Cynthia

Artificial Life Created - called Cynthia

Scientists in the US have succeeded in developing the first synthetic living cell.

The researchers constructed a bacterium's "genetic software" and transplanted it into a host cell.

The resulting microbe then looked and behaved like the species "dictated" by the synthetic DNA.

The advance, published in Science, has been hailed as a scientific landmark, but critics say there are dangers posed by synthetic organisms.

The researchers hope eventually to design bacterial cells that will produce medicines and fuels and even absorb greenhouse gases.

The team was led by Dr Craig Venter of the J Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) in Maryland and California.

Apollo 11 Anniversary

The Apollo 11 mission was the first manned mission to land on the Moon. It was the fifthhuman spaceflight of Project Apollo and the third human voyage to the Moon. Launched on July 16, 1969, it carried Mission Commander Neil Alden Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin Eugene 'Buzz' Aldrin, Jr. On July 20, Armstrong and Aldrin became the first humans to land on the Moon, while Collins orbited above.

The mission fulfilled President John F. Kennedy's goal of reaching the moon by the end of the 1960s, which he expressed during a speech given before a joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961:

"I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth."

First Moon Walk

Although the official NASA flight plan called for a crew rest period before extra-vehicular activity, Armstrong requested that the EVA be moved earlier in the evening, Houston time. Once Armstrong and Aldrin were ready to go outside,Eagle was depressurized, the hatch was opened and Armstrong made his way down the ladder first. He placed his left foot on the surface at 2:56 UTC July 21, 1969, then spoke the following:

"That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind."

Darwin's Birthday

Happy Birthday Charles Darwin

Today, Thursday 12 February, we celebrate 200 years since Charles Darwin, one of the world's most creative and influential thinkers, was born.

Darwin200 is a national programme of events honouring his scientific ideas and their impact. The celebrations have already begun and will continue until 24 November 2009, the 150th anniversary of the publication of his famous book, On the Origin of Species.

About Charles Darwin

Through a combination of meticulous observation and innovative thinking, Darwin came up with an explanation for the incredible variety of living things: that evolution was driven by natural selection. By this process, organisms most suited to their environment survive and reproduce and pass their advantages to their offspring.

Title page of a first edition of On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.

'There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.'Charles Darwin

Although Darwin had already presented his theory to fellow scientists, it was the publication of his book, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, in 1859 that shook the rest of the world.

'We must, however, acknowledge, as it seems to me, that man with all his noble qualities... still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin.'Charles Darwin

Initially greeted with controversy, Darwin's ideas now form the foundation of modern biology.

'It is interesting to contemplate an entangled bank, clothed with many plants of many kinds, with birds singing on the bushes, with various insects flitting about, and with worms crawling through the damp earth, and to reflect that these elaborately constructed forms, so different from each other, and dependent on each other in so complex a manner, have all been produced by laws acting around us.'Charles Darwin

A natural life

A beetle specimen collected by Charles Darwin.

Charles Darwin was born on 12 February 1809. As a child he loved the outdoors and collecting beetles.

He abandoned his studies of medicine to study theology but then, when he was just 22 years old, joined a voyage around the world on the ship, the Beagle. During this five-year adventure, he keenly observed and collected hundreds of different types of plants, animals, fossils and rocks.

He spent the rest of his life carefully studying and interpreting what he had seen. Darwin came up with his original explanation for the variety of living things, the theory of evolution by natural selection, soon after his return from the Beagle voyage, but it was many years before he had accumulated enough evidence to publish his work.

'I can remember the very spot in the road, whilst in my carriage, when to my joy the solution occurred to me; and this was long after I had come to Down. The solution, as I believe, is that the modified offspring of all dominant and increasing forms tend to become adapted to many and highly diversified places in the economy of nature.'Charles Darwin

Although Darwin is the most familiar name associated with evolution, he was only persuaded to publish his work when another young scientist, Alfred Russel Wallace, came forward having independently come up with a similar explanation for how evolution occurs.

