So the big science news is
private spaceflight, which, although exciting, apparently
didn't go all that smoothly.
Space travel is a fascinating subject, but below the fold I'd like to draw your attention to several developments in health related fields, plus a few amusing tidbits about beverages.
Down here on Earth, we learn that smoking
really is bad for you and that
polio is still a problem, raising the question of why our concern about public health stops at our borders.
Less widely reported was a World Health Organization report that says dirty or unsafe environments are to blame for a third of all child deaths in Europe. Some of the grim statistics include:
-Up to 13 000 children aged 0-4 years die from particulate matter outdoor air pollution
-In the 0-4 age group, lead poisoning is responsible for over 150 000 years of healthy life lost
There's also an environmental justice aspect:
Children in the poorer regions still pay a heavy price for breathing in polluted air, drinking unclean water and absorbing lead contamination. Poor sanitation and lack of clean water claims around 13,500 lives a year, mainly from diarrhoea.
Indoor air pollution claims almost 10,000 lives a year, mostly in the "emerging" zone countries where people still burn coal and wood in unventilated homes. This can weaken the lungs and most victims are infants who develop pneumonia.
On the philosophical side of things, Prometheus has an interesting discussion about fetal genetic testing, in response to a NYT article, which raises all sorts of questions about personal and societal choice.
Science and technology as they often do create decision situations where before there were apparently none. This is, for example, what happened in the early 1970s when scientists discovered the potential for ozone depletion: It was never anything policy members considered until they had the bad results.
Most people think of this only in the realm of agonizing personal choices, but there are underlying societal questions, too. Could this technology promote eugenics? Is the termination of pregnancies that could lead to "disabled" adults just another form of discrimination? What if you could detect a predisposition to homosexuality? Prometheus sums it up well:
And as in most cases where innovations in science and technology force new decisions, in the context of fetal genetic tests the decisions made by individuals and society won't be found in science and technology, but in morals, values, religion, etc.
The problem is that, as a society, we rarely question whether or not we should use a technology - we tend to look at new technologies as inevitable, rather than something we can choose to use or not.
Moving now to "Man's best friend", we learn that some dogs can predict epileptic seizures. Wow.
And finally, the beverage portion of the day. You'll all be happy to know that we can now determine what is really champagne, and what is just posing. And the java addicts in the house may be pleased with this new discovery as well: A naturally decaffeinated coffee plant. Hmmm, could this be yet another reason to preserve biodiversity?