BBC Knowledge AE 2015 (Vol. 7 Issue 12)

LIFE BELOW ZERO

Surviving the merciless Alaskan wilderness p60

ASIA EDITION

Vol. 7 Issue 12

SCIENCE • HISTORY • NATURE • FOR THE CURIOUS MIND

Audacious innovations whose time has come p26

PPS 1745/01/2013 (022915) (P) 070/10/2015 ISSN 1793-9836

11

9 771793 983016 SGD 7.50 | PHP 300 THB 240 | NT 200 | RM 16

MEET THE RAINFOREST GARDENER p40

WHAT YOUR FACE SAYS ABOUT YOU p48

THE MEDICINAL POWER OF MUSIC p52

LIFE STORY Premieres 28th December. Sundays at 7.00pm (JKT/BKK), 8.00pm (SIN/HK/MAL/TW) Told from the perspective of individual animals, this captivating series follows the journey from birth to parenthood. Each episode focuses on one stage of life starting with those crucial árst few days and moving through the challenges of the grown up world.

DAVID ATTENBOROUGH’S NATURAL HUNTERS OF THE SOUTH SEAS Premieres 20th December. CURIOSITIES S3 Premieres 2nd December. Wednesdays at 7.10pm (JKT/BKK), 8.10pm (SIN/HK/MAL/TW) David Attenborough reveals the most intriguing animals he’s met during his incomparable career.

Sundays at 4.00pm (JKT/BKK), 5.00pm (SIN/HK/MAL/TW) Full of wonder and adventure, this series is a personal and intimate exploration of one of the world’s last remaining wild places and the people who call it home.

ATLANTIC Premieres 23rd December. Tuesdays at 7.05pm (JKT/BKK), 8.05pm (SIN/HK/MAL/TW) Discover the mysteries of the Atlantic ocean in all its moods, from its darkest depths to its coastline and islands, and learn about the people and wildlife whose lives are shaped by its rhythms.

www.bbcasia.com BBC Earth is available in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Please call your cable operator for more details or check out our website.

/BBCEarth @BBCEarthAsia

On the cover

Vol. 7 Issue 12

NATURE

LIFE BELOW ZERO

Surviving S urviivin i i g the th me merciless rciless il Alask Al Alaskan kan wilderness ild p60

ASIA EDITION

Vol. 7 Issue 12

SCIENCE • HISTORY • NATURE • FOR THE CURIOUS MIND

NATURE

60 Life Below Zero

Audacious innovations whose time has come p26

40 Rainforest Gardener PPS 1745/01/2013 (022915) (P) 070/10/2015 ISSN 1793-9836

SCIENCE

11

9 771793 983016 S SGD 7.50 | PHP 300 THB 240 | NT 200 | RM 16

MEET THE RA R A RAINFOREST GARDENER GA ARDENER p40 A

WHAT YOUR FAC FA AC SAYS FACE ABOUT ABO AB BO OUTT YOU OU YOU p48

THE MEDIC ICINALL POW PO OW O OF POWER MUSIC MUS MU S p52

SCIENCE

48 10 Things Your Face Says About You

52 Tune In To Treatment FM

26 39 Ideas About To Change Our World Vol. 7 Issue 12

3

Contents

Vol. 7 Issue 12

SCIENCE

SCIENCE

NATURE

SCIENCE

SCIENCE

NATURE

SCIENCE

FEATURES

4

ON THE COVER

26 39 Ideas About To Change Our World

We bring you the most incredible breakthroughs on the horizon from floating farms to virtual therapy, and the other breakthrough innovations that will help shape the future ON THE COVER

40 Rainforest Gardener

Sharing a common ancestor as the emu, cassowaries are flightless giants that pack a lethal kick and possess a phenomenal appetite for fruit. By spreading vast numbers of seeds, they play a crucial role in the forest ON THE COVER

48 10 Things Your Face Says About You

Your face reveals more about you than you might think, from how much cholesterol you have to how trustworthy you are, and from how well you fight to whether you are the artistic or scientific type, find out more here

26 39 Ideas About To Change Our World

ON THE COVER

52 Tune In To Treatment FM

Neuroscientists have documented other anatomical changes with musical experience such as the surprising medical applications of music, from speech therapy to helping premature babies grow ON THE COVER

60 Life Below Zero

The series that follows the lives of ordinary people struggling to survive in the merciless Alaskan wilderness as the oncoming winter freeze begins to take hold and nature’s unpredictability threatens their mental and physical strength

68 The Function Of Hormones

Imagine being able to Tweet at the speed of your thoughts or updating your Facebook status or page just by the mere thought of it, sounds implausible? Meet the machines that can already read our minds

74 The Man-Made Universe

How do astronomers study the Universe, there’s no way to conduct in-depth analysis as studies are conducted at a distance, however some scientists have managed to create an entire universe inside a supercomputer Vol. 7 Issue 12

8 Snapshot

SCIENCE

78 Tech Hub

SCIENCE

60 Life Below Zero

96 My Life Scientific

A medical AI developed in China that can diagnose over 500 common illnesses and this month Bill Thompson looks at next-gen battery technology

In our new regular feature, Helen Pilcher interviews Sir Paul Nurse, The Royal Society’s President and Nobel laureate explains why he nearly didn’t get into university

REGULARS 6 Welcome

A note from the editor sharing his thoughts on the issue and other ramblings

8 Snapshot

Stunning images from the fields of science, history and nature

UPDATE 14 The Latest Intelligence

Water is found on mars so is there life as well, why NASA wants to land a spacehopper on a comet, ten recent breakthroughs that could have a huge impact, and new species of hominin found

23 Comment & Analysis

Why aren’t there any red bubbles?

81 Q&A

This month: what music helps plants grow, how spacecraft avoid asteroids could dinosaurs survive today, why do biscuits go soft and does chocolate make you happy and much more…

RESOURCE 94 Reviews

The latest, and perhaps more fascinating, books reviewed by experts

97 Time Out Stretch your brain cells with our tricky crossword

68 The Function Of Hormones

98 Last Word

Robert Matthews on the peer review process Vol. 7 Issue 12

5

Welc me

 Send us your letters

[email protected]

THE FUTURE OF THE HUMAN RACE Our future does seem bleak doesn’t it, the environmental damages and subsequent detriment that we humans have wrought onto our home planet Earth. Vast and rapid industrialisation, blatant and excessive cultivation of natural land, excessive and indiscriminate harvesting of our oceans through fishing have all put us in a dire situation if we do not find alternatives, more environmentally sound options at that. The last few decades have been great leaps in terms of scientific discoveries, applications of new technologies as well as the reengineering of old ones to benefit all of us. As can be seen from this issue’s cover story, we have a massive 14 pages worth of achievable ideas that range from using the wastes in the manufacture of coffee and converting 85% of them into biofuels, to using sonic waves to snuff out forest fires as well as smart food labels that help to limit food wastage. It does seem that the next decade could be the one where scientists come up with innovative solutions to solve existing problems as well as prevent new ones from occurring.

BBC Knowledge Magazine Includes selected articles from other BBC specialist magazines, including Focus, BBC History Magazine and BBC Wildlife Magazine.

SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY FUTURE

www.sciencefocus.com www.historyextra.com www.discoverwildlife.com Important change: The licence to publish this magazine was acquired from BBC Worldwide by Immediate Media Company on 1 November 2011. We remain committed to making a magazine of the highest editorial quality, one that complies with BBC editorial and commercial guidelines and connects with BBC programmes. The BBC Earth television channel is available in the following regions: Asia (Cambodia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan)

SCIENCE • HISTORY • NATURE • FOR THE CURIOUS MIND Know more. Anywhere.

Ben Poon [email protected]

“LIKE” US ON FACEBOOK!

www.facebook.com/knowledgemagazine

 We welcome your letters, while reserving the right to edit them for length and clarity. By sending us your letter you permit us to publish it in the magazine and/or on our website. We regret that we cannot always reply personally to letters.

BBC Knowledge Magazine provides trusted, independent advice and information that has been gathered without fear or favour. When receiving assistance or sample products from suppliers, we ensure our editorial integrity and independence are not compromised by never offering anything in return, such as positive coverage, and by including a brief credit where appropriate.

Experts in this issue… Colin Stuart Astrophysicist, author and science presenter Colin admits that fellow astronomer John Gribbin is one of his science heroes so what will he make of Gribbin’s new book? Find out on p107.

6

Vol. 7 Issue 12

Zoe Cormier This month, regular contributor Zoe looks at the beneficial effects music can have on your mind and body (see p52). Well, who better to ask than the author of Sex, Drugs & Rock ‘N’ Roll?

Robert Matthews Currently visiting Reader in Science at the Department of Information Engineering, Aston University. He proposes using students to help scientists find why on p98.

HERE’S HOW TO GET IN TOUCH PHONE

Subscription, editorial and advertising enquiries Tel: 6446 6888 Fax: 6449 9945

EMAIL

Advertising enquiries [email protected]



@

 SEND US YOUR LETTERS

POST



Subscription enquiries [email protected] Subscription, editorial and advertising enquiries Regent Media Pte Ltd 20 Bedok South Road, Singapore 469277

Has something you’ve read in BBC Knowledge Magazzine intrigued or excited you? Write in and share it with us. We’d love to hear from you and we’ll publish a selecttion of your comments in forthcoming issues.

ASIA TEAM Executive Director: Arthur Tay Managing Editor: Ben Poon Senior Creative Director: Tommy Hong Graphic Designer: Pyae Phyo Oo Senior Marketing Manager: Tasmin Chua Marketing Executives: Karlyn Ho, Rachel Tan Finance Manager: Julie Khong Production / Traffic Manager: Jovin Low Circulation Managers: Lauren E. Harris, P. Panirchelvam Business Directors: Marie Yeo Business Managers: Alice Ng, Marina Chong

Email us at: editorial-bbcknowledge@regentmedia a.sgg We welcome your letters, while reserving the right to edit them for length and clarity. By sending us your letter you permitt us to publish it in the magazine and/or on our website. We regreet that we cannot always reply personally to letters.

Worldwide

BULK SUBSCRIPTION

BBC Worldwide UK Publishing: Director of Publishing: Nicholas Brett Head of Publishing: Chris Kerwin Publishing Coordinator: Eva Abramik

Having just one copy of BBC Knowledge Magazine isn’t enough to go around? Not to worry – Discounts on bulk subscriptions are now available for schools, libraries and organisations who are keen to order more than 50 copies per issue. For enquiries or to place an order, email to [email protected] or call us at +65 6446 6888 today! GIST? STR ATE LLIANT path? p40 OR BRIjust SAVAGE a mindless psycho is Khan more than Was Gengh

Vol. 7 Issue 11

IMMEDIATE MEDIA CO Chairman: Stephen Alexander Deputy Chairman: Peter Phippen Chief Executive Officer: Tom Bureau Director of International Licensing and Syndication: Tim Hudson International Partners Manager: Anna Brown Syndication Manager: Richard Bentley

ASIA EDITION

UK TEAM SCIENCE • HISTO

RY • NATURE •

FOR THE CURIOUS

MIND

Editor: Graham Southorn Production Editor: Daniel Down Reviews Editor: Daniel Bennett Commissioning Editor: Jason Goodyer Science Consultant: Robert Matthews Contributing Editor: Emma Bayley Art Editor: Joe Eden

LIFE B ELOW ing the ZERO mercil ess Ala ska

Sur viv

n wilder

ASIA ED ITION

Silverback © Ellen Husain / Films 2015

SCIENCE

• HISTOR Y • NATU

ness p60

Vol. 7 Issu e 12

RE • FO

R THE CU

RIOUS

MIND

CONTRIBUTORS Lilian Anekwe, Stephen Baxter, Susan Blackmore, Dean Burnett, Dallas Campbell, Stuart Clark, Helen Czerski, Russell Deeks, John Gribbin, Alastair Gunn, Timandra Harkness, Adam Hart, Richard Hodson, Tobias Jolly, Mun Keat Looi, Andrew Lyons, Tim McDonagh, Bill McGuire, Robert Matthews, Gareth Mitchell, Lisa Moses, Dale Edwin Murray, Catherine Offord, Helen Pilcher, Andy Potts, Dean Purnell, Kate Russell, David Shukman, Matt Swaine, Bill Thompson, Magic Torch, Luis Villazon, Dominic Couzens

(022915) PPS 1745/01/2013 1793-9836 ISSN (P) 055/11/2014 11

83016 9 7 7 1 7 9 3 9 | PHP 300

SGD 7.50 200 | RM 16 THB 240 | NT NOVEMBER ON BBC EARTH THIS

CATCH THE HUNT

ICACIES OF I INTR TTHE MICROSCOPIC W WORLD p52

RSTANDING U UNDE TUM Q QUAN P ICS p46 PHYS

S US STAT TES VIA UPDA U OTELEPA NEUR N

Audac whose ious innova tions time ha s com e p26

DISTRIBUTORS Singapore - Pansing Distribution Pte Ltd Malaysia - MPH Distributors Sdn Bhd Indonesia - PT Javabooks Indonesia Thailand - Asia Books Co., Ltd. Philippines - Asia/Pacific Circulation Exponents, Inc. Taiwan - Formosan Magazine Press Inc Hong Kong/China/Macau - Times Publishing (HK) Ltd

PPS 1745/0 (P) 070/1 1/2013 0/201 (0229 5 ISSN 15) 17939836

11 9 77 17

93 98

SGD 7.50 3 0 1 6 | PHP THB 240 | NT 200 300 | RM 16

MEET TH RAINFO E GARDENREST ER p40

WHAT YO FACE SA UR ABOUT YS YOU p48

THE ME POWER DICINAL MUSIC OF p52

BBC Knowledge Magazine, MCI(P) 070/10/2015, ISSN 1793-9836, PPS 1745/01/2013 (022915), is published by Regent Media Pte Ltd under license from Immediate Media Company Bristol Limited. Copyright © Immediate Media Company Bristol Limited. No part of this publication is to be reproduced, stored, transmitted, digitally or otherwise, without the prior consent of the publisher. The information contained herein is accurate at time of printing. Changes may have occurred since this magazine went to print. Regent Media Pte Ltd and its editors will not be held liable for any damages, loss, injury or inconvenience, arising in connection with the contents of the magazine. Regent Media Pte Ltd will not accept responsibility for unsolicited contributions. Printer: KHL Printing Co Pte Ltd (197801823M). The BBC logo is a trade mark of the British Broadcasting Corporation and is used under licence. © British Broadcasting Corporation 1996

SUBSCRIPTION AGENTS Singapore - The Learning Craft Pte Ltd, Emit Asia (S) Pte Ltd Taiwan - JDM Books International Co. Ltd Malaysia - Worldwide Magazines Services Sdn Bhd

A publication of Member of Magazine Publishers Association, Singapore

Member of International Federation of the Periodical Press, UK

SCIENCE

Spruced-up swirls Each spring, tendrils of brightly coloured spruce pollen swirl over the surface of Bavaria’s Lake Sternberg. Unlike flowering plants, which are typically pollinated by insects, spruce trees rely on random wind currents to disperse their pollen. Obviously, this is a much less precise process, which means that vast quantities must be produced in order to enable successful reproduction. As a result much of the pollen ends up going astray, creating large deposits of

8

Vol. 7 Issue 12

thick yellow dust as seen here. “Pollen from spruce and pine keep their structure in water, whereas other pollen bursts,” says Christian Bergmann from the German Pollen Information Service. “Large quantities are released when conditions are sunny, dry and a bit windy. Every year you often see pine and spruce pollen in the water – even in the Baltic Sea.” PHOTO: PRESS ASSOCIATION

Vol. 7 Issue 12

9

NATURE

Ray of sunshine This cute little fellow is a baby undulate ray, an endangered fish found in the Mediterranean and east Atlantic, including waters around the UK. The starry ‘eyes’ are actually the animal’s nostrils, which it uses only for smell; it breathes using gills (the five pairs of gill slits are visible in this image beneath the mouth). In contrast to its white underside, its back is covered in a brown and yellow pattern that blends in perfectly with the sandy seabed. Although just several centimetres in length now, once fully grown this ray could measure up to 1m and live for as long as 23 years.

