Day: 06/11/2013

What Climate Change Means for Our Health.

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We all know carbon pollution is driving climate change and supercharging extreme weather events like Superstorm Sandy, Typhoon Bopha, and multiyear droughts around the world. All of which end up costing us hundreds of billions each year in bills for reconstruction and relief, rising insurance rates, and household repair expenses, to name only a few. What many people don’t realize, though, is that climate change is also taking a real toll on our health.

Scientists and public health officials have noticed and are increasingly speaking up about the danger. Recently, one the world’s leading medical journals, Lancet, published an editorial calling climate change the “biggest global health threat of the 21st century.” Alongside this assessment, a 2011 study estimated that just six climate change-related events in the U.S. over the past decade cost roughly $14 billion in lost lives and health expenses.

These numbers are staggering, but numbers alone don’t tell the whole story. As well as the economic costs of climate change we can count in dollars and cents, there are also the human costs we can measure only by the health and well-being of our family, friends, and communities. The things that are truly priceless. With carbon pollution continuing to increase in the atmosphere, contributing to changes from rising temperatures to rising sea levels, it’s important to understand what this means for our health.

Heat Impacts

  • Already, heat is the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the U.S. Heat deaths could increase by as much as seven times by 2050 if carbon pollution continues to rise at current rates.
  • As global average temperatures rise, many scientists project an increase in extremely hot days and more frequent and severe heat waves.
  • Heat can cause impacts from rashes to dehydration to heat stroke, and can worsen chronic conditions like cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.
  • Heat can be particularly dangerous for children and the elderly, as well as people who are already sick or lack access to air conditioning.

Flooding

  • As the climate changes, scientists expect extreme weather like tropical storms and floods to become a more severe fact of life in some regions.
  • Floods don’t just carry the threat of drowning and property destruction; floods can also contaminate drinking water and carry diseases and infections like cholera and diarrhea.

Infectious Disease

  • Climate change could push mosquitos, ticks, and other parasites that carry disease into new regions, at new times of the year, and with much greater frequency. Already, the West Nile Virus, a temperature-sensitive pathogen, has spread from New York to almost every state in the nation.
  • Scientists anticipate that the rate of infection and spread of diseases like malaria, Lyme disease,
    dengue, leishmaniasis, and encephalitis could all change as the climate does.

Air Quality

  • Climate change can increase allergens like pollen and mold spores and lead to greater concentrations of ozone, particles, and dust in the air we breathe.
  • These pollutants can cause or worsen respiratory diseases like asthma, hay fever, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
  • This is particularly bad news for asthma sufferers whose attacks can be triggered by ozone, pollen, and other airborne pollutants. In 2007, nearly 1.8 million Americans went to the emergency room because of asthma and 3,500 died. It’s not just the U.S. either, as Belgium, Ireland, and the Netherlands are seeing more deaths related to rising ozone levels and rising temperatures.

Food-Borne Pathogens

  • Each year, food-borne illness kills 3,000 Americans and makes 48 million sick. Rising temperatures can make cases of food poisoning due to Salmonella, for example, much more frequent and common.
  • Higher temperatures also increase the risk of algal blooms that infect our shellfish.

Food Security and Malnutrition

  • More frequent and severe droughts could hurt some crop yields, making food more expensive and scarce in some parts of the world.
  • Scientists are also concerned that climate change could increase numerous kinds of crop diseases, devastating yields and worsening poverty and malnutrition.

Source: http://climaterealityproject.org

Quiet Climate Milestones.

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 “All we are not stares back at what we are.” —“The Sea and the Mirror” W.H. Auden

Throughout my life, there have been poets and poems I’ve carried with me everywhere, like a briefcase that’s always packed and sitting by the front door. And while it might sound strange, I’ve found myself coming back to Auden in the past few weeks after two things happened in the climate world. First, it was the European Union effectively giving up on its emission trading scheme (ETS) for regulating carbon pollution. Then it was the news that atmospheric carbon levels had reached a new record concentration of 400 parts per million (ppm).

