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This week in European sciences -- week 02|2004 |
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Overview
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Bush to Offer Initiative to Explore Space The White
House announced that the Bush administration intends to start a new major
space initiative, New York Times writers Matthew L. Wald and David E.
Sanger report (January
9, 2004). President George W. Bush is expected to deliver a speech
next week. During the past months news reports hinted at the administration's
preparation to explore a research program with the goal to establish a
base on the moon which would serve as a stepping stone to Mars. "The
president directed his administration to do a comprehensive review of
our space policy, including our priorities and the future of the program,
and the president will have more to say on it next week," the President's
Press Secretary Scott McClellan told reporters. |
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New
York Times |
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In the German
discussion about the "year of innovation", that the German chancellor
announced in the first days of the new year, many policy makers request
for a university dedicated for a German elite. Like Stanford or the Columbia
University in New York. But in Germany. In "Die Zeit" (January
8, 2004) Martin Spiewak gives a report of a visit at the Columbia
University and is posing the question: What do we need to get a German
university for the best? His answer: We need a lot of time, and a lot
of money. The budget of the Columbia University is about 2 billion dollars
per year - the University of berlin has about a tenth of it. The conclusion:
it doesn't seem reasonable to implement one single university for the
best students, but to support a few universities, who are doing a good
job in special areas more money.Also Germany has to improve the laws.
Originally, their freedom of research and indepence was the key factor
for the U.S. universities to become what they are: successful. |
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Die
Zeit |
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Whatever
happens to the British lander Beagle-2 on Mars, this year is going to
become a golden year for space exploration of our solar system. Tim Radford
gives in The Guardian (January
8, 2004) an overview about the missions. The highlight will surely
by the arrival of spacecraft Cassini at Saturn in June/July and the drop-off
of its European lander to Saturn's moon Titan in December. |
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The
Guardian |
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Dark Energy - a Grand Mistake? After the
magazine Science has voted dark energy as the breakthough of the last
year, scientists claim that it may not exist at all. Marcus Chown reports
in The Independent (January
7, 2004) about the controversy. |
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The
Independent
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The first
case of Mad Cow Disease discovered in the United States has lamed the
beef production and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is dealing
with fears that the United States could become the next hot spot for the
disease. On Dec. 23, six-year-old slaughtered cow in Washington State
was diagnosed with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or mad-cow disease
and since then 30 countries have banned U.S. beef imports, report Cathy
Booth and Thomas Dallas in Time magazine (Jan.
5, 2004). Media nationwide have immediately picked up on the case
and speculate whether hamburgers are still safe. The infected cow was
quickly identified as a "downer," an animal not intended for
human consumption, but put down because it cannot walk because of injury
or illness. "At least 150,000 downer cattle were sold annually for
human consumption for as much as a few hundred dollars a piece, extra
money for cattlemen struggling with low prices," Michael Moss, Richard,
A. Oppel Jr. and Simon Romero write in The New York Times (Jan.
5, 2004). "Food safety advocates warned that these cattle could
carry disease, but the political power of the industry was evident in
2002 when its lobbyists helped defeat legislation banning the commercial
slaughter of downer cattle even after it had been approved by the House
and the Senate." USDA officials give radio interviews (National Public
Radio) to ensure consumers that beef products are safe for consumption
and that regulations have been tightened. So far people do not seem to
be too panicked other than the industry, which is expecting large losses
in the export business. |
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Time
magazine |
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Officials
in education and research often complain about the so-called brain drain
of scientists to the U.S. Holger Wormer numbers in Süddeutsche Zeitung
(January
5, 2004) some arguments for those researchers who return - ranging
from a higher security in Europe, a better start-up equipment, the food
they are used to, the cheaper standards of living. |
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Süddeutsche Zeitung |
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Links to Martian Rover is strong, and pictures flow to earth NASA released
first pictures transmitted by the Mars rover Spirit Monday and according
to New York Times writer John Noble Wilford, scientists are using those
images to identify potential exploration targets, "including a place
they are calling Sleepy Hollow" (January
5, 2004). The robotic rover landed safely near the Martian equator
and Matt Wallace, manager of the rover mission, said its main antenna
pointed toward Earth, which allowed for the high-speed picture transmission
and the sending of commands. Chief scientist Dr. Steven W. Squyres of
Cornell, said instrument tests were completed and rover seemed to have
survived the landing successfully. "He said that German scientists
were particularly relieved that one of their spectrometers for analyzing
Martian rocks, which had exhibited erratic behavior earlier in the mission,
was in excellent condition," Wilford reports. |
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New York Times
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In the 1980's
and 90's people in Germany were very afraid of the probable dying of the
forests due to acid rain, the 'Waldsterben', a word that was also adapted
literally by other languages.
