Australian Science

Category: News

Bacon Fans United: The Pig Genome Sequenced

Breeding healthier and meatier piggies has been one of the many scientific challenges of the past decades; creating more reliable models to study human diseases is another. The swine disease model is indeed much better to use when studying human disorders than the (thus far) widely used murine models. Although pigs reproduce slower than mice and are more expensive to take care of, they are more similar to humans when it comes to anatomy and physiology. These common grounds have allowed the development of accurate swine models for diabetes, cystic fibrosis or retinitis pigmentosa (a cause of blindness). In its issue of 15 November, Nature published the fully sequenced and annotated pig genome. This is a major achievement, and will allow considerable progress to be made on both the yummy and the healthy fronts.

Sus scrofa domestica, by its official name, originates from South-East Asia and then went on a visit to Europe. A closer examination of the sequenced pig genome consistently shows a clear and deep split between Asian and European wild boars rooting some 1 My ago. More precisely, the analysis allowed to date the split between the two lineages in the mid-Pleistocene (1.6–0.8 My ago), a divergence the authors explain with possible colder climate prompting isolation between populations across Eurasia.

Demographic history of wild boars. Image from Groenen et al. (Nature, 2012). The default mutation rate for human (μ) was used, and the generation time (g) was estimated to 5 years. The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) is highlighted in grey. WBnl, wild boar Netherlands; WBit, wild boar Italy; WBNch, wild boar north China; WBSch, wild boar south China.

As the authors explain it:

Our demographic analysis on the whole-genome sequences of European and Asian wild boars revealed an increase in the European population after pigs arrived from China. During the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; ~20,000 years ago), however, Asian and European populations both suffered population bottlenecks. The drop in population size was more pronounced in Europe than Asia, suggesting a greater impact of the LGM in northern European regions and probably resulting in the observed lower genetic diversity in modern European wild boar.

Noticeably, pigs have been faithful companions to humans for 10,000 years now. Breeding piggies and selecting for some particular features of theirs has had an important impact on the swine genome. Authors thus identified a wide range of genes and gene families to have undergone fast-paced evolution. Immunity-related genes, already known to be actively evolving in Mammals, were for instance part of this subset, and further analysis revealed evidence for specific gene duplications and gene-family expansions. Lastly, a significant expansion of the porcine olfactory receptor gene family was described. The authors explain it by the importance smell has for pigs when scavenging for food.

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Image source

November 17, 2012
The Science Surrounding James Bond

James Bond in Skyfall. Original source: The Guardian. Photograph: Francois Duhamel

Bond. Double Bond.

That was a quip a lab partner of mine cracked during a sophomore chemistry class and I have not forgotten since. And it is a perfect lead in for this week’s post as I take you through the past and into a closer look with – The Science Surrounding James Bond.

This year marks the 50^th Anniversary of Ian Fleming’s classic James Bond series. And Friday, 9 November 2012, the 23^rd installment of the series, Skyfall, hit theatres in the United States. And I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.

I became a James Bond fan early on, around age 5, thanks to my Dad. Perhaps, not the most appropriate film choice for a 5-year-old per se, but that’s water under the bridge. What captivated my attention so? The action-packed chases, the sports cars (Aston Martin DB5, yes, please), the explosions, the science behind it all!

The Quartermaster – Q

The Quartermaster, known affectionately by the moniker ‘Q’ is head of the fictional research and development division of the British Secret Service. Q – always the scene stealer, in my opinion, whether portrayed by John Cleese, Desmond Llewellyn, Peter Burton, and now the youngest gadget genius, Ben Whishaw – keeps the spy business humming along. Where would 007 be without Q who created so many of those gadgets allowing his to escape safely and serve country and Queen? Q in fact answers this question in License to Kill.

“If it hadn’t been for Q Branch, you’d have been dead long ago” – Q to Bond

Yes, where would James Bond be without science and technology?

I could not possibly list all of the gadgets and technology featured in the James Bond films. Well, I could, but for space’s sake I’ll refrain. I’ll just highlight some of the more clever mechanics and mind-blowing inventions, some of which still have relevance today. Perhaps. This may be a list of mundane ordinary household items or personal effects, that are anything but, and all very much deadly. I’ll also include the movie reference for homework, just in case you’d like to check it out for yourself.

