Don't get too excited

The recent news about the speed of light being possibly exceeded by neutrinos is bound to set off lots of silly speculation. If I remember the little bit of the theory of special relativity that I ever learned, an object's mass moves to infinity as the speed of light is approached, and ever-increasing amounts of energy are required. I think time slows down too. So you wonder how light ever gets there - those photons know a thing or two.

One line of argument that religious fundamentalists use is that all science is unproven theory - hence evolution is only an unproven theory, alongside (they would allege) creationism, which they find altogether more convincing. I suspect we'll see people suggesting that if the speed of light (or the constant, "c") isn't what science thought it was, then how can we believe archaeology and carbon dating. Well, I guess it needs some honesty on both sides.

Of course all scientific understanding is based on ideas developed from experiments, which have been refined (and on occasion overthrown) by new data or results. However, that doesn't mean all scientific results are wildly removed from the truth; they may correct, they may just be 0.001% out, or the error may be larger. So the scientific establishment always has to have some degree of humility and openness, although it's usually broadly correct. Otherwise the technology on which we all depend would be completely unavailable, (instead of a little erratic).

But the religious who are anti-scientific have to ask themselves why they are so keen to discredit those who work so hard to understand the universe we live in. There is a strong Christian tradition of exploring and scientific investigation, which saw that endeavour as godly activity. So when science first challenged what appeared to be the Bible's chronology, the obvious thing to do was ask whether we were reading the Bible correctly, or were we asking it to yield data it was never intended to impart?

In a sense the same question is relevant to the scientific method. When scientists become obsessed with a result, they can 'read' the material world in a way that suits their purpose - personal pride has been known to taint objectivity even in a laboratory. We may have to review how constant the speed of light is, or it may be folks at CERN making mistakes or even someone wanting a headline. There may not be as much dark matter as they used to think, either.

Whatever the consensus that emerges, I hope that Christians and others with religious faith don't start to see it as some sort of 'victory' over science, because it isn't. This is an exciting moment. Science may have made an important discovery that affects how we understand the Universe, and if that is a better understanding, then we are all winners.

Thalidomide

The news this morning reported that a new campaign has started to generate more money to support thalidomide victims in Britain. Thalidomide was a drug used for morning sickness which proved to be the cause of babies being born with limbs missing or reduced in size (teratogenicity). The original compensation settlement from Distillers is no longer proving to be enough for the victims, as they get older and the greater strain on their affected limbs and joints is taking its toll.

Thalidomide was very much in use when I was born in 1961, and I have met people my own age who were affected by it. My mother says that she was offered medication for morning sickness, and wonders if her refusal to take it was a lucky escape. I once took a funeral, where the son of the deceased was my age, had my first name, but had no arms or legs. It certainly made me reflect on what might have been.

When I studied chemistry, I remember a pharmacology lecturer telling us that one of the problems with the drug was that animal testing didn't produce conclusive results. One problem is that rabbit pregnancy is much shorter than human, so the 'window' of time when the drug might cause problems is very short, and may explain why it wasn't spotted. Other reports indicated that only certain species showed the effects, such as New Zealand white rabbits.

Added to that, thalidomide has two enantiomers or optical isomers (bear with me here!) i.e. two forms which are distinct mirror images of each other. One causes the deformities, whereas the other suppresses sickness. Thalidomide included both (a racemic mixture), and to complicate things further they can apparently convert from one to the other inside the body. In biological systems this can often be an issue, as the 'fit' of one molecule into another is a vital part of how those systems work. to put it crudely, a 'right handed' version won't fit a 'left-handed' slot.

The two enantiomers of thalidomide.

Controversially, thalidomide has been making a comeback (presumably with stern warnings about avoiding use in pregnancy). It has some beneficial effects in treating leprosy, certain cancers and macular degeneration - a condition where eyesight deteriorates. Perhaps the substance that caused so much difficulty will yet prove to relieve a great deal of suffering.

Evolution and Dung Beetles

It's happened! Dung beetles have given up eating poo (at least some of them) and have turned on the millipedes that share their appetite for that which most creatures wish to leave behind. Apparently they have evolved.

Dung beetles with stronger back legs and honed heads can kill the hapless millipedes by removing their heads and eating their insides. Nasty. Scientists believe that it gives a snapshot of the evolving of one species into another.

No doubt huge amounts of creationist literature will even now be on the printing presses, showing how this proves nothing, but I thinks it's a interesting insight into the how we got here.

Whether I can weather the weather

This year's weather is seriously weird. Went to Carlisle, picking up a colleague in Ambleside on Tuesday (very scenic, much slower, but overall cheaper and greener). En route we encountered bright sunshine, rain, hail and sleet, as well as snow-topped peaks and green fields. The recent flurries have made the south lakeland hills you see from the road into work very eye-catchingly white, but it is, er, mid April.

You can always say it's a one-off, and one weird set of weather doesn't make a trend, but isn't all this climate confusion telling us something?

Creationism revisited

Wilst looking for resources about faith, film, etc, I stumbled across Tony Watkin's website. As well as some information about him, it links through to articles he has published. Among them was a useful summary of points involved in the debate between 6-day creationist Christians and the rest of us (I think that gives my position away!)

Creation retold

My colleague Ian Arch at Chester posted a personal retelling of the creation story here. It's a very interesting and thought-provoking read. It appealed to the scientist in me.

He also posted an amazing picture of the earth and Saturn here. Look out for how small the earth is.