Ouranos ex machina

Dear Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences,

Verily, I beseech ye to establish a Nobel Prize for Magnificence, and award the first one to Steve Eves.

Humbly,
simian

Seriously, wow.

“It is time for us to lead once again”

I regret having just set a personal record for the longest period of time between posts.  But let’s forget about that right now, because today there are a couple BIG events to talk about.

Swine flu: Having very recently mutated to allow human/human transmission, it has already spread around the globe, leading to fears of a global pandemic.  To be fair, I think the mainstream news media have been doing more to fan the flames of fear (while sanctimoniously denying any intent to do so) than the flu itself.  As of this evening early Tuesday morning, only 40 50 cases had been reported inside the United States, and not a single fatality. CDC laboratory tests thus far indicates that the infection responds well to antiviral drugs such as oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza), which are being stockpiled in a number of states.  Maryland has already opened a swine flu command center right in my home city of Baltimore, in anticipation of likely infections occurring in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area.  CDC lab tests have also indicated that the other two FDA-approved antiviral drugs for flu, amantadine (Symmetrel) and rimantadine (Flumadine), are ineffective against the swine flu.  Both oseltamivir and zanamivir are neuraminidase inhibitors, which work by blocking the action of the viral neuraminidase protein.  This is the protein on the surface of influenza viruses that allows it to be released from the host cell in the process known as “budding.”  Amantadine and rimantadine are both M2 protein inhibitors, drugs whose mechanism of action involves blocking the ion channel that removes a virion’s coating and releases its genetic content into the cytoplasm of the host cell.  It is worth noting that poultry farmers in China used amantadine to guard againt the H5N1 avian flu in chickens, an ill-advised practice (H. sapiens as an agent of natural selection!) that has led to the abundance of influenza strains resistant to amantadine.

It’s too early yet to tell whether the swine-flu fatalities in Mexico will be seen here in the United States or elsewhere around the world, but we probably won’t have to wait very long to find out.  As the eccentric chaotician Ian Malcolm said in Jurassic Park, “life finds a way” – we had better work hard to ensure that it’s human life that finds a way this time.  If you’re wondering what you can do, look at this guide on the US Department of Health and Human Services’ PandemicFlu.gov website.  And, of course, you can follow the CDC’s swine flu updates on Twitter.

In that vein, I lastly want to commend President Barack Obama, who, speaking today before the National Academy of Sciences, made a remarkable (and badly needed) commitment to the advancement of American science. After describing how the current swine flu emergency should remind us of the necessity of science, and among many breaks for applause, Obama said:

I believe it is not in our character, the American character, to follow.  It’s our character to lead.  And it is time for us to lead once again.  So I’m here today to set this goal:  We will devote more than 3 percent of our GDP to research and development.  We will not just meet, but we will exceed the level achieved at the height of the space race, through policies that invest in basic and applied research, create new incentives for private innovation, promote breakthroughs in energy and medicine, and improve education in math and science.

That’s why I campaigned for this guy. Let’s all make sure we hold him to this promise.

(No) space shuttle launch tonight

I was just about to post to remind everyone to watch the space shuttle Discovery launch tonight, but I just learned that NASA has scrubbed the launch due to a leak discovered (discovery-d?) in the external liquid hydrogen fuel tank—aka the big red phallus under the shuttle.  The mission was going to take seven crew members on a two-week mission to continue construction on the International Space Station, after which the goliath project would be 81% complete.  The mission’s ISS add-ons include new solar panels and the last piece of the ISS’s girder (the longest part, to which the biggest solar panels are connected).  This was going to be the first shuttle launch of 2009; Endeavour’s November 2008 launch was the last one.

Here’s NASA’s mission page for the mission, dubbed STS-119.  From their clock it looks like they’re going to make the next launch attempt tomorrow night at around 9PM EDT.  So stay tuned!

Daylight Awesome Time

Daylight Savings Time is one of my favorite annual events. It’s sunny and spring-like on this late-winter day, and I’ll have an extra hour to enjoy it when I finish working today. Maybe I’ll try to go to Wyman Park to launch a model rocket, or ride my bike for a while. What a great day! I think this evening might be a good one for nighttime sky observation, too, as the air is so clear. Also, not starting up at sub-freezing temperatures has allowed my Prius to get some killer gas milage in the past few days. And lastly, my utility bill should be WAY lower next month. I’m done with Winter. Not going to miss it, either. I’ll post something of substance later this week; for now, it’s time to enjoy the daylight!

Reading List

I’ve decided I need to kick my reading into high gear, after realizing it’s been quite some time since I actually finished any new books.  So for inspiration, I compiled a brief sample list of books that I want to either read or re-read.  The ones followed by an asterisk I have already read at least partially.  This list is in no particular order – seriously.  I’d gladly welcome any comments, reviews, or recommendations.  Thanks to C for suggesting Stiff and to mobius for suggesting Godel, Escher, Bach.  If I actually complete this list, I’ll finally buy myself a telescope.  That sounds like a good bargain, right?

Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R. Hofstadter

The Evolution Of Compassion by Robert Axelrod*

Stiff by Mary Roach

The Lives To Come by Philip Kitcher*

The Third Chimpanzee by Jared Diamond

An Anthropologist On Mars by Oliver Sacks*

In The Shadow Of Man by Jane Goodall

The Double Helix: A Personal Account Of The Discovery Of The Structure Of DNA by James Watson*

Monster Nation by David Wellington*

The Demon-Haunted World: Science As A Candle In The Dark by Carl Sagan*

The Red Queen: Sex And The Evolution Of Human Nature by Matt Ridley

Bad Astronomy by Philip Plait

Don’t mess with Pan troglodytes

I’ve been spending much of this evening brushing up on Pan troglodytes, or the common chimpanzee.  Yesterday, a woman in Stamford, Connecticut was terribly mauled by Travis, her friend’s 14 year old, 200 pound pet chimpanzee.  I feel terrible for the victims – including Travis, who was shot to death by police as he attacked an officer in his patrol car.  The human victim, Charla Nash, remains in critical condition in a Stamford hospital; she suffered a number of broken bones and a badly decorticated face.  Chimpanzees, while generally playful and good-natured, are still wild animals and therefore unpredictable.  From press reports so far, it sounds as if the chimpanzee may have been infected with Lyme disease, which could have been the cause of Travis’ unusual anxiety and aggression.  I don’t want to speculate about his living condition or treatment as I am not familiar with them, but I will say that handling great apes—especially Pan troglodytes—requires an excess of expertise and caution.  They typically possess four to five times the upper body strength of an adult human and can demonstrate possessive or territorial behavior.  In this incident, the human victim had recently made a significant change to her hair style which is being reported as a potential reason that Travis may not have recognized her (they were previously familiar) and identified her instead as an intruder.  I’m a bit skeptical of that theory, given that chimpanzees show remarkable ability to recognize and differentiate both human and chimpanzee faces.

I hope that Ms. Nash recovers remarkably, and that Travis’ death serves as a warning to those who own or may consider adopting pet chimpanzees.  They are best left to professionals running well-equipped sanctuaries.  Consider donating to a sanctuary if you want to help.  (Chimpanzees raised in captivity are almost never accepted by wild troops, and therefore cannot be released into the wild).

Edit: Apparently, the face-shredding is a common feature of chimp attacks.  I’d forgotten that I wrote about this in one of my very first posts on Survival Machine.

Happy Darwin Day!

Today is the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin, the British naturalist whose publication in 1859 of On the Origin of Species laid the foundation for virtually all subsequent discoveries in biology.  He did for the Western world’s understanding of life what Galileo did for our understanding of the heavens, and what Newton did for our understanding of physical forces.  Each year on February 12, those who appreciate the magnitude of Darwin’s contribution to human knowledge celebrate Darwin Day in his honor.  You are probably aware also that today is Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday as well.  Yes, Darwin and Lincoln were born on the exact same day in 1809.  And Abraham Lincoln founded the United States National Academy of Science! There seems to be no shortage of scientific significance today.

This year is not only Darwin’s bicentennial, but also the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species.  It’s also the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s first use of a telescope, and the 400th anniversary of the publication of Kepler’s Astronomia Nova (which described his first two Laws of Planetary Motion). Wow! These coinciding anniversaries are among a number of reasons that a grassroots coalition called COPUS has established 2009 as a national Year of Science (YoS).  YoS 2009 is a national, yearlong celebration and campaign aimed at getting scientists out of the laboratory from time to time and into the public spotlight to share their research and raise public awareness and enthusiasm for science.  Both amateur and  professional scientists and science educators can get involved, and I intend to do my part by writing more actively this year and by beginning to apply to graduate schools.  Here’s hoping that the latter turns into a lifelong, professional involvement on my part…

Today, you can do your part by refreshing your knowledge of evolution by natural selection in this brief synopsis at DarwinDay.net.  If that’s all elementary to you, then challenge yourself by reading some evolutionary news at Science Daily.  And lastly, I’ll be celebrating a belated Darwin Day with friends when I fly back to Baltimore tomorrow night, most likely at Joe² restaurant & bar on North Avenue and Howard Street.  Leave a comment if you want to join me.  Let’s raise a glass to evolution!

Edit:  Also, check out this essay by Susan Jacoby in today’s Washington Post. It’s an excellent commentary on Darwin’s lasting impact.

Okefenokee dokey

The internet bandwidth at my hotel here in Georgia is having its own little recession.  So, I don’t really have the patience to research and write a good entry tonight.  I’m in Waycross for work through Friday, and I hope to catch a glimpse of some gators at Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge while I’m here!

I’m looking into ways of boosting readership, since a limited audience is the main reason I don’t write prolifically.  On the other hand, I’m less likely to post pointless drivel than I would someplace like Livejournal.  I’m looking at crossposting plugins, and I will probably find a way to publish my new posts via email to willing friends and colleagues.