Handgun with palm recognition – Skyfall

Bioemetric Fingerprint Scanner – Diamonds Are Forever

Radioactive Lint – On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (Fun fact – George Lazenby who played Bond in this film is Australian)

Perfume Flamethrower – The Spy Who Loved Me

Montblanc fountain pen – Octopussy

Mini Submarine – For Your Eyes Only

SNOOPER – A View to a Kill

Philips Keychain – The Living Daylights

Miniature Binoculars – The Living Daylights

Dentonite Toothpaste – Licence to Kill

Surfboard – Die Another Day

Kids, there is a lot of chemistry, physics and hi-stakes math going on these films, so pay attention. Many of these inventions and gadgets helped keep humankind safe from terrorism and evil in the films. I’d hate to be a Debbie Downer and mention the downside, such as the loss of life, and destruction to the environment that sometimes results from Bond’s escapades, but there is a price to pay for freedom. All the more reason to study the sciences with the aim to improve the societal good of the world!

The Old and the New

The tales of Bond have allowed audiences to see the world; those that maybe haven’t had the luxury to travel so much. For a kid growing up on a farm in the Midwest, those movies opened my eyes to different lands and cultures and set my mind racing with possibilities. Possibilities of what I wanted to do in the field of science.

I really don’t want to give anything away for those that have yet to see the film (IT’S SUPERB!), but Skyfall especially displays that melding of the classic Bond with the futuristic Bond. Bond has actually found immortality – the writers, producers and actors have found ways to continually reincarnate and refresh this character for future audiences. Here’s to another 50 years of shaken martinis, fine tailoring, fast sports cars, death-defying stunts, witty one-liners and keeping the world safe from terrorism at all levels. Cheers.

November 14, 2012
First research to successfully predict the responses of children with autism to treatment models

Research Fellow Dr Giacomo Vivanti and his team of researchers at the Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre (OTARC) at La Trobe University have successfully profiled children with autism in order to predict how well they will respond to a particular form of developmental therapy.

Dr Cheryl Dissanayake, Director of OTARC, says that Dr Vivanti¹s research, published last week in the Journal of Autism and Development Disorders, is the first of its kind to profile children in order to predict treatment responses.

This research is important because it is the first step towards being able to identify which intervention programs are best suited to specific children, says Dr Dissanayake.

The autism intervention model being studied by Dr Vivanti and his team is the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM), which is being implemented at the Victorian Autism Specific Early Learning and Care Centre: The Margot Prior Wing of the La Trobe Community Childrens Centre since 2010. (See details of the ESDM, below.)
There is little doubt that all children in the Margot Prior Wing benefit from the ESDM, but what we’re trying to understand is why some children make more gains than others.

ŒChildren are making gains across four cognitive areas after one year of therapy. And some children in our sample are moving from a severe autism diagnosis to a less severe diagnosis.

However, not all children improve to the same degree under the ESDM, and Dr Vivanti says that the challenge is to better understand how to match children to the programs that are best suited to their specific needs.

We are working on the issue of what works for whom and why? says Dr Vivanti. The paper published this week details the initial results of the OTARC research, and uses the profiling model developed by Dr Vivanti to predict the responses of children at the Margot Prior Wing to the ESDM therapy.

The paper shows that Dr Vivantis profiling model has been highly successful in predicting treatment outcomes for children undergoing the ESDM intervention, although the sample size was relatively small, with 21 children participating in the study.

The next step in the research, says Dr Dissanayake, is to assess whether the predictors of treatment success used by Dr Vivanti will work equally well when used in other types of early intervention programs.

We really want to get to the stage where we can say, this group of children will do better in program A, whereas these other children will do better in program B so that we can prospectively match treatments to individual children, says Dr Dissanayake.
REPORT: Autism intervention model normalises brain signals in children with autism

An American study provides strong evidence for the effectiveness of an autism intervention model known as the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM), currently in use at the Margot Prior Wing of La Trobe Childrens Centre.

It’s been known for some time that ESDM leads to significant positive changes in the development of children with autism, says Dr Cheryl Dissanayake, Director of the Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre (OTARC) at La Trobe.

The latest American research builds on this by demonstrating that ESDM may actually normalise brain signals of young children receiving the therapy in terms of the way that they respond to faces and objects.

What this means is that children receiving ESDM showed the same pattern of response to faces and objects as typically developing kids. They are still autistic, but the ESDM seems to be changing the way their brain responds to other people.

Ultimately, this means that they will relate to other people in a more normal manner, says Dr Dissanayake.

The ESDM has been in use at the Victorian Autism Specific Early Learning and Care Centre: The Margot Prior Wing of the La Trobe Community Children’s Centre since 2010. The model in its original form relies on one-on-one delivery, but the Margot Prior Wing has adapted the model for delivery in a group setting.

The ESDM is a developmentally-based behavioural intervention model for children between 12 and 60 months of age. It is a naturalistic play-based approach delivered by specially trained therapists in collaboration with the childs parents or guardians. The therapy is based on strict adherence to a manual that guides treatment.

The American research, published last week in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, provides further evidence in support of the ESDM.

The La Trobe University centre is one of six Autism Specific Early Learning and Care Centres funded by the Federal Government, and one of just two centres that deliver a group-based ESDM. Research is currently taking place at the Margot Prior Wing to assess the effectiveness of the ESDM in a group setting, as well as to understand why some children make greater gains in response to the ESDM than others.

Image.

November 13, 2012
Weekly Science Picks

It seems the rate of everything has increased exponentially. A very bold, vague, yet intriguing statement, you might say.

During the course of the past 2 weeks, Hurricane Sandy devastated the East Coast of America, followed closely by a nor’easter. So my science picks for this week center on the themes of natural disasters, planning, global warming and Space, and the rate of which we have to increase our thinking and innovation in order to get ahead of these issues, before they become serious problems.

So let’s get started.

I was out of town when Hurricane Sandy struck. My neighborhood in Brooklyn was pretty much untouched. While I heard reports from friends not having power, and subways and airports being closed, it wasn’t until watching the hurricane relief telethon that I realized the magnitude of destruction. And I chose the following article by our very own Charles Ebikeme because it is important to remember that Haiti has yet to recover from several rounds of natural disasters. The U.S. will rebuild. Considering a large portion of the Haitian population still remains housed in tents from the earthquake, will they be able to rebuild? Before the next natural disaster strikes?

Sandy’s aftermath by Charles Ebikeme

While most of the focus of western media centred on the damage Sandy caused in America, especially this close to a Presidential election; there were few news outlets that reported what had passed in the Caribbean — outside the death tolls and damaged infrastructure. Indeed, as it is becoming more and more apparent, it is always the blogosphere that provides an adequate source of information. Hurricane Sandy’s progression was followed by bloggers on the ground, giving another side of the story we don’t often get to see.

But it is in Haiti, a country that has yet to recover from tropical storm Isaac that hit in August of this year, as well as the earthquake of 2010, that felt the worst of Sandy’s wrath. 1.8 million people in Haiti are affected by the storm, according to the United Nations relief agency.

This next story appears in the current issue of Scientific American and drives home the point why immediate action on climate change, energy and planning (community planning) is necessary to attempt to prevent incidences such as Sandy, or at least lessen the amount of destruction as much as possible. Obama won re-election this week. And while there is no shortage of issues to tackle, the President needs to implement an energy policy for this country. And it’s called global warming, so I hope the world can come together within the next four years and knock out a sound plan.

Global Warming: Faster Than Expected? by John Carey

The potential for faster feedbacks has turned some scientists into vocal Cassandras. Those experts are saying that even if nations do suddenly get serious about reducing greenhouse gas emissions enough to stay under the 450-ppm limit, which seems increasingly unlikely, that could be too little, too late. Unless the world slashes CO₂ levels back to 350 ppm, “we will have started a process that is out of humanity’s control,

November 11, 2012
Sandy’s aftermath

Before hurricane Sandy touched down on the east coast of America, it passed through the Caribbean, causing around 80 fatalities — 60 of them occurred in Haiti, 11 in Cuba, two in the Bahamas, two in the Dominican Republic and one in Jamaica.

Hurricane Sandy started life out over central America, nonchalantly, as a collection of winds that would eventually gather momentum, speed and energy. It began its non-discriminating path through the Caribbean, eventually to hit Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic as well. As it hit Jamaica it was a category 1, destroying around 1500 hectares of farmland. In Cuba the next day it was a category 2, destroying banana, coffee, bean and sugar crops. Sandy destroyed roughly 30% of the nation’s coffee farms. Add to that the 200,000 damaged homes. The Bahamas archipelago was next, before it would set it sights on America’s eastern seaboard.

