Science News Digest 7th December 2009
In the science news this week, two mums make a right, good news for recruiting science teachers, researchers get crabby about climate change and finally... the science of Christmas shopping!
An old wives tale…
Findings published in the journal Human Reproduction and reported in the Daily Mail have provided evidence as to why women live to an older age than men, by discovering that the sperm genes actually have a detrimental effect on the longevity of human lifespans.
A study carried out between the Tokyo University and Saga University in Japan using genetic material from two female mice to create offspring without fathers has demonstrated a significantly longer lifespan for the super female mice.
Instead of external factors such as mental stress, physical strain and more responsibility, the cause for the shorter lifespan of males compared with their female counterparts is actually down the genetics.
By taking genetic material from the eggs of young mice and manipulating it to behave like sperm genes, they then transplanted it into unfertilised eggs of adult mice and developed them into embryos and transplanted them into surrogate mothers.
The bimaternal mice lived 186 days longer than those with the normal mix of male and female genes who live for around 650 days.
However the researchers stated that gettings rid of fathers to maximise human longevity is ‘not realistic’
---------------------------------
Teach them a lesson
Following a similar move by President Obama, the Conservatives have announced plans to repay the student loans of those who go onto to teach STEM subjects.
Everyone in this category who achieve a 2:1 degree pass or above will be entitled to have their student loan repayments made on their behalf for as long as they remain in the classroom. Science technology engineering and maths are seen as vital to the future of our economy, so this move is aiming to get more high quality graduates into the field of teaching.
The scheme will be limited to up to 36 of the countries top universities to ensure more ‘ambitious’ students go into teaching. Micheal Gove the Conservatives' schools spokesman said "This is a major financial incentive, amounting to about £40,000 over the lifetime of the loan, and therefore is a significant investment by the taxpayer, but one I think that is justified."
The scheme would be open to primary and secondary school teachers and funded by cutting the money going the Training and Development Agency as the Tories want to see more ‘on the job’ training for teachers.
This year has already seen the TDA recruit more than its targets of maths and science teachers because more older people are retraining due to the recession.
Find out more in the Independent
----------------------------------
Coming out of their shells.
Another day and another story that may cause some harm to the talks in Copenhagen.
First there are the leaked emails that state climate change may not be man-made and now research from the University of Massachusetts has challenged the view that rising CO2 is bad for all ocean dwellers.
Previously, researchers have worried that the acidification of the ocean caused by increased levels of atmospheric CO2 would destroy many species of invertebrates as the calcification process needed to strengthen their shells would become too difficult.
However, following the study that involved exposing 18 species of marine organisms to seawater with four different levels of acidity has found that certain species actually grow bigger and stronger shells in more CO2 intensive conditions.
Blue crabs, lobsters, and shrimp faired best and grew heavier shells in the highest CO2 level, making them more resistant to predators. However, American oysters, scallops, temperate corals, and tube worms all grew thinner, weaker shells. Those that faired worst included clams and pencil urchins, as their exoskeletons dissolved at the highest CO2 levels.
The researchers have put this down to the type of calcium carbonate the aminal makes and their ability to control the pH at their calcification sites. While this gave them greater protection, it was pointed out that this is likely to have taken up more energy, possibly diverting it away from another process like immune response.
Read more in ScienceNOW
---------------------------------
The heat is on for climate change.
Already dubbed ‘Climategate’, the hacked emails from the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia couldn’t have come at a worse time for the UN climate summit in Copenhagen.
Hundreds of emails between the university’s CRU and scientists around the world have been posted on the internet. Climate sceptics have jumped on this and have begun saying that this undermines the scientific case for climate change.
Already dissidence has begun emerging from nations who have been staunch deniers of climate change in recent years. Saudi Arabia’s lead climate negotiator Mohammed Al-Sabban has already warned the BBC that the debacle will have a "huge impact" on next week's UN climate summit.
He also warned that other countries would not agree on anything at Copenhagen that would hinder their economic growth for years to come until new evidence backing up the climate change theory is on the table.
Also, India who is already making significantly less cuts than its Chinese counterpart with 20-25% compared with China’s 40-45% has said that it will only makes the cuts with financial support from the west.
Malini Mehra, founder and CEO of the Centre for Social Markets in India hit back at Mr Al-Sabbans comment stating that "[The Saudis] appear to have regressed to the days when they were out-and-out climate deniers - not surprising for a fossil fuel dependent economy, but not far-sighted and certainly out of step with the rest of the developing world."
Read more in BBC News
-------------------------------------
And finally.....
Understanding the past helps with our presents.
Just in time for the last minute Christmas shopping rush the Telegraph uses science to diffuse the inevitable arguments between men and women over whose strategy to find presents is best.
According to research from the University of Michigan, the differences in behaviour between the sexes are down to the roles they acquired in prehistoric times towards providing food for the family.
Similar to their shopping styles, men knew what food items they wanted in advance, went out, killed it and brought it home. Simple.
Women on the other hand spent a lot more time searching for the perfect items, because the nature of the potentially poisonous nuts and berries they were collecting meant that selecting something that is anything less than perfect could mean the difference between life and death.
Furthermore, because foraging is a lower impact activity it lends itself to bring the children along a lot better than the process of hunting, which is often dangerous and the presence of children would be a hindrance to the process.
