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Palm oil plans threaten DRC's biodiversity
ANDREW FOX/CORBIS
UPFRONT
Food for a cool planet SWEDEN is to become the first country to slap “climate-friendly” labels on food products. The hope is that the labels will prompt consumers to buy greener products, but there are worries that some companies may use the scheme to “greenwash”. A small milk producer north of Stockholm is expected to be the first company to sport the “climatecertified” tag. One way it cut its use of energy and nutrients was by switching from chemical-based fertilisers to manure. The scheme is voluntary and firms must prove they have reduced greenhouse gas emissions in order to earn a label. “The only thing we’re guaranteeing is that improvements have been made,” says Anna Richert, an adviser to the Federation of
Swedish Farmers (LRF), and head of the team developing the criteria for labelling products. “This could mean reductions in emissions of anything from 5 to 80 per cent.” Danielle Nierenberg of Worldwatch Institute, a Washington DC based think tank, says that there is still a shortage of firm figures for emissions produced when growing, processing, shipping and selling most foods. “Because we don’t have a lot of good scientific data, I think there’s a risk that companies will claim things they can’t back up, and greenwash products that might not be climate friendly,” she says. Richert says this won’t happen because each product will be certified independently. “We’re quite certain the system won’t be abused.”
SpaceX in business
RazakSAT will fly over Malaysia 12 times a day, helping the nation’s scientists better manage its forests, farmland and marine resources. The launch for its first paying customer is a major fillip for SpaceX: until now its Falcon 1 rocket had only lofted a dummy payload. The firm has already won a contract from NASA to haul cargo to the International Space Station. But it will use a much larger rocket for these launches: the Falcon 9 will launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying cargo in a capsule called the Dragon.
–Low-emission shopping–
Gene revolution?
“TruGenetics offers free scans to the first 10,000 willing to donate their data to research” TruGenetics wants to charge researchers for access to its database, while 23andMe has said previously it might charge a fee for introducing volunteers to 6 | NewScientist | 18 July 2009
DIMITRI KESSEL/TIME LIFE PICTURES/GETTY
PERSONAL genome scans sold over the net have entertained those willing to shell out a few hundred dollars, but until now have been little use as research tools. Is this about to change? 23andMe of Mountain View, California, has just launched a $99 version of its genomescanning service Research Revolution. It is only available to customers who allow their genetic and self-reported health data to be used anonymously by researchers investigating the genetic roots of disease. This follows the launch last month of Seattle-based TruGenetics, which offers free scans to the first 10,000 willing to donate their data to research.
researchers. Analysts have long speculated that such deals might be more lucrative than just selling scans. But it is unclear whether the firms will be able to recruit enough volunteers and if the health data will be reliable, since doctors won’t confirm it. The new business model may trigger a broader shift in genetics research. Volunteers are currently given little feedback on how their genetics relate to the research in which they participate. But the emergence of firms committed to handing over this data may put pressure on geneticists to change.
PAYPAL founder Elon Musk’s civilian spaceflight company, SpaceX, achieved its first commercial success this week after its homegrown Falcon 1 rocket lofted a Malaysian Earthimaging satellite into orbit. As New Scientist went to press, the launch on Tuesday from Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Marshall Islands appeared to have gone without a hitch, inserting the RazakSAT spacecraft into a near-equatorial orbit at an altitude of 695 kilometres.
Palm oil bonanza THE Democratic Republic of the Congo could suddenly find itself as one of the world’s top producers of palm oil. DRC currently produces only about 220,000 tonnes of the stuff, but last week the Chinese firm ZTE Agribusiness announced plans to create a 1-million-hectare plantation in the country that could yield 5 million tonnes of oil, mostly for biofuel. The move –Congo is no stranger to palm oil– comes amid concerns over the
For daily news stories, visit www.NewScientist.com/news
60 SECONDS
A helping heart
detrimental environmental effects of plantations, particularly the loss of wildlife habitat. While DRC’s climate and forests make it an ideal place to grow the cash crop, its lush environment also means it contains more biodiversity than any other African country, says WWF. High biodiversity and palm oil rarely mix. In Borneo, for example, wildlife has steadily been edged out of its natural habitats by plantations. “A million hectares of any single species is going to be a biodiversity disaster,” warns Jeremy Cherfas of Bioversity International.
Imperial College London, therefore removed the second heart (The Lancet, DOI: 10.1016/ S0140-6736(09)61201-0). She is now off the drugs and healthy. A quarter of people with cardiomyopathies die waiting for
THE ability of organs to repair themselves was highlighted this week by the story of Hannah Clark, the first person to be given an extra heart and then have it removed after her own heart recovered. “A quarter of patients When Hannah was 2 years old with cardiomyopathies her heart was failing and she die while waiting for received the second one from a 5-month-old donor. Supported by a suitable donor” the donated organ, Hannah’s own heart gradually recovered, but the a suitable donor. The surgeons say these patients might temporarily immunosuppressive drugs she be given hearts from very young was taking caused her to develop donors, which are too small to be cancer. When she was 12, her used as full replacements. surgeons, led by Magdi Yacoub of
Flu vaccine delay
Martian dust guilty as charged
CORBIS
AS SWINE flu’s death toll rises, THE Mars rover Spirit, now bogged down in the Red Planet’s soil, will so does demand for a vaccine. The need all the power it can muster if trouble is, the strains produced NASA scientists manage to get it so far are growing half as fast as moving again. So it’s timely that ordinary vaccine strains, which researchers are getting a handle on means they may not be ready in why dust that collects on the vehicle’s time for the flu’s next wave. solar panels sticks so stubbornly. Vaccine companies are obliged Martian dust is particularly to first fill existing pandemic clingy. This was noticed more than a vaccine contracts with countries decade ago when surprisingly large such as the UK, Australia and amounts stuck to the wheels of France. Only then can they make NASA’s Sojourner rover. Static vaccine for everyone else. electricity was thought to be to How quickly vaccine can blame, but no one could explain how be made depends on how fast the particles became charged. Now vaccine strains grow and how much is needed. The World Health a team led by Keith Forward of Case Western Reserve University in Organization estimates that Cleveland, Ohio, have an answer. existing contracts can be filled as The team suspected that electrons early as November 2009 if people need only one shot of half the ordinary vaccine dose, and by April 2010 if two shots of the usual dose is needed. However, this assumes that the strain grows at the same rate as ordinary flu. According to another report presented by the WHO last week, of five different vaccine strains produced so far, the two fastest growing only grow half as fast as those used to make ordinary flu vaccine. This could push the dates back to January and June 2010, respectively, by which time the virus’s next, possibly worse, –A Martian menace– wave may be over.
could jump back and forth between dust grains as they collide in the wind. Smaller grains would be more likely to retain their extra electrons, giving them a negative charge, while larger grains would be left positively charged. Sure enough, they managed to electrically charge grains of Hawaiian volcanic ash, chosen for its similarity to Martian dust, by blowing them around in a container (Geophysical Research Letters, DOI: 10.1029/2009gl038589). William Farrell of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland says this may help to combat the dust – important if people travel to Mars. “If the dust is toxic and you bring it inside [a human habitat] it could be extraordinarily bad.”
Aral Sea blues Once the world’s fourth largest inland body of water, irrigation shrank the Aral Sea dramatically, and by 2000, had split it into three parts. Now images from Europe’s Envisat satellite show that 80 per cent of its large eastern lobe has disappeared, just in the last three years.
Bat cave emptied More than 90 per cent of the 30,000 bats living in New Jersey’s best known bat cave, the Hibernia Mine, have been killed by white nose syndrome, a mysterious disease devastating bat populations in the north-eastern US. Thought to be spread by a fungus, the syndrome has killed an estimated 400,000 bats since it emerged in 2006, says the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
Stem cells from blood Cells capable of maturing into any tissue in the body have been made for the first time from blood, claims Cellular Dynamics International of Madison, Wisconsin. The company says it made the induced pluripotent stem cells by treating white blood cells with reprogramming factors previously used to make iPS cells from less accessible tissues.
Memories in utero Fetuses 30 weeks old seem to have short-term memory. Researchers at Maastricht University in the Netherlands produced harmless sounds and vibrations next to the wombs of pregnant women. Fetuses reacted less after 10 minutes than they did initially, indicating that they had become used to the stimuli (Child Development, vol 80, p 1251).
Where lurks the worm? The search is back on in Idaho for the giant Palouse earthworm, a nearlegendary creature said to grow up to 1 metre long, spit at predators and live in burrows 5 metres deep. Conservationists want to protect the worm, though there have been few sightings and little research on it.
18 July 2009 | NewScientist | 7
UPFRONT
Food for a cool planet SWEDEN is to become the first country to slap “climate-friendly” labels on food products. The hope is that the labels will prompt consumers to buy greener products, but there are worries that some companies may use the scheme to “greenwash”. A small milk producer north of Stockholm is expected to be the first company to sport the “climatecertified” tag. One way it cut its use of energy and nutrients was by switching from chemical-based fertilisers to manure. The scheme is voluntary and firms must prove they have reduced greenhouse gas emissions in order to earn a label. “The only thing we’re guaranteeing is that improvements have been made,” says Anna Richert, an adviser to the Federation of
Swedish Farmers (LRF), and head of the team developing the criteria for labelling products. “This could mean reductions in emissions of anything from 5 to 80 per cent.” Danielle Nierenberg of Worldwatch Institute, a Washington DC based think tank, says that there is still a shortage of firm figures for emissions produced when growing, processing, shipping and selling most foods. “Because we don’t have a lot of good scientific data, I think there’s a risk that companies will claim things they can’t back up, and greenwash products that might not be climate friendly,” she says. Richert says this won’t happen because each product will be certified independently. “We’re quite certain the system won’t be abused.”
SpaceX in business
RazakSAT will fly over Malaysia 12 times a day, helping the nation’s scientists better manage its forests, farmland and marine resources. The launch for its first paying customer is a major fillip for SpaceX: until now its Falcon 1 rocket had only lofted a dummy payload. The firm has already won a contract from NASA to haul cargo to the International Space Station. But it will use a much larger rocket for these launches: the Falcon 9 will launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying cargo in a capsule called the Dragon.
–Low-emission shopping–
Gene revolution?
“TruGenetics offers free scans to the first 10,000 willing to donate their data to research” TruGenetics wants to charge researchers for access to its database, while 23andMe has said previously it might charge a fee for introducing volunteers to 6 | NewScientist | 18 July 2009
DIMITRI KESSEL/TIME LIFE PICTURES/GETTY
PERSONAL genome scans sold over the net have entertained those willing to shell out a few hundred dollars, but until now have been little use as research tools. Is this about to change? 23andMe of Mountain View, California, has just launched a $99 version of its genomescanning service Research Revolution. It is only available to customers who allow their genetic and self-reported health data to be used anonymously by researchers investigating the genetic roots of disease. This follows the launch last month of Seattle-based TruGenetics, which offers free scans to the first 10,000 willing to donate their data to research.
researchers. Analysts have long speculated that such deals might be more lucrative than just selling scans. But it is unclear whether the firms will be able to recruit enough volunteers and if the health data will be reliable, since doctors won’t confirm it. The new business model may trigger a broader shift in genetics research. Volunteers are currently given little feedback on how their genetics relate to the research in which they participate. But the emergence of firms committed to handing over this data may put pressure on geneticists to change.
PAYPAL founder Elon Musk’s civilian spaceflight company, SpaceX, achieved its first commercial success this week after its homegrown Falcon 1 rocket lofted a Malaysian Earthimaging satellite into orbit. As New Scientist went to press, the launch on Tuesday from Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Marshall Islands appeared to have gone without a hitch, inserting the RazakSAT spacecraft into a near-equatorial orbit at an altitude of 695 kilometres.
Palm oil bonanza THE Democratic Republic of the Congo could suddenly find itself as one of the world’s top producers of palm oil. DRC currently produces only about 220,000 tonnes of the stuff, but last week the Chinese firm ZTE Agribusiness announced plans to create a 1-million-hectare plantation in the country that could yield 5 million tonnes of oil, mostly for biofuel. The move –Congo is no stranger to palm oil– comes amid concerns over the
For daily news stories, visit www.NewScientist.com/news
60 SECONDS
A helping heart
detrimental environmental effects of plantations, particularly the loss of wildlife habitat. While DRC’s climate and forests make it an ideal place to grow the cash crop, its lush environment also means it contains more biodiversity than any other African country, says WWF. High biodiversity and palm oil rarely mix. In Borneo, for example, wildlife has steadily been edged out of its natural habitats by plantations. “A million hectares of any single species is going to be a biodiversity disaster,” warns Jeremy Cherfas of Bioversity International.
Imperial College London, therefore removed the second heart (The Lancet, DOI: 10.1016/ S0140-6736(09)61201-0). She is now off the drugs and healthy. A quarter of people with cardiomyopathies die waiting for
THE ability of organs to repair themselves was highlighted this week by the story of Hannah Clark, the first person to be given an extra heart and then have it removed after her own heart recovered. “A quarter of patients When Hannah was 2 years old with cardiomyopathies her heart was failing and she die while waiting for received the second one from a 5-month-old donor. Supported by a suitable donor” the donated organ, Hannah’s own heart gradually recovered, but the a suitable donor. The surgeons say these patients might temporarily immunosuppressive drugs she be given hearts from very young was taking caused her to develop donors, which are too small to be cancer. When she was 12, her used as full replacements. surgeons, led by Magdi Yacoub of
Flu vaccine delay
Martian dust guilty as charged
CORBIS
AS SWINE flu’s death toll rises, THE Mars rover Spirit, now bogged down in the Red Planet’s soil, will so does demand for a vaccine. The need all the power it can muster if trouble is, the strains produced NASA scientists manage to get it so far are growing half as fast as moving again. So it’s timely that ordinary vaccine strains, which researchers are getting a handle on means they may not be ready in why dust that collects on the vehicle’s time for the flu’s next wave. solar panels sticks so stubbornly. Vaccine companies are obliged Martian dust is particularly to first fill existing pandemic clingy. This was noticed more than a vaccine contracts with countries decade ago when surprisingly large such as the UK, Australia and amounts stuck to the wheels of France. Only then can they make NASA’s Sojourner rover. Static vaccine for everyone else. electricity was thought to be to How quickly vaccine can blame, but no one could explain how be made depends on how fast the particles became charged. Now vaccine strains grow and how much is needed. The World Health a team led by Keith Forward of Case Western Reserve University in Organization estimates that Cleveland, Ohio, have an answer. existing contracts can be filled as The team suspected that electrons early as November 2009 if people need only one shot of half the ordinary vaccine dose, and by April 2010 if two shots of the usual dose is needed. However, this assumes that the strain grows at the same rate as ordinary flu. According to another report presented by the WHO last week, of five different vaccine strains produced so far, the two fastest growing only grow half as fast as those used to make ordinary flu vaccine. This could push the dates back to January and June 2010, respectively, by which time the virus’s next, possibly worse, –A Martian menace– wave may be over.
could jump back and forth between dust grains as they collide in the wind. Smaller grains would be more likely to retain their extra electrons, giving them a negative charge, while larger grains would be left positively charged. Sure enough, they managed to electrically charge grains of Hawaiian volcanic ash, chosen for its similarity to Martian dust, by blowing them around in a container (Geophysical Research Letters, DOI: 10.1029/2009gl038589). William Farrell of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland says this may help to combat the dust – important if people travel to Mars. “If the dust is toxic and you bring it inside [a human habitat] it could be extraordinarily bad.”
Aral Sea blues Once the world’s fourth largest inland body of water, irrigation shrank the Aral Sea dramatically, and by 2000, had split it into three parts. Now images from Europe’s Envisat satellite show that 80 per cent of its large eastern lobe has disappeared, just in the last three years.
Bat cave emptied More than 90 per cent of the 30,000 bats living in New Jersey’s best known bat cave, the Hibernia Mine, have been killed by white nose syndrome, a mysterious disease devastating bat populations in the north-eastern US. Thought to be spread by a fungus, the syndrome has killed an estimated 400,000 bats since it emerged in 2006, says the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
Stem cells from blood Cells capable of maturing into any tissue in the body have been made for the first time from blood, claims Cellular Dynamics International of Madison, Wisconsin. The company says it made the induced pluripotent stem cells by treating white blood cells with reprogramming factors previously used to make iPS cells from less accessible tissues.
Memories in utero Fetuses 30 weeks old seem to have short-term memory. Researchers at Maastricht University in the Netherlands produced harmless sounds and vibrations next to the wombs of pregnant women. Fetuses reacted less after 10 minutes than they did initially, indicating that they had become used to the stimuli (Child Development, vol 80, p 1251).
Where lurks the worm? The search is back on in Idaho for the giant Palouse earthworm, a nearlegendary creature said to grow up to 1 metre long, spit at predators and live in burrows 5 metres deep. Conservationists want to protect the worm, though there have been few sightings and little research on it.
18 July 2009 | NewScientist | 7