Scientific assessment of the suffering 'patient' commence. Michael Lange
reports in German broadcast radio Deutschlandfunk (January
4, 2004) about
20 years of assessment of the suffering woods. It turns out that - as
we all see - the woods did not die or vanish on grand stretches of the
landscape - as predicted before. On the other hand, there is huge damage
reported by scientists. But not to the trees which seem to have adapted
to the changed conditions. It is rather the soils that are acidified and
hence lose essential minerals like magnesium. Some scientists think that
science in general has lost some credibility due to the overestimation
and exaggeration of the supposed damage to the woods. But another point
is that in response to the warnings of scientists regulation to cut down
air pollution and to foster environmental protection set in. Huge efforts
have been made - many against corporate lobby groups. |
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Deutschlandfunk |
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Sustainable Aquaculture goes Vegetarian Aquaculture-reared
salmon are Norway's second most important export product. If salmon aquaculture
is to fulfil its aim to participate significantly in supplying humans
with protein and at the same time protecting natural ressources, the predatory
salmons may have to be turned into vegetarians or even vegans. Per Snaprud
reports from the attempts of Anders Kiessling, Professor at both the Swedish
and Norwegian Agricultural Universities, to make salmon aquaculture more
sustainable
(Dagens Nyheter, January
4, 2004).
During its life, a salmon consumes two to five times its own mass. Approximately
12 percent of all the fish catches from the seas and rivers is used for
feeding predatory fishes in aquaculture - and this proportion is increasing
all the time. If the increase continues at this rate, in 2005 all the
fish oil and in 2015 all the fish meal will have to be used for feeding
other fish. Kiessling experiments with foods that contain soja or the
bacterium Methylococcus capsulatus as protein sources. Kiessling's fish
seem to enjoy all the different food pellets equally. One worry has been
that vegetarian salmon may taste differently. A test with Japanese Sushi
chefs, however, showed that they were not able to distinguish salmon that
were reared with different foods. A more serious worry concerns 3-omega
fats from fish that protect against coronary artery disease. Salmon derive
these fats from their prey and vegetarians and vegans will thus lack this
healthy ingredient. The British company Seabait proposes to derive the
fats in fish food from marine worms. |
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Dagens
Nyheter |
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Elliptic Galaxies with Hot History Generally,
the elliptic galaxies are the boring fellows in the sky when compared
with the bright spinning spiral galaxies like our Milky Way. Thomas Trösch
reports in FAZ on Sunday
(January
4, 2004) about
new data from the X-ray telescope Chandra for NGC 4261. This elliptic
galaxy is the home of dozens of black holes and neutron stars that are
lined up like pearls on a necklace - the massive remnants of a hot history.
The new findings give researchers some clues on how elliptic galaxies
evolve. The main hypothesis is now that they form when two spiral galaxies
collide with each other - the fate our Milky Way will face in about 5
billion years when hitting the Andromeda nebula. |
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Frankfurter
Allgemeine Zeitung |
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Low Doses of X-ray May Stunt Children A study
performed by researcher at Stockholm's Karolinska Institutet and Harvard
School of Public Health shows that low doses of X-rays can stunt the intellectual
development of children
(Dagens Nyheter, January
2, 2004).
3000 children who were treated in the 30s, 40s and 50s for birthmarks
on their heads with low dose radiation later showed a significant and
surprisingly strong decrease in their intellectual abilities. The doses
used correspond to doses applied today in computer tomography. The study
leader, Professor Per Hall, thus recommends a cautious use of this technology
with children. |
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Dagens
Nyheter |
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