The BA Science News Digest - 24 October 2008
In the science news this week: faster than a speeding bullet – the first 1,000mph car, the sticky tape X-ray generator, and 'musical' stars. Plus, the myth of 'cold hands, warm heart'...
Scientists have made a major breakthrough in the treatment of multiple sclerosis. A drug trial has revealed that alemtuzumab, an established treatment for leukaemia, is able to not only halt MS but reverse its debilitating effects in people suffering from early stages of the disease. It is the first time a drug has caused a reversal of MS symptoms, and the discovery is being hailed as the biggest advance against the condition for more than a decade.
Alemtuzumab was developed 30 years ago by researchers at the University of Cambridge and was the first monoclonal antibody given to humans. Cesar Milstein, its creator, was awarded the 1984 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Since MS causes the immune system to inappropriately attack fatty coatings that serve as ‘electrical insulation’ for nerve cells and alemtuzumab works by damping down the immune system, researchers suspected it might also benefit MS patients.
Following earlier studies that suggested the treatment needed to be given early on, before scarring and nerve death had occurred, doctors at Cambridge University conducted a three-year trial to compare the effectiveness of the drug against the leading existing medication, beta interferon.
334 patients, who were in their 20s and 30s and had experienced their first symptoms no more than three years ago, were recruited to the study. After three years, not only did those who were given the new drug have 74 per cent fewer attacks and a 71 per cent lower risk of being disabled, but they also showed fewer signs of disability than when they began the trial.
Alemtuzumab does have the potential to cause serious side effects. The trial was almost abandoned in 2005 after three patients developed a dangerous condition, and one died. However, Dr Alasdair Coles, one of the researchers at the Department of Clinical Neurosciences, said that they had developed an effective plan to deal with affected patients. ‘It means patients need a lot of monitoring, but all our patients say the hassle is worth it,’ he added.
(Read more in the Independent and Guardian)
--------------------
Experiments have raised the prospect that it could one day be possible to selectively erase a memory, something that could have benefits for people suffering from unwanted or painful memories. New Scientist reported that scientists were able to wipe away a month-old memory in mice by boosting levels of alpha-CaMKII, a protein involved in memory storage and retrieval.
Mice were genetically engineered to express high levels of the protein. Levels could be returned to normal by administration of a drug that blocked only the engineered copy. For the experiment, a slight shock was administered to the mice in a training chamber. Mice with normal levels of alpha-CaMKII froze up when they were returned to the chamber an hour later – evidence that they remembered the unpleasant experience, while mice with boosted levels remained calm.
When alpha-CaMKII levels were kept normal for a month, to allow plenty of time for the memory to be permanently stored, subsequently boosting the level of the protein still dispelled the memory of the shock. Two weeks later, alpha-CaMKII levels were returned to normal in these mice. They were still unable to retrieve memories of the shock treatment, suggesting the memory was completely lost rather than temporarily unavailable.
The researchers, from the Medial College of Georgia in Augusta and the East China Normal University in Shanghai, are now trying to determine how increasing amounts of a single protein can erase specific memories. Neuroscientist Joe Tsien thinks the protein is acting by weakening brain connections built up when the memory was first made. He doesn’t think his team’s method will be usable in humans, but says the work ‘does suggest that perhaps you can look into downstream targets [of alpha-CaMKII]’.
--------------------
Top scientists are among the first 10 volunteers to agree to have their DNA sequenced and the results posted on the internet. The Personal Genome Project run by Harvard University Medical School aims to challenge the conventional wisdom that our genetic secrets are best kept to ourselves, reports the Telegraph. The goal is that, by dispensing with the elaborate precautions normally necessary to protect the privacy of human subjects, medical research will be able to proceed much faster.
Steven Pinker, the well-known psychologist and author, was one of the first to donate a piece of skin to the project, as was Esther Dyson, a trainee astronaut, and Misha Angrist, an assistant professor at Duke University. Each of the first 10 participants was required to have a knowledge of genetics so that they understood what conclusions could be drawn from their genetic profiles.