10

Vol. 7 Issue 12

“Baby undulate rays start out life enclosed in a tough leathery eggcase. This small capsule protects the developing embryo, while a yolk sac provides all the required nutrients for it to grow,” says Cat Gordon from the Shark Trust. “Tiny slits along the horns of the eggcase allow oxygenated seawater to enter the capsule and the ray will beat its tail like a pump to circulate it. Once hatched, the young are fully formed, miniature versions of the adults, ready to fend for themselves.” PHOTO: CAMERA PRESS

Vol. 7 Issue 12

11

HISTORY

ISS at the start of Expedition 1 On 2nd November 2000, the Expedition 1 crew of Commander William M. (Bill) Shepherd of NASA and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev and Soyuz Commander Yuri Gidzenko of Roscosmos arrived at the International Space Station, marking the start of an uninterrupted human presence on the orbiting laboratory. Their Soyuz capsule made contact with the aft docking port of the station’s Zvezda Service Module at 3:21 a.m. CST while the two spacecraft were flying over the central portion of Kazakhstan. A little over one hour later at 4:23 a.m., the hatch leading into the Zvezda’s living quarters was opened, signifying the start of human occupancy of the international complex. Fifteen years later, 45 crewed expeditions (so far), more than 220 people from 17 countries have visited the station, constructed

12

Vol. 7 Issue 12

over more than 115 space flights conducted on five different types of launch vehicles. The station now measures 357 feet end-to-end and provides more liveable room than a conventional six-bedroom house. 22 scientific investigations were conducted during Expedition 1, while a total of 191 scientific investigations will be conducted during Expeditions 45 and 46. To date, more than 1,200 scientific results publications have been produced based on over 1,760 research investigations on the orbiting laboratory. This photograph, dated 2nd December 2000, shows the configuration of the space station at the start of Expedition 1 including the Zarya Control Module, Unity Node, Zvezda Service Module and Z1-Truss. PHOTO: NASA

Vol. 7 Issue 12

13

Update NASA’S OWN SPACE HOPPER Meet the Hedgehog, NASA’s next-gen probe for exploring comets and asteroids

p22

THE LATEST INTELLIGENCE

p20 20

PICTURES OF PLUTO The latest amazing images sent back from New Horizons

p21

HOARY OLD HOMINIDS Unknown species of protohuman discovered in a cave (where else?)

T H E B I G S T O RY

SIGNS OF FLOWING WATER FOUND ON MARS:

COULD LIFE BE NEXT?

PHOTO: NASA

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter confirms that mysterious streaks on the surface of the Red Planet are evidence of liquid water – a vital element for life

14 14

VVoooll. 7 IIssssue suuuee 12 12

ANALYSIS ANAL AN LYSIS YS S

This image of Garni Crater clearly shows the streaks that reveal water’s presence

Lewis Dartnelll Astrobiologist and author of Life In The Universe

Why is water so vital for life? Water is a solvent used to dissolve all of the different molecules and compounds that life is based on. We know there has been lots of water on Mars in the past, but the big question has been is it still liquid today, in the current desert landscape of Mars? That’s why this recent announcement is so important.

It may have a reputation of being a huge, dusty red rock, but a new study has found evidence of water flowing on Mars.The discovery is likely to fuel further speculation that life could be found on the Red Planet. Researchers analysing data sent back by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) satellite have found that a series of dark lines which streak the Martian surface are most likely to be made by streams of salty water trickling down the rocky inclines. Spectroscopic analysis of these streaks, known as recurring slope lineae (RSL), has found them to contain hydrated minerals called perchlorates, a type of salt that has previously been detected in Martian soil. The streaks darken and widen during warmer months before fading during cooler spells.This is thought to be due to the salts lowering the freezing point of the liquid brine, just as putting salt on roads here on Earth causes ice to melt more rapidly, allowing it to flow during warmer spells. “Our quest on Mars has always been to ‘follow the water’ in our search for life in the Universe, and now we have convincing science that validates what we’ve long suspected,” said NASA’s John Grunsfeld. “This is a significant development, as

it appears to confirm that water, albeit briny, is flowing today on the surface of Mars.” It is as yet unclear where the water comes from, but the researchers say it’s likely to form a shallow flow just beneath the surface. “When most people talk about water on Mars, they’re usually talking about ancient water or frozen water,” said researcher Rich Zurek. “Now we know there’s more to the story.This is the first spectral detection that unambiguously supports our liquid waterformation hypotheses.” It is theorised that water is needed for life to develop, as it provides a medium in which organic compounds can mix with one another in a so-called primordial soup to produce simple organisms. From these basic building blocks, more complicated plants and animals can then evolve. “It took multiple spacecraft several years to solve this mystery, and now we know there is liquid water on the surface of this cold, desert planet,” said Michael Meyer, lead scientist for the Mars Exploration Program. “It seems that the more we study Mars, the more we learn how life could be supported, and where there are resources that could potentially support life in the future.”

Why is it important that the water is liquid? If you have a solid, then nothing can move around – it’s all locked in place. If you have a gas, things are too hot and moving around so fast that they don’t interact together. A liquid is the perfect in-between state, where things can move around but they are still held quite closely so they can interact with each other lots, and so you can have the kind of chemical reactions that drive life.

What should we look for next? Water is the essential biosolvent, but for life to exist you also need complex chemistry. All life on Earth, and what we suspect will be life on other worlds, is organic, or carbon-based, life. Carbon is extremely good at sticking to itself and to other atoms. It’s also ideally suited to building up these great big architectures, these complex scaffolds of molecules, that we see make up things like DNA, proteins or lipids. These are the things that all life on Earth is made from.

1895

1953

1972

2006

American astronomer Percival Lowell observes what he believes are canals built by intelligent life forms on Mars. Later observations found it was an optical illusion.

Stanley Miller and Harold Urey create amino acids, the building blocks for proteins, by mixing water, ammonia, methane and hydrogen in a flask and passing an electrical current through it.

NASA’s Mariner 9 space probe sends back images of the surface of Mars showing riverbeds, canyons and evidence of water erosion.

The Mars Global Surveyor takes photographs of gullies, seemingly formed by water that must have been flowing in very recent times.

This might disappoint some people, but we aren’t talking about anything more complex than perhaps some particularly hardy bacteria. These would be similar to the kinds of life we find surviving in the harshest environments here on Earth – socalled ‘extremophiles’. No one is looking for green bug-eyed monsters!

Vol. 7 Issue 12

15

PHOTO: NASA X2, ISTOCK X2

What sort of life might we ever expect to find on Mars?

Timeline A history of Martian biology

Update

THE LATEST INTELLIGENCE

PATENTLY OBVIOUS

with James Lloyd

Inventions about to change your world

Reduce risk with a ring There’s still a lot of stigma around sexual health. Hoping to change that is Hoope – a ring-like device that allows anyone to test themselves for STIs, wherever they are. Once fitted over the thumb, a needle collects a pinprick of blood, while electrodes are said to block the sensation of pain. A ‘lab-on-a-chip’ then tests for syphilis, gonorrhoea, trichomoniasis and chlamydia. The results are displayed in the Hoope app, which provides data on the infections and locations of nearby clinics. Patent pending

Pothole patrollers Ka-dunk. There goes a pothole. Potholes are the scourge of many motorists, causing wheel damage, bumpy journeys and even accidents. Now, Google wants to turn your car into a roving pothole reporter, using onboard, vertical movement sensors to detect when your car hits a divot in the road. The system will upload this data, along with the car’s GPS S location, to a central server. Here, it could be used to create te maps of pothole-ridden areas – a useful resource for routeplanners and local councils. Patent number: US 9,108,640

PHOTO: MARC BOULAY, MORGAN TURNER/BROWN UNIVERSITY

Climate-controlled cribs Sometimes, no matter how cosy your bed, it can be really hard to get comfy. One minute you’re shivering, the next you’re sweating like a sheep in a sauna. Why can’t someone invent a climate control system for beds? Well, now they have. The BedJet works by creating a cushion of air between the lower bed sheet and the top sheet or duvet. This lifts up the top sheet slightly, allowing air to circulate to either warm you up or cool you down. Perfect for those who suffer from night sweats. The temperature is controlled via a Bluetooth-connected app, while acoustic damping technology means that it doesn’t sound like you’re sleeping in a turbine. The BedJet, which fits any sized bed, will also make adjustments during the night, helping you reach the lower body temperature needed for deep sleep, before waking you up in the morning with a gentle warming. Maybe it’s finally time to get rid of granny’s old electric blankets… Patent number: US 20150121619

Things are getting hot between the sheets

16

Vol. 7 Issue 12

Bunostegos means knobbly [skull] roof. These bumps are not dissimilar to those seen on a giraffe’s head

Pala Pa laeo eont ntol olog og gy gy

First known animal to walk on all fours This ani This anima mall is Bun Bunos oste tego gos g s akokanensis, akok ak okan anen ensi siss tthe he eearliest arlilies ar estt known know kn own n creature to stand on all fours. It was previously thought that all pareiasaurs, the group of prereptiles to which B. akokanensis belongs, were sprawlers – animals whose limbs jutted out from the sides of their bodies like modern-day lizards. Now, analysis of a set of 260-million-year-old fossils found in Niger in 2003 and 2006 has determined that the animal stood upright like a cow or a hippo. “A lot of the animals that lived around the time had a similar upright or semi-upright hind limb posture, but what’s interesting and special about B. akokanensis is the forelimb, in that its anatomy is sprawlingpreecluding l d andd seemingly l dirrected d underneath d h its ody – unlike bod l k anything h g elsse at the h time,” saidd

Walking i upright i would alloow B. akokanensis to wallk further between meals, helping it survive in aaridd co conditions d o s

rese sear arch cher Mor orga rre g n Turner. Spec Sp ecif ific icalllly the animal animal’ss Specifically, shoulder joints faced down so that the humerus, which runs from the shoulder to the elbow, pointed directly down. The findings that matter most, however, are all in the forelimbs. According to Turner, four observations make the case that the creature stood differently to all the rest, with the legs entirely beneath the body. They also had less mobile elbow joints. During the time that B. akokanensis lived, Niger was an arid place where plants and water sources were scarce. Walking upright on all fours has shown to be a more efficient posture than sprawling and may have enabled the animal to endure longer journeys between meals, Turner said.

Monkeying around SHUKMAN with NASA’s latest bot DAVID The science that th ha att matters matters

RoboSimian could be used in Earth-bound missions as well as space exploration. Watch it in action at bit.ly/RoboSimian

stressing that although the robot is unusually robust and versatile, its two on-board computers give it pretty limited processing power – it’s certainly a long way, they say, from anything that could think or act remotely like a human being. In fact, the lab is a good place to come for some balance in the furore over whether robots equipped with artificial intelligence will inevitably

WHO’SS IN THE NEW WS? Bill G Gates Microsoft M coco-founder a d world’s and richest man rich

What did he say? Gates is urging governments around the world to pool money into research in renewable energy technologies on the same scale as the Manhattan Project or the Apollo Moon missions. How much money is he talking about? Tens of billions of dollars.

overtake and then destroy us. Such are the difficulties of creating synthetic intelligence that might be comparable to human brainpower, and motors that are small but powerful and batteries that last more than a few hours, that the threat of a robot army seems too distant to take seriously. But whenever we filmed the RoboSimian being put through its paces, we found ourselves

Hang on. Why doesn’t he put his money where his mouth is? Actually, he has. So far he reckons he has invested over US$1 billion into companies researching green technologies and intends to double this over the next five years. He has also said that private investors could stand to make a killing if they back the right companies.

keeping a sharp eye on it. And one of the NASA team was always on hand with a killswitch. Just in case, they said. As I left, I wondered what safety measures a future film crew would need if they were close to a robot that was far smarter than RoboSimian.

DAVID SHUKMAN is the BBC’s Science Editor. @davidshukmanbbc

So what kind of projects is he picking? He seems particularly interested in solar chemical power, which uses a process similar to photosynthesis to make hydrogen fuel from water and sunlight. He’s also keen on high-altitude wind power, which uses kite-like structures to tap the energy of jet streams. Vol. 7 Issue 12

17

PHOTOS: NASA/JPL, MICROSOFT

Stepping into the robotics lab at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California takes you into a world of extraordinary inventiveness. Facing us, between workbenches crammed with laptops, soldering irons and spools of cable, was a bundle of technology the size of a small dustbin: a highly versatile machine called the RoboSimian. Named for the agility and adaptability of a monkey, this robot is meant to serve as an emissary on missions too dangerous for people – entering anything from the wreckage of a gas plant to the smouldering aftermath of a radioactive accident to the unknown terrain of an alien world. To manoeuvre over debris, its four legs descend to provide a crawling motion. To roll across a smooth surface, the robot morphs into a shape that uses wheels. And to drive a car, it extends its limbs into a standing posture so it can slip behind the wheel of the vehicle. Watching it go through these transformations is a little unnerving.The movements are extremely slow but the twists, turns and elevations are executed so smoothly that the machine gives an impression of effortless self-confidence. The engineers running it keep

Update

THE LATEST INTELLIGENCE

DISCOVERIES S

10

Photosynthesis record broken

The technique will help plant breeders identify the most useful plants, thereby speeding up the process of crossbreeding. The researchers linked a set of RNA molecules in corn seedlings to properties that are expressed later on in the plant’s growth.

Sound wave brain control

A 17-year record for efficiency in a f artificial photosynthesis y has been beaten. The new record efficiencyy o 14 per cent is close to the level of a which at hi h iit would ld b be commercially i ll viable to use solar energy g to split water into oxygen and, more importantly, hydrogen ffuel.

The ability to activate cellls in the brain, T h heart and d muscles l withou i h ut damaging other cells would be a huge medical advance. been ac achiev ad a ce It’s s bee eved in the nematode by Salk Institutte researchers, using i g ultrasonic l i sound d wa aves, and could one day y work in the huma an brain.

VVol Vol. ooll. 7 IIs Issu sssue suue ue 12 12

Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak is getting closer and closer to becoming a reality

Sun-tracking solar cells Solar panels that follow the Sun capture much more energy than those that lie permanently flat. The bulk and weight of conventional tracking motors, however, makes them unsuitable for most roofs. Now the University of Michigan has harnessed the Japanese paper-cutting art of kirigami to design lightweight solar strips that bend when flexed, capturing 36 per cent more energy than flat panels.

The device i that changes g solar energy to h d hydrogen

18

A super-thin ‘cloak’ has been used to conceal objects in visible light. The cloak is microscopic in size, but its developers at Berkeley Lab believe it could be scaled up to hide bigger objects. Its surface is made of socalled metamaterials that re-route reflected light waves in a way that’s not seen in natural materials. The cloak is 80 nanometres (80 billionths of a metre) thick and made of ‘bricks’ of gold nanoantennas. The technology could in future be used in 3D displays.

Predicting plant size

Wouldn’t it BE great to know exactly how big your potted plant will grow when it’s just a seedling? A new method developed at Belgium’s VIB Institute does just that. It’s based on the principle that a particular set of genes is associated with the size to which a leaf will eventually grow.