While most of the focus of western media centred on the damage Sandy caused in America, especially this close to a Presidential election; there were few news outlets that reported what had passed in the Caribbean — outside the death tolls and damaged infrastructure. Indeed, as it is becoming more and more apparent, it is always the blogosphere that provides an adequate source of information. Hurricane Sandy’s progression was followed by bloggers on the ground, giving another side of the story we don’t often get to see.

But it is in Haiti, a country that has yet to recover from tropical storm Isaac that hit in August of this year, as well as the earthquake of 2010, that felt the worst of Sandy’s wrath. 1.8 million people in Haiti are affected by the storm, according to the United Nations relief agency.

With everyone concerned with the numbers, damage, and brute destruction, there is the underlying problem that any disaster hit area has to deal with. Namely, the aftermath. It is the aftermath of the Caribbean region we must now think about. There will be the inevitable worry about food prices from this point on. Huge crop losses in southern Haiti raise famine worries.

Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe, after assessing the damage, said “Most of the agricultural crops that were left from Hurricane Isaac were destroyed during Sandy, so food security will be an issue.”

Rainfall totals for the seven-day period Oct 18-25, 2012. Image courtesy of SSAI/NASA, Hal Pierce

Three days of constant rain caused rivers to overflow and the floodwaters to rise. Most of southern Haiti is underwater. In the whole Caribbean region rainfall amounts as high as 250 millimeters were measured over eastern Cuba and some extreme southern areas of Hispaniola. Haiti experienced 20 inches. Port-au-Prince receives an average annual rainfall of 54 inches.

As the rains stopped the damage is only made worse to the tune of infectious diseases such as cholera. Haiti has been fighting a cholera epidemic since 2010. A cholera outbreak that has killed over 7400 people and left up to 600 000 sick across the country.

According to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the WHO, there is an increase in cholera cases in the south and south-east, where 49 cases and 9 deaths have been recorded.

The list of infectious disease outbreaks following natural disasters is long. Although, usually there are some that are more common than others. Diarrheal diseases, acute respiratory infections, malaria, leptospirosis, measles, dengue fever, viral hepatitis, typhoid fever, meningitis, as well as tetanus and cutaneous mucormycosis have all been documented as the incidence and magnitude of natural disasters increase.

Natural disasters and infectious diseases outbreaks represent a significant challenge. But they do not necessarily go hand in hand. Disasters do not transmit infectious diseases. But the risk of infectious disease is multiplied by the change in situation — populations displaced, overcrowding, limited access to food and water, and public health breakdown.

Haiti’s Prime Minister, Laurent Lamothe said “I am launching an appeal to international solidarity to come and help the population, to help support the completion of our efforts towards saving lives and property,”

Flood disasters are the most common natural disasters throughout the world, and diarrheal diseases are the leading cause of death from displaced populations living in camps. France has promised to rebuild seven destroyed bridges and Mexico has offered food. How Haiti deals with the aftermath of Sandy will be one to follow closely.

Image — source, source

November 6, 2012
Weekly Science Picks

Bob Dylan and the curse of self-plagiarism. Disclaimer: this weeks theme largely relates to Bob Dylan. Up first — here comes a story of a Hurricane!

With frankenstorm Sandy in the news, Empirical Zeal asks the question “What is the true measure of a storm?

November 4, 2012
Great danger for the Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef is easily among the world’s great natural wonders. A world heritage site since 1981, it’s known everywhere as a showcase for the beauty which Earth’s oceans are capable of producing. The world’s largest system of coral reefs, it’s actually composed of over 2900 smaller reefs, stretching along Australia’s coastline for 2600 kilometres. In modern times, it’s a major tourist attraction, and for a lot longer, it’s been part of the culture of Aboriginal Australian people. Unfortunately, the modern world hasn’t been kind to the Great Barrier Reef. A variety of environmental factors are conspiring to make the future for these Australian corals look rather bleak.

Alarmingly, in a study run by the US National Academy of Science earlier this year, it was found that over the past 27 years, the Great Barrier Reef has lost 50% of its corals. Half of the corals in the sites surveyed have disappeared since 1985, and it’s unlikely to be any better in any other locations. Alarmingly, two thirds of the corals lost, have been lost since 1998. Instead of slowing down, it seems that the damage is becoming more rapid over time.

