Wall Street will save the world!

(as read in unlinkable local newspaper...)

Following Katrina’s and Rita’s wrath, it seems investors on Wall Street have woken up to the possibility that global warming is making theirs a risky (or rather riskier) business. They are sensitizing their clients, and joining their voices to others who, for some time, have urged the government to take action regarding the causes of climate change.

Let’s be pragmatic! In a capitalist USA, why shouldn’t it be the financial sector that finally brings this (reticent) government to reason? Despite all the efforts of all those scientists and Sierra Clubs out there, why shouldn’t it be Wall Street that (indirectly) succeeds in curbing greenhouse-gas emissions? Let’s see what happens...

Introducing Science Bistro

Yesterday appeared a new player in the science blogosphere. It is called Science Bistro / the Culture of Science. I urge you to take a peek at this very-well constructed new site. There is something there for everyone. First of all, it is a magazine, where regular and occasional contributors can publish their thoughts on science or science-culture issues. In fact, anyone can post. (Your's truly has already published something under the name "The Practitioner".) Second, it is a radio show, although this part is not yet active. Similar issues will be debated on the radio shows. Third, it is a depository for snippets of information about science seen Elsewhere on the web. This part, on the left side of the web page, is active and impressively up-to-date. You can find here a more detailed description of the blog by its Editor.

Long live Science Bistro!

By the way, the new print issue of Seed Magazine will appear on newsstands worldwide on October 1st.

Defend Science!

If you are a scientist or a friend of science, and want to act (even symbolically) against any instances where science is perverted, where scientific fact is ignored or undermined (as is the tendency nowadays in the US Administration), I invite you to read the Defend Science statement found here. Even if you are not a US citizen, please add your name to the signatories list and make it grow!

A knotty situation

In recent times, prion diseases have often been at the forefront of science news. Prions are misshapen, misfolded proteins that are responsible for neuro-degenerative diseases such as BSE in cows, and its analogue in humans, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Last week, Nature.com carried a piece of news about new research in this field, which revealed that the deleterious effect of prions depends on their size; it is principally mid-sized prions that lead to disease, not short or very long prion strings.

We should be reminded that it is the shape of proteins, their folding pattern, and not just their composition, that gives them their function. This is what the new field of proteomics (or part of it) is all about. It is therefore not surprising that a misshapen protein will lead to malfunction, even though its composition is exactly the same as a normal protein.

The reason I’m mentioning this here is that I have a strong suspicion that proteomics, if not already the case, would strongly benefit from the input of some mathematics, notably from the fields of topology and knot theory. For instance, mathematicians are using knot theory to understand how centimetre-long DNA strands, all bundled up in the nucleus of each of our cells, are able to disentangle themselves when time comes for replication (i.e. when the two parts of the double helix separate).

Interestingly, there is also, I think, an opportunity for a channel to open between artists and scientists in the field of proteomics. For instance, the work of Natasha St. Michael (see image above), a Montreal-based bead artist, provides (at least for me) a sense of the complexity underlying protein folding. This impression comes not necessarily from the final result (which rather evokes higher-level biological structures or entities), but rather when one considers the complex process of bead-weaving that leads up to the final piece.