Fellow Scientist Research Articles

Insight of Mechanism of Action of Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobia in Leguminous Crops: A Review

World demand for food supply is burgeoning day by day and the need of the hour is to escalate yield per unit area per unit time. Nevertheless, to meet such enormous demand for food, inclination toward inorganic fertilizers has bolstered. It would not only be exorbitant but could grievously degrade the environment through climate change or via contamination of water bodies. There is a need to look for surrogate tactics for climate-resilient agriculture. The microorganisms particularly those that reside in the rhizosphere can play a pertinent role in ameliorating yield without having any detrimental effect on the environment. These organisms are called plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR); these can be ePGPR or iPGPR depending on their location whether inside the host plant or outside the host plant. Further, Plant growth promoting rhizobia can play a significant role in improving soil health and enhancing yield through their symbiotic association with legume plants via biological nitrogen fixation (BNF), phosphate solubilization, phytohormone production, 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase activity or siderophore production. In the neoteric era, a myriad liquid or charcoal carrier-based formulations of PGPR as microbial inoculants are accessible in the market. However, liquid formulations of microbial inoculants have specific advantages over charcoal-based formulations. Furthermore, dual inoculation or amalgamation of microbial inoculants has a synergistic effect on individuals in crop production. Wherefore, this review will provide a concise account of legume-rhizobial symbiosis, various mechanisms of action of microbes associated with legumes in addition to BNF, the benefits of liquid microbial inoculants and the significance of co-inoculation of symbiotic and other microbial inoculants. The realization attained from the present review herein will further help the fellow scientist to conceive better research ideas keeping in view the multifaceted characteristics of rhizobia.

Current thinking! [The human brain and brain-computer interfaces

In the 1983 film `Brainstorm', a brain-computer interface (BCI) was developed to read and process thoughts, which are then transferred to video tape to be shared with other people. This was used to share happy memories, but also to experience a fellow scientist's heart attack, and it was the target of the military interest for torture and brainwashing. The workings of the human brain is still largely a mystery. Electrodes can offer an insight but some fear a sinister intent. The idea of being able to read a person's thoughts and exert control over their thoughts and actions has been a rich seam of material for science fiction and the medical profession alike. Today, there are some insights into the brain, but they are limited. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans indicate brain activity by measuring the flow of blood to the brain, not what neurons in the brain are doing. Scientists are monitoring brain activity that controls the brain's speech regions to decode spoken words and phrases in real time. This work could eventually make it possible for people with speech loss to communicate via brain signals. Researchers at Harvard University are developing a flexible mesh of electrodes that could be implanted in the brain for targeted relief of symptoms of illness caused by neurodegeneration or ageing. Neuralink, a company founded by Elon Musk, is working on a project to implant thin, flexible threads into the brain to transfer data. To conclude, in a relatively short period of time, electrodes have moved from the surface of the head, to the surface of the brain, to being implanted mechanically into specific regions of the brain. The accumulation of this research, advances in materials and signal technology brings hope but also some concern - if knowledge is power, could the nightmare of Brainstorm await us?

New AI-IP-EI Trilogy Opens Innovation to New Dimensions; Another Chip in “the Innovation Wall”, What About Emotional Intelligence (EI)?

