A broader view. By using a wide angle lens when photographing a large group of people, more people can be included -- although their images appear smaller than if a regular lens had been used. PRISM (Perkins Re-Imaging System), a new instrument developed by Ken Janes, a College of Arts and Sciences professor of astronomy, and colleagues at the Institute for Astrophysical Research, creates a similar effect on an area of the sky under observation. By shrinking the size of the image that the telescope sends to its computers, PRISM can view a wider area of the sky.

Now installed at the Perkins telescope at the Lowell Observatory, PRISM acquired its first image (known as “first light” in astronomical nomenclature) of the galaxy Messier 74 on November 2. The wide viewing field of PRISM will allow Janes and his colleagues to survey star clusters that are similar in age to the sun and monitor them to detect the minute changes in brightness that indicate changes in solar activity. By observing the activity of distant solar systems over a period of years, Janes hopes to better predict the likelihood of solar activity and its effects in our solar system, and to better understand the life cycle of the sun. He also foresees the possibility of detecting a planet orbiting one of the stars under observation.

Since August 1998, the Boston University/Lowell Observatory partnership has provided BU astronomers with 180 nights of observation time a year in return for building sophisticated new instruments for use with the 72-inch Perkins telescope and maintenance of the instrument. (Another instrument, Mimir, is currently under construction at BU.)

The observatory was first established outside of Flagstaff, Ariz., in 1894 by Percival Lowell, a native Bostonian and amateur astronomer. The observatory’s viewing conditions are outstanding, with an elevation of 7,000 feet and a dry climate that virtually eliminates water vapor that can distort images. Observers at Lowell were the first to locate Pluto, as well as to record evidence that the universe is expanding.

Melissa Hayes-Gehrke (GRS’04) helped design PRISM’s optics, and Jason Eastman (CAS’05) assisted in the mechanical design and assembly of the instrument. PRISM’s first-light image can be seen at: http://www.bu.edu/iar/. Additional photos of the instrument and a detailed description are available at http://astro.bu.edu/~avondale/PRISM.html. Construction of PRISM was supported by the National Science Foundation, the Lowell Observatory, and Boston University.

Dangerous dexterity. In movie director Hiroshi Inagaki’s film The Samurai Trilogy (1956), samurai master Musashi Miyamoto -- played by actor Toshiro Mifune -- exhibits his consummate skill by snatching a fly out of the air with his chopsticks. This kind of dexterity may come at a price, however, according to new research by David Hunter, a School of Medicine assistant professor of rheumatology, who has found that people who have regularly used chopsticks throughout their lives are at increased risk of developing osteoarthritis in their eating hand.

Osteoarthritis is characterized by loss of cartilage in the joints, which causes bone to rub against bone and creates pain and stiffness. (More than 20 million Americans have been diagnosed with some form of osteoarthritis).

Hunter and colleagues from the University of California at San Francisco, Peking Union Medical College Hospital in Beijing, China, and Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital recruited more than 2,500 subjects in Beijing, all over the age of 60, who had used chopsticks for both eating and cooking for most of their life. They were interviewed about their lifestyle to determine right- or left-handedness and which hand they used for eating, and asked about other activities that required a pinching motion -- such as calligraphy, writing, knitting, and sewing -- to isolate the effects of the motions involved in the use of chopsticks. X rays were then taken of the subject’s hands to diagnose development of osteoarthritis.

The researchers found a specific pattern of deterioration in the joints of the thumb, index, and middle fingers associated with long-term chopstick use. They discovered that even people who were ambidextrous developed the characteristic pattern of osteoarthritis in the hand they used to manipulate chopsticks.

It is estimated that 1.5 billion people worldwide use chopsticks every day, usually beginning between three and four years of age. The authors also report that 45 percent of elderly Chinese are affected by osteoarthritis in the hand. In light of this, they suggest further research to design more ergonomically favorable chopsticks, or a better way to use chopsticks that will minimize joint damage.

This work was reported at the American College of Rheumatology’s annual scientific meeting in October 2003.