News at a glance...

A new survey conducted by Harris Interactive shows that one out of three Americans mistakenly believes that antibiotics are effective in treating viruses like the one that causes the common cold and flu.

The survey also discovered that one-third of Americans have stopped taking an antibiotic before finishing the prescribed amount. Of those who did not finish the amount, 64 percent stopped taking it when they felt better and 44 percent wanted to save the medication for the next time they got sick. Not finishing treatment contributes to the development of resistant bacteria.

These resistant strains of bacteria are giving many physicians difficulties treating the sicknesses caused by bacteria. The World Health Organization estimates that two Americans die each hour from antibiotic-resistant bacteria.



The prediction that U.S. government spending will reach the $5.6 trillion debt-ceiling in the near future prompted Bush Administration officials to request a raise from legislators. Treasury Secretary John Snow wrote leaders in Congress, asking them to quickly raise the ceiling, though not specifying an amount. Officials want to leave that decision up to the lawmakers.

Snow's request will no doubt trigger a wave of fresh debate in Congress that could last for weeks. For now, treasury officials are working to keep government spending within the limit so that the U.S. does not default on any of its debt obligations, something which has never occurred before.

While Republicans will surely argue for quick approval of the request, Democrats will most likely use the opportunity to criticize Bush's recent tax cuts which they hold responsible for the record budget deficits and need for a higher debt ceiling.



The development of quantum computing, a concept long debated but out of reach for the present, just took a tiny step forward when researchers in the Netherlands and Japan reported in the journal Science they had made an electrical current flow both clockwise and counter-clockwise in a superconducting ring. The result is called a qubit, a representation of both digits used in binary arithmetic.

One of the implications of quantum theory is that electrons can occupy two positions at one point in time or spin both clockwise and counterclockwise. This is true as long as the electron remains undisturbed. This phenomena has been tested in individual atoms, but this is the first time an electrical current has been observed to behave in such a manner.

While most individuals find such phenomena fascinating, few realize the impact qubits could have on computing. A row of 10 qubits, because of its quantum nature, could hold over a thousand different numbers; currently, a row of 10 bits used in modern computing can hold only one of those numbers. And every time you add a qubit to the row, computing power doubles. In theory, a string of just 14 atoms could do more calculations than the fastest supercomputer in the U.S., an electricity-guzzler at Los Alamos National Laboratory which devours several megawatts of power to perform its calculations.



The battle of the bulge has new meaning for the military. Scientists at the U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center in Natick, Mass. are working on removing some of the fat from the military's mess-hall rations. Officials hope this will slim down soldiers' expanding waist-lines.

As is true with U.S. society as a whole, officials have to cope with the reality of an increasingly overweight military population. A 2000 study conducted by scientists at the Research Triangle Institute in North Carolina found that 54 percent of military personnel are overweight and 6 percent are obese. This is due in part to the relatively sedentary, stressful and tedious jobs which many military personnel hold.

Food technologists have removed half the fat and cholesterol in most recipes, according to program head Elizabeth Painter. In many of the concoctions, oil is replaced with applesauce; pureed prunes substituted for butter in brownies. Some recipes were abandoned outright, such as perch filets breaded with potato chips and smothered in cheddar cheese and Thousand Island dressing!



SUV owners love their vehicles especially for their power to blast through bad road conditions. While this may be true, some fail to realize the vehicles are no better at stopping on slick roads than cars, and may even be worse due to comparatively inferior braking ability. A study conducted by the Washington State traffic safety commission found that SUVs accounted for only 9.1 percent of all fatal crashes but composed nearly 17 percent of the vehicles involved in fatal accidents in icy and snowy conditions.

Another comforting thought for the happy SUV owner is the sheer amount of metal surrounding the passengers; unfortunately, that protection doesn't help the over 50 percent of U.S. drivers who don't own a truck or SUV. In an accident, the SUVs weight and height frequently allow it to come out on top, literally crushing smaller vehicles beneath it.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration figures show that if a car strikes another on the driver's side, the driver of the rammed car is 6.6 times as likely to die as the other driver. But if an SUV is the torpedoing vehicle, however, the driver of the car is 30 times as likely to be killed.

Finals Schedule