Eand Josiah Wedgwood. Both were members of the famous Lunar Society.

Darwin would still recognise Shrewsbury today – as many of the medieval buildings, shuts and passages he knew still exist and his old school (now the library) even has a statue to the great man outside its entrance. The fields and river that surrounds the town are still open areas filled with flora and fauna to inspire the future generations.

‘I was Born a Naturalist’

Darwin himself declared that he was born a naturalist, but even he would acknowledge that his childhood experiences of growing up in Shropshire combined with his liberal upbringing helped to create the perfect inquisitive mind.

The Darwins were keen gardeners and the young Charles would often be found in the garden looking at bugs and beetles. He would also go to the River Severn that surrounds the town exploring the fields and floodplains, or go to the Dingle set in the heart of the Quarry Park.

Shropshire has rocks from more periods of geology than anywhere else in the world, a point not lost on the young Darwin. The coral reef that became Wenlock Edge still yields up marine fossils laid down when Shropshire was part of the Caribbean. The glacial meres and scars that shaped the Shropshire landscape and deposits they left (and the Bellstone in particular) convinced Darwin that the world is much older than the popular thinking at the time.

His curiosity, natural inquisitiveness and desire to understand his world made Charles Darwin the ideal candidate for his voyage of discovery on HMS Beagle.

Are you a chimp or a champ? Take this quiz and find out.

Morph yourself or even someone else. Courtesy of the Open University.

Image made using pages from the 'Origin of Species'. Click here to view.

volution Began in Shrewsbury!

Charles Darwin is Shrewsbury’s most famous son and recently voted as one of the greatest Britons. Born in Shrewsbury on the 12th February 1809 at Mount House, he was the son of Robert, a well respected doctor, and Susannah a member of the Wedgwood family. His formative years were well spent and his love and curiosity of the natural world was positively encouraged and flourished. Darwin lived in Shrewsbury until he was 27.

Darwin attended school at 13 Claremont and was then privileged to go to Shrewsbury School. Although, as his headmaster Dr Butler revealed, he had little hope of filling his head with Latin or Greek. Indeed as early as nine the young Darwin had started observing and recording things he found in the natural world that surrounded him.

Darwin’s grandfathers were equally remarkable men – Erasmus Darwin and Josiah Wedgwood. Both were members of the famous Lunar Society.

Darwin would still recognise Shrewsbury today – as many of the medieval buildings, shuts and passages he knew still exist and his old school (now the library) even has a statue to the great man outside its entrance. The fields and river that surrounds the town are still open areas filled with flora and fauna to inspire the future generations.The first part of the Darwin Season, centred around the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth on 12 February, extends until April. More programme details and clips will be available soon. 

The Season will then continue later in the year - 24 November is the 150th anniversary of the publication of 'On the Origin of Species'.

TThe first part of the Darwin Season, centred around the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth on 12 February, extends until April. More programme details and clips will be available soon. 

The Season will then continue later in the year - 24 November is the 150th anniversary of the publication of 'On the Origin of Species'.he first part of the Darwin Season, centred around the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth on 12 February, extends until April. More programme details and clips will be available soon. 

The Season will then continue later in the year - 24 November is the 150th anniversary of the publication of 'On the Origin of Species'.

Cloning Conundrum

This evening we caught up with a BBC2 drama from Wednesday, adapted from a 2002 stage play, which interestingly explored the challenge of human cloning to personal identity.

A Number by Caryl Churchill

It's often a problem when theatrical work is transferred to television, and particularly so in the case of Caryl Churchill, a writer of elliptical and oblique dramas that find their natural habitat in a hushed and darkened space where the audience is effectively locked in. What's more, she writes in a style you might describe as Mamet Mannerism, a meticulously crafted account of the hesitations and gaps of ordinary speech that sounds anything but ordinary after it's been passed through an actor's mouth. Fortunately, James Macdonald made virtually no concessions to television expectations in A Number. The medium permitted him a last-minute surprise that would have been impossible to do as well on stage – a coup de télévision, if you want – but it left intact the slow, unfurling mystery of Churchill's play.

