国际科技信息

国际科技信息

《科学》杂志评出八大宇宙未解之谜

大多数科学家认为，约有四分之三的宇宙正在以暗物质和暗能量的形式消失，而这两者目前都没被直接观察到。上图是基于猜测而绘制出的暗物质3D影像。

据英国《每日邮报》6月2日报道，美国《科学》杂志日前选出了八大宇宙未解之谜，科学家们承认，其中一些“可能永远也无法找到答案”。

这八大未解之谜涵盖范围很广，从未被鉴定过的神秘暗物质到恒星爆炸的真相。根据享誉世界的《科学》杂志的表述，这八大宇宙未解之谜都是由顶尖的科学家从他们所钻研的领域中归纳出来的，科学家们甚至还分别为自己所提的谜团撰写了论文进行阐述。

德国马克斯.普朗克研究院的天体物理学家希蒙.怀特表示：“部分谜题的产生是因为我们还没找到解决它们的线索。”来自《科学》杂志的罗伯特.孔茨称：“通过天文观测，每个未解之谜都有可能最终得到解决。”

然而，另外一些科学精英认为，其中一些谜题不太可能会被解开。其中，最大的谜题就是关于暗物质，科学家们坦言，这个谜团可能永远也无法解开。

《科学》杂志盘点的八大宇宙未解之谜分别是：

1、暗能量，构成现存宇宙的73%但从未被观察到或测量过。暗能量的存在是“应需而生”的，它能平衡关于宇宙的数学公式，但可能永远不会被观测到；

2、暗物质，与暗能量紧密相关，被描述为将宇宙万物粘合在一起的“胶水”。为《科学》杂志撰写相关论文的阿德里安 丘认为，与暗能量不同，科学家们很可能有朝一日能切实观测到这种物质；

3、重子哪里去了？重子是一种能构成特殊物质的颗粒，但出于某些原因，当研究人员把暗能量、暗物质相加并把其它归于重子时，研究者所得的结果竟不是100%；

4、为什么恒星会爆炸？人们已经对有关恒星形成以及太阳系形成的许多过程有了初步认知，但科学家们承认，他们仍不能完全理解当一个恒星爆炸时其内部情况到底是怎样的，只知道爆炸后会形成超新星；

5、是什么使宇宙再电离？自宇宙大爆炸后数十万年，电子被从原子上剥离，但目前尚不知这是为什么；

6、各种能量充沛的宇宙射线的源头是什么？尽管地球的大气层能帮助我们抵挡住大多数宇宙射线，但我们每天仍会受到这些射线的“轰击”，科学家们至今无法就这些射线的源头达成共识；

7、为什么我们的太阳系如此独特？我们所在的太阳系是按照逻辑逐步形成的，还是误打误撞罢了？没人真正知晓。

8、为什么日冕那么热？专研太阳的科学家们始终想不明白。日冕是太阳的最外层部分，但其温度之高仍超乎想象。距离我们最近的这颗恒星所拥有的这层奇怪“分层”仍旧是个谜。

The eight space mysteries science CAN'T solve - from our inside-out sun to the 75% of the universe that has 'gone missing'

Scientists have revealed the eight biggest unanswered questions surrounding our universe.

They range from the mystery of dark matter, which makes up 73% of everything but has never been identifi ed, to questions over why our Sun is so hot.

Formulated by the prestigious journal Science, have all been raised by the leading scientists in their fi eld, each of whom also wrote an essay on the topic.

Dark Energy, which appears to make up 73% of everything that exists, and still it can’t be seen, or even measured. The energy is 'needed' to balance out the mathematics of the universe,but may not ever be able to be detected.

Dark Matier, which is closely linked to Dark Energy, is the term used to describe the ‘glue’ which holds everything in the universe together.

However, Adrian Cho,who wrote Science’s essay on the subject, believes that unlike dark energy, scientists stand a reasonably good chance of one day actually detecting a particle of the stu ff .

Where are the missing baryons? Baryons are particles that make unormal matter, but for some reason when adding up dark energy, dark matter and then leaving the rest to baryons,researchers can’t come up with a number that equals 100% - hence the mystery

Why do stars explode? Many of the processes of star formation and solar system formation are known - but researchers admit they still don’t really understand what goes on in a star when it explodes, forming what is known as a supernova.

What re-ionized the universe?For a few hundred thousand years atier the Big Bang, electrons were stripped from atoms - we have no idea why.

What is the source of the most energetic cosmic rays? We’re bombarded with them every day, yet researchers can’t agree on where they come from. Our atmosphere shields us from most of the rays.

Why is our solar system so odd? Did our solar system form the way it did by following logical steps, or was it all just chaos and chance?Nobody really knows.

Why is the sun's corona so hot? Those that study the sun still really don’t know.The corona is the furthest layer from the sun's core, but it's still incredibly hot - and the reasons for this strange 'layering' of our nearest star are still a mystery.

英媒：中国科学的崛起存在障碍

上世纪80年代初，陈德亮（音）在中国开始了他的科学生涯。陈回忆说，“当时有硕士学位就能成为研究员，那会还没博士。”自那时起，中国已发生重大变化。这个国家以惊人速度增加科研经费，如今发表的科学论文数量仅次于美国。光读这些新闻，你可能认为中国就要赶超西方了。

然而，中国的科学进步并非确定无疑的事。对在西方工作的中国科学家的采访和经合组织的数据都显示，政治限制和文化态度持续阻碍中国的科学发展。科学家们说，与中国进行国际合作困难得多，所以很多人宁愿留在西方。

这也是陈的经历。上世纪80年代他在德国上的大学，目前在瑞典一所大学教书，仍与中国科学界保持密切联系。他说从纯粹的科学观点来说，在华工作是令人兴奋的事，尤其是那里提供慷慨的研究经费。但有关中国将在今后20年内超越美国的观点未免太过乐观。从缺乏好学校到对空气、食品质量的担忧等，（中国的）很多情况仍令不少科学家却步门外。更重要的是，中国缺乏自由思考和顺从权威的态度伤害了科学进步，“中国的科学文化与欧美相当不同，对于权威有过高的尊重，这在科学上不是好事。”

英国皇家学会2011年一份报告称，1978年到2006年间有106万中国人在海外留学，其中70%的人没回国。这一数字已下降，但估计仍有约一半人在国外留学后选择不回国。

北京在努力改变这种现状，政府支持的千人计划已说服600名海外中国人和外国学者回到中国，北京承诺“在住房、医疗和子女教育方面提供优惠政策”。这是个好的开始，但这类计划的最大挑战是吸引到愿意永久回国的人。陈说：“问题不仅仅是薪水。”经合组织估计中国每年在科研上的支出约1540亿美元，比10年前的区区300亿美元大幅度提升。但这仍只相当于欧盟的一半，与美国的4000亿美元相比更是相形见绌。

投资开始取得成效。中国已超过英国成为发表科学论文第二多的国家，专利申请量也在飙升。2009年中国在美国登记1655件专利，而1989年是52件，1999年是90件。从中国大学毕业的理科和工程学博士研究生的人数比例超过55%，比得上经合组织成员国的最高比例。但正如陈所说，并非一切都是为了钱。中国向科学家提供鼓励发表论文的优厚政策，而在西方的中国科学家则认为，这些措施助长了研究注重数量而非质量，导致包括剽窃和数据造假在内的一系列破坏性极大的丑闻。

中国可能是多产的，但中国科学家在《自然》、《科学》这类顶尖国际刊物上发表的论文数量仍远落后于西方。中国的论文中，来自国际合作的引证更是少得可怜。中国在2009年发表28.5万篇论文，平均每千人约0.2篇，发表在顶尖期刊上的仅为每千人0.05篇。相比之下，美英分别为1.6篇和2篇，其中一半多都是在顶尖刊物上发表的。小国瑞典，平均每千人4篇，一半以上在顶尖期刊上。

