Editor and General Manager
U.S. elections. Chances are when this magazine arrives in your mailbox, the U.S. 2016 elections will (mercifully) be over. If current trends hold, Hillary Clinton will have the distinction of being the first woman elected to that office, an historic event. An important one too: having an inclusive pool of candidates available for all jobs benefits everyone. (It should not need saying that both treatment and compensation should be blind to attributes other than accomplishment.) Secretary Clinton being victorious would likely be best for scientists too. The Republican nominee, Mr. Trump, is well-known for Tweeting, “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive,” a statement so strange that it is hard to ascertain what he thinks. He draws some support from the far-right spectrum too, no friends of science. What policies he might support, and how successful he would be in implementing them, will likely not be a concern. Ms. Clinton, on the other hand, has spoken forcefully about innovation being important to the country and the economy. We’ll see what gets done.
(Knowing now, that Donald Trump is president-elect, and has a Republican house and senate, we’ll see what happens. I think that he’s too unpredictable to try to venture a guess, and can only hope, on issues of science, that he listens to the experts.)
Reason for hope. On October 15th, in Kigali, Rwanda, representatives from over 170 countries agreed to a new deal to reduce the fast-growing level of emissions from hydrofluorocarbons. Some estimates say this step could reduce warming by as much as .5 °C by century’s end, a significant number. Furthermore, on October 6th, the United Nations’ aviation arm ratified an agreement to control emissions from international airline flights. It’s the first agreement targeting a specific industry. After 2020, airlines will have to offset emissions growth with credits from other industries. Could addressing climate science be going mainstream?
In further news. On October 12th, scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory announced the development of an electrochemical process that uses tiny spikes of carbon and copper to turn carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, into ethanol. Their finding, originally reported September 28th on ChemistrySelect, involves nanofabrication and catalysis science. It’s still in the early stages, and scientists are continuing to study the method in hopes of increasing efficiency and assessing the potential for scaleup. Politicians, please note: government funding of research helps ensure technological leadership and adds to industry efforts.
Biodiversity is important. Stanford University researchers have developed a method of estimating biodiversity based on tree cover (PNAS, October 4th). The team did an extensive study of flora and fauna across a swath of Costa Rica and plotted their findings against detailed maps taken from Google Earth photographs. Four of the six groups studied saw a significant increase in species that corresponded with an increase in tree cover. Meanwhile, over to Tasmania, where scientists have discovered that the milk of the devil named for its home state contains an arsenal of anti-microbial compounds that can kill some of the most deadly bacterial and fungal infections, including golden staph. As reported in the Nature journal Scientific Reports, Tasmanian devils were found to produce multiple different cathelicidins—a type of natural antibiotic and antimicrobial peptide that has been found effective against a number of pathogens, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or golden staph (humans produce just one cathelicidin). Further research is planned to study the compounds’ usefulness in human therapeutics.
And speaking of cancer, a personal note. On October 1st my wife and I found out that our 10½-year-old standard poodle, Trooper, had cancer. After a few weeks of abnormally high portions of chicken breast and table scraps, Trooper’s symptoms dramatically worsened, and we had him euthanized. Here’s what I’d like you to know: On one particular day I wanted Trooper and our year-old standard named Desi to follow me upstairs in our then-residence, probably with the goal of containing the still rambunctious puppy. I smiled, called “Come,” in a cheerful voice, and headed up with Desi wagging his tail enthusiastically behind. Trooper, however, sat down and stared at me, a look I interpreted, generously, as “Whatever you are up to is contrary to my immediate plans.” Cooperation took some effort. Another moment, same behavior, different end. The scene this time, pet therapy, the cardiac surgery ward. A patient who would not speak about what had recently, and quite suddenly, befallen him, not to family or friends, clergy or professional staff. Not to Trooper either, although there was a minute of petting. Leaving, in the doorway, Trooper turned, and, sitting down, implemented his “not going anywhere act,” staring not at me in defiance, but at the patient, waiting. It took a minute. But tears came, followed by a flood of emotion. Continuing studies reveal more and more about the intelligence and intuition inherent in these animals descended from wolves, filling in the details about what owners already know: dogs form very tight bonds with their owners and are incredibly sensitive at reading and understanding the humans with whom they cohabitate. Trooper’s passing reminds me—incredible planet, magnificent world; I am a small part, and part of the whole.
Steve Ernst is editor and general manager, American Laboratory/Labcompare; [email protected]