iblog

Rushda: The River Cam in Cambridge is well known, especially amongst the students, for punting and lazing on the banks, and indeed many of us cross it every day without a second thought. However, recent studies have found that the river contains certain viruses which may actually help combat serious infectious diseases such as MRSA.

A whole bunch of special viruses have been found in the river lately which have been said to be able to treat stomach infections in mice. This is great news as eventually they could be used as antibiotics in medicine for human use. The viruses, known as bacteriophages, were isolated from the water and tested by scientists at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. The results show that a bacteriophage attaches itself to a bacterial cell and effectively explodes it, but leaves healthy cells intact. The effect is particularly striking when different types of bacteriophages are combined.

As Dr Pickard from the research team explains, the river Cam is particular suited to finding these viruses because of the ideal water environment. He believes that scientists can eventually isolate the viruses for human use and they be very helpful in fighting antibiotic-resistant diseases such as MRSA. He says:

“Conventional antibiotic treatment has led to MRSA and other superbug infections becoming not only more prevalent but also more infectious and dangerous. Bacteriophage therapy offers an alternative that needs to be taken more seriously in Western Europe.”

As a Cambridge student who’s always seen the river Cam as nothing but dirty, the news that it holds special disease-fighting secrets comes as a huge and welcoming surprise.

Jeanne: Wild weather has hit Britain again, it seems. Tornadoes, natural phenomena more commonly associated with the American Midwest, have struck a number of communities in the United Kingdom causing thousands of pounds worth of damage. Some of the strongest tornadoes hit the town of Nuneaton, in Warwickshire. Homes and vehicles suffered damage in Luton, whilst in Northampton, falling branches smashed the roof of a school bus which was fortunately empty at the time. A number of buildings were also damaged in Farnborough and Beaston. One eyewitness in Farnborough, described what local residents woke up to on Monday morning:

“Caravans have been upside down, trees uprooted, bus shelters destroyed. It’s just complete devastation.”

Fortunately, there do not appear to have been any casualties.

Sources at the UK’s Met Office have indicated that winds reached speeds of up to 60 mph during the incidences and that the tornadoes could therefore be classified as having been ‘moderate to strong.’ Scientists believe that the weather system responsible for this spate of tornadoes developed over parts of Exeter, Devon before dawn on Monday morning. By 0900 it had progressed eastward across England, before finally dissipating in the North Sea. Whilst clusters of tornadoes such as the ones witnessed today are a rare phenomenon, they have occurred on a number of instances elsewhere. And tornadoes are not that uncommon in the United Kingdom either. The UK Met Office records some 33 tornadoes annually for the country.

Insurers are bracing themselves for an increase in claims following the tornados. This is particularly troubling as most insurance companies are still reeling from the costs of the floods which hit Britain this summer. However, the Association of British Insurers expects the cost of the damage caused by the tornados to be significant if eyewitness reports are anything to go by. According to one eyewitness in Warwickshire, the scene she woke up to at 0610 BST was one of the most frightening she had ever seen:

One of my neighbours, their trampoline was blown over the garden fence. Some of the houses have had their roofs taken off completely, some have lost parts of their roofs.

The last major tornado to hit the United Kingdom was that which struck London in December 2006. Insurance costs in that instance exceeded £350,000.

Rushda: A key which is believed to have been able to save the Titanic from sinking has recently fetched £90,000 in an auction. Apparently the key was for a store of binoculars but it was not on the ship when it set sail so the binoculars were never used. Many speculate that if it had been on the ship, the crew would not have had to rely on their naked eyes alone and may have been able to spot the fatal iceberg and dodge it in time.

The small, rusty key, bearing the tag “Crows Nest Telephone Titanic” is believed to have been in the pocket of an officer who was transferred off the vessel days before it left. He had simply forgotten to pass it on and it therefore couldn’t be used. Now, an anonymous telephone bidder has been able to acquire the key in an auction in Wiltshire, for which the bidding was apparently “fierce.” As auctioneer Henry Aldridge says:

“We had several telephone bidders as well as people in the auction room, and the gentleman who was successful was very happy. But I can tell you the man he outbid was not, he was very disappointed.”