学者认为，儒家的忠君思想和避免对抗的文化传统阻碍了中国科学发展。激烈竞争也造成将海外人才拒之门外的意想不到的后果，中国科学界的高层往往担心竞争可能威胁到他们的地位，“过去，他们倾向于把人才打发走”。（克里斯.威克汉姆，陈一译；英国路透社5月28日报道，原题《中国在科学上崛起，但这个方程式可能存在缺陷》）

Insight: China rises in science, but equation may have flaws

LONDON (Reuters) - Deliang Chen started his scientific career in China in the early 1980s, part of the first generation to follow the vicious anti-intellectual years of the Cultural Revolution.

"There was a big desire to help those with degrees," says Chen of those days. "You could become a researcher with a master's degree.There were no PhDs."

China has changed since then, of course. The country has increased its spending on science at a blistering rate and now publishes the second most scientific papers in the world after the United States. Read the headlines and you might think that China is about to overtake the West.

But China's scientifi c progress is no sure thing. Interviews with Chinese scientists working in the West together with data from the OECD and some of the world's leading science academies suggest restrictive political and cultural atudes continue to stifl e science there. International collaboration is harder from China, scientists say, while many still prefer to be educated in and live in the West.

That's certainly Chen's experience. After winning a scholarship to study in Germany in the late 1980s he returned to China for a few years but then got a job offer from Sweden,where he is now a professor in the Earth Sciences department of Gothenburg University. He still has strong links with China's scientific community, and worked as Science Director at the Beijing Climate Center for six years until 2008.From a purely scientific point of view, he says, it's an exciting time to work in China, particularly because funding is generous.

But he thinks predictions that China will surpass the United States in science in the next 20 years are way too optimistic. Everything from a lack of affordable good schools to concerns about poor air and food quality still keep many scientists away. More importantly,China's attitude to free thinking and obsequience to authority hurt its scientifi c progress.

"Freedom of expression is very sensitive and very crucial," he said. "I think it is a real issue. The scientific culture in China is quite d iff erent from Europe and the U.S.There is a much higher respect for authority, and in science this is not good."

COME ON HOME

A Royal Society report on the global science landscape published in 2011 found 70 percent of the 1.06 million Chinese who studied abroad between 1978 and 2006 did not return. Scientists say that fi gure has fallen but estimate around half of all who study abroad still stay away.

Beijing is trying to change that.China's government-sponsored Thousand Talents Program, set up in 2008, has convinced some 600 overseas Chinese and foreign academics to return to China with promises of what Premier Wen Jiabao has described as "talentfavorable policies in households,medical care and the education of children."

That's a good start, but the biggest challenge of all these programs is atiracting people who are willing to move back to China permanently, Chen said from Sweden. "It's not only about the salary, which is the focus of many of these programs. I think it's a litile bit naïve to think in that way."

The OECD estimates China spends about $154 billion a year on research and development, up from just $30 billion a decade ago with an accelerating trend in recent years. That amount is still only half the EU spend of $300 billion and is dwarfed by $400 billion for the United States.

The investment is starting to pay off. According to Britain's national science academy The Royal Society, China has overtaken the UK as the second leading producer of published scientific research and could surpass the United States as early as next year.

The number of patent fi lings is rocketing. According to data from the U.S. Trademark and Patent Office, China registered 1,655 patents in the United States in 2009, up from just 52 in 1989 and 90 in 1999. And the proportion of science and engineering doctoral graduates pouring out of China's universities, at over 55 percent according to the OECD, rivals the best rates in OECD member countries.

FEEL THE WIDTH, NOT THE QUALITY

But just as Chen says, it's not all about the money. Chinese scientists are offered lucrative incentives to publish - equivalent to several years' salary for a paper that reaches a top international academic journal - which Chinese scientists in the West argue have skewed the research e ff ort towards quantity rather than quality,leading to a series of damaging scandals involving plagiarism and the falsi fi cation of data.

Dig into the numbers and a more nuanced view emerges.

