Science Headlines for July 6, 2009

Controversial Cancer Stem Cells Offer New Direction For Treatment

Researchers sort out the controversy and promise around a dangerous subtype of cancer cells, known as cancer stem cells, which seem capable of resisting many modern treatments.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 6 Jul 2009 | 6:00 pm

Caffeine Reverses Memory Impairment In Mice With Alzheimer's Symptoms

Coffee drinkers may have another reason to pour that extra cup. When aged mice bred to develop symptoms of Alzheimer's disease were given caffeine -- the equivalent of five cups of coffee a day -- their memory impairment was reversed, report researchers.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 6 Jul 2009 | 6:00 pm

Women More Accurate At Hammering A Nail Than Men In Good Light

Scientists are studying hammering ability as a model for difficult motor tasks. The results indicate that there is a surprising difference in performance between the sexes, and that this difference is dependent in turn on the hammering conditions.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 6 Jul 2009 | 6:00 pm

Potential New Drugs: 970 Million And Still Counting

Like astronomers counting stars in the familiar universe of outer space, chemists in Switzerland are reporting the latest results of a survey of chemical space -- the so-called chemical universe where tomorrow's miracle drugs may reside. The scientists conclude, based on this phase of the ongoing count, that there are 970 million chemicals suitable for study as new drugs.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 6 Jul 2009 | 6:00 pm

Many Antarctic Species Ill Prepared To Cope With Warmer Ocean

Researchers subjected species found in Antarctic waters to increasing levels of water temperature to learn how well they would cope with a warmer ocean. The study shows that several of these species are already living really close to their upper temperature range, and that further increases could easily provoke serious ecological imbalances in this region.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 6 Jul 2009 | 6:00 pm

Immune System Linked To Schizophrenia

Researchers have, for the first time, identified additional genes that confirm what scientists have long suspected -- that the immune system may play a role in the development of schizophrenia. Further, they have also identified genetic anomalies that disrupt the cellular pathways involved in brain development, memory and cognition, all markers of schizophrenia.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 6 Jul 2009 | 6:00 pm

Super-size Deposits Of Frozen Carbon In Arctic Could Worsen Climate Change

The vast amount of carbon stored in the Arctic and boreal regions of the world is more than double that previously estimated, according to a new study. The new estimate is over 1.5 trillion tons of frozen carbon, about twice as much carbon as contained in the atmosphere.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 6 Jul 2009 | 3:00 pm

Melons Sweetened With DNA Sequence

People smell them, thump them and eyeball their shape. But ultimately, it's sweetness and a sense of healthy eating that lands a melon in a shopper's cart. Plant breeders now have a better chance to pinpoint such traits for new varieties, because the melon genome with hundreds of DNA markers has now been mapped. That means tastier and healthier melons are likely for future summer picnics.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 6 Jul 2009 | 3:00 pm

Varying Reductions In Breast Cancer Suggest Hormone Therapy To Blame

The recent decline in invasive breast cancer in the US was significantly less pronounced in the poor and those who live in rural areas. Researchers suggest this may be due to varying reductions in the numbers of women taking hormone therapy.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 6 Jul 2009 | 3:00 pm

Vitamin D Deficiency Is Widespread And On The Increase

A new report shows that populations across the globe are suffering from the impact of low levels of vitamin D. The problem is widespread and on the increase, with potentially severe repercussions for overall health and fracture rates.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 6 Jul 2009 | 3:00 pm

Spider builds life-sized decoys

A species of spider builds a life-like model of its own body to distract predators, scientists have discovered.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 6 Jul 2009 | 12:52 pm

Saints & Sinners Both Find Moral Balance (LiveScience.com)

LiveScience.com - People considered saints in some aspects of their lives can slip up in other arenas, as a way of maintaining a sort of moral balance, a new study suggests.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 6 Jul 2009 | 12:41 pm

Saints & Sinners Both Find Moral Balance

An internal moral meter could explain how society's saints slip up.
Source: Livescience.com | 6 Jul 2009 | 12:34 pm

Where Tomorrow's Stars Will Be Born (SPACE.com)

SPACE.com - Astronomers love their sky maps, and this latest is a doozie. It reveals thousands of previously undiscovered knots of cold cosmic dust, each a potential star waiting to be born.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 6 Jul 2009 | 12:31 pm

