Autumn 2012 | Issue 03 | Free copy
www.qmsci.com
Could you be the next Usain Bolt? Crowd psychology
AIDS and the economic paradox
Olympics and the environment
The Mozart effect
from the editor Hello all! I hope you’ve all had a fantastic summer and are now ready to hit the books big style for another awesome year at Queen Mary. This is QMSCI’s third issue and the first that I have produced as Editor in Chief - it’s been a busy, confusing time but I hope you can all agree that it is definitely worth it. The summer break was filled with exciting science news, including the Mars rover landing and Sigma 5 level assurance of the Higgs Boson particle. This issue explores some of the more scientific aspects of this summer’s London 2012 Games; from the environmental history of the Olympics to crowd psychology we’ve got it all! We also have a fantastically insightful interview with the Yale epidemiologist and amateur filmmaker; Jonathan Smith, about his documentary on the gold miners dying from TB in South Africa. Other highlights include a fresh look at the cannabis legalisation debate, a deconstruction of the proposed NHS reforms and their effect on patient care, and an interesting take on how science is portrayed in the mainstream media. Of course, we must say a massive thank you to Queen Mary’s Faculty of Science and Engineering for their continued support and funding, as well as to our brilliant contributors and fantastically supportive editorial team. We hope you enjoy reading this issue as much as we enjoyed putting it together!
Jenni Toes Editor in Chief
contributors Editor In Chief
Jennifer Toes
Managing Editors
Aamna Mohdin Nisha Bargota
Lucy Wyatt Rob Blackler Chris Simmonds Bhavesh Gopal Specialist section
Design Editor
Ismail Uddin
Pippasha Khan Nikita Singh Ruth Raulkner
News Editor
Eye for Science
Chris Simmonds Features Editor
Michael Willis Features
Poppy Coppins Abbas Omaar Lele Gelibter
Robert Forster Allan Pang Richard Pickersgill Front Cover Image
London 2012
Image credits
photl.com rgbstock.com Gabriella Fabbri Dez Pain sanja gjenero Dominic Morel NASA/JPL Caltech Johnathan Smith stockmedia Adrian van Leen Yikrazuul, Wikimedia London 2012 Bloomsbury (p26, top) Random House Group (p26, middle) Fourth Estate (p26, bottom) Special Thanks to
Johnathan Smith Faculty of Science & Engineering, QM
Follow us on:
www.twitter.com/qmsci
www.facebook.com/qmsci.mag
contents The NHS reforms
p18
Could you be the next Usain Bolt?
p20
Surviving tuberculosis
p21
Olympics and the environment
p22
General / QM science news bites Science news from around the world.
Are the best things in life really free? We discuss the controversy around open access journals.
Surviving tuberculosis Jonathan Smith talks to us about his documentary on miners with TB
p4 p6 p8
Features AIDS and trade: An economic paradox
Zebra stripes
The Mozart effect
Cannabis feature
Science in the media
NHS Reforms
p12
Sport & The Olympics Could you be the next Usain Bolt?
Olympics and the environment
Crowd psychology
Eye for Science QM researchers use a picture from their work to talk science
Recommended reading and science events The latest and greatest science books, and a London science event calendar.
p20 p24 p26
news
from QM
The latest in science news from Queen Mary, University of London’s Science and Engineering Department.
Dirty money Senior researcher at QM, Dr Ron Cutler, has shown that banknotes can carry more bacteria than the average toilet seat. After analysis of 200 notes and 45 credit cards, it was found that 80% of the notes and 78% of the credit cards had traces of bacteria. Alarmingly, 47% and 26% of the notes and cards respectively carried ‘high level’ germs, including E. coli and S. aureus!
Painful pavement pounding Dr Hazel Screen, Senior Lecturer in Medical Engineering at QM has discovered a protein that would help with treatment of the painful bane of many runners lives; tendonitis. The inflammation of the tendon can cause mild to severe pain, and this protein can help strengthen tendons by binding strands together.
Going ape Dr Keith Jensen has studied both chimpanzee and bonobo behaviour, regarding their concern for others. Whilst observing whether or not the apes left some grapes for their counterpart, it was consistently noticed that they would take the grapes leaving none for the other. It seems that our human empathy may not have come from these particular ancestors!
Cost-effective chronic fatigue care Researchers at Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry have found that a combination of both cognitive behaviour therapy and graded exercise therapy have benefited chronic fatigue syndrome sufferers. Further, both treatments have been found as much more cost effective than alternatives whilst improving patients’ lives.
Barts student has project published Former Barts medical student has had his fourth year project published in the American Journal of Medicine. Sayed Hafiz Naderi’s project studied the adherence of patients to preventive drugs for cardiovascular conditions, finding that only 57% were taking their medication correctly.
04 | qmsci | Autumn ‘12
www.qmsci.com
www.qmsci.com
news
from around the world
The latest in science news from around the world in the field of science and engineering.
Helium levels not ballooning Helium is a particularly handy gas, used in many research facilities that help probe the structure of matter by cooling atoms to around -270°C as well as for studying the body in medical scanners. However, analysis of the amounts of helium readily available is now disturbingly limited. The inert gas is being used exceedingly in party balloons and this is restricting the amount accessible for scientists who desperately need it.
End of the ice? The National Snow and Ice Data Centre reported in August 2012 that the sea ice of the Arctic has hit an all time low. The summer melting has reduced the ice coverage to 1.6 sq miles, the smallest we have ever seen it! As sea ice plays a crucial role in our climate, this is very worrying news.
Under the sea Hollywood movie director, James Cameron, has plunged solo to the very depths of the Mariana Trench, in the western Pacific, the deepest part in the ocean. The descent, in a submarine intended like a torpedo called Deepsea Challenger took just over two hours to reach the ocean floor before returning at a much quicker rate. The vessel is designed with functional cameras and lights, so Cameron could record the entire expedition as a documentary, and is the first manned voyage to these depths in over 50 years.
The end of an era The first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong, passed away at the age of 82 on 25th August 2012. Armstrong was a prominent NASA scientist and made the successful trip to the moon in 1969, planting the American flag onto its surface.
Getting Cosmic A Scottish distillery has become the first in the world to mature their whiskey in space. Whilst the release of Ardberg Galileo whiskey only celebrates the beginning of the experiment, only time will tell of the effects of zero gravity on whiskey maturation.
www.qmsci.com
www.qmsci.com
Autumn ‘12 | qmsci | 05
Chris Simmonds
Image credit: sanja gjenero, rgbstock.com
news feature
Are the best things in life really free? J
ournal access in the past has predominantly been limited to those that can afford to pay for it. Universities and other professionals pay a fee for students and staff to access these journals without any additional charge. The cost of access to these journals has been estimated to cost universities across the country an outrageous £165 million a year.
expect people who bought it before to buy it again.”
Part of this money is given to learned societies throughout the country, therefore investing it back into the scientific community. However, the UK’s two leading publishers, Wiley Blackwell and Elsevier, are not required to follow this policy. Consequently, each publishing company has seen their profits increase in recent years, including a significant £1.6 billion profit made by Elsevier in 2010.
Further, both public and private libraries are particularly incensed, as their funding is continually reduced whilst the cost of such publications seems only to increase. In 2011, The Economist estimated that university libraries dedicate 65% of their budget to journal access costs.
Many in the scientific community are critical of the need to charge such extortionate amounts for potential life changing research. Sir Tim O’Shea, Chairman of the Joint Information Systems Committee Collections (JISC), has stated “No matter what you are selling, you can’t just charge an arbitrary price and
06 | qmsci | Autumn ‘12
An individual not affiliated with an academic or professional institute must pay $31.50 (around £20) to access just one article of journal published by Elsevier. This is around 10% of what universities and other academic institutions pay in subscription.
