Putting muscle into birdsong: Wide range of pitch is due to vocal muscles more than air pressure

Female zebra finches don't sing but make one-note, low-pitch calls. Males sing over a wide range of frequencies. Scientists discovered how: The males' stronger vocal muscles, not the pressure of air flowing through their lungs, lets them sing from the B note above middle C all the way to a whistle beyond the high end of a piano keyboard.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 30 Jun 2010 | 12:00 pm

Zapping Titan-like atmosphere with UV rays creates life precursors

The first experimental evidence showing how atmospheric nitrogen can be incorporated into organic macromolecules is being reported by researchers. The finding indicates what organic molecules might be found on Titan, the moon of Saturn that scientists think is a model for the chemistry of pre-life Earth. Earth and Titan are the only known planetary-sized bodies that have thick, predominantly nitrogen atmospheres.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 30 Jun 2010 | 12:00 pm

Nitrate in beetroot juice lowers blood pressure, study finds

The nitrate content of beetroot juice is the underlying cause of its blood pressure lowering benefits, research reveals. A new study finds that blood pressure was lowered within 24 hours in people who took nitrate tablets, and people who drank beetroot juice.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 30 Jun 2010 | 12:00 pm

Olympic gold? A new effect of caffeine boosts performance

UK scientists show for the first time that high doses of caffeine directly increase muscle power and endurance during sub-maximal activities, which in humans ranges from everyday activities to running a marathon. With no current regulations in place, the scientists believe their findings may have implications for the use of caffeine in sport to improve performance.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 30 Jun 2010 | 12:00 pm

Impulsive, weak-willed or just too much dopamine? Brain study highlights role of dopamine in impulsive behavior

It's a common scenario: you're on a diet, determined to give up eating cakes, but as you pass the cake counter, all resolve disappears. Now, scientists have shed light on the brain processes that affect our will-power and make us act impulsively.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 30 Jun 2010 | 12:00 pm

Diamonds and the holy grail of quantum computing

Most candidate systems for quantum computing work only at very low temperatures. Now a team of researchers from China may have a warmer solution. The team is exploring the capabilities of diamond nitrogen vacancy materials.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 30 Jun 2010 | 12:00 pm

Hunting weapon 10,000 years old found in melting ice patch

A researcher has discovered a 10,000-year-old atlatl dart that had melted out of an ice patch in the Rocky Mountains. Climate change has increased global temperatures and accelerated melting of permanent ice fields, exposing organic materials that have long been entombed in the ice.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 30 Jun 2010 | 9:00 am

How dietary supplement may block cancer cells

A new study shows how a substance produced when eating broccoli and Brussels sprouts can block the proliferation of cancer cells. Earlier evidence indicates that the substance indole-3-carbinol may have anticancer effects and other health benefits. The new study discovered that I3C causes the destruction of another molecule, called Cdc25A, which is essential for cell division and proliferation, and in this way blocks breast cancer cell growth.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 30 Jun 2010 | 9:00 am

Understanding how folic acid might help heal brain and spinal cord injuries

Babies born to women who do not consume enough folic acid are at high risk of developing neural tube defects. This is the reason underlying the recommendation that women who are pregnant take a folic acid supplement. New research using rodents now suggests how folic acid might also help promote healing in injured brain and spinal cord.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 30 Jun 2010 | 9:00 am

Desert bats reveal the secret of their survival

Desert bats reduce water loss by changing the make-up of their skin, allowing them to thrive in some of the world's most inhospitable environments. This is surprising given the anatomy of bats and the energy they expend in flight and may provide significant insight into how bats might respond to a future changing climate.
Source: ScienceDaily: Latest Science News | 30 Jun 2010 | 9:00 am

Hurricane Alex delays Gulf oil clean-up efforts (AFP)

AFP - Hurricane Alex disrupted the BP oil spill clean-up effort in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday as the storm gathered strength and was expected to make landfall.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 30 Jun 2010 | 4:06 am

Hurricane Alex disrupts oil spill cleanup (AFP)

AFP - Hurricane Alex picked up strength in the western Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, heading towards northeastern Mexico and Texas and disrupting oil cleanup operations off the coast of Louisiana.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 30 Jun 2010 | 3:34 am

Formula One in carbon-cuts drive

The high-octane sport is on track to curb its carbon emissions by 15% over three years, with radical engine changes mooted.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 30 Jun 2010 | 3:23 am

Some 70,000 turtle eggs to be whisked far from oil (AP)

AP - An effort to save thousands of sea turtle hatchlings from dying in the oily Gulf of Mexico will begin in the coming weeks in a desperate attempt to keep an entire generation of threatened species from vanishing.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 30 Jun 2010 | 3:18 am

Hurricane Alex could make land late Wednesday (Reuters)

Reuters - Hurricane Alex strengthened in the Gulf of Mexico early on Wednesday and was expected to make landfall later in the day but skirt Mexican oil rigs and U.S. oil fields, alleviating concerns in crude markets.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 30 Jun 2010 | 3:04 am

Hurricane Alex new blow to oil spill efforts (Reuters)

Reuters - The season's first Atlantic hurricane is disrupting cleanup of BP's massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, delaying plans to boost containment capacity and threatening to push more oily water onshore.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 30 Jun 2010 | 2:32 am

Presumed extinct

Scientists rediscover ancient fern on island
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 30 Jun 2010 | 2:31 am

The nation's weather (AP)

AP - Alex was expected to pound southern Texas on Wednesday and Thursday, with heavy rains and strong winds.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 30 Jun 2010 | 2:22 am

Govt, oil companies to discuss petrol pricing - oil secy (Reuters)

Reuters - Oil firms and the government will jointly take a decision on how often petrol prices should be revised, Oil Secretary S. Sundareshan told reporters on Wednesday.

Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 30 Jun 2010 | 2:12 am

India vulture births are hailed

Three species of rare vultures in India are successfully bred in captivity, conservation experts say.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 30 Jun 2010 | 1:49 am

In pictures: Angels and devils

Stunning pictures of tiny and mysterious sea angels and devils, weird molluscs that live under the Arctic ice.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 30 Jun 2010 | 1:47 am

China space ride plunge kills six (Reuters)

Reuters - A space shuttle simulator ride plunged to the ground, killing six people and injuring another 10 at a popular south China amusement park, state media reported on Wednesday.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 29 Jun 2010 | 9:57 pm

Flooded Farmland to Give Birds Safe Refuge From Oil Spill

A new federal government program aims to provide migratory birds oil-free places to roost.
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 29 Jun 2010 | 9:44 pm

UK 'needs new climate policies'

The emissions-lowering recession is masking failures on carbon-cutting, and new policies are needed, say advisors.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 29 Jun 2010 | 7:04 pm

How Green is Your Plastic? - Making Safer Molecular Chains

New biodegradable plastics from corn, beets or sugar cane may seem more environmentally friendly than those made from petroleum. But producing them is not without environmental cost. The chemistry of polymers and monomers: simply explained.
Source: Livescience.com | 29 Jun 2010 | 5:30 pm

Scientists suggest lower IQ in third world linked to disease

Energy can be diverted away from brain development to fight infection, explaining 'lower intelligence in warmer countries'

People who live in countries where disease is rife may have lower IQs because they have to divert energy away from brain development to fight infections, scientists in the US claim.

The controversial idea might help explain why national IQ scores differ around the world, and are lower in some warmer countries where debilitating parasites such as malaria are widespread, they say.

Researchers behind the theory claim the impact of disease on IQ scores has been under-appreciated, and believe it ranks alongside education and wealth as a major factor that influences cognitive ability.

Attempts to measure intelligence around the world are fraught with difficulty and many researchers doubt that IQ tests are a suitable tool for the job. The average intelligence of a nation is likely to be governed by a complex web of interwoven factors.

The latest theory, put forward by Randy Thornhill and others at the University of New Mexico, adds disease to a long list of environmental and other issues that may all play a role in determining intelligence. Thornhill made the news in 2000, when he coauthored a provocative book called A Natural History of Rape in which he argues that sexual coercion emerged as an evolutionary adaptation.

Writing in the journal, Proceedings of the Royal Society, Thornhill and his colleagues explain that children under five devote much of their energy to brain development. When the body has to fight infections, it may have to sacrifice brain development, they say.

To test the idea, Thornhill's group used three published surveys of global IQ scores and compared them with data from the World Health Organisation (WHO) on how badly infectious diseases affect different countries. The list included common infections, such as malaria, tetanus and tuberculosis.

The scientists found that the level of infectious disease in a country was closely linked to the average national IQ. The heavier the burden of disease, the lower the nation's IQ scores. Thornhill believes that nations who have lived with diseases for long periods may have adapted, by developing better immune systems at the expense of brain function.

"The effect of infectious disease on IQ is bigger than any other single factor we looked at," said Chris Eppig, lead author on the paper. "Disease is a major sap on the body's energy, and the brain takes a lot of energy to build. If you don't have enough, you can't do it properly."

"The consequence of this, if we're right, is that the IQ of a nation will be largely unaffected until you can lift the burden of disease," Eppig added.

"It's an interesting and provocative finding," said Geraint Rees, director of the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience. "It explains about 50 to 60% of the variability in IQ scores and appears to be independent of some other factors such as overall GDP."

"The authors suggest that more infectious disease could lead to lower IQ scores through an impact on brain development. This is an interesting speculation, but the data don't prove it one way or the other," he said. "A bigger problem is that it might be driven by a third factor, that affects both infectious disease prevalence and IQ test scores."

For reasons that are unclear, IQ scores are generally rising around the world. Thornhill suggests monitoring rates of infectious diseases in nations as they develop, to see if they decline and IQ tests scores rise.

Richard Lynn, professor of psychology at Ulster University, and author of the 2002 book, IQ and the Wealth of Nations, said disease and IQ is a two-way relationship, with low national IQs being partly responsible for widespread infectious diseases.

"In recent decades, HIV has been a serious infectious disease, and it has a high infection rate in low IQ countries, especially in southern Africa, where it is present in around 30% of the population … This is attributable to the low IQ of the population who do not understand the way the infection is contracted, and have erroneous beliefs about how to prevent infection."

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 29 Jun 2010 | 5:05 pm

Science's success is society's gain. We are not motivated by money

It is ludicrous to compare us to a religion. We base our arguments on evidence, not faith

Simon Jenkins argues that scientists justify investment "by faith, not reason" and points out that "no claim to public money should escape scrutiny"; so it is disappointing that he did not scrutinise the readily available evidence (Rees makes a religion out of science so his bishops can gather their tithe, 25 June).

He refers to Save British Science as part of the "science lobby [which] reacted by turning itself into a religion". SBS has now become the Campaign for Science and Engineering, and we base our arguments on evidence, not faith.

We have been showing, with business leaders, economists and the science community, just how investment can help rebuild the economy. For instance, nearly a third of Britain's GDP is produced by science-based sectors. Every pound of public or charity money spent on medical research gives returns of nearly 40p a year in perpetuity – people who suffer less from cardiac disease can lead more fulfilled lives, for instance. And when countries invest in their own research, they are better equipped to benefit economically from discoveries abroad.

We only have to look as far as Finland to see a country which, during its last economic slowdown, decided to invest in becoming a hi-tech nation. It now has a higher GDP per capita than Britain.

And Jenkins does scientists a disservice by claiming they "do not do priorities. They just want money." The average researcher is motivated by scientific success, not money. And science's success is actually society's gain. Not one of us could go a day without encountering the fruits of science, whether they be the information revolution, new medical advances, better building materials, food security, cleaner energy – or even clean water.

When Jenkins wrote that "news must have science stories, the Today programme science items, all reverential. No scepticism is admitted", he must have missed an exchange on the programme that very morning. A pro-homeopathy MP argued that the NHS should be spending money on non-scientific treatments; science writer Dr Simon Singh had to make the case for rationality.

Jenkins wondered why we don't "let less-privileged countries share in the global talent". But he could have easily found examples of the many scientists and engineers who focus on building the capacity of other nations to perform and benefit from research.

He admonishes science for the money spent on the flu pandemic; but has he stopped paying home insurance simply because his house hasn't burned down?

And when he ventured that "science is all on the internet", so we don't need to pay for it, he could have discovered that British science and engineering is actually about people. People who, when supported, deliver new technologies, new medicines, a better quality of life, and economic growth.

Jenkins concludes by ruminating on why "no one devotes a research grant or a Reith lecture" to bankers or financiers. Rather than worrying over whether the City has enough money and fame, we should be focusing on how we can restore balance to our economy by investing in the future.

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 29 Jun 2010 | 5:05 pm

Fear of insurance penalties keeps Huntington's sufferers in the shadows

The neurodegenerative disease is said to affect seven people in 100,000, but experts believe the proportion is higher

There are far more people with Huntington's disease in the UK than has been assumed, but stigma and fear of insurance companies has kept them in the shadows, experts say today.

Huntington's disease is so genetically predictable that insurance companies make an exception to the general principle of not penalising people on the basis of their genetic make-up. The child of an affected parent has a 50% chance of inheriting the disease, which usually shows itself when the person reaches their late 30s or 40s.

Huntington's is a neurodegenerative disorder which affects muscle co-ordination and leads to cognitive decline and dementia. Patients typically suffer involuntary writhing movements known as chorea.

Professor Sir Michael Rawlins, chairman of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, writes in the Lancet journal in his capacity as an honorary professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine that Huntington's disease needs far more attention.

"As well as having profound implications for the families with a member who has Huntington's disease, the stigma has negatively affected research, particularly studies that have sought to investigate epidemiology and, most especially, prevalence... Huntington's disease is the only genetic condition for which the insurance industry loads those at risk. The stigma – to the insurance industry's eternal shame – is not only societal but also actuarial," he says.

The limited work on its prevalence in 15 locations in the UK produced an estimate of 6.7 cases per 100,000 population. But Rawlins writes that the number of people known to be suffering from the disease is higher than that estimate. The Huntington's Disease Association cares for 6,702 people in England and Wales. "Specialist neurologists have referred all of them, so their diagnoses can hardly be in doubt," writes Rawlins. "From these numbers alone, the minimum prevalence in England and Wales must therefore be at least 12·4 per 100,000."

He believes the true figure is even higher, because the association does not cover all areas of England and Wales. More accurate numbers will help the NHS and encourage researchers and the pharmaceutical industry to focus on the disease.

An all-party parliamentary group is now being formed to draw attention to Huntington's and press for more research, under the chairmanship of Lord Walton of Detchant.

Professor Sarah Tabrizi, from the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London, who leads a large research programme into Huntington's, said only about 20% of those at risk take a test to establish whether they have the genetic mutation. Those who do are often those who know it is in their family and are considering having a child. For the others, there is little incentive. "Once we are in a position to offer some treatment, 100% will go for the test," she said.

It is now possible to screen embryos for the genetic mutation that causes Huntingdon's disease, but only about 5% of those at risk opt for pre-implantation genetic diagnosis. Those who do have to negotiate NHS funding hurdles because it necessitates IVF (in-vitro fertilisation).

"Funding from primary care trusts is not always easy," she said. "It does get funded but you have to do a business case for it every time."