The price for which the key was sold is obviously a huge sum of money for anyone to get their head around. However, it is clear why the key is seen as so precious now - the key wasn’t just any old key but the key to the life of the Titanic, the key to the lives of 1,522 who perished on that voyage. It is simply incredible that this small object could have changed the destiny of so many, and is now in the hands of someone so many years after the incident.

Jeanne: Following in the footsteps of one of history’s greatest warriors, an intrepid Australian has completed an exhausting three-year journey across Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Tim Cope undertook much of the difficult journey with only a hunting dog named Tigon for company. He travelled largely on horseback, often relying on the hospitality of the region’s nomadic residents. The trek, which took Tim Cope from Mongolia to Hungary, was initially expected to last a mere 18 months. However, family emergencies and poor weather resulted in the journey taking roughly three years.

Tim Cope’s journey was anything but easy. Temperatures vary enormously across the region - from a freezing –52 degrees Celsius to a whopping 54 degrees. In a region known for its lawlessness, it was also not surprising that Mr. Cope was accosted by thieves on a number of occasions. However, it was the welfare of his four-legged companions that occupied Mr. Cope’s thoughts during his trek. In particular, the freezing temperatures of Ukraine took their toll on Tigon, who nearly froze to death on one occasion after being trapped in a frozen mine shaft. He was able to continue the journey only after being revived with copious quantities of vodka. Speaking to the Associated Press, Mr. Cope spoke of the strong connection he felt with his animals:

“I’m feeling a bit panicky about finishing because I can’t imagine saying goodbye to the (them).”

Mr. Cope’s destination was the town of Opusztaszer, which is located some 90 miles south of the Hungarian capital, Budapest. Cope emphasised the symbolic importance of this location. In a recent interview, he explained his choice, stating:

“Here at the Danube River is where the Eurasian steppe ends, with its beginning in Mongolia and Manchuria. So Opusztaszer is the perfect ending symbolically and geographically.”

Tim Cope hopes that his 10,000 km journey will generate further interest in the life of Genghis Khan. The exploits of the Mongol leader during the Middle Ages resulted in the creation of the Mongol empire which controlled much of Eastern Europe and Central Asia as well as parts of North Africa and Southeast Asia during the 13th and 14th centuries. The Mongol Empire grew to become the second largest empire in human history.

Rushda: The long debate over who is the smartest of the sexest is now bringing more results - but confusing ones. Psychologists have recently maintained that because twice as many men win Nobel prizes compared to women, there are more men in the brightest 2% of the population. However, even though men win more prizes, the study has also shown that there are more men at the opposite extreme as well - with the least intelligent 2% of the population having many more men than women.

It is a sensitive matter and making any sweeping judgements is difficult, with people such as Lawrence Summers, the president of Harvard, even losing his job last year when he maintained that men were more intelligent. Any studies have always been flawed because of so many varying factors - culture, social status, unequal opportunities, and the sheer range in human intelligence in the first place.

The new studies by British psychologists (though disturbingly all men) are believed to be the closest we have got to settling the debate once and for all. The psychologists conducted tests on 2,500 brothers and sisters in order to rule out family background. It was found that women scored higher on language skills whilst men were the best on sciences and arithmetic. Whilst the average intelligence was found to be roughly equal, it was found that men were more likely to be at extremes on the scale. As Timothy Bates, a psychology professor at Edinburgh University, says:

“Men were more likely to be both at the very top and at the very bottom.”

Various evolutionary explanations have been given for women maintaining a comfortable middle ground whilst men like to excel to be more attractive to women. However, many still remain unconvinced by such explanations - after all, you could account for almost any results in this way. Also, it is unclear whether testing brothers and sisters will really mean that gender is the only factor being considered - social and cultural pressure exists within families as well. Psychologists seem hell-bent on finding some tangible difference but maybe there isn’t one after all. Is it really that difficult to maintain that men and women might just be equally likely to be intelligent?

