16. Google Whacked by Hack Attack
When a MULTIBILLION dollar corporation gets quietly and spectacularly hacked, the last thing you expect it to do is announce the breach to the world. Yet that’s exactly what Google did last January after discovering hackers had breezed past its security measures to burrow deep into its network. e well-coordinated attack, dubbed Operation Aurora, began with an instant message to a Google employee in China that included a
link to a malicious Web site. When the employee clicked on the link, the nefarious code downloaded to a
computer, enabling the attackers to control it and hop to other machines in the company’s U.S. network.
e intruders accessed a software repository used by Google developers, siphoned intellectual property,
and viewed basic Gmail account information for at least two human rights activists who focus on China.
No fewer than other companies— nancial institutions and defense contractors among them—were also attacked, but most remained mum. Google went public in part to counter the silence of its fellow victims. Google cofounder Sergey Brin said in February that “if more companies were to come forward with respect to these sorts of security incidents and issues, I think we would all be safer.” Google’s admission made other
companies realize the sophistication of the attacks they might face, says Alan Paller, director of research at the SANS Institute, which trains computer security professionals.Although determining the precise source of a hack is often impossible.
Silicon Valley, and Washington, D.C. In its blog post reporting the cyber attack, Google announced it would stop censoring search results in China and threatened to pull out of the country entirely. In the end, the company only added a link to its Chinese search page, allowing users to view uncensored
results through its Hong Kong– based search engine.
link to a malicious Web site. When the employee clicked on the link, the nefarious code downloaded to a
computer, enabling the attackers to control it and hop to other machines in the company’s U.S. network.
e intruders accessed a software repository used by Google developers, siphoned intellectual property,
and viewed basic Gmail account information for at least two human rights activists who focus on China.
No fewer than other companies— nancial institutions and defense contractors among them—were also attacked, but most remained mum. Google went public in part to counter the silence of its fellow victims. Google cofounder Sergey Brin said in February that “if more companies were to come forward with respect to these sorts of security incidents and issues, I think we would all be safer.” Google’s admission made other
companies realize the sophistication of the attacks they might face, says Alan Paller, director of research at the SANS Institute, which trains computer security professionals.Although determining the precise source of a hack is often impossible.
Silicon Valley, and Washington, D.C. In its blog post reporting the cyber attack, Google announced it would stop censoring search results in China and threatened to pull out of the country entirely. In the end, the company only added a link to its Chinese search page, allowing users to view uncensored
results through its Hong Kong– based search engine.
17. New Hope for the World’s Forests
Over the past decade, forest loss worldwide has slowed, according to a United Nations report released
in October.
From 2000 to 2010, the earth lost an average of 13 million acres annually, down markedly
from 20.5 million acres a year in the preceding decade.
Deforestation rates have decelerated
primarily because governments have made forests a higher priority, the U.N. researchers say. In
particular, Brazil and Indonesia, which lost the most forested land in the 1990s, have new policies in
place to slow the decline.
And a number of countries, such as China, have established large-scale
tree planting programs (China is actually gaining forest).
But we’re not out of the woods yet. No
current reforestation plans look past 2020, and some of them will end earlier if targets are reached
sooner. Forest loss could then escalate, the U.N. report warns.
in October.
From 2000 to 2010, the earth lost an average of 13 million acres annually, down markedly
from 20.5 million acres a year in the preceding decade.
Deforestation rates have decelerated
primarily because governments have made forests a higher priority, the U.N. researchers say. In
particular, Brazil and Indonesia, which lost the most forested land in the 1990s, have new policies in
place to slow the decline.
And a number of countries, such as China, have established large-scale
tree planting programs (China is actually gaining forest).
But we’re not out of the woods yet. No
current reforestation plans look past 2020, and some of them will end earlier if targets are reached
sooner. Forest loss could then escalate, the U.N. report warns.
