On the Record

“It's a slap in the face to every Judeo-Christian religion that's out there.”

Kansas senator Kay O'Connor (Republican, Olathe) is outraged by a course at the University of Kansas that will teach intelligent design as ‘mythology’.

“It's 80 centimetres high with nine leaves, and it looks great.”

Sarah Sallon, director of the Natural Medicine Research Center in Jerusalem, describes a date palm that has germinated from a seed 2,000 years old.

Sources: Lawrence Journal-World, National Geographic News

Scorecard

British territory

A volcanic eruption has enlarged a remote UK-owned island in the South Atlantic by 0.2 square kilometres.

Paper propulsion

Students at the University of Leeds, UK, have made a paper aeroplane that, in theory, can travel farther than 30 metres.

Dolphin swimming

A study in this week's BMJ affirms that spending some time with dolphins can help to dispel depression.

Number Crunch

The United Nations aids programme and the World Health Organization have released their latest update on HIV infection.

40.3 million people worldwide are infected with HIV.

4.9 million new infections occurred in 2005.

3.2 million new infections occurred in sub-Saharan Africa this year, although the prevalence of HIV seems to be declining in Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

270,000 infections occurred in 2005 in eastern Europe and central Asia, the areas experiencing the sharpest increase.

Source: AIDS Epidemic Update 2005