The red thread of the AI-IP-EI Trilogy fate of this study, may have the appearance of a pot-pourri of intellectual and intelligence natures, as a matter of fact that it emanates from the genesis and practical synergism of the trilogy components. Concretely: The paper goes from: AI (Artificial Intelligence)—to the related IP (Intellectual Property) domain—to the relevance of EI (Emotional Intelligence); thus, forming the new AI-IP-EI Trilogy and its attributes and specific impacts to the new innovation process, and business model dimensions. These impacts are outlined and illustrated in part in essays of specific sections and all along. Several concrete study cases are used in the various dedicated sections; such as cases respective to the inventor status, and the EI factor, to the sport education innovative dimension, as well as to biases as inevitably promoting and revealing, to drastically enlarge open innovation supported by constructivism and creations of musical group as a model of open reflexive education. Overall resulting adapted business models appear to have a massive potential, and a multidimensional reach with a necessary attention to the IP policy on going definition. The durable green dimension is exemplified as well. The Ethics-plus, “@LEAST?”, said corpus is proposed. Could a human centric, AI-adapted-IP policy, internationally embraced, take part to some level of arbitrage, normative and enduring reliability in the field of interest? This seems to be “en route”. Shall the EI (Emotional Intelligence) factor be supervised? Likely so. Is traditional open innovation renewed to a more comprehensive, more inclusive dimension reminding best business practice and now “beyond”? Definitely, and will remain an opportunity, all along the 4IR quantum game changer to come. Neither seeking an in-depth expert analysis, nor a grand public over-simplified bavardage, of the trilogy, AI-IP-EI, four authors here propose an illustrated view of scientific, educational, visionary, demonstrative value to the subject matter. They are aged about 30-40-50-60, being IP & Innovation strategist, future IP lawyer, children-teacher and professional academy sport coach, illustrator and bio-advanced materials engineering “Fellow Scientist”. With experience of large and smaller organizations, being involved innovators, inventors and private artists as well, they are sharing their “non-jargonized down-to-earth”, forward looking views through a structured analysis of the trilogy using realistic examples and data from rather diverse specialized independent sources, biotechnology, nanomaterials, sport… New invention and inventorship is been “reconceptualized” at least from an “insighter or insider” viewpoint, and sport team approach more broadly revisited from its academy level to its commercial asset impact, via educational virtues and values. Music group constructivism enters the scene as well with its exemplary reflexivity and alterity valued for open innovation. Science is the prime lead. “Emotional intelligence, EI, is still an emerging area within AI” and beyond? A new open innovation scheme is taking place. This prompted our intention to further contribute to this matter. Is EI, the tree gently challenging the wind? Generated by AI and IP streams and scientific applications therewith? Naturally. Conclusions are encouraging the follow-up of promising orientations underlined by the AI-IP-EI Trilogy, favoring human centric feature adoptions.

Review: The Dancing Bees: Karl von Frisch and the Discovery of the Honeybee Language, by Tania Munz

Every biology teacher and student knows the three European “Fathers of Ethology” (the study of animal behavior) who shared the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: Konrad Lorenz, Nikolaas Tinbergen, and Karl von Frisch. The work of these three early 20th-century scientists revolutionized the study of animal behavior, moving it from an amusing pastime of gathering natural history anecdotes to thoughtful design of controlled experiments on par with those of the “hard” sciences. The Dancing Bees examines the life of von Frisch, the Austrian ethologist who deciphered the now famous code of movements through which honeybees communicate location and quality of food sources to each other.At times The Dancing Bees reads like a conventional (and somewhat unexciting) biography, with descriptions of birth, childhood, marriage, and early education. However, it is a worthwhile read for any biologist interested in understanding thoughtful experimental design. The care and intellectual beauty underlying von Frisch's experimental designs is evident in the author's descriptions of many of his studies. Meticulous and clever, each experiment revealed previously unknown elements of animal behavior and physiology. Von Frisch used both observation and training to uncover aspects of animal behavior, including the senses of taste and sound in fishes; the senses of color, smell, and taste in bees; and, of course, the famous communication dances of honeybees. Several experiments are described in detail, emphasizing clever design in testing each experimental variable while carefully managing controlled variables.Equally striking are the social contexts of von Frisch's work. His revolutionary use of film in both recording and presenting experimental results is detailed, emphasizing the communication of results as an important element of science. Also described in detail is the influence of the people around him. A particularly interesting point is made in the account of von Frisch's disagreement with a fellow scientist, Carl von Hess, over color blindness in fishes and bees. This not only led to one of von Frisch's more famous experiments, showing that bees do indeed see color, but also highlights the importance of critique in intellectual development. As the author notes,Central to the book, and to von Frisch's career, are his struggles to continue scientific work in Europe during the tumultuous years leading up to and during World War II. Nazi edicts about “non-Aryans” disrupted von Frisch's research team and colleagues through both deportation and emigration, and questions regarding his own ancestry challenged von Frisch as he strove to continue the work of his institute. Some of von Frisch's tactics are questionable, including appealing to the Nazi focus on eugenics and disregarding atrocities as he positioned himself to continue his scientific work under the auspices of the Nazi regime – which he was finally able to do by focusing on the Nosema parasite threat to the bee population and the associated threat of food insecurity. A thoughtful reader cannot help but be struck by the suffering, turbulence, and impossible choices of the time. Through its descriptions of von Frisch's life and work during this period, The Dancing Bees offers an important reminder that science exists within, and can be swayed by, the opportunities and challenges of the human social world.

Wouldn't it be nice?

Wouldn't it be nice?

Forty Years of Sodium Channels: Structure, Function, Pharmacology, and Epilepsy.

