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SCIENCEWednesday 23 December
Astronauts help move stalled rail car during spacewalk Restrictions eased
on blood donations
MIKE SCHNEIDER helped move a stalled from gay men: FDA
Associated Press rail car back into place
ORLANDO, Florida (AP) — outside the International M. PERRONE
Two American astronauts Space Station earlier this AP Health Writer
week, quickly finishing WASHINGTON (AP) — The
the primary job of an un- American astronaut Scott Kelly returns to the International nation’s three-decade-old
planned spacewalk before Space Station at the end of a spacewalk in which he and fellow ban on blood donations
moving on to other house- American Timothy Kopra helped move a stalled rail car back from gay and bisexual
keeping tasks. NASA’s one- into place outside the space station, on Monday, Dec. 21, 2015. men was formally lifted
year spaceman, Scott Monday, but major restric-
Kelly, and astronaut Timo- (NASA TV via AP) tions will continue to limit
thy Kopra took just a little who can give blood.
more than a half-hour to lometers) above Earth was With their primary task com- The Food and Drug Admin-
release brake handles on just scheduled last Friday. pleted, Kelly and Kopra istration said it is replac-
the rail car and help guide The rail car is part of the split up to work on sepa- ing the lifetime ban with a
it 4 inches (10 centimeters) station’s mobile transport rate tasks of routing cables new policy barring dona-
back into place. The rail system, which is normally along the space station. tions from men who have
car needed to be moved used to transport people Kopra also retrieved some had sex with a man in the
so a cargo ship filled with and equipment, including tools stored on the side previous year. While the
nearly 3 tons of food and the station’s big robot arm. of the station for a future one-year ban has been
supplies could dock at After engineers on the spacewalk. criticized by activists it
the orbiting space lab on ground confirmed the rail Finished with their work, the matches policies in other
Wednesday. car was latched in place, astronauts returned inside countries, including Austra-
“I see motion!” Kelly said af- Hopkins told the space- the space station more lia, Japan and the U.K.
ter the astronauts released walkers, “It’s in a good than three hours after the Gay rights activists said the
the brake handles and a config. Well done!” start of their spacewalk.q new policy is a “step in the
robotics officer in Mission right direction,” but falls
Control sent a command short.
to move the rail car. “It continues to stigmatize
“Good news! It appears gay and bisexual men,”
to have reached the work said David Stacy, of the
site,” astronaut Mike Hop- Human Rights Campaign,
kins in Mission Control told the largest U.S. gay rights
the spacewalkers a short group. “It simply cannot
time later. The spacewalk be justified in light of cur-
more than 250 miles (400 ki- rent scientific research and
updated blood screening
Prague zoo says it has record salamander technology.”
Monday’s policy shift was
PRAGUE (AP) — Prague Zoo Petr Velensky uses a meter to show the size of a Chinese giant first proposed in late 2014
says it likely has the longest salamander Karlo in an aquarium at the zoo in Prague, Czech and follows years of lobby-
Chinese giant salamander Republic. Prague Zoo says Karlo is likely to be the biggest living ing by medical groups and
now on Earth. The critically Chinese giant salamander in the world. gay rights groups, who said
endangered animal is the the previous ban was out-
largest amphibian on the (AP Photo/Petr David Josek) dated and perpetuated
planet. In a statement this negative stereotypes.
week, the zoo says Karlo, a salamander on record its worldwide check didn’t Dr. Peter Marks of the
Chinese giant salamander was 1.8 meters (5 feet, 11 reveal any longer-living FDA said the change is
it received 19 months ago inches) long. The zoo says salamander.q “backed by sound scien-
from the State Museum tific evidence” and will
of Natural History in Karl- “continue to protect our
sruhe, Germany, is likely blood supply.”
the biggest representa- The FDA considered elimi-
tive of its species. The zoo nating all restrictions on
says, according to the lat- blood donations from gay
est measurements done and bisexual men, but
Friday, that Karlo is 1.58 concluded that would in-
meters (5 feet, 2 and 3/16 crease the transmission of
inches) long. Karlo’s age is HIV through the blood sup-
estimated at 37 to 38 years ply by 400 percent.q
and weight is 35 kilograms
(77 pounds). The largest