PHOTO: P O O VIB, XIANG G ZHANG G GROUP/UC G O / C BERKELEY, GETTY G X2, AARON O LAM MOUREUX, RIKEN BRAIN SCIENCE INSTITUTE, SALK INSTITUTE, M MAY R Y

U U

Now you see it…

How caffeine affects sleep Coffee wakes you up – fact. But now it’s been shown that caffeine affects the human circadian clock. Drink a double espresso (or the equivalent) three hours before sleep, and your body clock is delayed by 40 minutes. The discovery will help understanding of sleep disorders and may help treat jet lag.

Wearable energy sensor MagnifiSense is a prototype wearable device that calculates your carbon footprint by measuring how much you use cars, buses and household devices. Its sensors detect and record the electromagnetic radiation given off by motors and electronics.

A new wearable can track your carbon footprint

The science diet The best way of losing weight and keeping healthy may be to listen to your gut. The first steps towards a personalised diet based on the bacteria in your digestive system have been taken at Sweden’s Chalmers University of Technology. The diversity of bacteria and other microorganisms in your gut – known as the gut microbiome – varies enormously from person to person. In the Swedish study, patients with low diversity of bacteria had improved blood chemistry on the diet.

If you want to toughen glass, take some tips from a tardigrade

Water bear glass Tardigrades, or water bears, are microscopic creatures that can withstand extremely hot and cold temperatures, and even the vacuum of space. When they dry out, they survive by coating themselves in glassy molecules to remain in a state of

In future, dietary advice may be tailored to your individual microbiome

suspended animation. This property led University of Chicago scientists to discover a new type of glass with an ordered alignment of molecules. The discovery could improve the efficiency of LEDs, solar cells and optical fibres.

See-through brains Google ‘transparent mouse’ and you’ll see photos of a see-through rodent. Now it’s possible to see through tissue in an animal brain, thanks to the RIKEN Brain Science Institute in Japan. The technique allows brain structures to be studied under a microscope. It’s been used to create 3D images that have shown how plaques form inside the brain of a mouse with Alzheimer’s disease. A new technique offers the prospect of better brain imaging

Vol. 7 Issue 12

19

Update

THE LATEST IN NTELLIGENCE E

SPACE

Spectacular new images of Pluto released It may now be almost five billion kilometres away from Earth, but NASA’s New Horizons probe is still delivering the goods. The craft captured a wealth of images when it flew past the dwarf planet in July and is continuing to beam data back to scientists on Earth via a satellite downlink.

NEW HORIZONS UP CLOSE E REX: measures atmospheric composition

LORRI: telescopic camera

PHOTO: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI X4

Images taken by the LORRI camera show Pluto’s surface in detail, down to a resolution of 270m.

The peaks shown in this image, also taken by Ralph, reach 3,500m into the skyline, making them similar in height to the Pyrenees. The smooth areas on the right are thought to be glaciers. Backlighting, provided by the Sun, highlights the hazy layers of the dwarf planet’s scant atmosphere.

20

Vol. 7 Issue 12

Ralph: R p visible and infrared imager g

This incredibly d detailed shot was created by piecin ing together blue, red and infrared images from the Ralph camera and R nd then enhancing the colours. It shows the staggering variety in the dwarf plane et’s geology. Scientists have dubbed the la arge, flat plain (centreright) the ‘Sputnik P g Platform’.

EVOLUTIO O U ION ON

Human family tree gets another branch While exploring a remote network of crevices in South Africa’s Gauteng province, caver Steve Tucker stumbled upon a hoard of bones. After being recovered and analysed as part of an international collaboration involving the University of Colorado, the University of Witwatersrand and the

National Geographic Society, the fossils were found to belong to a previously undiscovered human ancestor. The species was named Homo naledi, which comes from the word for ‘star’ in the local Sesothothe language. H. naledi stood at just 1.5m in height and had an orange-sized brain when fully grown. “The only thing similar we know of are the so-called ‘hobbits’ of Flores Island in Indonesia,” explained the University of Colorado’s Charles Musiba. The researchers have yet to determine how old the fossils are or exactly where H. naledi fits into the human family tree. Initial studies suggest that their small brains and body size most closely resemble H. erectus, the oldest known early humans. However, there are also similarities with Australopithecus, ancestors of modern humans that died out two million years ago. “This raises many questions,” Musiba said. “How many species of human were there? Were there lines that simply extended outward and then disappeared? Did they co-exist with modern humans? Did they interbreed?”

Vol. 7 Issue 12

21

Discoveries

The robot’s shape allows it to travel on unstable surfaces without falling over

It hops around by spinning and braking internal flywheels

S ACE SPAC SP CE E

Meet the comet-exploring ‘Hedgehog’

PHOTO: NASA/JPL X2, KYOTO UNIVERSITY

NASA researchers have created a bouncing rover that could be used to explore comets and asteroids. Nicknamed ‘Hedgehog’, thanks to its unique spiky design, the rover can move in any direction and is better equipped to cope with low gravity and rough, unpredictable terrain than conventional wheeled rovers. The robot is being jointly developed by teams from NASA’s

THEY DID WHAT?! Apes shown ‘horror movies’ What did they do? Researchers at Kyoto University showed two films to six chimps and six bonobos. In the first film, a person 22

Vol. 7 Issue 12

Jet Propulsion Lab and Stanford University. It consists of a cubeshaped body with eight spiky corners. It moves by turning to face in the desired direction, then spinning and rapidly braking internal flywheels.The force of rapid deceleration makes the robot ‘leap’ or ‘hop’ forward. “The geometry of the Hedgehog spikes has a great influence on its hopping trajectory.

We have experimented with several spike configurations and found that a cube shape provides the best hopping performance. The cube structure is also easier to manufacture and package within a spacecraft,” said Stanford’s Benjamin Hockman. The prototypes have been tested in low-gravity conditions aboard NASA’s C-9 aircraft and both were able to move around in sandy,

dressed in an ape suit leaps out from one of two doors. In the second, a person picks up a toy hammer and bashes the ape. They used eye-tracking to see what was holding the apes’ attention and then played them the films again, 24 hours later.

door from which they’d seen the ape character jump out. In the second video, they stared at the hammer, even though it was put in a different place.

What did they find? When watching the first video again, the apes’ eyes were trained on the

Why did they do that? This proves that apes can store and retrieve info in their long-term memories. This allows them to anticipate upcoming events based on previous experiences.

rocky and icy environments. The teams are currently developing the bot’s ability to work independently, enabling it to perform tasks without needing constant instructions from Earth. Their idea is that an orbiting mothership would relay signals to and from the bot, similar to how NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover communicates via satellites orbiting the Red Planet.

Honest. This is serious science

Comment & Analysis Why aren’t there any red bubbles? Bubbles float about at the mercy of the wind but it’s the laws of physics that prevent them from turning red

A

“Pink looks like a colour but it isn’t in the rainbow – our brains have made it up as a way of dealing with red plus violet” thins a bit more, the red and the violet waves cancel each other out, which leaves you with lots of green. Green is a single wavelength, a real colour from the rainbow. And as the film thins further, there’s a point where there’s lots of red and green together (they’ve rippled approximately twice each) but no blue, so you end up seeing yellow.

We only see colours when the soap film is very thin – a thickness of just one or two wavelengths of light. So there are only a limited number of combinations of colours that we can see. Red by itself just happens not to be one of them. So no red bubbles for me. It can be unsatisfying when the answer to a question is ‘that’s just the way it is’, but I don’t mind it in this case because it’s universal. Every single soap bubble obeys the same rules; it doesn’t matter how you make it, where you make it or what you make it with. Sometimes it’s reassuring to see the fundamental rules of the Universe at work. Pink and green bubbles are just the way the Universe rolls.

DR HELEN CZERSKI is a physicist, oceanographer and BBC science presenter whose most recent series was Super Senses Vol. 7 Issue 12

23

ILLUSTRATOR: ANDREW LYONS

soap bubble is almost like a magic pill for making people smile. They’re easy to create, beautifully spherical, innocent and airy with a hint of unpredictability. And they’re colourful. But once you’ve watched them for a while, you notice something strange. The shifting swirls gliding over the surface are pink and green, sometimes with streaks of yellow and occasionally blue. But where are the other colours? What about red and purple, brown and orange? What makes a bubble so selective? Possibly the only thing about bubbles that has consistently been disappointing to generations – other than the fact you can’t catch them – is that you can’t change the colour of a bubble by adding food dye. There’s just not enough of it: a typical soap bubble is so thin that it only has a few milligrams of water in it. The minuscule amount of dye in there can’t absorb enough of the flood of light passing through to make any difference. But it’s this skinny film that gives a bubble its colour. That curved outer surface is reflective, and so is the inner surface. Light behaves like a wave in situations like this. So just like ripples on a pond, those two reflected waves add together, either to reinforce each other or cancel each other out. The light reflected off the interior has travelled further and it may or may not line up with the light reflected off the exterior on its way out of the bubble. If the wave reinforces itself, lots of the colour corresponding to that wavelength will escape to be seen. So far, so good. Lots of colours could be produced this way. But where’s my red bubble? The ripples of light waves spreading out from the bubble have all the colours of the rainbow. But we don’t see those colours individually, because often the same thickness of soap film will give us a few different colours together. It just so happens that the thickness that gives us lots of red also gives us lots of violet. But we only see a single colour: pink. The violet wave will have rippled four times before coming back out while the red one will have rippled three times, but they’re both back where they started as they leave the bubble. Pink looks like a single colour but it isn’t in the rainbow – our brains have made it up as a way of dealing with red plus violet. If the soap film forming the bubble’s surface

SUBSCRIPTION

4 EASY WAYS TO SUBSCRIBE: GO ONLINE*

FAX TO SINGAPORE 65-6449 9945

CALL HOTLINE SINGAPORE 65-6446 6888

OR EMAIL subscribe@ media-group.com.sg

MALAYSIA 603-42926251

MALAYSIA 603-79548989

BBC KNOWLEDGE MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTION OFFER

YES! I WANT TO SUBSCRIBE! S PE S U B S C CIAL R I PT OFFE R I ON !

PLEASE TICK ACCORDINGLY  Singapore, 1 year subscription, 12 issues for S$77  Malaysia, 1 year subscription, 12 issues for RM160 *Rates are inclusive of postage in SGP and MY

PERSONAL PARTICULARS Title

Surname

Name LIFE BELOW ZERO

Surviving the merciless Alaskan wilderness p60

ASIA EDITION

Vol. 7 Issue 12

NRIC

DOB

Tel Number

Mobile

Email SCIENCE • HISTORY • NATURE • FOR THE CURIOUS MIND

Address

Country

Postal Code

MY PROFILE

Audacious innovations whose time has come p26

Gender

Age Group

Occupation

Annual Income

 Male

 Below 30

 Executive

 Below $50,000

 Female

 31 - 40

 Management

 $50,001 - $100,000



 41 - 50

 Professional

 $100,001 - $150,000



 Above 50

 Businessman

 Above $150,000

YOUR PAYMENT OPTIONS PPS 1745/01/2013 (022915) (P) 070/10/2015 ISSN 1793-9836

11

9 771793 983016 SGD 7.50 | PHP 300 THB 240 | NT 200 | RM 16

MEET THE RAINFOREST GARDENER p40

WHAT YOUR FACE SAYS ABOUT YOU p48

THE MEDICINAL POWER OF MUSIC p52

 CHEQUE Please enclose a cheque made payable to: Singapore: Regent Media Pte Ltd Malaysia: Regent Media Sdn Bhd

Cheque No.: Amount:

GREAT REASONS TO SUBSCRIBE • Every issue delivered direct to your door • Exclusive subscriber-only offers and discounts

 CREDIT CARD* (VISA & MASTERCARD ONLY) *Singapore only Debited amount under”Golf Events and Marketing” will be reflected in your credit card statement for subscribers in Singapore. Name on Credit Card: Credit Card No.: Expiry Date: Amount:

MAIL TO Regent Media Pte Ltd, 20 Bedok South Road, Singapore 469277 or Unit 6.02 Level 6, Menara Maxisegar Jalan Pandan Indah 4/2 Pandan Indah 55100 Kuala Lumpur.

Signature:

Date:

TERMS & CONDITIONS: • This subscription offer is non-refundable • Promotion is valid till the end of December 2015 • Subscription gifts where applicable are available on a while stocks last basis • The above subscription rates are only applicable to readers residing in Singapore & Malaysia • Gifts must be taken as provided and are neither transferable nor exchangeable for cash • Company reserves the right to replace gift when stock is unavailable • All prices are inclusive of GST and taxes • Please allow 4-6 weeks for processing • Subscribers/Winners will be notified by post • Subscription gifts/lucky draw prizes are to be collected at address stated on notification letter • Other terms and conditions apply

SCIENCE

ILLUSTRATOR: ANDY POTTS / PHOTO: NEWSPRESS X2, ISTOCK

FROM FLOATING FARMS TO VIRTUAL THERAPY, WE BRING YOU THE INCREDIBLE INNOVATIONS THAT WILL SHAPE OUR FUTURE

26

Vol. 7 Issue 12

“THE ONLY THING we can be sure of about the future is that it will be absolutely fantastic.” These were the words of Arthur C Clarke, delivered during a 1964 episode of BBC Horizon broadcast from the World Fair. He was right. Even as the planet’s outlook becomes bleaker with the looming threat of climate change, humans search for smart solutions to the world’s problems. Hundreds of great ideas come across our desks every week at Focus, but here we’ve handpicked the very best of them to paint a picture of how your world might look like tomorrow.

Your next car could be powered by a two-litre bottle of ammonia

YEARS AWAY

THE HYDROGEN STATION

01

Toyota’s hydrogen-powered car goes on sale this year. Mirai boasts zero emissions, unless you count harmless water vapour. But hydrogen cars are likely to remain expensive because, for safety reasons, hydrogen gas must be stored in heavy-duty, high-pressure tanks. So scientists at the UK’s Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) have been busy developing a low-cost method of extracting hydrogen from ammonia. A twolitre bottle of ammonia would provide enough hydrogen for a typical family car, and could be stored at low pressure.

02

COFFEE POWER

The world’s appetite for coffee has rocketed in recent years, with a coffee shop seemingly on every corner. But what do you do with all the waste produced during the coffee-making process? Entrepreneur Arthur Kay’s big idea is to use his company, bio-bean, to turn 85 per cent of that waste into biofuels for heating buildings and powering transport. It has big potential – according to Kay, London’s coffee industry alone creates over 200,000 tonnes of waste every year, the same amount produced in a year by the UK’s big seven supermarkets.

WHAT PROBLEM NEEDS TO BE B SOLVED MOST URGENTLY? While microchips have become 10,0 000 times more powerful since the mid1980s, battery capacity has increase ed by barely 10 per cent. Yet batteries are vita al for everything from mobile tech to the sola ar economy. Anyone who comes up with cheap, stable, rechargeable battery with hefty capacity will make out like a bandit – and help save the planet.

Waste products from coffee-making can be turned into biofuels

YEARS AWAY ROBERT MATTHEWS Focus science consultant

Vol. 7 Issue 12

27

SCIENCE

03

COMPUTERS MADE OF WATER

Computers work by firing electrons around silicon circuits, but engineers at Stanford University have built a functioning computer that uses water droplets instead of electrons. It’s hoped that the idea could be used to manipulate matter, perhaps leading YEARS AWAY to miniature labs capable of carrying out thousands of controlled reactions.

PHOTO: HYPERLOOP X2, SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY, WORLD VIEW ENTERPRISES, BBC

04

SPACE DRONES

Unmanned probes are effectively space drones, but now NASA has challenged designers to develop a conventional drone to work inside a space station, navigating with no ‘up’ or ‘down’. The winning design, ArachnoBeeA, would use cameras and tiny beacons to manoeuvre its way around. How YEARS AWAY popular drones would be in such a confined space is a different question.

05

SUGAR-FUELLED PLANES

Air travel is bad news for the environment, and that’s only likely to get worse if we continue to power planes with fossil fuels. However, a team at the Energy Biosciences Institute in Berkeley, California has come up with a new way to create aviation fuel from sugarcane. The system takes waste from sugar factories – ethanol, acetone and butanol – and converts it into jet fuel. The research is being funded YEARS AWAY by BP, which is investing in similar work for fuelling our cars. 28

Vol. 7 Issue 12

Hyperloop could get you from San Francisco to Los Angeles in 35 minutes, compared to 7.5 hours by train

06

760MPH TRAINS

We all hate commuting. Imagine, instead, your train carriage hurtling down a tunnel at the same speed as a commercial jet airliner. That’s the dream of PayPal, Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk. His Hyperloop system would see ‘train’ passengers travel A test site for the Hyperloop system has already been selected

at up to 760mph through a vacuum tube, propelled by compressed air and induction motors. A site has been chosen with the goal of starting test runs in two years. Once YEARS AWAY built, the loop will ferry passengers between San Francisco and LA.

08

07

CRISPR

The idea of ‘designer babies’ has attracted a lot of negative attention, but geneediting technology is undoubtedly a big step forward. A technique called Crispr (Clustered, Regularly Interspaced, Short Palindromic Repeat) targets unhealthy strands of DNA within a mutated immune cell and replaces them with healthy ones. Scientists hope that, once reintroduced to the body, the cell will be able to better fight off infection and disease. The work done on T-cells (the immune cells responsible for battling pathogens) could be used in a whole new field of medicine: the technique has applications for the treatment of viruses, cancer and even HIV. There are already several companies in the medical arena that are putting modified T-cells back into YEARS AWAY patients, so the new technique has the potential to move forward very quickly.

THE AI SCIENTIST

Cut off a flatworm’s head, and it’ll grow a new one. Cut it in half, and you’ll have two new worms. Fire some radiation at it, and it’ll repair itself. Scientists have wanted to work out the mechanisms involved for some time, but the secret has eluded them. Enter an AI coded at Tufts University, Massachusetts. By analysing and simulating countless scenarios, the computer was able to solve the mystery of the flatworm’s regeneration in just 42 hours. In the end it produced a comprehensive model of how the flatworm’s genes allow it to regenerate. Although humans still need to feed the AI with information, the machine in this experiment was able to create a new, abstract theory independently – a huge step towards the development of a conscious computer, and YEARS AWAY potentially a landmark step in the way we carry out research.

09

SPACE BALLOON

If you want to take a trip into space, your quickest bet might be to take a balloon. The company World View Enterprises wants to send tourists into the stratosphere, 32km above Earth, on hot air balloons. Technically passengers won’t reach ‘space’ (which is defined as 100km above sea level), but this altitude is high enough to witness the curvature of the Earth, just as Felix Baumgartner did on his space jump. The balloon flew its first successful test flight in June, and the company will start YEARS AWAY selling tickets in 2016 – at the bargain price of just US$113,535 per person!

What new gadget are you most excited about? Virtual reality. I demonstrated it on Tomorrow’s World in the 1980s when it was in its absolute infancy, so it’s extraordinary to see the way it’s now being used : gaming, scientific visualisation, education, fashion, healthcare. The technology is becoming more and more affordable and much more accessible, so it will be fascinating to see what happens over the next five years. MAGGIE PHILBIN Tech reporter and former Tomorrow’s World presenter

Vol. 7 Issue 12

29

SCIENCE

Dirt, a US citizen science project, is CROWD-SOURCED From asking people to send in soil samples from ANTIBIOTICS their gardens. The DNA of microorganisms

13 10

BREATHALYSER CARS

The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has developed devices that can monitor alcohol levels by sniffing a driver’s breath or scanning the blood in their fingertips via the steering wheel, immobilising the car YEARS AWAY if levels are too high. Drivers using the system could be offered lower insurance premiums.

Swallowing seawater is part of surfing. But now the scientists behind a new initiative called Beach Bums want to swab the rectums of surfers, to see if this water contains the key to developing new antibiotics. They’re searching for antibiotic resistant bacteria known as superbugs: by studying the samples from the surfers, they hope to learn more about these potentially dangerous organisms in the hope of producing new drugs to combat them. And this next generation of antibiotics could also come from a unlikely source. Drugs

within the samples will then be sequenced to discover specific genes, and within them, proteins that could be used to create new antibiotics. Scientists hope to discover previously unknown biosynthetic systems that create antibiotic molecules, identify those molecules and use them to create new drugs. The project’s already underway, YEARS AWAY so a whole new class of antibiotics could be dug up tomorrow!

A NEW APPROACH TO DEMENTIA

PHOTO: SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY, CORBIS, THE GUARDIAN SYNDICATION, BBC

11

Around 850,000 people in the UK live with dementia. Patients have trouble remembering recent events, despite recalling things that happened decades ago. Having this pointed out can be upsetting, so the Butterfly Household Model of Care takes a different approach: it lets patients act out their memories, even providing props and clothes that YEARS AWAY remind them of their younger selves. Ovver e 100 100 alre r ad re d y care homes have al dy adopted the mode el..

12

VIAGRA FOR WOMEN

Now approved by the US Food and d Drug g Administration, flibanserin looks sett to become the first in a new class of drugs d g for improving female sexual desire. Though gh a’, it’s been dubbed ‘the female Viagra flibanserin works rather differently: Viagra V ga works by boosting blood supply to the penis, while flibanserin acts on sero oto tonin rain in. in receptors in the bra i Its makers say itt YEARS AWAY increases sexua al satisfaction, but cr crit ittic i s question the drug’ ug’ gs tive vene ve ness ne s . ss safety and effectti 30

Vol. 7 Issue 12

The next generation of antibiotics could be lurking behind the petunias in your garden

What scientific or technological advance worries you the most? Although I’m sure that drones can do lots of exciting and useful things, I think it would be a huge shame to fill the sky with them. Even now, we really don’t appreciate the sky enough – it’s the last great expanse of free and open space in our society. Drones are a fairly insidious technology – their numbers will grow slowly until they’re everywhere. They’re also going to reflect the huge, ongoing battle between security and privacy. DR HELEN CZERSKI Experimental physicist and BBC presenter

14

INTERNET FOR EVERYONE

After Tesla and SpaceX, PayPal founder Elon Musk is turning his attention back to the internet: he’s awaiting permission to send almost 4,000 small satellites into low-Earth orbit that would beam back a high-speed wireless signal to everyone on the planet. And things are moving fast: Musk hopes to YEARS AWAY launch a series of test satellites in 2016, with a view to completing the project by 2020.

15

SMART FOOD LABELS

UK homes throw away 30 to 50 per cent of what we buy from supermarkets, says a 2013 report by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. The report claimed we’re guided by ‘use by’ and ‘best before’ dates on food packaging, which are kept conservative because they are driven by shops’ desire to avoid legal action. An invention called ‘Bump Mark’ could change all that. Originally developed for blind people, it’s a label that starts out smooth to the touch but gets bumpier as food decays. And since it decays at the same rate as any proteinbased food within, it’s far more accurate than YEARS AWAY printed dates.

16

PERSONALIT ALITIES S FOR ROBO S OBOTS

Google has obta btained a patent on robot personaliti ities, reminiscent of the ‘Genuine Peop ople Personalities’ of robots in The Hitchhik hiker’s Guide G To The Galaxy. Owners could h have a personality y automatically chosen to m match their needs, or select one based o on a fi fictional character or even a loved one.. Al Although h gh ciously iously the patent was announced suspiciously close to April 1, it does exist (US Pate atent 8,996,429), and with our natural tendency ency to anthropomorphism it seems a likely development. YEARS AWAY

17

VIRAL RA HISTORY S O LOO TEST S BLLOOD

Everyy time yo you’r ou’’re infected f with a virus, your y r body dispatc che es a ntibodies to fight ches antibod fig it, which remain in you ur blo lood o st od stre ream am lon long g af afte the e bloodstr fterr th virus vi v has bee en e defeated. f Now,, a device called d VirSca VirScan an is being trialled at Harvard Medical School that can ca analyse lyse a single g drop d and ect p off blood a detec ct antibodies ffor 1,000 virus strains, telling doc doctor octors off any virus you’ve e e had. had It I could ever transform diagnosis, f YEARS AWAY as doctors d currently ly have a e to o test es for specific fi viruses.. Vol. 7 Issue 12

31

SCIENCE

18

US$4.50 PAIN-FREE TATTOO REMOVAL

19

SELF-DRIVING TRUCKS

We’ve almost got used to the idea of driverless cars before we’ve even seen one on the roads. The truth is, you might well see a lot more driverless trucks – after all, logistics make the world go round. They’ll be cheaper to run than regular rigs, driving more smoothly and so using less fuel. Computers never get tired or need comfort breaks, so they’ll run longer routes. And they could drive in convoys, nose-to-tail, to minimise wind resistance. Companies like Mercedes and Peloton are already exploring these possibilities, and if the promised gains materialise, freight companies could upgrade entire fleets overnight. On the downside, it could put drivers instantly out of work, and even staff at the truck stops set up to service them, but many YEARS AWAY companies have said the trucks will still need a human passenger to ensure their cargo is safe.

20

US soldiers in California have been putting on Oculus Rift virtual reality headsets as part of their PTSD therapy. The virtual experience takes the soldiers back to the battlefield from the safety of the sofa, helping them tackle their anxieties in a controlled space. A similar technique has been used to treat victims of sexual assault and motoring accidents. Meanwhile, a lab at the Pompeu Fabra University has managed to treat a form of partial paralysis using VR. The pilot study helped stroke patients regain movement using a special gaming system. Patients played a game where they picked up a ball, and the actions of their virtual limbs were tuned to the nerve signals in the paralysed side of their YEARS AWAY body. Even just a 10-minute session led to patients using their paralysed side more.

Alec Falkenham is pioneering a new method of tattoo removal

Got a tattoo that you now regret? There may soon be a gentler, cheaper alternative to laser removal. PhD student Alec Falkenham in the US has worked out how to harness a property of your body’s own immune system. He’s developed a cream that delivers drugs to white blood cells called ‘macrophages’ (Greek for ‘big eaters’), causing them YEARS AWAY to release the ink they took up in order to protect your skin during the tattooing th i g process.

PHOTO: BRUCE BOTTOMLEY/DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY, PELOTON, CAMERA PRESS, SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY, GETTY

Dri riiver v lesss truc r ks cou c ldd soo oonn be be tran t an anspoorting i g goo goods ds aro r und ndd the the coun ou try tr

What ide ea currently in n development has st potential? the mos p ? purpose handheld med dical device that can plug into a A multip d mobile phone and carry out blood, urine and saliva tests would uge b breakthrough. ould be able detect conditions be a hug k h gh IIt wo o ld b bl to d di i nd diabetes, potentially saving such as malarria, typhoid, anaemia an n es in regions without ea asy access to medical facilities. millions of live g a PROF DANIELLE GEORGE G E Radio frequency eng gineer and presenter of the ‘How T To Hack Your Home’ Christmas lecturess 32

Vol. 7 Issue 12

VIRTUAL THERAPY

Augmented reality can be used to create a kind of sat-nav for neurosurgeons

AUGMENTED REALITY SURGERY

21

Brain surgery can often be a step in the dark for surgeons, because the networked nature of the brain means the scalpel is never far from damaging vital areas. The solution could lie in augmented reality. Canadian company Synaptive Medical is working on the concept of augmented reality surgery, where images of the operation are overlaid with visuals that map out structures within the brain. While a surgeon is operating, a robot magnifies the region, displaying what it sees on a video screen. Combining this view with complex, colour-coded images from MRI scanners, the robot gives the surgeon a far more YEARS AWAY defined route into the area in which they intend to operate.

22

CARBON CAPTURE FORESTS

A simple way of removing CO2 from the atmosphere is being pioneered by scientists at the University of Hohenheim, Germany. They’ve been carrying out trials of the jatropha plant, which absorbs and stores large amounts of CO2. Jatropha grows in arid environments, and the scientists now have YEARS AWAY pe p rmission to ‘carbon far f rm’ 10,000 hectares off a coastal region in Sa Saudi Arabia.

23

SLEEP IN A PETRI DISH

Up to 30 per cent of us have trouble sleeping, but help may be at hand. A team at Washington State University has identified the smallest set of neurones in our brains responsible for sleeping, grown a tiny group of these cells in the lab and induced them to fall YEARS AWAY asleep and wake up. Their work could help to unravel the science of sleep disorders.

24

SHAPE-SHIFTING BATTERIES

Experimental batteries are under test based on a very light foam made from tree cellulose, which could be shaped into almost any form. The foam is coated with thin layers of copper hexacyanoferrate and carbon nanotubes to form the battery’s electrodes. The approach could YEARS AWAY produce batteries that are flexible, malleable and have a high capacity.

Vol. 7 Issue 12

33

SCIENCE

Sergio Canavero hopes to attempt a human ‘head transplant’ soon

YEARS AWAY

26

HOLIDAY BY AIRSHIP

27

WATER FROM A BOX

If you’ve heard of the Hindenburg disaster, you’ll probably question the advisability of firing up massive passenger balloons filled with flammable gas. But modern airships are filled with helium rather than hydrogen, and can fly for thousands of kilometres while burning less fuel than an aeroplane. The UK-built Airlander 10 is actually a hybrid, using helium to provide 60 per cent of its lift, while the rest is provided by its wide, wing-like hull. The first airships have been given government grants to investigate whether they could replace long-haul freight trucks and YEARS AWAY cargo ships, but the company also has more ambitious plans for tourism.

25

HUMAN HEAD TRANSPLANTS

An Italian neurosurgeon intends to attempt the first human head transplant by 2016. In reality it’s a body rather than a head transplant, replacing a failing frame with a new one. In fiction, such a move is the stuff of horror stories, but Sergio Canavero believes it is possible. No successful animal transplants with long-term survival have yet been made because of the difficulty of connecting up the spinal cord, but Canavero has suggested improvements in the process using a special blade and polyethylene 34

Vol. 7 Issue 12

750 million people worldwide have no access to safe drinking water. To solve this problem, researchers at the University of the West of England are working with Portsmouth Aviation engineers to manufacture shipping container-sized boxes that can be plugged YEARS AWAY into contaminated water sources to produce 18,000 litres of clean water an hour. glycol, a polymer used in medicine as well as in everything from skin cream to the conservation of the Mary Rose. This compound can help start growth in spinal cord nerves, though there would still be many problems to overcome to ensure the brain stays alive and in control of the body. Other experts say Canavero is wildly optimistic. They point out that there would have to be far more animal experimentation, which many consider unethical, before any human trial. But we can at least expect improved ability to repair damaged spinal cords over the next decade, restoring body function to some spinal injury patients.

A device that transforms contaminated water into clean water would change lives

Could the once-derided airship be about to make a comeback?

One day, you might go to the doctor and get an on-the-spot diagnosis for your stomach bug simply by breathing into a machine. This electronic nose would ‘sniff out’ disease molecules on your breath - no need for a stool sample. Such breathalyser-like YEARS AWAY devices already exist, and are in development for tuberculosis.

