Cambridge’s Science Magazine produced by in association with

Issue 2 Lent 2005 www.bluesci.org

Hangover Hell The morning after the night before

Einstein 100 years of E=mc2

Our Origins The genes that make us human

• Robots: the Next Generation? • Mobile Medicine • • Climate Change • Forensic Science •

Issue 2 5 0 0 2 t n e L contents Features

Outsmarting the Cheats Emma McIlroy investigates the future of performance enhancing drugs in sport...... 09

Patent Pending Alistair Moore discusses the patenting of inventions arising from scientific research...... 10

Robots: the Next Generation? Anna Lacey goes in search of artificial life...... 11

The Genetic Origins of Humanity Andrew Lin explains how small genetic changes go a long way towards making us human..12

Hangover Hell Charley Barber examines the remedies for the morning after...... 14

Mobile Medicine Katherine Borthwick finds out how a simple text message helps the medicine go down.....16

Nature’s Motor: Putting a Spanner in the Works Jonathan Gledhill on interfering with ATP synthase, the motor that makes our cellular energy...18

What Children Leave Behind Joanna Maldonado-Saldivia investigates the long lasting effects of pregnancy...... 19 Regulars Editorial ...... 03 Away from the Bench ...... 22 Cambridge News ...... 04 Initiatives ...... 23 Events ...... 05 History ...... 24 Focus ...... 06 Arts and Reviews ...... 26 On the Cover ...... 20 Dr Hypothesis ...... 28 A Day in the Life of...... 21

The front cover shows Paul Cuddon’s image of a neuron (green) resting on a bed of astrocytes (red). The nuclei of both types of cell appear in blue.To find out more, turn to page 20.

Next Issue: May 2005

Want to write for BlueSci? We are currently looking for submissions for our Easter Term issue. We need to receive submissions by 5pm on 28 February 2005. We want articles on all kinds of science, but in particular we are interest- ed in receiving contributions concerning the physical sciences. So whatever your scientific passion, why don’t you share it with our readers? Photograph Competition Would you like to see your photograph on the front cover of BlueSci? With a print run of thousands, what better opportunity to have your work distributed throughout Cambridge? Microscopy, MRI, views of the galaxy… the choice is yours! To enter, send your picture and a brief explanation to [email protected] by 28 February 2005.

Article enquiries: [email protected] General enquiries: [email protected] New for 2005: BlueSci online Read all the articles on our website www.bluesci.org

Issue 2: Lent 2005

Produced by CUSP & From Published by The Editor Varsity Publications Ltd Editor: Edwina Casebow When the BlueSci team gathered to judge ken with its Cambridge connections to take a Managing Editor: Louise Woodley the photographs for our cover competi- special look at the physicist’s remarkable life tion, we were impressed by the diversity and work. Submissions Editor: Ewan Smith of images we’d received. Cambridge’s sci- Back in the scientific world of 2005, entific community is certainly very het- Katherine Borthwick reports on the latest Business Manager: Eve Williams erogeneous! With such a high standard of innovative applications of modern technology entry, it was difficult to pick a winner. I in MOBILE MEDICINE; Emma McIlroy exam- Design and Production think you’ll agree that Paul Cuddon’s ines how scientists are researching new tech- Production Managers: photograph of neurons is stunning. As niques to detect athletes who use PERFORM- Tom Walters, Jonathan Zwart always, you can learn more about it by ANCE ENHANCING DRUGS, and Alistair Moore Pictures Editor: reading our ON THE COVER article. considers the pros and cons of filing for Sheena Gordon The human brain, which contains billions of PATENTS. If that’s not enough to whet your Production Team: neurons, cannot fail to be one of the most capti- neuronal appetite, look beyond the human Victoria Leung,Tasleem Samji, vating objects of scientific study. How though, mind and enter the world of ARTIFICAL INTEL- Helen Stimpson does it make us different from our closest rela- LIGENCE in Anna Lacey’s insight into the next Webmaster: tives in the animal world? Andrew Lin’s com- generation of robots. Mark Woodbridge pelling article on THE GENETIC ORIGINS OF If your abstemious New Year’s resolutions HUMANITY offers an intriguing insight into the have already been broken, take cheer, and turn Section Editors biological basis of this complex problem. to Charley Barber’s article on HANGOVER Cambridge News: EINSTEIN is considered to be one of the CURES to soothe your fragile nerve cells. Laura Blackburn most cerebrally gifted scientists of all time. I hope you enjoy this brain stimulating issue! Events: 2005 marks the hundredth anniversary of his Carolyn Dewey most ground-breaking papers. To mark this Edwina Casebow Focus: unique occasion, our HISTORY section has bro- [email protected] Ewan Smith Features: Joanna Maldonado-Saldivia, Helen Stimpson, Owain Vaughan On the Cover: Jonathan Zwart A Day in the Life of…: Nerissa Hannink Away from the Bench and Initiatives: Tamzin Gristwood History: Emily Tweed Arts and Reviews: From Owain Vaughan Dr Hypothesis: The Managing Editor Rob Young CUSP Chairman: The first issue of BlueSci was launched last tea table at that postdoc who sneaked back to Björn Haßler term and was enthusiastically received.We the lab with the last copy! Secondly, we’ve are thrilled with the response, and are glad appointed a webmaster and have lots of ideas [email protected] that you, the readers, agree with us that for improving our website (www.bluesci.org). PostScriptPicture there’s a real niche for what we’re trying Thirdly, we’re trying to broaden the scope of (VarsityBlack EPS Newest.eps) to achieve. We hope that in giving our articles to include both more on the phys- Cambridge scientists a chance to express ical sciences, and to appeal to budding science Varsity Publications Ltd themselves we have managed to entertain journalists out there. So if you are interested in 11/12 Trumpington Street non-scientists and scientists alike, and contributing to BlueSci, especially in either of have also provided a forum for everyone these areas, or have ideas for the coming year, Cambridge, CB2 1QA in Cambridge to find out about events then please get in touch. Tel: 01223 353422 across the University. Finally, thanks again to Varsity and CUSP, Fax: 01223 352913 We have no intention of restraining our without whose support the magazine would www.varsity.co.uk ambitions this year, and have plenty of ideas to not exist. [email protected] establish ourselves firmly in the Cambridge sci- Looking forward to a scientifically enlight- ence community. Firstly, we’re hoping that ening 2005! BlueSci is published by Varsity Publications Ltd and printed by Cambridge Printing Park. All copyright is the exclusive property of improving our distribution will mean that Louise Woodley Varsity Publications Ltd. No part of this publication may be repro- there will be more copies in hands in all [email protected] duced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or departments, so no more scowling across the by any means, without the prior permission of the publisher. www.bluesci.org 03 04 Cambridge News R An unusual collaborationbetween Dr Brain Dancing onthe with braininjur thushelpingpatients out different tasks, movement whilstthebodyiscarrying howto understand thebrainthinksabout DrMcCarthy hopesthatthiswillhelp ed. sequence intheirmindsbecamedisrupt- they foundthatthe dots onapage, visualisation whilsttappingasequenceof whenthey repeated the However, tion. through intheirmindswithnointerrup- they theroutine foundthey couldrun whilst repeating aword over andover, weredancers asked tovisualisearoutine Whenthe put movement together. retaindancers movement andhow they examinedhow Council ofEngland, Humanities Research Board and Arts fundedby the and Arts project, TheChoreography andCognition ment. brain processes andcomprehends move- m and choreographer Wayne McGregor Psychology ofExperimental Department nyi ilg n eiie but alsoinnanoscience. only inbiology andmedicine, Thenew technology couldhaveongoing tomake itmore suitable. applicationsnot but development ofthedevice is ture specimens, istoohighforuseonbiological theoperatingtempera- Currently, injectedortransported. probed, can thenbetested, for holdingspecimenswithoutapplyingdir whichcanbeused microcage isappliedtothedevice, openswhenapulsedcurrent The thewidthofawool fibre. acage20-40microns indiameter, forming inward, TheDLClayer forcesto curl microelectronics. thefingers process usedinindustrial made from layer ametalandDiamond-Like Carbon(DLC)bimorph depositedby a Thedevice is availablecurrently forholdingminute cells. objectssuchasbiological couldofferamuch betteralternative totheinstruments ofEngineering Department The development ofmulti-fingered microcages by DrJack Luoandcolleaguesinthe Minute Microcages Developed tors tobeintheshopstwotors tofouryears. company expectstheprojec- phones.The theprojectorintegrate intomobile be possible todownsize even and further Itmight generate 200framespersecond. chipinsidetheprojectorhologram can andthe without theneedforbulky lenses, imagesare produced Sharp inside theunit. microdisplayliquid-crystal-on-silicon light from alaserthatilluminatessmall usingdiffracted image ofapicture, graphic Itworks by creating a2-Dholo- effective. but itisalsosmallerandmore cost- robust, Notonlyis the new projector more life. bulbs cancostupto£400andhave ashort a and awheelofcolourfilters useabulb, tors Traditional projec- digital or bulky lenses. without theneedforexpensive lightbulbs thesizeofacigarette packet, projector, Blue Opticshasdeveloped atiny video basedcompany Light The Cambridge P est anf h mg.Hwvr the However, lens tomagnifytheimage. ock ay leadtonew insightsintohow the osaleen McCarthy fromthe et-Sized Projectors y or mo www.lightblueoptics.com vement disorders. Cambridge News c oc,tu viigdmg.Specimens thusavoiding damage. ect force,

Light Blue Optics Varsity Archive ise,such astheliver. tissues, technology tohelpregenerate otherbody als itishopedthat thiswillpave the way for been developed andundergone clinicaltri- althoughonceprototypes have available, least five years forthetechnology tobe lowed Itwilltake at by Europe andtheUS. fol- to develop thetechnology intheUK, teamishoping company BioScaffolds.The Ioannis foundedthe Zagorski Yannas, Prof. Sloanand Along withMBA studentHarry implants. as negatingtheneedforartificial aswell caused by intensecancertreatment, heal thephysical wounds andpsychological benefitsasitwillhelp This ideahasgreat mastectomies togrow new breast tissue. breast whohadundergone cancer sufferers developing atissuescaffoldthatcouldhelp cameupwiththeideaof Chris sufferers. potentialtohelpbreastthat hasgreat cancer MITInstituteexchangestudies Cambridge a hassetup Zagorski Medical studentChris BioScaffolds micr fixing nitrogen foruseby theearliest tant aslightningandasteroid impactsin that volcanoes couldhave beenasimpor- andtheresults suggest of fixed nitrogen, from thevolcano allowed theformation Theheat canic plumethanelsewhere. higher level offixed nitrogen inthevol- Nicaragua andfoundthatthere was a a measured thecompositionofgasesabove from? Tamsin MatherandDavid Pyle so where didthefixed nitrogen come existed, nosuchbacteria however, soup, Intheprimordial up thefoodchain. isusedby animalsfurther which inturn nitrogen thatplantscanuse, intoaform inthesoilcanfix andfungi Bacteria nitrogen asitisinthewrong form. most organismscan’t useatmospheric A by oflifeonEarth fixingnitrogen. origin may have played role animportant inthe E Researchers from of theDepartment Origins ofLife Role for Volcanoes in arth Scienceshavearth shown thatvolcanoes llf ed irgnt uvv,but ll lifeneedsnitrogen tosurvive, hot lava lake attheMasaya Volcano in company with colleaguesfrom his o-organisms. Lent 2005

