tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11146032682519705522024-03-13T23:52:20.626-07:00Science for pleasureWeekly science column by Martín Bonfil Olivera, published on wednesdays in Mexican newspaper <i>Milenio Diario</i>.
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Read the original, <a href="http://lacienciaporgusto.blogspot.com/">Spanish version</a>!Martín Bonfil Oliverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05286138874576064756noreply@blogger.comBlogger68125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114603268251970552.post-11632860757080141832010-08-05T19:00:00.000-07:002010-08-05T19:19:13.440-07:00A tale of enzymes and sun<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span">By</span></span><span style="line-height: 19px;color:black;" lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span></span><span style="line-height: 19px;color:black;" ><a href="http://martinbonfil.com/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);"><span style="color: rgb(68, 136, 136);" lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span">Martín Bonfil Olivera</span></span></span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 19px;"><span style="line-height: 19px;color:black;" ><i><span lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span">Published in </span></span></span></i><a href="http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8810486"><span lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span">Milenio Diario</span></span></span></a></span><i><span style="line-height: 19px;color:black;" lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span">, august 4, 2010</span></span></span></i></p></span><p style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQIrTe56EHIHrC8Fu_jztb5AQ5uVbANO4aP1x8yxSUbyZ_6GLxuWF6flnD7foZyydHYwtFGav6EWF8NX3W3Tzf3-E0n-QEhbtuohFrqAUPh8haEEeSqIMe8lSb1dwmyFYj4qnUN8_hI8E/s1600/fotoliasa.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 203px; height: 259px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQIrTe56EHIHrC8Fu_jztb5AQ5uVbANO4aP1x8yxSUbyZ_6GLxuWF6flnD7foZyydHYwtFGav6EWF8NX3W3Tzf3-E0n-QEhbtuohFrqAUPh8haEEeSqIMe8lSb1dwmyFYj4qnUN8_hI8E/s400/fotoliasa.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502114833404920882" border="0" /></a><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Sometimes, evolution plays dirty.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" ><o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Once upon a time there was a planet (ours) where, about 3.5 billion years ago, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_life"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">life emerged</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">. But the first cells confronted a problem: their star emitted, apart from visible light, a respectable amount of </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraviolet"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">ultraviolet</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> rays. And this high energy radiation normally damages complex molecules, like the nucleic acids that store the </span></span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">genetic information. The result: </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutation"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">mutations</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> and death. Life was tough in those days.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" ><o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">In the course of evolution, millions of years later, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photosynthesis"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">photosynthetic</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> organisms that released oxygen (O<sub>2</sub>) emerged. About 2.4 billion years ago, the Earth's atmosphere was </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Oxygenation_Event"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">became full of this gas</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">. Part of the oxygen, high in the atmosphere, reacted to form the famous </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozone_layer"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">ozone layer</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> (O<sub>3</sub>), that protects us today – although not fully– from the </span></span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> excess of </span></span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">ultraviolet radiation.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" ><o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">But evolution could not wait for an ozone layer. Way before that, some adaptations emerged to repair the damages that ultraviolet light caused in the cell's </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">DNA</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">. One of the most efficient ones was the </span></span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">enzyme</span></span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span><i style=""><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photolyase"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">photolyase</span></a></i><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">: a protein that, activated by the visible light from the sun (hence the suffix,"photo"), reverts the damage in DNA (specifically, it breaks </span><i style=""><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thymine_dimer"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">thymine dimers</span></a></i><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">: </span></span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">abnormal bonds between two "steps" of of the spiral ladder of the double helix, so that when genetic information is copied into the next cellular generation, it causes mistakes: mutations).</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" ><o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9EAMsafLxRWROhlyXeAQARwZtEwKJTIlmUN529bvA13Hu8IFLwkMjqkVHoztCfuGdQVy_WqFB1bUqudR9KmPIzpMvrQnrF_NWRhfz9LZ0W9zb4pwvPl8cY4jbWYM8Q3VTw_8Ndyzw-zg/s1600/arbol.gif"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 206px; height: 210px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9EAMsafLxRWROhlyXeAQARwZtEwKJTIlmUN529bvA13Hu8IFLwkMjqkVHoztCfuGdQVy_WqFB1bUqudR9KmPIzpMvrQnrF_NWRhfz9LZ0W9zb4pwvPl8cY4jbWYM8Q3VTw_8Ndyzw-zg/s400/arbol.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502114430537267522" border="0" /></a><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Photolyase was so successful that today it is found in </span></span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">almost </span></span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">every living organisms: bacteria, fungi, plants, fish, insects and some mammals, like </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marsupial"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">marsupials</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> (such as kangaroos, which carry their immature babies in their bags). But -and here comes the cruel evolutionary prank– something happened along the way. One of the branches of the tree of life suffered a mutation that eliminated the photolyase genes. As a result, humans, and all other animals with a placenta (</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placental_mammal"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">placentals</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">), lack photolyase, thus making us more susceptible to </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin_neoplasm"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">skin cancer</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">. This is why we depend on </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunscreen"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">sunscreens</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> when we go to the beach or when we walk in the street in sunny days.</span></span></p> <p style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" ><o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZE6S68JRXU6FBc1jXuADqdJLhoMq4t4KO1quNPrl1wImDwni3BDwwDdAbtD1SGnSqBHOeQ-aBu1RrjAOZE1paBwIA095M9UkOLNQfWhf1k008kqXPrP3sBknG2WzoymSfweBsHWZXz1A/s1600/Fotoliasa+Nature.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 239px; height: 141px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZE6S68JRXU6FBc1jXuADqdJLhoMq4t4KO1quNPrl1wImDwni3BDwwDdAbtD1SGnSqBHOeQ-aBu1RrjAOZE1paBwIA095M9UkOLNQfWhf1k008kqXPrP3sBknG2WzoymSfweBsHWZXz1A/s400/Fotoliasa+Nature.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502115012342997218" border="0" /></a><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Fortunately, last week, </span><i style=""><a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/nature09192.html"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Nature<span style="font-style: normal;"> magazine</span></span></a></i><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> published the work of a Chinese researcher, Dongping Zhong, and his team, from <st1:placename st="on">Ohio</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">State</st1:placetype> <st1:placetype st="on">University</st1:placetype>, in <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Columbus</st1:city></st1:place>, where they describe the detailed molecular working of the repair mechanism of photolyase from the fruit fly </span><i style=""><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drosophila_melanogaster"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Drosophilia melanogaster</span></a></i><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">. With this and other studies, it is possible to visualize the use of this enzyme in creams that protect us from skin cancer by repairing the damages that ultraviolet light causes in the DNA of our skin cells (it has been demonstrated that photolyase can be applied to the skin inside </span><i style=""><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liposome"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">liposomes</span></a></i><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> –fat vesicles– in in the form of cream and has protective effects).<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" ><o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Basic science thus gives a possible solution to an evolutionary injustice. All in the name of a good tan.</span></span></p><p style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=";font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><p style="text-align: right;font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span">(translated by </span><a href="http://www.quetienenencomun.blogspot.com/" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);"><span class="Apple-style-span">Adrián Robles Benavides</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span">)</span></p><p style="text-align: right;font-family:verdana;"><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span">To receive </span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Science for pleasure </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span">weekly</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span">in your email, </span><a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=2585559&loc=en_US" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);"><span class="Apple-style-span">subscribe here!</span></a></span></span></p></span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10pt;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>Martín Bonfil Oliverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05286138874576064756noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114603268251970552.post-35323476241624691752010-07-29T22:44:00.000-07:002010-07-29T23:29:52.350-07:00Scientists on television<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span">By</span></span><span style="line-height: 19px;color:black;" lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 19px;color:black;" ><a href="http://martinbonfil.com/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);"><span style="color: rgb(68, 136, 136);" lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span">Martín Bonfil Olivera</span></span></span></a></span><br /><p style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;font-family:lucida grande;" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;font-size:100%;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 19px;"><span style="line-height: 19px;color:black;" ><i><span lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span">Published in<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></span></i><a href="http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8706168" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);"><span lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span">Milenio Diario</span></span></span></a></span><i><span style="line-height: 19px;color:black;" lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span">, July 28, 2010</span></span></span></i></p></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 140%;color:black;" ><br /></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYGAdOAbIiTexS8ah_8gMco3M55rd3HdqrTz6x-S1nQwfblPUtoHwRhuJsEbSPedo7bQyRpxOQotqo578DayJZv-UFsnlG8BhtgpQSG3onIKN9iwNyqexCOYLE0ENrmbGGC5l-CfJg5PQ/s1600/big_bang_theory.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 294px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYGAdOAbIiTexS8ah_8gMco3M55rd3HdqrTz6x-S1nQwfblPUtoHwRhuJsEbSPedo7bQyRpxOQotqo578DayJZv-UFsnlG8BhtgpQSG3onIKN9iwNyqexCOYLE0ENrmbGGC5l-CfJg5PQ/s400/big_bang_theory.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499580623803624482" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-family: times new roman;font-size:100%;" ><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 140%;color:black;" >The other day, I was talking to a friend and mentioned something about the <i style=""><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bang"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Big bang <span style="font-style: normal;">theory</span></span></a></i>, and the inevitable reference turned up: "yo mean the TV show?".<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; font-family: times new roman;font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 140%;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></p> <p style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; font-family: times new roman;font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 140%;color:black;" ><br /></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; font-family: times new roman;font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 140%;color:black;" >The thing is, <i style=""><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Bang_Theory"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">The big bang theory</span></a></i>, the wonderful sitcom that debuted in 2007 and has turned into a world success, represents a conflict for people, like this columnist, who have a scientific education.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; font-family: times new roman;font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 140%;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></p> <p style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; font-family: times new roman;font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 140%;color:black;" ><br /></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; font-family: times new roman;font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 140%;color:black;" >On the one side, it is really good. It has endearing characters, among which the problematic <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheldon_Cooper"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Sheldon Cooper</span></a> stands out, a theoretical physicist with two PhDs, and an IQ of 187, whose total lack of social abilities, humor and modesty (there are people who think that it has a slight form of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asperger_syndrome"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Asperger's syndrome</span></a>, a type of autism) makes him unbearable, cute and very funny, all at the same time.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; font-family: times new roman;font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 140%;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></p> <p style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; font-family: times new roman;font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 140%;color:black;" ><br /></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; font-family: times new roman;font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 140%;color:black;" >Together with his friends Leonard, Howard and Rajesh, Sheldon works in the prestigious CalTech (California Institute of </span></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 140%;color:black;" >Technology</span></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 140%;color:black;" >), in Pasadena, and the adventures of this quartet obsessed with science and technology –but also with comics and other elements of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geek"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">geek</span></a> culture– make every chapter a mixture of references to scientific theories and </span></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 140%;color:black;" > concepts </span></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 140%;color:black;" >–which are surprisingly accurate: the program has good scientific advisors– combined with very funny situations. A true delight for people who, beyond comedy, can appreciate the </span></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 140%;color:black;" >scientific </span></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 140%;color:black;" >jokes and references (even George Smoot, Physics Nobel laureate in 2006, of whom we talked here last week, participated in a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXV4Cw6vsU0"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">small sequence</span></a> at the end of one of the chapters).<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; font-family: times new roman;font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 140%;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></p> <p style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; font-family: times new roman;font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 140%;color:black;" ><br /></span></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; font-family: times new roman;font-family:times new roman;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 140%;color:black;" >But, on the other hand, the sitcom presents a series of stereotypes against which the science community has fought for a long time: it shows scientists as antisocial beings, misfits, geniuses but incapable of doing the easiest tasks, obsessive, absent-minded, ultra-logic and humorless.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; font-family: times new roman;font-family:lucida grande;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 140%;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></p> <p style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; font-family: times new roman;font-family:lucida grande;" class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span style="line-height: 140%;color:black;" ><br /></span></span></p><p style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;font-family:lucida grande;" class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span style="line-height: 140%;color:black;" >Actually, scientists are just human beings… although, as anybody who lives near one –physicists, in particular, or even worse, mathematicians</span></span><span class="apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span style="line-height: 140%;color:black;" >–</span></span><span class="apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span style="line-height: 140%;color:black;" > </span></span><span class="apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span style="line-height: 140%;color:black;" >can testify, </span></span><span class="apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span style="line-height: 140%;color:black;" >all these stereotypes have a certain measure of truth. Maybe that's why we scientists love <i style="">The big bang theory</i>, even though </span></span><span class="apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span style="line-height: 140%;color:black;" >sooner or later </span></span><span class="apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span style="line-height: 140%;color:black;" >we have to pay the price of having our friends tell us that we're just like Sheldon.</span></span></p><br /><object width="420" height="261"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/vXV4Cw6vsU0&hl=es_MX&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/vXV4Cw6vsU0&hl=es_MX&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="420" height="261"></embed></object><br /><br /><p style="line-height: 140%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:100%;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; text-align: left;"><p style="text-align: right;font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span">(translated by<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="http://www.quetienenencomun.blogspot.com/" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);"><span class="Apple-style-span">Adrián Robles Benavides</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span">)</span></p><p style="text-align: right;font-family:verdana;"><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span">To receive<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Science for pleasure<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span">weekly</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span">in your email,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=2585559&loc=en_US" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);"><span class="Apple-style-span">subscribe here!</span></a></span></span></p><p style="text-align: right;font-family:verdana;"><br /><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span></span></span></p></span></span><br /><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:9pt;color:black;" ><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>Martín Bonfil Oliverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05286138874576064756noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114603268251970552.post-87906879915788652742010-01-20T22:12:00.000-08:002010-01-22T06:21:51.175-08:00Math and stars<span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span">By</span></span><span style="line-height: 19px;color:black;" lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span></span><span style="line-height: 19px;color:black;" ><a href="http://martinbonfil.com/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);"><span style="color: rgb(68, 136, 136);" lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span">Martín Bonfil Olivera</span></span></span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></span></span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" class="Apple-style-span" ><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 19px;"><span style="line-height: 19px;color:black;" ><i><span lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span">Published in </span></span></span></i><a href="http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8706168"><span lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span">Milenio Diario</span></span></span></a></span><i><span style="line-height: 19px;color:black;" lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span">, January 20, 2010</span></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 19px;"><i><span style="line-height: 19px;color:black;" lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></span></i></p></span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDSgehX_7wNf97xsgjBTgOEw2Ny-OQE55FE0MDO8clIJ1cnLDaHgx8Cb2yDJLISme-umKeDU5eze35clwnr0cGlLjuIKsuVt2MEGVSsU-LQ3W9ugCGpiNeHuYMdUgV23bS9DJQtmTgW60/s1600-h/55+cancri.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 284px; height: 227px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDSgehX_7wNf97xsgjBTgOEw2Ny-OQE55FE0MDO8clIJ1cnLDaHgx8Cb2yDJLISme-umKeDU5eze35clwnr0cGlLjuIKsuVt2MEGVSsU-LQ3W9ugCGpiNeHuYMdUgV23bS9DJQtmTgW60/s320/55+cancri.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5429451544185412994" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:'Book Antiqua';font-size:100%;" >Math has a special relation with physical reality: it allows us to describe it. This is clearly seen in astronomy: mathematical models, from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemy"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Ptolemaeus</span></a>, through <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolaus_Copernicus"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Copernicus</span></a>, up to the glorious <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Newton</span></a>ian description and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Einstein's</span></a> modern vision, have allowed us to describe with ever greater precision, and to understand, with great depth, the behavior of </span><span style=";font-family:'Book Antiqua';font-size:100%;" >celestial bodies</span><span style=";font-family:'Book Antiqua';font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">. Compared to this, the foolish "predictions" of </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">astrology</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> look like incoherent babble.</span><br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">What we still do not understand <i style="">is why</i> math is useful to describe the world. November 2009 edition of the mexican magazine </span><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><a href="http://www.conacyt.mx/comunicacion/revista/237/Articulos/Universo.html" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Ciencia y desarrollo</span></i></a> (Science and development), </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:black;">where he has written for over 30 years, </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.nucleares.unam.mx/%7Esoma/mesa/J_delaHerran.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">José de la Herrán</span></a>,<span style="color:black;"> a pioneer in science popularization in Mexico, describes a curious example. It is a study to verify the validity of an old astronomical mystery: the famous, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titius%E2%80%93Bode_law"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Titius-Bode law</span></a>.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">The law, postulated by German astronomer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Daniel_Titius"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Johann Daniel Titius</span></a> in 1776 and popularized by his colleague , fellow German (and namesake!) <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Elert_Bode"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Johann Elert Bode</span></a> in 1772, asserts that the distance from the Sun to the </span><span style="font-size:100%;">planets of the </span><span style="font-size:100%;">solar system (or, to be more precise, the major <i style="">semi-axes</i> of their elliptic orbits – the major radii, but the word <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radius"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">radius</span></a> is only used for circles, not for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellipse"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">ellipses</span></a>) seems to be related with a peculiar numerical succession: 0, 3, 6, 12, 24, 48...