Others decide instead to get pregnant and then have a test at eight to nine weeks which will reveal whether the foetus is carrying a mutated gene, but that is only useful for couples who can contemplate an abortion.

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 29 Jun 2010 | 5:01 pm

Smallest Whale Population Identified

The world's smallest whale population is the North Pacific right whale, new surveys show, with only 30 whales alive today.
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 29 Jun 2010 | 5:00 pm

The Truth Behind Eclipses (Vampires Not Included) (SPACE.com)

SPACE.com - The word "eclipse" means much more than the vampire and werewolf thriller set to hit theaters on Wednesday. But "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse," the latest film based on the popular vampire book series, is being released between two of nature's real-life eclipses – a recent partial lunar eclipse and a solar eclipse coming on July 11.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 29 Jun 2010 | 4:45 pm

Bell from Famed Wreck of Andrea Doria Discovered

Lucky divers spot bell in seafloor sands.
Source: Livescience.com | 29 Jun 2010 | 4:37 pm

First Solar-Powered Blimp to Cross English Channel

French engineering students built the first solar-powered blimp. The aircraft is scheduled to fly across the English Channel later this summer.
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 29 Jun 2010 | 4:01 pm

US Supreme Court avoids clarifying patent stance

A highly anticipated case yields disappointingly vague results.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/news/rss/today/~4/dnVTX0dAJ2s" height="1" width="1"/>
Source: NatureNews - All articles published today - nature.com science feeds | 29 Jun 2010 | 3:58 pm

Visiting an Asteroid: What's the Point?

Why should we, as a race, support human spaceflight? This is one of the key questions hanging over the world's space agencies in these hard economic times.
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 29 Jun 2010 | 3:38 pm

Is BBQ Good For You? - Sweet and Savory Science

If you can read this it's because your ancestors cooked their food, gaining vital nutrients. But char your meat and you can get cancer. Food scientists Sarah Risch and Shirley Corriher reveal what's behind the smokey flavor grilled fare.
Source: Livescience.com | 29 Jun 2010 | 3:37 pm

Steamed dinosaur eggs

Neosauropods sought out geothermal vents to keep their eggs warm.
Source: NatureNews - All articles published today - nature.com science feeds | 29 Jun 2010 | 3:24 pm

Brain Chemical Makes Us More Impulsive (LiveScience.com)

LiveScience.com - A boost in the brain's "feel good" chemical dopamine makes humans more impulsive, a new study suggests.
Source: Yahoo! News: Science News | 29 Jun 2010 | 3:20 pm

Prehistoric Humans Took in Art Shows

Anthropologists have uncovered sequences of painted images that appear to be a Copper Age version of animation.
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 29 Jun 2010 | 3:20 pm

World's Cutest Baby Wild Animals

From baby porcupines to flamingo chicks, we've picked out the most adorable baby animals.
Source: Livescience.com | 29 Jun 2010 | 3:12 pm

Brain Chemical Makes Us More Impulsive

A boost in the brain's "feel good" chemical dopamine makes humans more impulsive, a new study suggests.
Source: Livescience.com | 29 Jun 2010 | 3:04 pm

Space capsule probed for asteroid dust

Hayabusa holds lessons for future sample-return missions.
Source: NatureNews - All articles published today - nature.com science feeds | 29 Jun 2010 | 2:27 pm

Stem-cell furore erupts

Data analysis ignites public row.
Source: NatureNews - All articles published today - nature.com science feeds | 29 Jun 2010 | 2:27 pm

G8 revisits maternal and child deaths

More funds pledged at summit for the two UN Millennium Development Goals farthest from their targets.
Source: NatureNews - All articles published today - nature.com science feeds | 29 Jun 2010 | 2:27 pm

'Flying Car' One Step Closer to Reality

The first "flying car," is now one step closer to becoming street- and sky-legal.
Source: Livescience.com | 29 Jun 2010 | 1:55 pm

Military Drones Report for Civilian Duty

A small army of robotic vehicles with military pedigrees is quietly reporting for duty in the civilian world: UAVs.
Source: Livescience.com | 29 Jun 2010 | 1:44 pm

Mouse Innards in 3D

For the first time, scientists have created 3D models of whole intact mouse organs. Check out the photos and videos.
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 29 Jun 2010 | 1:09 pm

Next-Gen Biotech Patent Tests Needed, Says Supreme Court

A Supreme Court ruling June 28 on idea patents disappointed those hoping for an overhaul of intellectual property claims for software, but it may inspire new patent tests aimed at the legally troublesome biotechnology field.

According to the court, the widely followed “machine-or-transformation” test — which limits patents to machines designed for a specific purpose, or processes that physically transform an object — is outdated. This test is also at the heart of at least two other legal cases currently being contested that could shape the future of the biotech business.

Machine-or-transformation might have been fine for the Industrial Age, “but there are reasons to doubt whether the test should be the sole criterion for determining the patentability of inventions in the Information Age,” wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy in the court’s June 28 ruling (.pdf) on Bilski v. Kappos.