18. Helper Gene Makes Cancer Deadly
Cancer cells become deadly when they proliferate uncontrollably and overwhelm their healthy neighbors. Last July, biologists at University College London and Florida State University collaborated to tease out a crucial detail of how the process unfolds. The researchers identified a new gene, dubbed “Mahjong,” that determines whether the cancerous cells gain the upper hand. The researchers began by investigating a gene called Lgl, which normally suppresses tumor growth. Mutant forms of Lgl allow cancerous cells to reproduce unchecked. To understand that process, the Florida State group engineered a fruit fly to produce a mix of cells, some with normal Lgl and some with the altered version. But the mutants actually lost out to the normal cells every time. Evidently, mutant Lgl is dangerous only when it receives some kind of boost, and the British team isolated that boost: the Mahjong gene. This gene makes a protein that interacts with Lgl protein in a way that is not yet understood, according to Yoichiro Tamori, a postdoc at Florida State. When the Florida researchers
raised the concentration of the Mahjong protein, the mutant cells began winning. The scientists in London got the same result in a similar experiment
using mammalian kidney cells, showing that healthy and mutant cells compete directly against each other in mammals. “Especially in early stages, normal cells can kill cancer cells,” says biologist Yasuyuki Fujita, who led the British team. Understanding the lethal alliance between Lgl and Mahjong genes could open the door to n
raised the concentration of the Mahjong protein, the mutant cells began winning. The scientists in London got the same result in a similar experiment
using mammalian kidney cells, showing that healthy and mutant cells compete directly against each other in mammals. “Especially in early stages, normal cells can kill cancer cells,” says biologist Yasuyuki Fujita, who led the British team. Understanding the lethal alliance between Lgl and Mahjong genes could open the door to n
19. Ocean Ooze Teems With Life
The OCEAN bottom is one of the world’s most important yet enigmatic ecosystems, covered in a thick sludge
rich with bacteria that consume and recycle dead algae and animal feces. Somehow those bacteria get the
essential oxygen they need to digest, even though very little of it should be able to penetrate the muck. Last February, Danish biologist Lars Peter Nielsen stumbled on a possible explanation after his team at the University of Aarhus noticed
activity in beakers of sludge set up for an experiment that had ended weeks earlier.
The researchers measured falling oxygen levels at the surface of the sediment coupled with a disappearance
of hydrogen sul de (a food source to bacteria) a few centimeters below. “ e oxygen and hydrogen sul de were
apparently interacting very closely and rapidly,” Nielsen says—even though microbial chemical interactions should
not be able to traverse such a distance. Nielsen believes the secret is a bacterial pulley system of sorts: Oxygen processing bacteria at the top connect to digestive microbes below via long protein threads that transport electrons. “A bacterium may not rely only on its microenvironment and neighboring
cells,” he says. “It may engage in a network with other bacteria living far away to share resources.”
rich with bacteria that consume and recycle dead algae and animal feces. Somehow those bacteria get the
essential oxygen they need to digest, even though very little of it should be able to penetrate the muck. Last February, Danish biologist Lars Peter Nielsen stumbled on a possible explanation after his team at the University of Aarhus noticed
activity in beakers of sludge set up for an experiment that had ended weeks earlier.
The researchers measured falling oxygen levels at the surface of the sediment coupled with a disappearance
of hydrogen sul de (a food source to bacteria) a few centimeters below. “ e oxygen and hydrogen sul de were
apparently interacting very closely and rapidly,” Nielsen says—even though microbial chemical interactions should
not be able to traverse such a distance. Nielsen believes the secret is a bacterial pulley system of sorts: Oxygen processing bacteria at the top connect to digestive microbes below via long protein threads that transport electrons. “A bacterium may not rely only on its microenvironment and neighboring
cells,” he says. “It may engage in a network with other bacteria living far away to share resources.”
20. AIDS Virus Has an Ancient History
HIV is a new comer among human pathogens, having caused the first known cases of AIDS within the past few decades. So scientists suspected that , the primate virus that spawned , was just a few hundred years older. Tulane University virologist Preston Marx published research in September that suggests otherwise: seems to be at least , years old, meaning it coexisted with people nearly all that time before emerged. Marx’s team did tests on
monkeys from Bioko Island, which was cut o from the African continent , years ago.The Bioko strains all shared ancestry with strains from the African mainland, indicating the virus is at least that old and probably much older. “Events in the 21th century launched the virus from a benign monkey virus into a human epidemic,” Marx says. e growing use of blood transfusions and the rise of crowded cities may have helped pass around and let it evolve into .
If we do not gure out what triggered the epidemic, it will be hard to prepare for what might come next. “We could be making new strains without knowing how to stop or control them,” Marx says.
monkeys from Bioko Island, which was cut o from the African continent , years ago.The Bioko strains all shared ancestry with strains from the African mainland, indicating the virus is at least that old and probably much older. “Events in the 21th century launched the virus from a benign monkey virus into a human epidemic,” Marx says. e growing use of blood transfusions and the rise of crowded cities may have helped pass around and let it evolve into .
If we do not gure out what triggered the epidemic, it will be hard to prepare for what might come next. “We could be making new strains without knowing how to stop or control them,” Marx says.
21. Scans Can Track Brain Development
In just six minutes MRI scanner can reveal whether a child’s brain is developing normally. The new found capability was announced in September by a team at Washington University in St. Louis. Led by neurologist Bradley Schlaggar, the group studied healthy volunteers, to years old, using functional a technique that identified active neural circuits based on blood ow and blood oxygen levels. e scientists then used powerful computers to crunch the imaging data, seeking out common patterns of neural activity at di erent ages. The Washington University team was able to home in on atterns of neural activity that change as a brain matures. “Just as pediatricians chart height and weight to track developmental milestones, we can use patterns of neural activity to see where individuals fall within the typical range of variability for their age,” Schlaggar says. Beatriz Luna, a developmental neuroscientist at the University of Pittsburgh, was staggered by the news. “As recently as a year ago, people thought this would be impossible,” she says. “We assumed there would be too much individual variation to track brain maturation.” Reference maps of the maturing
brain could improve our understanding of autism, schizophrenia, and other disturbances associated with abnormal brain development. “ is promises
to make functional much more relevant as a diagnostic tool,” Schlaggar says.
brain could improve our understanding of autism, schizophrenia, and other disturbances associated with abnormal brain development. “ is promises
to make functional much more relevant as a diagnostic tool,” Schlaggar says.
22. Hair DNA Documents Forgotten Migration
Encased in ice for 4,000 years, a clump of prehistoric human hair gave up its secrets to the University of Copenhagen’s Eske Willerslev, the first researcher to sequence an ancient human genome. The hair, dug up in 1986 in Qeqertasussuk, Greenland, revealed that its owner was a male with brown eyes, thick brown
hair, dry earwax, and shovel-shaped incisors. He was also prone to early baldness, according to an analysis published in Nature last February. “Hair is the best material for genomics,” Willerslev says. It contains less DNA than other sources, but it is not porous or easily contaminated. His sequencing yielded about 80 percent of the genome. Most significantly, analysis of the hair revealed that its owner was closely related to the Chukchi people, who live at the
eastern tip of Siberia today, suggesting his ancestors traveled to the New World independent of the migrations that gave rise to Native American and
Inuit peoples. “This was a previously unknown migration,” Willerslev says. "It shows the true power of genomics to decode history.” His team is now
looking at the hair of ancient mummies in the Americas.
hair, dry earwax, and shovel-shaped incisors. He was also prone to early baldness, according to an analysis published in Nature last February. “Hair is the best material for genomics,” Willerslev says. It contains less DNA than other sources, but it is not porous or easily contaminated. His sequencing yielded about 80 percent of the genome. Most significantly, analysis of the hair revealed that its owner was closely related to the Chukchi people, who live at the
eastern tip of Siberia today, suggesting his ancestors traveled to the New World independent of the migrations that gave rise to Native American and
Inuit peoples. “This was a previously unknown migration,” Willerslev says. "It shows the true power of genomics to decode history.” His team is now
looking at the hair of ancient mummies in the Americas.
