The first word is seldom the last word. Some things, however, are worth noticing at first mention, no matter how they turn out. With that in mind we\u2019re going to venture far from my beach chair and take a look at a couple of scientific stories out of Europe. Since you\u2019re joining the trip, please bring a large order of French fries so we can demonstrate our appreciation of international cuisine. <\/p>\n
I\u2019ll play the old bore today and introduce the first story discursively. So, like any bore, I\u2019ll start at the beginning instead of at the end: The first story I want to mention reminds me of a time in high school when driver\u2019s education met biology. An alumnus had been wheelchair-bound after a car accident. He gave a presentation each semester about it: He had taken a turn too fast in a convertible, didn\u2019t have a seat belt on, and got ejected from the car. The lecture persuaded us to become safety-conscious drivers. After the driver\u2019s education presentation somebody in biology class asked our teacher why doctors couldn\u2019t undo the damage that confined this guy to a wheelchair. <\/p>\n
The teacher answered that nerves, or at least the ones that mattered here, once severed, can\u2019t be mended. It seemed like an obvious priority for scientific research, but high school biology students aren\u2019t consulted about such things. <\/p>\n
As the decades went by, though society was ever-more marinated in self-reverential gloating about the triumphs of \u201cmodern technology,\u201d I\u2019d sometimes wonder if this problem had any hope of a solution. <\/p>\n
Well, maybe it does. An Oct. 21 BBC headline says that a paralyzed man \u201cwalks again after a cell transplant.\u201d <\/p>\n
The patient had been paralyzed from a knife attack in 2010.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe treatment,\u201d says the story, \u201ca world first, was carried out by surgeons in Poland in collaboration with scientists in London.\u201d The treatment involved harvesting cells from inside the patient\u2019s nose and grafting them into the damaged portion of his spine.<\/p>\n
The BBC quoted one of the London scientists, Professor Geoff Raisman, describing the accomplishment as \u201cmore impressive than man walking on the moon.\u201d <\/p>\n
I\u2019d say it\u2019s off-the-scale impressive if this leads to a practical and common treatment. But we\u2019re just dealing with the first words here, so we\u2019ll just wait and see how it works out. <\/p>\n
As I move on to the next story from Europe, I\u2019ll note that it\u2019s a little bit nerdy. It\u2019s also very exotic. And here\u2019s something else it is: completely over my head. So you\u2019re just getting my man-on-the-beach notions of what I think is going on. <\/p>\n
About a week ago, it was reported that \u201cdark matter,\u201d that utterly mysterious substance that comprises most of the mass of the universe, and which also comprises one of the greatest capers in science, may have left some identifiable footprints and, hence, a trail of evidence that might finally lead somewhere.<\/p>\n
The possible footprints came via x-ray emissions that were recorded by a European Space Agency satellite. In the U.K., some University of Leicester scientists reviewed that data. They think the sun is emitting little particles called \u201caxions,\u201d which bounce off the Earth\u2019s magnetic field like billiard balls and throw off x-rays in the process. As it turns out, the big notion here is that axions have been on the list of suspects for dark matter, and this news apparently puts some circumstantial evidence behind the idea. <\/p>\n
This story was covered by an article on the (U.K.) Guardian\u2019s website on Oct. 16 (\u201cDark matter may have been detected\u2014streaming from the sun\u2019s core\u201d). <\/p>\n
Of course, this is yet another case where the first words aren\u2019t the last words. It may be years, if not decades, before this particular trail hits pay dirt or goes cold.<\/p>\n
Nobody is wishy-washy about dark matter. Some people don\u2019t care at all. OK, most people don\u2019t care at all, and I doubt it\u2019s the biggest topic of conversation on Saipan. Fair enough. By contrast, some other people are utterly transfixed by the fact that fully 96 percent of the universe is said to be made up of totally unknown types of matter and energy.<\/p>\n
Anyway, those are two big stories that just caught the attention of the entire world. I hope these advances on the medical front and the physics front are gateways to greater things. They seem to hold that promise, which is why they are so exciting.<\/p>\n
Thus concludes our little jaunt from the west Pacific to the east Atlantic. I\u2019m out of space. You\u2019re out of fries. So this is where we say \u201cgoodbye.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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