Jack Juo E v e n t Events s

EINSTEIN YEAR THE NAKED SCIENTISTS THE STUDENT PUGWASH SOCIETY This year celebrates the 100th anniversary On the radio, Sundays 6-7pm on of the publication of three of Einstein’s 96.0FM www.thenakedscientists.com/listen ground-breaking papers: Brownian 16 January Concerned with the ethical, social and motion, the photoelectric effect and spe- Cyborgs global implications of science and tech- cial relativity. To find out more, turn to Professor Kevin Warwick from the nology, they hold regular meetings to the History section on pages 24-25. University of Reading discusses the cre- discuss these issues and invite guest Events in Cambridge include: ation of man-machine interfaces and his speakers to talk on related topics. 27 January own personal experience of embedding For details visit To the 5th Dimension and Beyond microchips in his body. www.cam.ac.uk/societies/pugwash Professor Andy Parker 27 January 24 February Jurassic Park: Fact or Fiction? The Physics of Music David Norman, paleontologist, and Alan INSTITUTE OF Wendy Sadler Cooper, expert on ancient DNA, ASTRONOMY 5 March explore the feasibility of recovering Exploring Universes DNA from ancient remains and recreat- Every Wednesday from 7.30pm is open Professor John Barrow ing the dinosaurs. night. Use telescopes to see the sky and All at the Cavendish Laboratory,Pippard 6 March enjoy a 30-minute talk from a member Lecture Theatre. For details see www- Hypnosis of the department. outreach.phy.cam.ac.uk Peter Naish, psychologist and hypnotist, discusses the art of hypnotism, and 17 January demonstrates it live on air. THINKING OUTSIDE THE From Particles to Strings: Can we BOX Fulfil Einstein’s Dream? Live in Cambridge: Dr David Berman 17 January For talks on everything from Philosophy 5-6pm, Centre for Mathematical Cyborgs and SPS to Chemical Engineering, go to: Sciences. Free, but ticket only, email 8-9.30pm Borders Bookstore. www.cam.ac.uk/societies [email protected] 1 February for all societies available in Cambridge; Part of the Millennium Maths Project. Parallel Universes www.cam.ac.uk/cambuniv/seminars.html For further details of this and other 8-9.30pm Borders Bookstore. for the University’s departmental events go to www.mmp.maths.org seminar list, and www.srcf.ucam.org/scisoc/links 16-23 March ENGINEERS WITHOUT for the CU Scientific Society lists. Evening lectures as part of BORDERS Cambridge Science Week. See below for details. A charitable organisation based at British STOKES SOCIETY OF universities. Run by students with the PEMBROKE backing of expert academics and profes- CAMBRIDGE SCIENCE sionals, EWB aims to find technical solu- 10 March FESTIVAL: TIME TRAVEL tions to developing world problems and Tinnitus, the Phenomenon of to involve engineering students and pro- Phantom Auditory Sensation 16-23 March fessionals in development work. For Dr Ian Winter From Archaeology to Zoology, scientists talks, project lectures, and information 8.45pm, the Nihon room at Pembroke. and students will offer activities exploring about overseas placements, go to Contact [email protected] millions of years of the Earth’s history. www.ewb-uk.org/cambridge/events.php This year, the festival travels to the future, exploring advances in medical science JESUS COLLEGE SCIENCE and looking at the possibilities of some CRASH, BANG, SQUELCH SOCIETY well-known science fiction stories SCIENCE FESTIVAL becoming a reality. Talks held every second Thursday during There will be over 100 laboratory 19 March full term at 6.30pm. For more informa- tours, demonstrations, hands-on activi- Free,fun,hands-on science for all.CHaOS tion, see www.jcsu.jesus.cam.ac.uk/jcss ties and public lectures. Hands-on activ- are looking for enthusiastic science stu- ities include making green slime, turning dents to demonstrate fun experiments to coins gold and extracting DNA from the public for just three hours at the end MEDSOC bananas. Kids are also given the chance of term. Email [email protected] or go to to build a hovercraft, a dancing robot or www.chaosscience.org.uk 10 February a model of the solar system. Talk by Dr Tim Hunt, Nobel Prize win- Visit www.cambridgescience.org to find out ner for Medicine more, email [email protected] to get PETERHOUSE KELVIN 3 March involved. CLUB Talk by The Governmental Advisor for Science Regular talks will be given, with speak- Date To Be Arranged CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY ers including Dr James Martin, Professor The (In)famous Wonky Willies Talk ENGINEERING SOCIETY Richard Frackowiak and Professor Andrew by Mr Whittaker Briggs. Email Jamie Muir Wood For more on these and other talks go to See www.cuesonline.org for details of events. [email protected] for further details. www.srcf.ucam.org/medsoc www.bluesci.org 05 s u c o F Kyoto: a Cure for Climate Change? Carolyn Dewey discusses the science behind one of the major challenges for global politics in the 21st Century

The Earth’s climate is changing, and disruption of water supplies. Most causing dramatic alterations to the of those who would suffer are in poor- natural landscape. With potentially er countries, particularly Latin catastrophic events predicted by the America, Africa and Asia, as it is these UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on countries that will bear the brunt of the Climate Change (IPCC) that may climate changes. affect billions of people, govern- After reviewing the available scientif- ments from around the world have ic data, the IPCC concluded that, become actively involved in attempts “there is new and stronger evidence to remedy the problem. Preparing to that most of the observed warming spend billions of pounds, many have observed over the last 50 years is attrib- signed up to the Kyoto Protocol, utable to human activities”, especially which becomes legally binding on the increase of greenhouse gases in the 16 February 2005. atmosphere. These findings have been confirmed by other committees of The scale of the issue experts, such as the United States During the last 100 years, the Earth’s National Assessment Synthesis team set temperature has risen by a global aver- up by the US Congress. age of 0.6ºC.The IPCC predicts that it While human activity has increased will continue to rise by between 1.4ºC the concentration of all greenhouse and 5.8ºC over the next century. This gases, of particular concern is that means that the Earth is already warm- atmospheric concentrations of carbon ing faster than at any other time in the dioxide are rising faster than at any last thousand years, with the 1990s the time in Earth’s history. Although it is warmest decade since records began. accepted that carbon dioxide levels nat- Even if the Earth does warm up by only urally fluctuate, current levels have a further 1.4ºC, this increase would been increasing over 200 times faster mark the most rapid change in 10 mil- than the background rate, a fact clearly lennia. demonstrated by ice core studies like Although a 0.6ºC rise in temperature the Law Dome Ice Core project. may not sound significant, in 2004 the This increase is mainly the result of Arctic Climate Impact Assessment burning fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and (ACIA) stated that this has already been natural gas, which release carbon diox- enough to melt glaciers and icecaps, ide into the atmosphere. These energy and to cause a decrease in summer sources are used for almost everything Arctic sea ice by 20% over the past 30 we do – from powering our cars and years. This in turn has warmed and heating our homes, to fuelling the acidified oceans, caused a rise in sea power stations on which we rely for levels and produced extreme weather everyday life. phenomena across the globe, including Carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous hurricanes, heat waves and prolonged oxide and water vapour all occur natu- droughts. These changes are all consis- rally in the atmosphere, and all play an Cambridge 2105? tent with a warming climate near the important role in keeping the Earth Earth’s surface. Furthermore, according some 33ºC warmer than it would be atmosphere.The increase in concentra- to scientists at the National Institute of otherwise by acting as a layer of insula- tion of greenhouse gases leads to Health and Medical Research, there tion, trapping some of the heat reflect- greater insulation around the Earth, were nearly 15,000 additional deaths ed off the Earth. However, humans have resulting in the rise in temperature.The during August 2003 in France alone, as dramatically altered the natural balance atmosphere allows solar energy a direct result of the soaring tempera- of greenhouse gases through increasing through, but as it is reflected off the tures that summer. atmospheric concentrations of carbon Earth, the wavelength of the radiation A 1.4ºC increase in temperature dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. alters so it cannot pass back out would result in even greater catastro- Indeed, according to data from NASA, through the atmosphere into space. phes. The IPCC predicts increasingly humans release over 6.5 billion tonnes Instead, it remains trapped causing an violent storms, droughts and flooding of carbon dioxide a year into the increase in temperature. In an attempt to combat climate change, many countries, including the UK, are preparing to invest substantial During the last 100 years, the resources to reduce the levels of green- “ house gases that are emitted, particular- Earth’s temperature has risen by ly carbon dioxide. The Kyoto Protocol is the result of a meeting of over 160 a global average of 0.6°C nations, who agreed in 1997 that indus- trialised countries would reduce their collective emissions of greenhouse

06 ” Lent 2005 F o c u Climate Change? s major challenges for global politics in the 21st Century t r a w Z n a h t a n o J

gases by 5.2% compared to the year amongst both scientists and politicians. course, climate change is not just 1990. However, although signed in In the past, this controversy was part- caused by humans. Since the Earth’s cli- 1997, the Kyoto Protocol will only ly centred on the question of whether mate system is driven by the sun, it is become legally binding on 16 February human activity was responsible for cli- affected by solar variability. Another 2005,with those that have ratified the mate change, or whether it was the important factor affecting the climate is Protocol having until 2012 to achieve result of variation in solar radiation. volcanic eruptions, which can inject this reduction. In the UK, the government is attempting to achieve its targets by, for example, using less coal for electricity generation, and replacing this method the change in climate is the result of with renewable energy sources such as “ wind power. both human and natural activity Is Kyoto the cure? Some countries, including the US, have Those who believed that human activ- large amounts of dust into the atmos- refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. ity was to blame thought that if man- phere. ” This lack of commitment demonstrates made emissions were cut, then the The IPCC have more recently con- that the implementation of global poli- effects of climate change could be rad- cluded that the change in climate is the cy to combat climate change has not ically reduced. This is one of the key result of both human and natural activ- been without international dispute, ideas behind the Kyoto Protocol. Of ity. Their 2001 results illustrate that

www.bluesci.org 07 s u c o F

anthropogenic influences, such as that this shutdown has happened sever- ous illnesses like cholera. This raises greenhouse gases and sulphate aerosols, al times before, and appears to be hap- many questions, perhaps most signifi- provide a plausible explanation for a pening again. Data collected in 2002 cantly that if the Kyoto Protocol will substantial part of the temperature found that the North Atlantic had been not stop climate change, but merely changes over the past century.They find diluted dramatically by fresh water, delay it, would the money needed to that the best agreement between model with evidence of a slow-down of the implement it be more beneficially spent simulations and observations is Ocean Conveyor reported in 2001. on providing global access to clean obtained when both anthropogenic However, it is difficult to make an actu- water, and maybe preparing for the influences and natural influences, such al prediction as to when the Ocean inevitable? as solar variation and volcanic activity, are combined. The IPCC also cautions that although the influences included in their study are sufficient to explain if the Kyoto Protocol will not stop the observed changes, this does not exclude the possibility that other influ- “climate change would the money be ences may have also contributed. The climate changes on many differ- ent timescales, some of them millions of more beneficially spent on providing years long. It is well-known that there are processes that affect climate change global access to clean water? over such times, and this is the subject of paleoclimatology. For instance, the Earth’s position and orientation relative Conveyor will shut down, as the exact to the sun are not fixed, but vary in critical concentration of salt water on Conclusion ” what are known as Milankovitch cycles. which it depends is not yet known. So It is clear that the Earth is getting Milankovitch cycles play an important in the longer term, the Northern warmer, with potentially devastating role in explaining ice ages and other Hemisphere at least may be heading consequences for billions of people, climate variability over thousands of towards a cooling climate, rather than a especially those in developing countries years. However, for the prediction of warmer one. and those who live in low-lying areas. climate change in the 21st century, Human activity has been shown to long-term effects like the Milankovitch So, what now? cause an increase in the amount of cycles are thought to be much less Most national governments are com- greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, important than the aforementioned mitted to the Kyoto Protocol, and to most notably carbon dioxide, and there anthropogenic and natural influences. reducing the emission of man-made is robust scientific evidence that The climate is a very complex sys- greenhouse gases. But is the Kyoto pro- demonstrates that the change in global tem, and the warming of the globe may tocol good enough? A model by Tom temperature is connected to both affect it in unexpected ways. A particu- Wigley, one of the authors of the IPCC human influences, like the increase in lar worry is that global warming may reports, shows that an expected temper- greenhouse gases, and natural influ- disrupt the global circulation system, ature increase of 2.1ºC by 2100 would ences, such as solar variability. So, what are we to do? Should developed nations try to do something about climate change? Should there be a stricter the introduction of the Kyoto Kyoto-style protocol? Or should we just accept that climate change is “ Protocol may cost up to one trillion inevitable, and work on alleviating its adverse effects? If there is a balance, what is it? US dollars worldwide If you had to spend the money, what would you do?

known as the ‘Ocean Conveyor’. This be diminished by the Kyoto Protocol to Carolyn Dewey is a medical student based can contribute significantly to the an increase of 1.9ºC.This latter temper-” at Addenbrooke’s Hospital. Additional warming and cooling of the Earth.The ature is the predicted increase for 2094 research and writing by Björn Haßler Ocean Conveyor transports vast without emission reduction. Therefore, amounts of heat around the planet via the temperature increase that the plan- Further Reading the Gulf Stream, warming the North et would have experienced in 2094 Atlantic region by as much as 9ºC, and would simply be postponed by six The Intergovernmental Panel on resulting in milder winters and warmer years. Climate Change summers. For the Ocean Conveyor to The statistician Bjørn Lomborg has www.ipcc.ch function, there must be a critical con- estimated that the implementation of centration of salt water, but as the Earth the Kyoto Protocol may cost up to one United Nations Framework warms up and glaciers and ice caps trillion US dollars worldwide. He Convention on Climate Change melt, increasing amounts of fresh water believes that the cost in the US alone http://unfccc.int are released into the oceans, diluting would be greater than that of providing the salt water. As a result, the Conveyor global access to clean drinking water EU carbon trading scheme shuts down, causing substantial cooling and sanitation – a measure that could http://europa.eu.int/comm/ throughout the North Atlantic region. prevent two million deaths a year and environment/climat/emission.htm Records from a variety of sources show protect half a billion people from seri-

