This week in European sciences -- week 39
 

Overview
The Guardian numbers the most cited scientists and papers, and shows value and limitations of a science citation index. Die Zeit considers about brain research and the reason of forgetfullness. Süddeutsche Zeitung writes about the Schön scientific fraud case, and a EU-backed study examining indoor exposure by volatile chemical compounds. Der Spiegel writes about German intelligence undermining the use of anonymizing software Jap. La Repubblica looks at North Norway where a tidal power plant produces electricity. In addition: NY Times on possible US sanctions agains Iceland killing whales. Wall Street Journal on advances in breast cancer drugs. NY Times wonders whether future space lifting may be done by elevators made of nanotubes.

The Giants of Science

Scientists agree there is no fair and objective way to measure the value of science - and compare, for instance, the work of researchers. The science citation index makes a try. The Guardian (September 25, 2003) numbers the first 25 most cited champions in science. And Ian Sample reports the limitations of the measure: Almost all work is done in life sciences. Not a single physicist makes the list. Almost all are male and American. Only three women and nine from outside the US are on the list. To give an impression by numbers: World champion is Bert Vogelstein of John Hopkins University, US, working in molecular biology with 106,401 citations (361 papers) in the last 20 years.
In an additional article Ian Sample describes the five most cited papers. All not describing breakthroughs in life sciences but giving the basis of new methods to make lab procedures easier and faster.
 

Know it and throw it

In the German weekly Die Zeit (September 25, 2003) Sabine Etzold is discussing the influence of the "abilitity to forget" on the quality of the brain. In the times of Sigmund Freud the main opinion was: Remember or your silent memories are going to catch you. Nowadays, the importance of deliberate forget is getting more and more a topic of psychological research. Although the reason for this mechanism of our brain is getting clearer - kicking the trash out of your memory - the function is still unclear. Some empirical tests show, that people who know how to forget something unimportant are able to learn new things better and faster. And the reason why old people learn things worse than young people might be related to that. The older you are, the worse you can forget. But like in every field of neuroscience: the real knowledge is scanty and there is plenty of room for interpretation.
In another one-page story Frank Schubert describes the new global interest on lunar research. A European lunar mission "Smart 1" is going to discover new secrets of the moon. Japanese, American, Chinese and Indian (!) missions might be follow in the next years.
A totally new field of social science is detected by Dirk Assendorf in his article about "Sex and Internet". Little is known of the social consequences of cyber-sexuality, although pornography seems to be the motor of the internet. So the message is: The growing medium www needs more serious scientific attention.
 

Drop That Harpoon! Whale Hostilities Revisited

Washington is reviewing the possibility of sanctions against Iceland, even though the Northern European island is not breaking any laws because it is killing whales for scientific research. "We believe the necessary scientific data can be gathered by well-established non-lethal means," Rolland Schmitten, US commissioner to the International Whaling Commission, is being quoted in The New York Times (September 25, 2003). The article by Lizette Alvarez, also published in the Reykjavik Journal, reports that after 14 years of not hunting whales, Iceland has killed its first minke whale as part of a scientific research program. The program falls outside the 1986 ban on commercial whaling. Iceland's Marine Research Institute wants to analyze the stomach content of 38 minke whales by the end of 2003 to see how much fish a minke whale eats on average. Chances of the Washington office to push sanctions against Iceland are limited.
 

Cancer Drug Extends Life by a Few Months

Experts presented the findings of how two different breast cancer drugs affect the treatment of women with incurable breast cancer at a European cancer conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. The Wall Street Journal has picked up a report by the Associated Press (September 25, 2003) and reports that the study compared the effectiveness of American-produced Taxol and European-developed Taxotere. Women taking Taxotere suffered from more side effects but survived an average of 15.4 months compared to Taxol-receipients who lived for an average of 12.7 months. The study was funded by Aventis Pharmaceuticals Inc., the US company of Franco-German drug company Aventis SA. Aventis produces Taxotere. In a related-article also published in The Wall Street Journal (Experimental Drug for Cancer Found Less Toxic than Taxol, September 24, 2003), David P. Hamilton reports that "American Pharmaceutical Partners Inc. said its experimental cancer drug Abraxane, a re-engineered form of the common chemotherapy drug Taxol, was significantly less toxic and more effective than Taxol itself in the late-stage human tests." However, American Pharmaceutical has yet to release the data to prove its claim. Hamilton writes that several companies are currently racing to modify traditional chemotherapy drugs. Among those companies are Seattle-based Cell Therapeutics, Inc. and NeoPharm Inc. of Lake Forst, Illinois.
 

The Schön Case: No Manipulation Seen at Konstanz

The final report of a commission at University of Konstanz, Germany, installed to examine the recent case of scientific fraud by physicist Jan Hendrik Schön states that there is no evidence that Schön manipulated data in his working period at Konstanz. According to Frank van Bebber writing in Süddeutsche Zeitung (September 24, 2003) Dr Schön altered data, gave misleading interpretation and smoothed data plots. But no deliberate manipulation was seen by the commission. For instance in experimental sciences it's not unusual to smooth data to make results clearer, says the commission. About a year ago Dr Schön was dismissed from his work at the Bell Labs, USA, after an examination uncovered 16 cases of scientific fraud. Several papers in high-ranked journals have been withdrawn. Before working at Bell Labs Dr Schön received his PhD from Konstanz.

The Smog in Your Room

According to a EU-backed study the air inside your house might have a higher level of benzene, toluene or xylene concentration as the surroundings. Wiebke Rögener reports in Süddeutsche Zeitung (September 24, 2003) about the findings by the EU Joint Research Center (JSC) based in Ispra, Italy. The volatile compounds are under consideration causing diseases as the sick building syndrom or cancer. A flat in Antwerpen had a 1.5-fold higher concentration with benzene as outdoors. In Basel, the record is 2.3-fold. In addition the researchers attached passive samplers to some people measuring the round-the-clock exposure to the compounds. It's not clear where the substances come out. Hence, JSC is going to investigate with further studies how the stuff in your room evapourates the chemical compounds. Up to now there is no regulation for manufacturers to indicate substances used for their products.
 

Not Science Fiction: An Elevator to Space

The Los Alamos National Laboratory sponsored a conference for scientists to explore the concept of building a 100,000 kilometer high elevator that could carry cargo into space. Advances toward ultrastrong fibers make the concept a possibility, Kenneth Chang reports in The New York Times (September 23, 2003). One step towards reality of the concept was the discovery of nanotubes in 1991. Nanotubes are "cylindrical molecules of carbon with many times the strength of steel," Chang writes. Proponents argue such an elevator would eventually lower the cost of placing a satellite into space form $10,000 a pound to $100. "As soon as we can build it, we should build it," Dr. Bryan E. Laubsher, scientist at Los Alamos and organizer of the conference, said. The cost estimated to build the first elevator is about $6.2 billion. In comparison, it will cost more than $100 billion to finish and operate the International Space Station. But researchers agree that the development of such a project would still take years.
 

German Intelligence Undermines Jap

Jap is a piece of software that prevents tracking of surfers on the Web. But unlike other services like Anonymizer or Rewebber (who know their clients) people using Jap are even unknown there, as Steffen Winter reports in Der Spiegel (September 22, 2003). Developed at the University of Dresden, Germany, and funded by the German Ministry of Economics the Jap software (Java Anon Proxy) should have been a masterpiece in consumer protection. But German intelligence thinks different: the software seems to be an obstacle tracking criminals on the Internet. After several court decisions one Jap server recently moved to New York.
 

No more electricity failture

While one country after the other experiences gigantic blackouts, from this week on some thirty households in Northern Norway will have no more electricity problems, reports the Repubblica (September 20, 2003). A new kind of hydroelectric power plant, completely immersed in the Kvalsund canal, will take advantage of the natural tides and produce an estimated 700,000 kWh per year. At four cents per kWh, electricity from the Hammerfest plant will be three times as expensive as conventional hydroelectricity, but it will also be more environmentally friendly - the turbines are quiet and do not disturb animal habitats.
 

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