29

DROWN FOREST SOU FIRES IN S OUND

Forest Fo st fi fires co coul uld d one e da dayy be dea ealt lt witth by d on dr ones o e es that at wo woul ou uld ul dd dire rec ct lou o oud d no nois ois ises ses e at the th he t ee tr e s be elow. Sin nce sou und iis ma made de up of p esssu pr ure e waves es,, it can es n be us used e to diisrup upt up p g th he ai a r su s rrrou ound ndin nd ing g a fir fire, fi e ess ssen ss ential n al ally ly cut utti ting ng o f th of he su supp plyy of oxyg gen n to th he fu uel e . At A th he e riig ght fr gh f eq que ency, y the fire sim mply dies es so out,, as rese s ar se a ch c ers at George G g Ma M son n Un U iv iver errsi sity ty in Virgi irrgi gini g ni nia a recently demonst stra r te ed wi w th t eir so th s ni n c ex exting ngui gu sher. Ap ppa p re r nt n ly, bass ss frreq eq quenc nciess wo nc w rk best.

PHOTO: MASSIMO BREGA, GETTY X2, DARREN REYNOLDS/UWE

28

SNIFFING OUT DISEASE

YEARS AWAY

Vol. 7 Issue 12

35

SCIENCE

30

FLOATING FARMS

Floating farms seem like an idea whose time has come. The UN predicts there will be two billion more people in the world by 2050, creating a demand for 70 per cent more food. By that time, 80 per cent of us will be living in cities, and most food we eat in urban areas is brought in. So farms moored on the sea or inland lakes close to cities would certainly reduce food miles. But how would they work? A new design by architect Javier Ponce of Forward Thinking Architecture shows a 24m-tall, three-tiered structure with solar panels on top to provide energy. The middle tier grows a variety of veg over an area of 51,000m2, using not soil but nutrients in liquid. These nutrients and plant matter would drop into the bottom layer to feed fish, which are farmed in an enclosed space. A single Smart Floating Farm measuring 350 x 200m would produce an estimated 8.1 tonnes of vegetables and 1.7 tonnes of fish a year. The units are designed to bolt together, which is handy since we’ll need YEARS AWAY a lot of them: Dubai, for instance, imports 11,000 tonnes of fruit and veg every day.

PHOTO: JAVIER PONCE, ROBERT BOSTON, DAVID BAILLOT/UC SAN DIEGO

THE BLACKEST EVER PAINT

31

Solar energy is our best option for filling in the void left by depleting fossil fuels, and a new kind of solar energy plant is popping up across Spain and the Middle East. Concentrated solar power (CSP) uses mirrors or lenses spread over a large area to focus sunlight on onto a much smaller, central collecting area. The problem with some early CSP technology, however, is that the collector materials waste a lot of energy because they can’t absorb it all. So how do you make a really energy-absorbent material? Make it really, really black! That’s exactly what scientists at the University of California San Diego are doing: their new YEARS AWAY nanoparticle-based coating mops up 90 per cent of the energy that hits it. 36

Vol. 7 Issue 12

Testing new ultra-absorbent coatings in the lab

32

A PAINKILLER MADE OF LIGHT

About 10 per cent of the world’s population suffers from long-lasting pain. Whether it’s back pain or a condition like arthritis, it can have a devastating impact, making sleeping, working and even the simplest daily activities complete agony. While the mainstay of treatment for chronic pain is opioid drugs like morphine, these drugs are addictive and have unpleasant side effects due to the body’s receptors for them being located in areas besides those where the pain occurs. Researchers at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri are searching for better ways to target chronic pain. Michael Bruchas’s team has fused light-sensitive proteins with opioid receptors to create hybrid molecules that can be activated - in mice - with light from LED implants. For now, he says, it’s more about exploring how pain signalling actually works. In the future, however, gene therapy approaches could be used to produce light-activated

Floating farms located close to big cities could reduce food miles considerably

33

COMPUTERS THAT SEE YOUR PAIN

Children can’t always explain how much pain they’re in, so health workers use pain scales, such as a series of faces showing different expressions. Now, US researchers have developed computer software that rates pain levels from facial expressions. In tests, computers YEARS AWAY were as good as nurses and parents at rating pain severity.

34

YOUR BRAINPRINT AS A PASSWORD

Could your brainwaves function as your computer password? A team at Binghamton University, New York, looked at the way volunteers’ brain signals changed as they read a list of acronyms. Each person reacted differently enough for the system to predict who was reading the list with 94 per cent YEARS AWAY accuracy. In future, a honed version of this idea could verify who is sitting at a PC. Brainwaves could be utilised as your computer passwords

proteins in specific nerve cells and direct their interactions with pain networks using light. Alternatively, the implants could switch on light-sensitive drugs that would only be activated in the painful region. “So you could have this implant in your spinal column and then we’d be able to shut off the pain response locally there,” YEARS AWAY says Bruchas. Pain receptors could be genetically modified to respond to light

What film idea w would y you e true? like to see come rue? Iff we’ e’re re ttal alki king ng a abo bou bo u ut tech te c no ch nolo logi lo g ess ttha gi ha at re ely e lyy o on n curr cu rrren entt so s lilid d sc scie ienc nce nc e, time ttim me e, mach ma ac chin ch ines in es e a are re e ou out o ut. I th ut hin nk I’’d lilike ke e any g gad a ge ad that a rrel at eliie el iies es get th o the on the wei eird rdne rd ness ne s and p ss pow ower of ow q an quan qu antu tum tu m ph phys ysic ys i s, ic s so a workin rk kin ng qu antu tu um co comp mput mp uter er or, bet ette terr st stilililll,l, quan a qu q an a tu um te tele lepo le port po rter rt er.. Al er Alth tho th ough ou g I cert ce ainl nlyy wo nl woul u dn ul dn’t ’t tur u n myy nos ose e c rtai up p at a tr trav aver av ersa s bl sa b e Lo Lore rent re n zi nt zzia zian an wo orm mho hole le e, lil ke w we e sa saw w in Inte ters rste telllllar. th f lm In the fi P OF JIM PRO JIM M AL-KHA ALL-KHA KHALIL L I LIL ysic Physic Phy sicss prof prof r e ess sor and BB BBC C pres present senter ne

Vol. 7 Issue 12

37

SCIENCE

35

NASA BUYING SPACE SHIPS

Despite the explosion of the unmanned SpaceX rocket heading for the International Space Station in June, commercial flights are expected to play an increasingly significant role in the US space programme. NASA has commissioned Boeing to provide a manned flight in 2017, and expects also to use SpaceX. US space technology has always been built commercially – the Space Shuttle, for instance, was constructed by Rockwell International – but off-the-shelf launches by commercial enterprises seem set to become increasingly common. YEARS AWAY

36

The future of spaceflight is probably private

THE FOUR-DAY WORKING WEEK

It turns out working less might mean more work gets done. A raft of studies have shown that with less time to work, less time is wasted – there’s less absenteeism and, in most cases, greater productivity. A more compact working week has also been shown to encourage employees to stay with companies for longer, and works as a recruitment tool. A shorter working week could even reduce global carbon emissions, with fewer commuters clogging the roads on certain days. In 2000, a 35-hour working week was introduced in France, and despite later revisions, our YEARS AWAY neighbours across the Channel still work far fewer hours than we do.

37

PLEISTOCENE PARK

PHOTO: NASA/BOEING X2, CORBIS, GETTY

Russian scientist Sergey Zimov hopes to recreate a 12,000-year-old environment in a wildlife park for herbivores like wild horse and bison, with extinct megafauna like mamm ma mmot mm oths hs rep eplace ced oder e n hyb hybr hy b id br ds. s. th l ce d byy mod Zimo Zi movv wi mo will study h imp mpac mp actt of tthe ac he a ani nima ni mals ma ls on y the e viro en ronm ro n e en ent nt a an nd c clim cl ma ate. onm

38

Vol. 7 Issue 12

A lump luumpp ooff aeeroogel geel baalaancced ed on a flo flowe wer, we er,, d mo demo de mons nsstr trat atin at inng ju justt hhow ow w lilig igh ght ht th the he mate materi ma rial ri ial al iiss

38

EEXTRA XTTRA X SENS NSES

Huma m ns hav a e lon n ng loo o ked fo or wa ays y to help thos th ose deprrived off a sense – Brrai aille ffo or th t e b in bl nd, d sig ign g langua g age ag for the h dea eaf. ea f And now, neuro oscie i nt n ist Da D vid d Ea E gleman a o h d has design igned d a vesst that h co o onverts sound ds iinto vibr b at a iions whi hich vib h the h wearerr c ca can a ffeel e . Voices and o othe ot h r ambient sounds are picked d up by y the w wearer’s ’ sma mart r phone, h which hi h th then usess an ap pp to transsfferr the e a est ssounds d to the h ve vi via a Bl B ueto ooth. h YEARS S AWAY

39

NEAR-PERFECT INSULATION

There e are two things the majority of peop ple in the Western world own: a refrrigerator and a mobile phone. And a aerogels could revolutionise the manu a ufacture of both. An aerogel is a material that’s full of tiny i h holes. Made by extracting all the liquid from a gel, it can be up to 95 per cent p pores. Those pores are so small be een 20 and 50 nanometres - that betwe gas m molecules can’t squeeze through them. h As a result, aerogels can’t transport heat, making for a material with incredible i insula lating properties. Alth hough the first silicon aerogels were develo d loped decades ago, early versions were s so brittle you could crush them betwe een your fingers. But as Mary Ann Meado or of the NASA Glenn Research

Center in Cleveland, Ohio explains, a new breed of polymer-based aerogels is now being developed that are far stronger, and that could be useful in everything from re-entry materials for spacecraft to common kitchen appliances. “If you want a higher efficiency refrigerator, one way to do it would be to increase the amount of insulation you use, but that would make the refrigerator bigger or the inside smaller,” says Meador. “Replacing conventional insulation with an aerogel will allow you to put maybe five times as much insulation in the same gap.” The unusual electrical properties of aerogels also make them suitable as lightweight antennae for mobile phones, satellites and aircraft. YEARS AWAY

Vol. 7 Issue 12

39

NATURE

Scan this QR Code for the audio reader 40

Vol. 7 Issue 12

It’s the male cassowary that takes responsibility for parenting, here showing a chick what’s good to eat on the rainforest floor. He will stay with the young for at least nine months

PHOTOS: CHRISTIAN ZIEGLER

A flightless gian nt with ha lethal kick, the southern cassowary has a pro odigious s appetite fo or fruit. By spreading g vast num mbers of seeds, it pla ays a crucia al role in its forestt home, says s Dominic Couzens

Vol. 7 Issue 12

41

NATURE

Cassowaries are able to pack a serious punch with their feet, and their sharp claws can cause deep punctures ABOVE: The cassowary inhabits the oldest surviving rainforests on Earth and would look perfectly at home in Jurassic Park

42

ew would describe birdwatching as hair-raising. The risk to life and limb is limited, and seldom likely to invoke a frisson of fear. Unless, that is, you are looking for a cassowary. If you don’t believe me, listen to this report of one encounter. “The hairs on the back of my neck went up and I almost imperceptibly sensed a presence on the trail behind me. Barely had I realised that it was a cassowary than it, too, became aware of me and charged, head down. I leapt up in the air with my arms akimbo screaming and yelling so that it quickly turned tail, but I was very shaken and decidedly nervous during the remainder of my time along that transect.” That isn’t your usual birding experience. But then the cassowary isn’t your usual bird. More than anything, it is huge.The largest of the three species, the southern cassowary stands up to 1.8m tall, is covered in shaggy black plumage that could be mistaken for fur and has the chunky body of a scrum-half.The neck is long and blue, a pinkish wattle hangs down from the neck and there is a horny helmet, or casque, on the head (see box, p46). The legs are enormous, with three toes – the foot of the female can measure more than 22cm from the heel to the tip of her middle toe – and the inner toe of each foot has a 10cm claw. Overall, it has the demeanour of one of the smaller, malign dinosaurs you see in the movies. “New Guineans don’t believe they are birds, but think of them as a different class of animal, and I tend to agree with

F

Vol. 7 Issue 12

them,” says David Bishop, a researcher in Australasia with 38 years’ experience who runs David Bishop Bird Tours, after recalling the encounter described above. But are cassowaries actually dangerous? There are many reports of them chasing people, though this is mainly out of curiosity, especially in places where they are used to humans or are even offered food.Yet the birds can turn unpredictable when they feel hunted or threatened. Cassowaries are able to pack a serious punch with their feet, and their sharp claws can cause deep punctures to the flesh.There has been one human fatality recorded from Australia (in 1926, two brothers tried to bludgeon a cassowary with clubs, and came off worse) and an unknown number from the island of New Guinea. Male birds incubate the lurid green eggs for over 40 days

Young birds stroll past Cassowary House in Kuranda

A parent’s long, almost fur-like feathers make a snug shawl for this chick

“We are all taught to be ‘cass-o-wary’ so as to be aware of the potential danger,” commented Trish and Andrew Forsyth, who together run Daintree Birdwatching in the Queensland Wet Tropics. “Most encounters involve just quietly watching this beautiful bird picking up a fruit, completely oblivious to or ambivalent about our presence. When they turn and walk away, they just disappear into the trees, despite their great size.”

Chicks have striped down to provide camouflage

Vanishing act Melting into and out of the forest seems to be a cassowary trademark, mentioned by many observers. Some people are spooked by it, while others are spellbound. “They are so elegant and quiet as they float through the forest, despite their impressive size, like forest spirits,” says photographer Christian Ziegler, who took the photographs here. “You really feel that this is their home, the habitat they are perfectly adapted for.” If there is one notable feature about cassowary ecology, it is the intimate relationship this giant bird has with its rainforest habitat.The link is thought to be almost unimaginably ancient.The rainforests of Queensland are the oldest in the world, dating back in an unbroken evolutionary chain to the time when the southern continents were linked together in the super-continent Gondwana (see box, pg44).They have grown here for some 100 million years. Cassowaries, too, arise from

Single parent

absent mothers In cassowaries it is always the male that builds the nest, incubates the eggs and looks after the hatched young for about nine months, or sometimes over a year. Females, meanwhile, remain with the mate until hatching and then depart, sometimes mating immediately with another male. “Parental care is usually thought to be a function of which sex manages to get its way in terms of maximising its reproductive success,” says scientist David Westcott. “The ultimate trade-off in cassowaries is unknown, but possibly it revolves around females gaining the opportunity for laying more eggs each season and for males to be able to obtain access to females. Males can exert some control over paternity by ensuring that a female is escorted when she is receptive.” Vol. 7 Issue 12

43

NATURE

The ancient forests of gondwana Scientists have deduced the great age of Gondwana’s rainforests partly due to the extraordinary number of primitive plants found in them. In the Queensland Wet Tropics, for example, no fewer than 12 of the 19 most primitive families of flowering plants occur, an exceptionally high percentage. Overall, there are 3,000 species of vascular plants in the area, of which 576 species – including two entire plant families – are found nowhere else on Earth. Two-thirds of all Australia’s ferns occur here, as well as twofifths of its conifers and a fifth of its cycads (ancient, slow-growing plants that look much the same as they did in the Jurassic period). The region’s plants also include some that are related to the fossil forerunners of eucalyptus, a group that later came to dominate the continent.

ancient stock.They are related to the other large flightless birds of the world – the ostrich, emu, rheas and kiwis, as well as the extinct moa of New Zealand and elephant bird of Africa – part of a group called the Palaeognathae (which also includes the South American tinamous, which can fly).They differ from all other birds in details of their skeleton and palate, including the lack of keel on the sternum, and there is some evidence that the earliest forms ran around in the Cretaceous period, in the time of the dinosaurs. Nobody knows when exactly the cassowaries arose, but there is no doubt that they are antiques in the rainforest décor.They are not, however, gathering dust in any ecological corner. In fact, their function is critical as the primary dispersers of the fruits and seeds of the forest. By a quirk of evolution, they are the largest animals in the habitat. In contrast with every other landmass, Australasia lacks all the usual large herbivores or omnivores that might compete with cassowaries, as well as any large predators that might eat the birds or their eggs. There are kangaroos, but none approach the size of these large birds; indeed one of the main competitors, the musky

Their function is critical as THE primary dispersers of the fruits and seeds of the forest 44

Vol. 7 Issue 12

rat-kangaroo, is smaller than a cat, and a cassowary could kick it if it so wished. There are no native cows, antelopes or primates. This leaves the cassowary as the undisputed star of the dispersal game. It is the rainforest harvester, feeding on a wide variety of plants – at least 238 species of nuts and fruits are recorded in the diet – and the rainforest planter, spattering seeds abroad within its copious dung. Its appetite is startling. One of its party tricks, so to speak, is to swallow bananas whole, skin and all.