Indeed, many academics are boycotting leading UK journal publishers in protest of the high price charged for access. Open access journals often receive very poor “Impact Factors”. These IFs are used as an indication of the relative importance of each journal, taking into account the number of citations received by a paper in relation to the number of times it has been read. Consequently, open access
journals receive poor IFs due to their low level of citations, and are then lost amongst thousands of other journals. It is often costly journals that receive the most citations and therefore have the highest impact factors. Universities receive funding based on the amount of papers published in high impact factor journals. Therefore, many academics shy away from the use of open access journals with low IFs as this would reduce the amount of financial support they receive, and in extreme cases could jeopardise their job. It seems that well-regarded journal publishers have no intentions of reducing their fees for journal access. This may spell trouble for universities across the country dealing with budgets cuts. It seems that those most affected by rising journal access fees will be the academics themselves, as Graham Taylor, director of academic publishing at the Publishers Association, gloomily predicting “The only way for universities to save money is to make people redundant.”
www.qmsci.com
Jennifer Toes
Gale crater We are in you! O
n the 5th of August, NASA landed its very own rover, Curiosity, inside the Gale Crater on the surface of Mars. This marks the beginning of the Curiosity’s two year mission on the planet, which is ostensibly to help answer the age old question of whether Mars has ever contained life, or has the potential to do so in the future. Curiosity is preceded by rovers Spirit and Opportunity; both Mars Exploration Rovers that launched in 2003 and landed in early 2004. These two rovers
have been used to study the rocks and soil of the planet, to understand their environmental, geological and chemical compositions. The objective of the Curiosity is different to that of its predecessors, as it is a project of the Mars Science Laboratory and will test for microbial life and specific organic substances to see whether the Red Planet has ever held, or could ever hold life forms.
Image credit: NASA, JPL, Mars Science Lab: Curiosity Rover
news feature
and Opportunity rovers, the Curiosity is a brilliant feat of engineering. The rover approached the surface of the planet through the use of a parachute device, a jet-propelled descent vehicle, and was lowered the last 20 metres by the “Sky Crane”. It makes you wonder how we can beam photos millions of miles across space from another planet, but you still can’t receive a phone signal in the bathroom!
At ten times the weight of both the Spirit
What has NASA ever done for you? After the Curiosity’s landing on Mars, the naysayers came out in full idiotic force, asking why exactly NASA had spent $2.5 billion (around £1.6 billion) on sending robots in to space. Well, we’re here to tell you all the awesome things NASA has done for you! Created water purification filters that remove 99% of particles from dirty water.
Collaborated to produce heart pumps for patients awaiting life-saving surgery.
Invented LifeShears – used in traumatic car accidents to rip through tough metal.
Helped improve storm and hurricane predictions with shuttle technology.
Brought space-age solar power into the commercial market.
Developed technology to help physicians diagnose impairing brain conditions. Check out www.wtfnasa.com to find out more
www.qmsci.com
Autumn ‘12 | qmsci | 07
08 | qmsci | Autumn ‘12
www.qmsci.com
news feature
interview
Johnathan Smith Epidemiologist Jonathan Smith is a Yale-educated epidemiologist and amateur film maker working on his first documentary feature film They Go To Die which follows the lives of four gold miners working in South Africa who have contracted TB because of their jobs. On World TB Day, Jonathan spoke with QMSCI about his research and the film.
T
this, new lines of antibiotics have been developed for the drug-resistant forms, yet they have much more severe side effects and sufferers may be quarantined.
TB is caused by a bacterium which mainly affects the lungs. It can be passed through the air and has fatal consequences, yet is entirely curable. Symptoms include heavy coughing, extreme fevers, weight loss, and fatigue. The twin epidemics of HIV/AIDS and TB in sub-Saharan Africa account for the greatest public concern in the region.
Jonathan Smith is an epidemiologist at the Yale School of Public Health currently researching the TB/HIV rates of South African gold mine migrant workers. He is currently working on a documentary entitled They Go To Die. It’s based on the lives of four men whom have worked in the mines for years, and have all contracted the drug resistant forms of TB. Jonathan’s use of visual epidemiology to tackle an epidemic has captured the attention of the entire science community for decades and is poised to change the trajectory of the world’s fight against the twin diseases.
Efforts to tackle TB seem to have had recent effect, with the WHO declaring a decline in new cases for the first time, but this is overshadowed by the recent emergence of drug-resistant forms of the disease; MDR-TB and XDR-TB. Treatment for regular TB involves a six month course of antibiotics, but many sufferers do not have access to the drugs or prematurely end the course. Due to
You’ve been following the stories of four men that have spent years in South Africa working in gold mines and the diseases they develop because of it. Can you tell us the direct/indirect health risks gold miners face because of their jobs? TB in gold miners is held up by two main pillars, both of which are other diseases. One is silicosis which is a
uberculosis (TB) causes millions of deaths across the globe every year; in 2010 alone there were an estimated 8.8 million new cases and 1.4 million deaths according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). SubSaharan Africa is particularly affected, with migrant workers suffering the most.
www.qmsci.com
respiratory disease caused by silica dust exposure and the other is HIV/AIDS. Silica dust exposure greatly increases the risk of developing tuberculosis [as] exposure to silica dust not only lacerates the lung epithelia but also enters the alveolar macrophage and renders it useless whilst keeping it alive. So if miners then contract HIV/AIDS on top of this, their immune systems are further compromised leaving them vulnerable to TB and they fall into critical conditions which eventually are fatal. The mines they work in are miles beneath the ground and so for years these men breathe recycled air which is poorly ventilated and are continuously exposed to TB. Finally, these men are being left to die because there is no accountability for their health. The mining companies don’t provide access to healthcare for the miners and so once they get sick they have no option but to return home and die.
Autumn ‘12 | qmsci | 09
Article image credit: Johnathan Smith
Surviving tuberculosis
Tuberculosis is caused by the bacterium:
Mycobacterium tuberculosis They are rod shaped bacteria known as bacilli (single: bacillus) M. tuberculosis is named after the mycolic acid found in their cell walls. Mycolic acid is responsible for the bacteria’s characteristic resistance
The structure of mycolic acid. M. tuberculosis was first isolated by Robert Koch in 1882, who is considered to be one of the founders of microbiology
10 | qmsci | Autumn ‘12
What inspired you to document the lives of these four men and why are their stories so important? When starting this research and designing the research project I asked the South African National Union of Mineworkers to assist me in finding mine workers because simply finding them is a hurdle in of itself, and I remember so clearly that they said they would be happy to help but that mine workers have begun to feel almost like “guinea pigs” because their susceptibility to TB and HIV has been so well studied for decades but they themselves haven’t seen any benefits of all the research that’s been done. This made me think about the point of public health research because so many researchers would go in with no intentions of actually helping the mine workers which is quite pointless given that studies into global health issues should be done in order to find ways to overcome the problems causing people to get sick and die. The stories of these four men, three of whom have passed away since I started the research and filming, are so important because there are tens of thousands of gold miners who work in the mines and they die year after year because of the lack of accountability for the health problems they acquire as a direct consequence of their jobs. This has been an on-going problem and in fact every year there are 760,000 new cases of TB as a direct result of the gold mining industry.
Of the four miners featuring in the film, Mr Mkoko is the only surviving one and tellingly, he is the only one who had access to the health care all four needed. That’s why the film is so important, because we know how to solve these problems but it just isn’t being done yet. The title of the film, “They Go To Die”, is quite haunting and particularly fitting; what’s the story behind this title? “They go to die” is actually a colloquial term used by those in the gold mining industry and it’s literally because once the miners get sick, they are quite literally sent home to die after having their employment at the mine terminated. The advances in technology and medicine in recent years has been staggering. TB is curable disease and HIV is manageable, so why has health care been out of reach for gold miners working in South Africa? Historically the problems of overcoming disease have been biological. When someone got ill we didn’t know what the disease was or how to treat it but now we live in a world where we do know how to treat the diseases the miners contract and so now our barriers to treating disease are man made. The lack of political will and lack of accountability on the part of the gold mining companies means that the miners aren’t getting the drugs they need. Your documentary highlights the great irony that the devastating health problems gold miners bring back to their families and communities vastly contrasts their initial intensions to www.qmsci.com
interview | Johnathan Smith
“Tuberculosis (TB) caused an estimated 8.8 million new cases and 1.4 million deaths in 2010 alone”
travel and work in the mines in order to earn a living and support those they’ve left behind at home. What impressions have you been left with having seen these effects first hand? That’s right, when the men are sent home to die they usually send their sons to go to the mine to take over the jobs they’ve left and of course their sons then get exposed to the silica dust, subsequently contract TB and HIV and eventually get sent home to die too. One of the first things I thought of when you asked me that question is when I was with Mr Mahaba while he was extremely sick and asking him why he was sending his son to work in the mine he had just come from because I just couldn’t get my head around it and he looked at me and said “What don’t you understand? We have no choice, there are no other jobs”.
litigation going on now where hopefully this law will be overturned and the miners will be able to sue the mining companies for undue exposure to silica dust and poor work environments. Here in London there is actually important litigation going on against one of the mining companies that have their headquarters based here and if these laws get changed then it could result in the entire industry being held more accountable for the health of the miners.
Lawyers are currently pursuing legal action to get compensation for the gold miners and to regulate/reform the gold mining industry. Can you tell us about the on-going litigation in South Africa and the UK?
Epidemiologists are usually expected to conduct traditional scientific research, why have you chosen to make a documentary film instead and how do you plan on bringing more attention to the injustice of gold miners being sent home to die? I haven’t decided to do the film instead of research. The film is actually running parallel to academic research into TB/ HIV rates in gold miners and the film has three strategic components to it. One is the research, second is to engage policy makers and decision makers that can exact the change we need and the third is to mobilise civil society. Visual
Well, currently the miners are bound by South African laws that were made in the era of apartheid which basically say that if the miners get ill or hurt during their time working at the mine, the mine will pay them a small fee but by taking the job the miners are agreeing to not sue the mining companies in court. Now of course this is grossly unjust and unfair but there is some
epidemiology brings a new dimension to research because as researchers we know about epidemics but we don’t know what it feels like. Knowing about epidemics and feeling epidemics are two distinct things and the former is done brilliantly with science and research but the latter is only known by those suffering the diseases and their experiences and opinions are
www.qmsci.com
priceless when trying to combat this issue. The use of visual epidemiology is to translate as best we can the direct impact diseases has on the lives of those suffering and on their families and communities. You’ve been travelling across university campuses in North America with the film. How can students get involved to help champion the cause the documentary brings to light? I’m not trying to push people into doing things but instead want to pull people. Recently I was speaking at a college campus and a young student came up to me who told me that she was changing the direction of her research project so that she could develop a new type of face mask that could be used by gold miners which would work better at stopping silica dust entering the lungs. Students can really help by looking at all the research that’s gone on and the issues raised in the film and then taking initiative to do something to change things. To see clips of They Go To Die visit www.youtube.com/ TheyGoToDie or visit their facebook page for more information and updates: www.facebook.com/theygotodie Autumn ‘12 | qmsci | 11
Poppy Coppins
Image credit: photl.com
features
AIDS and trade: An economic paradox
H
IV/AIDS is one of the most prevalent and debilitating pandemics of the 20th century. UNAIDS have estimated a death toll of 25 million since the pandemic’s beginnings with 5000 people estimated to die every day. Over 16.5 million children have lost at least one parent, 2.1 million of which carry the illness themselves. It has sparked the formation of UNAIDS; the first health-related UN cabinet and has been a top priority of most multinational charity organisations. 97% of all people with HIV/AIDS live in low to middle income countries with Sub-Saharan Africa claiming the highest incidence region with 67% of all HIV/AIDS sufferers living there. Antiretroviral drugs (ARV) were first used to treat HIV/AIDS in 1997 as a means to help manage the virus – but not a cure. Due to the complex nature of the drug and the constant and consistent usage of the medicine it is not by any means cheap. In 2009 the NHS spent £170 million to treat HIV/AIDS patients in London alone. ActionAid have estimated that $22.1billion is needed to obtain universal access to ARV. As the majority of HIV/AIDS sufferers are located in some of the poorest regions in the world cost is a very real issue. A great deal of the cost is encountered developing AIDS medication and towards corporate profitability copyrighting these new medications - providing a monopoly on the pricing within the international market. However despite popular belief copyright is not absolute. Copyright legislation only protects the intellectual property rights of products copyrighted nationally. International copyright laws do vary according to national legislation meaning
12 | qmsci | Autumn ‘12
the practice of copyrights can be different enough to present loopholes. India and China have both displayed variations in their criteria upholding facsimiles of western copyright regulation. The exact methods used in the reproduction of goods were under copyright protection. However, if these methods can be altered to create virtually the same product through a slightly different process, then the copyright does not apply. As a result high end merchandise such as cars, perfume and costly medication underwent a process of reverse engineering where the finished product was dissected of its constitutional parts to understand what ingredients went into them and subsequently create, for all intents and purposes, a mirrored finished product. This influx of cheaper goods decreases the profit of companies on the international market with the original copyright. Whilst the socioeconomic loss of goods is often highlighted, the benefits of cheaper alternatives to exorbitant copyrighted ARVs for poorer countries can be lifesaving. UN investigations predicted as much as 80% of all ARV supply was from India’s cheaper recreations, supplying lowmiddle income countries. With 17,000 donor-funded purchases of ARVs made by 115 of these low-middle income countries between 2003-2008, it is clearly a lifeline to struggling health ministries. The effects of these cheaper ARVS are even more prominent in niche markets supplying children and preventative ARVs of which Indian supply accounted for 90% of the global market.
So if this is such a dream buy for the poorer populations of the world, why is it so contested? India, like China, thrives as an emerging economy. Whilst previously it invested a great deal of money into creating cheaper alternatives to undercut its Western rivals, it is now finding greater profitability in the off-sourced markets their prior competition represent. In 2005, India signed the World Trade Organisation’s ‘Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights’ (TRIPs), subsequently cutting the cheap medical care they provided. This can only have had a negative effect on the estimated 3 million children and 24 million adults that previously benefitted from their cheap ARV alternatives. The collaboration of the Indian Government and WTO over copyright laws in 2005 has ensured the continued success of Western pharmaceutical companies, which spend trillions in research and development creating. This not only creates further employment opportunities in the rising giants of India and China’s growing economies but furthers the profitability of firms headed in Western offices. However when the praised successes of such transactions comes off the backs of 28 million people having decreased accessibility to medication aimed to target the worst epidemic to afflict the human species. In the face of this, the continued success of multinational pharmaceuticals seems very shallow. In the words of Bono: “History will judge us on how we respond to the AIDS emergency in Africa.... whether we stood around with watering cans and watched while a whole continent burst into flames....or not.”
www.qmsci.com
Lele Gelibter
Image credit: stockmedia, rgbstock.com
features
The Mozart effect: Does music make you smarter?
I
t has been theorised from various sources over the years that listening to classical music can make you smarter. Mozart, in particular, has been suspected to be beneficial to your short-term spatial-temporal reasoning. This observed effect has been named “The Mozart Effect”. A1993 study by Frances Rauscher suggested that students who listened to Mozart’s Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major for 10 minutes performed better on a spatial reasoning test than those whom listened to modern music or no music at all. The findings sparked excitement from the general public; specially designed Mozart CDs leapt up the music charts, and special children’s television programmes prominently featuring Mozart’s music began to creep out of the woodwork. After the publication of Don Campbell’s 1997 book The Mozart Effect, the Georgia governor asked for funding for a new Mozart album for every newborn child. However, Rauscher tells of the turmoil that followed; “Generalizing these results to children is one of the first things that went wrong. When that happened I started getting phone calls,” Rauscher says. “Literally death threats from people that were so offended that I would say that rock music was bad for the brain ... which is not what I had said at all.” What Rausher reported was only that listening to Mozart’s music improved spatialtemporal reasoning for about 10 minutes, nothing more. So does The Mozart Effect actually exist? What is now clear is that general intelligence is not affected at all; therefore listening to Mozart does not improve our
www.qmsci.com
intelligence. One important study exposed separate groups of rats in utero and postpartum for 60 days, to Mozart’s piano sonata K448, as well as minimalist music by Philip Glass, white noise and silence. After, the rats were observed in their ability to negotiate a maze. The Mozart group completed the maze significantly faster and with fewer errors than the other three groups.
Yanni’s and Mozart’s music was found to have a high degree of long-term periodicity, as opposed to Philip’s Glass music, which showed little long-term periodicity. This may suggest that music with a high degree of long-term periodicity, whether of Mozart or any other composer, would resonate within the brain to decrease seizure activity and to enhance spatial-temporal performance.
A possible explanation for these results relies on the way in which music and spatial imaging are processed within the brain. Certain areas of the brain concerned with mental imaging include the prefrontal, temporal and precuneus regions; the same which are involved in music processing. In this case listening to music would prime the activation of those areas of the brain which are concerned with spatial reasoning.
Despite of all these positive outcomes, a large portion of the academics in neuroscience community remain sceptical and rather believe that The Mozart Effect is rather due to “enjoyment arousal”. This suggests that the observed improvements in spatial-temporal reasoning would not take place in the absence of appreciation for Mozart’s music. “The key to it is that you have to enjoy the music,” Rauscher herself says. “If you hate Mozart you’re not going to find a Mozart Effect”.
Impressively, Mozart’s K488 appeared to exert some beneficial, sometimes striking, effects on patients with epilepsy. Moreover, patients with Alzheimer’s disease performed better on spatial and social tasks after listening to the same sonata.
The story of how the Mozart Effect has become so embedded in popular culture is perhaps due to the mainstream media misinterpreting the results of a single study. Perhaps next we should investigate the Justin Bieber Effect; it’s sure to be a hit with the toddler set!
Are all these results attributable to specifically to Mozart? No improvement of spatial temporal performance was observed in the group of rats exposed to the minimalist music of Philip Glass or other type of music. However, a report by Rideout et al suggests that a composition by the Greek-American musician Yanni was equally effective, as it has a similar structure, melody and tempo to Mozart’s sonata. The common characteristic between Autumn ‘12 | qmsci | 13
Rob Blackler
Image credit: photl.com
features
Science in the media
T
he relationship between the media and the scientific community has for a long time been an uneasy one. In recent years there have been improvements in science media that have helped those on both sides, but a large void between them still remains. In the 21st century, the media is very much at the forefront of society and it is therefore important that science is represented lucidly and truthfully. The misrepresentation of science in the media has often sparked anger amongst the scientific community and the public alike, not least because of the hyperbolic headlines and inaccurate interpretation of scientific information. A new paper in the journal Public Understanding of Science recently investigated the degree of truth and scientific evidence behind 111 health claims reported in ten of the UK’s biggest newspapers over the course of one week. Worryingly, 62% of the evidence behind the claims was categorised as ‘insufficient’ according to the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) system. At a public event held at London School of Economics in April, former science editor at The Times, Mark Henderson, mused that he had learned to avoid using both the ‘B-word’ and the ‘C-word’ ; referring to ‘breakthrough’ and ‘cure’. Perhaps he was wise to do so: both words have strong connotations and, when used in a blasé or nonchalant manner, they can cause unnecessary hype and misplaced belief. Whilst researchers and academics would like to see a boycotting of the traditional
14 | qmsci | Autumn ‘12
media model by removing the journalistic middle man and allowing the fresh, uncensored, unedited research to flow directly to the public, it is impossible to ignore the demands of the everyday consumer of media information. The eyecatching headlines that talk of impending doom and miracle cures are there simply to catch the reader’s attention. We all acknowledge this, yet we don’t necessarily agree with it; however, the papers continue to do it in order to quickly obtain the reader’s interest. Furthermore, while scientists and a considerable number of intellectuals would quite happily read a thousand-word, in-depth article, the truth of the matter is that the vast majority of people prefer to be given a handful of insightful nuggets of information. Most newspaper readers are after a quick hit, rather than a lengthy troll through scientific literature.
“ the journal ... recently investigated the degree of truth behind 111 health claims .... worryingly 62% of the evidence behind the claims was categorised as ‘insufficient’ .”
the genetic engineer as being the ‘bad guy’. Of course it is essentially up to the public to make a decision as to whether they find the work of these scientists favourable or not. However, it is unfair that the media should heap detrimental propaganda upon the research and life-long work of dedicated men and women in the scientific domain. The fact of the matter is that the work being carried out by scientists world-wide can improve not only our understanding of the universe, but also our own way of life. There is nothing intentionally sinister about scientific research, despite the scare-mongering efforts of the tabloid newspaper. If anything at all can be learnt from the media’s previous minor blunders, halftruths and slight exaggerations, it is that it is beneficial for everyone that scientific research is interpreted correctly. It might not be in as much detail as most scientists would prefer, but as long as the scientific information is valid there will surely be less friction felt between the scientific community and the media.
The media is also frequently guilty of portraying the role of scientists in a negative light. Time and time again, knowingly or not, the media has sought to characterise the nuclear physicist or www.qmsci.com
Lucy Wyatt
Image credit: Adrian van Leen, rgbstock.com
features
How the zebra got its stripes
I
t is an age old question favoured particularly by curious schoolchildren and, apparently, a team of scientists in Budapest: Why are zebras stripy? Lots of theories have been thrown around over the years, including those based on camouflage both between lots of zebras in a herd that appear to blend into one another, and on blending into the tall grass of the savannah. However, Gábor Horváth and his colleagues published a paper in the Journal of Experimental Biology this year which shows experimental evidence that the characteristic black and white pattern is actually to deter bloodsucking flies. Tabanids - or horseflies - are a biting species of insect which feed on zebras and other animals in Africa. They, like aquatic insects, are attracted by the way they see light as it polarises against surfaces which have solid colour - like the coats of the animals on which they feed. Tabanids are not only directly bad for animals but also carry disease and distract them from grazing. As such, there would be great selective pressure on the animals they feed on to develop a way of avoiding these flies. Horváth and his colleagues went to a horsefly infested farm and set up model ‘horses’ of different colours covered in sticky oil, so they could count how many flies were attracted to them in a given time. After explaining that horseflies are attracted more to dark hides than light ones, they hypothesised that, unless it was having a special effect, a part dark part light hide would attract an intermediate
www.qmsci.com
amount of flies. In fact, they found that given white, grey, black and stripy options, it was the stripy model which attracted the least amount of flies. Further to that, the narrower the stripes were, the less ‘attractive’ the model was to these blood sucking menaces.
“ the characteristic black and white pattern is actually to deter bloodsucking flies. ” The theory is that these insects respond very well to light which is polarised in a linear fashion. Because black and white reflect light in very different ways, the stripes disrupt the linearity of the polarised light, which causes the insects to be deterred from biting the zebras.
Black with white stripes or white with black stripes?
Zebras are in fact dark as embryos and develop their white stripes before birth. This would suggest that the dark coloured ancestors to zebras were attractive to tabanids, and developed the white stripes in order to offer them protection – nature’s very own fly repellent.
Their findings fit quite well with the actual size and shape of the real stripes of zebras, which are narrower than the threshold level for repelling tabanids, and have a pattern which very effectively disrupts the polarisation of light. The authors concluded that zebras have specifically evolved their pattern in order to be as unattractive to tabanids as possible. With the flies being so numerous in the region and being a large health hazard, there is likely to be a lot of selective pressure to do so.