</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">Initially, the "law" was not taken seriously: although it was accurate for the then-known planets (Mercury to Saturn), it predicted a non-existent planet in the fifth position, between Mars and Jupiter. But when <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranus"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Uranus</span></a> was discovered in 1781, and it was confirmed to occupy the spot predicted by it, the law was studied again.<o:p></o:p> The "lost planet" was searched for and in 1801 </span><span style="font-size:100%;">asteroid </span><span style="font-size:100%;"> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceres_%28dwarf_planet%29"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Ceres</span></a> was found, the biggest one in the asteroid belt (today considered as a planet did not manage to form, probably due to Jupiter's great gravitational influence). In general, the law predicted, with less than 5% error, the positions of all planets.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">Then, in 1846, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neptune"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Neptune</span></a> was discovered. Its distance to the Sun did not fit with the prediction (30% error).<span style=""> The</span> same thing happened with Pluto (96% error!). The prestige of this law collapsed, and it was demoted to a mere coincidence.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">Here Mexican astronomer </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcadio_Poveda"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Arcadio Poveda</span></a></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="">, from the Astronomy Institute at UNAM</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"> <span style="">enters the scene. In </span><a href="http://www.astroscu.unam.mx/rmaa/RMxAA..44-1/PDF/RMxAA..44-1_apoveda.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">an article</span></a><span style=""> published in 2008 in the </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><i>Revista Mexicana de Astronomía y Astrofísica</i></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""> (Mexican Astronomy and Astrophysics Journal, in co-authorship with Patricia Lara), he studied <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/55_Cancri"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">55 Cancri</span></a>, in the constellation of The Crab, a "nearby" star (about 12 <i style=""><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsec"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">parsecs</span></a>; </i>more than 40 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light-year"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">light years</span></a>) <span style=""> </span>in whose surroundings, five more planets have been discovered between 1996 and 2007. He found that in general, their distances agree with Titius-Bode law, if it is assumed that there's a missing planet between the fourth and the fifth ones (maybe this would reveal that the gravitational dynamics of emerging planetary systems prevents the formation in certain orbits). Poveda even predicts the position of two planets surrounding 55 Cancri; lets see if these are found.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">Although it has been </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/0806/0806.3532.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">criticised</span></a><span style="">, Poveda's work is very suggestive. The Titius-Bode law is still an enigma: if it were valid, although we still don't know <span style="font-style: italic;">why </span>(epistemologists would say that it is a phenomenological law that lacks its proper theoretical explanation),<span style=""> </span>it could help discover new planets in other planetary systems.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=";font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><p style="text-align: right;font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span">(translated by </span><a href="http://www.quetienenencomun.blogspot.com/" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);"><span class="Apple-style-span">Adrián Robles Benavides</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span">)</span></p><p style="text-align: right;font-family:verdana;"><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span">To receive </span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Science for pleasure </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span">weekly</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span">in your email, </span><a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=2585559&loc=en_US" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);"><span class="Apple-style-span">subscribe here!</span></a></span></span></p><p style="text-align: right;font-family:verdana;"><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span><a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=2585559&loc=en_US" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></a></span></span></p></span><span style=";font-family:'Book Antiqua';font-size:10pt;" ><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>Martín Bonfil Oliverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05286138874576064756noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114603268251970552.post-5892891533377123212010-01-13T06:21:00.000-08:002010-01-22T07:30:27.686-08:00Freedom and limits<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 127);font-family:garamond,new york,times,serif;font-size:12pt;"><div><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span">By</span></span><span style="line-height: 19px;color:black;" lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span></span><span style="line-height: 19px;color:black;" ><a href="http://martinbonfil.com/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);"><span style="color: rgb(68, 136, 136);" lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span">Martín Bonfil Olivera</span></span></span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></span></span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" class="Apple-style-span" ><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 19px;"><span style="line-height: 19px;color:black;" ><i><span lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span">Published in </span></span></span></i><a href="http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8706168"><span lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span">Milenio Diario</span></span></span></a></span><i><span style="line-height: 19px;color:black;" lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span">, January 13, 2010</span></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 19px;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 19px;"><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/g3vHlS1hr5E&rel=0&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=es_ES&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/g3vHlS1hr5E&rel=0&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=es_ES&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 19px;"><i><span style="line-height: 19px;color:black;" lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></span></i></p></span><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Maybe </span><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8425269.stm"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">gay marriages</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> are, as stated by that <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=es&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http://www.cronica.com.mx/nota.php%3Fid_nota%3D391509&sl=es&tl=en">arbiter of </a></span><a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=es&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http://www.cronica.com.mx/nota.php%3Fid_nota%3D391509&sl=es&tl=en"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">morals</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">, catholic bishop Onésimo Cepeda, "a stupidity" (</span><a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=es&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8693124&sl=es&tl=en" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Milenio Diario</span></i></a><a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=es&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8693124&sl=es&tl=en" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">, December 23</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">). But </span><a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=es&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8698176&sl=es&tl=en"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">if it is</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> so, it's a stupidity homosexuals, as any other citizen, have a right to commit.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">And maybe, as stated by journalist Carlos Marín (</span><a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=es&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8699747&sl=es&tl=en" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Milenio Diario</span></i></a><a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=es&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8699747&sl=es&tl=en" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">, January 8</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">), this guy </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3vHlS1hr5E" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Esteban Arce</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> "has the right to express his homophobia"… but to do so in public, as main host to a popular </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">TV show </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">and "leader of </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">opinion</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">" (this shows the current sad cultural level of the average Mexican TV watcher) is wrong, because it violates other people's rights.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Yes, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_speech"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">free speech</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> (from which free press is </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">derived</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">) is vital in every true </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">democracy</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">. But it's not more important than other rights. It has, </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">necessarily,</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> limits: teaching people how to commit suicide or to make Molotov bombs, or to promote the use of drugs, violence, killing black people… or to discriminate is not allowed. If a TV host's expressed the opinion that blacks or indians are inferior, he or she would commit the same mistake and would deserve to be criticized. First of all, because it's false, but also because it's </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discrimination"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">discriminatory</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Esteban Arce misinforms his audience: he expresses as true opinions </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">contrary </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">to current </span><a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=es&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/sociedad/5199.html&sl=es&tl=en"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">scientific knowledge</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">, which shows that homosexual behavior is natural (it is clearly shown by Luis González de Alba in his column from last Sunday; </span><a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=es&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8700886&sl=es&tl=en" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Milenio Diario</span></i></a><a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=es&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8700886&sl=es&tl=en" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">, January 10</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">), and "normal", in the sense that it is not "sick", and that children raised by same-sex couples are also normal (<span style="font-style: italic;">i.e.</span> not. "sick").<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Why should we prefer criteria based on scientific knowledge to criteria based on religious dogma? Among other things, because they are verifiable, and have been verified: </span><a href="http://www.sbs.utexas.edu/genetics/Literature/articles/CPR-special-resources/reliability.htm"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">they <span style="font-style: italic;">work</span></span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-style: italic;">. </span>Besides, they can be corrected if errors are found, in sharp contrast to the </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">church's "</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">truths". That's why the Mexican Constitution (</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Mexico#Article_3"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">third article</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">) makes it mandatory that education be based "in the results of scientific progress", and demands that teaching be kept "completely separated from any religious doctrine".<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">What is sought is not to give "privileges" to certain minorities, but to guarantee that all and every citizen has <span style="font-style: italic;">the same </span>rights. And for good reasons. The church </span><a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/mexico/091230/gay-marriage-catholic-church"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">can tear its garments</span></a></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/mexico/091230/gay-marriage-catholic-church"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);"> on it</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:trebuchet ms;" >, but religious freedom also has its limits (also, for good reasons, in this case <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cristero_War"> historical</a> ones): it cannot interfere in politics, since the Constitution prohibits it (</span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Mexico#Article_130"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">article 130</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">). The government obligation is to secure the rights of everyone, and to maintain the required separation of church and state. People will need to keep a watchful eye to make sure this happens.</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div><!-- cg21.c1.mail.mud.yahoo.com compressed/chunked Tue Jan 12 18:32:57 PST 2010 --></div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=";font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><p style="text-align: right;font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span">(translated by </span><a href="http://www.quetienenencomun.blogspot.com/" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);"><span class="Apple-style-span">Adrián Robles Benavides</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span">)</span></p><p style="text-align: right;font-family:verdana;"><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span">To receive </span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Science for pleasure </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span">weekly</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span">in your email, </span><a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=2585559&loc=en_US" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);"><span class="Apple-style-span">subscribe here!</span></a></span></span></p><p style="text-align: right;font-family:verdana;"><br /><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span></span></span></p></span>Martín Bonfil Oliverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05286138874576064756noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114603268251970552.post-18979985256408955232010-01-06T08:58:00.000-08:002010-01-13T09:29:48.809-08:00Against scientific illiteracy<div style="font-family:verdana;"><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span">By</span></span><span style="line-height: 19px;color:black;" lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span></span><span style="line-height: 19px;color:black;"><a href="http://martinbonfil.com/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);"><span style="color: rgb(68, 136, 136);" lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span">Martín Bonfil Olivera</span></span></span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 19px;"><span style="line-height: 19px;color:black;"><i><span lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span">Published in </span></span></span></i><a href="http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8698844"><span lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span">Milenio Diario</span></span></span></a></span><i><span style="line-height: 19px;color:black;" lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span">, January 6, 2010</span></span></span></i></p></span> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjklL6wSZyAtf39ZK_NRG-R66oCYMX9aSYtrWqbFT_r_rOxQoKcgxurrPwu0m4r_HTwmlLTGMOZ5Vch333ljVISEJo-3KJY4kk7EdDi7XgMMwVGFsxD4aqnRaM8YTyyGJnrYCXn9D2HXzA/s1600-h/cereijido.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 110px; height: 163px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjklL6wSZyAtf39ZK_NRG-R66oCYMX9aSYtrWqbFT_r_rOxQoKcgxurrPwu0m4r_HTwmlLTGMOZ5Vch333ljVISEJo-3KJY4kk7EdDi7XgMMwVGFsxD4aqnRaM8YTyyGJnrYCXn9D2HXzA/s400/cereijido.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5426273998407027634" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Every time that I go out on vacations I take with me something good to read. This year's end was no exception: I chose the most recent work of my friend </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"><a href="http://www.ccc.gob.mx/semblanzas/401-marcelino-cereijido-mattioli" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Marcelino Cereijido</span></a>, Mexican-argentine researcher at Cinvestav: <a href="http://gandih.com.mx/index.cfm/id/Producto/dept/libros/pid/387999" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><em><span style="color: rgb(45, 137, 48);">Science as calamity</span></em><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);"><i>, an assay about science illiteracy and its effects</i> </span></a>(Gedisa, 2009).</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-size:100%;"> </span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">This is not the first time I enjoy his excellent prose and even better ideas. Several trips to the beach have been made more enjoyable thanks to other little jewels from him: </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"><a href="http://books.google.com.mx/books?id=mqE4DDpAHSgC&dq=ciencia+sin+seso,+locura+doble&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=kQaa2iLm38&sig=2BsS5M_9tsfCPwQcQjgfzARMMP8&hl=es&ei=G6pES4vCD-WutgfbnoCOCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CBEQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=&f=false" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><em><span style="color: rgb(45, 137, 48);">Brainless science, double craziness</span></em></a> (Siglo XXI, 1994, where he advices a young person about the challenges, difficulties and disappointments that awaits her if he or she decides to be a scientist in a third world country), <a href="http://books.google.com.mx/books?id=ZKnKXuxhNMAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=ciencia+sin+seso,+locura+doble&source=gbs_similarbooks_s&cad=1#v=onepage&q=ciencia%20sin%20seso%2C%20locura%20doble&f=false" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><em><span style="color: rgb(45, 137, 48);">Why we </span></em></a></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://books.google.com.mx/books?id=ZKnKXuxhNMAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=ciencia+sin+seso,+locura+doble&source=gbs_similarbooks_s&cad=1#v=onepage&q=ciencia%20sin%20seso%2C%20locura%20doble&f=false" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><em></em></a><em><a href="http://books.google.com.mx/books?id=ZKnKXuxhNMAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=ciencia+sin+seso,+locura+doble&source=gbs_similarbooks_s&cad=1#v=onepage&q=ciencia%20sin%20seso%2C%20locura%20doble&f=false" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><em><span style="color: rgb(45, 137, 48);">don't </span></em></a></em></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"><a href="http://books.google.com.mx/books?id=ZKnKXuxhNMAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=ciencia+sin+seso,+locura+doble&source=gbs_similarbooks_s&cad=1#v=onepage&q=ciencia%20sin%20seso%2C%20locura%20doble&f=false" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><em><span style="color: rgb(45, 137, 48);">have science</span></em></a>, (Siglo XXI, 1997, where he presents the well-sustained hypothesis that the culture of Latin-American countries, with their Hispanic-Portuguese catholic influence, is one of the fundamental causes that our countries do not understand, support, nor, most importantly, develop or take advantage of modern science), and <a href="http://www.tematika.com/libros/ciencias_de_la_salud__naturales_y_divulgacion_cientifica--7/divulgacion_cientifica--1/en_general--1/la_nuca_de_houssay___la_ciencia_argentina--115775.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><em><span style="color: rgb(45, 137, 48);">Houssay's nape</span></em></a> (Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1990, an intimate and penetrating autobiographic account that tells his experience when becoming a scientist –he even studied with Nobel awarded professors– to later be persecuted, imprisoned and exiled<span> </span>by the catholic obscurantism of the Argentine </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">military </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">dictatorship.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-size:100%;"> </span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-size:100%;">The book can, in my opinion, be divided in two sections. The first presents a view of science, its history and the current situation of scientific illiteracy. The second part –which I considered more convincing and stimulating- raises the grave problem that such illiteracy imposes the third world, placing it at disadvantage in front of the first world, and dares to make some proposal outlines for its solution.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-size:100%;"> </span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-size:100%;">Cereijido states that scientific illiteracy in non-developed countries consists not only in not having science of their own, but in lacking a culture that would allow them to even realize this, and to value the heavy problem of this lack. But the really alarming thing is to realize, as demonstrated in the book, that there has always been a strategy of the first world to guarantee that the third world keeps being underdeveloped. This asymmetry is what today is really threatening global equilibrium, so drastic measures need to be taken to fight it… Only we'll have to do it ourselves. This is the base for his stimulating proposals. Now the task will be to spread them, discuss them and put them in practice… Count me in.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-size:100%;"> </span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-size:100%;">One complaint, though: the book, unfortunately, like many books from Ibero-American editorials, is very badly edited. Commas before verbs, or incorrectly added into phrases, which change their meaning; numerous references that do not appear in the bibliography, repetitions and, even, some sloppyness in </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-size:100%;">the way the text is organized; not </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-size:100%;">author's mistakes, but the editor's, from whom we would expect a more profound and professional work (because is the editorial house's, not the author's, responsibility to take care of all the details, editorial as well as the coherence and clarity of the text).</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-size:100%;">Summarizing: an enjoyable and intelligent book, but also an important and timely one. Even urgent. I hope every person that has to do with science in Latin American countries (researchers, students, government people, politics… citizens!) reads it.</span></p></div><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><p style="text-align: right;font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;">(translated by </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.quetienenencomun.blogspot.com/" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);"><span class="Apple-style-span">Adrián Robles Benavides</span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;">)</span></p><p style="text-align: right;font-family:verdana;"><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span">To receive </span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Science for pleasure </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span">weekly</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span">in your email, </span><a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=2585559&loc=en_US" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);"><span class="Apple-style-span">subscribe here!</span></a></span></span></p><p style="text-align: right;"><br /><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span></span></span></p></span>Martín Bonfil Oliverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05286138874576064756noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114603268251970552.post-29271102054174545712009-12-23T08:54:00.000-08:002010-01-22T07:56:39.378-08:00Science and politics<div><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=";font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span">By</span></span><span style="line-height: 19px;color:black;" lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span></span><span style="line-height: 19px;color:black;" ><a href="http://martinbonfil.com/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);"><span style="color: rgb(68, 136, 136);" lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span">Martín Bonfil Olivera</span></span></span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style=";font-family:'trebuchet ms';font-size:100%;" ><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 19px;"><span style="line-height: 19px;color:black;" ><i><span lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span">Published in </span></span></span></i><a href="http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8693275"><span lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span">Milenio Diario</span></span></span></a></span><i><span style="line-height: 19px;color:black;" lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span">, december 23, 2009</span></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 19px;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><i><span style="line-height: 19px;color:black;" lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></span></i></p></span> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo9e2Aq-LQb8eO4krGrGc0UjDhh7xzYIZPr1Y5-n4Hi5ge3JSQN_It-7cOik8KM_lpsg4VxqXOzZ3pYn-5SZ2vc8bxoDs0PpXPHK7vMkWjrasHuoT7rEP-qAeIrcSYRdcQikWKThXJ3bg/s1600-h/raz%C3%BA.