DNA Computers Alzheimer's the Amazon Giant Telescopes

82 Pages·2006·10.01 MB·English

by  Scientific American, Inc.

ANTICANCER BLOCKBUSTER? (cid:127) RISE AND FALL OF THE SLIDE RULE
SCIENTIFIC
Bringing
DNA Computers
AMERICAN
to Life
MAY 2006
WWW.SCIAM.COM
Quark Soup
Stopping
Alzheimer’s
Birth of
the Amazon
Future
Giant Telescopes
COPYRIGHT 2006 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.
contents
may 2006
features
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN Volume 294 Number 5
COVER STORY: PHYSICS AND COSMOLOGY
34A
The First Few Microseconds
BY MICHAEL RIORDAN AND WILLIAM A. ZAJC
Physicists have replicated the fantastically hot, dense conditions of the infant universe—with startling results.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
44
Bringing DNA Computers to Life
BY EHUD SHAPIRO AND YAAKOV BENENSON
By tapping the natural computing power of biological molecules, researchers have built
tiny machines that can speak directly to living cells.
EARTH SCIENCE
34A
52
The Birth of the Mighty Amazon
The original
liquid universe
BY CARINA HOORN
Insight into how the world’s largest river formed is helping scientists explain the
extraordinary abundance of plant and animal life in the Amazon rain forest.
BIOTECHNOLOGY
60
Blockbuster Dreams
BY GARY STIX
New understanding of the biology behind a successful cancer therapy may
lead to a drug treatment effective against an array of solid tumors.
ASTRONOMY
64
Giant Telescopes of the Future
BY ROBERTO GILMOZZI
Powerful new telescopes, hundreds of times stronger than current ones and
capable of analyzing Earth-like planets around other stars, could be built in as
little as a decade.
MEDICINE
72
Shutting Down Alzheimer’s
BY MICHAEL S. WOLFE
This memory-destroying disease progresses through specifi c molecular processes.
Strategic interventions could block them.
HISTORY OF TECHNOLOGY
80
When Slide Rules Ruled
BY CLIFF STOLL
Before electronic calculators, the mechanical slide rule dominated scientifi c and engineering computation.
Also: Make your own slide rule.
www.sciam.com SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN 3
COPYRIGHT 2006 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN Volume 294 Number 5
departments
6 SA Perspectives
A $2-billion bargain for improving public health.
8 How to Contact Us
8 On the Web
29 96
10 Letters
12 50, 100 & 150 Years Ago
14 News Scan 32 Insights
■ Can a law keep politics out of science? The android robots built by Hiroshi Ishiguro are so
■ “Safe” levels of pollutants can still cause harm. astoundingly humanlike that they tell us something
■ Clues about Mars in an African crater. about ourselves.
■ Turning coal into diesel fuel. 88 Working Knowledge
■ Multiple armors for evolving attacks.
How a robot can mow your lawn.
■ Nanotubes split hydrogen from water molecules.
90 Reviews
■ By the Numbers: Welfare and unwed mothers.
■ Data Points: Antarctic ice disappears. Can Field Notes from a Catastrophe spark
a revolution over global warming?
32
columns
30 Skeptic
BY MICHAEL SHERMER
If self-help books are so helpful, then why
do people keep buying new ones?
96 Anti Gravity
BY STEVE MIRSKY
Why the Louvre canceled “free beer night.”
98 Ask the Experts
How do salt and sugar prevent foods from spoiling?
Why do bubbles form in a sitting glass of water?
Repliee, built by
Hiroshi Ishiguro,
Osaka University Cover image by Jean-Francois Podevin; photograph at left
courtesy of the Intelligent Robotics Laboratory, Osaka University.
Scientifi c American (ISSN 0036-8733), published monthly by Scientifi c American, Inc., 415 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10017-1111. Copyright © 2006 by Scientifi c
American, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this issue may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying
and recording for public or private use, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Periodicals postage paid at
New York, N.Y., and at additional mailing offi ces. Canada Post International Publications Mail (Canadian Distribution) Sales Agreement No. 40012504. Canadian BN
No. 127387652RT; QST No. Q1015332537. Publication Mail Agreement #40012504. Return undeliverable mail to Scientifi c American, P.O. Box 819, Stn Main,
Markham, ON L3P 8A2. Subscription rates: one year $34.97, Canada $49 USD, International $55 USD. Postmaster: Send address changes to Scientifi c American, Box 3187,
Harlan, Iowa 51537. Reprints available: write Reprint Department, Scientifi c American, Inc., 415 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10017-1111; [phone];
fax: [phone]. Subscription inquiries: U.S. and Canada [phone]; other [phone]. Send e-mail to [email protected] Printed in U.S.A.