23. Comets Are Interstellar Visitors
Astronomers have always assumed that everything in our solar system formed around the sun some 4.5 billion years ago. But comets may be a notable exception, says Hal Levison, an astronomer at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado. “Hale- Bopp, Halley, all the bright guys you can think of—most of them may be from other stars,” he says.
Levison reached this conclusion after puzzling over the number of objects in the Oort cloud, the spherical collection of frozen comets and other icy debris that surrounds our solar system. Observations suggest that the Oort cloud contains as many as 400 billion objects,100 times as many as theoretical models can account for. To resolve this discrepancy, Levison and his team simulated the dynamics of a star-forming area containing hundreds of stars packed within a region a few light-years across—the kind of setting in which our sun was probably born. Their results, published in June, show that the infant sun’s gravity could have pulled in enough comets that originated with its stellar siblings to produce the dense Oort cloud we see today.
“A conservative estimate is that 90 percent of the material in the Oort cloud came from other stars,
Levison reached this conclusion after puzzling over the number of objects in the Oort cloud, the spherical collection of frozen comets and other icy debris that surrounds our solar system. Observations suggest that the Oort cloud contains as many as 400 billion objects,100 times as many as theoretical models can account for. To resolve this discrepancy, Levison and his team simulated the dynamics of a star-forming area containing hundreds of stars packed within a region a few light-years across—the kind of setting in which our sun was probably born. Their results, published in June, show that the infant sun’s gravity could have pulled in enough comets that originated with its stellar siblings to produce the dense Oort cloud we see today.
“A conservative estimate is that 90 percent of the material in the Oort cloud came from other stars,
24. Space Ship Sails on a Breeze of Sunlight
Named for the mythical youth who died after flying too close to the sun, the Japanese spacecraft Ikaros is poised to breathe new life into space exploration. Ikaros is the first successful solar sail, using the physical pressure of sunlight to propel a huge, thin film the way that wind pushes a conventional sail at sea.
The craft was launched in May and spread itself fully open the following month. “The solar sail was shining in the dark of space,” says project leader Osamu Mori of JAXA, Japan’s space agency. “It was very beautiful.” Solar sailing is a decades-old idea that, until now, nobody had been able to harness. Japan’s
success is reinvigorating the field. The Planetary Society, which lost a sail in a 2005 launch accident, is building a new one scheduled for launch in 2011. Scientists at NASA and the European Space Agency are revisiting their designs as well. The idea is enticing because msolar sails can navigate through
space without any fuel, making them ideal for lengthy round-trip missions, says Bill Nye, director of the Planetary Society. Someday a huge space-based laser could even push a sail to another star system. “You could drive all over the universe with the momentum of photons,” Nye says.
The craft was launched in May and spread itself fully open the following month. “The solar sail was shining in the dark of space,” says project leader Osamu Mori of JAXA, Japan’s space agency. “It was very beautiful.” Solar sailing is a decades-old idea that, until now, nobody had been able to harness. Japan’s
success is reinvigorating the field. The Planetary Society, which lost a sail in a 2005 launch accident, is building a new one scheduled for launch in 2011. Scientists at NASA and the European Space Agency are revisiting their designs as well. The idea is enticing because msolar sails can navigate through
space without any fuel, making them ideal for lengthy round-trip missions, says Bill Nye, director of the Planetary Society. Someday a huge space-based laser could even push a sail to another star system. “You could drive all over the universe with the momentum of photons,” Nye says.
25. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu on how we’ll get to the green-energy future.