The participants have agreed to have their genetic information posted alongside photographs, disease histories, allergies, medications, ethnic backgrounds as well as a multitude of other traits such as food preferences. It's hoped their contributions will kick start the project and that eventually more than 100,000 genomes will be displayed online.
American law prohibits discrimination by health insurers or employers on the grounds of genetic profiles, but there could still be ramifications. 'We don't yet know the consequences of having one's genome out in the open,' said geneticist Dr George Church, the project's leader and one of it's subjects. 'But it's worth exploring.'
--------------------
British engineers have unveiled plans for a car that aims to shatter the world land speed record. The £12 million Bloodhound SSC car was announced by Lord Drayson, the new science minister who is also an avid racing car enthusiast, reported the Guardian.
Calculations suggest that the car could reach 1,050 mph – which would smash the existing record of 763mph. At that speed the car could outrun a bullet from a .357 Magnum revolver.
There will be numerous engineering challenges associated with the car, which the team plans to have built within a year ready to tackle the record in three years. It will be the first car to meld a Eurofighter Typhoon jet engine with a rocket booster. The cockpit must be made airtight – any gaps could allow all the air inside to be sucked out as the car breaks the sound barrier, and, at 12 tonnes a square metre, pressures experienced by the speeding car will be similar to those felt by submarines. The tires will also have to cope with extreme forces that could rip them to shreds, as they will spin over five times faster than those of formula one racing cars.
Lord Drayson hopes the project will inspire a new generation of scientists and engineers. The Bloodhound team, which includes mathematician and fighter pilot Andy Green who set the current record in 1997, will make its information public throughout the development of the project, so that other scientists and engineers can get involved.
'Having the right stuff in the 21st century means being able to understand the world about you. We don't have enough young people taking science and maths and the real deficiency is they don't understand what careers they could do, what a life for them would mean if they took those subjects. These are difficult subjects and we have to give young people a clear reason for studying them,' said Lord Drayson.
--------------------
Simply peeling ordinary sticky tape in a vacuum can generate enough X-rays to take an image, scientists have discovered.
The phenomenon – in which light is released upon scratching, crushing or rubbing a solid (often a crystal) – is called triboluminesence and has been known about for a long time: in 1605 Francis Bacon observed that sugar gave off light when it was scratched. However, the mechanism by which it occurs is still somewhat of a mystery. The leading explanation proposes that opposite charges are separated when a crystal is crushed or split, and when these are neutralised, a burst of energy is released in the form of light.
A team of scientists based in Russia suggested as long ago as 1953 that X-rays are produced when sticky tape is peeled. Researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, said they were very sceptical about the old results but decided investigate the phenomenon anyway.
They discovered that X-rays were indeed given off in high-energy pulses when the tape was peeled in a vacuum chamber, and that the energy was enough to take an image of one of the team's fingers. In their work, published in the journal Nature, they found that the energy of the X-rays is directly related to the amount of charge that builds up on the surface of the tape as it is peeled.
Others working in the field say they are puzzled by how much mechanical energy is released as X-rays, and by the fact that the adhesive isn't crystalline but an amorphous liquid. The team now plan to investigate whether they get the same effect with other adhesives, and to figure out exactly how it works, reports Nature online news.
--------------------
Scientists have recorded the sounds of three stars similar to our Sun using France's Corot space telescope, and have been able to use the stars' 'songs' to get information about what is going on deep inside their interiors for the first time.
The technique of 'stellar seismology' is already providing researchers with new insights into the inner workings of stars, according to Professor Eric Michel of the Paris Observatory. Each star has a slightly different sound, based on it's age, size and chemical composition. 'This is a completely new way to look at the stars compared with what has been available for the past 50 years,' he commented. 'It is very exciting.'