China may be prolific, but the number of papers by Chinese scientists that are published in such top journals as Nature and Science is still far behind that in the West.China also manages far fewer citations in papers that result from international collaboration.

According to data gathered by the OECD, China produced 285,000 papers in 2009. That's about 0.2 papers per 1,000 head of the population. Just 0.05 percent were published in top journals.

By comparison, the United States published 473,000 papers,or 1.6 for every 1,000 people.More than half made it into top journals. The figures for the UK,which punches above its weight,are 134,000 papers, just over 2 per 1,000 people, with more than half in top journals.

Tiny Switzerland, which spends about $10.5 billion a year on research and development,produces nearly 4 per 1,000 people; more than half appear in top journals.

Worldwide, the 50 universities with the best publishing performance are concentrated in a handful of countries, according to the OECD. Unsurprisingly, the United States, home to 40 of the top 50 in a range of fields,dominates. China has just six in the top 50 for Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics plus Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, rated among the best for computer science, engineering and chemistry.

CULTURE CLASH

The main factor hurting progress, says environmental scientist Peng Gong, is China's cultural history.

Gong holds posts at both Tsinghua University in China and the University of California,Berkeley. In January, he wrote an outspoken column for Nature that argued Chinese science is held back by a culture that discourages curiosity and collaboration.

"Two cultural genes have passed through generations of Chinese intellectuals for more than 2,000 years," he wrote. "The first is the thoughts of Confucius, who proposed that intellectuals should become loyal administrators. The second is the writings of Zhuang Zhou, who said that a harmonious society would come from isolating families so as to avoid exchange and conflict, and by shunning technology to avoid greed."

Gong argued that a lack of collaboration and a poor division of labor has led to small research groups duplicating expensive equipment purchases, doing the same analysis and being reluctant to share with rivals. The result is wasted time, money and e ff ort.

Cong Cao, a scholar of Chinese science policy at Britain's University of Nottingham, said intense competition has also had the unintended consequence of locking out foreign talent.Cao says the upper echelons of Chinese science are often fearful of competition that could threaten their status.

"In the past they tended to turn good people away," said Cao.

He believes the country needs to spend more of its growing science budget on basic research,which he estimates gets only 5 percent of funds right now, losing out to development projects that focus on commercial applications.And he argues that China needs more transparency in the way funds are awarded, a betier system of peer review and less direct patronage.

DON'T FEAR THE FUTURE

China can still teach the West a thing or two, as those lobbying to defend science spending in Europe are quick to point out.

The sovereign debt crisis in Europe, which has prompted governments across the EU to trim budgets, is causing what Maire Geoghegan-Quinn, European Commissioner for Research Innovation and Science, calls an"innovation emergency".

"Almost all the member states have improved their innovation performance," she said in a speech in March. "However,progress is patchy across Europe and the pace of change is still too slow to catch up with the United States, the innovation leader.

"Without concerted action,we risk falling further behind, while China continues to close the gap."

Others argue China's rise should not be seen as a threat.

"These are additional people doing science rather than replacing people," said Martyn Poliakoff, a Fellow of The Royal Society and one of the authors of its 2011 science report."The rise of science in China is not quite the same as manufacturing or producing zip fasteners in China. There are a certain number of pairs of trousers in the world but the market for science is not limited."

Poliakoff says there are certain aspects of science that may move from West to East as China develops its scientific capabilities.For example, a colleague of his sent fruit fl ies to China to get their genes sequenced more cheaply.

The challenge for a country like Britain, he says, will be to keep the large number of foreign scientists who work there.

"Over the last few years we have had an increasing number of foreign scientists working in the UK;the conditions for doing science are good. They can go back or go to another country if things change,"Poliako ff said.

Scientists do not have much time for national borders -a strength in Poliakoff's view. He recalls that his 60th birthday was celebrated with colleagues in a room containing 25 nationalities."In general I think the participation of China in science should be welcomed and it isn't something we should be frightened of."

