On the record

“Tell Larry he better appreciate my financial support.”

Harvard student Vikram Viswanathan joins an online betting pool on whether embattled university president Larry Summers will announce his resignation by 30 June.

“Native peoples were either living in harmony with nature or eating their way through a vast array of large-sized, attractive prey species.”

University of Utah archaeologist Jack Broughton questions whether early Native Americans were at one with nature.

Sources: The Harvard Crimson, Reuters

Scorecard

Hawaiian holidays

The island of Maui may soon run out of sand. Mining sand for concrete is removing the only source for replenishing Maui's beaches.

Raves

Mixing the club drug ecstasy with loud music dramatically reduces brain function compared with popping a pill in peace and quiet, according to a study in rats.

The munchies

A drug that works by blocking a cannabinoid receptor in the brain may help to stop food cravings.

Number crunch

Is data secrecy hurting the next generation of life scientists? A recent survey of 1,077 doctoral students found that:

23% had asked for and been denied access to data associated with published research.

8% had denied other scientists access to data associated with their own published research.

51% reported that data secrecy had hindered their research.

Source: C. Vogeli et al. Acad. Med. 81, 137–145 (2006)