Wednesday, July 02, 2003

Adversity—Neutrality—Synergy Timothy Wilken, MD writes: All human choices and all human relationships can be described as falling on a continuum. ... Let us say that you are capable of "X" happiness, effectiveness and productivity. I am capable of "Y" happiness, effectiveness and productivity. If we choose to interact the results can be as follows: We can have neutrality, your "X" and my "Y" are unchanged by our relationship. The sum of the whole (X +Y ) is equal to the sum of the parts (X) + (Y). We can have adversity, your "X" and my "Y" are reduced by our relationship. The sum of the whole (X + Y ) is less than the sum of the parts (X) + (Y). Or, we can have synergy, your "X" and my "Y" are made greater by our relationship. The sum of the whole (X + Y) is more than the sum of the parts (X) + (Y).... Each participant determines for himself whether a relationship is synergic or adversary. This is determined from his point of view, and he cannot be fooled. He is either more happy, more effective, more productive because of the relationship; or he is less happy, less effective, less productive because of the relationship, or he is unchanged by the relationship. The truth is in the eye of the beholder. (07/02/03) The Guesswork of Collective Mind Howard Bloom writes: A complex adaptive system is a "nested hierarchy" - a net whose nodes are each a part of a larger entity. Each of these larger "superorganisms," in turn, is a node in a far larger web. And each is also a hypothesis. Every brain cell in a newborn is a guess. If the spot to which it migrates and the function it adopts turn out to be necessities, it stays and even gains in "popularity" - other cells massage it with nerve endings begging for what it has to give. If it is a motor neuron geared to make a tongue click like the African San language's popping "!" and everyone chattering 'round it pops away, it will grow strong and stay. If it's sandpapered by the baby-talk of English burblers whose syllables never make their palates snap a "!," the wrong-way-Corrigan cell will shrink then die away. The cell is a feeler for the person in whom it gets its start. And that individual is a mere stab in the dark for the groups of which he or she is part. Should he try twenty ventures and see every one of them slide down the tubes, he'll be shunned by other humans, spurned by money, hounded by the torment of his failures, and will probably die at an early age. Even if he dodges homelessness and alcohol, he may be done in by depression, which persuades the immune system to lower its weapons when bacteria storm the gates. The hopeful baby turned an adult wreck is a probe head sent out by the group to explore its possibilities. His path helps teach his collectivity the routes it must elude. But if his attempts all turn to gold, love, health, and recognition may be his destiny. He has taught the group a better way. Right guess and you win. Wrong guess and you lose. Or in the words of Jesus, "To he who hath it shall be given. From he who hath not, even what he hath shall be taken away." (07/02/03) How Best to Protect the Earth? New York Times: Science -- Dr. Michelle Marvier, a professor of biology at Santa Clara University, and Dr. Peter Kareiva, an associate at the university and a scientist with the Nature Conservancy, a group that has increasingly focused on hot spots write: "The hot-spot concept has grown so popular in recent years within the larger conservation community that it now risks eclipsing all other approaches. The officers and directors of all too many foundations, nongovernmental organizations and international agencies have been seduced by the simplicity of the hot spot idea. We worry that the initially appealing idea of getting the most species per unit area is, in fact, a thoroughly misleading strategy." ... Hot spots are a term for habitats that cover just 1.4 percent of the earth's land surface but are so rich in biological diversity that preserving them could keep an astonishing number of plant and animal species off the endangered list. Since 1988, when Dr. Norman Myers and his colleagues began describing these hot spots in a series of scientific papers and arguing for their protection, they have become a focus of worldwide conservation efforts. Private organizations and government agencies, including the World Bank, have made preserving 25 such ecological arks — from the Atlantic rain forest of Brazil to the semiarid Karoo region of South Africa — a top priority for financing and protective legislation. But a growing chorus of scientists is warning that directing conservation funds to hot spots may be a recipe for major losses in the future. Just as an investor should maintain a balanced portfolio, the scientists argue, conservationists should avoid putting all of their eggs in one basket. Hot spots are top performers in one dimension, these scientists say: the number of unique species that live in them. Of species that live on land, nearly half of all plants and more than a third