The Deepwater Horizon; mountaintop-removal coal mining; global warming and glacial melting from the burning of fossil fuels. You might expect the man in charge of United States energy security to be glum about the future, but despite his intense concerns regarding carbon emissions, Steven Chu is optimistic that science may yet bail us out. The first physicist to take the post, and the first Nobel laureate (for work using lasers to cool and trap atoms), Chu has $39 billion in Recovery Act dollars to dole out and an unprecedented opportunity to foster big ideas. In the near term, he says, simple measures like energy-efficient homes and white-painted roofs could make a major dent in our carbon budget. For the future, look to radical solutions like glucose-based fuels, smart storage, or tiny mass-produced nuclear power plants. His sunniest prediction: Our economy
could be largely carbon-neutral by 2050.
could be largely carbon-neutral by 2050.
26. How Matter Defeated Antimatter
The Big Bang theory has a Big Problem. The leading models of cosmology imply that the universe should have begun with equal quantities of matter and antimatter. But when the two meet, they annihilate each other, so an equal balance would have yielded an empty cosmos. In May, physicists at the Tevatron particle accelerator in Illinois singled out a strange particle that could help explain the conundrum. Studying nearly eight years’ worth of high-speed smashups between protons and antiprotons, Guennadi Borissov of Lancaster University in the U.K. and other members of the Tevatron team focused on the B meson, a short-lived particle that emerges from the collisions. During its brief life, this particle rapidly oscillates between matter and antimatter: One moment it’s a B meson, the next it’s an anti-B meson. This constant wavering should create just as many anti-B mesons as B mesons, but the physicists discovered a clear bias for the matter variety—50.5 percent matter to 49.5 percent antimatter. Follow-up experiments planned for this year at both the Tevatron and the Large Hadron Collider will test the team’s findings. If they are verified, theorists will have an important clue about where the symmetry laws predicted by the standard model of physics break down. They will also have the basis for a new theory explaining the pro-matter bias in the rules that jump-started our universe
13.7 billion years ago. “This will give a very strong push toward finding an answer to one of the most fundamental questions in physics,” Borissov says.
13.7 billion years ago. “This will give a very strong push toward finding an answer to one of the most fundamental questions in physics,” Borissov says.
27. Egg Recall Rattles Food Supply
More than 500 million eggs were pulled off store shelves last summer due to possible contamination with salmonella. It was the largest food recall of the past decade, according to the Food and Drug Administration.
State authorities in Minnesota started reporting human outbreaks of salmonella disease to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( ) in May. By October more than 1,800 people were reported ill with fever, abdominal pain, and diarrhea in outbreaks across states.
The estimates that, in total, the bacterium poisoned at least , people, the worst outbreak of salmonella since the agency began surveillance on the bug in the late . No deaths were reported. Salmonella enteritidis,
one of the major strains to cause food poisoning, is usually associated with eggs. Accordingly, the
began investigating the nation’s egg supply in August. Eventually agency inspectors found contaminated
feed at Wright County Egg, a producer in Iowa. At Iowa’s Hillandale Farms, which used the same feed
supply, samples of the water used to wash whole eggs also contained the bug. inspectors discovered eightfoot- tall piles of manure and evidence of rodents and ies at Wright County and standing pools of water at Hillandale. e two producers initiated voluntary recalls as soon as investigations of their farms began. New egg production regulations to minimize salmonella risk—through better cleanliness, refrigeration,
and testing—went into e ect on July commissioner Margaret Hamburg says that if the new rules had commenced sooner, they probably would have prevented the outbreak. In September the agency began a -month program to inspect all farms subject to the new rules. But David Acheson, former associate commissioner for foods, worries that the new rules may merely redistribute risk. Due to limited resources, he says, the agency’s new focus may actually leave other parts of the food supply more vulnerable. “What’s not going to be inspected as ma consequence?”
State authorities in Minnesota started reporting human outbreaks of salmonella disease to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( ) in May. By October more than 1,800 people were reported ill with fever, abdominal pain, and diarrhea in outbreaks across states.
