|
Science
Friday > Archives
> 1998
> November
> November 13, 1998:
Hour One: AIDS Update / Leonids
|
|
In the last several years, advances in HIV
medications have been instrumental in extending the
lives of AIDS sufferers. New combinations of
medicines, or drug cocktails, have in some cases
beaten the virus back to non-detectable levels. But
these pharmacological strides are not without an
occasional misstep.
With the virus becoming more and more elusive
and problems with the cocktails and drug resistant
HIV strains emerging, some doctors and researchers
are advocating a delay in antiviral drug therapy.
Just when to begin drug treatment, and how
aggressively to treat the infection, are difficult,
confusing questions, without clear-cut solutions.
In other AIDS related news, a study published
last week by researchers at the Johns Hopkins
School of Public Health has shown that HIV infected
women may be at greater risk than men with similar
blood test results for developing AIDS. The
researchers are not sure why, but have reported
that a woman's "viral load," or the amount of virus
present in the bloodstream, may be lower than a
man's at the same stage of HIV infection. The study
may influence when doctors advocate beginning
antiviral treatment of HIV in women.
Join host Ira Flatow as we discuss AIDS drug decisions, new insights
into women's AIDS risks and other recent findings on this hour
of Science Friday.
|
|
Last Years Leonids (11/16/97)
(Image Courtesy of NASA)
|
Plus...On November 17th and 18th, the Earth will pass through
a dense cloud of cometary dust, creating a spectacular astronomical
display known as the Leonid meteor shower. The year the shower
is a storm which will occur when the Earth passes through the
dense part of the tail of Comet Tempel-Tuttle, which is only once
every hundred years. It appears to originate in the sky from the
constellation Leo.
Scientists have feared that the dust particles, which are on
the order of millimeters to centimeters in diameter, may wreak
havoc with the planet's fleet of over 500 orbiting satellites.
Meteors are formed when dust, from a comet in this case, heats
up as it passes through the Earth's atmosphere. Next week's Leonid
storm promises to be particularly intense, with up to 5,000 meteors
per hour becoming visible from areas of the planet with the best
visibility, located in East Asia.
|
Although the planet's atmosphere causes the particles to burn up and
disintegrate, it provides no consolation to satellites, which hover
above the protection of the Earth's atmosphere. Tiny pieces of interplanetary
dust the size of the diameter of a human hair and moving at over 155,000
miles per hour, or over 200 times the speed of sound, pose a real threat
to the Earth's satellites.
These particles could strike a spacecraft with such speed that an electric
cloud called a plasma will be formed, possibly causing electrical systems
such as computers to shut down or malfunction. They can also cause a
sand-blasting effect on optical systems, damaging or destroying sensory
equipment.
Scientists will try to minimize satellite damage by orienting the spacecraft
away from the potential dents and dings from cometary debris and shutting
down unnecessary electrical systems. Join Ira Flatow this half hour
of Science Friday for a preview of what promises to be a once in a lifetime
light show, and a real test for the strength of the Earth's satellite
network.
Guests:
Jay Levy
Professor of Medicine
University of California at
San Francisco
San Francisco, CA
Anthony Fauci
Director
National Institute for Allergy and
Infectious Diseases
Bethesda, MD
Andrew Fraknoi
Chairman of Astronomy
Foothill College
Los Altos, CA
Books/Articles Discussed:
Related Links:
The AIDS Education Global Information
System
National Institutes of Health
Office of AIDS Research
UNAIDS
The World Health Organization
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention AIDS office
The AIDS Clinical Trials Information
Service
The People With AIDS
Health Group
The Gay Men's Health Crisis
SKY Online's
Meteor Page
Learn about Meteorites
Understanding the Leonid Meteor
Storm
NASA Images of this years storm (Available
after 11/17)
Sky & Telescope
Earth & Sky
This segment produced by:
Annette Heist
Web producer/Writer:
Christopher Morrison
|