美国国立卫生研究院联手著名制药公司开展“旧药新用”研究

近日，美国国立卫生研究院（NIH）发布消息，宣布将于辉瑞、阿斯利康和礼来三家著名制药公司合作开展“旧药新用”研究，尝试将这三家制药公司发现的一些对人体无害却也无预期疗效的药物寻找可能的新用途。

药物研发历史中不乏发现一种新药具有意想不到药效的例子。“伟哥”在研发之初本打算用于治疗心绞痛，却意外证明具有改善阳痿的显著效果。萨力多胺（俗称反应停）曾因导致婴儿畸形而广受诟病，却被发现能够治疗麻风病和多发性骨髓瘤。当然，这些新发现都是意外所得。如今，NIH和三家公司打算将这种“偶然”变成“必然”。NIH委托去年新成立的国家先进转化科学中心（NCATS）负责这项合作研究的组织，计划在未来三年里每年投入2000万美元，通过项目申请的方式择优资助对该研究感兴趣的科学家。而三大制药公司则需要提供数十种研发中发现不具有预期疗效的化合物，以及相关研究资料给中标的研究者，以帮助他们尽快寻找这些分子的可能的新功能。此次NIH与三大制药公司合作的另外一个突破在于双方就未来成果的分享达成了一致，制药公司和研究人员仅需签订一个“模板式的协议”来解决将来可能的利益分配问题，而不需要如以往一样就成果归属进行旷日持久的谈判，大大降低了时间和经济成本。

NCATS是去年NIH为加速院内科技成果转化而专门成立的新机构，此次与三大制药公司的联手再次充分体现了NIH试图进一步推动基础研究与产业结合的决心，是该院加快成果转化步伐的重要举措。

NIH, companies aim to teach old drugs new tricks

Three pharmaceutical giants are unlocking their freezers to see if government-funded scientists can reinvent some of their old drugs.

P fi zer, AstraZeneca and Eli Lilly& Co. entered a unique program with the National Institutes of Health on Thursday that both sides hope will speed the development of new treatments — by dusting o ff two dozen old drugs that failed to treat one disease but might treat another.

"The goal is simple, to see whether we can teach old drugs new tricks," said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Lots of experimental drugs prove safe in early human testing but fail to help the disease their manufacturer had hoped to treat. Despite the years of work and tens of millions of dollars invested in them, "too many times these compounds, they end up sitting on shelves or they end up in somebody's freezer," said Pfizer senior vice president Rod MacKenzie.

Some of those drugs might be able to fi ght other diseases, said NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins.

Consider: A failed cancer drug turned into the fi rst e ff ective AIDS treatment, AZT. The notorious thalidomide caused birth defects in the 1960s when some countries used it for morning sickness, but today it treats multiple myeloma.The bone drug raloxifene was found to also help prevent breast cancer.

Those discoveries "all have been sort of serendipitous. The idea here is, let's not depend on serendipity," Collins said.

In recent years, researchers have identified at the genetic level the causes of more than 4,500 diseases, many of them rare diseases, he said. But only 250 of those conditions have effective treatments.

Likewise, manufacturers have a lot of information about the spec ifi c molecules their failed drugs target. Collins' plan: Try to match those old drugs to these newly discovered disease pathways.

Under the new program, the drug companies will make at least two dozen of their shelved drugs,and the data about them, available for NIH-funded research. The NIH will award grants to scientists around the country who apply to study spec ifi c drugs, with the goal of rapidly beginning human trials of promising candidates since the required safety testing already has been done.

And rather than those scientists undergoing what Lilly executive vice president Jan Lundberg called "endless discussions about legal agreements" before getting to work, the program provides a streamlined approach: The companies retain ownership of their drugs, but the researchers can patent and publish their own discoveries.

The NIH plans to spend about $20 million in the program's first year, and hopes other drug companies will join.

AstraZeneca said it began partnering with British researchers last December in a similar program.