The estimates that, in total, the bacterium poisoned at least , people, the worst outbreak of salmonella since the agency began surveillance on the bug in the late . No deaths were reported. Salmonella enteritidis,
one of the major strains to cause food poisoning, is usually associated with eggs. Accordingly, the
began investigating the nation’s egg supply in August. Eventually agency inspectors found contaminated
feed at Wright County Egg, a producer in Iowa. At Iowa’s Hillandale Farms, which used the same feed
supply, samples of the water used to wash whole eggs also contained the bug. inspectors discovered eightfoot- tall piles of manure and evidence of rodents and ies at Wright County and standing pools of water at Hillandale. e two producers initiated voluntary recalls as soon as investigations of their farms began. New egg production regulations to minimize salmonella risk—through better cleanliness, refrigeration,
and testing—went into e ect on July commissioner Margaret Hamburg says that if the new rules had commenced sooner, they probably would have prevented the outbreak. In September the agency began a -month program to inspect all farms subject to the new rules. But David Acheson, former associate commissioner for foods, worries that the new rules may merely redistribute risk. Due to limited resources, he says, the agency’s new focus may actually leave other parts of the food supply more vulnerable. “What’s not going to be inspected as ma consequence?”
28. The Incredible Shrinking Moon
The old gray moon, she ain’t what she used to be. Images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft, released in October, show a pattern of cliffy scarps all across the lunar surface (as shown on the map above, with white dots indicating newly discovered scarps and black dots marking previously known ones). Lunar geologists reckon that the scarps were created as the moon’s core lost heat and contracted. It should be noted that the moon has not shrunk by very much, just a few hundred feet in radius over the last billion years. But that’s not nothing, either, when you consider that—even allowing for the distortion of perspective—the moon was never really that big to begin with. Then again, the moon is not just old and wrinkled—it is also shockingly rich. LRO’s partner spacecraft, LCROSS, found about 5 percent water-ice in the lunar soil. The surface also abounds in minerals, including silver, mercury, sodium, calcium, and magnesium, along with volatile gases like methanol, formaldehyde, and hydrogen sulfide. That said, it would take a fairly hard heart not to feel at least a twinge of sadness, tinged with unease, at the thought that the moon, collapsing in on itself, will never be quite full again
29. Ardi Continues to Shake the Human Family Tree
When PALEOBIOLOGIST TIM white of the University of California, Berkeley, and colleagues described a new
human ancestor named Ardipithecus ramidus—or “Ardi”—they challenged many evolutionary assumptions.
is .-million-year-old fossil female was bipedal but lived in woodlands, debunking the widely accepted
hypothesis that we evolved upright walking on the grassy savanna. Other features hinted that the last common
ancestor of humans and chimpanzees was a quadruped and not a knucklewalking ape, as was long thought.
Then came the backlash. In geochemist cure Cerling of the University of Utah and seven other geologists and anthropologists looked at the same evidence and concluded that Ardi’s predominant habitat had been the savanna after all. (In rebuttal, White emphasized that Ardi actually lived in woodland, even if savanna
was nearby.) Terry Harrison, a paleoanthropologist at New York University, questioned in Nature whether Ardi
was even a member of the human lineage or just an ape “among the tangled branches” of a much larger bush. And University of Toronto paleoanthropologist David Begun also had doubts. “Ardi may be an early side branch of hominids that is not directly related to humans,” he says. Scientists are just starting to get a rst look at the numerous scans and casts of Ardi and come up with their own ideas regarding what she tells us about our human identity. “ is fossil will be debated for a very long time,” White says. “ at’s how good science works.”
human ancestor named Ardipithecus ramidus—or “Ardi”—they challenged many evolutionary assumptions.
is .-million-year-old fossil female was bipedal but lived in woodlands, debunking the widely accepted
hypothesis that we evolved upright walking on the grassy savanna. Other features hinted that the last common
ancestor of humans and chimpanzees was a quadruped and not a knucklewalking ape, as was long thought.