08 Lent 2005 Outsmarting the Cheats Emma McIlroy investigates the future of performance enhancing drugs in sport

Mushrooms, plant seeds, dried figs and rently the main matrix we use for drug test- exogenous HGH dogs’ testicles might not appear to have ing, but blood will be increasingly used as we will have unusually much in common. Yet for Greek develop tests for previously undetectable high concentrations Olympians 2000 years ago, these were substances. Hair, saliva and sweat detection of these two mark- the equivalent of doping. Times have methods are being considered for future use,” ers. “The beauty of changed though, and in what has become explains Dr Olivier Rabin, Scientific this method is that a highly lucrative business, the methods Director for WADA. although it takes and drugs available to enhance athletic The main area of research at present is the longer for these mark- performance are becoming increasingly development of a reliable test for HGH, but ers to rise, it also takes sophisticated. The scandals of Athens it’s not an easy task as Dr Richard Holt, Head longer for them to may have left the front pages, but the of the Growth Hormone 2004 project, dis- fall. So we have a problem remains. Modern day cheats covered: “The first problem we came up greater chance of have tricks up their sleeves, but scientists against was that HGH isn’t excreted in our catching the cheats,” are working hard to find methods to urine, so we couldn’t use urine testing. says Dr Holt. catch them out.Will they have outsmart- Secondly, HGH is secreted in pulses, mean- This research is ed the cheats by the time the Olympics ing that levels within the body can vary encouraging but Dr reach Beijing in 2008? tremendously. Thirdly, both stress and exer- Holt and his col- cise increase HGH levels, so you can imagine leagues at WADA may Modern day cheats that during a major competition, an athlete’s soon face another hur- HGH will naturally increase. Finally HGH dle: gene doping, the “ have tricks up their that the cheats administer is identical to nat- altering of an individ- urally produced growth hormone. All this ual’s genetic make up to sleeves, but scientists makes our job of finding an accurate test gain genes that will ulti- are working hard to very difficult indeed.” mately enhance their per- To date, two approaches have been fol- formance. Gene doping find methods to lowed to detect exogenous growth hor- can be achieved in two catch them out mone: the isoform method and the down- ways: either by directly stream markers method.The isoform method injecting the gene into the relies upon the fact that our body naturally muscle or tissue, or by deliv- Among the most popular performance” produces many molecules of growth hor- ering it to all the tissues via a enhancing drugs are peptide hormones, mone, which vary in weight. These are virus. Although talk of gene including erythropoietin (EPO), human known as isoforms, and the naturally pre- doping may conjure images of growth hormone (HGH) and insulin-like dominant one weighs 22 kiloDaltons (kDa). ‘super-humans’, and the topic growth factor 1 (IGF-1). These are all natu- The injected form of HGH consists purely of is often treated as futuristic, rally made by the body, but cheats inject an the 22 kDa form, and causes all the other iso- there is no escaping the almost identical synthetic form, which aug- forms to disappear from the circulation. fact that mice and baboons ments the body’s natural levels and potenti- Thus, by looking at the ratio of the different have already proved success- ates their effects. EPO is naturally produced isoforms, the presence of exogenous HGH ful subjects for gene therapy. So, just by the kidneys and stimulates erythropoiesis; can be detected. Unfortunately, this method how ridiculous is the idea that ath-

J o the production of red blood cells. By inject- only detects HGH injected up to 24 hours letes might use it? “Sadly, gene dop- n a

t ing EPO,athletes can increase their red blood before, a risk very few athletes are willing to ing is a real possibility,” sighs Dr h a

n cell count and thus improve their ability to take. Instead, they are more likely to take Richard Budgett, Director of Medical Z

w carry oxygen, which is an attractive prospect HGH in training several weeks before com- Services at the British Olympic a r in endurance events. HGH is naturally pro- petition. Association. “Therapeutic genetic t duced in the brain by the pituitary gland, and treatments are rapidly improving, which stimulates the growth of muscle, cartilage, ‘designer’ drugs are is great. Unfortunately there’s very little and bone. Cheats commonly use it to to stop someone injecting a gene for increase muscle size and reduce muscle “ either almost identical EPO instead.” fatigue. Of course, all this doesn’t come with- Research into finding a test for gene dop- out a price.Aside from the prospect of a life- to those naturally ing is already under way,but the problem sci- time ban, there are plenty of downsides to produced by our entists face seems almost insurmountable: how doping. HGH, for example, can cause heart, do you detect which genes the athlete was liver and kidney damage, various cancers and body… or are so born with and which they weren’t? “I’ve no abnormal growth of the hands and face. recently developed doubt there will be those willing to use gene These are the hard-hitting consequences, therapy for non-therapeutic applications,” says which are often forgotten in the pursuit of that they are virtually Dr Rabin. According to a recent statement glory. from the International Olympic Committee, These ‘designer’ drugs are either almost unheard of antigen detection, gene chips and protein iden- identical to those naturally produced by our tification are all being used to try and find body, making it impossible to detect them as Dr Holt’s research group has been ”pio- effective tests. Despite this, one is left with the synthetic, or are so recently developed that neering the downstream markers approach. feeling that there will always be those who will they are virtually unheard of in the scientific Unlike the isoform method, this test looks at stop at nothing to go stronger, higher and community. Scientists at the World Anti- the secondary effects of HGH on the body, faster. Doping Agency (WADA) are faced with the and is concerned with the stimulation of challenging task of developing tests to detect protein production, particularly IGF-1 and Emma McIlroy is a third year Natural chemicals which either appear to be invisible procollagen type 3.The fundamental princi- Scientist specialising in or they don’t even know exist! “Urine is cur- ple behind the test is that subjects injecting Experimental Psychology

www.bluesci.org 09

Patent Pending Alistair Moore examines what is involved in patenting inventions arising from scientific research for patent an unattractive prospect. Finally, while filing at the Patent Office is free, paying an attorney, assessing the application internationally and renewing a granted patent cost thousands of pounds. Cambridge Enterprise, part of the University’s Research Services Division, helps University members to file for a patent, handle legal details and suggests sponsorship sources to defray the costs. Part of its mission is to “enhance the University’s contribution to society through knowledge transfer from the University to the community”. Certainly, while the rights to a patented invention can be licensed for commer- cial production, an unpatented inven- tion may never get off the drawing board because it lacks financial backing. The legally defensible monopoly grant- ed by a patent is the all-important pre- requisite for commercial development. Andrew Thomas, a Cambridge PhD graduate, patented part of his doctoral t r

a research work with a pharmaceutical w

Z firm. He says,“It’s gratifying that what I n

a did in the lab may now be developed h t a commercially. It could become a real n o J product benefiting real people.” Soon after starting tumour from scientific research, research, I was asked what I patenting is a useful way to secure would do if I invented a cure ownership and protection. Even the simplest for cancer. Setting aside the improb- Under UK law, invention ownership is “ idea can be filed ability of such an event, I was forced acknowledged by letters patent, in which to admit that I didn’t know.Would I the inventor publicly discloses details of write to Nature and present my idea the invention. In return, a limited Dr Charles Smith of the University’s” to the world? Or write to the Patent monopoly is granted allowing the inven- Cavendish Laboratory agrees. His group Office and secure the invention as tion to be ‘exploited’ (manufactured and established a spin-out company to my own? sold) for a defined period (usually 20 develop technology arising from their As cynical as it sounds to think of years) in the UK. Crucially, the monop- work in semiconductor physics. “One legal ownership before potential bene- oly can be defended to stop competitors way of doing academic research is to fit, an invention lacking legal protection developing similar products. An inven- move on to other projects if it becomes may never be funded, and without tion need not be a wonder drug or rev- too applied,” says Smith. “Many funding it may never be more than just olutionary gadget to qualify for patent. researchers don’t know how to make a good idea.The question of whether to Even the simplest idea can be filed, so the commercial leap. But it’s just as long as it is ‘novel’ (has not been docu- interesting, and now it has applications. The question of mented before), ‘inventive’ (is not an Perhaps we can start solving problems.” obvious advance) and has commercial Patenting may not be the natural “ whether to patent application. choice for university scientists in the race faces many However, filing is not an overnight to publish. But it is a practical way to process and there is no guarantee of suc- translate knowledge out of the academic researchers during cess.Applications are made in writing to ivory tower into real world products with the Patent Office specifying what is beneficial application. Less a profit driven their career being claimed, and a patent attorney is grasp for commercial success, and more a usually required to draft this precisely decision for development and protection, patent faces many researchers during” worded document. Securing UK rights it is undoubtedly a choice worth consid- their career.Although in industry it may takes around a year, and international ering. With University help and numer- be second nature, in academia the protection a further 18 months or more. ous information sources available, the choice is more difficult and not always Importantly,although successful appli- decision can be made with an under- understood. So what is involved? And cations are published publicly, details of standing of what is involved. what are the pros and cons for scientists the work must be kept secret prior to And whether it’s a cure for cancer or in academia? filing so that the invention is considered something far less revolutionary, every The ‘intellectual property’ generated novel. Public disclosure before this date invention deserves its chance to change by many kinds of creative endeavour can invalidates the application. For the world. be protected in a number of ways, from researchers who make their name copyright to patents, design rights and through publishing in academic jour- Alistair Moore is a PhD student in the trademarks. For inventions emerging nals, this requirement may make filing Department of Biochemistry

10 Lent 2005 Robots: the Next Generation? Anna Lacey goes in search of artificial life

The Terminator, C-3PO and HAL: Hollywood’s robot stars. Scientists and engineers have spent years attempting to turn this science fiction into reality, but have we really come any closer to creating an artificially intelligent being? Amateur scientist and self-proclaimed “nerd with a mission”, Steve Grand has come closer than some. Close enough, in fact, for Richard Dawkins to label him “the creator of what I think is the nearest approach to artificial life so far”. Grand’s aim is to create a machine ‘brain’; a machine capable of self-organising into a series of more specialised machines, with only sensory information as a guide. Lucy the orang-utan is the first step on his mammoth quest. Lucy the orang-utan “ is the first step on his mammoth quest Lucy (pictured on the right) comes ”fully equipped with binaural hearing, monocu- lar vision, virtual muscles, touch and tem- perature sensors, and even a voice. d

Information from the environment is n a r

detected by these sense devices and passed G e to her brain. The brain itself consists of v e t over 50, 000 virtual neurons, which work S together to form an array of neural cir- ly point at the banana. Joining together The difficulty arises in knowing exactly cuits. Grand aims to show that these cir- these fairly simple components makes what it is ‘to learn’. Definitions and mech- cuits can interact to produce outcomes Lucy special: separate areas of her ‘brain’ anisms of learning and intelligence have that are unpredictable. In other words, that are programmed with individual func- long been debated by philosophers and complexity can arise from apparently sim- tions, and yet together they interact to scientists. Without understanding what it ple beginnings.With this intellectual tool- combine visual sensation with movement. means to say ‘I learn’ on a descriptive or box behind her, Lucy can distinguish a In many ways this does not seem like mechanical level, it is impossible to judge banana from an apple, a simple feat for a ground-breaking robotics. After all, there whether Lucy has learnt or not. human, but impressive for a robotic orang- are many pre-programmed house robots Lucy’s true importance lies in her giving utan. How does she do this? that can sense the environment and us a tantalising glimpse of how we think. The answer lies in the building of Lucy’s respond accordingly. Even Grand admits If simple circuits can allow a robot to virtual brain. Grand used conventional that Lucy only points at bananas because recognise a banana and point at it, then computer programmes to simulate differ- this is what she was wired up to do.Despite there is no reason to think that our own ent brain structures.This included a model brain cells cannot create more complicat- of the superior colliculus, the part of the ed networks and outcomes. brain that receives visual information and Lucy’s true So should the Cambridge applicants of stimulates motor responses.The visual part “ the future worry about competing for of Lucy’s ‘brain’enables her to differentiate importance lies in places with robots? Grand thinks not. If a between apples and bananas, while the her giving us a real breakthrough in artificial intelligence motor part allows her to move her eyes is to be made, scientists must work out the and arms to a visual point in space. tantalising glimpse of processes behind learning, intelligence But why would Lucy want to point at a how we think and creativity. “Until then, there’s the banana rather than an apple? It is certainly small matter of making Lucy smart not due to Lucy having a penchant for enough to pick up the application form!” tropical fruit. Instead, Grand has had to this, Grand’s virtual orang-utan ”still says Grand. build a preference for bananas into her deserves a place in history.Although Lucy Understanding the brain through exper- program, as the reasoning behind why was given pre-programmed machinery,she imenting with circuits seems a worthwhile organisms choose one option over anoth- didn’t actually know anything about apples course for now.After all, evolution did not er is far beyond our current understand- and bananas, and so had to work it out for get the wiring perfect first time. Perhaps ing.The programming integrates to allow herself. Grand argues that this shows neural one day an amateur in a shed will strike Lucy to distinguish boundaries, recognise circuits organising themselves into some- lucky and get it right. two fruit shapes, realise her intrinsic pref- thing more complex, and is thus an exam- Anna Lacey is a third year Natural Scientist erence for the long, yellow fruit and final- ple of development and learning. specialising in Zoology

www.bluesci.org 11 The Genetic Origins of Humanity

Andrew Lin explains how small genetic changes go a long way towards making us human

