PARIS, May 21 (UPI) -- The European Space Agency says it is ready to help the U.S. space agency monitor the Phoenix spacecraft's descent and landing on Mars this weekend.

The ESA said its Mars Express mission control team has completed major preparations for supporting the entry, descent and landing phases of the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Phoenix mission. The ESA's Mars Express orbiting spacecraft will be pointed toward Phoenix's planned entry trajectory and will record signals broadcast from the lander as it plunges into the Martian atmosphere.

That recorded data, ESA scientists said, will serve as a useful and potentially crucial back-up for NASA to compare Phoenix's planned and actual descent profiles. Landing is planned for 7:53 p.m. EDT Sunday.

The European Space Agency said the mission marks the first time NASA has asked for operational support from the ESA's two deep-space tracking stations, located in Cebreros, Spain, and New Norcia, Australia.

Global warming may increase kidney stones

DALLAS, May 21 (UPI) -- U.S. urologists say rising global temperatures might lead to an increase in kidney stones.

The study, presented Tuesday in Orlando, Fla., during the 103rd Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Urological Association, shows kidney stone disease, already linked with dehydration in warmer climates, will be exacerbated by global warning.

As a result, scientists said the prevalence of kidney stone disease will increase, along with the costs of treating the condition.

The southern United States is considered "the stone belt" because it has higher incidences of kidney stones. The researchers said rising global temperatures could expand that region with the fraction of the U.S. population living in high-risk stone zones predicted to grow from 40 percent in 2000 to 50 percent by 2050. That could lead to an increase of one to two million lifetime cases of stone disease.

The cost associated with treating kidney stone disease could climb as high as one $1 billion annually by 2050, representing a 10 percent to 20 percent increase over present-day estimates, the researchers said.

The study, led by Dr. Margaret Pearl of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, was reported in the April issue of the Journal of Urology.

Dinosaur tracks found on Arabian Peninsula

MAASTRICHT, Netherlands, May 21 (UPI) -- A Dutch-led team of scientists has announced the discovery of the first dinosaur tracks to be found on the Arabian Peninsula.

Led by Anne Schulp of the Maastricht Museum of Natural History in the Netherlands, the researchers found evidence of a large ornithopod dinosaur, as well as a herd of 11 sauropods that apparently had been walking along a Mesozoic coastal mudflat in what is now Yemen.

"No dinosaur trackways had been found in this area previously. It's really a blank spot on the map," said Schulp, who conducted the study with Ohio University paleontologist Nancy Stevens and Mohammed Al-Wosabi of Sana'a University in Yemen.

The finding included preserved footprints of 11 small and large sauropods traveling together at the same speed.

"It's rare to see such a big example of a dinosaur herd," Schulp said. "This is interesting social behavior for reptiles."

Wosabi said the rocks in which the dinosaur tracks are preserved are some 150 million years old.

The Yemen Geological Survey implemented protective measures to preserve the trackways and to improve their accessibility to tourists, the scientists said.

The research appears in the online journal PLoS One.

Personalized cancer therapy found valuable

BOSTON, May 21 (UPI) -- U.S. medical scientists said they've conducted a trial that supports first-line use of targeted therapy to treat lung cancer.

The Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center researchers said the study -- the first such U.S. clinical genetic screening trial -- supports the use of targeted therapies as primary treatments, rather than only after standard chemotherapy has failed.

Investigators found gefitinib (Iressa) treatment considerably improved the outcomes for non-small-cell-lung-cancer, although additional research is required before such a strategy can be used for routine treatment.

"This is a pivotal clinical trial that demonstrates the power of personalized medicine in lung cancer treatment," said Dr. Lecia Sequist, who led the study. "It is an exciting glimpse into what we hope is the future of cancer care. Instead of a 'one size fits all' therapy, we are moving towards finding the best treatment for each patient."

The report appears in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.