On the Record

“Cloning a human being is nonsense. Briefly, it is not ethical, it is not safe at all, and it's technically impossible.”

South Korean stem-cell pioneer Woo Suk Hwang responds to fears about human cloning.

“We won't be asking passengers to leave a sample and we won't be carrying a resident sheep at the back of the bus.”

Andrew Dyer, managing director of Stagecoach South, UK, explains plans to use sheep urine to reduce exhaust emissions on its buses.

Scorecard

Creative space

The European Space Agency is drawing up plans to put art into orbit, and is canvassing ideas on how to bring high culture to the Space Station. The results could truly be out of this world.

Rub a chicken

At last — it's possible to pet a hen online. Stroking a model chicken sends signals winging across the Internet to a bird wearing a special jacket. The coat lets the hen feel the caresses as if they were real. It's enough to cure any fowl mood.

In-flight chitchat

Plans to allow mobile phone calls on planes have riled radioastronomers, who fear that the inane chatter will drown out the faint signals from the stars.

Datapoint

Percentage of Americans who rate the quality of the environment as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’.

Democrats 27%

Environmentalists 34%

SUV owners 48%

Source: Survey on American Attitudes on the Environment (Yale Univ. School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, 2005).