Results tagged “Science” from Birmingham Mail - Nathan Jolly

'It's time to initiate a health warning'

"We interrupt this programme to bring you news of confirmed outbreaks of swine flu that is reported to slowly wipe-out all populations on the planet, sending the whole world into a CATACLYSMIC DISASTER THAT WILL END ALL MANKIND. RUN! But don't panic. We now return to A Place in the Sun".

There always tend to be two trains of thought on any pandemic or high-profile situation. There are those who sit in their makeshift steel bunker that they've built just for the occasion, ensuring they have enough baked beans, industrial facemasks and a portable radio so they can hear how the world is dwindling away.

Or, there are those who shrug it off and carry on about their business as normal, their head in the air telling everyone they've survived the World War II, Chernobyl, and Tony Blair- so they're ready for anything.

New ice ageism; nuclear winterism; vCJDism; globalwarmismisation; SARSation; avian fluism; terrorismisation; food crisisisation; climate changeism; oil crisisism; recessionitis, swine flu?...Next please.

But with many deaths already reported and the confirmed cases in the UK, the initial jokes about turning into a pig and about the issue being a load of old hogwash has run dry.

The vast comment on the situation, the methods for keeping the virus at bay, and warning for people to stock up on oinkment is running over the news and the internet like some sort of mass epidemic.

Although the government have said that they have enough Tamiflu for half the population, they say that they believe that they are thoroughly prepared to tackle the spread of the flu. Despite this, some people still believe the government are telling porkies.

It's easy for the government to tell everyone to keep calm when, as MPs, they're probably the first to get a vaccine.

Not that it will have any effect, as many people know that MPs have been suffering from swine disease for a very long time.

The disease causes you to still manage a smile, like you might actually be deranged, while you're holding up a budget in a briefcase that's 10 times for people's lives worse that any flu.

And the fact that people were stepping off the plane from Mexico and Canada without a single test for the virus, it may be hard to believe that we are prepared to stop it spreading.

You can't go on the plane with a toothpick or an eyelash, but you can get on with a virus that could wipe out a whole population. Or, even worse, have them locked in their homes playing Monopoly and watching reruns of Dad's Army until the next ice-age.

Many people are actually starting to get worried. But with deaths already hanging around the 100 mark, it's nowhere near the 4,000 people who die from normal, less news-worthy flu each winter.

And yet, since the news channels have put on their Breaking News signs again, and are using words like "Mortality", "Grave Danger" and "Pandemic", it's time to initiate a health warning.

Bird flu was expected to kill 150 million people. Instead it managed 257. Yet, the virus wasn't as easily passed to humans. Unlike the new swine flu that seems to be dominating the headlines.

But there are thousands of soldiers in the world losing their life for insignificant wars. Across Africa, 25 million people have died of AIDS. And 11.6 million have been made orphans. Why are they all poor? Where's the contraception? Rarely featured in the news bulletins.

And just over a 100 people die of swine flu and it's all over the news. The World Health Organisation. The White House. Downing Street. It's a threat to the West. Down the hatchets. Step back. It's a global tragedy.

'The increased sales in science magazines are making OK! Magazine look like Laminate Floor Monthly'

The ability to use stem cells to treat diseases without using embryos is a 'step closer', with a British and Canadian team having manipulated human skin cells to act like embryonic stem cells.

The news managed to make most newspapers. The Daily Mail ran with "Breakthrough by British Scientists" (they'll put "and Canadian" somewhere really small), The Times had "Stem Cell Breakthrough Could Solve Ethical Dilemmas", and the Isle of White Herald went with "Sheep Disappearance due to Alien Invasion".

In a time when running off with someone's mobile phone will put you in prison, but running off with someone's pension will put you in a 5-star resort in the Maldives, it's nice to know that there is actually some real work being done and not just releasing the usual bananas-make-your-eyes-fall-out statements.

The fact that it now means embryos will not have to be used, should make the whole situation regarding ethics a little easier and scientists can now begin to look at new ways of curing some diseases.

America has recently put $50billion (that's currently about £1.99) into stem cell research, but the ethics-in-science debate still pops up every now and again.

Last week, in India, home embryo freezers were made available for those who could afford them. Supposedly in case any couples who are undergoing IVF want to be closer to their frozen embryos.

Although a little strange, some people have said it's a good idea. The only problem being that if there's a power cut you'd have to run halfway across town with your embryos pressed between a bag of peas and McCain oven chips.

Best before Jan 2016.

Some people are still against IVF, saying that it's not religiously moral. I'm not well-read in the Bible but I'm sure it doesn't have one of the commandments listed as 'Thou shalt not place thy products in liquid nitrogen and nor shalt they be cryogenically frozen until a husband/wife has been found on DatingDirect.com.'

The same goes for organ donation. Many people still don't want to sign up in case they're 'left to die' so their organs can go to someone in the next bed. It would probably be ok if they let you make a list of who you don't want your organs to go to in the unlikely event of your death.

Then again, the chances of Peter Mandelson requiring one of your kidneys are remote.

It was suggested, last month, that many people are quitting their jobs as scientists and retraining in other professions because they feel hassled by all of the ethical issues facing their work.

What would you rather do? Sit around Brindley Place drinking skinny lattes with Richard and Judy or spend your days arguing with protesters and genetically engineering bacteria to be fluent in Cantonese?

Despite this, the interest in popular science has increased recently. With being able to isolate the gene that causes a jellyfish to be fluorescent, and inserting it into mice, people are interested by the weird science.

The increased sales in science magazines are making OK! Magazine look like Laminate Floor Monthly.

Show people pictures of anti-gravity chambers and flying cars and they're suddenly interested in science. None of that boring atom business they did when they were at school. They want to see rockets and jetpacks, not periodic tables.

Saying that, everyone takes some interest in the boring parts of science when it's beneficial to them.

They know it's a scientific fact that, when eating, you'll not absorb any fat from the food you take from someone else's plate.

And they see the importance of molecular structures.

For example, they know that two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom make up the most important molecule: water. And they wouldn't be able to live without it, being as it's a major constituent of beer.

Contact the Author