Science News Digest 24th October 2011
In the science news this week, we take a look at a new public opinion poll into geo-engineering research, a study on the effects of anti-fatigue drugs on doctors, archaeological detective work plots human hunters much earlier than previously thought and finally... 'jet nag' the secret weapon for race horses
Public shows support for geo-engineering research.
An internet survey published in the Environmental Research Letters journal has claimed that there is strong support for more research into geo-engineering technology among the public in the US, UK and Canada.
The survey was focusing on solar radiation management technology, which received 72% support from the respondents for reflecting energy from the Sun away from the Earth’s surface.
The concept of geo-engineering has been gaining attention in the public arena, as scientists are looking at methods of tackling climate change aside from mitigation and adaptation.
Although geo-engineering has been researched since the 1960’s, there has been no data collection into public attitudes or awareness of it, therefore the team decided to conduct an investigation.
Despite the fact that out of 3,105 respondents from across the three countries, 72% approved of more research into climate-manipulating technology, three quarters of them also thought that the Earth's climate system was too complicated to be "fixed" with just one technology according to the BBC.
Despite this endorsement from the public, there are still organisations such as the EcoNexus NGO, who oppose geo-engineering due to concerns such as the lack of certainty over the possible impacts on biodiversity.
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Are drugged Doctors more efficient?
A study by Imperial College London into the use of stimulants by doctors has found that they might make better decisions if they take a fatigue fighting drug.
Caffeine and nicotine are the usual suspects to prop you up if you’re flagging, but in this instance the team of researchers looked into the effects of modafinil, a drug originally created to assist with sleep disorders like narcolepsy or sleep apnoea.
To test the effects, the researchers took 39 male doctors and split them into two groups.
All participants were deprived of a night’s sleep and then one group were given modafinil, while the other was given a placebo.
Both groups were subjected to cognitive tests and used a surgical training simulation to test their motor skills.
The findings showed that those who were given modafinil scored higher on the cognitive tests: they had better working memory, could plan more effectively and made less impulsive decisions, although there were no improvements seen in their surgical ability, according to New Scientist.
Research leader Colin Sugden from Imperial College London said;
"Larger studies looking at the performance effects and safety of longer-term use of the drug would need to be performed before we could draw conclusions about whether or not sleep-deprived doctors might benefit from taking it."
However, according to a 2009 European Union directive, junior doctors in the EU may not work more than 48 hours a week, and must have 11 hours of continuous rest out of 24.
A spokesperson for the UK government's Department of Health told New Scientist; "[UK] National Health Service organisations should ensure staff are well rested to do their jobs properly – not replace good management with performance-enhancing drugs,"
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Mastadon bones suggest humans hunted much earlier than was previously thought.
The analysis of a mastodon skeleton excavated in the state of Washington, USA in the late 1970’s has shed new light on the timings of when humans started to hunt.
Using radiocarbon dating, researchers have found that the skeleton is approximately 14,000 years old, but this is 2,000 years before it was thought that humans first started hunting.
In an ironic twist, the mastodon had fragments of bones from another mastodon embedded in its ribs, along with cut marks, suggesting a human had used the bones of another victim to fashion a hunting weapon.
This new chronological order also suggests that the downfall of ‘megafauna’ was more gradual than previously thought. The ‘blitzkrieg’ model first devised in the 1960’s suggested that humans quickly spread through North America and eradicated mastodons and other large Pleistocene mammals after about 12,000 years ago.
However, according to Nature, carbon dating of collagen from the mastodon's rib and tusks yielded dates of approximately 13,800 years, confirming the animal's antiquity.
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And finally…
‘Jet Nag’ boosts racehorse performance.
When travelling long distances, particularly in an easterly direction, humans get ‘jet lag’, which causes fatigue and sleep disruption due to our attachment to a 24 hour cycle.
However, horses get ‘jet nag’ which apparently has a positive impact on them because they are highly sensitive to changes in light and don’t abide by the same 24 hour cycle as humans.
Horses have the capacity to make a quick adjustment from a period of darkness followed by daylight, and this process also releases hormones that boost the animal’s athletic performance according to a study published in the Journal of Neuroendocrinology.
In lab based tests, researchers from Bristol University found that during the trials that replicated an easterly flight passing through seven different timezones, the animals’ stress levels remained normal and that they adjusted to the new day/night cycle within 24 hours, as well as boosting the hormone prolactin, which is acts on organs that are crucial to physical exertion according to the Telegraph.
The findings showed that the horses could run at full pace on a treadmill for 25 seconds longer after the transition than they could previously, but this effect had vanished two weeks later.