Autumn ‘12 | qmsci | 15
Chris Simmonds
Up in smoke Cannabis is commonly referred to as ‘marijuana’ It is derived from the hemp plant Cannabis sativa It’s active ingredient is THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) Cannabis, a psychoactive drug, belongs to a class of drugs known as cannabinoids
C
annabis has long been a cause for controversy and debate in our society, with no other drug in the UK having been the subject of such an endless battle over legalisation. The dispute has massively been facilitated by the media, which tends to focus on its murky past and myths – but some believe cannabis could have some advantageous effects. Cannabis, also known as marijuana, is taken from the hemp plant Cannabis sativa, and it was first banned in the UK in 1928. It was used for thousands of years before its chemical properties were fully understood. It is predominantly used as a psychoactive drug due to the principal component, THC or tetrahydrocannabinol. This was identified in 1964, along with numerous other related compounds which are subsequently categorised as cannabinoids. These are insoluble in water and act mainly on the central nervous system (CNS) producing peripheral autonomic effects in addition acting as a depressant. These effects on the CNS allow for a sensation of relaxation and impair the user’s motor performance (consciously controlled movement). Interestingly it has been noted that the actions of marijuana seem to be less potent than that of ethanol, which is consumed by many daily without concern or stigma. Indeed, Professor David Nutt, an ex-chief drugs adviser to the government, has stated that there is a relatively low risk of psychotic illness if taken, especially
16 | qmsci | Autumn ‘12
compared to the many risks associated with alcohol and tobacco. Professor Nutt made a controversial statement before being asked to resign; “If you think that scaring kids will stop them using, you’re probably wrong” Marijuana also has more effect on
the THC is converted within the body to 11-hydroxy-THC, a more pharmacologically active compound which causes the more profound effects. Most is then converted to other metabolites and excreted out the body over several days, even after taking just a single dose of the drug. It is relatively impossible to overdose on cannabis, as it would require consuming thousands of joints to even come close to a dangerous level of toxicity; therefore overdose and fatality are extremely rare. Different levels of harmful chemicals have been observed
THC (Tetrhaydrocannabinol) the main psychoactive component of cannabis
The peripheral effects that cannabis creates within the body include tachycardia, (an increased heart rate,) and vasodilation particularly in the conjuctival vessels – This is what produces the notorious bloodshot eyed appearance of cannabis smokers. Tolerance to cannabis seems to be merely a minor issue as it is usually only seen in heavy users, and withdrawal symptoms are comparable to that of alcohol and much less than that of tobacco, predictably including nausea, agitation and sweating.
When applied as a psychoactive drug in clinical uses, cannabis has the ability to act as an agonist or an antagonist, on two specific receptors within the body; the CB1 and the CB2 receptor. As an agonist, cannabinoids are useful in reducing weight loss in patients suffering from HIV/AIDS and cancer. This action, of acting on a receptor to produce a desired effect, is also seen for cannabis to be used as an antiemetic, by reducing nausea experienced after chemotherapy in cancer patients. It can even be used to prevent involuntary movements in suffers of Tourette’s syndrome or adverse effects of Parkinson’s disease when taking the treatment, L-dopa. As an antagonist, it can help reduce obesity slightly through its’ blocking action, as well as recent research that shows that it can be used to diminish alcohol and tobacco tolerance.
When smoked, the drug effect lasts approximately 2-3 hours. In this time
After understanding the effect the drug has, it should then be possible to look
sensory awareness by creating sights and sounds that are greater in intensity and more vivid and eccentric. These effects are similar to that of LSD, but cannabis has much less severe consequences.
Article image credit: Yikrazuul, Wikimedia; Image banner credit: Gabriella Fabbri, Dez Pain; rgbstock.com
• • • •
www.qmsci.com
features
“If you think that scaring kids will stop them using, you’re probably wrong”
at causes and whether it should be classified as a lower harming drug or legalised altogether. In 2004, cannabis was downgraded to a class C substance in the UK and an immediate and significant fall in its usage was seen. However, statistics have a tendency to obscure the truth and evidence soon amounted that a substantial increase of 50 per cent in people taking cannabis as a therapeutic treatment, receiving much widely acclaimed scepticism. It didn’t help that even possession and usage of the drug could result in just a warning, despite previously being on par with drugs such as amphetamine. Around 66,000 warnings were issued in 2006 alone. Pressing on from this issue, the government retreated on its stance and reinstated cannabis as a class B substance in 2009. Professor Nutt, who was then Advisor to the Council on the Misuse of Drugs, was asked to resign after stating that alcohol was more harmful than cannabis, although several other Advisory Council members resigned in protest to his dismissal. Since then, the feud has deepened further, with more scientists claiming the adverse effects of marijuana are no more than that of smoking a cigarette. “We have to have a car licence; we used to have a dog licence, so why not have a cannabis licence so you can only take it if it is medically safe to do so?” argues Professor Roger Pertwee of Aberdeen University, who believes that by creating such a licence would result in less contaminants than what is currently available and being www.qmsci.com
sold amongst cannabis, on the street. He insists that it will also deter youths from taking it illegally as it is commonly known that marijuana is a steppingstone drug, by which it can lead to more harmful and toxic substances. Its class B categorisation is also in no way related to other substances such as the dangerous mephedrone, which is known to have effects that are fatal. The plan also aims to help save the NHS money, by stopping all treatment to people who are suffering from chronic symptoms of taking the illicit drug.
“there is a relatively low risk of psychotic illness if taken, especially compared to the many risks associated with alcohol and tobacco.” However some people disagree, Mary Brett, of Europe Against Drugs, argues that branding the entire scheme as foolish. “We have been terrible at keeping alcohol away from kids,” she reiterates, “Why would we want to add to our misery?” There is also concern that if cannabis is legalised then people, particularly youths, who smoke it as little as three times a day could receive bronchial damage of the comparison to smoking 20 or more tobacco cigarettes daily, as suggested by research from the British Lung Foundation.
Additional evidence predicts that more crime will actually occur with the legalisation of cannabis due to the physical and mental state of those using it; affecting judgement on decisions such as burglary and rape and therefore creating an unsafe society. Another difficult issue is that of passive smoking; with tobacco use severely criticised recently, resulting in a reduction in usage in public areas, it is well known that damage can also occur through passive smoking of cannabis. This could arise certain complexities as to whether it would be possible prevent a person from perhaps smoking cannabis in a pub, for example, despite the individual retaining a medically relevant licence for it. In this case is it therefore legal to reject this particular therapeutic treatment in a public area? Unfortunately, cannabis is a substance that will bring about debate among anyone who has an opinion on the matter. Even scientists cannot decide whether the drug has had a significant beneficial importance or whether it can be labelled as a failure and that its therapeutic effects are vastly outweighed by potential dangers. Without doubt further research could answer this and may bring cannabis onto the streets in a more legal fashion. Having said that, therapeutic panacea or not, cannabis has the ability to get people talking, in more ways than one.
Autumn ‘12 | qmsci | 17
Bhavesh Gopal
‘No decision about me, without me’; such is the rhetoric of the Conservatives twenty billion pound saving vision of a new health service. To understand the reforms, one must be familiar with the current structure.
STRUCTURAL CHANGES
The current structure comprises of ten strategic health authorities, called Primary Care Trusts that maintain and improve local services whilst ensuring national priorities are carried out in the local area. The PCTs control 80% of the NHS budget and being a local organisation, it can specialise services to specific health problems in areas of England. For example the Tower Hamlets PCT is concentrating its resources in sexual health, acute care and CVD due to the vast mixture of ethnicities, affluent and underprivileged that live in east London. The new reforms propose a new NHS Commissioning Board to control the vast majority of the NHS purse strings. It will directly commission primary and specialised care services, whilst supplying the clinical commissioning groups with 60 billion pounds. Clinical commissioning groups are made of groups of GPs including at least one doctor and nurse from secondary care to aid decision making. The role of these groups will be to commission elective hospital care, emergency care, mental health care and other community health services. This clearly is an egregious amount of work for a group of GPs with 18 | qmsci | Autumn ‘12
limited experience in resource allocation.