Capitalism vs. Socialism: Happiness Could Care Less

Socialist or capitalist, new research argues that being bailed out feels better than going under.
Source: Livescience.com | 6 Jul 2009 | 12:21 pm

Home revolution

Paying people to save energy could curb climate change
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 6 Jul 2009 | 11:44 am

Plant shutdown reignites German nuclear spat (AP)

AP - Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-left rivals made it clear Monday they will make nuclear power a major issue in the September national election, following a weekend shutdown at a troubled German nuclear plant.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 6 Jul 2009 | 11:33 am

Tropics expanding due to climate change: study (AFP)

AFP - Climate change is rapidly expanding the size of the world's tropical zone, threatening to bring disease and drought to heavily populated areas, an Australian study has found.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 6 Jul 2009 | 11:19 am

Govt may end fuel price curbs; cuts natgas tax (Reuters)

Reuters - India, Asia's third-largest oil consumer, outlined plans in Monday's national budget to pull domestic fuel rates into line with global prices and waived tax on natural gas production to spur investment in exploration.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 6 Jul 2009 | 11:09 am

Nigeria rebels attack oil facility, hijack tanker (Reuters)

Reuters - Nigeria's main militant group said Monday it had sabotaged a Chevron oil facility and seized a chemical tanker and six crew members, the latest in a string of attacks in Africa's biggest energy producer.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 6 Jul 2009 | 10:56 am

Takeo Doi, scholar on Japanese psyche, dies (AP)

AP - Takeo Doi, a scholar who wrote that the Japanese psyche thrived on a love-hungry dependence on authority figures, has died, his family said Monday. He was 89.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 6 Jul 2009 | 10:25 am

Armstrong enigma

Moon pioneer could make $1m in a day - why doesn't he?
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 6 Jul 2009 | 10:16 am

Quacks and Cures

Bizarre treatments handed out to patients in the past
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 6 Jul 2009 | 8:19 am

Historic Bible pages put online

About 800 pages of the earliest surviving Christian Bible have been pieced together and made available on the internet.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 6 Jul 2009 | 1:34 am

G8 leaders to set emissions goals

Leaders of G8 nations are to set a target to cut greenhouse gases by 80% by 2050, the BBC understands.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 6 Jul 2009 | 1:18 am

Just add lime – the latest plan to cut CO2 emissions

• Project 'could turn back clock' on carbon dioxide
• Guardian conference will select top 10 climate ideas

Putting lime into the oceans could stop or even reverse the accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere, according to proposals unveiled at a conference on climate change solutions in Manchester today.

According to its advocates, the same technique could help fix one of the most dangerous side effects of man-made CO2 emissions: rising ocean acidity.

The project, known as Cquestrate, is the brainchild of Tim Kruger, a former management consultant. "This is an idea that can not only stop the clock on carbon dioxide, it can turn it back," he said, although he conceded that tipping large quantities of lime into the sea would currently be illegal.

The oceans are a key part of the natural carbon cycle, in which carbon dioxide is circulated between the land, seas and atmosphere. About half of the CO2 released into the air by humans each year is soaked up by the oceans. This helps slow the rate of global warming but increases ocean acidity, posing a potentially disastrous threat to marine ecosystems.

Kruger's scheme aims to boost the ability of the oceans to absorb CO2 but to do so in a way that helps reduce rather than increase ocean acidity. This is achieved by converting limestone into lime, in a process similar to those used in the cement industry, and adding the lime to seawater.

The lime reacts with CO2 dissolved in the water, converting it into bicarbonate ions, thereby decreasing the acidity of the water and enabling the oceans to absorb more CO2 from the air, so reducing global warming.

Kruger said: "It's essential that we reduce our emissions, but that may not be enough. We need a plan B to actually reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. We need to research such concepts now – not just the science but also the legal, ethical and governance considerations."

Kruger's plan was one of 20 innovative schemes proposed at the Manchester Report, a two-day search for the best ideas to tackle climate change staged by the Guardian as part of the Manchester International Festival.