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 234px; height: 175px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo9e2Aq-LQb8eO4krGrGc0UjDhh7xzYIZPr1Y5-n4Hi5ge3JSQN_It-7cOik8KM_lpsg4VxqXOzZ3pYn-5SZ2vc8bxoDs0PpXPHK7vMkWjrasHuoT7rEP-qAeIrcSYRdcQikWKThXJ3bg/s400/raz%C3%BA.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5429592471034894546" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Unlike the simplified models of theory, reality is a complex tangle, a </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actor-network_theory"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">web</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> whose conforming elements are connected to one another in complex and multiple ways.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Science is the discipline that helps understand such connections. It produces models that, even though ideal, are <span style="font-style: italic;">reliable, </span>and therefore help us to make appropriate decisions. Politics, on the other hand, is the art of taking advantage of these connections, or building the ones that are lacking, to make that things happen in a society ("the art of the possible", chancellor </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Bismarck"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">von Bismarck</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> is said to have called it).</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Scientific knowledge is often the impulse and basis for constructing political action. But it is not enough: political ability is needed to make the web strong enough.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Sometimes this can be achieved, sometimes not. In </span><a href="http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/12/17/inhofe-copenhagen-conference-has-failed/"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Copenhagen it was not</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">, even though there is </span><a href="http://scienceforpleasure.blogspot.com/2010/01/climategate.html"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">solid scientific data</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> and consensus about what to do. The forces </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">opposing </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">the agreement -the economical costs of reconverting the industries of powerful countries; the unavoidable political costs linked to them– prevented it from happening.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">On the other hand, in <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Mexico city</st1:city></st1:place>, political ability, supported on modern knowledge about human beings and their sexuality, allowed </span><a href="http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/12/mexico_city_has_legalized_gay.php"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">homosexual marriage</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">to be approved</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">, and without the unfair lock –and implicit homophobic argument– </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">that did not allow </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">adoption!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">But science and politics are processes: they never stop. Sooner or later, the policies necessary to fight climate change will have to be agreed upon. Unless, of course, we discover something new: an unexpected piece of good news that would also </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">have to </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> be based in science.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">In matters of human, sexual and reproductive rights, the advances, though slow, are not stopping. Autopsies were prohibited, by religious reasons, for centuries, until the Renaissance. </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_vote"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Blacks</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> and </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_suffrage"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">women</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">, considered as inferiors, could not vote until the middle of last century. </span><i style=""><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_vitro_fertilisation"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">In vitro<span style="font-style: normal;"> fertilisation</span></span></a></i><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> caused a hot debate, also because of religious prejudice; the fact that the expression "test-tube baby" sounds obsolete nowadays is proof that societies advance and assimilate changes that are beneficial for them.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Until recently, homosexuality was legally punished. Today, the full equality of couples, sexual orientation notwhitstanding, is recognized in the law. In the near future, other items are </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">pending</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">: the right to abortion, euthanasia, research with stem cells. And furthermore, </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Ape_Project"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">a proposal for "animal rights"</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> for </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_ape"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">the great apes</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> (gorillas, orangutans, chimps).</span></span></p><p face="trebuchet ms" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify; font-family: trebuchet ms;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:'Book Antiqua';font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">In a secular state, decisions must be based in reliable knowledge, and taken to widen, not to suppress, the rights of everybody. Science helps politics build new links </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">so that the necessary changes in the complex social web can be built and sustained. Congratulations…! and Merry Christmas.</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:'Book Antiqua';font-size:100%;" ><o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><p style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;">(translated by </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.quetienenencomun.blogspot.com/" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);"><span class="Apple-style-span">Adrián Robles Benavides</span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;">)</span></p><p style="text-align: right;"><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" ><span><span class="Apple-style-span">To receive </span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Science for pleasure </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span">weekly</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" ><span><span class="Apple-style-span">in your email, </span><a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=2585559&loc=en_US" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);"><span class="Apple-style-span">subscribe here!</span></a></span></span></p><p style="text-align: right;"><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span><a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=2585559&loc=en_US" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></a></span></span></p></span></p></div><!-- cg4.c1.mail.mud.yahoo.com compressed/chunked Thu Dec 10 11:09:54 PST 2009 -->Martín Bonfil Oliverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05286138874576064756noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114603268251970552.post-44980345188947939612009-12-02T17:20:00.000-08:002010-01-08T17:12:03.094-08:00Abortion and fallacies<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">By</span></span><span style="line-height: 19px;color:black;" lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></span><span style="line-height: 19px;color:black;" ><a href="http://martinbonfil.com/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);"><span style="color: rgb(68, 136, 136);" lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Martín Bonfil Olivera</span></span></span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 19px;"><span style="line-height: 19px;color:black;" ><i><span lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Published in </span></span></span></i><a href="http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8682538"><span lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Milenio Diario</span></span></span></a></span><span style="line-height: 19px;color:black;" ><a target="_blank" style="color: rgb(68, 136, 136);"><span lang="ES-MX"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span></span></span></span></a></span><i><span style="line-height: 19px;color:black;" lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, december 2nd, 2009</span></span></span></i></p></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtXOVGAiQwm-L4BciEh8FV_i_qW8Ga4G0PWaEqX8Ig4IznFZhYHsV7-5ERcWl2wsDYl3GWjGoajYsZfCaGYHqcD6ewW4qP9hS1yPOKh2MX8Zf0Q_uoPXJCstCJYIElJySgrFNLdgQCdds/s1600-h/288.-Aborto.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 192px; height: 251px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtXOVGAiQwm-L4BciEh8FV_i_qW8Ga4G0PWaEqX8Ig4IznFZhYHsV7-5ERcWl2wsDYl3GWjGoajYsZfCaGYHqcD6ewW4qP9hS1yPOKh2MX8Zf0Q_uoPXJCstCJYIElJySgrFNLdgQCdds/s400/288.-Aborto.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424539950140029394" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:'Book Antiqua';font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The decriminalization of abortion (or its </span><a href="http://mexico.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2009/11/25/veracruzs-abortion-ban/"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">penalization</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">, in this poor <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">country </st1:country-region></st1:place>that, as it takes a step forward, always takes another backwards) is not a scientific issue, but a social and political one.<br /><o:p></o:p></span></span> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">And also an ethical problem, of course… just like all social and political issues. But unlike what happened in the middle ages, when it was believed that the only valid ethical criteria were those dictated by religion, today, in the 21<sup>st</sup> century, we have scientific knowledge as a very important guide to norm the decisions we take as a society.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">That's why fallacies such as "life begins at conception" cannot be allowed to pass for arguments when used by political parties, such as </span><a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1Y1-104583019.html"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">PRI</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">, PAN, even PRD, and of course, the catholic hierarchy, </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">have been doing in Mexico, in order to </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">approve </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">laws that will limit women's right to decide over their body</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">, thus violating their human rights.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">To refute this is so easy that its embarrassing: life does <span style="font-style: italic;">not </span>begin at </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_fertilization"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">conception</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">, because the sperm and ovum, the cells whose union gives origin to the zygote or fertilized egg (which is presented by these people as "potentially" </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">human</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">), are already <span style="font-style: italic;">alive </span>before conception. If we take life as an absolute value, we should consider night ejaculations and menstruation as instances of assassination… "potentially".<o:p></o:p></span></span> </p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">A nice try to avoid this objection is to define that which starts with fertilization as <i>human</i> life. Again, false: sperm and ovule are as <span style="font-style: italic;">human </span>as a zygote. The one thing that characterizes a zygote or an embryo as "human" during its first developmental stages is its genetic information… which is <span style="font-style: italic;"> also </span>present in the cells that </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamete"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">give origin to it</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">. (And even so, if the church wanted to argue that the essence of the human being reduces to its genes, they'd be getting into a conceptual mess worse than the one they started with!.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">A human being does not suddenly appear: it <span style="font-style: italic;">develops</span>. Before the 12th week, it does not have a nerve system that can support functions such as perception and consciousness, without which we cannot speak of a "person". (For the same reason, someone with </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_death"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">irreversible brain damage</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> is not considered "alive" anymore, although its heart and lungs may be still functioning.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;font-family:verdana;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">As stated yesterday by Roberto Blancarte </span></span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-size:100%;" ><a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=es&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8681841&sl=es&tl=en"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">in <i>Milenio Diario</i></span></a>, what the religious hierarchy is achieving, with the complicity of political parties, is to "confessionalize politics, weaken secular State, and introduce catholic norms in legislation and public policies". <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=es&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http://lacienciaporgusto.blogspot.com/2008/08/aborto-en-resumen.html&sl=es&tl=en">It is evident</a>: the criminalization of abortion is unjust and dishonest. Science and human rights give us enough arguments to oppose it. Otherwise, the price will still be paid by our women, and our society as a whole.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><p style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">(translated by </span><a href="http://www.quetienenencomun.blogspot.com/" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Adrián Robles Benavides</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">)</span></p><p style="text-align: right;"><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">To receive </span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Science for pleasure </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">weekly</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">in your email, </span><a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=2585559&loc=en_US" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">subscribe here!</span></a></span></span></p><p style="text-align: right;"><br /><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span></span></span></p></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:'Book Antiqua';font-size:10pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p>Martín Bonfil Oliverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05286138874576064756noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114603268251970552.post-20163784475579288522009-11-09T16:45:00.000-08:002010-01-06T17:23:22.006-08:00Climategate!<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">By</span></span><span style="line-height: 19px;color:black;" lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></span><span style="line-height: 19px;color:black;"><a href="http://martinbonfil.com/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);"><span style="color: rgb(68, 136, 136);" lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Martín Bonfil Olivera</span></span></span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 19px;"><span style="line-height: 19px;color:black;"><i><span lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Published in </span></span></span></i></span><span style="line-height: 19px;color:black;"><a href="http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8667909" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(68, 136, 136);"><span lang="ES-MX"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Milenio Diario</span></span></span></span></a></span><i><span style="line-height: 19px;color:black;" lang="ES-MX"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, november 9th, 2009</span></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:Georgia;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></i></span></p></span><p></p><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4doHyCWMuDDeHuplIVmMw70lzk5UNHjwOumSh7lKhVByW13AAzUkq3Y5ATDfk-XJZTdhSxrz2-VPV-64V9qAmEHSiFTWtPAnNAoQ3UEyzozzb6e90UUfXReFNsQBesrFkwPASJROqXpg/s400/barack-obama.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 242px;" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5423799815703698466" border="0" /><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The scandal was very well timed: one month before the United Nations </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia,serif;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">climate change conference took place in </span></span><st1:city st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Copenhagen</span></span></st1:city><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, </span></span><st1:country-region st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Denmark</span></span></st1:country-region><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, some </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">hackers</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">,</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">probably Russian, </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climategate"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">broke into the servers</span></span></span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> of the </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climatic_Research_Unit"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Climatic Research Unit</span></span></span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> at </span></span><st1:placename st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">East Anglia</span></span></st1:placename><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><st1:placetype st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">University</span></span></st1:placetype><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, in </span></span><st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">England</span></span></st1:country-region></st1:place><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">. They extracted one thousand e-mail messages and two thousand assorted documents, that were then published over the internet.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia,serif;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></span></o:p></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The objective? To "prove" that climate change experts</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia,serif;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></span><a href="http://www.theness.com/neurologicablog/?p=1336"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">manipulate data</span></span></span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, hide information, ridicule and insult their adversaries –climate change denialists that oppose the fact that global warming is real, or consider it as natural phenomenon, not caused by human activity– and prevent them from publishing their arguments.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia,serif;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></span></o:p></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">And it's true: some documents seem to show evidence of these kind of manipulations. The issue is being investigated to determine if there has been bad scientific practice. If it's confirmed, it will be punished. Also, published data is being verified, to ensure it's reliable.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></span></o:p></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">But it's very probable that we're dealing with a discredit campaign to weaken the International Panel of Climate Change </span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">(</span></span></span><span style="color:blue;"><a href="http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grupo_Intergubernamental_de_Expertos_sobre_el_Cambio_Clim%C3%A1tico"><span style="color:blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">IPCC</span></span></span></a></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">), the United Nations, the scientific community and the governments which, right now, are discussing in Copenhagen the urgency of taking measures to diminish the greenhouse effect emissions to attenuate, as much as possible, the damage global warming is already causing.</span></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></span></o:p></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Sadly, for people who are not specialists, the exhibition of the dirty laundry of scientists in action can be scandalous. In contrast with the pure and untainted –but false- image of science as an infallible method to discover absolute truths, to see researchers as human beings, who commit mistakes and have envies and political interests is a good way to challenge the results of their investigations. But they forget that the reliability of such results it is not given by the personality of individual scientific people, but by a very hard to manipulate collective, international and public</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia,serif;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_method"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">quality control process</span></span></span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia,serif;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></span></o:p></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">It is easy to discredit something by inventing </span></span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_theory"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">conspiracy theories</span></span></span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> and exhibiting isolated and out-of-context data. But, independently of the very high economical and political costs of modifying our industry, to play the fool before climate change is an inadmissible risk.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;"></span></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><p style="text-align: right;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">(translated by </span><a href="http://www.quetienenencomun.blogspot.com/" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Adrián Robles Benavides</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">)</span></p><p style="text-align: right;"><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">To receive </span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Science for pleasure </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">weekly</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">in your email, </span><a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=2585559&loc=en_US" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">subscribe here!</span></a></span></span></p><p style="text-align: right;"><b><br /></b></p></span><p></p>Martín Bonfil Oliverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05286138874576064756noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114603268251970552.post-35392294808639454552009-11-04T23:24:00.000-08:002009-12-11T08:37:48.558-08:00Scientific intolerance<div><span style="font-size:100%;">By</span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" lang="ES-MX" > </span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><a href="http://martinbonfil.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(68, 136, 136);" lang="ES-MX">Martín Bonfil Olivera</span></a></span> <span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><i><span lang="ES-MX">Published in </span></i></span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><a href="http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8667909" target="_blank"><span style="" lang="ES-MX"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Milenio Diario</span></span></a></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><i><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;color:black;" lang="ES-MX">, november 4th, 2009</span></i></span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" lang="ES-MX" > <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy36_Incd7bMwqZI_xIJ1cE8ltKq1gfnLTWMUvMIcJcuHze-4Ag9EZuh2DI1S2dVH0pTijS-dgJYpxdawu_D0ymenkyhNj_MjBYINvi7xCXZ4JO0SvfB9V6XWnTFb9VMohRjQV-HaM2II/s1600-h/confiabilidad+ciencia.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 230px; height: 291px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy36_Incd7bMwqZI_xIJ1cE8ltKq1gfnLTWMUvMIcJcuHze-4Ag9EZuh2DI1S2dVH0pTijS-dgJYpxdawu_D0ymenkyhNj_MjBYINvi7xCXZ4JO0SvfB9V6XWnTFb9VMohRjQV-HaM2II/s400/confiabilidad+ciencia.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414014734848769778" border="0" /></a><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><a href="http://scienceforpleasure.blogspot.com/2009/09/bad-science-fiction.html"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">A month ago</span></a> I criticized the fraud commited by people who promise to cure to almost any disease by using a machine called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electro_Physiological_Feedback_Xrroid"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">SCIO</span></a> (against, of course, of a good amount of cash).