SMC (NZ) Heads-Up 7/5/10

Friday, 7 May 2010, 5:30 pm
Press Release: Science Media Centre

Discover your inner Neanderthal
Scientists now have a "rough draft" for the genetic make-up of Neanderthals after sequencing 60 per cent of the Neanderthal genome.

One of the first discoveries of the research, published in Science today: 1 - 4 per cent of the DNA in the genomes of people from Eurasia and the southwestern Pacific were inherited from Neanderthals. However, Neanderthal-derived genes failed to show up in African genomes.

The researchers suggest modern humans interbred with Neanderthals 50,000 - 80,000 years ago, possibly in the Middle East or North Africa as humans were migrating out of Africa. Neanderthals disappeared from the fossil record around 30,000 years ago.

The highly-anticipated research is the work of the Neanderthal Genome Project at the Max Planck Institute in Germany.

The scientists conclude in the paper: "The analysis of the Neanderthal
genome shows that they are likely to have had a role in the genetic ancestry of present-day humans outside of Africa, although this role was relatively minor given that only a few percent of the genomes of present-day people outside Africa are derived from Neanderthals".
Experts: Many unknowns on mining
Scientists on a panel convened by the Science Media Centre this week examined the controversial issue of mining on the conservation estate and whether the economic benefit of mining would outweigh the environmental impacts.

Among those fielding questions from journalists was University of Otago mining expert, Dr Dave Craw, who said hopes that mining would represent a short-term economic boost to the economy were unrealistic:

"Mining is a long-term industry, it's not a quick fix. Getting a mine started can take 10 years, especially if it's on conservation land. It's unlikely we would have any mines other than coal or gold starting up in the next 10 years. The other commodities that get talked about in other parts of the conservation estate, I think it's more like 50 or 100 years," he told the conference.

You can listen back to the audio of the conference here and registered journalists can log into the SMC Resource Library to access the detailed slides from the briefing, including some images of the environmental impacts of mining provided by Monash University's Dr Gavin Mudd.

Public submissions on the Schedule 4 stocktake were initially due to close on 4 May, but have just been granted a 3-week extension while the government consults with iwi and other stakeholders. Over 14,000 submissions have been lodged so far.
NIWA defends its climate scientists
The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric research answered its chief critic, ACT Party leader Rodney Hide yesterday with a public statement defending the integrity of its climate science.

The statement follows a period of sustained scrutiny of NIWA's climate records. NIWA's chief climate scientist Dr David Wratt said: "There are many lines of evidence which point to New Zealand's climate warming. This evidence includes land-based measurements, ship-based measurements, and shrinking glaciers."

NIWA has published its 'seven station' temperature data on its website, which it says shows "...over the past 100 years (1909 to 2008)... NZ's average annual temperature has increased by 0.9°C". The data has been adjusted because, says NIWA "no single location has temperature records spanning from the 19th century to the present day".

Those adjustments have been a bone of contention with NIWA's critics. NIWA has also posted on its site details of unadjusted temperature records from 11 stations. The CRI said it has a "project underway to further document the 7-station series" and will post that information to its website too.

Scientists call for end to McCarthy-like threats

Meanwhile, 255 members of the US National Academy of Sciences have added their name to an open letter published this week in Science and newspapers around the world defending the integrity of climate science in the wake of the climategate scandal and subsequent investigations that have cleared the scientists of wrongdoing.

The letter text is available in full here. It notes: "We also call for an end to McCarthy- like threats of criminal prosecution against our colleagues based on innuendo and guilt by association, the harassment of scientists by politicians seeking distractions to avoid taking action, and the outright lies being spread about them.

"Society has two choices: we can ignore the science and hide our heads in the sand and hope we are lucky, or we can act in the public interest to reduce the threat of global climate change quickly and substantively. The good news is that smart and effective actions are possible. But delay must not be an option."
XT failure: Network wasn't ready
An independent report commissioned by Telecom to look at the outages on its mobile network has concluded that the company's network was "not ready to effectively handle the large amounts of traffic the network experienced through the successful acquisition of XT customers and the migration of Telecom's CDMA customers to the XT network"

The outages saw XT customers south of Taupo lose service on multiple occasions as a radio network controller in Christchurch failed.

The report, from UK analyst firm Analysys Mason, is available here.

Quoted:"We have just one dish and we'd like government funding to build an array of four dishes so that we could do joint experiments with Australia and begin work on an SKA prototype - 2012 is very close and time is running out." AUT's Professor Sergei Gulyaev commenting on the Square Kilometre Array project in Idealog.
On the science radar:
How to make brown fat, organic farming not so virtuous, could time travel happen?, a very special use for leaves, our neanderthal genes, chilling out at vents, the evolutionary eye, e.coli vs Linux, knife-wielding robots!, the life of ants, why you should hug your baby, unscrambling Voyager 2's signals, more reasons to love our bacteria, and beware the hair of the dog.

