ريتشارد دوكنز's Blog, page 622
December 4, 2015
Check Out This Incredible Magnified Image Of The Faintest Galaxy In The Early Universe
Photo credit:
This is a Hubble Space Telescope view of a very massive cluster of galaxies, MACS J0416.1-2403. The inset is an image of an extremely faint and distant galaxy that existed only 400 million years after the Big Bang. By NASA, ESA, and L. Infante.
Harnessing the power of two NASA space observatories, an international team of astronomers has turned their telescopes on the faintest known galaxy in the primordial universe.
Cat Walks Again After Receiving Titanium Prosthetic Legs
Photo credit:
ISUNewsService/YouTube
Vincent the cat was born with an abnormality in his hind legs, which meant he couldn't walk. Abandoned as a kitten, he was left in the hands of the Story County Animal Shelter in Iowa. Usually, it's bad news for a kitten in this position. However, thanks to the determination of workers at the shelter, some top veterinarians and an experimental procedure, he's now back on his feet and very happy.
Hunt For Gravitational Waves Continues With New Spacecraft
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LISA Pathfinder launched yesterday (shown). ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2015
Yesterday, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) LISA Pathfinder spacecraft launched, on a mission that could one day lead to the discovery of elusive gravitational waves. But while that’s obviously exciting, it’s how this spacecraft will be doing it that will blow your mind.
Great New Video Shows You What Autism And Sensory Overload Feels Like
Photo credit:
The National Autistic Society/YouTube
For those who aren’t affected by autism, the condition can be very hard to understand. Many people know the condition comes with a difficulty in communicating with others and a lack of social understanding.
Fossil Friday
This week in Fossil Friday I have a specimen I’m particularly pleased to show you. It’s the holiday season—consider it a gift!
So what is this thing the University of Iowa fossil curator, Tiffany Adrain, is holding? This was a particularly nice specimen to touch: really smooth with distinct ridges, it felt almost like it had been carved and polished. Just one hint for identification: this fossil didn’t have to travel very far to make its home in the UIowa collections. Identify it in the comments and win bragging rights for the week!
New Law Paves the Way for Asteroid Mining–But Will It Work?
Mining asteroids may sound like a concept ripped from science fiction, but a new law is aiming to make it a reality. On November 25 Pres. Barack Obama signed the Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act, a bill intended to spur private space exploration by limiting governmental regulations until September 2023. That time frame is meant to allow a learning period for private companies to develop the technology necessary for future goals such as space tourism, commercial spaceflight and space mining. To that end the bill explicitly allows companies or individuals to claim ownership of any resources and minerals they are able to collect in space—a right that was previously murky under the law.
The hunt for useful materials in space is integral to many private space exploration companies’ plans. “There are resources that support operation and human activity in space, there are resources that support manufacturing in space and then maybe there are resources that are important enough and valuable enough to bring those resources back to Earth,” says Chris Lewicki, president and chief engineer of Planetary Resources, a private space company focused on asteroid mining.
One of the reasons space launches, especially crewed missions, are expensive is the cost of transporting materials. Water and rocket fuel, the latter of which can be derived from the hydrogen and oxygen in water molecules, are two particular resources that people like Lewicki have an eye on. “There’s an abundance of water in space, and if we don’t have to spend $50 million to transport every ton of water or $50 million for rocket fuel, it’s like building gas stations along an interstate highway,” Lewicki says.
These types of resources are not just appealing to commercial outfits—they could benefit NASA as well by enabling a more affordable and more expansive human presence in space. That part of the bill most excites Thomas Kalil, deputy director for policy in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. “If we could image a future in which more and more of the matter and energy we’re using in space comes from space, that would enable us to create a solar system civilization—to extend human presence into the solar system not just to visit but to stay,” Kalil said in a Google Hangout on Tuesday hosted by the Commercial Spaceflight Federation.
The question of bringing valuable space-based resources back to Earth is another matter. Platinum-group elements (including palladium and rhodium) are expensive due to their scarcity on Earth and their utility in electronics and fuel cells. These elements, however, are abundant in space, specifically in high concentrations in asteroids. “Our goal is one day we would be able to make platinum very abundant and make a resource that would be available to engineers,” Lewicki says.
Under the new bill companies such as Planetary Resources would own the platinum they obtained from an asteroid—although not the asteroid itself—and would have the right to sell it back on Earth. Whether or not such mining will be economically viable in the long-term depends on how much platinum companies can obtain and whether the new sources increase the supply enough that its price dramatically decreases, along with the cost of launching to and returning from space. “There is no guarantee of a profit or of success,” says Henry Hertzfeld, an expert in space law and commercial space use at The George Washington University. “We’ve seen many private sector investments come and go over the years.”
This uncertainty is especially true as resource mining in space is still in its infancy. “Most of these companies right now are looking around at asteroids and putting telescopes up and trying to figure out what’s worth doing and where,” Hertzfeld adds. The precise details of how companies will travel to asteroids, let alone how they will extract specific resources from those asteroids and then return them, have yet to be determined.