A panel of experts chaired by Lord Bingham, formerly Britain's most senior judge, will select the 10 most promising ideas. These will be featured in a report that will be published in the Guardian next week and circulated to policymakers around the world.

Climate change secretary Ed Miliband told the conference the biggest danger faced by campaigners was creating a sense of defeatism. "We need to show people how they can aggregate their individual actions and be part of a bigger whole," he said.

Cquestrate is one of a number of so-called "geo-engineering schemes" that have been proposed to intervene in the Earth's systems in order to tackle climate change.

Kruger admits there are challenges to overcome: the world would need to mine and process about 10 cubic kilometres of limestone each year to soak up all the emissions the world produces, and the plan would only make sense if the CO2 resulting from lime production could be captured and buried at source.

Chris Goodall, one of the experts assessing the schemes, said of Cquestrate: "The basic concept looks good, though further research is needed into the feasibility."

Another marine geo-engineering scheme was presented by Professor Stephen Salter, of Edinburgh University.

His proposal is to build a fleet of remote-controlled, energy-self-sufficient ships that would spray minuscule droplets of seawater into the air. The droplets would whiten and expand clouds, reflecting sunlight away from the Earth and into space.

Salter said 300 ships would increase cloud reflectivity enough to cancel out the temperature rise caused by man-made climate change so far, but 1,800 would be needed to offset a doubling of CO2, something expected within a few decades.

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 5 Jul 2009 | 11:05 pm

Obituary: Cecil Helman

Doctor and pioneer in the cross-cultural study of medical care

Cecil Helman, who has died aged 65 of motor neurone disease, achieved international renown as the foremost expert on the clinical applications of medical anthropology. His focus was the cross-cultural study of health, illness and medical care - a specialism he largely established - but his talents extended well beyond medicine and anthropology into art and literature. Cecil's work with traditional healers, especially in Brazil and South Africa, allied to 27 years' experience as a GP in the NHS and a period as a ship's doctor, helped him to develop an original and illuminating approach to the complexities of healthcare provision in multicultural populations.

His textbook Culture, Health and Illness, first published in 1984 and now in its fifth edition, has been part of the training of most UK GPs since the 1980s, and is used as a basic text in 39 different countries, including 120 universities, medical schools and nursing colleges in the US and Canada. In addition, many of his research articles are required reading on medical-anthropology courses, and he was a frequent adviser to the World Health Organisation.

All this, and his numerous lectures around the world, have helped legions of doctors and other healthcare professionals to see beyond their patients' presentation of symptoms to understand how these relate to their belief systems and cultural backgrounds. He devised what has become known as the "folk model of the consultation," which encourages patients to give their experience of illness a narrative, as a means of empowerment.

Cecil Helman was born in Cape Town, South Africa, into a long line of rabbis and medical practitioners. He qualified as a doctor under the cardiac surgeon Dr Christiaan Barnard at the University of Cape Town in 1967, but left South Africa two years later because of the apartheid system. He moved to London, where he became a GP. In 1972 he took a postgraduate diploma in social anthropology at University College London, under Professor Mary Douglas, and in 1982-83 he won a fellowship in social medicine and health policy to Harvard medical school.

Cecil was a charismatic teacher and an outstanding communicator of anthropological concepts to non-specialist audiences. His courses at Brunel University, where he taught from 1990, becoming professor in the school of social sciences in 2005, and University College London, where he was senior lecturer in primary care from 1983 onwards, were in great demand. As the value of medical anthropology and his role within it became appreciated, so the number of worldwide requests for his presence as a keynote speaker multiplied; he had accepted close to 50 such by the end of his life. In 2004 the American Anthropological Association recognised him with its career achievement award, and the following year the Royal Anthropological Institute awarded him its Lucy Mair medal "for consistent excellence in applied anthropology".

Cecil strove to develop his talents in other fields. Over the years he combined several different careers into a creative synthesis - all illumined by a concern for the humanistic side of medicine - especially the role of stories and narratives in medical care and what they reveal about the inner worlds of both doctor and patient.

His artistic talents are evident in his paintings, prose poems, fables and short fictions and his 2004 memoir, Suburban Shaman: Tales from Medicine's Frontline, in which he colourfully and wittily recalls medical training in apartheid South Africa, ship's doctoring in the Mediterranean, family practice in upper- and lower-class London, and his work with traditional healers around the world. It was serialised in 2006 by BBC Radio 4 as a Book of the Week and won the Royal College of General Practitioners' Abercrombie medal "for an outstanding contribution to the literature of general practice".