Jeanne: In a scheme designed to increase the availability of computers for children in developing countries, a company known as One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) has set about producing low-cost laptops. The scheme operates as follows. In order to participate, residents in the developed countries such as the United States must purchase two laptops at a total cost of $398 (about ₤198). They then receive one of the laptops for personal use, whilst the second is shipped off, free, for use by disadvantaged children in the third world. The ‘Give One, Get One’ (G1G1) scheme will run for just two weeks starting on November 12 2007. Governments of developing countries can also purchase the low-cost laptops for use by their citizens. Walter Bender, OLPC’s head of software development, has indicated that initial responses to the initiative appear to be very positive:

“From day one there’s been a lot of interest expressed in having some way of people in the developed world participate in the programme.”

The bright green and white laptops are specially designed for use in areas where electricity supplies may be limited. For example, they can be powered by solar energy or foot-pump. The laptops are waterproof and highly durable as well. Crucially, however, they can be produced at a very low cost. They currently cost $188 apiece, but developers hope that they will eventually be able to sell the laptops for as little as $100.

It’s therefore hardly surprising that consumers in the developed world are expressing significant interest in the laptops. However, the organisation does not wish to lose sight of its primary aim – the provision of one laptop per child in the developing world. According to Walter Bender:

“Our motivation is helping kids learn and giving them an opportunity to participate in the laptop programme so whatever will advance that cause we will do. This is something we are going to try and if it looks like it is an effective tool we will do more of it.”

Children in Haiti, Cambodia and Afghanistan are expected to receive the first consignments of OLPC laptops. Other countries classified as LDCs by the UN are also eligible to take part in the programme.

If you’d like to participate in the “Get One, Give One” scheme, then you can obtain more information from One Laptop Per Child.

Jeanne: Research has suggested that diets rich in carbohydrates could increase the risk of liver damage. Heavy consumption of high-glycaemic foods, namely white rice, potatoes and pasta, appear to increase one’s risk of developing a fatty liver. These conclusions were reached by scientists at Boston Children’s Hospital, Massachusetts and have recently been published in the medical journal, Obesity. Mice fed a high-carbohydrate diet were found to have a higher risk of developing the condition. In comparison, mice fed a different diet with an identical caloric content showed no sign of developing fatty-liver syndrome. These findings are particularly alarming given the fact that most people in the Western world have diets that are high in carbohydrates.

So what exactly is fatty-liver syndrome? Simply put , it’s the build up of fatty tissue in the liver. Sufferers, however, remain oblivious to the condition, as there are few physical symptoms. As the Boston researchers found, mice fed a high-carb diet didn’t always demonstrate evidence of overall weight gain. However, the condition can result in liver failure during later life. A low GI (glycaemic index) diet therefore appears to be the key to maintaining a healthy liver. Low GI foods include most fresh fruits, raw (especially leafy) vegetables, and rye or granary bread. These foods lead to smaller and slower spikes in blood sugar and hence insulin (the chemical which tells the body to generate fat).

Researchers hope that their findings will increase awareness of the condition. According to Dr. David Ludwig, the project’s lead scientist:

“This is a silent but dangerous epidemic. Just as type 2 diabetes exploded into our consciousness in the 1990s, so we think fatty liver will in the coming decade.”

There is already significant evidence to suggest that a diet rich in high GI foods can lead to the early onset of type 2 diabetes. According to a spokesperson for the British Diabetics Association:

“There is a place for high-glycaemic carbohydrates in moderation as part of a balanced diet, but there’s good research that eating too much can increase the risk of insulin resistance - and this can lead to serious health problems. However, this study is interesting, as there is other evidence that people who eat a diet rich in high-glycaemic food are more likely to have more body fat.”

Rushda: No one would ever have been able to anticipate the horror that struck shoppers of a Woolworths store in Cornwall yesterday afternoon - a man pulled out a knife and wielded it around before slitting his own throat. Shoppers at Woolworths Penzance fled in panic as they realised what was happening and the man died within minutes of the incident.