Voltage-gated sodium channels initiate action potentials in brain neurons. In the 1970s, much was known about the function of sodium channels from measurements of ionic currents using the voltage clamp method, but there was no information about the sodium channel molecules themselves. As a postdoctoral fellow and staff scientist at the National Institutes of Health, I developed neurotoxins as molecular probes of sodium channels in cultured neuroblastoma cells. During those years, Bruce Ransom and I crossed paths as members of the laboratories of Marshall Nirenberg and Philip Nelson and shared insights about sodium channels in neuroblastoma cells from my work and electrical excitability and synaptic transmission in cultured spinal cord neurons from Bruce's pioneering electrophysiological studies. When I established my laboratory at the University of Washington in 1977, my colleagues and I used those neurotoxins to identify the protein subunits of sodium channels, purify them, and reconstitute their ion conductance activity in pure form. Subsequent studies identified the molecular basis for the main functions of sodium channels-voltage-dependent activation, rapid and selective ion conductance, and fast inactivation. Bruce Ransom and I re-connected in the 1990s, as ski buddies at the Winter Conference on Brain Research and as faculty colleagues at the University of Washington when Bruce became our founding Chair of Neurology and provided visionary leadership of that department. In the past decade my work on sodium channels has evolved into structural biology. Molecular modeling and X-ray crystallographic studies have given new views of sodium channel function at atomic resolution. Sodium channels are also the molecular targets for genetic diseases, including Dravet Syndrome, an intractable pediatric epilepsy disorder with major co-morbidities of cognitive deficit, autistic-like behaviors, and premature death that is caused by loss-of-function mutations in the brain sodium channel NaV1.1. Our work on a mouse genetic model of this disease has shown that its multi-faceted pathophysiology and co-morbidities derive from selective loss of electrical excitability and action potential firing in GABAergic inhibitory neurons, which disinhibits neural circuits throughout the brain and leads directly to the epilepsy, premature death and complex co-morbidities of this disease. It has been rewarding for me to use our developing knowledge of sodium channels to help understand the pathophysiology and to suggest potential therapeutic approaches for this devastating childhood disease.

The Birth of an Island: Rachel Carson's The Sea Around Us

The Birth of an Island:Rachel Carson's The Sea Around Us Judith Madera (bio) At the end of this summer I drove up the Massachusetts coast to Marble-head, eventually reaching Rockport at the northernmost tip of the Cape Ann headland. It would only be a matter of time before the scaffold of obligations would heave, but there was something about this familiar coastline that was drawing me out. The whole area is a massive granite bedrock, contoured in the last ice age. It is shaped in glacial ridges and depressions where the rock is cut through with natural reservoirs and swamps. At the time, I was thinking about how a mountain reveals a mountain, a desert reveals a desert—every environment reveals itself. Or, at least it can. And Cape Ann feels close to its elements: rocks, air, cold salt water. And so in Rockport, I cut a path around a blue quarry, through catbriar and shadbush, to the Atlantic's flashing edge. But when I closed my eyes against the glare I could have been anywhere—like still at the quarry. In fact, there was nothing remarkable about the day, save its extreme clarity. Depending on where you stood, you could see Ipswich Bay or what I think was the Isle of Shoals in New Hampshire. If you were in a boat you would come upon the Dry Salvages due east—white-capped rocks, notorious in shipwreck, memorialized in American literature. My small discovery wasn't to be about a vista as much as it was another city, cramped and glistening in the rocks, and tightly packed in little tidal ponds and channels. Mussel beds covered in seaweed and oozing red algae were somehow breathing. These little pods bubbled up like another context for thinking about community at a different scale. It had nothing to do with taxonomic parceling into some larger biological unit to reveal a story of geological nesting. If the ocean was a story, as Rachel Carson purported [End Page 292] it to be, it was a story of cohabitation. All life was this: permeability and pull—rhythms that originate outside and draw us in. And it is this sense of a slow, layered immersion into another world, where our stock frameworks of time and progress fall away, that makes Rachel Carson's 1951 classic The Sea Around Us most luminous. Carson, not surprisingly, knew Cape Ann. She also knew the waterfront at Duxbury, just a short distance south of Rockport, where her friend and fellow scientist Olga Owen Huckins once kept a bird sanctuary. In January 1958, Huckins sat at the typewriter and wrote Carson, whom she had not seen in a long time, to report the unusual bird behavior and deaths immediately after aerial DDT spraying. "Olga Owens Huckins told me of her own bitter experience of a small world made lifeless," Carson wrote in her acknowledgments for Silent Spring (1962, ix). These small worlds of interlocking pieces were the building materials that held together all of Carson's scientific writing and that were most charged and vibrant in her writing about the sea. The Sea Around Us is effectively the centerpiece of Carson's ocean trilogy. Her first book, Under the Sea-Wind (1941), is a succession of narratives about birds, fish, and eels, arranged to unfold ecological lifecycles in story form. Animals, she shows, are the transports—and subjects in their own rights—that get us closest to the seabed, life on the shore, and migrations in the air. In her final book in the series, The Edge of the Sea (1955), illustrated by the national wildlife artist Bob Hines, Carson was closest to writing what she thought of as home: the Atlantic rock, sand, and coral reef shores, from Maine to the back sounds of North Carolina's Outer Banks (now the site of Rachel Carson Reserve). In each book Carson shows us how the ocean is interactive with all life. In fact, in the preface to the 1961 edition of The Sea Around Us, she convincingly censured the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (now the Nuclear Regulatory Commission) for licensing radioactive waste dumping in coastal seas. Carson ended...

