AMAGASAKI, Japan (Reuters) - Panasonic maker Matsushita said it planned to start selling plasma TVs next year that consume half as much power as its current models.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd also said it had developed a plasma TV just 24.7 mm (1 inch) thick -- quarter the thickness of its standard model, and it will start using this technology in products in the business year from April 2009.

Natural flyers like birds, bats and insects outperform man-made aircraft in aerobatics and efficiency. University of Michigan engineers are studying these animals as a step toward designing flapping-wing planes with wingspans smaller than a deck of playing cards.

A Blackbird jet flying nearly 2,000 miles per hour covers 32 body lengths per second. But a common pigeon flying at 50 miles per hour covers 75.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Planes made in the European Union from 2015 may be quieter and less polluting thanks to a 1.6 billion euro ($2.4 billion) research project launched by the EU Commission and the aeronautics industry on Tuesday.

Aerospace firms will pool research to develop technology that cuts noise around airports and build engines that use less energy and can run on alternative fuels.

[NEW DELHI] A group of Indian botanists say that the country's stringent biodiversity laws are stifling research.

In an article in the latest issue of Current Science (25 January), published by the Indian Academy of Sciences, the scientists say India's "draconian" rules on free exchange of biological samples could "totally isolate Indian biodiversity researchers and is akin to a self-imposed siege on scientists in the country".

MAPUTO (Reuters) - The head of the World Bank said on Monday he was worried very high rates of HIV/AIDS infections and related tuberculosis in Mozambique could spread as new transport routes are developed to meet growing economic activity.

World Bank President Robert Zoellick met government officials, donors and non-profit groups, urging them to ramp up prevention and awareness efforts among the population.

Humans consume a distinct diet compared to other apes. Not only do we consume much more meat and fat, but we also cook our food. It has been hypothesized that adopting these dietary patterns played a key role during human evolution. However, to date, the influence of diet on the physiological and genetic differences between humans and other apes has not been widely examined.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new study suggests that baby
lotion, baby powder, and baby shampoo may be exposing babies to
potentially harmful chemicals called phthalates.

It's already being called the next deadly global pandemic.

Projected to be a bigger threat to life than AIDS and malaria combined, obesity is quickly becoming the world's most severe health-care crisis. As waistlines grow alarmingly, so do concerns over the impact an unhealthy population could have on everything from medicine to the economy.

Every two years, the California Energy Commission (CEC) releases an Integrated Energy Policy Report in which it makes recommendations for energy policy in the state, including changes to Title 24, the energy efficiency portion of the building codes. In its 2007 report, CEC recommends adjusting Title 24 to require net-zero-energy performance in residential buildings by 2020 and in commercial buildings by 2030. According to Panama Bartholomy of CEC, the commission does not need new legislation to incorporate these goals and is already moving to put them in place.