“This isn’t science!” Apparently that was a common refrain at the science bowl my son participated in last week. The event is normally held at the Carnegie Science Center, a typical modern hands-on institution heavy on technology like robotics and interactive computer exhibits and also physics demonstrations and experiments. This year the science bowl was at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, the kind of scientific institution built a century ago to study and display fossils, field specimens of living organisms, geological samples, and cultural artifacts. In broad strokes, it represents the observational side of science rather than the experimental or constructive side. And apparently, that side is somewhat foreign to the middle schoolers of Pittsburgh’s North Hills.
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Science Corner: Offering Thanks for Science & Technology
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I wanted to highlight a few scientific and technological developments of the past year for which I am grateful. Let’s start with a story I alluded to last week, the shrinking hole in the ozone layer. Changes to the ozone layer were first detected in 1974 and traced to human release of chlorofluorocarbons into the atmosphere. Because ozone helps to shield us from harmful radiation, an international agreement was reached in 1987 to eliminate chlorofluorocarbon usage. As a result of those efforts, the hole in the ozone layer has been shrinking, and was recently observed to be the smallest it has been since 1988. Millions of cases of skin cancer have likely thus been prevented, for which we can all be thankful.
I first encountered the idea of human-pig organ transplants some 20 years ago. I was fascinated, possibly because it sounded more like science fiction than reality, and indeed it was and is a vision for the future. Still, I am hopeful thanks partly to an announcement earlier this year that a significant hurdle has been cleared: retroviruses in the pig genome have been edited out via CRISPR, substantially reducing the risk of a cross-species transplant bring with it cross-species infections. With the demand for transplants growing, I am glad for any progress in making life-saving procedures more accessible. Even if pig organs are not an option for everyone, having them available for some frees up other sources.
Technically this news is a little older, but I just learned about it last week thanks to a trip to the Field Museum: peregrine falcons are making a comeback. Peregrine populations declined dramatically when widespread DDT applications for mosquito control introduced the chemical into the food chain and affecting the thickness of falcon eggshells. Thinner shells reduced the viability of the birds inside, leading to smaller and smaller generations of peregrine falcons. DDT is no longer used, allowing bird populations to rebound. Incidentally, museum collections were a key part of the story; comparing contemporary-at-the-time egg shells with historical specimens at the museum made it possible to observe thinning over time.
Those are a few updates from the scientific community that I am grateful for right now. I’d love to hear from you about developments in science, technology, or your area of study that have you feeling thankful today.
Science in Review: Pleistocene Park
Earlier this month, we looked at some man-made extensions to the bacterial genetic code. If that story got you worried about Dr. Frankenstein, you’re going to love last week’s announcement. Harvard biologists believe that within two years they will be able to create a woolly mammoth-African elephant hybrid embryo. Bringing back the mammoth is part of a larger program of “de-extinction” to explore the possibility of bringing back various extinct species, at least some of which we humans are responsible for eliminating. We broke it; now we have to fix it.
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