The Week UK 21.03.2020

18 NEWS

Inthe coronaviruscrisis,delivery companies

havereceivedasurgeinorders from

consumers unwilling,or unable, to leave

their homes.Butisgetting goodsdelivered

safe–orcould thevirusbetransmittedon

plastic packaging? In an attempt to findout,

researchersinthe US spritzed it ontoseven

materials found inhomesand hospitals, to

see how longit remained infectious,reports

the MITTechnologyReview. Theyfound

that the virussurvived longest–for at

least threedays –onplastic andstainless

steel.Swirled aroundin an airchamber,

it remained active for three hours.

Althoughthe findings raise the possibility

of thevirus lingering ondeliveredgoods, experts believetheriskofthis kind of

transmissionisvery low: ifdeliveredgoodswere amajor sourceofinfection,many

morepeoplewould have beeninfected during the strictlockdowninthe Chinese

cityofWuhan. However, itdoes suggestthataswell aswashing their hands, andnot

touching theirfaces, peopleshouldbecarefultosanitise plastic and steel surfaces –

and perhaps especiallyobjects such as mobilephone cases that theyuse onthego.

Health &Science

THE WEEK 21 March 2020

Theperilsof“third-hand”smoke

Justbecausenooneissmokingaroundyou,

itdoesn’tmeanyou’renotatriskfrom

smoking.Previousstudieshaveshown

thatcompoundsfromcigarettesmokecan

lingerinhousesforweeksafterthesmoker

hasmovedout;now,astudyhasfound

thateveninroomswherenoonehasever

smoked,theairmaybecontaminatedby

compoundscarriedinonsmokers’clothes.

Tofurtherinvestigatethephenomenon

of“third-handsmoke”,researchersfrom

YaleUniversityfittedpollutionsensors

totheairductsofastrictlynon-smoking

cinemainGermany.Overfourdays,these

detectedsharpspikesin 35 tobacco-related

chemicals,includingtoxiccompounds

suchasbenzeneandformaldehyde,when

peopleenteredtheauditorium;the

researchersalsofoundthatlevelswereup

to 2 00%higherduringfilmsrated 1 8than

familymovies.Overthecourseofatypical

18-ratedfilm,audiencememberswere

exposedtotheequivalentof oneto ten

cigarettes’worthof second-handsmoke,

reports Science magazine.Thefindings,

theteam said,suggest thatcompounds

on smokers’clothesaredepositedasthey

slowly evaporate,in aprocessknownas

“off-gassing”. This off-gassingiswhy

smokerssmell.“You’renotsmellingthe

chemicalsthatare bound totheperson’s

clothes,”saidpollution expertPeter

DeCarloofJohnsHopkinsUniversity,

whowasnotinvolvedinthestudy.“You’re

smellingtheones thatarecomingoff.”

Growinggreens in space

Fresh foodhasneverbeenoneofthe

attractionsofspacetravel–butthat

couldchange.Redlettucegrown aboard

theInternationalSpaceStation has

beenfound tobesafe, nutritious,and

surprisinglytasty.The lettucewasgrown

byNasaastronautsina“plantgrowth

chamber”designedtomitigatetheeffects

ofzero gravity.Afterbeingharvested, the

lettuce wasdeep-frozen andtransported

back tobase,whereit wascompared

with asamplegrownon Earth underthe

sameconditions. Thetwolettuceswere

nutritionallysimilar,except that thespace

lettuce had higherlevelsofcompounds

calledphenolics, whichare believedto act

as antioxidants.Nasascientistsbelievethat

growingfood inspacecouldbe crucialfor

future long-durationmissions –suchas the

one toMarsthat isplannedforlaterthis

decade. “Ifyoustorepackagedfoodfor

alongduration, thequality, flavour and

nutritional quality decrease;thevitamins

degrade,” saidleadscientistDr Gioia

Massa,of NasaKennedySpaceCentre.

Eggs are not bad for the heart

Aneggaday isn’tbad foryourheart,a

30-yearstudyhasconfirmed. Thepossible

linkbetweeneggsandcardiovascular

diseasehaslongbeendebatedbyscientists.

Overtheyears,officialdietaryadvicehas

fluctuated,butcurrentNHSguidance

statesthateggsarenotharmful,provided

theyarecookedproperly.Forthelatest

investigation–oneofthelargesttodate

–scientistsanalysedthedietaryhabitsof

215 ,618peopleintheUS,datingback

to1980,andpooledtheirfindingswith

thosefrom 2 7previousstudiesinvolving

1.7millionpeopleworldwide.After

takingoveralllifestyleanddietinto

accou nt,theteamfoundnoassociation

betweeneggconsumptionandaraised

riskofheartattackorstroke–even

amongthosewhoateaneggeveryday.

WritingintheBMJ,theresearchers

describeeggsasan“affordablesource”

ofprotein,iron,unsaturatedfattyacids

andothervitalnutrients.

WhendinosaursroamedSkye

Around 170 million yearsago,the

windsweptIsleofSkyehadahot,wet

climate,alagoon-fringed coast–anda

large populationofdinosaurs.Previous

analysisof printsembeddedin rocks have

suggestedthatin the MiddleJurassic

period,Skye washometolong-necked,

plant-eatingsauropods,and large,SUV-

sizedcarnivores (probablytheropods),

amongother species. Now,ateamfrom

the Universityof Edinburghhasfound the

tracksof oneofthe most famousdinosaurs

of all:thearmour-plated,spiky-backed

stegosaurus. The grapefruit-sizeddepres-

sionswere found atBrothers’Point,inthe

northeastoftheisland, which was then

surroundedbyanever-wideningAtlantic

Ocean. Thetracks,probablymadeby a

juvenileasit crossed coastalmudflats,were

onlyuncoveredin2017,whenastorm

shifted bouldersthathadhiddenthem.

Thestegosaurus:oncearesidentofSkye?

Britain’s drive to become carbon

neutral by 2050 is almost certain to

involve difficult choices for consumers,

agovernment-created agency has

warned. Inarepor tentitled “Innovating

to Net Zero”, the not-for-profit group

Energy Systems Catapult attempts to

describe the changes that will be needed

if Britain is to meet its climate change

target. Many are the responsibility

of government and business: up to

124,000 acres of trees will need to

be planted; there will need to be big

investment in carbon capture and

storage; andamassive expansion of

wind and solar energy, to power electric

cars and heat homes. But the report also

predicts that two key “lifestyle changes”

will be needed: cutting consumption

of meat and dairy by up toahalf, and

curtailing growth in flying. People,

it warns, may be “resistant” to such

“behavioural innovation”.

Meateatingmust“halve”

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