This week in European sciences -- week 43
 

Overview
FAZ reports on a controversy of hydrogen released into environment. Süddeutsche Zeitung on artificial blood. Die Zeit writes about a new interpretation of quantum physics by Yakir Aharonov, and about next generation nuclear power plants. Dagens Nyheter on the shape of the universe, and a comment of Chinese science achievements. Svenska Dagbladet writes about toy research in Stockholm, and a piece on bio-tissues. Dagens Nyheter about Raymond Damadian who argued in a full-page ad of getting ignored by the Nobel award. In addition: NY Times about safety problems on the International Space Station, and a women's genetic risk for breast cancer. Wall Street Journal about WHO recommendations testing emerging SARS cases. NY Times on low-cost supercomputers with off-the-shelf components. Also NYTimes in a editorial about Damadian's claim. Time Magazin about the pill for men.
 

How environmental friendly is hydrogen?

Researchers wonder and argue how environmental friendly hydrogen will become, when in - let's say - 20 or 50 years half or whole global economy is transformed to a so-called hydrogen economy, reports Manfred Lindinger in FAZ (October 24, 2003). According to a recent article from U.S. researchers in Science magazine hydrogen released by leakage will become harmfull to the ozone layer in the stratosphere. In response, the German society of chemists (GDCh) puts the demand for more detailed analysis of the issue on the agenda. Especially the assumptions of the U.S. study have been heavily criticized. But this week a research report (also published in Science) from the German Max-Planck-Institute of Meteorology, Hamburg, states that it is merely improbable that released hydrogen has any impact on environment. They assume a maximum leakage of about three percent, whereas the U.S. study puts 10 to 20 percent.
 

Freshly stirred blood from powder

German researchers are sceptic about the recent success in artificial blood treatment as reported by doctors of the Swedish Karolinska Hospital. Michael Brendler writes in Süddeutsche Zeitung (October 24, 2003) the Swedish researchers claim to have replendished blood loss during operation by artificial blood at first time. The blood was stirred from a powder just before operation. "That's a step forward, but no breakthrough", says the German anaesthesist Oliver Habler. One reason is simply the small sample of eight patients having received the treatment.
 

Problems on Space Station Stir Debate

The International Space Station has some troubles including damaged air, water and radiation monitors and ailing medical devices, Andrew C. Revkin and Warren E. Leary report in The New York Times (October 24, 2003). However, astronauts aboard the station said in news conferences Thursday they believe the station to be safe for now. They and several space agency officials reported that they are carefully watching the problem. An evacuation plan for the astronauts is in place should they be forced to leave the station quickly.

Women With Genetic Mutation at High Risk for Breast Cancer, Study Confirms

A new study found that women who carry a genetic mutation linked to breast cancer are getting the disease at an earlier age than previous generations. But the findings, Denise Grady reports in The New York Times (October 24, 2003), "apply to only a small proportion of breast cancer patients." Women affected by these findings have mutations in the genes BRCA1 or BRCA2. They account for between 5 and 10 percent of all new cases every year. The new study also suggests that women with these mutations are at higher risk to develop breast cancer regardless of family history. A healthy lifestyle can push out the start of cancer. The study indicates that women who were not overweight and exercised as teenagers were less likely to develop cancer early on.
 

Back to the future

In the German weekly Die Zeit (October 23, 2003) Max Rauner gives a portrait of Yakir Aharonov. The physicist from Israel thinks about a new interpretation of quantum theory: a so-called "weak measurement" could help physicists to understand the abstract framework of the theory. Absurdly: in the new theory of Aharonov time is allowed to go backwards.
In addition, Reiner Luyken describes a medical experiment in Great Britain, where a father was fighting to get a special treatment for his son. The son suffers from the human variant of BSE. Finally, a year after the diagnosis, the father was allowed to give his son the injection of the non-licensed medicine Pentosan-Polysulfate (PPS). The first results of the risky experiment were positive. A second person suffering from the same illness will have the same treatment this week.
Although the German government has decided to stop all the nuclear power plants in the coming years, the rest of the world seems to think about building new ones. Michael Mönninger writes about the concept of a European Pressurized Reactor, that will eventually be build in France. His only rival: The next generation of nuclear power plants. The so-called "Generation 4-reactors" are going to be built in about 20 years. For that, the operating permission of the existing power plants must be extended. The message of the article: The disussion about nuclear energy is no more about "yes" or "no", the question is "how many"?
 

WHO Recommends SARS Sparingly

Advisers to the World Health Organization recommend countries use SARS tests sparingly "to avoid unnecessary scares and overburdening hospitals during flu season," Antonio Regalado and Betsy McKay report in The Wall Street Journal (October 23, 2003). The reason for their recommendation is that the tests for the respiratory disease are still unreliable. The group of advisers also recommends that countries with lower risks of SARS such as the United States use these tests only as a last resort while regions such as the southern China area where SARS could re-emerge easily "should immediately test all cases of unexplained pneumonia for possible SARS." In a related story on Oct. 20, Betsy McKay reported that the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention propose an aggressive program to quarantine SARS cases to keep the disease from spreading. "In the absence of any known treatment or vaccine, the CDC's proposed actions ­ which include closing businesses, schools and transit systems, as well as restricting travel ­ are among the only tools currently available to public health officials for controlling the spread of SARS, which sickened 8,098 people globally earlier this year and killed 774."
 