欧盟利用微生物菌群降解有毒化学污染物质

化学污染物质对人类健康、环境保护和生态系统造成了的严重的威胁及危害。其中，卤代化合物（Halogenated Compounds）是现代经济社会中最大量存在的环境化学污染物质之一，主要来自人类广泛使用的杀虫剂、化学溶剂和化工产品等。

欧盟第七研发框架计划（F P7）资助支持的，由德国科研人员领导的欧盟多个成员国科研人员参与的“Ispadehal”研究团队，研究开发的利用新型微生物修复技术，努力克服卤代化合物的有害影响，其治理卤代化合物污染场所的研究已取得明显效果。

研究团队的科研人员，充分发挥“喜好”脱卤酶微生物家族的新菌群，即厌氧的Dehalococcoide细菌（CBDB1菌株）的“特殊”作用，来消化吸收和有效降解卤代芳香化合物污染物质。

为进一步深入理解和掌握Dehalococcoide菌群降解化学污染物质的机理，从而提高微生物修复技术的效率，研究团队的科研人员从CBDB1菌株生理学的同位素和蛋白质组学入手，集中科技资源研究突破CBDB1菌株的生理学特性，尤其是显示还原卤化苯脱卤和剧毒卤化二恶英的机理。

基于生物学技术知识的科研成果，已揭示CBDB1菌株有效降解卤化苯酚（Chlorinated Phenols）和卤代联苯（Chlorinated Biphenyls），以及其它几种化学化合物毒性的奥秘。

研究团队的科学研究，充实了Dehalococcoide菌群的生物学基础知识，及其降解危险化学污染物质的应用潜力。该项新型微生物修复技术的普及推广，对生态环境的友好性改善和经济社会的可持续发展，具有重大的现实意义。

Microbes in the fight against pollution

Chemical pollution poses a serious threat for the environment and adjacent ecosystems. A novel bioremediation method using microbes was proposed by European researchers for environmental sites polluted with halogenated compounds.

Halogenated compounds constitute one of the largest groups of environmental pollutants, partly as a result of their widespread use as biocides, solvents and other industrial chemicals.

To overcome the hazardous effects of such compounds,scientists have proposed the use of anaerobic Dehalococcoide bacteria.These are known to exclusively transform halogenated aromatic compounds as part of their life cycle.

However, although Dehalococcoides species have been isolated and physiologically described, many aspects of their physiology are still elusive.

A central research objective of the EU-funded ‘Isotopic and proteomic approaches to dehalococcoides physiology’(Ispadehal) project was to describe the physiological capacities of the Dehalococcoides CBDB1strain.This was the first strain to exhibit reductive dehalogenation of chlorinated benzenes and highly toxic chlorinated dioxins.

Using isotopic and proteomic technologies, project partners studied the physiology of the CBDB1 strain and showed that it could reduce the toxicity of several other compounds including chlorinated phenols and chlorinated biphenyls.

Ispadehal results contributed important insights into the basic physiology of Dehalococcoide bacteria and their potential utilisation as anti-pollutant agents. Implementation of such novel bioremediation strategies holds positive environmental and socioeconomic impacts.

欧盟地热能源技术的研发及应用

欧盟地热能源技术属于新能源技术，涉及多学科、多领域和多行业，其绝大部分技术的研发是新兴的综合性开发技术，因此需要统筹资源和优化配置，从而形成合力。欧盟第七研发框架计划（FP7）、欧盟战略能源技术行动计划（SETPlan）和欧洲地热能源工业协会，联合资助支持的地热能源关键技术的研发创新活动，主要集中于以下优先领域的技术突破及应用：

1、超高温、超高压深层地热资源有效利用技术的研究，包括高温腐蚀性盐水处理技术和新型耐腐蚀材料技术。

2、地热资源特性的研究，包括地温梯度和地热流量机理的基础研究，地质结构包括岩石 学、水文地质学和地质构造引发地震的机理研究等。

3、地热田设计及开采技术的研发，包括计算机数字模型、地质断裂特征图、原位应力测定（In-Situ Stress Determination）和最佳刺激区预测技术等。