Walking tall “The average cassowary spends much of its day walking and looking for fruit,” says David Westcott, a scientist at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, who has been studying the birds for many years. “When fruits are abundant they don’t have much trouble, but at other times they will travel a lot, searching for fruiting trees or visiting trees they know of.” A cassowary will typically walk 20 –30km in the course of a single day. One study suggests that, on average, a seed that enters a cassowary gut will be moved 337m. Westcott’s research has shown that cassowaries have distinct favourites, and that they are particularly fond of fruits that are reliable. Species that fruit year-round are found in dung in much higher proportions than would be expected by their abundance, even during the peak season

This youngster has outgrown its baby stripes and is now gaining tough, shaggy body feathers like those of adults

Vehicles pose a serious threat – and roads also fragment habitat

Cassowaries roam widely, sometimes in open areas

Birds and plants have inhabited the Queensland rainforests for millions of years, and grown sweetly co-dependent when there are plenty of other species on offer. Studies have also uncovered a definite preference for very large fruits, taking a much higher proportion than would be expected by random fruit-eating. On the whole, though, it is the variety that is most striking. And that is good for the health of the forest as a whole, because it means that many species are spread liberally.The Queensland Wet Tropics Management Authority estimates that 70 –100 plant species may lean heavily on cassowaries to disperse them. It isn’t just a question of physical dispersal, either. Passing through the gut of a cassowary helps many seeds to germinate. “In some cases it’s the increased temperature,” says Westcott. “In others it’s the chemical or physical damage done to the seeds’ exterior that promotes germination, or the bacterial activity that the seed is exposed to in the gut, or the dung.” Birds and plants have thus inhabited the Queensland rainforests for millions of years, and grown sweetly codependent. But not everything in the cassowary-planted garden is rosy.The beautiful relationship has begun to be soured by interference from outside. It is human interference, of course.When is it not? For a start, the Queensland rainforests have shrunk to about a quarter of their original size, though these days a healthy acreage lies inside protected national parks. In many areas, the bird is under pressure. Vol. 7 Issue 12

45

NATURE Within a few hours of hatching, chicks are able to walk and feed themselves

These young chicks have a ‘proto-wattle’ on the neck and a horny area where their casque will grow

Fancy headgear casques

Sue Gregory runs Cassowary House guest lodge near Kuranda in Queensland with her husband Phil.Their garden have been, for many years, the most reliable place on the planet to see a wild cassowary, but it’s no sanctuary. “There’s a high threat from feral dogs,” she says. “We had two of our chicks killed by a rogue pet dog a couple of years ago down in the adjacent suburbs.” Another potential problem is feral pigs, descended from escaped or released domestic animals and classified as a pest in Queensland. The pigs not only compete with the birds for food, but they could also destroy their exposed nest sites. And some cassowaries have recently been found to be suffering from avian influenza, perhaps because they are under stress from the nearby human population. But where a significant population occurs near people, roads are the greatest problem, as Sue Gregory confirms: “Roadkill is a major cause of mortality.” A study by Christopher Kofron for the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service revealed that, of 110 recorded cassowary deaths between 1986 and 2004, 55 per cent were caused by vehicle strikes. According to the Queensland Department of Environment and the Garners Beach Cassowary Rehabilitation Centre, there were 104 cassowary deaths from vehicle strikes between 1992 and January 2014. The roads themselves also fragment the cassowaries’ habitat, interfering with their territories and foraging routines. Despite its official listing as endangered in

It would be a disaster IF QueenSland’s Charismatic avian ‘dinosaur’ disappeared. 46

Vol. 7 Issue 12

The cassowary’s casque is a horny extension on top of its head that may be 17cm tall. It is somewhat spongy in texture and covered by a layer of keratin. But what is it for? Nobody is quite sure. Female cassowaries are dominant, so the fact that they have larger casques, and that the structures take three years or more to develop, suggests that their size might reflect status. But there are also other theories. When cassowaries run through forests they may do so head down, leading to the possibility that the casque acts as a shock absorber against low branches and foliage. Another possibility is that it might be used for turning over soil, though few observations of feeding support this. An intriguing new idea is that a casque might be used in vocal communication, detecting the very-low-frequency booming sounds cassowaries make which are barely audible to humans.

Australia, however, many cassowary watchers feel the bird will be around 50 years from now, with the proviso that, as the Gregorys put it, “The state doesn’t start messing with national-park boundaries and inappropriate usages, something we sadly can’t take for granted these days”. It would be a disaster if Queensland’s charismatic avian ‘dinosaur’ were to disappear, not just for the bird but for the forest, which would suffer a huge loss of biodiversity. And the birding would become a great deal tamer. DOMINIC COUZENS is a writer and birder who visited Queensland to watch cassowaries in 2007 and survived to tell the tale. Visit www.birdwords.co.uk for more information.

SCIENCE

10

THINGS YOUR FACE SAYS ABOUT YOU

The eyes may be the window to your soul but your face, features and complexion give away all sorts of information about you. Christian Jarrett investigates

PHOTO: GETTY X3, OLIVER GARROD/UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW, DEANS CARDS X3/DEANSCARDS.COM, SHUTTERSTOCK

1

How much cholesterol you have

“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fittest of them all?” Asking this very question might become a commonplace occurrence following the announcement this summer that a mirror is in development that will assess the e health of anyone who looks into it. The Wize Mirror is being developed by researchers from seven European countries, coordinated by the National Research Council of Italy. The device uses five compact cameras and a 3D scanner to measure facial skin tone, the amount of fat on the face and facial expressions. It also analyses breath. Based on this data, the mirror estimates factors such as cholesterol levels, glucose levels, anaemia, weight gain and stress. If you’re looking a little run-down, the idea is the mirror will provide you with tailored health advice to get fit again. Right now, the mirror is still only at a prototype stage. For a more immediate estimate of your longevity, find some old photos of yourself and see if you’re smiling. A recent analysis of baseball photos in a 1952 register found that of the players who’d since died, those pictured with a genuine smile had lived to age 80, on average, compared to an average age of 73 among the non-smilers.

How trustworthy you are We routinely make assumptions about each other’s traits based on facial appearance. Sometimes these inferences are made quickly, suggesting that we can gather significant clues in a split second. Generally, faces that are babyish (think less pointy, with a high forehead) are rated as more trustworthy. Other face-based character assumptions appear at first to be tied to specific facial features, but the reality is more complicated. For example, there’s evidence that men with brown eyes are perceived to be more dominant than men with blue eyes. But when a blue-eyed man dons brown contact lenses, this does nothing to increase how dominant he appears to strangers. This

2

Baseball players who smiled on their photos lived longer than those who didn’t

“Men with brown eyes are perceived to be more dominant than men with blue eyes” 48

Vol. 7 Issue 12

suggests there’s something else about brown-eyed men that creates an impression of dominance. There’s some recent evidence that we can overcome the personality signals given off by our static facial structure, simply by pulling the right facial expressions. Psychologists call this ‘social camouflaging’ and it was demonstrated in a study published last year by researchers at the University of Glasgow. An animated face morphed to look optimally untrustworthy based on its basic structure was rendered trustworthy by programming it to pull a facial expression that involved raising the lips and cheeks. “Social camouflage of dominance and trustworthiness is probably commonplace in everyday interactions,” the researchers explain.

Brown-eyed men are viewed as more dominant than their blue-eyed friends

What mood you’re in

3

muscles in the face. The researchers then presented Since Charles Darwin first compared participants from a Western or an East Asian background the emotional displays of humans with these avatars showing random combinations of and animals, it’s been argued by facial muscle movements, and the participants had to many experts that humans exhibit say when they recognised one of the six basic six basic emotions via six emotions. There were differences in how the core facial expressions: Westerners and East Asians responded – for happiness, surprise, example, the East Asians were a lot less fear, disgust, anger consistent in how they categorised some and sadness. emotions (especially surprise, fear, disgust No-one disputes and anger), and saw movements of the that facial movements convey what eyes as more important for interpreting we’re feeling, but there is some debate emotional intensity. over the cultural universality of the Quoting Darwin, the researchers say: emotional expressions. “Although some basic facial expressions At the recent Royal Society Face Facts such as fear and disgust originally served as exhibition, researchers from the University an adaptive function when humans ‘existed in of Glasgow presented their evidence a much lower and animal-like condition’, facial that the interpretation of emotional facial expression signals have since evolved and expressions is not, in fact, universal. They diversified to serve the primary role of used a unique 3D computer system emotion communication during to create digital avatars that could East Asian people tend to rely more on eye movements when interpreting expressions social interaction.” independently manipulate all 42

4

“No-one disputes that facial movements convey what we’re feeling, but there is some debate over the cultural universality of the emotional expressions”

How well Ho ell y fight you fi t

The shape off your T y fface is related to your fighting g g prowess – if you’re a man. Psychologists P h l gi made d this hi discoveryy in 2014 after analysing photographs off over 200 mixed martial artists in the Ultimate Fig ghting gC Championship (UFC). Male fighters with faces that were widerr relative to their length te ended to win more fi fights, and the association held d even after f ffactoring g out the influence of body sizze. The result chimes with past research linking fac cial width with aggression. What’s more, it seems w we iintuitively ii l k know that h this facial characteristic is a marker of pugilistic g earchers manipulated prowess. When the rese p fighters’ photos to make e their ffaces appear wider, this led observerss to rate the fighters g as more deadly. acial cue to fi fighting Another temporary fa ability is a smile. Acrosss the h animal i l kingdom, ki gd iit’s ’ be used as a signal common for a smile to b g off submission. Consistent with this, a 2013 study of UFC fighters publishe ed in the journal Emotion miled at a p pre-match found that those who sm y to lose the ensuing face-off were more likely confrontation. “Smiles a appear to play a unique W Who’ll win this fight? g ? The role in physical confronttations, as a sign g of o odds are on the guy with i thee wider de face… ace a person’s reduced phyysical dominance,” the researchers say. VVol.l 7 Issue I 12

49

SCIENCE

If you concentrate on someone’s mouth movements, you’ll have more success in deciphering their emotional state

What you’re reacting to

PHOTO: GETTY, UC SAN DIEGO SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM, SHUTTERSTOCK

5

Do you think you could tell what had just happened to someone from a short, silent video of their facial reaction? Specifically, could you tell whether they’d been told a joke, heard a sad story, received a compliment or been made to wait for five minutes? This is exactly the challenge that University of Nottingham psychologists gave their participants for a study published in 2012, which they say was a more realistic test of the way we interpret each other’s facial expressions than simply naming the emotion on display. The participants averaged around 60 per cent accuracy – not great, but if they’d just guessed each time, their accuracy would only have been 25 per cent. Accuracy was especially high (90 per cent on average) for recognising when someone had been made to wait. In general, participants who were more accurate tended to focus more on the mouth region. The researchers say: “From observing just a few seconds of a person’s reaction, it appears we can gauge what kind of event might have happened to that individual with considerable success.”

Whether you’re arty or scientific

6

Many of us have a side of our face that we prefer, and that we turn to face the camera for photos. However, an analysis of thousands of university academics’ homepage photos suggests there’s more to this than vanity. Engineers, mathematicians and chemists more often posed with their right cheek forward, while arts scholars and psychologists more often posed with their left cheek showing. There was also a gender difference, with female academics more likely to display a greater amount of their left cheek.

The research, led by Owen Churches at the University of South Australia (incidentally, his web photo shows more right cheek) says that the findings were consistent with past work suggesting that more emotionally expressive people tend to pose with the left cheek on display, and that naive observers assume right-cheek posers are more scientific. “Academics be warned,” the research concluded. “We present ourselves to our students and colleagues in our profile pictures, and the way we do so may reveal more about ourselves than we think.”

“There was a gender difference, with female academics more likely to display a greater amount of their left cheek” 50

Vol. 7 Issue 12

What lifestyle you lead Some people certainly seem to have more ‘lived-in’ faces than others. This year, researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences elaborated on this principle, reporting that they’d used computer imagery to generate 3D models of over 300 people’s faces (aged 17 to 77), and that they’d used these models to look for correlations between specific facial features and age. For example, older people tended to have wider noses and more sloping eyes. Some people had faces that were ‘young’ for their age based on these markers, with any two people of the same chronological age differing by around six ‘face years’ on average. Facial age correlated more strongly with objective markers of health, such as cholesterol levels, than with chronological age – showing that a person’s lifestyle is indeed written in their face.

7

8 In the picture on the left the boy is suffering ongoing pain, on the right he is suffering transient pain – the difference in his facial expression is clearly visible

How much pain you’re in

It’s often difficult for people to articulate their pain, especially children. Thankfully, researchers at the University of California recently announced that they’ve created a computer algorithm that decodes videos of children’s changing facial expressions to determine how much pain they’re in. The algorithm was tested on children aged five to 18 who were recovering from appendix surgery, and its estimates of their pain correlated well with their self-reports – better, in fact, than the estimates made by nurses. An advantage of this technique is that it could provide a continuous measure of a patient’s pain. Scheduled assessments, by contrast, can miss those times when a patient is suffering the most. Moreover, the computer program is not biased by a patient’s age, gender or ethnicity, and could be used for children who are too young to communicate how much pain they’re in.

What you eat

10 While participants could not distinguish politicians’ affiliation, their perceptions were then used to create ‘perfect’ Labour and Conservative MPs (pictured on the left and right respectively)

9

Your sexuality

Your face gives away a lot – but not your political leaning. Researchers tested this in 2011 when they asked 19 subjects to look at the faces of 90 unfamiliar backbench male British MPs and to say whether they were from the Labour or the Conservative party (using a rating scale to show how confident they were in their guesses). The results showed the participants were unable to judge the MPs’ affiliations from their faces. MPs with beards or glasses were excluded in case these were used as cues. Sexual orientation is another matter. Research from 2008 by Tufts University found that a 50 millisecond glimpse of 90 men’s faces was enough for undergrad students to judge their sexuality (homosexual or heterosexual) with an accuracy of 57 per cent, which is superior to chance. “The rapid and accurate perception of male sexual orientation may be another symptom of a fast and efficient cognitive mechanism for perceiving the characteristics of others,” the researchers say.

If someone has an orange glow, it’s tempting to assume they’ve been spending too much time on a sunbed. In fact, a person’s diet – specifically the consumption of carotenoid-rich fruit and veg such as carrots – can also affect their skin in a similar way, making it appear more yellow. In 2014, psychologists from the University of Leeds and the University of St Andrews showed that faces made more yellow through diet were rated more attractive by observers than the same faces with an equivalent suntan. It’s thought that skin turned yellow through diet is attractive because it’s a sign the person is in good health.