Hopefully they’ll have the broadband fixed tomorrow and I’ll be able to get something of substance up here.  I’m considering a few good stories as topics.  In the meantime, I hope you’re preparing for the most important Darwin Day in your lifetime – this Thursday, February 12, is Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday! Check out the Happy Birthday, Mr. Darwin! page at the Year Of Science 2009 website for lots of perspective on Darwin’s impact as viewed from his bicentennial.  To find Darwin Day events near you, check out DarwinDay.net!

Accretion and Decay, the FOX News way.

First, let me just say that Cornell University has a great open-access digital repository for e-prints called arXiv.org.  E-prints are digital versions of research documents (research books, journal articles, theses, conference papers, et cetera) that are made available on the internet, typically by academic institutions or organizations.  Open-access repositories such as arXiv.org, PLoS, and others are so important because they make cutting-edge science available for free public review.  This is beneficial to the e-prints’ authors because they can receive more feedback on and citations of their research.  More importantly, they make science more equitable and practicable for students and freelance or unfunded researchers.

Now, on to the fun part.  On January 19, an e-print was published to arXiv.org detailing the results of an analysis of the accretion and decay of black holes that could possibly be produced by the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)¹.  Casadio et al argue in their article against the possibility of catastrophic black hole growth—you can gather this simply by reading their abstract.  But they also claim that tiny black holes might take >1 second to decay, far longer than most subatomic particles generated in supercolliders.  Now, never mind that this only applies to the Randall-Sundrum 5-dimensional theoretical model of the universe, which is only one of numerous theoretical frameworks whose validity the LHC is designed to investigate.  Let alone that the paper was an argument against catastrophic black hole formation.  What the gelatinous mass of popular media hears is: longer decay time, thus a greater possibility that black hole accretion will outpace decay resulting in catastrophe.  Or to FOX News, “Scientists Not So Sure ‘Doomsday Machine’ Won’t Destroy World“.

Now, perhaps you’re thinking that FOX News’ headline is just sensationalism to attract readers, and the content of the article will be a bit more sophisticated.  But why the hell would you think that?

FoxNews.com can think of a few other things that didn’t seem possible once — the theory of continental drift, the fact that rocks fall from the sky, the notion that the Earth revolves around the sun, the idea that scientists could be horribly wrong.

I’m not pulling your leg.  Check out the article.  It’s not just that they making a mountain out of a molehill—an astronomical understatement!—I think FOX News paints itself as the journalistic equivalent of the torch-wielding mob outside Frankenstein’s castle.  It’s a view that fuels an unwarranted distrust of science and indirectly promotes anti-intellectualism.  Worse still, when public concern is aroused it pulls scientists (and funds) away from their research to form commissions and try to extinguish the hysteria.  These kinds of media misrepresentations of scientific concepts or developments usually irritate me, but they also serve as reminders of what an monumental challenge we face in reshaping science education in the United States.  Our culture needs to get to a point where media outlets like FOX News are laughed onto the tabloid shelves where they belong.

Fortunately, the new Obama administration has signaled that it is serious about promoting science with the appointment of the new Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu.  Before his appointment, Chu was a professor of physics and molecular and cell biology at the University of California, Berkeley.  He also shared the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1997 for using laser beams to trap supercooled atoms.  In announcing Chu’s appointment, Obama stated, “his appointment should send a signal to all that my administration will value science.  We will make decisions based on the facts, and we understand that facts demand bold action.”  Obama understands that investment in research and science education is one of the crucial tools we must use to invigorate our sluggish economy and confront the ecological and health threats on our horizon.  I hope he’s able to put that understanding into action.

Oh, and I’m sorry it’s been so long since I posted anything.  I’d like to dedicate more time to writing this year, so we’ll see what that leads to.  Stay tuned.

¹ arXiv:0901.2948v1, January 19, 2009.  On the Possibility of Catastrophic Black Hole Growth in the Warped Brane-World Scenario at the LHC, by Robert Casadio, Sergio Fabi, and Benjamin Harms.

What The Future Holds

I’ve been more than a little slack the past few months in updating Survival Machine.  But the impending new year brings with it the potential for resolutions, and I expect to make plenty of those.  In the short term, I need to upgrade WordPress to 2.7.  I also need to finish the lecture series I’ve been listening to, Biology and Human Behavior: The Neurological Origins of Individuality, 2nd Edition by Stanford professor Robert Sapolsky.  It’s a great refresher course considering all the neurobio knowledge I once gained and haven’t needed to exercise since.  I expect to have both of those done by the time New Years’ Day rolls around, and I expect to hit the ground running in 2009.

Meanwhile, I’ll share something with you that I expect you’ll enjoy.  Nearly a year ago, when Suvival Machine was all fresh and new, I linked to Phil Plait’s Bad Astronomy blog and his entry about the Top Ten Astronomy Pictures of 2007.  Bad Astronomy has since moved to the Discover Magazine blogs site, and true to form, Phil has done it again.  Here you are: The Top Ten Astronomy Pictures of 2008.  Enjoy.

My favorite of the top ten for 2008, spiral galaxy NGC 7331: