Monday, February 10, 2003

Nuclear Waste: Making the Problem into a Solution Win Wenger writes: The end product of radioactivity is heat—enough heat, when brought together, to melt and pump sodium as a thermal conductor, or oil or steam if less than that, to drive turbines or other power-generating devices. Can there be much doubt that, as a working power source, a given set of radioactive "waste" would receive much more careful handling than it does now as "waste"? Still dangerous, but the assembly of radioactive wastes into "secondary," thermal reactors has to be counted as a major safety improvement over today's situation. Every unit of power generated from radioactive "waste" is that much less greenhouse effect, that much less air and water pollution, that much less fossil fuel used up, that much less foreign trade deficit and dependency resulting from more conventional power generation. Unlike conventional nuclear reactors, such "secondary" reactors from radioactive "waste" will not generate more such waste. (02/10/03) What is the Value Added Tax? Joseph George Caldwell writes: In my online book, I propose a new tax system for the United States which eliminates the personal and corporate income tax system in the United States. The central theme of the book is that the income tax system is not only a bad tax system from an economic viewpoint, but that it has severe political and sociological drawbacks as well. The book describes how the invasion of privacy and authoritarian tactics on which the current system is based have seriously damaged the relationship of the US citizen to his government. The book describes the inadequacies of the current US tax system; its incredible complexity; its undesirable economic incentives which discourage saving, investment, and economic growth; the high administrative cost; the instability in government revenues caused by a narrow, volatile tax base; the incentive for wasting productivity in tax avoidance; the problem it causes in international trade; the invasion of privacy; and the tyranny of the IRS. The book shows how the Tax Reform Act of 1986 has not solved the fundamental problems of the income tax system, and explores why the US Government has perpetuated such a bad tax system for so long. A major problem with the current US tax system is its inability to produce a sufficient level of revenue to cover desired government programs. The current system has resulted in massive government deficits and extreme wealth concentrations that threaten US and world economic collapse. The new tax system proposed in this book addresses these problems; it can help avoid economic collapse and reduce the severity of depressions. (02/10/03) Stem Cells can help Injured Heart New Scientist -- A damaged heart can be repaired with a dose of stem cells, French researchers have shown. Their study provides the first direct evidence that stem cells injected into an injured heart do develop to take on some of the workload. Muscle stem cells, called myoblasts, were taken from the thigh muscle of a man who had suffered a heart attack, cultured, and then injected into his heart. The function of the 72-year-old man's heart was stronger after the treatment. But it was only when he died 18 months later that researchers could prove that the injected myoblasts had metamorphosed. "This is the first demonstration of the concept in humans, and confirms animal findings," says Albert Hagège at the Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, Paris, France. (02/10/03) Unwanted Immigrants in Africa BBC Science -- Plants and animals introduced from other continents are placing a huge burden on Africa, conservationists say. ... They arrive without their native controls, like predators, parasites and competitors. One of the best-known is the water hyacinth, a native of the Amazon basin brought to Africa as an ornamental plant. It has now spread to most of the continent's lakes and rivers, and can form huge mats of floating vegetation covering thousands of hectares. These deprive life beneath the surface of light and oxygen, and reduce the variety of fish species. ... One highly mobile alien is the Louisiana crayfish, which destroys native African plants, snails and crustaceans. It can travel long distances over land, and the burrows it digs damage dams and reservoirs. Even the common carp is unwelcome, the report says. Although it is a valuable food source, it causes many problems because it eats local fish, invertebrates and vegetation to extinction. ... Dr Geoffrey Howard of IUCN told BBC News Online: "We have hundreds of invasive species in Africa. Often we don't recognise them because we've grown up with them. "They get here in soil, plants, luggage, vehicles, even aircraft." ... A study for Unep says the Nile perch, an alien introduced to Lake Victoria in East Africa, constituted 1% of the annual catch soon after its introduction in the 1960s. It is now 80% of the catch, and is thought to have helped to drive more than 200 native fish species to extinction. (02/10/03) What is Blacker than Black? BBC Science -- British scientists say they have produced the "blackest ever" surface developed so far. The industrial coating for telescopes is one of the darkest and least reflective surfaces on Earth. By minimising the scatter of stray light, it could improve the vision of telescopes, from amateur instruments to the mighty Hubble. It reflects 10 to 20 times less light than current coatings and has a number of applications in astronomy, such as on star trackers, which help spacecraft navigate. Scientists at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in Teddington, West London, say it could also be used on our planet. Several artists are said to be keen to use the new material because it is incredibly beautiful, "like black velvet". Dr Richard Brown, who led the NPL team, said the substance was 25 times blacker than conventional black paint. "It's the blackest surface commercially available," he told BBC News Online. "It's a very interesting surface to look at because it's so black." The coating is made of an alloy of nickel and phosphorus pitted with tiny curved craters which absorb light. (02/10/03) High Yields from Genetically Modified Seeds BBC Science -- Cotton crops in India that were genetically modified to resist insects have produced dramatically increased yields. The farm trials also showed that the novel plants needed significantly less pesticide treatment. The details of the research have been published in the journal Science. This study may be especially promising for small-scale, low-income farmers in developing countries, it is claimed. ... There was an average improvement in yield from the BT cotton of between 80 and 90% - far more than in similar field trials in China and the United States. (02/10/03) Matilda is Dead! BBC Science -- Australia's first cloned sheep, Matilda, has died unexpectedly of unknown causes, scientists said. An autopsy failed to find any reason for the merino ewe's abrupt death last Saturday, Rob Lewis, director of the South Australian Research and Development institute, said. (02/10/03) Zebra Fish May Help Fight Cancer BBC Science -- Scientists hope that the zebrafish may help them to develop new treatments for cancer. At first sight the tiny fish may seem to have nothing in common with humans. But in fact its genome is thought to contain about 30,000 genes, roughly the same number as humans. Many of its genes appear to play the same function as their equivalents in humans. ... Using gene therapy techniques, a team of US researchers have stimulated the development of a type of leukaemia in the fish. They believe the breakthrough could help to isolate the genes that accelerate or delay the spread of the disease - T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) - in humans. (02/10/03) 12:05:18 AM

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