Scientists claim to have solved mystery of Gulf War illness

STORY BY STEPHEN J. THORNE

A team of American scientists claims to have solved the mystery of Gulf War illness in a detailed genetic study that points the finger of blame at sarin nerve gas.

The researchers at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center’s epidemiology division in Dallas not only found that veterans exposed to sarin during the Persian Gulf War were more likely to develop problems associated with the illness, they also discovered the risk was regulated by a gene that can enable some people’s bodies to better break down the nerve agent.

Matti Blume/Wikimedia

The Parliament bombing of 1966

STORY BY SHARON ADAMS

On May 18, 1966, a lone man left the public galleries of the House of Commons during a debate and went to the men’s washroom on the third floor. Then he lit the fuse on a dynamite bomb.

But Paul Joseph Chartier had miscalculated exactly how long it would take the wick to burn. Instead of his likely intended victims—politicians on the floor of the House—the 44-year-old accidentally blew himself up.