robert bazell, nbc news, cleveland. >>> up next, the first look at the new arrival at the washington zoo. >>> look at this video out of australia, going on for 40 minutes, most of us, of course will go our whole lifetime and not see anything close to this this is a fire tornado, happening when the surface winds twist, combining with the wildfires and form an extreme heat updraft that just makes the column of flame go up into the sky. >>> and space shuttle endeavor, riding piggyback on the boeing 747, that left florida today. after low fly-overs past the nasa centers today, they landed near houston. the plan is they will leave tomorrow for the final journey to california. >>> and big news from mars, this will look just like a rock. the rover came across the rock, ten inches tall, 16 inches wide. the rock doesn't know it yet, but they're busting to use the rover, so we'll know much more about this rock shortly, more than we ever wanted to know. it has already been named after a former engineer on the project. >>> here are the new pictures on the baby panda creating a national sensation

tonight, robert bazell, our chief correspondent. >> reporter: dr. david ludwid and his team at children's hospital in boston counsel young people who are trying to lose weight. >> now, it is apples, bananas. >> sugary beverages can affect weight quite quickly, perhaps more than any food group. >> reporter: he was one of more than 24 overweight or obese adolescents. half of the household got calorie-free drinks and were encouraged to give up sugary sweet beverages. >> i got encouraged to always reach for the water, have it right by me. >> reporter: after the year, the kids getting the non-calorie drinks gained four pounds on average, than those not getting it. the study concentrates on the emerging understanding on how some people are disposed to putting on weight. >> people who tend to gain weight or become obese are much more likely to do so if they drink soda or sugar-sweetened beverages. >> reporter: scientists increasingly believe that sugary drinks put on more weight than other same type of calorie foods. such massive doses of sugar in liquid f

more on this story with our chief correspondent robert bazell. >> reporter: scientists know there are several biological path ways that lead to breast cancer. but the roadmap had gaps. this latest research fills in many of them. opening up the possibility of entirely new personalized treatments. >> this is really a giant step towards understanding the fundamentals of what breast cancer is, so that we can develop new, effective therapies, one patient at a time. >> reporter: the research is part of a giant program, to analyze the thousands of changes in dna and cells that lead to all sorts of cancer. and it provides the evidence that breast cancer is not one disease, but four major types and many sub-types. this means that many drugs on the market to treat leukemia, melanoma, and other cancers, say that patients need to know that while results are exciting, clinical trials are still needed. likely years. >> this is not something we can all take action on tomorrow in the clinic, but it is how we'll put together our next round of therapies and how we're going to move forward to change thi

our report on this new study tonight from our chief science correspondent robert bazell. >> reporter: katie killian has been taking fish oil supplements as part of a heart healthy program for 20 years. >> taking fish oil has lowered my cholesterol. and that makes me happy, because i don't have to take any other medications. >> reporter: she is hardly alone. the supplements are a source of omega 3 fatty acid. which is known to be good for the heart. while sales exceed $1 billion a year, studies have repeatedly differed on how much fish oil helps. the research out today combined 20 previous studies involving more than 68,000 patients since 1989. the analysis by greek scientists was published today in "the journal of the american medical association." overall, the study concluded the supplements do neither harm nor good. but it also showed that people taking fish oil supplements suffered 9% fewer heart deaths and 11% fewer heart attacks. for several other factors, sudden deaths, total deaths and stroke, the study found no significant difference. >> if you focus on cardiac death, which is

our story tonight from our chief science correspondent robert bazell. >> reporter: some members of the heinrichs family from davenport, iowa, carry a terrible genetic mutation. >> that's grandma. >> reporter: if they have it, they will definitely develop alzheimer's disease, usually before age 50. for now they have decided not to know who carries the gene. >> we decided we didn't want to know. and i think we decided as a collective group that we all felt about the same. >> reporter: by studying 128 members of such families who carry the rare mutation, researchers have discovered a disturbing new aspect of alzheimer's. >> brain changes that ultimately result in alzheimer's dementia occur 15 to 20 years before there are any signs of symptoms of dementia. >> reporter: what happens is a buildup of a protein called beta amyloid measured in spinal fluid or with brain scans, which many scientists believe is the prime cause of alzheimer's. alzheimer's researchers say the drugs to treat or prevent the disease may have to be given years or even decades before symptoms develop. to try to find tho

