On The Radar

The pick of the science news

Talks on Saturn 

Prof Carolyn Porco, who heads the imaging team on the Cassini mission to Saturn and its moons, will be in Ireland next week to present images and discuss recent findings, including evidence that Saturn's moon Enceladus harbours liquid water under its surface. Tomorrow at 8pm Prof Porco will speak at Blackrock Castle Observatory in Cork, while on Wednesday at 7.30pm she will lecture at the Armagh Planetarium.

The talks are free but limited, so booking is essential. For Cork call 021-4357917 or e-mail info@bco.ie, and for Armagh contact Neil Cullen on 00-44-2837512938, e-mail neil@armaghplanet.com

Skin deep 

Seeing a few extra lines in the mirror? Genes linked with your immune system could be to blame. Procter & Gamble analysed gene expression in skin samples from 10 older and 10 younger women, reports New Scientist . Older skin showed a decrease in gene activity associated with fatty-acid synthesis, while levels of gene expression linked with the immune system and inflammation were higher than in the younger samples.

Meanwhile L'Oréal claims to have found that the genetic response to physical damage in older skin is five times slower than in more youthful tissue.

By numbers 

1.3 million 

The number of archived optical images used to generate the most complete topographic map of Earth , released this week by Nasa and Japan

1,000 

The number of species under threat in the UK from the rapid spread of the harlequin ladybird, reports the BBC

"There's just not enough sediment to sustain the delta plain"

- Michael Blum of Louisiana State University, author of a 'Nature Geoscience' study that predicts the Mississippi delta will 'drown' by 2100, reported by National Geographic

... Claire O'Connell

... e-mail: 1000.claire@gmail.com