Highly secret hi-tech tactics and technology helped defeat Muqtada al-Sadr's militia fighters in the battle for Sadr City. Lesley Stahl reports for 60 Minutes.

Spinal cord injuries and disorders afflict millions worldwide, from disabled veterans to people with neurodegenerative disorders such as Lou Gehrig’s disease, yet there is currently no way to repair a damaged spine. Geneticists at the Allen Institute for Brain science in Seattle are hoping to change that by developing the first genetic encyclopedia of the spinal cord.The Allen Spinal Cord Atlas, which will be available online for free in early 2009, will map out which genes are active in which locations along the spine in mice, which share 90 percent of their genetic material with humans. [More]

The ongoing disruption of the earth’s climate by man-made greenhouse gases is already well beyond dangerous and is careening toward completely unmanageable. Under midrange projections for economic growth and technological change, the planet’s average surface temperature in 2050 will be about two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than its preindustrial value. The last time the earth was that warm was 130,000 years ago, and sea level was four to six meters higher than today. No one knows how long it will take sea level to “catch up” with such an increase; it could be several centuries, or it could be less.Even with uncertainties, there is reason to believe that tipping points into unmanageable changes will become much more probable for increases larger than two degrees C. To achieve a better-than-even chance of not exceeding that figure, human emissions must start to decline soon, falling to about half of today’s level by 2050 and further there

A plant-eating predator from Japan could be used to control a superweed spreading throughout the UK, scientists believe.

The world's governments will fail to meet their agreed target of curbing biodiversity loss by 2010, conservationists tell the BBC.

Escape From Berkeley could be the world's most eco-friendly race, in which alternative-fuel-burning vehicles compete with the goal of completing the race using no petroleum.

[The following is an exact transcript of this podcast.]We all know people who are completely unflappable, able to remain calm in the face of total calamity. Don’t you just hate those people? Well, a new study in the October 9th issue of the journal Neuron suggests that with a little practice, you could become one of them. Because researchers led by Nobel Laureate Eric Kandel have taught mice how to be less skittish--training that physically changes their brains. [More]

The American Chemical Society News Service Weekly Press Package contains reports from 36 major peer-reviewed journals on chemistry, health, medicine, energy, environment, food, nanotechnology and other hot topics.

New research may help reveal why different parts of the brain can come under attack in patients with multiple sclerosis. According to a new study in mice with an MS-like disease, the brain's response to a protein produced by invading T cells dictates whether it's the spinal cord or cerebellum that comes under fire. The study will be published online on Oct. 13 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

Varying your heart rate can kick your workouts up a notch