Bilski involved a denied patent claim on methods for managing investor risk in a commodities market. Had the patent been granted, it would have set a precedent allowing for intellectual property claims on purely abstract concepts, rather than physical objects or technical processes.

Lower courts applied the machine-or-transformation test to Bilski, which failed to pass. The Supreme Court unanimously supported the earlier outcome — a risk hedging scheme should not be patented — but by denying that outcome’s rationale, they’ve paved the way for future patenting of ideas.

“The district judge said, ‘I’m bound by machine-or-transformation, and under that, these methods aren’t patentable.’ The Supreme Court decision puts the impetus on the federal circuit court to re-think that test,” said University of North Carolina intellectual property expert John Conley. “They can come up with something brand-new to deal with biotech.”

In April, a federal district court struck down the patent claims of Myriad Genetics on two breast cancer-linked genes, as well as risk-predicting tests on those genes. The gene patents were denied because products of nature are considered unpatentable, but the machine-or-transformation test was cited in denying diagnostic patents.

Critics say broad patents on diagnostic testing reduce competition and discourage researchers from developing new and better tests. Myriad says patents are needed to protect its business. A federal circuit court will hear their appeal next year.

A post machine-or-transformation standard could also be determined in Mayo v. Prometheus, a federal case involving Prometheus Laboratories’ claim on a method for determining drug dose by measuring a patient’s metabolic response. The Mayo Clinic says the method is so general that they shouldn’t be required to license it — but unlike Myriad’s diagnostics, it was approved under the machine-or-transformation test.

In its decision on Bilski, the Supreme Court refused to take sides. The court “today is not commenting on the patentability of any particular invention,” they wrote. “Nothing in this opinion should be read to take a position on where that balance ought to be struck.”

The court is saying, “We won’t tell you what to do,” said University of Michigan intellectual property professor Rebecca Eisenberg. “You have to figure it out for yourselves.”

Photo: Laura Padgett/Flickr

See Also:

• Gene Patents Under Legal Attack
• End of Gene Patents Will Help Patients, Force Companies to Change
• Synthetic Bazaar vs. Cathedral: Intellectual Property and the First Artificial Genome
• Venter’s Patent Grab Imperils Synthetic Biology, Activists Say

Brandon Keim’s Twitter stream and reportorial outtakes; Wired Science on Twitter. Brandon is currently working on a book about ecological tipping points.

Source: Wired: Wired Science | 29 Jun 2010 | 12:29 pm

How Fireworks Work: Spark Color Recipes and Chemistry

Fireworks displays' brilliant colors and intricate shapes explode from a blend of science and art. Pyrotechnic expert John Conkling reveals the secrets of flame colors, fuse timing, burst charges other incendiary tricks. THINK SAFETY!
Source: Livescience.com | 29 Jun 2010 | 11:41 am

Obituary: Lord Flowers

Nuclear physicist devoted to finding sustainable ways for science to improve life

The physicist Brian Flowers, who has died at the age of 85, was the outstanding scientific and academic administrator of his generation, his career culminating in 12 years as rector of Imperial College London until 1985, and then five years as vice-chancellor of London University. However, he contributed much more outside even the very broad fields of science and the universities, chairing public bodies and as a member of the House of Lords, which he joined in 1979 as Baron Flowers.

Everything he did was characterised by imagination and by his determination to find the right – rather than the easy and the easily acceptable – solution. He believed that although one major purpose of science is the betterment of mankind, another is the proper management of the earth's resources.

His commitment to bettering the human condition came naturally from the son of a noted Welsh preacher, the Rev Harold Flowers, and his wife Marian. Born in Blackburn, Lancashire, Brian went to Bishop Gore grammar school, Swansea, where an extraordinarily gifted teacher, a Mr Foukes, encouraged the first signs of his passionate interest in physics. At Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, he studied physics with electronics, gaining his wartime degree in two years with such obvious brilliance that in 1944, before he was 20, he was recruited by the British nuclear physics pioneer John Cockcroft to the Anglo-Canadian atomic bomb project at Chalk River, Ontario.

In 1946, Cockcroft brought Flowers back to Britain to work in Otto Frisch's group in the nuclear physics division of the Atomic Energy Research Establishment (AERE) at Harwell, Oxfordshire. It was there that Flowers met Mary Behrens, from a well-known Manchester Liberal family and later to become his wife. At the time she was married to Oscar Buneman, a member of the theoretical physics group under Klaus Fuchs.

In the nuclear division under Frisch, Flowers found life somewhat disorientated, and he transferred to Fuchs's theoretical group. However, in 1950 Fuchs was arrested as a Soviet agent. Flowers went to Birmingham University to work under Rudolf Peierls. With hindsight, and leaving aside the creative work he did on spectroscopy at Birmingham, it seems that Flowers was already being groomed to take the place of the brilliant but disgraced Fuchs, who was convicted, imprisoned and in 1959 left for East Germany.

In 1951, Flowers married Mary. A year later he returned to Harwell as the new head of theoretical physics, a certain springboard for the career that followed.

