UPI NewsTrack Health and Science News

Cells phones may hurt sperm quality

CLEVELAND, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- Research from the Cleveland Clinic suggests carrying a cell phone in a pocket while using a hands-free device may hurt a man's sperm quality.

The study, published in the journal Fertility and Sterility, said radio-frequency electromagnetic waves emitted from cell phones in talk mode may have a negative impact on the motility and viability of sperm cells.

Ashok Agarwal, head of the Center for Reproductive Medicine at clinic's Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute, said researchers collected semen samples from 32 subjects. Sperm specimens from the test group were placed 2.5 centimeters from a 850 MHz cell phone in talk mode for 1 hour --the typical distance between the testes and trouser pockets, the clinic said in a release.

The findings showed that cell phone radiation increased the amount of free radicals and decreased the amount of anti-oxidants in semen.

Agarwal, however, warned that more testing is needed. "Our study has not provided proof that you should stop putting cell phones in your pocket. There are many things that need to be proven before we get to that stage," he told CNN.

Link between acetaminophen and allergies

NEW YORK, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- Researchers from New Zealand said a study suggests a link between acetaminophen and the development of childhood asthma and allergies.

Using data from more than 200,000 children in 31 countries, researchers found infants given acetaminophen-based pain relievers for fever were 46 percent more likely to develop asthma by age 6 or 7, ABC News reported Friday. Children given acetaminophen-based painkillers by the time they turned 6 were three times as likely to have severe asthma symptoms.

The researchers, however, said the findings may have been confounded by other factors. Lead researcher Dr. Richard Beasley of the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand in Wellington said parents should continue to treat their child's high fevers with acetaminophen.

U.S. doctors also warned parents against throwing away their packages of Children's Tylenol. "Misrepresenting this will cause unnecessary panic," Peter Catalano, chairman of the department of otolaryngology at the Lahey Clinic in Burlington, Mass., told ABC News. "The science is absent."

Power failure trips up supercollider

GENEVA, Switzerland, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- A power failure shut down the powerful Large Hadron Collider particle accelerator earlier this week, scientists at the Swiss facility said.

A power interruption in the transformer affected the European Center for Particle Physics' refrigeration plant, meaning protons couldn't be beamed around the facility, Swissinfo.com reported Friday.

The collider ring must be minus 456.34 degrees F to allow protons to travel at more than 99.99 percent of the speed of light, scientists said.

Officials at the facility said the problem has been corrected and the refrigeration chamber was being cooled. They couldn't say when the beaming would resume, Swissinfo.com said.

The experiment seeks to recreate conditions one-trillionth of a second after the Big Bang to help scientists understand how the universe formed. The underground machine spans the Swiss-French border.

Endeavour moved to launch pad

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Sept. 19 (UPI) -- The space shuttle Endeavour was moved to a launch pad Friday as an emergency precaution, U.S. space officials said.

NASA said Endeavour will stand by at Kennedy Space Center's pad 39B in the event that a rescue mission is necessary during space shuttle Atlantis' upcoming mission to repair NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.

Atlantis is targeted to launch Oct. 10.

The space agency said Endeavour will be moved to launch pad 39A once it is cleared from its duty as a rescue spacecraft. Endeavour's mission to the International Space Station is scheduled to launch Nov. 12.