Science Spin 58 May 2013 | Page 8

Downside of advances

Many people who would have died from kidney or liver failure in the past can now survive in good health thanks to advances in organ transplanting . Unfortunately , however , where ethical guidelines are lax or absent alltogether , organs are being harvested from people who have fallen into a poverty trap .

Monir Moniruzzaman , a medical anthropologist at Michigan Medical State University has drawn attention to an appalling situation in Bangladesh . Monir , who came originally from Bangladesh , began investigating the extent of this trade , and in spite of the fact that it is technically illegal , he found that entire families had sold organs to pay off relatively small debts . Ironically , the loans , which could be as small as $ 50 , were often given to help people set up small businesses .

Monir , reporting his grim findings in Medical Anthropology Quarterly , said that in 2005 there was one transplant hospital in Dhaka , capital of Bangladesh . Since then the number has increased and will soon be ten . as Monir observed , the people giving up their organs out of desperation often fail to receive payment , people are left in poor health after botched operations , brokers forge documentation , and medical officials and doctors , who should be expected to know better , are in on this nasty racket because the illegal trade is so lucrative .

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UPFRONT

Rock art

RockS don ’ t last forever , they just take longer than most other things to wear away . one of the big problems with ancient rock carvings , such as those on Ireland ’ s high crosses , is that leaving them in the open leaves them exposed to natural weathering . at the same time , trekking across the landscape to look at a polymer replica of the real thing , now housed under cover in a museum , is not such an attractive option .

Ireland is far from being alone in having ancient stone carvings out in the open , and researchers at newcastle University have drawn attention to neolithic and Bronze age examples in northumberland . David Graham , Professor of Ecosystems Engineering at the university said that these panels , with carved swirls and circles , are at risk . “ We need to start looking at how we can preserve them now ,” he said , and this involves understanding more about how these rocks deteriorate .

The researchers , working with Dr Patricia Warke from Queen ’ s University Belfast , have been studying 18 rock panels located across northumberland . Most of the panels are of sandstone , and the researchers were able to identify some factors that influence the rate of deterioration . as expected , the more exposed they are , the greater the risk , but the level of cations in local soils is also a factor . Improving drainage around the panels can help slow down deterioration . a paper on the study can be accessed from : http :// www . sciencedirect . com / science / article / pii / S1296207413000666

One of the victims of this obscene and unethical trade shows the scar left after giving up his kidney . Often there is no aftercare , health deteriorates , and many never even receive the money they have been promised .

Saintly scientists nExT March a medal will be presented to a distinguished Irish scientist living and working in the US . This is to be an annual award presented to winning scientists each 17th March as part of St Patrick ’ s Day celebrations . nominations will be sought from the Irish diaspora by Science Foundation Ireland .

Carbon to carbon

DIaMonDS and graphene are just different forms of carbon , so what happens if attempts are made to bond the two together . When researchers from the national University of Singapore and Hasselt University in Belgium coated a diamond with graphene and raised the temperature to see if they would bond they came up with an unexpected result . When the temperature went above 400 ° c water , trapped between the two layers , became highly corrosive .

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 58 Page 6

Professor Loh kian Ping from Singapore commented that the arrangement is like a pressure cooker , but what no one had known before was that superheated water could become corrosive enough to etch into the diamond .

The discovery opens up a new way to study the behaviour of liquids at high temperature and pressure , and it is likely to have applications in microelectronics .