Gizmo

War is a nasty thing, no doubt about it. Aside from the loss of human life, there is the aftermath of cleanup, including often long-lasting environmental damage. A study underwritten by the US Department of Defense study is looking for plants that can help with the cleanup process.
Using depleted uraniam contaminated soil from a New Mexico proving ground, they planted a range of arid climate plants and measured their uptake of the DU. Russian thistle, AKA tumbleweed, was one of the best plants at this task in the dry climate being studied.
There is hope that the knowledge gained from the study can be put to use on the battlefields of the Middle East as well as other areas around the world where battles have raged.
In addition, Science.Ars has updates on a couple of stories we have been following over the past few weeks – the exploration of Titan and continuing fallout from the Vioxx controversy. And there's even more.

http://arstechnica.com/columns/scien...e-20041114.ars