Sun rising

California computer maker Sun Microsystems has unveiled a chip, the UltraSPARC T1, which can process 32 threads of information at once. The Santa Clara-based company says that the chip consumes only 70 watts of electric power — less than half as much as some of its competitors. Computer-industry analysts say the chip, which will power large computer servers, breaks major new ground in terms of its parallel-processing power, but they point out that software compatibility issues might limit its success.

Chemical shift

DuPont, one of the world's largest chemicals companies, has said it will shed 4,000 jobs in a major reorganization. No laboratory positions will be lost, the company says, but some research programmes, such as electronics and biologically based materials, will be given greater emphasis at the expense of others, including some polymer work. DuPont says the plan will save it $2 billion over the next three years.

Generic gain

The world's best-selling drug faces a looming generic threat after a company-sponsored study failed to prove that it is significantly more effective than a competitor in patients who have had heart attacks. High-dose Lipitor (atorvastatin), the $12-billion cholesterol-lowering drug made by Pfizer, did not work significantly better than regular-dose Zocor (simvastatin), made by Merck, in preventing repeated heart attacks, cardiac arrest and deaths related to heart disease, The Journal of the American Medical Association reported last week (T. R. Pedersen et al. J. Am. Med. Assoc. 294, 2437–2445; 2005). The finding boosts the commercial prospects for generic versions of Zocor, which goes off-patent next June.