As global milestones go, this was a quiet one. Life went on much as it had when we stood at 399.9 ppm, and few will remember exactly where they were when they heard the news. What it means, though, is that the atmosphere now has more of the heat-trapping gases driving climate change than ever before, taking us further away from the 350 ppm level scientists agree we can safely handle. With the effective collapse of the ETS, our challenge in responding becomes even greater.

Which brings me back to Auden. I can’t help thinking about this line because I can’t help thinking these two events show that we’re simply not rising to meet our potential. When it comes climate change, we’re avoiding the tough decisions instead of stepping up to the challenge, pure and simple. Seeing us cross the 400 ppm threshold or reading another climate denier distort the facts in the papers, I know we are better than this. Because what we are not, as Auden would have it, is extraordinary.

As we celebrate Memorial Day, think back to the generations that came before us and the existential challenges they faced. The ones, for example, who came together selflessly to defeat Nazi tyranny, whether they were daily risking death on the front lines or working hard on the home front. They took on this challenge because there were people and places in their lives they loved deeply and utterly, and there was nothing they wouldn’t do to protect them. And in part because of that love, they won.

We don’t have to face bullets, but we do have to face reality and make real choices about climate change. Those of us who’ve been working in the movement for decades are used to being called merchants of doom and gloom (and sometimes much worse). These names miss the point entirely. What gets me out of bed isn’t dread, but love for the faces that appear in my picture frames and around my breakfast table. Given a choice between giving up my arms or something happening to my family or friends, I’d offer you my legs too. Just like any mother, I want my children to have the freedom to make the lives they want. I also want to be able to run in the mountains and savor a cup of Moka Java in the morning. I could go on and everyone will have their own list, but in every case, this means taking care of what we love on this exquisite planet.

This is the challenge of our time, the one that will define us to our grandchildren and beyond. The good news is that the solution starts with a simple step: putting a price on carbon. With a price on carbon, we curb the carbon pollution accelerating climate change and ultimately take care of what we love. It will not be easy, but it’s a challenge we can solve together. It’s past time to step up, to be worthy of the generations before us and faithful to the ones who’ll come after.

Source: Source: http://climaterealityproject.org

 

 

Switching to Novartis drug Gilenya from standard interferon shown to improve long-term outcomes for patients with multiple sclerosis.

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  • Gilenya resulted in almost 50% more patients being free of MS disease activity after the switch from standard interferon treatment
  • Annualized relapse rate reduced by >50% after 1 year for patients who switched from standard interferon treatment to Gilenya
  • Reduced rate of brain volume loss sustained for up to 4.5 years in patients with active disease, despite prior treatment, who switched from interferon to Gilenya

Two new analyses from the Phase III TRANSFORMS study presented at the 23rd meeting of the European Neurological Society (ENS) in Barcelona, demonstrated how Novartis’ Gilenya® (fingolimod) was effective against all four key measures of disease activity in multiple sclerosis (MS) – brain volume loss, lesion activity (measured by magnetic resonance imaging – MRI), relapse rates and disability progression. Improvements were seen in patients who switched from standard interferon (interferon beta-1a) treatment to Gilenya within 12 months of the switch and up to the end of the 4.5 year extension study[1],[2]

“Data have consistently shown that treatment with Gilenya leads to more patients staying disease free, compared to standard interferon treatment.” said Dr. Timothy Wright, Global Head Development, Novartis Pharmaceuticals. “MS is a chronic neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative illness where disease activity leads to accumulation of disability and loss of brain tissue. These new findings demonstrate the effect of Gilenya on these key disease measures, both in the early years and in the longer-term.”

The new analysis evaluated the association between measures of disease activity (defined as relapses, 3-month disability progression or MRI activity) in the first year of therapy and long-term clinical outcomes. Gilenya increased the proportion of patients who were disease-free by almost 50% (from 44.3% to 66.0%) upon switch from interferon to Gilenya in year-1 to year-2[1]. Patients who had disease-activity at the end of the first year were significantly less likely to remain clinically disease free (OR= 0.63-0.35, p<0.05) during the following 3.5 years of the extension study[1].

A separate post-hoc analysis showed that patients who had disease-activity in the year prior to entering the study, despite prior treatment with a disease-modifying treatment, experienced sustained benefit on Gilenya with a lower annualized relapse rate (ARR) compared to those who were given interferon for the first year (ARR of between 0.19-0.22 compared to 0.31-0.32 respectively)[2]. In patients who were switched from interferon to Gilenya after one year, the ARR was reduced by more than 50% (from between 0.33-0.37 ARR on interferon to 0.14-0.16 ARR on Gilenya treatment) and remained low to the end of the study up to 4.5 years[2].

Further analysis showed that irrespective of prior treatment and disease activity, brain volume loss was significantly reduced (by about 50%) after one year in patients taking Gilenya compared to those taking interferon and this low rate was sustained until the end of the study while on Gilenya[2].  Similarly, a slowing / decrease in the rate of brain volume loss was observed in patients that switched from interferon to Gilenya after one year2. Gilenya is the only approved MS treatment shown to consistently reduce brain volume loss across studies with a significant effect seen as early as six months[3]-[5]. A low rate of brain volume loss with Gilenya was sustained for up to four years in Phase III studies and for up to seven years in patients after completing a Phase II study[6],[7]. Brain volume loss in MS occurs early and predicts long-term disability[8].

Additional data being presented at ENS (11th June 2013) show how Gilenya could have beneficial impact on MS through its well characterized effect on the immune system and also through a potential direct effect within the central nervous system[9].[10].

About Multiple Sclerosis
While its exact cause is unknown, multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system (CNS) that causes the body to turn against itself by mistaking normal cells for foreign cells[11] In MS the myelin sheath, the covering that protects nerve fibers, is damaged by the inflammation that occurs when the body’s immune cells attack the nervous system[12]. This neuro-inflammatory damage can occur in any area of the brain, optic nerve and spinal cord and cause a range of physical and mental problems including loss of muscle control and strength, vision, balance, sensation and mental function[13]. Up to 2.5 million people worldwide are affected by MS[14], most often younger people between the ages of 20 and 40[15].

About Gilenya
Gilenya is the first oral therapy approved to treat relapsing forms of MS and the first in a new class of compounds called sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor modulators[16],[17]. It is thought that Gilenya works in two ways against the destructive processes that drive MS disease progression by affecting not only the immune system to reduce inflammatory damage but also the CNS to promote neuroprotection and repair[17]. Gilenya is thought to act by preventing lymphocytes (the cells that cause inflammation and damage in the CNS) from leaving the lymphoid tissues, thus reducing their entry into the central nervous system and potential for damage[16],[17]. Gilenya is also able to cross the blood-brain barrier and act on the neurodegeneration process in the brain and spinal cord[16],[17].

Gilenya is the only oral MS treatment that provides early and long-term reduction in the rate of brain volume loss and enduring high efficacy across all key disease activity measures[3]-[6],[18]-[19]. In clinical trials, Gilenya exhibited a well-characterized safety profile and very good tolerability profile[4],[5]. The most common side effects were headache, liver enzyme elevations, influenza, diarrhea, back pain, and cough[4],[5]. To date, approximately 63,000 patients have been treated with Gilenya demonstrating a positive benefit-risk profile in clinical study and real-world settings[20].

Gilenya is licensed from Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation.

References: 
[1] Hartung et al. Relationship between early disease activity and long-term clinical outcome: Results from the phase 3 TRANSFORMS study extension at 4.5 years in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. European Neurological Society, June 9, 2013 P380.
[2] Montalban et al. Long-term efficacy of fingolimod in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis previously treated with interferon beta-1a or disease-modifying therapies: A Post-hoc analysis of the TRANSFORMS 4.5 year extension study. European Neurological Society, June 10, 2013 P539.
[3] Chin PS, Calabresi PA, Zhang Y, von Rosenstiel P, Kappos L. Early effect of fingolimod on clinical and MRI related outcomes in relapsing multiple sclerosis. Poster presented at: 28th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis; October 10-13, 2012; Lyon, France. Abstract P459.
[4] Kappos L, Radue E-W, O’Connor P, et al; for FREEDOMS Study Group. A placebo-controlled trial of oral fingolimod in relapsing multiple sclerosis. N Engl J Med. 2010;362(5):387-401.
[5] Cohen JA, Barkhof F, Comi G, et al; for TRANSFORMS Study Group. Oral fingolimod or intramuscular interferon for relapsing multiple sclerosis. N Engl J Med. 2010;362(5):402-415.
[6] Cohen J, et al. Fingolimod-effect on brain atrophy and clinical/MRI correlations in Three Phase 3 studies – TRANSFORMS, FREEDOMS and FREEDOMS II. Abstract presented at AAN, San Diego, March 2013.
[7] Antel J, Montalban X, O’Connor P, et al. Long-term (7-year) data from a phase 2 extension study of fingolimod in relapsing multiple sclerosis. Poster presented at: 64th AAN Annual Meeting; April 21-28, 2012; New Orleans, LA. Poster P01.129.
[8] Popescu V, Agosta F, Hulst HE, et al; on behalf of the MAGNIMS Study Group. Brain atrophy and lesion load predict long term disability in multiple sclerosis. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2013 March 23.
[9] Brinkmann et al. Primary target of fingolimod in the CNS and its role in pro-inflammatory cascade: sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor subtype-1 (S1P1). European Neurological Society, June 11, 2013 P846.
[10] Slowik et al. FTY720 is neuroprotective after toxin-induced central nervous system demyelination. European Neurological Society, June 11, 2013 P850.
[11] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001747/. Accessed May 2013.
[12] http://www.mssociety.org.uk/what-is-ms/information-about-ms/about-ms. Accessed May 2013.
[13] http://www.nationalmssociety.org/about-multiple-sclerosis/what-we-know-about-ms/symptoms/index.aspx. Accessed May 2013.
[14] Multiple Sclerosis International Federation. Atlas of MS [online]. Available at: www.atlasofms.org. Accessed May 2013.
[15] http://emsp.org/multiple-sclerosis/ms-fact-sheet. Accessed May 2013.
[16] Brinkmann V. FTY720 (fingolimod) in multiple sclerosis: therapeutic effects in the immune and the central nervous system. Br J Pharmacol 2009;158(5):1173-1182.
[17] Chun J, Hartung HP. Mechanism of Action of Oral Fingolimod (FTY720) in Multiple Sclerosis. Clin Neuropharmacol. 2010 March-April;33(2):91-101.
[18] Montalban X, Barkhof F, Comi G, et al. Long-term comparison of fingolimod with interferon beta-1a: results of 4.5-year follow-up from the extension phase III TRANSFORMS study Poster presented at: 28th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis; October 10-13, 2012; Lyon, France. Abstract P517.
[19] Kappos L, Radue E-W, O’Connor P, et al. Phase 3 FREEDOMS study extension: fingolimod (FTY720) efficacy in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis receiving continuous or placebo-fingolimod switched therapy for up to 4 years. Poster presented at: 28th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis; October 10-13, 2012: Lyon, France. Poster P979.
[20] Novartis data on file.

Source: Novartis newsletter

Time cloak could secure telecommunications.

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Telecommunications could one day be made more secure by a ‘time cloak’ that is able to hide data sent through optical fibres, say US researchers.

Electrical engineer Joseph Lukens from Purdue University, and colleagues, report their findings today in the journalNature.

“Just like you can hide an object in space you can imagine hiding moments in time,” says Lukens. “No one can pick it up, so you might as well say it didn’t happen. It is good as erasing the past.”

When it comes to making things invisible there has been quite a bit of research into spatial cloaks, similar to the fictional invisibility cloak featured in the Harry Potter stories.

Lukens and colleagues have carried out an experiment to show that, in principle, it is possible to apply similar ideas to hide data in an optical communication system.

They have developed a time cloak that ‘punches holes in time’ to ‘hide’ data as it is transmitted.

The researchers used phase modulators to push light within a laser beam back and forward, creating ‘holes in time’. This allowed the researchers to insert data into the holes, making it appear as if no data was being transmitted along the optic fibre.

Lukens says the cloak currently operates at 12.7 gigabits per second, but could work even faster.

“We can cloak one bit of data, and then cloak another one really fast,” he says.

Military and law enforcement applications

Lukens says while the practical application of the technology is some way off, it could prove useful in preventing people from eavesdropping on communications as nothing would appear to be transmitted, and could also be used to stop information from being sent by making it appear invisible to the receiver.

“I could see these ideas being used for a military or law enforcement application down the road,” he says.

The research was supported the National Science Foundation and received defence and security funding.

While other time cloak concepts have been developed, this is the first to use ‘off-the-shelf’ components, says Lukens.

However, he says the cloak only lasts for 36 picoseconds and ‘hides’ data bits that are shorter than half of the repetition period, but believes it may be possible to improve this in the future.

“I don’t see an easy solution to that at least with the current technology,” says Lukens.

“I hope that someone who reads this paper will come up with some ideas to get the durations even wider.”

 

Source: ABC

Experiment reveals glass secrets.

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MonashUniversity_MetallicGlass

For the first time, scientists have mapped the structure of a metallic glass on the atomic scale, bringing them closer to understanding where the liquid ends and the solid begins in glassy materials.

A study led by Monash University researchers and published in Physical Review Letters has used a newly developed technique on one of the world’s highest-resolution electron microscopes to understand the structure of a zirconium (Zr)-based metallic glass. The findings could help explain the mystery of why glasses, or disordered solids form.

At the liquid-glass transition, the melt doesn’t become solid at a distinct point, but becomes gradually more viscous until it is rigid. When crystalline solids – such as graphite, salt and diamonds – form they become abruptly rigid as the atoms form a regular, periodic arrangement. Glass never develops into an ordered atomic arrangement,but seems to retain the disordered structure of the liquid, despite its solidity.

This disordered structure gives glasses unique properties. Metallic glasses have a higher strength-to-weight ratio than aluminium and titanium alloys and are extremely promising structural materials with unique applications as biomaterials and microelectromechanical systems.

Led by Dr Amelia Liu from Monash University’s School of Physics and the Monash Centre for Electron Microscopy, the researchers found that the structure of this Zr-based glass was not random, but composed in large part by efficiently arranged 13-atom icosohedral clusters.

Icosahedra have 20 faces, 12 vertices and 12 axes of five-fold symmetry, which means they cannot be packed into an ordered three dimensional, crystalline structure.

“It has long been theorised that icosahedra were a key atomic motif in the structure of metallic glasses and could, in fact, underlie glass formation. We have provided the first experimental confirmation of this,” Dr Liu said.

“Our findings also point the way towards understanding the glass transition from liquid to solid – a grand challenge in modern condensed matter physics.”

The researchers – from Monash, the University of Melbourne, the Australian Synchrotron, Ames Laboratory and Iowa State University in the US – developed a new electron scattering technique. By analysing the diffraction patterns from nano-scale volumes in the glass, they were able to identify symmetries in individual atomic clusters in the Zr-glass. Previous techniques had not provided sufficient detail to do this.

Dr Liu said that the new technique can now be used to understand the structure of other glasses and help progress the study of disordered materials.

 

 

Women Might Be Able to Delay ‘Virtual Colonoscopy’ 10 Years Longer Than Men.

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Older age and male sex are independent predictors of advanced colorectal neoplasia identified on computed tomographic colonography (CTC, or “virtual colonoscopy”), suggesting that women might be able to start CTC screening later than men.

In a study published in Cancer, some 7600 asymptomatic, average-risk adults underwent CTC; those with a large polyp or more than two small polyps were referred for colonoscopy. Advanced neoplasia was identified in 4% of participants.

After multivariable adjustment, each 10-year increase in age was associated with a significant, 80% increase in risk for advanced neoplasia. In addition, male sex increased risk by 70%. The researchers note that it took women about 10 years longer than men to reach the same number needed to screen (NNS) to detect one case of advanced neoplasia. The efficiency of CTC appeared to be both age- and sex-dependent (for example, the NNS for men aged 65 and older was 10).

Source: Cancer 

New Quadrivalent Flu Vaccine Approved.

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Fluzone Quadrivalent influenza vaccine has been FDA approved for people aged 6 months and up for the 2013–2014 flu season, according to the manufacturer. The intramuscular vaccine is the only quadrivalent flu immunization approved for use in very young children. It will contain two A and two B influenza strains.

