DDT Controversy in Uganda: The U.S. government and the World Health Organization are encouraging African countries to spray DDT to kill malarial mosquitoes. But in some countries, this plan to protect the public has caused a public backlash.
Report: By Alison Hawkes in northern Uganda.

DDT: Poison or Protector? How toxic is DDT for humans? And how effective is it at killing mosquitoes? Is it possible to balance concern for the environment with the desire to fight malaria?
Guest: Entomologist May Berenbaum, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Berenbaum is also our guest in The World’s interactive science forum. Join us for an online conversation about DDT, malaria, and the delicate balance between competing risks. Ask questions, and share your views and ideas.

Traditional Healing in Senegal: Throughout Africa, many people rely on traditional healers. Western medical care is often unavailable or too expensive, and many Africans don’t believe that Western medicine works.
Report: By Jori Lewis in Senegal.

Reforesting Ghana: Over the past century, Ghana has lost 80 percent of its forest. Now, a British firm is launching a project to plant 24 million trees in that West African nation. The idea: to get big polluters to pay for the forests as part of a carbon trading scheme.
Report: By BBC environment correspondent David Shukman, in Ghana.

Elsa’s weekly favorites:

• A new HIV strain jumps from gorillas to humans. (The study.)
• Malaria came to us from the great apes, too– from chimpanzees, to be precise. (The study.)
• Four-thousand-year-old gourds bear traces of a prehistoric Peruvian feast. (The study.) (Here’s a recipe for modern algarrobina cocktails– but you might have to make your own carob syrup.)
• Orchids imitate bees to dupe wasps. (The study.)
  Photo by Song Xi-qiang

Music:
Africa Must Be Free By 1983, by Hugh Mundell
Gossando, Star Band de Dakar

This week, psychologist David Matsumoto explains why there are fewer smiles in Russia or Korea than in the U.S.—and why many people think Americans are a bunch of cheerful dopes. Take this test: Can you tell the real smiles from the fake?

In Panama, two American ecologists, Joe Wright and Bill Laurance, are having a debate: When it comes to preserving tropical ecosystems, are recent forests a good substitute for old-growth forests?

Also from Panama, we have a story about the HPV vaccine, which protects against cervical cancer. Panama recently started offering the shots free to girls, but the government has failed to mention a basic fact: the vaccine protects against a sexually transmitted disease. In the U.S., the vaccine has been controversial, with political conservatives saying that it encourages teen sexual activity. Panama has sidestepped that issue by referring to the vaccine as a “cancer” vaccine.

In Kenya and Uganda, there’s also a vaccine drive—this one against polio. Chris Maher of the World Health Organization hopes the effort will suppress the outbreak.

And climate researcher Glen Peters says the West plays a key role in China’s booming greenhouse gas emissions.