New from the SMC

Sustainable mining? - Scientists weigh in - With mining being on the minds of many New Zealanders, a panel of experts tries to answer journalists' questions on mining techniques, and the environmental and economic impacts of mines.

Stories of note:

3 News/NZPA: Climate scientists: Rodney Hide is wrong - Niwa has responded to ACT Party leader Rodney Hide's claim that it had misled New Zealand's government regarding climate change.

Stuff/NZPA: Therapy offers new hope for cancer sufferers - A rabbit virus could hold hope for people suffering with colorectal cancer, say researchers from the University of Otago.

Radio NZ: Research indicates university students studying less - Research has found that both American and New Zealand university students are spending fewer hours studying today than in 1961.

The Press: New farms destroying native NZ - David Williams writes about research by Landcare suggesting that intensive farming is having an extremely negative effect on New Zealand's native plants.

TVNZ/NZPA: Scientists discredit Moa's Ark theory - Scientists from Massey University are disputing the hypothesis that New Zealand's flora and fauna have evolved without much external influence since the breakup of Gondwana some 80 million years ago.

NZ Herald/NZPA: One taste, and full power ahead - researchers find instant carbo boost - Simply tasting carbohydrate has the ability to boost muscle strength, according to research conducted by University of Auckland scientists.

Dom Post: Kiwi helps to resurrect woolly mammoth blood - Kiran Chug writes about Wellingtonian Alan Cooper and his involvement in scientists' recently announced ability to reconstruct the blood of woolly mammoths.

Dom Post: Scientists seek new life in mine zone - As mining companies eye the Kermadec Arc for their underwater mineral deposits, NIWA scientists will next week travel to the area to learn more about its flora and fauna.

AusSMC:

Rapid Roundup: Vaccination linked with early onset of seizures in Dravet syndrome (Lancet Neurology) - Experts respond to the news that vaccination might trigger the onset of a genetic condition known as Dravet syndrome in children who are destined to develop the disease.
Register for back stage access

Gain access to embargoed research papers, photos and audio recordings, receive SMC alerts on breaking science news stories - journalists can register now with the SMC for all of that and more. Click here to register.

Policy updates

Access to high cost medicines - Minister of Health Tony Ryall has received a report looking at ways to improve access to highly specialised, high cost medicines.

Bowel cancer screening pilot to be funded - Bowel cancer is New Zealand's most frequently diagnosed cancer, and Government has announced that it will spend $24 million on a screening pilot for the disease over the next four years.

Sciblogs highlights

The latest blog posts include:

Dig-in Or Adapt: The Effect of Political Views on Changing One's Mind - Darcy Cowan examines the different ways of dealing with new information, in particular writing about a paper which looked at the propensity of some to 'dig in' when encountering new information that is contrary to their beliefs. Scepticon.

Ozone hole 25 years on - signs of recovery? - With the 25th anniversary of the discovery of the ozone layer hole, Peter Griffin writes about an article by one of the three scientists who first discovered it. Griffin's Gadgets.

Memorialising my own folly - Following his critisicm last week of an article by Garth George about the Iceland eruption and New Zealand's carbon dioxide emissions, David Winter owns up to a miscalculation of his own. The Atavism.

Death shapes us all - Alison Campbell writes about the importance of programmed cell death in cancer and also our development, and whether single celled organisms also experience apoptosis. BioBlog.

Review of the New Zealand IP system released - Shaun Hendy writes about the MED's recently-released report into the state of New Zealand's IP system, to which Shaun contributed. A Measure of Science.

Cloning extinct species #1: A how-to guide - Hilary Miller discusses what it takes to return an extinct species to life, finding that while we already have much of the technology necessary, we are unlikely ever to be cloning dinosaurs, or birds anytime soon. The chicken or the egg.

DNA v child trafficking - Anna Sandiford explains how DNA analysis could be used to help fight human trafficking, which affects millions of people. Forensic Scientist.

Research highlights
Ozone hole 25 years on - In 1985 scientists reported in Nature the discovery of the ozone hole over Antarctica - a dramatic thinning of ozone in the spring, linked to the accumulation of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in the atmosphere. In New Zealand, decreases in the ozone level of up to 10% have been reported in the month following the break-up of the Antarctic ozone hole. In an opinion piece (and subsequent interviews) marking the 25th anniversary, the scientists involved reflect on their discovery and urge decisive action on the parallel problem of carbon dioxide emissions and climate change. Access the Nature opinion paper in the SMC Resource Library.

