Breakthrough? For the first time, an experimental vaccine has prevented infection with the AIDS virus, a watershed event in the deadly epidemic. The World Health Organization and the U.N. agency UNAIDS say the results “instilled new hope” in the field of HIV vaccine research. The vaccine—a combination of two previously unsuccessful vaccines—cut the risk of becoming infected with HIV by more than 31% in the world’s largest AIDS vaccine trial of more than 16,000 volunteers in Thailand, researchers announced today in Bangkok. Even though the benefit is modest, “it’s the first evidence that we could have a safe and effective preventive vaccine,” Col. Jerome Kim told The Associated Press. He helped lead the study for the U.S. Army, which sponsored it with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
What Santa should stock up on: A battery powered hamster, an adjustable tricycle and a doll tied to the upcoming Disney movie The Princess and the Frog are some of the items that Toys R Us says will be hot gifts in the holiday season. The national retailer released its annual list of the 36 new items girls and boys will be asking Santa Claus for this year. Also on the list: the Nerf N-Strike Raider Rapid Fire, which can fire a stream of 35 soft darts; the Barbie B-Nails Digital Nail Printer, which allows girls to give themselves home manicures and Mindflex, a game that allows children to move a foam ball around using brainwave activity.