Before the bill the law had been ambiguous about who would own resources extracted from solar system bodies. According to the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, no nation can claim ownership of any celestial object—be it asteroid, moon or planet. This bill does not contest that rule but it formally codifies what has been the unofficial policy of the U.S. since the 1970s: Private companies can claim ownership over resources they obtain from asteroids, moons and other celestial bodies, but they cannot own the bodies themselves.
Still, any legislation that sets out ownership rights in space, even if those rights extend only to resources physically obtained by companies, will meet with some resistance. “I know there will be push-back internationally,” Herzfeld says. “In what form and how strong, and what the timing of how other nations react to this is something I don’t know and can’t predict. But not all are going to like it, that I do know for sure.” In the eyes of U.S. lawmakers this bill is a fair interpretation of the Outer Space Treaty, but other nations could see it differently. Private ownership of space material is a sensitive subject because for-profit use of space arguably would not benefit all humankind as the treaty calls for. Companies in other nations interested in asteroid mining or private space exploration might choose to work out of the U.S. to take advantage of the legal protection as well or call for their own governments to adopt similar bills.
The bill is not restricted to asteroid mining but covers many areas of law related to commercial space exploration. There are sections that repeal certain existing time limits on permits for private spacecraft and enable the U.S. Department of Transportation (DoT) to issue experimental permits for repeated launches by a single vehicle as well as a section that specifies that liability insurance can cover “spaceflight participants.” The bill also calls for further studies by the DoT, NASA and the Department of Defense in order to better understand what the future regulations and laws governing the industry will need to be. “This is the beginning of the process, not the end,” said Mike Gold of Bigelow Aerospace, a company aiming to build inflatable space habitats.” This [law] is a terrific start but I would caution anyone from popping the champagne just yet.”
Gene Editing In Embryos Is Fraught With Scientific And Ethical Issues
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Genetic changes to embryos will not only affect the person that embryo becomes but also all their descendants. anna gutermuth/Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND
Recent technological advances have revolutionised our ability to manipulate the genetic code, allowing us to specifically edit individual genes. Gene editing offers exciting potential for disease therapies but application of the technology in embryos also raises many ethical and scientific issues.
December 3, 2015
Advance in microcapacitors: Charge 50 times faster than batteries
Rice University researchers who pioneered the development of laser-induced graphene have configured their discovery into flexible, solid-state microsupercapacitors that rival the best available for energy storage and delivery.
The devices developed in the lab of Rice chemist James Tour are geared toward electronics and apparel. They are the subject of a new paper in the journal Advanced Materials.
Microsupercapacitors are not batteries, but inch closer to them as the technology improves. Traditional capacitors store energy and release it quickly (as in a camera flash), unlike common lithium-ion batteries that take a long time to charge and release their energy as needed.
Rice’s microsupercapacitors charge 50 times faster than batteries, discharge more slowly than traditional capacitors and match commercial supercapacitors for both the amount of energy stored and power delivered.
The devices are manufactured by burning electrode patterns with a commercial laser into plastic sheets in room-temperature air, eliminating the complex fabrication conditions that have limited the widespread application of microsupercapacitors. The researchers see a path toward cost-effective, roll-to-roll manufacturing.
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All Gene Editing Research Should Proceed Cautiously, Scientists Conclude
Tweaking the human genome with current and future gene-editing tools could lead to sophisticated treatments and prevention strategies for disease. The promise of those applications is reason enough to move forward with such work in the lab and clinic, albeit cautiously, the dozen scientists and bioethicists who organized the International Summit on Human Gene Editing said today after three days of deliberation and presentations in Washington, D.C.
Altering the human germline, such as eggs, sperm and embryos—considered more controversial than altering somatic cells to treat diseases like cancer—should for now proceed only in the laboratory, they said. "If, in the process of research, early human embryos or germline cells undergo gene editing, the modified cells should not be used to establish a pregnancy," they said in the offiical statement. Overall, scientists should steer clear of applying it in the clinic – that is, using it to treat actual patients (something they could not have done anyway until it was proven safe and effective in animal trials), until scientists learn more about it and there is "broad societal consensus about the appropriateness of the proposed applicaiton." The issue, however, should be revisited on a regular basis, the group said.
The White House has repeatedly asserted that “altering the human germline for clinical purposes is a line that should not be crossed at this time” and the National Institutes of Health has already indicated it would not be financing any such work in human embryos due to unquantifiable safety issues and potential ethical landmines. Effectively, that would mean researchers seeking to work with embryos —even those that would never be implanted in a woman—would have to find other funding streams to support such work. For now, the two bioethicists and 10 scientists on the committee said that further lab research into such gene editing—and discussions about how to regulate it via the creation of an ongoing international forum—should continue.
