You want good news? We've got optimistic Americans, tiny robots, aligning planets, and SUVs that will save the environment. Enjoy!
The best scientist is open to experience and begins with romance - the idea that anything is possible.
Item 1
Glass Half Full for Most Americans
Americans are optimistic, "very satisfied with life" and have confidence in their public institutions, especially the U.S. armed forces and law-enforcement agencies, two new polls show.
Fifty-six percent of Americans say their personal situation has improved over the last five years, up seven points since last year, and 68 percent expect their personal situation to improve over the next five years, up five points from 2003, a Harris poll released yesterday found.
The good news:
Cynicism is self-defeating and is, frankly, un-American. We Americans are an optimistic people. We've always had hope that things are getting better all the time.
The downside:
Apparently 32% of us don't believe that our lives will improve in the next five years. Perhaps these people should start reading The Speculist!
Anyway...
The majority in this case is correct. Here's a quick example: Glenn Reynolds reports that there's good news on the employment front. For another example, see next item. (For further examples, just keep scrolling.)
Item 2
North American Pollution Falls 10%
Pollution in North America fell 10 percent over three years...
The 10 percent drop occurred from 1998 to 2001, said the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, a three-nation panel established by the United States, Canada and Mexico under the North American Free Trade Agreement.
In 2001, the latest year for which figures were available, the total amount of pollution released or transferred elsewhere in North America was 3.25 million tons, the commission said in a study. Of the total, nearly 1 million tons went to recycling operations and more than 600 thousand tons was sent to treatment, energy recovery or disposal facilities...
Chemical pollutants released into the air from all industrial sources decreased 18 percent over the three years, falling to 832,000 tons in 2001. But chemical pollutants from power plants fell only 9 percent, to 376,000 tons, the study said.
All but four of the top 50 air polluters in North America were coal-burning power plants.
The good news:
Everybody wants a cleaner environment.
The downside:
If you're an angry activist type, news like this kinda takes the wind out of your sails, doesn't it?
Anyway...
The nation that originated the environmental movement continues to show leadership in making and keeping the world cleaner. The article doesn't say whether we've made any progress on greenhouse emissions, but then again not everyone is agreed that such emsissions are truly to blame for the increase in global temperature.
Besides, the real solution to greenhouse emissions is SUVs. Big ones.
That might sound a little whacked, but bear with us.
Step 1: Hybrid gas-powered and hydraulic SUVs (and pickups) will become the next big thing in must-have vehicles. Unlike dorky-looking electric hybrids, these vehicles are big and powerful. Plus, the hydraulic booster can actually give you more torque and accleration than gas-powered vehicles alone. Moreover, the bigger they are, the better the hydraulics work. People will buy these vehicles primarily because they're cool and useful, with the environmental angle serving as a strong rationale for spending a little more.
Step 2: Once hybrids are established as THE thing to have, gas-hydrogen-hydraulic hybrids will be introduced. (We reported [item 5] the coming gas-hydrogen hybrids a while back.) The cool factor will be the determining factor once again. "Oh, you're still driving a non-hydrogen hybrid? Wow. I gues that's like really...retro..."
Step 3: Now that everyone is driving a huge monster truck or SUV that runs on hydrogen anyway, all we have to do is start swapping out the gas tanks and conversion units with fuel cells. Once again, it's all about having the latest and greatest. "Yeah, just got me a new F-950. Four tons. Man, can she haul. Pure hydrogen, too. What about you? Are you still burning gas in that old Hummer of yours?"
Answer: he won't be for long.
Item 3
First Transit of Venus in 124 years is June 8
Astronomy enthusiasts everywhere will soon have the chance to see an event nobody alive has seen – the transit of Venus.
Venus will appear to drift across the face of the sun as it passes directly between it and the Earth for the first time since 1882. Such events help define Earth’s role in the cosmos, including the distance from it to the sun and stars, according to a news release from the Minnesota Planetarium.
The good news:
We need to celebrate these rare solar system events when they occur. Even with tremendous strides in life extension, we won't have a chance to see this again for 121 years or so!
Item 4
Group: 'Biopharming' Industry Growing
Biotechnology companies are quietly pushing to splice more human genes into food crops after the practice was nearly abandoned last year, a Washington-based advocacy group says.
The news comes some 18 months after College Station,Texas-based Prodigene Inc. caused an uproar by accidentally mixing such crops with conventionally grown plants in Nebraska. At the time, giant food manufacturers called for tighter regulation of such experiments, and biotech titan Monsanto Co. announced it was pulling out of the field.
The number of federal regulatory approvals and applications for these outdoor plantings — often called "biopharming" because the idea is to lower drug-making costs by using plants as delivery agents — have nearly doubled in the last 12 months when compared to the previous year, according to the Washington D.C.-based Center for Science in the Public Interest.
"The biopharming industry seems to be back in business," the group concludes in a report being released Wednesday that is based on publicly available U.S. Department of Agriculture data.
The good news:
Reason once again triumphs over the superstitious dread that many seem to have about biotechnology. (We reported similar good news just a short while back.)