The researchers are hoping this research will help couples understand each other more while they go out shopping during the festive period and hopefully defuse a number of purchase based arguments.
An old wives tale…
Findings published in the journal Human Reproduction and reported in the Daily Mail have provided evidence as to why women live to an older age than men, by discovering that the sperm genes actually have a detrimental effect on the longevity of human lifespans.
A study carried out between the Tokyo University and Saga University in Japan using genetic material from two female mice to create offspring without fathers has demonstrated a significantly longer lifespan for the super female mice.
Instead of external factors such as mental stress, physical strain and more responsibility, the cause for the shorter lifespan of males compared with their female counterparts is actually down the genetics.
By taking genetic material from the eggs of young mice and manipulating it to behave like sperm genes, they then transplanted it into unfertilised eggs of adult mice and developed them into embryos and transplanted them into surrogate mothers.
The bimaternal mice lived 186 days longer than those with the normal mix of male and female genes who live for around 650 days.
However the researchers stated that gettings rid of fathers to maximise human longevity is ‘not realistic’
---------------------------------
Teach them a lesson
Following a similar move by President Obama, the Conservatives have announced plans to repay the student loans of those who go onto to teach STEM subjects.
Everyone in this category who achieve a 2:1 degree pass or above will be entitled to have their student loan repayments made on their behalf for as long as they remain in the classroom. Science technology engineering and maths are seen as vital to the future of our economy, so this move is aiming to get more high quality graduates into the field of teaching.
The scheme will be limited to up to 36 of the countries top universities to ensure more ‘ambitious’ students go into teaching. Micheal Gove the Conservatives' schools spokesman said "This is a major financial incentive, amounting to about £40,000 over the lifetime of the loan, and therefore is a significant investment by the taxpayer, but one I think that is justified."
The scheme would be open to primary and secondary school teachers and funded by cutting the money going the Training and Development Agency as the Tories want to see more ‘on the job’ training for teachers.
This year has already seen the TDA recruit more than its targets of maths and science teachers because more older people are retraining due to the recession.
Find out more in the Independent
----------------------------------
Coming out of their shells.
Another day and another story that may cause some harm to the talks in Copenhagen.
First there are the leaked emails that state climate change may not be man-made and now research from the University of Massachusetts has challenged the view that rising CO2 is bad for all ocean dwellers.
Previously, researchers have worried that the acidification of the ocean caused by increased levels of atmospheric CO2 would destroy many species of invertebrates as the calcification process needed to strengthen their shells would become too difficult.
However, following the study that involved exposing 18 species of marine organisms to seawater with four different levels of acidity has found that certain species actually grow bigger and stronger shells in more CO2 intensive conditions.
Blue crabs, lobsters, and shrimp faired best and grew heavier shells in the highest CO2 level, making them more resistant to predators. However, American oysters, scallops, temperate corals, and tube worms all grew thinner, weaker shells. Those that faired worst included clams and pencil urchins, as their exoskeletons dissolved at the highest CO2 levels.
The researchers have put this down to the type of calcium carbonate the aminal makes and their ability to control the pH at their calcification sites. While this gave them greater protection, it was pointed out that this is likely to have taken up more energy, possibly diverting it away from another process like immune response.
Read more in ScienceNOW
---------------------------------
The heat is on for climate change.
Already dubbed ‘Climategate’, the hacked emails from the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia couldn’t have come at a worse time for the UN climate summit in Copenhagen.
Hundreds of emails between the university’s CRU and scientists around the world have been posted on the internet. Climate sceptics have jumped on this and have begun saying that this undermines the scientific case for climate change.
Already dissidence has begun emerging from nations who have been staunch deniers of climate change in recent years. Saudi Arabia’s lead climate negotiator Mohammed Al-Sabban has already warned the BBC that the debacle will have a "huge impact" on next week's UN climate summit.
He also warned that other countries would not agree on anything at Copenhagen that would hinder their economic growth for years to come until new evidence backing up the climate change theory is on the table.
Also, India who is already making significantly less cuts than its Chinese counterpart with 20-25% compared with China’s 40-45% has said that it will only makes the cuts with financial support from the west.
Malini Mehra, founder and CEO of the Centre for Social Markets in India hit back at Mr Al-Sabbans comment stating that "[The Saudis] appear to have regressed to the days when they were out-and-out climate deniers - not surprising for a fossil fuel dependent economy, but not far-sighted and certainly out of step with the rest of the developing world."
Read more in BBC News
-------------------------------------
And finally.....
Understanding the past helps with our presents.
Just in time for the last minute Christmas shopping rush the Telegraph uses science to diffuse the inevitable arguments between men and women over whose strategy to find presents is best.
According to research from the University of Michigan, the differences in behaviour between the sexes are down to the roles they acquired in prehistoric times towards providing food for the family.
Similar to their shopping styles, men knew what food items they wanted in advance, went out, killed it and brought it home. Simple.
Women on the other hand spent a lot more time searching for the perfect items, because the nature of the potentially poisonous nuts and berries they were collecting meant that selecting something that is anything less than perfect could mean the difference between life and death.
Furthermore, because foraging is a lower impact activity it lends itself to bring the children along a lot better than the process of hunting, which is often dangerous and the presence of children would be a hindrance to the process.
The researchers are hoping this research will help couples understand each other more while they go out shopping during the festive period and hopefully defuse a number of purchase based arguments.
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