See below for the full statement:
On Human Gene Editing: International Summit Statement
Scientific advances in molecular biology over the past 50 years have produced remarkable progress in medicine. Some of these advances have also raised important ethical and societal issues – for example, about the use of recombinant DNA technologies or embryonic stem cells. The scientific community has consistently recognized its responsibility to identify and confront these issues. In these cases, engagement by a range of stakeholders has led to solutions that have made it possible to obtain major benefits for human health while appropriately addressing societal issues.
Fundamental research into the ways by which bacteria defend themselves against viruses has recently led to the development of powerful new techniques that make it possible to perform gene editing – that is, precisely altering genetic sequences – in living cells, including those of humans, at much higher accuracy and efficiency than ever before possible. These techniques are already in broad use in biomedical research. They may also enable wide-ranging clinical applications in medicine. At the same time, the prospect of human genome editing raises many important scientific, ethical, and societal questions.
After three days of thoughtful discussion of these issues, the members of the Organizing Committee for the International Summit on Human Gene Editing have reached the following conclusions:
1. Basic and Preclinical Research. Intensive basic and preclinical research is clearly needed and should proceed, subject to appropriate legal and ethical rules and oversight, on (i) technologies for editing genetic sequences in human cells, (ii) the potential benefits and risks of proposed clinical uses, and (iii) understanding the biology of human embryos and germline cells. If, in the process of research, early human embryos or germline cells undergo gene editing, the modified cells should not be used to establish a pregnancy.
2. Clinical Use[1]: Somatic. Many promising and valuable clinical applications of gene editing are directed at altering genetic sequences only in somatic cells – that is, cells whose genomes are not transmitted to the next generation. Examples that have been proposed include editing genes for sickle-cell anemia in blood cells or for improving the ability of immune cells to target cancer. There is a need to understand the risks, such as inaccurate editing, and the potential benefits of each proposed genetic modification. Because proposed clinical uses are intended to affect only the individual who receives them, they can be appropriately and rigorously evaluated within existing and evolving regulatory frameworks for gene therapy, and regulators can weigh risks and potential benefits in approving clinical trials and therapies.
3. Clinical Use: Germline. Gene editing might also be used, in principle, to make genetic alterations in gametes or embryos, which will be carried by all of the cells of a resulting child and will be passed on to subsequent generations as part of the human gene pool. Examples that have been proposed range from avoidance of severe inherited diseases to ‘enhancement’ of human capabilities. Such modifications of human genomes might include the introduction of naturally occurring variants or totally novel genetic changes thought to be beneficial.
Germline editing poses many important issues, including: (i) the risks of inaccurate editing (such as off-target mutations) and incomplete editing of the cells of early-stage embryos (mosaicism); (ii) the difficulty of predicting harmful effects that genetic changes may have under the wide range of circumstances experienced by the human population, including interactions with other genetic variants and with the environment; (iii) the obligation to consider implications for both the individual and the future generations who will carry the genetic alterations; (iv) the fact that, once introduced into the human population, genetic alterations would be difficult to remove and would not remain within any single community or country; (v) the possibility that permanent genetic ‘enhancements’ to subsets of the population could exacerbate social inequities or be used coercively; and (vi) the moral and ethical considerations in purposefully altering human evolution using this technology.
It would be irresponsible to proceed with any clinical use of germline editing unless and until (i) the relevant safety and efficacy issues have been resolved, based on appropriate understanding and balancing of risks, potential benefits, and alternatives, and (ii) there is broad societal consensus about the appropriateness of the proposed application. Moreover, any clinical use should proceed only under appropriate regulatory oversight. At present, these criteria have not been met for any proposed clinical use: the safety issues have not yet been adequately explored; the cases of most compelling benefit are limited; and many nations have legislative or regulatory bans on germline modification. However, as scientific knowledge advances and societal views evolve, the clinical use of germline editing should be revisited on a regular basis.
4. Need for an Ongoing Forum. While each nation ultimately has the authority to regulate activities under its jurisdiction, the human genome is shared among all nations. The international community should strive to establish norms concerning acceptable uses of human germline editing and to harmonize regulations, in order to discourage unacceptable activities while advancing human health and welfare.
We therefore call upon the national academies that co-hosted the summit – the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and U.S. National Academy of Medicine; the Royal Society; and the Chinese Academy of Sciences – to take the lead in creating an ongoing international forum to discuss potential clinical uses of gene editing; help inform decisions by national policymakers and others; formulate recommendations and guidelines; and promote coordination among nations.
The forum should be inclusive among nations and engage a wide range of perspectives and expertise – including from biomedical scientists, social scientists, ethicists, health care providers, patients and their families, people with disabilities, policymakers, regulators, research funders, faith leaders, public interest advocates, industry representatives, and members of the general public.
Cheating Microbes Could Save The Earth
Photo credit:
Dr. Christina Kaiser drives a tube for collecting samples into the soil in Greenland. Andreas Richter
Lazy microbes make possible the soils on which we all depend, a new study suggests. Finding a way to make more of these lazy, or "cheater," microbes might help fight global warming.
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