4 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN MAY 2006
COPYRIGHT 2006 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.
SA Perspectives
Don’t Rob the Cradle
Annually, diabetes costs the U.S. upward of $132 researchers to conduct it. This year the scientists
billion, autism costs more than $43 billion, and asth- were to launch pilot study centers and in 2007 begin
ma’s toll is $11.3 billion. Spending just $100 million gathering data.
in each of the next 20 years to understand better the But in his 2006 budget, President George W.
origins of those conditions, if it would reduce their Bush slashed funding for the National Children’s
burden even fractionally, thus sounds like a bargain. Study, and in his proposed 2007 budget, he elimi-
Yet our national leaders now seem prepared to throw nated its funding entirely and directed that the study
that opportunity away in favor of other priorities in be shut down. The White House rationale for spik-
the country’s $2.7-trillion federal budget. ing the project, according to budget director Joshua
The program at risk is the National Children’s Bolten, is a need “to focus on national priorities and
Study, designed to ferret out the causes of a multitude tighten our belt elsewhere.”
of today’s most dire and growing health risks, from Presumably children’s health is a national prior-
autism, asthma and diabetes to violent behavior and ity, so perhaps the scuttling of the study is just one
childhood cancers. Mandated by Congress in the more gesture in the Kabuki theater of Washington
Children’s Health Act of 2000, the study would fol- budgetary politics. Presidents cut programs to look
low 100,000 American children from before birth— responsible, and Congress restores them to look gen-
and in some cases before conception—until their 21st erous. Maybe the National Children’s Study is less
birthdays. By signing up pregnant women and cou- dead than it seems and will soon have its full fund-
ples planning to conceive, the researchers could ing reinstated. But last year when Congress had the
gather an unprecedented amount of infor- chance to fund the program more substantially for
mation about the interplay between 2006, it declined to do so. That is a worrisome
biology and environment that con- bellwether.
tributes to the children’s development In its goals, scope and outcomes, this ambitious
and health. Prospective studies of this investigation could represent 20 Framinghams rolled
type, such as the famous Framingham into one. Smaller-scale studies might chip away at
Heart Study that began in 1948, can represent parts of the targeted health issues, but nothing else
the gold standard of epidemiological research yet proposed could take its place. Moreover, the hard
because they are inherently unbiased. By col- job of designing and organizing is already
lecting data about a large heterogeneous popu- done. Just when we are poised to probe
lation in real time, before disease arises, they the origins of some of the most devas-
can test long-held but unproved hypotheses and tating conditions affecting American S
N
amass a trove of evidence for investigators to sift children and adults, it would be a fool’s TIO
C
through later. economy to squander the money and ef- DU
O
Between 2000 and 2005 the National Insti- fort already spent by killing this effort PR
L
tute of Child Health and Human Development in its cradle. Attention, Capitol Hill AL
B
spent $50 million to design and organize the shoppers: Do you know a bargain when ER
B
B
project and to identify a nationwide network of you see it? U
R
THE EDITORS [email protected]
6 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN MAY 2006
COPYRIGHT 2006 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.
How to Contact Us On the Web
WWW.SCIAM.COM
EDITORIAL ADVERTISING UPDATED EVERY WEEKDAY
For Letters to the Editors: www.sciam.com has electronic contact
Letters to the Editors information for sales representatives Visit www.sciam.com/ontheweb
of Scientifi c American in all regions of
Scientifi c American
the U.S. and in other countries. to find these recent additions to the site:
415 Madison Ave.
New York
New York, NY 10017-1111 Scientifi c American
or 415 Madison Ave. Jurassic “Beaver” Is Largest
New York, NY 10017-1111
[email protected]
212-451-8893 Early Mammal Yet
Please include your name fax: [phone]
and mailing address, Los Angeles
310-234-2699 A new fossil from China proves that the mammals
and cite the article
fax: [phone]
and the issue in San Francisco that lived during the Jurassic era were more diverse
which it appeared. 415-403-9030 than previously thought. The
fax: [phone]
Letters may be edited Detroit 164-million-year-old creature,
for length and clarity. Karen Teegarden & Associates
dubbed Castorocauda
We regret that we cannot 248-642-1773
fax: [phone] lutrasimilis, had a tail like
answer all correspondence. Midwest
For general inquiries: Derr Media Group a beaver’s, the paddling limbs
Scientifi c American 847-615-1921 of an otter, seallike teeth and
fax: [phone]
415 Madison Ave. Southeast and Southwest probably webbed feet. And
New York, NY 10017-1111 Publicitas North America, Inc.
972-386-6186 although most Jurassic
212-451-8200
fax: [phone] mammals discovered thus far
fax: [phone] Direct Response
or Special Aditions Advertising, LLC were tiny, shrewlike animals,
914-461-3269
[email protected] fax: [phone] C. lutrasimilis would have
Australia weighed in at approximately
SUBSCRIPTIONS IMR Pty Ltd.
Tel: [phone] a pound. As such, it is the
For new subscriptions,
Fax: [phone] largest mammal from this
renewals, gifts, payments, Belgium
and changes of address: Publicitas Media S.A. time period on record.
[phone]
U.S. and Canada
fax: [phone]
800-333-1199 Canada Drug Found to Reverse the Ravages
Outside North America Derr Media Group
847-615-1921 of Alzheimer’s in Mice
515-248-7684 fax: [phone]
or France and Switzerland Researchers have identified a compound that could
www.sciam.com P+E33M-1--P4E6M-3A7-2117 signifi cantly improve treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
or fax: [phone] When administered to mice engineered to develop
Scientifi c American Germany
Publicitas Germany GmbH hallmarks of the disease, the drug reversed cognitive
Box 3187
[phone]
Harlan, IA 51537 fax: [phone] decline and reduced the two types of brain lesions—
Hong Kong plaques and tangles—that occur in Alzheimer’s patients.
REPRINTS Hutton Media Limited
[phone]
To order reprints of articles: fax: [phone] New: The Scientific American Podcast
Reprint Department India
Scientifi c American Convergence Media Join host Steve Mirsky each week as he explores the y
415 Madison Ave. +fa9x1:- [phone]-441840-85 594 latest developments in science and technology through stor
New Yorfka,x N: 22Y11 221--0340551517---081481701187 JP+faaa8xpc1a:i3 fin+ -c83 B163u6-1s3i-n66e61s13s-8, 6I1n3c.9 iAnstekrv tiehwes wEixthp leeardtisng scientists and journalists. Natural Hi
[email protected] KBoisrceoam, Inc. How do antibiotics kill bacterial cells but um of
PERMISSIONS +fa8x2: 2+-872329--773824-03662 not human cells? Muse
For permissionm taot ceorpiayl ofrro rmeu SsAe: MPeidtedrle S Emasitth Media & Marketing Harry Mobley, chair of the department of microbiology egie
www.sciam.com/permissioonsr +fTah4xe4 :N -+1e44th40e--r14l4a8n04d--s4183421-1320 aSnchdo ioml,m euxnpolaloingsy. at the University of Michigan Medical CarnER
212-451-8546 for proceduroesr I+fan3xs1i:g- +3h35t 1-P5-u33b59l--i55c31it11a-1s0 B5V72 Subscribe to Scientifi c American Digital KLINGL
Permissions Department Scandinavia and Finland 13-year archive with more than 150 issues K A.
Scientifi c American M+4&6-M8- 2In4t-e5r4n0a1tional Media AB Visit www.sciamdigital.com MAR
415 Madison Ave. fax: [phone] OF
New York, NY 10017-1111 UT.hKe. Powers Turner Group Save $5 (use code Web17) ESY
Please allow three to six weeks T
[phone] R
for processing. fax: [phone] Offer ends June 6 OU
C
8 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN MAY 2006
COPYRIGHT 2006 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.
