Scientific Method —

More junk science debunked

First it was vitamin C and the common cold, followed by Echinacea. This week, …

They're falling like flies. First to go was the one about vitamin C and the common cold. Next was the power of Echinacea to do not much. Now, much to the chagrin of Prince Charles and alternative medicine practitioners, comes news that homeopathy is also bunk.

In case you are unfamiliar with the concept of homeopathy, it goes thus; like should be treated with like, so homeopathic treatments for hay fever involve treating it with pollen. But not actual pollen. Once solutions are prepared, they are then diluted again and again, past the point where the solution would contain any molecules of the solute. Or, as we in the lab like to say, "it's just water!" Jacques Benveniste, a renowned French scientist, and discoverer of platelet activating factor, ruined his reputation for proposing a mechanism for how homeopathy could possibly work. His theory was that water had a memory—that even though the solute could not possible be left after so many dilutions, somehow the water molecules remained arranged around a phantom structure. Needless to say, this theory was not well taken in the scientific community, and Dr. Benveniste died last year, still estranged from his peers.

Now a study from a team in Switzerland and the UK has conducted a meta-analysis of 110 existing clinical trials of homeopathic medicine and concludes that the treatments offer no benefit over placebo. I can’t say that surprises me, as I can't see any difference between a homeopathic solution and plain old H2O. This news comes at the same time as an announcement that Prince Charles has commissioned a study to investigate the possible savings to the NHS if they were to use homeopathy. I think I can save the modern-architecture-hating Royal some time. It would probably be a great money saver, and solve the overcrowding problem too, as patients were denied life-saving therapy and instead offered sugar pills.

Loss of coral leads to loss of lives

Conservationists often get a hard time from the general public, especially in this day and age. Perhaps wanting to keep certain environments pristine, at the expense of profits is seen as weak somehow, or maybe it's just that people don't see the benefits to things like biodiversity, preferring concrete landscapes that they can drive their SUVs through on the way to the mall. Well, sometimes it really does pay to try and keep things the way they are.

Evidence from the Indian Ocean tsunami shows that areas of coastline that had lost their coral reefs suffered greater damage and more loss of life than other stretches where the coral had been protected.

Using the eyewitness reports, estimates of wave heights, and a series of dives to verify the presence or absence of corals, Fernando and his colleagues produced a map of coral gaps and wave inundation along Sri Lanka's southwest coast.

The tsunami reached significantly farther inland through the gaps: in one instance a jet of water 1.5 kilometers long knocked a passenger train off its tracks, killing 1,700. But only a few kilometers away, where the coral was still intact, the wave traveled just 50 meters inland and caused no deaths.

So next time you’re at the beach and tempted to buy some coral, remember that it might look good on your bookshelf, but it could be doing a lot more if it were left in the ocean.

In other tsunami-related news, researchers are gaining more understanding as to why Peru and Mexico, 20,000 km away from the epicenter, received bigger waves than islands much closer. It seems underwater topography such as mid-ocean ridges channeled and focused the waves, saving some areas and amplifying the assault on others.

The little rover that could

Continuing to deliver fantastic bang-per-buck, the Mars rover Spirit has traveled all the way from its landing site in the Gusev crater to the summit of Husband Hill, giving it a much loftier vantage point from which to survey the area.

On it’s way there, Spirit filmed some amazing images of dust devils scouring the landscape. These mini tornados are believed to contribute to the level of dust in the Martian atmosphere. NASA has put together an animated sequence for viewing.

Its sibling, Opportunity, is continuing its travels on the other side of the planet after a lengthy sojourn stuck in a sand dune, and is traveling through a landscape named after various foods.

Both rovers have long since exceeded their original 90-day lifespan, chalking up an impressive 587 days (Spirit) and 556 days (Opportunity) on the Martian surface.

Singapore strides on in the field of stem cell research

Stem cell research is a controversial field in the US, where activists have been vocal and effective in placing barriers in the way of research. The vast majority of research in the country is federally funded, and US law prohibits scientists receiving NIH funding from using all but a handful of approved cell lines, many of which are contaminated with animal cells and therefore unsuitable for treating human diseases. Worse, a lab working on unapproved cells cannot receive federal funding for other projects, a serious barrier to carrying out the work.

Yet it is an important and novel field, so the US is set to languish behind as other countries take up the slack. Previously I have reported on advances made in South Korea. Now, Singapore is forging ahead, thanks to large grants handed out by their government, attracting brain power from the US and other nations.

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