Even setting aside the knotty philo- two amino acids (protein building blocks). small cerebellum and caudate nucleus, as sophical problem of what makes us By statistically analysing the traces of evo- seen by brain imaging. Perhaps FOXP2 human, there is still a biological puz- lutionary change in modern human helps to direct the development of this zle: how did we acquire the features genomes, scientists have estimated that the brain circuitry,and the unique human ver- that set us apart from our nearest rela- human population underwent intense nat- sion subtly alters the development so that tives, the chimpanzees? Humans and ural selection in favour of our unique ver- we can make the specialised mouth and chimps share 98.5% of their genetic sion about 100,000 years ago, the time that tongue movements required for speech. material, more than many other sibling many anthropologists believe language Nimble tongue muscles are only one species pairs. That number increases to developed. requirement of speech, and there is no evi- 99.4% if you consider only the stretch- FOXP2 encodes a transcription factor, a dence to suggest that FOXP2 is the only es of DNA containing the information protein that promotes the expression of ‘language gene’. In any case, we still need to synthesise proteins. How could this other genes. In other words, FOXP2 is a to understand the genes that FOXP2 reg- tiny remaining difference account for ‘master switch’ that directs part of the ulates before we know how these differ- all the peculiarities of Homo sapiens: developmental dance of genes. In human ences arise. walking upright, brain size, intelli- foetuses, FOXP2 is expressed in areas of Meanwhile, researchers have also been gence, language and complex society? the brain that will become important for pursuing genes that might be responsible A general answer lies in the way genes fine motor control, such as the cerebellum for the difference between our out- build organisms. The development of an and the caudate nucleus in the landishly large brains and those of other organism is controlled by the intricate basal ganglia. Indeed, peo- primates. For example, an international dance of genes turning on and off in ple with defective team of scientists led by Geoffrey exactly the right place and time. A very FOXP2 Woods at Leeds University found subtle change in this dance, a gene have an that a mutation in a gene called expressed slightly longer or over a slightly abnor- ASPM makes the brain abnormally mally small, indicating that it regulates brain size. Like FOXP2, this gene has also undergone Humans and chimps intense selection in human “ share 98.5% of the evolution, with several ‘sweeps’ of new versions same genetic material through early human populations every few hundred thou- smaller area, can have profound changes” sand years, the last in the end result. Until a few years ago, sweep being this general answer was all we had, 200,000 to but now, with full genome 500,000 years sequencing capabilities and mod- ago. ASPM was ern molecular biology tech- also under selec- niques, we are starting to get tion pressure fresh insights into the fasci- before humans nating question of what split off from makes us unique. chimpanzees, One of the most intrigu- suggesting that it ing of these answers con- increased brain size cerns a gene named in the great apes as FOXP2. This gene appears well. Biologists to be involved in human hypothesise that language ability, as demon- ASPM may control strated by a recurring brain size by regulat- mutation that causes inher- ing cell division in ited language impairments. the developing Furthermore, the nor- brain. mal human FOXP2 protein differs from V a r si the version that ty A other primates r ch iv have by e only

12 Lent 2005 muscle protein tical comparison between the human and found in non- chimpanzee genomes has revealed hun- human primate dreds of other genes that have undergone jaw muscles, is selective pressure in human evolution. missing in These have diverse functions from hearing humans. It was and smell to bone development and probably knocked metabolism.With this word of caution in out approximately mind, these case studies demonstrate that a two million years ago, few subtle tweaks to the genome can about the time when our brains wreak dramatic changes. So the next time e v i h c r A y t However, Human jaws are more delicate i s r

a evolution takes V place within con- “ than those of our ape cousins, straints, and the brain can only grow as big as the skull cavity. One critical step in allowing the extraordinary brain expan- suggesting that weakening our jaws sion in human evolution was to weaken our jaw muscles. Powerful jaw muscles allowed our brains to get bigger exert strain on the skull, inducing thick bone that constrains brain growth. Human jaws are more delicate than those started to grow. you see a chimpanzee, marvel at how sim- of our ape cousins, suggesting that weak- These studies have revealed for the first ilar, and yet so different, you are. ” ening our jaws allowed our brains to get time a few specific genes that give humans bigger. Hansell Stedman and colleagues at some of our uniqueness. Still, we should the University of Pennsylvania have hesitate before focusing on them as the Andrew Lin is an MPhil student in the recently found that MYH16, a critical genes that make us human. In fact, a statis- Department of Anatomy Hangover Hell n o s p m i t S n e l e H Charley Barber explores the remedies for the morning after You probably know the feeling. Your thought that dehydration shrivels the thin Many ‘hangover cures’ have been mar- alarm clock is ringing and it’s time to membrane, the dura, which covers it. As keted over recent years, but for most of face the morning. Suddenly, memories the dura shrivels, it causes tension in pain them one can only rely on manufactur- of the previous night come flooding sensitive fibres that attach it to the skull. ers’ claims regarding their effectiveness. back, along with a pounding headache This is why it feels like your brain might Many are simply vitamin supplements, and raging thirst. You struggle to lec- burst out of your head. which purport to speed up the body’s tures with wobbly limbs and waves of Whilst it is a good idea to down a cou- clean-up operation.Alcohol causes deple- nausea, making that tired old vow, ple of pints of water before retiring to tion of some vitamins, so it won’t do any “Never again. Never again.” bed, plain water is often not enough for harm to take a multivitamin tablet before Despite our many scientific advances, the most vicious hangovers. Frequent vis- bed, but you can’t rely on it to work mir- there has never been a scientifically based, its to the toilet cause not only dehydra- acles. Some remedies make use of the fil- experimentally verified hangover cure. It tion, but also loss of vital ions from the tering properties of carbon to reduce the simply isn’t in our best interests to find body. Ions such as potassium and sodium number of impurities the body has to one. The hangover is our body’s way of are key to the way nerves and muscles process. Alcoholic drinks contain natural telling us that we have poisoned our- work, and slight imbalances could explain by-products of the fermentation process selves. Through understanding the sci- some symptoms such as headaches, as well as ethanol. These contaminants ence behind hangovers, how can we fatigue and nausea. At the same time, include methanol, aldehydes, acetone, make them disappear? alcohol depletes our reserves of sugar. histamine, tannins, iron, lead, cobalt and sulphites, with darker coloured drinks such as whisky and red wine having more than clear drinks. Charcoal based reme- The hangover is our body’s way of dies claim to remove some impurities to reduce their impact on the body while “ telling us that we have poisoned you sleep. One supplement that is claimed to aid the prevention of hangovers is N-acetyl- ourselves cysteine (NAC). This is an amino acid supplement sold in health food shops. NAC is supposed to work by boosting the The first ‘cure’ is the most obvious: While alcohol is being metabolised, the body’s ability to mop up harmful chemi- pure and simple water. One of the main production of new glucose is inhibited” cals called free radicals, which build up in problems with alcohol is that it causes and glycogen, the sugar storage in the the liver as it breaks down ethanol. dehydration. Ethanol is a diuretic. It acts liver, is depleted.Acute alcohol consump- Normally, free radicals are removed by on the brain’s pituitary gland and blocks tion, especially in combination with glutathionine, but after a heavy night’s production of anti-diuretic hormone sugar, augments insulin secretion and drinking the reserves of glutathionine run (ADH). Normally,ADH acts on the kid- causes temporary hypoglycaemia. This low. NAC is useful because it is formed ney to reabsorb water that otherwise ends can explain the weak and wobbly feeling from cysteine, an amino acid that forms up in the bladder. When this hormonal of the morning after the night before. the core of glutathionine. With the extra hydrostat is disabled, we start needing the Given the loss of ions and glucose, it cysteine available from NAC, glutathion- toilet a lot more than usual. We end up might be a good idea to drink an isoton- ine remains plentiful, and can carry out its expelling more water than we drink. To ic sports drink rather than plain water clean-up operation for longer.This could deal with this drought, the body borrows before going to bed.These drinks are full also explain the use of old remedies, such water from other parts, such as the brain, of vital ions and sugar, and could go some as an English fried breakfast or raw eggs, causing it to shrink temporarily. The way to correcting the balance before it’s as eggs are naturally rich in cysteine. As a brain is not able to sense pain, but it is too late. bonus, fried breakfast also boosts blood

14 Lent 2005 sugar levels.Wash it down with fruit juice, and you’re well on your way.That’s if you can stomach it of course. Nine Things You Should Taking painkillers is one of the most obvious, and often necessary cures, but it isn’t always a good idea to rely on them as some are more effective at relieving Know About Alcohol hangovers than others. Combinations of paracetamol and caffeine can be effective 1. Britain’s binge drinking culture is reduce circulating levels of anti-diuretic because the caffeine acts as a vasocon- costing the country £20 billion a year hormone (ADH). When ADH levels strictor, reducing the size of the pounding The long term effect of heavy drinking drop, the collecting ducts of the kidneys blood vessels. However, doctors warn is serious and the NHS estimates it do not reabsorb as much water, result- against using paracetamol as it may spends £164m a year treating alcohol- ing in an increase in urine production amplify alcohol’s damaging effect on the related conditions. (diuresis) and dehydration. In fact, the liver. Like alcohol, caffeine is also a 2. Binge drinking is defined as drinking hangover headache is caused by water diuretic, so it will add to the problem of more than 10 units of alcohol in a sin- loss from the brain due to excessive dehydration.As an alternative, aspirins are gle session for men and 7 units for alcohol consumption. in a class of anti-inflammatory drugs women 7.The human body can adapt to contin- called prostaglandin inhibitors. These One unit is equivalent to 8 g of ethanol, ued exposure to alcohol might help reduce inflammation in order which is about half a pint of beer.The The body’s increased tolerance to alco- to ease the headache in the morning. current recommendation for alcohol hol involves an elevated level of alcohol The final and perhaps most dubious consumption in men and women is 21 dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydro- cure is the ‘hair of the dog’. Many people and 14 units per week respectively. genase, as well as an augmented brain believe that a small amount of alcohol the Minimal effects may occur at a blood activity. As the body becomes more morning after will get rid of the hangover alcohol concentration (BAC) of about efficient at eliminating the high levels of and allow you to face the day.Perhaps not 45 mg per 100 ml and 10 times this can alcohol in the blood, you need to drink the best tactic for Saturday morning lec- cause death. more to experience the same effects as ture-goers, but there is science behind the 3. Alcohol is absorbed mostly through before. This can contribute to addic- idea. Research has shown that some the stomach and small intestine tion. These adaptations are accompa- hangovers kick in long after ethanol has When you have a drink, about 20% of nied by behavioural changes. been cleared from the body.Here the cul- the alcohol is absorbed directly 8. Long-term heavy alcohol cosumption prit tends to be methanol. In dealing with through the upper gastrointestinal can affect the liver, heart and brain toxins, the liver cleans out in a strict tract, mostly the stomach, and the rest The most common form of disease order, starting with ethanol. When it through the small intestine.About 5% is associated with alcohol abuse is liver eventually reaches methanol, this is bro- excreted by the kidneys and 5% by the cirrhosis, which is the scarring of the ken down into formic acid, which is lungs as vapour,which is the basis of the liver associated with destruction of its believed to be the cause of some more breathalyser test. normal architecture. Atrophy of grey severe hangover symptoms. The logic 4.Alcohol is mainly broken down in the and white matter in the brain and behind the ‘hair of the dog’ is that anoth- liver by alcohol dehydrogenase increased risk of stroke can also result. er dose of alcohol switches the liver back This enzyme converts ethanol to Alcohol is also thought to lower levels to breaking down ethanol, preventing the acetaldehyde, which in turn is broken of aldosterone and increase levels of build up of more formic acid. However, down by aldehyde dehydrogenase to corticosterone in the blood vessels and be warned, the relief is only temporary; acetic acid (a component of vinegar). increase the vasoconstrictor response eventually the liver will return to break- ing down the methanol. Clearly,none of these cures are perfect, In the end, only time will allow your but a combination of them all might be a good idea. In the end, only time will “ allow your body to detoxify itself. body to detoxify itself

Charley Barber is a third year Natural Scientist specialising in Zoology 5.Alcohol affects both higher and lower to noradrenaline. This leads to high centres of the brain blood pressure, which further increases” Alcohol enhances the action of GABA, the chances of stroke and heart failure. an inhibitory neurotransmitter, and dis- 9. Moderate alcohol consumption is turbs the processing of sensory infor- thought to be beneficial to health mation, resulting in unconsciousness The French are known to consume and amnesia. In the cerebral cortex, foods high in saturated fats and choles- alcohol depresses the behavioural terol, yet they have a low mortality rate inhibitory centres, so you become from coronary heart disease. Several more talkative, more self-confident, and red wine components show promise less socially inhibited. It also slows for their possible cardioprotective down the processing of information effects, for example polyphenolic com- from the five senses, and can inhibit ponents such as bioflavonoids and thought processes. As alcohol affects proanthocyanidins. Components of the limbic system, you may experience grape skin, such as resveratrol and excessive anger, aggressiveness, with- nitric oxide, are also important, as the drawal, and memory loss. Finally, alco- latter has a relaxing effect on the hol affects the cerebellum, leading to endothelium of arteries. h s e uncoordinated muscle movements and g n a loss of balance. R

d 6.Alcohol causes dehydration Ryan Patel is a third year Natural n a

n Alcohol acts on the pituitary gland to Scitentist specialising in Pharmacology i b A

www.bluesci.org 15 Mobile Medicine Katherine Borthwick finds out how just a simple text message helps the medicine go down