A young man, played by Rhys Ifans, turned up at his father's house to ask for an explanation. He'd recently learnt that he was a clone, but all sorts of questions remained unanswered. Was he an original or a copy? Was his father really his father, and did he know more about why he was created in the first place? Above all, in the light of this knowledge, how could he tell who he was? The truth, or a veiled approximation of it, emerged fitfully as he talked to his father, played with shifty, panicked prevarication by Tom Wilkinson. And then one of the other clones turned up, rougher and unmistakably more dangerous than the first, and another dark twist to the story was revealed.

The subject was that hoary old intractability: nature versus nurture. But Churchill approached it with a collage of uncertainties, so that entirely novel ideas turned up. If you're the replication of a lost child, for example, are you loved for yourself or for someone else entirely? And imagine how terrible it would be to meet yourself and discover someone happier and more successful. Or, alternatively, imagine that genetics doesn't matter at all: "We've got 30 per cent the same genes as a lettuce," said one of the clones who turned up later. "I love the bit about lettuce, it makes me feel I belong." The same man, when asked to define his identity, touchingly offered a description couched entirely in terms of his feelings for other people. If you sat still and paid attention, I don't think you'll need telling just how good it was. 

Big Bang Day

Large Hadron Collider - will it cause the end of the world? By Roger Highfield, Science Editor

The end is nigh. The momentous day that 10,000 scientists have been waiting for, along with assorted cranks, doomsayers and prophets of misfortune, is almost here After 14 years of effort and an expenditure of £4.4 billion pounds, a milestone will be passed in commissioning the Large Hadron Collider, the biggest and most complex experiment ever devised to lay bare the secrets of nature.   Will the Large Hadron Collider cause the end of the world? The monster atom smasher is located in a 17 mile circumference underground tunnel near Geneva, at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, known by its French acronym, CERN. The project will generate spin off benefits for leading edge technology, a boost for physics education, and marks a seismic shift in the epicentre of world research in particle physics away from America, where the rival Superconducting Supercollider was scrapped in 1993, to Europe where Britain alone has contributed £500 million to the project. There have been well publicised legal challenges to halt the project, often accompanied by the headline "Will the World End on Wednesday?" But the planet's best known scientist, Prof Stephen Hawking of Cambridge University, dismissed concerns that the LHC will seed a black hole to swallow the Earth: "The world will not come to an end." advertisement Nature routinely produces higher energies than the LHC in cosmic-ray collisions and, though focused in a tiny spot, each collision between particles only releases an amount of energy comparable to two colliding mosquitoes. "The LHC is feeble compared with what goes on in the universe," says Prof Hawking. "If a disaster was going to happen, it would have happened already." Tomorrow will see the first particles circulating in the tunnel, as the giant machine limbers up to smash particles for the first time, in around 30 days. When operational, two beams of subatomic particles called 'hadrons' - either protons or lead ions - will travel in opposite directions inside the circular accelerator, gaining energy with every lap. Physicists will use them to recreate the simpler conditions that existed just after the Big Bang, by colliding the two beams head-on. The LHC will produce beams seven times more energetic than any previous machine, and around 30 times more intense when it reaches its design performance, probably by 2010. In this way, researchers will probe more deeply than ever into the mysteries of the universe. Among the possible unknowns that the LHC will investigate are the origins of mass, which would be signalled by the discovery of the so called Higgs particle, after the Newcastle born physicist who put forward the idea, along with two researchers in Brussels. Some call it the "God particle," a tongue in cheek reference to how it should unlock many mysteries. Prof Hawking has placed a bet of $100 that the LHC won't find the Higgs, though he added there were plenty of other crucial findings that might be made by the machine, not least the creation of mini black holes. If these were to evaporate in a way he predicted in a theory that blends quantum mechanics and general relativity, "I don't think there is any doubt, I would get a Nobel Prize." "However I think the probability that the LHC has enough energy to produce little black holes is less than 1 per cent - so I'm not holding my breath." The LHC may also find extra dimensions of space, evidence for dark matter - a mysterious source of gravity - and an insight into the puzzling preponderance of matter over antimatter, which should have been created in equal amounts in the Big Bang. Most of all, scientists hope it will fill in important missing pieces in our understanding of how the cosmos words. For decades, the "Standard Model" has served physicists well as a means of understanding the fundamental laws of Nature. But it does not tell the whole story.

