Popcorn's dark side
A 53-year-old Colorado man who ate two bags of microwaved popcorn daily for 10 years apparently developed bronchiolitis obliterans, aka popcorn worker's lung, a debilitating disease previously seen only in popcorn factory workers. Inhaled diacetyl, the chemical that gives microwave popcorn its sinful buttery flavor, is suspected to gradually inflame and scar the lungs' tiny air sacs, making it increasingly difficult for sufferers to exhale. Cecile Rose, a physician who specializes in the disorder at National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver, alerted the Food and Drug Administration in July that her coughing patient's Colorado home had diacetyl levels similar to those in factories. But the news only became public this week on a health policy blog that accused regulators of ignoring the potential risk to popcorn lovers. Four major popcorn manufacturers quickly announced they would phase out diacetyl. (The Pump Handle)

Hyperactive kid? Maybe it's the food coloring.
In other junk food news, children who consumed a sweetened drink laden with common food-coloring agents and the preservative sodium benzoate were more hyperactive than those who drank identical beverages minus the additives, according to a study published in The Lancet. Parents and teachers rated kids' activity levels after downing the refreshments, finding that those who drank in the coloring and preservative were 10 percent more hyper. The researchers said the survey bolsters the debated notion that additives give kids an extra kick. (The Lancet)

Being J. Craig Venter's genome
Closing in on more affordable genome sequencing, maverick scientist J. Craig Venter has led the first sequencing of both halves of a human's genome—that of J. Craig Venter—a venture funded in part by… that's right: the J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, Md. Chromosomes come in two matching sets, one from each parent, but the first human genome sequences published in 2001 (one by Venter, the other by federally funded researchers) were pastiches of both sets from several different individuals. Differences between maternal and parental genes in Venter's full or diploid genome may explain why he suffered from asthma and skin cancer, if not why he's such a trailblazer. (PLoS Biology; find a poster of Venter's genome via this link)

BBC pulls the plug on climate show
In a different kind of self-analysis, the British Broadcasting Company reported that it canceled a TV special set to air next January called Planet Relief that would have encouraged viewers to briefly switch off their TVs en masse to save energy. Instead, the network switched off the show, despite spending more than a year negotiating the mass turn-off with the country's electric grid. Environmental activists accused the BBC of bowing to climate change skeptics, but network officials said they canned the special because they believed their audience did not want to be "lectured to." (BBC)

English government lab blamed for foot and mouth outbreak
Leaky drainage pipes may have allowed the foot and mouth virus to escape from a lab funded by England's Institute for Animal Health in Pirbright, causing last month's outbreaks at two farms in nearby Surrey, government investigators said. Officials told Reuters that the virus likely entered the drainage system of the aging facility and emerged during heavy rains, allowing workers to unwittingly carry it out. (Reuters)

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