Mobile phones have revolutionised our patients text messages each day, reminding Ron Neville, a GP from Dundee, has taken lives in many ways. They are invaluable them to take their medication, in this case advantage of the fact that text messages are when you miss your train or when your the TB drug Rifafol. Initially he used the particularly popular amongst young people car breaks down. For a small group of simple message, “Take your Rifafol now,” to pilot a scheme to help teenagers manage people in two very different parts of the but after feedback from his patients, pro- their asthma, a disease which affects 15% of world they are turning out to be, quite gressed to messages that combined the under 18s and can be controlled reasonably literally, a life-saver. medication reminder with disease infor- well with regular medication through an A major problem facing health services mation, lifestyle tips, general knowledge inhaler. Dr Neville decided to use a virtual worldwide is that a considerable number of and even the occasional joke. friend called Max to remind patients via patients don’t take their medication as pre- The scheme was a tremendous success. daily text messages to use their inhaler. scribed.This means that serious illnesses are The 32 patients initially enrolled have Thirty teenagers took part in the study, not treated as effectively as they might be.A reached the end of their six month course worrying example of this is the persistently of medication. All completed the full high level of tuberculosis (TB) in South course and all but one are free from TB.A patients don’t Africa.An extremely effective TB treatment further 70 patients are taking part in the “ complete enough of exists, but it relies on patients taking med- study and are showing equally promising ication consistently for six months. The results. When I asked Dr Green why he their course of drugs trouble is that a significant proportion of believed that the scheme was so successful, patients don’t complete enough of their he said: “It is based on good science with to cure them course of drugs to cure them, keeping lev- respect to why people don’t take their els of TB unnecessarily high. In an effort to medicines. It is very simple, low cost and receiving reminders such as,“Bonjour,” c’est alleviate this problem the World Health uses a device [the mobile phone] that is Max. Hav U taken Ur inhaler yet?” Like Organisation recommends that a doctor popular and readily available. All that and the Cape Town study, they could also observes patients taking their medicine hard work and passion!” Encouraged by his receive lifestyle messages about sport, each day. Unfortunately, this means daily success, Dr Green has gone on to provide a celebrity gossip and horoscopes, as well as trips to a health care centre, which are similar service for patients suffering from health advice on dealing with asthma.The inconvenient for patients, and a burden on HIV,high blood pressure, arthritis, and dia- study,reported in the British Medical Journal, already stretched health resources. betes. showed very positive results, with inhaler Frustrated with this conventional and Forgetting to take medication regularly use improving considerably.As Dr Neville time-consuming approach, Dr David is also a significant problem here in the explains,“We tried to make the disease and Green, a GP from Cape Town, pioneered UK. As well as being detrimental to the its treatment comply with the patient, not an innovative solution to the problem. He patient, it is enormously costly to health the other way around.” investigated the reasons why people were care providers. According to some figures, Both studies have attracted considerable not taking their medication, and discov- the NHS spends a staggering 4% of its interest from groups worldwide. Indeed, ered that in many cases they simply forgot. budget on medication that is effectively groups in Spain and Korea have recently He thought up the idea of sending his wasted by not being taken as prescribed.Dr published results of trials using text mes- sages for the management of diabetes and as reminders to attend hepatitis vaccination sessions. However, as Dr Green warns, “A substantial effort is needed in setting up and maintaining such schemes.” His company, On-Cue, have tried supplying reminders to other countries, but found that they were disappointingly unsuccessful, probably due to the lack of personal attention and drive required to keep the system going. As Dr Green recalls,there were times at the begin- ning when the system would crash and he became the system, sitting at his desk send- ing the messages manually every half hour, day and night! Despite the teething prob- lems, it does seem that text message med- ication reminders could prove an innovative and successful way for health services to improve patient compliance. So next time you hear that familiar beep beep of a text message, spare a thought for those for whom that message could mean much more than you might imagine.

This article was entered into The Daily Telegraph BASF Awards and is reproduced here with kind permission of The Daily Telegraph t r a w

Z Katherine Borthwick was a PhD student n

a and postdoc in the Cambridge Institute for h t a Medical Research, and has recently taken up n o J a postdoc position at Manchester University 16 Lent 2005 We want your science writing!

This year the MAYS editors are welcoming submissions for poetry, prose and graphic literature.We hope to publish a broad range of writing, both creative and non-fiction. For twelve years the MAYS has published the best student writing from Oxford and Cambridge. It is sold across the country and distributed to literary agents and industry professionals.

Deadline for submissions: 30 January 2005

We are also seeking an arresting cover design and innovative ideas about the book’s overall presentation.

Application deadline for publication designer: 24 January 2005 MAYS 13 [email protected] www.varsity.co.uk Nature’s Motor: Putting a Spanner in the Works

t

r Jonathan Gledhill reports on why we may want to interfere with ATP synthase, the a

w

Z

n

motor producing our cellular energy a

h

t

a

n

o

J In each and every one of the billions Although ATP synthase normally with fatal consequences. How might this of cells in the body there are thou- resides in the mitochondria, it is becom- be related to ATP synthase? Without sands of copies of a biological motor ing increasingly evident that this enzyme oxygen, respiration cannot occur in the 200,000 times smaller than a pinhead, can be found elsewhere within cells, play- mitochondria.Therefore, once tissues are an enzyme complex called ATP syn- ing quite a different role. Recently, ATP oxygen starved, the imbalance of protons thase. This motor rotates surprisingly synthase has been identified on the sur- collapses and the production of ATP fast (approximately 6,000 revolutions face of cells that form blood vessels. It has ceases.Worse still, ATP synthase starts to per minute!) and is essential for life. been suggested that it assists in energy run backwards, breaking down ATP. However, research at Professor Sir production, enabling these cells to grow Most cells typically have no more than John Walker’s laboratory suggests that and proliferate creating new blood ves- disrupting this tiny machine might be sels.The formation of new blood vessels, a way to kill cancer cells, lower cho- drugs targeting ATP lesterol levels and reduce the damage “ synthase might bring caused by heart attacks and strokes. ATP synthase is normally found within surprising benefits cellular compartments known as mito- chondria, which burn molecules derived two minutes supply of ATP and so ”this from carbohydrates and fats in food using breakdown must be prevented, a role the oxygen we breathe. This process, performed by its natural inhibitor pro- known as molecular respiration, releases tein IF1. IF1 is a protein that acts as a energy, which is used to create an imbal- ‘spanner in the works’, preventing rota- ance of protons (positively charged hydro- tion and breakdown of ATP.This protein, gen atoms, H+) across the mitochondrial therefore, helps to limit the loss of valu- membrane in which ATP synthase is able ATP when tissues are deprived of embedded.This is analogous to the imbal- oxygen. Perhaps other molecules can be ance of water across a dam. ATP synthase designed to specifically prevent this uses the downhill flow of protons from breakdown of ATP,and also to help slow one side of the membrane to make the tumour growth in cancers. energy currency of biology, a small mole- ATP synthase has also been found on cule called adenosine triphosphate (ATP). the surface of liver cells, where it is ATP is then distributed throughout the believed to facilitate the uptake of choles- cell and used to drive the many funda- terol by breaking down ATP.Cholesterol mental processes that define life.The pro- that is taken up by the liver is broken duction of ATP by ATP synthase is the down and excreted, and ATP synthase l l most prevalent chemical reaction in the i appears to play a role in maintaining nor- h d e

biological world and this motor is one of l mal cholesterol levels in the blood. the most abundant proteins on earth, G Excessive intake of fatty foods is well- n a h

found in almost all organisms from bacte- t known to lead to elevated cholesterol a n

ria to plants and mammals. o levels and subsequently, a greater risk of J Nature’s Motor: ATP Synthase heart disease. Stimulating this enzyme in the enzyme is the liver, perhaps using enhancer mole- termed angiogenesis, is a vital part of cules, may help to maintain lower choles- “ reminiscent of man- wound healing, but it is also required for terol levels. tumour growth.All cells, including cancer In another interesting development, made motors … cells, require a supply of blood vessels for this molecular motor has been used to analogous to a oxygen and nourishment. Without this power nanomechanical devices and also supply network, a tumour cannot grow forced to rotate using external magnets. waterwheel beyond a certain size and is unable to In addition, a switch has been successful- migrate to other locations around the ly engineered into an ATP synthase from ATP synthase uses rotation of its parts” body to create secondary tumours. bacteria, allowing chemical control of to produce ATP. Rotation is not a Disrupting this enzyme on the surface of the motor.These critical steps are bring- favourite motion in living organisms: these cells could conceivably slow or ing us closer to the realisation of biomol- there is no animal with wheels, no bird even halt tumour growth. ecular motor powered structures. The with a propeller and no fish with a screw! Meanwhile, problems can still arise in intricate workings of this incredible Remarkably, atomic level pictures show the mitochondria. Strokes and heart machine need to be unravelled before how the enzyme is reminiscent of man- attacks may be caused by a lack of blood any biotechnological applications can be made motors, and strong evidence sup- flow to the brain and heart respectively, implemented. ports a mechanism analogous to a water- which starves parts of these organs of wheel, which harnesses the energy of oxygen, leading to irreversible damage. Jonathan Gledhill is a PhD student in the flowing water to drive a shaft. As a result, brain and heart cells die, often MRC-Dunn Human Nutrition Unit 18 Lent 2005 What Children Leave Behind Joanna Maldonado-Saldivia investigates the long lasting effects of pregnancy

In 1995 Dr Diana Bianchi was trying women.This suggested that scleroderma severe liver injury. The relative level of to develop new non-invasive methods could in fact arise from an immune reac- male foetal cells in the liver increased of prenatal diagnosis. She and her col- tion to the foetal cells. dramatically after injury, suggesting that leagues at the Children’s Hospital in The term microchimaerism, after the the invading cells had been ‘recruited’ to Boston examined blood samples from mythical Greek creature chimaera (con- help with the healing process. 32 pregnant women and tested for sisting of the head of a lion, the body of This correlates with an observation the presence of cells with a Y chro- a goat and the tail of a serpent), has been made in humans, where a mother suffer- mosome, a good indicator that the adopted to refer to the persistence of ing from hepatitis C was found to be women were carrying a male foetus. foreign cells in the body. carrying male foetal cells in her recover- Bianchi found male cells in 17 of the Microchimaerism is closely involved ing liver. Bianchi’s team is now seeking patients, but when she compared her with several auto-immune diseases such to demonstrate that the increased pres- results with those of the amniocenteses, as scleroderma. ence of foetal cells in injured organs she noticed that only 13 of the women Auto-immune diseases related to responds to a need for new cells to repair were actually pregnant with boys. The microchimaerism can occur in the child the damaged tissues. Rather than disease other four women carrying cells with a as well as in the mother, albeit to a less- causing agents, she suggests that the Y chromosome had all been pregnant er extent. In all cases, there is a strong foetal cells may act as stem cells. before: two of them had given birth to Whether foetal cells cause the moth- sons and the other two had had termina- er more harm than benefit is not yet tions. Bianchi then went on to analyse a mother suffering clear, nor do we know if they play an blood samples from eight non-pregnant “ from hepatitis C was active role in women’s health or are mothers with sons.To her surprise, male simply innocent bystanders. Perhaps, by DNA was present in six of the women, found to be carrying uncovering the mechanisms of action including one who had her last child, a male foetal cells in her of these long lasting cells, scientists can boy, 27 years before the test. shift the balance in favour of women’s Although the presence of foetal cells recovering liver well-being. in the maternal circulation during pregnancy is a phenomenon docu- correlation between the severity of” the This article was entered into The Daily mented as far back as 1969, the persist- auto-immune disease and the number of Telegraph BASF awards and is reproduced here ence of these foetal cells years, even foreign cells the patient is carrying. How with kind permission of The Daily Telegraph decades, after pregnancy was a relative- these cells succeed in escaping detection ly novel concept. Soon after the publi- and elimination by the immune system Joanna Maldonado-Saldivia recently fin- cation of Bianchi’s findings, Dr Lee is a more complicated question. ished her PhD in the Gurdon Institute of Nelson from the Fred Hutchinson Our body recognises ‘self’ from ‘non- Cancer and Developmental Biology Cancer Research Center in Seattle self’ via a combination of genes known published a report on the association collectively as the major histocompati- between enduring foetal cells and the bility complex (MHC). Each individual incidence of certain auto-immune dis- carries two versions of each gene, creat- eases in the mother. It had long been ing a great diversity among individuals, known that women are more suscepti- rather like an immune fingerprint. ble to this type of disease than men, and When cells from the immune system these new findings offered a possible come across others with a different explanation for this phenomenon. MHC, they tag the invading cells for destruction. However, in scleroderma patients, the male DNA was present foetal and maternal cells “ in six of the women, are compatible at the level of one gene, including one who had DRB1, thus the foetal cells are not efficiently her last child, a boy,27 recognised and may years before the test remain in the circulation for a prolonged period. It is not known Nelson examined female patients with” whether microchi- scleroderma, a disease characterised by maerism is a direct chronic inflammation of the skin that cause or a by-product advances to attack the internal organs. of auto-immune dis- The symptoms of scleroderma resemble eases. Bianchi, now a those of graft-versus-host disease, a professor at Tufts complication arising after bone marrow University School of transplants, in which the immune cells Medicine in Boston, from the donor attack the recipient’s is focusing on the organs. Scleroderma most commonly healing potential of

affects women after their childbearing foetal cells. Her team n o d r

years, and Nelson discovered that the examined female mice o patients carried up to 30 times as many which were past their breeding G a n e

foetal cells in their blood as healthy age and had suffered from e h S www.bluesci.org 19 r e v o C e

h All in the Mind t n O Paul Cuddon of the Babraham Institute tells Jonathan Zwart about the neurons pictured on the cover