Then came the backlash. In geochemist cure Cerling of the University of Utah and seven other geologists and anthropologists looked at the same evidence and concluded that Ardi’s predominant habitat had been the savanna after all. (In rebuttal, White emphasized that Ardi actually lived in woodland, even if savanna
was nearby.) Terry Harrison, a paleoanthropologist at New York University, questioned in Nature whether Ardi
was even a member of the human lineage or just an ape “among the tangled branches” of a much larger bush. And University of Toronto paleoanthropologist David Begun also had doubts. “Ardi may be an early side branch of hominids that is not directly related to humans,” he says. Scientists are just starting to get a rst look at the numerous scans and casts of Ardi and come up with their own ideas regarding what she tells us about our human identity. “ is fossil will be debated for a very long time,” White says. “ at’s how good science works.”
30. Ocean Plant Life Feels the Heat
Balmy ocean waters are putting the squeeze on phytoplankton, tiny plants that collectively fix as much carbon dioxide as all terrestrial greenery combined. Their decline could threaten ocean ecosystems and contribute to global warming. Daniel Boyce of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and his colleagues estimate that the global phytoplankton stock has plummeted 40 percent since 1950. They reported this finding in July after analyzing 50-plus years of data on light penetration of the ocean surface and plankton abundance in water samples. The die-off is due to a combination of rising sea surface temperatures and decreased ocean circulation between the higher and lower layers, Boyce says. Most phytoplankton well within 25 meters of the surface. The warmer this layer is, the more difficult it is for nutrients from the cold depths to mix in. As nutrients dwindle, so do the phytoplankton. A continued decline would reverberate up the food chainand reduce atmospheric CO2 absorption, potentially accelerating climate change. “I think that the 40 percent global
decrease that they report is provocative but not yet fully demonstrated,” says Michael Behrenfeld, an oceanographer at Oregon State University who studies phytoplankton. Analysis of satellite data and historical records could verify the numbers.
decrease that they report is provocative but not yet fully demonstrated,” says Michael Behrenfeld, an oceanographer at Oregon State University who studies phytoplankton. Analysis of satellite data and historical records could verify the numbers.
31. Autism:One Label,ManyDiseases
People with autism are regularly lumped together and treated as a single group. But the world’s largest genetic study of the condition “shows that autism is many different diseases,” says Stanley Nelson, a professor of genetics and psychiatry at UCLA who collaborated on the investigation. “That insight
should greatly enlighten how we think about autism and attempt to treat it.” The study, conducted by a global consortium of 120 scientists, compared the
genes of more than 1,000 autistic children with those of 1,300 youngsters unaffected by the disorder. As the researchers reported last July, the mutations
associated with autism fall all over the map. “If 100 different kids with autism walked into a clinic,” Nelson says, “chances are they’d have 100 different
genetic aberrations.” Most of those aberrations occur in genes that affect the development and functioning of the brain. So far, about 10 percent of autism cases have been associated with genetic mutation, a figure Nelson predicts will rise as scientists study more genomes in greater detail. The latest findings “move us closer to identifying underlying biochemical pathways involved in autism and set us up to develop better treatments,” says Bryan King, director of the Autism Center at Seattle Children’s Hospital. “We already have some candidate drugs that might potentially correct problems in these pathways.”
should greatly enlighten how we think about autism and attempt to treat it.” The study, conducted by a global consortium of 120 scientists, compared the
genes of more than 1,000 autistic children with those of 1,300 youngsters unaffected by the disorder. As the researchers reported last July, the mutations
associated with autism fall all over the map. “If 100 different kids with autism walked into a clinic,” Nelson says, “chances are they’d have 100 different
genetic aberrations.” Most of those aberrations occur in genes that affect the development and functioning of the brain. So far, about 10 percent of autism cases have been associated with genetic mutation, a figure Nelson predicts will rise as scientists study more genomes in greater detail. The latest findings “move us closer to identifying underlying biochemical pathways involved in autism and set us up to develop better treatments,” says Bryan King, director of the Autism Center at Seattle Children’s Hospital. “We already have some candidate drugs that might potentially correct problems in these pathways.”