Apart from his contribution to the atomic energy project, Flowers had already begun to establish himself as a nuclear structure physicist of international standing: in 1958 he was appointed professor of theoretical physics at Manchester University, and three years later elected a fellow of the Royal Society. In 1967, he was seconded to be the chairman of the Science Research Council. His great contribution there was to overcome the differences between the very disparate bodies from which it had recently been formed, and to forge powerful links with university science and engineering departments.

The SRC and its companion research councils had been established by the government in response to a report by the secretary to the cabinet, Sir Burke Trend, on the organisation of civil science, emphasising the desirability of strong working relationships between the universities and government laboratories. With the outstanding success of an academic in this post, an important principle was established, though it meant forgoing the contribution Flowers would undoubtedly have continued to make to physics.

In the event, he was never to return to Manchester. When the rectorship of Imperial College, then part of London University, became vacant in 1973, he was the obvious person to appoint, just as he was later as vice-chancellor.

Not only was he president of the Institute of Physics and of the European Science Foundation, he was also president of the National Society for Clean Air. He must have been the only governor of the Weizmann Science Institute, in Israel, who had been also a visiting professor at Cairo University. He received many international accolades, including being made Officier de la Légion d'Honneur (1981).

In 1969 he was knighted, and four years later became chairman of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution. Its controversial sixth report, Nuclear Energy and the Environment (1976), pointed to the undesirability of committing to a large-scale programme of nuclear power until a method had been found for dealing with radioactive waste.

In the Lords, he was a founder member, in 1981, of the Social Democratic party, and a member of its select committee on science and technology most of the time from 1982 to 2002. As a result, he directly influenced several inquiries, including that on priorities in medical research, which led to the NHS appointment of a director of research and development and the concept of a knowledge-based service. He was deeply involved in the report on research and development in nuclear power, and a visionary report on essential priorities for the science base.

Under his chairmanship (1989-93), the select committee played an important role in the creation of the Office of Science and Technology in 1992, and the science white paper of 1993.

It was typical that Flowers should call on the Palace of Westminster to take a very long view of science, development and the human condition, an approach which he also expressed as president of the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee (1993-97). With great skill, Flowers sought, and brought, balance to the highest levels of scientific administration and debate. He somehow managed to be tough yet approachable, to see the present in terms of the future, and was always interested in ideas that reached across the spectrum of human activities and achievements.

If, at times, he was troubled by the uncertainties of global security – he supported the Pugwash conferences on science and world affairs – it was because he detested profligacy, because his timescale stood astride the expediencies of national and world politics, and because he was among the most perceptive and gentle of the nuclear pioneers. He was, in short, a true giant of his time.

His contributions to the way that society may work better with the help of science were born of deep humanitarian convictions and a broad culture. We are unlikely to see another "science politician" who is an accomplished cellist and painter in oils.

His marriage to Mary brought him two stepsons, Peter and Michael Buneman; they all survive him.

Bill Gelletly writes: The theoretical physics division at Harwell in the early 1950s under Flowers was a very lively place, with a galaxy of talent including Tony Skyrme, Phil Elliott, Tony Lane and John Soper. One of Flowers's major achievements was to ensure that the theorists interacted closely with experimenters working on the same problems at Harwell and Oxford.

This group came together at an auspicious time. It was known that atomic nuclei were complex objects made up of neutrons and protons and that they could be described only by quantum mechanics. The best information on the forces between these nucleons, as they are known, was empirical. As we still do not have any means of determining this force from first principles, we depend on models of nuclei.

In the early 1950s, two competing and apparently contradictory models held sway. The shell model asserted that the nucleons were arranged in orbits round the nucleus just like the electrons in the atom. Quantum mechanical considerations ensured that they filled the orbits two at a time, allowing the explanation of many regularities observed in nuclear properties based on the idea that when a set of orbits is filled, it completes a "shell", and the system is then more tightly bound together. The collective model, on the other hand, involved the motion of many nucleons and could explain the observed spectra which exhibited all the characteristics of a rotating or vibrating system.

Flowers developed the algebra to describe the various nuclear shells. In a series of papers, with Elliott in particular, he showed that both models could describe what was observed. This work had essentially unified the collective and shell models. It was to lead Elliott to the application of group theory to nuclear properties. We can still see these strands of the work initiated by Flowers and his colleagues in current research.

We have moved away from the idea of a fixed shell structure in all nuclei, with profound consequences, for example, for our understanding of how the chemical elements are generated in stars and hence their relative abundances. Nevertheless, the basic ideas embodied in the work of Flowers and his colleagues underpin the much more complex shell model calculations made possible by the enormous advances in computing techniques in the last half century.

• Brian Hilton Flowers, Baron Flowers, physicist, administrator, politician and public servant, born 13 September 1924; died 25 June 2010

• Sir Alec Merrison died in 1989, and Anthony Tucker in 1998

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 29 Jun 2010 | 11:38 am

Alex: Where Will the Storm Go and How Long Will It Last?

Tropical Storm Alex is expected to intensify into Hurricane Alex in the coming hours, and expected to make landfall late Wednesday or early Thursday.
Source: Livescience.com | 29 Jun 2010 | 11:38 am

Ban homeopathy from NHS, say doctors

Members of the British Medical Association call for homeopathic remedies to be taken off pharmacy shelves designated for medicines

Homeopathic treatments should be banned from the NHS and taken off pharmacy shelves designated for medicines, doctors said today .