The three hundred occupants of the communication. It is not surprising then, Babraham Institute conduct their that these ions also play a critical part in biomedical research in surroundings neuronal development by controlling the that are a little out of the ordinary: a physical growth of embryonic cells. 19th century stately home in a small However, measuring ionic fluctuations village just to the south of in intact brains is not easy. So instead, Cambridge. There I met Paul Cuddon cultured neurons on glass cover- Cuddon, a final year PhD student slips at low and high densities, both with who is completing his studies under and without the supporting astrocytes. Dr Martin Bootman at the world- Such models of the brain then allowed renowned Laboratory of Molecular him to compare the development of neu- Signalling. With the help of Dr ronal networks with neurons grown in Simon Walker, the group’s imaging isolation. Mature high density cultures specialist, Cuddon has taken photo- best represent the brain cells’ native envi- graphs of neurons at the extraordi- ronment, and after two weeks, the cul- nary level of detail seen on the front tured cells begin to exhibit synchronised cover. These images allowed him to oscillations of intracellular calcium. visualise the fine level of interaction Cuddon monitored these changes by between two of the principal cell applying a calcium sensitive dye, which types of the brain, the neuron and makes changes in intracellular calcium

the astrocyte. visible under a microscope. h s e So how were his impressive photo- g n a

graphs created? Cuddon explains that R

Calcium is essential d neurons and astrocytes were labelled n a n i “ for the normal with different primary antibodies, via a b technique known as immunofluores- A function of a wealth cence. Each antibody binds only to a Paul Cuddon at work of bodily processes specific protein expressed by a given Cuddon’s photographs allow him to type of cell, or part of a cell, such as the determine the exact densities of neu- rons and astrocytes on each glass cover- As Cuddon explained to me, the pho-” slip.This has led to a number of impor- tograph featured on the front cover shows tant discoveries. Most significantly, the neurons in green, and their nuclei – just longer the high density neurons were 10 micrometres in diameter – in blue. kept in culture, the more advanced The neurons communicate with each their calcium signalling pathways other both via tiny fibres called neurites became. Although the lower density and larger, one micrometre diameter neurons survived damaging prolonged axons that lead away from the cell nucle- stimulation better than their high den- us. The red wool-like structures seen in sity counterparts of the same age, they the photograph are astrocytes, supportive did not develop the same normal intra- cells that provide neurons with vital cellular signalling machinery. This nutrients and oversee the formation of means that a high density is essential for n o d

neuron-neuron connections. d a new neuron to develop correctly.The u

Cuddon has been examining the role C red wool is also important: the astro- l u

of calcium ions in the development of a cytes helped the low density neurons to hippocampal neurons, which are neces- P live longer and maintained the health sary for learning and memory consolida- Side view of a neuron and its nucleus (blue) of the adult neurons. tion in the brain. Calcium is essential for nucleus. The neurons are then washed Once Cuddon’s work is published, he the normal function of a wealth of bodi- with different fluorescently tagged, sec- will leave the Babraham to move to the ly processes, including muscle contrac- ondary antibodies that bind uniquely to Cambridge Institute for Medical tion, bone structure, fertilisation, and cell each primary antibody. Finally, the cells Research, where he hopes to carry out were illuminated with three different more clinical research into therapies for colours from a laser. Since each second- neurodegenerative diseases, such as ary antibody only emits light at a dis- Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and tinct wavelength, one is able to image a Parkinson’s. It is in this that Cuddon’s specific type of cell, or part of a cell, current research into the role of calci- with each of the three laser colours. A um ions in the development of hip- state-of-the-art computer combines the pocampal neurons may prove vital. separate red, green and blue images to Perhaps, by manipulating neuronal produce a photograph of the astrocytes, development, treatment for these so far neurons and nuclei, which appear in incurable diseases may even become

n red, green and blue respectively. It is possible! o d

d even possible to focus the lasers at dif- www.babraham.ac.uk u

C ferent depths through the cells, letting l u

a Cuddon and Walker build up three- Jonathan Zwart is a PhD student in the P Neurons dimensional movies of the neurons. Cavendish Laboratory

20 Lent 2005

A Day in the Life of.... A D a y I n

A Forensic Scientist t h e L i f

Nerissa Hannink e o

talks to Helen Butler f . . about her work with the . Forensic Science Service

The Forensic Science Service (FSS) aims to contribute to crime detection, convic- tion of criminals and exoneration of the innocent. In 2003, the FSS dealt with 140,000 cases and continued to run a research facility responsible for many forensic science breakthroughs and innovations, particularly in the field of k n

DNA technology. Helen Butler works as i n n an assistant forensic scientist at their a H

Huntingdon lab, one of seven laborato- a s s i ries across England. r e N What initially interested you in becoming a marker.We had a reaction,so I extracted the can get more people into the lab space. forensic scientist? cellular material and sent it off for DNA They work one weekend in four, and nine- During my O-levels, my dad fitted the analysis.The second case was evidence from and-a-quarter hour days, which is a long phone system in a FSS lab, and brought me a fight between two males, and I had to time to be concentrating. But I work part home their leaflet because I was interested look for blood on the knives found, but I time now, so it’s not as bad for me. in biology and chemistry.I went on to do a haven’t had the results yet. ROs will some- Are you or anyone in your lab involved in Natural Sciences degree at Girton College, times tell you about the findings, but most- researching new techniques? but wasn’t accepted for my first FSS appli- ly we don’t get much feedback on the We don’t tend to do research here,but we cation. Instead, I worked as a research assis- results of our tests.When you work on a big sometimes have students for a few months. tant in molecular biology, investigating case though, you may hear the outcome One was looking at scratching and how water contamination for 18 months.Then, from the press. long evidence remains under fingernails, the London (FSS) lab advertised for posi- Are there any particular skills that you think while another worked on fibres remaining tions, I applied and began my career with are definitely needed for a career in forensic in hair after contact. That is the kind of the service. science, like patience or attention to detail? thing presented at forensic science confer- Was that the traditional entry route? For fibres you certainly need a lot of ences. Yes,although some come into the service patience. If you think about how many Who decides which cases you work on? with just A-levels, and many people do the fibres and debris you could get off a car seat, The cases go to the ROs and it depends forensic science degree at the University of you can spend days searching them with a whether it’s a reporting officer in my team, East Anglia. Most people have chemistry or low power microscope. and whether I have the specialist training to biology degrees, and some have PhDs. A How are you trained? work on some or all the aspects of the case. degree is required to become a reporting We are trained in house. With fibres for Who goes to a crime scene? officer (RO). example,I trained for six to eight weeks.We It depends how serious the crime is. How many people work directly with you in have mock cases, and we don’t do any work Usually it is dealt with by the police’s own the Huntingdon lab? on real cases until we have proved we are scene of crime officers.They respond to the There are 60 assistants in the Evidence competent. Even then, we have five to 10 majority of cases: taping fibres, point of Recovery Unit (literally, gathering evi- cases that are mentored. entry, footprints. Then if the police want dence), and 40-50 reporting officers, who Is it stressful because you know that your some more specialist knowledge they will are usually the only people who present work will go to court? call in a RO. Sometimes a RO will take an findings of evidence collection in court.We I like to think there is purpose to my assistant if it’s a big scene. are split into four teams of recovery and work. I find it a plus to have cases where Do you think forensic science TV shows reporting units. We always work with the you might find the evidence to place some- increase interest in your career? same team of reporting officers, and the one at a crime scene. It’s always been popular.When I applied teams have a mix of specialists in the vari- When you see case details, how do you cope in London there weren’t many pro- ous evidence types,mine being fibres analy- with what has happened to that person? grammes around, and I think there were sis and blood work. I don’t think you’d come into this job if 800 applicants for 12 jobs. It is one of those Do you have a typical day? you couldn’t step back from it. There are jobs that people think,“Oh wow!” but it is No, it depends on the caseload. For some people who just deal with chemistry perhaps a little more routine than people example, a few days ago I received a couple cases and don’t think they can cope with expect and there is as much paperwork as of case files, so first I spent some time get- the blood or sexual assault cases. You do anywhere else. It’s certainly not like ting it clear in my mind what the RO have to switch off a bit. Amanda Burton! wanted me to look for. I then collected the What would you say the biggest benefits and items of evidence from our store.The first downsides of your job are? If you would like to find out more about case was an armed robbery during which Benefits are that it has a meaning to me; working for the Forensic Science Service, visit two people had tried to rob a pizzeria. A it’s why I wanted to do the job. I like that the careers section of the FFS website at balaclava had been found nearby,so I had to it’s hands on, I like the chemistry side of it www.forensic.gov.uk search it for hairs, blood and saliva. I and I have the patience to do the fibres as I checked for saliva with a test that reacts enjoy the challenge. Downsides are that Nerissa Hannink is a postdoc in the with amylase (an enzyme) to give a colour many people here are on shift work, so we Department of Plant Sciences

www.bluesci.org 21 22 Away from the Bench

Michael FitzPatrick distinct islandhabitatwhere many endem- a The5000mpeaksform Amazon basin. ting outfrom the Andes intotheupper aremote mountainrangejut- Vilcabamba, were working intheCordillera de We huntfornew species. means aglory was adream realised. a have always heldasecret desire todiscover I Like many biology students, last summer. in highlights oftheexpeditionItookpart ence! andmost likely anew speciestosci- genus, believed thatthis was anentirely different Mago toldusthatoncloserinspectionshe similar toarelatively commonspecies, Although callingtofindamate. branch, was foundperched onanoverhanging Thisspecies uptheriver. night sojourns foundononeofourlate big asyour palm, acadaverous lookingtree frogticularly, as Onespeciesinterested herpar- Museum. our samplestoLima’s NaturalHistory weeks with inthefieldbefore returning whohadworked withusforseveral cialist, afrog spe- Itwas away. fromhours Mago, fromter arrived thecommunity afew whenalet- soIwas surprised regular mail, Peru isnotthekindofplaceyou expect power socket was aday’s away. journey computeror and thenearest phone, Oh, provided hooksformy equipment. andanearby tree together withvines, p allwhitecoatsandhummingcom- lab, It wasn’t theusualCambridge before. a justidentified had hardly moved since, a 6amstart It hadbeenoneofthosedays; “ nd recorded frogs foundthenight dsrih otelbatrbekat I nd straighttothelab afterbreakfast. A tr.Mybenchwas bamboolashed uters. new species, so to be part ofthatteam sotobepart new species, oee,ourexpeditionwas by no However, oneofthe withoutadoubt, This was, The lower montaneforest ofcentral tree frogofthegenus computer orpo the nearestphone socket wasaday’s At HomeWiththe Ashaninka jour ney a Michael FitzPatrick Osteocephalus wa y w er , ” – a new species? inaottefo ouain,asfrogs, tion aboutthefrog populations, We collectedinforma- any development. siteswhichwould of feelthebrunt tourism concentratingonpotentialeco- area, dataofany biological kindfromfirst the for thesepeople. could provide amore sustainable income Ecotourism ralist oradventure traveller. uniquelocationforany natu- vide atruly pro- Ashaninka communities themselves, sider athird way.The andthe forest, rugged However,ACPC want themtocon- drugs. options. they have few basic health care andelectricity, education, suchasprimary want, forest.To pay fortheimprovements people how the Ashaninka shoulddevelop their Rankinghighamongsttheseis remain. lence isover. and aidofthe organisation dedicatedtothedevelopment an del CutivireniPatrimonio (ACPC), the thankstothehelpof Now, organisation. theShiningPath terrorist Luminoso, their lives atthehandsofSendero activity.Thousandsrorist of Ashaninka lost cocainegrowing andter- influx ofsettlers, includingan many changestotheregion, last25years have seen undisturbed.But,the allowed thenative Ashaninka peopletolive and tected itfrom much human impact, haspro- terrain Itstortuous be expected. ic speciesandisolatedpopulationsmight shares his memories fromanexpeditioninPeru shares hismemories Arriving atthe Arriving Ashaninka community ofCoriteni Tarso Our expeditionplannedtocollectthe arangeofproblems still However, Asociacion paralaConser They canlog theirforests orgrow saik,much ofthevio- Ashaninka, vacion del sensitive tosmallenvironmental changes. have beenshown tobe and porous skin, with theirobligate aquaticdevelopment children thefrogs we hadfound. the community schools andshowing the able days teachingsomebasicbiology in monkeys! We alsospentacoupleofenjoy- thattheforests ofEnglanddonothavefact Cambr andby thepostcards of and friends, were by fascinated ourpictures offamily kno andhave little only very basicschooling, mosthave had Yet, and naturalmaterials. their amazingpracticalskillswithmachetes andtoappreciate knowledge oftheforest, theirdeep tounderstand guides well, We gottoknow our Ashaninka people. toliveopportunity andwork amongstthe evs thatnoone elsewilldo. selves, outreal scientificwork them- carrying Studentscanmake areal difference, threat. are under like the Ashaninka, people, surely will! Tropical rainforests andtheir up whenyourasthey planshave tochange, just bewillingtogive itagoandnotgive outsuchatrip, before tocarry breakfast marathons orrun Irwin orRay Mears, realise that you don’t have tobeSteve Inow received much valuable advice. from whomwe UniversityExpeditions Society, theCambridge CUEX, had.We organisedtheexpeditionthrough ing andrewarding Ihave experience ever would not have beenpossible. whosehelpthisproject supporters,without “ One great part oftheproject part wasOne great the The expeditionwas themostchalleng- I o oeifrainaottepoet or abouttheproject, For moreinformation links tositesaboutthe Ashaninka people, Michael FitzPatrick is athird FitzPatrick yearMichael Natural wledge ofthew would like tothankourpatrons and idge colleges, but particularly the but particularly idge colleges, sustainable income ecotour pro visit www.srcf.ucam.org/ashaninka Scientist specialising inZoology vide amore orld outsidePeru.They ism could Lent 2005 ”