Chocoholics

I think this smacks of sex discrimination!

Wanted: 150 women to eat chocolate
By Rebecca Smith,
Medical Editor

One hundred and fifty women will eat chocolate every day for a year in the name of science.

The bars will be handed out as part of a research study into the health benefits of cocoa.

Flavanoids found in cocoa have been shown to reduce risk factors for heart disease.

A team at the University of East Anglia are investigating whether compounds in chocolate can reduce the risk of heart disease in women with type 2 diabetes.

Heart disease is common in diabetics and is the most common cause of death in patients with the condition.

But doctors warned that the general population and diabetics in particular should not start eating large quantities of chocolate unsupervised because it also contains lots of sugar and fat which exacerbate diabetes and encourage weight gain.

Cocoa, the main ingredient of chocolate, is a rich source of compounds called flavonoids, which have been shown to reduce risk factors for heart disease.

Normally the process of making chocolate from cocoa destroys the majority of these compounds.
But now a Belgian chocolatier has developed a specially formulated chocolate bar for this study with extra flavonoids and added soy, which is also a rich source of the chemicals.

When selected, the women, who must all have been through the menopause, will eat 27 grams of the special chocolate each day as well as carrying on with their normal cholesterol lowering drugs, called statins.

Prof Aedin Cassidy, the lead researcher and Professor of Diet and Health at the University of East Anglia, said: "Despite postmenopausal women being at a similar risk to men for developing cardiovascular disease, to date they are under-represented in clinical trials.

"We hope to show that adding flavonoids to their diets will provide additional protection from heart disease and give women the opportunity to take more control over reducing their risk of heart disease in the future."

The research is being funded by Diabetes UK.

Dr Ketan Dhatariya, one of the researchers and a consultant in diabetes at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital said: "The hypothesis of this exciting study is that flavonoids, in this case compounds found in cocoa and soy, may improve the level of protection against heart disease over and above that provided by conventional drugs.

"If the trial confirms this, it could have a far-reaching impact on the advice we give to postmenopausal women who have type 2 diabetes."

Dr Iain Frame, Director of Research at leading health charity Diabetes UK, said: "We certainly don't advise people to start eating a lot of chocolate as it's very high in sugar and fat. We would always recommend that people with diabetes eat a diet low in fat, salt and sugar with plenty of fruit and vegetables."

"Diabetes UK is funding this trial to establish whether flavonoids can protect the heart in older women with diabetes who are five times more likely to develop heart disease than women without diabetes. A successful outcome of this research would hopefully mean being able to offer people at high risk better protection over and above that provided by conventional drugs."

For the Advancement of Science

Today I did my bit for the advancement of science. I completed two internet enquiries about my attitude to Christmas cards and cracker jokes!

One is part of an experiement to uncover what your choice of Christmas card reveals about your personality, while the other will discover the best cracker joke.

I am promised an email copy of the findings when completed.

A Profesor Richard Wiseman at the University of Hertfordshire is undertaking the research. He has done earlier studies of the science of humour and is keen to test the universal belief that the jokes that crackers contain are, at best, childish and, at worst, simply not funny at all.

He wants to have evidential proof to back his theory that the apparently innocent act of sending a Christmas card is laden with hidden meaning.

You can find further material at www.xmasscience.co.uk.