Science Spin 55

ISSUE

55

November/Decemberr 2012

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SCIENCE

SPIN

IRELAND’S SCIENCE NATURE AND DISCOVERY MAGAZINE

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Star duSt

Creating the elements for life

No ve m b e r

EarthquakES Due but no one knows when

Where creativity and great science meet

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Looking into the heart of the Tarantula Nebula, a star forming region 170,000 light years from Earth viewed by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Publisher Science Spin Ltd 5 Serpentine Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4. www.sciencespin.com Email: tom@sciencespin.com Editor Tom Kennedy tom@sciencespin.com Editorial support Con O’Rourke Contributing editor Seán Duke sean@sciencespin.com Business Manager Alan Doherty alan@sciencespin.com Design and Production Albertine Kennedy Publishing Cloonlara, Swinford, Co Mayo Picture research Source Photographic Archive www.sourcelibrary.net Printing Turner Group, Longford

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Upfront

2

Star dust Stars had to burn up and die before we had enough elements to create life

11

Predicting earthquakes A leading expert explains how smaller quakes can prepare the way for bigger ones

16

Nobel Physicists Margaret Franklin profiles the winners

19

A healthy diet Researchers at Teagasc are working on foods that help to keep us healthy

21

Science week A preview of some of the events lined up across the country

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Holly Tom Kennedy gives the background to one of our native trees

24

Old corals Anthea Lacchia introduces us to some common Irish fossils

26

Young Scientists Students explain how food can taste too good to be true

27

Dr How’s Science Wows Dr How explores magnets

29

Books Feathers, chemical connections, and an eye on the weather

30

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Prawn potential

AfTeR capture up to 45 per cent of the Dublin Bay Prawn catch can end up being dumped back into the sea. The reason for this is that they are undersized, and while the idea is to put them back so that they can grow, most of them are thought to die. It is thought that up to 75 per cent of the discarded prawns do not survive the experience.

Dublin Bay Prawns, Nephrops norvegicus, also known as langoustine or scampi, could be worth a lot more if fishing methods were improved.

Dr anne Marie Power, from nUI Galway, is involved in the nEPHROPS project together with the Orkney

UPFRONT

Fisheries association, and other universities in the UK and norway, She commented that inappropriate discard methods are harmful both to prawn populations and the industry. apart from looking for ways to address the problem of discards, the project is developing hatchery technology

Healthy growth for generics

Mylan, a leading manufacturer of generic pharmaceuticals, is expanding operations in Ireland. In april the company, with support of the IDa, announced a €75 million plan for expansion over the coming five years. The company, which has been in Ireland for the past 25 years, is to undertake more R&D. With operations at Dublin and Galway, Mylan employs about 700 people. www.mylan.com

Epilepsy

AbouT 37,000 people in Ireland are affected by epilepsy, a condition that causes seizures. In two out of three people with epilepsy, seizures can be kept under control with medication, but for others, the treatment is not effective.

Identification of a gene involved in epilepsy could lead to a more successful treatment. The gene, belonging to a particular class referred to as microRNA, was identified by researchers at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.

Light but strong

OnE of the concerns that engineers have is that seemingly tough materials can suffer from fatigue. Stress and strain can eventually cause component to fail. as usual, however, nature has already come up with a solution to this problem without having to pay for strength with weight. Professor David Taylor and Dr Jan-Henning Dirks from Trinity College Dublin have found that grasshoppers have wings that can beat hundreds of thousands of times without fail, yet they are ten times thinner than a human hair.

In reporting their study in the journal PLOS, the researchers explain that high performance was not just due to the strength of material, but to its form. The researchers had already determined that

In a paper, published in Nature Medicine, Prof David Henshall explained that levels of microRna-134 were found to be much higher in the area of the brain that sparked off a seizure. This suggests that targeting the gene with drugs could reduce susceptibility to seizures.

Dr Eva Jimenez-Mateos from RCSI reported that a drug, known as antagorir, locks onto the microRna-134, preventing it from acting. Removal of microRna-134 protects the brain from the consequences of seizure, and the drug continues to be effective for up to a month. the insect’s cuticle is one of the toughest materials known, but the wings are so thin that they should not be as tough as they are. The extra strength, they discovered, is due to cross veining. The veins stop cracks from spreading, and according to calculations, they add 50 per cent extra to the wing’s toughness.

that could be applied locally to release juveniles into suitable grounds. Growth trials are to be conducted at nU Galway’s Carna aquaculture facility in association with the Marine Institute and local fishermen. www.nephrops.eu

Balancing act

Females have two X chromosomes, and males have one, so does this create a serious imbalance when it comes to coding for proteins? a team of researchers from EMBlEuropean Bioinformatics Institute (EMBlEBI) in the UK and the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics (MPI) in Germany have found that the activity of genes can be adjusted, so that one can do the work of two. The discovery of an enzyme that can double output was made by studying fruit-fly larvae. The enzyme manages to act on thousands of different genes, and researchers found that the number of transcribing proteins, known as polymerases, attached to the single X chromosome of the male was twice as high as on each of the double Xs of the female.

While these studies were made with fruit flies, the scientists said that a similar mechanism is likely to be universal.

The insect wing has just enough veins to give the strength required, but no more, because they would add to the weight.

So, optimal performance is achieved by striking a balance. The researchers determined that the spacing of veins is just right to stop cracks before they reach a critical length beyond which they would continue to spread. according to the researchers, insect wings could inspire designers to come up with more durable and lightweight wings for micro-air vehicles.

For a video showing how cross veins delay the crack propagation in locust wings — http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal. pone.0043411

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 55 Page 2

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Dangerous parasite

Up To one in five people in the United States have acquired a parasite, Toxoplasma gondii by drinking or eating foods contaminated by its eggs. In some other countries the rate of infection is fair higher. In the majority of cases, the parasite remains dormant, but a study conducted at Michigan State University suggests that it poses a serious risk because it can cause inflammation in the brain. According to Lena Brundin, associate professor of experimental psychiatry at Michigan State University, the presence of the parasite has been linked to a higher rate of suicide. It appears that for some people the risk is higher, but overall those who test positive for Toxoplasma gondii have been found to be seven times more likely to attempt suicide than those who are not inflected.

The primary host for Toxoplasma gondii is any member of the cat family, but it can occur in other mammals as well. The parasite, a protozoa, reproduces in the cat, and from there is can be hosted by a number of different animals, including humans. The parasite takes up residence within the host’s cells, where it is beyond reach of the immune system or medication. The parasite replicates nonsexually, and eventually the infected cell bursts releasing a mobile form, termed the tachyzoite. Those that are not zapped by the immune system, go on to spread the infection.

It is thought that inflammation causes a reduction in the level of serotonin, a neurotransmitter. This in turn can lead to depression.

While disconcerting, Lena Brundin commented that identifying a trigger for biochemical change is a positive discovery, and it could lead to new treatments that would help prevent falling into a deep pit of depression.

Tracking fertilisers

TeCh-SAvvy farmers can now keep use their mobiles to track of how much fertilisers they are using. When farmers buy supplies, they have to plan out how much nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium they need to apply over the year.

An app, developed for Teagasc in collaboration with Furious Tribe and vodaphone makes it easier for farmers to manage these applications by checking how much they are using.

UPFRONT

All wrapped up

InSTeAD of wrapping food products in plastic, it is possible to make packaging from biodegradable proteins. In a project known as Wheylayer, a number of companies throughout europe joined forces to develop a whey-based biomaterial that could be used to package food products.

The project, which received funding of â‚Ź2.5 million under the eU Framework Programme, has now reached the final stage and the first products are expected to arrive on the market within a year.

One of the partners in the project is Dunreidy engineering in Kilkenny, a company with extensive experience in the dairy industry, and as such, no strangers to whey protein.

Field clubs federation

The long-established field clubs in Dublin and Belfast are establishing a federation to share experience and to secure a good future for field studies. The federation welcomes the participation of local field clubs around the country, and in April 2013 there will be an AGM for all participants at the Ulster Museum in Belfast.

One of the main objectives of the federation is to address the decline in field-work experience at university level.

Many leading experts in the areas of entomology, flora and fauna are active members of field clubs, and through the federation they can collaborate more effectively with each other and with university departments. www.dnfc.net

Women outlive men

On AverAGe by the age of 85 there are six women to every four men, and by 100 the ratio is over two to one. So, are women more robust?

The answer, according to scientists from Lancaster University working with colleagues from Monash University in Australia, is that men inherit a disproportionate number of mutations in their mitochondria. Our body depends on mitochondria to provide us with power, so if they are defective, we literally wear out.

The genes that code for mitochondria are peculiar in that they are only inherited from the mother. As Dr Damian Dowling, Florencia Camus, and Dr David Clancy reported in Current Biology, the accumulated mutations have no affect on the female, but they harm the male. Thus, the females can pass on the mutations without having to filter out any defects, but the males have no way to make adjustments.

It is thought that this pattern has had a significant impact on evolution, and in one area the same team of scientists found evidence that some of these mutations are linked to lower fertility in the male, but not in the female.

As Dr Dowling from Lancaster University commented, the mitochondria are hot spots for mutations with an impact on male health.

Keeping tooth decay at bay WhATever about an apple a day keeping the dentist away, coconuts may be as good in fighting tooth decay. researchers led by Dr Damien Brady at Athlone Institute of Technology, have found that coconut oil, following digestion by enzymes, inhibits the acid-producing bacteria that cause tooth decay. According to Dr Brady, digested coconut oil is a natural antibiotic that could be incorporated into dental products.

Patricia hughes, a graduate in veterinary nursing from Athlone Institute of Technology, has been testing the coconut oil as her MSc project under

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 55 Page 3

the supervision of Dr Brady and Prof neil rowan. Following digestion by enzymes, the coconut oil was tested against various strains of Streptococcus bacteria and was found to be highly effective in restraining their growth. In addition, the researchers found that the digested oil inhibits Candida albicans, the yeast that causes thrush.

Tooth decay is a common problem affecting the majority of people, and as Dr Brady commented, incorporating enzyme-modified coconut oil into dental products would be an attractive alternative to some of the additives currently being used. One of the advantages, he added, is that relatively low concentrations have been shown to be effective.

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UPFRONT

Regeneration

Humans and other animals that have progressed further along the evolutionary tree have had to pay a price for increasing complexity. unlike less complex animals, we have lost the ability to regrow organs or limbs that have been lost or injured.

Flat worms, however, have no problem regenerating missing parts, and for this reason researchers would like to find out how their adult stem cells retain their ability to migrate to the right location and proceed to grow into a variety of specialised cells. at the stowers Institute for medical Research, scientists found that this type of migration makes flatworms different from us. In humans, most of the cells, once they begin migrating to wherever

Biomedical research

Killing cancer cells

a PlanT toxin has been modified by scientists so that it acts like a handgrenade that remains safe until a cancer cell pulls out the pin. The drug, which has been shown to work well on human prostate tumours grown in laboratory mice, was derived from a mediterranean plant, Thapsia garganica. Over a thirty-day period tumours were reduced by fifty per cent.

The plant was once known as the “death carrot” because it killed grazing camels. The natural toxin, thapsigargin, was re-engineered by scientists at the Johns Hopsins Kimmel Cancer Centre working with colleagues from Denmark. samuel Denmeade, a professor at Johns Hopkins, reported in Science Translational Medicine that the toxin was modified so that it remains harmless in the bloodstream until activated by a protein released by tumour cells. The toxin then acts on the tumour and the blood vessels that sustain it by blocking a protein, known as the seRCa pump. This pump is essential for the cell’s survival, so the researchers think that it would be very difficult for tumour cells to live long enough to develop resistance.

Phase one clinical trials have already been conducted in 29 patients with advanced cancer, and phase two trials are to start on patients with prostate cancer and liver cancer.

a seRIes of public lectures will be presented by TCD’s school of Biotechnology and Immunology over the coming months.

The lectures are open to the public and are free. They are being given at the stanle Quek Theatre, TCD Biomedical science Institute, Pearse street, starting at 6.30pm.

November 21st 2012, Dr Gavin Davey discusses the need for stem cells.

December 12th 2012, Prof Cliona O’Farrelly talks about the Hepatitis C virus.

January 16th 2013, Dr Jean Fletcher explains how people get ms.

Zebra Mussels

ZeBRa mussels may be small, but they proliferate and their shells block up water inlets. The invasive import has managed to spread throughout inland waterways, often brought in on the bottom of boats.

The mussels are extremely difficult to control, and to find out if there is an environmentally-friendly treatment to prevent their spread, Dr Frances lucy, an ecology lecturer at the Institute of Technology sligo, is carrying out trials at Tullamore Harbour, Co Offaly, with a natural biopesticide.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 55 Page 4

they are needed, lose their ability to change, but in flatworms the stem cells retain their potential to change.

To follow what happens, Dr Guedelhoefer tagged specific pieces of mRna, enabling him to see how the stem cells could produce different types of progeny after arriving at a site. as he reports in the journal Development, the ability to migrate and the ability to develop into a variety of cell types, seem to be separate functions in flatworms. This suggests that there might be a way to change or adapt the rules that determine the behaviour of stem cells.

We share many of these basic rules with flatworms, so identifying a regulating mechanism could open up some therapeutic opportunities for humans.

February 6th 2013, Dr Colm Cunningham talks about delirium, depression and what happens when the brain becomes inflamed.

February 27th 2013, Prof Kingston mills talks about whether vaccines are good or bad.

March 20th 2013, Dr James murray discusses cannibalism, cancer and chemotherapy.

April 10th 2013, Prof andrew Bowie talks about the virus-host arms race.

May 1st 2013, Dr Derek nolan talks about african trypanosomes and sleeping sickness. more information from www.biochemistry.tcd.ie/news/ publiclectures.php nicabhan@tcd.ie

The pesticide, Zeqanox, consists of dead Pseudomonas fluorescens cells, a soil bacterium. although it destroys the digestive glands of the zebra mussel, it is readily consumed with fatal results. at the same time, the pesticide does not pose a threat to other aquatic organisms. according to Dr lucy, this treatment has worked well elsewhere, and the trials will show if it is effective in Irish waters. apart from blocking pipes, zebra mussels gobble up phytoplankton, leaving fishes short of food.

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An alignment of stones at Caguana, Puerto Rico, view towards Polaris. Image: Angel Rodriguez

Astronomical heritage

A web portal has been launched enabling viewers to take a virtual tour around some of the world’s most outstanding astronomy sites. Launched at a meeting of the Astronomy and world Heritage working Group in beijing during August, the web portal maps sites around the world. Clicking on each location brings up the details about each site. Details include the Palaeolithic ‘Ishango’ inscribed bone discovered in Africa, which is thought to have been some kind of calculator, Stonehenge, the Atituiti Ruga plateau in the Gambier Archipelago, and the 15th century Ulugh beg observatory in Uzbekistan. www2.astronomicalheritage.net

Bone grafts

wHen bone is lost through disease or injury, repair is difficult. Not only is it hard to source bone for transplantation, but the procedure is risky. To overcome that problem, Dr Declan Devine, a senior researcher at Athlone Institute of Technology, has been developing a synthetic alternative for use in bone grafts. with the support of a Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowship, Dr Devine is now going to continue this research for the next two years at Harvard University’s Centre for Advanced Orthopedic Studies.

Proteins with bone-healing properties are held within a polymer scaffold and, according to Dr Devine, this makes them work more efficiently. The same type of proteins are currently being used in surgical procedures but, with the scaffolding, lower concentrations are required. Apart from being effective, this reduces the cost of treatment.

Since graduating in polymer technology at Athlone Institute of Technology, Dr Devine has been involved in a number of projects with industry and research institutes.

The Marburg virus VP35 protein shown surrounds the virus’s double-stranded RNA (blue), masking it from immune system detection. Image by Christina Corbaci, The Scripps Research Institute.

Lethal virus

An OUTbReAk of the Marburg virus in a pediatric ward in Angola killed 88 per cent of those who became infected.

The ebola virus likewise is a killer, and scientists have being looking for an explanation as to why these closely related and highly infectious viruses are so deadly.

At the Scripps Research Institute researchers have found that the viruses have an ability to hide from the immune system, and because of this they can

replicate with little or no opposition. normally, the presence of viral RnA would be detected, sparking off an immune reaction. However, as researcher, erica Olimann Saphire reported, Marburg and ebola viruses can mask their presence by surrounding their RnA with a protein known as VP35, making it, for all intents and purposes, invisible.

At present there is no cure for infection by these viruses and most people die within two weeks of exposure. Only a few who are in good enough health and have a strong immune system survive.

Discovering how the viruses manage to hide gives researchers some hope of developing drugs that can break through the mask and stop the infection from spreading.

Maggie Creed at the ceremony in London being presented with the Science Engineering and Technology award by Richard Sadler, CEO of Lloyd’s Register Group. Photo: Prof. Alistair Borthwick MAGGIe CReeD, a PhD student studying fluid mechanics at University College Cork, was presented with a european Science engineering and Technology award for her work on modelling how sediments flow in rivers. Maggie was given the award as best marine technology student for the work she had done as an undergraduate at the Department of Civil and environmental engineering at UCC. entries for the awards were received from 500 students from around europe and, apart from Maggie, there was another award winner from Ireland, Sive Finlay from TCD.

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UPFRONT

A wOrksHOp space for people who want to make rather than just buy things has been opened at Lincoln place in Dublin. The Makeshop is a spinoff from the nearby Science Gallery as space where makers can collaborate on projects and learn how to use tools and materials. A series of workshops is being organised, and the Makeshop is open sunday to Friday from 11am to 6pm, and on saturdays from 10am to 6pm. shorter, dro- in workshops cost €5 and the more advanced workshops, which require pre-booking, cost €30. www.makeshop.ie Patrick Smyth and Timmy Osewa from St Patrick’s Boys School, Galway, getting a view of space during the Sea2Sky event.

Photo: Aengus McMahon.

Sea2Sky

As pArt of European researchers Night in september, science events were held in about 800 venues in 320 cities. In Ireland a range of experiments, competitions, demonstrations and workshops with researchers were held in Galway and Cork under the banner sea2sky. the Irish event was organised by NUI Galway with the support of the Marine Institute, Galway Atlantaquaria and the Blackrock Castle Observatory in Cork.

Commenting on the success of sea2sky, European Commissioner for research and Innovation and science, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, said that events like this bring science to life for many people by engaging the public with experiments, competitions, demonstrations and presentations.

In Galway there was an Accelerating science exhibition at Leisureland and local research was showcased in over 40 stands at the Galway Bay Hotel. scuba divers were in action at the Atlantaquaria and the Marine Institute had their remote Operated Vehicle, which was involved in exploring the Atlantic depths, on show.

Dr Andy shearer from NUI Galway, chief organiser of the event in Galway, was particularly pleased by having the sea2sky events highlighted in a NAsA broadcast on the recent Curiosity Rover findings.

Global participation

ACCOrDING to the European Commission, the EU is responsible for almost one quarter (24 per cent) of the world’s spending on research and innovation. Even so, Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn has said that “going it alone is not an option” and under the funding programme, Horizon 2000, participants will be encouraged to link up with partners around the world. Many of the issues, such as those involving health and security, are global, and the Commissioner argues that openness will also make Europe a more attractive location for research and innovation.

Already, one fifth of the funded research projects involve at least one partner from outside the EU, and under Horizon 2000 links to research institutions and industries around the world would increase.

Marine Institute Foras na Mara

Ireland's National Agency for Marine Research and Innovation

Mapping corals tHErE are extensive areas of cold-water corals offshore, and research student, Anna rengstorf from NUI Galway has been mapping out where they occur. Anna was able to work on the mapping under a Geological survey of Ireland Griffith Award, and her work will help in the management and protection of the reefs. the need to identify where reefs occur has become more important as competition to exploit deep-sea resources intensifies.

Our Ocean

A Shared Resource

www.marine.ie

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 55 Page 7

Wallace on line

Wallace and one of his discoveries, a flying frog.

Vampire stars

AsTROnOMERs have been surprised at how many high-mass and hightemperature stars have a companion. in these binary systems, material can be exchanged, and ultimately a quarter or more of them are likely to merge.

By measuring fluctuations in the light from these stars as they are observed from EsO’s Very Large Telescope, astronomers found that about 75 per cent of what are known as O-type stars are paired in a binary system. The O-type stars are 15 or more times the mass of our sun, and so hot, at over 30,000 ºC on the surface, that they shine with a brilliant blue-white light.

These stars, which are not that common compared to all the others in the Universe, burn bright, but they have relatively short and violent lives. Because they are so active, the O-type stars have a big impact on their surroundings.

Many of these that exist in pairs are close enough for them to interact, and those that take material from the other have become known as the “vampire” stars.

The existence of so many binary systems is making astronomers revise some of their ideas on how the Universe evolved. The vampire stars can draw hydrogen away from its larger companion, adding to its mass. At the same time, the hot core of the victim star is exposed because its outer coat has been removed. if the vampire had not stolen its coat, the victim star would have gone on to become a red giant.

Observed from a great distance, astronomers can be mislead by the brightness of this light into thinking that these stars are younger than they actually are.

One of the astronomers reporting on this in the journal Science, selma de Mink, said that assuming that stars are single can lead to wrong conclusions, and we now understand that not alone are binary systems more common than previously thought, but they undergo a completely different life cycle.

The observation has resolved a previously unexplained phenomenon in that about a third of the stars that explode as supernovae are so low in hydrogen.

Satellite observations can provide valuable data on a range of measurements, and here differences in temperature across the Irish Sea are revealed. The ligher purple is cooler, due to run off of water from land, while further out the temperatures are higher.

Satellite watch

An irish company, TechWorks Marine is working with a Greek partner, Planeték hellas, on using satellite data to monitor the quality of coastal water. in the initial trials, the water quality in Donegal Bay is to be monitored. The company operating a large waste-water treatment plant by the bay, Veolia, plans to make good use of satellite monitoring. Veolia also operates big water desalination plants in the Middle East, where trials are also to take place.

On his return from south east Asia, Alfred Russell Wallace began assembling the vast amount of information he had collected. Like Darwin, Wallace had come to the conclusion that life had evolved by natural selection, but in the race to win recognition, Wallace was overshadowed by Darwin.

Because of this, Wallace has never been celebrated in the same way as Darwin, and his published work is not as well known.

To make this work available, Dr John van Wyhe at the University of singapore has assumbled all of Wallace’s writings and illustrations, and these are available to all on line. http://wallace-online.org

Making eggs

ALL of our cells originated from stem cells, including eggs and sperm. however, being able to generate germ cells represents a significant breakthrough in stem cell research.

Researchers at Kyoto University have published results in the Journal Science, explaining how stem cells from mice were reprogrammed to produce eggs, and that these eggs had been fertilized successfully to produce healthy offspring. not alone were the baby mice apparently normal and healthy, but they themselves were fertile. some years ago, scientists at the University of Pennsylvania produced mouse eggs from stem cells, but Mitinori saitou and the team at Kyoto were the first to use them for breeding.

One of the interesting aspects of this development is that the Kyoto researchers produced eggs both from embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells.

Although less than four per cent of the implanted embryos produced live young, the success shows that it is possible to produce a viable egg from cells harvested from some other part of the body. This is the second success for the Kyoto team, who last year produced viable sperm from mouse stem cells.

What works with mice is almost certain to work with humans, and no doubt there will be considerable interest in persuing this line of research. however, one of the concerns being expressed by researchers is that no one yet knows what the long-term health implications are for the offspring.

PrIMAry TEACHErS ENCOurAGED TO STArT WOrk ON

Primary SciEncE Log BookS

an e xpe rim ent ...

Primary schools across Ireland are taking part in Discover Science & Engineering’s (DSE) Discover Primary Science and Maths Programme, which encourages primary school children and teachers to approach science and maths in a fun and interactive way. Last year, more than 6,000 teachers were registered with the programme with 420 primary schools receiving Awards of Science and Maths Excellence.

...

id

1

Today we d

To qualify for an Award of Science and Maths Excellence, schools must keep a log of certain science and maths related activities that they undertake throughout the year. Schools get credit for visiting Discover Science Centres, inviting speakers to the

school to talk about science and maths and displaying their work and other explorative activities. Credits are also awarded for taking part in a number of other DSE programmes including the Greenwave project (www.greenwave. ie), a mass science project tracking the arrival of spring across Ireland, as well as completing activities related to the Engineers’ Week 2013 theme ‘Engineers, bringing dreams to life through curiosity and invention.’

Schools are urged to start working on their science and maths related activities straight away and can register for the Award of Science and Maths Excellence in January 2013 at www. primaryscience.ie.

Discover Science & Engineering proudly presents ....

I’m a Scientist, Get Me Out of Here! is an online

event where school students get to meet and interact with scientists. It’s a free X Factor-style competition between scientists, where the students are the judges.

It pits students against scientists in a live round of intense, fast-paced online live chats. Students get the chance to ask scientists all the questions they want to, then vote for their favourite scientist to win a prize of €500 to communicate their work with the public.

The event is split into “zones” – groups of five scientists and students. There will be “Space” and “Health” themed zones with scientists researching space and health respectively, and a broad range of scientists in the general “Hydrogen” zone.

The event is taking place online from 12-23 November as part of 2012 Science Week and Dublin City of Science 2012.

It’s the first time the event has been run in Ireland and will involve Irish scientists.

How to take part: Visit the site at

http://imascientist.ie

to find out more or register at:

http://imascientist.ie/teachers “I kept finding that I’d ask a question, and they’d give me an answer, and then I’d have loads more questions, and then more, and then more!” student

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 55 Page 9

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UPFRONT An old water flea

A 450 million year old Crustacean, complete with fossilized soft parts, has been found in Herefordshire. One of the scientists involved in the discovery, Prof David Siveter from the University of Leicester, said that what made the 5mm long fossil so special is not that it is a previously un-named species, but that the soft parts have been preserved so well that eyes and the antennae can be made out.

The fossil, named Nasunaris flata, belongs to the same group as water-fleas and shrimps. Their descendants are common today in lakes and oceans, and geologists often use the fossils as indicators of past climates.

Internal image of the fossil showing the soft parts and eyes. Image: David J. Siveter, Derek E. G. Briggs, Derek J. Siveter and Mark D. Sutton.

Another Bedrock species of history A medium-sized primate, similar to a

Later, one of David’s successors, King Hezekiah, fearing that confirmed that this is a previously fruits and vegetation. They live in groups the Assyrians would take Jerusalem using the same approach, unknown species, Cercopithecus and are described as shy and quiet. rerouted the water into the city via a 550 metre long tunnel. It JERUSALEM’s fate was determined by the underlying geology. lomamiensis.

Biologists are concerned that they are velvet monkey, has been discovered in a proved to be a good decision, for in 701 BC, Jerusalem was the At the annual Geological Society of America last Themeeting Lesula monkeys inhabit an area under threat, both from loss of habitat remote area of the democratic Republic only city that the Assyrians failed to take.

October, Michael Bramnik from Illinois University explained forest mature everygreen extending over and from commercial bush-meat hunting. of Congo. Known as the Lesula, the Water still remains a major factor in shaping modern history that underground passageways in the karst17,000 limestone enabled square kilometres between the monkeys were found by John and Terese in the region, and Michael Bramnik said that when he went in King David to take the city. Water was drawn from the Lomami andSpring upper Tshuaps rivers.

Illustration, Kimio Honda, Yale Hart from the Lukuru Wildlife Research search of hydrological maps for other towns and settlements of Gihon, which lay just outside the city walls. The David’s soldiers monkeys live on the ground and Photo, Terese Hart station. First spotted as a captive in he was often rebuffed with a claim that such maps do not climbed down into the spring and by tunnelling under the main in the trees and their diet consists of a village in 2007, genetic analysis has exist. walls got access to the city.

SCIENCE Issue5541Page Page SCIENCESPIN SPIN Issue 10 4

Star duSt animals eat plants, and plants absorb materials from the air and ground, but what did the Earth consume in order to grow? tom Kennedy reports on how the eminent astrophysicist Jocelyn Bell Burnell explains how everything we and our Solar System are made from originated in the explosive death of stars.

W

hile we may not know why we are here, we do have a better idea of what we are made of. As the celebrated astrophysicist, Jocelyn Bell Burnell commented, “We are 65 per cent water, so there is oxygen. There is carbon. Iron in our blood. Some nitrogen. Calcium in our bones …” and so the list goes on down into the much smaller, but vital amounts of sodium, potassium, lithium and the other elements without which life, as we know it, would not be possible.

Jocelyn Bell Burnell, in a captivating presentation at the European Science Open Forum event last July, remarked on how we have come to accept the elements as if they have always been there, yet we seldom stop to think of how they were formed.

As she explained, the story of how all the known elements came to be

Stars in the Pleiades are enormous, bright and young, and they will die young in massive explosions that scatter elements out into space.

Image: Digitized Sky Survey, NASA/ ESA/AURA/Caltech synthesised out of pure energy can almost defy belief, yet we now know that we are the product of a remarkable series of steps. Stars, far bigger than the Sun, died so that we could live.

To begin at the beginning, there was the Big Bang, and that occurred 13.7 billion years ago. What went before?

Was there such a thing as time? No one knows, and as Jocelyn remarked, trying to answer that question is a bit like asking ‘what is north of the North Pole.’

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 55 Page 11

“If we think of it as an explosion,” she said, “it was an explosion without a centre.” While that explosive expansion has continued ever since, the cascade of events transforming energy into matter began immediately.

At first there was immense heat, and as it began cooling, she said , “that’s when Einstein’s famous equation, E=mc2, began to kick in.”

“At that moment,” said Jocelyn, “we have lots of energy, and not much matter” and it would be hard for us to recognise this matter as such. These are exotic sub-sub-atomic particles, and while similar to those that scientists are trying to re-create at CERN, they would be much closer to pure energy, and so be even more elusive than the Higgs Boson.

“After a few minutes the temperature dropped to a cooler billion Kelvin, and

that gave these sub-sub particles a chance of sticking together. When it’s hot, they are banging into each other so much that they break up again.”

With the drop in temperature comes expansion, and that gives these exotic particles a better chance of sticking together. “After about three minutes we begin to get some recognizable particles,” she said. “We get nuclei of hydrogen, some helium, and tiny amounts of heavy hydrogen.”

For this to happen, conditions have to be exactly right. The window of opportunity is extremely small and it soon passes. With further expansion and cooling the particles are too far apart to go onto the next step of forming larger nuclei. “So, we’re stuck with hydrogen,” said Jocelyn.

The stars and galaxies of the early Universe were different from those we observe now because there were no other elements other than hydrogen and helium.

So, how do we get past hydrogen?

This is where gravity comes into play.

If we look deep into the Universe we can observe dark patches composed of particles milling about at temperatures of about ten degrees Kelvin. For various reasons, perhaps a shock wave, some of these particles clump together, like a tiny knot. Once that happens, the clump attracts other particles. “Ten million years later it’s starting to get interesting,” said Jocelyn. As she pointed out, this is what we observe in images of the Horse Head Nebula, where the pink glow is hydrogen.

With growth, the temperature at the centre of the clump begins to climb, and when it reaches about 10 million degrees Kelvin, there is a plasma of hot

Fusion

When the nuclei of hydrogen fuse to become helium, some of the matter is converted into energy. This is the process of fusion that fuels stars like the Sun. Fusion of all the elements with less mass than iron results in a release of energy, but then the opposite happens. If iron nuclei fuse, they absorb energy, so this can put a stop to the creation of heavier elements.

It takes an extreme event, such as a supernovae, to get past this block.

particles, and nuclear fusion begins. This is the reaction that gives us our sunshine, but other than hydrogen, these first generation stars have no elements.

A star can burn away for a long time on hydrogen. Our Sun has been consuming 600 tons a second for about five billion years, and it has enough fuel to keep going for about the same time.

However, the supply eventually dwindles, and when a star gets seriously short of hydrogen, things begin to happen. Having no hydrogen, the star begins to burn what is in effect, the helium ash. Burning helium, explained Jocelyn produces carbon nuclei. “This is the first appearance of carbon,” she said.

This process could continue for about another ten billion years, but all the carbon is locked up in the star’s inner core. However, the star, becoming bigger and dimmer, is dying.

The demise of such a star would give us carbon, but to discover where the other elements come from, we have to look at stars that are a lot bigger than

Jocelyn Bell Burnell’s interest in stars could well have been sparked off by being sent aloft by her architect father to inspect the roof of Armagh Observatory for holes.

After her parents made sure that she was ‘allowed’ study science at school Jocelyn eventually found herself helping to string out wires over a few acres near Cambridge so that radio signals from distant quasars could be detected. Quasars, which were only discovered in the 1950s, are among the most energetic objects known from space, and they are so far away that they are thought to belong to the early Universe.

While working for her PhD Jocelyn’s task was to tune in to these distant objects and pour through reams and reams of paper charts. It was while going through these peaks and

our Sun. Such a group of young massive stars can be seen in the Pleiades, close to Orion. Betelguese, at the top left in the conselation Orion, is another supergiant, and as Bell Burnell commented, they’re a bit like the astrological equivalent of a young man in a sports car. “They are bright, they are flashy, there is no money in the bank, and they don’t last long.”

The smaller stars, she said, in contrast are like the little old women who stay around for a long time When stars increase in mass, the rate at which they burn hydrogen increases. ”The stars in Pleiades are 10, 20, 30 times the mass of our Sun, they are incredibly luminous, they are young, and they will die young.”

In these massive stars there is more overlying material, so the pressure at the centre is so immense that the process of conversion does not end in carbon.

“From carbon,” she said, “you can add particles to make neon, sodium, magnesium,” and all of this happens fast.

A star might take 600 years converting its helium into carbon, but from neon to oxygen might take just a year, and the pace increases. “From oxygen you can build silicon, that takes six months.

In one day, silicon converts to sulphur, then argon, then calcium, then iron and nickel. Then, that’s it, the star, galloping faster and faster to its end has run out of options. “For astrophysicists,” he said, “iron and nickel are the pits. You won’t get energy out of iron.”

The star is now like an onion, with layers of iron and nickel in the middle, silicon, a shell of oxygen, a shell of neon, and the old familiars, carbon, helium and lots of hydrogen, all, however out of reach, but not for long. Iron continues to absorb energy without doing anything

troughs that she noticed a peculiar repeating signal. It was so fast and regular, every 1.3 seconds, that at first she thought something was amiss in her wiring. Jokes were made about discovering aliens, but Jocelyn who thought there had to be a more rational explanation, persisted and found that similar repeating signals could be detected in other areas of space. What she had in fact discovered, was the first known pulsar, an extremely dense core of a dead star, emitting a beam of electromagnetic energy and rotating at high speed so that it appears to pulse.

Since then many pulsars have been found, spinning furiously with such regularity that astronomers use them as high precision clocks.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 55 Page 12

with it, pressure continues to mount, and the core collapses. Whatever surrounded the core finds itself without a base, and rushes in only to rebound, adding to the violence of a massive explosion, and when that happens, everything is scattered off into space.

Massive explosions, the supernovae, were known to occur, but it is rare enough for one to occur close enough to us for it to be observed. “We had to wait 400 years for a good supernova,” said Jocelyn, but then observers had the good luck to find a dying star in the Large Margallanic Cloud, a galaxy about 160,000 light years distant from us. Among the giant stars was one that stood out because it had come to the end of its life and exploded.

The flash from such an explosion is so intense that for a while it can shine out much brighter than the entire galaxy.

Observing this supernovae enabled astrophysicists to check if all their theories on stellar evolution held true, and as Jocelyn commented, “it was a good thing that they check out so well.”

Since then our ability to probe deeply into space has improved, so more supernovae have been observed, and they will continue to occur.

The closest star that is likely to explode at some time in the future is Betelgeuse “It could happen anytime,” said Jocelyn, but at 640 light years away, it’s far enough from us not to be a hazard.

The impact on the surroundings would be catastrophic, but, to be a danger to us, the explosion would have to be within 25 light years of Earth.

Having arrived at iron and nickel, we are still barely half way up the periodic table, and there is still a long way to go before we have all our elements. “There are a lots of very important heavier elements, such as gold, platinum and uranium,” said Jocelyn, and it is possible that they are formed in supernova even bigger than the ones that have been observed.

Jocelyn said formation of the heavier elements seems to be a bit like playing snakes and ladders. Add a neutron to the nucleus and it becomes bigger, add another and it becomes bigger still. Then we land on one that’s radioactive, the element disintegrates, so it’s back down the ladder to start all over again.

Obviously its possible to get past that stage of unstability, and here Jocelyn makes another analogy. Like crossing a river on stepping stones. Most are steady and firm, but then there is one that is wobbly. You could step into the river and get wet, you could fall, or you could leap on to the next in hopes to regain balance.

“A radioactive nucleus is a bit like a wobbly stepping stone,” she said. “If you could hop off before it disintegrates, you could progress to the element beyond.

The way in which this could be achieved could be to add not just one, but two neutrons in rapid succession, so in effect, there is barely time to pause.

For this to be possible, the surroundings have to be awash with particles, a flux that has to persist for long enough for the heavier elements to form.

“What we are beginning to suspect,” said Jocelyn is that gamma ray bursts are pointing us to bigger, more violent explosions where these conditions are likely to occur. “Just what these big explosions are,” she said, “we are not quite sure at the moment, but about once a day a big flash of gamma rays is produced, lasting for perhaps thirty seconds.” Known only since 1973 they have become the focus of intense speculation.

Following these explosions, particles are scattered, adding to the dust of the Universe, and the process begins again, only this time, all the elements have been included.

When a latecoming star, like our Sun forms, it is surrounded by elementrich dust, and in time this condenses into a disk, and eventually planets and asteroids form. As Jocelyn explained, everything in the Solar System has been built from the same materials, but on planets that are closer than us to the Sun, the volatile elements such as hydrogen and helium have been boiled off.

“Basically we are made of the same stuff as the Sun, the product of two explosive cycles, and because we are a third generation, we contain some material from the first explosion, plus material from the second explosion” As late-comers, we have, thanks to our lucky stars, all the elements we need for life.

The pink glow around the Horsehead Nebula in the constellation Orion is hydrogen, and this is in the process of forming clumps that eventually grow into stars.

Photograph: Adam Block, using 0.6 metre telescope at Mt Lemmon Sky Centre, Arizona.

Looking like a witch on her broomstick, the Pencil Nebula is a glowing cloud of wreckage from a supernova explosion that occurred about 11,000 years ago. The nebula, three quarters of a light year across, and about 800 light years distant from Earth, was first discovered by John Herschel in 1835 when he noticed a long ray of extremely feeble light.

Since Herschel’s time, our ability to probe deep into space has greately improved, and the 2.2 metre telescope at the European Southern Observatory in Chile has revealed just how strange this long ray is. The filaments, remnants of a supernova, were shot out in a shock wave moving at millions of kilometres per hour. The shock caused interstellar gas to heat up and glow.

The hottest, glowing blue from ionised oxygen atoms, and the cooler regions glow red from hydrogen.

COLOUR

INK often be anuscripts can a traced back to stery through particular mona by the scribes. the inks used have been an analysis of of substances wide variety a m of flow, g writin For ements; freedo the basic requir Boiled tree found to meet permanency. rooms, high degree of by ink-cap mush clarity, and a ced produ mush yellow bark, the black ered root of the A owers, powd used. cornfl been from have blue bark even strong coffee flag iris, and winter blackened made from the glue. One black ink was with milk or mixed the twigs from oak galls, of blackthorn of ink was made oak trees. One type on comm d by insects on pounds of iron round balls forme , ration was five formula for prepa s of gum, 12 gallons of water pound galls. sulphate, five gallon of oak by volume, 12 12 gallons must and measuring h oak galls for s how big the Collecting enoug show just lt but it sive have been difficu even more exten an and On gum, was. lampblack and demand for ink dirty was made from although very scale Indian ink became a big, grained soot soot, lampblack, n Europe. The producing fine of south easter rs’ ink. industry in parts to make printe d linsee 63 was mixed with

M

COLOUR

The quality of medieval inks had to be high for manuscripts such as this to survive.

This is a page from a medical manuscript, the Book of the O’Lees, preserved at the Royal Irish Academy.

of how colours gives a good idea the colour from The colour wheel By subtracting opposite hue. relate to each other. wheel we get the one side of the

saturation, and Colour has hue, three dimensional brightness, and gh harder to modelling, althou ate to more accur visualise, led ication. systems of classif

The science and art of colour explained by Margaret Franklin and Tom Kennedy. A colourful and informative paperback. €15 post free from www.sciencespin.com

cliff above against a granite schist lying up Vegetation covered Wicklow. is Lough Oular, Co ne Granite which

tion is the Mour during initial event. The excep it developed n years old and to the melting only 55 millio , possibly due Atlantic Ocean basalts (see ding Antrim opening of the crust by the ascen ” earlier). of the Earth’s Rocks other Volcanic e in the base of granit “Basalts and n of hot molte of plates: The generation by the movement to driven is crustal plate sinks the Earth’s crust e, the over-ridden granite (see Figure where they collid liquid it melts to form they release extremely a depth where plates pull apart the crust it in turn melts 3). Where those mantle which the from hot basalt The granite

s oniferous plant

Carb

hibernicus, A. Palaeopteris Co Kilkenny. from Kiltorcan, loachitica, B. Alethopteris Tipperary.

Ballynstick, Co lonchilides, C. Alethopteris colliery, Co from Drumnagh Cork. dendron, D. Root of Lepido Laois.

Towerstown, Co Photographs: Tom

with granite rocks. is well-endowed out from the Figure 15. Ireland northeast stands Mountains is the er — only 55 million years old. of the Mourne significantly young others in being

Kennedy.

67

ROCK AROUND IRELAND

Peadar McArdle guides us around Ireland’s diversified geology.

Paperback €15 postfree from www.sciencespin.com In 1795, the chance discovery of a nugget was immediately followed by a gold rush as people were drawn by the prospect of picking up instant wealth from Wicklow’s Goldmine River.

In this entertaining and highly informative book, Peadar McArdle, former Director of the Geological Survey of Ireland, describes how the frenzy has never really died down, and to this day, panners hope to be rewarded by the glimmer of gold.

Gold Frenzy

The story of Wicklow’s gold Peadar McArdle

Hardback €20 From Dubray, GSI, and selected bookshops, or buy post free from www.sciencespin.com

Albertine Kennedy Publishing ISBN 0 906002 08 7

In the previous quake over 1,000 were killed in Pandang.

WaItINg fOr thE NExt bIg quakE O

f the five worst earthquakes that have been recorded in history, three have occurred within a human lifetime.

One of the world’s leading experts in earthquakes, John McCloskey from the University of Ulster at Coleraine, maintains that this is not just a matter of chance. There have, of course been many more earthquakes, and they will continue to occur, but more of the world’s growing population now live in danger zones.

John was at the Geoconference held last March in Dublin Castle to give the earth science community an update on the progress being made in understanding how and when major earthquakes are likely to occur. As he explained, the news from scientists is not always good, but if governments and aid agencies have a better understanding of what’s going on, many lives can be saved. There are huge differences between the impact of a major earthquake in areas that are not prepared and those that have plans in place to deal with such an emergency.

John’s interest in earthquakes goes back a number of years, but following the 2004 tsunami, he realised that if people had been better informed a great number of people could have been saved. An hour and 55 minutes after Hawaii went on the alert, 300,000 people were killed in Sri Lanka. All it would have taken, he said, is a simple calculation to give those people advance warning, and even worse, he added, was that the wave that followed killed an additional 600. “This wasn’t a failure of science,” he declared. “it was a failure of science to communicate with people.”

There are a number of locations around the world where an earthquake is likely to occur in the not-too-distant

Millions of people live in areas where earthquakes are likely to occur. tom kennedy reports on how one of the world’s leading authorities on earthquakes urges scientists to play a much stronger role in helping save people from un-necessary hardship when disaster strikes. future, and one of these places is Sumatra in Indonesia, lying almost parallel to the active interface between two of the Earth’s great tectonic plates. The Indo-Australian plate is pushing up against the Eurasian plate making this highly populated region one of he most earthquake-prone zones in the world.

Since 2007 there have been five big quakes off Sumatra.

Not alone is this area at high risk, but as John pointed out, it is also more accessible than other locations for scientific monitoring and study. Unlike the recent Japanese quake, there are islands off Sumatra, where it is possible to deploy measuring instruments, and also, coral growth makes it possible to record earthquakes going back for hundreds of years.

John admits that biology did not grab more than a passing interest when he was at school, but he has since become passionate about corals. “I’ve come to love corals!” he declared, and that’s

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 55 Page 16

because they are such good indicators of earthquake activities in the region.

As the Indo-Australian plate pushes up against the Eurasian one, it slides its way down underneath. This process is known as subduction. As this progresses, the offshore islands are pulled down with it, and the corals that live in shallow water have to grow higher to survive. Then, with an earthquake, the islands bounce back, and the corals are left high and dry.

All of these changes, explained John, can be revealed by slicing through the corals.

The average convergence between the plates in this region is about five centimetres a year, and by the city of Pandang in Indonesia, with a population of just under a million, strain has been building up for the past 200 years. At some stage friction between the plates will not be sufficient to hold back this strain. When that happens, said John, there will be an enormous release of energy. The pressure built up over two centuries will be released in 100 to 400 seconds. Islands that have been pulled under will pop up by as much as five metres creating a massive bulge on the surface which will spread out over the next half hour. As happened with the tsunami of 2004, about a trillion tons of water will be lifted up.

Pandang, he said is one of the cities most at risk from a major earthquake, and it does not help that 500,000 of its inhabitants live less than five metres about sea level. In 2004 a tsunami up to fifteen metres high hit Sumatra killing 80,000 people.

What worries John is that most people assume that a long period of relative calm means that nothing is going on.

“At Pandang,” he said, “the plate hasn’t broken since 1797,” but since then there has been about ten metres of slip. “The area is probably stressed a lot more than it was when the big earthquake occurred in 1797,” he said.

Some time before, John had made a study of an area that had not had an earthquake in 150 years. Within days of his paper being published the earthquake he suggested as likely to happen, occurred. A lot of people thought that John and his team had finally found a way to show when an earthquake is likely to occur, but as he said, “but that’s not the case.” All that the study had done was to say that an earthquake was likely to occur, but not when.

The lead up to an earthquake, he said, is quite complex, and an earthquake is not just an isolated event. “Earthquakes speak to each other,” he said, and when stress is relieved in one place, some move on to another location, adding to whatever stress already exists there.

The build-up of stress in an apparently calm area may not be obvious, and in the case of the correctly predicted quake, all it took was a tiny push to set the whole thing off. A firm handshake, said John might be about one bar pressure, but the push that triggered an 8.7 magnitude earthquake was just 0.2 bar. In effect, he said, it was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

This is similar to the situation at Pandang where previous earthquakes are thought to have added to rather than relieving stress in critical areas. “Between earthquakes,” he said, “the game is being set up,” for stress does not spread out in a uniform way. “The coupling between plates is higher in some places,” he said, in much the same way as we might think of a difference between rubbing up against sandpaper or gliding over ice.

Because of this, where plates can slip past each other, there is a minimum build up of strain, but where resistance is high, the pressure builds up until eventually everything gives way in a massive quake.

In dealing with earthquakes, said John, you really need a lot of information, and what happened in the past can have a big bearing on what will happen in the future. “In a holistic model, you can’t afford to ignore any data,” and as he admits, it is just not possible to say when an earthquake will occur, but we can be reasonably certain that one will occur.

It is important for people to be prepared, he said, and scientifically accurate information about what will happen has to be communicated in an effective way. For example, modelling can

Sumatra

Plate movement the orange lines show where the Earth’s plates are pushing against each other. as one is pushed down under the other, earthquakes occur. show how a tsunami will unexpectedly surge to an extra height through streets, and it is possible to inform people that they are living in an area of high risk.

John has taken a keen interest in the welfare of those he knows to be at risk, and one of his concerns is that the impact of an earthquake would be more severe in Pandang than the same event elsewhere. Fewer people are killed in countries that are prepared for a disaster, and as John explained, a number of factors come into play, so it is not just a simple division into rich and poor countries. The Philippines, for example, are well prepared to withstand natural disasters, while Iran comes high on the casualty rate because houses are built with heavy roofs.

Being prepared does not necessarily mean doing anything elaborate, he said,

and in Pandang, one of the measures he has been advocating is to build a football pitch. Not just any old pitch, but one that is raised up by five metres, so that when a tsunami is on the way, people in lowlying areas have somewhere nearby to head for. Another measure that should be taken is to provide access through high security fences surrounding a big military airport by Pandang. As it happens, these high-security fences separate the densely populated city area from the higher ground beyond. John estimated that up to 100,000 people could be trapped behind that fence.

As John pointed out, dealing with earthquakes is not just a matter of understanding the geophysics, and it is essential for geologists to work with local authorities, aid agencies and schools.

MakINg PrEdICtIoNS JuST because there has been an earthquake does not mean that the pressure has been released and that the area is now safe. Pandang was hit by a quake in 2009, killing over a thousand people and injuring as many more.

Although the city was just 40 km distant from the epicentre, and the earthquake was of magnitude 7.6, the impact, causing about 250,000 people to lose homes, possessions and their livelihood,was relatively mild compared to what could follow.

The reason for this is that the quake was 80 km underground and outside the area where the Earth’s plates are

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 55 Page 17

crunching against each other. The rupture spread in a north-south direction, while a rupture from a plate interaction would go east to west. It is thought that this quake was due to a more ancient area of stress, separate from the pressure that’s building up to a far more damaging earthquake.

One of the worrying aspects of this event is that it might only take a small disturbance to trigger the next quake, and the evidence indicates that this is due, and because it involves the plates, uplift will generate a tsunami. A wave, possibly over five metres high, could hit Pandang just 30 minutes after that earthquake occurs, said John.

Groundwater under the landscape (www.wfdvisual.com)

Groundwater — a hidden resource Did you know that under most of Ireland, fresh groundwater is hidden in the cracks in the rocks and soils below ground? Under most of Ireland there is enough groundwater available for a domestic well but finding a good supply relies upon successfully intersecting a series of open fractures through which groundwater is flowing (an aquifer).

Did you know that in many counties groundwater is used as a major source of water for private and public drinking water supplies? Groundwater resources currently supply water to approximately 26% of the Irish population. Although many of these supplies are located close to potential sources of contamination such as farmyards and septic tanks, good well design can reduce the potential for contaminants to enter wells and is important to ensure that the highest quality of groundwater supply can be achieved and maintained.

Did you know that groundwater is recharged by rain falling on the land surface and filtering down through the soils into the aquifers, but that this can only occur in some places? In some places, the soils are heavy and clayey and the rain water preferentially runs off Groundwater vulnerability map of Co. Limerick. www.gsi.ie/mapping

Did you know that the choices we make about how we use our land can impact on the quality of our groundwater resources, and ultimately our drinking water, streams, rivers, estuaries and the ocean? Much has been done in recent years to improve the way we manage our natural resources but there is much more to do. For example, while 85% of our groundwater bodies are classed as being of Good Status under the EU Water Framework Directive, some 40% of all samples taken from the 285 wells and springs in the Environmental Protection Agency’s national groundwater monitoring network were polluted by microbial pathogens which pose a threat to public health, particularly in the smaller private supplies.

Did you know that there are some simple things you can do if you are overland into nearby ditches and streams drilling a well that will help protect it before it can infiltrate into the aquifer from contamination? Wells should be below. In other places, the soils are more properly lined, screened at a depth where permeable and rain water filters through the quality is good, and adequately to the aquifers, sometimes quite quickly grouted and sealed at the surface to where there are sands and gravels prevent ingress of contaminants. They present. Over many parts of the country should also be located there is rock at, or close up-gradient of, and as far to, the land surface which away as possible from, any means that rain water, and suspected contamination any potential contaminants, sources. Well water should can gain easy entry into be regularly tested and if the aquifers without any water quality problems significant filtration at are identified, appropriate all. Maps have now been water treatment systems produced for Ireland which should be installed. Irish show the importance of guidelines for water the groundwater resource well construction are (aquifer category), and the available at http://www. degree of natural protection Properly finished monitoring igi.ie/publications/codesboreholes, Co. Meath provided by the overlying guidelines.htm.

(J. Deakin). subsoils (groundwater vulnerability). These maps are available Did you know that hydrogeology is to look at online free of charge at — the science of groundwater and that www.gsi.ie/mapping there are many hydrogeologists and Did you know that groundwater feeds into our rivers and streams and keeps them flowing in the drier summer months when it is not raining? Some rivers are supported by a higher proportion of groundwater than others.

In general, the more transmissive the rocks — like the limestones in Co. Galway or the volcanic rocks in Co. Wexford — and the lower the river is in the landscape, the higher the groundwater contribution. Groundwater in Ireland generally has a temperature of 10–11°C, and is much more mineralised than rain water, which means it provides an important life support system for our river ecosystems.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 55 Page 18

groundwater engineers practicing in Ireland that can help you secure a good quality, sustainable groundwater supply, or help you with groundwater quality or management problems?

The Irish branch of the International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH) holds monthly technical discussion meetings, training sessions, and an annual field trip and conference.

Membership is open to all. For further details go to — www.iah-ireland.org

The Nobel Prize in Physics and Schroedinger’s Cat Serge Haroche and David J Wineland, ON working independently

Tuesday, October 9th, it was announced a fragile glass phial containing deadly hydrogen that this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics cyanide gas. The radioactive sample is a quantum has been jointly awarded to a Frenchman, Serge system, such that there is a 50 per cent probability from each other, have that a single atom will have decayed by the end Haroche and an American, David Wineland. found ways to observe of an hour. In the box there is also a switch which The prize was given “for ground-breaking quantum particles experimental methods that enable measuring and will be triggered by the radioactive decay to drop manipulation of individual quantum systems”. without destroying their a metal hammer onto the phial, causing it to break, In a telephone interview, Haroche put it more properties. As Margaret thus releasing the gas and killing the cat. So, in simply, “I use atoms to study photons and he uses Franklin reports, these our imagination, the apparatus is set up, the cat is photons to study atoms.” placed in the box, the box is closed and we wait for developments are Haroche is based at the École Normale one hour. At the end of this time, there is a 50-50 a breakthrough of Supérieure in Paris and Wineland works at the chance that the cat is dead and an equal chance enormous importance that he is still alive. In quantum mechanical terms, National Institute of Standards and Technology in because up to now Boulder, Colorado. the cat is described as being in two different states, it was not possible So what exactly are ‘quantum systems? They are alive and dead, at the same time! As long as the to make direct the particles of which everything is composed, but box remains closed, we do not know whether the which are much too small to be seen by the naked cat is dead or alive. But if, at the end of the hour, observations of eye or even using powerful optical microscopes, we open the box, then we will know for certain. quantum states. which makes them difficult to observe. It is even But here’s the dilemma; opening the box interferes more difficult to track their motion, as attempts to with the system and will cause the wave function do this tends to interfere with that motion. The laws to collapse. Suppose we find the cat is dead, how of classical physics, such as the laws of motion and do we know whether or not it was the very act of gravity, as described by Isaac Newton, break down opening the box that caused the death? It should when we get to very miniscule objects. To deal with be emphasised at this point that this is a ‘thought phenomena on this ultra-small scale, a theoretical experiment’ and no cat was harmed by it! But it model, called quantum mechanics, was devised demonstrates the difficulty of getting any real during the early decades of the 20th century. The information about quantum systems. mathematical equations which describe quantum This year’s Nobel Laureates seem to have David Wineland systems are similar to the equations describing wave solved the problem. Working independently, they motion, so this approach is also known as ‘Wave have devised clever methods for observing and Serge Haroche Mechanics’. In this model, quantum particles are controlling quantum particles. David Wineland described in terms of ‘wave functions’. uses electric fields to trap charged beryllium One of the principal figures in the development atoms (charged atoms are known as ions) and then of wave mechanics was an Austrian physicist, uses photons to measure and manipulate them.

Erwin Shroedinger, (1887-1961), who was awarded Beryllium is element number 4 in the Periodic the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1933. He was invited Table and beryllium ions are very tiny. The ions are to come to Ireland in 1940 by Taoiseach Éamon isolated from their surroundings by being kept at de Valera, to help set up the Dublin Institute an extremely low temperature and pressure, almost for Advanced Studies. He became the Director a vacuum. Carefully tuned laser pulses put the ion of the School for Theoretical Physics, where into a ‘superposition state’ where there is an equal he remained until his retirement in 1955. He probability of its being in either of two possible became a naturalized Irish citizen in 1948, while energy states; a bit like Schroedinger’s cat! retaining his Austrian citizenship. Despite being Haroche has adopted a different approach. He one of the founders of quantum mechanics, he traps photons of microwave energy in a cavity was dissatisfied with some of its results. One consisting of two spherical mirrors a few centimetres problem with quantum mechanics it that it cannot make exact apart. The mirrors are made from a rare earth metal called predictions, but uses statistical laws and deals in terms of niobium, which is a superconducting material. The temperature probabilities. An example of this is radioactive decay. We can has to be kept at just a fraction of a degree above absolute zero. measure the ‘half life’ of a sample of radioactive material. This The cavity is probed using rubidium atoms, which are very large tells us how long it will take for half of the radioactive atoms as atoms go, with a radius of about 125 nanometres. in the sample to decay. But there are billions of atoms in even a The work of Wineland and Haroche has led to the microscopic sample and there is no way of predicting when any development of extremely precise clocks, with much greater particular atom will decay. Another problem occurs when we precision than caesium clocks. It has also opened up the try to correlate events taking place on the quantum level with possibility of a new type of super-fast computer based on what we can observe on the macro scale. The wave equation quantum physics; the quantum computer. may have two equally probable solutions, so a quantum system could be in two different states at the same time!

For more information, visit the official Nobel Website: To illustrate this, Schroedinger proposed a somewhat http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/ ridiculous scenario. He imagined a cat trapped in a steel box, laureates/2012/press.html isolated from the outside world. (We may assume there is enough air in the box to last the cat for at least an hour or so.) In Follow Margaret Franklin’s column on science in the box there is a very small sample of radioactive material and the Westmeath Independent.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 55 Page 19

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A feast of science at ESOF

he thousands of visitors who came to the European Science Open Forum 2012 in July were reminded of how Ireland has a great tradition of excellence in food research.

Teagasc, in partnership with Bord Bia, University College Dublin and the Dublin Institute of Technology, held a day-long “Harvest of Irish Food” during which visitors saw research in action and sampled the results.

Over breakfast at the Food Research Centre at Ashtown, Teagasc Director, Gerry Boyle explained how science is enabling food producers to develop innovative products. As he explained, Ireland already has high quality natural resources, and research is enabling producers to make the best of these by adding value or creating new products.

Ireland has always been a big producer of dairy products, and for one of the ESOF scientific sessions Teagasc’s Professor Paul Ross talked about how milk is nature’s perfect food.

Research on dairy products is intense, given that rapid expansion of the industry is expected as quota restrictions end.

Apart from its direct nutritional value, milk is now known to promote the growth of beneficial gut bacteria. Dr Catherine

O

Stanton from Teagasc expanded on this topic by explaining that milk from Irish herds is high in what are known as conjugated linoleic acid, CLA, a health-enhancing fatty acid. The reason for this is that Irish cows are pasture-fed.

Dr Mark Fenelon from Teagasc reported that there is considerable scope to add even more value to dairy products such as infant formula powders. Such products, he said, have enormous export potential and Ireland has a natural advantage in having an abundance of high quality raw material.

In another ESOF session, scientists from the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre, including Professors Fergus Shanahan, Colin Hill, Paul Ross and Ted Dinan, discussed the emergence of probiotics. Dairy foods have an important role to play in this as they have proved to be the most efficient carriers for delivering these beneficial bacteria to the human intestine.

There is intense and growing interest in producing probiotic foods because of their health-enhancing properties, and Irish researchers are taking an international lead in this field.

When enough is enough

besity has reached epidemic proportions. In Europe, the incidence of obesity has tripled over the past two decades, and with this comes a rise in obesity-related illnesses, such as Type 2 diabetes.

Naturally most people are not happy to live with obesity, but weight gain is difficult to reverse, and many of the available drug-based therapies either lack efficacy, or they have undesirable side-effects.

However, instead of trying to treat obesity after it becomes a problem, Teagasc researchers, Dr Christine M. Bruen and Dr Linda Giblin, suggest that food could incorporate ingredients that tell us that we have eaten enough. The feeling of satiety is nature’s way of limiting over-indulgence, but for a variety of reasons, our bodies are not always receptive to this signal that enough is enough. We sit around and graze endlessly on between-meal snacks, and with no opportunity to burn up a high-energy diet, we gain weight.

The aim of the Teagasc researchers is to identify the natural food ingredients that are most effective in enhancing our feeling of satiety.

The feeling of fullness begins as proteins distend the gut, triggering the release of hormones that stimulate nerves leading to the hypothalamus in the brain. Sensing that enough food has been consumed to maintain the body in good health, appetitesuppressing hormones are released, so we push the plate away. At least, we should, but food can be attractive, and the signalling all too easy to ignore.

Of particular interest is what are known as peptides, amino acid chains similar to proteins, but smaller. Some of these, when released by the action of enzymes on milk casein and

whey proteins, show great promise as natural triggers of satiety. Several studies have shown that increased milk and dairy consumption has a positive effect on body weight and metabolism of fats.

Christine and Linda are working within a Food for Health consortium in which researchers from Teagasc collaborate with University College Cork, University College Dublin, University of Limerick and industry partners, Carbery, Kerrygold, Glanbia and Dairygold. Weight management is one of the main concerns of the consortium, and in pursuit of this aim, the researchers have produced over a thousand different derivatives from milk proteins. At the Teagasc Research Centre in Moorepark these are put through a high-throughput screening process on cultured mouse cells. Peptides that produce a rise in calcium + ions or adenosine monophosphate are considered promising because these are involved in the release of hormones that regulate food intake. These peptides are then examined more closely to see if it would be possible to produce them in bulk, and they are also in vivo tested in mice. Those that seem to have the best potential are then incorporated into feed for pigs.

To date researchers at Teagasc Moorepark have identified fifteen milk fractions that induce satiety in pigs, two of which are regarded as potential front-runners in the fight against obesity.

As the researchers point out, eating food that keeps weight down would be a much better alternative to medical intervention. Consumers could take control without having to endure the negative connotations that often result in people giving up on sticking to a strict diet.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 55 Page 20

A global challenge — how do we feed the billions T

he world’s population broke the seven billion barrier for the first time in 2011 and by 2025 it could be eight billion and rising. We already live in a world where many do not have enough to eat, so will it be possible to produce enough food in the not too distant future to avoid mass starvation?

This issue was the subject of the inaugural Teagasc/RDS lecture by Professor Sir John Beddington in a series on Grand Challenges for Global Agriculture and Food.

As Professor Beddington, who is Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government, explained, while population growth is creating enormous pressure, it is not the only factor involved in building up to a serious crisis. For example, with urbanisation, a growing proportion of the population is making the change from producer to consumer of food. Climate will continue to change, making it difficult, if not impossible to grow traditional crops, and a rising middle-class can afford to buy a bigger share of the available food.

Urbanisation has reached the stage where, for the first time ever, more than half the population live in built up areas. This trend is global, and in Africa by 2025 there will be 1,000 new cities with populations of 500,000 or more, while in Asia, it has been projected that there will be 500 new cities with populations of one million. As more land is covered with concrete, feeding these cities is going to be a problem, especially as production is likely to be compromised by climate change.

Climate change is often perceived to be a problem confined to developing countries, but the impact is global. For example, US agricultural production has been hit by a succession of seasons that have been far from normal, and insurance companies have had to deal with an increasing number of weather-related natural catastrophes. Traditionally, agriculture has been based on the regularity of seasons, and apart from trying to predict change, it can be difficult, if not impossible to adapt established practices. Because of drought, Russia and the Ukraine stopped exporting grain.

Against these difficulties, there is a growing middle-class, and as their standards of living rise, so does their demand for food and energy resources.

Maintaining diversity A

study of older people has shown that gut bacteria have an important role in maintaining good health. A team of researchers from University College Cork and Teagasc Moorepark gathered information on diet, physical activity, immune and cognitive function from 178 older people living in the south of Ireland and related these findings to faecal microbiota. In publishing their findings in the scientific journal, Nature, the researchers revealed that the diet of many older people, particularly those living apart from the general community, is deficient in health-

Teagasc, Head Office, Oak Park, Carlow. Tel: (059) 917 0200

Website: www.teagasc.ie

All together, these factors are showing signs that they are adding up to become a global disaster, not just for some, but for all. Already food is being traded as a precious commodity, and recent price rises have pushed another 44 million people into extreme poverty.

Increasing yields and adding to land under cultivation are among the possible solutions to this crisis, but while there have been dramatic improvements, land is a finite resource, as is water.

At present, agriculture accounts for about 70 per cent of river and aquifer extraction, and it is simply not possible to mine water that cannot be replenished. By 2030 it is thought that the gap between the available supply and demand will be about 40 per cent.

Likewise, while selective breeding has resulted in dramatic increases in yields, there is a limit to what can be achieved, and there is evidence to show that yields have not improved over the past decade. Furthermore, attempts to boost production by using pesticides and fertilizers could be counterproductive in that it would only add to the problems. Two per cent of all fossil-fuel energy is used for fertilizer production, and agriculture currently emits over 10 per cent of our greenhouse gases.

Agricultural activities must increase and productivity has to be high, but only if production of food can become sustainable. This means using less fossil-fuel energy and making more efficient use of resources such as water and land. It also means increasing diversity into such areas as aquaculture and agroforestry.

The lack of efficiency is probably more obvious with energy and water, but at present, food production is surprisingly wasteful. It has been estimated that pests and disease cause more than 40 per cent of food crops to be lost, and the loss does not stop there. Thirty per cent of the food produced from these crops is never actually consumed.

Obviously we have to become less wasteful, and as the speaker pointed out, there is a huge role for science and technology to meet these challenges.

Professor Sir John Beddington, Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government. enhancing bacteria. Bacteria in our gut help us digest food and they produce factors that are essential for health, but as older people become separated from the community, the gut population can decline. As a result general health suffers.

The study highlights the importance of providing a diet that helps to maintain a diversified gut bacteria in older people.

Some of the authors of the Nature paper are pictured at UCC: Professor Ger Fitzgerald, Professor Fergus Shanahan and Professor Colin Hill (all UCC); Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney, TD; Professor Paul Ross (Teagasc); Dr Siobhan Cusack and Professor Paul O’Toole (both UCC).

SCIENCE WEEK 2012 NOVEMBER 11 to 18

Everyday experimenting Just a small sample of all the talks, workshops, demonstrations and other events taking place around the country as part of Science Week. Check with your local colleges and the http:// www.scienceweek.ie/ website for all the up-to-date details.

Robots in Cork

In Cork, the Discovery Science Festival Exhibition in City Hall, (november 8-11) sees the arrival of an exciting new robotics competition to Ireland. The EMC VEX Schools robotics Competition, run in conjunction with the US-based rEC Foundation and the Access office in Cork Institute of Technology, sees Junior Cycle school teams developing their own robots from a pack of parts supplied to them. With help from their teachers and mentors from EMC, students will learn not only robotics, maths, programming and engineering skills, but also valuable life skills such as teamwork and project planning.

Martin o’Flaherty, EMC, who is coordinating the programme in Ireland said “We are very excited to be launching the Vex robotics Competition in Ireland. In addition to promoting STEM, which is key to the smart economy and all our futures, the competition engages students while giving them an educational, fun experience across many disciplines.”

Trainers from the US-based rEC Foundation and VEX travelled to Cork in September to meet with teachers and student teams, and provide training for the teachers and the mentors. The International Competition will involve over 50,000 students worldwide in 2012-13, and some experienced teams from the US and Uk are expected to visit Cork to pit their robots against the Irish newcomers.

A second special feature of the Discovery Festival this year will be a series of Science Magic Shows for 2nd to 5th years in community locations across the city. With the assistance of the royal Society of Chemistry, Antrim-based Paul McCrory will undoubtedly enthral large groups with whizz, bang and pop.

Booking for school sessions and outreach at Discovery: discovery@corkcity.ie or 021 4924044.

Family days in City Hall are open to all: Saturday & Sunday november 10 and 11, 11am-5pm.

Under 16s should be accompanied by an adult please. All activities: €3.50pp or €10 family (2+2 or 1+3).

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths)

Science trax

FOllOWING the success of Science Raps, the alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre (aPC) in Cork is launching new competition in which students can use their multimedia and musical talents to create an entry based on the theme, ‘Everyday Experiments’.

Details will be available soon on the aPC website: www.ucc.ie To view winning Science Rap entries from last year: http://www.youtube.com/user/ Pharmabiotic

Science and Ethics of Stem Cell Research

ThIS IS one of the many roadshows that will be doing the rounds during Science Week.

This workshop provides the background and the science of stem cell research and explores its cultural, ethical and societal implications in an interactive, round table discussion.

Presented by Sue McGrath and lasting 50 minutes. age Group: 12 and over.

More details at: http://www.science2life.com SCIENCE SPIN Issue 55 Page 22

Family Day in Galway

ON SuNDay 25th November there will be a big day out for all the family at NuI Galway. as a follo- up to the Galway Science and Technology Festival, local companies, agencies and institutes will take part in an exhibition, and there will be lots of science shows, a star dome and competitions. all the events are free.

For more log onto www.galwayscience.ie The Galway Science and Technology Forum has a selection of entertaining and educational demonstrations for schools, including 3D clay modelling, exploring the science behind circus tricks, and kitchen chemistry.

The demonstrations are available for schools from 12th to 23rd November 2012.

For more log onto www.galwayscience.ie

Senior Science Quiz

ON 15th November 2012 at 7.30pm a set of questions will appear at exactly the same time in eleven different college venues throughout Ireland. These are the questions being posed for the 21st Irish Science Teachers’ association Senior Science Quiz.

The regional quiz winning teams will then pit themselves against each other at the finals, taking place at Trinity College Dublin on Saturday November 24th. last year about 850 leaving Cert science students took place in the competition. www.ista.ie

Science at Limerick It

SCIENCE experiments presented

by Limerick Institute of technology students at the Aula Max in the Moylish campus. One-hour presentations and a magic show at 9.45am, 11am, 12.15am and 1.30pm Monday November 12 and tuesday November 13th. for 4th, 5th and 6th year students.

Booking from Katie.bourke@lit.ie tel: 061 208286

Immune wars

thUrSDAy November 8th 2012 how does the body protect itself against invading germs? At a rDS Science Live demonstration find out about the world of bacteria and how the immune system holds the harmful ones in check. the demonstration lecture is suitable for ages 10 to 12 and a booking fee of €2 per student is required. two sessions, 10am and 12 noon at the rDS Minerva Suite. www.rds.ie/sciencelive

Physics show

USINg ordinary objects to demonstrate pressure, flight, density, waves, light and magnetism. A mix of multimedia, experiments and group activities for students of 12+ who could be considering taking physics in the Leaving Cert.

More details from: http://www.physics.ie

Maths workshops

LIfEtIME Lab Primary Science and Maths team will visit Cork primary schools to present MathsWorks, a stimulating and fun introduction to elementary maths. Each workshop will include a short presentation before participation in a series of hands-on fun maths-based activities covering multiplication, symmetry, problem solving and transformations all of which motivate pupils to engage maths through sight, sound, touch and movement. Workshops are suitable for one class group at a time and will run consecutively from 9.30am to 2.30pm.

Details from www.lifetimelab.ie

Blast from the past ...

In 1743 the public were invited to witness a series of about 50 “Curious Experiments”. The demonstration was organised by a ‘Professor of Chymistry’, Boyle Godfrey, whose father had worked as a laboratory assistant to Robert Boyle. Boyle Godfrey had financial problems, so undoubtedly the entrance fee he charged was needed to pay off some of his accumulated debts.

A single poster advertising this scientific entertainment has survived and is now part of the Marsh’s Library collection in Dublin.

School students have been invited by Marsh’s Library to meet the challenge of re-creating some of these experiments, so study the list of descriptions and see what your class can come up with. The most ingenious and entertaining recreation of “Curious Experiments” posted on YouTube will receive a €500 award, Closing date for entries is 5pm on Tuesday 30th April 2013.

To find out more go to the Marsh’s Library website: http://www.marshlibrary.ie

And that’s not all folks ..... watch out for more science events 19th November 2012 Cosmic perspective, from planets to the multiverse, lecture by Prof Martin rees. theatre L, Newman Building, Arts Block, UCD. Admission free.

26th November 2012 7.30pm, Ulster Museum Meteorites, lecture by Dr Mike Simms.

Dr Simms explains where meteorites come from, what they are made of and how they get here from space.

Booking in advance required from www.nmni.com tel: 028 9044 0000 28th November 2012, Wednesday rDS Concert hall. how did we get here?

Sandra Delamar talks about pointing the James Webb Space telescope at stars so far away that they belong to the distant past. free, but booking in advance required from http://www.rds.ie/cat_event_detail.jsp?itemID=1099908 SCIENCE SPIN Issue 55 Page 23

Holly photograph, Jürgen Howaldt

Brightening up the darker days, holly produces a crop of fruity drupes enabling hungry birds to survive the winter. Tom Kennedy writes that our native species may be slow to grow, but the wood it produces is worth waiting for and is so fine and hard that it was used to make scientific instruments.

It

is easy enough to be a scholar, but to qualify as a saint one has to be larger than life. A miracle or two always helps, and like other saints, Columcille had to put up with being taunted by the devil. According to one story, the devil threw a bior cuilind, a piece of holly, at Columcille which hit his servant, Cerc, killing him. The saint, enraged, flung the bior cuilind back and whether it hit the devil or not we do not know, but it fell to the ground where it took root. According to the legend that holly tree is still growing in Donegal’s Glencolumcille, for it is only supposed to wither and die on doomsday.

Holly, one of the seven Nobles of the Wood under ancient Irish law, does indeed live for a long time, and some trees over 250 years old are known.

More often seen as a hillside bush, holly can grow into a sizable tree. In 1794, Samuel Hayes, the Irish MP and passionate advocate of forestry who laid

out the Parnell’s Avondale estate, found a holly at Innisfallen, Co Kerry that had a diameter of almost fifteen feet. In 1897 the tree was revisited by members of the Scottish Arboricultural Society, and by that time the diameter had increased by over four inches.

The slow-grown wood is fine grained and hard, and in the past it was used for a variety of purposes, from chariot shafts to mathematical instruments and piano keys. Stained black, holly wood could be passed off as ebony. These days, however the holly trees are mostly plundered for their Christmassy combination of dark green and bright red fruits.

Not all holly trees produce this colourful crop, and while all produce modest white flowers during warmer months, only the females put on a winter display. In planting a single holly there is always the risk that it will grow up to be a disappointingly dull male, and that only becomes apparent when the tree is mature.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 55 Page 24

Don’t try sampling those fruits.

As part of their education, students attending Dublin’s College of Pharmacy were informed that the fruits have a powerful purgative action.

Technically, those berries, wrapping up about four to ten seeds, are not berries at all, but botanically they are classed as fruity drupes. Coffee, olives and cherries are also drupes. The difference between a berry and a drupe has to do with how it was formed, and in a drupe the seed or seeds are surrounded by a fleshy coat, which usually has to rot away, or be consumed, before the seeds are let loose to grow. While the fruits are not for us, they are an important source of food for wintering birds, and by feeding they help with holly propagation.

In the not too distant past, holly was also used to trap the same birds.

It is not so long ago that there was an open market for caged song birds in the Liberties of Dublin. Birdsong from

preventing this from being upscaled into a commercial process? “It comes down the countryside were welcomed by cells to cost.

The catalysts used in these city dwellers it was a cruel and contain a lot but of expensive rare-earth thoughtless in which holly metals suchtrade as platinum and notplayed until asome part.point Trappers stripped bark in the future as thefrom priceholly of oil wood, and to byrise boiling it for some continues and costs of the hours, catalysts an ash-coloured substance was produced decrease will it become economically which a sticky after being to viable became to upscale theseglue photo-catalysts left lie for a few weeks. become commercially viable, the same This for wasadopting “bird lime”, and smeared is true any new technology on branches, it was usedtotothe trap birds so from the steam engine aeroplane, that they could sing songs of freedom adoption is general is a slow process.”for people trappedtoinDr the city.

According Sullivan, future In Ireland,for and throughout all endeavours green chemistsEurope along with we have in the wild is Ilex aquifolium, but energy generation will include, ‘The use in therebiofeedstocks are at least 200 ofChina renewable inspecies, production most of which old natives. processes, the are challenge for chemists There of course, of decorative will be toare, convert theselots feedstocks into varieties, 750 of which are supposed to pharmaceuticals, at the moment if you grow Park,your not the football want in to Windsor make a drug, feedstock one, Royal LandscapeWe which is anbut oil the based hydrocarbon. have isextremely open to the public, close to Windsor good chemists that can take a Castle in London. hydrocarbon and activate certain parts holly varieties popular groups of The the molecule to addare functional with gardeners, especially those with here, there and everywhere, starting awith bit of room to spare,and butbuilding in the USup to a hydrocarbon they are— regarded invasive alien a drug which isasa an selective oxidation that has escaped from cultivation.

In reaction.

What the challenge for green California holly is classed as a pest, and chemists in the future will be starting in Washington state they from a biofeedstock, suchare as regarded cellulose, as “a weed of concern” because their to a which is over-oxygenated compared dense and dark foliage blocks light from pharmaceutical, and therefore selectively reaching native trees and shrubs. deoxygenating the molecule.”

What ideas does Dr Sullivan have for future projects? “We’re going to be concentrating a lot on bio as well as solar energy in addition to the selective

IN NEWSAGENTS NATIONWIDE or SUBSCRIBE

oxidations, specifically bio energy from wood, rather than from soya bean or sunflower oil, the rational for that is when making diesel from sunflower oil you are diverting a food source which has knock-on effects, you’re only using a tiny part of the plant which creates a lot of waste, and when you look at the life cycle of growing these crops and factor in the amount of fertilizer used to grow them, where the fertilizer came from and the amount of CO2 produced to manufacture it, you end up releasing more greenhouse gases than you would be by simply digging oil out of the ground — even more so if you then have to then import this bio fuel. So what we are going to be looking at is cellulose from wood or grasses, where you can use the entire plant to generate the bio fuel.”

Since green chemistry’s inception 20 years ago there have been colossal political and economic The popular maté drink ischanges producedinfrom Ilex the world. Globalisation has risen paraguariensis exponentially, communist regimes have Around the world there areareas 400 to been replaced across wide of500 the species, and it seems that they were globe, the European Union has expanded even more abundant many million years enormously and there has been a huge ago. the Cretaceous theseand shiftDuring in manufacturing fromEra Europe evergreens the USA to were Chinawidespread, and the Far and East.they At the survived the mass extinction that closed same time, electronic communication and off period.

Most of the hollyacross species thethat internet have linked people that we have now branched out way from the the world in an unprecedented survivors about 50 million years ago. that could hardly have been imagined 20 years ago. These changes have been accompanied by increased pressures on the Earth’s resources. Metals that used to be little more than chemical curiosities,

have become valuable commodities in increasingly short supply. And all of this the Ilex species high in of hasMany been of occurring against are a backdrop caffeine, the stimulant that gives the dwindling reserves of oil and minerals, kick to warming coffee. In and Argentina andgrowth many global relentless other countries, instead of coffee or tea, in global population.

Furthermore, drinkers imbibe Yarba maté, traditional nowadays many people havea increased Indian infusion produced from the buds expectations of lifestyle and increased life and leaves of Ilex paraguariensis. When expectancy. theAll Portuguese and an Spanish arrived, the of this poses enormous Jesuits started to set up plantations, and challenge to chemists in order to supply noting seeds had pass through birds the chemicals andtomaterials needed to before they could germinate, they meet the increasing aspirations of hit the on the idea of feeding Maté drupes to world’s population and to do so with poultry and supply they planted the droppings. a shrinking of resources and a Brazil, Argentina and clean Paraguay lack of readily available energy. now have vast plantations producing Green chemists have the extra challenge thousands of without tons of maté every year, and of doing this using hazardous throughout South America drink chemicals, generating toxicthe waste or is enormously popular. causing other environmental harm.

The Jesuits also took strong interest The solutions to how allaof this will be in anotherstill related holly species, Ilex achieved remain unresolved, but guayusa.

The leaves are believed to as have it must be achieved or else society the highest level of caffeine in any plant, we know it cannot continue. Part of the and findswill inside an ancient be tomb show solution undoubtedly found that the Incas valued it so highly as a by applying or adapting technologies stimulant that they would bring it far which already exist or are currently up intodevelopment. the mountainsAnd wellthe outside under other its part natural lowland range. At of first, the Jesuits will require the invention radically condemned guayusa as evil, and then new technologies, employing new ideas they tried cultivating it, partly because and different thinking. The question is it was to be a cure for will erroneously we engage inthough this great challenge sexually transmitted syphilis. with the urgency and focus that a true

sustainability demands? As Paul Anastas, widely regarded as the ‘Father of Green Chemistry’, suggests, ‘We can, and I believe we will, because we must’.

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IRISH FOSSIL SERIES

Curious Corals

Left: Scleractinian coral from Matmor Formation, Jurassic of Israel.

Right: Siphonophyllia, rugose coral, Co. Sligo.

T

Rugosa are an extinct group of solitary and colonial corals. They are built of vertical plates, which can be arranged radially (septae) and are joined by dissepiments, and internal transverse skeletal structures called tabulae. The polyp sits in a cup called a calice. The Tabulata are exclusively colonial and have prominent tabulae, with very short to absent septae. The Scleractinia include all modern corals and are both solitary and colonial. They can live as either reef-building organisms (hermatypic) with photosynthetic algae that boost energy production, or non reef building organisms (ahermatypic).

While the first two groups built skeletons made of calcite, the latter build aragonite skeletons.

In Ireland, corals are common in Carboniferous limestone. They can be found in the following localities, among others: Portrane, Co. Dublin; Portmarnock, Co. Dublin; Gortalughany, Co. Fermanagh; Streedagh Point, Co. Sligo; and Fanore Beach, Co. Clare.

Anthea Lacchia writes that the tropical climate is long gone from Ireland, but an abundance of coral fossils remains. hese days few people associate Ireland with tropical climes and coral reefs.

However, warm, shallow seas once covered the land we stand on. On a miserable, rainy day, you can immerse yourself in these oceans of the past: all you have to do is look for some fossils!

Corals are among the most abundant Irish fossils. At first glance, they look like pale dots that speckle the rocks we walk on. But plenty of detail will appear to those who look closely or with a hand lens.

They are a group of organisms belonging to the Phylum Cnidaria, which also includes sea anemones and jellyfish, and they strictly belong to the Subclass Zooantharia. Their fossil record is very good because they secrete a hard, calcareous skeleton, which becomes easily fossilized. The skeleton provides support for the organism, allowing it to attain larger size. Corals range from the earliest era in geological time, the late Precambrian, right up to the present day and are important reef builders in shallow marine waters.

A coral consists of a polyp, which is the soft part, with a mouth surrounded by tentacles used to gather food and catch prey, and a calcareous skeleton. They can live alone (solitary) or in colonies (colonial).

In either case, the skeleton of a single polyp is known as corallite and it is this structure that we see when examining fossils. In fact, the soft polyp is only preserved in exceptional circumstances.

Corals are marine animals and can be subdivided into three groups: the Rugosa, the Tabulata and the Scleractinia. The

Halysites, colonial tabulate coral from the Silurian of Sweden.

Solitary coral, fanore, 1cm wide specimen.

Photo: Anthea Lacchia.

To find out more‌

Introducing Palaeontology: A Guide to Ancient Life by Patrick N. Wyse Jackson Photos courtesy of Patrick N. Wyse Jackson, TCD.

Aceruvlaria, colonial rugose from the Silurian of England.

BT YOUNG SCIENTIST AND TECHNOLOGY EXHIBITION

To good To bE TruE

Daniel Gallagher and Joshua Gilheany at the RDS.

Powering growth

PeoPle often set up a low-power dog fence to keep their pets from straying.

Dogs get a sharp, but harmless reminder that they have to stay within the bounds defined by the wires.

While out mowing the lawn, Daniel Gallagher and Joshua Gilheany, students at Ballinamore Post Primary School in leitrim, noticed that the grass next to the dog fence always seemed to be longer and lusher than the rest. That got them thinking, so they decided to set up an experiment to see what effect these fences have on plant growth. With advice from their teachers, and help from their parents, the students rigged up two lines, one just below ground and one on the surface. The lines went live, and for fifteen days Daniel and Joshua watched the grass grow.

They then set to work measuring how much the grass had grown over that period. As they suspected, grass next to the electrified wires grew more than their control strip which had not been exposed to the same influence. Grass beside the buried wire grew by an average of 11.7 cm, grass next to the wire above ground grew on average by 11.26 cm, while the control grass only grew by 10.8 cm in the same period.

The students discovered that when others had conducted similar trials with radishes, the same sort of gains had been recorded, so the proximity of charged wires appears to boost the growth of plants in general.

As to why this happens, the students thought that plants exposed to a current might be better at picking up nutrients from the soil, or the electrified wires could have a slight warming effect.

Possibly the growth is stimulated by a combination of these factors and the students said they would be keen to learn more. “We would definitely like to do more science,” they said. (TK)

Why DoeS junk food taste so good that we keep coming back for more? As Kate Brayden and Sian Roberts-Walsh, transition students at loretto College Foxrock explained, the underlying flavours have been enhanced with a controversial ingredient known as monosodium glutamate.

Discovered in 1908 by a Japanese scientist, Kikunae Ikeda, after he noticed that some traditional dishes incorporating some Laminaria japonica seaweed had an extra, hard-to-define but attractive tang. It was not sweetness, it was not bitterness, it was not salt, it was not sour, and in trying to define the taste he found that we have an additional sense, which he named ‘umani’ from the Japanese words for pleasant and taste. The strange thing about umani is that it is not a taste, but it draws out and emphasises flavourings.

Professor Ikeda then began investigating what sort of ingredient was present in seaweed to trigger this sense, and he found that it is glutamic acid, a substance that is involved in many biological processes and indeed is naturally present in many foods.

Having tried to produce different salts of glutamic acid, Professor Ikeda found that sodium glutamate produced the best results, and that it is possible to synthesise it as a watersoluble white powder. he coined the name monosodium glutamate, took out a patent, and by 1909 commercial production began.

From the beginning the product was a great success as a flavour enhancer, and it really took off on a global scale with the defeat of Japan after World War II. American soldiers discovered that plain rations could be made much more palatable by adding a pinch of Aji-nomoto.

Kate Brayden and Sian Roberts-Walsh with a bottle of flavour-enhancing monosodium glutamate.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 55 Page 27

Since then, monosodium glutamate has swept the world, and food producers everywhere use it as an additive. Known by a variety of names, monosodium glutamate has been given the standard e number e621, and after more than a century of use, food authorities on both sides of the Atlantic regard it as safe. however Kate and Sian are not too sure that monosodium glutamate is as safe as food producers would like us to believe. evidence to show adverse reactions or long-term affects, they said, is lacking, and while there is no cause for alarm, hardly any research has been done on how the body responds to continual exposure to this flavour enhancer.

“We looked up the literature,” said the students, “and we found conflicting results,” so they decided to investigate for themselves by conducting a test on brain cells.

Naturally, even a well-equipped school lab is not going to have a supply of brain cells sitting on the shelf, so they made tracks to University College Dublin, where they were made feel at home in the Medical Science department.

“We were made welcome, and everyone was very helpful,” they said. Under the supervision of PhD student, ed Walsh, the young scientists obtained a culture of brain cells, and got to work.

The reason they wanted to work with brain cells is that glutamate is involved in many neurological processes, and, significantly, monosodium glutamate can pass through the blood-brain barrier. This barrier prevents many other chemicals from reaching the brain, so the students wanted to find out if allowing monosodium glutamate through could do any harm.

Using a coloured dye marker, the students were able to determine that above a certain level monosodium glutamate will kill neurons, but as they were careful to point out, the dosage required to do this is much higher than we could get from endlessly feasting on junk foods.

What was more important, they said, is the possible long-term impact of overstimulation, particularly on memory. For this reason they worked not just with any old brain cells, but with those from the hippocampus. This is the region of the brain that forms and stores our memories. hardly anything is known about the possible influence of sodium monoglutamate on the hippocampus, they said, yet the same substance

BT YOUNG SCIENTIST AND TECHNOLOGY EXHIBITION stimulates out appetite, so we eat more foods containing the ingredient.

Food health authorities have a strict limit on how much sodium glutamate can be used as an additive, and as the students observed, people on a normal diet should have nothing to worry about, but those on a poor, but flavour-enhanced diet, might be at risk of consuming too much of an apparently good thing.

Understandably, the students were not too keen to ignite any scaremongering, and as they observed, if the current permitted levels were lowered in response to unsupported consumer concerns, a huge number of food producers would be out of pocket. Pick up any packet of crisps and almost certainly monosodium glutamate is going to be listed in the small print and in

processed foods this flavour enhancer has become almost ubiquitous.

However, as the students observed, creative labelling and a multiplicity of terms means that consumers are hardly aware that its not so much the food as the enhancer that is satisfying their palate.

Tom Kennedy

Eric Doyle and right, Mark James Kelly at their stand in Bratislava.

Euro wINNErS Following their big success at the BT Young Scientist and Technology exhibition, Eric Doyle and Mark James Kelly from Synge Street CBS picked up one of the top awards at the EU Young Science contest.

Eric and Mark were in Bratislava to learn that they were among the three winning teams in the European-wide contest. Talented students from all around Europe completed for these awards, so winning projects have to be of exceptional quality.

Eric and Mark worked on simulating how objects respond to the influence of a combination of attractions, such as gravity. Their project was inspired by the work of an irish mathematician, Diarmuid Ó Mathúna who worked at the Dublin institute of Advanced Studies on

solving the problem of defining planetary motion. The calculations involved are complex, and mathematicians had been grappling with them since the 18th century.

For their project, Eric and Mark decided to take up the challenge of advancing Ó Mathúna’s work. in congratulating the students, the European Commissioner for Research, innovation and Science, Máire geoghegan Quinn, remarked that such work might appear abstract and theoretical, but it is likely to have a number of practical applications, not least being in space exploration. over the years, irish students have done remarkably well in the European competition, and in ireland, Synge Street CBS stands out as a hothouse for

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 55 Page 28

mathematical talents. Earlier this year the teacher, Jim Cooke, who has since retired, was singled out for his success in encouraging students to undertake difficult and intellectually demanding projects.

Eric and Mark’s project was among 79 accepted for assessment by an international jury, chaired by Maria Ana Viana-Baptista, professor of Geophysics at lisbon Engineering institute. All of the 79 projects had already won the top awards in their home countries.

Mark and Eric have been well and truly launched into a science career. Mark is going on to study science at UCD, while Eric is off to Trinity College Dublin to take up theoretical physics.

The two other top teams came from Poland and Austria, and each received a €7,000 prize.

Jakub Nagrodski, a 16-year old student from Poland entered a project on synthesizing a compound that occurs in nature, trimethylguanosine. This compound is of importance because it enables therapeutic drugs to enter the cell’s nucleus. if therapeutic drugs can reach the nucleus there is a possibility that some genetic diseases could be treated. This approach has been used with some limited success in treating Duchenne Muscular Dystropy, a fatal inherited disease. However, there are serious problems, and by modifying the structure of trimethylguanosine it may be possible to overcome them.

Philip Huprich, Manual Schelpner and Daniel Zindl, three 19-year olds from Austria worked on a project to keep the optics of cameras clear using compressed air. Having built a prototype, partly in the school’s workshop, they found that after two months of testing, performance exceed their expectations.

Dr. How's

What a Magnet?

Magnets attract certain types of metals such as iron, nickel and cobalt.

Science Wows! ...exploring Magnets!

Lets learn more!

A magneticfield is not visible to the human eye, hwever, iron filings can be used to show the pattern of a magnetic field.

Did you know... many objects is space are magnetic including the Sun!

The magnetic field around all magnets is strongest at it‛s ends these ends are called the Poles.

One end is called the North Pole and the other is called the South Pole, just like the Earth.

Did you know... the Earth‛s magnetic field deflects charged particles that come from the sun (Solar Wind) and this creates the wonderful lights called AURORA that can sometimes be seen in the sky.

If you put the poles of two magnets together they will either pull together (attract) or push apart (repel); Different poles attract (North and South), similar poles repel!

Magnetic compasses use the Earth‛s magnetic field to determine North, South East and West.

Make it!!!

An electromagnet is a magnet that is produced when an electric current is passed around a piece of iron. Unlike true magnets, electromagnets are only magnetic while the electric current is switched on!

Make it!!!

Experiments you can try

The Earth‛s magnetic field is strongest at the North Pole and the South Pole.

Did you know... small iron rocks on the Earth‛s surface are often natural magnets and these are called Lodestones.

Make an electromagnet!

Experiments you can try

Junior science by Dr. Naomi Lavelle

A magnet is an object thatcan produce a magnetic force around it called a “magnetic field”.

The Earth is one big magnet - it‛s magnetic field is created by the iron that is in the core of the Earth.

Make a compass!

Thread the needle through the cirlce of paper so that nearly all the needle lies on one side of the paper (see below).

Stroke the needle 30 times in one direction with one end of a strong magnet. Lift the magnet between strokes.

Float the cirle of paper on top of the water in the bowl (needle side up). The paper should spin around slowly for a few moments and then stop. The needle should now be pointing North-South. You can confirm this with acompass if you wish!

Wind the insulated wire tighly around You will need..

1M of thin insulated the nail at least 30 times then ask an wire, a large iron adult to strip back the insulation from nail, blue tac, a both ends of the wire, exposing about 1.5 volt battery, 2cm of the wire beneath. Using the blue tac stick one end of the wire to paper clips the + side of the battery and the other end to the - end. Now see if your electromagnet can pick up some paperclips. If you disconnect the batter the paperclips should So what is happening? fall!!

When the wire is attached Some countries to the battery it creates an have started to use electric current that runs through high speed trains called the wire, temporarily magnetising “MagLev” trains that are the iron particles in the nail. operated by powerful Did you know...

When the battery is electro-magnets. the first person to disconnected the nail no notice that electric longer acts as a currents produce magnet! magnetism was a Danish scientist called Hans Christian Oersted, in 1820.

So what is happening?

Needle Paper

Bowl of water

You will need... a circle of paper, a needle, a magnet and a bowl of water.

The needle contains little particles of iron that are all jumbled up. When the nedle is stroked with the magnet it makes all the iron particles align in the same direction (North-South); the needle is temporarily magnetised!

These wheelless trains float on magnetic tracks and can reach speeds of more than 500 km/h.

If you want to know HOW something works why not write to Dr. How and ask? Send your e-mail to naomi@sciencespin.com

It arosewith froma the decomposition of the someone scientific background 01 8964214 and Epigenetics

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However, to reassure thehalf public, of my own experience science Group tcbe@tcd.ie of tiny and cost, Multidisciplinary compared to previous willremains look at of themillions evidence, and plants they will recent episode of cfs@ucd.ie CSI dealt with the itsame theTamboran has recently announced school, it was too corralled, narrowing Research into classical and research onevents sight that it There may still beadditives a buzz around Molecular gastronomy is opening up gastronomy when she attended a the seminar animals that died sank towww.tcd.ie/bioengineering non-classical mechanisms ofand and vision.

Research includes the European Commission have a good grasp of what charts andsea theme showed dramatic will not use any in the fracking down, andand what this event is all images about isof elsewhere, Complex and Adaptive molecular gastronomy but “Note by new area forUCD innovation when called Chefs MeetOn Scientists” at a of a whole transcriptional control. clinical studies, cell growth research, bed“When and became trapped in sediments has doubled its support, and industry statistics actually mean. this point, water from a tap apparently catching water, other than sand, which helps to the opposite.”

Systems Laboratory, CASL Trinity College Institute of it comes to the preparation of food and Note Cooking” is being touted as theafter the in Paris in 2007.

It was a light Drconference Colum Walsh cortical processing of vision and or sand.

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All of this, said Prof of Science programme that appealed a well, because there was so much water has seeped away, thus facilitating voters that aonbig investment is justified, to extracting value from data.

Institute, of Biomedical University of Ulster up a food and At TCD, involvedfood with research textures, flavours and colours. elements which for anSchool interesting to teach science when it is trapped a dome shaped Cunningham, is very positive, and apart strongly to him isway the under “Hacking the City” flammable gasCunningham entrained it.

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Without UCD CASLin 8 Belfield Park, Professor Patrick remarked Sciences, Coleraine Campus, 028 70124374 impact of drugs on brain function spin-off from molecular gastronomy recreating the food using these elements to culinary students, she was enthused Clonskeagh, layer impermeable rock.

Cromore Road. ja.little@ulster.ac.uk and works in collaboration with from Irishadditives, perspective, we are hosting project inofwhich the public willVertical have makes for good TV andDublin cinema thethe usual the extraction of the thatthis there hasthe been no division in the4. fusing them with something else higher to by molecular because of will is enormous,” says Burke.

Sheto is scare peopleor 01 7165327 028 7032 4375 through pharmaceutical industry. drilling thedata. overlying rock Europe’s biggest science conference at open access togastronomy council Hundreds of viewing, it also serves gas will be more costly, because political willbut to maintain support for casl@ucd.ie make something new.

“You could its ability combine with theand, currently overseeing a research project cp.walsh@ulster.ac.uk Education and Outreach Wireless Communications readily release gas. a critical time.will The current data sets, to he said, the are science being released, andGillian make them worried any pressures have to beFramework used.present This is science and research.

When about the idea of Roddie a7 carrot in athe gel formScale or create a mixture culinary arts.

“It really opened up my investigating innovative methods and Large Simulation The Lough Allen Natural Gas Field programme, under which research to take one example, people will be able attempt to extract natural gas from such a price company is willing to pay, in inviting Europe’s biggest science event Synergy Centre Manager Nick UCD Conway Institute Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2.

Trinity Centre for Trinity Entrepreneural Technology Transfer Springboard Ciara Power, an Evolutionary Biology student at UCD, has been reading about feathers.

While Dr Schenkel argues that the By comparison, until the end of Group of aorder carrot and a parsnip,” says Burke. eyes to the possibilities trying create novel foodfields. products using is up an unconventional gas to is funded throughout theconcerned European to do their own analysis carboniferous onand the I’m water unconventional to reassure the public. to Ireland came up, he said “the and facts roddiegi@tcd.ie of Biomolecular Mernagh Research Research primarily with ABiodiversity programme of support doit’s notnot support the view thatindustry nuclear January 2012first more than 20,000 people And just the restaurant to find to teach science to culinary molecular gastronomy.

As we allways know, Japan was hitand by ahow Society Offices basin, formed 350 million years ago.

At Union, is coming to an end, and under supply, how much is there, it If it turns out that there is a Whatever decisions are made with tiger was in town, and all the graphs Biomedical Researchenergy is more Interdisciplinary studies on applied innovation Institute of Technology Tallaght, for science and technology of research asociety threatfor than other inwith wereOne involved inaspects the mitigation activities, that is using molecular gastronomy students that makes sense to them and is of the of the project is dreadful disaster, and the operators of the College for students eathers are a stroke of engineering Ten offices dedicated to Trinity Consortium on that time, Ireland wasAs part a greater UCD Conway Institute brings Commissioner environmental, technical, Geoghegan Quinn, changes during thescientific day. heof remarked, commercially viable gas prospect. regard to developing naturalfor modulation, codingour and rtelated were pointing up.”

As we all know, Tallaght, Dublin 24. enterpreneurs under of power generation, thebusiness. overall and of these about 20 were injured that extra bitthey of wow factor.

The Boston of interest torun them,” she says. flavour pairings.

White Fukushima nuclear power plant failed ambitions to go into together over 550 research staff and economic issues relating to Ageing, technology transfer haveforms been genius.

Whether they are embedding processes. land mass, see Science Spinway 37, and theTCAinvestigating a bigger, and more comprehensive “Hacking the City” is a helping great to get in the Northwest of `Ireland, both the resorces, should be Recent based on sound the cut-backs, when they came, were 01 4042221 the Northern Ireland NISP impact ofrecently the disaster and the enormous by explosions of cheese hydrogen, but as Drmore Globe named “molecular chocolate and is one of the A twelve week molecular gastronomy to predict well known risks.

However, from all over the University and its maintaining biodiversity.

Collaboration between research Box 4 Regent House, Trinity innovations in the electronic systemestablished with the support birds to warm, mates, or of Lough Allen field was once contiguous programme, Horizon 2020, will be taking thekeep public moreattract involved in science. companies and the licencing authorities scientific findings, not on uninformed severe, and Prof Cunningham admitted nick.mernagh@ittdublin.ie associated teaching The Director Dr Jane Stout centres, and inviduals on combinations programme. and aimed at in DIT commented, “the radiological clean-up cost caused awhich swing in public on-chip area, combined radio gastronomy at bars” as number in there unusual flavour that arehospitals. was launched inwith 2009.

Itinstitutes is Schenkel asmodule Roland Schenkel, former director College Dublin.

Dublin 2.two Enterprise atto ten with the Appalachian in therelating USA, course fly, they carry out eachBasin role its place starting in 2014.

Richard Bruton, Minister for Jobs would do well toof take time toIreland explain scaremongering.

Having said that, to having some anxious moments that www.synergycentre.ie Institute community of biomedical School of Natural Sciences Trinity issues to ageing. frequency capability onto the SOCs projects with significant earning impact was almost negligible.” perception, fuelled to food a large degree by it list of the top ten trends for 2012. being investigated.

“Sometimes you get the first of its kind in Ireland.

The module of Europe’s Joint Research Centre, entrepren@csc.tcd.ie Higher Education Institutes.

The where natural being extracted at Dublin, Ireland’s researchers benefit from Enterprise and Innovation, said that College public, detail,ishave exactly how should certainly be awill public debate on precision and grace.

While may take all the ambitious plans would to be researchers engaged in exploring College Dublin, Dublin 2.gas iswe Trinity Dublin 2. in precise are also beingin exploited, enabling potential.

What Fukushima demonstrates, sensational reporting the press.

Smoked gin and tonic anyone? peaks on GC-MS chromatograms that is taught anconsists option not in four of pointed out,asthe we should allow thesandstone www.trinityentrepreneurial.com TTO officers can be contacted present.

It of year tight gas cell and systems biology to discover jane.stout@tcd.ie ageing.research@tcd.ie this,the yet, as Prof Cunningham remarked, following continued and sustained it will be extracted.

Modern fracking issue, because, left towireless themselves, extensive research into scrapped.

However, as the government their beauty and significance for granted, Programme Manager Joanne hecome said, is not that nuclear power is A in public perception has out the same innew totally different the Bachelor ofwhich Arts in Culinary Arts Teagasc Park magnitude of one terrible disaster toCity ways to treat a range of human the university IT swing and control. reservoirs, are less porous just a fewsensing years ago, all of thisalways would get it support for science in Ireland the of Oak fluids consist of water, but theyand planning authorities don’t changed, the Citymainly ofthrough Science was seen the Jennings latter half of this book shows that theand inherently dangerous, but that the resulted in Dr a Kidd shut-down of in reactors in Caroline has a BSc Microbiology foods that you would not normally put and on a DIT Springboard programme Technology Transfer of food and obscure the fact that by comparison, the diseases.

Paul O’Leary Ubiquitous Computing innovation centres. permeable than in conventional fields, seemed impossible.

When it came Science event comes at ato good time. It is usually contain certain additives, most of have right.

Trinity Technology and as just the sort of event that would help human race has never failed capitalise Communications Elaine Quinn 108-112 Royalimpact Avenue, Belfast operators ignored the advice being given Germany, yet, as Dr Schenkel argues, this 051 302630 from UCD and she is currently studying for a together, which indicates that they have for people who have lost their jobs and agricultural research results. radiological was low.

Four people Research Group, UCRG Technology Exploitation making it difficult extract gas. to gettingwww.wit.ie/wireless support, IrishCampus scientists were important for people to see the the relevance which are substances already inthe common Ireland recover, andwas indeed show on aBT1 natural wonder.

University College Dublin, Belfield, Enterprise 1DL A group drawn from different by the regulators.

“It well known,” decision was based on fears rather than Masters in Journalism in DIT. matching flavours.

Sometimes it’s the wish to up-skill.

A third module is at Director of Research Frank died from exposure to radioactivity, six Networks Peter O’Fegan However, in recent years, a new method the starting line,m2 but that has of this support, he said, to appreciate and in should pose no4.great risk to the hardly atevironmentalhealthsciencesinstitute/ world that aspects of science and Dublin faculties on use ubiquitous ormany as and Loose feathers usually failand tothan grab Providing 16,000 028 90315111 heopposite said, “that earthquakes of lower facts. One of the myths, he said,ofisspace that situation isitIreland no match master’s level and is larger taught on the MScworking O’Mara people received doses 250 Enterprise Galway. been to extract natural gaspervasive, 01 there 7166706 “We areand more pulling thathas there aredeveloped concrete benefits to the environment.

Innow any case, istolikely that changed.

Margaret Franklin isthan a chemist andout former research, Ireland is second none. it also termed, computing. for small medium sized our millserverts, attention.

Yet what Thor Hanson magnitude than the one that occurred future generations will be stuck with the in the peaks but the flavours still seem in Culinary Innovation and Food Product Carlow, Co Carlow. and 160 people received Elaine.quinn@ucd.ie 091 735921 from tight shale gas “Thinking reservoirs. weightSenior now,” said Prof Cunningham. economy fromgas theand investment.

School of Computing Dublin Institute the gas reservoirssaid would be at a much Lecturer at Athlone Institute The government, Prof 36Finland, units around of attempts, andIreland succeeds in 180 doing with his cause tsunamis of thescience same in that high cost ofenterprises disposal. with Yet, in to work. is a whole Development.

059 9170200would doses between 100uses and milliserverts. www.ucd.ie/conway Startup of Technology This method horizontal drilling, lowerThere level than the water table and Technology. Margaret is co-author of the

A bird’s eye view of a natural miracle Nuclear risks

INNOVATION

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the Tower building housing height.”

The operators were informed where a detailed study was made on 26 book Evolution ofa adose Natural area,” says Burke. frank.omara@teagasc.ie ToFeathers: put this The inIreland perspective, of 200 An Enterprise combined withinitiative hydraulic fracturing, there would be aTom natural impermeable book, Colour, what we see and the science Crean Centrelong-term craft tenants. of this, but the regulator did not have storage of radioactive waste, Miracle is giving his readers a new-found milliserverts, on a conservative estimate, The information is built upon slowly, discussions, for example, did you know aimedcolloqually at getting overseas known as ‘fracking’. A barrier above theProviding gas field, preventing of sight. space and support Padraig enough authority insist thatfor the advice five per cent of the O’Shea energy cost is enough would cause one case of late cancer in required appreciation of just how important the terminology isto explained novice pant? enterpreneurs to set vertical bore isup first drilled tothese the Technology contamination offor ground water.

But the that birdsTrinity business development College Dublin, Dublin 2. be actedand on. covers expense. every 100. inthen littlecompanies “miracles” are.several Now, Ihorizontal find myself Ireland.

A €10m can get quite technical Asthis long as you don’t mind losing depth, drills arereaders, public yet needit to beand reassured about this. industry-academic Innovation 01 6775655 stopping timetoI those see a feather, just for fund iseach available at times (keeping morecollaboration. seasoned readers several seconds a day awing over padraig.oshea@tcd.ie Award, establishing potential “wow”.Development a split second, high and thinking If happy). The style of writing remains discardedwww.tcd.ie feathers, and maybe even Kathrina Purtill CITy OF SCIEnCE 2012 follows the proposals for the programme has greatly remarked might be pocket a good idea exporting Thor Hansoncompanies, teaches usprovided anything inTIDA this informal and references to Hanson’s wife Tralee, sneaking athat fewitinto your for Institute of Technology, European Science Open Forum event in exceed expectations.

Four months, he to look at how it is funded.

One of the they come up with matching Providing funds to enable book it is that ornithology is not just for and young son makes Co theKerry. experience of further inspection, I have no hesitation Turin in 2010, and that in turn was two said, had been spent winnowing these recent developments that could be Tyndall Incubation finance..

SFI supported applied ornithologists.

7191990 reading this book more066 like a living room in recommending this book to everyone years after ESOF in Barcelona. The ESOF down, and that meant that about three relevant, he said, is the recent regrouping Manager Lorcan O’Sullivan research toconversation move forwardswith the info@creancentre.com Centre to ornithophobe.

The book is extremely well sourced author himself. from ornithologist events were initiated by Euroscience, quarters of the submissions had to be of European organisations involved Enterprise Ireland into commercialisation.

This Start-up companies www.creancentre.com and, due to his background in journalism, While this book will not teach most Whether you are lying on abased down pillow an independent group of scientists who turned down, and a number of these in supporting research.

The former www.startinireland.com year €6.5 million in funding on Tyndall technologies are you Hanson consistently displays excellent biologists anything they did not already or dodging aabothersome pigeon, Subscription €30 year, six issues, saw the need to highlight the best in would have been worth including.

“We European Heads of Research Councils, was allocated to 58 research offered admin and management explanatory skills.

He does this with his know about the physiology of birds and will never look at a feather the same way Trinityabout College European science. In the US there is the Aboutare trying to do something that,” has been reorganised, andDublin on EUROHORCs, sale in newsagents. projects. a fifth of the support.

Centre freeSynergy flowing and humorous style which Associate Director, Research and feathers, it will highlight fascinating again. well-funded American Association for went tosaid and rebranded as Science Europe, and awards TCD.Prof Cunningham, and one of the 021 4904241 Innovation centre focus on shares with you his with own with Innovation James Callaghan parallel topics aspeoples’ the biomimetic the Advancement ofobsession Science, usually questions onsuch many minds now, the new organisation is made up of 42 Science Foundation Ireland, enquiry@tyndall.ie high technology and knowledge Local global science viewed all things feathered, from point of acts inspiration O’Reilly Dublin and 2.The of aviation and theInstitute, economic Evolution of bodies, a Natural Miracle simply known as the the AAAS, which is just how big can the ESOF events get. research funding including the Wilton Tce, Dublin 2. intensive start ups. Fostering 01 8961427 view of enthusiast, an expert. as an a showcase for not American science.

The success of ESOF has taken Health Research Board and SFI in Ireland. importance that feathers once had. Each 2012 (First Edition-Softback) through Irish eyes. industry-academia links. jcallag@tcd.ie Most topics start offofquite generalthought and The members Euroscience manyispeople by surprise, yet it began WhileHanson, recognising chapter introduced by a delightfully Author: Thorthat there would be that Europe needed to use haveofsomething as a bottom-up initiative a group issuesBooks, to be resolved, Prof Cunningham are developed through the his relevant quote and there arebyseveral Basic New York similar, soexperiences, in 2004 the first ESOF of scientists ultimate said it is hard to escape the compelling own anecdotal or those intriguing littlewho factsretain to betheir found thatwww.sciencespin.com conference waspeople launched at Stockholm, control ownership. dinner The group is logic — “Science Europe has endless of other interesting in the field. would leadand to interesting party

BIG AND GETTING BIGGER

IDEAL FOR THE LIBRARY

and since then it has continued to grow as a biannual event, going on to Munich in 2006, Barcelona in 2008, Turin in 2010, and this year Dublin.

At a Euroscience Ireland meeting Prof Cunningham said the number of

independent, but as is often the case, independence can meanIssue having work SCIENCE SPIN 48 toPage 16 within limited budgets.

As ESOF seems destined to grow and grow as a major event in promoting European science, Prof Cunningham

money, billions, while Euroscience just has pennies,” he commented. yet, ultimately, while independence would have to be weighed up against political pressures, both organisations have similar aims.

Have you any idea of what’s going on inside your brain?

DUBLIN CITY OF SCIENCE 2012 Irish Science Handbook 2012 49 Miller introduces us to Research scientist and writer, Dr Veronica our remarkable brain, literally taking the cap off and explaining

in fascinating detail how it works.

Why are weon so emotional, In 2012 Ireland hosts the European open forum science

what happens when things go wrong, and can we become more intelligent? Veronica’s highy informative and entertaining text tells us www.dublinscience2012.ie just about everything we would like to know about the brain, including lots about the latest Irish research.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 51 Page 21 SCIENCE SPIN Issue 52 Page 11

The book, a matching volume for Colour and Rock Around Ireland, is due out soon. Look out for details on the Science Spin site www.sciencespin.com Albertine Kennedy SCIENCE SPIN Publishing Issue 55 Page xx SCIENCE SPIN Issue 54 Page 20

We are part of an allembracing chemical world

P

aul S Braterman’s career, bringing him from the University of Glasgow to the University of Texas and back to Scotland, began, in his own words, with the realisation that everything around us is chemical.

In his wide-ranging book, Braterman presents a view of the world as seen through the eyes of a chemist. As his title suggests, “everything connects” through chemistry, and knowing something about chemistry helps to make sense of the world.

To take one of his many examples, most of us know that there is a layer of ozone up there, but why should a molecule of three oxygen atoms be so important to us, and why did everyone become so concerned about those “holes”?

As the author explains, ordinary molecules of oxygen, O2, absorbs wavelengths of less than 190 nanometres, while ozone, O3, absorbs wavelengths from 190 to 240 nanometres. Those higher energy are harmful to life because they cause a big rise in mutations. When ozone levels fell above South America, cancer rates from 1987 to 2000 in Punta Arenas, at the southern end of Chile, rose by 50 per cent. Yet, this protective shield, if kept at room temperature and pressure, would only form a layer 3 millimetres thick.

Determining what was going on in the upper stratosphere involved a lot of chemical detective work, starting off with the realisation that the reactions observed did not match predictions based on work in the lab. Braterman traces this saga of discovery in which the atmosphere was found to be far from just a passive mix of gases. The energetic rays striking the upper atmosphere set off a chain of reactions, one of which is the splitting up of oxygen molecules into single atoms, which can then recombine for a limited time as ozone, O3.

This is a delicate balancing act in which humans started to play an unwitting part. When chlorofluorocarbons (CF2Cl2) were developed they were welcomed because they were so stable and unreactive that they could be used for a range of applications, including as a propellant gas for cosmetics and paints.

However, what no one realized was that in rising up into the stratosphere,

UV rays would split the molecules releasing the chlorine. These atoms steal oxygen from ozone to make chlorine monoxide, and as the author explains, a single atom of chlorine may eliminate about 100,000 molecules of ozone.

If you have ever thought that the atmosphere is a place where nothing happens, read the chapter about the three suspects, volcanos, jet planes or fridges.

In another example of how our lives are determined by chemistry, the author tells the remarkable and somewhat bizarre story of Fritz Haber, the chemist who prolonged a war, yet at the same time came up with a process of fixing nitrogen that keeps a large proportion of the world’s population fed.

Born in 1868, and becoming a Lutheran to disguise his Jewish origins, Haber was a brilliant chemist, and a keen supporter of German expansion.

As a chemist, he knew that the available supplies of nitrates would not be sufficient to meet the demands of agriculture, and he was also aware that Germany was heading for a war with Britain. To make high explosives in volume, it was essential to have nitric acid, and Britain was in a position to cut all supplies of Chile Salpetre upon which production depended.

Haber was not the only one to figure out that there is plenty of nitrogen in the atmosphere, and if there was a way to get one atom to combine with three atoms of hydrogen, ammonia, NH3, would be produced, and everything else, fertilizers and explosives, would follow. However, easier said than done.

Nitrogen monoxide can be produced from an electrical discharge, and this was the process employed at Norsk Hydro in 1907, using Norway’s abundance of hydro power. BASF, the German chemical company, bought into this, but Haber, vying with another rival chemist, Walther Nernst, was convinced that hydrogen and nitrogen could be made to react using a catalyst. Although they did not know this at the time, the catalyst makes the reaction happen because its surface atoms have unused bonding capacity, which hydrogen and nitrogen atoms can latch onto.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 55 Page 31

While they disagreed on the details of how the process would work, they were on the right track, but their initial results were not too impressive.

BASF, with reservations decided to back the project. Another German chemical giant, Hoechst, was interested and challenged BASF’s right to the process and lost their case, but this was just one of the problems in getting the process to work on a large scale. The process is reversible, and getting it to go in the right direction meant achieving the right balance between temperature and pressure. Too high a temperature would result in the break-up of hydrogen and nitrogen, so the pressure had to go up, and the original osmium catalyst, apart from being rare, was not up to the job.

BASF conducted about 20,000 different trials before settling on an iron-based catalyst that is still in use.

By 1910 the pilot plant was producing 200,000 tons of fixed nitrates a year, and the Kaiser was so pleased that when Haber offered to join up in 1915, he was told to stick to the chemistry.

It seems almost unbelievable that someone who had the intellectual capacity to solve complex chemical problems would have been so supportive of war, but Haber not alone became head of the Chemical Warfare Service, but he advocated the use of poison gas.

In 1915 chlorine was released in Ypres, killing 5,000 and injuring 50,000. Haber

recommended using it on an even bigger scale. His wife, Clara, appalled and in despair, took up his service revolver, went out into the garden and shot herself, only to be found dying by their 13-year old son. The next day, Fritz Haber was on his way to the Eastern Front to gas the Russians.

In 1918 Haber was declared to be a war criminal, yet in 1919 he was presented with the Nobel Prize for chemistry. He appears to have not the slightest remorse for what he had done, and even though anti-Semitism was become more obvious, his loyalty to Germany continued, and he was only forced to resign his position in 1933, when he is said to have informed his family, that “I am a Jew again” Max Planck, who was then in his 70s, infuriated Hitler by asking for Haber to be made an exception and allow the chemist to retain his position. Plank’s advice to scientists was to stay on in Germany until the Nazi madness was over, but by this time Haber must have known that nothing could save him from what was to come. He fled, first to England, and then, on his way to take up a position at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, he died.

A year later Planck organised a memorial service for Haber. During this he defiantly declared that in 1915 without Haber Germany would have been defeated within three months. This courageous speech did not go down too well with the authorities. Although Max Planck was allowed to remain free, his son, Erwin, was later accused of joining the plot against Hitler, and was executed.

It is strange that the man who developed a process that provides humanity with about half of the world’s supply of fixed nitrogen, also opened a Pandora’s jar of misery and suffering, and that the gas warfare unit he set up went on to develop the Zyklon gas that was used to murder so many of his extended relations.

“How should we judge Fritz Haber?” asks the author. His fellow scientists were divided, Max Planck was prepared to defend him, Rutherford refused to shake his hand, and his wife committed suicide, as did his son in 1946 rather than live with what he had done. In many ways, Haber’s story shows that science is just part in the fabric that makes up society.

Tom Kennedy From stars to stalagmites, how everything connects.

Paul S Braterman.

World Scientific.

Illustrated Weather Eye Cruikshank’s 19th century rendering of raining cats, dogs and pitchforks.

L

ots of people will remember how turning over to Brendan McWilliams Weather Eye column was the first thing they did before catching up on all the news in The Irish Times. His erudite prose was always worth reading, informative without being pedantic, and the wonder is that he could keep this up day-afterday without running short of material.

After all, it could be argued that while we all talk about it, what is there to be said about the weather? As Brendan McWilliams might have answered, actually quite a lot, and as he once wrote, weather was involved in creating the elusive sweetness of a Stradivarius, and because a lake acts like a giant storage heater, we get those idyllic mists.

Of course, all of these phenomena could be explained with the stuffiness of a scientific report, but, except for a specialist, that’s not going to excite our interest. What made Brendan’s articles so good is that while he had the experts knowledge of his subject, he carried his knowledge lightly, and always made facts relevant to our own everyday experience.

Brendan died in 2007, and, with a gap to fill, his column was replaced by a series of dull and boring stock agency reports, completely lacking Brendan’s magical touch. I have often wondered since how something so good could have been replaced by something so bad, and perhaps there is a cautionary lesson here for newspapers in general. As we all

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 55 Page 32

know, newspapers are in deep trouble. Revenues are down, and largely because of this there is a rise in junk journalism.

Surely the way for newspapers to fight back is not to discard, but to add quality content that’s worth reading?

Brendan’s column undoubtedly attracted readers, and in a way we have proof of this appeal in that two collections of his articles, published as books after his death, became best sellers.

I also have no doubt that this latest publication, compiled by his wife, Anne, will also be in strong demand.

In this latest book another eighty of his columns are presented in a handsome well-designed volume. Reproductions of paintings that Brendan and his family admired while on their various journeys are set off against an elegant typeface, making this a book that’s a real joy to read. Credit for that design goes to Teapot Press, and the book was published in September by Gill & Macmillan.

Illustrated Weather Eye. Brendan McWilliams collection compiled by Anne McWilliam.

Gill & Mcmillan.

Tom Kennedy

Who does what and where — from local clubs to internationally recognised research groups, they are all described and listed in the Irish Science Handbook ORGANISATIONS

A selection of associations, organisations and public groups 091 Labs

Director Prof Mark Bailey College Hill, Armagh BT61 9DG, Northern Ireland. +44(0)2837522928 info@arm.ac.uk http://star.arm.ac.uk and http:// climate.arm.ac.uk

denis.kearney@ul.ie fields and comprises members www.amt.ul.ie from academia, enterprise Artificial Intelligence and professional sectors and Association of Ireland a representative from Forfás, Applied A group made up from people Ireland’s policy advisory board working on artificial intelligence Nanotechnology for enterprise, trade, science, in Ireland. There are a number of Technology Competence Centre, technology and innovation. The groups from DCU, Queen’s, TCD, CCAN Council is chaired by Dr Tom UCD, UCC, NUI Galway, UL, UU, A national organisation McCarthy. The ACSTI is a subwww.091labs.com DIT and from industry. established to enable IrishBoard of Forfás which manages Chairman Barry O’Sullivan based companies to increase the work of the Council and University College Cork, Cork. competitiveness by developing Academy of Medical provides it with research and Aungier Street, Dublin 2.

021 4205951 nano-enabled solutions and analytical support.

Laboratory Science, Tel: 01 4027179 b.osullivan@CS.UCC.IE products that satisfy industrysciencecouncil@forfas.ie Email: hothouse@dit.ie AMLS www/4c/ucc.ie/aiai defined needs.

CCAN is led www.sciencecouncil.ie www. www.dit.ie/hothouse The Academy is the recognized A selection of centres and organisations involved with innovation by an industry steering board forfas.ie professional body responsible and can easily access research Association of for the standard of training and Dublin Business expertise from all the major Irish Teachers’ Education www.enterprise-ireland.com Alchemists education required to practice Create IrelandCafé universities. CCAN has offices in Researchers, AIIP-COR Innovation Centre Asaan Irish branch of the Café medical laboratory science in Centres in Ireland, Runs training programme for initiative bringing CRANN at TCD and the Tyndall All Island Established in 1988 to support Scientificique Ireland. people setting upmovement, digital media Carlow NationalCampus Institute at UCC. One academics ATECIand postgrade business start-ups. informal public Executive Officer Tom Moloney companies.

Run bydiscussions IADT and students involved21infull-time innovation of the Technology Centres Representing centres Communications Debbie Innovation Centre of scientific interest theabout Digitaltopics Hub with Enterprise established

by EI inbased collaboration together.

31 Old Kilmainham, Dublin 8 and 9 part time education Assisting knowledge Chapman are held in cafés, bars, restaurants with the IDA. Ireland support.

Chair Dr Nicola Hewitt-Dundas centres. companies to develop by debbiechapman@dbic.ie and other locations outside the Frederic Herrera Queen’s University Belfast Executive Director space Dr Alanand Hynes Secretary Dolores Hammill providing incubation www.dbic.ie academic environment. The Adtroshack, J65 create@ladt.ie Tyndall Nationalexpertise.

Institute, Dyke nm.hewitt@qub.ac.uk Kildare Education Centre access to research movement began in 1998 at A small privately run observatory www.createireland.ie Parade, Development Cork. secretary@ateci.ie Enterprise Leeds, and have since spread run by Dave McDonald in Electronics Production 021 4904056 Competence Centres Manager Brian Ogilvie to other centres.

Meetings are Celbridge. The observatory, ArcLabs Research and ERIC,info@ccan.ie A joint initiative of IDA Science and EI to Carlow Institute of and Innovation Centre, Astronomical free and open to everyone but a recognized by the International www.ccan.ie establish high-level centres of Technology, Carlow.

Centre EpiCentre hat is usually passed around for Astronomical Union, provides Innovation Group of Ireland, ASGI expertise in applied research.

059 9175223 Providing new and early-stage contributions. scientific data to the Minor 1974 to foster scientific Providing local industries with TheFounded centres are based in third brian.ogilvie@itcarlow.ie AquaTT enterprises with access to access to specialised equipment alchemistscafe@goodlemail.com Planet Centre and other links between astronomers level colleges and are run in www.itcarlow.ie/enterprise/ An organisation founded in R&D resources and business and expertise. The centre http://www.alchemistcafedublin. organisations. working in the Republic and with industry. See campus-innovation.htm 1922 by UCC and NUI Galway to collaboration development support. com Dave McDonald Northern Ireland.

Two existing meetings a works in partnership with the list for the nine provide project management, separate Manager Tom Corcoran University of Ulster, Institute of dmcdona@eircom.net year in which researchers present and five planned competence dissemination of information, Waterford Institute of CoLab Technology Letterkenny, and www.astroshack.net their work. www.ista.ie All Ireland Cooperative Providing centres. and training in support of Technology, West Campus, support and space North West Regional College.

Chair DrIreland Peter Gallagher Enterprise Oncology Research sustainable management of Carriganore, Waterford.

A select for new firms.

A programme for School of Computing and ion of 01 7084658 centr es and organisatio Advisory Council for 051 302975 Public AwarIntelligent nsresources. aquatic involv ed in educawww.enterprise-ireland.com start-ups is run in association systems, University of eness and Group, ICORG peter.gallagher@tcd.ie tion Science, Technology info@arclabs.ie withScientific IT Sligo. Officer Dr Gill Ulster, Magee, Northland Road, Understanding A grouping of cancer experts http://www.astrophysics.ie/ of Marmelstein www.arclabs.ie Convergence Council Patsy Donaghy Derry. BT487JL Northern Ireland aiming to give patients early and Innovation Anyone 4 Science Scien ce eilish.mcloughlin@dcu PO .ie Box 8989, Dublin 2 in A group drawn from IBEC, IDA, Letterkenny Institute of Tel: +44 28 Dubl access to new treatments.

The Advisory Council for Science, Instit Bringing curriculum related ute Public lectures by disting 7137 5153ß for Corridor Atlantic 01 6449008 uished astel.ie Technology, EI, Shannon Development, Port Road, info@epicentreireland.com info@icorg.ie www.c Technology andscience Innovation Centre Advanced Studi to schoolsBio-incubation Fostering growthscientis and , organising es gill@aquatt.ie and Office of Chief ts and a selection of Letterkenny, Co Donegal. www.icorg.ie provides policy advice to the Facilitating development of tours, camps, The Institute runsForfás in video the Midlands. presentations on the web parties andevelopment and outreac www.aquatt.ie h Scientific Office, to foster 074 9186703 City Irish Government on medium applications from medical of Dublin workshops. The aim is to programme to demon site.

Funded the Department of Enterprise and strate bybetween provide convergence sectors. colab@lyit.ie and long term science, research. a stimulating environ seismology in actionForeign Profworking Voca AMT Limerick Affairs and William Reville tional Educ Research Incubation ment Ireland, forSharon schools ation Observatory Chair, Higgins. wws.lyit.ie Armagh technology andwhere innovation St James’ Hospital, Dublinadvanced 8 Tom Blake Established to provide children discove with partneringFaculty organisations Science, University r that Comm ittee, CDVE IBEC, 84-86 Lower Baggot of Street, Centre, ERIC An international research (STI) issues and learnin contributes C 10 Burlington Road, Dublin College manufacturing CDVEC consultancy, g is fun. in Northern Ireland, the Cork.

US and is the local educat Dublin 2. 4 Assisting knowledge based institute the rich towards the development ion promoting Ashford, Co Wicklow 01 614010 021 4904127 and training. Commercialisation Camnada.

BioBusiness 0 .technical adviceLtd authori ty for Dublin. heritage of astronomy and and implementation ofeaCambe An AMT CDVEC Christin w.reville@ucc.ie companies to develop by centresfor arehas at University of Office, CEO Jackie Gorman promoting ll association NUIM 22 schools providing incubation space and and college relateds sciences. About 30 coherent and effective national lifeLimerick, Cork Electronics 0404 40563 University Director McFadden House, Patrick Street, sciences NUI and Galway, health of Commercialisation ENFO offering second access to research expertise. level, astronomers study stellar strategy for STI.087 It provides further 674908 College Dublin and University John Tullamore,Association, Co Offaly. technology and facilitating Scanlan The former environIndustry RegenerativeProgramme Manager, Brian educat ion and adult educat mental astrophysics, Sun, Solar the primary interface ion the anyonebetween College Cork.

4science@eirco jgorman@atlanticcorridor.ie networking for collaboration National University of Ireland informa m.net program tion centre mes CEIA and Ogilvie at Andrew Medi service System stakeholders and policymakers cine Instit ’s s. astronomy and its www.a nyone4science Kearney ute www.atlanticcorridor.ie andDenis business development.

Maynooth, AuxilliaStreet Building, .com Course in Dublin s are The association was established is also now of Technology Carlow, given an online An annual debatingInstitute relationship in the STI arena. The Council through to Earth. There is an science Plassy Technological Park, Project Manager Dr Declan Maynooth, Co Kildare. service hosted by the more than a hundre to nurturescience growthissues of thecompe Carlow.

Library in in 1984 d active gathers the expertise and centresprogramme of science Limerick. tition Bogan BT Board. providing a electronics 01 7086017 Youn throug Belfast Geologists’ g hout Scien industry in the Cork Dublin. range 9175223 tist encourages school 059 the community, and the grounds of experience of members who and Centre, studen 331588 The061 Innovation ts to content resources. region. Membership john.scanlan@nuim.ie Town Hall, Ballsbri includes Techn brian.oglivie@carlow.ie dge,are open4.to visitors every day. are recognised leadersology in their Exhib Society examine cultural and ethical Dublin ition Northern Ireland01 Science Park, www.enfo.ie 668061 4 local firms and multnationals.

Thousands of school studen issues in biomedicalwww.itcarlow.ie/enterprisescience. ts Queen’s Road, Island, Belfast info@cd vec.ie enter projects in this annual Community Enterprise Malachy McElroyNUI Galway platform-programme BT3 9DT www.cdvec.ie Industry House, Rossa Avenue, competition, one of the Galway Science 091 495166 Centres and most +44 (0) 7808776196 Bishopstown, Cork. successful of its kind in info@remedi.ie Technology There are over a hundred of Focas Institute the declan@biobusinessni.org Festiv al 087 2252857 world. Over the years many www.remedi.ie Developmentthese across the This country.

June The Institute provides a two In of week www.biobusinessni.org Festiva l info@ceia.ie the award winners have announced common, core facility and Education andthe Governmentculmin gone ates with a family day on to become distinguished exhibition at NUIGalwwwceia.ie business development equipment for research Royal College of way, which Research Netwthat Business Partner scientists. The next exhibit ork, are toattracte managers be appointed activities in science and ion d c.24,000 people in Surge ons will be at the RDS from in Irelan DERN Programme d, DIT Hothouse 2011. Thisunder to 37 of these. Operating engineering.

It has received 9th to free festival aims to 12th January 2013. This is a programme Cluster run ofby people involve technologyRCSI transfer centre nurture Enterprise the managers further significant funding an interest inThe d in ireland, science Freephone 1800 924362 Founde educat Enterprise matching d in 1784 to train ion and outreac Institute of Technology andfor willh be responsible promoting under PRTLI Cycle 4 as part of techno or fromIreland at NUI logy fromata Dublin young NI 0800 9171297 surgeo Galway working to enhanc investors and entrepreneurs with responsibility for ns, the collegethe age andlocally. business multi-institutional National provide encourage studen e development s ts to educat ion for healthcBiophotonics with emergingsharing technologies of knowledge. of research. choose STEM subjectcommercialisation Tom Hayes and Imaging are s at third Nationa ionals that are considered ripe for l Univde Working with aprofess number of and is the CALMAST level.

Platform, rsity Enterprise of Ireland Ireland. largest Ireland (NBIPI) and medicalexpertise Galway Galway. development. school in Ireland Established in 2003 tocommercial companies to provide Marketing and Admini the .Integrated NanoSciences RCSI promote stration is also 091have 493490 Match up events been active centrePlatform science and engineering and technology, and an assists Anne Casserly for basicfor Ireland (INSPIRE) Community and clinical clionad held to showcase inventions. h.0keeffe@nuigalway.ie through educational activitie knowledge-intensive startresearc ups. h. and has established significant 086 8033709 s, Ireland. of Innovation Communicvations Manag Enterprise publications and events.

Bernadette O’Reilly galwaysciencefestival@gmai linkserwith key researchers in l.

Niamh Burdett Based at Waterford Institut com Discover Science and e of 123 St Stephen’s Green, Technology. www.galwayscience.ie Dublin Engineering 2.

Shiela Donegan, Eoin Gill Discover Science & Engine 01 4022218 ering Waterford Institute of Irish Agricultural (DSE), managed by Science communications@rcsi.i Technology, Waterford. e Foundation Ireland, aims Science Teachers’ www.rcsi.ie to calmast@wit.ie increase interest in science , www.calmast.ie Association, IASTA technology, engineering and An organisation for teacher Science Foundation mathematics (STEM) among s of agricultural science providi Centre for the Ireland students, teachers and ng members resources and support for Through the Speakers for of the public. Programmes Advancement of members.

Schools programme, SFI promoting STEM subject funded s Science Teachng, Veronica Walsh researchers are encouraged include My Science Career, to Athlone Education Centre.

CASTeL visit schools to take about Discover Primary Science their Athlone, Co Westmeath.

Multidisciplinary researc work and careers. and Maths, Science Week, h proiasta@gmail.ie team involving scientists, Wilton House. Dublin 2.

Greenwave, and Discove r www.ia sta.ie mathematicians and 01 6073201 Sensors. educationalists from DCU info@sfi.ie and St Science Foundation Ireland, Patrick’s College. The focus Irish Science Teachers’ www.sfi.ie Wilton Tce, Dublin 2. is on science and mathematics.

01 6073184 Association Director Dr Eilish McLoug info@science.ie An association of over 1,000 hlin Scoilnet Dublin City University, Dublin www.discover-science.ie science teachers in Ireland 9.

A portal run by the Nationa .

01 7005862 l Vice Chair Mary Mullaghy Centre for Technology in mmullaghy@eircom.net Education at DCU for the Providing a community space for people involved in making electronic and other creative devices.

Tyrone House, 47 Eyre Square, Galway. info@o91labs.com

INNOVATION

The essential reference tool for everyone involved in science, innovation and research in Ireland.

Out nOW

Price €10 Order on line for post-free delivery www.sciencespin.com The digital edition with thousands of live hyperlinks links to email and web addresses is free to view on the Science Spin website

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SCIENCE EDUCATION

Science Week 2012:

Science Week 2012 demonstrates that YOU are a part of Science Embrace Science You are constantly experimenting - from attempting a new level on a game, to trialling a new recipe and even embarking on a first date - these are everyday experiments

www.scienceweek.ie

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 55 Page xx

Week 2012 and experience everyday experiments for yourself