CLINICAL COMMISSIONING GROUPS
Clinical commissioning groups aim to put physicians at the heart of the NHS as they have the greatest knowledge of patients’ needs. By making a large amount of managerial staff redundant, £5bn will be
governors whereby at least half will comprise of carers, patients and local people. The board will make sure that NHS and community priorities are met. However, it is imperative to look at the bigger picture. Patients who opt to be treated privately will be given preferential
Image credit: photl.com
The NHS reforms
“It is important to note that the Royal Marsden hospital has increased its profit cap to 30% and is still rated as ‘one of the best NHS providers’. ” saved; these groups essentially cut out the middle man. However, the five years of medical school training GPs have does not provide them with the experience or expertise in dealing with such a large sum of money. According to Yasir Hassan, a NHS Performance Consultant, a large amount of work will have to be outsourced to the private sector. This could lead to a more profit orientated system rather that one driven by patient care.
FOUNDATION TRUST STATUS
Currently NHS hospitals have a 2% cap on the amount of income earned from private means. Under the new reforms all hospitals are to be upgraded to Foundation Trust status which enables this cap to be raised to a monumental 49%. In theory, this can be seen as a good thing because any surplus money that a Foundation Trust earns can reinvested in patient service. In addition, each Foundation Trust will have a board of
treatment over NHS patients because they are able to pay more money. With more NHS beds being used by private patients, this will ultimately lead to waiting lists for operations to increase dramatically. A slippery slope such as this has been deemed as the privatisation of the NHS. Dr. Peter Carter, chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing claims that ‘those who can afford to pay will get faster access to better treatment’. This clearly goes against founding principle of the NHS: healthcare is based on clinical need, not wealth. It is important to note that the Royal Marsden hospital has increased its profit cap to 30% and is still rated as ‘one of the best NHS providers’. Clearly, the coalition will have to find the right balance between supplying the needs of NHS and private patients. Chris Ham of the King’s Fund claims that NHS hospitals ‘should report annually on how they are ensuring NHS patients do not lose out’; if this www.qmsci.com
features
“The new reforms allow patients to pick their healthcare provider more freely, from anyone who is willing to offer it.” were to happen perhaps this aspect of the reform can be successful.
THE INTERNAL MARKET
All NHS hospitals are competing against each other for patients, as they are currently paid per patient number treated. There is a clear reason for this: competition promotes efficiency. It has been shown that healthcare has been improved whilst costs & waiting list times have reduced, so purchasers can buy the best services.
ANY WILLING PROVIDER
The new reforms allow patients to pick their healthcare provider more freely, from anyone who is willing to offer it; this largely includes the private sector. The aim of this is to give patients more choice and involvement in their healthcare decisions. Promoting competition will undoubtedly lead to a plethora of problems. Firstly, due to more patient choice, more hospitals will have spare capacity. With more losses and less guaranteed income NHS providers could be forced to close down. Before the reforms, purchasers could get discounts from providers as they could guarantee a large volume of patients. As this guarantee can’t be met, spending is likely to increase. However, a more long term problem faces the NHS: privatisation. As purchasers become increasingly dependent on a handful of private providers, these providers will be able to take control and www.qmsci.com
raise prices at their whim. To prevent this from occurring, Monitor has been brought in to oversee NHS foundation trusts and protect patients’ interests. It is still not clear how it aims to prevent a monopoly forming to take control of the market.
CHERRY PICKING
Cherry picking refers to private companies picking the aspects of healthcare that are most profitable (i.e. the patients that are easiest to treat). This concept is not a myth. Stephen Lawrence, a GP with an interest in diabetes claims private companies will ‘focus on a relatively easy issue such as weight management but [focus less on] monitoring blood glucose targets [which] is much harder. So it’s likely that the more difficult work will be left to GPs.’ In addition, a 1.8 million patient study by the London School of Economics, found that NHS hospitals with more private providers had a rise the length of time a patient stays at the hospital, and NHS hospitals were left to treat ‘older and less well-off patients’.
a linear relationship to a disease rather than providing integrated care to a meet a patient’s complex requirements’. Hence patient care is likely to suffer as the private sector is not a strong advocate for holistic care.
FINAL THOUGHTS
It is clear that what the former health secretary, Andrew Lansley, envisaged was a dynamic, new NHS with physicians and patients at the heart of decision making. If he is able to find a way of controlling a monopoly by the private sector and limit cherry picking, then the reforms will be a success. One great worry that remains however is how he can implement these changes without the support of the Royal College of General Practioners, who are at the heart of these plans. A free system such as the NHS is inevitably going to be the subject of abuse and the UK population is increasing at a rapid rate; these factors give further prominence to the fact that the NHS reforms are the first step to a slippery slope of privatisation.
Finally, integrated care pathways are a multidisciplinary outline of care for patients with specific conditions. The private sector is looking to expand into these pathways to a greater extent, for example a private company could supply the entire healthcare for stroke or diabetic patients. Dr. Clare Gerada, chair of the Royal College of General Practioners claims that private sector involvement in care pathways will ‘create Autumn ‘12 | qmsci | 19
sport and the Olympics
Pippasha Khan
A
s the world of genetics progresses, we are learning increasingly more about how our genes can drastically determine our natural abilities. Sporting talent is revered by many in our society, and questions have arisen regarding the contribution to such aptitudes by your genes. Nowadays, it is common place for many to visit the gym or to go for a regular jog around the park in order to achieve a higher level fitness. Physical exercise has linked to good health, but could there be other factors that contribute to how easily you could gain the body you want or that trophy you’ve got your eye on? Some people think there could be a set of genes that could indicate superior athletic abilities or the potential to gain them. If such a gene can be detected during childhood, is there a possibility that a child could have their career path marked out for them once such a fate has been “decided” by their genome? Just as there are children being trained from an early age in drama and dance, maybe the discovery of an “athletic” gene would instigate parents to encourage their children to succeed in sporting endeavours in order to have a successful and lucrative career? The HERITAGE Family study conducted an experiment to observe the responsiveness of subjects to exercise regarding maximum oxygen consumption, and observed two groups. Responsive subjects improved their maximum oxygen consumption over time with exercise, whereas the non-responsive subjects had no difference in their oxygen consumption after exercise. The difference between these two groups seems to be
20 | qmsci | Autumn ‘12
due to a variance in the creatine kinase gene. High Intensity Training (HIT) advocates intense training for a short, infrequent amount of time. Through such training regimes, it may be possible to only need to exercise for three minutes rather than two hours, and expect the same physiological effect on the body. This could mean that people with less time on their hands can now have some weight (literally) taken off their shoulders with the stress of having to go to the gym
“If a drug could be made to enhance athletic ability, it could spell the end of fair ruling in competitive sports.” being lessened. On the other hand, the HIT programme is not something that can be taken on by any person because of the pressure it can put on your body. Therefore, pre-existing conditions must be considered.
bodies to keep control over which drugs if taken would be breaking rules as strict decisions cannot always be made. Could it be possible to change the natural make-up of your body in order to enhance ability? Testosterone has been used as a performance enhancer by altering the hormones of your body. Also gene doping can help grow extra muscle and increase stamina. If indeed it were possible to differentiate those with natural ability attributed to a certain gene, or enhancement, it could mean that they would be separated from those without enhancements. There is always the possibility that such natural, genetic “enhancements” could be banned from sport. But it could also go the other way, where the innovations of gene therapy are accepted and utilised.
Image credit: London 2012
Could you become the next Usain Bolt?
It seems that no matter the consequences, there is a lot of research surrounding these subjects. It may not be long before you have within your grasp the possibility of obtaining more ways to alter your physiology, or predict the possible future sporting success of your offspring.
Even if there is a certain gene that marks a higher than average sporting ability, are there factors that could sway any natural ability? We already have practises such as blood doping and other performance enhancing drugs such as steroids. If a drug could be made to enhance athletic ability, it could spell the end of fair ruling in competitive sports. There are so many labs in the world that drugs can be created and duplicated rather quickly. This makes it hard for the governing www.qmsci.com
sport and the Olympics
Nikita Singh
Crowd psychology Image credit: Dominic Morel, rgbstock.com
How can you control a crowd and what does it take for them to riot?
A
fter an exciting summer in the capital city with the 2012 Olympic Games, many Londoners may breathe a sigh of relief at the slowly dissipating crowds. Far too many of us can relate to this scene: an eastbound train from Mile End to Stratford at peak times in the middle of August. Hundreds of bodies packed together, humidity rising, a distinct lack of fresh air in the packed compartment with a four minute journey ahead before reaching the fresh(er) air of Stratford station.
Factlets
But what is it about a large crowd that seems to be such a problem? Aside from a clear invasion of personal space, why must crowds be controlled so vigilantly? Excessive crowding is extremely dangerous and it is not uncommon for the result of ‘over packing’ venues to result in deaths, as it takes the pressure of just four people on one person to result in broken ribs. One such example is the Bethnal Green Disaster, where residents sheltering in the tube station from a potential air raid in 1943 panicked after hearing a nearby explosion. The hysteria that ensued caused the deaths of 172 people after a woman tripped on the stairs and over 300 people were crushed in the narrow stairway.
www.qmsci.com
our own beliefs. We are much more likely to get ‘wrapped up’ in the behavior of others, and this is when things begin to get messy.
“Excessive crowding is extremely dangerous – it takes the pressure of just four people on one person to result in broken ribs.” The psychology of crowds must also be considered as an individual’s behavior often changes when people are in groups. There are many theories on how and why this happens, with one such example being the Deindividualisation theory. By simply being part of a mass of people, individuals seem to lose all sense of self, and any sense of responsibility or ability to distinguish between right or wrong. At the same time, the distance between these individuals seem to disappear, and they gain a ‘sentiment of invincible power’ due to their number. Once this individual identity is lost, the crowds are susceptible to contagion – they become unable to resist any passing idea and are easily molded or convinced to carry out destructive behavior, or act upon a passing emotion as their intellect is all but destroyed for that moment. When trapped inside a crowd, we are more likely to behave as others do – even if it is against
Mass Hysteria can cause whole groups of people to suddenly develop the same symptoms of a disease – usually involving fainting and hyperventilation.
The Salem witch trials may have been a case of mass hysteria after several young girls had screaming fits.
However, there are various barriers and methods of control that stop gathering crowds from crossing the critical threshold for rioting. There are the obvious methods such as stewards and signposts to direct crowds and keep them mobile before reaching their destination. However, there are other methods that are not so noticeable; for example, the simple metal ‘bike rack’ barriers. These crowd control barriers are not only a physical barrier but also act as a psychological barrier – providing an aura of structure and authority that remind those present of how they should be acting. Another common method of control is decontamination foam – it marks ‘no go’ areas where people cannot congregate by making these areas wet and slippery, hence crowds are deterred from these locations. The techniques of crowd control cast a large and diverse net, and thankfully there were no major disasters this summer in the capital. Unfortunately for us, we still have to battle the peak time crowds on the central line to get to our 9am lectures.
In 2012, 15 New York teenagers presented with Tourette’slike symptoms but were later diagnosed with Conversion Disorder; where patients have symptoms with no biological cause. Autumn ‘12 | qmsci | 21
sport and the Olympics
Ruth Faulkner
The third pillar of Olympism
“We can host the greenest Games ever” stated BioRegional, the ‘One Planet Olympics’ partner for the London 2012 Olympic Games. It was a bold statement, said with high aims and good intentions but would be difficult to see through. Winning the bid for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games was hailed as a national success which would facilitate positive regeneration in east London. In 2005, sustainability was at the heart of the regeneration plan. High-minded promises will always open up the door for criticism, especially when the idea of a green Olympics is an antithesis concept in itself. The central tenet of the Olympic movement - holding a huge sporting event in a major city every four years, and building large sport and athlete housing complexes to suit this event – is unsustainable in itself. The ‘Green Games’ promises began with the Lillehammer Winter Olympics in 1994. Norway should be heralded not only for its attempts to overcome the inherent environmental problems with such events, but for raising a bar that would need to be matched by future organising committees. The Norwegian Olympic Committee (LOOC) wanted to add a third pillar – the environment – to the two existing pillars of the Olympic movement; sports and culture. They coordinated environmental pressure groups into the planning process, led 20 conscious environmental projects alongside the Games, developed a recycling plan and used natural, local resources for the building of their arenas with strict energy-conserving measures. Nevertheless, the most important legacy of their green Winter Games was the 22 | qmsci | Autumn ‘12
International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) recognition of the environmental pressures of the Olympics, and the addition of new green guidelines for future hosts. The environment had suddenly come on the agenda: “As we enter the Third Millennium, it is the IOC’s chief duty to respect the environment,” IOC President Samaranch commented at the Lillehammer Games. The IOC joined forces with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) with the aim to make sports events and the environment more compatible. Conferences are held twice annually on how to lessen the damage on the environment, and promote sustainability in future host cities. In the last 18 years great successes have been made. Beijing created 720 green spaces and recycling at a rate 23 per cent above the guidelines laid down by the UNEP. Then Vancouver raised the bar once again, with an arena ceiling made from a million board feet of timber reclaimed from forests decimated by British Columbia’s mountain pine beetle infestation and toilets using rain water funnelled from the curved roof of their speed skating track. However, the core problem with mega events remains: the buildings. Despite an increase in water bottle recycling, only one of the 22 venues for the 2004 Olympics Games in Athens remain active – a gross waste of money and resources. The Olympics can positively regenerate an area, as seen in Stratford where an area of toxic sewage was cleaned up and replaced with 300,000 wetland plants and 2,000
native trees. But it is how the large arenas are used after the Games that is most important. A key issue for sustainability is re-use of the buildings to off-set the initial outgoing environmental costs over time. This is an aim that is often cited for mega events, but rarely seen through.
Image credit: London 2012
Ruth Faulkner analyses how the environment became a central part of Olympic planning and how successfully green promises are being met.
Kobi Albert studied the environmental impact of sports events and argued this point, saying: “It is an inherent problem with mega sports events that has not been satisfactorily answered. There are too
“only one of the 22 venues for the 2004 Olympics Games in Athens remain active.” many buildings that are built and then become ‘white elephants’. London already had that problem with Crystal Palace, and now they will have that same problem with the Olympic stadium.” Lack of use for the Olympic buildings leaves not only an unfilled environmental hole, but a financial one. It is estimated that Athens’ underutilised Olympics facilities accrue maintenance costs $124 million (£75 million) per annum, while The Sydney Organising Committee revealed it is forking out $30 million (£19 million) a year just to operate the 90,000seat Olympic Stadium. The London-based Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) is attempting to overcome this ‘winner’s curse’ with smart building. The stadium was built using reused gas pipes and made to be lightweight in design. The basketball www.qmsci.com
“As we enter the Third Millennium, it is the IOC’s chief duty to respect the environment”
stadium is a stroke of genius, as the first disposable sports venue it will be fully dismantled, relocated and reused like a meccano building and sent to the Rio 2016 Games. Likewise, the Aquatics centre has two removal wings and the stadium’s 80,000 seats can be scaled down to a more manageable 55,000. Albert says: “The number of temporary buildings is amazing, and the fact that they will be relocated to areas in need is great, but they still have not satisfactorily resolved the issue of the Olympic Stadium.” While the organisers can be applauded for their smart building, there will still be facilities left behind, creating a constant energy drain on local power sources. These traditional, non-sustainable power sources have taken the place of the promised environmentally friendly energy sources that have been scrapped since building began. The ‘Angel of Leyton’ wind turbine was meant to be a symbol of a sustainable Games but the ODA said it was “no longer feasible” due to new safety rules and design changes. Green Party GLA member Darren Johnson laments the ODA’s failure in this, saying: “Not even managing to generate a measly 20% of the electricity from renewable sources is a terrible failure. It’s hugely disappointing that people visiting the Olympic Park or watching the telly won’t see these very visible signposts to the low carbon future we need.” Moreover, while the ODA have argued they were too ambitious in their carboncutting aims, Johnson disagrees: “If www.qmsci.com
anything they weren’t ambitious enough, for example all new buildings in London already have to reduce their carbon emissions by 20% using renewable energy, so the Games should have aimed to be zero carbon.” Now that the Games are over, only time will tell if London 2012 will join the long list of host cities who made empty promises. Typically, Olympic hosts often lose sight of environmental commitments, due to finances and time constraints. For example, organisers of the 2004 Athens games said renewable energy systems would be fitted in all Olympic buildings. In fact, none was installed. For London 2012, the aim for a carbon neutral torch fell short after experiments to use briquettes made from elephant grass weren’t successfully completed in time.
“... organisers of the 2004 Athens games said renewable energy systems would be fitted in all Olympic buildings. In fact, none were installed.” improvements and environmental oneup-man-ship that we have seen since Lillehammer, it can be hoped that we will soon see a sustainable mega sports event. The question is can the environmental legacy of The Olympic Games be translated into the daily life of the host cities after the event, as that would be a real Olympic success.
The ODA and LOCOG have fallen short of their environmental promises, but others have been met with finesse. When they first promised to transform the Lea Valley in their bid, many doubted their success in Europe’s largest post-industrial wasteland; however, they silenced the doubters. Mega sports events have always impacted adversely on the areas they are to be held in and it is only recently that sustainability and regeneration have been thoroughly considered, so all environmental successes should be celebrated. As Kobi Albert says; “Vancouver started the tradition with sustainability, London has built on their attempts, and Sochi and Rio will take knowledge from London. With time, sustainability will become integral to event planning.” With continued Games-on-Games Autumn ‘12 | qmsci | 23
an eye for science ‘An Eye for Science’ is a brand new section here in qmsci that focuses on research from our very own Faculty of Science and Engineering department over at Queen Mary, University of London. Each issue, we speak with lecturers who provide us with a picture from their research along with a little explanation.
Bacterial microcompartments Some bacteria have icosahedral microcompartments (appears like the Crystal Maze dome) that are able to break down various alcohols to use them as a source of energy. The alcohol breakdown occurs inside this microcompartment in a series of reactions that have toxic and unstable intermediates. In order to prevent these intermediates being released out to the cytoplasm (and therefore harming the cell), the outer shell layer of the microcompartment is constructed by a hexagonal shaped proteins (much like how your bathroom tiles look like). An example of one of the seven types of protein shell is shown in the picture. Some shell proteins have a wide central pore while some do not – this reflects on the individual shell protein types function in the microcompartment (almost acting like a guard controlling the entry and exit of molecules and compounds). This particular shell protein, however, is unique because it is known to consists of iron-sulphur cluster in its central pore. The iron-sulphur cluster was theorised to act like a molecular wire, transferring electrons from inside of the microcompartment out to the cytoplasm. In the end, we would like to piece together these seven different shell types like a big jigsaw puzzle in attempt to understand how they are formed and function.
24 | qmsci | Autumn ‘12
In order to obtain the molecular model, we first overexpress the protein in a genetically modified E. coli. And then break the bacterial cells in order to release the proteins out; this is followed by purification steps (remember that a cell produce many kind of proteins for normal function; thus we need to get rid of them to only get the proteins we want). The purified proteins were then crystallised (proteins come together and solidifies). The protein crystal (about 0.1 µm small) was shot with an X-ray beam, which produced a diffraction pattern. Using a series of complex mathematical formula (which thankfully are now done via computer), a 3-D model can be obtained in atomic level.
Allan Pang PhD student Richard Pickersgill Supervisor School of Biological and Chemical Sciences Queen Mary, University of London
www.qmsci.com
cloak
bump
ground
Achieving invisibility Invisibility has captured the imagination of people all around the world throughout history. Legends, myths and fairy stories have all used this concept, and recently fantasies which have “magic” devices that make characters invisible, like “The Lord of the Rings” and “Harry Potter”, have become hugely popular. Perhaps because of the popularity of these stories, recent news articles reporting on scientific attempts to make “invisibility cloaks” have received widespread interest. One way to design these cloaks is using a novel technique called transformation optics. This design theory allows scientists to change the path of the electromagnetic wave by implementing specially-engineered materials. These designs can require materials with properties that cannot be found in nature, so artificial “metamaterials” have to be used. These metamaterials have a complex internal structure and are in the early stages of development. At Queen Mary, researchers are utilising the theory of transformation optics to design antennas and other microwave devices that crucially avoid the need for metamaterials. Current tried and tested fabrication techniques can therefore be used to manufacture devices that can operate over a wide range of frequencies. Although the prototype “invisibility cloak” has many practical limitations, it has been used to
www.qmsci.com
successfully conceal an object on the ground, so that the bump of the object cannot be detected. The main image shows a radio wave travelling towards the cloaked object on the floor, from the top left towards the bottom centre. Comparing this to images collected before the object was cloaked, it can be seen that there are fewer beams and shadow regions, showing the wave pattern is much closer to that of the flat ground, thus making the object harder to detect. Although perfect invisibility is impossible, this technique shows it may be possible to achieve “acceptable invisibility” under certain circumstances and for specific applications. Improving this cloak is an on-going task, with many obstacles to overcome, including making it operate over wider frequency bands and in 3D. The potential of the underlying techniques will ultimately have a much wider applicability than cloaking alone, and will have a significant impact on future technologies. At this point, “magic” will be a reality, for as Arthur C. Clarke once said, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
Robert Forster Department of Electronic Engineering Queen Mary, University of London
Autumn ‘12 | qmsci | 25
recommended reads qmsci recommends great reads for our geeky readers
The Wavewatchers Companion by Gavin Pretor-Pinney Winner of the 2011 Royal Society Winton Prize for Science Books, The Wavewatchers Companion details how waves exist in everything around us. From radio waves to Mexican waves, Pretor-Pinney describes in fascinating detail the secret currents that govern our lives, and has been described as “making the world around us a more absorbing and enchanting place, thanks to modern science.”
The Geek Manifesto: Why science matters by Mark Henderson Former science editor of The Times and current Head of Communications at the Wellcome Trust, Mark Henderson explains why science is so important for the survival and progress of our society. With scientists constantly besmirched in the media and their research misinterpreted, often affecting important policy decisions, this book brings to light how science is viewed by the public and suggests the awesome ways we can begin to change it.
Bad Pharma: How drug companies mislead doctors and harm patients by Ben Goldacre The witty author of ‘Bad Science’ is back to expose the wrongdoings of pharmaceutical companies that use dubious scientific evidence to misinform health professionals and patients alike. Goldacre deconstructs the distorted pharmaceutical industry through the eyes of a scientist and brings shocking clarity to the shady practices of these companies that claim to want to help patients the world over.
26 | qmsci | Autumn ‘12
www.qmsci.com
science events qmsci recommends cool science events happening around London NOV
12
9 Artificial Intelligence and Robotics UCL “A talk given by our very own Peter McOwan on the future of AI and robotics.”festivities, fascinating displays and discussions of all this scientific.”
13
Science Fiction Lab Royal Institution “A monthly book club dedicated to reading and discussing science fiction novels.”
Festival of the Spoken Nerd Cockpit Theatre
“A witty trio of scientists bring together science and comedy in the perfect mixture of fun and geekery.”
MARCH 2013
Broadcasting Science Exhibition Royal Society “An exciting exhibition chronicling the history of science broadcasting”
Science Lates NHM “Visit the wonderfully fascinating NHM on a Friday night for some dinosaurs with your dinner.”
Why are helium, curium and barium called the medical elements? Cause if you can’t helium or curium, you barium! www.qmsci.com
1 (until)
30
Veolia Wildlife Photographer of the Year Natural History museum “A collection of the year’s best, brightest and most beautiful nature photography.”
A man walks up to a bar and asks for some H O. 2 His friend says ‘Oh, that sounds good I’ll have some H2O too’. The secon d man died.
Jokes by Ambika Kumar
16 (until)
Fall ‘12 | qmsci | 27