Low carotenoid

High caroteno

id

Low melanin

High melanin

CHRISTIAN JARRETT is a psychologist and the author of Great Myths Of The Brain Vol. 7 Issue 12

51

ILLUSTRATOR: DANNY ALLISON

SCIENCE

Scan this QR Code for the audio reader 52

Vol. 7 Issue 12

TUNE IN TO

TREATMENT FM Music moves us to tears and drives us to dance. But as well as affecting our moods, it can also have a positive impact on our health. In fact, the more we learn about the power of music, the more applications we discover for it, as Zoe Cormier explains… usic is medicinal. You might expect a statement like this to come from someone in a drumming circle, a chanting crystal healer or sleazy record-label executive. But the idea that music can be used to heal the mind is increasingly grounded in scientific evidence – not theory. Recent studies show how people coping with Parkinson’s can learn to walk more easily when rhythms assist their gait. Other research suggests autistic children find social interactions become easier when accompanied by music, and that less anaesthetic is required when music is played to spinal surgery patients. Perhaps most astoundingly, premature babies gain weight quicker when they can hear music. Scientific studies – ranging from investigations of the brain at a cellular level, to psychiatric assessments of schizophrenics, to linguistic scores in stroke patients – are all leading to the same conclusion: music isn’t just a form of entertainment, it is evolutionarily significant. And the more we learn about the impact of music on the brain, the more we understand how it can be employed as a therapeutic intervention.

M

So much to learn “I originally trained as a music therapist but when I went into practice 15 years ago, I found that so little formal research had been done on how or why it works,” says Prof Christian Gold of the Grieg Academy Department of Music at the University of Bergen in Norway. Gold studies how music therapy can help people with a wide variety of conditions,

ranging from learning disabilities to schizophrenia and dementia. “I had planned to go back into clinical practice after spending a few years in research but 15 years later, I’m still researching. There’s just so much to learn.” Perhaps the most familiar notion of the power of music is the claim that listening to Mozart is good for your brain. But that only tells half the story. Listening to classical music (or any kind of music, for that matter) does have quantifiable impacts on aspects of cognition, such as visual puzzle solving. However, everything you do – solving puzzles, playing sports, painting landscapes – has an impact on your brain. But nothing seems to anatomically, chemically and beneficially alter your brain the way music can. The grey matter, which is the outer layer of the brain that contains the synapses – the ends of the neurones where signals are relayed – thickens with musical training. Furthermore, the cerebellum, which is the wrinkly bulb at the back of the brain that’s crucial for balance, movement and motor control, is bigger in pianists. Neuroscientists have documented many other anatomical changes that come with musical experience but the most profound is thought to be the fact that the corpus callosum – a band of nerve fibres that connect the left and right hemispheres to each other – thickens. No-one is quite sure what helping the two sides of the brain to communicate with each other accomplishes, but 20 years after this discovery, nobody has found anything else that does this.

Vol. 7 Issue 12

53

PHOTO: PRESS ASSOCIAITON, SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY, LEBRECHT MUSIC & ARTS, FLPA, ISTOCK

What’s more, MRI scans and EEG recordings show that playing – or even just listening to – music engages almost every region of the brain. From top to bottom, front to back, every part of the brain is involved in the process. The newest parts of the brain, such as the frontal cortex, which is associated with higher thinking, tune in. Older structures in the middle, such as the hippocampus (crucial for memory formation) and the amygdala (central to fear and emotion), are also stimulated by the sound. As are even older parts of the brain, such as the cerebellum. Even the brainstem, the most prehistoric part, responds to music – but not to spoken language. As far as we know, nothing engages as many parts of the brain as music, which suggests that it might have played an important role in our evolution.

Lost for words What came first: language or music? Neuroscientists – including Steven Pinker – once 54

Vol. 7 Issue 12

WHY MUSIC MAKES US TINGLE Sound can cause physical reactions in powerful ways Purring cats relax us and explosions shock us. But music can do something even more extraordinary: exhilarate us. And it’s only in the last 15 years that neuroscientists have Get tingles up your spine been able to reveal why. For one, listening to music when listening to Nickelback? Thank dopamine for that – just can stimulate ancient parts of the brain involved in don’t tell anyone about it reward and pleasure. But more importantly, a complex sequence of events result in the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine by a part of the brain called the nucleus accumbens. The nucleus accumbens releases this pleasure chemical in response to sex, drugs and music, but not to random noises. Once flushed into the bloodstream, dopamine can make tingle us from the top of our heads to the tips of our toes. What’s more, music also triggers the release of other neurotransmitters such as endorphins, serotonin and vasopressin. Music is an auditory chemical cocktail – with no hangover.

BEATS FOR BEASTIES Do animals make music? It’s a difficult to t say for certain. Many animals use complex p forms of communication, but does that q qualify y as music? MICE A study published earlier this year in the journal Frontiers In Behavioral Neuroscience found that male mice ‘sing’ in ultrasonic frequencies (sounds too high for our ears to detect) to attract females. What’s more, the researchers from Duke University found that the rodents produce more complex calls to attract females they have never met but whom they have sensed by smelling traces of their urine.

Composer Vissarion Shebalin lost language, but still wrote five symphonies

thought that language was the crucial skill on the CV of the human brain and the characteristic that set us apart from other animals. He called music ‘auditory cheesecake’ – meaning that we like structured noises because they exploit the same networks in our brains that are built to process grammar, prosody and other speech patterns. But not only does music engage parts of the brain that are not stimulated by language, it is possible to be musical and completely non-verbal. Aphasia – the loss of speech comprehension or production – frequently occurs following a stroke and can leave many people unable to speak and thus feeling isolated and depressed. Yet often those who can’t speak can still appreciate and create music. The most famous example of this is the Russian composer Vissarion Shebalin (1902-1963) who developed aphasia after a series of strokes. He couldn’t speak, yet he could still craft entire symphonies, completing his fifth and final one just three months before his death. Worldwide, 15 million people suffer strokes every year and speech difficulties are one of the most common outcomes. Therapists in the 1940s began developing a technique known as melodic intonation therapy – using melodies and singing to help stroke victims regain

“MRI and EEG scans show that playing - or even listening to – music engages almost every region on the brain”

GIBBONS Most animals vocalise in some way. But to be considered musical, scientists argue, the animals need to display vocal learning: they must have to learn how to sing in a specific way throughout their lives. Gibbons certainly do: male and female pairs duet loudly every morning to defend their territory. And it’s a skill they have to learn: a 2013 study described how gibbon mothers teach their daughters to sing.

WHALES Until 1967, humans had no idea that whales make complex songs with phrases, repetitions and codas. Now we know that whale songs change over time and vary between populations, indicating that whales have culture. We can also use whale song to identify new species. This year, in Marine Mammal Science, scientists described a recording from Antarctica, which could be from a species of beaked whale unknown to science.

NIGHTINGALES If any species of animal produces ‘true music’, it’s most likely to be a bird: no other class of creatures produce sonic compositions that are so varied – or so sweet. Birds use songs to defend territory, attract mates, practise riffs and show off. In 1924 a nightingale spontaneously joined cellist Beatrice Harrison for the world’s first outdoor broadcast for an impromptu duet. (Listen here: bit.ly/1MKTuG7)

COCKATOOS It’s undeniable that animals create complex, meaningful noises. But do they have rhythm? Neuroscientist Ani Patel claimed only humans can keep a beat. And he was proved wrong. Snowball – tested in his lab – bopped to Michael Jackson, Backstreet Boys and Queen in perfect time, even when the tempo was sped up or slowed down. The cockatoo became the first animal immortalised in a scientific paper for his groove. Vol. 7 Issue 12

55

Research suggests that autistic children find social interaction easier when accompanied by music

speech. The idea made sense; after all, young children learn the alphabet through song and ‘motherese’ – the sing-song language that parents coo to their babies that is found in every culture on Earth. Neuroscientists theorised in the 1970s that when a stroke damages areas in the left hemisphere of the brain that are crucial for language – in particular, Broca’s area – musical training can cause regions on the undamaged right hemisphere to take on the task of producing speech instead. Since then countless studies have documented how music can aid speech recovery. The highest profile example of this is probably US congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. She was shot in the head in 2011 but survived the attempted assassination. She credits music therapy for helping her regain the ability to read, write and speak. “Although it’s still an open question over what aspects of music are important – rhythmic or melodic – there is growing evidence that melodic intonation therapy can help people with aphasia,” says Dr Teppo Särkämö of the University of Helsinki. Through examining MRI scans of stroke patients he has shown not only that music aids in language recovery, but actually induces visible changes in a variety of brain structures after just six months of treatment. In 2008, Särkämö found that of 54 stroke patients, those given musical recordings improved in their linguistic capacities to a greater degree than patients given audio books. Music aided language recovery better than language itself. “One of the things that makes music so interesting is that it’s pleasant but at the same time cognitively demanding,” says Särkämö. “This is one of the few

ANCIENT MUSIC

PH HOTOS: PRESS ASSOCIAITON, GETTY, CORBIS, STR NEWS / REUTERS

SCIENCE

56

THE WORLD’S OLDEST INSTRUMENT The 43,000-year-old Divje Babe flute is one of the oldest human creations ever found. It’s an 11cm-long piece of a bear’s femur, with two fingertip-sized holes spaced 3.5cm apart. Due to its similiarity to modern wind instruments, it was dubbed the ‘Neanderthal flute’ by the archaeologists who found it in Slovenia in 1995. Reconstructions indicate it could play the musical scale.

Vol. 7 Issue 12 Vol

THE WORLD’S OLDEST AUDITORIUM UD

THE WORLD’S OLDEST SONG

Prehisttoric cave art in Arcy-sur-Cure, e, dated to 30,000 years old, is visually France imp presssive. But to add to this, acoustic l is shows that the scenes depicting analys bison, horses and hunting were frequently p d in subterranean areas that have the painted b best ac coustic properties for resonance and rreverbe beration. This suggests they were used as the bac ckdrop to musical performances, like an ornamented concert hall.

A Sumerian hymn (pictured right), inscribed onto clay tablets in Mesopotamia and recovered in Syria in the 1950s, has been estimated to be 3,400 years old, making it the oldest written song. However, to call it the ‘oldest song’ is a bit of a misnomer: epic ballads were passed on orally for thousands of years before the invention of writing.

therapeutic interventions we have that is both soothing as well as challenging.” Music can also be used to help patients who have never been able to speak in the first place, such as people with Rett syndrome. “Because they don’t tend to speak at all, we struggle to understand what they may be thinking or feeling,” says Gold, whose own research has measured how music stimulates the brainstems of people with Rett syndrome. “This seems to be an important indicator of the effects that music therapy may be having on them – relaxation or excitement.” Severe impairments such as Rett sysndrome are not the only childhood conditions that music therapists target: 12 per cent of clinical work with autistic

children in the UK involves music in some way, most commonly in helping them interact with others. “It makes sense because music is ultimately about social interactions,” says Gold. “In musical communication, if you improvise with somebody, there are subtle adjustments you have to make when you interact with them. Those social exchanges are the most important part of most forms of music therapy.” Humans are social creatures that require social contact. Few experiences can be more isolating than the impairments of ageing, so it’s not surprising that this is one of the oldest and most established areas of research in music therapy. The effects of music therapy continue to surprise

T WORLD’S THE OLDEST SHEET O MUSIC M En ngraved onto a marble olumn in Turkey by the co ancient n Greeks around 100AD, the Seikilos Epitaph 10 (pictured right) is the oldest musical score complete o known. kn Older fragments of sheet music have been recovered but only this piece rettains the melody and lyrics, including this sentiment: c you live, shine/Have “While W no grief at all/Life exists only while.” a short s

THE WORLD’S OLDEST XYLLOPHONE This a ancient instrument is made from crafted stones hat make a resonant noise when struck, and has been th at m d da ated to between 2500BC and 8000BC. In one French c ca ave system, however, there could be an even older ‘‘x xylophone’. p Ochre markings placed on stalagmites a ap ppear a to pinpoint spots that produce different notes wh hen struck. What’s more, the pillars are dented on the marks s, and around them lie shards of bone, presumably c ch hipped p off prehistoric drumsticks.

VVol. ol 7 Issue 12 1

57

SCIENCE

PHOTOS: FOZI DESIGN, SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Take, for example, the tremors and mobility problems that come with Parkinson’s: “People with disorders that cause tremors tend to fall. Though medication can help with the tremors, there is little that can be done to help them regain the ability to walk,” says Prof Simone Dalla Bella from the University of Montpellier. With metronomes and percussive instruments, he studies how melodic gait therapy can help Parkinson’s sufferers walk more steadily. Similar to the way that soldiers learn to march to a drumbeat, Parkinson’s sufferers can improve their walking with the help of a rhythm. “The fascinating thing about this therapy is that the benefits are not confined to gait – we also see improvements in things like motor control,” says Dalla Bella. “Patients who are given auditory cue training, for example, can greatly improve in their perception of and ability to produce speech.” The mechanism by which music helps Parkinson’s patients appears to lie in a region of the brain called the nucleus accumbens. This is the same region that releases dopamine – the neurotransmitter associated with pleasure – in response to chemical stimulants like drugs, or physical stimulants like sex. Parkinson’s is characterised by an impairment of the connections between a cluster of brain structures called the basal ganglia and other regions due to a lack of dopamine. So it makes sense, says Dalla Bella, that if music can trigger the release of dopamine in that region, it would be helpful.

Lost Chord’s founder Helena Muller helps dementia patients to enjoy live music

Parkinson’s causes parts of the brain to degenerate 58

Vol. 7 Issue 12

Musical memories Of all the afflictions of old age, none could be more isolating than Alzheimer’s: memories are left behind, loved ones are forgotten and whole identities are gradually lost. More than 25 million people in the UK are affected, by knowing somebody who has dementia. “We don’t have a cure for Alzheimer’s and there is no cure on the horizon: we need to work on ways to make the sufferers’ lives, and the lives of their carers, easier,” says psychologist Dr Victoria Williamson of

“People regularly describe the Lost Chord memory cafes as their lifeline. People can revert back to being a couple again rather than carer and person with dementia. The benefits gained by the people with dementia is immeasurable. To observe people who are withdrawn and isolated come out of their shell and engage by singing and dancing is tangible, powerful and emotional for all to see,” says the Alzheimer’s Society. “The choir at the Lost Chord memory cafe is one of the few things that makes him smile,” says Marion Jones, whose husband has severe Alzheimer’s. The deep hold that music can have in our memories is perhaps best exemplified at events like the Lost Chord memory cafes. Even when people with advanced-stage dementia can’t remember the names of their children, they can recall lyrics from the songs of their childhood. Recent neurological studies have verified and scrutinised this, with important findings.

“Patients who are given auditory cue training, for example, can greatly improve their ability to speak”

the University of Sheffield, author of You Are The Music. “Music is not a pill or a vitamin or a cure, but it can provide powerful support, alleviating real symptoms like depression and anxiety. There is no reason not to invest in providing music to as many people living in care homes as possible.” After spending many years in the lab studying musical memory, Williamson began working with the charity Lost Chord. Lost Chord was set up in 1999 by Helena Muller to provide live music in residential care homes for people with dementia.

“It is important that we work to provide live music to people in care homes, and not simply give them iPods to sedate them,” says Williamson. “Why would an isolating condition be alleviated by an isolating device?” This brings us back to what music, ultimately, is: a form of social navigation via sound. As it involves so many ancient brain regions, and can be used in so many therapeutic ways, is music something we are ‘hardwired’ for? “I used to think so – but the more I learn about music, the more I think it’s not something we inherited: I think it is an invention. Yes, our brains are pre-programmed to be able to produce music. But music didn’t make us – we made it,” says Williamson. “We began making music because it fulfilled so many useful purposes: communication, social bonding, teamwork, sexual attraction. It’s a ball we just can’t put down. This is the best invention we ever came up with.”

