What's New Robert L. Park 8 Oct 2010

WHAT=92S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 8 Oct 2010   Washington, DC

1. IN VITRO FERTILIZATION:  R.G. EDWARDS WINS MEDICINE NOBEL PRIZE.
The most essential qualification for a Nobel Prize is often longevity.  N=
ow=20
85 and in failing health; Prof. Edwards was a graduate student at the=20
University of Edinburg in Scotland when he conceived the idea of in vitro=
=20
fertilization.  His colleague, surgeon Patrick Steptoe, died in 1988.  Th=
e=20
Catholic Church, which opposes IVF, invented the superstition that, at th=
e=20
moment the haploid male and female gametes intertwine in the womb to form=
 a=20
diploid zygote, the Holy Ghost assigns it a soul, thus making it a person=
. =20
The head of the Pontifical Academy for Life, which speaks for the Vatican=
=20
on medical ethics, criticized the choice of Edwards as, "Completely out o=
f=20
order... Without Edwards there wouldn=92t be freezers full of embryos wai=
ting=20
to be used for research, or to die abandoned and forgotten by everyone." =
=20
Poor things.  But he=92s not talking about a person or even an embryo; th=
is=20
is a single, undifferentiated cell, human only to the extent that it=20
contains human DNA. So do my nail clippings =96 but I do not mourn for th=
em. =20
The world needs neither the archaic superstitions of religion, nor more=20
unwanted children.  Every IVF child is a wanted child.=20

2. GRAPHENE: PHYSICS NOBEL PRIZE SHARED BY TWO AT U. MANCHESTER.
Graphene is a flat monolayer of carbon atoms in a two-dimensional (2D)=20
honeycomb lattice, and is a basic building block for graphitic materials =
of=20
all other dimensionalities. It can be wrapped up into 0D fullerenes, roll=
ed=20
into 1D nanotubes or stacked into 3D graphite. Andre Geim, 51, and=20
Konstantin Novoselov, 36, his graduate student at the University of=20
Nijmegan in the Netherlands, were both born in Russia.  Geim is a Dutch=20
citizen and Novoselov is a citizen of Russia and the UK. Graphite was kno=
wn=20
to be a layered structure with weak bonds between the layers, which=20
accounts for its properties as a lubricant, but the two physicists=20
discovered they could peel off layers that were only a single atom thick,=
=20
allowing them to measure the amazing properties of single-atom thick carb=
on=20
films. Their principal instrument was scotch tape. The unpretentious Geim=
=20
is the first scientist to win the Nobel Prize after first winning the Ig=20
Noble Prize. Fe levitated a frog in a magnetic field. The frog emerged a=20
little confused, but unharmed.

3. THE PRIZE:  GONE ARE DAYS OF A U.S. SWEEP OF SCIENCE NOBELS.
The only American among the science winners this year was chemist Richard=
=20
Heck, retired from the University of Delaware, who now lives in the=20
Philippines. He shared the chemistry prize with two Japanese.  Is the res=
t=20
of the world getting better in science, or is the US slipping? The answer=
=20
next week.

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND.
Opinions are the author's and not necessarily shared by the
University of Maryland, but they should be.
---
Archives of What's New can be found at http://www.bobpark.org
What's New is moving to a different listserver and our
subscription process has changed. To change your subscription
status please visit this link:
http://listserv.umd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=3Dbobparks-whatsnew&A=3D1