Members of the British Medical Association said homeopathic remedies should be relegated to shelves "labelled placebos" and that NHS money should not be spent on treatments that are scientifically implausible.

Proposing the motion at the BMA's annual representative meeting in Brighton Mary McCarthy, a GP from Shropshire, said homeopathic doctors claimed that it made people feel better. "Lots of things make you feel better – a sunny day, the smell of the sea, a hug, retail therapy," she said.

"It can do harm by diverting patients from conventional medical treatments."

She said the issue was about NHS funding and promotion and would not prevent homeopaths from practising.

Tom Dolphin, a member of the BMA's junior doctors' committee, backed the motion. He said he had previously described homeopathy as witchcraft, but now wanted to apologise to witches for making that link.

"Homeopathy is not witchcraft, it is nonsense on stilts. It is pernicious nonsense that feeds into a rising wave of irrationality which threatens to overwhelm the hard-won gains of the enlightenment and the scientific method," he said.

"We risk, as a society, slipping back into a state of magical thinking when made-up science passes for rational discourse and wishing for something to be true passes for proof.

"Let's stop wasting scarce NHS money on something with plenty of evidence to show it does not work.

"Strike a blow for science and protect our patients from this insidious practice."

Outside the meeting, about 50 supporters of homeopathy gathered to protest against the doctors' stance. There was also some support within the hall.

"There's a big push that we practise evidence-based medicine, however, patients don't always have evidence-based symptomatology," said John Garner, a GP from Edinburgh.

He said he had seen patients with a range of complaints but investigations had found no cause. "Some of these patients, for whatever reason, find benefit and relief in homeopathic treatments, because of a placebo effect or not."

Homeopathic remedies have been funded by the NHS since its inception, but there is growing opposition from scientists to spending public money, at a time of cuts, on such treatments. In many homeopathic remedies there is no trace of an active substance, because it has been so heavily diluted.

The Society of Homeopaths claims that around 600 doctors prescribe homeopathic remedies and points out that the NHS spends just 0.001% of its £11bn drugs budget on them.

The Department of Health said it was considering its response to a report on homeopathy by the science and technology committee, which recommended that the NHS should no longer fund homeopathy.

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 29 Jun 2010 | 10:53 am

Cryosat-2 focuses on ice target

Europe’s ice explorer space mission begins to deliver on its promise to make high-precision radar measurements of polar ice.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 29 Jun 2010 | 10:47 am

Tiny Clays Tame Earthquake Faults

Portions of San Andreas Fault lubricated by crushed rock.
Source: Livescience.com | 29 Jun 2010 | 10:13 am

Cell Phone App Offers Eye Prescriptions

A quick photograph with your camera phone can now diagnose astigmatism and give you your contact prescription.
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 29 Jun 2010 | 9:55 am

Galactic Monster Mystery Solved

What exactly is this monstrous green blob with a huge central hole some 16,000 light-years across?
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 29 Jun 2010 | 9:15 am

Richard Dawkins's backwards logic over atheist schooling | Andrew Brown

Richard Dawkins's belief that any properly brought up child will naturally be an atheist leads him into absurdity

Richard Dawkins on Mumsnet came up with a remark to silence all his critics: "What have you read of mine that makes you think I have a skewed agenda?" It certainly left me opening and shutting my mouth like a breathless goldfish. Actually the whole thread is worth reading: it is from here that the story has come forth that he wants to start an atheist school. Whether that will actually happen is another thing. But it is in any case revealing of his reasoning. (There doesn't seem to be a way to link to individual comments on Mumsnet, but all these quotes are cut and pasted from the thread.)

He was asked by one commenter:

"What would you say to parents of children who attend quite orthodox state-funded schools who are very anxious that their child be educated within that context? I am thinking specifically of the ortho-Jewish schools around my way (north London). I know for a fact a lot of these parents cannot countenance the idea of their child being educated within a non-Jewish school. What do you think they should do?"

His response was:

"That's a good point. I believe this is putting parental rights above children's rights."

It is impossible to read this as meaning anything but that children have a right to be educated as Richard Dawkins thinks fit, but not as their parents do. He alluded several times in the threat to the sufferings of atheist parents forced to send their children to faith schools:

"Is it better to stand by one's principles or be hypocritical in order to provide the best option? What a horrible dilemma to be forced into."

But apparently this doesn't apply if your principles are religious ones, because then your children have a right to be educated as atheists.

Of course, the Dawkins position here is purely a matter of assertion. It's impossible to imagine anything that might qualify as evidence for the view that it is okay for atheists to discriminate against parents who have particular religious beliefs, while it is very wrong for believers to do so.

But "evidence", tends to be defined backwards in these polemics – in other words, he starts from the axiom that there is no evidence whatsoever for the existence of God, (implied here in his remark that "Every atheist I know would change their mind in a heartbeat if any evidence appeared in favour of religious belief") and then find meanings for the term that fit this use. This is of course the same trick as defining faith as belief without evidence and then using this definition as proof that faith is irrational.

