End for Herschel
Seaweeds
Mob rule nOT long after the scientifically ill-informed ruling from Europe ’ s highest court on stem cells that created such problems for researchers , the Italian health minister , Renato Balduzzi , has given approval for dubious stem cell treatments . There is no evidence to show that the treatments being offered by the Stamina Foundation for a range of illnesses actually work , and one stem cell researcher from the University of Milan , elena Cattaneo , has been quoted in Nature as remarking that “ it is alchemy .” however , when pro-Stamina protesters took to the streets of Rome , the health minister decided that political popularity comes before evidence based science . not alone did the dubious procedures get approval , but the publicity , backed by showbiz personalities , is said to have boosted demand for treatment .
End for Herschel
The eSA ’ s herschel space observatory , with its 3.5 metre wide mirror , has run out of liquid helium coolant , so its cameras and spectrometers are about to close down . The space observatory was launched in May 2009 and over three years it has captured data across a wide range of wavelengths , from far-infrared to submillimetre , enabling astronomers to probe deep into the Universe . The observatory was positioned 1.5 million km from earth . From this point earth and Sun always remained in the same position , and the telescope had a clear uninterrupted view into deep space .
The liquid nitrogen was needed to keep instruments chilled to near absolute zero . At launch the observatory had a 2,300 litre supply of liquid nitrogen , but over time this is lost , and the supply is now almost exhausted . eSA report that herschel has performed better than expected , and scientists will be working on the accumulated data for years to come .
While no one is sure when exactly the liquid nitrogen will run out , herschel is likely to be “ parked ” in an orbit around the Sun some time in May this year .
Seaweeds
GReen plants and reddish seaweeds diverged from each other about 1,500 million years ago . The way in which the red seaweeds carry out photosynthesis has been adopted by most of the phytoplankton , such as diatoms and dinoflagellates , so many species have sided with this branch . Yet , as a group of scientists led by the Station Biologique de Roscoff in Brittany , point out , compared to green plants , not that much is known about the red seaweeds .
The group focused on Chondrus crispus , commonly known as Irish Moss , or Carrageenan . This species is common along the rocky Atlantic shores , and boiled with milk and sugar it makes a popular blancmange . Carrageenan is also used widely in the food industry , and has an official E number , E407 .
The group found that the genome of red seaweeds is quite different from those of green plants . The genes are more compact , and some genes which occur in one group do not appear in the other . It is thought that symbiotic relationships with protozoa enabled the red seaweeds to acquire new genes , but it is also thought that genes were lost . Toni Gabaldón , from the Centre for Genomic Regulation in Spain , said that the red seaweeds seem to have gone trough an evolutionary bottleneck , causing them to lose genes .
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UPFRONT
eSA herschel space observatory image of Andromeda ( M31 ) using both PACS and SPIRe instruments to observe at infrared wavelengths of 70 mm ( blue ), 100 um ( green ) and 160 mm and 250 mm combined ( red ). The image spans approximately 1 x 3 degrees . Andromeda is a spiral galaxy 2.5 million light years away from earth , and is thought to include 10 to the power of 12 stars , twice as many as are in the Milky Way . In another 3.75 billion years it is possible that the Andromeda Galaxy and Milky Way will collide and merge . Credits : eSA / herschel / PACS & SPIRe Consortium , O . Krause , hSC , h . Linz
Mob rule nOT long after the scientifically ill-informed ruling from Europe ’ s highest court on stem cells that created such problems for researchers , the Italian health minister , Renato Balduzzi , has given approval for dubious stem cell treatments . There is no evidence to show that the treatments being offered by the Stamina Foundation for a range of illnesses actually work , and one stem cell researcher from the University of Milan , elena Cattaneo , has been quoted in Nature as remarking that “ it is alchemy .” however , when pro-Stamina protesters took to the streets of Rome , the health minister decided that political popularity comes before evidence based science . not alone did the dubious procedures get approval , but the publicity , backed by showbiz personalities , is said to have boosted demand for treatment .
The decision has angered stem cell researchers because it plays into the hands of unscrupulous operators who offer false hopes to people desperately seeking a cure for themselves or their children .
The decision to approve procedures that had previously been declared a danger to public health by a prosecutor in Turin , Raffaele Guariniello , highlights the lack of scientifically-informed guidelines on stem cell research and treatment in Italy . Ireland also has no clear guidelines on stem cell research .
SCIENCE SPIN Issue 58 Page 8