Usually, at a forum on swine flu, all the experts stand up, present a bunch of general background material, a few new findings, and leave. The learning curve on H1N1 is so steep that by the time you fill in the background, you are out of time, and there's no point in hearing the next presenter speak to a general audience

But this week's Institute of Medicine  meeting was different. Epidemiologists - the people who specialize in how disease spreads - were talking to molecular geneticists. Keiji Fukuda of the World Health Organization filled in the bench scientists on how negotiating to get vaccines and drugs for poor countries was taking up everyone's valuable time. Veterans of the 1976 swine flu vaccine mess told their stories. Every scientist sat there raptly listening to the other's presentations. Much of the material had not yet gone through the time consuming peer-review process needed for publication in a medical journal, so it was a little raw, but that much more useful and timely to an educated audience.

They traded notes on how technology could make it a lot harder to fight the rumor mill about vaccines and drug side-effects; presented good news about the severity of the pandemic and traded their worries about how the public health system -- or rather the lack of one in the United States and many other countries -- will cope.

CDC pathologist Dr. Sherif Zaki looked at the bodies of patients who died of swine flu and found a surprise -- the virus does not act like regular flu, at least not in seriously ill patients. And more study confirmed that the virus did indeed originally come from pigs.

The consensus is that while many may accuse the public health community and the media of hyping the pandemic, the world is not out of the woods yet, and this virus will continue to surprise the experts for a long time.

-Maria Sheahan is a Reuters senior correspondent in Frankfurt.-

So far, Europe has left it up to the United States, Russia and China to send people into space. But almost 50 years after Russia’s Yuri Gagarin made his first orbit around the earth, it’s about time that Europe finally enter the playing field, some say.

“Europe cannot stay out of manned (space) flight forever,” EADS unit Astrium Space Transportation’s CEO Alain Charmeau said at the Paris Air Show. Europe has its own space agency, ESA; it has its own module on the International Space Station; and it has sent its astronauts into space as passengers on the spacecraft of others.

Launching its own manned spaceflight mission “is not a budgetary issue, it is a matter of political willingness,” Charmeau said. His company, which makes space launchers that carry satellites or other items into space and could make a lunar lander, would be one of many that would benefit from the additional business.

Even outside the sphere of government-funded space programs, Charmeau said he expects to see more people going up into space, as paying tourists.

“I am really a supporter of space tourism,” Charmeau said.

Astrium is building its own space plane for that market, but Charmeau cautioned that space tourism projects would have to wait until the financial crisis ends and investments are more readily available again. And Virgin Galactic has been eyeing space tourism as a major future market for a while as well.

So the call is clear: Europe, send your rocket men to space already!

  A cynic might say they had seen it all before: New CEO of a big oil company, which is under pressure from shareholders, announces a wide-ranging restructuring that will make the company look like the much-admired industry leader.

Tony Hayward did it at BP in 2007 and Peter Voser, due to step up to the top job at Royal Dutch Shell Plc on July 1, did it on Wednesday.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/rbssEnergyNews/idUKLR94627920090527?sp=true

Perhaps fearing that restructurings, like jokes, don’t amuse as much on the retelling, Shell went one further than BP. While the London-based oil major said it would adopt Exxon’s approach of standardising procedures across its businesses, Shell said it would redraw its business units in the mould of Exxon’s.

Despite this, the Anglo-Dutch oil major’s announcement failed to attract the warm reaction investors gave BP’s aping of Exxon. Shell’s shares fell and analysts said Shell was coming late to the cost cutting and standardisation game.

Is this fair?

Shell may be behind BP but it has not just discovered cost cutting. At least since January, the company has been sending regular emails to staff demanding they slash overheads and the cost of contractors.

BP has indeed turned itself around in recent years, closing performance gaps against rivals, most notably in its U.S. downstream business. Some investors see this as Hayward’s restructuring paying dividends. Others say the downstream underperformance was due to problems at BP’s Texas City refinery which shut after an explosion and a hurricane, and that the recovery would have happened whoever was in charge.

Investors’ cool response to Shell’s restructuring may reflect scepticism about whether, in an industry where top management is usually made up of company lifers, any oil company can successfully adopt Exxon’s supremely profitable culture.