If that sounds unfair, consider the uses of "evidence" in his discussion of education here:

"Children should be taught to ask for evidence, to be sceptical, critical, open-minded. If children understand that beliefs should be substantiated with evidence, as opposed to tradition, authority, revelation or faith, they will automatically work out for themselves that they are atheists."

It's clear here that Dawkins is starting from the definition that "evidence" is what can't justify a belief in God, whereas "tradition, authority, revelation, and faith" have all been used to justify religious belief, so they must be bad.

But the idea that you can separate a respect for evidence from a respect for tradition and authority doesn't survive a moment's reflection on the ways that children actually learn. That's true whether or not God exists.

To be sceptical, critical, and open-minded are all mental, and even moral disciplines. Obviously, all education in any schools, should try to produce such children. But these skills don't come naturally. Indeed, Dawkins, in other moods, will emphasise the utter lack of these skills in small children. So how are they learned? If you want to teach children to be sceptical, critical, and open-minded, you have to start from authority and induct them into a tradition where these things are valued.

The construction of reasoned arguments is a skill that many people never master at all. If they ever do, it is on the basis of social and moral skills, involving self-discipline and a respect for others, which can only be taught with authority. When you are bringing up children "Because I say so" precedes every other sort of "because", and it must. We learn to yield to the authority of reason by our experience of earlier yielding to other sorts of authority.

Obviously, not any tradition, nor any old authority will do for this purpose. Most cultures, for most of history, have put very little value on originality and non-conformity. Teenagers, above all, are hideously concerned about whether they fit in and it takes skilled and strong-minded teachers to relieve even some of this anxiety. But they can't do it without the support of an authoritative tradition that values non-conformity.

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 29 Jun 2010 | 9:00 am

Back to basics

'Old-fashioned' farming can deliver a green revolution
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 29 Jun 2010 | 8:24 am

Ovary transplants could extend women's lifespan

The lifespan of mice that received ovary transplants was extended by more than 40%. A similar effect may be seen in women who have had transplants to maintain their fertility

An operation designed to preserve women's fertility before they have cancer treatment might also extend their lifespan, doctors have speculated.

Cancer therapy can leave women infertile, but some patients have had ovary transplants afterwards to restore their fertility. The ovary tissue is either collected and frozen before their treatment begins, or is donated by another woman.

In a series of animal experiments, researchers found that ovary transplants rejuventated mice and extended their lifespan by more than 40%. In the study, ovaries from young mice were implanted into older mice. Researchers are now asking whether the equivalent operation extends the life of women.

Fewer than a dozen babies have been born around the world after their mothers received an ovary transplant. The first was born in London in 2008, to a 39-year-old woman who conceived naturally after receiving an ovary from her twin sister.

Doctors at a meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Rome, where the research was announced, said ovarian transplants might rejuvenate and extend the lifespan of mice by changing levels of hormones in their bodies.

"At present, ovarian transplants are performed with the aim of preserving a woman's fertility after cancer treatment for instance, or of extending her reproductive lifespan," said Dr Noriko Kagawa at the Kato Ladies Clinic in Tokyo, who was one of the researchers. "However, the completely unexpected extra benefit of fertility-preserving procedures in our mouse studies indicates that there is a possibility that carrying out similar procedures in women could lengthen their lifespans in general."

Dr Kagawa stressed that far more research is needed to investigate whether ovarian transplants extend the lives of women, particularly as none of the women has yet reached old age.

Arne Akbar, an expert on the immune system and ageing at University College London, said: "What people in the field of ageing research will want to know is, if this is a real effect, what is the biological mechanism?"

In one set of experiments, Kagawa's team removed both ovaries from mice when they were around 140 days old, and implanted them in six older mice aged around 525 days. Before the operation, the older mice were too old to be fertile.

In further experiments, single ovaries from young mice, around 170 days old, were implanted into eight older mice, aged around 540 days old.

All of the mice who received transplants became fertile again, but more striking was the effect the operation had on their longevity. Mice that received two ovaries lived for an average of 915 days, while those that had one ovary implanted lived for an average of 877 days. Their average lifespan was expected to be 548 days.

After their transplant operations, the aged mice began to behave as though they were much younger. "They showed interest in male mice, mated and some had pups. Normally, old mice stay in the corner of the cage and don't move much," Dr Kagawa said.

Source: Science news, comment and analysis | guardian.co.uk | 29 Jun 2010 | 7:20 am

Mars Rover Gets New X-ray Experiment

'Curiosity' will be the first rover to carry an important mineralogical experiment to Mars, an x-ray diffraction instrument called ChemMin.
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 29 Jun 2010 | 7:04 am

Recycled Missiles Tapped to Launch Satellites

The United States is tapping an arsenal of decommissioned nuclear missiles to put science satellites into orbit.
Source: Discovery News - Top Stories | 29 Jun 2010 | 6:49 am

Hay day

Could these rural gems become a thing of the past?
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 29 Jun 2010 | 6:17 am

'Sex' drove fossil animal traits

Several prehistoric creatures developed elaborate body traits in order to attract members of the opposite sex, a study says.
Source: BBC News | Science & Environment | UK Edition | 29 Jun 2010 | 6:09 am