Trends & Innovations - Friday

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PFE	18.59	+0.06

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Cholesterol drugs may fight flu

People who were taking cholesterol-lowering statins like Pfizer's (NYSE:PFE - News) Lipitor when they got the seasonal flu and had to be hospitalized were twice as likely to survive as those who weren't on such drugs, according to a study by researchers in Ore. and Tenn. This doesn't prove statins can cure flu, or that starting on them after catching the flu would help. But a federal study is under way now to test that. Doctors are optimistic, because previous studies also found that statins may improve survival from infectious diseases.

Monkeys enlisted for space tests

NASA is going to conduct radiation studies on monkeys for the first time in decades. Up to 28 monkeys will be exposed to low doses of the type of radiation that astronauts would likely encounter while traveling to Mars. Scientists will monitor how the radiation impacts the monkeys' nervous systems and behaviors over time, Discovery News reported. In the '50s and '60s, NASA used chimpanzees to test how space flight would affect humans.

Sphagnum moss, a type of moss that helps keep Minn.'s northern lakes clear, has replaced chlorine at a public pool in St. Paul, Minn., says a Discovery Channel report. Minn.-based Creative Water Solutions has developed a product that uses this moss, which inhibits microbe growth without creating that unmistakable chlorine pool smell.

The buildup of ice on aircraft wings and other surfaces could be prevented using a nanoparticle-based coating developed at the Univ. of Pittsburgh. Researchers say their work provides the first evidence of anti-icing properties for a burgeoning class of water repellants, referred to as superhydrophobic coatings. Holocaust survivors have higher risk of getting cancer, a study by Univ. of Haifa in Israel found. Severely restricted calorie intake and extreme stress increase risks. The researchers examined more than 300,000 European-born Jews who immigrated to Israel before or during World War II, and those who immigrated after World War II until 1989. Both groups have higher rates of cancer than other Jewish and non-Jewish groups in Israel.