Cosmonauts prep outpost for new lab module
HOUSTON, July 15 (UPI) -- Russian cosmonauts worked Tuesday outside the International Space Station, prepping the outpost's Russian portion for next year's arrival of a lab module.
The 5 1/2-hour spacewalk for cosmonauts Sergei Volkov and Oleg Kononenko was less risky than last week's venture outside the ISS, when the two removed a potentially defective explosive bolt from the latching assembly of the Russian space capsule, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Tuesday's work included installing a docking target on the station's crew dorm and retrieving an experiment on the effects that radiation, variant temperatures and other factors have on bacteria growth, the Texas newspaper said.
The crew also attached an apparatus for a geophysical experiment, reported RIA Novosti, the Russian news agency.
Type of chicken Lean Pocket recalled
WASHINGTON, July 15 (UPI) -- Thousands of a chicken-stuffed Lean Pockets are being recalled because the microwaveable food may contain plastic pieces, the U.S. government said.
Nestle Prepared Foods Co. in Mount Sterling, Ky. is recalling about 200,000 pounds of frozen stuffed chicken sandwich products after the company received consumer complaints, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service said in a news release.
The recalled products are 9-ounce boxes of "Lean Pockets Spinach Artichoke Chicken -- 2 sandwiches" with a "Best Before" date of "Nov 2009" followed by a package code beginning "8144 544616." Also printed on the side of the package is the establishment number "P7721A."
The line being recalled was produced May 23 and distributed to retail stores nationwide, the FSIS said.
The federal food watchdog agency said it hasn't received any consumer complaints but did note two injuries were reported to the company.
Consumers with questions may contact Nestle Consumer Services Center at 800-350-5016.
Consumers with food safety questions can "Ask Karen," the FSIS virtual representative available 24 hours a day at AskKaren.gov. The toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline, 888-674-6854, is available in English and Spanish 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Eastern time, Monday through Friday.
Research traces migration through genetics
CHAMPAIGN, Ill., July 15 (UPI) -- A genetic study of native North Americans offers insight into a smaller group's migration from the subarctic to the Southwest United States, researchers said.
The University of Illinois study analyzed the Y chromosome, shedding light on the history of male Athapaskan migrants from northwestern North America to the southwestern states, the university said Tuesday in a news release. Previous genetic studies of this group -- now called Apacheans -- focused on mitochondrial DNA passed from mothers to children.
The Athapaskan migration is believed to have occurred about 500 years ago, researchers said..
The findings support the hypothesis that the Athapaskan migration involved a small group that was successful in assimilating with people living in the Southwest, researchers said.
Researchers checked genetic signatures on specific regions of the Y chromosomes from 26 native North American populations. Those who share many of the genetic signatures are more likely to share a recent common ancestor than those who don't, they said.
The study also revealed how pervasively European males mixed with native groups, said principal investigator Ripan Malhi, a molecular anthropologist at the university.
The findings are in the July issue of American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
Lasers damage audience's eyes
MOSCOW, July 15 (UPI) -- Concertgoers at a music festival in Russia may have suffered permanent damage to their eyes because of laser beams, doctors said.
More than 30 people who attended the July 5 open air Aquamarine Music Festival near Vladimir complained of aching eyes and eyesight loss, RIA Novosti said Monday.
"Usually, laser beams at such concerts are directed into the air. But it was raining heavily and the organizers had to stretch a canopy over the dance floor, and the (laser) beam at times fell below the canopy," one of the victims told the newspaper Kommersant daily.
Doctors said some of the patients lost up to 80 percent of their vision, Kommersant said.
