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Science Friday > Archives > 2002 > August > August 23, 2002:
Hour One: Anthrax vs Phages / Oil's Origins / Voyager

In this hour, it's a roundup of the week's science news. First, we'll hear about a possible method for detecting and destroying anthrax using a protein from phages, viruses that destroy other microorganisms. Then, we'll talk with the author of a recent paper on oil's origins, and research that shows that hydrocarbons can be produced from inorganic materials under high heat and pressure. Is the term 'fossil fuels' inaccurate? We'll wrap up the hour with a look back at the 25-year-long mission of the Voyager space probes, now the most distsnt objects made by humans..

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Guests:
Vincent A. Fischetti
Professor
Laboratory of Bacterial Pathogenesis and Immunology
Rockefeller University
New York, New York

J.F. Kenney
Gas Resources Corporation
Houston, Texas

Ellis Miner
Former Deputy Project Scientist, Voyager
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Pasedena, California

Books/Articles Discussed:

J. F. Kenney, Vladimir A. Kutcherov, Nikolai A. Bendeliani, and Vladimir A. Alekseev. "The evolution of multicomponent systems at high pressures: VI. The thermodynamic stability of the hydrogen-carbon system: The genesis of hydrocarbons and the origin of petroleum." PNAS 2002 99: 10976-10981.

"A bacteriolytic agent that detects and kills Bacillus anthracis." RAYMOND SCHUCH, DANIEL NELSON & VINCENT A. FISCHETTI Nature 418, 884–889 (2002).

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Related Links:
Medicine: Defence against anthrax
Rockefeller University: press release on anthrax / phage work
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - anthrax
July 21, 2000, Hour One: Phage Therapy

PNAS -- Abstracts: Kenney et al. 99 (17): 10976
American Petroleum Institute

Voyager
Voyager Celebrates 25 Years of Space Discovery (washingtonpost.com)
NSSDC: Voyager Project Information

This segment produced by Charles Bergquist and Jesse Logan

 

 

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