On the other hand, it could be that, at a time when the world's largest oil company by market value is proving no more successful than rivals at addressing the industry's biggest headache - falling oil and gas production -- investors don’t just don't get why everyone wants to be Exxon.

Starting this blog was a costly decision. To be precise, $359. That's how much I paid Amazon last night when I ordered a Kindle electronic book reader to kick off my plan to document the impact of digital media.

The Kindle is the missing piece in my digital life. I bought my first digital camera in 2000. I can't remember the last time I purchase a CD. And since moving to the United States in September, I've largely given up DVDs in favor of videos streamed via broadband. My life is largely free of the clutter of silver discs and boxes of photos. The Kindle and devices like it promise to do the same for printed media.

But do I really want to give up books? As appealing as I find Amazon's promise that I can carry 1,500 tomes in a device as thin as a magazine, is a house without shelves of wrinkled book spines really a home? And how can I share sections of the Sunday New York Times with my wife when I swap our print subscription for the Kindle version?

In the coming year, I'll be exploring the cultural and business implications of the accelerating shift towards digital media. The forces that are reshaping the music industry and newspaper publishers are rippling to television and beyond. New social trends and corporate champions will emerge, just as Apple and the iPod changed the way we consume music. Names such as Roku and Boxee are challenging the relevance of the Blu-Ray DVD players that the big electronics makers want us to buy. Many of these trends are well underway in the United States and I'll chart them through my personal experiences with the Kindle and other gadgets. With the help of my colleagues around the world and, I hope, our readers, I'll also look at how they are taking root elsewhere. Your digital comments are welcome.

Tata’s $2,500 Nano car (pictured left) may not have been unveiled at the Detroit auto show, but that didn’t stop it from being the talk of the show.

Auto executives said the car could have far-reaching impact. Ford’s head of Asia Pacific, John Parker, certainly thinks so.

“It is a groundbreaking product,” Parker told reporters. The car will “cause people to think differently about the car. I have a lot of respect for Tata.”

Calyon Securities analyst Mark Warnsman in a research note released during the show pointed out that the Nano took its bow this month in India almost 100 years after Ford revolutionized the global auto industry with the Model T car. 

“Will the Nano revolutionize the global auto industry in the way that the Model T originally did? In brief, our answer is no, but there are a number of aspects of the Nano that we do find interesting,” he said.

“The Nano may not be revolutionary in its technology, but it is state-of-the-art in the way it has tweaked existing technologies to target an as-yet untapped segment of the market,” Warnsman added. “For this, it will be worthy of study, and imitation, by automobile manufacturers everywhere.”

Nissan executive vice president Carlos Tavares was very interested in the Nano’s reception last week. The Japanese automaker, along with partner Renault and India’s Bajaj Auto Ltd, is studying whether it can profitably develop a $3,000 car to rival the Nano 

“We’re very excited to see the reception that the Nano got,” Tavares told Reuters. “It’s very impressive. Hopefully they will deliver on the promise, and of course we will benchmark against the Nano.”

Other executives heard talking about the impact of the Nano, which will be offered in India later this year, included General Motors vice chairman Bob Lutz and AutoNation CEO Michael Jackson.

(Photo: Reuters)

Some day cars built by Chinese automakers may be compared with the likes of Toyota and Honda, but not today, according to the CEO of the largest publicly traded U.S. car dealer.

AutoNation’s Michael Jackson (pictured right) said at the Detroit auto show that the worst cars at the event were the Chinese-built cars.

“Go down to the basement,” he said of the lower level of the convention center in response to a question about his opinion of the worst car. “There are a few products from China.” 

Jackson said he was approached about selling Chinese cars when they come to America, but he had no interest.

“I say not with me,” he said. “I don’t want to put my name on that.” 

Jackson said he would consider selling Chinese-made vehicles if they were built in partnership with a major automaker. Chrysler signed a deal last year with China’s Chery, which will build small cars for Chrysler to sell in America. However, those cars won’t be here any time soon.

“I don’t want to be left holding the bag when something goes kaplooey,” he said.

As for best in show, Jackson said he was impressed with the remodeled Ford F-150 pickup truck (pictured left). “You can’t understate the importance of this vehicle. It will remain the best-selling vehicle in America.”

He also liked General Motors’ Cadillac CTS coupe concept car.

