UPI NewsTrack Health and Science News

Expert: Kids more at risk from cell phones

WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- The risk of brain cancer for children who use cell phones is far greater than for adults, two researchers told the U.S. Congress.

Dr. Ronald Herberman, director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, and Dr. David Carpenter, director of Institute for Health and the Environment at University of Albany testified on cell phones before the House Subcommittee on Domestic Policy.

Herberman used a model to show radiation from cell phones would penetrate far deeper into a 5-year-old's brain than an adult's, CNN reported.

However, Dr. Robert Hoover of the National Cancer Institute said the incidence of brain cancer in children has not increased significantly from the late 1980s to 2005, the period during which cell phones became popular.

Studies have indicated that long-term cell phone use may be associated with brain cancer, Herberman told the committee.

"I cannot tell this committee that cell phones are definitely dangerous," Herberman said. "But, I certainly cannot tell you that they are safe."

Studies show cell phone radio frequency energy does cause "biological effects" without heating tissue, although not all of those effects are harmful, Carpenter said.

White Rabbit candy recalled

BURLINGAME, Calif., Sept. 26 (UPI) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said White Rabbit Candy is being recalled because it may be contaminated with melamine.

QFCO, Inc. said the candy, made in China, was distributed in California, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Texas and Washington.

The importer, based in California, said the recall includes White Rabbit Creamy Candy in 8-ounce and 16-ounce packages and all other flavors of White Rabbit Candy -- assorted, chocolate, coffee, red bean, corn, lychee, mango and strawberry -- sold in 7-ounce packages.

No illness have been reported, the company said Friday in a release issued through the FDA.

China Daily said White Rabbit Candy is a household name in China and is exported to more than 50 countries and regions.

Rocks may be world's oldest

MONTREAL, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- Canadian researchers said ancient rocks found in northern Quebec along Hudson's Bay appear to be the oldest ever discovered.

McGill University said the rocks may be remnants of a portion of Earth's primordial crust and could be as old as 4.28 billion years. The findings were published in the journal Science.

Jonathan O'Neil, a Ph.D. candidate at McGill's Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, and colleagues estimated the age of the rocks using isotopic dating.

"Our discovery not only opens the door to further unlock the secrets of the Earth's beginnings," he said Thursday in a release. "Geologists now have a new playground to explore how and when life began, what the atmosphere may have looked like, and when the first continent formed."

The New York Times said some researchers are skeptical of the findings, suggesting the rocks are younger sedimentary rocks that were pressed together out of the remnants of earlier rocks.

Gulf Stream going strong

OSLO, Norway, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- The Danish Meteorological Institute says new research contradicts the theory that the Gulf Stream is weakening.

The Gulf Stream -- which sends warmer water flowing north through the Atlantic and sends colder waters south -- flows from the east coast of South America, around the Gulf of Mexico, across the Atlantic, and then north toward Norway and around Iceland, before heading due south again.

Previous studies suggested the flow of cold water south was down by half, possibly because of global warming, Norway's Aftenposten newspaper reported Friday. Researchers said a new look at the data shows the Gulf Stream is still going strong.

"It hasn't only been possible to show that the currents instead have maintained a surprisingly constant strength during the last 50 years, but we can also point out where earlier signs of weakness were misleading," said Steffen M. Olsen told Aftenposten.