Findings

European scientists have never been able to persuade European consumers to embrace genetically modified (GM) crops. Now, some are hoping that scientists from developing countries can make the argument more convincingly. A group called European Action on Global Life Sciences (EAGLES) plans to expose the European public to voices such as those of former World Bank vice-president Ismail Serageldin, who now leads the Library of Alexandria in Egypt. It's an attempt to drive home the message that GM crops are key to addressing food shortages around the world.

At ESOF, EAGLES organized a session about science in the developing world that carried a strong pro-GM message.

I can't think of a worse place for a poetry reading than the dreaded Room 14, the venue for yesterday's session on "Poetry and Science." A flimsy plastic door and curtain were all that stood between the science-poets and the roar of the crowd at the tapas bar and exhibition stands just outside. The audience leaned forward to hear, grimacing as a string of announcements blared over loudspeakers outside. But just as I was cursing ESOF and about to give up on the session, Roald Hoffmann rose to the challenge. Within a minute he made the noise melt away--I knew I had to stay.

It's not just that Hoffmann is a talented poet, though he certainly is. It's that he is at least as gifted a scientist. (He won the 1981 Nobel chemistry prize and now teaches at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.) The first that he read to us was about solitons, a strange and very rare form of wave that carries energy across great distances with almost no loss of energy. Within the poem was a slyly hidden statement about human relationships. It's a very rare poet indeed who can draw on such a deep understanding of science.

The most haunting poem that Hoffmann, now 71, shared with us has never been published. "Nature commissioned me to write it in 2003 for the 50th anniversary of the discovery of DNA," he said. The result was a poem titled CODE, MEMORY. "They rejected it," he added with an ironic smile. I can see why the Nature editors might have been scared away. It's not a simple poem, neither in structure nor mood. Layered in are references to Nabokov, evolution, Mendel, genetics, and genocide. (As a boy in Złoczów, Poland, Hoffmann narrowly escaped the Holocaust; most of his immediate family were murdered.)

After the session, I asked Hoffmann if Science could have the honor of publishing the poem online here. He agreed and we present it below (And in case your blog reader disrupts the formatting of the stanzas, we offer a PDF version).

--John Bohannon

Download Code-Memory.pdf

Okay, I'll admit I fell for it too. At the ESOF stand for the Swedish Research Council (SRC), nifty "MRI helments"--that's what the stand staff calls them--are stealing the show. Put one on, tighten the strap, then look into the mirror to see a real-time scan of your brain, superimposed over the mirror image of your head. Turn around, walk a few steps; your brain moves right along!

Everbody is fascinated. "Can you also see how somebody feels? Whether they're happy or sad?" one woman asks.

But wait a minute... MRI scanners are big machines with giant magnets inside. Who built that into a simple bike helmet?

Nobody did, the research council's Emilie von Essen admits. MRI helmets don't exist; that thing you're wearing with the weird antenna doesn't do anything, and that's somebody else's brain in the mirror, cleverly projected over your astonished face. It's just a way of getting people interested in brain science, von Essen says -- and I guess it works. But can you still call it science education when you're showing people science that doesn't exist?

--Martin Enserink

A hot topic at ESOF08 has been the imminent switching on of CERN´s Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which will be the world´s most powerful particle accelerator and should answer a number of burning questions in high energy physics. Ironically, an ancient tradition, the Olympic games, may slightly delay this modern technological marvel.

At a press conference with a number of CERN staffers--and with CERN director general Robert Aymar in the audience--LHC construction chief Lynn Evans was pressed on the exact timing of the first beam through the giant 27-kilometer long accelerator. Five of the eight sectors of the ring have been cooled to the operating temperature of 1.9 kelvin and are ready for use. The remaining three are also cooled, but CERN engineers are still fixing a few final glitches. "During the month of August the first beam will be injected into the LHC," Evans said confidently, and later added that it will probably mid August.

Meanwhile, one CERN official quietly suggested a different window: the last week of August or the first of September. The reason for this discrepancy? In mid August CERN will not be able to get hold of a satellite uplink to televise the switch-on because of the Olympics, which is hording them all. So CERN's media office is pushing for a slight delay so the world can better see LHC's successful start....

