the-BA : Science News Digest - 15 December 2006

Image of thermometer (copyright: istockphoto.com)

In the news this week: 2006 is on course to become the UK’s hottest year on record, a hay fever vaccine pill will soon be launched and scientific experts report on the use of non-human primates in research. Plus, the shirt that can transmit a hug…

In 20 years time it will be possible to store high-resolution video footage of every second of a person’s life, according to Professor Nigel Shadbolt, President of the British Computer Society. “It's not a question of whether it will happen; it's already happening,” he said. Leading computer scientists, psychologists and neuroscientists gathered at the Memories of Life conference held this week to debate the issues raised by the advent of huge increases in computing power and the amount of information being collected on individuals, reported the Daily Telegraph.

The American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting was being held in San Francisco. It saw the launch of a competition to design a mission to track the Apophis asteroid. Although the space rock will come closer to the Earth in 1929 than many communications satellites, it will not collide. But the concern is that the close pass will perturb the asteroid’s orbit enough to result in a collision upon its return in 2036. Further investigations are expected to confirm that this is not the case, but the US and European Space Agencies are supporting the competition that could yield a novel innovative mission to track Apophis and make doubly sure. A 50,000 dollar (equivalent to approximately 25,000 pounds) prize will go to the designers of a concept mission that would provide the most precise way of tracking the asteroid’s orbit, reported BBC News.

The annual gathering of Earth scientists also witnessed the release of a statement, signed by 10,000 scientists, protesting about political interference in the scientific process and demanding the return of scientific integrity in government policy.

"In the last several years, we've seen an increase in both the misuse of science and I would say an increase of bad science in a number of very important issues; for example, in global climate change, international peace and security, and water resources," said Dr Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment and Security.

Michael Halpern from the Union of Concerned Scientists told BBC News: "This science statement that has now been signed by the 10,000 scientists is signed by science advisers to both Republican and Democratic administrations dating back to President Eisenhower, stating that this is not business as usual and calling for this practice to stop."

Other data presented at the meeting concerned the Arctic ice sheet. The BBC reporter present heard that the ice was no longer recovering robustly following the summer melt, and that computer modelling indicates that by 2040 there may no longer be summer ice. This would have dramatic implications for local wildlife and indigenous peoples.

Meanwhile, figures from the Met Office and the University of East Anglia indicate that 2006 is on course to become the hottest year in the UK since records began in 1659. The unusually mild year has had an average temperature of 10.84 degrees Celcius so far, reported the Guardian. A study by a researcher at the Met Office’s Hadley Centre for Climate Change earlier this year, concluded that the observed temperature increase could only be accounted for by increased greenhouse gas emissions caused by humans. 2006 is also set to become the sixth warmest year globally since records began in 1850, with the ten warmest years ever all occurring in the past twelve years.

An inventor speaking at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting claimed he can help deal with global warming using plankton and lengths of plastic tubing to reduce the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by nearly a third. His idea is to exploit the behaviour of a type of plankton called salps – an organism which feeds on algae and excretes carbon pellets that sink to the ocean floor. By pumping nutrient-rich water from the deep ocean to the surface, algae would be encouraged to bloom in shallower parts of the water and use up more atmospheric carbon dioxide. Salp numbers would increase with plentiful algae to feed on and lock up the carbon in their excretions. The pumps are still at the experimental stage, reported the Guardian, but their biological and chemical impact will be tested on the largest scale yet next year, when 25 are tethered off the coast of Bermuda.

Meanwhile, reported BBC News, in the UK, Sir David Attenborough (famed for his nature programmes such as the recent series Life on Earth, The Blue Planet and Planet Earth) told the Commons environment committee that, to limit the worsening global warming situation, a "general moral view that wasting energy is wrong" is needed. Sir Attenborough is a past President of the BA (British Association for the Advancement of Science) and last year took part in our ‘Click for the Climate” campaign which highlighted the difference we can make as individuals.

The BBC also announced the government’s plan that by 2016 all new homes built in England will have to be carbon neutral. The scheme includes tightening planning and building regulations, and including a star rating system so buyers can determine the energy efficiency of properties. Since the UK’s 21 million homes contribute 27 per cent of its carbon dioxide emissions, the government hopes the measures will help towards its target of a 60 per cent reduction in emissions by 2050.

Other news this week...

In the Guardian: Two major trials in Kenya and Uganda have found that circumcision can halve a man’s risk of picking up the HIV infection.

In the Times: The genetic analysis of members of a Pakistani family with a rare disorder that meant they couldn’t feel pain has yielded a discovery that could lead to the development of a new generation of safer and stronger painkillers. While each affected person could experience the sensation of touch, each had suffered severe injuries due to their inability to feel pain: one of the boys worked as a street performer since he was able to walk over hot coals and stick knives in his arm, other young relatives had bitten off parts of their tongue. The analysis of their DNA by a team at the University of Cambridge, revealed they had mutations in a single gene which codes for a protein found in high concentrations at the end of pain-sensing neurons. Interestingly, the abnormality doesn’t appear to result in any other adverse effects.

In the Guardian: A clinical trial to identify risk factors for developing peanut allergies is looking to recruit 480 babies. Some previous studies have indicated peanut consumption within the first year of life increases the risk but more recent evidence indicates that early exposure to peanuts provides protection. This trial will directly monitor groups of babies with increased risk of developing the allergy – half will regularly be fed peanut extracts while the other half will not be allowed any products containing the nuts. They will then be assessed for peanut allergy at five years old.

In the Daily Telegraph: In another allergy-related story, the first vaccine pill against hay fever will be available in the New Year. Designed to be dissolved under the tongue daily, the pill contains small amounts of grass pollen extracts. This differs from the existing symptom-alleviating treatments because it will induce a protective immune response. According to Stephen Durham, professor of allergy and respiratory medicine at the Royal Brompton Hospital and Imperial College, London, the pills could help 10 per cent of the 12 million hay fever sufferers in Britain.

On BBC News: An in-depth study into non-human primate research by a panel of experts concluded that there is a “strong scientific and moral case” for their use in particular areas of research. These included investigations into the basic biology of the brain, neurological diseases and communicable diseases such as HIV. The report commissioned by the Academy of Medical Sciences, Royal Society, Medical Research Council and Wellcome Trust concluded that the often-polarised debate surrounding primate research would benefit from a more open attitude from scientists and the pharmaceutical industry. It also recommended continued investment into finding alternatives to primates in the laboratory.

In the Times: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) issued guidance to tackle the UK’s obesity problem, with input from local councils, employers and schools, in addition to health professionals. Ken Snider, a government medical adviser, warned that obesity is a greater threat to health than smoking, heavy drinking or poverty. Currently one in three children aged 2 to 15 is classed as overweight or obese.

In the Times: Fossilised remains have been found in Mongolia that show mammals experimented with aerial life much earlier than previously thought. Dating back 125 million years, the gliding mammal lived during the dinosaur age, when the ancestors of modern birds were just beginning to exploit the sky. The animal predates the earliest known bat by more than 70 million years, and the earliest gliding rodent by more than 90 million years.

And finally...

The Telegraph reported that it will soon be possible to hug someone, even if you’re miles apart, thanks to the latest technology. If two people wear the shirts which incorporate interactive fabric, one can hug the other by wrapping their arms around their own body. The “hug shirt” measures pressure, heartbeat and temperature. It then uses mobile Bluetooth technology to transmit the data to a second shirt which heats, tingles and vibrates at the areas corresponding to where the first person’s hands were placed.

They don’t come cheap, and won’t be available until next year; but if you’re looking for a gift idea for that special someone, they could be just the thing.