Climate notes from a very small island (1)
From
9 December, p 8
Climate notes from a very small island (2)
We are deeply concerned about climate change and the need to do our bit here in the Falkland Islands. We live on a small island and produce our own power from solar and wind, store water and deal with our waste and rubbish ourselves. We have been planting native tussac grass into eroded ground over the past 20 years to sequester carbon. It creates extra habitat for wildlife too.
Climate change has caused dryness, lack of grass growth and ponds drying out. We are now reducing our sheep and cattle numbers as farming is becoming unsustainable and we must put the health of the island first.
I visited Europe this year and there seems to be no obvious sign of people trying to reduce their carbon footprint or their contribution to profligate waste. In fact, the opposite is evident. The lack of cheap and efficient public transport in the UK, for example, resulting in so many vehicles on the roads (electric or not) gives the impression that no one cares. People in high- income countries must start living with less if there is to be a future.
Human innovation gives me cause for optimism
Reader Ian Elliott pessimistically suggests naming the first age of the Anthropocene Epoch “The End”. Whatever happens to our species, the planet will still be here. It has been through worse climate fluctuations in the past (Letters, 25 November).
In any event, human minds are generating ideas to ameliorate climate change if given a chance. Neocrete, with volcanic ash replacing at least part of the cement used for concrete, has the potential to cut emissions by 2 per cent if adopted worldwide. We read in the same issue (p 19) of electrocaloric cooling twice as efficient as standard air conditioners. We also learn (18 November, p 22) that mining spoil can yield elements and minerals for advanced machines.
All hail the shift to a transparent market
I welcome Graham Lawton’s look at true cost accounting, the idea that goods factor in the environmental and social damage they cause. It is a step towards a true free market where consumers can exercise real choice. I would encourage a look at other ideas. For example, B-Corp certification could be a de facto standard for differentiating good from bad business. And the Better Business Act is a proposed change to UK law that would make firms align interests with those of the environment and wider society (2 December, p 40).
AI predictions are more like fantasies
The article about AI and the crystalline structures it can “predict” is responsibly tempered with information about the accuracy of the results and concerns about the practicality and stability of these materials (2 December, p 8).
This raises a question of language: at what point do we anthropomorphise AI? When do we say, “the crystals that AI can imagine“, as a way of acknowledging that, whether from humans or AIs, exciting ideas are ten-a-penny?
Our brains really aren't quite that superlative
As a long-time subscriber and reader, I continue to disagree with the cliche that the human brain is “the most complicated structure in the known universe”. What actually is the evidence for this?
Some 50,000 years ago, when early modern humans were cowering in caves with the same essential anatomical brain and genome we have at present, no alien visiting Earth would have recognised any great potential of this biped relative to Neanderthals or any other primate, or to the many large-brained cetaceans. To claim that the brain of those early cave-dwelling humans was the most complicated structure in the universe is yet another instance of human-centric thinking (Letters, 14 October).
Hope of finding treatment for Huntington's disease
In a recent article on Huntington’s disease, expectations for a successful disease-modifying therapy were set low. However, the presence of mutated huntingtin protein is clearly associated with the development of symptoms. It is therefore reasonable to think that lowering huntingtin can change the disease course (25 November, p 10).
Three unsuccessful huntingtin-lowering trials were mentioned. However, a post-hoc analysis of one has revealed possible benefits for younger people with a low disease burden, leading to ongoing testing. Additionally, the company responsible for the two remaining failed trials has introduced an improved version of its drug, currently undergoing human testing. Finally, two more trials are exploring huntingtin-lowering strategies. Both have had promising preliminary results.
Setbacks are common and frequent in science. However, when the cause of a condition is known and there are methods to target it, it is only a matter of time until successful treatments are developed. There is hope for those with Huntington’s disease.
Why not try this way of finding alien life?
When it comes to how to detect signs of life on other worlds, I think the assembly theory idea from Lee Cronin and Sara Walker needs expanding on. It relies, currently, on readings from mass spectroscopy, MRI and infrared interrogation of molecules to derive a complexity scale. In this system, molecules that score below 15 could have been formed in the random happenstance of cosmic chemistry, while those above 15 have been shaped by evolution and/or technology. With a bit of luck, Cronin and Walker might get working access to NASA’s Dragonfly mission to Titan, which will carry a mass spectrometer (25 November, p 40).
There could be downsides to fattening up when old
The idea that older people should be encouraged to fatten up a little is a pernicious one. Extra weight means extra effort in moving around and may discourage exercise; in addition, a poor diet is unhealthy in many ways, not just because it may cause weight gain (2 December, p 12).