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World's first animal-to-human transplantation approved
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Security face-off
survey of African science. When Singer and colleagues visited scientific institutions in six African countries, they found 25 “stagnant” technologies with potential. These included a fuelfree incinerator for destroying medical waste, and drugs to fight sickle-cell disease (Science, DOI: 10.1126/science.1195401). But there is hope. A to Z Textile Mills in Tanzania, which makes 25 million insecticide-impregnated nets each year to combat malaria, was set up just five years ago. “If only we had 100 companies like that producing drugs, imagine the impact,” says Singer.
60 Seconds
to find a replacement. NIST has now pruned the 64 entrants down to five finalists. Over the next year, “cryptanalysts” from around the world are expected to try to break the teams’ algorithms, before
FIVE teams have been selected for the final of a competition to find a replacement for a key algorithm used in online security. Several years ago, Chinese mathematician Xiaoyun Wang “Cryptanalysts are shocked cryptographers by expected to spend the revealing flaws in the current next year trying to break security algorithm, called SHA-1. the finalists’ algorithms” This raised the possibility that online transactions could one NIST announces a winner in 2012. day be rendered insecure. “These are incredibly So in 2007, the US National competitive people. They just Institute of Standards and Technology, based in Gaithersburg, love this,” says NIST’s William Burr. “For us, it’s a lot of work.” Maryland, launched a contest
First animal-to-human transplant
Higgs hunt goes on
tui de roy/minden/getty
THE lure of the Higgs boson may THE world’s first xenotransplantation treatment – where animal cells are keep the Large Hadron Collider transplanted into humans – has smashing particles a while longer in a bid to nail the particle deemed been approved for sale in Russia. The treatment, developed by Living to give all others their mass. Cell Technologies in New Zealand, Located near Geneva, is for type 1 diabetes. It consists of Switzerland, the LHC has been insulin-producing pig cells coated colliding particles at an energy in seaweed, says Bob Elliott of LCT. of 7 teraelectronvolts (TeV), half Type 1 diabetes occurs when of its design energy. The plan insulin-producing cells in the was to collect data at this energy pancreas are destroyed. Insulin is throughout 2011, then shut down vital in controlling blood glucose the collider for 15 months to make levels, so people who lack the cells the fixes needed to reach 14 TeV. need daily insulin injections. Now the LHC’s managers However, injecting the wrong are considering delaying the amount of insulin can cause blood shutdown to the end of 2012. This glucose levels to swing dangerously, would give the LHC longer to turn causing fainting, and cardiovascular up signs of the Higgs before its and nervous effects. These can reduce lengthy break. “A discovery could be just around the corner and we want to keep up the momentum,” says LHC team member Ian Shipsey of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. A decision will be made in January. Its rival, the Tevatron accelerator at Fermilab in Batavia, Illinois, may also get an extension to hunt the Higgs for three extra years, through to 2014. “We want to extend the run irrespective of the Tevatron,” says Shipsey. He says, though, that having evidence for the Higgs from both experiments would boost confidence in its existence. –An ally against diabetes–
a person’s life span, Elliott says. LCT’s treatment involves surgically implanting the replacement cells into the pancreas. The “seaweed” coating is alginate, which prevents the immune system from attacking the foreign cells. In Russian trials, eight people with type 1 diabetes received the treatment in June 2007, while continuing to have daily injections of insulin. After a year, six showed improved blood glucose control and were able to lower their daily dose of insulin. Two of them stopped injections entirely for eight months. One person left the trial and another showed no improvement, which LCT believes was due to problems inserting the cells into the pancreas.
Beauty sleep Getting a good night’s sleep is key to looking attractive, according to a study at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. Observers judged the faces of 23 sleep-deprived subjects as less healthy and less attractive than photos of the same people taken after a normal night’s rest (BMJ, DOI: 10.1136/bmj.c6614).
Having a long day? A newly identified chemical can lengthen the biological clocks of zebrafish by more than 10 hours. Dubbed “longdaysin”, it targets three enzymes which act together to alter circadian rhythms. The discovery could aid development of drugs for sleeping disorders and jet lag (PLoS Biology, DOI: 10.1371/ journal.pbio.100055).
Solar sail missing NASA has failed to make contact with its solar sail NanoSail-D, which launched into orbit in November, folded inside the FASTSAT satellite. Engineers will now try to find out if it ever ejected from its parent craft.
The voyage continues NASA’s Voyager 1 probe has crossed a new frontier, 33 years into its journey to the edge of the solar system and beyond. Since June, when it was 17 billion kilometres from the sun, it has stopped seeing particles in the solar wind streaming outwards. It is thought that pressure from incoming interstellar particles is pushing the solar wind sideways. Voyager 1 is expected to leave the solar system and enter interstellar space in four years.
Forensic changeover The UK government has decided to close the state-owned Forensic Science Service, which analyses and interprets crime scene evidence for the police and other lawenforcement agencies. The FSS loses £2 million per month. Privatesector forensics consultancies will take over its work.
