Quirks & Quarks for April 24, 1999
Quirks & Quarks for April 24, 1999
Fusion, with a whimper
Although fusion holds the threat of the destruction of our species, it also holds the promise of a future of limitless energy. Today fission provides power in many parts of the world. But it leaves dangerous wastes and has led to terrible accidents. Fusion, on the other hand, is the source of the stars’ light, as well as the destructive force behind the h-bomb. It has the potential to be the ultimate source of energy for our society’s needs -- clean, cheap and plentiful. But though scientists have been working on fusion for forty years, it has never become a practical source of energy. Although recently many thought success was near.
Now we may have taken a large step backwards. Dr Ronald Parker, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
speaks about the way-laid ITER project. For six years he was deputy director of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor projet in Garching, Germany. Dr Bruno Coppi, a professor of physics also from MIT, talks about an alternative, less expensive design called Ignitor.
Dr Richard Bolton, the founding director of the Canadian Centre for Magnetic fusion in Varennes, Quebec, paints a picture of what fusion is and why he's convinced we need it. Dr Alan Sykes, manager of the Spherical Tokamak Lab at Culham Laboratory in England discusses his alternative design while supporting ITER.
Dr Bill Hogan, a senior scientist at the National Ignition Facility (another fusion projet) also gives ITER its credit.
Farming ants develop pesticide
A study in this week’s issue of Nature shows some unusual ants in Panama have found a way to make their farming operations a little bit easier. These ants have been growing fungus in gardens, and eating it, for millions of years. Now scientists have discovered the ants also have methods for controlling pests on their crops.
Cameron Currie, a graduate student in the Department of Botany at the University of Toronto has been studying the phenomenon.
Spare Quarks
Quirks producer Jim Lebans gives us the scoop on high fat diets: according to a study at the University Buffalo a diet with higher fat content (35 per cent) is better for women athletes -- they were able to perform 10 per cent longer than those on a lower fat diet (27 per cent). The study, conducted by Universtiy of Buffalo researher Peter J.
Horvath, PhD was presented on April 19 at the annual meeting of
the Federation of American Societies of Experimental Biology. It
showed that Female soccer players were able to perform longer at
a higher intensity on a diet composed of 35 percent fat than on
diets of 27 percent fat or 24 percent fat.
Jim also tells how contributing to scientific research can help astronauts sleep. According to one study meant to test the usefulness of melatonin on sleep cycles astronauts slept better when wired up with electrodes. The reason? They didn't feel pressure to stay awake and work knowing their bodies were already contributing to the scientific effort while they dozed off.
Canadian Inventors: That's an idea!
Manuella Aiken, President of Aiken Enterprises in Mississauga, Ont., is an inventor who’s made collecting urine samples for women as easy as pie. She’s created a device called the Uri-aid -- a plastic funnel that fits on urine specimen bottles. For more information:
Aiken Enterprises
577 Four Winds Way, Mississauga, Ontario, L5R 3M4. (905) 507-9071.
Seeing with sound
Dr. Michael Buckingham professor of ocean acoustics at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California has constructed a device that can sense "acoustic daylight" and get shapes out of sound. The idea is being used under water to determine the shapes of ocean-floor structure.
Question of the Week: Sperm-cicle
Dr. Mary Buhar, an associate professor in the Animal and Poultry Science Division at the University of Guelph
answers a listener's question on artificial insemination: "How an semen survive being frozen?" Real Audio sound files: Listen in realtime, or
download.
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