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6 | NewScientist | 24 November 2012 JAE C. HONG/AP/PRESS ASSOCIATION HAVE the benefits of “fracking” as a way to extract natural gas been exaggerated? Australia’s biggest such operation is showing larger than expected leaks of methane, reveals research submitted to a government inquiry. Burning natural gas, which is mostly methane, creates less carbon dioxide than burning coal. Traditionally accessed deposits are shrinking, so fracturing shale beds to release more gas has become popular. But since methane has a heating effect 25 times greater than that of CO 2 , accidental leaks could undo the benefits. Most research on these leaks has focused on well heads, but Damien Maher at Southern Cross University in Queensland and colleagues looked at gas seeping through the ground. They found higher levels of methane in the air above the Tara gas field, suggesting Fracking leaks widespread ground leaks. In some places, it hit 6.89 parts per million, over three times the background level. The team suspect fracking changes the soil structure, letting more methane escape. The work is undergoing peer review. “If it’s leaking from the infrastructure that’s an easy fix,” says co-author Isaac Santos. “If it’s seeping from the soil that’s much harder to fix.” The Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association, which operates the gas field, disputes the findings as “premature”. Early birth savings AN ALMIGHTY $3 billion could be saved if the world’s highest- income countries adopted five relatively straightforward measures to reduce their numbers of premature births. So says a report published last week to coincide with World Prematurity Day on 17 November, which analysed premature-birth records from around the world. If 39 of the world’s highest- income countries carried out the recommendations, which include encouraging women to stop smoking during pregnancy, limiting the number of embryo transfers in assisted reproductive technologies, and reducing the number of caesarean births and induced labours, they could reduce by 5 per cent the number of babies born prematurely. Although this only equates to 58,000 births – a drop in the ocean compared with the 115 million babies born prematurely each year – it would translate to $3 billion of savings associated with pre-term care and estimated lost household income, say the authors (The Lancet, doi.org/jsh). Deepwater cash BP HAS been stung for $4.5 billion – the largest criminal fine in US history – and the company could be liable for a further $21 billion in civil damages. The fine handed down by the US Department of Justice last week relate to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Some $2.4 billion of the fine will go to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, which will –Raising the stakes– –Expensive spill– Will Iron Dome backfire? AS VIOLENCE erupts once more in Israel and the Gaza Strip, new military technology is set to change how future conflicts will play out. For the first time, a missile-defence system is working effectively. Nicknamed “Iron Dome”, Israel’s missile interceptor uses radar to identify rocket launches, track their trajectory and guide a Mach 2.2 missile to blow them up mid-air. Because the system can track a rocket’s trajectory, it can ignore those that will fall into uninhabited areas. By noon on 19 November, 877 rockets were fired into Israel from the Gaza Strip, said the Israeli Defence Force, which claims to have downed 307 rockets on a dangerous trajectory. Until 17 November the system had a range of only 15 kilometres but a software upgrade fast tracked over the weekend extended the range to 75 km, says Ben Goodlad, a defence analyst with IHS Jane’s, the military data publisher based in Coulsdon, UK. That immediately allowed the system to destroy at least one Iranian-designed Fajr-5 missile headed for Tel Aviv. Though the Fajr-5 can reach Tel Aviv, about 70 km away, most rockets coming out of the Gaza Strip are Qassam rockets, with ranges between 3 and 15 km. But Iron Dome’s success may presage a change in tactics, making future conflicts worse. “This is a game changer,” says Goodlad. “It will make Hamas come up with other ways to get through. Or they may acquire higher range rockets to negate these new defences.” “If it’s leaking from the pipes that’s an easy fix. If it’s coming from the soil that’s much harder” GILAD KAVALERCHIK/POLARIS/EYEVINE UPFRONT
