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Wednesday, January 15, 2003
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James Carroll writes: It is an old French riddle. ''At first there is only one lily pad in the pond, but the next day it doubles, and thereafter each of its descendants doubles. The pond completely fills up with lily pads in 30 days. When is the pond exactly half full? Answer: on the 29th day.'' The entomologist Edward O. Wilson uses this riddle to illustrate the urgency of our ecological crisis. ''Because earth is finite in many resources that determine the quality of life - including arable soil, nutrients, fresh water, and space for natural ecosystems - doubling of consumption at constant intervals can bring disaster with shocking suddenness. Even when a nonrenewable resource has been only half used, it is still only one interval away from the end.'' The 29th day can feel like a normal day - look how much room is left in the pond - but it can actually be the eve of catastrophe. Only those who are paying close attention may see the dire significance of the day, but by then their biggest problem is the complacency of those who do not know what time it is. On the 29th day, the pond is half-choked to death, but it seems OK. Surely we have another 29 days to fix the problem. But do we? How this lesson applies to the earth's dwindling resources is obvious, but it has meaning in other areas as well. (01/15/03) | |
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During his 85 years Buckminster (Bucky) Fuller has been labeled a crackpot and a genius, but he has never been ignored. A designer, philosopher, inventor, poet, he has won numerous awards for contributions to architecture and design. Fuller has been awarded 39 honorary degrees from universities throughout the United States and England, and has written 19 books and 115 major articles. Yet he never got past his freshman year of college. ... His grandson Jamie Snyder interviewed Fuller for the press in 1981. ... Q. You've said that you look to the young people to improve world conditions. We were all young at one time. Why didn't we do it? ... Bucky: Because each successive child is born with a little less misinformation and conditioned reflex. I was told by grown-ups that it is inherently impossible for man to fly. Then the Wright brothers flew. I was told man would never reach the Poles. When I was 14, man got to the North Pole and when I was 16, he got to the South Pole. Now we have a little girl who was born after man went to the moon and she has absolute confidence that we can solve any problem by using the mind and perseverance. ... Q. What do you feel has been your most significant contribution to society? ... Bucky: Knowing ways to catch myself telling a lie to myself. But I never try to reform anybody else. We are born naked and helpless and are driven to learn by trial and error. We make mistakes, but that is healthy if you have the courage to admit you've made a mistake. I'd like to be remembered as an average, healthy human being who used what humans are given for the advantage of others. (01/15/03) | |
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New York Times -- A panel of independent scientists has completed a report on flooding in the Headwaters Forest conservation area of Humboldt County that could strengthen efforts by local residents to restrict the cutting of redwood trees there. The report concludes that there are sufficient scientific grounds for addressing the flooding problems by regulating timber harvests along rivers and creeks near the Headwaters federal reserve of old-growth redwoods in Northern California. The logging is being conducted on land owned by the Pacific Lumber Company, which had also owned the forests now protected in the reserve. The report, which was commissioned by the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, makes no direct recommendations about the amount of logging. But by providing a scientific rationale for regulating timber operations, the report could make it easier for the water quality board to consider new limits. ... "This is a real turning point if in fact the water board steps into the timber harvest issue," said Robert H. Twiss, an emeritus professor of environmental planning at the University of California, who was among the seven scientists on the panel. "The result of that may be a change in the rate of timber harvests in impaired watersheds." Dr. Ken Miller of McKinleyville, Calif., a board member of the Humboldt Watershed Council, a volunteer advocacy group, said that most people living in the area were not opposed to logging, but not at levels that lead to flooding. With too many trees removed from the hillsides, Dr. Miller said, rains wash the creeks full of sediments, which then overflow the banks and ruin pastures, irrigation ditches and the root systems of redwoods downstream. (01/15/02) | |
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BBC Science -- A team from Ghent University in Belgium used a technique called transcranial doppler ultrasonography to measure blood flow velocity in the brain's left and right middle cerebral arteries. ... The researchers found that when participants were asked to focus on the meaning of what was said blood flow velocity went up significantly on the left side of the brain. But when attention was shifted to how to how it was said velocity also went up markedly on the right side of the brain. However, it did not go down on the left - suggesting that both sides of the brain play a role in helping to label the emotions. ... They have found that the left side of the brain alone appears to take responsibility for decoding the literal meaning of emotional messages. But it seems that the brain's right hemisphere plays a role in assessing the tone in which the message is delivered - a concept known technically as prosody. The findings are based on measuring how fast blood flows to the tissues of the brain. (01/15/03) | |
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BBC Science -- Scientists have used a version of the anthrax toxin to kill tumours in mice. The toxin was so effective that after just one treatment, tumours were reduced in size by up to 92%. The technique has been developed by researchers from the US National Institutes of Health. It works by targeting a protein called urokinase which is produced in high levels by cancerous cells. ... The toxin effectively killed several types of tumour cells, without causing any apparent damage to normal tissue. Tumour cells began dying just 12 hours after the first treatment. Two treatment cycles were enough to completely obliterate 88% of a type of tumour called a fibrosarcoma. It also knocked out 17% of a second type of tumour called a melanoma. However, the toxin did not damage skin cells or hair follicles surrounding the tumour - suggesting that the toxin is highly selective, and may not lead to the severe side effects sometimes associated with alternative treatments. (01/15/03) | |
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BBC Science -- Simply filtering drinking water though cloth from old clothes can cut new cholera cases in half, researchers have found. The technique was tested in Bangladesh, where it could potentially save many lives. Cholera is a waterborne disease that causes severe diarrhoea. It kills tens of thousands of people a year world-wide. Scientists have long known that the bacteria that cause cholera live in a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship with tiny aquatic organisms called plankton. Researchers from the US National Science Foundation decided to test the theory that filtering plankton out of drinking water would also remove the cholera bacteria. They found that an old sari cloth, folded at least four times, was as successful as specially designed nylon filters at removing plankton from water. (01/15/03) | |
2:37:42 AM 
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2003
Timothy Wilken.
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2/2/2003; 7:50:37 AM.
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