FDA OKs Promising HIV Drug, Conservation Biologists Take on Climate Change at Oakland Meeting - 7/17 KQED Science News Roundup

FDA approves Truvada as HIV preventiveThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved the marketing of the first drug shown to curb the transmission of the HIV virus, a development heralded by AIDS advocates and physicians as a turning point in the battle against the decades-long epidemic.

Newest Mars rover has Los Altos man's rock analyzer aboard - San Jose Mercury NewsScientist shrinks refrigerator size X-ray diffraction machine to a breadbox component for August landing on the Red Planet

Federal produce-testing program spared for nowSAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- The nation's largest produce-safety testing program narrowly escaped closure thanks to a last-minute grudging reprieve from the Agriculture Department, and finding a permanent solution to keep tainted fruits and vegetables from reaching consumers could take an even bigger effort. Each year, the tiny program screens thousands of produce samples.

Conservation Biologists Take on Climate Change at Oakland Meeting | KQEDScientists are gathering in Oakland this week to figure out how to save thousands of animals around the world from extinction. Conservation biologists at the first-ever North American Congress for Conservation Biology want to know how humans affect biodiversity. Animals are already isolated by development and habitat loss, but climate change is worsening the situation.

Mars-bound spacecraft set for risky landingAfter a looping 354 million-mile journey from Earth, the Mars rover named Curiosity, packed with the most elaborate probing instruments and high-resolution space cameras ever devised, is now scheduled to reach Mars at 10:31 p.m. on Aug. 5.

Trans fat ban made fast food a bit healthier in NYWASHINGTON (AP) -- Turns out it's possible to make a fast-food lunch a bit healthier even without skipping the fries. New York City now has hard evidence that its ban on trans fat in restaurant food made a meaningful dent in people's consumption of the artery clogger and wasn't just replaced with another bad fat.

Sonoma Residents Fight PG&E Tree-Cutting Plan | KQEDSome Sonoma County residents are fighting a PG&E plan to cut down thousands of trees alongside the company's power lines. PG&E has always trimmed trees growing near its large transmission lines. Last year the company alarmed residents, however, when it announced plans to remove what it called "incompatible plants" from a 39-mile right-of-way between the Geysers and Petaluma.