Don't call me . . .
As a software engineer working for a telecommunications company, I am well
aware that technology is advancing all the time. I was, however, rather
surprised when a friend of mine told me that he had received a phone call from
an answering machine.
I didn’t think that the state of the art was such that you could get a
machine to make all your calls for you (I also had visions of alarmingly large
phone bills should this be the case). But the explanation was quite simple.
His caller had found the line engaged and invoked the ring-back-when-free
service. She had then gone out, switching on her answering machine but
forgetting to cancel the ring-back service. So when the ring-back call came, my
friend answered his phone鈥攖o be told his caller was out, but if he would
like to leave a message . . .
Endless screening
Jim Penman said he is one of the 20 per cent who would genetically alter his children
(Letters, 31 October, p 62).
He stated that he would like his genes to be screened to produce the brightest child possible
from the union of himself and the good Mrs P.
But being born bright is not even half the story. Even bright children need
the support, intellectually and financially, of their parents. I would assume
that the Penmans would provide this. But what about divorce? It’s no use
selecting the bright genes if the parents then mess their child up by rowing,
having affairs, getting divorced and so on. Could an intelligent and sensitive
child sue parents who deliberately made him that way and then split up?
Being bright is not enough to achieve success, either academically or in
work. Most people need to work at it, so the Penmans would want the gene “for
sitting round like a couch potato” screened out, or maybe the gene for “getting
muddle-headed ideas about saving the world, quitting college and going to help
save poor people in downtown Bayswater”.
Having had their genes screened, and paid for it, the Penmans would
presumably want their money’s worth. But what if the kid didn’t want to be
“bright”? Would the youngster suffer from a guilt complex if his parents
constantly harped on about “we paid good money out for these genes, blah blah,
nag nag . . . “?
Most of my friends who have achieved “success” have done so by working long
hours, even if they are married and have children. So what about the gene for
feeling guilt when you miss seeing your kids growing up? Should that go too? It
would probably make Penman junior happier during the time he/she was away from
home at the office.
Success brings pressure and pressure often means resorting to props such as
smoking or drinking. So the Penmans, while they’re at it, might also want to
screen for the genes that predispose people to smoke and drink, or at least the
genes which predispose smokers to develop cancer.
I do wish, on the other hand, that my parents had been screened: this innate
ability of mine to waste time at the office writing e-mails causes me a lot of
problems.
Letter
Might I suggest that there is already far too much “brightness” about, and it
would be better to select for traits such as compassion, pity, care,
understanding, forgiveness and the like?
The Chinese way
Commenting on a survey showing that Chinese geneticists favour eugenics, you
ask: “Who knows whether ordinary Chinese agree with the nation’s geneticists?”
(Editorial and This Week, 24 October, p 3
and p 18).
It has been Chinese law for about 20 years that every couple may only have
one child, unless the child dies. With this kind of restriction on reproducing,
is it at all surprising that parents should strive to have a “perfect” baby on
which to focus all their love and attention? On discovery of any prenatal
imperfection, it is the parent’s legal鈥攁nd socially acceptable鈥攔ight
to abort the child and try again. The gender of the child can also decide its
fate.
It does not seem to me that parents want a healthy baby merely to avoid
“letting the side down”. In this situation, many Western women would behave in
the same way. Imagine giving birth to the only child you will ever have and
finding that he or she is in some way deformed or disabled.
It is a scenario which could lead to worse abominations than early abortion
of children who would have a harder time, in any case, than Western children
equivalently disadvantaged. They would be faced not only with parental
frustration and disappointment, but also with a lifelong stigma in a society
where so many people will be as “perfect” as prenatal screening can make them
that there will be little acceptance and fewer resources for the alleviation of
their conditions.
The reasons for such a law are understandable. The children born under this
law will all be wanted, planned and cherished. Much will be asked of them, but
they will be unusually well provided for and therefore more likely to live up to
such expectations. Is this so bad?
If a Chinese woman I spoke to is typical, “the ordinary Chinese” accept a
policy that contributes to the common good, in spite of the way in which it
seems to promote the practice of eugenics.
Tritium mystery
As a radiation protection adviser working near the Severn Estuary, I was
fascinated by the report on the high levels of tritium found in fish and shellfish in the area
(This Week, 31 October, p 10).
Perhaps we should look at why the story appears so unlikely. Tritium is a
naturally occurring radioisotope of hydrogen created by the effects of the solar
wind on the upper atmosphere. Seawater contains around 1 becquerel per cubic
metre.
Tritium nuclei, or tritons, quickly end up in the most common nearby
hydrogen-containing molecule. Virtually all tritium released into the Severn
Estuary would end up in water molecules.