'It's not easy,' says Professor Ian Roxburgh of Queen Mary College, London. 'It's like listening to the sound of a musical instrument and then trying to reconstruct the shape of the instrument.'
(Listen to the stars yourself and read more at BBC News)
--------------------
A two-year report into the country's mental wellbeing by the government's horizon-scanning think-tank Foresight, has led to calls for a 'five-a-day'-style campaign to boost the nation's mental health. The project is backed by the government's Chief Scientific Adviser John Beddington.
Over 400 scientists compiled the report which proposes five key steps to help people protect their mental health and make them feel better about themselves. The project assessed experiences and lifestyle factors that could have positive or negative effects on mental wellbeing throughout a person's life. The suggested actions are: connect with others, be active, be curious, learn, and help others.
'These five simple things can make a profound difference to a person's mental wellbeing,' said report co-author Professor Felicia Huppert, who is also Director of the Wellbeing Institute at the University of Cambridge.
The report warned that the economic downturn and rising average age of the population was likely to exacerbate mental illness caused by stressful working conditions, lack of exercise and breakdown of family and social networks. It is also one of the first reports to highlight a strong link between debt and mental illness: around half of British people in debt have a mental disorder, compared to 16 per cent of the general population.
The report also advocates flexible working. 'If people can work flexible hours, they have better job satisfaction, are healthier and are more productive,' explained co-author Professor Cary Cooper.
(Read more in the Times and Guardian)
--------------------
Other news in brief:
The third reading of the human fertilisation and embryology bill was approved by MPs, resulting in what the Guardian terms 'the most significant shake-up of embryology laws for 20 years'. Measures that received MP support included 'allowing scientists to produce human-animal “hybrid embryos” for stem cells, and use “saviour siblings” to provide bone marrow or umbilical cord tissue for treating genetic conditions'.
--------------------
According to a report by the Woodland Trust, ancient British woodland is being felled faster than Amazonian rainforest. Nearly half of woods over 400 years old have been lost in the past 80 years – an irreplaceable loss of a valuable space for wildlife, according to Ed Pomfret, campaigns director of the trust. More than 600 ancient wood are now under threat because of new road schemes, power lines, housing and airport expansion.
(The Guardian)
--------------------
A valuable fossil bed whose location was forgotten in Victorian times has been rediscovered. The fossils unearthed near Christian Malford in Wiltshire in 1840 were extremely well-preserved and were the first to include the flesh of Jurassic wildlife. But no one recorded the precise location of the site and when digging ended, the location was lost. However, after some detective work to relocate it, Phil Wilby of the British Geological Survey has led the first dig there in more than 150 years.
(The Times)
--------------------
India has successfully launched its first mission to the Moon. Indian PM Manmohan Singh hailed it as the '”first step” in a historic milestone in the country's space programme', reported BBC News. The inmanned space probe will conduct a two-year exploratory mission which will compile a 3D atlas of the lunar surface and map the distribution of elements and minerals.
--------------------
Meanwhile, Europe has delayed its flagship space mission to Mars until 2016 because of the high cost involved. The 1.2 billion-euro price tag was deemed too high by governments financing the project. The European Space Agency may now look to America and Russia for greater financial and technical involvement so that the scientific capability of the mission doesn't have to be reduced.
(Read more at BBC News)
--------------------
And finally...
If you'd like someone to do you a favour, it might be worth making them a hot drink first. That's because new research has revealed that holding a hot drink (or indeed a warm object) results in warmer emotions than if a cold drink or object is held.
The link between physical and emotional warmth was revealed by a study published in the journal Science. Volunteers were asked to hold a hot or cold drink and then interviewed about their feelings, reported the Independent. They were unaware of why they were given a drink to hold. Those holding a hot drink consistently displayed warmer emotions, and when different temperature objects were used instead of a drink the results were similar, suggesting it was the physical temperature that was important.
'It appears that the effect of physical temperature is not just on how we see others, it affects our own behaviour as well,' said Psychology Professor John Bargh, of Yale University. 'Physical warmth can make us see others as warmer people, but also causes us to be warmer, more generous and trusting as well.'
