1
- SCIENCE NEWS This Week blood. In the studyvolunteers, the CPHPC infusion depleted the blood’s supply of serum amyloid P, so the protein was drawn out of the organs. When treatment ended, the serum amyloid P started to go back into the organ deposits.However, several weeks after the treatment, some patients still had less serum amyloid P in both their blood and amyloid deposits than they had when the study began. In another trial, the teams gave up to 9 months’ of daily doses of CPHPCto 19 amy- loidosis patients whose disease was pro- gressing despite other treatments. An autopsy on one patient who died 6 months into the treatment showed that his amyloid deposits were surprisingly low in serum amyloid P. This study revealed no side effects. Although the researchershaven’t yet tested whether the treatment broke up amyloid deposits, most of the patients’conditions stabilized. Stopping the disease progres- sion “isbetter than nothing,”says immu- nologist Carolyn Mold of the University of New Mexico School of Medicine in Albuquerque. In that sense, she says, CPHPC represents“anexcitingpossibility” that deserves further testing. Pepys and his colleagues plan to begin testing the drug on Alzheimer’s patients soon. Although the researchers have great hopes for CPHPC, Pepys cautions that all testing is still in the early phase and that there are significant differences between Alzheimer’s disease and amy- loidosis. -N. SEPPA Shelter from Space Storms Energy rebounds from Earth Spewing a continuous stream of ions and electronsat about 400 kilometers per sec- ond, the sun fills interplanetaryspace with its particles.The strength ofthis solarwind varies from a benign breeze to a fierce gale. Now, observations showthat Earth’s outer atmosphereinteractsdramatidy with the solar wind and shieldsthe planet from it. Scientistshave long known that Earth’s magneticfield divertspart of the solarwind and its inherent eneqy. The new data, gen- erated by NASA’s Imager for Magne- topause-to-Aurora Global Exploration ONE HOT DOUGHNUT Gas ejected from the ionosphere (green) becomestrapped in Earth’s magneticfleld (orange cloud).These particles then flow at high speed in 8 ring (blue) around Earth. (IMAGE) satellite, reveal that the outer atmosphere, too, diverts some of the dan- gerous energy. The findingwas announced May 9 at a NASA press briefing in Wash- ington, D.C., and is also the topic of two upcoming reports in the Journal of Geo- physical Research. The newly recognized shield is the chargedlayer, known as the ionosphere, in the outer atmosphere.The ionospherefills the interval between 300 and 1,000 km above Earth’s surface.When a space storm hits this layer, it dumpsup to a trillion watts of power into the atmosphere,says Stephen Fuselier of the Lockheed Martin Space Physics Lab in Palo Alto, Calif., a coauthor of the report. Low-intensity storms hit Earth weekly, while very-high-intensity storms happen once every 3 to 4 years. The massive current from a space storm heats the ionosphere, which dissipates energyby immediatelyejecting some of its own oxygen and hydrogen ions into space. A few hundred tons of gas-roughly equal to the volume of the Louisiana Super- dome-are lost each storm, says Fuselier. “We knew Earth interacted [with space storms], but we had no idea it was so fast, so dramatic,” says Fuselier. Approximately half the energy from a storm is dissipated in this manner, adds coauthor Donald Mitchell of the John Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md. Without the ionosphere’s shielding effect, the lower atmosphere would heat up, he says. “We knew quite a lot about Earth’s inter- actions with space weather before,”says TerryOnsager of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Envi- ronment Center in Boulder, (310. However, the IMAGE satellitehas enabled scientists to watch the global process unfold in its entirety, he says. The satellite also revealed a downside to Earth’s interactionwith space storms, says Mitchell. Much of the charged gas ejected doesn’t dissipateimmediately and becomes trapped in Earths enormousmagnetic field. It followsthe field lines like a train on a rail- road track, accelerating to enormous speeds.The field concentratesthe charged gas into a 1 billionT, doughnut-shaped plasma cloud that encirclesthe planet dur- ing storms, says Mitchell. The intense heat of the cloud emits highlycharged particles,which disrupt the operation of communication and naviga- tion satellites in space and power grids on Earth. ‘We pay a price for the protection,” says Fuselier. -J. PICKRELL wholesome Grains Insulin effects may explain healthful diet Ovenweight people who eat whole grains rather than refined ones are better equipped to manage their blood-sugar concentra- tions, according to a new study. The find- ing, consistent with previous ones, could help explain the observationthat diets rich in whole grains guard against type I1 dia- betes and heart disease. and other food are converted into glucose, a sugarthat circulatesin the blood until the hormone insulin directs energy-hungry 2 cells to absorb it. Some people develop 5 In the body, carbohydratesfrom grains . 308 MAY 18, 2002 VOL. 161 SCIENCE NEWS

Shelter from space storms: Space energy rebounds from Earth

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- SCIENCE NEWS This Week

blood. In the studyvolunteers, the CPHPC infusion depleted the blood’s supply of serum amyloid P, so the protein was drawn out of the organs. When treatment ended, the serum amyloid P started to go back into the organ deposits. However, several weeks after the treatment, some patients still had less serum amyloid P in both their blood and amyloid deposits than they had when the study began.