Michael FitzPatrick Initiatives

23 t r a w Z n a h t a n o J , n o d d u C l u a P , s r e t l a W m o T ” om the www.ccbi.cam.ac.uk ear with funding fr the Department Genetics of own fields own order to face individuals will challenges in their turn experts to in other disciplines in increasingly need to need increasingly The CCBI has been active since the start The CCBI has been active Mark Woodbridge is a software developer in developer is a software Woodbridge Mark “ institute is committed to encouraging and facilitating cross-Cambridge research new projects, bringing from individuals together wide-ranging fields of expertise.TheCCBI academ- relevant has a mandate to develop ic courses, industrial promote liaisons and the to advance organise workshops departments. exchange of ideas between The institute is running MPhil in a new computational biology, an 11-month for a preparation suitable course providing in industry,andPhD or a career modules in being now are computational biology to undergraduateoffered engineers. The time to will take success of these initiatives is correctquantify,but if Brenner then indi- need to turnviduals will increasingly to experts to face in other disciplines in order fields.challenges in their own Hopefully, thanks to the CCBI and similar ventures, for those in less of a novelty prove this may other disciplines. than in many biology four science schools of the University.The obviously is, obviously patterns and recognising appearsin trends to be highly significant deciphering the genomic code, therefore, spe- of computational the involvement cialists is essential. of this academic y e. Whilst enner, another Nobel Prize advice to all aspiring bioinfor- Br y y variety of computational approaches. In reality, in to work specialists are if examples of such col- any there So are unison they need to be co-ordinated: need to be unison they this base. knowledge vision and a broad takes Sydne winner in genetics, some relevant raised issues during Cambridge-MIT the recent Institute Distinguished Lectur dominance of bemoaning the apparently journal by publication, valuation research in overspecialisation,which can result he optimistic about computational biol- was all biologists that will view ogy. Brenner’s to conduct computer simulated have experiments in the future, accompa- was nied b in a lab”.This“go and work maticians to of being a gener- the advantages stressed to alist and embracing varied approaches research. The most laboration and generalisation? is that of example in biology obvious genome analysis, including the much of the Human heralded endeavours Genome Project. the com- Establishing plete human genomic DNA sequence computational considerable has required resources, though the sequence even itself, gigabytes, at about three is not huge modernby standards. However, decoding exactly what it the sequence to discover complicated more is a much represents task. Fortunately, help is at hand through a The location of genes can be roughly using statistical methods. established of experimental results Cross-referencing can of existing literature with the wealth be performedusing techniques from computational linguistics. Further exam- easy to find,ples are the prevalent but analytical more have theme is that we experimentaltechniques and resulting interpret can manually and data than we organise. Vital as this experimental data computer scientists,computer physicists and even ‘wet-lab’in traditionally dominated environments. ” dinating le discusses how computational biology is inspiring computational how discusses new era a of collaboration ab The Virtual The Department required resources consider computational Establishing the Establishing are countless examples empha- are

e human genome has wer than 16 professors represent- 16 professors than wer

Ther

“ www.bluesci.org

fields. Hence, the arrival of statisticians, pendent and sometimes unexpected involvement of individuals from inde- from of individuals involvement Recent challenges have led to the Recent challenges have from hugely varied hugely backgrounds. from cially genetics,cially has attracted researchers olutionary insight, biology, and espe- through.rev- this since In the 50 years inspiration in making their break- physics no doubt provided important no doubt provided physics respective backgrounds in zoology and backgrounds in zoology respective

fied crystallographer. In practice, their research? ther Nobel Prize a quali- was winner er overspecialisation in scientific er overspecialisation DNA should include the fact that nei- initiatives, count- help to and can they of the structure of discovery Crick’s but what is the motivation for such is the motivation what but and Watson progress.Anydescription of operation on an unprecedented scale, operation on an unprecedented pline collaboration for scientific knowledge and experience.Thisknowledge is co- sizing the importance of cross-disci- ing an impressively wide spectrum of ing an impressively no fe Institute (CCBI) is co-or departments, of with the involvement Cambridge Biology Computational efforts all scientific almost across nition of an emerging discipline. The cine, and engineering, physics is recog- uniting researchers in biology,uniting researchers medi- department’ at Cambridge University, The recent establishment of a ‘virtual of a establishment The recent Mark Woodbridge y r o t s i H Einstein’s Miraculous Year Emily Tweed takes a look at the ideas that made Albert Einstein an international icon

Born in Ulm, Germany on 14 March 1879, Einstein was fascinated by the mysteries of nature from a young age. However, he resented the rote learn- ing that dominated his school cur- riculum, preferring instead to con- struct and solve his own simple alge- braic problems from scratch. Despite his disdain for formalised schooling, his aptitude for mathematics was quickly recognised by his teachers and in 1896 won him a place at the k

prestigious Swiss Federal Polytechnic l a h

Institute in Zürich to study physics. c s t t

He was not particularly diligent when it o G t

came to attending lectures, leading one of r e b

his tutors to describe him as “a lazy o dog…[who] never bothered about math- R ematics at all.” Unfortunately, this assess- The first of these papers gave a new were travelling on an aeroplane you ment of the young Einstein was shared by account of the nature of light, an would not be able to tell whether or not other members of the university staff and account able to explain a tricky physical the aeroplane was moving without meant that when he graduated in 1900, puzzle, called the photoelectric effect, looking outside. Einstein built on these he was unable to secure a job at the that had been troubling physicists for ideas to show that the laws of physics Institute as he had intended. Einstein years. In this paper, Einstein proposed and the speed of light are universal con- spent several years teaching physics and that light was not a wave as traditional- stants, and thus that space and time are maths here and there, before landing a ly thought, but instead consisted of tiny, not absolute as previously thought. position at the Swiss Patent Office in discrete packets of energy called pho- This innocuous-seeming theory has Bern after some string-pulling by a for- tons.This paper was to form the basis of some radical and far-fetched implica- mer school friend.The job was perfect for the modern discipline of quantum tions. For instance, the faster you travel Einstein: not being that much of a chal- mechanics and to win Einstein the relative to the speed of light, the more lenge for him, it provided ample time to Nobel Prize for physics in 1921. time slows down! However, as Einstein think about physics! It was here at the The second publication detailed himself once said, “If at first an idea is patent office that he was to develop and Einstein’s explanation of the phenome- not absurd, then there is no hope for it.” publish some of his most famous ideas. non known as Brownian motion: the Special relativity was also to provide random and jerky movement of smoke the foundation for another of the I have no special particles in air, or pollen grains in water. ground-breaking breakthroughs that “ Einstein showed that this motion was Einstein made this year: the theory of talents. I am only due to the particles being constantly mass-energy equivalence, better known bombarded from all sides by other mov- as E=mc2. For an explanation of the sig- passionately curious. ing particles, and in doing so convinced nificance of this legendary formula, see - Albert Einstein many scientists of the existence of atoms Andy Hodge’s article, E = mc2, on the and molecules.While the atomic theory next page. Einstein’s annus mirabilis arrived” in of matter is something we take for grant- 1905 when, at the age of just 26 and ed nowadays, before Einstein’s paper this The most still with only an undergraduate degree theory lacked experimental evidence and in physics to his name, he published a was doubted by a significant section of “ incomprehensible fact series of papers that would revolu- the scientific community. about the universe is tionise the field of physics. He would The third paper produced by Einstein later say of this time that it was as if “a in 1905 was perhaps the most revolu- that it is comprehensible storm broke loose in my mind.” tionary of all, containing the theory of - Albert Einstein Certainly, Einstein’s activities this year special relativity. So what was so special were characterised by a furious produc- about special relativity? Relativity as a What is especially amazing about” tivity: the three key papers which were concept originated with Galileo, who Einstein’s work in 1905 is that all these to make this young scientist’s name recognised that all motion is relative and discoveries were made while he was were all published within just fifteen cannot be detected without reference to working alone at the patent office, iso- weeks. an outside point. For example, if you lated from other physicists and from the

24 Lent 2005 H i s t o r

What Does it All Mean? y E=mc2: Einstein first published the equation in a 1905 paper entitled Does the Inertia of a Body The unkempt white hair, the bushy Depend Upon Its Energy Content? The ‘E’ stands for energy, the ‘m’ for mass and the ‘c’ for the moustache, the slightly other- speed of light in a vacuum, the fastest speed in the universe at which particles can travel. Einstein developed the equation from the theory of special relativity that he had devised ear- worldly expression: even 50 years lier that year. after his death,Albert Einstein is an instantly recognisable figure around the world. And with 2005 A Universal Speed Limit One important result of the special theory of relativity is that the faster you move relative designated Einstein Year to com- to a stationary observer, the more mass you acquire. For example, if you and a friend memorate the centenary of his weighed the same at rest on the surface of the Earth and then one of you went running across that surface, he or she would weigh more than the person standing still! The ‘m’ in annus mirabilis in which he pub- the equation represents the mass you have whilst travelling at a particular speed relative to lished three of his most influential the observer.The application of this principle has some interesting implications.As an object approaches the speed of light, its mass increases at a faster and faster rate so that if it were papers, Einstein and his achieve- to reach the speed of light, its mass would be infinite. Since force is directly proportional to ments are back in the public eye mass, the force needed to accelerate it would have to be infinite too. This explains why it is once more. impossible for an object to reach the speed of light: infinite forces are a bit hard to come by!

Mass-Energy Equivalence But as his friend, the philosopher What the equation tells us is that energy and mass are equivalent.This raises the intriguing Bertrand Russell, once said, possibility that energy could be converted into mass and vice versa. As it turns out, a very modest mass can be converted into a huge amount of energy.This is the science behind the “Everyone knows that Einstein did process of nuclear fission, in which atoms are split under controlled conditions in order to gen- something astounding, but very few erate energy.The source of this energy is the mass difference between the heavier raw mate- people know exactly what it was rials and the lighter products of decay. he did.” In celebration of Einstein Einstein and the Bomb Year, we look at Einstein’s life and More famous, however, is the splitting of atoms under uncontrolled conditions: the reaction legacy, as well as the physics behind responsible for the devastating effects of the atomic bomb.The use of the bomb on Hiroshima 2 and Nagasaki marked the end of World War II, resulting in huge loss of life and changing the his famous equation, E = mc . face of modern warfare forever. Einstein subsequently declared himself a pacifist, remarking poignantly:“If I’d have known they were going to do this, I would have become a shoemaker.”

