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Seeps from which gas and oil escape were formative to many ancient cultures and societies. They gave rise to legends surrounding the Delphi Oracle, Chimaera fires and "eternal flames" that were central to ancient religious practices - from Indonesia and Iran to Italy and Azerbaijan. Modern geologists and oil and gas explorers can learn much by delving into the geomythological stories about the religious and social practices of the Ancient World, writes Guiseppe Etiope of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology in Italy. His research is published in the new Springer book Natural Gas Seepage. "Knowing present-day gas fluxes...

Close window Published online: 11 January 2007; | doi:10.1038/news070108-11 Proposals for cow-human embryos put on holdChimaera experiments still on the table after authority avoids outright ban.Jim Giles Mixed up: UK proposals to make embryos using two different species are on hold. Getty British plans to create cloned human embryos that contain small amounts of cow DNA have been set back by about a year, after regulators decided to gauge public opinion before granting any licences. Scientists want to use cow eggs to create and study cloned embryos because human eggs are in desperately short supply. Injecting human DNA into...