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You may be sick of the long lines and detailed inspectionsat airports these days, but you can get really sick when youfinally get on the plane. A study by scientists in theUnited States finds that one in five passengers becomes illafter flying, and the figure is even higher for people whotake long flights.

John Balmes, of the University of California in SanFrancisco, examined 1,000 airplane passengers and found thatone in five say they caught a cold within one week offlying. Women reported catching more colds than men.
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When your dog barks, he may be trying to tell you something.Scientists now think that dogs use different barks tocommunicate different ideas and can even count. (Theycertainly know the word “walk” when they hear it).
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Farmers are losing the war against agricultural pests asinsects become immune to chemical sprays. Professor IanCrute of Rothamsted Research in the U.K. says, “Just ashuman health is under threat from antibiotic resistance, socrop health is under threat from insecticide resistance. Thebugs are gaining on us — and our defenses are increasinglyfragile. We need new science-based tools for insect controland without them, our ability to feed ourselves is injeopardy.”
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The first six months of the year have been thesecond-warmest ever and average global temperatures in 2002could be the highest ever recorded, according to weatherexperts in the U.K. It’s heated up so much that the weatheris even causing train derailments. “Globally 2002 is likelyto be warmerthan 2001, and may even break the record set in 1998,” saysBriony Horton, the Meteorological Office’s climate researchscientist.
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