of all animals are found only in the hot spots. But they do not include many rare species and major animal groups that live in less biologically rich regions ("cold spots"). And the hot-spot concept does not factor in the importance of some ecosystems to human beings, the scientists argue. Wetlands, for example, contain just a few species of plants, but they perform valuable service by filtering water, regulating floods and serving as nurseries for fish. This debate has been simmering quietly among biologists for years. But it is coming to a boil now with the publication of an article in the current issue of American Scientist arguing that "calls to direct conservation funding to the world's biodiversity hot spots may be bad investment advice." (07/02/03) Viral Defense Foundation BBC Science -- A global monitoring system should be established to detect and analyse threatening new viruses, say researchers. Other viruses like Sars will emerge Such a programme would routinely screen human blood and rapidly identify new viruses, such as Sars, that might become a threat to human health. Scientists want to sequence the genetic structure of the collected viruses to form a database of the genetic code of all those associated with humans. They are calling it the Human Virome Project. It is the brainchild of Norman Anderson of the privately funded Viral Defense Foundation in Maryland, US. His proposal is contained in the journal 'Emerging Infectious Diseases' published by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in the US. The threat from new viruses as well as from those that break out from their normal areas of infection is an ever present one. Some scientists say that clearing tropical forests is bound to allow unknown and dangerous viruses to escape. In the past few months Sars, Monkeypox and West Nile virus have all hit the headlines. When such outbreaks occur it is important to identify and marshal as much information about the new virus as possible so that potential treatments can be investigated. (07/01/03) Rent-a-Womb This Is London -- A woman has sparked controversy by revealing she is trying for her ninth surrogate baby. Carole Horlock, 36, who has two children of her own, has given birth to eight surrogate children. Now she has signed a £15,000 expenses deal to produce a child for a couple living in the Home Counties. The announcement comes just 12 weeks after she gave away her eighth surrogate baby, and she says she'll "retire" only after producing her tenth. Miss Horlock, a launderette manager from Stevenage, Hertfordshire, said: "People call me rent-a-womb, which is unkind. But I do what I do for the love of it. It's not about money, it's about making childless couples happy. "I am addicted to the whole process of being pregnant for someone else. Far from being ashamed of my role, I'm incredibly proud of it. I think 10 is a nice round number. I'll stop then." (07/01/03) A Really Mean Flu The Sidney Morning Herald -- Forget anthrax and smallpox, influenza could easily be turned into the next weapon of mass destruction, scientists said today. They sounded their warning as researchers come close to completing the blueprint for the virus of the 1918 'flu epidemic that killed up to 40 million people globally. "Taken together with the fact that influenza virus is readily accessible and may be causing more deaths than previously suspected, the possibility for genetic engineering and aerosol transmission suggests an enormous potential for bioterrorism," the University of Texas scientists said. Writing in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, the team led by Dr Mohammed Madjid noted that last century a series of 'flu epidemics from Spain to Russia and Hong Kong had killed millions of people as the virus naturally mutated. They pointed out that sequencing of the genome of the 1918 Spanish 'flu epidemic was nearly complete, opening the door to unscrupulous scientists to build an even more potent virus. (07/01/03) America's Space Weapons The Guardian UK -- Allies to become less important as new generation of weapons enables America to strike anywhere from its own territory. The Pentagon is planning a new generation of weapons, including huge hypersonic drones and bombs dropped from space, that will allow the US to strike its enemies at lightning speed from its own territory. Over the next 25 years, the new technology would free the US from dependence on forward bases and the cooperation of regional allies, part of the drive towards self-suffi ciency spurred by the difficulties of gaining international cooperation for the invasion of Iraq. The new weapons are being developed under a programme codenamed Falcon (Force Application and Launch from the Continental US). A US defence website has invited bids from contractors to develop the technology and the current edition of Jane's Defence Weekly reports that the first flight tests are scheduled to take place within three years. (07/02/03) 6:16:48 AM

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