Nexus - 1801 - New Times Magazine-pages

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GLOBAL NEWS SCIENTISTS SAY CANCER IS MAN-MADE, NOT GENETIC STUDY UNCOVERS MESOTHELIOMA LINK TO NANOTECHNOLOGY environment that can cause cancer. So it has to be a man-made disease, down to pollution and changes to our diet and lifestyle.” (Source: PhysOrg.com, 14 October 2010, http://tinyurl.com/24977wc) ancer is a modern man-made disease caused by environmental factors such as pollution and diet, a study by University of Manchester scientists has strongly suggested. The study of remains and literature from ancient Egypt, Greece and earlier periods—carried out at Manchester's KNH Centre for Biomedical Egyptology, and published in Nature Reviews Cancer— includes the first histological diagnosis of cancer in an Egyptian mummy. Finding only one case of the disease in the investigation of undreds of Egyptian mummies, with few references to cancer in iterary evidence, proves that cancer was extremely rare in antiquity. The disease rate has risen massively since the Industrial Revolution, in particular the rate of childhood cancer—proving that the rise is not simply due to people living longer. Professor Rosalie David, at the Faculty of Life Sciences, said: "In industrialised societies, cancer is second only to cardiovascular disease as a cause of death. But in ancient times, it was extremely rare. There is nothing in the natural esothelioma has long been linked to the inhalation of and exposure to asbestos fibres and dust, so when scientists uncovered an additional potential cause for this incurable form of lung cancer, the unthinkable became a reality. According to researchers at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC, the early 1990s development of carbon nanotubes has been an amazing feat for technological applications. However, it has not gone without its price. Specifically, synthetic carbon nanotubes may be causing harm to the human body in the form of mesothelioma cancer. Nanotubes are cylindrical structures comprised of carbon atoms that have been rolled together. If the carbon nanotubes are introduced into the wrong environment, they can cause lesions and inflammation of the lungs— symptoms similar to those of mesothelioma cancer and asbestos INVENTION SECRECY STILL GOING STRONG Th were 5,135 inventions tha were under secrecy orders at the end of the USA Fiscal Year 2010, according to the US Patent and Trademark Office. This is a one per cent rise over the year before, and the highest total in more than a decade. Under the US Invention Secrecy Ac of 1951, patent applications on new inventions can be subject to secrecy orders restricting their publication i government agencies believe tha disclosure would be "detrimental to the national security". The current list of technology areas that is used to screen paten applications for possible restriction under the Invention Secrecy Act is not publicly available, and access has been denied under the US Freedom of Information Act. Most of the listed technology areas are closely related to military applications, but some of them range more widely. and exposure. Dr Andrew Maynard, whose study was published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, described the use of nanotubes and the potential link to mesothelioma cancer. He said that nanotubes are being used because of their awesome abilities in conducting heat and electricity. He also said that there are no regulations as to where nanotubes can be employed, and that there are currently no requirements for the use of nanotubes to be disclosed to the general public. Nanotubes are now being used in a variety of sports equipment, electronic gas detectors and radios, and will be widely used in industries including aerospace, automobile, aviation, environmental, medical and television box production. (Source: Disease & Illness, via AsanWay, 9 October 2010, http://tinyurl.com/25e2fug) NEXUS ¢ 7 “It’s not tattoos. It’s graffiti. | feel asleep one night in an alley.’ DECEMBER 2010 - JANUARY 20II www.nexusmagazine.com