Low-Cost Supercomputer Made with 1,100 PC's

The fastest computer in the world may be a low-cost supercomputer faculty, technicians and students at Virginia Polytechnic Institute have put together "from off-the-shelf personal computers in just one month at a cost of slightly more than $5 million," John Markoff writes in The New York Times (October 22, 2003). The fastest machines traditionally have cost anywhere between $100 million and $250 million and were constructed over several years. "The Virginia Tech supercomputer, put together form 1,100 Apple Macintosh computers, has been successfully tested in recent days, according to Jack Dongarra, a University of Tennessee computer scientist who maintains a listing of the world's 500 fastest machines," Markoff reports. Official results are expected to be published next month.
 

No Nobel Prize for Whining

Watching the Nobel Prize announcements became a sport every October for scientists and journalists. There are the winners and - maybe losers: those who feel ignored, get angry and bring it to the public. This year Raymond Damadian claimed in full-page advertisments in the Washington Post and the New York Times of getting passed over by the Nobel committee. Horace Freeland Judson picked up the issue in an editorial in the New York Times (October 20, 2003). He reports about lots of researchers with major contributions to a scientific discovery or achievement that have been passed over - Lise Meitner, Rosalind Frankling, for instance. In many cases the predecessors of a discovery are included, others are left out. "The noisy complaining of Raymond Damadian" may show that the committees decisions aren't perfect, but also that you can't do anything right to the people.
 

At Last, The Pill For Men

Women sick of keeping up with taking a daily dosis of the pill as an option for birth control can breathe out and relax. The pill for men seems to work according to an Australian study, Amanda Ripley reports in the Time Magazine (October 20, 2003). But don't show your Schadenfreude too soon. It may still take up to five years before the pill for men reaches the market.
 

Controversy about Damadian's Nobel claim

The readers of Dagens Nyheter (October 20, 2003) were confronted with Raymond Damadian's one-page accusations against the Nobel committee. Damadian claims that he deserves a share in this year's Nobel Prize for medicine for having used magnetic resonance in tumour research some time before Peter Lauterbur and Peter Mansfield. Per Snaprud summarizes (on October 21, 2003) the views on Damadian's actions. Anders Hemmingson, Professor emeritus of radiology at Uppsala University, believes that Damadian is right and that he should have a share in the prize. Peter Stilbs, physical chemist from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm disagrees. He claims that only medical scientists were impressed with Damadians work, whereas physicists and chemists were critical from the start. Trouble for Damadian may, however, come from unexpected directions: in his advertisement he used a picture of the Nobel Medal, which unfortunately is copyright protected. Rumors have it that the Nobel Foundation is considering suing Damadian for breach of copyright.
 

Toy research

Ingrid Perssons reports in Svenska Dagbladet (October 19, 2003) from the Institute of Toy Research at Strockholm's Royal Institute of Technology. Although the worldwide market for toys amounts to approximately 60 billion euros, the field is hardly ever scrutinized scientifically. The new institute provides a home for both pedagogical and technical research. The researchers can boast one soon marketable product: a computer game for visually impaired children, which is based on sound effects.
Research in biomaterials and artificial tissues is the topic of Per Oderbrants piece. He presents the research of Jöns Hilborn, professor of polymer chemistry at Uppsala University. Artificial tissues have a number of important potential uses. Synthetic biofibers may be of enormous significance in surgery and also stem cell applications. The proper development of tissues out of stem cell depends on the correct spatial arrangement of the cells during development. Networks of synthetic biofibers can, for example, provide a matrix for the development of stem cells into insulin producing cells.
 

Open question about the shape of the universe

Is the universe infinite or just very, very large? On the occasion of a recent Nature paper by Jeffrey Weeks and his co-workers, Maria Gunther Axelsson portrays in Dagens Nyheter (October 19, 2003) current ideas on the shape and topology of the universe. He presents criticisms of Jeffrey Weeks claims that the universe is shaped like a dodecahedra and gives a prominent place for the views of Max Tegmark, who isn't really sure about the universe's shape but bets that by 2010 a certain answer will be forthcoming. The article is accompanied by a revealing survey among Swedish 10-year old children concerning their thoughts on universe. The topology of the universe is of less concern to the children (the universe is generally considered to be very, very large) than the existence and possible look of aliens.
Karin Bojs comments on the first Chinese "taikonaut" in space. She cautions her readers not to underestimate the inventiveness and skill of Chinese scientists and engineers. The space trip and the sequencing of the rice genome show, according to Bojs, that new powerful players are bound emerge on the international science scene.
 

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