However, because horses have a very strong annual body clock, transferring them to a different season would have the opposite effect.
Public shows support for geo-engineering research.
An internet survey published in the Environmental Research Letters journal has claimed that there is strong support for more research into geo-engineering technology among the public in the US, UK and Canada.
The survey was focusing on solar radiation management technology, which received 72% support from the respondents for reflecting energy from the Sun away from the Earth’s surface.
The concept of geo-engineering has been gaining attention in the public arena, as scientists are looking at methods of tackling climate change aside from mitigation and adaptation.
Although geo-engineering has been researched since the 1960’s, there has been no data collection into public attitudes or awareness of it, therefore the team decided to conduct an investigation.
Despite the fact that out of 3,105 respondents from across the three countries, 72% approved of more research into climate-manipulating technology, three quarters of them also thought that the Earth's climate system was too complicated to be "fixed" with just one technology according to the BBC.
Despite this endorsement from the public, there are still organisations such as the EcoNexus NGO, who oppose geo-engineering due to concerns such as the lack of certainty over the possible impacts on biodiversity.
------------------------------------
Are drugged Doctors more efficient?
A study by Imperial College London into the use of stimulants by doctors has found that they might make better decisions if they take a fatigue fighting drug.
Caffeine and nicotine are the usual suspects to prop you up if you’re flagging, but in this instance the team of researchers looked into the effects of modafinil, a drug originally created to assist with sleep disorders like narcolepsy or sleep apnoea.
To test the effects, the researchers took 39 male doctors and split them into two groups.
All participants were deprived of a night’s sleep and then one group were given modafinil, while the other was given a placebo.
Both groups were subjected to cognitive tests and used a surgical training simulation to test their motor skills.
The findings showed that those who were given modafinil scored higher on the cognitive tests: they had better working memory, could plan more effectively and made less impulsive decisions, although there were no improvements seen in their surgical ability, according to New Scientist.
Research leader Colin Sugden from Imperial College London said;
"Larger studies looking at the performance effects and safety of longer-term use of the drug would need to be performed before we could draw conclusions about whether or not sleep-deprived doctors might benefit from taking it."
However, according to a 2009 European Union directive, junior doctors in the EU may not work more than 48 hours a week, and must have 11 hours of continuous rest out of 24.
A spokesperson for the UK government's Department of Health told New Scientist; "[UK] National Health Service organisations should ensure staff are well rested to do their jobs properly – not replace good management with performance-enhancing drugs,"
----------------------------------------
Mastadon bones suggest humans hunted much earlier than was previously thought.
The analysis of a mastodon skeleton excavated in the state of Washington, USA in the late 1970’s has shed new light on the timings of when humans started to hunt.
Using radiocarbon dating, researchers have found that the skeleton is approximately 14,000 years old, but this is 2,000 years before it was thought that humans first started hunting.
In an ironic twist, the mastodon had fragments of bones from another mastodon embedded in its ribs, along with cut marks, suggesting a human had used the bones of another victim to fashion a hunting weapon.
This new chronological order also suggests that the downfall of ‘megafauna’ was more gradual than previously thought. The ‘blitzkrieg’ model first devised in the 1960’s suggested that humans quickly spread through North America and eradicated mastodons and other large Pleistocene mammals after about 12,000 years ago.
However, according to Nature, carbon dating of collagen from the mastodon's rib and tusks yielded dates of approximately 13,800 years, confirming the animal's antiquity.
-----------------------------------
And finally…
‘Jet Nag’ boosts racehorse performance.
When travelling long distances, particularly in an easterly direction, humans get ‘jet lag’, which causes fatigue and sleep disruption due to our attachment to a 24 hour cycle.
However, horses get ‘jet nag’ which apparently has a positive impact on them because they are highly sensitive to changes in light and don’t abide by the same 24 hour cycle as humans.
Horses have the capacity to make a quick adjustment from a period of darkness followed by daylight, and this process also releases hormones that boost the animal’s athletic performance according to a study published in the Journal of Neuroendocrinology.
In lab based tests, researchers from Bristol University found that during the trials that replicated an easterly flight passing through seven different timezones, the animals’ stress levels remained normal and that they adjusted to the new day/night cycle within 24 hours, as well as boosting the hormone prolactin, which is acts on organs that are crucial to physical exertion according to the Telegraph.
The findings showed that the horses could run at full pace on a treadmill for 25 seconds longer after the transition than they could previously, but this effect had vanished two weeks later.
However, because horses have a very strong annual body clock, transferring them to a different season would have the opposite effect.
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