Science and Technology

Socialism in one cell?

There are two basic types of cell in the living world: the cells found in bacteria (prokaryotes), and the cells found in plants and animals (eukaryotes). They have characteristic differences in their structures and behaviour. Prokaryotes have a circular DNA molecule consisting mainly of genes; they multiply by dividing (!) to give identical daughter cells; their protein-making machinery (ribosomes) are of a particular size; their outer membranes have a particular structure; and they are much smaller. Eukaryotes have linear DNA molecules in pairs (chromosomes); the genes come with lots of “junk...

Higgs ahoy!

The Higgs boson particle may have been discovered! But what is the Higgs and why was it predicted? For every field, a boson The current explanation of matter and space, the Standard Model, developed in the 1960s, is one of the most successful theories of all time (and space!). It explains all the approximately 200 elementary particles that exist and how they interact with each other. Some of these particles, the Z and W vector bosons, were predicted by the model and subsequently produced in CERN in the 1980s. Their masses were predicted with 99.99% accuracy using the modification developed by...

Should faith keep its fortresses?

While I am an atheist, I still respect people with faith (or superstition, as it is sometimes called). But should we respect faith itself? Is there a real difference between faith and superstition, or are they just different words that people use for the same thing, depending on whether they want to refer to it warmly (faith) or coldly (superstition)? Some people who are atheists themselves argue that faith should be respected as a valid way of knowing on questions which science cannot reach. Stephen Jay Gould, a widely-read and left-wing science writer, claims that faith is a strong way of...

What is CERN and what good is it?

By Les Hearn What do they do at CERN? It’s simple — they smash things, ions for example, together at high speed. Why do they do that? It’s even more simple — to see what happens! CERN is an example of “blue skies” research: particles are not smashed together to solve any practical problem but to test theories of matter and energy. We’re paying for it — and we should be! Physicists have been smashing particles for quite a long time, over 50 years at CERN and about 100 years altogether. It first revealed the structure of atoms. In 1911, Rutherford’s team bombarded gold atoms with fast-moving...

Nuclear power: decisions shaped by class interest

In Solidarity 224 Les Hearn argued for socialists to welcome some of the latest developments in nuclear technology as one alternative, amongst others, to fossil fuels. Stuart Jordan debates the issues. This year a group of scientists in Tel Aviv successfully replaced a part of a rat’s brain with a computer chip. This remarkable achievement could be the first step, along with other developments such as cochlear implants and prosthetic limbs, to a future human civilisation where human organs are enhanced by machines — a world of cyborgs. Whether or not such technologies are desirable will not be...

Socialists and nuclear power

We continue our debate on the future of nuclear power with this article by Les Hearn. Les argues that technological developments, such as using thorium instead of uranium, can create a vastly more ecologically-friendly nuclear industry acceptable to socialists. In our next issue we will print an opposing view. Why I support nuclear power as one of a range of alternatives to fossil fuels Back in the 70s, like many on the left, I was alarmed by what seemed to be the cover-up of the risks of nuclear power in the 50s and 60s. The indiscriminate power of nuclear weapons to kill in large numbers...

Nuclear and workers' power

Les Hearn’s article on nuclear power ( Solidarity 3/203) seems to be based mainly on the arguments being put forward by George Monbiot and Mark Lynas. Though he lists the objections to nuclear power, he doesn’t even attempt to answer many of them, and on the issue of waste disposal, plant safety and cost, he fails to see the reality of nuclear power within the context of a global capitalist economy. Critically, he also fails to question the projected “energy gap” which is being used to justify nuclear power expansion. And he doesn’t ask what is the best way forward for energy in the interests...

Don't rule out nuclear power

Our society is powered largely by burning fossil fuels. This is the equivalent to living on our savings. Fossil fuels — oil, coal and gas — were laid down over a period of a hundred or so million years and we are using about a million years’ worth every year. Even if there were not the risk of climate change, we should be looking for alternatives. Ultimately, we need to be aiming for complete renewability, but this will require some massive changes in human societies, and some enormous leaps forward in technology. Humans have never used any resources renewably (apart from a few insignificant...

Japan: earthquake, tsunami..and meltdown?

Get nuclear power’s risks in perspective The terrible events recently in Japan have resulted in at least 15,000 deaths, of which those attributable to the overheating cores and hydrogen explosions at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant amount to… zero. However, the situation at the power plant is potentially more serious if it is not controlled. What has been happening? Some time ago, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) decided to build nuclear power plants in an earthquake zone. They judged that their design was robust enough to withstand a powerful earthquake. They judged that...

Truth, science and climate change

Pilate: “What is truth?”; Lewis Carroll: “What I tell you three times is true”. Last time, I wrote about something which is scientifically uncertain, the role of human activities in the Queensland floods. This raises the question of truth — scientific truth — for example, whether it can be truthfully said that our activities are changing the climate of the Earth. Nowadays, many have a sceptical view of what scientists say, such as on the consensus among climate scientists that emissions of carbon dioxide and other “greenhouse” gases are resulting in global warming. So what do scientists say...

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