The Great Barrier Reef is, in effect, the Amazon Basin of the Ocean. It’s a huge and bustling hub of biodiversity, rich with all manner of aquatic plant and animal species. Like a land-based rainforest, a vast number of self-contained ecosystems can be found within the reef, and many vulnerable and endangered species make their homes there. Species known to depend on the reef include turtles, crocodiles, dugongs, and sharks, as well as thousands of species of fish and invertebrate – including, of course, the corals themselves.

Climate conditions have been increasingly harrowing for the denizens of the reef, however. Inclement weather, including tropical cyclones, can cause severe damage to coral growths. Global warming is having a lethal effect on corals living near the edge of the reef, which are already at the high end of their temperature tolerance. The warm waters cause corals to expel their zooxanthellae (the symbiotic organisms with live with the coral, photosynthesising and providing around 90% of the coral’s energy requirements) resulting in coral bleaching and, eventually, death as the corals die of starvation. And then there’s the crown of thorns starfish, a natural predator of corals which has seen a sharp increase in numbers in recent years. While the starfish is actually in indigenous inhabitant of the reef, some suspect that overfishing of the starfish’s natural predators has contributed to their recent population explosion.

In light of the troubling findings, Australia’s Environment Minister, Tony Burke, said in an interview to ABC news that “We’ve all heard about damage to the reef over the years, but that 50 per cent figure, I think, rang a warning bell loud and clear for many people.” He also admitted that “there’s no doubt that there’s been a level of neglect for decades which, if it had been dealt with otherwise, we’d be in a much better situation now,” which is at least a sign that the problem is being given the recognition it deserves.

Australia has, in fact, put together its Reef Rescue programme over the past 5 years, spending millions of dollars on protecting the reef from human activities such as run off from land. While there’s not much which can be done about the cyclones which have done the most damage, work is also underway to cull the starfish which are currently the reef’s second biggest threat. Unfortunately, this is painstaking work, as each starfish has to be individually removed by hand. There’s simply no other suitable method.

The question then is how to safeguard the reef in the long term and hopefully help it to recover to its former glory? With one of the biggest future threats to the reef is global warming and the warmer waters which it causes, the method to be used to protect the reef is still under debate. Natalie Ban, who works for the ARC Centre of Excellence in Coral Reef Studies, is reported as saying, “In some areas summer is coming earlier and lasting longer; in others, both summers and winters are warmer than in the past.” Currently, there are two schools of thought on how to go about this – some argue that the most protection should be given to the areas which have suffered least, so that they can act as a haven for reef animals to help repopulate the area; while others would prefer the most vulnerable reef areas to receive the most protection.

Whatever means is chosen, it’s safe to say that Ban speaks for many of us in saying that she hopes for the best way of managing and protecting the reef during “what will undoubtedly be momentous environmental change.”

Images:
Top – Eric Johnson/NOAA
Middle – NASA
Bottom – Toby Hudson/Wikimedia Commons

October 30, 2012
Weekly Science Picks

With the exponential growth of scientific research, there were a plethora of articles which could have been reported this week. A few that caught my attention are listed below.

A Future of Genetically Superior Humans

On Wednesday it was reported that geneticists have moved into an area of research previously believed to be highly unethical. Researchers at the Oregon Health and Science University took steps to prevent women from giving birth to children with genetic diseases. “That kind of genetic engineering has been ruled off-limits,” says Marcy Darnovsky of the Centre for Genetics and Society. As the Dartmouth bioethicist Ronald Green mentions, this kind of research could lead to generations of genetically superior humans. A concerning concept, I’m left with visions of the novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley warning of such actions. http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/10/24/163509093/geneticists-breach-ethical-taboo-by-changing-genes-across-generations

The Dangers of Pumpkin Carving

In light of Halloween this Wednesday
, this article caught my attention as families throughout Canada and the USA begin carving pumpkins in preparation for this spooky holiday. “Even with optimal treatment, injuries from pumpkin carving accidents may leave people with compromised hand function,

October 28, 2012
Analysys Mason Study Demonstrates How the Fundamental Sustainability of the Internet Extends to Developing Countries

Analysys Mason’s new study published this week entitled ‘How the Internet continues to sustain growth and innovation’ reveals how the market forces that have always ensured the sustainability of the Internet in developed countries also extend to developing countries.

