the-BA : Science News Digest

Northern Lights (copyright: istockphoto.com)

by Berwyn Jones

In the science news this week: drumming through a rock concert is as tiring as playing a Premier League football game, the Sahara desert could be the key to clean electricity, and scientists discover the cause of magnetic substorms in space. Plus, Lonesome George, the rarest creature on Earth may become a father...

Drumming through a rock concert is as physically demanding as playing a Premier League football game, scientists have revealed.

An eight-year study on Blondie’s drummer Clem Burke found that his heart rate averaged between 140 and 150 beats per minute during a concert, and that his heart rate could soar to 190. During a 90 minute session, his heart rate was nearly identical to Christiano Ronaldo’s during a Premier League football game.

Tests on the drummer included measuring his oxygen uptake, blood lactate and heart rate in rehearsal tests and measuring his heart rate and blood lactate during live stage performances.

Dr Marcus Smith, a scientist on the project, was impressed by the drummer’s stamina: ’Footballers can normally expect to play 40 to 50 games a year. But in one 12-month period, Clem played 90-minute sets at 100 concerts. Footballers find playing a Champions League game once every two weeks a drain, but these guys are doing it every day when they are on tour.’

The project was a joint effort between the University of Chichester and the University of Gloucestershire, and the team is now having the first-ever dedicated drumming laboratory built at Gloucestershire’s Oxstalls campus.

(Read more at the Independent.)
--------------------

More than 3.2 million animals were used in scientific experiments last year, the highest number since the early 1990s, reports the Independent.

The figure has increased by 190,000 from the previous year, a 6 per cent rise, and is part of a steady trend over the past 11 years. Ministers insist that the use of animals is essential for medical research, but anti-vivisection groups believe that the Government is breaking its promise of searching for alternatives.

The increase has been attributed to the growing practice of breeding genetically modified mice and fish into which genes that cause disease are inserted or removed. This procedure was used 114,000 times more often than the previous year and so accounts for 60 per cent of the rise.
--------------------

With the number of animals used in scientific experiments on the rise, the Guardian reports on how cow eyes thrown away by abattoirs could help bring the number down.

By applying a chemical mixture that mimics tears to the surface of cow and sheep eyes, scientists have found a way of preserving them for up to 2 weeks. They can then be used in experiments where the eyes of a live animal would usually be used.

Scientists hope that the new technique will replace many animal experiments, including such procedures as toxicity tests where substances are squirted into the eyes of live rabbits.

The team from Lancaster University has also shown that it is possible to introduce new genes into the cells of the preserved eyes. This could be an important method for preventing rejection of human cornea transplants, and once again would previously have needed extensive animal testing.

Although there is a long way to go before this becomes a standard technique, Dr Nigel Fullwood believes that ‘the model has literally hundreds of applications’, from testing new treatments for diseases and chemical burns to its use as a training tool for students.
--------------------

The Guardian also reports on how the Sahara desert could one day supply the whole of Europe with clean electricity.

Scientists believe that the extraordinary power of the desert sun could be harnessed through vast solar farms across the desert, and they have calculated that 0.3 per cent of the light falling on the Sahara and Middle East deserts would be enough to produce energy for all of Europe.

Electricity could be produced either through photovoltaic cells, or by concentrating the sun's heat to boil water and drive turbines. However, the main challenge is to put the infrastructure in place so that this electricity can be transported across Europe.

Although improvements in transmission lines have resulted in less electricity being lost during long distance travel, the grid network in southern Europe would not have the capacity to carry all this extra electricity produced from the deserts.

Scientists admit that huge investment is needed for this to become a reality. However, they believe that by 2050, the deserts could be producing 100 GW of energy with an investment of 450 billion Euros. This is more than Britain can supply through all of its energy outputs.
--------------------

Scientists have discovered what causes magnetic substorms in space, the phenomenon responsible for intensifying the northern lights and disrupting our satellites and electricity supply, reports the Times.

The northern lights, or aurora borealis, occur when Earth’s magnetic field interacts with the solar wind of charged particles that comes from the Sun. The intensity of the northern lights sometimes increases and although scientists knew that this was due to substorms in space, they did not know why substorms occurred.

However, researchers using NASA’s Themis observatory have discovered that substorms occur when two magnetic field lines join together, releasing energy and heat. This in turn accelerates the solar wind and intensifies the northern lights.

The discovery is significant because substorms have been known to disrupt electricity supply on Earth, and have also knocked out satellites. They could also prove dangerous to astronauts in space at the time of the substorms. If scientists can predict when substorms will occur, then precautions can be taken to limit the damage they may cause.
--------------------

A new drug for aggressive prostate cancer could help thousands of men into remission, according to BBC News.

After being prescribed the drug abiraterone many of the cancer trial patients’ tumours reduced significantly in size, and the amount of tell-tale proteins produced by the cancer also decreased in many of them. Some patients were even able to come off the morphine that is used to relieve the pain of the cancer spreading to their bones.

Scientists used to believe that prostate cancer fed on sex hormones produced by the testes, and previous treatments focused on stopping the testes producing these hormones. However, it has now been discovered that the cancer can feed on all types of sex hormones, even sex hormones produced by the cancer itself. The new drug is effective because it blocks the production of such hormones throughout the whole body.

Although research is still at an early stage, lead researcher Dr Johann de Bono said: ’We believe we have made a major step forward in the treatment of end-stage prostate cancer patients. We hope that abiraterone will eventually offer them real hope of an effective way of managing their condition and prolonging their lives.’
--------------------

Men who eat soya-based food more than twice a week could be halving their sperm count, according to BBC News.

A study which looked at the diet of 99 men found that those that ate a soya based product every other day had 41 million fewer sperm per millilitre than average – which is between 80 and 120 million. Scientists think that plant oestrogens present in soya may be the cause for this reduction, as they are believed to interfere with hormonal signals.

The team from the Harvard School of Public Health also noticed that overweight or obese men were more prone to being effected. This may lend weight to the belief that higher levels of body fat can lead to increased oestrogen production.

However, even though consumption of soya-based food in Asia is significantly higher than other regions, there is no evidence of reduced fertility amongst Asian men. Therefore, scientists believe that much more research is needed on the diets of men before any substantial claims can be made.
--------------------

And finally…

Lonesome George, the last tortoise of his kind and the rarest creature in the world, may finally have produced offspring after 36 years of inactivity.

George was rescued from an island off Ecuador’s Pacific coast back in 1972 after the rest of his kind were killed off for food. Ever since, ecologists have been desperate for him to mate, and have tried everything from artificial insemination and manual stimulation to having George watch younger males mate. It seems their efforts may finally have paid off, after Rangers at Galapagos National Park discovered a nest with nine eggs in George’s enclosure.

Three of these eggs have now been moved to an incubator. However, tortoises often lay unfertilised eggs and so it will be a long 120-day wait before they know if the eggs contain George’s offspring.

(Read more in the Guardian).