TIZER'S SCIENCE NEWS

[Bruff]

The British physicist Peter Higgs receives the Nobel Prize in physics, shared with the Belgian physicist, Francois Englert. Given CERN's discovery of the Higgs Boson, the award to one chap who predicted its existence through the power of pure thought and theory was one of the less surprising awards though no less merited for that. They share £750M, or half a banker's bonus in a bad year........

A few things.

We now have another to add to the list of 'famous Belgians', though he is not their only Nobel Prize winner - Ilya Prigogine for one was awarded the prize in chemistry some years back for his work on non-equilibrium thermodynamics and chaotic systems.

I think I am right in noting Higgs attended the same school in Bristol as the great Paul Dirac, that titan of early 20th century physics and the only person Einstein considered an equal. Dirac was Feynman's hero, which gives you some measure of his powers. Not unusual for two winners to have attended the same school: J Cockcroft (physics) and G Wilkinson (chemistry) attended the same school in Todmorden and were taught maths by the same teacher.

The work at CERN identified the Higgs; it has also led to the PET scanner (P= the 'positron', predicted by Dirac) and the World Wide Web among other things. We chuck a few million quid a year at it......

Richard Broughton

[David Whipp]

Thanks Richard.

I've had a PET scan (sorry Stanley - I really have); several of the other names are (sadly) new to me.

(And given Barlick's other proud boasts, how come Tod has Nobel winners and not us!)

[Bruff]

As this is the week when the prizes are awarded, then we should mention the Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology awarded Monday just gone.

This went to the Americans James Rothman and Randy Schekman (the first 'Randy'?) and the German Thomas Sudhof (though he is a naturalised US citizen) for their work on how biological cells organise and transport the many molecules they need to function. This research done in the 70s and 80s has provided insights into many disease processes and how your brain works so that for example, how it is we are able to 'think'. It is also worth noting that botulinum toxin - or Botox - is a spin off from this. Botox 'switches off' the nerves of over-active muscles, and so can be used to treat tremors (as well as its other more 'cosmetic' use).

I think we may have the chemistry Nobel soon.

Richard Broughton

[Bruff]

So the Nobel Prize for chemistry goes to Martin Karplus, Michael Levitt and Arieh Warshel, all working in the US though Karplus holds a position at Strasbourg. Warshel was born in Isreal, Levitt South Africa and Karplus Vienna from where he fled with his family in 1938 aged eight to escape the Nazis.

Awarded for their work on 'computational chemistry', essentially a branch of theoretical chemistry which is used to understand and crucially predict chemical processes. Their work is designed to mirror and model 'real life' and has many uses so that for example today, powerful computer algorithms can understand how say a protein works and so 'design' drugs for various treatments. Given this design, a chemist from another branch of the science, the organic chemist, can set about synthesising the drug.

Richard Broughton

[Stanley]

Thanks for those posts Richard.

[David Whipp]

Thanks too, Richard.

I now have an inkling about theoretical chemistry (which I was bemused about when a student on University Challenge said he was reading it).

[Stanley]

What grabbed me was how excited brother scientists got when the latest research into halting brain deterioration in mice was revealed yesterday. As the team said, it isn't a cure but a new way of approaching the problem.
Did you see the operation on the man with a violent tremor on 'Trust me I'm a doctor'. The offending area was fried by focussing powerful ultra-sound on it without any surgery. The tremor stopped immediately. No guarantee it's permanent of course but what a relief for that poor man who was never sedated during the procedure and sat up chattering away as soon as it was done. These pesky scientists did good!

[David Whipp]

Waiting for the film to finish at the Rainhall Centre, I thought OGFB members may be interested in this science show on Friday 25th for children (10+) and families, One Giant Leap.

There are some free tickets (one per family) for the first 20 people to email info@rainhallcentre.com

More information at http://www.visitbarnoldswick.co.uk/even ... ventid=571

[Tizer]

€15 million project to revolutionise railway tracks 18 October 2013, The University of Huddersfield
Institute of Railway Research to play key role in the CAPACITY4RAIL project to develop modular, all-steel track sections embedded with fibre optics
Since the advent of railways in the 1800s, tracks have been laid by fixing individual rails to individual sleepers on a bed of ballast. Now, a team of University of Huddersfield researchers is to break with tradition and work on the development of modular, all-steel track sections that can be laid quickly and embedded with fibre optic technology, which provides instant safety alerts. This could lead to massive cost savings and gains in efficiency.

