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Out-of-control oil leak at Canadian tar sands
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Steady on Kepler...
spacewalker Christopher Cassidy helped him safely re-enter the ISS. NASA is investigating the cause of the leak, but in the meantime has sent up a repair kit on an uncrewed Russian Progress supply spacecraft that launched on 27 July. The kit includes tools and spare parts for the potential fault sources on the portable lifesupport system that is mounted at the back of NASA’s spacewalk suits. Potential culprits include the unit’s sublimator, the condensate water valve and the water separator, says spokesman Josh Byerly at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
60 Seconds
responded to tests, one spins only one way, and both are plagued by friction, which can prevent precise observations. With just two wheels and its thrusters to stabilise its gaze, the team reckons Kepler may still get
THERE’S life in the old girl yet. Although NASA’s Kepler space telescope is unlikely to return to planet-hunting, the blurry-eyed superstar may have a role in characterising known planets. Since its launch in 2009, Kepler “The superstar space telescope may still get a has revolutionised our view of alien planets and was busy honing clear view of solar systems the search for an Earth twin – until for hours or days at a time” May, when a second reaction a decent view of solar systems for wheel stopped working. It needs hours or even days at a time, not three out of four for a gaze steady clear enough to find new planets, enough to detect planets. perhaps, but enough to tell us Now, the Kepler team reports more about ones we already know. that while both problem wheels
Oil spill fuels pipeline worries
Thalidomide row
Lara Solt/Dallas Morning News/Corbis
BIRTH defects in at least AH, THE beautiful wilds of western Canada. Rivers, mountains, forests… 100 Brazilian babies have been and out-of-control oil leaks that blamed on use of the anti-nausea have already spurted thousands drug thalidomide to treat of barrels of toxic bitumen into the symptoms of leprosy in pregnant environment. women. However, independent The leaks were caused by an researchers have questioned the underground blowout at a tar sand claim, saying it is based on project in north-east Alberta run by unpublished research and lacks Canadian Natural Resources that had proof of thalidomide as the cause. been certified safe by government According to a BBC report on regulators. Since May, there have 24 July, Lavinia Schüler-Faccini at been leaks through surface fissures the Federal University of Rio at four of the firm’s sites in the area, Grande do Sul in Porto Alegre raising questions about how well the examined the birth records of safety of tar sands operations can be 17.5 million babies born between assessed. The company extracts 2005 and 2010 and identified bitumen by injecting steam into the 100 with birth defects consistent with exposure to thalidomide. She tar sands at high pressure to melt the bitumen and push it to the surface. found the cases were concentrated in areas with the heaviest use of thalidomide to treat leprosy. “This is an ecological association, not a proven causation,” says Diana Lockwood of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. “Association with thalidomide was not demonstrated.” Lockwood says thalidomide is the most useful treatment for a complication of leprosy called erythema nodosum leprosum, and is widely used for this in India where there is evidence of its value (Australasian Journal of –Reduced flow– Dermatology, doi.org/bk79q3).
Chris Severson-Baker of the Pembina Institute in Edmonton, Alberta, estimates that the method accounts for about 30 per cent of tar sands extraction. “If there are cases like this, it shows things are not as predictable as we might like,” he says. The spill could fuel opposition to the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry oil from this and similar sites. Opponents worry that the pipeline itself has a high risk of leaking, and that increased extraction will exacerbate carbon emissions. US president Barack Obama has said that he will only give the project the green light if it doesn’t add to carbon emissions, and on Saturday he questioned the economic benefits of the pipeline.
Fracking fracas Placard-holding protesters declared the village of Balcombe in Sussex, UK, a “frack free zone” this week. Police made at least 23 arrests as people attempted to block the delivery of drilling equipment for Cuadrilla, the company that intends to sink a 900-metre well as a prelude to fracking operations.
Magnet odyssey A giant magnet has completed a month-long trip across land and sea. The 15-metre-wide ring, originally used at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York to measure muons, arrived at Fermilab in Batavia, Illinois, last Friday after a circuitous 5000-kilometre journey designed to minimise damaging vibrations and prevent its slow speed causing traffic jams.
Tweet abuse Twitter has come under pressure to get tougher on online abuse after a UK politician and a campaigner both received rape threats via the social network. More than 65,000 people signed a petition calling on Twitter to add a “report tweet” button. The site said it will suspend any accounts found to be in breach of its rules.
How to hack cars The UK High Court has banned a cybersecurity researcher at the University of Birmingham from revealing vulnerabilities in the ignition systems of Porsche and Audi cars built by Volkswagen. With car hacking on the rise, VW argues the paper would be a gift to criminals.
Jellyfish invasion Bathers at beaches in the UK have been warned to beware of a surge in jellyfish following the country’s recent hot spell. The most dangerous, the lion’s mane jellyfish, has flourished off the coasts of north Wales and north-west England, with milder-stinging compass jellyfish increasing in the south-west, the UK Marine Conservation Society reports.
3 August 2013 | NewScientist | 5
Steady on Kepler...
spacewalker Christopher Cassidy helped him safely re-enter the ISS. NASA is investigating the cause of the leak, but in the meantime has sent up a repair kit on an uncrewed Russian Progress supply spacecraft that launched on 27 July. The kit includes tools and spare parts for the potential fault sources on the portable lifesupport system that is mounted at the back of NASA’s spacewalk suits. Potential culprits include the unit’s sublimator, the condensate water valve and the water separator, says spokesman Josh Byerly at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
60 Seconds
responded to tests, one spins only one way, and both are plagued by friction, which can prevent precise observations. With just two wheels and its thrusters to stabilise its gaze, the team reckons Kepler may still get
THERE’S life in the old girl yet. Although NASA’s Kepler space telescope is unlikely to return to planet-hunting, the blurry-eyed superstar may have a role in characterising known planets. Since its launch in 2009, Kepler “The superstar space telescope may still get a has revolutionised our view of alien planets and was busy honing clear view of solar systems the search for an Earth twin – until for hours or days at a time” May, when a second reaction a decent view of solar systems for wheel stopped working. It needs hours or even days at a time, not three out of four for a gaze steady clear enough to find new planets, enough to detect planets. perhaps, but enough to tell us Now, the Kepler team reports more about ones we already know. that while both problem wheels
Oil spill fuels pipeline worries
Thalidomide row
Lara Solt/Dallas Morning News/Corbis
BIRTH defects in at least AH, THE beautiful wilds of western Canada. Rivers, mountains, forests… 100 Brazilian babies have been and out-of-control oil leaks that blamed on use of the anti-nausea have already spurted thousands drug thalidomide to treat of barrels of toxic bitumen into the symptoms of leprosy in pregnant environment. women. However, independent The leaks were caused by an researchers have questioned the underground blowout at a tar sand claim, saying it is based on project in north-east Alberta run by unpublished research and lacks Canadian Natural Resources that had proof of thalidomide as the cause. been certified safe by government According to a BBC report on regulators. Since May, there have 24 July, Lavinia Schüler-Faccini at been leaks through surface fissures the Federal University of Rio at four of the firm’s sites in the area, Grande do Sul in Porto Alegre raising questions about how well the examined the birth records of safety of tar sands operations can be 17.5 million babies born between assessed. The company extracts 2005 and 2010 and identified bitumen by injecting steam into the 100 with birth defects consistent with exposure to thalidomide. She tar sands at high pressure to melt the bitumen and push it to the surface. found the cases were concentrated in areas with the heaviest use of thalidomide to treat leprosy. “This is an ecological association, not a proven causation,” says Diana Lockwood of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. “Association with thalidomide was not demonstrated.” Lockwood says thalidomide is the most useful treatment for a complication of leprosy called erythema nodosum leprosum, and is widely used for this in India where there is evidence of its value (Australasian Journal of –Reduced flow– Dermatology, doi.org/bk79q3).
Chris Severson-Baker of the Pembina Institute in Edmonton, Alberta, estimates that the method accounts for about 30 per cent of tar sands extraction. “If there are cases like this, it shows things are not as predictable as we might like,” he says. The spill could fuel opposition to the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry oil from this and similar sites. Opponents worry that the pipeline itself has a high risk of leaking, and that increased extraction will exacerbate carbon emissions. US president Barack Obama has said that he will only give the project the green light if it doesn’t add to carbon emissions, and on Saturday he questioned the economic benefits of the pipeline.
Fracking fracas Placard-holding protesters declared the village of Balcombe in Sussex, UK, a “frack free zone” this week. Police made at least 23 arrests as people attempted to block the delivery of drilling equipment for Cuadrilla, the company that intends to sink a 900-metre well as a prelude to fracking operations.
Magnet odyssey A giant magnet has completed a month-long trip across land and sea. The 15-metre-wide ring, originally used at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York to measure muons, arrived at Fermilab in Batavia, Illinois, last Friday after a circuitous 5000-kilometre journey designed to minimise damaging vibrations and prevent its slow speed causing traffic jams.
Tweet abuse Twitter has come under pressure to get tougher on online abuse after a UK politician and a campaigner both received rape threats via the social network. More than 65,000 people signed a petition calling on Twitter to add a “report tweet” button. The site said it will suspend any accounts found to be in breach of its rules.
How to hack cars The UK High Court has banned a cybersecurity researcher at the University of Birmingham from revealing vulnerabilities in the ignition systems of Porsche and Audi cars built by Volkswagen. With car hacking on the rise, VW argues the paper would be a gift to criminals.
Jellyfish invasion Bathers at beaches in the UK have been warned to beware of a surge in jellyfish following the country’s recent hot spell. The most dangerous, the lion’s mane jellyfish, has flourished off the coasts of north Wales and north-west England, with milder-stinging compass jellyfish increasing in the south-west, the UK Marine Conservation Society reports.
3 August 2013 | NewScientist | 5