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Ant farming aphids (Image copyright: istockphoto.com/Laurie Knight)

The 2007 Nobel Prizes for achievements in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and for peace were announced this week.

Martin Evans, Director of the School of Biosciences and Professor of Mammalian genetics at Cardiff University, was among those recognised by the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He received the prestigious accolade jointly with Mario Capecchi and Oliver Smithies ‘for [their] discoveries of principles for introducing specific gene modifications in mice by the use of embryonic stem cells’, reported the Telegraph.

Their work has had important implications for the understanding of gene functions. Together, their pioneering work on stem cells in mice and gene modification has resulted in a technology known as gene targeting, or gene ‘knockout’, that the Nobel committee said is ‘immensely powerful’ and whose ‘benefits to makind will continue to increase over many years to come’.

The technique uses stem cells to genetically manipulate mice in a highly specific way. As a result, it has been possible to produce laboratory rodents that model particular human diseases. So far, more than 10,000 mice genes have been knocked out, shedding light on a vast number of gene functions and helping to test new treatments.

‘The development of gene targeting technology in the mouse has had a profound influence on medical research,’ said Professor Stephen O’Rahilly, Head of the Department of Clinical Biochemistry at the University of Cambridge. ‘Thanks to this technology we have a much better understanding of the function of specific genes in pathways in the whole organism and a greater ability to predict whether drugs acting on those pathways are likely to have beneficial effects in disease.’

The Nobel Prize for Chemistry goes to Gerhardt Ertl, Professor Emeritus at the Fritz-Haber Institute in Berlin. His work investigating the reactions between chemicals and solid surfaces laid the foundations for the field of research known as surface chemistry. His studies of the Haber-Bosch process, in which nitrogen is extracted from the air using an iron catalyst, have had a huge impact on agriculture through the advent of artificial fertilisers. His research also led to an understanding of the destruction of the ozone layer and to platinum catalytic converters that are able to remove carbon monoxide from car exhaust emissions.

Among those praising Professor Ertl was Catherine Hunt, President of the American Chemical Society: ‘I am delighted the prize recognizes a field of chemistry that often receives little public attention, yet has transformed lives in so many ways,’ she told the Guardian.

Those of us who listen to iPods or other MP3 devices on our way to work also owe thanks to the scientists Albert Fert, of France, and Peter Grünberg of Germany, who were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics.

Their discovery of the phenomenon of giant magnetoresistance (GMR) has made the development of radically miniaturised hard disks possible – one of the key breakthroughs in modern computing and electronics – reported the Guardian. GMR is a physical effect in which weak magnetic changes give rise to large differences in electrical resistance. It was discovered independently by both scientists in 1988 and allows information stored magnetically on a hard disk to be converted to electrical signals readable by a computer.

Borje Johansson, a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, commented: ‘The MP3 and iPod industry would not have existed without this discovery.’

For more information about the prizes, see the Nobel Prize website.

A judge ruled this week that Al Gore’s film about climate change ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ can still be shown in schools as part of a climate change resources pack, despite containing what he said were ‘nine scientific errors’, as long as it is accompanied by fresh guidance notes. He said that the film was ‘broadly accurate’ and that the four main hypotheses he identified were very well supported ‘by research published in respected, peer-reviewed journals and accords with the latest conclusions of the IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change].’ However, he had also identified nine significant errors in the film and some of these had arisen in ‘the context of alarmism and exaggeration’ to support the views of the former US vice-president.

Many of the mistakes identified relate to the predicted impacts of climate change. The judge determined that the ‘film was not an impartial analysis of the scientific evidence’. One of the errors highlighted was the claim that melting of either west Antarctica or Greenland would cause a sea-level rise of up to 20ft ‘in the near future’. The judge referred to the claim as ‘distinctly alarmist’ and that, while he accepted that this amount of water would be released by melting ice, it would only occur ‘after, and over, millenia’. Read more, including the other errors identified by the judge, in the Guardian.

His film may have received criticism by a British judge but in other news Mr Gore received high praise indeed – being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with the IPCC. They were recognised ‘for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change’.

The IPCC was established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organisation and the United Nations Environment Programme and consists of more than 2,000 leading climate change scientists and experts who assess scientific data on the risk of human-induced climate change, its impacts and how it might be mitigated.

IPCC Chairman Rajendra Pachauri said he hoped the award would bring a ‘greater awareness and a sense of urgency’ to the fight against global warming, reported BBC News. Mr Gore said he would donate his half of the 1.5 million dollar prize money to the Alliance for Climate Protection.

In other news, charity Sense About Science challenged some of the claims made by companies who use loosely worded scientific-sounding language to market their products. They produced a report entitled ‘There Goes The Science Bit’ which recounts their attempts to find evidence for claims made about products ranging from sandwiches and yoghurts to computer software that ‘modulates the harmful effects of electromagnetic radiation from computer screens’.

Various companies were contacted and asked for facts that could support their sales pitches. In many cases, callers were referred up from the customer service helplines even as far as managing director level without receiving a satisfactory response. The charity were applauded for ‘unmasking the empty pseudo-science’ of claims and ‘acting as warriors against claptrap’.

