Science News Digest 2nd November 2009
In the science news this week, we take a look at- the ongoing fight for free speech in science, the discovery of the most distant object in space yet, tuna troubles, creationism in science lessons and finally... electric wallpaper.
Singh when you’re winning.
As reported in the Irish Times, the science community is in the process of overcoming its latest challenge- in the courtroom. The now infamous legal battle between leading author Simon Singh and the British Chiropractic Association has raised fears among researchers who are now also concerned about being sued while conducting their studies.
Simon Singh voiced his concerns about legal actions hampering research again last week via video link to the Science Gallery in Trinity College, Dublin. He went on to speak about his own ongoing libel battle with the British Chiropractic Association following an article that was published in the Guardian last year.
Singh also used the examples of Swedish scientists who have been embroiled in their own libel case over the use of lie detector equipment in their research paper and another case where scientists who commented on a heart device being taken to court by the company that produces them.
While the media have become accustomed to self censorship in the face of potentially libellous comments, this is now spilling over into the realms of research and science writing. “There are areas where academics fear to tread,” suggested Singh.
Follow his ongoing case at Sense About Science
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Starlight Express.
According to ScienceNOW, astronomers achieved a new feat this week, by imaging a star collapsing into a black hole just 600 million light years away from the Big Bang. This is now the most distant object ever seen, some 13 Billion light years away. NASA’s SWIFT satellite picked up the burst of gamma rays from the collapsing star on the 23rd April 2009, so the gamma ray burst (GRB) has been subsequently dubbed GRB090423.
Prior to this date, the farthest object spotted was a galaxy 12.8 billion light-years away in 2006. Volker Bromm, an astrophysicist at the University of Texas, Austin who was not involved in the study said; "It brings us close to that magical point of first light, we don't have to get much farther to catch the earliest stars."
Despite it’s proximity to the event, GRB090423’s spectra tells us that it is not one of the first generation of stars to come from the Big Bang.
After the GRB was detected, two groups of researchers raced to analyse the signal before it faded. One team was from the University of Leicester in the UK and the other was from the Italian Institute of Astrophysics in Merate.
The team from the UK think that due to the density of the stars in the early universe, future detection of GRB’s from further afield is on the cards.
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A new Shoal of thought?
A shocking report by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas' (ICCAT) has declared that stocks of Atlantic bluefin tuna are probably less than 15% of their original size. On the back of this they have recommended a move to ban the trade of the tuna to avoid the total annihilation of the species.
Conservation groups have welcomed this report, which was triggered by Monaco's recent proposal to ban international trade in the Atlantic bluefin under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
Sergi Tudela, head of fisheries with the environmental group WWF for the Mediterranean region said; "What's needed to save the stocks is a suspension of fishing activity and a suspension of international commercial trade,"
The body that regulates the catching of the fish has approved a 20% reduction in quotas across the board, but for quite some times these figures have been way above ICCAT’s recommendations.
Furthermore, illegal fishing of the species has been estimated at around 30% more than the official quota allows.
ICCAT faced condemnation from an independent report that dubbed their management of tuna a ‘disgrace’ as member countries were ignoring scientific advice and the extent of illegal fishing.
The proposal for a ban will be heard at the CITES meeting in March and in the meantime they have recommended the closure of the Mediterranean fishery, where most of the bluefin are caught.
Due to the "controversial and politically-charged nature" of the report, which are usually made public, ICCAT have requested that members refrain from distributing it before the CITES meeting in Brazil.
Find out more at the BBC
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Defiance of Science
An international study carried out by the British Council and reported in the Guardian shows that 54% of Britons believe other perspectives on the formation of the universe, such as creationism and intelligent design should be taught alongside evolution in school science lessons.
The beliefs behind other theories such as Creationism include people believing that God created the Earth in six days, and intelligent design where people argue that the universe and nature are so complex they must have been designed by a higher intelligence.
Interestingly, the UK at 54% was way above the average of the 10 nations, which stood at 43% and we even topped the USA at 51%.
The government have responded to the poll, by reiterating their sentiment that both creationism and intelligent design are ‘unrecognised scientific theory ‘that don’t fit in with the national curriculum for science’. However, they did say that students can "discuss creationism as part of their religious education classes".
The findings of the poll have sparked outrage across the teaching and scientific communities, with Christine Blower, acting general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, sayinig: "It would be wholly wrong to include creationism in the science curriculum. An overwhelming body of evidence, not assertion, supports the concept of evolution and therefore evolution must form the basis of the science curriculum. Consideration of creationism might not be out of place in religious education."
Fern Elsdon-Baker, Recorder for the British Science Association’s History of Science Section and head of the British Council's Darwin Now programme said the poll highlighted the need for further discussion about how effectively evolutionary science was communicated both inside and outside the classroom.
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And finally......
Soul in the Wall.
Home design is about to move to the next level with the advent of a new type of ‘electronically enhanced wallpaper’. Now people won’t have to choice between fashion and function, as they can have both with this new technology that promises to contain temperature, brightness and touch sensors, LEDs and Bluetooth to allow the wallpaper to communicate with devices nearby and control things like lamps and heaters and music systems.
It works by using a sheet of steel foil in between layers of paper that have been covered with magnetic paint- acrylic paint mixed with iron particles. On top of this, designer patterns were painted over the top using conductive paint containing copper particles that form circuits allowing electrical items to be controlled by the wall paper.
There’s no need to worry about the exposed circuitry either as the system only runs at 20 volts, drawing around 2.5 amps when fully loaded with devices.