‌The Institute of Railway Research (IRR), headed by Professor Simon Iwnicki, is based at the University and is one of the partners in a 15 million euro, four-year project funded by the European Union under its Seventh Framework Programme. NamedCAPACITY4RAIL, the ambitious scheme aims to ensure that railways will continue to meet Europe’s transport needs over the decades to come. Low maintenance infrastructure, more resilient and easily repairable points – or switches – and higher-speed freight vehicles are among the goals.

“A big problem is vertical support of the track,” explained Dr Bezin. “Currently you get deterioration from one sleeper to the other or the ballast degrades and some sleepers become unsupported. A concrete sleeper is the norm, but we have studied a steel track system that uses steel beams. This gives consistency of support and better control of dynamic forces.” Dr Bezin added that the construction of modular track sections in the factory would mean that they could be pre-equipped with smart technology. “We could make the track system intelligent. Fibre optics running along the rail would enable you to know from the signal whether or not there is an unusual deformation, an indication of fatigue cracking or some other problem”. This condition monitoring system would make maintenance a much simpler process, adding to the efficiency gains from modular track construction.
More details on the university site: http://www.hud.ac.uk/news/2013/october/ ... tracks.php

[Whyperion]

all-steel track sections.

Think they were used on tramways ( embedded in tarmac and blocks etc ) , and contractors / quarry railways and similar lightweight systems.

But if its all steel , how are the running rails insulated ( on both return to earth on o.h and 3rd rail electric , and for track circuits for present day signalling ( though train to train signalling by radio is becoming more commonplace anyway )

[Stanley]

When I K Brunel built the first GW line they used continuous support under the rails instead of longitudinal sleepers. He reckoned it gave a smoother ride but even they abandoned this for sleepers due to cost and maintenance problems.

[Tizer]

How 3D X-ray scanning will reveal the insides of crashed cars, shipping containers or cracks within aircraft bodies....
http://www.fraunhofer.de/en/press/resea ... ale-3.html

[Tizer]

Some interesting facts from a recent article in Chemistry World, the magazine of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

During the Depression in the early 1930s one of Britain's largest chemical companies, Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) chose to increase its expenditure on scientific research rather than cut back. It was a wise decision. In 1933 the extra funding allowed Reginald Gibson and Eric Fawcett to carry out a series of experiments on ethylene at high pressure and one of these failed to yield the expected product but instead resulted in a strange waxy solid. It was identified as a polymer of ethylene and after further work and investigations it was given the name polythene. It turned out to be a marvellous electrical insulator and was soon put to use in making underwater telephone and telegraph cables but was unsuited to everyday applications due to the expense and difficulty of making it (the initial experiment required a pressure nearly 2000 times greater than atmospheric pressure).

As outbreak of war loomed in Europe, Britain was developing radar but its use in aircraft had been impossible due to the large size and weight of the equipment. However, in 1940 British scientists (John Randall and Harry Boot) invented a cavity magnetron which could generate electromagnetic waves and was compact enough to fit into an aircraft. This invention required cable insulation capable of carrying high frequency signals and it couldn't have been put into use without the polythene discovered and made by ICI. After the war, new and cheaper ways of making polythene were found and it became the common material of everyday life that we now know so well. But if it had not been for ICI's decision to boost research in the Depression we may not have had the airborne radar used by night fighters to find bombers and by coastal command aircraft to detect submarines, all so important in helping Britain to win World War 2.

[Stanley]

Anyone interested in ICI could do worse than get hold of Reader's two volume history of the company. The section on the early amalgamations is a DIY manual for how not to do it!

[Stanley]

See this LINK for a report in the Telegraph based on the article in The Lancet about over prescribing of antibiotic drugs. We've covered this before but what struck me was one of the factors which they say causes over prescribing. They point the finger at private hospitals who, because selling health care is a business to them, routinely prescribe antibiotics because that is what the customers want. It's not in their commercial interest to refuse the drugs if there is actually no call for them. It's a sad commentary on modern life that commercial interest can override what is obviously a serious concern.
It may be that those of us who have had a high exposure to bacteria and a very low intake of antibiotics might be the best off.

[Tizer]

Unfortunately, NHS doctors have been doing the same thing - if patients demanded antibiotics the doc gave it to them to keep them quiet. The problem now is that as we try to reduce the use of antibiotics we are seeing an increasing number of serious infections following hospital operations. Almost everyone I know who has had a hip replacement op recently has had serious post-op infection, and that's not just in one hospital or one part of the country. A friend's partner has had 10 (ten!) returns to hospital, has survived but is left with one leg much shorter than the other. A couple of days ago I heard about one of the villagers whose wife broke her ankle and went into hospital. She got an infection and has now died. It's a shocking state of affairs and all down to blatant over-use of antibiotics by GPs, hospital doctors, agriculture companies, farmers and vets even though they've been warned for decades about the dangers.

