Nanotech: Alfred Nordmann about social imaginations for nanotechnolgy

Communication:
A guideline for nano enthusiasts by Fiona Fox

Unveilling Monster Waves

On average, two large ships sink every week, notes Huber Filser in Süddeutsche Zeitung (July 23, 2004). In the last 20 years about 200 supertankers or containerships sank in heavy sea. Some of them have been possibly hit by so-called monster waves - mysterious waves emerging unpredictably, but whose existence, after all, was in question. Scientists with the EU project MaxWave have now unveilled a 29.8 meter high wave by analysing data from the European radar satellites ERS1 and 2. The goal of MaxWave is, first, to confirm the existence and the risk of encounter of monster waves, and to develop forecast tools. Until 2005 a global map of all encountered monster waves is due to be published.

Humphrey Evans addended a seminar on forensic science for writers and gives a report in the Guardian (July 22, 2004). Writers of crime and television thrillers learn in detail about bruises, strangulations, decaying bodies and false identifications. The seminar was given by Allan Jamieson, director of the Forensic Institute in Edingburg, UK.

The comeback of nuclear power generation on a global scale is described by Gero von Randow in Die Zeit (July 22, 2004). According to the international atomic energy agency (IAEA) nuclear power generation will increase fourfold by 2050. While Germany and other countries proclaimed to exit the business, other countries see the 'benefits', like small greenhouse gas emissions, independence from crude oil and natural gas imports and supplying cheap energy for an everincreasing population. Also next generation reactors are more safe than today's. Open question is still nuclear waste and the amount of global uranium ressources. Randows shows the options. Having climate change and future energy shortcuts in mind he labelled nuclear energy environmental friendly, "nuclear energy is the best friend of fuel cells" to produce hydrogen. Hence, he predicts that Germany and other countries soon come back to nuclear energy.

The Economist notes a "renaissance in the field of supercomputing" (July 22, 2004). In the early days of (super)computing the field attracted the best minds in computer science. Later, talents changed to the booming Internet. But for the recent years, "the ability to build powerful computers cheaply, combined with growing commercial demand for high-end computing power" attracts more interest by scientists and students. Actually, there is hard competition between genuine supercomputers that are build from scratch or clusters of hundreds or thousands of off-the-shelf chips (like standard PC or Apple processors). Also there's an increasing range of supercomputer applications, from film studios (special effects rendering), industrial company (process simulation), biology (protein folding), climate change modelling to nuclear explosion simulation. Some people think the limiting factors of supercomputer development is not hardware but software, to build tools the allow and efficient programming of all processors. The other problem is power consumption: Without a hardware re-design, next generation supercomputers need their own power plant.

In general, astrophysicists determine the mass of celestial objects, planets, stars or even galaxies by Newton's and Kepler's laws. Hermann Michael Hahn now explains in FAZ (July 21, 2004) how scientists measured first time the mass of a star which is about 2000 light years away by using a micro-gravitational lens effect. By occation, a 'near' star passes by a farer one and bends according to Einstein's general theory of relativity the light similar to a lens. Using this micro-gravitational lens effect and computer modelling scientists figured out the mass of the nearer star to a tens of the mass of our sun. Interesting is that the result based on date taken in the year 1993 which were obtained during a sky survey.

Probing Dancing Electrons

Physicists combined the well-known methods of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (M.R.I., generally used in medicine to probe the human body on the sub-millimeter scale) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM, to scan the surface of materials on an atomic level) to a technique to dive into materials and uncover their properties underneath the surface on a nanometer scale. Manfred Lindinger describes in FAZ (July 21, 2004) how it works. The method is sensitive to the magnetic properties of the material, especially the magnetic spin moments of electrons.

Lewis Wopert, professor of biology at UCL, London, comments on the nanotech debate stirred up recently by Prince Charles (July 21, 2004). First, he recognized the precautionary principle, and that we should be concerned of potential environmental dangers of nanotech. Then, there is a deficiency in knowledge of the behaviour of nanoparticles in the human body and in the environment. But all questions might be answered by proper scientific investigation - having asbostos and GM lessons learn. The unkown factor is the reaction of the public, and the open question: "How can the technology be controlled and the public be informed? This is a crucial and difficult issue that, in spite of past experience with GM foods, is still not solved. How to involve the public, and how to avoid groups with special interests dominating, is still very unclear."

Manfred Lindinger reports in FAZ (July 19, 2004) on modelling of planet formation. Our sun is about 5 billion years old, the earth 4.6 billion years: well, there's not much time for the formation of planets out of the solar dust. Researchers study with computer models and experiments in space how tiny particles of the size of some micrometers collide and aggregate in vaccum. At present, simulation data and experimental result doesn't fit well. Filmed in real situation the particles stick much faster together than in the simulation.

The 15th International AIDS Conference in Bangkok (Thailand) gives hopes and demands for combatting the infection. According to the Economist (July 16, 2004) propering Thailand as well as impoverished neighbor Cambodia have some success to show. "The chief strategies in both countries have been to discourage men from visiting prostitutes, and to persuade those who do to use condoms (mostly by encouraging the women to insist)", notes the Economist. Promoting condoms let to a decrease of infections by an estimated factor of ten. According to mathematical modelling of the epidemic a suggested level of 60 percent or higher of paid-for sexual intercourses covered by a condom "is enough to stop an early-phase epidemic in its tracks."
In an additional background piece the Economist gives a brief of the conference (July 16, 2004) and analyses in particulare the intriguing role of the U.S. in the case: the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) brings in the biggest share of money - 10 billion U.S. dollars over five years - but favours programmes that focus on sexual abstinence (by at least 1/3 of the prevention money). "Practise has shown that such an appoach does not work", states the Economist.

AIDS research: U.S. $8 - Germany $0.07

It will take at least 10 to 15 years to provide a vaccine against the HIV infection, reports FAZ from the conference in Bangkok (July 15, 2004). Around 30 drug 'candidates' are under investigation. Each of them has to master three clinical phases over several years. One attempt, for instance, favours the implementation of three genes of the HIV 1 sub-type (which is most common in Europe and the U.S.) into another, non-AIDS virus. This virus may now produce HIV proteins to which the human body, hopefully, reacts with a respons of the immune system. Scientists hope that three or four of the 30 candidates will work. Some have already reached the 2nd phase of clinical trials. The main problem developing and using a vaccine is that in different parts of the world other sub-types of HIV show up that differ immunologically. Comparing the amount of money spent for research in AIDS, a German scientist calculates: U.S. 8 dollars per head, Germany 7 cent.

Any work on a European level tackles many difficulties and obstacles caused by the multi-fragmented, multi-national and multi-lingual nature of its subject. The European Commission directs on a more official way, for instance, by establishing a European Research Counsil and a European Research Areal, whereas other groups go a more informal way, for instance, the Euroscience organisation or science foundations in the different member states. Euroscience (www.euroscience.org) which is an interest group of scientists out of Europe and two prominent science foundations, the Volkswagen Foundation and the Bosch Foundation (both Germany) perform a big science festival event in Stockholm in late August (ESOF2004). Ulrich Schnabel speaks in Die Zeit (July 15, 2004) with the programme managers of both foundations.

Experimentalists in physics find it hard to check predictions of string theory due to the very small distances in which strings shall exist and the huge amount of energy to probe matter on that level. Anyway, string theory dreams in ten or eleven dimensions, most of them curled down unmeasurably. Veronica Winkler writes in NZZ (July 15, 2004) that one measurable effect of string theory might be a curled extra dimension altering Newton's law of gravity at a range of about a millimeter. Scientists now reassessed an experiment (meant to study something different) and concluded that Newton's Law is corrrect from the millimeter range till nanometers. No string found.

According to a report in the Guardian (July 15, 2004) the UK takes the lead in European science. The UK government's chief science advisor, Sir David King, revealed a study which valued the amount of scientific research publications and citation rates. First place goes to the U.S. with a 35 percent share in publications from 1997 to 2001. UK follows with 9.4%, follow-ups are Japan (9.3%), Germany (8.8%), France (6.4%), Canada (4.6%) and Italy (4.1%). But look out for the (pre-expanded 15-member) EU: summed all up they made up 37.1%. "Paradoxically, Britain's strong position was the result of heavy cutbacks in public spending on research between 1980 and 1995," King is quoted.

At present, DNA analysis via the Nobel prize honoured PCR technique (PCR = polymerase chain reaction) takes several hours to complete. David Adam, science correspondent with the Guardian (July 15, 2005) reports on how researchers develop some ready-to-go DNA amplification kit that may bring results in a quarter of an hour - Adams compares it with the conveniance of a home pregnancy test. The new techniques might make it out of the lab into the real world in a couple of years and are used for diagnosis of, for instance, HIV or other viral or bacterial infections.

When neutrinos - produced by the sun or in the outer atmosphere of our planet - cross the earth by the billions per second rather a few will interact with matter. Hence, their behaviour is very difficult to track down, writes Manfred Lindinger in FAZ (July 14, 2004). First experimental results supported the assumtion that neutrinos possess a small mass which is in contradiction to the physicists' standard model of particles. Two new experiments underline the findings that neutrinos - on their way through univers - oscillate between the different members of their family (myon, electron, tau). And this oscillation is only possible when they have a mass. One experiment studies the oscillating neutrinos coming from the outer atmosphere, the other looks for those emitted by a particle accelerator on earth.

Craig Venter en tour
The genome-sequencing champion Craig Venter is now sailing the Caribbean and Pacific to seek for microbes with not yet discovered genes (FAZ, July 14, 2004). On the ship Sorcerer II his team probes every 200 miles the sea water and filters out microbes. Especially, Venter heads for bacteria and their genes that will have an impact on energy utilisation and on environment. For instance, organisms that produce hydrogen or that eat dangerous waste material away.
http://www.sorcerer2expedition.org/main.htm

Fading Energy

German energy policy of the future is discussed only in a small circle of experts out of several ministries. The public is not meant to take part, reports Christian Schwägerl in FAZ (July, 14, 2004). But the issue is more relevant as anything else: it touches innovation and prosperity in the economic sector, also climate issues, biodiversity and conflicts on the use of the dwindling energy reserves among countries. Even more, the German energy budget in 2004 (385 million euros) is 15 million euros lower than 1998. Nevertheless, there's some obvious confusion in the coalition of Greens and Social Democrats how to fund fusion research, renewable energy technolgies and also research on fossil fuel usage. In the year 2020 Germany is supposed to produce 20 percent of its energy by renewables. Thus, some 80 percent are still fossil fuels - and doesn't this fact call for more research into low-consumption power generation, cars, heating systems?

The changes in temperatures and rainfall, the retreat of ice off the glaciers and pole caps are prominent indicators of climate change - and not at all questionable. Anyway, as Christopher Schrader reports in Süddeutsche Zeitung (July 13, 2004) the main argument for climate change (even in the IPCC report) is under fire. In 1998 three scientists figured out the temperature curve from the year 1000 until today by collecting all accessible data. The result: the last decade has been the warmest in the last thousand years. Now, critics show that there are a couple of flaws in the assessment. But as Schrader points out, the overall conclusions of the so-called MBH98 paper are confirmed by many other studies. Scientists acknowledge the uncovered flaws and related discussions as normal for scientific achievements. "If we had to draw a conclusion, than that climate change is faster than previously thought," Hartmut Graßl, Director at the Max Planck Institute of Meteorology in Hamburg, Germany, is quoted.

Many aspects of nature and our society rely on the earth's magnetic field and its steadiness, writes William J. Broad in the NY Times (July 13, 2004). But the protecting field changes slightly, the north pole wanders across the Arctic direction Siberia. It'll fade out, vanish mostly and flip to reappear on the south. Hence, when will our compasses point to the south? "Like many of the earth's invisible rhythms, the field reversals are typically slow, taking anywhere from 5000 to 7000 years to complete," writes Broad. Many animals rely on the magnetic field for navigation: loggerhead turtels, pigeons, salmon, whales, honeybees, frogs, some rats, to name a few. Anyway, scientist didn't managed a consensus on whether alterations or even a decrease in the field might have doomed creatures in the earth's history. Most biologists think that due to the very slow reversal nature would learn to adapt. Speeding particles from the solar wind that penetrate deeper into the atmosphere might indeed knock out power grids and harm satellites. (Impressive is also the map showing the moving north pole from 1600 to 2004.)

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