Scientists have made a major breakthrough in the treatment of multiple sclerosis. A drug trial has revealed that alemtuzumab, an established treatment for leukaemia, is able to not only halt MS but reverse its debilitating effects in people suffering from early stages of the disease. It is the first time a drug has caused a reversal of MS symptoms, and the discovery is being hailed as the biggest advance against the condition for more than a decade.
Alemtuzumab was developed 30 years ago by researchers at the University of Cambridge and was the first monoclonal antibody given to humans. Cesar Milstein, its creator, was awarded the 1984 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Since MS causes the immune system to inappropriately attack fatty coatings that serve as ‘electrical insulation’ for nerve cells and alemtuzumab works by damping down the immune system, researchers suspected it might also benefit MS patients.
Following earlier studies that suggested the treatment needed to be given early on, before scarring and nerve death had occurred, doctors at Cambridge University conducted a three-year trial to compare the effectiveness of the drug against the leading existing medication, beta interferon.
334 patients, who were in their 20s and 30s and had experienced their first symptoms no more than three years ago, were recruited to the study. After three years, not only did those who were given the new drug have 74 per cent fewer attacks and a 71 per cent lower risk of being disabled, but they also showed fewer signs of disability than when they began the trial.
Alemtuzumab does have the potential to cause serious side effects. The trial was almost abandoned in 2005 after three patients developed a dangerous condition, and one died. However, Dr Alasdair Coles, one of the researchers at the Department of Clinical Neurosciences, said that they had developed an effective plan to deal with affected patients. ‘It means patients need a lot of monitoring, but all our patients say the hassle is worth it,’ he added.
(Read more in the Independent and Guardian)
--------------------
Experiments have raised the prospect that it could one day be possible to selectively erase a memory, something that could have benefits for people suffering from unwanted or painful memories. New Scientist reported that scientists were able to wipe away a month-old memory in mice by boosting levels of alpha-CaMKII, a protein involved in memory storage and retrieval.
Mice were genetically engineered to express high levels of the protein. Levels could be returned to normal by administration of a drug that blocked only the engineered copy. For the experiment, a slight shock was administered to the mice in a training chamber. Mice with normal levels of alpha-CaMKII froze up when they were returned to the chamber an hour later – evidence that they remembered the unpleasant experience, while mice with boosted levels remained calm.
When alpha-CaMKII levels were kept normal for a month, to allow plenty of time for the memory to be permanently stored, subsequently boosting the level of the protein still dispelled the memory of the shock. Two weeks later, alpha-CaMKII levels were returned to normal in these mice. They were still unable to retrieve memories of the shock treatment, suggesting the memory was completely lost rather than temporarily unavailable.
The researchers, from the Medial College of Georgia in Augusta and the East China Normal University in Shanghai, are now trying to determine how increasing amounts of a single protein can erase specific memories. Neuroscientist Joe Tsien thinks the protein is acting by weakening brain connections built up when the memory was first made. He doesn’t think his team’s method will be usable in humans, but says the work ‘does suggest that perhaps you can look into downstream targets [of alpha-CaMKII]’.
--------------------
Top scientists are among the first 10 volunteers to agree to have their DNA sequenced and the results posted on the internet. The Personal Genome Project run by Harvard University Medical School aims to challenge the conventional wisdom that our genetic secrets are best kept to ourselves, reports the Telegraph. The goal is that, by dispensing with the elaborate precautions normally necessary to protect the privacy of human subjects, medical research will be able to proceed much faster.
Steven Pinker, the well-known psychologist and author, was one of the first to donate a piece of skin to the project, as was Esther Dyson, a trainee astronaut, and Misha Angrist, an assistant professor at Duke University. Each of the first 10 participants was required to have a knowledge of genetics so that they understood what conclusions could be drawn from their genetic profiles.