The man, who was 23 years old, is said to have entered the store at around 3pm and started walking up and down the aisles waving his knife around. As the man proceeded to kill himself, shoppers ran around in panic and staff cleared customers from the shop and called the ambulance and police.

The store remains closed today as the police carry out their inquiries. A spokesperson from the shop says:

“Yesterday’s events were extremely disturbing for our colleagues and our priority now is to ensure their welfare and we are supporting them in every way possible. We will only reopen the store when we feel it is right to do so and our staff will have our ongoing support.”

Thankfully no one else was involved in this rare and horrifying accident, but counselling is expected for the traumatised customers and staff who had to witness the event.

Rushda: An amusing new incident emerged at Morrissons supermarket the other day when a 71-year-old pensioner was refused alcohol as he could not produce proof of age. The white-haired, bearded old man was taken aback as staff did not believe that he was old enough to buy the two bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon he produced at the checkout.

Mr Ralls, a grandfather of three, asked to see a manager because of the ludicrous question which he refused to answer as he thought it was clearly “stupid.” However, the manager simply put the wine back on the shelf and showed no consideration. As Mr Ralls explains:

“I felt like saying ‘What do I look like? Are you a fool?’ He picks up the wine and, in the manner of a child taking home his ball, says ‘Well, we won’t serve you’. It is bureaucracy gone mad. If the check-out lady, who was about 40, had asked me with a twinkle in her eye perhaps I would not have been so tetchy. But she asked me the question with a perfectly straight face and I said I wouldn’t dignify the question with an answer. And if the manager had explained that all the staff had to ask everyone because they had previously been fined, but said I was clearly over 21, it would have been fine - but he showed no sense of humour.”

After this incident, Mr Ralls, confused and disappointed, left all his shopping on the conveyor belt and left the store. He now feels too embarrassed to go back until he receives an apology for the bizarre situation. The supermarket insists that what it had done was fair as they take the selling of alcohol very seriously and always ask if in doubt.

Who’s to blame? Is it really a case of regulations going too far or should Mr Ralls have sympathised with their cause and answered the question upfront? Whatever the case, it’s certainly a shocking one, and maybe once he gets over the humiliation, the customer may end up feeling proud of himself for being mistaken for a youngster!

Jeanne: Bran Castle, for centuries linked with the legendary Count Dracula, is now at the heart of a row between a number of Romanian MPs and an American architect. The building dates back to the 14th century and its ownership is soon to be passed on to a New York architect, Dominic Hapsburg. Mr. Hapsburg is a distant descendant of the Hapsburg family which ruled great swathes of the region during the late 17th and early 18th century. Now, however, certain Romanian MPs have argued that the transfer of the castle’s ownership to a foreigner with no direct links to the country is illegal.

Bran Castle has single-handedly attracted thousands of visitors to what is otherwise a very desolate part of the Romanian countryside. The castle, itself, is situated in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains, some 105 miles north of Bucharest, the Romanian capital. The Dracula myth generates hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of revenue for the otherwise impoverished local residents. As such, the Romanian MP’s opposition to the ownership transfer comes as little surprise. However, Mr. Hapsburg has assured his opponents that he will take the matter to the country’s courts if ownership of the castle isn’t transferred to his name. His lawyers have stated that their client will sue for damages of up to $200 million if he is refused ownership rights. Speaking to the media, Mr. Hapsburg stated:

“I (feel) like I (am) a misplaced person… like I was at home everywhere and at home nowhere. I live once more with the feeling of dread in which I once lived, as a child, when my family and I were forced out of our home and thrown out into the streets in mid-winter.”

Bran Castle has undoubtedly had a very interesting history. Whilst Vlad the Impaler, the Romanian prince upon whom the Dracula legend is based, never actually resided in the castle, he was known to have visited the fortress on a number of occasions. During the early 20th century, Romania’s Communist rulers seized possession of the castle and it gradually fell into disrepair. It was, however, carefully restored after the fall of Communism and in recent years has also provided the setting for numerous Hollywood films.