the-BA : Science News Digest

Carrots (Image copyright: istockphoto.com)

In the news this week: Britain’s first ever live kidney transplant, carrots to be used as a new eco-friendly material and scientists can now read your mind. Plus, men take note this Valentine's Day: women actually ‘shun’ the men who have it all...

The BBC has reported that over 1500 sq km (570 sq miles) of land in the Omsk region of Russia were covered in oily yellow and orange snow on Wednesday. Chemical tests are underway to determine the cause of the foul smelling snow, but nothing has yet been confirmed.

It has been discovered that the orange snow contains up to four times the usual levels of iron, and local residents have been advised not to use the snow in any way, and not to allow their animals to graze on it. The neighbouring regions of Tomsk and Tyumen have also reported orange snow.

American surgeons performed a kidney transplant on Tuesday, which was broadcast live to a British audience at the Dana Centre in London. Visitors to the Dana centre were able to watch and question the surgeons as they operated via teleconferencing.

"A live kidney transplant is a wonderful and unique opportunity for the public to really find out what goes on in a surgical theatre by talking directly to the surgical team, as well as finding out more about kidney disease and transplants,” stated the Dana Centre’s Programme Manager, Kat Nilsson, in the Guardian this week.

The Government has been considering vaccinating bird flocks in an attempt to limit the risks of bird flu spreading. The vaccinations will only be undertaken as a last resort. DEFRA adviser and Imperial College researcher Professor Neil Ferguson spoke of the possible vaccinations in the Telegraph, "If we start seeing secondary cases in different farms, that is the time we have to seriously think about vaccination."

Due to the enormous volume of bird species throughout the UK, the prospect of mass vaccinations has been described as “a logistical nightmare”. The vaccines would involve each bird being vaccinated twice within a period of three weeks, and then receiving booster vaccinations every six months afterwards. Currently there is not enough vaccine available to immunise all birds.

Scientists have discovered a new way to read your mind. High-resolution brain scans have been used to reveal people’s intentions before they act. Volunteer’s intentions were predicted accurately 70 per cent of the time when given the option to add or subtract in mathematical equations.

Scientists were able to predict how volunteers were going to act by studying distinct activities in a marble sized part of the brain. It is believed that this new research will “provoke an ethical debate about the use of brain-reading technology,” said Professor Haynes, from the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in the Times.

The Daily Telegraph reported on a study undertaken at the University of Central Lancashire. The study weighed up male physical attractiveness and socio economic status, and women confessed to their levels of attraction to a variety of men.

Data collected from 186 female university students surprisingly showed that highly attractive men of medium status scored better than highly attractive men of high status. The research team speculated that “women perceive highly attractive men of increasing status to be less faithful and ‘too good to be true’”.

A new high-tech material has been created by two scientists based in Burntisland, Fife. It is believed that the material could be used for anything from warships to fishing rods, and the most surprising factor of all is that the material is produced from carrots. The material known as Curran is produced by extracting nano fibres found in carrots and combining them with high tech resins, creating a malleable and versatile material.

Inventors David Hepworth and Eric Whale believe that this environmentally friendly material is arriving at the right time. Speaking to the Guardian, Dr Hepworth stated, “The potential of Curran is enormous and if we can replace just a small percentage of carbon fibre in products, the effects on the environment could be significant and wide ranging.” Next month will see the launch of the first Curran product available on the market: a ‘Just Cast’ fishing rod.

The BBC reported that many species are now under threat due to illegal logging in South East Asia. The United Nations Environment Programme has reported that if no action is taken, 98 per cent of forests on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo may be gone by 2022. Indonesia has made a plea for western markets to refuse smuggled timber, as the illegal practise threatens local people as well as some of the world’s most precious wildlife. The Indonesian government has taken action in the past, deploying its military to confiscate timber and chase loggers out of its parks. Training of quick response ranger teams to police protected areas has now begun.

Reports from the UN now show that orangutan habitat is being lost 30 per cent quicker than previously feared. The European Union and Indonesia have agreed to negotiate a pact aiming at ending illegal logging, and providing guarantees ensuring forest products imported to the EU are verified as legal.

And finally…

Millions of Sir Richard Branson’s fortunes are up for grabs, if you can come up with the best way of drastically reducing the amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Sir Richard Branson launched the competition with former US Vice President Al Gore in London. The BBC quoted Al Gore: “It's a challenge to the moral imagination of humankind to actually accept the reality of the situation we are now facing.”

The inventor of Gaia theory James Lovelock, Nasa scientist James Hansen, UK environmentalist Sir Crispin Tickell; and Australian mammologist and palaeontologist Tim Flannery will all be judging the competition. At a news conference Sir Richard said, “The Earth cannot wait 60 years, I want a future for my children and my children’s children. The clock is ticking.”

With global warming and climate change at the forefront of most political agendas, and ever prominent in peoples minds, do you have the inspiration to help stop climate change?