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Wednesday, 26 April 2006 |
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Welcome to another issue of BlueSci. As usual, there is much progress to report
and a few small changes to our basic format. The first, which you may notice
in the print edition, is that we have changed ON THE COVER to the OPINION page,
aiming being to invite more discussion of hot topics in Cambridge science research.
If you wish to respond to a topic or suggest one of your own, please contact
us at submissions@bluesci.org. |
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Wednesday, 26 April 2006 |
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UK government targets aim to increase the amount of energy produced
by renewable sources from 2.7% in 2003 to 20% by 2020. It
is without doubt that renewable energy will play a significant role
in meeting our future energy needs, but problems with consistency
of supply mean that management of this energy is no straightforward
matter. If we are to successfully decrease carbon dioxide
emissions over the next decades, there is a clear need for the
development of alternative technologies. Here, we explore three
approaches which could contribute to a significant reduction in
greenhouse gases. |
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Wednesday, 26 April 2006 |
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Sir Tom Blundell discusses the challenge of reducing energy consumption.
The affordable motor car, cheap flights, warm housing, modern manufacturing
and intensive agriculture underlie our entire way of life in the west. All depend
on access to abundant and instantly available energy. But some 2.5 billion people
currently have no access to modern energy services and many who have limited
access seek more. It is not surprising that world energy consumption is expected
to grow at the rate of 2% a year in the future. |
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Wednesday, 26 April 2006 |
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Michael Marshall believes the dangers and costs of nuclear
power are too great
The British government has set a target of a 60% cut in carbon dioxide emissions
by 2050, and increased use of nuclear fission is a major part of proposals to
achieve this. Nuclear fission is the most controversial of all our energy sources,
yet it has two crucial advantages. |
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Wednesday, 26 April 2006 |
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Robert Skelton reviews the use of fuels derived from plants
With concerns over carbon emissions, there is considerable pressure
to increase use of bio-fuels across the EU, and a recent directive states that
by 2010 at least 5.75% of road transport fuel should be of bio origin. Though
the technology does exist to achieve this target much will depend on the level
of subsidies, which at the moment vary widely across the EU. So what exactly
are bio-fuels, and how are they used? |
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Wednesday, 26 April 2006 |
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Paul Fennell and Stuart Scott discuss underground storage of CO2
In the UK we use 50 million tonnes of coal a year for electricity generation.
This figure is dwarfed by use in China, where 1582 million tonnes of coal are
burnt. Global reserves of coal exceed those of oil and gas combined, but if
all the coal in the world were burnt it would be impossible to stabilise atmospheric
carbon dioxide at an acceptable level. If we are to cut carbon dioxide emissions
we must limit emissions from fossil fuels long before they run out.The development
of carbon capture technology—to which both the EU and China are committed—is
a key factor in limiting future emissions. |
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Wednesday, 26 April 2006 |
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Tom Walters talks to Chris Llewellyn-Smith about harnessing the reactions that
power the stars
With its potential as a non-polluting and safe source of power, nuclear fusion
has been a dream of energy researchers for decades. If full-scale fusion reactors
become a reality, they could provide plentiful electricity with no carbon emissions,
no risk of catastrophic failure and very low running costs. With all this behind
it, fusion is definitely the acceptable face of nuclear energy. So when could
full-scale fusion become possible? I spoke to Chris Llewellyn- Smith, Director
of UKAEA Culham, a major centre for fusion research worldwide, to find out his
views on meeting the energy demands of the world. |
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Wednesday, 26 April 2006 |
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Oliver Jones tackles the problem of contaminated sewage
It’s the morning after a night of indulgent festivities, and
Jack’s head hurts. Groggily, he stumbles to the medicine cabinet in the
bathroom and reaches for the packet of paracetamol he keeps for just such emergencies.
After taking two tablets he crawls back to bed. Later he’ll excrete a
large proportion of that dose and send it heading for the nearest sewage treatment
works. All over the country the previous night’s revellers are following
the same ritual. Other people are taking medicines for a variety of reasons
including arthritis, epilepsy, high blood pressure, infection—the list
seems endless. |
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Wednesday, 26 April 2006 |
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Tristan Farrow explores the mysterious world of quantum communication
When Tony Blair and George Bush talk on the phone, you can be sure
they don’t use your regular BT landline. In fact, they have a hotline
that joins Downing Street to the White House that allows them to speak in complete
secrecy. Try eavesdropping on their conversation and all that you hear is a
meaningless scramble that could make a Pollock painting seem like a study in
perspective. |
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Wednesday, 26 April 2006 |
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Is the Earth a living organism? Louise Woodley reviews the debate
Nothing causes a more impassioned scientific debate than those who
mix even mild hints of spirituality or ‘newworldliness’ with scientific
ideas— whether it is the benefits of acupuncture, the existence of individual
human auras and energies, or the advantages of medicinal herbs and food supplements.
