8:34 p.m. - 2004-01-18
Dr. Bruce: sniffing rats, warm water
Greetings, fellow workers, this is Dr. Bruce with my irregular update.
I have a couple of science updates from the journal of the same name, Science. The first item is that researchers are working with the giant pouched rat from Africa. This species has olfactory capabilities at least as good as dogs, and it's currently being trained to detect turberculosis in human sputum. Skin tests for TB are notoriously indecisive (Ruth had an adventure with this years ago...). This rat can literally smell the bacteria in human saliva. Efficiency is an issue, too; a human worker can analyze 20 samples of sputum a day, while a rat can sniff 150 samples in half an hour. The rats can also be trained to sniff out land mines. The World Bank funds this research.
Also in this issue of Science (9 January 2004) is a scary piece written by David King, the "chief scientific advisor to H. M. Government", i.e. chief science advisor to the British government for you Americans. He states very baldly the facts of climate change happening right now, i.e. the planet is warming and will continue to warm no matter what we do right now. This isn't really news to me or probably most of you. But he describes in unfortunate detail the level of threat that rising sea level makes to the U.K. I didn't realize that there's a Thames Barrier, a giant flood gate in the mouth of the Thames that can be lowered to block storm driven surges from the North Sea. Because sea level is rising even several millimeters a year, and more violent weather is becoming more commonplace, activation of the Thames Barrier has increased dramatically in the last several years. Most of the English and Welsh coast is threatened with increasing erosion and overwash (Scotland is rockier). This has happened in the past, but now lots of people live there and the probable property damage from rising sea level in the U.K. alone is big bucks.
Mr. King is also very blunt about the lack of serious commitment of the U.S. government to actions to mitigate the effects of a warming planet. To me this is the single most important reason to vote out Bush this fall; I certainly didn't need Her Majesty's advisor to point this out.
I should point out that sea level has risen 20 centimeters in the last century, most of that since World War II. This is the result of alpine glaciers melting, and also the thermal expansion of sea water as sea surface temperature has risen. (You remember from Physics class that water expands as it's heated, I hope?) If the Antarctic glaciers begin to melt we're in for a real adventure, like a J.G. Ballard novel come to life.
My most recent music overplay involves:
Kiko, by Los Lobos. These guys have never done a lame album, and this one from 1992 is fresh, variegated and rocking.
It'll Come To You, the songs of John Hiatt. Hiatt is one of the best pure songwriters wandering around the U.S. His material is performed equally well by blues, country and rock performers, and that's the range of people on this tribute CD. His material even makes Linda Ronstadt sound great. Others include Buddy Guy, Bonnie Raitt and Freddy Fender. You'll like it.
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