Amateur triumph
As president of the BAA and coordinator of the UK Nova/Supernova Patrol, I was particularly pleased to read the interview with Brian Marsden and his very supportive comments on the contributions by amateur astronomers (23 August, p 42).
You may be interested to learn of the recent discovery of the 100th supernova to be found by amateur observers in the UK. The discovery, known only by its designation SN 2003hi, was recorded by Suffolk astronomer Tom Boles, and was confirmed by the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the world’s clearing house for such observations.
All 100 supernovae discovered by amateur British astronomers have been found since 1996.
Counting flies
Feedback’s story about Hilmar Lehmann and his Insects World exhibition reminds me of my first experience of Canada, when I went there as a postdoc back in the 1980s (13 September). I made the mistake of notifying their Ministry of Agriculture in advance that I would be bringing with me breeding colonies of some exotic, albeit harmless, species of fly.
They were in glass bottles in my hand baggage. I was met at the customs barrier at Toronto airport by a lady with a clipboard, who would not let me through until I had told her exactly how many flies I had in those bottles. I just thought of a number at random, doubled it, and told it to her with a perfectly straight face. She equally solemnly wrote it down on her clipboard. After which, I was allowed into Canada, where the flies thrived and multiplied.
Rightly industrious
I was disappointed to read Sheldon Krimsky’s attack on the legitimacy of research conducted by people with financial interest in the outcome or, more generally, by scientists who work for companies (30 August, p 21).
Krimsky quotes the late Robert K. Merton, who asserted that “disinterestedness is one of the four norms of science.” I have to disagree strongly and say that “disinterestedness” is not, and never has been, a “norm” of science. Anyone who thinks that childish behaviour, vicious fighting for priority and bad science are only a feature of our modern society should read the biographies of Isaac Newton by Michael White and James Gleick. Indeed, it is passion, and not disinterestedness, that drives science, like all other competitive human activities.
Industry needs scientists to create innovation and preserve high standards in technology, and they should be welcomed by the rest of the scientific community as participants in the public domain of science through publications, conferences and patents. Challenge their work by all means, but please don’t dismiss them simply because they work for a company. Unfortunately, too many academics have that prejudice.
Athletic gene
Your article reporting a gene linked with athletic performance sounds persuasive but hides some of the pitfalls that dog this type of research (30 August, p 4).
As a researcher in this area, I have to say that such findings are notoriously difficult to repeat and corroborate. A perfect example is the case of the so-called ACE gene, linked with physical endurance in 1998. The gene makes angiotensin-converting enzyme, vital among other things for efficient metabolism of oxygen in strenuous activity. Since the initial fanfare, most of the published studies have failed to confirm associations between the major inherited forms of the gene and endurance athleticism or trainability.
Will the story be the same for alpha-actinin-3, the protein reported in your article to be important for sprinting or endurance running 鈥� depending on which variants of the gene people inherit? My reading of the original work by Kathryn North’s team at the Children’s Hospital in Westmead, Sydney, Australia, is that they’ve simply rediscovered something we already knew 鈥� that sprinters tend to have specialised “fast fibres” suited to explosive bursts of activity. But for their claimed associations between the actinin-3 gene and elite athleticism to stand up, they need to be demonstrated in much larger populations than the few hundred in North’s study.
Contrary to what North suggests in her paper, alpha-actinin-3 is not itself involved in force generation or fuel conversion, and is unlikely to be a major determinant of power in sprinters and jumpers. But it may be part of a larger suite of genes which do influence athletic performance. Discovery of the other members of the group, if they exist, could be the real prize.
False memories
The phenomenon of false memory was noted over a century ago by Sigmund Freud, when he used hypnosis as an adjunct to his evolving practice of psychoanalysis (6 September, p 42). Specifically, he found that under hypnosis, many of his female patients would relate extensive histories of incestuous relationships with their fathers.
Instead of simply becoming outraged by these revelations, Freud questioned his patients further, as any good scientist would, and found that what they were relating under hypnosis were not recollections of actual occurrences, but rather recitations of sexual fantasies they had had concerning their fathers.
I have become convinced that the more traumatic real events are, the more likely they are to be remembered. People do not require psychologists to uncover such memories.
Modified virus threat
Rachel Nowak’s timely article on the consequences of attempts to control pests such as rabbits and mice via GM viruses noted a concern that the modified virus could spread beyond the range of its intended host (30 August, p 8).
She did not, however, mention another worry 鈥� genetic recombination 鈥� that could cause GM genes to spread between viruses, perhaps even creating an unplanned human GM virus.
Viruses evolve by several mechanisms, one of which is to swap genes with each other and, occasionally, with other organisms. The evolutionary history of viruses, revealed in their genes, shows that they recombine much more frequently than other organisms, and that the more closely related two viruses are, the more likely they are to swap genes.
Most gene swaps probably do not produce viable viruses, let alone dangerous ones, but it remains a possibility. So it is worrying that the GM virus being developed to control the house mouse in Australia is derived from mouse cytomegalovirus, a close relative of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), a virus that causes disease in children and adults with compromised immune systems. Furthermore, ZP3, the mouse egg gene used as the immuno-contraceptive in the GM virus, is closely related to the human equivalent.
Let us hope that the GM mouse virus, if released, will stop mice plagues and prove to be totally safe for all other species. There may be no conditions in the wild anywhere in the world where it could transfer genes to another virus. However, until experiments are done to check the risks, we can only guess at the likely outcomes. Judging the risks and benefits of GM projects should not depend on guesswork, but on thorough, independent research.
Solar refusal
I read with great interest Jeremy Leggett’s article on solar electric power, especially as I have recently become one of Leggett’s customers and the proud owner of my own power station, with an agreement to supply electricity to the grid (6 September, p 23).
What I believe will confirm Leggett’s sad prediction of only 2000 installations by 2005 will not be reluctance to pioneer this technology, nor the cost, but simply the reluctance of local authority planning offices to grant planning permission.
In my case, the roof in question is overlooked by one house, a kilometre away. The solar panels I proposed blended with the slate of the roof. Still my local planning office refused permission to install any kind of solar panel.
It was only after a considerable volume of correspondence to the director of development, and the support of local councillors and many other agencies, that this stupid ruling was overturned.
However much the UK might aim to take the lead in solar power, it will be frustrated by the local authority planning officers and their culture of refusal.
Watery grave
The Aquada is exactly what we have been waiting for for years (6 September, p 15). Now we can finish off destroying nature where we left off with our SUVs.