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| So you're into sci fi? But what about sci fact? Sometimes fact is stranger than fiction... Each month our very own Voyager Science Queen* will bring you interesting, quirky and downright bizarre tasty morsels from the world of science. And its all completely, totally, 100% true! September Sci-Facts |
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You’ll be a Star! July and August were great months for Space – the Final Frontier. Astronomers are having another punt at finding a tenth planet for our solar system, and have discovered an earth-type planet circling another sun. NASA has had a win, with Discovery completing a successful mission, and putting the Space Programme back on track. In addition, just for fun, let’s look at some aliens living on our own planet: zombie snails!
To Boldly Go…Again. Now, you might remember that I have previously reported on Sedna, the so-called tenth planet, which is a lump of rock and ice about three quarters the size of Pluto and 12 billion kilometres from the sun. Well, fellow PZers, we have another contender for the prize!!! United States astronomers, and Spanish astronomers, have discovered a planetoid that is larger than Pluto, and about 14.5 billion kilometres from the sun. It orbits the sun once every 560 years and is now at its farthest point from Earth. In approximately 280 years, the planet will be as close as Neptune. It appears to have a satellite of its own. The new planet has a nickname of Lila. At the moment, it goes officially by the exciting name of 2003 UB313 or 2003 EL61…well, they were in a rush to make the announcement, and I guess nobody could think of anything better. As you might, or might not, remember, there was controversy as to whether Sedna counted as a planet. This new discovery isn’t safe from this type of speculation, as there is now an argument being put forward that Pluto doesn’t count as a planet. And you thought astronomers were a quiet, civilised lot…
It’s life, Jim…but not as we know it! The same day as the announcement of our newest planet, pictures were released, taken by the European Space Agency probe that is examining Mars. The pictures were of a giant patch of frozen water sitting inside a Martian crater. The presence of ice on Mars raises the prospect that past or present life will be detected one day, and increases the likelihood of a manned mission being launched to the red planet. But wait, there’s more…
To discover new life, and new civilisations…
It was announced by the media as ‘the first Earth-like planet’. I beg to differ. It has a solid core that is approximately 7 times larger than the mass of Earth. It most probably has a thick, gaseous envelope. The new planet whips around its star in a mere two days, and is so close to the star's surface that its temperature probably hovers around 200 to 400 degrees Celsius. Earth like? I think not! The planet orbits the star Gliese 876, just 15 light years away in the direction of the constellation Aquarius. However, the discovery is important evidence supporting the ‘core accretion’ theory about how planets are formed.
Beam me up… As you all probably know, James Doohan - better known as Scotty from Star Trek - has passed away. His ashes are going to be fired into space. I’m dedicating this science page to his memory, and to the memory of my Granddad, who has been gone for nine years this month. They were both lovely men, with big grins, who made a lot of people happy.
Zombies… The poor victim is no longer in control of its own mind and instincts. It is driven mad, possessed by a weird parasite. It’s made to sacrifice itself to predators, pushed out into the harsh, unyielding light of day… This is the tail of the zombie snail. It is part of the most fascinating life/undead cycle. The Amber Snail - Succinea – is parasitised by the trematode fluke, Leucochloridium paradoxum. The trematode worm has a complicated lifecycle: it has two hosts, a bird and a snail. The bird has fluke eggs in its droppings, which contaminate the snail’s food source. The snail eats the eggs, and the worms hatch out and grow in its intermediate host. (Gross) Then things get bizarre. The flukes move to inhabit the host snail’s antennae-like tentacles; this had the effect of making it impossible for the snail to withdraw all the way into its shell. As well, the infestation creates a behavioural modification in the host; instead of hiding in the damp, moist shade, it is driven out into the sunlight, and usually climbs up onto high perches on plants. This is most unusual, as most parasites do not create changes in a host’s behaviour…hence the nickname, zombie snails. The poor snail, with pulsating, throbbing tentacles, is picked off by the tertiary host, the bird. (Is there such a word as grosser?) The bird is drawn to the movement of the swollen tentacles. These are often plucked off, leaving the snail to survive and regenerate new tentacles. In the bird, the flukes mature to their sexual stage, and lay eggs into the birds gut. The cycle starts over. Biography of the Month Sir John Eccles – 1903 to 1997 John Eccles was born in Melbourne on January 27th. His obvious intellect was inherited from his parents, both teachers. He was the Victorian Rhodes scholar for 1925. He stayed in Oxford until 1937, researching the synaptic transmission of the nervous system. He was trying to provide information into the then current controversy of rival chemical and electrical theories of synaptic transmission. In 1928, John Eccles married Irene Frances Miller of Motueka, New Zealand, and there are nine children: four sons and five daughters, of whom the two eldest sons are scientists with Ph. D.'s. In 1937, Eccles moved back to Sydney, Australia. From 1937 to 1943, he was devoted largely to an electrophysiological analysis of the neuromuscular junctions of cats and frogs, and contributed to the war effort. Subsequently, he became Professor of Physiology at the University of Otago, New Zealand, and from 1944-1951 he returned to synaptic transmission in the central nervous system. From 1952 to 1962, he worked, holding an equivalent position of Professor of Physiology, at the Australian National University. The work he did in the early 1950s earned him the 1963 Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine, as well as Australian of the Year Award in the same year. He won the Nobel Prize, shared with two colleagues, for “their discoveries concerning the ionic mechanisms involved in excitation and inhibition in the peripheral and central portions of the nerve cell membrane.” Following his divorce from Irene in 1968, Eccles married Helena Táboríková of Prague, Czechoslovakia, who is an M.D. of Charles University and a neurophysiologist. He spent his final years of teaching and research in America. He died in Switzerland, after he had retired there in 1975.
Concept of the Month Parasitism Versus Symbiosis A parasite lives off its host, with no benefit to the host, and there may be injury or death caused by the infestation of the parasite. Parasites can be internal, like worms, borers, or flukes, or external, like mistletoe or ticks. Symbiosis is when the relationship between the two different species is of mutual benefit, with no harm coming to one or the other. A good example of this would be lichen, with is actually made up of an algae and a fungus – one can not survive without the other. Another example, using fauna, is the relationship between certain types of scale insects and ants; the ants protect the scale insects from predation, while the scale insects provide the ants with a sweet lymph. The distinction between two species relationships can be broken down even further: Mutualism/Symbiosis - both species benefit
Lynne’s Literary Comment Why do I write? Why does anyone write? Even if a time-traveller or fortuneteller was to say, “You will never be published”, I would still write. I can only conclude that I am not Homo sapien, but Homo composito liber libri…book-writing man. As soon as I learnt to read and write, I started composing stories, poems, and plays. Now, is it a blessing or a curse?
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| *The Voyager Science Queen is also known as Lynne Green So, who is this woman who attempts to entertain us with Science? Well, I really am a scientist. I have a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Queensland, in Zoology. And, at the moment, I am working in a Pathology laboratory. I have always been intensely curious about every aspect of our universe, from the teeny tiny workings of the gene right up to the mind-bending forces that are twisting and knotting inside a blackhole. So, now I am sharing a brain stuffed full of trivia...and hopefully entertaining people at the same time. As well, I write Fantasy stories and novels. One day, I hope to have a book published, but don't hold your breath. Reading is my other major love, and my favourite authors are Terry Pratchett and Isaac Asimov, though I could list hundreds of others. If I had one wish, I ask for more time to write! Read previous Sci-Facts: Twisting the Light Looking for more scientific oddities? Have you checked out Dr Steven Juan's website? He is, quite literally, the wizard of odds! |
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