That may seem a strange question, akin to asking who’s buried in Grant’s tomb. But a new study proposes that some athletes diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease may in fact have a different fatal disease that is set off by concussions.

Researchers have previously investigated the link between athletes and this neurodegenerative disease, more technically known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). A recent study examined what seemed to be a higher than usual incidence of Lou Gehrig’s disease among soccer players, and, of course, the disease bears the name of a New York Yankee who was famously undaunted by the hard knocks of his sport. Though it’s impossible to determine now whether Lou Gehrig suffered from ALS or a different condition (Gehrig was cremated), the study’s lead author speculates that Lou Gehrig’s disease might be a misnomer:

“Here he is, the face of his disease, and he may have had a different disease as a result of his athletic experience,” said Dr. Ann McKee, the director of the neuropathology laboratory for the New England Veterans Administration Medical Centers, and the lead neuropathologist on the study. [The New York Times]

McKee’s team looked at the brains and spinal cords of deceased athletes such as former Minnesota Vikings linebacker Wally Hilgenberg and former Southern California linebacker Eric Scoggins who were thought to have died from ALS, and who had also been diagnosed with a dementia-causing disease linked to head injuries, chronic traumatic encephalopathy. The researchers found two proteins in the spinal cord which are known to harm motor neurons, and would therefore cause ALS-like symptoms. A similar pattern of proteins was found in the spinal cord of a deceased unnamed boxer.

Dr. McKee said that because she has never seen that protein pattern in A.L.S. victims without significant histories of brain trauma, she and her team were confident the three athletes did not have A.L.S., but a disorder that erodes its victims’ nervous system in similar ways. [The New York Times]

The paper detailing this research will appear tomorrow in the Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology, and a report on the subject will air on the HBO show Real Sports tonight.

“Most A.L.S. patients don’t go to autopsy–there’s no need to look at your brain and spinal cord,” said Dr. Brian Crum, an assistant professor of neurology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. “But a disease can look like A.L.S., it can look like Alzheimer’s, and it’s not when you look at the actual tissue. This is something that needs to be paid attention to.” [The New York Times]

Such distinctions are not only important for medical research. If concussions are causing disease in military veterans and athletes, they might seek compensation for treatment expenses.

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Image: University Archives—Columbiana Library, Columbia University.

Tiger stripe on Enceladus. Linked image is explained in post. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Just days ago (Friday the 13th), the Cassini spacecraft did a flyby of the Saturn moon Enceladus and paid particular attention the “tiger stripes” that are apparent in the south polar regions.

We know the tiger stripes to be giant fissures spewing jets of water vapor and organic particles hundreds of kilometers (and miles) into space.

The southern hemisphere of Enceladus is going into winter darkness, fortunately Cassini has a composite infrared instrument so it can “see” heat.  It will be a while before temperature maps of the fissures will be generated from the data but you can bet they are working on them.

The image above was taken from 10,391 km (6,457 miles) and if you click it you can see a fissure relatively close up, only 2,673 km (1,661 miles).  I just love that picture, it looks COLD!  Both of the images are “raw” meaning they’ve had no processing.  Here is a larger image at the Cassini page.

The goal: 80 days, 18,000 miles, no emissions.

Yesterday, the Zero Race electric car world tour began in front of the United Nations Palace in Geneva, Switzerland. Four teams–from Australia, Switzerland, Germany, and South Korea–won’t actually race one another to cross a finish line. Instead, spectators and experts will determine the winner based on reliability, energy efficiency, safety, design, and practicality, as the tour is meant to show the feasibility of electric vehicles.

The race organizer Louis Palmer won the European Solar Prize after driving a solar-powered vehicle around the world in 2008. He says in a press release that the “race” is against climate change and disappearing fuel.

“Petrol is running out, and the climate crisis is coming… and we are all running against time.” [Zero Race]

The race route cuts through 150 major cities, where spectators can vote for their favorite car design. Judges will decide each individual car’s reliability based on the number of repairs it requires during the race; a panel of race car drivers will evaluate the cars’ power and speed; and vehicle manufacturers will test the cars for energy efficiency.

The cars must be shipped over the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and the race organizers say that they will compensate for emissions from this transport as well as other incidental race emissions with investments into renewable energy projects. Each team cannot use any more power than they have generated or purchased from renewable energy sources. Australian team leader Jason Jones says it will cost only $360 US to power his sleek, light-weight electric car around the world.

“We’ve already bought the power and put it back in the grid,” 57-year-old Jones senior explained, standing next to their plastic-bodied two-seat three wheeler. “We thought it just a great way to show what this car is capable of. The future of automotive transport is not a one-and-a-half tonne gas guzzler.” [AFP]

Battery problems delayed the South Korean car from starting the race with the other teams yesterday, but the other teams had a successful start.

Swiss competitor Toby Wuelser claims his futuristic design can do 350 kilometres [217 miles] on a single charge and reach speeds up to 250 kilometres an hour [155 miles per hour]. “It’s like flying half a metre above the ground,” he said before boarding the bullet-shaped vehicle and zipping silently up the hill to the starting line. [The Canadian Press]

Car enthusiasts in the United States can catch the vehicles in San Francisco, Los Angeles, or Austin in the fall. After that, the cars will head to Mexico City and then Cancun where the racers plan to participate in late November’s World Climate Change Conference.

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Image: Zero Race