Read the full article in New Scientist
Singh when you’re winning.
As reported in the Irish Times, the science community is in the process of overcoming its latest challenge- in the courtroom. The now infamous legal battle between leading author Simon Singh and the British Chiropractic Association has raised fears among researchers who are now also concerned about being sued while conducting their studies.
Simon Singh voiced his concerns about legal actions hampering research again last week via video link to the Science Gallery in Trinity College, Dublin. He went on to speak about his own ongoing libel battle with the British Chiropractic Association following an article that was published in the Guardian last year.
Singh also used the examples of Swedish scientists who have been embroiled in their own libel case over the use of lie detector equipment in their research paper and another case where scientists who commented on a heart device being taken to court by the company that produces them.
While the media have become accustomed to self censorship in the face of potentially libellous comments, this is now spilling over into the realms of research and science writing. “There are areas where academics fear to tread,” suggested Singh.
Follow his ongoing case at Sense About Science
----------------------------------
Starlight Express.
According to ScienceNOW, astronomers achieved a new feat this week, by imaging a star collapsing into a black hole just 600 million light years away from the Big Bang. This is now the most distant object ever seen, some 13 Billion light years away. NASA’s SWIFT satellite picked up the burst of gamma rays from the collapsing star on the 23rd April 2009, so the gamma ray burst (GRB) has been subsequently dubbed GRB090423.
Prior to this date, the farthest object spotted was a galaxy 12.8 billion light-years away in 2006. Volker Bromm, an astrophysicist at the University of Texas, Austin who was not involved in the study said; "It brings us close to that magical point of first light, we don't have to get much farther to catch the earliest stars."
Despite it’s proximity to the event, GRB090423’s spectra tells us that it is not one of the first generation of stars to come from the Big Bang.
After the GRB was detected, two groups of researchers raced to analyse the signal before it faded. One team was from the University of Leicester in the UK and the other was from the Italian Institute of Astrophysics in Merate.
The team from the UK think that due to the density of the stars in the early universe, future detection of GRB’s from further afield is on the cards.
----------------------------------
A new Shoal of thought?
A shocking report by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas' (ICCAT) has declared that stocks of Atlantic bluefin tuna are probably less than 15% of their original size. On the back of this they have recommended a move to ban the trade of the tuna to avoid the total annihilation of the species.
Conservation groups have welcomed this report, which was triggered by Monaco's recent proposal to ban international trade in the Atlantic bluefin under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
Sergi Tudela, head of fisheries with the environmental group WWF for the Mediterranean region said; "What's needed to save the stocks is a suspension of fishing activity and a suspension of international commercial trade,"
The body that regulates the catching of the fish has approved a 20% reduction in quotas across the board, but for quite some times these figures have been way above ICCAT’s recommendations.
Furthermore, illegal fishing of the species has been estimated at around 30% more than the official quota allows.
ICCAT faced condemnation from an independent report that dubbed their management of tuna a ‘disgrace’ as member countries were ignoring scientific advice and the extent of illegal fishing.
The proposal for a ban will be heard at the CITES meeting in March and in the meantime they have recommended the closure of the Mediterranean fishery, where most of the bluefin are caught.
Due to the "controversial and politically-charged nature" of the report, which are usually made public, ICCAT have requested that members refrain from distributing it before the CITES meeting in Brazil.
Find out more at the BBC
----------------------------------
Defiance of Science
An international study carried out by the British Council and reported in the Guardian shows that 54% of Britons believe other perspectives on the formation of the universe, such as creationism and intelligent design should be taught alongside evolution in school science lessons.
The beliefs behind other theories such as Creationism include people believing that God created the Earth in six days, and intelligent design where people argue that the universe and nature are so complex they must have been designed by a higher intelligence.
Interestingly, the UK at 54% was way above the average of the 10 nations, which stood at 43% and we even topped the USA at 51%.
The government have responded to the poll, by reiterating their sentiment that both creationism and intelligent design are ‘unrecognised scientific theory ‘that don’t fit in with the national curriculum for science’. However, they did say that students can "discuss creationism as part of their religious education classes".
The findings of the poll have sparked outrage across the teaching and scientific communities, with Christine Blower, acting general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, sayinig: "It would be wholly wrong to include creationism in the science curriculum. An overwhelming body of evidence, not assertion, supports the concept of evolution and therefore evolution must form the basis of the science curriculum. Consideration of creationism might not be out of place in religious education."
Fern Elsdon-Baker, Recorder for the British Science Association’s History of Science Section and head of the British Council's Darwin Now programme said the poll highlighted the need for further discussion about how effectively evolutionary science was communicated both inside and outside the classroom.
----------------------------------
And finally......
Soul in the Wall.
Home design is about to move to the next level with the advent of a new type of ‘electronically enhanced wallpaper’. Now people won’t have to choice between fashion and function, as they can have both with this new technology that promises to contain temperature, brightness and touch sensors, LEDs and Bluetooth to allow the wallpaper to communicate with devices nearby and control things like lamps and heaters and music systems.
It works by using a sheet of steel foil in between layers of paper that have been covered with magnetic paint- acrylic paint mixed with iron particles. On top of this, designer patterns were painted over the top using conductive paint containing copper particles that form circuits allowing electrical items to be controlled by the wall paper.
There’s no need to worry about the exposed circuitry either as the system only runs at 20 volts, drawing around 2.5 amps when fully loaded with devices.
Read the full article in New Scientist
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