Analysys Mason (www.analysysmason.com) is a global specialist in telecoms, media and technology (TMT). The Internet Society (www.internetsociety.org) commissioned Analysys Mason to study the impact of increased demand for new Internet services and concerns about the sustainability of the ensuing growth.

The new study shows how, in the past, Internet challenges have been continually met in developed countries, based on a combination of new technology and investment to increase capacity, and changing business models to distribute content. Further, the report shows how investment and innovation are already addressing new demands in developing countries today.

“Challenges in the past followed the increase in demand from the first commercial web browsers, and the widespread take-up of Internet video. Today, concerns about the sustainability of the Internet in developed countries have arisen from the increased availability of mobile broadband services,

October 27, 2012
The Continuing Saga of the Genetically Modified Plant

Mutant Fruits, Photo Source: Wikipedia

GM (Genetically Modified) Foods

“Jack! Did you see that potato move?! He’s a GM, that one, he’s sprouted eyes and I bet he’ll grow legs next! He’s gonna round up his buddies and take over the farm!

October 25, 2012
Breaking plates

What do Australia and India have in common? The answer is that they both share one of Earth’s tectonic plates – the drifting eggshell-like pieces of Earth’s crust, on which all of our planet’s continents sit. However, the Indo-Australian Plate is a slightly unusual one, and the two countries may not share it for much longer. Recent Earthquakes beneath the Indian Ocean suggest that this plate may be in the process of breaking in two.

We generally think of the surface of our planet as being fixed and unchanging. The reality though, is that this isn’t true. Earth’s continents and the tectonic plates which make them up are not fixed at all, drifting slowly across the planet’s surface. For instance, as you’re reading this, most of Africa is moving slowly to the North West and quietly tearing the beginnings of a new ocean into Earth’s surface. Meanwhile, Hawaii is moving at a speed of about 7cm per year which is about as fast as your fingernails are growing.

Of course, these movements are tiny, compared to the size of the Earth and its continents, but they still cause pressure to build up in Earth’s surface. Sometimes, seemingly without warning, that pressure continues to build up and– SNAP! Something in Earth’s crust cracks or ruptures. This jostles the plates and can cause earthquakes which rattle entire countries. Any places situated at the edges of tectonic plates are particularly prone to earthquake activity, with California and Japan being high profile examples. With enough quakes, however, dramatic changes can happen in Earth’s crust. On rare occasions, larger tectonic plates can sometimes break apart into smaller ones – and that’s exactly what’s happening somewhere beneath the Indian Ocean right now.

Breaking point – where the Indo-Australian plate is starting to rupture and split

April 11 this year saw two massive earthquakes strike west of Indonesia in quick succession, measuring 8.7 and 8.2 on the Richter scale. The result was a dramatic quadruple fault rupture in Earth’s crust (a rare event which is more or less exactly what it sounds like!) which caused shockwaves to reverberate around the whole planet. Around a week later quakes occurred across the world as the whole planet shivered in response.

Geologists, alarmed by what could have caused such a major event, took to analysing the quake. What they found was remarkable. Within roughly 160 seconds, four fault lines (existing fractures in the rock) tore apart under pressure. Remarkably though, this wasn’t at a plate boundary where this kind of activity is expected. It was right in the middle of the Indo-Australian plate. To the geologists looking at this data, this was like a smoking gun. A telltale sign that, as many had suspected, this particular tectonic plate is starting to fracture and split into two.

The Indo-Australian tectonic plate is already a bit of an oddity, being a rather thin and unusual shape compared with the others. The reason being that it was formed some 43 million years ago when two smaller plates (carrying the landmasses which would eventually become India and Australia) fused together. Since then though, it’s collided with the much more massive Eurasian plate. That collision has already caused enough pressure in Earth’s crust to create the Himalayas, one of the world’s most impressively tall mountain ranges. However, the Indo-Australian plate is still trying to move northwards. The western part of the plate is still pushing against the Himalayas, moving at about 3.7 centimetres per year, but the eastern part, including the entire continent of Australia, is moving at a much faster speed of around 5.6 centimetres per year. This is causing the whole tectonic plate to quite literally buckle, which is the root cause behind all of the quakes in the region over the past decade.