18 December 2010 | NewScientist | 5
Security face-off
survey of African science. When Singer and colleagues visited scientific institutions in six African countries, they found 25 “stagnant” technologies with potential. These included a fuelfree incinerator for destroying medical waste, and drugs to fight sickle-cell disease (Science, DOI: 10.1126/science.1195401). But there is hope. A to Z Textile Mills in Tanzania, which makes 25 million insecticide-impregnated nets each year to combat malaria, was set up just five years ago. “If only we had 100 companies like that producing drugs, imagine the impact,” says Singer.
60 Seconds
to find a replacement. NIST has now pruned the 64 entrants down to five finalists. Over the next year, “cryptanalysts” from around the world are expected to try to break the teams’ algorithms, before
FIVE teams have been selected for the final of a competition to find a replacement for a key algorithm used in online security. Several years ago, Chinese mathematician Xiaoyun Wang “Cryptanalysts are shocked cryptographers by expected to spend the revealing flaws in the current next year trying to break security algorithm, called SHA-1. the finalists’ algorithms” This raised the possibility that online transactions could one NIST announces a winner in 2012. day be rendered insecure. “These are incredibly So in 2007, the US National competitive people. They just Institute of Standards and Technology, based in Gaithersburg, love this,” says NIST’s William Burr. “For us, it’s a lot of work.” Maryland, launched a contest
First animal-to-human transplant
Higgs hunt goes on
tui de roy/minden/getty
THE lure of the Higgs boson may THE world’s first xenotransplantation treatment – where animal cells are keep the Large Hadron Collider transplanted into humans – has smashing particles a while longer in a bid to nail the particle deemed been approved for sale in Russia. The treatment, developed by Living to give all others their mass. Cell Technologies in New Zealand, Located near Geneva, is for type 1 diabetes. It consists of Switzerland, the LHC has been insulin-producing pig cells coated colliding particles at an energy in seaweed, says Bob Elliott of LCT. of 7 teraelectronvolts (TeV), half Type 1 diabetes occurs when of its design energy. The plan insulin-producing cells in the was to collect data at this energy pancreas are destroyed. Insulin is throughout 2011, then shut down vital in controlling blood glucose the collider for 15 months to make levels, so people who lack the cells the fixes needed to reach 14 TeV. need daily insulin injections. Now the LHC’s managers However, injecting the wrong are considering delaying the amount of insulin can cause blood shutdown to the end of 2012. This glucose levels to swing dangerously, would give the LHC longer to turn causing fainting, and cardiovascular up signs of the Higgs before its and nervous effects. These can reduce lengthy break. “A discovery could be just around the corner and we want to keep up the momentum,” says LHC team member Ian Shipsey of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. A decision will be made in January. Its rival, the Tevatron accelerator at Fermilab in Batavia, Illinois, may also get an extension to hunt the Higgs for three extra years, through to 2014. “We want to extend the run irrespective of the Tevatron,” says Shipsey. He says, though, that having evidence for the Higgs from both experiments would boost confidence in its existence. –An ally against diabetes–
a person’s life span, Elliott says. LCT’s treatment involves surgically implanting the replacement cells into the pancreas. The “seaweed” coating is alginate, which prevents the immune system from attacking the foreign cells. In Russian trials, eight people with type 1 diabetes received the treatment in June 2007, while continuing to have daily injections of insulin. After a year, six showed improved blood glucose control and were able to lower their daily dose of insulin. Two of them stopped injections entirely for eight months. One person left the trial and another showed no improvement, which LCT believes was due to problems inserting the cells into the pancreas.
Beauty sleep Getting a good night’s sleep is key to looking attractive, according to a study at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. Observers judged the faces of 23 sleep-deprived subjects as less healthy and less attractive than photos of the same people taken after a normal night’s rest (BMJ, DOI: 10.1136/bmj.c6614).
Having a long day? A newly identified chemical can lengthen the biological clocks of zebrafish by more than 10 hours. Dubbed “longdaysin”, it targets three enzymes which act together to alter circadian rhythms. The discovery could aid development of drugs for sleeping disorders and jet lag (PLoS Biology, DOI: 10.1371/ journal.pbio.100055).
Solar sail missing NASA has failed to make contact with its solar sail NanoSail-D, which launched into orbit in November, folded inside the FASTSAT satellite. Engineers will now try to find out if it ever ejected from its parent craft.
The voyage continues NASA’s Voyager 1 probe has crossed a new frontier, 33 years into its journey to the edge of the solar system and beyond. Since June, when it was 17 billion kilometres from the sun, it has stopped seeing particles in the solar wind streaming outwards. It is thought that pressure from incoming interstellar particles is pushing the solar wind sideways. Voyager 1 is expected to leave the solar system and enter interstellar space in four years.
Forensic changeover The UK government has decided to close the state-owned Forensic Science Service, which analyses and interprets crime scene evidence for the police and other lawenforcement agencies. The FSS loses £2 million per month. Privatesector forensics consultancies will take over its work.
18 December 2010 | NewScientist | 5