|
|
|
|
| SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY |
|
|
|
Bird-flu research: Scientists warn of dangers ahead Amazon rainforest hit hard by mega drought Trends Prof Yash
Pal THIS UNIVERSE |
|
|
Bird-flu research: Scientists warn of dangers ahead LEADING scientists have condemned a decision by flu researchers to continue their controversial research into the deadly H5N1 bird-flu virus, which has already led to the creation of a mutated form of avian flu that can spread easily between mammals — including humans. Forty of the world’s most prominent flu researchers have decided to lift their voluntary moratorium on studies into the airborne transmission of the H5N1 strain of bird-flu, which they imposed upon themselves last January following public outrage over the work. They said that the benefits of the research in preventing and dealing with a future flu pandemic outweigh the risks of an accidental leak of the mutant virus from a laboratory or the deliberate attempt to create deadly strains of flu by terrorists or rogue governments. However, other leading scientists vehemently denounced the decision on the grounds that it would be more dangerous to proceed with the research than to continue with the moratorium, claiming that there has been little discussion of the decision outside the flu-research community. Professor Lord May, a former government chief scientist and past president of the Royal Society, said the moratorium should be continued because there are two possible downsides to research that deliberately aims at making the H5N1 bird-flu virus more infectious to humans. “As this research becomes more widely known and disseminated, there is the opportunity for evil people to pervert it. My other concern is the statistics of containment are not what they ought to be,” Lord May said. “The dangers of going ahead with the research outweigh the benefits of what may emerge. As I look at it, on the balance of probabilities, going ahead and lifting the moratorium is more dangerous than not going ahead,” he said. Sir Richard Roberts, who won the Nobel Prize in medicine in 1993 and is an expert in genetic engineering, said there has not been enough public consultation about the work. “The decision to lift the moratorium, which seems to have been made a small group of self-interested scientists, makes a mockery of the concept of informed consent,” Sir Richard said. The ending of the voluntary moratorium was announced this week in the form of a letter signed by 40 flu scientists to the journals Science and Nature, which published the original H5N1 transmissions studies by Ron Fouchier of the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam and Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The scientists independently discovered that they could mutate the H5N1 strain of bird-flu so that it could be transmitted through the air between laboratory ferrets, the standard animal model used to study influenza in humans. Although H5N1 can pass from infected poultry to people, it is not easily transmitted from one person to another — unlike ordinary flu. However, scientists fear that if airborne transmission became possible it would lead to a deadly flu pandemic killing millions of people because most of the individuals who are known to have been infected with H5N1 die from the virus. Dr Fouchier said that it was important to re-start the transmissions studies because it will help to identify the precise genetic mutations that make the H5N1 virus capable of passing from one person to another through the air. “We really need to understand how these viruses become airborne. With the knowledge of these mutations we can do better surveillance to identify where these mutations are popping up in nature,” Dr Fouchier said. Dr Kawaoka said: “We want the world to be better prepared than we are. We understand the risk and consider the H5N1 research safe. There can never be zero risk, but the risk can be managed and we believe the benefits of H5N1 research outweigh the risks.” However, other virus experts disagreed. Simon Wain-Hobson, professor of virology at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, said he was taken by surprise by the suddenness of the announcement to end the moratorium. “There has been no consultation with any virologist outside the flu community on this and, as a virologist, I’m not convinced of the benefits of this research,” Professor Wain-Hobson said. “The risks are clear for all to see and the benefits are qualitative, and that’s rather weak. Civil scientists are not here to increase the risk from microbes. We are not here to make the microbial world more dangerous,” he said. Although the flu researchers have now abandoned their one-year moratorium, the transmissions studies with live H5N1 are not likely to start soon. The US Government has yet to decide on guidelines for research that it funds, and both Dr Fouchier and Dr Kawaoka are funded by the US National Institutes of Health. However, Dr Fouchier said that it may start the work again with research funds he receives from the EU and the work could begin within the coming weeks. — The Independent
|
||
|
