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FOR THE BIRDS

West Nile Virus is a pretty scary thing. The latest information suggests it is a disease that has the greatest effect on the over-50 crowd. Infants and young children seem to tolerate it very well and don't become sick, but this is the first virus that effects both birds and humans.

It's odd there are some birds that catch West Nile Virus but don't die -- chickens, for example. Knowing that chickens are viewed as quite the buffet to West Nile-infected mosquitoes, government agencies have set up small flocks of chickens as so-called "sentinel flocks" to act as walking, clucking early warning devices. They draw blood weekly from the sentinel poultry flock and check for the virus.

What's the best defense? DEET. Come again? DEET -- which stands for the mouthful chemical name, N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide -- is the stuff in mosquito repellent that make the bugs go away. There's been a great deal of news regarding the use of DEET with small children and there are some possible adverse effects. Important rules: No DEET for infants, and no more than 10-percent DEET concentrations for small children.

An alternative to DEET that is non-toxic and usable on humans, pets and livestock is a product called CedarCide. The U.S. Department of Agriculture seems to think the CedarCide folks are onto something because the agency gave the product a glowing review. Swing by CedarCide.com and see for yourself.

FILL UP THE TANK WITH COOKING OIL

A British environmental engineer at Staffordshire University has developed a way to convert unwanted cooking oil into a so-called "biodiesel" that would be much cleaner than regular diesel. Tarik Al-Shemmeri used discarded vegetable oil because when it is burned it does not give off sulfur dioxide, unlike conventional diesel.

Sulfur dioxide contributes to acid rain and is a major world polluter. The biodiesel also finds a new use for the unwanted cooking oil produced by restaurants and hotels around the world. If not properly disposed off, it can pollute agriculture land and waterways.

LONGER LIFE FOR AMERICANS

In the past 50 years, Americans are living longer, fewer babies are dying in infancy and the gap between white and black life expectancy is narrowing, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Among the key findings was that during the past half-century, death rates among children and adults up to age 24 were cut in half.

In 2000, Americans enjoyed the longest life expectancy in U.S. history -- almost 77 years -- for men age 74 and for women almost 80. A century earlier, life expectancy was 48 for men and 51 for women. The report says the infant mortality rate has plummeted 75 percent since 1950. Homicide rates among young black and Hispanic males, ages 15-24, dropped almost 50 percent in the 1990s, HHS reported.

SPACE JUNK

A mystery object recently found orbiting Earth is more likely to be a used rocket booster from an Apollo spacecraft than a tiny second Moon, New Scientist reports. NASA scientists say their analysis indicates it could be a leftover Saturn V third stage from one of the Apollo missions, most likely the Apollo 12 mission, launched in 1969.

The object was spotted on Sept. 3 by an astronomer in Arizona and initially was thought to be an asteroid passing Earth. According to researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, it still is possible the object, dubbed J002E3, will turn out to be a new moon, however more observations and modeling are needed to determine if it is space rock or space junk, the researchers say.

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