So what does this mean for anyone who happens to be living on that plate? Well, there are not going to be any sudden apocalyptic changes. After all, according to theories, this is not actually a new event – the Indo-Australian plate began to deform around 10 million years ago! Over millions of years, a new tectonic plate boundary will start to form under what is currently the Indian Ocean. This will cause thousands of similarly large earthquakes, but over such a length of time that they won’t be much more regular than they already are for those living around South-East Asia. All the same, planetary scientists are likely to continue watching this region with interest over the coming years.

Satellite view of the Himalayan mountain range – perhaps the most dramatic example of the force with which the Indo-Australian plate is pushing into the Eurasian plate!

Image credits:
Top – NASA Goddard
Middle – Keith Koper/Uni. Utah Seismograph Stations
Bottom – NASA World Wind

October 24, 2012
Payload

Source: http://www.payloadfilm.com/about/

Science Fiction

This may not be the usual topic for a blog post normally displayed on Australian Science, but when our editor Danica mentioned she saw this great Aussie short and asked if one of us writers wanted to do a narrative, I jumped at it. The next 17:55 of my lunch break left me in awe.

A movie doesn’t have to be a full length feature to have an impact or drive home a message. And Payload really packs a punch. There were so many messages; messages of a society that travelled down a drainpipe. Clarke’s Town is a place that would have just about every council of the United Nations mired in details and confusion and working round the clock. The issues raised in this fictional setting being human trafficking, prostitution, the sale of human organs or body parts, smuggling, security, poverty, gender, food, clothing, education… corruption is everywhere. You get a sense of normalcy among the Carter clan, but that normalcy is faced against the outside operations of a world that does not make sense,which is far bigger than the Carters. Sacrifice is the only way for survival.

Clarke’s Town is a functioning spaceport, which is a character in and of itself in this story. This spaceport, this crawler, is painted as an escape to freedom and perhaps to normalcy – from dystopia to utopia. Is that why the mother never came back? Is Davinia “Dave” Carter now saved from what one can only suspect was to be a dreadful and despairing existence? Simon Carter may have been doing what he had to do, but he is Davinia’s hero. The main characters – Simon, Adam Carter (the father) and Kate Henshaw – each went through a visible transformation, almost a metamorphosis of sorts. They took what little there was of a moral high ground when it came to the reasoning of right and wrong (no matter how wrong). With Davinia, as she says goodbye to Simon at the spaceport, she leaves you with the thought that her transformation, her payload, is yet to come. I find it rather apropos the meaning of the name Davinia/David is “beloved”.

I’m having a hard recalling when exactly was the last time a movie moved me as much as this little motion picture has. From the setting, to the haunting yet soothing tones of the music, it makes you think what society, our world, would be like without some of the resources we take for granted every day. More so, I think it makes you think about some of the countries, or communities, in this world just struggling to gain access to basic resources.

Writer and director Stuart Willis mentioned extending Payload into a feature – set 10 years later when Earth is being evacuated. Will answers be given to the questions raised in the short? My synapses are already firing up hypothetical synopses. If there were a motion picture category for the Nobel Prize, I would say award it to Mr. Willis straight away.

Watch the movie.

October 23, 2012
Weekly Science Picks

Doesn’t time fly? I don’t know about anyone else, but my week has absolutely flown past. As I take a moment to relax and consider picking a few favourite topics from this week’s news, I realise that perhaps this is because it’s been an exciting week, full of interesting discoveries and unusual events. In fact, I’ve had quite a lot to choose from, but I eventually managed to trim it down to these few articles which particularly caught my eye…

First and foremost, a planet has been discovered in our neighbouring star system, Alpha Centauri. This is something which I find thrilling for various personal reasons. An interesting discussion of the discovery itself and some of its implications are given by Paul Gilster in the blog Centauri Dreams:

There was a sense of exhilaration in the air on Tuesday as the buzz around an Alpha Centauri planet built, and when the embargo was lifted, reports of the find filled the social media as the early articles began to appear online. Just how big a deal is Centauri B b? A skeptic could point out that while finding an Earth-mass planet is significant, it must still be confirmed, and in any case, this is an Earth-mass planet that is nothing like a clement, habitable world.