In another trial, the teams gave up to 9 months’ of daily doses of CPHPC to 19 amy- loidosis patients whose disease was pro- gressing despite other treatments. An autopsy on one patient who died 6 months into the treatment showed that his amyloid deposits were surprisingly low in serum amyloid P.

This study revealed no side effects. Although the researchers haven’t yet tested whether the treatment broke up amyloid deposits, most of the patients’ conditions stabilized. Stopping the disease progres- sion “is better than nothing,” says immu- nologist Carolyn Mold of the University of New Mexico School of Medicine in Albuquerque. In that sense, she says, CPHPC represents “an exciting possibility” that deserves further testing.

Pepys and his colleagues plan to begin testing the drug on Alzheimer’s patients soon. Although the researchers have great hopes for CPHPC, Pepys cautions that all testing is still in the early phase and that there are significant differences between Alzheimer’s disease and amy- loidosis. -N. SEPPA

Shelter from Space Storms Energy rebounds from Earth

Spewing a continuous stream of ions and electrons at about 400 kilometers per sec- ond, the sun fills interplanetary space with its particles. The strength ofthis solar wind varies from a benign breeze to a fierce gale. Now, observations show that Earth’s outer atmosphere interacts dramatidy with the solar wind and shields the planet from it.

Scientists have long known that Earth’s magnetic field diverts part of the solar wind and its inherent eneqy. The new data, gen- erated by NASA’s Imager for Magne- topause-to-Aurora Global Exploration

ONE HOT DOUGHNUT Gas ejected from the ionosphere (green) becomes trapped in Earth’s magnetic fleld (orange cloud).These particles then flow at high speed in 8 ring (blue) around Earth.

(IMAGE) satellite, reveal that the outer atmosphere, too, diverts some of the dan- gerous energy. The finding was announced May 9 at a NASA press briefing in Wash- ington, D.C., and is also the topic of two upcoming reports in the Journal of Geo- physical Research.

The newly recognized shield is the charged layer, known as the ionosphere, in the outer atmosphere. The ionosphere fills the interval between 300 and 1,000 km above Earth’s surface. When a space storm hits this layer, it dumps up to a trillion watts of power into the atmosphere, says Stephen Fuselier of the Lockheed Martin Space Physics Lab in Palo Alto, Calif., a coauthor of the report. Low-intensity storms hit Earth weekly, while very-high-intensity storms happen once every 3 to 4 years.

The massive current from a space storm heats the ionosphere, which dissipates energy by immediately ejecting some of its own oxygen and hydrogen ions into space. A few hundred tons of gas-roughly equal to the volume of the Louisiana Super- dome-are lost each storm, says Fuselier. “We knew Earth interacted [with space storms], but we had no idea it was so fast, so dramatic,” says Fuselier.

Approximately half the energy from a storm is dissipated in this manner, adds coauthor Donald Mitchell of the John Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md. Without the ionosphere’s shielding effect, the lower atmosphere would heat up, he says.

“We knew quite a lot about Earth’s inter- actions with space weather before,” says Terry Onsager of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Envi- ronment Center in Boulder, (310. However, the IMAGE satellite has enabled scientists

to watch the global process unfold in its entirety, he says.

The satellite also revealed a downside to Earth’s interaction with space storms, says Mitchell. Much of the charged gas ejected doesn’t dissipate immediately and becomes trapped in Earths enormous magnetic field. It follows the field lines like a train on a rail- road track, accelerating to enormous speeds. The field concentrates the charged gas into a 1 billionT, doughnut-shaped plasma cloud that encircles the planet dur- ing storms, says Mitchell.

The intense heat of the cloud emits highly charged particles, which disrupt the operation of communication and naviga- tion satellites in space and power grids on Earth. ‘We pay a price for the protection,” says Fuselier. -J. PICKRELL

wholesome Grains Insulin effects may explain healthful diet

Ovenweight people who eat whole grains rather than refined ones are better equipped to manage their blood-sugar concentra- tions, according to a new study. The find- ing, consistent with previous ones, could help explain the observation that diets rich in whole grains guard against type I1 dia- betes and heart disease.

and other food are converted into glucose, a sugar that circulates in the blood until the hormone insulin directs energy-hungry 2 cells to absorb it. Some people develop 5

In the body, carbohydrates from grains .

3 0 8 M A Y 18, 2002 VOL. 1 6 1 SCIENCE NEWS