: check. Digital camera, iPod, PDA: check, check, check. Chic, cozy place to store and charge all these gadgets: Huh? If you're like most people, you probably have a half-dozen cords dangling between your electonic gadgets and a powerstrip against the wall or else the gadgets themselves are scattered throughout the house and plugged into various outlets. Not only is it unsightly, but it takes up valuable space. Now the technology furniture company, Anthro (as in anthropology, get it?), has come to the rescue with eNook, a wall-mounted charging workstation. eNook allows you to charge all of your gadgets, including a laptop computer, in a sleek hideaway that's attached to the wall and opens up to create a handy little desktop. It's especially useful if you work at home and want to hide away your desk when you're done for the day. The inside panel is covered with your choice of fabric and doubles as a bulletin board. Anthro's asking price is $399 plus $29 for the interior metal shelves. If you're feeling short on change, the DIYer in me thinks you could make one of these yourself with some enginuity and a trip to the hardware store. [Ed.: Add a lock to the cabinet, and you'll have added security for your gadgets as well.]

The December issue of Wired magazine contained a short article and data report on where the U.S. stands relative to other nations in spending on research and development, number of researchers per 1,000 people, total number of Ph.D.s., and number of published scientific papers by origin. The U.S. consistently falls at or below average by these measures, particularly when it comes to research spending, where China is spending more than twice as much on science as a percentage of gross domestic product (6% of GDP) than the U.S. (2.5% of GDP). Of course, this comparison doesn't consider private sector spending in the U.S. Ironically, the Wired article by Greta Lorge cites the breakthrough research on cloning of human embryos by South Korean scientists as evidence that the U.S. has lost its lead in biotech. But as the world learned last month, the stem cell research has been found to be fraudulent, and the lead South Korean scientist, Dr. Woo Suk Hwang, admitted to fabricating evidence, casting doubt on his entire body of work. The scandal simply demonstrates how much pressure is on scientists and nations to be first in the science race. Perhaps the more important question isn't why is the U.S. falling behind, but why don't Americans seem to care? In science, it only matters who is first with a scientific breakthrough. Not only are there no awards for Number Two, but top scientific journals won't publish articles by also-rans unless they add something new to the story. Even then, there is little glory in merely adding another decimal point.

Of all the science stories and weblinks that were posted to the Element List website this past year, none were nearly as popular with readers as our post in November on the MIT graduate student article "On the Effectiveness of Aluminum Foil Helmets: An Empirical Study," by Ali Rahimi, Ben Recht, Jason Taylor, and Noah Vawter. Looking through the lead author's website, Rahimi has a curious collection of alternative research articles, or hacks as they're more popularly known. Previous hacks by Rahimi include "How to Eat Muffins: Heuristic Considerations" and a traditional telephone handset attachment for cell phones. When he's not doing science, he apparently moonlights as the campus pimp. Just amazing. How does this busybody find time to spend with his girlfriend?

An international team of scientists led by Dr. Ron Elsner of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center report that NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory satellite imaged low-energy (0.1 - 10 kilo electron volts) X-rays created by auroral activity, or 'northern lights,' above Earth's northern polar region over a four-month period in 2004, shown as the rainbow false-color images above a simulated Earth image. The colors represent X-ray brightness, with maximum brightness shown in red. Previous satellites had only revealed high-energy X-rays. According to NASA, "Auroras are produced by solar storms that eject clouds of energetic charged particles. These particles are deflected when they encounter the Earth's magnetic field, but in the process large electric voltages are created. Electrons trapped in the Earth's magnetic field are accelerated by these voltages and spiral along the magnetic field into the polar regions. There they collide with atoms high in the atmosphere and emit X-rays." Chandra was launched and deployed by the Space Shuttle Columbia in 1999 to observe X-rays from high-energy regions of the universe, such as remnants of exploded stars.

Catching up on the latest science news is a pain if you have to click to a dozen different websites. Now iTunes has over 40 free science podcasts that you can download and listen to on your commute to work. Most of the major science news organizations have podcasts listed there, including Science, Nature, New Scientist, and Discovery. NASA produces its own podcasts such as one on the Spitzer Space Telescope, which presents newscasts on recent science discoveries, alien asteroid belts, star formation, and more. Smaller science groups you may have never heard of are there too like The Naked Scientists, a weekly live radio show by Dr. Chris Smith from Cambridge University, who just happens to be an expert on ... herpes! Just download the latest podcasts every morning, and you'll be the smartest kid in the room by the time you get to work. Don't have iTunes? Download it here.

