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26 January 2013 | NewScientist | 5 MATHIEU BELANGER / REUTERS SAVE the planet, save your pension. A new report claims that environmental problems could bust pension funds by 2050. Aled Jones of Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, UK, and his colleagues drew together evidence about a wide range of environmental problems, from water shortages to atmospheric pollution to climate change. They plugged these into models used to predict the values of pension funds. Jones ran several scenarios, varying how quickly governments and industry responded to environmental problems. The results are published by the UK’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFA). In almost all cases the value of funds began to fall before 2100. In the worst-case scenario, where governments and markets did nothing, values dropped steeply from around 2020 and fell to zero by 2050. “Despite strong evidence that there is a risk that resource constraints could have significant economic impacts, these risks are not being factored in by many actors in the global economy,” says Peter Tompkins of the IFA. Planet and pension THIS crackdown has a few cracks in it. Environmentalists have criticised loopholes in a new global treaty to control mercury pollution. The Minamata Convention says that products such as batteries containing mercury will be phased out by 2020 and major sources like coal-fired power stations will have to obey stricter rules. Mercury causes developmental problems and death in humans, and affects animals’ reproduction. More than 1900 tonnes of it were released into the air in 2010, and at least another 1000 tonnes into water, according to the UN Environment Programme. The biggest sources are artisanal gold mining and coal burning. But the treaty is weak on both, says Elena Lymberidi-Settimo of the European Environmental Bureau in Brussels, Belgium. For instance, while countries must draw up plans to cut mercury use in artisanal gold mining, no dates or targets are set. That is because much of this gold mining is illegal and difficult to track, says Tim Kasten, head of the chemicals branch of UNEP in Geneva, Switzerland. Instead, the treaty focuses on helping miners reduce the amount of mercury they release. “This is the most that can be done,” he says. He adds that coal power stations will have to reduce their mercury emissions. Kasten says it will take decades for exposure rates to drop, “but we have to start now”. SVEN TORFINN/PANOS Smog rules for Beijing As thick smog once more chokes Beijing, China’s government is planning drastic measures to curb the pollution. A draft regulation circulated on 19 January proposes taking polluting vehicles off the road and temporarily shutting factories. Star smash 750 AD A blast of radiation that hit Earth in the 8th century may have been due to a neutron star crash. The blast is recorded as high levels of carbon-14 in two sets of Japanese tree rings. That can be a sign of a solar flare but there is no record of anyone seeing such an event. Now Valeri Hambaryan of the University of Jena, Germany, suggests the culprit was an invisible gamma ray burst, perhaps from colliding neutron stars. Building a star on Earth South Korea has started developing a prototype fusion power reactor with the help of the US Department of Energy. Nuclear fusion fuels the sun but no fusion reactor on Earth has ever created more power than it consumes. South Korea’s reactor, dubbed K-DEMO, will be in Daejon and aims to generate 1 billion watts for several weeks, more than other reactors in development. Smoking out asthma Hospital admissions for childhood asthma dropped by 12 per cent the year after England introduced smoke-free legislation in 2007. Before that, admissions were rising by 2.2 per cent a year, peaking at almost 27,000 in 2006 (Pediatrics, doi.org/j9n). Dinnerware hazard Melamine has been found in the urine of 12 volunteers who ate hot soup from melamine bowls, but at levels 200 times lower than that considered safe by the WHO. Further investigation into absorption of the potentially poisonous chemical is needed, say researchers (JAMA Internal Medicine, doi.org/j9p). –Dirty work, hunting for gold – So long, mercury? Squeaks in space “In the worst-case scenario, pension funds dropped steeply from around 2020 and fell to zero by 2050” “Mercury kills or causes developmental problems in humans, and affects animals’ reproduction” THE wheels are no longer turning on NASA’s search for alien Earths. The agency’s exoplanet-hunting Kepler telescope is out of action because of a problem with one of the wheels that help control the telescope’s orientation. Kepler launched with four reaction wheels: three to control its motion along its three axes, and one spare. Last July, one wheel stopped turning. If the spacecraft loses a second the mission is over, so when another wheel showed signs of elevated friction on 7 January, the team decided to play it safe. They are resting the craft in the hope that the lubricating oil which helps the wheel’s ball bearings run smoothly around a track will redistribute itself. Regardless of the outcome, NASA is poised to pick a successor to Kepler in the months ahead. The winner will launch in 2017. 60 SECONDS –Alien leaf – For daily news stories, visit newscientist.com/news