The participants have agreed to have their genetic information posted alongside photographs, disease histories, allergies, medications, ethnic backgrounds as well as a multitude of other traits such as food preferences. It's hoped their contributions will kick start the project and that eventually more than 100,000 genomes will be displayed online.
American law prohibits discrimination by health insurers or employers on the grounds of genetic profiles, but there could still be ramifications. 'We don't yet know the consequences of having one's genome out in the open,' said geneticist Dr George Church, the project's leader and one of it's subjects. 'But it's worth exploring.'
--------------------
British engineers have unveiled plans for a car that aims to shatter the world land speed record. The £12 million Bloodhound SSC car was announced by Lord Drayson, the new science minister who is also an avid racing car enthusiast, reported the Guardian.
Calculations suggest that the car could reach 1,050 mph – which would smash the existing record of 763mph. At that speed the car could outrun a bullet from a .357 Magnum revolver.
There will be numerous engineering challenges associated with the car, which the team plans to have built within a year ready to tackle the record in three years. It will be the first car to meld a Eurofighter Typhoon jet engine with a rocket booster. The cockpit must be made airtight – any gaps could allow all the air inside to be sucked out as the car breaks the sound barrier, and, at 12 tonnes a square metre, pressures experienced by the speeding car will be similar to those felt by submarines. The tires will also have to cope with extreme forces that could rip them to shreds, as they will spin over five times faster than those of formula one racing cars.
Lord Drayson hopes the project will inspire a new generation of scientists and engineers. The Bloodhound team, which includes mathematician and fighter pilot Andy Green who set the current record in 1997, will make its information public throughout the development of the project, so that other scientists and engineers can get involved.
'Having the right stuff in the 21st century means being able to understand the world about you. We don't have enough young people taking science and maths and the real deficiency is they don't understand what careers they could do, what a life for them would mean if they took those subjects. These are difficult subjects and we have to give young people a clear reason for studying them,' said Lord Drayson.
--------------------
Simply peeling ordinary sticky tape in a vacuum can generate enough X-rays to take an image, scientists have discovered.
The phenomenon – in which light is released upon scratching, crushing or rubbing a solid (often a crystal) – is called triboluminesence and has been known about for a long time: in 1605 Francis Bacon observed that sugar gave off light when it was scratched. However, the mechanism by which it occurs is still somewhat of a mystery. The leading explanation proposes that opposite charges are separated when a crystal is crushed or split, and when these are neutralised, a burst of energy is released in the form of light.
A team of scientists based in Russia suggested as long ago as 1953 that X-rays are produced when sticky tape is peeled. Researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, said they were very sceptical about the old results but decided investigate the phenomenon anyway.
They discovered that X-rays were indeed given off in high-energy pulses when the tape was peeled in a vacuum chamber, and that the energy was enough to take an image of one of the team's fingers. In their work, published in the journal Nature, they found that the energy of the X-rays is directly related to the amount of charge that builds up on the surface of the tape as it is peeled.
Others working in the field say they are puzzled by how much mechanical energy is released as X-rays, and by the fact that the adhesive isn't crystalline but an amorphous liquid. The team now plan to investigate whether they get the same effect with other adhesives, and to figure out exactly how it works, reports Nature online news.
--------------------
Scientists have recorded the sounds of three stars similar to our Sun using France's Corot space telescope, and have been able to use the stars' 'songs' to get information about what is going on deep inside their interiors for the first time.
The technique of 'stellar seismology' is already providing researchers with new insights into the inner workings of stars, according to Professor Eric Michel of the Paris Observatory. Each star has a slightly different sound, based on it's age, size and chemical composition. 'This is a completely new way to look at the stars compared with what has been available for the past 50 years,' he commented. 'It is very exciting.'
'It's not easy,' says Professor Ian Roxburgh of Queen Mary College, London. 'It's like listening to the sound of a musical instrument and then trying to reconstruct the shape of the instrument.'
