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Letters and Blogs
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-03 07:46 Still waters run deep On Aug 25, South Korea launched its first carrier rocket, KSLV-I, which was jointly designed by Russia and South Korea. But, eventually, it did not come into the pre-set orbit. The failure of the launch has brought down the enthusiasm of the South Koreans. Yesterday I came across the piece of news that India's circumlunar satellite failed to communicate with the Indian space agency. It has become a piece of space rubbish. I felt sorry hearing of the setback, because exploring space has been a dream of the whole humankind and any failure is not what we want to see. But the news reminds me of a famous saying - still waters run deep. Except for analyzing technical reasons of these failures, we should draw lessons from these incidents in the aspects of national psychology and international cooperation. These incidents are the inevitable result of unbridled competition between nations. With fast developing economies, some Asian countries are eager to squeeze themselves into the clubs of rich countries and want to show their muscle as soon as possible to seek more influence in international affairs. But science has its own law. Once it is disturbed by political intentions, the outcomes would not be the same as what people expect. In order to avoid blind competition, I think it is necessary to enhance international cooperation in space technology. We should try to hammer out a mechanism to incorporate an arrangement where all countries work together in exploiting space resources. Developed countries should get rid of the Cold War mindset and share their advanced technology with other countries and avoid disorderly competition. If such a mechanism can be established, the pace of mankind moving towards space would be faster. This is a topic we modern human beings should not shrink from. Liu Donghai via e-mail Highest levels ever seen or just a typo? China Daily articles that report milligrams - not micrograms - of lead in children's blood are most likely a translation problem. It reported that 300 children suffering from lead poisoning in China will be treated to reduce their high levels. The reporters state that "the normal lead content in blood ranges from zero to 100 mg per liter and health is affected if the content is over 200 mg per liter." The reported blood levels in the children are misleading. In science, "mg" universally represents milligrams. But, blood lead levels are reported as micrograms - concentrations that are 100 times less than milligrams. Micrograms are abbreviated using the Greek letter "mu", sometimes reported as "ug" because the "u" looks a little like mu. If the China Daily article is reporting the correct blood levels in kids, that is a lot of lead. In this case, 200 mg per liter is equal to 25,000 micrograms per deciliter. To put the level of lead needed to poison children in context, consider that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention define an "elevated blood lead level" in children as greater than 10 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood. But recent research suggests that even blood lead levels below 10 micrograms per deciliter may not be harmless, especially to children's health. The lower levels are associated with the same health effects as higher levels. To avoid micrograms being read as "mg" for milligrams, it would best for journalists to spell out the words. David Wallinga, MD Director, Food and Health Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, USA (China Daily 09/03/2009 page8) |
