With swine flu topping the agenda of business around the world, global risks specialist, Maplecroft has released three new maps and indices revealing the countries most at risk from an influenza pandemic.

The Influenza Pandemic Risk Index (IPRI) consists of three categories: Risk of Emergence, Risk of Spread and Capacity to Contain. Each index generates a list of countries most at risk and that require a tailored policy response on the part of government and business. Maplecroft's research focuses on global risks to business.

The map of Risk of Spread shows the United Kingdom most at risk to the spread of an influenza pandemic, ranking number 1 out of 213 countries.

People who want to take extra precautions against swine flu should look for masks with built-in filters, according to Dr Robin J Harman, a pharmaceutical and regulatory expert.

There has been much debate about the benefits of wearing a mask to prevent infection with swine flu. Ordinary surgical masks provide some protection from airborne particles, but the UK Department of Health has stated that 'basic face masks don't protect people from becoming infected'.(1)

High school biology teachers may be even more important than the curriculm, according to a University of Minnesota study published in the May issue of BioScience.

Co-authors Randy Moore and Sehoya Cotner, professors in the College of Biological Sciences, surveyed 1,000 students taking introductory biology classes at the University of Minnesota to learn how biology majors view evolution compared to non-majors. Results showed that the two groups' views were similar and revealed that high school biology teachers influence whether majors and non-majors college students accept evolution or question it based on creationism.

Dolphins have a clever trick for overcoming sleep deprivation, according to Sam Ridgway from the US Navy Marine Mammal Program and colleagues.   They are able to send half of their brains to sleep while the other half remains conscious. What is more, the mammals seem to be able to remain continually vigilant for sounds for days on end.

Does the dolphins' unrelenting auditory vigilance tire them and take a toll on the animals' other senses? Ridgway and his team set about testing two dolphins' acoustic and visual vigilance over a 5 day period to find out how well they functioned after days without a break.

Arrayit Corporation, a manufacturer of products and services for disease prevention, treatment and cure, announced today that it is developing a microarray-based diagnostic test to detect the H1N1 swine flu virus.

The Arrayit test will allow researchers and clinicians to detect the presence of the virus in infected patients and livestock and to distinguish the threatening mutated strain from less harmful variants in humans and swine. Using its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, Arrayit plans to begin mass production of its test kits over the next several weeks.

A previously unknown, large impact basin has been discovered by the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft during its second flyby of Mercury in October 2008. The impact basin, now named Rembrandt, more than 700 kilometers (430 miles) in diameter.

If the Rembrandt basin had formed on the east coast of the United States, it would span the distance between Washington, D.C., and Boston.