</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" >As always when <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudoscience"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">pseudoscience</span></a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlatan"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">charlatans</span></a> are attacked, I received some congratulatory e-mails, and some other (not many, luckily) that accused me of being dogmatic, intolerant and of disqualifying "other" forms or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rationality"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">rationality</span></a> "that deserve the same respect as the scientific worldview".</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" >It's common to accuse science, and the people who practice it, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_communication"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">promote it</span></a> or communicate it, of being intolerant. But we must remember that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">science</span></a> seeks only to study nature, in order to produce <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=es&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http://www.comoves.unam.mx/mosca/archivo_m/ojobonfil101.html&sl=es&tl=en"> reliable</a> knowledge that allows us to understand it and maybe predict it. When referring to the intolerance of science, normally what is questioned is its refusal to recognize practices such as astrology, the study of paranormal phenomena, miracle therapies based on principles "that go beyond science" <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_theory"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">or conspiracy theories</span></a>, </span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" >as scientific</span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" >.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" >This exclusion is due in part to the fact that the methods of these disciplines ar not rigorous </span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" >enough</span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" >, or their data do not look reliable (in case they are not straightforward fakery). Sometimes, what is not acceptable are their study objects, since science studies </span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" >only </span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" >natural phenomena, not supernatural ones.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" >In science, for a statement to be accepted, it has to go through a complex process of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peer_review"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">peer review</span></a> that involves the verification of data and methods, and the discussion of results. The reasons why scientists accept a affirmation have to do with its logical coherence, its plausibility within the existent scientific frame of knowledge, the reproducibility of experiments in which its based, and other reasons (among which some dose of politics and ideology are not excluded).</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" >However, nothing makes a scientist happier than to discover that something that was known turns out to be incorrect. To find mistakes and inconsistencies in scientific theories forces researchers to find even better explanations. This is the force that pushes science forward.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10.5pt;color:black;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">But, for the process to work, it has to be subject to a highly rigorous <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=es&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http://www.comoves.unam.mx/mosca/archivo_m/ojobonfil73.html&sl=es&tl=en"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">quality control</span></a>. The first duty of a scientist is not to delude himself. Science has an unavoidable commitment with reality. If, sometimes this sounds like <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=es&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http://www.comoves.unam.mx/archivo/ojomosca/ojomosca_111.html&sl=es&tl=en">intolerance</a>, that's not a problem of the scientific method, but of the disciplines that try to pass as scientific... when they are not.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:medium;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; text-align: left;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;font-size:14px;" ><p style="text-align: right;">(translated by<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.quetienenencomun.blogspot.com/" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);">Adrián Robles Benavides</a>)</p><p style="text-align: right;"><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span>To receive<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Science for pleasure<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>weekly</span></span><br /><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span>in your email,<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=2585559&loc=en_US" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);">subscribe here!</a></span></span></p><p style="text-align: right;"><br /><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span></span></span></p></span></span><br /><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10.5pt;color:black;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p></div><!-- cg25.c1.mail.mud.yahoo.com compressed/chunked Wed Nov 4 11:01:08 PST 2009 -->Martín Bonfil Oliverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05286138874576064756noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114603268251970552.post-18551526794737356612009-10-28T12:18:00.000-07:002009-11-18T12:48:00.343-08:00Science and technology week in Mexico<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:medium;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; text-align: left;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;font-size:14px;" >By<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://martinbonfil.com/" style="color: rgb(68, 136, 136);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Martín Bonfil Olivera</span></a><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 19px;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:14px;" ><i>Published in<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i><a href="http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8664131" style="color: rgb(68, 136, 136);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Milenio Diario</span></a><i>, October 28th, 2009</i></span></p></span></span><br /><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10.5pt;color:black;" ><o:p></o:p></span><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbz1I1_QNF0nza-m5v8hOQcqqZiQ1EZ_lq681opZB1F8K4mVOw3qvZu0Px1PblMtn3OYxidjEc1tZ-vmV1QbHje95B6UhZALlFiKwZpyogImANkb-p4BU0xiVWEdbCtFnH3PqreHNLRV0/s1600/DarwinGalileo.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbz1I1_QNF0nza-m5v8hOQcqqZiQ1EZ_lq681opZB1F8K4mVOw3qvZu0Px1PblMtn3OYxidjEc1tZ-vmV1QbHje95B6UhZALlFiKwZpyogImANkb-p4BU0xiVWEdbCtFnH3PqreHNLRV0/s400/DarwinGalileo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405546445792414354" border="0" /></a><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10.5pt;color:black;" >Each year, in October, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popular_science"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">science popularizers</span></a> get our </span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10.5pt;color:black;" >busiest season</span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10.5pt;color:black;" >, because that's when the national <a href="http://www.conacyt.mx/Comunicacion/sncyt/index.html"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Science and technology week</span></a> is held in Mexico.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10.5pt;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10.5pt;color:black;" ><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10.5pt;color:black;" >As a matter of fact, the demand for all kinds of activities –conferences, courses, workshops, expositions, science fairs, concerts, <a href="http://www.nochedeestrellas.org.mx/estrellas_w/"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">starry nights</span></a>, contests…- its such that many states opt to enlarge it, turning it into the Month of Science and Technology – and some, into several months! – so competition is not that intense.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" cllass="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10.5pt;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10.5pt;color:black;" ><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10.5pt;color:black;" >The event, promoted and organized by the National Council for Science and Technology (<a href="http://www.conacyt.mx/eng/home.html">Conacyt</a>), has for 16 years placed scientific culture in the reach of literally millions of kids, youngsters and adults all over the country.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10.5pt;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10.5pt;color:black;" ><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10.5pt;color:black;" >This year the national venue was the state of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabasco"><st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Tabasco</st1:place></st1:state></a>, where I have been able to attend several <a href="http://snct.ccytet.gob.mx/"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">activities</span></a> organized together by the state government, the Tabasco Science and Technology Council (<a href="http://www.ccytet.gob.mx/"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">CCYTET</span></a>) and a good number of organizations and enthusiastic people who are </span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10.5pt;color:black;" >engaged </span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10.5pt;color:black;" >in science popularization.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10.5pt;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10.5pt;color:black;" ><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10.5pt;color:black;" >But is it worth it, with all the economic crisis and our country's problems, to spend budget and work in such an event? Here are four good reasons to do it:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10.5pt;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: 140%; text-indent: -0.25in;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10.5pt;color:black;" ><span style=""><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: 140%; text-indent: -0.25in;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10.5pt;color:black;" ><span style="">-</span></span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10.5pt;color:black;" >Because the standard of life in a country depends strongly on the size of its scientific-technological-industrial apparatus. An good-sized, active scientific community detonates the production of original knowledge which become technology and patents that can make a modern and powerful </span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10.5pt;color:black;" >nation</span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10.5pt;color:black;" >. Think of the Korean cell phones, Indian cars and Chinese computers we import, or of the Brazilian technology for oil extraction that we're far of matching. And the first step is to awaken scientific vocations in kids and young people (and of course, to give them jobs in research institutes, but that's another story).</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: 140%; text-indent: -0.25in;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10.5pt;color:black;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: 140%; text-indent: -0.25in;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10.5pt;color:black;" ><span style="">-<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:7pt;" ></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10.5pt;color:black;" >Because the scientific way of thinking is a powerful tool in fighting harmful beliefs, such as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_theory"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">conspiracy theories</span></a> that deny the seriousness of the influenza pandemia and the usefulness of vaccines in preventing infection.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: 140%; text-indent: -0.25in;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10.5pt;color:black;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: 140%; text-indent: -0.25in;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10.5pt;color:black;" ><span style="">-<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:7pt;" ></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10.5pt;color:black;" >Because if the citizens do not understand the science behind matters such as cloning, euthanasia, transgenic crops or stem-cell research, they cannot take part in the decisions we as a society need to take.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: 140%; text-indent: -0.25in;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10.5pt;color:black;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; line-height: 140%; text-indent: -0.25in;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10.5pt;color:black;" ><span style="">-</span></span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10.5pt;color:black;" >Because science and technology, as products of human creativity, are and endless source of amazement and great ways of having a great time. All citizens have the right to enjoy them.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10.5pt;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10.5pt;color:black;" ><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10.5pt;color:black;" >For these, and many other reasons, long live the Science and Technology Week! I only wish it could last all year long.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:medium;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; text-align: left;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;font-size:14px;" ><p style="text-align: right;">(translated by<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.quetienenencomun.blogspot.com/" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);">Adrián Robles Benavides</a>)</p><p style="text-align: right;"><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span>To receive<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Science for pleasure<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>weekly</span></span><br /><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span>in your email,<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=2585559&loc=en_US" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);">subscribe here!</a></span></span></p></span></span><br /><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10.5pt;color:black;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p>Martín Bonfil Oliverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05286138874576064756noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114603268251970552.post-87880583767273528442009-10-21T11:10:00.000-07:002009-11-12T10:49:11.705-08:00An award for Cotija cheeseBy <a href="http://martinbonfil.com/"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Martín Bonfil Olivera</span></a><br /><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:100%;" ><i>Published in </i><a href="http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8660468"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Milenio Diario</span></a><i>, October 21th, 2009</i></span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><o:p><br /></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><o:p><br /></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnbWUKHBM91b6pHxR4h8vsaTgKCtSjS1iwzcaALVtOqacPRzwGXDYMkrAcXWXjqv2LOevncDJJACzuQQvzf4tZsztEAjplVpGUOvDTPY2ibT0hSbW54C3G8osw7hFBs4Hq0dXgsnG8-sw/s1600-h/QUESO-COTIJA-MED.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 281px; height: 273px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnbWUKHBM91b6pHxR4h8vsaTgKCtSjS1iwzcaALVtOqacPRzwGXDYMkrAcXWXjqv2LOevncDJJACzuQQvzf4tZsztEAjplVpGUOvDTPY2ibT0hSbW54C3G8osw7hFBs4Hq0dXgsnG8-sw/s400/QUESO-COTIJA-MED.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403288673145538354" border="0" /></a><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><a href="http://scienceforpleasure.blogspot.com/2009/11/marvelous-ribosome.html">Last week</a> we talked about the Chemistry Nobel prize, awarded for the solving of the structure of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ribosome"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">ribosome</span></a>, the cell's protein factory. Today let's talk about <a href="http://www.quesocotija.com.mx/index.php?lang=en"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Cotija cheese</span></a>.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" >There's a link. Bear with me: an investigator from the Chemistry School at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Dr. Maricarmen Quirasco, and her master's-degree student Alma Berenice Zúñiga, <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&hl=es&js=y&u=http://www.dgcs.unam.mx/boletin/bdboletin/2009_611.html&sl=es&tl=en&history_state0=" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">have just won </span></a>the National Award for Food Science and Technology, given by Coca-Cola and the National Council for Science and Technology (Conacyt), a <a href="http://www.pncta.com.mx/pages/pncta_investigaciones_09b.asp" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">study</span></a> in which they identify and characterize the main microorganisms that live in the Cotija cheese.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" >Microbes in a cheese? If you're a fan of this </span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotija_%28cheese%29"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">appreciated cheese</span></a>, which has been hand-produced for 450 years by about 200 families in the Jalmich mountains, close to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotija,_Michoac%C3%A1n"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Cotija, Michoacán</span></a>, you could worry about this. Don't. The study by Quirasco and Zúñiga seeks a better understanding of the manufacturing process of this aromatic and nutritive cheese (in <a href="http://www.pncta.com.mx/pages/pncta_investigaciones_08h.asp?page=08e21" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">another study</span></a>, the same group discovered it has healthy antioxidant properties), in order to protect it and improve it.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" >The thing is, the production of almost <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheese"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">any cheese</span></a> needs the so called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactic_acid_bacteria"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">lactic bacteria</span></a>, which turn milk sugar (lactose) into lactic acid. This increases acidity and causes the milk proteins to curdle, thus transforming into cheese. Many other dairy products, such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoghurt"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">yoghurt</span></a>, <span style="">are also teeming with </span>microorganisms.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu2O_qJlqFi1pxo561jDQiNCOxJI3WKuauSN_Om81AFON8ZSnTwna0kBmpufuFGOJ5Zww52ZBq3JJDyy0a-Y6AW2RI03bkhj11Szj3QnneggnG79Ff45RiDCg1B5qyNljHsVJHp7VWQPY/s1600-h/tostada.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 153px; height: 114px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu2O_qJlqFi1pxo561jDQiNCOxJI3WKuauSN_Om81AFON8ZSnTwna0kBmpufuFGOJ5Zww52ZBq3JJDyy0a-Y6AW2RI03bkhj11Szj3QnneggnG79Ff45RiDCg1B5qyNljHsVJHp7VWQPY/s400/tostada.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403288993511923714" border="0" /></a><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" >But in the manufacturing of the Cotija cheese, made with non-pasteurized milk, there's an actual microscopic ecosystem living there, in which there is competition between species and </span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" >survival </span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" >. To study it, Quirasco and Zúñiga used modern molecular techniques: they studied the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ribosomal_RNA"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">ribosomal RNA</span></a> </span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" >genes </span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" >–the main component of ribosomes, here's the link– from bacteria.<span style=""> </span>These genes are used to identify species because <span style="font-style: italic;">all </span>cells have ribosomes; when comparing them, their differences are detected and make it possible to identify them.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" >The study revealed that, during the ripening process of the cheese, which takes from three months to one year, the competition wipes out all possible pathogen bacteria, which guarantees the cheese's hygiene. <span style=""> </span>And the knowledge gainwill allow, in the future, to standardize the production process and to help manufacturers obtain </span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" >the "denomination of </span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" >origin" (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protected_Geographical_Status">Protected Geographical Status</a>)</span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" >, with which they could fight unfair competition from "Cotija type" cheeses, some of them even coming from abroad, that are supplanting the original.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" >In other words: first-class food science, done at UNAM, that will benefit Mexican producers.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%; text-align: right;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" >(By the way, you are not necesarily interested in this, but Maricarmen Quirasco and yours truly were together when studying pharmaco-biological chemistry at UNAM, and I admired her great intelligence and dedication to work since the time we studied at National High School number 6. Honestly, congratulations Maricarmen! </span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" lang="ES-MX" >Read her article of the Cotija cheese, </span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" ><a href="http://www.uaemex.mx/Culinaria/numero_5/art_02.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="" lang="ES-MX"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">here</span></span></a></span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;color:black;" lang="ES-MX" >)</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%; text-align: right;" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:medium;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; text-align: left;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;font-size:14px;" ><p style="text-align: right;">(translated by<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.quetienenencomun.blogspot.com/" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);">Adrián Robles Benavides</a>)</p><p style="text-align: right;"><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span>To receive<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Science for pleasure<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span>weekly</span></span><br /><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span>in your email,<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=2585559&loc=en_US" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);">subscribe here!</a></span></span></p><p style="text-align: right;"><br /><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span></span></span></p></span></span></p>Martín Bonfil Oliverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05286138874576064756noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114603268251970552.post-3797292429985435052009-10-14T10:06:00.000-07:002009-11-11T11:14:56.914-08:00The amazing ribosome<div><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >By <a href="http://martinbonfil.com/"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Martín Bonfil Olivera</span></a> <i><br />Published in </i><a href="http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8657026"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Milenio Diario</span></a><i>, October 14th, 2009<br /><br /></i></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNRkEHcx78vnLMSKxLVWyi73avU-TTUU41hVXPk2_G7tsApYgIcYMQFix-zVX75eOAqCQ63FmKwcVngn9FSwYI0cBUNjl1hBU04V2LFhNfI0tVNokCrE00U779P15tMtjH7XlFw2x7vlc/s1600-h/1-ribosome.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 285px; height: 248px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNRkEHcx78vnLMSKxLVWyi73avU-TTUU41hVXPk2_G7tsApYgIcYMQFix-zVX75eOAqCQ63FmKwcVngn9FSwYI0cBUNjl1hBU04V2LFhNfI0tVNokCrE00U779P15tMtjH7XlFw2x7vlc/s400/1-ribosome.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5402916952847295026" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >The <a href="http://scientificinquiry.suite101.com/article.cfm/ribosome_structure_chemistry_nobel_prize_2009"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">chemistry Nobel prize</span></a> thrilled me even more than the one for <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/10/05/nobel.medicine/"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Medicine</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >It was given to </span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Venkatraman Ramakrishnan (Hindu, </span></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">nationalized </span></span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">American, but living in <st1:country-region st="on">Great Britain</st1:country-region>), Thomas Steitz (<st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">United States</st1:country-region></st1:place>) and Ada Yonath (Israeli) because of "</span><a href="http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/2009/"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">their studies about the structure and function of the ribosome</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">".<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" ></span> <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >If, like I mentioned <a href="http://scienceforpleasure.blogspot.com/2009/10/nobel-telomere.html">last week</a>, enzymes are amazing molecular machines that practically carry out all the functions of a living cell, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ribosome"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">ribosomes</span></a> are an real automatized factories that manufacture, with absolute precision, each one of the thousands of different proteins we need to be alive.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >A ribosome is a complex structure made of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rna"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">ribonucleic acid</span></a> (the one-strand cousin of DNA) and many proteins.