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our report from chief correspondent robert bazell. >> reporter: she insists on a healthy diet for her kids, because of a family history of strokes and heart attacks. it includes limited salt. whole foods have very all right salt, and fresh vegetables, lean meats have very little salt >> reporter: but too few families are making this change. the center for disease control recommends a certain amount, the amount is 2300 milligrams a day. kids are getting an average of more than 3300 >> kids are consuming more salt than anyone thought they did. and that the high salt intake is associated with high blood pressure in children. >> reporter: the blood pressure in children went up from 1.3 to 2.4 times more than normal. in kids already overweight or obese, the blood pressure went up five times. >> if you're overweight, and you don't eat well and consume those type foods, they go together. >> reporter: most school lunch programs have been working to cut salt, but snack foods and fast foods are a big concern. one serving of pretzels, or potato chips, a big mac, a whopper with cheese, and a kfc

. >> nbc chief science and health correspondent robert bazell joins me now.remember back when the epa was saying no worries, nothing is wrong with the air there and we all know what has happened since. finally these people are being compensated although there's still big health issues for those still ill. >> a lot of health issues, andrea. the idea that air and those of us who breathed it, the idea that air was somehow not unhealthful, was just a fantasy. it was terrible. it had every kind of pollution you could imagine in it, including just plain all kinds of metallic dust as well as toxins and the idea that it won't lead to cancer is just absurd. now it takes many years to prove that it will cause cancer because as we know from studies of smoking and other carcinogens it takes many years between the exposure and the cancer. there's no scientific proof yet that the fumes from the pile of 9/11 caused any cancers, but very few people who are in knowledge of this doubt that it will and that's why this is such an important decision by dr. john howard who heads t

chief science coordinator robert bazell joins us with more. >> reporter: the study could open a vast new array of possible treatments for breast cancer. as part of a government program, it is revealing the genetics of all major types of cancer. scientists identified the dna of cancer. breast cancer is not one disease, it occurs in four basic forms. this study revealed more potential treatments for each type. the research opens the possibility of trying different drugs, including some already on the market to treat other forms of cancer. and the new genetic information will give drug companies clues for developing new drugs. everything will have to be tested in years of clinical trials. but the new information gives a wealth of information to the disease that kills 35,000 woma r in this country. >>> a surprising and sad turn of events to report. a giant panda cub born just a week ago has died. when they heard a distress call from the mother, they realized they had an emergency on their hands, and even tried cpr on the panda, but it was too late. >> the veterinarians, the volunteers, w

nbc's chief science correspondent robert bazell will have more coming up in about 20 minutes on "nbc nightly news" with brian williams. >>> an explosive new report finds what is called an alarming levels of arsenic in rice. it may affect every rice dish we eat, including baby food. nbc's erica edwards has the story. >> reporter: consumer reports scientists tested more than 200 of the most popular brands of rice products, from kellogg's to gerber infant cereal. they found elevated levels of a potentially dangerous toxin, arsenic. >> these are moderate to moderately high levels of arsenic. >> reporter: arsenic is a known carcinogen. it's unclear whether the amounts found in rice would have any health impact. but high enough levels over time could lead to several types of cancer. the food and drug administration does not regulate arsenic levels in food, only drinking water. the agency has begun its own investigation. preliminary data show levels as high as consumer reports, but with wide variations from product to product. >> we need a larger database to do the kinds of risk analysis to

robert bazell reports. >> reporter: she's been taking fish oil supplements as part of her heart healthy program for 20 years. >> it's lowered by cholesterol. that makes me happy. i don't have to take other medications. >> reporter: the supplements are a source of omega-3 fatty acids known to be good for the heart. sales exceed $1 billion a year. studies differ on how much it helps. the research out today combine 20 previous studies involving 68,000 patients. the analysis was published today in the journal of the american medical association. the study concluded the supplements do neither harm nor good. they suffered 9% fewer heart deaths and 11% fewer heart attacks. for sudden deaths, total deaths and stroke, the study found no significant difference. >> if you focus on cardiac death, the outcome most likely influenced by fish oil, there is a significant benefit for that outcome. >> reporter: one thing the report finds is older studies showed more benefit from the supplement than newer ones. it could be because people are taking better heart medications and eating fish. >> i recommend p

. >> robert bazell. thanks very much. let's go back to washington and tim russert who has a guest on the phone and porter goss, the head of the house intelligence committee. >> are you there? >> i am here. >> as the chairman of the house intelligence committee what is your official reaction to what we witnessed this morning? >> obviously i am horrified. we do our best to make sure there are no surprises like this happening to americans at home or abroad. it is never 100% sure and we got the wakeup call again today. it is unbelievable anybody would do an act like this using innocent victims aboard our commercial airliners as weapons against other innocent victims in our big buildings, our symbols of economy and commerce in new york and our defense and legislative and executive buildings here in washington. >> when people are watching this at home, congressman, they're saying to themselves how could this happen in the united states of america, a complete breakdown in our airport security, a complete breakdown in our air spa