A one-year-old male hippo calf was found in the Indian Ocean off Malindi on December 27, 2004 after the Sumatra earthquake and tsunami devastated the region. The calf, named Owen, was then placed in Haller Park wildlife santuary in Kenya, where he met a giant male toroise named Mzee. According to Snopes.com, Mzee "was not immediately taken with the brash newcomer he turned and hissed, forcing the hippo to back away. Yet Owen persisted in following the tortoise around the park (and even into a pool), and within days the pair had forged a friendship, eating and sleeping together. Owen has even been seen to lick the tortoise, whom he regards as his new mother." Wildlife experts speculate that Owen was attracted to Mzee because his body shape and color are similar to that of an adult hippo. As of December 2005, Owen and Mzee are still together one year later.

Maureen Dowd reports today in her NY Times Op-Ed column "Vice Axes That 70's Show" that Google Earth, while allowing an unobstructed view of the White House and other security-sensitive locations, has concealed views of Vice President Dick Cheney's residence. Dowd writes, "The vice president, who believes in unwarranted, unlimited snooping, is so pathologically secretive that if you use Google Earth's database to see his official residence, the view is scrambled and obscured. You can view satellite photos of the White House, the Pentagon and the Capitol -- but not of the Lord of the Underworld's lair. Vice is literally a shadow president. He's obsessive about privacy -- but, unfortunately, only his own." So, for fun, we looked up the Vice President's residence at 1 Observatory Circle in Washington, D.C., and, sure enough, there's a big blurry circle. So much for catching Vice sunning in the nude.

Solar Austin, a non-profit organization devoted to the promotion of solar and other renewable forms of energy, is organizing the first Energy Freedom Challenge competition for the title "Clean Energy Capital of the U.S." The group received a $45,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy in August to host the contest in its first year. The objective is to challenge U.S. cities to rely upon renewable energy sources for at least 50 percent of their energy consumption by 2025. Potential alternative energy sources include wind, solar, geothermal, methane, and biomass power. The Union of Concerned Scientists will be responsible for establishing the rules, metrics, and qualifications for the contest. Austin city officials see the contest and the "Clean Energy Capital" title as a way to create positive publicity and attract new businesses and residents. (via alt-e blog)

One of my favorite words is dodecahedron. If you've ever taken a mineralogy class, you should know that garnets are natural dodecahedrons. The name refers to the number of faces, twelve, which also happens to be the number of months in a year. How conveeeeeenient. Ole Arntzen at the Institutt for Informatikk in Norway has created a website that shows you how to make your own dodecahedron calendar. Just type in the year, language, your preference for the week start day, and either PDF or PostScript format. You even have a choice of a regular dodecahedron or a rhombic dodecahedron. Then follow the instructions on the website for folding your print out origami-style into a perfect little dodecahedron. (Hint: You might want to use extra stiff paper.)

If you're looking to waste even more time during this sleepy work week between Christmas and New Years, enjoy hours of mindless fun with Cellular Automata. Based on four simple rules of cell behavior - loneliness, overcrowding, reproduction, and statis - the game simulates how an apparently complex organic system can be created from a simple set of instructions. You design the initial conditions and watch how the cells grow, multiply, and die. The cells and groups of cells could represent anything from microscopic biological systems to ant colonies to cities. Grant Robinson, web designer and creator of the site, says he was inspired to create the site by the book Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software by Steven Johnson.

Climate system model results from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) indicate that increasing global temperatures may thaw the top 10 feet or more of permafrost in the Northern Hemisphere. Permafrost is defined as soil that remains frozen through the summer months over a period of at least two years. As reported in the December 17 issue of Geophysical Research Letters, over half of the total area covered by permafrost could be thawed by 2050. The NCAR study is the first to include the state of permafrost in a global computer climate simulation model. According to NCAR, "Recent warming has degraded large sections of permafrost across central Alaska, with pockets of soil collapsing as the ice within it melts. The results include buckled highways, destabilized houses, and "drunken forests"--trees that lean at wild angles. In Siberia, some industrial facilities have reported significant damage. Further loss of permafrost could threaten migration patterns of animals such as reindeer and caribou." Melting permafrost could also contribute to rising sea levels. The map at right shows how little permafrost may be left (dark blue color) in 75 years from now.