We All Speed-Read.

The article discusses the area of the brain used when beginning to read, referencing a study conducted by research fellow Laurie Glezer and scientist Maximilian Riesenhuber in the journal "Neuroimage."

The Epistemic Norms of Intra-Scientific Testimony

What is the epistemic position that a scientist must be in vis-à-vis a proposition, p, to be in a good enough epistemic position to assert that p to a fellow scientist within the scientific process? My aim is to provide an answer to this question and, more generally, to connect the epistemological debates about the epistemic norms of assertion to the debates about the nature of the scientific process. The question is important because science is a collaborative enterprise based on a division of labor. It has even been suggested that such collaboration is a part of the scientific method. However, scientific collaboration depends upon communication between scientists—that is, intra-scientific testimony. After distinguishing some different kinds of intra-scientific testimony (Section 2), I provide a specific proposal for an epistemic norm of assertion that generally governs such testimony (Section 3). I argue that the proposal aligns with the requirements of three scientific virtues—replicability, revisability, and accountability (Section 4). The discussion of replicability considers a prominent debate in the social and cognitive sciences. In conclusion, I consider some of the wider questions raised by characterizing scientific collaboration, division of labor, and more generally, scientific method via intra-scientific testimony (Section 5).

Images >> Efraim Racker (1913–1991)

Images >> Efraim Racker (1913–1991) Efraim Racker The art that accompanies this special issue on the intersections of scientific language and humanistic thought features the paintings, drawings, and computer-generated art of a biochemist who never stopped making art, even if his original plan to study painting at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna soon shifted to the study of medicine. Efraim Racker spent the last twenty-five years of his life at Cornell University, as the Albert Einstein professor of biochemistry. The path that led him to the United States, and ultimately to Cornell, like that of many of his generation, was in large measure taken in response to political events in Europe during the first half of the twentieth century. Born in Poland to Jewish parents in 1913, he soon moved with his family to Vienna, where he played soccer and chess and came to love music and painting. After high school, he passed the admission examination to study painting at the Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien. After a short time, he left the Akademie to study medicine at the University of Vienna. His final medical school exams in 1938 were disrupted by Hitler’s Anschluß, which led to Jews being banned from the university. He managed to take his exams later that year, received his medical degree, and fled to Great Britain where he took a position at the Cardiff City Mental Hospital. It was there that he conducted his first biochemical research working to identify defects that might indicate the biochemical causes of mental diseases. When Great Britain entered the war, Racker, a refugee from occupied Europe, was interned on the Isle of Man, where he practiced medicine for the first time since receiving his medical degree. He emigrated to the United States in 1941 and in time—by way of the University of Minnesota and the Harlem Hospital in New York—he received an appointment in microbiology at New York University College of Medicine, which is where his career as a biochemist began in earnest. There were other appointments at other institutions until in the fall of 1966 he moved with his wife Dr. Franziska Racker and daughter Ann to Ithaca, New York. His appointment at Cornell allowed the university to recruit other top researchers in biochemistry and molecular biology. His research in protein chemistry and molecular biology included the study of a range of proteins that catalyze biochemical reactions. He was considered a leading researcher on energy metabolism in cancer cells. He was named a recipient of the National Medal of Science in 1976, awarded by Jimmy Carter. [End Page 1] Click for larger view View full resolution IMAGE: Efraim Racker, QUESTIONING (Variations on EFONE), 1979 Photo: Jon Reis Photography(Page 2) Click for larger view View full resolution IMAGE: Efraim Racker, MISCHIEVOUS (Variations on EFONE), 1979 Photo: Jon Reis Photography(Page 3) When he wasn’t working tirelessly in his lab, he was often found in his home art studio overlooking Cayuga Lake. He worked in a range of media: oil, charcoal, ink, acrylics, watercolors, Magic Markers, and an early Macintosh computer with a dot matrix printer. Over the years, he gave paintings to colleagues and friends and also sold his paintings to donate to the Edsall Fund, which he established to support students with financial need. He assembled his smaller works in handmade albums. At the time of his death in 1991, a few days after suffering a stroke, he was planning a leave of absence from his lab at Cornell to do an artist’s residency at the Djerassi Resident Artists Program in Woodside, California (a residency founded by a fellow scientist, the chemist Carl Djerassi). Digital images of his work in eighty albums—made between 1932–1991—can be viewed online: https://efraimracker.library.cornell.edu/. The names of the individual works in this issue are followed by the name of the album in which they appear. The editors of diacritics express their gratitude to Efraim Racker’s daughter, Dr. Ann Costello, for enthusiastically supporting the publication of his images, and to Jon Reis, who photographed the artwork and provided the digital images. Click for larger view View full...