Water is not concentrated in fish (and even if it was, tritons in body fluids
would soon be exchanged for protons in the surrounding water), yet it is clear
that to achieve radioactivity of the tens of thousands of becquerels level in
fish requires tritium to be concentrated鈥攂y at least 10 million times,
according to my “back of the envelope” calculations.
For this, you would clearly need a molecule that is biologically active and
yet clings tenaciously to tritons. It would also have to be released in
significant levels over an appreciable time to produce such high levels in the
environment. If fish were the only creatures affected, we could postulate some
pheromone activity, but high levels were also found in shellfish and in
sediment.
Something very strange is happening. In the 27 years since I started working
in radiation protection, I have never seen anything like it. The metabolic
pathways of tritium have always matched all predictions during those years.
We need to know about the chemical form Nycomed Amersham have been releasing,
so that others do not create a similar problem. It is clear that the company has
not exceeded its disposal limits, but these were set assuming, quite reasonably,
that the above scenario would not happen.
I do not want any of the establishments that I advise to unknowingly release
tritium in similar forms, especially when it will probably take only some minor
chemistry to change the form into one that produces no such problem.
In safe hands
Herbal medicine, when used by properly trained and qualified herbalists, is
extremely safe鈥攎uch safer than conventional drugs, which a study in
The Journal of the American Medical Association concluded were between the
fourth and sixth largest cause of death in the US.
However, correct identification of herbs is essential. The poisoning cases in Belgium
(Forum, 24 October, p 53)
involved a cocktail of conventional drugs,
potentially dangerous in their own right, given alongside an incorrectly
identified Chinese herb, by doctors with no training in herbal medicine. It was
a tragic incident, but not representative of herbal medicine correctly
practised.
In Britain, Chinese herb suppliers to professional herbalists are developing
a programme to ensure that herbal supplies are correctly identified and
uncontaminated. Kew Gardens is involved in this venture.
Herbalists are working towards state registration, which will involve
stringent training and professional codes of practice. Three universities
currently award academic degrees in herbal medicine, and herbalists are involved
in research into important issues such as herb toxicity. All this is in the
public arena, and professional herbalists are in close contact with regulatory
authorities.
There is potential for the abuse of herbal medicines, but this is equally
true of widely available conventional medicines such as paracetamol.
Eye in the sky
We appreciate the exposure you provided for the Gamma-ray Large Area Space
Telescope (GLAST), which will carry an ultra-sensitive gamma-ray detector to
study galaxies near black holes
(This Week, 12 September, p 16).
However, I’d like to point out that the GLAST mission may in fact use one of
two detectors. One is the fibre system described in your article, but the other
is a silicon strip detector system being developed by a team led by Peter
Michelson from Stanford University. A modification to the silicon instrument is
being evaluated by Allen Zych of the University of California, Riverside.
Like the fibre system, the silicon detector will offer a 160掳 view of the
sky.
Return to sender
An effective and highly satisfying way of dealing with junk mail
(Letters, 24 October, p 56)
is simply to send it back labelled “Junk mail鈥攑lease
return”, “Not known at this address”, or “Deceased”, according to
preference.
This almost completely stopped the flow of junk mail to our address in less
than two weeks.
Enchanting creatures
I was surprised to see tardigrades referred to as “tiny mites”
(This Week, 31 October, p 26).
Water bears, as they are known, do not even belong to the phylum
Arthropoda, let alone being related to mites or other creatures of the class
Arachnida.
These enchanting creatures, although resembling arthropods in some
characteristics, are so different from other invertebrates that they are
allocated their own phylum, Tardigrada.
Anyone who has any sense of wonder about the natural world around them would
be absolutely fascinated by observing water bears at close quarters. I recommend
the following method of getting acquainted with them: take a piece of moss from
between the paving stones or from a wall and shake it up vigorously with a small
quantity of water. Many tardigrades live in water film on moss leaves, and they
seem to favour mosses growing in dryish rather than wet habitats.
Observe a drop of water under the microscope at magnification of about 150,
and, among rotifers, infusoria and the like, you will undoubtedly see these
charming eight-legged creatures, moving with their characteristic bear-like
gait.
If the moss was dry, you might have to wait for the water bears emerge from
barrel-shaped “tuns”鈥攖he form they adopt while in a state of cryptobiosis
(suspended animation), during periods of unfavourable environmental conditions,
such as drought. The speed of recovery from cryptobiosis depends on how long the
individual Sleeping Beauty has spent in slumber.
Women's hearts
The findings you report about women and heart disease
(This Week, 31 October, p 18)
are not so surprising. The British National Forum for Coronary Heart
Disease Prevention reported in 1994 that it is well established that women have
a worse prognosis after a heart attack than men, and are more likely to die.
It also reported that women are less likely to be referred for diagnostic
tests, are less likely to receive medical treatment or surgery, and are more
likely to be referred at a later stage in the disease process.