The downside:
It was a stupid and costly mistake that put biopharming into the position of having to start back up. We certainly hope that the lesson has been learned and that we won't see a repeat.
Anyway...
Can we hope that (some) lower-cost drugs are on the horizon? We can, indeed.
Item 5
Researchers Report Major Advance in Gene Therapy Technique
[Researchers from the University of Wisconsin Medical School, the Waisman Center and Mirus Bio Corporation] have discovered a remarkably simple solution [to safely and effectively get therapeutic DNA inside cells]. They used a system that is virtually the same as administering an IV (intravenous injection) to inject genes and proteins into the limb veins of laboratory animals of varying sizes. The genetic material easily found its way to muscle cells, where it functioned as it should for an extended period of time...
In the experiments, the scientists did not use viruses to carry genes inside cells, a path many other groups have taken. Instead, they used “naked” DNA, an approach Wolff has pioneered. Naked DNA poses fewer immune issues because, unlike viruses, it does not contain a protein coat (hence the term “naked”), which means it cannot move freely from cell to cell and integrate into the chromosome. As a result, naked DNA does not cause antibody responses or genetic reactions that can render the procedure harmful.
-hat tip to Randall Parker
The good news:
We just love news like this. Can't you just see some grad-student hesitantly raising her hand in the middle of an interminable viral vector lecture to ask the stupid question, "Has anybody ever tried just injecting the DNA?"
The downside:
The only downside here is that they didn't think of it sooner.
Item 6
Study: Self-Replicating Nanomachines Feasible
A useful self-replicating machine could be less complex than a Pentium IV chip, according to a new study (PDF, 1.73 MB) performed by General Dynamics for NASA.
General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems recently concluded a six-month study for NASA's Institute for Advanced Concepts that examined the design of "kinematic cellular automata," a reconfigurable system of many identical modules. Through simulations, the researchers demonstrated the feasibility of this kind of self-replication, which could in a decade or more lead to the mass manufacture of molecularly precise robots, display monitors and integrated circuits that can be programmed in the field, the study said.
The good news:
Self-replicating molecular machines have the potential to bring unimaginable benefits to humankind. Eventually we may use them for projects as diverse as cleaning up the environment, eliminating poverty and hunger, and curing every known disease. Plus, since NASA is involved, it's only fair to mention that they might be the key to exploring the universe.
However, none of these awesome possibilities is news to a reader of The Speculist. This article is significant because in the longtsanding debate about whether such technology will ever exist, the "yes" crowd has just scored a substantial victory.
The downside:
On the heels of this announcement, we should start a countdown as to when a major national publication will express "grave concern" and raise the grey goo scenario or other hysterical (albeit sometimes entertaining) nonsense.
But fortunately...
The study also examined machine designs that would meet guidelines established by the California-based nanotech think-tank Foresight Institute to ensure the safety of self-replication techniques. The preliminary study is believed to be among the first U.S.-sponsored studies on self-replication in two decades.
"While self-replication is not necessary for achieving the goal of molecular manufacturing, it's good to see that these NASA-funded system designs are in compliance with the Foresight Guidelines safety recommendations," said Christine Peterson, president of the Foresight Institute.
Okay? Everybody got that?
Item 7
Winds of Discovery
The Winds of Change blog is beginning a monthly feature called Winds of Discovery that promises to take us "on a wild ride across the spectrum of science and discovery."
We intend to be regular readers.
Topics this week include: Sperm storage record broken; UK advances on embryonic stem cell research; Leroy Hood's latest venture; Search continues for Alzheimer's Disease cure; Nanotech turnaround?; The first nanochips; Metal rubber; Venus crosses the sun; Size of the universe; Birth of the sun; Space elevators; Lomborg thinks like Hitler?; Maunder minimum; Running out of oil?; Ban on trans-fats; Monsanto wins patent case; Dinosaurs fried within hours; Must we love cicadas?; Hippo sweat.
The amazing parallels:
"Hippo Sweat?" Hmm...seems we've heard about that somewhere before.
Anyway...
Congrats and best wishes to Glenn Halpern. Nothing could be more timely nor important than news on the amazing frontiers that science is opening up every day.
And on a selfish note, we're looking forward to finding lots of material to use here for Better All the Time!
Better All The Time is compiled by Phil Bowermaster and Stephen Gordon. Brought to you by the Speculist, where futurists, visionaries, and transhumanists "keep it real."
Posted by Stephen Gordon at June 4, 2004 03:26 PM | TrackBackPardon my skepticism, but aren't those some pretty big leaps of faith you're taking with the SUVs? The only credible one is that people will buy vehicles that have more acceleration, but they have been known to do that without it buying them any fuel efficiency.
Posted by: JW at June 5, 2004 02:13 PMHey, JW
Thanks for your comments. As Scrooge said to the Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come "This is only the shadow of what might be, not what will be."
We can hope, anyway.
My point was just to show how market forces which are typically viewed as being at odds with protecting the environment could actually end up benefitting it.
Posted by: Phil Bowermaster at June 5, 2004 02:22 PM