Science Spin 62

ISSUE

62

January February 2014

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SCIENCE

SPIN

IRELAND’S SCIENCE NATURE AND DISCOVERY MAGAZINE

CREATIVITY IN EDUCATION PRESERVING PAST VALUES SCIENCE FOR LIFE IRISH FOSSILS TING CELEBRA

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YEARS OF TS NTIS E I C S G N YOU

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How can I work with digital humans and still have time for real ones?

There can be no answers without people who ask questions. People like Kristy Myers.

Kristy Myers’ workplace is cyberspace. She and her team develop the software used for virtual simulations of production processes. This helps make business more efficient and creates safer work environments. It’s a demanding job that requires dedication and commitment.

But because Kristy is able to work flexitime, she can

balance her family life and her work life.

Siemens is always looking for people who are looking for new ways of doing things. Because to discover great answers, you have to ask big questions. How can you turn your curiosity into a career? Dare to ask.

siemens.com/careers

SCIENCE SCIENCE

SPIN SPIN

Co-founders of the Young Science Exhibition, Fr Tom Burke and Dr Tony Scott.

Are you involved in teaching or education? Follow our series on education over the coming issues. Your informed and considered opinions are always welcome.

Email us at:

education@sciencespin.com

Science Spin Ltd 5 Serpentine Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4. www.sciencespin.com Email: tom@sciencespin.com

Upfront

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Editor Tom Kennedy tom@sciencespin.com

Education — recreating science

Michael Wride writes that we need to be more creative in making sense of what we learn about science

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Science for life

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50 years on the go

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Irish fossils

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Special needs mean special skills

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Picture research Source Photographic Archives

Weird and wonderful

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Spin Store T A Kennedy www.spinstore.eu

A well preserved museum

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Printing Turner Group, Longford

Synthetic biology

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Science Wows

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Young Scientists

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Editorial support Con O’Rourke Production support Marie-Claire Cleary marieclaire@sciencespin.com Contributing editor Seán Duke sean@sciencespin.com Business Manager Alan Doherty alan@sciencespin.com Published by Albertine Kennedy Publishing Cloonlara, Swinford, Co Mayo

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A marine geologist, a food scientist and a quality controller tell us about their work

Seán Duke talked to Tony Scott, co-founder of the Young Science exhibition, about how the event continues to go from strength to strength.

Paddy Gaffikin explains where to look and how to identify some of Ireland’s more common fossils

Marie-Catherine Mousseau reports on how people with special needs have a lot to offer by providing industry with special skills

Sive Finlay describes bats that roost upright

Sive Finlay writes that stuffed animals reveal a lot about past values

Sive Finlay reviews the exhibition

Dr How explores water

Books

Anthea Lacchia has been reading Seán Duke’s new book on how Irish scientists changed the world, and we look at a field guide to Irish geology.

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DNA replication

Replication of genetic material has turned out to be a lot more complex than at first assumed, and one of the latest discoveries is that the switches that initiate the process may also keep it under control. in a study of a single-celled salt-tolerant organism, Halafrax volcanii, scientists from the University of Nottingham, working with colleagues in China and Malaysia, found that removing genetic switches that initiate DNA replication in eukaryote cells, such as those that make up multi-celled organisms, including humans, produced an unexpected result. instead of stopping replication, a chain reaction began around Halaferax volcanii’s chromosomes and that enabled them not only to grow but to do so faster. as the scientists reported in Nature, the rate of replication increased by ten per cent. this particular micro-organism belong to the archaea, a distinctive branch of life that occur in extreme environments. these micro-organisms evolved a long time ago, and the scientists think that this alternative process of reproduction could be a throw-back to earlier times. as with many other fundamental processes, those involved in replication have been retained and adapted over the course of evolution.

As one of the researchers, Dr Conrad nieduszynski from the University of Nottingham, observed, in higher animals, a similar return to this primitive process could explain why cancer cells go out of control.

What’s in store for the Sun?

nothinG lasts forever, and although the sun will be around for a long time to come, it will eventually come to an end. What exactly will happen is hard to tell because astronomers have only been looking at the sun for 400 of its 4.6 billion years. However, astronomers, using the ESO Very Large Telescope, have found sun-like stars that are older and younger than our sun. a star located 250 light years away from earth in the constellation of Capricornus, and known as HIP 102152, is almost four billion years older than our Sun. Another star, known as 18 Scorpli, is just 2.9 billion years old compared to our own sun’s age of 4.6 billion years.

By comparing the spectrograph signatures of these stars, the astronomers concluded that lithium is lost with age. in reporting the findings, TalaWanda Monroe from Universidade de são paulo said that stars somehow destroy their lithium as they age.

UPFRONT

Bio-explorers

BiochemistRy undergraduates from nUi Galway have been going out into schools to help 5th and 6th class primary students to explore the living cell. over the past year the volunteers have run workshops in more than 20 schools. in the latest development, Naomi Lavelle, Science Spin’s Dr How, has been working with the team in 1st and 2nd primary classes.

During the workshops pupils learn about the different cells in the body, and they find out how to extract DNA from living matter.

With support from the Wellcome Trust, Cell Explorers will be coming to more schools during 2014.

Muriel Grenon, who is involved in the project said that participation in cell explorers is becoming part of the

undergraduate curriculum. through this involvement, undergraduates learn how to communicate effectively, and school students get hands-on experience of biology.

More milk

With the ending of quota restrictions, milk production is expected to rise sharply.

At a Teagasc dairy conference last November, the Chief Executive of Dairygold, Jim Wolfe, said that plans are being made to accomodate the extra supply. Supplies to Dairygold are expected to increase by 57 per cent by 2020.

Dairy farmers are being encouraged by Teagasc to go up in scale, and according to Tom O’Dwyer, head of Dairy Knowledge Transfer, average herd size by 2020 could be 100 cows on 50 hectares.

Walsh Fellowships

UnDeR the Walsh Fellowship 50 new graduates a year are given the opportunity to conduct research with a university partner in support of teagasc objectives. currently there are 200 ongoing Fellowships, and each researcher receives support for a period of three or four years.

Now in its 50th year, Teagasc has invited industry to become more involved in supporting agri-food research. many of the former Walsh fellows now work in industry, where their skills and knowledge are being used to build capacity.

In November, thirteen Walsh fellows presented their work at the RDs and 33 postgraduates had posters of their research on display.

Patrick Gillespie, Walsh Fellow at the teagasc Rural economy Research Centre in Athenry and NUI Galway, was presented with the RDs medal for his work on efficient use of grass by dairyfarmers. Shane Kennedy, a Walsh Fellow based at the teagasc crops Research centre in oak park and SRUC Edinburgh, was winner of the best poster award.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 62 Page 2

Storing memories

it is generally thought that our memories are stored in part of the brain called the hippocampus. However, two scientists, Mazahir T Hasan from the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, and José Maria Delado-Garcia from the University Pablo de Olavide in Seville, have shown that memory is not confined to the hippocampus.

Using mice, the researchers were able to block memory-forming connections being made in the motor cortex, which is on the outer surface of the brain. the mice had been genetically modified so that the receptors needed to allow messages through from one synapse to the next would not work.

By conditioning the mice to blink every time they received a stimulus and a distinctive sound, the researchers were able to demonstrate that mice with and without memory forming connections in the cortex behaved differently. Normal mice blinked on hearing the sound, while those without the receptor failed to remember the connection between a stimulus and the sound.

As the researchers point out, our ideas on where memories are stored will have to be revised.

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Trade secrets

UPFRONT

One of the worries that managers of high-tech companies have is that competitors will steal their valuable know-how. While patents can give protection for specified inventions, the same is not true of trade secrets, such as a manufacturing process or recipe.

As the European Commission reports, failure to protect trade secrets is a serious issue, especially among smaller firms. According to the Commission, more than half of Irish firms are reluctant to collaborate with others because they fear loss of know-how.

One of the reasons for this fear is that legislation on this issue is weak, and it can be difficult to claim that a duty of confidence exists.

EC studies suggest that theft or misuse of confidential information is becoming more common and SMEs are being hardest hit by cybercrime and industrial espionage.

Horizon

A â‚Ź79 billion budget has been approved for the EU Horizon 2020 programme. This is the programme, running from 2014 to 2020, that funds research projects around Europe and it succeeds the previous Framework programmes. Irish researchers have done well under Framework programmes, and one of the benefits of this has been greater participation in large scale transnational projects.

According to the European Commission, form-filling has been greatly simplified, and as a result, participation of SMEs is expected to increase.

Under Horizon 2020, the European Research Council is to receive â‚Ź13 billion. Unlike the rest of the budget, which is mainly channelled into applied, or strategic projects, the ERC is concerned with excellence in scientific research. Thus, about 17 per cent of the Horizon 2020 budget is set aside for basic science. The Horizon 2020 budget is considerably higher than the previous Framework 7 programme, and the ERC share of this has also increased by about 75 per cent.

Under a Science without Borders programme, 1,100 university students from Brazil are to spend a year studying science, technology, engineering and maths subjects at Irish colleges. In Ireland, the international programme is run through the Higher Education Authority, and the Brazilian students will be dispersed throughout 24 locations, with the majority going to Waterford Institute of Technology.

Twenty-six countries, including Ireland, are taking part in this programme with Brazil, and according to Gerry O’Sullivan from the HEA, after the EU Erasmus+, this is the second largest overseas study programme in the world.

In launching the scheme in 2011, the Brazilian President, Dilma Rousseff, said that the aim is to enable students to study at the best universities abroad so that they can return and apply their knowledge.

This year Ireland became one of the destinations for Brazilian students under this scheme. Most of the students are studying engineering, followed by health and biomedical sciences.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 62 Page 3

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UPFRONT

Salamanders under attack

WHiLE we don’t have them in ireland, Fire Salamanders, with their distinctive black and white colouring occur throughout the rest of Europe. The amphibians can live for up to half a century, but because of a skin-eating fungus, populations are collapsing. in The netherlands there are fears that the species is close to extinction.

Examination of dead salamanders shows that they had been attacked by a fungus, Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans, which is closely related to another form of fungus which has been plaguing amphibian populations around the world. This fungus, B dendrobatidis is thought to have wiped out more than 200 species worldwide.

The international Union for the Conservation of nature claims that this is the most devastating infectious disease of vertebrate animals.

Professor An Martel from the University of Ghent, who has led a study of this threat with scientists from imperial College London, said the sudden rise in susceptibility is a mystery. in Europe, the salamanders were able to co-exist with this type of fungus. it appears that a new, virulent type of fungus has arrived, and it can spread quickly. in The netherlands some surviving salamanders have been put into protective captivity and scientists are developing diagnostic tests to identify the fungus rapidly.

At the time the scientists reported their finding no sign of the infection was found in neighbouring Belgium.

ReelLife

in a ReelLife competition organised by the national Centre for Biomedical Engineering Science at nUi Galway school students were invited to create short videos on life sciences 2013 Young Science winners, Ciara Judge, Emer Hickey and Sophie HealyThow, helped to select five of the best from 37 submissions for showing at the Galway Science and Technology Festival last november.

Michael McAndrew, transition year student at St Enda’s college was the winner with his “Life in space” video on the search for life in space. Second year students Mark Gilligan, Josh Pyne, Alan Duggan and Shane Hastings worked with Leaving Cert student Colm Barry at St Mary’s College to produce a video on stem cells which came in at second place.

First year student, natasha Feery from Claregalway College was in third place with her video about littering.

Winning schools were presented with scientific equipment and resources, including Science Spin, and awards were also presented to Primary schools. 5th and 6th class students at Scoil Mhuire, Rosmuc, made a video in irish about seed dispersal. Students at Cloghans Hill national School in Tuam made a video about keeping germs at bay. Junior and Senior infants at Belmont national School, Milltown made a video exploring our five senses.

To view the winning videos visit the website: www.reellifescience.com

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 62 Page 4

Growing taller

On average, European males have become taller since the mid-nineteenth century. A study led by Timothy J Hatton, Professor of Economics at the University of Essex shows that between the 1870s and 1980 21-year-old males from fifteen European countries increased in height by 11 cm. While military conscription records provided information about men, not enough data was available on women to make a comparison between the sexes.

As Prof Hatton observed in a paper published in Oxford Economic Papers, the increase in height reflects an improvement in general public health and nutrition over that period. There is a parallel with infant mortality, which fell from an average of 178 per thousand in 1871-5 to 120 per thousand in 191115, and by 1976-80 the figure was 14 per thousand.

During this period, family sizes also decreased.

Re-writing Earth’s history

WHEn the Earth was young we, and most of the plants and animals we now see around us, could not have survived.

Our oxygen rich atmosphere only appeared later. Until now, the general assumption was that the atmosphere changed about 2.3 billion years ago.

However, researchers from the University of Copenhagen, the nordic Centre for Earth Evolution, and the University of Southern Denmark, have concluded that oxygen appeared in the atmosphere at a much earlier date. The claim that oxygenation of the atmosphere began 700 million years earlier has been based on analysis of rock samples collected from 1,000 metres below he surface in South Africa.

Lasse nørbye Døssing from the Department of Geosciences and natural Resources Management at the University of Copenhagen explained that the change was due to the activities of oxygen-producing bacteria and the emergence of photosynthesis. ”This was a fundamental event that allowed for the life on Earth and evolution as we know it,” he said, adding that this was a global phenomenon.

Prof Eske Eillerslev, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Copenhagen commented that the earlier appearance of oxygen would mean we have to revise some of our ideas on how long it took oxygen-breathing life to evolve.

SCIENCE, ENGINEERING and TECHNOLOGY CAREERS Job Title: Chemical Engineer Location: Cork A Chemical Engineer is required for a multinational blue chip pharmaceutical company based in Cork. The facility is a leading API producing site and is currently undergoing expansion.

Experience in Chemical Engineering within the Pharmaceutical or Biopharmaceutical industry is required. Candidates who have experience in providing technical support to process teams, technical transfer, scale up and installation of new processes.

Candidates who are proficient in troubleshooting, have strong analytical and problem solving skills are preferred. Excellent communication skills are required.

For more information please contact Jenny Hill at 01-6146194 or at jenny.hill@cpl.ie.

Job Title: Senior Chemist Location: Waterford A Senior Chemist is required for an expanding pharmaceutical facility in the South East. The ideal candidate will have experience in HPLC, Dissolution, UV-vis and a range of analytical techniques. In conjunction with a degree in a relevant scientific field, experience in training and guiding junior analysts in a Quality Control GMP environment is highly beneficial.

For more information please contact Killian Maher at 016146008 or email at killian.maher@cpl.ie

Job Title: Executive Director External Quality Assurance Location: Dublin A biopharmaceutical company in Dublin is seeking an Executive Director of External Quality Assurance to ensure quality of contract manufacturing meets the companies standards. The successful candidate will have extensive experience in Quality Assurance within the biopharmaceutical industry and will have experience managing a large team. Ideally, candidates will also have a background of managing external quality and extensive experience working in partnership with contract manufacturing organisations. For further information please contact Aileen Cahill at 01-6146007 or at aileen.cahill@cpl.ie.

Job Title: QC Analyst Location: Limerick A biotechnology facility based in Limerick is seeking a senior control analyst to work in a contract capacity in the quality control laboratory. The successful candidate will have previous GMP experience and have a degree in a relevant life sciences subject.

Experience in analytical techniques such as HPLC, GC, Karl Fischer, IR, UV-Vis and AAS and a range of wet chemical techniques is highly beneficial and the company is looking for at least 2 years in a pharmaceutical environment. For more information please contact Stephanie Gallagher at 01-6146082 or email stephanie.gallagher@cpl.ie

Job Title: Microbiologist Location: Carlow A biotechnology facility based in Carlow requires a Microbiologist to work in a contract capacity in the quality control laboratory. The facility is a growing facility with a number of product lines. The successful candidate will have previous GMP experience and have a degree in a relevant life sciences subject. The ideal candidate will have experience in analytical techniques such as Bioburden, Endotoxin, Total Viable Count and Gram Staining. Ideally the candidate will have additional experience in environmental monitoring and water testing.

For more information please contact Jenny Hill at 01-6146194 or at jenny.hill@cpl.ie

Job Title: QC Analyst Location: Dublin A pharmaceutical facility based in Dublin requires a junior quality analyst to work in a contract capacity in the quality control laboratory.

The facility has a number of product lines. The successful candidate will have previous GMP experience and a degree in a relevant life sciences subject. Ideally, candidates will have experience in analytical techniques such as HPLC, Karl Fischer, IR, UV and a range of wet chemical techniques and at least 9 months experience in a pharmaceutical environment. For more information please contact Killian Maher at 01-6146008 or at killian.maher@cpl.ie

Job Title: Documentation Controller Location: Cork A Cork API facility is looking for a Documentation Controller to join their Quality team. Previous experience in the development, review and update of GMP documentation is required. The ideal candidate will have worked in a similar capacity within production in a GMP facility. Experience in EDMQ is a distinct advantage. Excellent communication skills both written and verbal are important.

For more information on this role please contact Stephanie Gallagher at 01-6146082 or email stephanie.gallagher@cpl.ie

Job Title: Director Manufacturing Location: Limerick A biopharmaceutical company in the South West is seeking a Head of Biopharmaceutical Operations for their new Drug Substance facility. The successful candidate will have extensive experience in the manufacture of Biopharmaceutical Drug Substance and will have experience leading large scale manufacturing teams. The ideal candidate will have experience manufacturing mammalian cell culture products and have in excess of 10 years’ experience managing all facets of commercial scale production of recombinant proteins facility. For more information please contact Killian Maher at 01-6146008 or at killian.maher@cpl.ie

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 62 Page 5

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UPFRONT

The remarkably well preserved skull of Australopithecus sediba, and right, smallbodied female modern H. sapiens on left, A sudiba in middle and male chimpanzee on right. Lee Berger; University of the Witwatersrand.

Tracing our ancestors

The fossil remains display a mixture of features, some, such as the narrow upper rib cage are characteristic of climbing apes, and others such as the lower jaw, resemble earlier Homo species. The spinal column and inwardly curved back, also suggest that Australopithecus sediba was

Apes did not suddenly become human, but over time human characteristics began to evolve. A number of ape fossils with hominoid features exist, but determining which of these was ancestral to us is a puzzle that scientists have been trying to solve.

Among the candidates is Australopithecus sediba. An unusually complete adolescent and an adult female were discovered in a small cave at Malapa near Johannesburg in 2008.

After examining the 2 million year old remains, prof Lee Berger, peter schmid and colleagues at Wits University in south Africa concluded that she could well have been the mother of a line that eventually led to humanity.

well on the way to becoming an early form of the genus Homo.

Unlike modern humans, Australopithecus sediba’s rib-cage tapered towards the top. For climbers this is an advantage, as it makes it easier to swing through trees, but it also makes it harder to walk, yet alone run. In taking to the ground, we had to develop a cylindrical ribcage which allows us to swing our arms.

As a result of these conclusions scientists may have to reconsider the position of other species, such as Lucy, the 3.2 million year old Australopithecus afarensis from east Africa. Lucy left a trail of footprints, showing a gait similar to humans, but as the researchers pointed out, animals often adapt over time to their environment so upright walking may have evolved more than once. According to the scientists, Lucy could have been a side branch and Australopithecus sediba is more likely to have been an ancestor of the Homo genus.

Left, missing parts filled in to show what the complete skeleton would have looked like.

Moving plates

THe earthquake that devastated Lisbon in 1755 may have marked the beginning of another phase of tectonic movements in the region. JoĂŁo Duarte, from the school of Geosciences at Monash University in Us has reported that signs of activity have been detected in the south West Iberia plate. Up to now this plate was thought to be inactive, but as the geologist remarked in a paper published in the journal Geology, observations indicate that this is the early development of an active margin when one plate is pushed down under another. Although the Mid-Atlantic ridge has been pushing europe and North America apart the process of Iberian subduction could pull the two continental masses together again, a process that would take about 20 million years.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 62 Page 6

Fresh air

A web-based indicator of air quality has been launched by the environmental protection Agency. By clicking on any area a message comes up to show whether conditions are good, fair, poor or very poor. Regions are also colour coded to show quality, and the levels are updated hourly. http://www.epa.ie/air/quality/.

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UPFRONT

Linda Grealish from the Advanced Mapping team at the Marine Institute shows Ciara MacDonald from Scoil Mhuire Oranmore Galway how the mini ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) works during the school tour while on board the RV Celtic explorer.

Students visit the Celtic Explorer

The research vessel, Celtic Explorer, spends more than 300 days a year at sea, and much of what we now know about Ireland’s extensive marine territory has been discovered by scientists working on board this vessel. In December the Celtic Explorer was back in its home port, Galway, providing a perfect opportunity for over seven hundred students from Galway, Roscommon and Mayo to come on board. The students had entered a writing

competition organised by the Marine Institute, earning them an invitation to visit the impressive and well-equipped Celtic Explorer.

Ciara MacDonald, from Scoil Mhuire, Oranmore, and Lauren McGinley from Scoil Colmcille in County Donegal were given a special welcome as joint winners of the writing competition.

As Dr Peter Heffernan, CEO of the Marine Institute commented, students who took part in the competition learned something about the marine, and by coming to the Celtic Explorer they came face-to-face with the crew and scientists who work at sea. The students were shown how Ireland’s seabed is being mapped, they learned how to identify and work out the age of fishes, and they went up to the bridge to see how the ship is run.

One of the highlights was examining the Holland 1, the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) that recently captured images from the vast Whittard Canyon that runs down from the continental shelf to the depths of the Atlantic.

Students from Scoil Mhuire Oranmore Galway see how the RV Celtic Explorer is run from the bridge during the open day in Galway. Photo: Andrew Downes.

Science at sea

Following a trans-Atlantic voyage more than 570 students of marine science arrived in Galway aboard the MV Explorer. The ocean going field-trip, arranged by an ongoing US based Semester at Sea programme was led by NUI Galway oceanographer, Dr Rachel Cave and on arrival they investigated the submarine groundwater flow from County Clare and East Galway.

Under a collaborative partnership programme, Strategic Marine Alliance for Research and Training, based at GalwayMayo Institute of Technology, a number of universities and institutes provide offshore training for students of marine science, technology and engineering.

Semester at Sea Student takes photos in Cannahowna cave during a study of how groundwater emerges into the sea.

Marine Institute Foras na Mara

Our Ocean - A Shared Resource Ár n-Aigéan - Acmhainn Comhroinnte Ireland’s National Agency for Marine Research and Innovation An Ghníomhaireacht Náisiúnta um Thaighde Mara agus Nuálaíochta

Flu watch

An interactive map is to help people track the spread of flu across Ireland. Volunteers who register with flusurvey.ie will monitor the incidence of flu in their area, and an on-line interactive map will show this locally and at national level. Flusurvey.ie is being hosted by NUI Galway and it involves collaboration with the hSe and the health Protection Surveillance Centre.

www.marine.ie

http://flusurvey.ie

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 62 Page 7

SciFest National Final SciFest@SFI Discover 2013

than 5300 students had exhibited in excess of 2260 projects at local level in schools and at regional level in the Institutes of Technology and the University of Ulster. One project was selected at each of the 15 regional venues to compete in the final. There were a number of prizes awarded on the Paul Clarke discusses his findings with Professor Mark Ferguson, day but the top award Director General of Science Foundation Ireland and Chief went to Paul Clarke, St Scientific Adviser to the Government.

Paul’s College, raheny, The SciFest 2013 National Final, Dublin 5 for his project entitled ‘a SciFest@SFI Discover, took place on 22 Polynomial Time algorithm for the November in the Science Gallery Trinity Undirected Hamiltonian Cycle Problem’.

College, Dublin. Each of the projects Paul’s prize included a trophy and the on display was already a winner in its opportunity to represent Ireland at own right. Throughout the year more the Intel International Science and

Preparations for SciFest 2014 are already well under way.

Closing date for receipt of entries is 7 March 2014.

Please visit the website

www.scifest.ie for further details.

Engineering Fair in Los angeles on 11-16 May 2014. Paul’s teacher, Dr Brian Smith, will accompany Paul on the allexpenses-paid trip to Los angeles.

GREENWAVE 2014

GrEENwavE is an initiative of the SFI Discover Programme that began in 2006 to facilitate primary school children across Ireland in observing and recording the arrival of the signs of spring. By recording details of the weather and common species on the project website www.greenwave.ie participants build a picture of how species in their locality react to longer days and warmer temperatures and consider whether the green wave of spring moves from south to north across Ireland or inland from the coast to the centre of the country.

The website also provides information on how to go about making weather observations, including pointers on measuring temperature, how to make and use a rain gauge, and how to make an anemometer to measure wind speed.

remember, participating in Greenwave is one of the steps towards achieving a Discover Primary Science & Maths award of Science and Maths Excellence in 2014.

Log on to

www.greenwave.ie for more information

Primary schools can register on the website to record sightings and upload photographs of the various common species around the country. There are also a range of resources including information on weather folklore and a spotter’s guide for each of six species with details on how to identify them and exactly what to record.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 62 Page 8

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Exploring Irish wetland habitats

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EPA launches new schools’ resources

etland habitats such as rivers and lakes, turloughs, bogs and fens are rich in biodiversity. They provide a wide range of benefits and services which are sometimes overlooked. Wetlands have a role to play in flood relief, landscape, the water cycle and the provision of water for drinking supplies, agriculture, industry, recreation, transport and fishing. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched a new teaching resource to support Post Primary Schools in exploring wetland habitats.

The EPA consulted with teachers and advisors to develop lesson plans, collaborating with practising teachers to pilot the resources in their classes. The Irish Ramsar Wetlands Committee also provided valuable assistance. Teachers can access and use comprehensions, lesson plans, a file of press cuttings and a range of exercises and scenarios for debates, role plays, map work and field studies.

The Biodiversity in our Wetlands module can be found on the Education section of the EPA website the 2020 Vision Second Level Resource > Protected Soil & Biodiversity section. It includes the following specific lessons:

The CSPE lesson:

i highlights the importance of wetlands to local communities; i encourages students to become active citizens through thinking about how development affects individuals within their local community; i particularly strong in relation to role play activities, it encourages students to develop arguments, debate issues and participate in a democratic election.

The Junior Cycle Geography Lesson:

i allows students to learn about the importance of biodiversity within the context of wetlands and the role of wetlands in human activity; i extension exercises include an investigation of press coverage about wetlands, e.g. harvesting peat from bogs, included in a wetlands press book.

The Transition Year Geography Lesson:

i focuses on biodiversity, and the environmental and economic importance of wetlands; i extension exercises include designing posters, presentations and newspaper front pages and writing letters to local authorities.

The Biodiversity in our Wetlands module adds to a range of online environmental resources already available to teachers from the EPA. It is one of 19 modules in the Post Primary EPA set of resources called 2020 VISION: A Closer look at Ireland’s Environment.

Tailored for teachers of Transition Year, Geography, Science and

CSPE classes they allow students to explore current Irish environmental issues and data, from clean water and air to sustainable resource use, climate change and biodiversity. As a starting point, each module uses short video clips from the popular EcoEye series hosted by Duncan Stewart. Resources are designed to animate environmental issues for students, encouraging them to learn about the science that is all around us in our everyday lives.

As the 2020 Vision resource is web-based, teachers are invited to visit the EPA website: www.epa.ie/researchandeducation/ education/educ/ to download the resource in English or Irish.

The website contains the full range of materials, including Irish-language versions of all the comprehensions and lesson plans. It also has a video player to facilitiate viewing the EcoEye clips on-line. The clips are subtitled in English and Irish, and transcripts of their content in both languages can be downloaded from the video player.

Other EPA schools’ resources:

The EPA website carries curriculum relevant resources for both primary and second level schools.

Beautifully illustrated, the EPA primary school resources remain popular with teachers. They are divided into five topic packs which can be downloaded for printing and use in the classroom. Topics include waste, natural resources, impacts and pollution, nature, and environmental care. The packs are available in English or Irish.

The EPA Leaving Certificate Geography Pack was developed specifically to support the revised Leaving Certificate Geography syllabus, and encourages the development and practice of a variety of geographical skills. Materials are available in both English and Irish.

State of Environment factsheets and infographics

For teachers and students interested in delving a little deeper, the EPA has recently released a series of new State of Environment factsheets and infographics. Graphic visual representations summarise information on three topics: air quality, waste and sustainable transport. The factsheets provide summary information across ten environmental topics from air quality, waste and climate change to broader issues such as environment & health, sustainable agriculture and environment & the economy.

Both the infographics and factsheets can be found on the Ireland’s Environment web resource on the EPA website.

www.epa.ie

RE-CREatINg SCIENCE a creativity philosophy for science teaching and learning Dr Michael Wride writes that we need to be more creative in making sense of what we learn about science

“The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion, which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. He who knows it not and can no longer wonder, no longer feel amazement, is as good as dead, a snuffed-out candle.”

Albert Einstein (1949) The World as I See It 1.

Such a sentiment echoes the thoughts of the philosopher Martin Heidegger, a long-term critic of science, who pointed out As a developmental biologist of over 20 years, I am still filled that “science does not think”. with a sense of awe and wonder when studying embryos. The gradual appearance of form of a zebrafish embryo for example is astounding. The fertilized egg begins to cleave and the An artist’s eye? first cells are formed, wrapping around the yolk sac that will So, in order to understand embryonic development, is it just provide all the food the embryo needs. a case of explaining the material interactions between the The cells move and divide in an intricate dance of creative molecules and cells or is there something more at work here, exuberance over the ensuing several days. It is the astounding something perhaps even more wondrous? Can we remind ability that the cells within the embryo have to communicate ourselves occasionally to just step back, perhaps with an with each other that always amazes me. This is a dance and artist’s eye, and admire the beauty of the process as it is, while dances require co-operation and the ability of the partners to also gaining deeper understanding? Is there a way of actually hear the rhythms in the music, creating intricate, interweaving developing our thought processes to gain direct insights about patterns that are beautiful to behold. the phenomena of study? Can we consciously develop ‘new To me, the process of embryo development is mysterious organs of perception’? and amazing. It always seems to me there is a fundamental Surely this is the way that science really works? The most creative spark, a kind of ever-changing enthusiasm that the successful and creative scientists have always been able to cells have to sculpt themselves into form in time and space. move beyond the ‘official’ scientific method into the realm of Ultimately, how can we explain the development of such perfect intuition, imagination and inspiration to gain their creative form? The individual cells are constantly and instantaneously insights. As Einstein said: “problems cannot be solved from the same communicating with each other so that they are essentially level of consciousness that created them”. And let’s face it, we have united in one dynamic and indivisible whole. many problems requiring creative solutions in the Sure, great strides have been made in breaking We need to move world at the moment. the system down to isolated individual units, Perhaps, we need a new renaissance of away from the idea thought that can somehow meld the feelings, whether they be cells or molecules, to try and explain the process, but then all we have are that creativity is only intuitions, imagination and inspiration of the separate fragments whose connections still with the current rational and analytical associated with art artist need to be explained. The emergent properties scientific method. One pioneer we might look associated with these relationship and processes and music, rather to in this area is the German polymath Johann still await true understanding.

Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832). Goethe was than science Aristotle pointed out that, unlike inert things, famous as a politician as well as an artist, poet and organisms are ‘self-movers’ or ‘self-changers’ in novelist (the author of Faust). He also developed a that they have what might be termed an ‘inner agency’. Later, unique method of science, a phenomenological approach, which Immanuel Kant in his Critique of Judgment (1790) pointed out he called a ‘delicate empiricism’ in which the scientist actively that, useful as they are, linear mechanical approaches using engages with the phenomenon of study using the intuitive analytical thought can only take us so far in understanding mode of consciousness to gain creative insights about the living creatures, because the relationships between the whole phenomenon under study4. Using this approach, for example, and the parts mean that causes become effects and effects Goethe was able to develop his ‘new organs of perception’ become causes. Kant felt it “absurd ….to hope that another and intuit the developmental relationship between leaves and Newton will arise in the future” who would make any inroads flowers long before plant geneticists had realized the same into unravelling these complexities. And so the task of biology thing 5. was to study the physico-chemical properties of the parts using analytical thought alone 2.

A creative philosophy at the heart of science There is even a case to be made that the accepted scientific education? method actually goes so far as to actively discourage thought!

Therefore, an emphasis on creativity is particularly important The British biologist Peter Medawar said in his book Induction and Intuition in Scientific Thought that the best experiments avoid in science teaching and learning. How can science teachers be empowered and freed to take themselves outside of the ‘box’ the need for thinking entirely: “…a ‘good’ experiment is precisely in order to develop the approaches to maximise engagement that which spares us the exertion of thinking: the better it is, the less we have to worry about it interpretation, about what it ‘really’ means” in and excitement about science in their students? How do educators engage students in balancing scientific rigour with (p14-15)3.

The creativity of the embryo

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 62 Page 11

an open mind capable of recognising the need for creativity for scientific progress? How can students be enabled to explore and expand upon the latest concepts in a given field? Should we always rely on textbooks that are out of date as soon as they are written? It has recently been argued that textbooks are actually counter-productive to creative learning, since they fail to stimulate the process by which educational experience unfolds as lived meaning and instead contribute towards a kind of ‘deadening’ of the study material for both the students and the teacher6.

Therefore, the challenge becomes how to engage and reenergise both teachers and students: to develop the means to teach science creatively and to engender creative thinking in students. We need to do a much better job of embedding the concept of creativity as a fundamental underlying principle in the science curriculum and to highlight creativity in nature during teaching. We need to move away from the idea that creativity is only associated with art and music, rather than science7.

I would like to suggest here that there is a need to develop a science with creativity at its heart and to provide science teachers with the space and resources to develop a creativity philosophy as the basis of their approaches to teaching and learning; a science that sees the relationships between the parts; a science that effortlessly derives new solutions for seemingly paradoxical and incompatible situations; a science that integrates rather than fragments; a science that inspires students and unleashes their imaginations and creativity. We need a science that sees the big picture as well as the parts, a science that understands its own history and philosophy.

We need a science where wisdom, creativity and purpose are valued; a science that is integrated with philosophy again, so that deep thinking is encouraged and facilitated. We need to encourage students to question their preconceived ideas about what science is, to move beyond the notion of science as simply problem solving.

How are students to realise that there are very few if any absolute truths in science, thus opening the door to the presence of hitherto unseen possibilities – the essence of creativity?

We need to encourage science students to become active participants in their own education and not passive consumers of unchanging ‘facts’. We should emphasise that scientific research and learning are two sides of the same coin: research is learning and learning is research (again, the causes flow into the effects and the effects flow into the causes).

There also needs to be more time in the currently busy curricula for science students and teachers to reflect on the topics of study and on their own learning and teaching processes. Silence and reflection are necessary to develop the kind of meditative thinking that expands the imagination and which allows the insights and intuitions that are essential for creative science learning and teaching to ‘bubble up’ to the surface8. Thus, curricula will become more flexible, more like scaffolding than a rigid structure (perhaps just like the way the cytoskeleton remodels continuously within the cells of our developing zebrafish embryo). We will still have clear ideas about the topic of study and ‘learning outcomes’ will not be disappearing any time soon, but the teachers and the students will co-create their teaching and learning experiences together as a group by utilising and playing with the knowledge, which is literally at our fingertips, for example, from the information technology revolution.

Today’s students belong to the ‘facebook generation’ having grown up interacting extensively with information technology.

These students are used to active learning, ‘dynamic sources of

knowledge’ and connectivity and look to be engaged actively by the content they are studying. Their natural learning processes themselves are highly creative and this will only increase further with the future generations of students.

Indeed, it is recognised that there is currently a battle for creativity at the frontiers of both science and science education9 and that the pursuit of creativity should be at the heart of biology10. But, it still remains the case that science is not perceived as a creative endeavour11. As Seán Duke recently pointed out in Science Spin, current educational structures focusing on outcomes and results, which are detrimental to real learning and independent thinking, are still prevalent, particularly at secondary school level here in Ireland12.

So, to engage science students in creativity, we need to reinstill the sense of wonder about science and the natural world as well as bringing about a creative evolution of the educational structures themselves. This is as a total ‘re-visioning’ or ‘rebalancing’ of science teaching and learning — an emphasis on bringing ‘love and passion’ back into science in a truly holistic manner.

Left brain-right brain

The psychiatrist Ian McGilchrist argues in his book The Master and his Emissary 13 that the modern western world, which has been so influenced by science, has developed the left hemisphere of the brain to the detriment of the right side and its ways of dealing with the world. It is now more vital than ever that we recognise that a re-integration of approaches to understanding the world is required that recognises the importance of both hemispheres of the brain in an expanded view of the scientific method and science education that includes the logical, analytical, reductionist left side as well as well as the imaginative, intuitive and connected right side.

However, this ideal concept of the well-rounded scientist is not always the image that the public at large have about science and scientists or even the image that scientists have about themselves. This is in the context of the prevailing culture within academic science with its focus on hypothesisdriven research, reductionism, absolute objectivity and narrow specialisation, as well as the short-termism associated with the necessity to obtain grant funding and the pressure to ‘publish or perish’ for promotion.

There is also a fear by academic scientists of being ostracised or of losing funding if their creative insights lead them to venture outside of the ‘mainstream’ or the accepted thinking of the prevailing dogmas and theories in their fields. This is the idea that scepticism is healthy to good scientific practice.

However, in the extreme, scepticism becomes destructive, both for individual scientists, and for science as a whole, because it suppresses open-mindedness and creativity.

Perhaps the most iconic articulation of this scientific ‘operational reality’ was once again made by Peter Medawar in his books The Art of the Soluble: Creativity and Originality in Science 14 and Advice to a Young Scientist15. Medawar proposed that those wanting to achieve success in science should focus on what became known as ‘the Medawar zone’ of so-called optimal difficulty. The challenge is to identify a problem that is not too simple or too difficult. Simple problems will bring insufficient rewards and attempting to solve problems that are too difficult will only lead to lack of career progression. Thus, the creative value, quality and originality of the work are not as important as the ability to impress one’s peers.

This is a rather bleak view of science, which is still propagated in science education in different guises. This view of science as a safe pursuit of obtainable answers reinforces the

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 62 Page 12

idea that science is not a creative endeavour. This is then carried over into teaching and learning, such as an over-emphasis on rote-learning, a rigid and dogmatic adherence to the rules of the discipline and a perception of science as the domain of the elite, with a specific skill set and an incomprehensible and exclusive language9 11. We could also extrapolate this ‘operational reality’ to the current obsession with ‘cramming’ to pass exams in secondary school for example, rather than encouraging creative thinking in our students. Often, the most creative students are those most penalized by the current situation.

Re-visioning science

Thankfully, there is evidence that there are significant numbers of scientists who rank creativity highly in their pursuit of knowledge. In a study on ‘re-visioning science’, scientists were interviewed about their motivations and every day ‘lived experience’16. The most all-pervasive theme to emerge was the relationship between science and creativity. The research results clearly demonstrated that privately, if not openly in their professional setting, inspiration from art and relating to art were highly important for scientists in finding inspiration and providing a wider context for their work. The words ‘wonder’ and ‘beauty’ were often used by scientists when talking about their work.

So, science teaching should incorporate the links between art, aesthetics and science in order to engage and inspire students about the overall richness of nature. A wonderful quote by one

References

[1] Einstein A. (1949). The World As I See It. Philosophical Library, New York, USA [2] Brady R.H. (1998). The idea in nature: re-reading Goethe’s organics. In: Goethe’s way of science a phenomenology of nature.

Seamon D. and Zajonc A. (Eds). SUNY series in Environmental and architectural phenomenology, State University of New York Press.

[3] Medawar P. (1969). Induction and Intuition in Scientific Thought. American Philosophical Society.

[4] Wahl D.C. (2005). “Zarte Empirie”: Goethean science as a way of knowing. Janus Head 8: 51-76.

[5] Theissen G., Saedler H. (2001). Plant biology. Floral quartets.

Nature. 409: 469-71.

[6] Benhur Oral S. (2013). What is wrong with using textbooks in education? Educational Philosophy and Theory, 45:3, 318-333 [7] McWilliam E., Poronnik P., Taylor P. (2008). Redesigning science pedagogy: Reversing the flight from Science. Journal of Science Education and Technology 17(5): 226-235.

[8] Dawson, J. (2003). Reflectivity, Creativity, and the Space for Silence. Reflective Practice: International and Multidisciplinary Perspectives, 4:33-39

scientist stands out from the work on ‘re-visioning science’: “If you have science without passion, forget it as far as I’m concerned. If you have science without creativity or without insight, well you don’t have science. It’s about extracting order out of a chaos of information, some kind of beautiful, simple, elegant theory…”

Emphasising such approaches can lead to greater levels of motivation and transformative experiences on the part of the students, which in turn lead to much deeper levels of engagement17. In order to do this however, it will be necessary that science teachers engage with their students in exploring the fundamental role of creativity and connection in nature in innovative, imaginative and inspiring ways.

Mike Wride is an Assistant Professor in the Zoology Department, School of Natural Sciences at Trinity College Dublin. Mike carried out his undergraduate studies in Physiology and Biochemistry with Nutrition at Southampton University, UK. He carried out his PhD in Developmental Biology at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, followed by postdoctoral work at the University of Calgary on the neuronal differentiation of stem cells. He then worked with Martin Evans (Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, 2007) at Cardiff University, UK and had his first full academic appointment as lecturer in the School of Optometry and Vision Science at Cardiff University (2003-2007) before moving to Dublin. Mike’s current research interests are in eye development and disease. An enthusiastic and innovative, student-centred lecturer, Mike is also currently working on his dissertation on creativity in science and science education as part of his MEd in Higher Education Teaching and Learning at Trinity.

[9] Schmidt A.L. (2010). The battle for creativity: frontiers in science and science education. BioEssays. 32: 1016-9.

[10] Medina M.A. (2006). The pursuit of creativity in biology.

BioEssays 28: 1151-1152 [11] Schmidt A.L. (2011). Creativity in science: tensions between perception and practice. Creative Education 2(5): 435-445.

[12] Duke S. (2013). Education is not just another one-fit-for-all product. Science Spin 60: 12-13.

[13] McGilchrist I. (2009). The master and his emissary: the divided brain and the making of the western world. Yale University Press, New Haven and London.

[14] Medawar P. (1967). The art of the soluble: creativity and originality in science. London: Methuen.

[15] Medawar P. (1979). Advice to a young scientist. London: Harper & Row. [16] Lunn M., Noble A. (2008). Re-visioning science “love and passion in the scientific imagination”: art and science. International Journal of Science Education 30(6). 793-805.

[17] Pugh K.J., Linnenbrink-Garcia L., Koskey K.L.K., Stewart V.C., Manzey C. (2010). Motivation, learning and transformative experience: a study of deep engagement in science. Science Education 94:1-28

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SCIENCE SPIN Page 13 Issue 62

CHOOSING

sCieNCe FOR LIFE A geologist At seA

Mark Coughlan at work on the research vessel Poseidon, and right, taking time off with colleagues on board the Celtic Explorer.

Mark Coughlan from kinsale is a geologist, but instead of tramping around the countryside he spends a lot of time at sea probing the sediments below.

As he remarked, “I find myself a boat and go out for a few days collecting as much data as I can, then its back to the office,” where he applies his software skills to charting out sediments that have accumulated on sea bed over the past 400,000 or so years.

Mark has been working in the Irish Sea and the North Sea, and as he explained, geologically speaking the deposits are relatively recent and their arrangement tells us a lot about glacial dynamics since the last Ice age. The picture that is emerging, he said, has become more complex than previously thought. Different features were created as ice advanced and retreated, among them what are known as tunnel valleys. These are like river valleys, but were carved out by ice before being filled in, he explained, and for a scientist interested in quaternary studies, these features are of great interest. Like similar depressions on land, these marine valleys have preserved subsequent deposits that otherwise would have been swept away.

Some studies had been done, but as Mark explained, it has become important to study these deposits in more detail.

The development of offshore energy means that there is demand for more down-to-earth information, and as Mark said of his current project, “we are looking at the physical characteristics from an engineering prospective.”

Ever since his transition year at Coláiste Chríost rí in Cork Mark has been interested in geology, and apart from some good geography teachers there be recalls how he was impressed by Bill Bryson’s classic, A Short History of Nearly Everything. at University College Cork, said Mark, the former Professor of Geology, John Gamble, among others, did a lot to stimulate his interest, but going on a cruise on the Celtic Explorer just before his finals made him decide that he would much prefer to work at sea rather than plod along on land. He spent some time helping to investigate potential sites for renewable energy installations, and then was off to the Porcupine Seabight to investigate cold water coral mounds before moving on to join a group in Bremen as they charted deposits in the North Sea.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 62 Page 14

Mark, who was at the recent Geoscience conference in Dublin to present a poster of his work, said his project comes to an end in February. So what comes next? Mark has no worries on that score, and as he explained, offshore developments mean that his skills are in demand, and his knowledge is transferable. In the current project, he had been probing the upper 100 or so metres, but much the same approach is applied in going a lot deeper with seismic data. “You use the same skills, just scale them up,” he said. Observations of how deposits formed in the past can also have a relevance to understanding how modern structures will survive in a marine environment.

Mark has been out a number of times on the Celtic Voyager and Celtic Explorer, and he spent a year working on the North Sea with a group based in Bremen as they revised and updated data from the 1970s. “I am lucky that what I do is of interest to industry, so whatever comes next for me is no big deal,” he said.

Tom Kennedy

cAreer ProFiLe

cAreer ProFiLe

Supported by

The Process scienTisT

Seán Duke talked to Dr Brian Moran about his work at the Pfizer Grange castle Biotech Plant

W

hether it’s for heart disease, or depression, the drugs that sustain our health only reach the pharmacist’s shelves after a hugely complex and highly regulated manufacturing process. The making of a drug can involve input from hundreds if not thousands of people, and right at the heart of it all, is the process scientist.

There is a sense that the process scientists – who are the glue that holds together the entire drug manufacturing process – are the unsung heroes of Ireland’s, still thriving, pharmaceutical industry.

The key role of process scientists, working as a technical services team within the plant, is to field questions on any aspect of the process, large SCIENCE SPIN Issue 62 Page 15

Brian was inspired to pursue a career in science by his chemistry teacher

or small, from any manufacturing section or quarter, right across the site. They are expected to take these questions and to find answers.

The questions might have to do with the raw materials coming into the plant, or to do with the labeling on the drug as it is about to leave the site. Whatever the stage of the process, or the nature of the question, it will be sent to the process scientists at technical services to deal with. It’s an important, challenging role.

Dr Brian Moran, is a process scientist working within the technical services team at the massive Pfizer Grange Castle plant in Dublin. The €1.8 billion plant is located on a 90-acre site and is one of the largest biotech plants in the world. The main products manufactured at Grange Castle are etanercept, the biological active ingredient in Enbrel®, a parenteral product for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and ankylosing spondylitis, and Prevenar 13®, a vaccine for the prevention of pneumococcal disease in infants and older adults. Brian works on etanercept.

An important part of the job of the process engineer is to ensure the integrity of the production process, and therefore assure safe and effective drugs – and that applies to every batch of drugs that leaves the plant, without exception.

A secondary role is improving efficiencies in the production process, thus ensuring continuity of supply and helping improve value for both the company and the patient.

Inspiration

and a half years to complete; then it was on to a post-doc. At this point, Brian, who is from Dungarvan, was however, he switched his chosen inspired to pursue a career in science field to environmental and analytical by his teacher at St Augustine’s chemistry. At the same time, he began College, Oliver Broderick. “He was questioning the logic of trying to very much ‘old school’, but he knew secure an academic job. how to connect with the students,” “Academia is a very difficult area said Brian about his former teacher. to break in to,” explained Brian.

“He knew how to make the subject enjoyable. You would get homework, “To make a success of it you have to be young, free and single, but it was a pleasure to do the to get the international homework – almost. It was experience, and build up very much related to Brian loves the your contacts. Then the real life. He had a real interaction across the opportunities are very passion for the subject, entire Grange Castle site limited. I had a young for the sciences. It that his job provides. family and I was certainly did rub He is also at ease with looking for something off on the majority,” the responsibility more secure. There recalled Brian. that comes with the was more job security Such was his position. and opportunity by influence, said Brian, that getting into the pharma all of his siblings went into side of things.” the general, scientific, medical After two and a half years of postor healthcare fields. “I have a brother doctoral work, Brian applied for, and and a sister that are both pharmacists and my little sister is an occupational secured a job working in technical services at the Elanco plant in Sligo therapist,” said Brian’. “The one (Elanco is the veterinary wing of abiding link there is that we all had Eli Lilly). He had started to build a the same chemistry teacher.” house in Dundalk, where is wife is After his Leaving Certificate in from, and had a small daughter. He 2000, Brian went to DCU where he stayed in Sligo during the working signed up for a four year course week and came home to his family in Pure and Applied Chemistry at the weekend. When a second child (in his first year the course came along a few months ago, a boy, changed its name to Chemical and there was a strong motivation to get Pharmaceutical Science). In the a job ‘back on the east coast’. The summer following his 3rd year at job at Pfizer is within commuting DCU Brian got the opportunity to distance of Dundalk. work in research in the US as part of The great thing about working a collaboration between DCU and in the pharmaceutical sector, he the University of Kansas. says, is that it has been largely This experience whetted his untouched by the economic crash. appetite for further research after Things are, however, changing in his degree, and he moved on to the industry with increased focus do a PhD in DCU in medicinal on biotechnology. Grange Castle chemistry. The doctorate took three

Cpl Science, Engineering & Supply Chain is unique in that we have strategic partnerships with the majority of the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies in Ireland and globally.

As a result of our reputation for quality, excellence, delivery and understanding of our clients’ needs we are also the first port of call for any new scientific business ventures that are considering setting up in Ireland.

is a good example of this, he said, where cell culture is used in the manufacture of biological active ingredients and drug products.

“Currently I’m looking at all the starting raw materials coming in, making sure that they are all sufficiently pure, doing any testing that needs to be done to make sure that they are all fine, fit for purpose for the product. We are working side by side with the engineers who are looking at the ‘hardware’ side of it.”

The analogy he used was to think of the process at Grange Castle in terms of it being like building a PC. Under this analogy the engineers are looking at the hardware – the computer monitor, the keyboard, the mouse etcetera– while the technical services department (populated by scientists like Brian) looks at what software needs to be put in, what kind of anti-virus programme and what filters.

Brian loves the interaction across the entire Grange Castle site that his job provides. He is also at ease with the responsibility that comes with the position. However, as with any highly regulated industry, there is a lot of paperwork. He has had to ‘hang up his white coat’ and spends a huge proportion of his work time in front of a PC writing up reports, writing assessments and signing off on things, rather than at the bench.

He would recommend his job to anyone considering a career in science. “In terms of technical services,” said Brian, “you can get in at the bottm level and you can go right up to the very top of the whole manufacturing structure. There is always great scope for moving up the line, there are great opportunities.”

Cpl truly appreciates and values finding the “perfect technical match” and we provide candidates and clients with an individualised, quality service, carefully tailored to meet the specific needs of our customers.

CPL Resources plc, 83 Merrion Square, Dublin 2, Ireland.

Phone: +353 1 614 6000 Email:info@cpl.ie www.cpl.ie

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 62 Page 16

This is an important step, but it is of course that all depends on how the left intact, but healthy growth and research progresses. There are still quite recovery is enhanced. not the only factor involved in making the complex active. The researchers a few unknowns, she said, and as for However, getting the complex to stabilising the HAMLET complex so that function in an adult gut is a challenge, suspected that mixing of materials in it can be used in adults, “we are not fully the gut could have an influence, and and the aim of Louise and her colleagues this was confirmed by introducing confident that it would have exactly the is to see if they could mimic the sort of same effects.” conditions that make it active in the baby miniature cameras through the gastric tube of the volunteers.. These tiny Louise cannot remember a time gut. What we wanted to find out, said when she was not interested in Louise, is why should there be such a cameras, producing three images per science.

“I entered difference between what was observed second, provided the University researchers with The Faculty of Science andinEngineering at the of Limerick invite youthe toYoung comeScientist to UL close-up action movie enabling them to competition when I was 15,” she said, the lab and what actually happens in the to share the career experiences of our graduates. “and came second overall, going on to adult gut. witness how the appearance of protein Graduates will give brief presentations on their careers to-date outlining the opportunities and horizons opened them since represent Ireland at theto international complexes change as they go from an To understand what happens as a graduating.

This will be followed by an informal Q&A session with the opportunity to meet and chat with presenters acidic to a neutral environment, and how science and engineering fair inand 2002.” complex moves through the adult gut, university faculty.

At the time, Louise was attending the healthy adult volunteers had naso-gastric they become mixed through other gut contents. By making these observations Institute of Education in Leeson Street, tubes inserted. These flexible tubes researchers concluded that the mixing and from there she went on allowed researchers take samples Springthe Schedule fortoGraduate Careerthe Information Evenings: Other Dublin, important diary dates include to study biotechnology in an adult gut is not adequate to enable as the complex the 9 January 2014 progressed Electronicthrough and Computer Engineering l UL Open Day: 18 January 2014 at Dublin City University. theBiomedical complex to work effectively. gut.

As expected pH goes through a and 23 January 2014 the Mechanical, Aeronautical Engineering l UL Post Grad Open Day: 5 February 2014 Learning babies have series of changes, this has an effect As Louise explained, understanding 13 February 2014 and Computer Science and Information Systems l Engineers Week: 10that - 15breast-fed February 2014 a lower incidence of childhood cancer what is going means on how the proteins fold.

As Louise said,Digital (incl Computer Games, Media, Musicon Media & that researchers l Science and Engineering Summer Camp, now know what sort of problems they made her curious as to why this is so, and it’s a bit like the opening and closing of Performance Technology) Cybercamp: June 2014 it was one of the reasons she wanted have to solve. The potential benefits l Special a13 fist.

At first, is closed.

Then, on March 2014the fist SAUL & Portfolio Information Mathematics Entrance Exam for thosetowho intorequirements and continue are bothSciences as an anti-cancer reaching the pH neutral environment in 10 April 2014 Life Sciences and Chemical andenormous, Environmental (incl meet thegoCAO forwith entryresearch. to UL BEng and Understandably, there is big interest in treatment, and as a possible the small intestine the fist unfolds&soIndustrial it Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Biochemistry, FoodprobioticBSc programmes.

Exam date 21 August 2014 this area, both from a medical and a food that people could eat as part of their diet. can catch a ball. In Science this case& the ball Equine is the Science) Health, as Louise remarked, “I For example,Engineering said Louise, a probiotic oleic fatty acid, andMechanical once caught, the fist and 19 June 2014 Aeronautical Biomedical For aperspective, full list of alland degree programmes can’t see myself leaving the science field based on a whey derived complex, closes, this is how the active complexEngineering 23 Juneand 2014 Electronic & Computer and further information anytime soon.” might clear up a bad tummy bug, but is formed. visit www.scieng.ul.ie Report, Tel: 061 202642 Tom Kennedy

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SCIENCE SPIN Issue 56 Page 23

Feeding growth with a health enhancing diet

C

atherine Stanton, one of Teagasc’s most senior scientists, points out that Ireland’s food exports are on the rise. We already export 90 per cent of our dairy products, she said, and expansion of the food industry is expected to continue. “I was recently in China,” she said, “and there is a huge export opportunity for Irish food producers there.”

However to benefit from this demand, food has to be fit to travel and nutritional value has to be high. Only by the application of scientific expertise can these aims be met and this is why research has become so important for innovation in the food sector. It also explains why so much attention is now being focused on the good bacteria — so called probiotics and fermented products that add value to what we eat.

At Teagasc Moorepark Catherine is working on gut microbiotica in collaboration with researchers at University College Cork (UCC) and the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre (APC). Alltogether, she said, about 100 scientists are now engaged in a variety of research projects, all of which are linked to gut microbiotica, that is those bacteria which inhabit our intestines and would contribute to both food digestion and to our health in a whole variety of ways.

Interest in this field, she explained, has been growing rapidly since it was realised just how big a role microbes play in keeping us in good health. Without the trillions of microbes that inhabit our gut we would not be able to digest our food properly and so our general health would suffer. This is because many of these micro-organisms produce bio-active substances that are essential to keeping the engine of life running smoothly. In their absence, said Catherine, we are likely to develop various metabolic disorders, including obesity, immune problems and irritable bowel syndrome.

As Catherine explained, we come into this life with an impoverished gut population, and to develop normally, babies have to acquire their microorganisms from their mother, the food they eat and the surrounding environment. Throughout our life we need to maintain that gut diversity, and, as has been found by researchers at UCC diversity is of key importance

Website: www.teagasc.ie

to our health. Having a varied diet is thought essential to keep that diversity.

In contrast, an impoverished microbiotica was found to be associated with the institutionalised elderly.

Certain foods, such as fermented milk yoghurts, said Catherine, are natural carriers of beneficial micro-organisms, and one of the aims of Teagasc researchers is to incorporate this added value into a range of what are known as probiotic foods. Naturally, there is intense interest among food producers in this research, and Catherine is keen for industry to reap the benefits. “It is very rewarding to see results in terms of products on the market,” she said, and from the start of her career, Catherine has always been drawn to the applied side of research.

At Loretto school in Fermoy, Catherine remembers having a very good science teacher, Sister Martin, but there was never any question in her mind about what she wanted to study at UCC. At university, Catherine became fascinated by the whole area of biochemistry and nutrition and that led her on to studying the complex process involved in tenderisation of beef for her PhD in the UK. After that, Catherine worked on research at Johnson and Johnson, and then on to study cell-biology for four years at Wake Forest Medical Centre in North Carolina. “This was experience gained in different but related environments,” Catherine said, all of which she was able to bring back home in 1994 on taking up a position at Moorepark.

At first, she said, the emphasis at Teagasc was on developing what are known as functional foods, and that generally involved adding to nutritional value and health claims. As the significance of gut microbiotica began to emerge, research in this area began to ramp up, and as Catherine remarked, there was a happy convergence of interests between Teagasc, UCC and APC. As a result of this a large number of researchers have been able to collaborate on a broad range of topics, not just in food, but also in health and pharmaceuticals. As one discovery leads to another, researchers have entered a period of almost explosive growth, and

At Teagasc Moorepark Catherine Stanton is working on gut microbiotica in collaboration with researchers at University College Cork (UCC) and the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre (APC). as Catherine remarked, there is still a lot more to be discovered.

For example, a big-scale research project has just begun on the relationship between stress and gut microbiotica involving collaboration with several partners throughout Europe, and Catherine’s own interests led her to investigate how some microbes produce a particular fatty-acid molecule (CLA) that is known to have anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties.

Because the Irish researchers are seen as pioneers in this fast developing field, international collaboration is on the increase. Following relocation of a Japanese researcher to Moorepark, is funding a two-year project at APC. Japan, said Catherine, has an ageing population, so the research showing how probiotics can help maintain health in the elderly represents a big marketing opportunity.

Irish food producers are almost certain to benefit from these international links, prompting Catherine to observe that food science would be a good choice of career, but her advice to students is also: “learn some foreign languages.”

50

years of Young Scientists

Co-founders, Fr Tom Burke and Dr Tony Scott.

For the past 50 years students from all around Ireland have presented projects at the Young Scientist Exhibition. Seán Duke talked to the co-founder, Dr Tony Scott, about how the annual event has gone from strength to strength

T

his year the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition celebrates its 50th year. Dr Tony Scott, retired UCD Physicist, and co-founder, along with Fr Tom Burke (deceased) has many cherished memories of the exhibition down the decades.

“The first one was held in January 1965,” recalled Tony. “We had about 220 projects — with Aer Lingus’s support we booked the round room of the Mansion House. Then based on the projects, we picked judges and just told them to judge. The projects were

divided into boys and girls and they were all individuals.”

It’s a long time ago. Some of the stories making news in January ’65 were the death of Winston Churchill; the first meeting (in 43 years) of an Irish Taoiseach, Sean Lemass, with a Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, Terence O’Neill; and the swearing in of Lyndon Johnson for a second term as the President of the USA.

Beginnings

The idea for the show followed a 1963 visit to New Mexico by Tony with Fr Burke – his mathematics teacher at Terenure College and by now his colleague in the UCD Department of Physics. ‘Fr Tom’, as Tony called him, had gone out to the US first, and reported back to Tony on something interesting he saw there.

The two UCD researchers had been invited to visit the New Mexico Institute for Mining and Technology, based in Socorro, a smallish town in the Rio Grande Valley, 74 miles south of Albuquerque. The Americans wanted the Irish to build a replica of something that was called ‘the Nolan Photoelectric Nucleus Counter’.

This device had been named after its inventor, Professor Patrick Nolan — the Chair of the UCD Geophysics Department up until his 1964 retirement.

It was, and is, the standard instrument used around the world to measure condensation nuclei – the tiny particles upon which vapour condenses during cloud formation.

Fr Tom went out to New Mexico first, Tony recalls jokingly, because “I had more exam papers to correct than he had”. Before long, Fr Tom was in touch with Tony about something that he had seen that engaged his keen interest. “He got back to me and said there is a young man out here who is building a rocket,” said Tony. “It will go up one mile and he wants to demonstrate it. The morning after I arrived we went to the schoolyard of the local primary school in Socorro.”

At the school, the Irish scientists met a young man called Gary, recalls Tony, who was setting up a rocket. They started chatting, and he said that he planned to enter his rocket project into a science fair that was being held in Albuquerque.

Fr Tom stayed on to attend the fair. He arrived back at UCD in September 1963, talked to Tony and asked: “Could we do it here in Ireland?” It was agreed that, yes, it could be done, but that a sponsor was needed. Tony had a contact in Aer Lingus, and they presented the idea to the General Manager J F Dempsey. “He took to it immediately,” said Tony. Thus began a fruitful 32year sponsorship.

“For the first 10 years or so until 1975 we never had group projects,” said Tony. “It was all individual. Fr Tom wanted individuals because I think that’s what he saw in Albuquerque.” Tony, however, put the case for group projects. “I said Tom, we are doing research together, we are publishing together,

therefore, aren’t we a group?” Tony’s point was taken and from 1976 onwards group projects were included.

One other big development in the 1970s came in 1973 when projects from Northern Ireland were first accepted. Up to then, it was Republic only.

The exhibition was growing – slowly - but it was still felt that it needed the official ‘imprimatur’ of a big scientific name to back it. The biggest name of all in Irish science in the 1970s was Ernest Walton, TCD’s legendary atom splitter, and Nobel laureate.

Walton, who was in the twilight of his career, supported the show by just being there. “He was an incredibly shy man,” recalls Tony.

“He wouldn’t push himself forward as a Nobel Prize winner, he was a modest man. He would drift in, walk around and people would say – look, he split the atom!”

In the 1980s, the exhibition hit a milestone when it surpassed 400 entries, which at the time was the limit that the RDS could comfortably accommodate.

This meant that, for the first time, it would be necessary to ‘screen’ entries for quality. Tony, along with Professor Sean Corish, Head of the Chemistry Department at TCD, acted as the first screening judges. The need for screening has increased over the years, as the number of entries has increased.

These days, the RDS can manage to accommodate 550 projects, but, this year, there were some 2,000 entrants.

Success

The exhibition has become so successful that only about one-quarter of the entrants now make it into the hall. This is a double-edged sword, because on the one hand it means that all the projects on exhibition are of high quality, but those that don’t make it – an increasing number – are left disappointed. Of course, everyone could be accommodated in a larger venue, but, Tony believes, the exhibition gains a lot by its association with the RDS. “The venue is one of the best in the country, in terms of hotels and transport available,” said Tony.

Furthermore, he said, BT are now offering E200 bursaries for exhibitors that live more than 75km from Dublin. This pays for the transport up and down and for bed and breakfast.

Aer Lingus ended its sponsorship of the exhibition in 1997 because they wanted to put their money into something that better reflected the global reach of the airline. For the first time

in decades, Tony and Fr Tom had to go looking for a new sponsor. Aer Lingus had been brilliant, said Tony, and they provided flights home from Rome for Fr Tom, when needed, and cabin crew to ‘work the floor’.

In 1998, Esat Telecom came in as a new sponsor; in 1999 it was Esat Fusion, and then in 2000 BT came onboard. “BT bring 150 staff, out of 800 in Ireland, so it’s not just the money – it’s the money and the infrastructure of the people that’s crucial. The BT ‘red coats’ are there to help the students and public during the day, and the young people at nighttime when they have discos. The exhibition is one of biggest that BT’s is involved with — impressive considering BT was the official communications partner at the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Judging

The way that projects are judged has changed over the years. In the beginning the judging process was far less organized, but the overall winners were still outstanding. These days the judges mark projects under specific headings including originality, scientific content, and communication ability. These days some projects are so sophisticated that outside experts are called in to judge.

However, Tony, despite the growing complexity of some projects, said he always uses the same basic approach when judging projects. “I sit down with them, — that’s very important — I’m not towering over them,” said Tony. “I always ask the same three questions: What did you set out to do? How did you do it? What did you find? I may interrupt you from time to time — tell me your stories!”

The quality of the winners has remained consistently very high.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 62 Page 20

This can be judged by the success of winners of the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition (BTYSTE) at equivalent European and international young scientist competitions. “If you take the last 24 years, we have got a first in Europe on 15 occasions,” said Tony.

That’s impressive even given that there are three winners in Europe each year, in different categories.

Ireland also does well, said Tony, at the Intel Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) each year, which involves entrants from all the US states, and 49 countries, including the giants — Russia and China.

This success of BTYSTE has attracted international attention, and the UK has imitated it with a similar — though not identical — show called ‘The Big Bang – UK Young Scientists and Engineers Fair’.

In an interesting recent development there is now a Tanzania version of the Show, and, if that works, there is the possibility that it could be expanded into other African nations, said Tony.

The Tanzanian connection grew out of the work of the Combat Disease and Poverty Consortium based at NUI Maynooth. This led representatives of the Tanzanian government came to have a look at the exhibition and they liked what they saw. They came to the Board of the BTYSTE and asked for help setting something similar up. The Board gave the Africans everything, materials, forms, judging materials, and the Irish government, through Irish Aid, also came in behind the venture.

The first YS Tanzanian exhibition was held in October 2012 and the winners were three girls, Monica Shirima, Nengai Moses and Aisha Nduka from Kibosho Girls Secondary School, situated in the foothills of Kilimanjaro. The girls and their teacher visited the 2013 BTYSTE in Dublin. They got a warm welcome — and that helped them

sponsor in BT and numbers of project applications growing each year. It has been a remarkable success story, and that success has meant that Irish science, for one week at least, always gets the nation’s attention.

Tony’s one regret is that Fr Tom is not around to celebrate the 50th. However, in Fr Tom’s memory, a special prize, the Fr Tom Bursary, has been established to recognise the best communicator in an individual project. This is in

adjust from temperatures in the 30s Celsius to below 10C. The January 2014 show — the 50th — will be visited by the vast majority of previous winners stretching back to the first winner John Monaghan, the biotech entrepreneur now living in California, and several will this year act as judges. Some past winners remain prominent on the Irish scientific landscape. Professor Luke Drury (1969) is the Director of the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies; Professor Ronan McNulty (1985) is a leading particle physicist based at UCD; and Patrick Collison (2005) who became a millionaire, aged 19, when, along with his brother he sold his software company, Auctomatic for €3 million.

As the exhibition reaches its half century milestone Tony is glad that it is doing so well, with an excellent

What’s inside the box?

Billions of neurons and up to 240 trillion connections

THE SENSATIONAL BRAIN by VERONICA MILLER

Dr Veronica Miller, researcher and writer, lifts the lid on what goes on inside our head

Memories are made of this

Short recall is not much use to us without long term storage

Don’t upset the biological clock

What sets our internal clock and why the graveyard shift may be the death of you

The sensational brain

We hear, we feel, we smell, we see, but how does the brain make sense of all this information, and why do our eyes sometimes deceive us?

Getting all emotional

Where do we hide our fears, and why are children, and crocodiles, so emotional?

How to become smarter

If some people can be a bit slow, why are they often better at getting the right answers?

Out of our minds

Madness is hard to define but imaging makes it easier to spot what’s actually going wrong

Getting high

Why do people take drugs, and why are they so addictive?

Girl brain, boy brain

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Is there a difference, or does the sex of your brain matter?

Published in association with Ireland’s science and discovery magazine Science Spin

recognition of the fact that Fr Tom always judged individual students, rather than groups.

As for the future of the exhibition?

Tony says that another exciting development that has proved successful is the addition in recent years of an RDS sponsored primary school projects. This has grown and grown and last year 120 schools took part. Meanwhile, he believes that despite all the success and the growth that not too much should be done to alter the special chemistry that makes the exhibition at the RDS so popular.

There are 550 entrants each year, which is the optimum number, considering the space constraints and the time demands on the judges (which are all voluntary). If the exhibition got any bigger, or was to be held at a venue outside of the RDS, it might “suffer” said Tony. “It works, and if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

THE SENSATIONAL

BRAIN What is it and how it works Dr Veronica Miller

SCIENCE

SPIN

BRAIN

Dr Veronica Miller explains all you ever wanted toWhat know the and brain areabout memories how do — what it is and how it works. Lots of facts without the jargon in a fully we store them? illustrated book that will appeal to everyone.

through the blood-brain into the brai barrier and n. your brain’s About 30 per cent of immune cell up of bon s are mad e-marrow-d erived cell e s.

?

BRAIN

insomnia.

Inso by a variety mnia can be caused Micro-kille of ranging from different problem rs The brain’s s immune cell anxiety, dru emotional stress, macrophag s are kno wn es and mic caffeine, nico g use, too much as roglia. It’s recognise tine or alco foreign bod their job to Mo hol. st people ies, factors and would assu would sen to swallow to supply growth me d alco you bacteria. The hol up off to slee it will only p, but actu y make sure damaged cells and make you ally work pro that the neu drowsy. Alc not the neu perly in a rons can rotransmit ohol is clean move from you’re dre ter of cho place to plac environment. They ice when aming; it neural netw brain and can e in the divide rap orks, decreas only dampens dow idly to mou Tsetse fly, an attack n few hours ing your brai carrier of sleep on an inva nt afte npower. A r you fall ding path ing electron mic Once an area asleep it will ogen. roscopic ima sickness, and in a false with REM interfere among red infected, neu of the brain is ge, the inva colour stage and blood cells sive Trypsans wake you unexpected . ESM ima off rapidly rons can be killed up oma ly early. ge by Berg Max Planck , by both Insomnia er and Ove the invadin Inst for Bio pathogen isn’ ralt, g and Diversity. behavioural t only caused by cells in a sort by the killer imm or emo une tional pro it often sug blems, damage don of cross fire. The gest e by the infe physical pro s an underlying depend on blem. the area of ction will has been affe the brain that Sleep apno the infectio cted and how vigo ea rous n was.

Sleep apn oea causes of inso is one of the most com mon obese men mnia. It particularly Can’t get affe over 40 and wives. It is Sleeping sick no sleep naturally thei cts basically a r ness is real brea name for ly thin ano ther g while slee disorder of a com ping. This sound just up from. But a you never wak may e like some peo serious med snoring, but it is fall asleep ple never also at all. The ical conditi y suffer from awaken up on. Sufferer a to 90 times s can per night.

There are two main types of slee apnoea; one p is and the othe obstructive sleep apnoea r is central sleep apn oea.

Why can working the graveyard

beatthe us? before Dr Miller, ? who shift studied TCD death and UCDofbefore undertaking brain research in the UK is currently Research to Wadsworth we hear, feel and smell?

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Cerebellum granular cells and white matter from an older man.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 62 Page 21 COLOUR

INK often be anuscripts can ced back to a

ASPECTS OF IRISH GEOLOGY EXPLAINED — SIMPLY

Paddy Gaffikin on what we need to know about

IRISH FOSSILS And God saw all the things that He had made, and they were very good.

Book of Genesis

What are fossils?

Fossils are the remains or traces of ancient animals or plants that have been preserved in rocks – usually sedimentary. ‘Ancient’ is used in the sense of geological time. Geologists customarily only regard specimens older than about 10,000 years ago as fossils.

Archaeological samples such as coins, broken pottery and so forth would not strictly be considered as fossils. Fossils are almost exclusive to sedimentary rocks – rocks like limestone, chalk, mudstone, greensand, siltstone, shale and sandstone – and all these occur in Ireland. Most igneous rocks (e.g. granite) never contain them and they are not usual in most metamorphic rocks (e.g. schist). Hence you could spend a lifetime exploring the Leinster Granite or the schist in the Sperrins and never find a fossil of any kind.

same attitudes. During the early 1600s, naturalists in Britain began collecting and studying fossils and debating their origins.

But it was not until the early 1800s that scientists understood their true origin and significance.

A type of oyster fossil around 200 million years old (Jurassic).

This specimen was found in the dark bluish-grey clay in Co. Antrim.(These particular types of oysters are now extinct.)

Some Irish fossils

An ammonite fossil, from the greensand in N. Ireland. It is around 90 million years old (Cretaceous). Ammonites became extinct 65 million years ago – the same time as the extinction of the dinosaurs.

When were fossils first recognised?

Our distant antecedents, the Stone Age people, who first arrived in Ireland around 9,000 years ago, would certainly have noticed fossils in rocks but how they interpreted them will never be known. But it is known that, during the Dark Ages and subsequent times, people in different countries used fossils as lucky charms to ‘cure’ diseases and for ‘protection’ against disasters. Some regarded them as deposits from Noah’s Flood. It is very probable that a number of the Irish in the past adopted the

Most of the macrofossils (ones that can be studied without a microscope) that occur in Ireland are of invertebrate marine animals with some hard parts (e.g. shells). Examples include ammonites, goniatites, belemnites, bivalves, brachiopods, trilobites, sea-urchins, crinoids and corals. Vertebrate and plant fossils are also present, but these are not as plentiful.

A sea-urchin fossil, around 80 million years old (Cretaceous), which occurs in N. Ireland.

Where in Ireland are fossils likely to be seen?

Fossils can potentially be discovered where sedimentary rocks outcrop.

Nearly every county in Ireland has some places where fossils have been found.

For example, the limestone quarries in Co. Armagh, the northern part of the Waterloo shore (about 1km north of

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 62 Page 22

A coral fossil, around 330 million years old (Carboniferous), which was found in Ireland.

Larne), the Minnis area (about 15km north of Larne), the beaches of

Islandmagee (Co. Antrim), Portrane and Malahide (north of Dublin), Hook Head (Co. Wexford), Streedagh Point (Co. Sligo) and the Dingle Peninsula (Co. Kerry), to name but a few.

Words of caution

Fossils are very precious because, for one thing, most of the animals and plants that lived in the past were not fossilised.

If you are going to collect samples, only do so from loose material. Never remove fossils in situ as these provide very valuable teaching and research materials for present and future generations. It usually requires experience to extract a fossil intact from a rock and often ineptitude in the removal process causes damage to the specimen. In other words it can defeat the whole purpose of the exercise so, best not to try. You could photograph the sample instead.

The study of fossils

In most Irish Universities, the study of fossils (called palaeontology) forms an integral part of geology courses and important research is also undertaken. Over the last 50 years or so, great strides have been made in the subject of palaeontology on a world-wide basis.

It has transpired that a plethora of information, about such things as past environments and climates, the age of rocks, evolution, the search for fossil fuels and the understanding of extinct animals and plants, can be derived from fossils. All from objects that were once considered as lucky charms!

Paddy Gaffikin is author of Irish Rocks.

SpecialiSt people Marie-Catherine Mousseau reports that instead of focusing on special needs we should consider the benefits to be gained from harnessing special strengths

T

echnology can sometimes be of great help for people with special needs, including those with autism.

Recently, an innovative hi-tech device was developed in the UK to help autistic adults to overcome some of their biggest challenges – anxiety and lack of communication. Due to their difficulties in sharing their emotions and feelings, people with autism, when stressed or anxious, may find it very difficult to turn to others and ask for help. A small pocket device can now do the job; they just need to squeeze it to trigger a mobile phone alert and let their family and friends know that they are stressed (see the Catalyst project at http://www. catalystproject.org.uk/content/claspnew-digital-tool-help-people-autism).

Such technology can play an important role in bringing peace of mind to its users and their families. Less is known, however, about what people with autism can bring to technology.

Special needs can sometimes go hand in hand with special strengths. People on the autistic spectrum, the appellation which is currently recognised, can be high-functioning and may even have skills and competencies that are far above the average of the rest of us. These include their attention to detail, their persistence, their focus, and their ability to recognise patterns, which in some cases are positively outstanding. From a technology and business point of view, this means that they have the potential to outperform their peers in industries where such skills are critical – high tech industries in particular, including IT. Danish Thorkil Sonne, father of a son with Asperger’s (which is part of the autistic spectrum), had the idea of harnessing this potential, and the courage to overcome the stigma associated with the condition. He founded a Danish not-for-profit organisation called Specialisterne (‘the Specialists’), whose remit is to identify those high-functioning autistic people and place them in the computer and high tech industries where their talent is in short supply.

Peter Brabazon, from Specialisterne Ireland, explained how the concept emerged: “Thorkil Sonne realised that his son was intelligent and could complete some tasks more successfully than his

peers. Thorkil successfully set up the Danish company to develop and use this skill. Then based on its success in Denmark he decided to bring the model worldwide”.

In December 2012 Specialisterne arrived in Ireland, which looked like a suitable place. There are over 4,500 unfilled IT jobs in this country, and many IT companies are frustrated that they cannot find suitable candidates to fill these posts.

Assessment and partnership

“The Specialisterne support team of six, including myself (an engineer with general management skills) consists of people with a background of autism assessment, recruitment, social work, business skills and administration skills,” Peter explains. He goes on to describe the whole process: “Fundamentally the project is about identifying suitable candidates through a thorough assessment process, then working with companies to place them in suitable jobs,” he explains. “ We spend a lot of time assessing candidates through a lengthy process of meetings and an assessment workshop,” he continues.

From that assessment they either directly produce a CV to offer to companies, or connect to further training they identified as necessary for their candidate’s employment. “We ourselves provide some training/advice which is mainly focussed on presentation and selfmanagement skills,” Peter adds. He also points out that Specialisterne remains involved even after the candidates have become employed, continuing to provide support both to the candidate and to the company.

In fact, Specialisterne initially remains the employer, and as such is offering people with a special skill set as paid ‘consultants’, even though, as Peter put it,“ultimately it is hoped that they will be employed directly on full-time basis by their host company. “ SAP was their first partner, and helped them to get started by providing the initial ‘kick-off’ financial support, an assessment room and an office space. Specialisterne is also working with Microsoft and EMC, and benefits from the support of the Ballyhoura

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 62 Page 23

Development Company, who are providing funding for them to operate in Limerick county and surrounding areas.

Achievements

One year has passed since the company’s launch in Ireland, and Peter seems satisfied with the results so far. “Since its launch last December, Specialisterne Ireland has placed five people in fulltime employment”, he says, “3 of our consultants are working in the area of software testing and development, another is working in customer support and the fifth is testing computer hardware.”

In addition, they have 30 young adults who have completed or are just completing an assessment of their ‘work readiness’, and they are now seeking positions for ten of those as ‘consultants’ with talents such as persistence and attention to detail. “A significant number of the 10 are suitable for IT roles in Dublin or Cork,” Peter indicates.

“However, we are also looking to place people either outside these areas or with different skill sets that are suitable for example in the hospitality sector or even in one case, law.”

Peter sounds quite optimistic about the outcome, explaining that the talents of their candidates are in high demand in high-tech sectors such as IT, but also pharmaceutical and financial services, “mainly the high tech areas where maths based talent is in short supply,” he indicates.

Their overall targets are set accordingly. “Specialisterne aims to enable the employment of 50 people in Ireland within 5 years and its vision is to help place 500 in 10 years.”

People

But who are these people exactly, who have been totally overlooked by industries although their special skills may be a key requirement and in short supply? “Typically our candidates are in their 20s or 30s, male (80%) and unemployed. Approximately half have a secondary education with the remainder having third-level qualifications,” Peter says, while also pointing out that in terms of qualities required there is no typical

candidate. “Just with neuro-typicals, or average people, all our candidates are different.”

Specialisterne is actually assessing both the candidates’ strengths and vulnerabilities, whether technical or behavioural (see table). And it is this combination that makes them so unique and valuable.

“Specialisterne consultants bring unique competencies to tasks where most companies’ employees are often less skilled and motivated”, says Peter.

Indeed, the values that people on the autistic spectrum, or ‘specialist people’ as Peter calls them, can bring to the company they work for are numerous.

These include higher quality in tasks requiring passion for detail, great value for money, and access to a untapped pool of skilled resources willing to work, to name but a few.

In fact, according to Peter their willingness to work is a key factor in their employability, “which really applies to us all,” he notes. “If you have that motivation, then any limitations can often be overcome. Fortunately and in general, candidates coming to Specialisterne are usually highly motivated and really want to join the world of work so as to gain economic independence and subsequently lead much better lives.”

Challenges

Everything may sound like a piece of cake for what appears to be a brilliant idea, but the reality might not be as rosy as it looks. When asked what the main obstacles to achieving their goal are, Peter’s answer is very straightforward. “Obtaining suitable positions for its consultants is now, after finance, the biggest single challenge for Specialisterne.“ He explains: “It is estimated that there are potentially 1,500 suitable Asperger’s people in Ireland but very few businesses have either the knowledge or the time to exploit this resource.”

So according to Peter, finding suitable candidates is definitely not the fundamental issue. “ Currently we have enough candidates to meet our initial targets. The main challenge is the time it takes to gain a company’s understanding and to build confidence that the model works and the risks are low, while the benefits are high,” he says.

What would really help him, he continues, would be that other companies follow the example of their partners SAP and the Ballyhoura Development Company, or those of Microsoft and EMC

CharaCteristiCs of speCialist people strengths

Weaknesses/Vulnerability

Passion for details High level of concentration Perseverance for repetitive actions Pattern recognition Spots deviancy in data, information and systems Out-of-the-box thinking Honest Tenacious

Low self-confidence Missing overview Missing filters = stress sensitive Depression Missing network Communicative misunderstandings Problems with “Reading the game” Little or no imagination of your feelings or whereabouts

who are also employing their candidates.

“With this support and innovative thinking companies will both achieve their various social and diversity targets while also becoming more competitive”, Peter points out.

Finally, this all comes down to the stigma associated with the condition.

As he put it, “our biggest challenge is to overcome the general population’s fears of disability and to have them concentrate more on people’s ability.

Overcoming these fears is, in my opinion, the biggest prize to be secured from projects such as ours.”

Thus the message sent by this innovative project is clear. While advanced technology has its place in

helping people with autism, people on the autistic spectrum have in turn an important role to play at the most cutting-edge developments of our society.

And while harnessing this resource is a key goal of the not-for-profit organisation, on the human side there may be a more fundamental driver.

“Clearly the main satisfaction is that in virtually every case it is possible to improve a person’s position in life,” Peter says, adding: “even when we cannot secure a commercial appointment, we can often help with an individual’s coping and self-management skills, which in turn can lead to a happier life.”

DefiNitioNs

The autistic spectrum or autism spectrum refers to a range of conditions classified as neurodevelopmental disorders in the fifth revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th edition (DSM-5). These disorders are characterised by social deficits and communication difficulties, stereotyped or repetitive behaviours and interests, and in some cases, cognitive delays. The DSM-5, published in 2013, redefined the autism spectrum to encompass previous (DSM-IV-TR) diagnoses including autism and Asperger syndrome.

Disorders that belong to the autistic spectrum but are not currently recognised in diagnosis: • asperger syndrome, also known as Asperger disorder or simply Asperger’s differs from other autism spectrum disorders by its relative preservation of linguistic and cognitive development. It was a diagnosis used in the DSM-IV-TR but has been removed from the current edition (DSM-5).

• high-functioning autism is a term applied to people on the autistic spectrum who are deemed to be cognitively ‘higher functioning’ (IQ>70) than other people with that condition. There is no consensus on the definition and high-functioning autism is not a recognised diagnosis in the DSM-IV or 5. The amount of overlap between high-functioning autism and Asperger syndrome is disputed.

The Specialist People Foundation works to enable one million jobs for people with autism and similar challenges. The Foundation owns the Specialisterne concept and trademark, an innovative social enterprise providing assessment, training, and IT consultancy services, where most of the employees are people with autism.

For more see: http://specialistpeople.com Marie-Catherine Mousseau has a PhD in neuroscience from Pierre et Marie Curie University, Paris, and has an MSc in Science Communications from DCU/Queen’s.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 62 Page 24

Weird and wonderful animals

Sive Finlay introduces us to sucker-footed bats, one of the six species that roosts upright.

Myzopoda aurita. Photograph, Merlin D. Tuttle, Bat Conservation International

B

ats are strange; they fly with wings made of stretched skin, some use ultrasonic sounds to detect their prey and they have far longer lifespans than expected for animals of their size. We tend to think of bats as ominous creatures that lurk upside down in caves and are just waiting to give you a bad hair day. However, the huge variety of bat species (they make up one quarter of all mammals) includes animals which don’t conform to these stereotypes.

The sucker-footed bat (Myzopoda aurita) is one such weird example. This species only lives in Madagascar, mainly along the east coast of the island. They’re small animals — just over 10cm long and weigh around 10g — which are named for the strange circular pads on their wrists and ankles. These bats roost upright inside rolled-up leaves and use their sucker-like pads to cling to the leaf surface.

Originally, researchers assumed that the bats used their pads as suction cups to hold onto their leaf homes, in a similar way to how you might attach a sign or GPS tracker to your car window. However, a series of ingenious field experiments demonstrated that the bats couldn’t cling on to a metal surface which had evenly spaced holes. Suction forces only work if there’s a smooth surface to cling to; try sticking a suction cup onto a perforated surface to see for yourself.

So how do the bats hold onto their leaves? Researchers from Brown University, USA, discovered that the animals have specialised glands which secrete a modified form of

extricating yourself from a leather sofa on a hot day less than pleasant). Somehow the “wet-adhesion bat” has less of a ring to it but, the misnomer will, for want of a better word, stick.

The bats’ wet pads also explain why they are one of only six bat species that roost upright. They have evolved specialised muscles and tendons to control the size of their pads so that they can attach and detach from surfaces as necessary. The configuration of these tissues means that, when the bats are stuck onto a leaf, it’s very difficult to push them downwards but relatively easy to dislodge them upwards. If they roosted upside down, they would fall on their heads!

Very little is known about the ecology of these strange animals. sweat onto their “sucker” pads. They They are restricted to only certain stick to surfaces by wet-adhesion, areas on the island and, like much of the same force which allows insects Madagascar’s fauna, are threatened http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/Myzop... to scale smooth surfaces (and makes by alarming habitat loss. Fortunately, though, sucker-footed bats have been found living in and near agricultural land and areas with high deforestation so they may be able to adapt their leafdwelling habits to cope with increasing pressures from the human population.

Let’s hope these strange creatures will be sticking around for many years to come.

Sive Finlay, a Zoology graduate, is currently working as a postgraduate scholar with the Macroecology and Macroevolution group at TCD.

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Not just a Dead Zoo A feline gift from a royal patron, a rhino with osteological problems and a giraffe with it its own Twitter account are just some of the gems awaiting discovery at the Natural History Museum. With a distinguished history spanning over 150 years, Sive Finlay reports that Dublin’s “Dead Zoo” remains a popular visitor’s attraction.

Victorian charm

Built in 1856 by the Royal Dublin Society (RDS), the museum still retains its distinctive Victorian style. Instead of the touchscreens and technology-dependent displays of some larger institutions, visitors are treated to a nostalgic glimpse of the golden era of Victorian obsessions for collecting and displaying objects from the natural world. The beautiful, old-fashioned cabinets house a myriad collection of skeletal and taxidermied remains of both native and exotic animals alike.

The extensive collection includes over two million zoological and geological specimens, only approximately 10,000 of which are on display to the public.

Botanical collections were part of the original museum but were moved to the National Botanical Gardens in 1970 and the geological collections have not been displayed since their exhibition space was demolished in 1962.

A significant proportion of the animal specimens are from outside of Ireland, a legacy of the 19th-century British Empire when Dublin was an important colonial city with scientists and naturalists who voyaged to far-away places with the largest navy in the world. Many of the larger animals were shot as hunting prizes and the bullet wounds are still visible on some of them. The skinned remains were often preserved and prepared by taxidermists who had never seen the animals alive – leading to some interesting anatomical interpretations.

The male orang-utan is one such example – the normally loose skin around his cheeks and neck has been stuffed tight – giving him a somewhat permanently surprised expression, not too dissimilar to the taxidermic equivalent of Botox.

Aside from taxidermic blunders, it’s interesting to consider the influence that taxidermists have on the ways we perceive animals and the natural world.

In the excellent 2010 RTE documentary, “Inside the Dead Zoo” (available on YouTube), Sherra Murphy from the Institute of Art Design and Technology

describes the significance behind the way in which the museum’s tiger is taxidermied. The tiger, given as a gift by King George V in 1913, is depicted in a crouching pose which is very different to the upright, proud stance given to many of the other large mammals. Murphy explains how tiger specimens from this era came to represent the Indian subcontinent and that their submissive postures were indicative of the British Empire’s dominion over India. So, rather than just being straightforward animal-preservers, the artistic choices and interpretations of taxidermists can have interesting influences on public perceptions of the natural world.

Another specimen featured in the same documentary is the rhino skeleton which has clear signs of bone deformities in its leg and an incisor which protrudes through the jawbone – problems which would have been painful and probably debilitating in life. The skeleton illustrates an important point to

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 62 Page 26

remember when approaching museum collections. The animal specimens which represent their species are examples of the individuals who didn’t manage to dodge the hunter’s rifle or escape from the snare trap. They are often (but not always) animals who were injured, old, sick, young, deformed or debilitated in some way. Of course it’s difficult, if not impossible, to specify what the “perfect” rhino or elephant should look like but it is important for both visitors and researchers to remember that just because an individual has ended up in a museum does not necessarily mean that it’s a good or typical example of the normal characteristics of its species.

Research importance

The museum’s role and importance to the scientific community extends far beyond its dead zoo façade. The vast majority of the collection is currently stored in Beggar’s Bush but is in the process of being moved to a new facility in Swords.

While the stored materials are rarely if ever put on display, they are a crucial resource for researchers and students conducting a wide variety of projects.

The collections are an important source of reference material for identifying zoological and geological specimens.

Considering their relatively small size in comparison to other institutions, the museum’s stores include a significant number of type specimens which are a legacy of the 18th century origins of the collections and Dublin’s standing as an important colonial city in the 19th century.

These type specimens are individuals of a particular animal or fossil species and are used as examples for comparing and identifying other specimens which belong to the same species. The insect collections are also used for identifying insect pests; an increasingly important role as new invasive pest species continue to reach our shores.

In the world of zoology, museumbased research traditionally focused on investigations of the taxonomic (evolutionary relationships) and physical shape characteristics of animal species. These studies have not lost their importance today; on any behindthe-scenes wanderings through the collections you’re still likely to find people wielding calipers and searching through boxes of bones to find anything from a particular shrew’s skull (quite small) to an elephant’s femur (perhaps not so tricky to find!). While not losing sight of their bone-measuring roots, collections-based research has also embraced new technologies and advances, particularly in the realms of genetic studies.

One recent research project, led by Dr. Ruth Carden, used DNA extracted from ancient deer bone specimens at the museum to show that Irish Red Deer were brought into the country from Britain over 5,000 years ago. The deer appear to have been introduced as part of the establishment of agricultural communities during the Neolithic Period.

The researchers also discovered that populations of Red Deer in Kerry are genetically very similar to the ancient deer specimens, suggesting that the Kerry deer deserve special conservation protection.

Most genetics-based projects at the museum involve extracting DNA from bone or sometimes hair samples.

These can produce useful data to work with but there can still be problems associated with extracting DNA that’s of a good enough quality to be useful.

An alternative approach is to collect and preserve tissue samples rather than complete skeletons of an animal. The

Loose skin stuffed tight giving an orang-utan an expression of permanent surprise

Natural History Museum, in conjunction with the Irish Whale and Dolphin group, has a collection of tissue samples from all stranded and beached whales which wash up on our coastlines. The samples can be used to extract information about the animals’ migratory patterns, reproductive and feeding behaviours. It is also far more practical to collect genetic records of individual animals instead of trying to preserve and store entire whale skeletons!

Future plans

The museum is clearly a valuable resource, both as a visitor’s attraction and for scientific study and deserves our appreciation and protection. However, according to the museum’s keeper, Nigel Monaghan, one of the main challenges for the museum today is how to preserve their much-loved Victorian ambiance while also meeting the expectations and demands of a 21st century visitor. The museum’s funding has suffered significant cut-backs with the number of curatorial staff reduced from nine to just two people in the past few decades. These dramatic cuts have resulted in a staff body without any Zoology representatives. Even with Nigel’s eclectic knowledge of the collections (five minutes conversation can range effortlessly from mammalian biomechanics to avian taxonomy and zooarchaeology) a natural history museum without any zoological staff cannot reach its full potential. With the help of parttime, assistant staff and volunteers, this skeletal team are faced with the daunting task of preserving and advancing the collections for generations to come.

The museum’s Victorian home is also in constant need of maintenance and improvement. Due to the collapse of a stone stairway in June 2007, the museum had to be closed for almost three years while it was repaired. There were plans for a large-scale refurbishment and

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 62 Page 27

possible extension but, thanks to the death of the Celtic Tiger, funding was unavailable for the work. The building was re-opened in April 2010 although the two upper galleries still remain closed to the public. There are plans to build an extension to the existing building which would house a café and shop, wheelchair access to all exhibition levels, a space for educational activities and potentially new exhibition areas to bring the extensive geology collection back to the public after a fifty year absence. There are also plans to install new lighting and heating controls to protect the delicate specimens from excessive fading and damage caused by fluctuating temperatures.

These projects would be much-needed improvements that would ensure the museum’s future in years to come while still maintaining the nostalgic charm of this beloved Victorian treasure chest, the “museum of a museum”. Let’s just hope that the necessary funding will someday be made available to make this plan a reality.

The Natural History Museum is free and open to visitors from 10am to 5pm Tuesday to Saturday and between 2pm and 5pm on Sundays. You can find more information about the museum’s history, collections and special events throughout the year on www.museum. ie. Follow the museum’s giraffe, Spotticus on Twitter (@SpotticusNH) for some behind-the-scenes pictures, natural history information and interesting musings on the life and times of a museum’s giraffe…

Sive Finlay, a Zoology graduate, is currently working as a postgraduate scholar with the Macroecology and Macroevolution group at TCD.

GROW YOUR OWN

determining behaviour and whether we have the right to use someone’s DNA. However, while certainly attentiongrabbing, I think the piece is dangerous in its suggested simplicity, particularly Sive Finlay reports on the exhibition for anyone without a background in DNA samples were extracted, amplified he Science Gallery’s new exhibition, biology. There are no genetic formulae and characterised to find a genetic Grow Your Own invites us into the for behaving like Elvis or any other profile of the mystery smoker. Genetic world of synthetic biology, an emerging individual and no amount of distorted markers of ethnicity, gender, hair, eye field of research which challenges our mirrors could possible emulate the and skin colour were used to produce 3D perceptions of how we can design and vagaries and behavioural pressures of models of faces which fit those profiles. manipulate living organisms. The fame.

The resulting masks aren’t intended to exhibition certainly succeeds in its The second unsettling piece, Ai be accurate representations of the real goals; informing and inspiring visitors Hasegawa’s I wanna deliver a dolphin… individuals (so you won’t recognise about a research field which, although upsets me to the very core of my anyone) but they are intriguing examples still in its infancy, has the potential to zoologist’s being. Depicting a model of future applications of forensic science. truly change the way we live while also of a woman pregnant with a dolphin, Perhaps every CSI police sketcher will being an intentionally provocative work the aim of the installation is to imagine be replaced by a DNA sequencer and a which challenges visitors to consider the a world where humans could donate 3D printer. It’s also a bit unsettling to potential issues and implications which their reproductive capabilities to saving think of how much information could be may arise from a world replete with endangered species or even give birth extracted from every coffee cup, hair or designed, living machines. to their own animal food sources. Aside used fork that we leave behind…

Some of the displays are particularly from the certain impossibility of a The installations are the products striking. It’s hard to ignore a technicolour human ever carrying an aquatic mammal of collaborative works between arrangement of faeces models so E. foetus, I think the piece gives dangerous biologists, artists, engineers and chromi certainly grabs your attention. The ammunition to those who see genetic designers and therefore often reflect piece imagines a use for E.coli bacterium engineering or manipulation as examples speculative projections of the future which has been genetically engineered of mad scientists wanting to create their rather than realistic prototype ideas for to produce coloured pigments under own Frankensteins. Rather than inspiring new technologies. While I recognise certain conditions. The bacterium could or promoting a sense of wonder for the this integrative approach, I think be modified to produce specific colours possibilities of synthetic biology, I think the distinction between scientifically when they detect spoiled food, toxins or the piece does the exhibition a disservice probable (if not possible) ideas and even markers of disease. Imagine eating by veering towards the realms of the purely fictional artistic statements could yoghurt infused with these engineered ridiculous and detracting from the be made clearer. bacteria and then having a microbial legitimate scientific proposals behind Two of the installations are early-warning system lining your gut. some of the other ideas. particularly unsettling. All that I am is a The bacteria would keep watch for toxins I was also disappointed by the scant speculative piece with an eye on popor chemical markers of disease and interpretative information accompanying cultural appeal. Using DNA samples announce their findings by modifying many of the pieces. Some of the extracted from Elvis’s hair, mice the colour of your faeces. So, with such displays only make sense with were genetically modified to technologies, health check screens could further explanation from one include DNA sequences be replaced by an increased interest and Grow Your Own of the friendly members monitoring of the colour and composition linked to behavioural runs until the 19th of January. of staff – all of whom are traits such as of your poo…

The Science Gallery is free very approachable and sociability, addiction Continuing the medical theme, to visitors and is open from knowledgeable but I and obesity.

Circumventive Organs applies the 8am to 8pm Monday to would still prefer if The piece proposes new technology of bioprinting to the Friday and 12-6pm Saturday this extra interaction that these mice hypothetical possibility of building new and Sunday. Visit www. were a choice rather could be subjected organs using cells from different body dublin.sciencegallery.com for than a necessity to behavioural parts or even different species. There are more information about the to understand the tests to determine models of a defibrillating organ which exhibition and to sign up for displays. whether their Elvis uses parts from an electric eel to shock special events.

The intriguing, exciting DNA makes them behave the heart back to normal rhythm and an and sometimes upsetting like the King. One model organ based on a leech salivary gland ideas which Grow Your Own environment has a distorted which would release an anticoagulant raises are certainly worth the visit mirror to give the mouse a “false sense when it feels the pressure of a potential and serve their purpose of parachuting of self-importance”, simulating the blood clot in the brain. The prospect of synthetic biology into the public growing new organs may seem grotesque effects of fame while another has a consciousness. I would, however, advise sloped treadmill on which the mouse but the idea of borrowing tissues from visitors to bring along a healthy amount runs until it falls off, simulating Elvis’s other animals is not new – think of pig of scepticism and to view many of the fast pace of life before his death. The heaart valves. So perhaps we can look pieces as speculative, provocative artistic display makes its speculative nature clear statements under-pinned by varying forward to a future of medical drama (rest-assured that no mice are currently doctors shouting for “electric eel organ, degrees of scientific probability rather staring into mirrors) and certainly poses stat!” than realistic prototypes for a futuristic, Stranger visions is one of the most striking some interesting questions about the synthetic world. interplay between nature and nurture in displays. Using discarded cigarette butts,

Wonder and scepticism at the TCD Science Gallery

T

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 62 Page 28

Dr. How's

Science Wows!

What is Water?

Junior science by Dr. Naomi Lavelle

Water is a substance made up of hydrogen and oxygen atoms!

...exploring Water!

Each molecule of water contains two hydrogens and one oxygen.

The chemical formula of water is written as...

H2O

Water is found in three states... as a solid (ice), as a liquid and as a gas (water vapour and steam).

The boiling point of water depends on the barometric pressure. At sea level the boiling point of water is 100oC. On Mount Everest the boiling point of water is actually 68oC. Usually the molecules of a substance become more tightly packed as they change from gas to liquid to solid state... this is not the case with water; as water cools below 4oC it starts to expand so soid water (ice) is less dense than liquid water. This is why ice floats in water.

O

H

H

About 70% of the Earth‛s surface is covered by water.

Most of this water (97%) is salt water.

Only 3% of this water is fresh water and even then about two thirds of this fresh water is in the form of ice (glaciers).

There is more fresh water in the atmosphere than in all the rivers on Earth.

Pure water has no odour and no taste!

The maximum density of water occurs at 3.98oC.

Did you know... the freezing point of water lowers as the amount of salt dissolved in it increases?

Let‛s learn more!

Did you know... water can dissolve more substances than any other liquid?

All life on Earth requires water Our bodies A person are made up of can only live between 55 without water for and 80% about a week water (depending on temperature and other factors)

The Water Cycle

The Earth‛s water is constantly cycling through...

EVAPORATION CONDENSATION PRECIPITATION TRANSPIRATION and SUBLIMATION

Image credit:Ude Kils and Wiska Bodo

(this is a photo montage to depict what a whole iceburg would look like)

Did you know... water is the only substance to be found naturally on Earth in all three forms (solid, liquid and gas)?

Surface Tension Experiments you can try

Water in our atmosphere is in a constant cycle... water from our seas, rivers and lakes evapourate into the atmosphere, forming clouds, eventually condensing to fall back down to earth as rain, snow or hail.

The water that is cycling in our atmosphere today is the same water that existed millions of years ago!

The different states of Water

You will need.. a bowl, water, pepper, washing up liquid and a tooth pick

Surface tension... water molecules have a particularly strong pull on each other at the surface - creating a skin like effect.

This is called surface tension

Exploring Surface Tension!

Pour the water into the bowl and sprinkle the pepper onto the surface of the water.

Dip the tooth pick into the water and observe if anything happens.

Now dip the tooth pick into the washing up liquid and then dip back into the pepper sprinkled water.

What happens this time?

So what is happening?

The second time the tooth pick is placed into the water is will make the pepper move to the outside of the bowl. This is because the washing up liquid weakens the surface tension of the water!

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

BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition — 8-11 January 2014 Millions of people around the world became familiar with Colonel Chris Hatfield’s daily “Good morning Earth” greeting from the International Space Station. At this year’s BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition visitors will get an opportunity to meet the man himself, when Chris comes on Saturday 11th January to sign copies of his book, An astronaut’s guide to life on Earth.

With 550 student projects on show, the exhibition includes World of Robots, The Science Museum ‘SuperCool’ Show, 3D Theatre – 50 years of space exploration and TITAN The Robot. www.btyoungscientist.com

The same but different

Aisling O’Rourke became curious about the differences in how plants grow when she noticed that a common wild plant, Bloody Cranesbill, in the Burren did not look the same as the same species on the Aran Islands. Aisling, a 4th Year student at Mary Immaculate Secondary School in Lisdoonvarna, decided to investigate by recording the variations in leaf morphology.

Bloody Cranesbill, Geranium sanguineum, is a plant with purple flowers that grows wild both on the mainland and on the islands.

The leaves are divided into lobes, and as Aisling explained, those on the Aran Islands are thinner and more bisected, while those on the mainland are more robust looking and shorter. Yet, as she added, all belong to the same species, so the variations in form have to be caused by environmental factors such as wind or exposure.

Aisling did lots of field-work, and ended up comparing 1,400 leaves before concluding that her first impressions were based on good scientific evidence. Aisling has good experience in applying scientific methods, and as she remarked, this is her third time at the BT Young Scientist and Technology exhibition, and for each project she looked at something different. The year before Aisling looked at shells, and she was already thinking ahead to 2014.

The Irish exhibition has provided the inspiration for a similar event in Tanzania, and this year the winners will be at the RDS to present their projects. Supported by Irish Aid, the Young Scientists Tanzania, is now in its second year and with additional sponsorship secured from British Gas, the event is all set to expand into the future.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 62 Page 30

How IrISH SCIENtIStS CHANgED tHE worLD Anthea Lacchia has been reading Seán Duke’s new book

I

n his delightful new book, Seán Duke takes us on a voyage of discovery into the life and work of some of Ireland’s scientific giants, who, despite having left an enormous legacy to society, are relatively unknown. Until now, that is!

This book is especially welcome because it serves a noble purpose: anyone who picks it up will be immediately enlightened as to the rich scientific heritage we have in Ireland. In fact, as a nation, while we collectively acknowledge the historic contributions of artists, poets and literary greats, all to often we forget the enormous contribution of our scientists, the unsung heroes of our land.

Seventeen scientists, either Irish born or with strong Irish ties, are profiled in this book: from John Holland (1841-1914) who invented the modern submarine, to Ernest Walton (1903-95) who split the atom and is Ireland’s only Nobel laureate in science, to Erwin Schrödinger (1887-1961) who was one of the founding fathers of quantum mechanics, the list is a long and fascinating one.

Speaking when the book was launched, Dr Patrick Prendergast,

Provost of Trinity College Dublin, commented: “It’s not always easy to communicate the fascination of science and engineering.

Yes, we can point to wonderful inventions but trying to get across the maths and experimentation behind the invention - getting it across in an accessible way – that’s the tricky bit.”

Effective science communication is precisely what is accomplished in this book. At the start of each chapter, the author sets the scene by transporting the reader into the historical period in which the scientist in question lived. For instance, the chapter dedicated to Charles Parsons starts with a vivid description of the moment when Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee is suddenly gate-crashed

by Parson’s Turbinia yacht. Parson orchestrated this in order to show off the power and warfare-related potential of his patented steam turbine engines. In effect, his steam turbine would make sea travel faster and more comfortable.

Pleasingly, each chapter ends with a list of bullet points that encapsulate the legacy of the scientist.

Guglielmo Marconi (1874-1937) Considered the father of radio, Guglielmo Marconi was the first to transmit a wireless signal across the Atlantic, from Cornwall to Canada. As Seán Duke points out, not many Italians realize that Guglielmo Marconi was half-Irish. However, his Irish ties are strong: his mother was from Enniscorthy and his wife was also Irish. He conducted many radio experiments on visits to his family in Ireland and set up a commercial transatlantic wireless transmitter in Clifden.

In 1898, on the occasion of the Kingstown regatta, Marconi provided the first wireless coverage of a sporting event. In addition, he helped develop radar technology.

Annie Maunder (1868-1947) Born in Strabane, County Tyrone, Annie Maunder is credited with establishing the sun-earth climate link, with the sun playing a key role in global warming. In particular, she studied the link between sunspots and amount of solar activity. She found that a lack of sunspots, which are caused by magnetic storms on the sun, coincided with cold periods on earth, such as the Little Ice Age (1645-1715). She also discovered that sunspots appear, disappear and move in predictable cycles. These topics are still of utmost relevance today not just because of the current debate over global warming and its causes, but also because of the potential interference of geomagnetic storms with electrical grid systems and satellite and ground-based communications. Notably, Annie Maunder was one of the first female astronomers to be paid a salary and has a crater on the moon named after her.

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 62 Page 31

Only two female scientists are included, reflecting the lack of involvement of women in science in the past, something that remains a lesser but lingering issue today.

One of them is Annie Maunder, who, along with her husband, was among the foremost solar scientists in history, contributing to our current understanding of global warming.

The other is Jocelyn Bell Burnell, who is also the only living scientist included in the book and who famously discovered pulsars, a new type of dense, pulsating star.

This is the product of about 2 years of research and writing, but Seán always had an interest in history as well as science: “I had written features about some of the scientist before starting the book. There were some scientists I had to leave out, such as Kathleen Lonsdale (from County Kildare) who discovered the structure of the benzene ring,” reveals Seán. “I’d definitely be interested in writing another book,” he adds.

Despite occasional typos, overall this is an accurate book and it makes for a very entertaining and informing read. It merits a wide readership: scientists will enjoy learning about the private lives and anecdotes surrounding their champions, while non-scientists will easily delve into scientific topics such as global warming, wireless technology and electricity.

Indeed, technical topics such as the use of quaternions in space exploration or carbon dating are presented in an accessible manner, with no assumption of prior knowledge on the reader’s side.

Hop aboard the Irish science train: it will be a journey to remember.

How Irish scientists changed the world,

by Seán Duke, published by Londubh Books.

Available from www.spinstore.eu

Robert Mallett (1810-81) Known as the founding father of seismology, Robert Mallett did much to advance our understanding of why earthquakes occur. In 1849, his interest in seismic waves led him to detonate twenty-five pounds of gunpowder on Killiney beach, during a famous experiment. After the Great Neapolitan Earthquake of 1857, he travelled to Naples to study the aftermath of the shock and he was the first to use photography as a tool for recording earthquake damage. In addition, he is credited with coining the term seismology.

Mallett’s family was in the iron foundry business and the company’s work can still be seen around Ireland today: for instance, have you ever noticed the iron railings that border Trinity College along Nassau Street? Look closely and you’ll see the Mallett family name inscribed at the base.

John Tyndall (1820-93) A fierce defender of Darwin’s evolutionary theory, John Tyndall was one of Ireland’s greatest scientists. Born in County Carlow into a family of Quakers, he was a strong advocate for the separation of science from religion. An inspiring lecturer, he was appointed Professor of Natural Philosophy at the Royal Institution of Great Britain.

He discovered what we now call greenhouse gases and showed that, without CO2 and water vapour, the heat of the sun would bounce back into space after hitting the Earth’s surface and be lost. Therefore no life would exist without greenhouse gases! Tyndall was also the first to explain why the sky is blue (atmospheric gases absorb blue light) and he is considered the father of meteorology.

GEoloGy of IrElaNd a fIEld GuIdE ComPARED to most other countries Ireland’s geology is diverse. Within a day’s drive it is possible to go from some of the most ancient rocks in the world to relatively modern deposits. There are, of course, some gaps in the 2 billion year history, but Ireland’s varied landscape has often been compared to a text-book of geology. From Precambrian onwards, Ireland has Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, Jurassic, Triassic, Permian, Cretaceous and Palaeogene deposits and formations.

Admittedly not all equally represented, but plenty to satisfy the most ardent students of geology and all of this diversity is within easy reach. Where else in the world can we find so many different types of landscape in close proximity?

However, it is not always easy to appreciate what lies in front of us, and so most of need a guide to show us what to look out for. That’s why it is so important for students of geology to go on field trips.

Staff at University College Cork’s Geology Department have always included plenty of field trips for students, and in this book five lecturers have combined their experience to produce a splendid illustrated guide to 17 different locations around Ireland.

In the first section of the book we are presented with a fairly broad account of geology in general, and this is by way

of introduction to the main content consisting of fairly detailed field trip guides. Each of these takes an area, such as Hook Head and north County Dublin, and breaks them down into specific locations. maps, diagrams and photographs show what to look out for and the text explains how these features were formed.

Helpfully, an estimate is given of how long it takes to tramp around these locations, but a word of warning — at 372 pages, this is no pocket guide, so leave the book at home.

Geology of Ireland, a field guide Pat meere, Ivor mcCarthy, John Reavy, Alistair Allen and Ken Higgs.

Paperback, 372 pages. The Collins Press.

Tom Kennedy Available from the Spin Store

www.spinstore.eu

for books, Science Spin subscriptions, fine prints and lots more visit the SPIN StorE

www.spinstore.eu

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 62 Page 32

UNT O C S DI 14 DER e 1220 ring and A E R stor n orde spin ode whe iscount

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