In one example, reported the Guardian, the team contacted World Development Systems, which markets a product called Computer Clear. The software product claims to release 34,000 ‘bioresonance patterns’ that re-balance the body’s ‘biofield’. Sense About Science asked the company’s Managing Director, Victor Sims, what the bioresonance patterns were and whether they could be measured. They received the response: ‘No, because the EMF [electromagnetic field] still remains the same, it’s constant ... but the quality of the EMF from a human point of view changes.’ Mr Sims also conceded that evidence about the item’s effectiveness was ‘anecdotal’.

It seems that ants are mean task masters. While ants protect aphids from predators such as ladybirds, they are themselves predators when they need protein and often harm aphids by biting off their wings or sabotaging wing development so that they can exploit them. Now, reports the Telegraph, ants have also been found to drug colonies of aphids in order to make them more subdued so that they are more easily ‘milked’ for the honeydew they secrete.

Scientists from Imperial College London, Royal Holloway and the University of Reading discovered that chemicals on ants’ feet tranquilize aphids, making them walk up to a third more slowly and ensuring that they remain close-by as a ready food source.

A British paleontologist has found what could be a Tyrannasaurus rex footprint, BBC News reported. Dr Phil Manning from Manchester Museum, University of Manchester, observed the metre-square, three-toed track in the Hell Creek Formation in the Badlands of Montana, USA. The print is within rocks dated as 65-67 million years old – known as the end of the dinosaur age.

He is submitting his find for peer-review in a science journal and says he cannot say he found a T. rex print until others have had a chance to study his findings. However, he explained: ‘It could only be made by one of the two species known from Hell Creek - either the Nanotyrannus or its bigger relative, Tyrannosaurus rex. The size of the footprint at 76cm in length suggests it is more likely to be the latter.’

There is one previous claim of a T.rex print in the scientific literature. ‘People have been trying to find these tracks for over 100 years,’ Dr Manning told the BBC’s Inside Out programme. ‘And these are really quite special because they put the animal at the scene of the crime. A live animal leaves tracks - bones can be transported after death, so it really puts the animal in the context of where it used to live.’

The papers of Robert Hooke, ‘Britain’s answer to Leonardo’, have been made available online by the Royal Society. The 17th century scientist was the first paid scientist and is best known for his law describing the behaviour of springs. Few know that he also played an important role in Newton’s understanding of planetary motion and gravitation. Their relationship deteriorated and his efforts were not acknowledged by Newton in his master work, who instead tried to assassinate his character.

The 500-page manuscript being made available on the internet contains Hooke’s personal copies of the Royal Society minutes from meetings between 1661 and 1691, describing his numerous experiments and inventions – including his microscope work confirming the first sighting of bacteria and sperm, and also accounts of his dealings with Newton.

’Hooke was working at the forefront of revolution in science and to be able to read the original papers is a rare treat for both scientists and public alike,’ Stephen Cox, Executive Secretary of the Royal Society told the Telegraph. ‘You can see for yourself the fierce rivalries that Hooke – who worked alongside scientific greats such as Robert Boyle – had with his contemporaries, offering a glimpse into the mind of a key leader of Britain’s scientific revolution.’

In brief:

A historic launch took place when the Soyez rocket propelled Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, Malaysia’s first astronaut, to the International Space Station alongside American Peggy Whitson, who will be the first woman to take command of the station.
(BBC News)

Research published in the journal Nature shows that the world’s atmosphere is becoming more humid, confirming previous studies. The pattern observed in various parts of the world corresponds with projections made by computer models of human-induced global warming. The trend has important implications for future human health and comfort, as well as extreme weather events such as tropical cyclones and rainstorms.
(BBC News)

The Government removed its final objection to ‘human-animal’ embryos. New proposals will allow scientists to create any type of hybrid embryo for research, providing approval is granted by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.
(The Guardian)

A study supporting the ability of mediation to reduce stress was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. One group of people were given 20 minutes of meditation training daily for 5 days, while a control group instead learned how to relax. Less anxiety and lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol were measured in the meditating group, and they also demonstrated less anxiety, depression, anger and fatigue than the control group.
(The Telegraph)

And finally…

Elephants may not be scared of mice, but African honey bees are another matter, according to research reported in the journal Current Biology. When recordings of the insects buzzing were played to herds of elephants in Kenya, virtually all of the animals responded by moving away – half of the herds within 10 seconds.

While one bee sting would not prove much of an irritation to an elephant, African honey bees release a pheromone when they sting that attracts all nearby bees. The resulting swarm can contain more than 10,000 bees that will attack anything perceived as a threat to the hive.

The researchers, from Oxford University and the charity Save the Elephants in Kenya, believe that farmers in Africa could use hives to protect their crops from elephants, in turn reducing the numbers of elephants being shot.

‘Elephants respond to the buzz of disturbed and aggressive bees with alarm by moving away,’ said the scientists. ‘Elephants are aware of bees, they retain a memory about bees and they can identify bees by sound alone. Conditioning to the buzz may have been learnt either directly by being stung, through observation of another elephant being stung or by social learning during a family retreat.’

Lucy King, of Oxford University, told the Times: ‘If we could use bees to reduce elephant crop-raiding and tree destruction, while at the same time enhancing local income through the sale of honey, this could be a significant and valuable step towards sustainable human-elephant coexistence.’

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