32. Sleep Switch Foundin the Brain
Every night we all partispate in a small biological miracle—the transition from wakefulness to sleep. Last September researchers at Washington State University made a notable advance in understanding the chemical trigger that allows that shift to happen. e key to sleep turns out to be one of the body’s most important molecules: , the compound that stores energy for use in metabolism. Neurobiologist James Krueger and his colleagues discovered that repeated of neurons in the brain while we are awake causes them to release into the spaces between the cells. As the molecule accumulates, it bonds to neighboring neurons and glial (support) cells; this allows the cells to absorb other chemicals—such as tumor necrosis
factor and interleukin —that most likely put those cells into a sleep state. is nding implies that sleep “is not a whole brain phenomenon,” Krueger says. It occurs only in neural circuits that have been most active during the day and so have released the most . Translation: Some parts of the brain can remain relatively alert even after we fall asleep. “ is is an extremely important nding,” says Mark Mahowald, a sleep expert at the University of Minnesota who was not involved in the research. “ e notion that only part of the
brain sleeps ts very well with our understanding of sleepwalking, when individuals have their eyes
open and easily navigate around objects yet have no conscious awareness of doing this.” A clearer picture of ’s role in the process could point the way to new drugs for treating insomnia and other sleep disorders.
factor and interleukin —that most likely put those cells into a sleep state. is nding implies that sleep “is not a whole brain phenomenon,” Krueger says. It occurs only in neural circuits that have been most active during the day and so have released the most . Translation: Some parts of the brain can remain relatively alert even after we fall asleep. “ is is an extremely important nding,” says Mark Mahowald, a sleep expert at the University of Minnesota who was not involved in the research. “ e notion that only part of the
brain sleeps ts very well with our understanding of sleepwalking, when individuals have their eyes
open and easily navigate around objects yet have no conscious awareness of doing this.” A clearer picture of ’s role in the process could point the way to new drugs for treating insomnia and other sleep disorders.
33. Science Saves the Chilean Miners
The celebrated rescue of octobers 33miners trapped a half mile below the Chilean desert was not just a compelling human drama but a historic feat of applied medicine, psychology, and engineering. Simply digging down to nd where the men were trapped was a -day challenge; any miscalculation could have sent the drill drastically of course. (It was “like trying to shoot a y from meters away,” Chilean topographer Macarena Valdés told the .) at hole, along with two others, became lifelines through which water, food, medicine, and clothing—including socks lined with bacteria- ghting copper oxide ber—were sent, plus a ber-optic cable for communication. Bringing up “los33” from the depths of the copper and gold mine required breadth and depth of drilling more ambitious than in any mining rescue ever before attempted. For this, a giant Schramm mine rig made in Pennsylvania drove an innovative pneumatic hammer-driven drill bit (made by Pennsylvania drilling technology rm Center Rock Inc.), which chipped away at the rock like a giant jackhammer. Meanwhile a team of doctors, psychologists, and engineers consulted with the Chileans, applying lessons learned from
preparing and managing astronauts in space for long durations. Finally, a rescue capsule— designed by the Chilean navy with advice from engineers—brought the miners out. Targeted medications and activities helped keep the men t, but they also excelled in their own psychology experiment. “In circumstances like this, some people withdraw while others blossom,” says Michael Duncan, deputy chief medical o cer from Johnson Space Center, who assisted at the mine site. e miners established a leader, a group structure, and a daily routine. “One miner was designated a medical , another was the spiritual leader, while another was in charge of sanitation. ese men had a great will to survive.”
preparing and managing astronauts in space for long durations. Finally, a rescue capsule— designed by the Chilean navy with advice from engineers—brought the miners out. Targeted medications and activities helped keep the men t, but they also excelled in their own psychology experiment. “In circumstances like this, some people withdraw while others blossom,” says Michael Duncan, deputy chief medical o cer from Johnson Space Center, who assisted at the mine site. e miners established a leader, a group structure, and a daily routine. “One miner was designated a medical , another was the spiritual leader, while another was in charge of sanitation. ese men had a great will to survive.”