Letters
®
[email protected]
Established 1845
JANUARY’S ISSUE drew letters addressing articles that ranged
EDITOR IN CHIEF: John Rennie
EXECUTIVE EDITOR:Mariette DiChristina from an exploration of how motherhood changes the structure of
MANAGING EDITOR: Ricki L. Rusting the female brain in “The Maternal Brain,” by Craig Howard Kinsley
NEWS EDITOR: Philip M. Yam
SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR: Gary Stix and Kelly G. Lambert, to the sociopolitical and psychological fac-
SENIOR EDITOR: Michelle Press tors that drive individuals to become suicide bombers in “Murder-
SENIOR WRITER: W. Wayt Gibbs
cide,” by Skeptic columnist Michael Shermer.
EDITORS: Mark Alpert, Steven Ashley,
Graham P. Collins, Steve Mirsky, The topic of animal experimentation, covered in “Saving
George Musser, Christine Soares
Animals and People” [SA Perspectives] and “Protecting More
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: Mark Fischetti,
Marguerite Holloway, Philip E. Ross, than Animals,” by Alan M. Goldberg and Thomas Hartung, gener-
Michael Shermer, Sarah Simpson ated the most heat and light in letters. Readers generally
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, ONLINE: Kate Wong agreed that minimizing or eliminating animal testing wherever
ASSOCIATE EDITOR, ONLINE: David Biello
possible is a laudable goal; however, it is ethically acceptable
ART DIRECTOR: Edward Bell to continue animal research if it is the only way to promote advances benefi ting humanity. But
SENIOR ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR: Jana Brenning
ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR: Mark Clemens to some, a “humans fi rst” guideline rang hollow: Richard Dingman of Montague Center, Mass.,
ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR: Johnny Johnson wrote, “Just what is the ‘ethical’ basis for declaring that animal experimentation is preferable
PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR: Emily Harrison
to testing on humans? The editors assume our acceptance of human superiority has an objec-
PRODUCTION EDITOR: Richard Hunt
tive foundation so obvious that it need not be mentioned.” The heartfelt debate goes on.
COPY DIRECTOR:Maria-Christina Keller
COPY CHIEF: Molly K. Frances
COPY AND RESEARCH: Daniel C. Schlenoff,
Michael Battaglia, Smitha Alampur, Sara Beardsley
BRAIN GAIN ASSESSING DEADLY CERTITUDE
EDITORIAL ADMINISTRATOR: Jacob Lasky As a 41-year-old fi rst-time father, I thor- In “Murdercide” [Skeptic], Michael
SENIOR SECRETARY: Maya Harty
oughly enjoyed “The Maternal Brain,” Shermer is once again dead-on (forgive
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER, PRODUCTION: William Sherman
by Craig Howard Kinsley and Kelly G. the pun): it is inapt to think of suicide
MANUFACTURING MANAGER: Janet Cermak
ADVERTISING PRODUCTION MANAGER: Carl Cherebin Lambert. After witnessing my wife bombers as typical suicide victims.
PREPRESS AND QUALITY MANAGER: Silvia De Santis (who is also in her early 40s) go through Rather than succumbing to despair and
PRODUCTION MANAGER:Christina Hippeli
CUSTOM PUBLISHING MANAGER: Madelyn Keyes-Milch various maternal changes, I was fasci- depression, they are committing what
VICE PRESIDENT, CIRCULATION: Lorraine Terlecki nated to learn about some of the mecha- they consider affi rmative acts of faith.
CIRCULATION DIRECTOR: Simon Aronin nisms that might be at work. I was also In short, they are religious fanatics,
RENEWALS MANAGER: Karen Singer
NEWSSTAND MANAGER: Jonathan Prebich overjoyed to learn that my apparent de- hardly different from the murderers of
FULFILLMENT AND DISTRIBUTION MANAGER: Rosa Davis crease in multitasking and cognitive abortion doctors, except that the latter
VICE PRESIDENT AND PUBLISHER: Bruce Brandfon skills may in fact be because of a relative zealots don’t kill themselves as well.
WESTERN SALES MANAGER: Debra Silver
increase in hers, quite possibly getting Shermer cites Princeton University
SALES DEVELOPMENT MANAGER: David Tirpack
SALES REPRESENTATIVES:Jeffrey Crennan, me off the hook for many a blunder. economist Alan B. Kreuger’s finding
Stephen Dudley, Stan Schmidt
The article also made me ponder why. that some countries that have spawned
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER, STRATEGIC PLANNING: I am a different man than I was before I many terrorists (Saudi Arabia and Bah-
Laura Salant
PROMOTION MANAGER: Diane Schube became a father. Suddenly, I am inter- rain) are economically well off yet lack
RESEARCH MANAGER: Aida Dadurian ested in children (even those not my civil liberties, whereas poor countries
PROMOTION DESIGN MANAGER: Nancy Mongelli
GENERAL MANAGER: Michael Florek own) and am driven by protective and that protect civil liberties are unlikely to
BUSINESS MANAGER: Marie Maher nurturing instincts I did not even know spawn terrorists. That might be a good
MANAGER, ADVERTISING ACCOUNTING
I had. And, it is safe to say, just about correlation, but a better factor than civ-
AND COORDINATION: Constance Holmes
every parent agrees these feelings are il liberties is probably the degree of fun-
DIRECTOR, SPECIAL PROJECTS: Barth David Schwartz
different from what one feels with friend- damentalist religious extremism present
MANAGING DIRECTOR, ONLINE: Mina C. Lux
OPERATIONS MANAGER, ONLINE: Vincent Ma ship or when falling in love. Even though in a country. The murderers of 9/11
SALES REPRESENTATIVE, ONLINE: Gary Bronson a father does not experience pregnancy were Islamic jihadists fi rst, citizens of
MARKETING DIRECTOR, ONLINE: Han Ko
or lactation physically, does the paternal their various nations second.
DIRECTOR, ANCILLARY PRODUCTS: Diane McGarvey
PERMISSIONS MANAGER: Linda Hertz brain also undergo changes? I wonder Kevin Padian
MANAGER OF CUSTOM PUBLISHING: Jeremy A. Abbate how much research has been done be- Kensington, Calif.
CHAIRMAN EMERITUS: John J. Hanley yond the paternal studies cited by the
CHAIRMAN: John Sargent authors. Is my brain on fatherhood dif- Decades ago, during the Vietnam War,
PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER:
Gretchen G. Teichgraeber ferent? It sure “feels” different. Buddhist monks protested the war by
VICE PRESIDENT AND MANAGING DIRECTOR, Andrew J. Anagnost burning themselves to death. I do not
INTERNATIONAL: Dean Sanderson
VICE PRESIDENT: Frances Newburg Portland, Ore. remember anyone analyzing in Scien-
10 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN MAY 2006
COPYRIGHT 2006 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.
Letters
tifi c American or the general press why ical issues. People do not think enough correct view of traditional pattern-
they did so. It was obvious, and we had about these debates, because they are matching techniques and, in discussing
no great need to stop their self-immola- not confronted with them in their day- IBM’s work, fails to explain to the read-
tion. Now the reason people resort to to-day lives. It is the responsibility of the er what the company’s labors are actu-
such radical action still seems obvious, scientifi c community to engage in dis- ally about. Instead he focuses on spam
but because they set out to harm others, course about the ethics of their research fi ghting, which, though perhaps more
the subject is worth analysis. and to get the public to think about familiar to the average reader, is not a
Reading the powerful antiwar speech these issues as well. relevant application of this technology.
given by British playwright Harold Pint- Daniel Bass Dag-Erling Smørgrav
er at his acceptance of the 2005 Nobel Providence, R.I. Linpro AS
Prize for Literature, I wondered: Why do Oslo, Norway
published opinions blame the social and
political systems of those countries that STIX REPLIES: The intention of the article was
produce the suicide bombers when the to show the difference between a convention-
Iraq War can evoke such rage in people al processor and the IBM design for a pattern-
such as Pinter, who observe the war from matching engine by using a simplifi ed exam-
their safe and comfortable homes? ple for this complex technology. The article
Eugene Bercel focused on a key aspect of the IBM design,
Naples, Fla. the fi nite state machine that underlies the
pattern-matching engine. It did not show—
SHERMER REPLIES: Padian is correct that nor was it intended to demonstrate—all the
these suicide bombers are jihadists fi rst; that relevant features of either spam fi ltering or
is so well known that I thought I’d add addi- other types of pattern matching. I chose
tional layers to the causal analysis of their spam fi ltering because it is an application to
motivations. To Bercel’s point, the reason so- which many readers can relate. I also made
cial scientists examine social and political MULTIPLYING BENEFITS: The reduction of the point that one of the characteristics of
systems (and psychological states as well) is lab animal suffering has also yielded more the IBM architecture is its programmability,
that these are quantifiable variables that rigorous safety tests. which would allow it to be used for a range of
lend themselves to statistical analysis. This applications, from processing Internet (XML)
fact does not discount free will and the moral DIPPING INTO DATA STREAMS documents to, yes, even spam fi ltering.
culpability in the choices terrorists make. “Recognition Engines,” by Gary Stix,
could have offered valuable insight into ERRATUM The caption in the box “A Motor-
THE MORAL ANIMAL IBM’s new pattern-matching engine. Un- cycle That Steers Itself” [“Innovations from
A line in “Saving Animals and People” fortunately, it suffers from major fl aws a Robot Rally,” by W. Wayt Gibbs] incorrectly
[SA Perspectives] was music to my ears: that pretty much strip it of any interest. stated that a human rider turns a motorcycle
“But for the sake of people and animals The article attempts to explain the by twisting the handlebars “in the turn direc-
alike, the development and acceptance importance of IBM’s work by showing tion.” It should have said “in the opposite di-
of animal substitutes deserve enthusias- how it can be applied to an application, rection.” Also, the statement that the Blue
tic support.” Many of us could never ac- such as spam fi ltering, and by comparing Team “invented a new approach that uses
cept the use of animals in experimenta- it in that context with what the reader the front wheel alone to lean the bike through
tion as ethical, sound or even scientifi c. must assume is the state of the art of pat- turns” should be clarifi ed: the novel aspect of
Suzana Megles tern matching. Stix is, however, appar- the team’s robot was the automated system
Lakewood, Ohio ently not well informed about this: cur- it employed to measure and adjust the motor-
rent spam-filtering technology is far cycle’s heading, not wheel steering per se.
I was glad to see Scientifi c American more complex than he seems to think. In
discuss the effectiveness of animal test- general terms, a battery of tests is applied CLARIFICATION In “No More Gears,” by Mark
ing for the benefi t of humans. I hope to each incoming message, scores from Fischetti [Working Knowledge], the gearbox
that your infl uential publication contin- each test are totted up, and the message shown on page 79 seemed to indicate that
KY ues to report on alternatives to animal is categorized as “spam” or “ham” (the reverse has the same gear ratio as fourth
S
LIN testing in order to educate the scientifi c latter a term for a legitimate message) by gear. In cars, reverse usually has a ratio sim-
O
W community as well as the public about comparing the fi nal score with a user- ilar to that of fi rst gear, because one usually
Y
AR this fi eld and others with moral and eth- defi ned threshold. Stix presents an in- reverses from a stationary position.
C
www.sciam.com SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN 11
COPYRIGHT 2006 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.
50, 100 & 150 Years Ago
FROM SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN
Brain and Behavior San Francisco Earthquake Strychnine’s Trail
■ ■
MAY 1956 ing amphitheater of the hills, the wiping of wounds. These surprising fi gures are
THE HARDWIRED BRAIN—“How big a off the earth of over twenty square miles compared with the record made by the
role does heredity play in behavior? In of this their picturesque and passionate- Japanese army in Manchuria, where
the lower vertebrates, at least, many fea- ly-loved capital city of the West! This is only one died from sickness to every
tures of visual perception—the sense of not the time for indulgence in the com- four and one-half men who died in bat-
direction and location in space, the per- monplaces of moralizing; but we feel that tle. This complete reversal of the statis-
ception of motion and the like—are our record of this event would be incom- tics of the leading nations of western
built into the organism and do not have plete without a reference to that sponta- civilization constitutes, according to
to be learned. The whole idea of in- neous fl ood of practical generosity, which Major Louis L. Seaman, the real tri-
stincts and the inheritance of behavior instantly rolled in upon the stricken peo- umph of Japan. These results were ob-
traits is becoming much more palatable ple from every State and city of the Union. tained by careful study of military sani-
than it was 15 years ago, when we lacked Capital and labor, railroad and factory, tation and hygiene and by a most thor-
a satisfactory basis for explaining the church and theater, all have joined hands; ough bacteriological examination of the
organization of inborn behavior. Every supplies and necessities are now pouring water along the line of march and in the
animal comes into the world with inher- into the devastated city.” vicinity of the camps.”
ited behavior patterns of its species.
Much of its behavior is a product of evo- WAR AND DISEASE—“For nearly two MAY 1856
lution, just as its biological structure centuries past, in wars that extended LAND SURVEYOR—“Our engraving il-
is. —R. W. Sperry” [Editors’ note: Rog- over any great period of time, on an av- lustrates the adaptation of a neat little
er Wolcott Sperry was awarded the No- erage at least four men have perished pocket instrument for measuring sur-
bel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in from disease to every one who has died faces as a land measuring instrument.
1981.] The light ornamental wheels are
linked by rods to the registering
DISLOYALTY TEST—“Last year disks in the handle. In use the
President Eisenhower asked Det- surveyor pushes the instrument
lev W. Bronk, president of the before him over the surface of
National Academy of Sciences, the ground. The use of the chain,
to look into the question of with its tediousness, halts and
whether scientists accused of starts, calculations and adjust-
disloyalty should be allowed to ments, is avoided, much time
do unclassifi ed research under saved and errors prevented.”
Government grants-in-aid or
contracts. Bronk’s committee CRIMINALS BEWARE—“The
held that scientific research Medical Times and Gazette
should be judged on its own says, ‘the fi nger of science points
merits: a contribution to the cure to the detection of the murderer
of cancer ‘would be no less ben- by strychnine, and dissipates his
efi cial to all humanity for having visionary hopes; the grain of
been made by a Communist.’” white powder, which he antici-
pates will carry his victim si-
MAY 1906 lently to the grave, excites, on
SAN FRANCISCO AFTERMATH— the contrary, the most violent
“We may search all history in and characteristic convulsions;
vain to fi nd a dramatic parallel a minute fraction of a grain, ly-
to that piteous spectacle of two ing on the animal membranes
hundred thousand half-naked after death, will exhibit, under
and altogether homeless San appropriate tests, a series of re-
SURVEYING INSTRUMENT, better than
Franciscans watching, in hope- splendent and iridescent rings of
the old-fashioned chain, 1856
less impotence, from the encircl- color to the chemist’s view.’”
12 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN MAY 2006
COPYRIGHT 2006 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.
news
SC AN
Y
C
I
L
O
P

II
Legislating Integrity
A SMALL ATTEMPT TO PREVENT POLITICAL MISUSE OF SCIENCE BY PAUL RAEBURN
T ucked inside the current funding bill The provision, inserted by Senator Rich-
for the Department of Health and Hu- ard Durbin of Illinois, represents a tiny vic-
man Services is a little-noticed provi- tory for critics of the Bush administration,
sion that regulates how the department han- who have become increasingly angry about
dles science and scientifi c advice. None of the what they see as the White House’s misuse
money in the bill can be used “to disseminate and abuse of science. They charge that the
scientific information that is deliberately federal government widely dismisses or ig-
false or misleading,” the provision says. And nores scientifi c evidence or even, as one de-
the department cannot ask candidates for its tractor puts it, manufactures uncertainty
scientifi c advisory panels to disclose their po- when the evidence challenges administration
litical affi liation or voting history. positions. Backers hope that, as the fi rst leg-
islation of its kind, the Durbin amendment
will lead to broader efforts to regulate the use
of science in this and future administrations.
When he introduced the provision, Dur-
bin pointed to the example of William R.
Miller, a professor of psychiatry and psy-
chology at the University of New Mexico
who was denied a position on the National
Advisory Council on Drug Abuse after he
said he had not voted for George W. Bush.
“When the federal government seeks expert
technical advice, it should look for the best
possible expertise,” Durbin said at the time.
“It shouldn’t limit itself to only those experts
s
o
who voted for a particular candidate or who ot
h
agree with the president’s policy agenda.” all P
Theoretically, the amendment outlaws oll C
the kind of activity that disturbs Durbin. “It RS
CAPITOL IDEA: Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois (left) inserted a provision in a funding bill basically says no one is allowed to ignore AM
aDnedm ionctrraotdiuc cseedn aletgoirssl agtaitohne troe dp rfeovr eannt u pnorleitlaictaeld m needwdsl icnogn ifne srecniecnec ien. 2 H0e0 i5s .shown with other science for political purposes,” says a Dur- M WILLI
bin staffer who spoke on condition of ano- O
T
14
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN MAY 2006
COPYRIGHT 2006 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.
news
SCAN nymity. But “the thing that’s disappointing istration, they insist, is being unfairly sin-
about the amendment is that it doesn’t have gled out for criticism.
any enforcement.” That is, the department Sheila Jasanoff, a professor of science
legally cannot violate the provision, but if it and technology studies at Harvard Univer-
does—nothing happens. The amendment, sity who investigates the use of science in the
ARM
TWISTING? therefore, is likely to have little effect. Nev- federal government, disagrees. “Something
ertheless, Durbin and others see it as an im- different is going on in the Bush administra-
Critics of the Bush administration portant symbolic step. tion,” she claims. Part of the problem is that
point to headline instances as The White House did not return calls it attempts to create controversy where none
evidence of its abuse of science,
seeking comment. But the administration exists. “No matter how good the science is
most notably:
did issue a lengthy response when this legis- on anything, you can manufacture uncer-
■ An attempt to alter an EPA lation was introduced. John H. Marburger tainty,” she says, citing the case of the Envi-
report—in particular, to remove III, director of the White House Offi ce of ronmental Protection Agency giving undue
references to a National Academy
Science and Technology Policy, stated then weight to industry studies that question the
of Sciences conclusion that
humans were contributing to that the administration is “applying the herbicide atrazine’s link to cancer.
climate change (June 2003). highest scientifi c standards in decision-mak- Durbin’s DHHS funding provision ex-
ing” and that “the accusation of a litmus test pires in September, at the end of the govern-
■ The dismissal of two scientists
from the President’s Council on that must be met before someone can serve ment’s fi scal year. But Durbin has separate-
Bioethics after they disagreed on an advisory panel is preposterous.” Mar- ly introduced legislation that tries to ensure
with the administration over stem burger himself was appointed to his post de- that the federal government will avoid med-
cell research and other issues
spite being “a lifelong Democrat,” he said. dling with scientifi c evidence. It would pro-
(February 2004).
With regard to the Miller case, Marburg- hibit censorship of research fi ndings, pro-
■ The resignation of Susan F. Wood, er argued that the National Institute on tect whistle-blowers and keep scientifi c re-
former director of the Offi ce
Drug Abuse had rejected Miller’s appoint- view out of the hands of the White House.
of Women’s Health at the Food and
ment to the advisory panel on professional The legislation’s prospects are uncertain.
Drug Administration, after the
agency overruled its scientifi c grounds, not for political reasons. Such inci- When the amendment was introduced, it at-
advisory panel and refused dents cited by critics represent only a few tracted 12 cosponsors—all Democrats.
to approve over-the-counter sales isolated cases among some 600 scientifi c Some Republicans have criticized the ad-
of an emergency contraceptive
committees in the Bush administration, he ministration’s handling of science, notably
known as Plan B, or the morning-
emphasized. And one of the most important Representative Sherwood Boehlert of New
after pill (August 2005).
science offi cials did not experience any med- York, chair of the House Committee on Sci-
■ The charges by noted NASA dling: at the annual meeting of the American ence, who urged NASA to stop trying to in-
climatologist James E. Hansen
Association for the Advancement of Science timidate James E. Hansen, perhaps the space
that the administration
repeatedly tried to stop him from in February, Rita Colwell, who headed the agency’s most famous climatologist. Never-
speaking publicly about climate National Science Foundation until 2004, theless, the administration’s critics see the
change. Some of the pressure said she had not come under any political legislation as the beginning of an effort to
came from George C. Deutsch, a
pressure during her tenure. restore scientifi c integrity.
presidential appointee in the NASA
Some of the administration’s defenders
public affairs offi ce who later
resigned over false academic point out that science and politics have al- Paul Raeburn writes about science, policy
credentials (January 2006). ways been strained bedfellows. This admin- and the environment from New York City.
Y
G
O
L Mixing It Up
O
C
E

II
HARMLESS LEVELS OF CHEMICALS PROVE TOXIC TOGETHER BY DAVID BIELLO
O ne chemical alone may do no harm in in York County, Nebraska, killed a third of
low doses, but in conjunction with a exposed tadpoles and lengthened time to
few of its peers, even in doses that are metamorphosis by more than two weeks for
individually safe, it can infl ict serious harm. the survivors.
New research in frogs shows that a mixture Biologist Tyrone Hayes and his col-
of nine chemicals found in a seed-corn fi eld leagues at the University of California,
16
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN MAY 2006
COPYRIGHT 2006 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.