4、地热田刺激技术的研发,包括新型刺激技术、改进型连接井口与地热源技术、增强型液压穿透刺激技术、地热模块化学刺激技术、地震/非地震地质运动剪切过程分析及模型、实验室及现场测试技术、环境友好性化学催化剂技术。

5、地热田运营及维护技术的开发，包括储量监测分析技术、新型检测工具和测绘工具、盐溶液与岩石的相互作用、新型再注入设计（井内循环、冷却技术）、微地震诱导技术、地热田储量的力学演变、地热田寿命和地热田从分钟到数10年期的储量模型。

6、盐溶液防腐技术的开发，包括金属部件表面积的缩小及防腐技术、热交换机和过滤器以及管道防腐技术、经济上合适的防护技术及产品、以及地热泵的可靠性从6个月延长至12个月。

EU support for geothermal energy

Geothermal energy

Geothermal energy is the energy stored in the form of heat below the earth’s surface. Its potential is limitless in human terms and its energy is comparable to the sun. Geothermal heat and water have been used for thousands of years. The Romans, Chinese and Native Americans used hot mineral springs for bathing, cooking and for therapeutic purposes.

Today geothermal water is used in many applications such as district heating, systems which provide steam or hot water to multiple units, as well as for heating and cooling of individual buildings, including offices, shops and residential houses, by using geothermal heat pumps. Moreover,it has industrial potential for raising plants in greenhouses, drying crops,heating water at fish farms and other industrial processes.

For close to 100 years geothermal energy has also been used for electricity generation.Today, so called Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS, also known as Hot Dry Rock), enable the exploitation of the Earth’s heat for producing electricity without having natural water resources. To extract energy from hot impermeable rock,water is injected from the surface into boreholes in order to widen them and create some fractures in the hot rock. Flowing through these holes, the water heats up and,when it returns to the surface, it is used for generating electricity.

Clean, renewable, constant and available worldwide,geothermal energy is already being used in a large number of thermal and electric power plants.

EU support for geothermal energy

Research and technology plays a key role, particularly in the development of the Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS), which allow the exploitation of the Earth's heat for producing electricity without having natural water resources.

Since 2002 (FP6), the EU funded around 10 projects with a total budget of more than EUR 20 million. In particular, the flagship project EGS Pilot Plant, which culminated in the construction of a scientifi c pilot plant based on an Enhanced Geothermal System,was awarded EUR 5 million.Under the current 7th Framework Programme (2007-2013) research is funded for advancing knowledge in understanding and mitigating of induced seismicity associated with geothermal fi eld development.

Technical background

Geothermal - generated electricity was first produced in Larderello, Italy, in 1904. Currently just over 1 GW geothermal electric power (of which 0.95 GW operational) is in use in the EU,producing roughly 7 000 GWh of electricity per year. With regards to the heat sector (direct and indirect use), EU installed capacity is almost 9 GWth, accounting for an annual heat production of 85 PJ. The geothermal market is currently concentrated in a number of countries across Europe, with Italy, France, Portugal, Iceland and Turkey leading the electricity sector,and Sweden, Italy, Greece, France,Germany, Hungary, Turkey, Iceland and Switzerland leading the heating sector.

Specifically regarding EGS,R&D research conducted over the past 30 years has led to the 2007 commissioning of the first EGS-assisted operating plant in Landau,Germany, and the plant at Soultzsous-Forêts, France which should be completed within the next two years. Nevertheless, the relevant resources are far from being fully exploited.

According to the IEA,geothermal power plants grew worldwide at a broadly constant rate of about 200 MW/year from 1980 to 2005. In 2007 the total capacity reached around 10 GW, generating 56TWh/year of electricity.