One such idea, the Gaia hypothesis, was proposed in the mid-1970s and even now
is brought into debates on global warming, nuclear power and evolution; although
not without some controversy. So what is Gaia and how can a Mother Earth myth
help to explain the relationship between human life and our planet’s environment?
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Wednesday, 26 April 2006 |
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James Pickett investigates how genome sequencing could revolutionize medicine
You’ve been unwell for some time and so you visit your doctor. At the
surgery you hand over a card containing a record of your entire genetic make-up.
The doctor can diagnose your condition and consider relevant medication. By
consulting your genetic information, the doctor can predict the success of any
drug they prescribe, the dose that you will need to respond and the probability
that you will experience undesirable side effects. Based on this knowledge,
they can administer personalized medicine. This could be a future visit to your
G.P. if the potential of a new branch of medicine, known as pharmacogenomics,
is realized. |
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Wednesday, 26 April 2006 |
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Gemma Simpson explores the myths and realities of mobile phone use
You probably use one every day, but is it putting your health at risk?
There are rumours that your mobile could be frying your brain with every call,
that children living near mobile masts have an increased risk of cancer and,
sorry boys, that leaving your mobile in your trouser pocket could be damaging
your vital organs. |
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Thursday, 18 May 2006 |
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Evi Goloni talks to Roger Penrose about the boundaries between
"natural" and artificial intelligence
Sir Roger Penrose, is Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics
at the University of Oxford. He is highly regarded for his work in mathematical
physics, in particular for his contributions to general relativity and cosmology.
He is also distinguished for his strong interest on the delicate and highly
controversial field of the emergence of human intelligence and consciousness
and their boundaries with so-called Artificial intelligence; issues which have
occupied much of his writing activity as well. His two books on the related
problems, “The Emperor's New Mind” and the “Shadows of the
Mind” have played an important role in the popularization of these deep
issues and have provoked intense discussions on the limitations of computation
and the deeper implications of the renowned Gödel's Incompleteness theorem,
as well as of quantum theory, for the nature of intelligence.
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Friday, 05 May 2006 |
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Metabolic syndrome affects one fifth of adults in the West, but most
people do not know what it is. Neil Singh draws together recent research which
suggests that the culprit may be dysfunctional mitochondria, offering new hope
for efficient diagnosis and treatment of the 21st century’s silent plague. |
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Thursday, 04 May 2006 |
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Fed up with the weather? Tess Leslie investigates why cows may be at least partly to blame.
Cattle have long been known
to have mysterious weather-predicting abilities. If the cows are lying down,
your grandmother knows to warn you to cancel that trip to the beach. What she
might not know is that cows are somewhat responsible for controlling the
weather, as well as predicting it.
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Wednesday, 26 April 2006 |
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When asked as child what I wanted to be when I grew up, my reply would
always be, “An astronaut, of course!” I thought that in time I would
grow out of my asthma and short-sightedness. But there was one obstacle I would
never grow out of: I was British. |
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Wednesday, 26 April 2006 |
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Are you aware that we live in the ‘Holocene’? Is it important
to you to know this? Well, that will probably depend on whether your research
is connected to the Geological Time Scale in some way. Many branches of science
have a direct or indirect connection with the Geological Time Scale, as a wide
range of measures is used to elucidate previous environmental conditions. |
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Wednesday, 26 April 2006 |
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Anne Hinton strolls with Tom Körner along the Champs Elysées of
Mathematics The Centre for Mathematical Sciences is rich in personalities. One
of them is Tom Körner, Professor in the Department of Pure Mathematics,
Teaching Fellow at Trinity Hall and author of several books—“some
popular, some less so”—which convey his enthusiasm for mathematics,
history and life in general.“The odd interests me. I can remember jokes
and very little else!”
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Wednesday, 26 April 2006 |
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James Jackson and colleagues study earthquakes around the world, Anne Hinton
reports
Unlike the common laboratory-bound scientist, James Jackson, Professor
of Active Tectonics in the Department of Earth Sciences, conducts much of his
research in remote areas such as Sefidabeh in Iran. Sefidabeh is located in
the middle of the desert; one must travel more than 100 kilometres in any direction
to find another community. Professor Jackson visits such isolated areas to study
fault movements and their association with natural hazards like earthquakes.
