LA Times Science Files for 2007/06/05

These are items compiled by staff of the LA Times.

• ARCHEOLOGY
  Polynesians beat Spaniards to South America, study shows
  

  Analysis of chicken bones found in Chile shows Polynesians reached the continent no later than 1407. By Thomas H. Maugh II, Times Staff Writer.

• LETHAL INJECTION
  Lethal injections upheld in Missouri
  

  A panel of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals finds ‘no wanton infliction of cruel and unusual punishment,’ clearing the way for executions to resume. By Henry Weinstein, Times Staff Writer.

• GLOBAL WARMING
  U.S. short-changes climate monitoring, report says
  

  America will lose much of its ability to monitor global warming from space unless the Bush administration reverses course and restores funding for the next generation of climate instruments, according to a confidential report prepared by government scientists. By John Johnson Jr., Times Staff Writer.

• GLOBAL WARMING
  China hedges its environmental plan
  

  Beijing makes it clear that the economy takes priority over the fight against global warming. By Mitchell Landsberg, Times Staff Writer.

• RECOVERY
  A bullet can’t stop his heart
  

  Palisades High guard Paul Davis-Mitchell, the random target of a drive-by shooting, will be graduating soon, after a season in which he couldn’t have appreciated the game more. By Eric Sondheimer, Times Staff Writer.