[Wendyf]

The only time I have taken antibiotics in the last 20 years was when one of the cats sank her teeth into my hand whilst being given an injection by the vet. I was told by the vet to go straight to the doctor, which I did, and by the time I arrived my hand had swollen to twice it's normal size.

[hartley353]

The only time I have taken antibiotics in the last 20 years was when one of the cats sank her teeth into my hand whilst being given an injection by the vet. I was told by the vet to go straight to the doctor, which I did, and by the time I arrived my hand had swollen to twice it's normal size.

Very toxic cat bites, and scratches, probably why few birds survive after a cat attack. Great grand daughters rabbit had to have antibiotics after losing a leg to a cat.

[Tizer]

Listened to a recording of last week's Radio 4 `Inside Science' programme which had some very interesting topics. I was pleased when Prof Bill Sutherland highlighted the absence of knowledge and experience of science among our UK politicians - only one MP has been a scientist, even though they are expected to make important decisions on the many science-based issues of the modern world. Sutherland and his colleagues are concerned not so much about knowing lots of science facts but being aware of the underlying processes of science by which conclusions are reached on the validity of data and claims. Sutherland and two other Cambridge professors now have an article published in Nature journal suggesting 20 concepts that should be part of the education of civil servants, politicians, policy advisers and journalists. A great idea! Full details here:
http://www.nature.com/news/policy-twent ... ms-1.14183

[Stanley]

From his mouth to God's ear! I have pursued this on the Politics thread.
I listened to 'In our time' yesterday on microscopy, an entertaining and instructive overview of some very complicated and important science.
I see that it looks as though the comet Ison has almost certainly broken up due to the stresses of passing close to the Sun. (LINK) 5.5 billion years and then oblivion.... Natural but so sad. Reminds us that nothing is permanent, not even our tenancy of Earth!

[Bruff]

''...only one MP has been a scientist...''

That would be Dr Julian Huppert, LD MP for Cambridge and former University of Cambridge Trinity College Junior Fellow in Computational Biology. Two interesting things to note now we've mentioned Dr Huppert.

First, for reasons I can't fathom, whenever he speaks he is subjected mock cheers and collective groans. It has been suggested this is due to him asking 'tedious questions', a perceived pomposity or the colour of his hair, or that he resembles Mr Tumnus from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. Like I said though, I can't fathom it as it seems all rather juvenile.

He is also very quick off the mark in tabling Early Day Motions (EDMs) that counter EDMs tabled by others promoting voodoo science for want of a better word. Notably several in response to EDMs from a Mr Treddinick MP which essentially promoted homeopathy. I suppose we can't expect any better from Mr Treddinick MP as at the time of the expenses debacle, it was found he had charged to expenses the purchase of software which matched medical treatment to the alignment of the planets. My word.

But Pendle residents may wish to know that Treddinick's EDMs on homeopathy were supported by the Hon Andrew Stephenson MP. Perhaps a foible of youth on the part of Young Master Stephenson, if I'm being charitable. But still, that sort of ignorance is evidence enough in my book for his unsuitability for office of any kind.

Richard Broughton

[Stanley]

Thanks for that Richard. Why am I not surprised to hear that Young Master Stephenson believes that homoeopathy works.... I see he has parked his moon face next to my column again this week. Could he be getting a free ride on the popularity of my column?

[Tardis]

Did #ISON survive?

[Stanley]

There's an interesting programme on World Service as I write. Professor Adam Hart on the bacteria that cover our skin and inhabit our gut. His thesis is that in terms of numbers of functioning cells we are a a walking eco system and more bacteria based than mammal. One interesting fact so far is that the increase in births by Caesarian section deprives the infant of the bacterial load it would otherwise have picked up via the birth canal, it appears there is a connection between C section and allergies in later life. Makes sense, I'd never thought of that. I've always believed that the fact that I was exposed to bacteria so much by my contact with animals has had a beneficial effect on my immune cells. Contrast this with the modern aversion to any type of bacteria, 'Kills 99.9% of bacteria' is not necessarily a good thing in a cleaner!
Another interesting point cropped up later in the programme. Since the advent of antibiotics and major changes in life-style (like the obsession with cleanliness) our bacterial load has probably been modified more than in the rest of human history. Could this be a factor in things like the development of the 'Western Diseases'?

[Tardis]

Public lecture on Thorium, alt nuclear energy future. Mon 2nd Dec Prof Bob Cywinski. Old Stone Trough, Earby Pendle

http://www.cafescientifique.org/index.p ... ter_order=