(Listen to the stars yourself and read more at BBC News)
--------------------
A two-year report into the country's mental wellbeing by the government's horizon-scanning think-tank Foresight, has led to calls for a 'five-a-day'-style campaign to boost the nation's mental health. The project is backed by the government's Chief Scientific Adviser John Beddington.
Over 400 scientists compiled the report which proposes five key steps to help people protect their mental health and make them feel better about themselves. The project assessed experiences and lifestyle factors that could have positive or negative effects on mental wellbeing throughout a person's life. The suggested actions are: connect with others, be active, be curious, learn, and help others.
'These five simple things can make a profound difference to a person's mental wellbeing,' said report co-author Professor Felicia Huppert, who is also Director of the Wellbeing Institute at the University of Cambridge.
The report warned that the economic downturn and rising average age of the population was likely to exacerbate mental illness caused by stressful working conditions, lack of exercise and breakdown of family and social networks. It is also one of the first reports to highlight a strong link between debt and mental illness: around half of British people in debt have a mental disorder, compared to 16 per cent of the general population.
The report also advocates flexible working. 'If people can work flexible hours, they have better job satisfaction, are healthier and are more productive,' explained co-author Professor Cary Cooper.
(Read more in the Times and Guardian)
--------------------
Other news in brief:
The third reading of the human fertilisation and embryology bill was approved by MPs, resulting in what the Guardian terms 'the most significant shake-up of embryology laws for 20 years'. Measures that received MP support included 'allowing scientists to produce human-animal “hybrid embryos” for stem cells, and use “saviour siblings” to provide bone marrow or umbilical cord tissue for treating genetic conditions'.
--------------------
According to a report by the Woodland Trust, ancient British woodland is being felled faster than Amazonian rainforest. Nearly half of woods over 400 years old have been lost in the past 80 years – an irreplaceable loss of a valuable space for wildlife, according to Ed Pomfret, campaigns director of the trust. More than 600 ancient wood are now under threat because of new road schemes, power lines, housing and airport expansion.
(The Guardian)
--------------------
A valuable fossil bed whose location was forgotten in Victorian times has been rediscovered. The fossils unearthed near Christian Malford in Wiltshire in 1840 were extremely well-preserved and were the first to include the flesh of Jurassic wildlife. But no one recorded the precise location of the site and when digging ended, the location was lost. However, after some detective work to relocate it, Phil Wilby of the British Geological Survey has led the first dig there in more than 150 years.
(The Times)
--------------------
India has successfully launched its first mission to the Moon. Indian PM Manmohan Singh hailed it as the '”first step” in a historic milestone in the country's space programme', reported BBC News. The inmanned space probe will conduct a two-year exploratory mission which will compile a 3D atlas of the lunar surface and map the distribution of elements and minerals.
--------------------
Meanwhile, Europe has delayed its flagship space mission to Mars until 2016 because of the high cost involved. The 1.2 billion-euro price tag was deemed too high by governments financing the project. The European Space Agency may now look to America and Russia for greater financial and technical involvement so that the scientific capability of the mission doesn't have to be reduced.
(Read more at BBC News)
--------------------
And finally...
If you'd like someone to do you a favour, it might be worth making them a hot drink first. That's because new research has revealed that holding a hot drink (or indeed a warm object) results in warmer emotions than if a cold drink or object is held.
The link between physical and emotional warmth was revealed by a study published in the journal Science. Volunteers were asked to hold a hot or cold drink and then interviewed about their feelings, reported the Independent. They were unaware of why they were given a drink to hold. Those holding a hot drink consistently displayed warmer emotions, and when different temperature objects were used instead of a drink the results were similar, suggesting it was the physical temperature that was important.
'It appears that the effect of physical temperature is not just on how we see others, it affects our own behaviour as well,' said Psychology Professor John Bargh, of Yale University. 'Physical warmth can make us see others as warmer people, but also causes us to be warmer, more generous and trusting as well.'
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