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >It has some fixed parts, and other that move with robotic precision to assemble, in a matter of minutes, and from reading the information coming from DNA, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">proteins</span></a> made up by thousands of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amino_acid"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">amino acids</span></a>, strung together as pearls in a necklace.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >The achievement of the Nobel winners was to localize with great precision each one of the hundreds of thousands of atoms that form a ribosome, and this has allowed them to understand their functioning in atomic detail. They used <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-ray_crystallography"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">X ray crystallography</span></a>, a technique developed in the beginning of the 20<sup>th</sup> century (and the same one that allowed Watson and Crick to <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/crick_and_watson.shtml"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">discover the DNA double helix structure in 1953</span></a> --a structure</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >, I might add</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >, infinitely simpler than a ribosome).<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >To achieve this, they first </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >had to </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >obtain perfectly arranged </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >crystals </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >formed by pure ribosomes. It took them almost 20 years.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >But to see atoms, one cannot use an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_microscope"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">optical microscope</span></a>, not even an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Microscope"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">electron microscope</span></a>. Only X rays have the necessary finesse. And no lens can focus them to form images: you have to gather the group of stains formed as the X rays travel through the crystals (originally the stains were captured on photographic film, but today they are captured by a couple charged device or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charge-coupled_device"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">CCD</span></a>, the invention that this year won the <a href="http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2009/"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Physics Nobel prize</span></a>) and using computers to mathematically process data.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >The result? Computerized models that reveal, with a very high level of detail, each screw and bolt of these wonderful <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jml8CFBWcDs&feature=related"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">molecular nano-factories</span></a>.</span></p><p><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Jml8CFBWcDs&hl=es&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Jml8CFBWcDs&hl=es&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >As an additional benefit, these models are allowing scientist to develop new <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antibiotics"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">antibiotics</span></a> that work like monkey wrenches tossed into the ribosomes of bacteria that make us sick.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" ></span> <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >Yes, I loved this year's </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >chemistry Nobel</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >. Too bad that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Noller"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Harry Noller</span></a>, one of the giants of ribosome research, was left out of the prize, which can only be given to three persons.</span></p><p style="text-align: right;">(translated by<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.quetienenencomun.blogspot.com/" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);">Adrián Robles Benavides</a>)</p><p style="text-align: right;"><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span>To receive<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Science for pleasure<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></span></span></span>weekly</span></span><br /><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span>in your email,<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=2585559&loc=en_US" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);">subscribe here!</a></span></span></p><p style="text-align: right;"><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span><br /></span></span></p></div>Martín Bonfil Oliverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05286138874576064756noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114603268251970552.post-83959248922606513992009-10-07T21:51:00.000-07:002009-11-02T22:47:27.081-08:00The Nobel telomere<div> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >By <a href="http://martinbonfil.com/"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Martín Bonfil Olivera</span></a> <i><br />Published in </i><a href="http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8653317"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Milenio Diario</span></a><i>, October 7th, 2009</i></span></p> <p> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHHl1ykEEZx7PiKQl8DvR7sf9sXRmLAUCQA8EfDPbb5_ifkcaUx-uV9N4L0GSR6y35Nb5yfYgFZxCNvviEWQpu-aMeq9ziTFdAl0ahlA29fy4mzvsc0A311Uuih5GfZYab3aKbER5ZTmU/s1600-h/telomeros.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 431px; height: 209px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHHl1ykEEZx7PiKQl8DvR7sf9sXRmLAUCQA8EfDPbb5_ifkcaUx-uV9N4L0GSR6y35Nb5yfYgFZxCNvviEWQpu-aMeq9ziTFdAl0ahlA29fy4mzvsc0A311Uuih5GfZYab3aKbER5ZTmU/s400/telomeros.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399762279325763186" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >Nobel prizes are always exciting. This year's <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/id/216772"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Physiology or Medicine</span></a> prize reveals fascinating basic science about our cells which might have revolutionary applications in health.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" ></span> <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >It was awarded, according to the <a href="http://nobelprize.org/cgi-bin/print?from=/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2009/index.html"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Nobel committee</span></a> at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karolinska_Institutet"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Karolinska Institute</span></a> in <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Sweden</st1:country-region></st1:place>, "for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase", a discovery made by investigators Elizabeth Blackburn, her colleague Jack W. Szostak and her student Carol Greider.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >The genetic information of living beings is written in the molecule of deoxyribonucleic acid, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dna"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">DNA</span></a>, which form tangles called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromosome"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">chromosomes</span></a> within the nuclei on each of our cells.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >Each chromosome is formed by a single, very long, DNA molecule. When it has to be <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_replication"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">copied</span></a>, before the cell divides in two, the task is performed by an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enzyme"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">enzyme</span></a> molecular machine made of protein.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p> <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >Picture it <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfZ8o9D1tus"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">like this</span></a>: the famous DNA double helix is like a train railway. To copy it, both rails are separated and the enzyme slides over each one, reading the letters that form it and inserting the corresponding letters on the other side. Like a little train that advances in a rail, constructing the opposing rail. In the end, we have two complete and identical railways.</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" ><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/hfZ8o9D1tus&hl=es&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/hfZ8o9D1tus&hl=es&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br /></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" ><br /></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" ><span style="font-size:85%;">(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfZ8o9D1tus)</span><br /></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >But when </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >the enzyme </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >reaches the end of the rail, </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >it </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >cannot advance any longer, and does not construct the last span of the opposing rail. Each time that a chromosome is copied, their tips (<i style=""><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telomeres"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">telomeres</span></a></i>, from the greek <i style="">telos</i>, end, and <i style="">meros</i>, part) would shorten!<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >Using a very ingenious experiment, <st1:place st="on">Blackburn</st1:place> and Szostak discovered in 1982 that telomeres protect chromosomes so they are not destroyed. They constructed mini-chromosomes and </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >added </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >telomeres to some, but not all, of them. When they inserted the chromosomes inside cells, those with telomeres survived, but the ones that didn't have them were rapidly eliminated.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >And in 1984 (Christmas day!), <st1:place st="on">Blackburn</st1:place> and Greider discovered another enzyme that allows telomeres to maintain their size. It achieves it because it has a mold with the correct letter sequence (CCCCAA) that have to be inserted in each tip of DNA. They named it "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telomerase"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">telomerase</span></a>" (the termination "ase" in biochemistry indicated an enzyme).<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >Today we know that telomeres and telomerase play a role in aging and cellular death (when telomeres are shortened) and influence the uncontrolled multiplication of cancerous cells (because their telomerase is very active and their telomeres are not shortened). There are even <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2745192/"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">vaccines</span></a> in development to try to fight cancer by inactivating the telomerase of tumors.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" ></span> <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >Basic science, motivated by simple curiosity, offers a new medical promise, although a far one.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; text-align: left;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;font-size:14px;" ><p style="text-align: right;">(translated by<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.quetienenencomun.blogspot.com/" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);">Adrián Robles Benavides</a>)</p><p style="text-align: right;"><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span>To receive<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Science for pleasure<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></span></span></span>weekly</span></span><br /><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span>in your email,<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=2585559&loc=en_US" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);">subscribe here!</a></span></span></p><p style="text-align: right;"><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span></span></span><br /></p></span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p></div>Martín Bonfil Oliverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05286138874576064756noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114603268251970552.post-84155815796881005542009-09-30T12:49:00.000-07:002009-10-21T13:26:33.400-07:00Bad science-fiction<p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >By <a href="http://martinbonfil.com/"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Martín Bonfil Olivera</span></a> <i><br />Published in </i><a href="http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8649125"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Milenio Diario</span></a><i>, September 30, 2009</i><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZMBJBxwWVn6gh5qo5sZleL4z9MarX9KyPvBPk55x5AyC-mSpjC6q3UtCfTDjoJae70JXPd2xxDWpe-jR8JgzoW5xFMuXNUG8FS71GgPdNehLwDZP2UUw9K6s10U5KeHWAPunFn-I1R48/s1600-h/scio_package.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 277px; height: 169px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZMBJBxwWVn6gh5qo5sZleL4z9MarX9KyPvBPk55x5AyC-mSpjC6q3UtCfTDjoJae70JXPd2xxDWpe-jR8JgzoW5xFMuXNUG8FS71GgPdNehLwDZP2UUw9K6s10U5KeHWAPunFn-I1R48/s400/scio_package.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5395152215388549010" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" ><a href="http://scienceforpleasure.blogspot.com/2009/09/good-science-fiction.html">Last week</a> I commented that good science fiction combines genuine science and imagination, and obtains stimulant stories that reveal something about human nature or about current or future societies.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >On the contrary, bad science fiction constructs fantasies that "sound" scientific but are not based in legitimate scientific knowledge, and many times openly contradict it. It usually presents amazing technology, some of it real (laser beams, computers, robots) and some less plausible or plainly impossible (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Force_fields"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">force fields</span></a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_travel"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">time machines</span></a>) to sustain the drama which is actually just adventures. It's simply fantasy with a science flavour. Movies such as <i style=""><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_wars"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Star Wars</span></a></i> and a lot of what is transmitted in TV as "science fiction" are clear examples.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >But still, bad science fiction is an honest entertainment. The problem is that there are also mixtures of science and fiction which are dishonest: think of the innumerable quacks and charlatan scams that claim to have discovered new scientific principles and to possess the "secrets" to cure any disease.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >Let's take a popular example. What if there was a machine capable of healing us just by being connected to it?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >An American guy that calls himself "professor" <a href="http://www.theqxci.com/qxci_nelson.html"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">William Nelson</span></a>, and affirms to have worked in the Apollo project for NASA, moved to Budapest and started manufacturing a machine that "restores the bio-energetic balance of the body".<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >He calls it SCIO, for <i>Scientific Consciousness Interface Operation</i><span style=""> (also known as EPFX, QXCI or </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electro_Physiological_Feedback_Xrroid"><i><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Quantum Xrroid</span></i></a><i> Interface System</i><span style="">; all these name don't have any meaning whatsoever, of course).<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" ><a href="http://www.badscience.net/2008/08/bill-nelson-wins-the-internet/"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Nelson looks</span></a> just like what he actually is: a <a href="http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/Tests/xrroidsuit.html"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">full blown charlatan</span></a>, a fraud. But he is a <a href="http://www.myquantumwellness.com/purchase_a_scio.htm"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">great seller</span></a> and his machine is popular in a lot of countries, including <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Mexico</st1:place></st1:country-region>. The number of quacks that offer "treatments" with this almost-magical machine is rising, as well as the number of their customers, which are really only victims of their own <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magical_thinking"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">wishful thinking</span></a> and of the ignorance or malevolence of the so called "therapists". The scam</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" > is also dangerous</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >, because it claims to substitute legitimate medical treatments.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >Good science fiction is not about <span style="font-style: italic;">impossible </span>things, but, precisely, about the things science considers <span style="font-style: italic;">possible</span>, and starting from there, it constructs fantasies. In contrast, the SCIO machine, whose ale in the USA, by the way, </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" ><a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/PrintStory.pl?document_id=2004061364&zsection_id=2003960373&slug=miracle09m&date=20071209"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">is prohibited</span></a> under <a href="http://www.newsinferno.com/archives/11605"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">charges of fraud</span></a>, is bad science and bad fiction: a lie and a disrespect to the intelligence and good faith of <a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004020583_miracle18m2.html"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">people in pain</span></a>.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:medium;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; text-align: left;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;font-size:14px;" ><p style="text-align: right;">(translated by<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.quetienenencomun.blogspot.com/" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);">Adrián Robles Benavides</a>)</p><p style="text-align: right;"><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span>To receive<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Science for pleasure<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></span></span></span>weekly</span></span><br /><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span>in your email,<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=2585559&loc=en_US" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);">subscribe here!</a></span></span></p><p style="text-align: right;"><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span><a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=2585559&loc=en_US" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);"><br /></a></span></span></p></span></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" ><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>Martín Bonfil Oliverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05286138874576064756noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114603268251970552.post-10478073132596705432009-09-23T07:11:00.000-07:002009-10-19T07:51:52.445-07:00Good science-fiction<span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >By <a href="http://martinbonfil.com/"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Martín Bonfil Olivera</span></a> <o:p></o:p></span><div> <p style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >Published in </span></i><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" ><a href="http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8645607"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Milenio Diario</span></a><i>, September 23, 2009</i><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzhe3lsrVXN-SehzzUTW_eYfVyQNB3xK6i4Iqr2ZkpM_vP59lwm3tWLTcEMiW5SLAyjl3OXhh_Q6-m9ZtILGmrknxARWaM25zksrpAl8l7g1MJd72I7ZAq39uhnWPg7W6AiRNBJyGm624/s1600-h/Gel+azul.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 255px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzhe3lsrVXN-SehzzUTW_eYfVyQNB3xK6i4Iqr2ZkpM_vP59lwm3tWLTcEMiW5SLAyjl3OXhh_Q6-m9ZtILGmrknxARWaM25zksrpAl8l7g1MJd72I7ZAq39uhnWPg7W6AiRNBJyGm624/s400/Gel+azul.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5394321006866877154" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >I'm a fan of good <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_fiction"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">science-fiction</span></a>: the one that, as the name implies, joins science with fiction to see what this union produces.<o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >In good science-fiction, fiction <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&hl=es&js=y&u=http://2culturas.blogspot.com/search%3Fq%3Dciencia%2Bficci%25C3%25B3n&sl=es&tl=en&history_state0="> starts</a> from authentic scientific knowledge and extends it through imagination to obtain stimulating and even revealing</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" > stories</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >. (Less frequently, science obtains from fiction the inspiration to make explorations that show new worlds, or new possibilities).<o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >I'm not a deep <span style="font-style: italic;">connoisseur</span>, but I greatly enjoy the classics, such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_asimov"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Isaac Asimov</span></a>. I have just delighted re-reading his excellent book of short stories, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Martian_Way_and_Other_Stories"><i style="">The martian way</i></a> (1955).<o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >And I know </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >even </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >less about Mexican science fiction. But I have just finished a stupendous book, <i style="">Gel azul (Blue gel</i>, Suma de letras, 2009), a pair of short stories from <a href="http://monorama.blogspot.com/2006/02/ciencia-contra-magia-ayer-mi-amigo.html">my friend</a> Bernardo Fernández, known as <i style=""><a href="http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernardo_fern%C3%A1ndez">Bef</a>,</i> one of the best contemporaneous Mexican <a href="http://kallikanzari.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">cartoonists</span></a> (or <span style="font-style: italic;">moneros</span>, as he would put it).<o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >The already famous <i style="">Bef</i> has built himself a second reputation as a novelist, wining prizes in <st1:country-region st="on">Mexico</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Spain</st1:place></st1:country-region>. His detective-style novel <a href="http://www.gandhi.com.mx/index.cfm/id/Producto/dept/libros/pid/290292"><em><u><span style="color: rgb(45, 137, 48);font-family:Verdana;" >Tiempo de alacranes</span></u></em></a> (Joaquín Mort</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >iz, 2005) won one in the <a href="http://www.vespito.net/taibo/eng/schw.html">Semana Negra de Guijón</a> (Black Week at Guijón, Spain), and <span style="font-style: italic;">Gel azul </span>won the </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" ><a href="http://tienda.cyberdark.net/premios-ignotus.php"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Ignotus</span></a> prize. It deserved it.</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >The point is that <i style="">Bef</i> is a great story-teller: intelligent, precise, efficient, charming, sensitive. In his novels, his obsessions are recurrent: the </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >filthy, violent, unsuccessful, </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >fallen-on-hard-times detective who, deep inside, is very likeable; the cute girl, unreachable and bitchy; the mystery to be solved; the fight against mafia, be it dealers or organ-stealers from those who dream a blue-tinted virtual dream while connected to the web.<o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >It is worth to try to find it (sorry, no translation to English yet). It made me happy, made me think and I spent a really good time.<o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >Because is hard to live in a city and in a country where such terrible things happen. Epidemics. Drought and then a flooding. Two crimes inspired by crazy men "inspired by god" (although in last Friday's <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/09/19/mexico.subway.shooting/index.html"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">shooting</span></a> at the Mexico City Balderas subway station, it was also a <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&hl=es&js=y&u=http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8643919&sl=es&tl=en&history_state0="> Christian believer</a> the only civilian that confronted the criminal: its clear that </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >fanatics, not </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >religion, are the problem).<o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >It is not only legitimate, but sometimes necessary to find a useful evasion. No doubt, novels like Asmov's and <span style="font-style: italic;">Bef</span>'s are two excellent choices.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="text-align: right;"><i style=""><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >(By the way, the cover posted its not the Mexican edition of </span></i><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >Gel azul</span><i style=""><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >, it's the Spanish one… I liked it better, it's drawn by<span style=""> </span><a href="http://www.el-bulbo.com/elbulbo/Home.html"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Bachán</span></a><span style="">.)</span></span></i></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:medium;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; text-align: left;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;font-size:14px;" ><p style="text-align: right;">(translated by<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.quetienenencomun.blogspot.com/" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);">Adrián Robles Benavides</a>)</p><p style="text-align: right;"><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span>To receive<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Science for pleasure<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></span></span>weekly</span></span><br /><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span>in your email,<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></span><a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=2585559&loc=en_US" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);">subscribe here!</a></span></span></p></span></span><br /><i style=""><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" ><span style=""></span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p></div>Martín Bonfil Oliverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05286138874576064756noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114603268251970552.post-60076407685573486122009-09-16T07:48:00.000-07:002009-10-13T08:19:02.840-07:00Crazyness and losses<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:16px;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; text-align: left;font-family:Verdana;font-size:15px;" >By<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://martinbonfil.com/" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Martín Bonfil Olivera</span></a><i><br /></i></span></span><i><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >Published on </span></i><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" ><a href="http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8641906"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Milenio Diario</span></a><i>, september 16, 2009</i><o:p></o:p></span> <p style="text-align: right;" align="right"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" ><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGY9_mvpdUTv7X1QhyphenhyphentnRxGcrdq_DU3iUaHi0WOH27lN83FMiVpGMvH2AdW2toTn0HmZrHyOP72lalmv7QZov4qpT0z_F9FWnuJU48PjdGAq8yhL1Jd40lPKhb7jNnXhBUPat9Lvg8B8w/s1600-h/AntonioSanchez.jpg"><span style="color: rgb(45, 137, 48);"><v:shapetype id="_x0000_t75" coordsize="21600,21600" spt="75" preferrelative="t" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" filled="f" stroked="f"><v:stroke joinstyle="miter"></v:stroke><v:formulas><v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"></v:f></v:formulas><v:path extrusionok="f" gradientshapeok="t" connecttype="rect"></v:path><o:lock ext="edit" aspectratio="t"></o:lock></v:shapetype></span></a><span style="font-style: italic;">I</span></span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" ><span style="font-style: italic;">n memory of </span><i style="font-style: italic;">Antonio Sánchez Ibarra</i><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm9O8BMcx09JGy7myE_3MaCdix6lBtSyIMrc-vkV9__C18nWJOlK7aBwiB3H-DBY0FT47B0lndimjBGydiJ5NoakzHJ1pbAkUDhWsMzuDcLzkyeEHcAZpk8rl1AOz1iqwTXQWtZayU_h8/s1600-h/AntonioSanchez.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm9O8BMcx09JGy7myE_3MaCdix6lBtSyIMrc-vkV9__C18nWJOlK7aBwiB3H-DBY0FT47B0lndimjBGydiJ5NoakzHJ1pbAkUDhWsMzuDcLzkyeEHcAZpk8rl1AOz1iqwTXQWtZayU_h8/s400/AntonioSanchez.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392102293666690306" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >Yesterday, Roberto Garza in <i style="">MILENIO DIARIO</i> <a href="http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8641190"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">proposed</span></a> that the activation of the pleasure brain centers that make people become drug addicts –or alcohol addicts, I might add- can explain why frequently "the most compulsive drug addicts are 'saved' by throwing themselves into a sudden religious conversion".<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >On the same page, religion expert <a href="http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8641187"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Roberto Blancarte</span></a> judged that </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >the important thing</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" > is not whether we are dealing with a crazy person or somebody that really "talks with god", but to value their actions and sanction them in consequence, whatever their motives.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >The truth is that <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE5885K420090909"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">the actions</span></a> of evangelic priest José Mar Flores Pereyra, "highjacker" of a Mexicana airplane on 9/9/9 caused direct damages -and also indirect ones, through the wild speculations they </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >generated</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >Some people would like to directly blame his religious beliefs. I think this is a non-justified generalization that can spur discrimination against those who profess non-catholic religions.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >We atheists and freethinkers tend to think that religions foster superstition and magical thinking. Personally, I think that religious thinking and rationality are not compatible (the great biologist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Dawkins"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Richard Dawkins</span></a>, a furious promoter of atheism, of whom recently </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >Blancarte spoke in his <a href="http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8618655"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">column</span></a>, argues that to indoctrinate kids in </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >religious faith </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >is a form of <a href="http://www.mwillett.org/atheism/religion-is-child-abuse.htm"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">child abuse</span></a>).<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >But I think we have to distinguish between individual actions and group actions. (Although we have to, also, be careful with fanatics: the mother and wife of "Josmar" unconditionally approve of his craziness. And <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">France</st1:place></st1:country-region> is having serious problems with sects such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology">scientology</a>, as <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8066743.stm"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">reported</span></a> yesterday in <span style="font-style: italic;">Milenio Diario</span>.)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >It is not a minor problem. Without a doubt, part of the solution lies in the promotion of scientific and rational thinking (which are, actually, the same thing).<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >That's why I am very sorry for the loss, <a href="http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=es&sl=es&tl=en&u=http://www.canalsonora.com/noticias/secciones/local.asp%3Farticleid%3D11587%26zoneid%3D3&prev=hp&rurl=translate.google.com&usg=ALkJrhh3eINl_VmnoIwwDRzCHrPfycF_Jg"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">last Sunday</span></a>, of a great friend of mine and a great Mexican promoter of </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >science</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >: <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&hl=es&js=y&u=http://cosmos.astro.uson.mx/asi.htm&sl=es&tl=en&history_state0="><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Antonio Sánchez Ibarra</span></a>, from Sonora, a state in the northern part of Mexico, winner of the National Prize for Science Popularization in 2000, and an enthusiastic promoter of a lot of projects</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" > for the </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >diffusion </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >of astronomy</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >, not only in the North of our Country, but in all of Latin America as well.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" >We certainly could use more promoters like him in our country.</span></p><p style="text-align: right;">(translated by<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span><a href="http://www.quetienenencomun.blogspot.com/" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);">Adrián Robles Benavides</a>)</p><p style="text-align: right;"><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span>To receive<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Science for pleasure<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></span>weekly</span></span><br /><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span>in your email,<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span><a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=2585559&loc=en_US" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);">subscribe her</a></span></span></p><p><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p>Martín Bonfil Oliverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05286138874576064756noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114603268251970552.post-12336765732805173682009-09-09T18:48:00.000-07:002009-09-24T17:39:45.657-07:00Inmegen: ¿good or bad news?<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; text-align: left;font-family:Verdana;font-size:15px;">By<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://martinbonfil.com/" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Martín Bonfil Olivera</span></a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i><br />Published in<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i><a href="http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8638296" style="color: rgb(68, 136, 136);"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Milenio Diario</span></a><i>, September 9th, 2009</i></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; text-align: left;font-family:Verdana;font-size:15px;"><i><br /></i></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPEbZixBiMPWJGoTXxiaoQsUOnQi7OSpCFUkHX_G-pGWoddrG93Tqn04E1dz3PSJbbY3-ovuh1w3wT-kliO6svnBqVRn7_pPVPY6DAoFlUYkSExGbJVQ9KYGkA4kIArVxYY3SP7z-ZJGE/s1600-h/paco-calderon-genoma.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 311px; height: 231px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPEbZixBiMPWJGoTXxiaoQsUOnQi7OSpCFUkHX_G-pGWoddrG93Tqn04E1dz3PSJbbY3-ovuh1w3wT-kliO6svnBqVRn7_pPVPY6DAoFlUYkSExGbJVQ9KYGkA4kIArVxYY3SP7z-ZJGE/s400/paco-calderon-genoma.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381510914140888466" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;">On August 26 mexican newspaper <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&hl=es&js=y&u=http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8630480&sl=es&tl=en&history_state0=&swap=1" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">MILENIO Diario</span></i></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);"> reported </span>that the Federal budget for 2010 will feature a 47% </span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;">cut </span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;">to the National Institute of Genomic Medicine (<a href="http://www.inmegen.gob.mx/index.php?lang=en" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Inmegen</span></a>). 120 million pesos less (from 252 in 2009 to 132 in 2010).<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;">The natural reaction would be anger, sadness or resignation in view of another example of the lack or value our government assigns to scientific research. Inmegen would be an isolated step in the right direction, and this cut is a worrying symptom against which we should protest. This is what Gerardo Jiménez, the Institute's head, </span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;">did when he </span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;"><a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&hl=es&js=y&u=http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8630480&sl=es&tl=en&history_state0=&swap=1" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">declared </span></a>that the decision "puts several projects of scientific research related to the study of chronic and degenerative diseases </span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;">at risk"</span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;">.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;">But there's another side of the coin. Inmegen has been <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&hl=es&js=y&u=http://cuestionableinmegen.blogspot.com/&sl=es&tl=en&history_state0=&swap=1" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">questioned from several fronts</span></a>. The most serious one is about <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&hl=es&js=y&u=http://semanal.milenio.com/node/702&sl=es&tl=en&history_state0=&swap=1" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">corruption </span></a>in the construction of their building, started in 2006 and today still unfinished and <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&hl=es&js=y&u=http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8582161&sl=es&tl=en&history_state0=&swap=1" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">abandoned</span></a>. Several damages to the Federal Treasure were identified, worth 33 million pesos, as well as overexpenses for 78 million (111 million in total). Its administrative director was <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&hl=es&js=y&u=http://www.elporvenir.com.mx/notas.asp%3Fnota_id%3D336293&sl=es&tl=en&history_state0=&swap=1" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">fined with almost 3 million </span></a>and incapacitated for 10 years by the <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&hl=es&js=y&u=http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2009/09/09/index.php%3Fsection%3Dpolitica%26article%3D009n1pol&sl=es&tl=en&history_state0=&swap=1" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">recently disappeared</span></a> Public Function Ministry (the architect </span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;">responsible of the building </span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;">was also incapacitated, for 15 years).<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;">And the science being done at Inmegen also has its own <a href="http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46920">problems</a>. Their relatively modest study of "<a href="http://scienceforpleasure.blogspot.com/2009/04/mexican-genome-my-foot.html"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">the Mexican genome</span></a>" was artificially blown up to turn it, according to Mexican president Felipe Calderón, into "<a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&hl=es&js=y&u=http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8573975&sl=es&tl=en&history_state0=&swap=1" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">our entrance </span></a>into XXI century medicine". The still distant benefits of genomic medicine have been </span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;">exaggerated wildly</span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;">. Its capacity for sequencing (reading) genomes, under-used during the influenza epidemic, has now been exceeded by the National University (UNAM), which –even with its ever-present limitations and its budget problems</span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;">–</span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;"> <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&hl=es&js=y&u=http://www.milenio.com/node/280645&sl=es&tl=en&history_state0=&swap=1" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">has just inaugurated </span></a>superior installations. And its reductionist approach, patent in talk of "Mexican" or "<a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&hl=es&js=y&u=http://www.elreporterodelacomunidad.com/vernoticias.php%3Fartid%3D76540%26tipo%3Dgeneral%26cat%3D6%26relacion%3Delreporterodelacomunidad&sl=es&tl=en&history_state0=&swap=1" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">sonoran</span></a>" (from the mexican state of Sonora) </span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;">genomes</span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;">, is biologically and even <a href="http://gmobuelna.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/2424.jpg" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">ethically</span></a> questionable.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;">The traditional <a href="http://www.stevesachs.com/mcmexico/sleeping-mexican.jpg">image</a> of Mexicans is one of lazyness: a guy with a big "sombrero" and a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarape"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">sarape</span></a> sleeping against a cactus. I think our real problem is one of perseverance: when necessary, we are able to start taking actions to solve our problems.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;">But sadly, we do not follow up. We build the road but don't give it maintenance. We created a Federal Elections Institute, but we didn't protect it so it wouldn't fall apart and loose all credibility. We created the Inmegen, but we don't guarantee it an </span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;">appropriate </span><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;">building, personnel nor budget, and we don't ensure that budget is spent honestly.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;">What a waste.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; text-align: left;font-family:Verdana;font-size:14px;"></span></span></p><p style="text-align: right;">(translated by<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span><a href="http://www.quetienenencomun.blogspot.com/" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);">Adrián Robles Benavides</a>)</p><p style="text-align: right;"><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span>To receive<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Science for pleasure<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></span>weekly</span></span><br /><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span>in your email,<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span><a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=2585559&loc=en_US" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);">subscribe her</a></span></span></p><br /><span style=";font-family:Verdana;font-size:10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>Martín Bonfil Oliverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05286138874576064756noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114603268251970552.post-60796685785087620792009-09-01T19:12:00.000-07:002009-09-14T16:19:39.590-07:00Social sciences<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:11pt;">By <a href="http://martinbonfil.com/"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Martín Bonfil Olivera</span></a> <i><br />Published in </i><a href="http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8634543"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Milenio Diario</span></a><i>, September 1, 2009</i> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9AhFLaJ5YHPEX845SZhrvpGWp2dtX9dssN1VpT_YfuANkmjn5k2qSSKbyZJG4zxXrYAJNLF5JJmE7RbxyEXVjKCztm_Orknh3G7BszXzHIRmevzxQ0-4l21OvdwcmfKj4M-xA7i6_j3k/s1600-h/Miguel_hidalgo.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 226px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9AhFLaJ5YHPEX845SZhrvpGWp2dtX9dssN1VpT_YfuANkmjn5k2qSSKbyZJG4zxXrYAJNLF5JJmE7RbxyEXVjKCztm_Orknh3G7BszXzHIRmevzxQ0-4l21OvdwcmfKj4M-xA7i6_j3k/s400/Miguel_hidalgo.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381149884609841874" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:11pt;">Sometimes, readers give me a hard time because of my occasional mistakes or confusions, or when my comments -normally about politics- don't match their own ideas. Sometimes they accuse me of "speaking about topics in which I'm not an expert". We should remember that a science writer its not a specialist, but a <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&hl=es&js=y&u=http://nodivulgaras.blogspot.com/2005/10/divulgadores-especialistas-o.html&sl=es&tl=en&history_state0=">generalist</a>: he or she communicates science faithfully, but not with the same level of precision or detail an expert is accustomed to.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:11pt;">Still, I just don't seem to learn. Today I will talk about social sciences (in which I'm not an expert, either, but that are also sciences). My thesis is simple: if political actors knew them better, they wouldn't say so many stupid things, they wouldn't make fools of themselves so often, and they wouldn't hurt the rights of citizens so frequently.<o:p></o:p></span><br /></p> <p><i style=""><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:11pt;">Case 1</span></i><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:11pt;">: Felipe Calderón, the man who sits at Mexico's President's Office, states in the National Program for Human Rights, that "he will <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&hl=es&js=y&u=http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8631855&sl=es&tl=en&history_state0=&swap=1">eradicate prostitution</a>" in our Country (the United Nations, program advisor, protests and recommends to attack the problem in an integral manner).<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><i style=""><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:11pt;">Anthropology</span></i><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:11pt;"> and<i style=""> Sociology</i> teach us that prostitution serves an important social function.<o:p></o:p></span><br /></p> <p><i style=""><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:11pt;">Economy</span></i><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:11pt;"> shows that its a service for which citizens are willing to pay: its monetary weight shows its relevance.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:11pt;">And <i style="">Ethics</i> indicates that prostitutes are not criminals, but workers with human rights. What we should do is improve their situation and give them work alternatives.<o:p></o:p></span><br /></p> <p><i style=""><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:11pt;">Case 2</span></i><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:11pt;">: Mexico's archdiocese, through its spokesperson, the arrogant Hugo Valdemar, <a href="http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=342747&CategoryId=14091">demands the "correction"</a> of the National Free Textbooks to make clear that priests and independence heroes <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_Hidalgo"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Miguel Hidalgo</span></a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Mar%C3%ADa_Morelos"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">José María Morelos</span></a> did not die excommunicated; they made peace with their church upon confession before death.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:11pt;">If there are mistakes, they should be corrected. But <i style="">History</i> has a rigor: <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Hidalgo</st1:place></st1:state> and Morelos were judged by the inquisition and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miguel_Hidalgo_y_Costilla#Execution_of_Hidalgo">tortured</a>. The tips of their fingers were scraped with a knife ("we take away your authority to consecrate and bless, which you received with the unction in your hands and fingers", the ceremony stated) and their tonsure was removed; they were degraded and humiliated. It is not strange that they gave up and confessed. Both of them were later executed by a firing squad; <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Hidalgo</st1:place></st1:state>'s head was exhibited in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alh%C3%B3ndiga_de_Granaditas"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Alh<span style="">óndiga de Granaditas</span></span></a></span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:11pt;"> (the public granary) in the city of Guanajuato for nine years.<o:p></o:p></span><br /></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:11pt;">It is simply dishonest that the institution that criminalized them now wants, 200 years later, to manipulate history just to capitalize on their prestige. It would be wrong to consent this… but in view of the <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&hl=es&js=y&u=http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2009/09/01/index.php%3Fsection%3Dsociedad%26article%3D037n1soc&sl=es&tl=en&history_state0=&swap=1">many disastrous errors</a> that are being detected in the <a href="http://basica.sep.gob.mx/seb2008/start.php?act=matedusel">new Public Free Textbooks</a>, we can certainly doubt of the capacity of the decision maker in our Education Ministry.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:11pt;">I may be wrong, but I fear that lack of culture -scientific or not- can be our country's doom.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; text-align: left;font-family:Verdana;font-size:14px;"></span></span></p><p style="text-align: right;">(translated by<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="http://www.quetienenencomun.blogspot.com/" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);">Adrián Robles Benavides</a>)</p><p style="text-align: right;"><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span>To receive<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Science for pleasure<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span>weekly</span></span><br /><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span>in your email,<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=2585559&loc=en_US" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);">subscribe here!</a></span></span></p><p style="text-align: right;"><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span><a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=2585559&loc=en_US" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);"><br /></a></span></span></p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>Martín Bonfil Oliverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05286138874576064756noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114603268251970552.post-62291883172535578122009-08-26T18:33:00.000-07:002009-09-13T19:46:58.366-07:00Other realities<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" >By <a href="http://martinbonfil.com/"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Martín Bonfil Olivera</span></a> <i><br />Published in </i><a href="http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8630468"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Milenio Diario</span></a><i>, August 26, 2009</i></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5W8v1DhxH6HFRFVJAqzcFkq0YRHf2IFofYwfypC2mA3Wbqk2bT-eUwJKOKMcFiVm9SG2xPrFsplqTH_aNuRsZsYPSwEQEE9EA86DWucZdwL_bmhrIzq_sBuWizarkeo1He9fhyphenhyphenGcwJ8E/s1600-h/many+worlds.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 287px; height: 263px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5W8v1DhxH6HFRFVJAqzcFkq0YRHf2IFofYwfypC2mA3Wbqk2bT-eUwJKOKMcFiVm9SG2xPrFsplqTH_aNuRsZsYPSwEQEE9EA86DWucZdwL_bmhrIzq_sBuWizarkeo1He9fhyphenhyphenGcwJ8E/s400/many+worlds.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381136481660359730" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" >In 1957, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Everett_III"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Hugh Everett III</span></a>, a United States physicist with a prince's name (not <i style=""><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupert_Everett"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Rupert <span style="font-style: normal;">Everett</span></span></a></i>, a British actor as, I mistakenly stated in the <a href="http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8630468"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">printed version</span></a> of this column on <i style="">Milenio Diario)</i>, proposed one of the most intellectually </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" >stimulating </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" > ideas in modern physics: the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Many_worlds"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">many-worlds interpretation</span></a> of quantum mechanics.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" >It is not clear whether this theory can be really called "scientific" because, like a lot of cosmology, it does not have direct evidence, although it does have a coherent physical and mathematical background. It tried to solve a big problem of the most popular version of quantum mechanics (the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copenhagen_interpretation"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Copenhagen interpretation</span></a>): that the equations predict that particles can exist in "superposed states", unless these are observed.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" >To ridicule this idea, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erwin_Schr%C3%B6dinger"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Erwin Schrödinger</span></a>, one of the fathers of quantum mechanics, postulated the mental experiment of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schr%C3%B6dinger%27s_cat"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">cat</span></a> that shares his last name, which would be simulotaneously "dead <span style="font-style: italic;">and </span>alive" as long as it is not observed. Something contrary to common sense.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" ><a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=hugh-everett-biography"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Everett's version</span></a> proposed an astonishing solution: the moment the particle -or the cat- is observed, instead of randomly choosing one of the two possibilities, the universe <span style="font-style: italic;">bifurcates</span>, giving birth to two parallel universes: in one universe, the cat lives; in the other one, it dies.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" >Although in a recent interview in <i style=""><a href="http://discovermagazine.com/"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Discover</span></a></i> magazine </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" >mathematical physicist</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" > <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Penrose"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Roger Penrose</span></a>, one of </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" >today's </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" >most brilliant minds, labeled it as "insanity", the fact is that </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" >Everett's </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" >odd -but not absurd- theory still is of interest to a lot of physicists.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" >But in 1941 <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jorge_Luis_Borges"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Jorge Luis Borges</span></a>, one of the glories of Hispano-American literature, had published his extraordinary short story </span><a href="http://courses.essex.ac.uk/lt/lt204/forking_paths.htm"><i style=""><span style=";font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" lang="EN" ><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">The Garden of Forking Paths</span></span></i></a><span style=";font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" lang="EN" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">, where he prefigured the </span></span><span style=";font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" lang="EN" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">many-worlds </span></span><span style=";font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" lang="EN" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">theory. Sometimes the connections between science and literature are as amazing as the most audacious scientific theories.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style=";font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" lang="EN" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" lang="EN" ><o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=";font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" lang="EN" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Last August 24, Borges </span></span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" ><a href="http://english.ohmynews.com/ArticleView/article_view.asp?no=385570&rel_no=1"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">would have turned 110 years old</span></a>. Maybe in another possible reality, where he is more long-lived, he does. In another one, it is normal to be that old.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" >Maybe there are alternate realities where the Mexican educational system is not in wrecks, where future teachers <a href="http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/viewpoints/stories/DN-oppenheimer_01edi.ART.State.Edition1.4d91152.html"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">don't massively flunk</span></a> the test to select them. Where their <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elba_Esther_Gordillo"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">union leader</span></a> is not elected for life, and can pronounce words with more than two syllables such as "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rn0bUZCQDDU&eurl=http://mirabonfil.blogspot.com/&feature=player_embedded"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">epidemiologic</span></a>", or initials such as "H1N1" <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ol5_aPe7YcM"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">without confusing numbers "1" with letters "l"</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" ><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" >Where vital parts of Mexican history are not <a href="http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/news/world/controversial-mexican-textbook-omits-conquest-794110.html"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">omitted from school textbooks</span></a>, such as the Spanish conquest or the three centuries of colonial domination.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" ><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" >Maybe.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:16px;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; text-align: left;font-family:Verdana;font-size:14px;" ><p style="text-align: right;">(translated by<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="http://www.quetienenencomun.blogspot.com/" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);">Adrián Robles Benavides</a>)</p><p style="text-align: right;"><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span>To receive<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Science for pleasure<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span>weekly</span></span><br /><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span>in your email,<span class="Apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=2585559&loc=en_US" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);">subscribe here!</a></span></span></p></span></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Georgia;font-size:11pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p>Martín Bonfil Oliverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05286138874576064756noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114603268251970552.post-57855857834546499262009-08-19T08:17:00.000-07:002009-09-09T08:42:32.419-07:00Fox: disatrous horoscope<p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:11pt;" lang="ES" >By </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:11pt;" ><a href="http://martinbonfil.com/"><span style="" lang="ES"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Martín Bonfil Olivera</span></span></a></span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:11pt;" > <i><span lang="ES"><br />Published in </span></i></span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:11pt;" ><a href="http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8626917"><span style="" lang="ES"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Milenio Diario</span></span></a></span><i><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:11pt;" lang="ES" >, August 19, 2009</span></i><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:11pt;" lang="ES" ><o:p></o:p></span></p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIP5xt8iaO-7i1Q-Nr18gBT5r0_5S6ciyMqw3dJjwwNjwrnzFEi3fg9G8rlMzWqLiLArYX9GB45lzWkG-tpcHPsTr6vR_uVVQ0miy9K9LcAlSLIVTTZarra-hud8PhzOuqVNONWNfKULc/s1600-h/fox.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 167px; height: 202px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIP5xt8iaO-7i1Q-Nr18gBT5r0_5S6ciyMqw3dJjwwNjwrnzFEi3fg9G8rlMzWqLiLArYX9GB45lzWkG-tpcHPsTr6vR_uVVQ0miy9K9LcAlSLIVTTZarra-hud8PhzOuqVNONWNfKULc/s400/fox.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379491944160101986" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:11pt;" >It's not surprising that <st1:city st="on">Vicente Fox</st1:city>, <st1:country-region st="on">Mexico</st1:country-region>'s former president, <a href="http://www.milenio.com/node/267962"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">declared</span></a> on Saturday 15, at his <a href="http://www.centrofox.org.mx/"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Centro Fox</span></a> in <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">San Cristobal</st1:place></st1:city>, at the graduation ceremony of the first generation of its Master in </span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:11pt;" >Politics course</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:11pt;" >, that Mexico's economical crisis of is the result of "a convergence of stars in a negative sense, of negative vibes".<o:p></o:p></span> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:11pt;" >It's not surprising because he is very well known for his capacity for saying nonsense. Because his lack of culture is legendary. And because, even when he was president, it was clear that he and his wife Martha believed in all kinds of quackery.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:11pt;" >Santiago Pando, the star advisor of Fox's presidential campaign, <a href="http://2culturas.blogspot.com/2009/08/asesoria-mistica.html"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">claimed to receive advise</span></a> from the <a href="http://www.canal100.com.mx/telemundo/entrevistas/?id_nota=8134"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">"galactic mayans</span></a>", "light beings" whose voices he heard. And the President's Office hired a clairvoyant in 2006, Rebeca Moreno Lara, who acted as "mystical advisor" for the first lady.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:11pt;" >So it's not surprising , but it is outrageous and worrying. It seems that, as a country and as a society, we still believe that the causes of our problems are in the stars, not in our own actions and decision. No wonder we haven't been able to solve them.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:11pt;" >For the pseudoscience of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">astrology</span></a>, certain "star combinations" are <span style="font-style: italic;">disastrous</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;"> fateful</span>: they cause <span style="font-style: italic;">disasters</span> (from the word <i style=""><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disaster#Etymology"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">disaste</span></a>r</i>, stellar cataclysm and therefore something bad produced by stars).<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:11pt;" >Astronomers are tired of explaining that such star combinations don't really exist. They're only an effect of perspective: although two stars, seen from the Earth, may appear to be in "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conjunction_%28astronomy_and_astrology%29"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">conjunction</span></a>", they are separated by millions of miles (if not, by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light-year"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">light years</span></a>, equivalent to around 10 billion kilometers).<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:11pt;" >Maybe Fox's declaration is, by itself, a disastrous sign: a signal of the failure of our educational system, which allows that somebody that was the president harbours these primitive beliefs. Of the failure of our political system, converted into a publicity-driven media-cracy, that allows this uncultured character to win an election by a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_general_election,_2000"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">wide range</span></a>. Of the failure of the effort by we science journalists and science writers, who have not managerd, through the media, to carry a minimum of scientific culture to the average citizen.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:11pt;" >"Certainly" (as Fox would have said), a very bad sign.</span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:16px;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px; text-align: left;font-family:Verdana;font-size:14px;" ><p style="text-align: right;">(translated by<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.quetienenencomun.blogspot.com/" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);">Adrián Robles Benavides</a>)</p><p style="text-align: right;"><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span>To receive<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="font-style: italic;">Science for pleasure<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span>weekly</span></span><br /><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span>in your email,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=2585559&loc=en_US" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);">subscribe here!</a></span></span></p><p style="text-align: right;"><br /><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span></span></span></p></span></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:11pt;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p>Martín Bonfil Oliverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05286138874576064756noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114603268251970552.post-89193900703599030972009-08-12T19:27:00.000-07:002009-08-12T20:26:40.036-07:00HIV: genomic confusionBy <a href="http://martinbonfil.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Martín Bonfil Olivera</span></a><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;color:black;" ><i>Published in </i><a href="http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8623234" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Milenio Diario</span></a><i>, August 12, 2009</i></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; line-height: 150%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 150%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; line-height: 150%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrc4X-AK-uFwuI5ggdr4gGdgw4tLF8qqatnK6RFg3BVQGewzDzDqlMaCJhUyF4n5w_e0pV5I4EiaA1s-zrQQ1Y2ciF42gFbQhruEfmKeW1nNbTJqASpjEW79VckTfadSxJEV522CF3cjY/s1600-h/nature.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 224px; height: 294px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrc4X-AK-uFwuI5ggdr4gGdgw4tLF8qqatnK6RFg3BVQGewzDzDqlMaCJhUyF4n5w_e0pV5I4EiaA1s-zrQQ1Y2ciF42gFbQhruEfmKeW1nNbTJqASpjEW79VckTfadSxJEV522CF3cjY/s400/nature.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369283903015068082" border="0" /></a></span><span style="line-height: 150%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" >On August 6, the main science note on almost all media was a study of the genetic material of the </span><span style="line-height: 150%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" lang="EN"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiv"><span style="color:#800080;">human immunodeficiency virus</span></a>, HIV.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; line-height: 150%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 150%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" lang="EN">The bad news is how this discovery was reported. Some sample headlines: </span><span style="line-height: 150%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" >"HIV genome deciphered"(<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/mundo/ciencia_tecnologia/2009/08/090806_sida_genoma_vih_rg.shtml" target="_blank"><span style="color:#003399;"> BBC</span></a>, picked up by newspapers such as <a href="http://www.publimetro.com.mx/noticias/descifran-el-genoma-del-vih/pihf%21nuyd9Plwmbx7iG8AGJLD1Q/" target="_blank"><span style="color:#003399;">Publimetro</span></a> and radio shows like <span style="font-style: italic;">Hoy por hoy en la ciencia </span>(<i style="">Today in science</i>), from UNAM and W Radio); <span style=""> </span>"HIV genome, deciphered" (<a href="http://www.clarin.com/diario/2009/08/07/sociedad/s-01973802.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color:#003399;"> <i>El Clarín</i></span></a>, Argentina). What is the problem? That it is incorrect: the full genome of HIV was decoded about 10 years ago. <span style=""> </span>(A Mexican <a href="http://www.wawis.com.mx/?p=929"><span style="color:#800080;">blog</span></a> on internet even mentioned that "it has been confirmed that HIV uses RNA -ribonucleic acid- instead of DNA -deoxyribonucleic acid", something that has been known since the eighties.)</span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; line-height: 150%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 150%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" >Some other media were more precise, though still not so clear: <a href="http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8620130" target="_blank"><i><span style="color:#003399;">MILENIO Diario</span></i></a> mentioned "the first HIV full map", "to create an image, not only of RNA </span><span style="line-height: 150%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" >nucleotides</span><span style="line-height: 150%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" >, but the <span style="font-style: italic;">forms </span>and <span style="font-style: italic;">folds </span>of the RNA strands". <span style=""> </span><a href="http://www.exonline.com.mx/diario/noticia/global/especiales/descodifican_la_estructura_del_genoma_del_virus_del_sida/683913" target="_blank"><i><span style="color:#003399;">Excélsior</span></i></a>, with the information from EFE news agency, used the following header: "AIDS virus genome <span style="font-style: italic;">structure </span>decoded". And Spanish<span style=""> </span><a href="http://www.elmundo.es/elmundosalud/2009/08/05/hepatitissida/1249485369.html" target="_blank"><i><span style="color:#003399;">El mundo digital</span></i></a> headlined "HIV genome, at bird's eye", and explained that "for the first time, the complete <span style="font-style: italic;">structure </span>of HIV's genome was decoded and they got a clear image of its internal <span style="font-style: italic;"> architecture</span>".<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; line-height: 150%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 150%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" >Let's explain briefly:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; line-height: 150%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 150%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" >HIV, unlike most organisms, does not have </span><span style="line-height: 150%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" >genes made of</span><span style="line-height: 150%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" > <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA"><span style="color:#800080;">DNA</span></a> , the famous double helix molecule, but of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RNA"><span style="color:#800080;">RNA</span></a>, formed by only one chain, not two. The chemical links that form this chain are the "letters" in which genetic information is written, and this is what was deciphered years ago.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; line-height: 150%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 150%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" >The discovery of researchers from <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">North Carolina</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">University</st1:placetype></st1:place> headed by Kevin Weeks (and published on <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v460/n7256/full/nature08237.html" target="_blank"><span style="color:#003399;">Nature</span></a> magazine) is that the </span><span style="line-height: 150%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" >HIV </span><span style="line-height: 150%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" >RNA strand folds in a complex way: some parts pair up with others to form double helical stretches, for example.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; line-height: 150%;" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwegnwELFmud6VRbrOlmCngN-EApLjTz192Hj0tsQr_oZEQROjcCFc2zGMuLDFq8uUuthUDigo1SvWXXp2wXNBIge5BGtwAnYdr-BcwhZCXPOVhxWXycVJXXsKVaAsjNzNmJ3N4oxWmF4/s1600-h/HIV+RNA.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 205px; height: 233px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwegnwELFmud6VRbrOlmCngN-EApLjTz192Hj0tsQr_oZEQROjcCFc2zGMuLDFq8uUuthUDigo1SvWXXp2wXNBIge5BGtwAnYdr-BcwhZCXPOVhxWXycVJXXsKVaAsjNzNmJ3N4oxWmF4/s400/HIV+RNA.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369284261052054722" border="0" /></a><span style="line-height: 150%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" >When the virus penetrates a cell and its genetic information is read, these "knots" and rolls (technically known as "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secondary_structure"><span style="color:#800080;">secondary structure</span></a>") can delay the reading of the </span><span style="line-height: 150%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" >genes</span><span style="line-height: 150%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" >, and this can be fundamental to control how HIV proteins are manufactured.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; line-height: 150%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 150%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" >In other words, a kind of "hidden code" was discovered on the virus' genome, which can be important not only to fight it, but also to better understand the control of genetic information in all types of organisms.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; line-height: 150%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 150%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" >Unfortunately, to explain this with the necessary detail, more space is required than is normally available </span><span style="line-height: 150%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" >in news media</span><span style="line-height: 150%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" >. At the very least, we should try to be as precise as </span><span style="line-height: 150%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" >possible</span><span style="line-height: 150%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;" >.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; line-height: 150%;" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;" ><p style="text-align: right;">(translated by <a href="http://www.quetienenencomun.blogspot.com/" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);">Adrián Robles Benavides</a>)</p><p style="text-align: right;"><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span>To receive <span style="font-style: italic;">Science for pleasure </span>weekly</span></span><br /><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span>in your email, <a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=2585559&loc=en_US" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);">subscribe here!</a></span></span></p><p style="text-align: right;"><br /><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span></span></span></p></span></span></span><br /><span style="line-height: 150%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p>Martín Bonfil Oliverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05286138874576064756noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114603268251970552.post-25710634419837805282009-08-05T00:30:00.000-07:002009-08-12T00:50:09.194-07:00Dinosaurs for free!By <a href="http://martinbonfil.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Martín Bonfil Olivera</span></a><br /><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" ><i>Published in </i><a href="http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8615914" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Milenio Diario</span></a><i>, August 5, 2009</i></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd__O0VJAF4bpcIRAFr_VkXh1QtoLNJ0K47B4KXUKxtnHJdx-R2T0wKtWQ-_zKJh0lsAeXFaAkm0pzAtFfhfe_d5akWHfADIcEhwm3C9q1Q2zZTcfVwLjxw8p6i8kTwVArL6xvp9Y4mow/s1600-h/Pez.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 241px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd__O0VJAF4bpcIRAFr_VkXh1QtoLNJ0K47B4KXUKxtnHJdx-R2T0wKtWQ-_zKJh0lsAeXFaAkm0pzAtFfhfe_d5akWHfADIcEhwm3C9q1Q2zZTcfVwLjxw8p6i8kTwVArL6xvp9Y4mow/s400/Pez.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368980983876160290" border="0" /></a><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" >Popularising science is placing scientific culture in reach of the general population: to turn science into a part of pop culture.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" >One way to do it is through exhibitions and museums, in which many visitors have the opportunity of directly experimenting and getting close, in a special surrounding, to the objects, phenomena and concepts of </span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" >science</span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" >.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" >But this is seldom achieved in such a marvelous way as in the exhibition </span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">"</span><a href="http://www.huellas.df.gob.mx/" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Huellas de vida</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">" (life's footprints), which Mexico City's government and the </span><a href="http://www.museodeldesierto.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Museo del Desierto</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> (the dessert museum) from </span></span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" lang="ES"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saltillo"><span style="" lang="EN-US"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Saltillo</span></span></a></span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">, </span></span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" lang="ES"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coahuila"><span style="" lang="EN-US"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Coahuila</span></span></a></span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">, together with other institutions, </span><a href="http://www.milenio.com/node/219817" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">have installed</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> in the city's main square since May 22.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" ><o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">I confess that I approached the exhibition with some skepticism: I am accustomed to visit science museums, and didn't think I'd find something to amaze me. I was wrong.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" ><o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">From the first enormous fossil fish, with its monstrous mouth filled with teeth, that welcomes you in the first chamber, the journey is full with marvels. Complete fossils, some original and some replicas of superb quality, of terrestrial and "aerial" dinosaurs (actually, pterosaurs; among them, the grand </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quetzalcoatlus" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Quetzalcoatlus</span></i></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">). Robotic models, specimens of "living fossils" and of species that help us compare the routes from which evolution, sometimes, produces similar results in very different species. Actual, live paleontologists showing how they work.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" ><o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">And a really professional museography, in which the specimens can be enjoyed with safety, and the professional and enthusiastic attention of many young guides, perfectly prepared to answer even the oddest questions from an avid public.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" ><o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Of course, going to the exhibition will not turn you into a dinosaur expert. But that's is not the idea. A science exhibition must only, as </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_sagan"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Carl Sagan</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> begged, "spark the sense of wonder". This the exhibition fully achieves. <span style=""> </span></span><a href="http://www.universum.unam.mx/" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Other museums</span></a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> should take it as an example to follow.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" ><o:p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> </span></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Honestly, don't miss it. It opens from 9:30 to 19:30 from Monday to Sunday. But hurry up: it ends on August 31. And if this was not enough, it's free! What a magnificent gift for the citizens of our city.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;" ><p style="text-align: right;">(translated by <a href="http://www.quetienenencomun.blogspot.com/" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);">Adrián Robles Benavides</a>)</p><p style="text-align: right;"><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span>To receive <span style="font-style: italic;">Science for pleasure </span>weekly</span></span><br /><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span>in your email, <a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=2585559&loc=en_US" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);">subscribe here!</a></span></span></p><p style="text-align: right;"><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span><a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=2585559&loc=en_US" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);"><br /></a></span></span></p></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>Martín Bonfil Oliverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05286138874576064756noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114603268251970552.post-70335985740714890932009-07-22T17:09:00.000-07:002009-08-12T00:52:28.960-07:00Reflections on scientific culture<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" >By <a href="http://martinbonfil.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Martín Bonfil Olivera</span></a> <i><br />Published on </i><a href="http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8615914" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Milenio Diario</span></a><i>, July 22, 2009</i><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" ><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGK0RHBLPwbZjXCh3_slNBOwvB_C-PU1tmQOP50BNbK_n6OJ_UEUWyTUwLkyCtEPSbokE_Jn33aG2VLDb0fDb6ZTva4WbJAgMhtQY6eC0Pm4mcWtRL33uPbzOwkG5RhOSB3xdiN6e8zNk/s1600-h/MotherEarth.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 234px; height: 234px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGK0RHBLPwbZjXCh3_slNBOwvB_C-PU1tmQOP50BNbK_n6OJ_UEUWyTUwLkyCtEPSbokE_Jn33aG2VLDb0fDb6ZTva4WbJAgMhtQY6eC0Pm4mcWtRL33uPbzOwkG5RhOSB3xdiN6e8zNk/s400/MotherEarth.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5368494672483176226" border="0" /></a></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" >Last week I argued in <a href="http://scienceforpleasure.blogspot.com/2009/07/moon-and-lack-of-culture.html"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">this space</span></a> against the lack of scientific culture that is so evident in so many aspects of our society.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" >Among the different responses I received, a letter from a reader from <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Argentina got </st1:place></st1:country-region>my attention.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" >She proposed that my concept of "scientific inculture" is an inadequate simplification. She asks whether the mystical or magical </span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" >beliefs </span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" >of the "native people" of <st1:place st="on">Latin America</st1:place> should be classified among the "absurd beliefs" that, as I mentioned, are replacing science in the minds of our citizens.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" >A lot of these folk beliefs are based in the respect for the environment, and have survival and preservation </span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" >value</span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" >, although they are not science-based. On the contrary, often the environment suffers in the name of science.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" >So, how desirable is scientific culture; how harmful are absurd beliefs? <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" ><br />I should clarify that when I spoke about absurd beliefs I had in mind things like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudoscience"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">quackery</span></a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrology"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">horoscopes</span></a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigo_children"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">indigo children</span></a> or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_healing"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">quantum healing</span></a>. There are a lot of examples of, for instance, efficient traditional therapies —and others that are completely useless, of course— and folk environmental practices that work better than modern proposals… though not always.<br /><br />My reader questioned also whether it makes any sense to demand a scientific culture from a population with a high proportion of poor and excluded people, without the means to consult not an astrologer, but a decent health system.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" ><br />She is right: to foster scientific culture is utopic. <span style=""> </span>But the fact that problems such as poverty or injustice exist does not imply that spreading scientific culture is a worthless task. These are problems that have to be taken in parallel.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" >I agree with my reader that "the concept of scientific inculture makes reference to a complex and multidimensional historical, political and social process".</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" >Even so, I insist that a widely spread scientific culture in our population can be the first step for the development of a scientific, technological and industrial system that, in the medium term, will help obtain a better life for our peoples.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;" ><p style="text-align: right;">(translated by <a href="http://www.quetienenencomun.blogspot.com/" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);">Adrián Robles Benavides</a>)</p><p style="text-align: right;"><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span>To receive <span style="font-style: italic;">Science for pleasure </span>weekly</span></span><br /><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span>in your email, <a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=2585559&loc=en_US" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);">subscribe here!</a></span></span></p><p style="text-align: right;"><br /><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span></span></span></p></span></span></span><br /><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p>Martín Bonfil Oliverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05286138874576064756noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114603268251970552.post-50080086349920906142009-07-22T16:45:00.000-07:002009-07-29T17:10:51.157-07:00The moon and lack of culture<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" >By </span></span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" ><a href="http://martinbonfil.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(68, 136, 136);">Martín Bonfil Olivera</span></a></span><i><span style="line-height: 140%; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" ><br /><span class="apple-style-span">Published in</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></i><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 140%; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;font-size:10;" ><a href="http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8612186" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(68, 136, 136);">Milenio Diario</span></a><i>, July 22, 2009</i></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" > <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" ><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM4sC1bdQsbH-DzKdaa1mfxzcnnQ2ICo66cJomYNLeItKV2G7tmURBWntjuQQPDLrrYqhQzMudI-OOdMZtnFcFf6NtNUHH42ZQqEKCupEBlZY3vVZuIgr2ixNS3Vwin0a1cl2IzEpTxJ0/s1600-h/Laser+natural.jpg" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 204);"><v:shapetype id="_x0000_t75" coordsize="21600,21600" spt="75" preferrelative="t" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" filled="f" stroked="f"><v:stroke joinstyle="miter"></v:stroke><v:formulas><v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"></v:f></v:formulas><v:path extrusionok="f" gradientshapeok="t" connecttype="rect"></v:path><o:lock ext="edit" aspectratio="t"></o:lock></v:shapetype></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtjBIOGsz4CEfbpbhZzxFX_bWodPgugBY1gshWPOAaARc1zS3Vd7ROb8gCZi6ljmUnFtmJnsKFPeH2GXTnci_SvChJ-BzDr8G7xhkk0OuibTDR8kt_hUBmcm-j-hWrBmz_pzGnPmAKXqs/s1600-h/Laser+natural.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtjBIOGsz4CEfbpbhZzxFX_bWodPgugBY1gshWPOAaARc1zS3Vd7ROb8gCZi6ljmUnFtmJnsKFPeH2GXTnci_SvChJ-BzDr8G7xhkk0OuibTDR8kt_hUBmcm-j-hWrBmz_pzGnPmAKXqs/s400/Laser+natural.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364035518447942706" border="0" /></a><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" >Last Monday, on the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specialreports/moon.shtml"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">40th anniversary</span></a> of the day humans stepped on the moon, the radio talk hosts of <a href="http://www.wradio.com.mx/programa.aspx?id=388268&au=848023" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">El Weso</span></i></a>, a popular Mexican radio show on W Radio (of which I'm a fan) showed a regrettable lack of scientific culture.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" >When the question of whether the moon landing was real popped —you might have heard the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_landing_hoax" hhref="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_landing#Hoax_accusations"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">nonsense</span></a> that it was filmed in a TV studio—, they answered "we'll never know"! And singer <a href="http://www.myspace.com/fernandoriveracalderon" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Fernando Rivera Calderón</span></a> added that going to the moon was "useless" (I wonder, my admired Fernando, and what about poetry? Do you think it serves any purpose? These are the wrong questions to ask). It had to be <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodolfo_Neri_Vela"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Rodolfo Neri Vela</span></a>, the first Mexican to go to outer space, who amended them for good.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" >The problem is not that our lack of information and our <a href="http://scienceforpleasure.blogspot.com/2009/05/schizophrenia.html"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">tendency to believe in complots</span></a> carry us to be unsure even of one of the greatest scientific-technical achievements in history. What's alarming is to confirm that science is still absent from the average Mexican popular culture, and that it is being suplanted by all kinds of absurd beliefs.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" >More examples: astrologer <a href="http://www2.esmas.com/movil/mex/amira.php" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Amira</span></a>, also in W Radio, announces "Did you know that the positions of the stars can directly influence your health, your finances and even love? No lady: we know </span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" >perfectly </span><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" >that the position of the stars <i style="">does not</i> directly nor indirectly influence that at all, and to propagate these false ideas and on top of it charge for them is a fraud.<span style=""> </span>Why can't the <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&hl=es&js=y&u=http://74.125.47.132/search%3Fq%3Dcache:N-n5cuIXNYYJ:www.profeco.gob.mx/prensa/prensa07/jul07/bol55.pdf%2Bcriterios%2Baplicables%2Ba%2Bpublicidad%2Bde%2Bservicios%2Bde%2Badivinaci%25C3%2583%25C2%25B3n%26cd%3D1%26hl%3Des%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dmx%26lr%3Dlang_es%7Clang_en&sl=es&tl=en&history_state0=" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Mexican consumer protection agency</span></a> do something about it?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" >On Friday, <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&hl=es&js=y&u=http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8609429&sl=es&tl=en&history_state0=" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">a columnist</span></a> from <i style="">MILENIO Diario</i> published that on "December 21 of 2012… there will be an astronomical phenomenon that occurs every 26,000 years: the sun will align with the center of the milky way… where there is a black hole, manufacturer and deestructor of stars". He adds that the Mayas mention this specific day as the final date in their calendar".<span style=""> </span>(It's a shame that to be able to speak of an alignment you need at least three points, that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_hole"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">black holes</span></a> don't manufacture stars, and the supposed "end of the world" announced by the Mayas is another <a href="http://www.skepdic.com/maya.html"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">nonsense story</span></a>).<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" >As a final offense, just outside my house there was a sign: "Loose weight with laser. 100% natural" (a 100 % natural <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">laser</span></a>??)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" >There's no doubt: the lack of scientific culture of Mexicans is galloping. We science communicators could very well double our efforts.</span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;" ><p style="text-align: right;">(translated by <a href="http://www.quetienenencomun.blogspot.com/" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);">Adrián Robles Benavides</a>)</p><p style="text-align: right;"><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span>To receive <span style="font-style: italic;">Science for pleasure </span>weekly</span></span><br /><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span>in your email, <a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=2585559&loc=en_US" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);">subscribe here!</a></span></span></p></span></span></span><br /><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;color:black;" ><o:p></o:p></span></p>Martín Bonfil Oliverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05286138874576064756noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1114603268251970552.post-90114587089435689052009-07-15T18:41:00.000-07:002009-07-18T19:28:21.050-07:00Still, Influenza<div> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt;" class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:13;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;font-size:14;" ><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="line-height: 19px;font-family:Georgia;color:black;" >By </span></span><span style="line-height: 19px;font-family:Georgia;color:black;" ><a href="http://martinbonfil.com/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);"><span style="color: rgb(68, 136, 136);">Martín Bonfil Olivera</span></a></span><br /></span></b></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><b><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 19px;"><i><span style="line-height: 19px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;" ><span class="apple-style-span">Published in</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></i><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 19px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;" ><span style="color: rgb(68, 136, 136);"><a href="http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8608435">Milenio Diario</a></span><i>, July 15th, 2009</i></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 19px;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="line-height: 19px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:Verdana;" ><i><br /></i></span></span></p></b></span> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; text-align: left;" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoiyhM7MWf53HUqg1-kRfEogbuyWGCxH-fJJXY7RkLAPH4p3zD8hBUeEXaZFf6bgR4sS4JdFJDmLz_OecZ6kIOEZ_RxsY9TCKl8xeBsaJ0FzvppecvGvsUFtBK3THYQu-nN4oR3Ud48wE/s1600-h/Globalh1n1_20090629.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 261px; height: 174px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoiyhM7MWf53HUqg1-kRfEogbuyWGCxH-fJJXY7RkLAPH4p3zD8hBUeEXaZFf6bgR4sS4JdFJDmLz_OecZ6kIOEZ_RxsY9TCKl8xeBsaJ0FzvppecvGvsUFtBK3THYQu-nN4oR3Ud48wE/s400/Globalh1n1_20090629.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359989921335504610" border="0" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;font-size:13;" >Science does not reveal a</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;font-size:13;" >bsolute truths, but it does have a commitment to reality.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" ><o:p> A good example is the pandemic -started in April in <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Mexico as an epidemic- caused by a swine A/H1N1 influenza virus.</st1:country-region></st1:place></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" ><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" >Mexicans remember how, after the emergency stage that forced <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Mexico City</st1:place></st1:city> and other places to shut down schools, restaurants, cinemas and other gathering places, there was a curious reaction. It <a href="http://scienceforpleasure.blogspot.com/2009/05/schizophrenia.html"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">was said</span></a>, through email and as gossip, that the epidemic was a sham. That the virus did not exist, or that the epidemic was planned by the current <i>panista</i> government of Mexico (or bye the American government) to influence Election Day on July 5 (or to reactivate world economy).<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" ><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" >There were multiple versions of the rumour, but all of them had something in common: it was a way of denying reality. The <a href="http://scienceforpleasure.blogspot.com/2009/05/virus-science-and-society.html"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">traumatic experience</span></a> of those secluded and inactive days, and the economic, but also social and psychological harm they left, created a fertile field for rumours that everything was a complot.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" ><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" >The efficacy of the health authorities was questioned, as well as the science behind their decisions. Today we can see that the epidemic, already spread around the world, is a reality that affects many <a href="http://www.who.int/csr/don/2009_07_06/en/index.html"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">other countries</span></a>.<span style=""> </span><st1:country-region st="on">Argentina</st1:country-region> and <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Chile</st1:country-region></st1:place> in their full austral winter, already have 137 and 33 deaths, respectively, and thousands of infected people. Also, <a href="http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb6465/is_200906/ai_n32078295/"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Cuba is reporting cases</span></a>, and the Mexican states of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiapas"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Chiapas</span></a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabasco"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Tabasco</span></a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yucatan"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">Yucatan</span></a> have detected <a href="http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/World/Story/STIStory_398960.html"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">an important spike</span></a>, up to the point that Tabasco has decided to cancel its annual state fair.</span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" ><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" >In the meantime, research about the virus advances: a group lead by Yoshihiro Kawaoka, from Wisconsin University, reported last Monday on <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vnfv/ncurrent/abs/nature08260.html" target="_blank"><span style=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153);">Nature magazine</span></span></a> that the swine virus -which is actually a result from mutations and combinations from other already existing viruses, human, bird and swine- causes more<span style=""> </span>harm to the lungs of experimental animals (mice, <span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">ferrets</span> and macaques) than the common seasonal influenza virus, and that it can asymptomatically infect pigs (maybe that's why the epidemic was not detected until it jumped into humans).<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" ><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" >They also found that people born before 1920 and therefore exposed to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influenza_pandemic_of_1918"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">massive epidemic</span></a> of A/H1N1 influenza in 1918 (spanish flu) have <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antibodies"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">antibodies</span></a> that can react against the current virus, unlike people born after (thus maybe explaining the anomalous behavior of the epidemic, which affected mainly younger people).<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" ><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" >Currently, the virus is still sensitive to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamiflu"><span style="color: rgb(128, 0, 128);">tamiflu</span></a>, but it is very likely that in the short term some resistant varieties will arise. Soon, we will have a vaccine, but it will take time to produce it in enough quantities to respond to the World Health Organization's request for "<a href="http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=1786124">all countries to have access to the vaccine</a>."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: 140%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 140%;font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" ><o:p> </o:p></span></p><span style=";font-family:Georgia;font-size:10;" ><br />The reality of the pandemic imposes itself, beyond any belief or rumour. The countries should better pay attention to what science reveals, and they should act united in consequence.</span><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:13;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:13;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 22px;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;font-size:14;" ><p style="text-align: right;">(translated by <a href="http://www.quetienenencomun.blogspot.com/" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);">Adrián Robles Benavides</a>)</p><p style="text-align: right;"><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span>To receive <span style="font-style: italic;">Science for pleasure </span>weekly</span></span><br /><span class="georgia12plaingris" style="font-weight: bold;"><span>in your email, <a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=2585559&loc=en_US" style="color: rgb(136, 136, 85);">subscribe here!</a></span></span></p><p style="text-align: right;"><b><br /></b></p></span></span></span></div>Martín Bonfil Oliverahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05286138874576064756noreply@blogger.com0