2003: results of science

2003/12/27 Kortabarria Olabarria, Beñardo - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Historia

First photograph of atypical pneumonia. Without flash, unfortunately the SARS had a few months of natural brightness. The virus affected more than 8,000 people and killed more than 800. China, Hong Kong and Taiwan were the most affected countries, but the disease reached Canada and the United States. For this reason, it was considered a global epidemic. In March the first cases appeared and despite the efforts made, until July the WHO did not consider a controlled epidemic. With the epidemic under control, the World Health Organization assured that keeping it under control did not mean the disappearance of the disease. Time has given him reason because in December a new case appeared in Taiwan.

The DNA also focused on the media, especially on the research that can be done with cell mothers. Although it is still a current issue, DNA has been included among these historical ones. On 28 February 2003 it was half a century since the American biologist James Watson and the British Francis Crick discovered the double propeller. This discovery opened the way to the research of genes, genetics, and it derives, among other things, the human genome project. In April the end of the human genome project was announced. If there has been time, that end is long, because in the last two years they have announced at least three times that it was finished.

Dolly's has been another of those own names that has left years. Undoubtedly, Dolly has been the most famous sheep in the world, as it was the first cloned mammal in a laboratory. He died on the day of those in love, at the age of seven. In the case of sheep, Dolly died of a lung cancer of vulgarized origin, not because of his clonic formation. This is stated by the founders of Dolly, since, according to other sources, the cause of his death was advanced aging. Despite being dead, the first cloned sheep will not be lost in the big drawer of oblivion. It can be visited in the Scottish capital, in the Royal Museum of Edinburgh. Upon hearing the news, Ian Wilme, the creator of Dolly, showed some bittersweet feelings: happy that Dolly was going to be in public and sad because he will no longer hear his balaca. Wilme himself also meant that he intended to clone some human embryo shortly after Dolly's death. The Scotsman was not the only one who announced his desire to walk along these tracks, since at the beginning of the year the Raelian sect announced human cloning. The scientists did not pay much attention to them.

Astronomy, yes, has received the attention of scientists, stars and planets. Throughout the year, numerous astronomical discoveries have emerged. The Big Bang was one of the sights, the gigantic explosion of the birth of the universe. In February the MAP probe obtained a very curious photo, from the beginning of the universe. Based on this image, physicists have concluded that the Big Bang occurred 13.7 billion years ago and that most of the universe is dark matter and dark energy. In our galaxy there are also many dark matters, and it does not seem that the other matter in the universe differs much from the dark, as it is feeding on nearby stars and galaxies.

At the limit of the Milky Way the Voyager probe circulates in the area called heliopausa. In this area the influence of the solar wind begins to lose strength and the doors of interstellar darkness open. Large energy particles are also generated, so the area can pose a risk for the probe. Thanks to the Voyager probe, scientists hope to obtain the first correct data on this turbulent zone. The probe is currently located at 90 astronomical units of the Sun, at 13.500,000,000 kilometers. Before arriving, he observed the giants Jupiter and Saturn. It started 26 years ago, in September 1977, and for the moment it is the object that has farther from the hand of man sent into space. After the probe Voyager 1 also left the probe Voyager 2, but in another direction. He has been the only car park that has reached Uranus and Neptune, which also has its goal on the border.

Those who are coming to the finish are the probes that go or have reached Mars, the Mars Express expeditions of the European Space Agency and Mars Exploration Rover of the United States. The journey is not surprising, because Earth and Mars are closer than ever, about 60,000,000 kilometers away. The Japanese probe Nozomi also aimed at Mars, but at the end of the year the Japanese gave the lost probe. It is no wonder that throughout the entire journey, difficulties have not been overcome.

The Chinese have been able to face all the difficulties in spatial matters. In this way, the Chinese join the club of those who have sent man to space. The probe Shenzou and Yang Liwei became in mid-October prestigious Taikonados. The Chinese bingo and the Americans streamed. In fact, on 1 February the ferry Columbia was surprised. When he was traveling over Texas, 62,000 kilometers high, he began to enter the atmosphere and disintegrated sharply. Inside there were seven people. The accident caused the cancellation of several parking flights. For the International Space Station, for example, many had to be postponed.

The abbreviation ITER has also given a lot to say and will surely do so forward. With this project, it is intended to obtain in a controlled way the fusion energy, the energy of the stars. The idea is not new, not even the project, but last year and in which it is starting several news have been produced. The most important of the location. Location of the headquarters of the ITER project This question has been answered in 2003, but it seems that the issue is going for a long time. Canada, Japan and Europe are the candidates. Within Europe there were two options, the French and the Spanish, and the French was chosen. As that of Canada was also rejected, they will have to clarify the question between Japan and France. In this question, of course, not only the scientific criteria will be taken into account. For example, the United States has supported the European project since its inception, but its attitude during the war in Iraq has made them unwilling to support France. In any case, this 2004 will clarify the issue.

The Siamese have been other protagonists of the year. The truth is that they take place every year, since surgeons try to perform some spectacular operation in one year and the next. The intervention of two Iranian sisters in July attracted the attention of the whole world. The sisters had been tied for 29 years from the brain. The operation was carried out in Singapore. Participated 28 experts and more than 100 collaborators in the work of the operating room, but all the efforts were unforgettable. After two days of intervention, the Iranians died unevenness. When they entered the operating theatre, the sisters knew that the operation was dangerous and that death had many numbers in that lottery. However, in order for everyone to make their lives, they decided to take the risk. The bet went wrong. Egyptian children Mohamed and Ahmed Ibrahim, however, did not know what they were facing when they entered a hospital in Dallas in October. Both were also united by the head. The operation came out much better than Iran's sister, since after 18 hours of work the brothers' heads were separated.

Of course, it has been more years, but what sums up most is the previous one. And also, looking back, each one makes his own choice, each one decides what to give importance and what not, what will leave a mark and what will happen by surprise, what facts will have real consequences or what event is only apparent.

However, more titles have been added to the media. If you like, then some of them taken in the second election: They have measured the force of gravity. Acoustic microscope. Pi breaking records. Launch of the latest Ariane 4. They find the adhesive between the embryo and the mother. Two kilometers of teletransport a photon. Unknown herbivorous piranhas. Liver still converted. After 31 years, Pioneer has been silenced. Tirite to accelerate the wounds. The greenhouse effect affects the pressure. Jean-Pierre Serre, first Abel awarded. Fossil ancestor of small primates. Another achievement in the growth of stem cells. Jupiter more satellites. A Neolithic skeleton in Jaizkibel. Prize to the CEIT centre for the niobio. Car with alcohol or gasoline. Number and place of expulsion of the machine. New test for the detection of tuberculosis. An unknown subatomic particle has been detected. Vaccine against prions. They have managed to silence faulty genes. Gene therapy has caused cancer in bubble children. Super hard costume that conducts electricity. First cloned horse. They begin to test the AIDS vaccine in humans. They discover the oldest network of spiders in the world. Andean civilizations, older than expected. Euskadi Prize for Jesus Ugalde. Plane 100 years.

Published in section D2 of Deia.