Neanderthal genome sequenced, suggests interbreeding with modern humans likely - An international research team reporting their work in Science has sequenced the Neanderthal genome, using pill-sized samples of bone powder from three Neanderthal bones found in a cave in Croatia. The researchers compared the Neanderthal genome with the genomes of five present-day humans from different parts of the world. The results reveal a variety of genes that are unique to humans, including a handful that spread rapidly among our species after humans and Neanderthals split from a common ancestor. The scientists also found that modern humans and Neanderthals most likely interbred, to a small extent, probably as modern humans encountered Neanderthals in the Middle East, after leaving Africa.

Deep-sea hot vent creatures not so keen on heat after all - University of Otago scientists report that creatures living around undersea hydrothermal vents thrive in an environment swirling with dangerously hot and toxic fluids by seeking out cool spots near the hot plumes. The research, which was carried out in the North Pacific, New Zealand and Antarctica, has just been published as a featured article in the journal Nature Communications. Access the paper in the SMC Resource Library

Convincing the public on climate change - Scientists need to work harder to convince the public of their findings, argues Sheila Jasanoff, in a Policy Forum piece published in Science this week. She discusses why climate science faces the special challenges of organizing research from individuals in various fields, while compiling and presenting that collective knowledge to the public in a coherent way. Science this week also includes a letter signed by 250 scientists who aim to reclaim the integrity of climate science and who believe there is "compelling, comprehensive, and consistent objective evidence that humans are changing the climate in ways that threaten our societies and the ecosystems on which we depend." Access the paper in the SMC Resource Library.

Dark chocolate may protect brain from stroke's effects - A compound in dark chocolate has shown potential for preventing brain injury following a stroke. Mice given a single, small dose of the substance, called epicatechin, suffered significantly less brain damage after an induced stroke. Researchers think the epicatechin effectively jump-starts protective pathways already known to operate in brain cells when a stroke occurs. The scientists began their investigations into dark chocolate compounds after noting unusually low levels of cardiovascular disease among the Kuna Indians of Panama, who regularly consume a bitter cocoa drink. Published in the Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism.

Magnetic fields get neurons going in migratory birds - The University of Auckland's Dr Mark Wild contributes to research published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this week looking at how magnetic fields can activate the trigeminal brainstem complex in migratory birds. The research improves understanding of how birds' sensitivity to magnetic fields helps them navigate. Log into the SMC Resource Library to access the research.
Inbreeding may have caused Darwin family ills - Charles Darwin's worries about possible adverse effects of inbreeding in his family seem to have been justified, according to a study described in the May issue of BioScience. Darwin married his first cousin, Emma Wedgwood, and his mother was the daughter of third cousins. The study, which extended to 25 families including 176 children, found a statistical association between child mortality and the inbreeding coefficient of individuals in the Darwin/Wedgwood dynasty. Darwin expressed concern that inbreeding depression - which he demonstrated in his research on plants - might have been responsible for fatal health problems in 3 of his 10 children.

SMC Background briefings (dates TBC)
Mobile phone radiation | Stem cell research

Quantum computing | Electric cars

Green building standards | Innovation/the economics of raising GDP

Please note: this list is not exhaustive, suggestions are welcomed!
Upcoming sci-tech events
Peter Gibbons Memorial Lecture Series 2010 - Facing the data mountain - There's gold in them thar mountains - 12 May, Auckland - A talk by Professor Gillian Dobbie, of the University of Auckland.

Stand up science - Stratus - 13 May, Auckland - An opportunity for scientists to showcase their research and foster interdisciplinary collaboration.

Dialogues with Tomorrow: Climate Spin - Denial in Media and Advertising - 13 May, Wellington - Cultural critic and media theorist Judith Williamson interrogates the ways in which images, particularly those created by the media and advertising industries, perpetuate what she calls the 'deknowing' of climate change.

Modelling the structure and mechanical properties of skin - 18 May, Auckland - A bioengineering research seminar by Jessica Jor, Auckland Bioengineering Institute.

Antievolution: From Creationism to Intelligent Design - 19 May, Dunedin - A lecture by Professor Ronald L. Numbers, Hilldale Professor of the History of Science and Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison and William Evans Fellow.

Peter Gibbons Memorial Lecture Series 2010 - Facing the data mountain - The health care revolution - 19 May, Auckland - A talk by Alec Holt, of the University of Otago.

Dialogues with Tomorrow: Islands - Sinking and adapting in the Pacific - 20 May, Wellington - This conversation will be chaired by Hamish Campbell and will feature Lyn Collie and Briar March (Filmmakers), Dr Sean Weaver (Environmental Consultant).

Is a random triangle acute or obtuse? - 21 May, Auckland - This question has been asked by many, and the answer depends on the meaning of "random". Hear Professor Gilbert Strang, from MIT, talk about the life of a mathematician and the beautiful picture of 'triangle space'.

Upcoming events, and more details about them, can also be seen on the SMC's Events Calendar.

ENDS

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