■ United States
Scientists squelched
The US government is making it harder for scientists to speak to their global colleagues and is restricting who can attend an upcoming AIDS conference, a US congressman charged on Thursday. Representative Henry Waxman said he has a letter showing that the Health and Human Services Department (HHS) has imposed new limits on who may speak to the WHO. Under the new policy, the WHO must ask HHS for permission to speak to scientists and must allow HHS to choose who will respond. "This policy is unprecedented. For the first time political appointees will routinely be able to keep the top experts in their field from responding to WHO requests for guidance on international health issues," Waxman wrote in a letter to HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson.
■ United States
Dogs playing poker. Really
Some gamblers just don't know how to play their cards. Tiny Chip, for example. His three blackjack cards totaled 19, but he took a card anyway. It was a three of hearts, so he busted. Then there was Lucky Louise. The dealer hadn't even gotten to her yet when she got up out of her seat, walked across the green felt table and stepped in the chip float, her bushy tail wagging. The scene was playing out as Sands Casino Hotel workers used five live dogs to re-create artist C.M. Coolidge's famously lowbrow painting of dogs playing poker.
■ Germany
Superboy just a normal kid
A genetic mutation made a Berlin boy extra strong, but the German doctor who has been studying the child since just after he was born nearly five years ago says he's just a regular kid. The boy doesn't stand out among his peers on the playground, but when he puts his mind to it, he can perform feats of strength, Markus Schuelke said. Schuelke started studying the super-strong boy after he was brought to Berlin's Charite hospital. Schuelke began conducting tests, and found over the course of five years that the boy had a genetic mutation that boosts muscle growth.
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