Amazon rainforest hit hard by mega drought AN Amazon rainforest area twice the size of California has been hit hard by a mega drought that began in 2005 and caused widespread damage to the canopy that blankets the dense vegetation, says a new NASA-led study. Scientists found that during the summer of 2005, more than 7,00,000 sq km or 70 million hectares of pristine, old-growth forest in southwestern Amazonia experienced an extensive, severe drought. This mega drought caused widespread changes to the forest canopy that were detectable by satellite. While rainfall levels gradually recovered in subsequent years, the damage to the canopy persisted all the way to the next major drought, especially involving the older, larger, more vulnerable canopy trees, the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reports. About half the forest affected by the 2005 drought — an area the size of California — did not recover by the time NASA’s QuikScat stopped gathering global data in November 2009 and before the start of a more extensive drought in 2010, according to a NASA statement.— IANS
|
||
|
Trends CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida: Like many people, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield confesses that he’s sometimes clumsy in the morning just after waking up. The three-time astronaut, now living aboard the International Space Station, was surprised to learn that it did not change even in the weightless environment of space. “When I come out of my sleeping berth to go into our galley and our bathroom, I bump into things even though I’m floating weightless,” the 53-year-old pilot told reporters during an in-flight press conference. “You can still have the morning clumsies up here and that surprised me,” said Hadfield, who is in line to become the first Canadian commander of the orbital outpost in March.
Astronomers discover largest known structure in the universe LONDON: Astronomers have discovered the largest known structure in the universe — a group of quasars so large it would take 4 billion years to cross it while traveling at speed of light. The immense scale also challenges Albert Einstein’s Cosmological Principle, the assumption that the universe looks the same from every point of view, researchers said. The findings by academics from Britain’s University of Central Lancashire were published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society and reported on the society’s website. US firm takes aim at mining asteroids CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida: A team of entrepreneurs and engineers unveiled plans for a space mining company that would tap nearby asteroids for raw materials to fuel satellites and manufacture components in orbit. Deep Space Industries, based in Santa Monica, California, said its inaugural mission is targeted for 2015, when it would send a small hitchhiker spacecraft called “Firefly” on a six-month expedition to survey an as-yet-unidentified asteroid. The 25-kg satellite , about the size of a laptop, would be launched as a secondary payload aboard a commercial rocket carrying a communications satellite or other robotic probe. Hardy Earth microbes may resist conditions on Mars CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida: A hardy bacteria common on Earth was surprisingly adaptive to Mars-like low pressure, cold and carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere, a finding that has implications in the search for extraterrestrial life. The bacteria, known as Serratia liquefaciens, is found in human skin, hair and lungs, as well as in fish, aquatic systems, plant leaves and roots. “It’s present in a wide range of medium-temperature ecological niches,” microbiologist Andrew Schuerger, with the University of Florida, said. — Reuters
|
||
|
THIS UNIVERSE We know that there is no atmosphere outside Earth, and thus there is no scattering of light. Then how do satellites work on solar energy using solar cells even though there is no light falling upon them? The satellite works on the energy produced by solar cells. But there is some confusion. It is true that the solar cells generate energy only when sunlight falls on them. The generated energy is partly used for satellite operation and partly stored in the batteries carried by the satellite. When no light is falling on the solar cells the satellite lives on the stored power. Why can’t we breathe normally during sleep? What you say is not normally the case. Most healthy persons breathe very well during sleep. Most of the critical functions of the body are programmed to go on without flaw when our body is released from strict control by the conscious self. Problems are encountered when some of the functions have encountered some aberration or defect, such as a cold or cough. In such conditions normal passages for breathing get partially blocked or constricted. The automatic driving system of the body does not work efficiently and conscious control might be required. This interferes with sleep. Readers can e-mail questions to Prof Yash Pal at palyash.pal@gmail.com
|
LEADING scientists have condemned a decision by flu researchers to continue their controversial research into the deadly H5N1 bird-flu virus, which has already led to the creation of a mutated form of avian flu that can spread easily between mammals — including humans. Forty of the world’s most prominent flu researchers have decided to lift their voluntary moratorium on studies into the airborne transmission of the H5N1 strain of bird-flu, which they imposed upon themselves last January following public outrage over the work.