(Photos: Reuters)

Say goodbye, or good riddance, to scantily clad models tossing footballs and other old Dodge promotions aimed solely at young men.

Chrysler’s new head of marketing, Deborah Meyer, said at the Detroit auto show that the automaker wants a so-called “New Day” for the historically macho brand’s growing cadre of female customers.

“We aren’t going to do that anymore,” Meyer said of past promotions and ads that skewed toward young men.

Past Chrysler ads portrayed a dog being electrocuted beside a Dodge Nitro SUV and a fairy turning a tough-looking man who was walking a big dog into a yellow-clad man walking four small dogs on pink leashes — catching flak from animal rights and gay rights groups, respectively.

Meyer, who Chrysler hired away from Toyota’s luxury Lexus division in mid August, said about 64 percent of Dodge car buyers now are under age 45, and a large percentage of those buyers are women.

“Dodge has always stood for power, but there is also a real feeling that Dodge stands for empowerment too,” Meyer told Reuters. “We are attracting a lot of young people and a lot of women.”

As for the infamous sponsorship of the pay-per-view Lingerie Bowl at the halftime of the Super Bowl four years ago, “Never again,” Meyer said. “No more lingerie bowl.”

(Photo: Chrysler)

What do MacGyver, the A-Team and the professor on Gilligan’s Island have in common? Easy; those guys could recycle spare parts to make something useful.

Well, automakers are taking a cue from those TV heroes as they increasingly use natural fibers from such materials as hemp, coconut, bamboo and kenaf in car interiors. The idea is to make the cars feel less plastic.  

“What is going to be key for cars is the way the interior feels, smells, sounds and looks like,” Philippe Aumont, a vice president at French car parts group Faurecia, told Reuters at the Detroit auto show.

Statistics in Europe show most people buy their cars without a test drive, so little things like the touch of a dashboard or feel of a steering wheel can make a difference, he said.

Kenaf, for instance, can be used in dashboards, and bamboo fibers can strengthen seats. Coconut is used in the ’shell’ of the car interior and hemp in the lining of doors.

Hemp is the common name for plants of the Cannabis family, although the term is typically used to refer only to kinds for industrial use. In other words, it is not marijuana and therefore legal.

Most U.S. auto industry officials when asked about the expected Chinese invasion of the American market in the next several years react with scorn or fear (or a mixture of both).

One Chinese company, however, showed at the Detroit auto show that it can evoke laughs.

Bei Jing Li Shi Guang Ming Automobile Design Co displayed three electric cars, sporting names like “The Book of Songs” and “A Piece of Cloud,” but it was the company’s suggestion for its “Detroit Fish” amphibious vehicle that raised eyebrows.

On the small information stand next to the bulbous, yellow 5-seater was a separate plaque that read: “Suggestion: Renowned environmentalist - President Bush, ordering this car for his Texas ranch.” 

A spokeswoman at the Chinese company’s stand said it was a joke. Although to make sure everyone got the punch line, it was translated into Chinese characters.

The Bush administration has been criticized for not protecting the environment enough.

The “Fish” may lack the necessary toughness, however, as President Bush often uses a Ford F-Series pickup truck (pictured left) on his ranch, which has been lauded for being eco-friendly.

(Photos: Reuters)

Who says cute little British cars can have all the fun and the market to themselves?

General Motors’ North American sales chief said at the Detroit auto show that the U.S. automaker is weighing a rival for BMW’s Mini luxury small car (pictured right).

“We are not ready to announce anything, but we are looking at it very seriously,” Mark LaNeve told Reuters. “There is a lot of space in the luxury market that we are not currently occupying. If you look at sophisticated urban transportation, the Mini Cooper, the Audi A1 … that is certainly a segment that has some opportunity for us.”

Mini is seen as a design icon and some owners show their love for the British brand’s roots by emblazoning the Union Jack flag on the car roof.

While most automakers have stayed away from the premium small-car segment, the adoration and higher prices it attracts than other small cars has made some take a second look. In addition to GM, Toyota also has said it is exploring that market.

When asked whether consumers might see such a car from GM soon, LaNeve responded “Some time in the future, yes.”

Separately, GM unveiled three concept minicars at the show and said they could be launched in 18 months in Europe and Asia, but there were no immediate plans to bring them to the United States unless gas prices continued to rise.

(Photo: Reuters)