BIRDS STOCK UP AS PRESSURE DROPS

If the weather forecast predicts that a snowstorm is heading your way you'd probably wisely decide to stay snuggled up inside. Wild birds, however, don't have this luxury, and getting caught out in bad weather can have serious consequences. Take for example white crowned sparrows, which return to the snowy mountains of the Sierra Nevada each spring to feast on the insects that have died on the snow. ‘If a storm comes in and snow falls, food availability goes to zero and then the majority of animals will abandon their territories’, says Creagh Breuner, from the University of Montana, USA. But do these storms really take the sparrows by surprise or can they predict them? After being asked this question several times at conferences, Breuner decided to investigate (p. 1982). Breuner explains that it is widely known that birds can sense barometric pressure changes and so she suspected that sparrows could use pressure drops associated with storms as a signal to increase levels of glucocorticoid hormones – stress hormones that divert energy towards maintenance-orientated and preparatory behaviours like feeding.To begin her investigation, Breuner, who has been working out in the Sierra mountains since 1997, looked back over her meticulously kept field notebooks: ‘I know when storms start, I'm out there and I write it down in my notebook – it just started snowing – so I took six snow events and looked to see what happened to barometric pressure before them.’ Sure enough, when she cross-referenced the storms with a dataset from a nearby study of barometric pressure she found that in the 12 h preceding the storm there had been a steady decline in pressure. Having taken between 70 and 100 blood samples each year to measure birds' corticosterone (a glucocorticoid hormone) levels, she was then able to identify samples that had been taken during those 12 h of dropping pressure. However, to her surprise there was no change in corticosterone levels.Although Breuner admits that it was disappointing to see that stress hormone levels did not increase as pressures dropped, she remained undeterred. With the help of two PhD students, Rachel Sprague and Stephen Patterson, Breuner continued her investigation. Back in the lab the team first faced the challenge of how to mimic environmental pressure drops without buying an expensive purpose-built chamber. Breuner turned to her husband and fellow scientist Art Woods for inspiration: ‘Art loves figuring out how to manipulate things that others can't do in the lab, he's just so good electronically and mechanistically with different things’. Woods designed a small Plexiglas chamber with a continuous flow of air through it. He realised that as long as the outflow of air remained constant, he could gradually lower the pressure simply by slowly closing a valve to limit air intake.Just as in the wild, the team found that corticosterone levels didn't increase with declining pressure, but they did find that the birds pecked at their food more. Eating and stocking up on reserves was a clear sign that the birds thought bad weather was on its way. Breuner points out: ‘They can burn through their fat reserves with 24 h of cold weather, so even small increases in fat mass before a storm comes would be an ecologically relevant difference.’ So, whilst the stress hormones don't seem to be the driving force behind their increased appetite and grazing, it is clear that the birds are able to using barometric pressure to predict the weather and as a sign to stock up and prepare for stormy weather ahead.

The truth is in there

In 1998, I received a letter from a fellow scientist. To paraphrase the contents (since the letter was long ago destroyed), why was I being such a miserable excuse for a human being and scientist for deliberately corrupting the minds of young people worldwide by preaching ‘pseudoscience’? Wow. What could I possibly have done to induce such ire in a fellow scientist? Here are some hints: I did not deny that HIV causes AIDS or question the reality of climate change; I did not favour creationism over evolution or preach the benefits of cold fusion. No, much worse. A full page story in the science section of the New York Times had just revealed that I, a ‘real scientist’ and a professor at the University of Massachusetts, had a side-line gig as a science adviser for the TV series The X-Files.

Book Reviews

James N. Baron of Yale School of Management reviews, “Poker: The Parody of Capitalism” by Ole Bjerg. The EconLit Abstract of this book begins: “Explores the game of poker as a cultural expression with similar significance and resonance as art, literature, and film. Discusses the ontology of poker; anatomy of a poker hand; all you ever wanted to know about Texas Hold 'Em but were afraid to ask Slavoj Žižek; where the money comes from; styles of play in the poker economy; a tough way to make an easy living; why people play poker; losing it; what's in a game?; the history of poker; the poetry of money; and the uncanniness of poker. Berg is a postdoctoral fellow and research scientist at the Institute for Leadership, Politics and Philosophy at Copenhagen Business School. Index.”

Judging Edward Teller: A Closer Look at One of the Most Influential Scientists of the Twentieth Century (review)

Reviewed by: Judging Edward Teller: A Closer Look at One of the Most Influential Scientists of the Twentieth Century Rebecca Slayton (bio) Judging Edward Teller: A Closer Look at One of the Most Influential Scientists of the Twentieth Century. By István Hargittai. Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 2010. Pp. 575. $32. Edward Teller has been revered as the father of the hydrogen bomb, a brilliant physicist who helped America win the cold war. He has also been reviled as the man who crucified J. Robert Oppenheimer and spurred a costly race for ever more destructive and dangerous nuclear weapons. In Judging Edward Teller, Istvan Hargittai weighs these diverse judgments into the most synthetic account of Teller’s life to date, with mixed results. As a fellow Hungarian, scientist, and acquaintance of Teller’s, Hargittai is uniquely positioned to shed fresh light on Teller’s life. Using papers from the Historical Archives of the Hungarian State Security Services, Hargittai provides a fascinating and amusing account of failed efforts to enlist first Teller, and then his sister, in communist espionage. Hargittai also makes good use of the Teller papers in the Hoover Library at Stanford. However, much of the book relies heavily on some problematic secondary sources, and especially scientists’ memoirs, while neglecting a large body of historical scholarship surrounding Teller. Reliance on two particularly suspect sources—an outdated hagiography by Stanley Blumberg and Gwinn Owens (1976), and Teller’s own 2001 Memoirs—leads the book to repeat well-known errors. Hargittai’s use of Memoirs is odd, because he thoughtfully discusses Teller’s early-developed tendency of revising history and coping with difficulty by “denial” (p. 85). Hargittai also judges conflicting secondary sources, noting, for example, mistakes in Peter Goodchild’s 2004 biography (p. 235). But these discussions reveal little that is new. Instead, the book’s primary contribution is synthetic—it improves on two problematic biographies of Teller primarily because it is the first to depict the fullness of Teller’s life, not only as a controversial political figure, but also as a scientist. Hargittai’s narrative follows three “exiles” (Teller’s word). First, the rise of communism and anti-Semitism in 1920s Hungary encouraged Teller and other rising Jewish scientists in Budapest to study in Germany. The rise of the Nazis in Germany uprooted Teller again in 1933, and he eventually landed at George Washington University, as a full professor in physics. In describing these first two “exiles,” Hargittai usefully captures several of Teller’s scientific collaborations and achievements in lay terms. Teller was a scientific “digger, not a driller” (p. 104)—that is, a scientist who engages many different questions, rather than focusing on one. Teller’s digging eventually led him to nuclear physics and the Manhattan Project, where he became fascinated with the prospect of developing a fusion bomb—but was forced to focus instead on the simpler fission weapon. Teller’s third “exile” was the result of his testimony against Robert [End Page 509] Oppenheimer, the head of the Manhattan Project and icon of physics, in the loyalty-security hearings of 1954. Though many painted Oppenheimer as angel and Teller as devil, Hargittai judges Teller more favorably. Oppenheimer privately betrayed friends, whereas Teller proved loyal to a fault. Nonetheless, Hargittai acknowledges that Teller’s testimony was designed to carry strong negative weight—a fact that made him a pariah among many scientists. Whereas Teller’s first two exiles nurtured his scientific collaborations, this third exile undermined his scientific research. Teller instead became a public and political “monomaniac with many manias,” advocating aggressive nuclear weapons development at every turn. Several chapters chronicle Teller’s political campaigns, such as his opposition to limits on nuclear testing, and his advocacy of President Ronald Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI, or “Star Wars” missile defense program). Unfortunately these chapters reveal little new, and a tendency to rely on scientists’ memoirs, rather than more comprehensive historical work, sometimes skews the account of these political debates. For example, Hargittai describes SDI as a “policy” (p. 403) and highlights Teller’s approach—the X-ray laser. But as a tangible research and development program, SDI redirected work on a far broader range...

The Pursuit of Quantum Gravity

Writing a short and vivid account of the life and work of a giant in mathematical physics such as Bryce S. DeWitt is no mean task, but nobody could have been better equipped to do so than his wife and fellow scientist, Cecile DeWitt-Morette. Elegantly written, this book begins by displaying a picture of a young Bryce, who was told by his grandmother that he would live to see the Messiah descend from heaven. Bryce thought this was neat—something like science fiction, but he wondered how this could be managed! Was this what motivated him later to become a physicist, determined to study gravity? In any case, he would devote much of his career to pursue what would turn out to be one of the deepest mysteries of the physical sciences of our time: the nature of the gravitational force. In particular, we have the question how it can be reconciled with the fundamental features of the particles of matter, even if it is crystal clear that matter does act as a source of gravity. The most salient feature of the dynamical laws of matter is that they have to be phrased in terms of a peculiar twist of logic called quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanics is a package deal: once you accept that this is how fundamental particles move when they interact, everything else in this universe must move in accordance with the same logic. As a graduate student Bryce learned about the marvelous improvement that Albert Einstein had brought about in gravity theory, called General Relativity, while in turn quantum mechanics was further elaborated in terms of a relativistically invariant doctrine called Quantum Field Theory. The problem was staring him in the face: these two grandiose products of the human intellect had to be basically true, but it was not understood how to fit one with the other. This would be his calling, and he set out to solve this difficulty.

The pros and cons of dating a fellow scientist

The pros and cons of dating a fellow scientist

SECRETS OF MY RESEARCH SUCCESS: ADVICE FROM THE EXPERTS

The NAPCRG conference recently held in Montreal, Canada featured 2 workshops offering advice to researchers, both titled “Secrets of My Research Success.” Presenters offering their sage advice included Valerie Gilchrist, MD; Larry Green, MD; Michael Klein, MD, CCFP; Ann Macaulay, CM, MD, FCFP; Moira Stewart, PhD; and Kurt Stange, MD, PhD. Looking back over the past 15 years of their successful research careers, all presenters were asked to comment on the most valuable lessons learned. The themes that cut across all presentations included the presenters’ belief in the importance of collaboration with community, other researchers, and policy makers; and their lifelong commitment to learning. Dr Macaulay spoke of her belief in listening to the community and bringing everyone to the table as she talked about her long-standing research on diabetes with the Mohawk people of Kanawake, Quebec. Out of those relationships rose her understanding and commitment to participatory research and building knowledge and understanding together with the community. Dr Stange described his commitment to medical practice and the blending of his research interests with practice, in his words, “study how we take care of the folks.” Dr Green remarked that he has witnessed an amazing growth of human capital in family medicine research, noting that the role of practice-based research has remained paramount. Another key to the researchers’ success has been the support they have received from others and the importance they place on mentoring. Dr Stange described the remarkable senior mentorship that he received at Case Western Reserve through Steve Zyzanski and Jack Medalie—2 successful researchers. Dr Stewart spoke of what she called her synchronicity and luck in entering her doctoral program at a time when Ian McWhinney had just taken over the department of family medicine at the University of Western Ontario and her good fortune to be supervised by him. She spoke of her lifelong commitment to being a student and the wonderful support that she’s received from NAPCRG. She left us with sound advice, including a quote from Ian McWhinney, “If it doesn’t get written down, it didn’t exist.” Dr Gilchrist attributed much of her success to “choosing the right friends.” Given her background in residency education, her career was supported by affiliating herself with successful research colleagues including, she noted humorously, marrying a fellow scientist. During the question and answer period, the issue of balance was raised and each of the presenters offered advice on balancing his or her personal life with a demanding career in clinical research. They agreed they could not have done it without their families’ support. Dr Macaulay described how she managed competing priorities by always putting family first and maintaining regular physical activity. She described how the harder she had to work, the more she took on physical activity to sustain her. Dr Stewart summarized her approach to maintaining balance as, “you don’t have to be a star; the right opportunities will come along.” She also reflected on the importance of just saying “no” when faced with too many opportunities. She currently estimates that she has to say “no” 80% of the time. Dr Stange described his life as living a bit below his means so if things don’t work out, he can still feed the children. Dr Klein spoke about the perils of taking on too many administrative duties. To maintain a good attitude, Dr Stange stressed the importance of working with people you like. In summary, the researchers all recognize the remarkable abundance of good questions that need to be answered, “There are lots of ideas, more than anyone can do.” Dr Green noted the importance of sharing in academia—and that sharing should be a basic skill for measuring collaborators and partnerships. Dr Klein praised the importance of NAPCRG for his career and success. The approachability and welcoming nature of NAPCRG’s annual meetings and the organization have been important catalysts for him. Finally, the researchers concluded by affirming that research is a journey, and not a destination; the research question picks you, not the other way around.

Die Finanzbeziehungen zwischen Alexander von Humboldt und den Mendelssohns

AbstractThe continuous substantial and flexible material support of the bankers Joseph and Alexander Mendelssohn were of essential importance for Alexander von Humboldt's outstanding scientific expeditions and his work as a publicist, coordinator and supporter of fellow scientist and scientific projects in Berlin for decades. New sources present this support of Humboldt by the Mendelssohns in all its depth and variety. At the same time, the enduring funding of one of Prussia's most important Bildungsbürger clearly illustrates that the business policy of the Mendelssohn bankers was based on a canon of values in which the acceptance of responsibility in different fields of society were of equal importance as pure economic success.

Radiation-induced thyroid cancer: The Chicago experience

IN 1901 KARL WILHELM ROENTGEN, a physics professor at Wurzburg, Germany, received the first Nobel Prize in physics for the discovery of x-rays in experiments, which began 6 years earlier in 1895. The invisible cathode rays generated were found to cause a fluorescence on a barium platinocyanide screen and, surprisingly, to outline the bones of his wife’s hand on this photographic film (Fig 1). By 1896, radiographs were being taken for clinical purposes and their diagnostic possibilities were quickly exploited. Bone films, chest x-rays, and even barium studies of the gastrointestinal tract were quickly tried. Roentgen found that prolonged exposure to x-rays produced burns and ulcerations of the skin, hair loss, and dermatitis. These effects were turned into therapy to burn off moles and to treat acne, hemangiomas, skin tuberculosis, and many other benign skin lesions. At about the same time (1891), Maria Sklodowska left Warsaw to study at the Sorbonne. She married fellow scientist Pierre Curie. Her work on uranium led to the discovery of polonium and radium, a substance 900 times more radioactive than uranium. Uranium, polonium, and radium released rays like x-rays that penetrated matter. Madame Curie and a colleague accidentally burned themselves when carrying vials of radium in their pockets. In 1901, Pierre Curie did so purposely by strapping some radium to his arm. By 1904, it was demonstrated that radium rays destroyed

European Perspective of 2-Person Rule for Biosafety Level 4 Laboratories

To the Editor: Recently, the directors of Biosafety Level 4 (BSL-4) laboratories in the United States published their views of the requirement of having ≥2 persons present at all times while biological work is undertaken in a BSL-4 laboratory (1). They concluded that safety and security would be better assured in some situations by video monitoring systems rather than by the presence of a fellow scientist. As members of the European Network of Biosafety Level-4 laboratories (Euronet-P4) who have developed guidelines in this area (2–4), we discussed the article during a recent network meeting. Biosafety and biosecurity are the major concerns for all involved in BSL-4 activities, and we support the authors’ initiative and broadly agree with their position. The consensus among European BSL-4 experts is that, in the interest of safety, standard practice should be for all laboratories to perform a risk assessment before any activity is undertaken. This preliminary assessment is the best way to determine procedures to be used, including whether 2 persons should work together as part of laboratory procedure. A 2-person rule is inappropriate simply because the best approach is not to have inflexible rules that are not objectively assessed according to laboratory-specific circumstances. Surveillance video monitoring and data storing have their place in protecting laboratory facilities from unauthorized access and theft of materials, but their effectiveness for ensuring proper handling of pathogens is quite limited. Finally, we agree with the authors that both biosafety and biosecurity must be founded on careful selection and monitoring of staff, without which even the most sophisticated of control systems would fail.