欧盟积极研究海洋藻类植物变废为宝的新途径

水体的富营养化造成全球水藻类的快速大量繁殖，“一个硬币两个面”，一方面藻类影响地球生物链的安全健康、破坏生态环境和降低生物多样性；另一方面藻类作为碳汇的载体，又吸收了大量大气中的二氧化碳（CO2），同时生产出气候活性气体（Climate-Active Gas），可为全球气候动态平衡做出重要的贡献。如何充分有效地扩大藻类的可利用价值面，变废为宝，是欧盟第七研发框架计划（FP7）资助支持的，由法国科研中心（CNRS）科研人员领导的，欧盟多个成员国科研人员参与的，Funsex-Dephynd研究团队的主要使命。

研究团队的科研人员，以海洋中广泛存在的、具有复杂生命周期的和对生物地球化学（Biogeochemistry）影响重大的微藻，即海洋球石藻（Emiliania Hyxleyi）作为研究对象。海洋球石藻因为其细胞外壳由碳酸钙组成，而大量吸收外部的二氧化碳（CO2）。海洋球石藻具有奶白色花期特征，属于典型的二倍体生命周期（有性和无性繁殖）浮游水生植物，其花期可以释放出，形同云凝结核（Cloud Condensation Nucleus）的二甲基硫化物（DMS），是环境气候活性清洁气体。研究团队的主要任务是如何扩大海洋球石藻的碳汇和产生气候活性气体的作用，解开海洋球石藻的生长机理和新花期生成和培育之谜。

研究团队利用桑格测序（Sanger Sequencing），分析研究了海洋球石藻有性繁殖、无性繁殖和花期，各阶段所具有的20000多个表达基因发现：细胞有性和无性繁殖不同的应激反应和指数增长差别；花期有一半的基因表达与有性繁殖阶段不同；证实生命周期各主要阶段与钙化相关的所有主要基因；部分显示活力海洋球石藻单株的准确生殖细胞基因表达；利用微阵列（Microarray），证实生命周期各阶段磷和氮的作用；低磷的情况下，单倍体生殖细胞相对二倍体更具耐力；全基因组比较显示不同单株之间的较大差别；改变责任基因表达的结果区别；等等。所取得的科研成果及其应用，为进一步的深入研究打下了坚实的基础。

A microscopic alga with a big agenda

European scientists are investigating the genetics of a phytoplankton that acts as a carbon sink and produces a climate-active gas. Unravelling what genes are responsible for survival of the sexual phase promises to unlock the secret of repopulation and formation of new blooms.

A tiny alga, Emiliania huxleyi(E. huxleyi), with a complex life cycle plays a big role in the biogeochemistry of our oceans.As a sign ifi cant part of the world's carbon sink, calcareous plates form the armour of the cell surface of the diploid life-cycle phase that is characterised by milky white blooms. E. huxleyi also produces dimethyl sulphide (DMS) which acts as a nucleus for cloud condensation and may therefore play a crucial role in global homeostasis.

The other phase in the life cycle, the sexual or haploid stage produces gametes or sex cells completely resistant to viral atiack and which can virtually wipe out the bloom. With European research awareness of the importance for climate regulation, the EU-funded project 'The functional sign ifi cance of sex and death in phytoplankton differentiation' (Funsex-Dephynd)aimed to study the differences between the sexual and asexual phases to shed light on stress responses and exponential growth of this marine phytoplankton.

Using deep Sanger sequencing, the project team estimated that there were some 20,000 expressed genes in the bloom phase of E. huxleyi, and half of these were likely to be differentially expressed in the sexual phase. The scientists also identified all-important genes relating to calcification in the diploid phase. Highly specific in the haploid stage are expression of genes that result in fl agella so sex cells in some strains are motile.

Funsex-Dephynd also investigated the effects of phosphorus (P) and nitrogen(N) starvation on both phases of the life cycle using microarrays.Haploid sex cells are more tolerant of low P than diploid cells and the scientists identified the changes in gene expression responsible for the differences. Genome-wide comparisons also revealed large differences between different strains of E. huxleyi – 70 strains in warmer waters were found to have lost the ability to form fl agella.Strains in more temperate climates maintained the full life cycle.

the Joint Genome Institute has recently completed an analysis of the whole sequence of E. huxleyi and post-genomic research is important to analyse gene function and its applications.Results of the project will serve to strengthen European research on phytoplankton, crucial for climate regulation.