From the DEC/JAN 2006 issue of Seed:
OUR SPORTS STARS ON DRUGS
Credit: Googie Man
Baseball fans, after expressing a clear preference for longballs and more offense, were shocked—shocked—by revelations in Jose Canseco’s best-selling book of “rampant” steroid use in the U.S. national game. The former player, vilified for naming names and dismissed by many as a shameless publicity-seeker, was suddenly credible when one of his accused, Rafael Palmiero, tested positive just months after a finger-wagging denial in Congressional testimony. (Record-breaker Mark McGwire’s tearful refusal to speak about past steroid use in testimony before the same committee was therefore cast into as much suspicion.) And fans of all sport worldwide found good reason to explore the contradictions inherent in wanting better performance—but only if it’s “pure”—as well as the roles of truth, integrity and labs like the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, in sports.
THE RETURN OF MANNED SPACEFLIGHT
Credit: NASA
Following an error-filled relaunch of the shuttle program—the same insulating foam that doomed Columbia failed again, and a spacewalk repair mission was required to mitigate the heat-shield damage—NASA’s new administrator, Michael Griffin, announced that the agency would focus its energies on making new footprints on the moon by 2018. The old space shuttle is out, and a replacement is on the way, slowly. As NASA struggles to continue flights and complete construction of the International Space Station, China’s space program is surging ahead. One question for spaceflight watchers is whether NASA will be able to afford the shuttle and the space station, and make it back to the Moon—before the Chinese.
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THE FUTURE OF AFRICAN SCIENCE
This was a year for Africa: A massive commitment on the part of the West to cancel debt was key, but so too was a statement—from the the national science academies of the G8 nations and the Network of African Science Academies—for support of science, technology and innovation across the continent. The Nelson Mandela Foundation announced the establishment of the African Institute of Science and Technology, which plans to open four regional centers throughout sub-Saharan Africa. It’s a promising start. Africans hope to emulate the example set by Asia and become a significant home for scientific research.
DEATH THROES OF THE OIL ECONOMY?
Credit: Paul Cowan
While Katrina was the hurricane that caused the most damage on shore, Rita was the storm that hit the the oil industry the hardest. A Category 5 when it swept up the center of the Gulf of Mexico, it temporarily paralyzed 90% of crude production and 72% of natural gas output in the gulf—a critical source of America's supply of cheap energy. Worldwide, gas prices spiked as oil companies declared record profits, their stocks reaching all-time highs; the Bush administration flip-flopped on the "personal virtue" of conservation, newly trumpeting the "Energy Hog" in ads and photo-ops; and car manufacturers transformed the batteries in hybrids from energy-savers to electrical turbo-chargers.
STEM CELL RESEARCH SURGES OVERSEAS
Researchers around the world made progress with existing stem-cell lines and non-embryonic stem cells, and U.S. Senate Majority leader Bill Frist changed his mind, giving his support to new federal funding for embryonic stem cells. Meanwhile, Hwang Woo-suk in South Korea forged ahead with the most advanced work in stem cells and cloning (see p. 90), and the South Koreans opened an international stem-cell bank, demonstrating just how far behind the U.S. has fallen.