Spending time with Cecil was like being in one of his books. He gave much thought and meaning to everyday experience and, always the enquiring and informed observer, would reveal his quizzical insights when one least expected it. Lunching with him was a delight. Two or three times a month we would meet and, after lunch, walk around cosmopolitan Crouch End in north London. This would invariably prompt illuminating free-association.

As an example, he was recently stimulated to explore the implications of the growing incidence of pink clothing for girls - to delve into what this revealed about changing attitudes to gender; to compare this with research on illustrations in boys' comics showing increasingly defined shoulder outlines; to consider how fashions vary with ethnicity and different stages of life and how these compared with other parts of the world. He went on to consider likely effects of the credit crunch on gender, fashion and courtship.

Cecil was a generous man, always helpful and encouraging of others' projects and growth. He wanted to be stimulated by friends and colleagues to explore new horizons. In his last month, though he had lost the power of speech and was reduced to writing, he still insisted on discussing emergent research and outlining his next book.

He is survived by his daughter, Zoe, and his former wife, Vetta, with whom he stayed friends to the end.

• Cecil Gerald Helman, doctor and medical anthropologist, born 4 January 1944; died 15 June 2009

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 5 Jul 2009 | 11:01 pm

Podcast: Apollo 11 special

In exactly two weeks, Nasa will celebrate the 40th anniversary of one of its most remarkable achievements. On 20 July 1969, Neil Armstrong, Eugene "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collins reached the moon in Apollo 11.

In this Science Weekly special, we're joined by the mission's biggest fan, the author Chris Riley, and the Guardian's David Adam to remember the historic moment and its legacy.

Andy Duckworth has been on location at Nasa in Washington DC to look at out how the US will be marking the anniversary.

Plus, Steven Moss meets the second person to set foot on the moon - Buzz Aldrin - to talk about how he faced the inevitable comedown after such a pinnacle achievement.

Hold onto your seats for blast-off, this is Science Weekly from the Guardian.

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 5 Jul 2009 | 11:01 pm

Slow loris: the eyes may be cute, but the elbows are lethal

For such an impossibly cute creature, the slow loris has it tough. The giant-eyed nocturnal primates, found across a belt of countries around Indonesia, are highly prized for their supposed medicinal and spiritual properties. As a result, the luckless lorises frequently find themselves roasted alive over wood fires while eager people catch the supposedly life-giving liquor that drips out. Bits of their bodies are used in traditional medicine. And legend has it that villagers anxious about traffic safety need only bury a loris beneath a new road to keep it free from accidents.

It gets worse. The slow loris is the world's only poisonous primate. Its venom is stored in an elbow patch: the loris will suck in the poison from the patch, then mix it around in its mouth before delivering a toxic bite. So, when illegal traders catch them and sell them on, they usually remove the hapless creatures' teeth - with wire cutters. If ever an animal needed to be fast, it is the slow loris. Unfortunately ... well you've probably guessed.

"They won't run off like squirrels," says Alan Knight, chief executive of International Animal Rescue, a UK charity. "They're more like sloths. Even when we're transporting them, they will wake up and slowly look around the box. Then they might get up and have a wander around."

International Animal Rescue is trying to decide what to do with the 31 toothless slow lorises it has collected from concerned tourists and sting operations on illegal market traders in Indonesia. Together with five that still have their teeth, the creatures are housed in a sanctuary on the island of Java. The charity, which works across the world to save animals such as the infamous dancing bears of India, usually tries to release rescued animals back to the wild. "But we just don't know whether these lorises will be able to survive without their teeth," Knight says.

The group needs money to pay a research student to investigate the secretive animals' diet and habits, and work out how they might be affected by the missing molars. Some lorises can survive on little more than tree sap, Knight says. Others have been seen at the rescue centre hunting gecko lizards and birds. No teeth required. "They sneak up on the birds, grab them and then strangle them with their hands and feet," Knight says. "This is totally new stuff. Nobody has looked at this before."

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds