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‘Racial gap’ found in US science funding
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Racial grant gap
that in some places the yearly radiation dose would be over 500 millisieverts, far in excess of the suggested maximum for the general public of 1 millisievert each year. Meanwhile, allegations that Fukushima was crippled by the earthquake, not the ensuing tsunami as previously thought, are “not correct”, says Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA). The implication was that Japan’s nuclear reactors could not cope with earthquakes, but the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Austria, supports NISA’s conclusion.
60 Seconds
publication record, the gap was still 10 per cent (Science, DOI: 10.1126/science.1196783). The team offer several explanations, including the possibility that some fundingreviewers are biased against black
BLACK scientists receive 10 per cent fewer funding awards than would be expected if race were not an issue, a new analysis of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant data has found. “White scientists had a Donna Ginther at the 29 per cent success rate University of Kansas in Lawrence but for their black peers and colleagues analysed over it was just 16 per cent” 80,000 applications for funding from scientists with a PhD. Whites scientists. “I am very discouraged had a 29 per cent success rate but blacks received funding just 16 per by these results,” says Ginther. The NIH will trial thoroughly cent of the time. When the team anonymised grant applications controlled for country of origin, in a bid to explore any racial bias. training, previous awards and
Doubts cast on fish provenance
Healthy X-rays?
paul sutherland/national geographic
HOSPITAL workers who are SUSTAINABILITY logos on fish may not be entirely trustworthy. Some fish regularly exposed to “safe” levels that the Marine Stewardship Council of X-rays have experienced (MSC) have certified as sustainable changes at the cellular level that come from unsustainable fisheries might actually prove beneficial. Gian Luigi Russo and colleagues or are the wrong species altogether, according to a study of Patagonian at Italy’s National Research toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides), Council took blood samples sold as “Chilean sea bass”. from 10 cardiologists who are Only one fishery, around the island exposed to 4 millisieverts of of South Georgia in the Southern radiation per year from X-rayOcean, is certified as sustainably guided surgery. Those levels fished by the MSC, so all Chilean sea are slightly above natural levels bass (pictured) bearing the MSC logo but well within the US Code of ought to come from South Georgia. Federal Regulation’s safe limit They don’t, though. Peter Marko of of 50 millisieverts per year. Clemson University in South Carolina Russo’s team found that and colleagues bought 36 certified the blood contained levels of fish from shops across the US and hydrogen peroxide – a marker checked their DNA. Three came from of cell damage – three times higher than expected. On the flip side, it also contained twice the normal level of glutathione, an antioxidant that protects cells (European Heart Journal, DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehr263). Tommaso Gori, a cardiologist at the University Medical Center Mainz in Germany, who was not involved in the study, points out that boosted antioxidant levels are known to offer a degree of protection against heart attack in some individuals. “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” he says. “That might be the case with –The real McCoy– low-dose radiation.”
entirely different species and five carried genetic markers not found in the South Georgia population (Current Biology, DOI: 10.1016/ j.cub.2011.07.006). “A significant proportion is coming from some other place,” says Marko. Rob Ogden of the TRACE Wildlife Forensics Network in Edinburgh, UK, says the sample size is small for such a strong claim. “I don’t dispute their data, but I’m concerned with the strength with which it’s presented.” The MSC is taking the finding seriously. “We are very concerned about the results,” says Amy Jackson, MSC’s deputy standards director. The group has launched an investigation. Whoever is responsible could have their certification withdrawn.
Tap into wildlife There’s an app for almost everything these days. What was missing was one to tell you about endangered bear species near you. In the US, the wait is over: the Center for Biological Diversity, based in Tucson, Arizona, has produced Species Finder, an Android App that uses GPS to tell you about endangered plants and animals in the local county.
Space for innovation NASA is investing $175 million in a solar sail seven times bigger than the current record holder, plus a clock that keeps time using atoms of mercury, and a high-speed lasercommunication system for deep space. As well as driving NASA missions, it says such innovations will also lower the cost of commercial space activities.
Bisexual reality Some men who identify themselves as bisexual genuinely become sexually aroused by both sexes. The finding contradicts previous studies which suggested that bisexuals are aroused by members of one sex only but identify themselves as bisexual for social or psychological reasons (Biological Psychiatry, DOI: 10.1016/ j.biopsycho.2011.06.015).
The key to hoppiness There’s a gene for hopping. It is switched on in the developing limbs of the tammar wallaby, which has become the first kangaroo to have its genome sequenced. The gene helps it develop its distinctive legs (Genome Biology, DOI: 10.1186/ gb-2011-12-8-r81).
Dead giveaway Our greenhouse emissions may be sending out the wrong signal, warn US researchers. Aliens could interpret changes in the spectral signature of Earthshine, due to the changing composition of the atmosphere, as a sign that we are technologically advanced and therefore dangerous (arxiv.org/abs/1104.4462).
27 August 2011| NewScientist | 5
Racial grant gap
that in some places the yearly radiation dose would be over 500 millisieverts, far in excess of the suggested maximum for the general public of 1 millisievert each year. Meanwhile, allegations that Fukushima was crippled by the earthquake, not the ensuing tsunami as previously thought, are “not correct”, says Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA). The implication was that Japan’s nuclear reactors could not cope with earthquakes, but the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Austria, supports NISA’s conclusion.
60 Seconds
publication record, the gap was still 10 per cent (Science, DOI: 10.1126/science.1196783). The team offer several explanations, including the possibility that some fundingreviewers are biased against black
BLACK scientists receive 10 per cent fewer funding awards than would be expected if race were not an issue, a new analysis of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant data has found. “White scientists had a Donna Ginther at the 29 per cent success rate University of Kansas in Lawrence but for their black peers and colleagues analysed over it was just 16 per cent” 80,000 applications for funding from scientists with a PhD. Whites scientists. “I am very discouraged had a 29 per cent success rate but blacks received funding just 16 per by these results,” says Ginther. The NIH will trial thoroughly cent of the time. When the team anonymised grant applications controlled for country of origin, in a bid to explore any racial bias. training, previous awards and
Doubts cast on fish provenance
Healthy X-rays?
paul sutherland/national geographic
HOSPITAL workers who are SUSTAINABILITY logos on fish may not be entirely trustworthy. Some fish regularly exposed to “safe” levels that the Marine Stewardship Council of X-rays have experienced (MSC) have certified as sustainable changes at the cellular level that come from unsustainable fisheries might actually prove beneficial. Gian Luigi Russo and colleagues or are the wrong species altogether, according to a study of Patagonian at Italy’s National Research toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides), Council took blood samples sold as “Chilean sea bass”. from 10 cardiologists who are Only one fishery, around the island exposed to 4 millisieverts of of South Georgia in the Southern radiation per year from X-rayOcean, is certified as sustainably guided surgery. Those levels fished by the MSC, so all Chilean sea are slightly above natural levels bass (pictured) bearing the MSC logo but well within the US Code of ought to come from South Georgia. Federal Regulation’s safe limit They don’t, though. Peter Marko of of 50 millisieverts per year. Clemson University in South Carolina Russo’s team found that and colleagues bought 36 certified the blood contained levels of fish from shops across the US and hydrogen peroxide – a marker checked their DNA. Three came from of cell damage – three times higher than expected. On the flip side, it also contained twice the normal level of glutathione, an antioxidant that protects cells (European Heart Journal, DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehr263). Tommaso Gori, a cardiologist at the University Medical Center Mainz in Germany, who was not involved in the study, points out that boosted antioxidant levels are known to offer a degree of protection against heart attack in some individuals. “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” he says. “That might be the case with –The real McCoy– low-dose radiation.”
entirely different species and five carried genetic markers not found in the South Georgia population (Current Biology, DOI: 10.1016/ j.cub.2011.07.006). “A significant proportion is coming from some other place,” says Marko. Rob Ogden of the TRACE Wildlife Forensics Network in Edinburgh, UK, says the sample size is small for such a strong claim. “I don’t dispute their data, but I’m concerned with the strength with which it’s presented.” The MSC is taking the finding seriously. “We are very concerned about the results,” says Amy Jackson, MSC’s deputy standards director. The group has launched an investigation. Whoever is responsible could have their certification withdrawn.
Tap into wildlife There’s an app for almost everything these days. What was missing was one to tell you about endangered bear species near you. In the US, the wait is over: the Center for Biological Diversity, based in Tucson, Arizona, has produced Species Finder, an Android App that uses GPS to tell you about endangered plants and animals in the local county.
Space for innovation NASA is investing $175 million in a solar sail seven times bigger than the current record holder, plus a clock that keeps time using atoms of mercury, and a high-speed lasercommunication system for deep space. As well as driving NASA missions, it says such innovations will also lower the cost of commercial space activities.
Bisexual reality Some men who identify themselves as bisexual genuinely become sexually aroused by both sexes. The finding contradicts previous studies which suggested that bisexuals are aroused by members of one sex only but identify themselves as bisexual for social or psychological reasons (Biological Psychiatry, DOI: 10.1016/ j.biopsycho.2011.06.015).
The key to hoppiness There’s a gene for hopping. It is switched on in the developing limbs of the tammar wallaby, which has become the first kangaroo to have its genome sequenced. The gene helps it develop its distinctive legs (Genome Biology, DOI: 10.1186/ gb-2011-12-8-r81).
Dead giveaway Our greenhouse emissions may be sending out the wrong signal, warn US researchers. Aliens could interpret changes in the spectral signature of Earthshine, due to the changing composition of the atmosphere, as a sign that we are technologically advanced and therefore dangerous (arxiv.org/abs/1104.4462).
27 August 2011| NewScientist | 5