Weekly Science Digest: Satellites, Sea & Sex Hormones

New research by scientists at Stanford University indicates that the 22,000 pieces of debris orbiting around the earth do less damage to spacecrafts and satellites than the minuscule particles weighing roughly a billionth of a gram or less. The initial findings by the Stanford team show that radio frequency emissions are indeed produced when a particle weighing less than a billionth of a gram and traveling upward of 20 kilometers per second smacks into a spacecraft and produces ionization.

Researchers at Germany’s Bremen university have uncovered some shocking statistics using daily satellite sea-ice maps of the Arctic sea. The rate at which ice is now melting in the region has more than doubled since 1972, meaning that the Arctic may be ice-free in as little as 30 years. Researchers are certain that this is a direct result of human-induced global warning, which is particularly pronounced in the Arctic due to the albedo effect. The last time the Arctic was incontestably free of summertime ice was 125,000 years ago, at the height of the last major interglacial period, known as the Eemian.

Researchers at the University of Bradford may revolutionise chemotherapy, drastically reducing the negative side-effects such as hair loss, nausea and suppression of the immune system . Based on a modified version of colchicine (an already existing drug), the new therapy, known as ‘smart-bomb chemotherapy’, can isolate and destroy tumours without damaging healthy cells. Although the drug is in early development, the initial lab tests have had promising results, with mice responding favourably to the treatment.

Scientists have pinpointed a correlation between the sex hormones present during early embryonic development and finger length. A team of developmental biologists at the University of Florida found that digit development is controlled directly by androgen and estrogen receptor activity: men’s ring fingers tend to be longer than their index fingers; the opposite being true for women. The research provides a genetic explanation for studies that link finger proportions with traits such as sperm counts, musical ability, sexual orientation, depression and even certain cancers.

A team of researchers from Spain and France have shown how a synthetic cannabinoid can prevent the brain damage associated with ethanol withdrawal. The administration of the synthetic cannabinoid agonist HU-210 was shown to protect neurons against the cell death caused by the hyperexcitability patients develop during alcohol withdrawal.

This week’s must-listen: Dr Ed Moses, director of the National Ignition Facility in California, and Sir Peter Knight, president of the Institute of Physics, explain how nuclear fusion “will work” and how it will “change the geopolitics of energy worldwide”.

The 'Weekly Science Digest' is a compilation of science news from around the world. News suggestions are always welcome: mark.howardbanks@researchgate.net