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Wednesday, 26 April 2006 |
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Michelle Pope and Sebastian Watt explain how teaching about geology is truckloads
of fun
Geology can be a bit of an odd science. On the one hand there are researchers
who spend their entire lives looking at fossilized remains of long-dead animals;
on the other are those who spend their careers modelling the dynamics of modern
climate change. However, if you ask most children what they think geology is
about, you’ll get one word in response: “Dinosaurs”. |
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Wednesday, 26 April 2006 |
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Tim Wogan looks at the birth of the computer and Cambridge’s role in
its development
The first Cantabrigian to contribute to the development of the computer
was Alan Turing. Turing came up to Cambridge in 1931 to study mathematics. He
was fascinated by mathematical logic; in particular, Kurt Godel’s notion
of undecidability. This stated that mathematical logic was essentially incomplete
because some conjectures could be neither proved nor disproved. In response,
mathematicians tried to identify such problems, set them aside, and thus leave
mathematics essentially complete in its architecture. |
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Wednesday, 26 April 2006 |
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Owain Vaughan talks to artist Helen Gilbart about art, science and the origins
of life
The muse has been four billion years in the making. The artist, Helen
Gilbart, has been in residence at the Sedgwick Museum and Department of Earth
Sciences since 2001. Her work from this project, a rare collision between art
and science, has recently culminated in The Sedgwick Tapes, an exhibition of
her drawings and paintings. |
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Wednesday, 26 April 2006 |
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Dear Dr Hypothesis,
I have recently been asked to participate in an experiment looking at the
effect of coffee on the brain. Keen though I am to help the advance of science,
part of this would involve being subjected to a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
scan. I haven’t been in a hospital for many years and I don’t like
the idea of any chemicals being injected into my body. What exactly is involved
in an MRI scan, and how are the images produced from it?
Caffeinated Carl
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Wednesday, 26 April 2006 |
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Dr Hypothesis asked:
“Why do the geographic and magnetic north poles not strictly coincide?”
One of our readers answered:
The geographic north pole, or true north, refers
to the most northern point where the Earth’s axis of rotation meets its
surface.The magnetic pole, on the other hand, refers to the Earth’s magentic
pole and this tends to shift. These two poles can be hundreds of miles apart,
and this explains why you have to correct your compass bearings when reading
a map. |
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Wednesday, 26 April 2006 |
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The Good, the Bad and the Mathematician
Dr Hypothesis’ research assistant Tom Pugh challenges you to try your
hand at this mathematical mystery:
After a terrifying journey three fearless gun-slingers have reached their goal,
the now unearthed stash of gold. The only way to decide who will receive this
prize is with a three-way fight to the death.The order of the three gunmen will
be determined by drawing straws; they will each then take it in turns to make
one shot until only one man remains. The Good, being the sharpest draw in the
west, will hit his target every time. The Bad, with a less impressive but still
formidable aim, hits 80% of the time. The Mathematician is truly a fearless
man, although unfortunately not the best shot, hitting only 50% of the time.
No wild shots intended for one man will hit any other. The Good and Bad will
each adopt the strategy which gives them the highest chance of victory, shooting
at each other until one is dead, then shooting at the mathematician. What is
the best strategy for the Mathematician to take? Furthermore, what are the chances
of victory for each man?
The answer is in the next item... |
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Friday, 05 May 2006 |
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The best strategy for the Mathematician must be to shoot the ground until one
of the better gun slingers has killed the other. He will then have first shot
at the remaining man giving him a better chance of survival.
The further problem of the probabilities that each will win can be determined
by a probability tree
This proves that in a 3 way duel it is better to be good at maths than to be
good at shooting
 The probability tree for the problem
The Probability that The Good wins is therefore
P(Good wins) = 1/2x1/2 + 1/2x1/5x1/2 = 3/10
The Probability that The Bad wins is
P(Bad wins) = 1/2x4/5x1/2x4/5 + 1/2x4/5x1/2x1/5x1/2x4/5 + …
= 1/2x4/5( 1/2x4/5 + 1/2x4/5x1/2x1/5 +…)
= 1/2x4/5( 4/10 + 4/100 + … )
= 1/2x4/5( 0.44444…)
= 1/2x4/5x4/9
= 8/45
The Probability that The Mathematician wins is therefore
P(Math wins) = 1 - ( 8/45 + 3/10) = 47/90
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