--Daniel Clery

Was it a scheduling error that put Croatia on a panel yesterday afternoon with scientific powerhouses USA and Britain for a session on what governments can do to spur innovation and compete globally? It seems that way at first -- until Dragan Primorac, Croatia's science chief, begins to unveil his grand strategy. As he flips through slide after slide dense with statistics, it's obvious that Croatia is punching above its economic weight in ambition. And Primorac--minister for science, education, and sports  since 2003 (seen at left in the red shirt, training with Croatia's national football team)--seems to enjoy the challenge. Scientists improve by measuring themselves against the best, he says, and he intends to do exactly that.

Our brains make up only about 2% of our body mass, but when it comes to metabolism they are real energy guzzlers. About 20% of the oxygen we breath and 25% of our glucose supply goes straight to our heads, keeping the brain's 100 billion neurons, plus astrocytes and other cells, well nourished. And yet our brains use almost as much energy when they are seemingly doing very little as when they are firing away on complicated tasks or thoughts. In a keynote talk at a session entitled "Looking inside your brain," neuroscientist Pierre Magistretti of the University of Lausanne in Switzerland suggested some possible answers.

Magistretti's talk was actually about the neuroscience of brain imaging, particularly the mechanisms behind the metabolic changes detected in techniques such as positron emission tomography (PET) and functional MRI--techniques now routinely used in both medicine and basic research. But in the course of figuring those mechanisms out, Magistretti and others have begun to hypothesize about the high-energy brain states that make such imaging possible. Magistretti suggested three possible explanations for the high baseline rate of brain energy consumption, all of which could be part of the story. First, a lot of energy might be going into keeping the brain from getting over-stimulated: About 15% of the neurotransmitters in brain synapses are inhibitory molecules rather than excitatory. Second, new discoveries about the brain's plasticity--its ability to create new synapses in response to new experiences or situations--suggest that the brain is working away even when information is not being transmitted. And finally, Magistretti said, unconscious processes may keep the brain ticking away at a rapid rate even when we are inactive, such as during sleep.

All in all, a lot of food for thought before the meeting breaks for dinner tonight.

--Michael Balter

Photo: A 3-D view of a neuron by digital holographic microscopy

The meeting officially started today but sunny Barcelona makes it tough for ESOF attendees to stay inside, so several science outreach activities take place in the fresh air. One of the more visually arresting was yesterday's balloon-aided launch of a mammoth paper boat that had been created by local children and adults. It's hard not to hear or see science this week in the city. On my plane flight to Barcelona, I noticed a person working on his slide presentation for ESOF. It was fascinating enough I plan to attend his talk tomorrow and tell him I spied on him--look for a report tomorrow afternoon.

It's obvious that ESOF presents a European perspective on science--a session that just ended saw a debate over the German and UK stem cell positions. And I also overheard this provocative snippet of conversation from an attendee strolling through the Place Espanya:

"I don't know why Americans always think their system is the best one?"

Perhaps by the time the meeting ends Tuesday I'll know the subject of her annoyance. If not, I'm sure my colleagues will keep you entertained. One is now watching a man make bubbles big enough that he can step into them. I'm guessing that the science of surface tension is involved?

--John Travis

Later this week Science's European news staff will descend on ESOF 2008, Europe's answer to the annual AAAS meeting. ESOF (Euroscience Open Forum) is currently held every other year and this year's conference in Barcelona is the third such event--ESOF 2004 was in Stockholm and ESOF 2006 was in Munich.  I would normally say the diverse program offers a smorgasbord of activities, but given our Spanish location, I think a broad tapas menu is the more apt analogy. Indeed, ESOF will each day host a "Tapas with the Professor." Other items that have caught our eye are a Science meets Poetry session that includes contemporary  poets, including a Nobel prize-winning scientist, and a session on "Atomic Detectives", the forensic scientists tracking nuclear material and trying to prevent it from landing in the wrong hands. Come back starting Friday for a taste of this Barcelona meeting.

--John Travis, Science's European News Editor