From a neighbouring star to a neighbouring planet, the Curiosity rover has been finding some very curious shiny objects in the martian soil. Wired Science gives a brief overview of what’s been happening on the red planet:

NASA’s Curiosity rover took three scoops from a small Martian sand dune and found several bright particles in the soil. Scientists think these are unrelated to the odd bright object that Curiosity saw last week, which turned out to be plastic that fell from the probe, and are probably indigenous Martian mineral flecks.

Closer to home, this week saw a world record being broken by Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner, who leapt from a balloon at an altitude of 39 km. A fantastic achievement and a daredevil stunt! However, could more of an effort have been made to add some depth to the stunt and give us all some more background about it? Science historian Amy Shira Teitel at Vintage Space takes a detailed look at the full background and a few tricks which were missed with respect to communicating the science behind such a stunt:

In the 1960s, pilots were pushing the envelope of supersonic flight at high altitudes. But this was a dangerous approach. While it’s easy to fly fast in the thin upper atmosphere it’s harder to control an aircraft. With no air for control surfaces to push against, aircraft tend to tumble, and when aircraft tumble pilots tend to eject. Tests with dummies showed that when falling from high altitudes, human bodies tended to get into a flat spin. It would be like rolling down a hill really fast but without the hill, and the G-forces would certainly be fatal.

Image: AP Photo/Red Bull Stratos, Luke Aikins

And finally, there was a rather informative little discussion piece by Dave Hone in the blog Lost Worlds. In emphasising some of the difficulties faced in palaeontology, he poses a rhetorical question – did Tyrannosaurus Rex have feathers?

Note that there is a rather important scientific distinction here, no facts have changed since the 70s, but we have many more facts. And the best interpretation of all of the available data is now a little different to that which we had before. The fossil record is incomplete and we have to extrapolate from the available evidence and apply parsimony the best way we can.

I hope you’re having a good weekend!

October 21, 2012
Giant Impact: making the moon

It began… where it always begins — out there — in the vastness of space. What would it look like, that void of empty nothingness? So early on in the sound of creation, indescribable things all around. Not yet planets, not yet moons. Not yet defined. A titanic mass of rock. Different. Ugly and melancholic. Mischievous and cumbersome. As immediately as it’s gone, another smaller rock — about a tenth the size of its predecessor — in the other direction. We will come to realise that they are almost on the same path. A perilous planetary orbit around our sun.

One is a destroyer. The other is to be destroyed. The larger mass continues to grow as it gobbles up remnants from a cloud of dust. A hot, violent place with molten rock mantles wrapped around a dense hot core. On the other side of our sun swings the smaller mass. Both will have the same fate. On the far side, they collide. A cataclysm of apocalyptic proportions. In the vacuum/vacuous of space not a sound is heard. The smaller rock ploughs into its destroyer, like the little man in a fight with a lot to prove. It sinks deep into its molten core. Spiralling vast amounts of debris in long arcs into orbit. Debris, drawn together by nothing more simple than gravity, clump together, forging something close to a primitive moon. And with primitive moons come primitive planets. Finally, one defines the other.

This has always been the theory… at least, more eloquently put in the form of maths, calculations, numbers and analysis. The origin of our Moon by giant impact has always been the leading theory. Leading because it is able to explain so many features of the Earth-Moon system. From it’s current spin and angular momentum to its composition. Both Earth and Moon are very similar in their oxygen, tungsten, chromium, and titanium isotopes — leading to the logical conclusion that one was formed from the other, since these isotopes vary differently in different planetary bodies and meteorites.

However, simulations have shown this not to be the case. It is the Moon that should have a similar isotopic composition to the smaller impactor in this scenario, but instead it is made up mostly of material from Earth. Researchers had been tinkering around with the permutations and combinations to find such a scenario of impact that could satisfy all conditions. But to date, none had come close.

In papers published in Science by researchers from Harvard and the Southwest Research Institute, a new model is proposed. One that adequately accounts for a similarity in composition while also coming out with an appropriate mass for Earth and Moon. One paper describes two bodies of similar mass colliding slowly, while the other describes a giant erosive impact (with a small impactor) happening really fast. Both have the same solution to the problem. That is to have the Earth-Moon system losing angular momentum over time, reaching its present state through the Sun’s gravitational influence. Thereby, in the end, both coming to a compromise in explaining the physics and the overall geo-chemistry of the Earth-Moon system.

October 19, 2012