S& T

S&T 23 6
Japan: why the killer quake was never expected
Subduction zones, where one plate dives under another, are the regions where major quakes occur. But they are hardly monitored
The 9 magnitude Tohoku-Oki megathrust earthquake that rocked Japan on March 11 was caused by a sudden slip of the plate interface of a relatively small area of 400 km length and 200km width.
That no seismologists had expected such a powerful quake to strike Japan (off the coast of Sendai) now is well known. Though precise prediction of quakes has not been possible till date, how and why did the scientists get it so wrong?
In the Japan Trench, the Pacific plate dives (subducts) under the Okhotsk plate. If the subduction (diving) is indeed smooth then no stress would build up, and therefore no earthquakes would happen.
Plates locked
Unfortunately the plates do not always subduct smoothly. At times they get locked or stuck to each other in some portions of the fault resulting in stress build-up.
This had indeed happened in the case of the Tohoku-Oki megathrust.
Being situated in the Pacific ring of fire, Japan is prone to quakes and the country is heavily monitored for quakes by land-based instruments and GPS. Unfortunately, as in the case of other countries, only a couple of faults are present on land.
Hardly monitored
More than 90 per cent of known tectonic plate boundaries in the world are present under water and at great depths. Believe it or not, these deadliest regions where major quakes occur are hardly monitored. This has been the case even in the case of Japan.
Land based instruments have limitations in assessing the actual stress build-up at the locked regions of the fault. In fact, published data did not reveal any locking in the fault region where the March 11 quake occurred.
The loss of human lives could have been minimised and the deadly nuclear accident thwarted if there were monitors based near the trench to reveal the build up of stress. Indeed, Japan has a few sonar transponders located on the seafloor to provide ground-deformation data.
According to a paper published in Nature today (June 23), data from these transponders was not collected frequently, as should have been the case. So what prevented Japan from collecting the data?
The prohibitive cost, the paper notes. True, as these instruments are located on the seafloor, the ships first identify their locations using global positioning system (GPS) and then use the triangulation method to locate the exact location of each transponder. The exercise when carried out regularly and at regular time intervals can help in understanding the change in the instruments' location.
While manufacturing and deploying these transponders cost several hundreds of thousands of dollars, the use of ships to collect the data costs an additional hundred thousand dollars.
According to Andrew V. Newman, the author of the paper, the total cost would work out to as much as half a million dollars!
That was the reason why Japan did not collect the data from these transponders regularly.
Is there a way out to make it cheaper and hence know the stress accumulation in the faults at the subduction zones?
Possible solutions
Dr. Newman thinks there is. Locating the sonar transponders without using ships is one way out. According to him, real-time transmission of data from the seafloor instruments can be made possible by hooking them to existing underwater cables. Probably even laying new cables for data transmission should not be ruled out.
The other possible solution he suggests is the use of buoys for collecting data from the transponders and transmitting them to satellites. Such a system is actually being developed at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, California.
The time has come to develop a cheaper system to collect and convey the data either in real-time or at regular intervals.
Such a system will enable scientists to densely populate the seafloor, especially the trenches where subductions occur, with sensitive instruments. The Japan Trench alone would need 100-400 such sensors.
According to the author, the total cost to equip the Japan Trench with sensors would be around 5 million to 20 million dollars. This pales in comparison with the over $300 billion projected cost of the Japan tragedy.
Artificial meat can slice emissions
The study found that growing meat in the lab rather than slaughtering animals will generate only a tiny fraction of the greenhouse gas emissions associated with conventional livestock production.
The researchers believe that their work suggests artificial meat could help to feed the growing world population while reducing the impact on the environment.
Lesser emission
According to the analysis by scientists from Oxford University and Amsterdam University, lab-grown tissue would produce greenhouse gases at up to 96 per cent lower levels than raising animals.
It would require between 7 per cent and 45 per cent less energy than the same volume of conventionally produced meat such as pork, beef and lamb or mutton. And what is more, it could be engineered to use only 1 per cent of the land and as little as 4 per cent of the water associated with conventional meat.
“The environmental impacts of cultured meat could be substantially lower than those of meat produced in the conventional way,” said Hanna Tuomisto, the researcher at Oxford University who led the study.
“We are not saying that we could, or would necessarily want to, replace conventional meat with its cultured counterpart right now.
“However, our research shows that cultured meat could be part of the solution to feeding the world's growing population and at the same time cutting emissions and saving both energy and water.
Simply put, cultured meat is, potentially, a much more efficient and environmentally friendly way of putting meat on the table,” she added.
Aside for its predicted environmental benefits, lab cultured meat should also provide cheap nutrition, and would help to improve animal welfare as well as potentially taking huge pressure off farmland around the world.
Research into cultured meat is still in its infancy, according to Tuomisto. The study showed some of the complex implications of tissue engineering.
For instance, it would take more energy to produce lab—grown chicken than it does for poultry, but would only use a fraction of the land area and water needed to rear chickens.
But the research did not take into account other effects such as transport and refrigeration. — Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2011
Human brain developed 80,000 years ago
Advanced crafting of stone spearheads contributed to the development of new ways of human thinking and behaving.
This is what new findings by archaeologists according to Lund University press release.
The requirements
The technology took a long time to acquire, required step by step planning and increased social interaction across the generations. This led to the human brain developing new abilities.
200 000 years ago, small groups of people wandered across Africa, looking like us anatomically but not thinking the way we do today. Studies of fossils and the rate of mutations in DNA show that the human species to which we all belong — Homo sapiens — has existed for 200 000 years.
But the archaeological research of recent years has shown that, even though the most ancient traces of modern humans are 200 000 years old, the development of modern cognitive behaviour is probably much younger.
In the next issue of the well renowned Journal of Human Evolution, they present their new findings on the early modern humans that existed in what is now South Africa, approximately 80 000 years ago.
The findings show that people at that time used advanced technology for the production of spearheads and that the complicated crafting process developed the working memory and social life of humans.
Long time to learn
The technology led to increased social interaction within and across the generations. This happened because the crafting of stone spearheads took a long time to learn and required a lot of knowledge, both theoretical and practical. Producing a stone spearhead also required the ability to plan in several stages.
This social learning contributed to the subsequent development of early modern humans' cognitive ability to express symbolism and abstract thoughts through their material culture, for example in the form of decorated objects.
“The excavations have been carried out in a small cave; the location we have studied is called Hollow Rock Shelter and lies 250 km north of Cape Town.
We are cooperating with the University of Cape Town and the research we have just published is part of a larger research project on this location,” says Professor Lars Larsson. — Our Bureau