Last year’s intramuscular flu vaccine was trivalent.

 

More Evidence of Increased Cancer Risks After Childhood CT Scans.

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Evidence from six health plans adds to data showing that computed tomographic scanning during childhood increases the risk for subsequent tumors. The report appears in JAMA Pediatrics.

Using data from the HMO Research Network, researchers accumulated 4.9 million child-years of observation to characterize CT usage. Some 744 pediatric scans chosen at random were used to calculate radiation dosages. On the basis of previous exposure studies, the authors estimate that abdomen/pelvis scans, for example, cause roughly 30 solid tumors per 10,000 scans in girls and about 14 in boys.

Radiation doses varied, and reducing the highest 25% of doses to the median could prevent over 40% of the excess cancers, according to the researchers; that strategy, plus eliminating unneeded CT scans (an estimated one third of scans), could prevent almost two thirds of such cancers. Editorialists write that such changes would require a cultural shift “to become more tolerant of clinical diagnoses without confirmatory imaging.”

Source: JAMA

Who, what, why: What can you learn from people’s phone records?

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The National Security Agency has been tracking the phone calls of millions of Americans. So what can they learn about people using this information?

Verizon has been handing over records of their customers to the National Security Agency (NSA).

In response, some customers are checking their Call History screens. They are trying to sort out who has called them and when.

They are also wondering what the government can find out about them?

The Guardian article is based on a top-secret court order. The court order states that Verizon has to relinquish information that reveals approximately where calls are made, as well as how long the calls last and the phone numbers of both parties on the line.

It is unclear whether text messages are included.

In addition, officials will not examine the content of the calls – or what people are talking about on the phone.

“The order reprinted in the article does not allow the government to listen in on anyone’s telephone calls,” a senior government official explained.

The content of phone conversations – what people say to each other when they are on the phone – is protected by the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution, which forbids unreasonable searches.

But if information is shared with a third party, such as a phone company, it is fair game, says Robert Chesney, a University of Texas School of Law professor who specialises in national security.

That means that information about phone calls – such as their timing and duration – can be scooped up by government officials.

NSA officials could (at least in theory) determine the kinds of businesses that an individual calls – and how often. These officials could also develop a picture of an individual’s daily life, based on their phone activity.

It is unlikely that analysts will examine data from individuals, though. The analysts are instead likely to look at the information in a broad way, studying the data to see if they can find patterns of phone calls in a geographic area or during a specific time frame.

The collection of this information is legal. It falls under the 2001 Patriot Act, which was written to help prevent another terrorist attack.

Government officials believe that the collection of information from Americans – even personal data such as phone calls – is a useful tool.

“Getting phone information from phone companies – I wouldn’t say it’s routine, but it’s done frequently during investigations,” says Richard Wolf, a spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in Baltimore.

“This programme was used to stop a terrorist attack in the US,” said Mike Rogers, chairman of the House intelligence committee, describing the NSA activities. “We know that.”

Stephen Saltzburg, a law professor at George Washington University in Washington DC, says that officials can use the information from phone records to detect patterns of behaviour.

I may have been wiretapped

In 2006 I was a plaintiff in an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit against the government over a domestic spying programme. Other plaintiffs include the late Christopher Hitchens, and James Bamford, the author of a book, The Shadow Factory, about the NSA.

The lawsuit stated that NSA officials may have eavesdropped on us illegally – and that the warrantless wiretapping programme should come to a halt. In 2007 an appeals court said that we could not prove that our calls had been monitored. As a result it did not have standing. The suit was dismissed.

-Tara McKelvey

These patterns could help show where terrorists may be hiding out – and reveal if they are planning an attack.

NSA officials may, for example, could look at phone calls from people in the US to individuals in Yemen and Pakistan, Saltzburg explains, naming two countries that counterterrorism officials have paid close attention to in recent years.

US-directed drone strikes have killed dozens of terrorists in these regions under the Obama administration.

Experts say that information gleaned from phone records could help in counterterrorism efforts.

“You’ve got to believe that there is a telephone list that’s like a no-fly list,” Saltzburg says. In other words, officials may be looking for certain kinds of phone numbers.

“They have very sophisticated software and have probably worked out ways to identify patterns,” he says.

Moreover, Saltzburg says, US analysts may be working with intelligence agencies in Saudi Arabia and in other countries to see if they can track down terrorists through the phone records.

Still, most of the information that is collected is probably not necessary.

“No-one would believe that they are identifying a high percentage of conversations that involve a threat to the US,” says Saltzburg. “But even a small percentage can be helpful.”

Despite the claims of officials that the programme is an effective way to fight terrorists, some people are unconvinced.

“Many people get alarmed if they think the government is keeping track of phone numbers – there is the fear of Big Brother,” says Saltzburg. “In truth the government doesn’t have the resources to act that way.”

And many people – like Saltzburg – are taking the news of the NSA programme in stride. When a journalist asks the best way to reach him, for example, he rattles off a number.

“That’s my cell phone,” Saltzburg says, “and you can give it to the government, if you want.”

Source: BBC

 

 

 

Ringing in the new age.

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Why is the proposed International Linear Collider going to be straight and not ringed like the LHC?

The International Linear Collider (ILC) was briefly in the Indian news on June 10, when it was announced that the machine would be 32-km long, making it longer than the LHC tunnel (27 km). This isn’t an important number and definitely not a feat to be in the news for because the ILC is a linear accelerator (linac).

Thirty-two km is necessary for a linac that’s going to be the Large Hadron Collider’s sidekick. The distance is used to accelerate the particles through before collision. Even longer distances would result in greater collision energies, but the power consumption would be phenomenal. In fact, to optimize power and energy, a ring-accelerator would’ve been best… if not for a phenomenon called synchrotron radiation.

In the LHC, hundreds of giant superconducting magnets send two opposing beams of protons, which are a positively charged type of heavy particles called hadrons, in curved paths over and over again until they’ve been accelerated to extremely high energies. Then, the beams are brought head-on at the collision point, where the protons smash each other open to reveal a plethora of exotic, high-energy phenomena.

While this entire process lasts some microseconds, the protons must be stable enough to survive what to them must be excruciating conditions. While they’re scooting around inside the underground tunnel in a curved path, their charge and the applied magnetic field makes the particles lose some energy called synchrotron radiation.

The precise amount of energy lost is inversely proportional to the fourth power of their mass, i.e. for a small decrease in mass, the energy lost is quadruply exponential.

Because protons are the relatively heavier particles in the particle physics zoo, they can be handled with ring-accelerators. The ILC, on the other hand, handles electrons and their antimatter counterpart – positrons. These are both much lighter particles, almost 55,000 times lighter than protons. Thus, their energy loss through synchroton radiation will be almost 91 quadrillion times higher. After losing this much energy, the eventual collision will be hardly strong enough to be of academic value.

So, the ILC accelerates the particles in a straight line and initiates a collision.

Other differences between the two models exist, too. For example, in a ring-accelerator, particles left over from the previous collision cycle can be made to go round and round in the ring, preserved for study. In a linac, that’s not possible. Ring-accelerators, because of their design, can accelerate particles over longer distances and excite them to higher energies. Therefore, while the LHC can achieve peak collision energies of 14,000 GeV, the ILC is looking at 500 GeV.

All these factors combine to position the ILC as a complementary device to the LHC, its purpose. Because it smashes protons, which are not fundamental particles but are made up of them, detectors on the hadron collider have to map a stupendous variety of particles. The ILC smashes electrons and positrons, both of which are fundamental particles. During collisions, they may gain energy or lose energy to undergo some transformative processes, but physicists won’t have to put up with quarks, antiquarks and gluons, whose physics is hardly understood.

In short, the ILC will make precision measurements where the LHC leaves off. For instance, the linac will measure the mass, spin and strength of the Higgs boson’s interaction with other particles. It will also go after the elusive dark matter.

The construction of the ILC is slated to begin in 2015 and is estimated to take at least 10 years. The site of the machine is yet to be finalised, too, but Japan is touted to be a likely candidate because its government is willing to fund half of the estimated $25-billion budget.

ILC_SchemeTDR_1483274e

Source: the Hindu