LA Times Science Files for 2007/06/26

These are items compiled by staff of the LA Times.

• SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CALIF. – Some fires race across grasslands and others burn miles
  
  

  to treetop. The blaze that has destroyed so much so quickly near Lake Tahoe is the latter, the kind known as a “crown fire” to those who struggle to fight them, let alone understand them. By Steve Chawkins and Tim Reiterman, Times Staff Writers.

• PALEONTOLOGY
  Fossil of giant penguin found in Peru
  

  Researchers reported Monday that they had unearthed two fossil penguins, one of which stood 5 feet tall, that lived in the warm climate of prehistoric Peru – a discovery that promises to change the way scientists think about penguins and cold weather. By Amber Dance, Times Staff Writer.

• HEALTH
  NFL disability issue to get airing on Capitol Hill
  

  Brent Boyd was a 23-year-old rookie scrambling to stick with the Minnesota Vikings when he suffered his first concussion as a professional football player. Nearly three decades later, the preseason-game collision that left Boyd temporarily blind in one eye continues to haunt. By Greg Johnson, Times Staff Writer.

• ENVIRONMENT
  Owl’s ‘critical habitat’ may be reduced
  

  For the first time since coming under federal protection 15 years ago, the northern spotted owls’ forest haven may be in jeopardy. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed to decrease the owls’ “critical habitat” by 1.5 million acres, or 22%. By Alison Williams, Times Staff Writer.

• PUBLIC HEALTH
  Ex-EPA chief defends accounts of 9/11 air quality
  

  WASHINGTON – Former Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christine Todd Whitman, appearing Monday before a House subcommittee, denounced as “downright falsehoods” criticism of her statements following the Sept. 11 attacks that the air quality in areas around the World Trade Center site was safe for workers and residents. By Claudia Lauer, Times Staff Writer.

• PUBLIC HEALTH
  New campaign against sexually transmitted diseases
  

  To combat rising rates of syphilis, chlamydia and gonorrhea, Los Angeles County officials will launch a public health campaign today that uses drink coasters, murals, sidewalk chalk art and other unconventional approaches to advertise the need to get tested. By Mary Engel, Times Staff Writer.

• ARCHEOLOGY
  A lively debate over the Dead Sea Scrolls
  

  SAN DIEGO – Most scholars consider the scrolls to be the articles of faith of a small Jewish sect that lived an ascetic life near the Dead Sea, avoiding what it saw as the corrupt religious establishment while waiting for the Messiah. But dissidents have kept up a literary crossfire disputing the majority’s thinking – and some complain that the public has gotten a slanted view of the scrolls. By Michael Boehm, Times Staff Writer.

• OPINION
  Put a knot in L.A.’s hose
  

  Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has asked Los Angeles to reduce water consumption by one-tenth. Asked? A tenth? He should have demanded, and he should have required a 25% cut. By Emily Green.