the-BA : Science News Digest

Seahorse (Image copyright: istockphoto.com)

In the news this week: humans are blamed for climate change, the first bionic arm shows promise and the secret life of seahorses is revealed…

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which consists of 2,500 scientists from 130 countries, issued its latest report this week – widely regarded as the most comprehensive review of climate change science to date – and concluded that humans are almost certainly to blame for global warming. “Feb. 2, 2007 may be remembered as the day the question mark was removed from whether (people) are to blame for climate change,” said the head of the UK Environment Programme, Achim Steiner, in the Daily Telegraph.

Founded by the UN in 1988 to assess the evidence for and against human-induced climate change, the IPCC conducts a thorough analysis of peer reviewed and published scientific literature. The report describes the many changes that are already evident, as well as predicting a 1.8-4 degrees Celcius temperature rise during the 21st century and an increased frequency of extreme weather.

In a related story, the Guardian revealed that the American Enterprise Institute, a thinktank funded by the oil company ExxonMobil, has offered 10,000 dollars each to scientists and economists willing to write articles that “thoughtfully explore the limitations of climate model outputs”.

Earlier in the week, the Guardian revealed that the situation is actually worse than predicted by past IPCCs. According to a study published in the journal Science, which looked at global data from tide gauges and satellites, sea levels rose an average of 3.3 mm per year between 1993 and 2006, rather than the IPCC prediction of less than 2mm. Temperatures have also risen slightly more than the IPCC most-likely scenario, while carbon dioxide levels closely match those predicted – showing, say the researchers, that the IPCC is not guilty of exaggeration.

The Times, meanwhile, looked at how climate change is already affecting the livelihoods of many Bangladeshis. Coastal farmers in the Munshiganj region have seen water levels rise 3 metres in 30 years, and many have had to turn paddy fields contaminated with sea-water into shrimp farms. Thousands of others are estimated to have left the region to find work in neighbouring cities or India. Much of Bangladesh lies less than 10 metres above sea-level and scientists say 17 million people could be made homeless by 2030.

Back in the UK, the Government released the latest carbon emissions figures. An overall cut of 0.1 per cent, apparently driven primarily by a 4.6 per cent fall in household emissions during 2005, was held out as an example that it is possible “to make a difference”. However, emissions from aviation fuel more than doubled between 1990 and 2005; domestic flight contributions have increased by 7.1 per cent since 2004. The Times reported that the Environment Secretary David Miliband accepts the Government’s target to reduce carbon emissions by 20 per cent by 2010 is unlikely to be met.

In other news, conservationists have been awarded 50,000 pounds to help save one of the UK’s rarest native species – the red-barbed ant. The ants are unusual – forming nests that are either all male or all female. Due to habitat loss, only a few colonies remain – a few on the Isles of Scilly off the coast of Cornwall, and one in Surrey. This means that unless new colonies are re-introduced, the ant species will soon become extinct on the mainland. However, using funding from a National Heritage Lottery grant, a team led by the Zoological Society of London aims to captive breed the ants and release them into the wild next year.
(BBC News)

The Telegraph reported that the reintroduction of wild grey wolves into the Scottish Highlands could be beneficial for the local ecosystem and economy, according to a team of scientists from Imperial College London and Norway. Last present in 1769, the wolves could help reforestation efforts and increase bird diversity, primarily by controlling the red deer population.

A group of scientists at the University of Edinburgh have developed a “new motor mechanism for a nanomachine”, reported BBC News. The tiny molecule, known as a rotaxane, can move and sort particles and is powered by light. The tiny engine “is a machine mechanism that is going to take molecular machines a step forward to the realisation of the future world of nanotechnology,” said the lead researcher, Professor David Leigh.

The world’s first ‘bionic arm’ has given its recipient back a sense of feeling, reported the Guardian, as well as enabling her to perform tasks such as cutting up food more smoothly and quickly than existing motorised prostheses could. Thanks to a pioneering technique where the nerves that once controlled her arm were re-routed, the 26 year old female is now able to move her artificial limb just by thinking about it. And, since sensory nerves were routed to a patch on her chest, she is also able to experience the sensation of someone touching her lost arm.

Also in the Guardian: Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin empire, launched a stem cell bank that will store cells collected from newborn babies’ umbilical cords. Such stem cells are already useful for regenerating bone marrow, and hence can be used in the treatment of leukaemia and immune disorders. And it may one day be possible to grow entire organs and tissue from them. Parents will be charged 1,500 pounds to store their child’s stem cells for 20 years and, while 20 per cent will be kept for their private use, 80 per cent will be available for the NHS to use to treat matched patients.

BBC News reported that a huge settlement of ancient houses – the largest Neolithic village ever found in Britain – has been excavated close to Stonehenge at Durrington Walls. The archaeologists involved believe it dates to the same period that Stonehenge was built, and that the two sites formed a religious complex used for funerary rituals.

According to BBC News, a computer reconstruction of the brain of the Flores ‘hobbit’ (whose one metre-tall skeleton was discovered in 2003) supports the theory that it is a new species, rather than an ancient human suffering from microcephaly – a pathological condition characterised by a small brain.

The Times revealed that the sex life of seahorses is far more scandalous than previously believed, and their fabled monogamy is a myth. Scientists studying three species from Australia, the Caribbean and the Channel, witnessed individuals flirting with up to 25 potential partners a day, and a large percentage of the encounters were same-sex. Of the three species studied, only the British spiny seahorses were ever faithful to one partner.

And finally…

Were you one of the many children who dreamed of being an astronaut when you grew up? Well thanks to a competition run by New Scientist and Audi, your dreams could come true. All you have to do is answer the question, “What is the best patented invention of all time – and why?” and you could win a trip into space. The flight will take passengers 62 miles above the Earth, offering them the experience of weightlessness, as well as spectacular views that are truly out-of-this-world.

Following this exciting news in the Times, I’m putting my thinking cap on as we speak…