Deep roots
Duncan Martin stated that tree roots usually go down only “a metre or two”
when discussing their possible use for absorbing contaminants from the soil
(Letters, 24 October, p 55).
This brought to mind a tour of the Mammoth cave in Western Australia in the
1930s. When we were a kilometre into this cave, the guide drew our attention to
the roots protruding through the ceiling. There were tens of metres of limestone
and soil above us, and Karri trees鈥攚hich can be up to 60 metres
tall鈥攐n top.
How efficient this tree would be in removing mercury I do not know, but its
roots certainly exceed a metre or two.
Ambiguity count
Following on from Stan Hayware’s comments on the mathematics of drama
(Letters, 31 October, p 62),
the concepts introduced in the original feature on drama theory
(“Don’t get even, get mad”, 10 October, p 26)
have all been around in management science for a long time, too. See, for example, Christopher
Mitchell’s book, Peacemaking And The Consultant’s Role, published in
1981.
Quantifying the effects of the games we play is a nice idea but, for
practical purposes, a fuzzy logic formulation might have major advantages. Fuzzy
logic provides a rigorous calculus for reasoning with propositions such as “if
an intense conflict has been very protracted, with very little success for
either side, then reformulation of the issue being fought over becomes highly
likely”.
However, it seems most unlikely that we will ever be able to quantify terms
such as “an intense conflict” meaningfully, because of their inherent
ambiguity.
Bleeding healthy
I was interested in your report on research showing that men who donate blood
are far less likely to have a heart attack than those who are not blood donors.
(This Week, 17 October, p 15).
In 1994, I was prevented from giving blood because of high blood pressure.
When I asked the specialist who treated me about resuming donation, he told me
that it would actually benefit my hypertension by reducing my blood iron
content. It seems that my local Brisbane specialist knew about the beneficial
effects of blood donation already.
Unplugged
I was puzzled by your item stating that a video recorder had to be in standby
mode to pass along the TV signal
(This Week, 17 October, p 15).
I guess my seven-year-old Sony VCR is abnormal, as it is quite capable of passing the TV
signal through while unplugged.
I have hooked up this old VCR to my computer, which has a TV-tuner card.
Since the VCR won’t be used much, I leave it unplugged鈥攖he tuner card
picks up TV just fine.
Barry Fox writes: This is probably because the old VCR passively splits the
aerial signal into two paths, one straight through to the TV set and one to the
recording circuitry. Passive splitting needs no power supply, but because it
reduces the strength of the signal fed to both paths, picture quality can
suffer. Most modern VCRs no longer do this.
Boys' own joke
I have read the “Wash. Biol. Surv.” story
(Feedback, 10 October)
in the Boys’ Own Paper, London, in a bound set covering 1932 to 1933.
The underlying theme, of a patronising superiority over the less educated,
could have originated at any time from around 1850. Oral tradition isn’t the
only vehicle for urban folklore: the lighter columns of magazines also serve
very well.
Nominal weddings
So Larry Curley’s sister married a Mr Short
(Letters, 24 October, p 56).
“Why did you marry Mummy, Daddy?”
The answer from my competitive father was: “My friend, Willis, was engaged to
a girl called Dyllis and I thought that I could do one better.”
Since then we have met others whose sense of humour may have been a factor in
getting married: Jill Hill, Trixie Dixie, Jenny Benny, Gay Hay, Sue Dew and
Helen Whelan. My father still wins鈥攎y mother’s name is Troath.
Letter
Dissolving baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) in plain water will not yield
CO2 as Feedback claims. One also needs to add a source of acid, such as
vinegar or lemon juice, to get the bubbles.
Obviously some more interesting chemistry is going on here. Does the paste
contain a “protected” acid source that is only released in the mouth? Perhaps
bicarbonate really isn’t the “special ingredient” mentioned in the advert, but a
different reaction is being employed.
Bicarb's fizz
Colgate-Palmolive was ridiculed for claiming that its Sensation toothpaste
released oxygen in the mouth
(Feedback, 17 October).
Feedback pointed out that
the sodium bicarbonate in the product released carbon dioxide, not oxygen, on
contacting water and recommended that those concerned should take a lesson in
basic chemistry.
Sodium bicarbonate does not release CO2 on contacting water. Its
alkaline pH must be neutralised before it releases CO2
鈥攚ater alone has no effect.
Sensation’s ingredient label also lists calcium peroxide, which under the
right conditions forms hydrogen peroxide in water鈥攚hich spontaneously
breaks down to release oxygen. The sodium bicarbonate actually helps prevent the
release of oxygen in the toothpaste tube by maintaining a high (alkaline) pH.
In principle, oxygen should be released when saliva in the mouth lowers the
pH during brushing. So who needs a lesson in basic chemistry?