Bees: climate change causes concern
Global warming has led to many plants blooming ever earlier and also before honey bees emerge from hibernation, leading to fears of a long-term decline in pollination.
A combined research group centred at Munich's Technical University (TU) has carried out a study into how bees are dealing with the change in global temperatures.
“We have increasingly noticed an ever growing difference between temperature and flight activity,” said bee expert Juergen Tautz from Wuerzburg University.
Research has shown that the European spring is being pushed forward by 2.5 days every 10 years but it is still not known how exactly the earlier rise in temperatures is affecting the behaviour of bees.
TU doctorate student Raimund Henneken has been investigating how bees are reacting to the higher temperatures. “Bees are directly affected by ambient temperatures and indirectly dependent on climate and the flowering of plants,” he said.
“Accordingly, it is important to observe year by year the behaviour of bee populations early in the spring season. This is the way to see later how the behaviour of bees is affected by climate change.” The project concentrates on swarming, the natural means of reproduction of honey bee colonies. In order for swarming to occur the weather has to be mild for several weeks when about 60 per cent of the worker bees leave the original hive location with the old queen.
Insects also have to be fit and healthy for swarming to take place and the event usually occurs on a warm and sunny day. The information about swarming is essential to Henneken's research. Henneken has received less information from eastern Germany and the coastal regions. “The primary objective of the project is to describe the swarming behaviour of bees in detail,” explains the scientist.
After several years it will then be possible to assess the impact of climate change on the behaviour of bees. Henneken has already noticed a strong correlation between temperature and swarming activity. — DPA
Seven new mice species discovered
The number of native mammals known from Luzon Island (excluding bats) has risen from 42 to 49 (17 per cent).
This follows the discovery by a group of American and Filipino biologists of seven previously unknown species of mammals in the Philippines.
All of the species are forest mice, and each species lives only in a small part of Luzon. The formal descriptions of the seven species, all of which are members of the genus Apomys, were published on 20 May in Fieldiana, the peer-reviewed journal of The Field Museum.
According to Dr. Lawrence Heaney, the lead author of the publication, “These are wonderful little mice that live in forested regions high in the mountains. Although they are often abundant, they actively avoid humans and rarely cause any harm. They prefer to eat earthworms and seeds on the forest floor.”
These animals are part of the rich biological heritage of the Philippines. — Our Bureau
Most powerful supercomupter
A Japanese supercomputer named ‘K' — capable of making 8.2 quadrillion calculations per second or equivalent to a million laptops working in tandem — has been named the most powerful system in the world.
The computer is three times faster than its Chinese rival that previously held the top position, a New York Times report said.
K, built by Fujitsu and located at the Riken Advanced Institute for Computational Science in Kobe, Japan, represents a giant leap forward in computing speed.
“It's a very impressive machine. It's a lot more powerful than the other computers,” the Times report quoted Jack Dongarra, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville who keeps the official rankings of computer performance, as saying.
K pushed back the previous number one, Tianhe-1A supercomputer, at the National Supercomputing Centre in Tianjin, China, to second place.
Tianhe-1A was the first Chinese computer to be ranked on top.
The latest ranking of the top 500 computers released Monday, is determined by running a standard mathematical equation.
The winning computer was able to make 8.2 quadrillion calculations per second, or 8.2 petaflops per second, the report said. — IANS

The promise of stem cells to cure blindness
Researchers have used stem cell technology to correct a genetic defect present in a rare blinding disorder, another step on a promising path to therapies to reverse blindness caused by common retinal diseases

Arctic snow harbours deadly fungal assassin
Whilst Arctic snow has an insulating effect which helps plants to grow bigger, heavy and prolonged snow can, sometimes, result in the rapid and extensive growth of killer fungal strains.

Human vaccine cures prostate cancer in mice
Scientists have cured prostate tumours in mice using a human vaccine with no apparent side effects. This treatment causes the immune system to rid itself of the tumours without chemotherapies and radiation treatments.

Solving a mystery of universe's evolution
By studying a rare particle that was present right after the Big Bang, scientists experimenting with the Large Hadron Collider hope to solve the mystery of why the universe evolved with more matter than antimatter.

Climate fluctuations hit marine ecosystems
Fluctuations in climate can drastically affect the habitability of marine ecosystems, according to a new study by scientists that examined the expansion and contraction of low-oxygen zones in the ocean.

A step towards better reverse-osmosis plants
Nafion, is a polymer that conducts ions and water through its nanostructure. A way to guage its internal structure and manipulate it to enhance its use in fuel cells, organic batteries and reverse-osmosis plants has been found.
Agreement on grassroots knowledge extended
National Innovation Foundation-India (NIF), an autonomous body under the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi today extended its Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for validation of practices received from traditional knowledge holders from throughout the country.
Time period
Dr. V.M. Katoch, Director General, ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) and Prof. Anil K. Gupta, Executive Vice Chairperson, NaNIF signed the MoU at ICMR Headquarters at New Delhi. The MoU shall be valid for another five years till 2016.
This collaboration will strengthen the synergy achieved between informal, uncodified and non-classical health related people’s knowledge and the apex institution for medical research in the country.
Focus
It will focus on grassroots traditional knowledge based practices that incorporate either use of new medicinal plants not reported in any Indian codified literature or new use of already mentioned medicinal plants or multi-herb formulations for drug development.
This cooperation will also serve to recognize, respect and reward the knowledge rich, economically poor indigenous people who may have made innovations in traditional knowledge for inclusive development in the decade of innovation.
This is in tune with the ethical guidelines issued by ICMR on Clinical Trials with herbal medicines based on folklore knowledge.
Documentation
While the community practices will be documented and sourced from the rich NIF database developed mainly with the assistance of Honey Bee Network volunteers, the cooperation will be guided by prior informed consent of the knowledge providers.
ICMR will work towards validating the safety and efficacy of the practices that are claimed to have therapeutic value by grassroots healers.
Any benefit generated will largely go to the traditional knowledge holders and partly to other stake holders in the value chain to the extent of their involvement.
This bridge between people's knowledge and institutional science shows the resolve of scientific institutions of the country to become more and more responsive to the needs of the common people.