collaborative experience that underlies most scientific breakthroughs. Some have even suggested that this detach- ment from any kind of scientific com- munity was necessary for Einstein to be able to conceive and develop such unorthodox theories. One thing is for sure: Einstein went on to become one of the most famous scientists who has ever lived, pioneering the general theory of relativity and h s

beginning the quest for a ‘unifying the- e g n ory’ to integrate all of physics, a quest Andy Hodges reveals all you need to a R

that physicists are still pursuing today. d

2 n know about the mysterious E mc a Moreover, as an active campaigner for = n i b

social justice and nuclear disarmament, A his impact extended far beyond physics. Adorning a million posters,T-shirts and The Cutting Edge coffee mugs, he captured the public Particle accelerators, some of the most important tools of modern physics, also make use of imagination in a way few other icons the principle of mass-energy equivalence that E=mc2 embodies.Within these huge machines, have; he embodied (and perhaps still subatomic particles are crashed together at tremendous speeds, often of the order of half does) the popular perception of what it the speed of light. Relativistic effects come into play here, as particles travelling at this speed means to be a genius. But it was in that have more mass than when they are travelling at low speed, so when they collide with other miraculous year of 1905 that the seeds particles they impact with more energy. One extreme example of this is the collision of such for Einstein’s extraordinary legacy were particles with their ‘anti-particle’: when this occurs, all of the mass-energy in the particles is sown with three revolutionary papers converted into heat and light energy! Such an efficient mode of energy production may overturning contemporary assumptions power our cities in the future – if we are able to procure an anti-matter source. about the way in which the universe works, making the rest of the world sit The Sky at Night up and take notice of this brilliant E=mc2 has not only influenced how we think about abstract scientific concepts like mass, young patent clerk. energy, space and time, but also provides a physical explanation for the beauty of a starlit night or sunny summer’s day.Inside the centre of stars, a process called nuclear fusion occurs For more information on Einstein and in which the nuclei of several hydrogen atoms fuse together to make heavier helium atoms. Einstein Year 2005 go to Each helium atom formed has a lower mass than all of the hydrogen atoms from which it is www.einsteinyear.org formed put together.This difference in mass is converted into highly energetic photons (light particles), explaining why stars, including our sun, shine as they do. Emily Tweed is a second year Natural Scientist Andy Hodges is a third year Natural Scientist specialising in History and Philosophy of Science www.bluesci.org 25

26 Arts & Reviews first of first Turing’s toappearis writings thatfollow.the writings Theseessays, essays by Copeland. but isinterspersedwith chronological, T Spanningthewholeof code breaking. intelligence and artificial losophy, r withcontempo- his correspondence t rae nesadn.Thedepthof understanding. greater skip thedetail ifyou want to gain a but donotbetemptedto ing comicstyle, inanamus- ishelpfullysummarised ters background inscience. includingthose withlittle accessible toall, tomake managing thematerial detail, addresses thiswithoutavoiding technical Thebook today. with cosmologists stands unclear aboutwhere thetheory yet mostare intended asacriticism), oftherival SteadyStatetheory,and porters coinedby sup- aterm (ironically, theory more.tempted tolearn Iwas UnioninNovember, Cambridge presentation styleatthe intriguing conciseand following SimonSingh’s clear, seemed ratherinaccessible tome.However, thetopicalwaysof physics andcosmology, to themodelinplaceby the1990s. understand thestructure oftheuniverse the earliestmythological attemptsto from evolution oftheBigBangtheory, Simon Singh’s ofthe bookisahistory Reviewed by (Four By mar Enigma sectionisfilledwithsimilarpri- Therest ofthe breaking ofnaval codes. vides afir was declassifiedonlyin1996andpro- of temporary Turing’s atBletchley Park, December 1941 ical gemsinterspersed. thereHowever, are somelessmathemat- andnumber logic theory.formal isheavy onmaths, of thosethatfollow, like many Thispaper, Turing Machine. develops whatcametobeknown asthe to theEntscheidungsproblem, withan Application Computable Numbers, Guide Enigma Life, Artificial Intelligence, Artificial The Essential Turing Edited by he key of writings Alan Turing and re,cvrn optn,lgc phi- logic, covering computing, aries, rn’ ie thebookisbroadly uring’s life, hsi o oua cec ok the This isnotapopularsciencebook; Everyone hasheard oftheBigBang withalimited knowledgeAs abiologist Each ofthefive comprehensive chap- Big Bang y Simon Singh provide a lucidpreparation for , ore,whichwould make fasci- sources, hEtt,20,£20). 2004, th Estate, and st-hand accountofHut8’ .JackCopeland B. optbeNmes A Computable Numbers: yPtikMhn acon- by Mahon, Patrick R R a a c c h h is acollectionof e e History ofHut8to History l l

M M The Essential Turing in whichhe u u n n d d y y On Ofr nvriyPes 04 £14.99). 2004, Press, (Oxford University s Oxford Univeristy Press uaitcprrylo cec,the char- humanistic portrayal ofscience, thisisadown-to-earth more, ing.What’s rounding thescienceisinitself fascinat- sur- thehistory However, superfluous. physics may findtheoversimplified detail with the Thosefamiliar the message. helpstoconsolidate verbal presentations, more commonly usedin repetitive style, the those towhomthistopic is new, but for ideas isperhapslaboured attimes, explanation accompanying thevarious including aletterfr the wartime codebreaking atBletchley, by recent popularaccountsof gripped reading foranyonenating further intelligence toChurchill. compatriots The final sections, on artificial lifeand onartificial The finalsections, dealwith Turing’s fascina- , om Turing andhis shor innovative fundamentalideasinsucha man whoproduced suchawiderangeof eral pageslatereven more amazedatthe andtoemergesev- likely tobegripped, thereader is section, into aparticular Ondipping Copeland haswoven in. themathsandsciencethat surrounding pointed by thewealth ofinformation the lifeof Turing would notbedisap- andanyone withaninterest in reader, offthecasual ments shouldnotfrighten themore mathematicalele- However, led tothedevelopment oftheseideas. and toseeinactiontheprocesses that words ofthemanwhodeveloped them, mentals ofcomputerscienceinthe inelligenceandthevery funda- artificial tostudylogic, ground theopportunity sonably strong mathematicalback- Intelligence, and allthedramathatthiscan possess. before being discarded oraccepted, tested, refuted and how issuggested, anew theory present thescientificmethodinaction: but perhapsratherlong-windedattemptto ofknowledgethe pursuit anddiscovery. involvedacters present in andtherivalries machine intelligenceshouldbejudged. onwhich might bethecriterion g T thelatteryears ofhislife.tions during ame Turing controversially suggested he essay, Ultimately,Simon Singh’sUltimately,Simon bookisaclear, T his bookgives any reader witharea- Reviewed by t life Tom Walters isaResearch Assistant in Rachel MundyRachel isasecond year Natural . expounds the ‘Turing a Test’, C the Depar omputing Machinery and omputing Machinery T T o o tment ofPhysiology m m

W W Lent 2005 a a l l t t e e Scientist r r s s

Fourth Estate Arts & Reviews ynn Abbott, the Department of Chemistry Joe Piper is a PhD student in ch, nan- unlikely explains how but The writing is clear, anecdotal and high- esear construction of nanomotors. The author himself runs in Sheffield research- a group gel,ing a pH sensitive and swells which of an oscillating contracts to the rhythm pH reaction, motor. as a possible for use of in a manner reminiscent ly readable Feynman.Richard aimed at a Although general audience, the concepts described some scientific best visualised with are background, several are and there moments when the text cries out for a message is that central diagram.The book’s on biology more relies nanotechnology engineering.than conventional It dwells briefly on the potential dangers of this r is to surpassotechnology evolution. aluing diversity and committed to equality of opportunity el: 020 7594 8753 Fax: 020 7594 8763, Closing Date: 25 February 2005 V These courses are designed to help science and engineering graduates develop the necessary skills and knowledge to switch to media careers. The Science Communication Course is a general preparation while the Science Media Production programme is designed for those who specifically want to go into televsion or radio. Both courses are available full-time over 12 months, and Science Communication can be undertaken part-time over 24 months. For more information contact Paul W Science Room, Administrator, Communication Group 313C, Mech. Eng. Building, Imperial College, London, SW7 2AZ. T email: [email protected] web: www.imperial.ac.uk/sciencecommunication (Oxford University(Oxford Press, 2004, r r MSc in Science Communication MSc in Science Media Production e e p p i i P P

ly and protein fold- ly and protein e e o o J J Richard A.Richard L. Jones at 12 microns, with fully playable , The book also describes the journey Fabrication, of individual control from £16.99). from the first ever photograph to the the first ever from printing of silicon chips, and to the pos- and of molecular electronics future sible cell signalling. is a great photo- There smallest silicon gui- graph of the world’s tar strings that generate radio waves. atoms to self-assemb By by Reviewed the current efforts to understand it.There to the microscopy is a clear introduction this world,needed to observe including an extraordinarya motor pro- image of along a track.tein walking The author describes soft, how random and sticky the surroundings are, with some interesting examples, the viscosity of air such as how to a limits the smallest flying creature tenth of a millimetre. ing, on to the moving is discussed before Soft Machines: Soft Nanotechnology and Life o-

ve raised expec- raised ve

y ha

The main focus of the book is to pr

funding. tations in the competitive search for search tations in the competitive and vide a visualisation of the nanoworld admitting that the far from creating evil nanobots, evil creating far from while points out how scientists are laughably scientists are points out how into the ‘grey goo’‘grey into the debate. The author a much needed injection of realism a much a millionth of a millimetre). It provides nanometres in size (one nanometre is nanometre in size (one nanometres research on matter from one to 100 on matter from research successfully outlines the current going on behind the hype? This book This behind the hype? on going Nanotechnology: what exactly is s s e r P y t s i r e v i n U d r o f x O s i s e h t o p y

H Dr Hypothesis r D

Dear Dr Hypothesis, Dr Hypothesis needs My name is Duncan and I’m an alco- your problems! holic. There, I’ve said it. Phew! However, a friend of mine recently told If you have any worries (purely of a me that red wine could actually be scientific nature, obviously) that you good for you and so, if I were to give up would like Dr Hypothesis to answer, drinking, I could continue drinking then please email him at only red wine.Why is red wine good for [email protected] health, and why is it better than white He will award the author of the most wine? intriguing question a £10 book Drunken Duncan voucher. Unfortunately, Dr Hypothesis cannot promise to pub- DR HYPOTHESIS SAYS: lish an answer to every question, but Recent work has shown that wine contains a he will do his very best to see that the number of different antioxidative com- most fascinating are discussed in the pounds that can help to slow damaging next edition of BlueSci. oxidative processes in cells. These com- pounds are naturally found in grape skin, Dear Dr Hypothesis, seeds and stems.There is a higher concentra- Over Christmas I decided to avoid my tion of antioxidants in red wine because the annoying family, and spent the whole wine is incubated with the skins for longer two weeks watching films in my room. during the manufacturing stages. However, it Several of these films contained scenes is important to remember that these benefits Dear Dr Hypothesis, of beheading. The time it took the only occur if wine is consumed at a moder- I have recently been suffering from beheaded person to die seemed to vary ate level, as higher consumption will increase insomnia brought on, I believe, by the considerably, depending on the ego of the damage to the liver and brain, outweigh- stress of an impending court case – but the actor involved. Could you please tell ing any potential positive effects. If you that’s by the by. As I spend the sleepless me how long it actually takes a human believe that you already have a problem, nights looking up at the stars (or, more to die, following decapitation? Duncan, it would probably be safer for you frequently, the clouds), I have often pon- Headless Henry to stop consuming alcohol altogether and to dered what life would be like without seek some professional help. nights and how much more I could get DR HYPOTHESIS SAYS: www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispotri- done – if I wasn’t so tired all the time! It’s not really known exactly how long it takes bune/news/special_packages/home- Could you tell me why the Earth spins in brain activity to cease following beheading, front/7781178.htm the first place? because – to my knowledge – no scientifical- www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk Sleepless Simon ly controlled experiments have been carried out.Anecdotal evidence from executions dur- Dear Dr Hypothesis, DR HYPOTHESIS SAYS: ing the French Revolution suggests that a I live directly under the flight path of There are several theories as to why the Earth head could respond up to thirty seconds after Stansted airport and have recently spins, but it is hard to prove these ideas because being removed from the body.However, this is become concerned about the possibili- of the difficulty of testing them with experi- nothing compared to cockroaches: they are ty of my house being hit by a plane as ments. My personal favourite is that it is a con- known to survive for up to a week after this would cause me considerable dis- sequence of the way the Earth was formed. It beheading, ultimately dying from dehydration tress. What is the scientific basis for the has been proposed that the solar system arose as they obviously have no way of drinking! ability of a plane to fly, and are there from a cloud of gas and dust collapsing in on http://huah.net/scixf/xbetts.html any situations under which this could itself but, as it collapsed, it began to swirl in fail? eddies similar to those sometimes observed Flight Path Fiona when water goes down a drain.As one of these swirls gathered matter to itself and formed the DR HYPOTHESIS SAYS: Earth, it continued to spin and has continued Fiona, Fiona, there’s no need to worry! There to this day,as there are no forces in space to stop is a long-established answer as to why aircraft it. The speed at which the Earth spins at the fly, which is based on the structure of the equator has been calculated to be about 1,000 wing. Air particles moving over the upper thousand miles per hour. surface of a wing or airfoil travel faster than www.madsci.org those under it, and it was then discovered by Daniel Bernoulli in the 18th century that this meant there would be an area of lower Think you know better pressure above the wing.Therefore, there is a than Dr Hypothesis? net force under the wing to push it upwards. He challenges you to solve this This difference in velocity is generated problem: either by the shape of the wing or by the angle to its movement.While I cannot guar- Can men park cars better than antee that a plane won’t fall on your house, I women, and if so, why? feel reasonably certain that it would not be Please e-mail him with answers, the due to a failure of the laws of physics. best of which will be printed in the www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K- next edition. 12/airplane/wrong1.html

28 Lent 2005

Closing date for internship applications is 18th February. Apply now!