ZOE CORMIER is a freelance science writer and author of Sex, Drugs & Rock ‘N’ Roll: The Science Of Hedonism Vol. 7 Issue 12

59

DANNY DAY © BBC WORLDWIDE 2015

A cabin on Erik Salitan’s property in Wiseman, AK

Life

Below Zero

The icy adventures continue for the series’ hardy characters, racing to prepare for their survival as the oncoming winter freeze begins to take hold in Alaska

Vol. 7 Issue 12

61

DANIEL ESPY © BBC WORLDWIDE 2015

NATURE

Andy Bassich prepares his dogs to go mushing near his home in Calico Bluff, AK

he Life Below Zero series follows the stories of hard-working people living off the grid miles from the nearest road. With temperatures plummeting and limited daylight, it’s a battle to secure the last of available resources. Nature’s unpredictability threatens the mental and physical strength of these Alaskans as they seek to protect the future of their remote livelihoods. To survive the bitter cold they must stay ahead by building, acquiring essential food sources, and gathering from the land before the dark winter takes hold. It’s time to put the summer of preparation to the test as the battle to survive the extreme winter months begins. Erik and his new wife Martha return to their home in Wiseman after a summer of guiding to hunker down, survive through the winter and maintain their subsistence lifestyle. After a year of financial hardships, Sue struggles with her future in Kavik as she stocks her freezer and deals with the resurgence of an old injury. And with newly inherited land, the Hailstones plan for their future with hopes of expanding their remote hunting, trapping and fishing grounds. Andy and Kate battle the harsh and changing landscape on the Yukon River as they continue to work towards sustaining an efficient life in the bush. Meanwhile, Glenn relies only on himself to maintain his primitive remote lifestyle by securing his most basic needs. If these Alaskans don’t plan it right, they might not make it to spring.

T

62

Vol. 7 Issue 12

Q&A with Sue Aikens  If it hurts, don’t think about it Sue lives 500 miles from the nearest city and 80 miles from the closest road. She is the warden of Kavik River Camp that she also calls home. She has been in Alaska for 30 years and loves to share the unique experience of her camp with people during hunting season. What does your diet consist of?

My diet is pretty varied. In winter I eat meat and fish that I have harvested. Fresh veg and fruit are not possible from September through June of the following year so I eat frozen or dehydrated fruit and veggies. I use shelf stable milk products or dehydrated. I eat what I want, when I want, and seldom ask myself if it will make my booty look fat in my jeans. Why did you decide to move to such a remote location?

I had been known for living remotely and off the grid in other capacities and this was a move facilitated by an offer to manage the camp, by the then owner and old friend. What prompted you to become involved with Life Below Zero?

I had been on other shows and one of the creators of this show had worked with me then and thought I would be a good mix for the show.

DANNY DAY © BBC WORLDWIDE 2015

The landscape surrounding Erik Salitan’s home in Wiseman, AK

NATURE

What was it like having the crew around when you are used to a lot more time on your own?

I view it like a slumber party over sleepover. We play, have fun, and get to tell real life ghost stories and explore... what’s not to love? If I feel overwhelmed with human attention I put myself in time-out and give myself a break. This has been a great adventure! I tend to have a child-like enthusiasm for life and this is “Show and Tell” on a large scale. I like to share

How dangerous are the conditions in which you live?

BELOW: One of the foxes that lives near Sue’s home in Kavik River Camp

I suppose from a Lower World perspective there are a large amount of dangers here. Nature and its weather are probably foremost on the danger list. -80F and 80 mph winds in winter for months on end while living in a tent is fraught with what some people would call life-threatening conditions. There are many top predators that live here and are admittedly higher on the food chain than I am. I accept this. Simple things can be a huge

I have enjoyed most that there is a way that I can have my children and grandchildren see what I do from the safety of their own lifestyles. They can now “see” me forever with the click of a button. I don’t know that I have felt surprised by much. I am inspired by the crews and what they have done and where they have been in their lives. What is the most common question you get asked about your life - and what’s the answer?

JARED STEYAERT © BBC WORLDWIDE 2015

Question: Don’t you get lonely out there? I would go nuts! Answer: No I do not live from an emotional place. I do not allow myself the luxury of negative emotions or I would go bushy too fast. I register that I live alone, but I do not feel lonely there is a difference. And… I never said I wasn’t a few eggs shy of a dozen lol...

WAYNE SHOCKEY © BBC WORLDWIDE 2015

What have you enjoyed most about the process of making the show? What’s surprised you?

Glenn Villeneuve checks his progress on the tree in Chandalar, AK

64

Vol. 7 Issue 12

disaster if you forget them. Not having your tools in a place where you can find them in the dark may mean you are exposed to severe conditions too long and may forfeit a few digits. Old Mick Dundee had Crocs... I have bears. Has anything ever happened to make you question your choice of habitat?

Getting attacked and laying here for 10 days waiting for help was an eye opener... but I didn’t question my desire to be here... it did however make me question my ability to be here and react to the same threat without hesitation. I passed the challenge and have not exhausted the exploring avenues so here I remain. A lot of people couldn’t imagine living where you do (the cold, the lack of access to conveniences, the dangerous conditions). What are a couple of reasons why you wouldn’t change it for anything?

I would not say I wouldn’t change it for anything. I leave the door to life’s opportunities wide open. One day there

ABOVE: Hunt or be hunted. Steal some basic suvival tips from the Alaskan inhabitants

well could be a shiny new thing that grabs my attention and off I will go to explore something new. But for now... I am content. I like my solitude and not having anyone up my backside to conform. If I get hurt, or die from my choices... it is just that. A life well lived and on MY terms... not some politician or peer pressure to “fit the mould” There is great personal satisfaction in being able to feed myself, and play with foxes and watch the Northern lights knowing that I am King in my Castle. For much of the year, you live by yourself. How long did it take to get used to that solitude?

Even in pre-school and Kindergarten when asked what I want to be when I grow up... my answer has always been Lighthouse Keeper. I have always craved extreme isolation. Living alone isn’t for everyone - what do you like about it?

I wear what I like, eat what I want, when I want. People come in the months when I accept visits, and Vol. 7 Issue 12

65

DANNY DAY © BBC WORLDWIDE 2015

NATURE

then they go away. It is like having people over for a holiday meal. They come, you visit, share and laugh, and then they go home again. I am constantly challenged by my environment and abilities. That is exciting to me. I don’t find it a pleasing challenge to do a 9-5 lifestyle and under someone else’s vision of rules. Who doesn’t want to be happy or content when they grow up?? Not sure that I want to get out of Kindergarten yet... they have naps and snacks, what’s not to love? Growing up seems highly over-rated. Where do you get your strength from?

My personal Will to survive and thrive and explore; exceed all that which I have come up against to surpass it. Until that happens... it comes from within. I suppose we all have boundaries... I just keep blasting mine to shreds and moving on. Until I say I cant... what other people say doesn’t matter. I am the only reflection I am guaranteed to see in the mirror every day of my life, so I had better like that person and make sure it is someone I can be proud of. I also get it from my children and grandchildren. Their ability to bless and feel comfortable with me wanting to be a forever 5-year-old explorer, gives me strength and courage to live life with a childlike sense of wonder. Besides your work and chores, how do you pass the time?

I read, write, paint, play games, play with foxes, explore.... Chores and such to occupy a lot of time. Snow is the gift that keeps on giving out here... but there is an endless horizon of things to see and experience. 66

Vol. 7 Issue 12

ABOVE: Another cabin on Erik Salitan’s property

What do you think would surprise most people about what your life is like?

I don’t know what each individual would find surprising, that is part of his or her journey. What will they each as individuals find charming or abhorrent? Most people have a hard time comprehending that I do not desire for a spouse or partner. I already have the t-shirt and coffee mug on that one... Aside from that, maybe most surprising is that it gets in the 80-100F ABOVE range in summer!

Watch LIFE BELOW ZERO Life Below Zero follows the lives of ordinary people struggling to survive in the merciless Alaskan wilderness. It’s a race to prepare for survival, as the oncoming winter freeze begins to take hold and nature’s unpredictability threatens the mental and physical strength of our hardy characters living off the grid, miles from the nearest road. Exclusive Asia Premiere on BBC Earth Tuesday 15th December at 9.45pm (JKT/ BKK), 10.45pm (SG) Singapore: StarHub TV Channel 407 Malaysia: Hypp TV Channel 141 Indonesia: Indovision Channel 200 Thailand: Truevisions Channel 568 Hong Kong: nowTV Channel 220 and Hong Kong Cable TV Channel 49 For other countries and more details, please visit www.bbcasia.com

ADVERTORIAL

Resorts World Sentosa Learning Programmes Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) is Singapore’s first Integrated Resort and home to one of the world’s largest aquariums, S.E.A. Aquarium. A unique one-stop destination for your students’ learning journeys as they uncover the mysteries of the seas and learn more about nature, science, conservation, history and culture. From preschool to tertiary levels, students will have an engaging, enjoyable and educational learning experience. For preschool children, they can participate in our S.E.A.2 Quest 1 facilitated educational trail that takes them on a journey to discover the various marine creatures. For primary school students, we have S.E.A.2 Quest 2 and 3. Upper primary students can take part in the Dolphin Matters programme to learn more the amazing dolphins. JASON Learning - Coral Communities is an educational programme targeted at Primary 5 and 6 students to introduce them to corals and its importance to the marine ecosystem. Important pointers will include educating them on how human

activities affect the coral communities and what can be done to protect the ocean environment in order for the coral reefs to thrive. This interactive experience begins with a facilitated classroom session with an introductory video on the job scope of an aquarist. After which, students will then have the opportunity to explore the S.E.A. Aquarium and its beautiful coral habitats as well as learn how to identify the different types of majestic reefs. For secondary school students, we have the fascinating Feeding Frenzy Trail that takes students to see where and how food for our marine creatures is prepared. Unique experiences include an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour and viewing of the feeding sessions done by our aquarists. JASON Learning - Survival of the Reef is an educational programme targeted at Secondary 1 and 2 students to introduce them to the biodiversity of the reef. Coral reefs support up to 25% of all marine life on Earth and it is vital that students learn more about each species and what kind of interrelationships they form with the coral reef ecosystems. This includes learning more about the

symbiotic relationships of corals, algae and sea jellies. The fascinating journey will begin with a facilitated classroom lesson with an introductory video on the job scope of aquarists. After which, students will examine the diversity of the different habitats of corals and sea jellies. The programme concludes with the students discussing the human impacts on the oceans and how we can all be contributors to improve the well-being of the oceans and reefs. The coral-linked programmes run for about 120 minutes. There are also programmes at Maritime Experiential Museum, which is adjacent to S.E.A. Aquarium. The museum provides an interesting venue to learn more about the Maritime Silk Routes, as well as other history, culture and trade information. Primary 4 students can take part in the Seaman’s Tour and Secondary 1 students can participate in the Hidden City Unearthed program. Both programs are linked to the MOE Social Studies syllabus. We look forward to welcoming all students, teachers and members of the public to our S.E.A. Aquarium, which is one of the best and largest aquariums in the region.

Vol. 7 Issue 12

67

SCIENCE

THE FUNCTION OF

HORMONES BY TOM IRELAND

These clever chemicals circulate through our blood, regulating our physiology and behaviour. But it took a long time for people to accept that these molecules have such an enormous impact on our bodies

oday, the word ‘hormone’ is commonly used and well understood. We might say we are feeling hormonal, or take hormones to prevent, say, diabetes or pregnancy. Teenagers, especially, are known for being troubled by their ‘raging’ hormones. These amazing chemicals, secreted into our blood by special organs called endocrine glands, control almost everything our body does – from our growth and development to our impulses and mood, from how often we sleep to how quickly our heart beats. There are even hormones that regulate our hormones. Yet until the start of the 20th Century, most scientists had no idea hormones even existed, let alone how they worked. The more visible systems of the body, such as the skeleton, muscles and major organs, had been known since ancient times. However, hormone glands were only just being found by anatomists by the 19th Century, and what they did remained a complete mystery for some time.

PHOTO: GETTY, SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

T

68

Vol. 7 Issue 12

Despite this complete lack of understanding, humans have been unwittingly manipulating hormones in both animals and people for centuries. There is some evidence that ancient Chinese people were extracting hormones from urine for medicinal purposes as far back as 200BC. In Italy from the 16th to the 18th Centuries,

opera singers known as castratos had their testicles removed before puberty to ensure their voices didn’t drop, producing a unique high-pitched voice in adulthood. And for thousands of years, farmers have castrated male animals to reduce aggression.

Weird science

Domenico Annibali was castrated as a youngster and became an international opera star in the 18th Century

But it took a series of crude and controversial experiments in the Victorian era to kick-start the discovery of hormones and our understanding of how they actually work. Many of them still involved doing strange things with testicles. Over the course of around 100 years, the new field of ‘endocrinology’ – as the study of hormones is called – revolutionised science and medicine, and many common disorders of the endocrine system could suddenly be diagnosed and treated. The story begins in 1849, with a German scientist called Arnold Berthold and several castrated cockerels. Berthold noticed that

> IN A NUTSHELL Testosterone, pictured here under a polarised light microscope, is mostly produced by the testes. Even before hormones were discovered, it was understood that removing the testes of youngsters would impact the development of adult male characteristics. Scan this QR Code for the audio reader Vol. 7 Issue 12

69

SCIENCE

when cockerels had their testes removed early in life, in adulthood they failed to develop typically male characteristics, such as a large red comb and wattle. In what is now recognised as the first endocrinological experiment, Berthold transplanted severed testes back into the birds’ bodies. The birds soon started to develop the traits of uncastrated cockerels, including the characteristic plumage and aggressive mating behaviour. The transplanted testes also redeveloped their own blood supply. The experiment suggested that whatever was causing the male characteristics was

THE KEY EXPERIMENT

Vol. 7 Issue 12

PHOTO:WALTER WESTLEY RUSSELL 1926/UCL ART COLLECTION 5673, , NIM/WIKI COMMONS, SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY, GETTY X3

A respected physiologist called CharlesÉdouard Brown-Séquard began a series of outlandish experiments, most of which involved injecting himself with liquid squeezed out of crushed animal testicles. In 1889, at the age of 72, he announced that he had reversed his own ageing by injecting the ‘testicular juice’ of dogs and guinea pigs. The effects Brown-Séquard experienced were almost certainly placebo. His injections would have contained little testosterone and would have been quickly broken down by his body. Yet Brown-Séquard went on to claim that almost any ailment could be cured by testicular juice. The

Ernest Starling and William Bayliss wanted to prove that hormones regulate the function of organs. While controversial, their experiments set endocrinology on the right path

In 1902 Ernest Starling and William Bayliss were studying the nervous system’s control of digestion at University College London. They were looking in particular at the duodenum – the part of the small intestine located immediately after the stomach. When gastric acid enters the duodenum, the pancreas releases pancreatic juice. At the time, hormones were barely understood. A large number of scientists still thought that vital organ functions, such as the release of pancreatic juice, were controlled by the nervous system. To test this, Starling and Bayliss cut away all of the nerves in the pancreas and the duodenum of an anaesthetised dog. They found that pancreatic juice was still produced when acid passed through the duodenum. They suspected that the duodenum was producing something that was entering the bloodstream and acting on the pancreas. To prove it, they scraped some tissue out of the duodenum, added acid, ground it up with sand, then filtered the mixture and then injected it into the dog’s blood. The dog’s pancreas began to produce pancreatic juice almost immediately. Since there was a chance they did not dissect all of the nerves in the pancreas and duodenum, this second experiment proved it was an agent in the blood that stimulated the production of pancreatic juice, not nerves. The pair called the substance released by the duodenum ‘secretin’ and later went on to find it in all vertebrates.

70

being emitted from the testes and into the bloodstream. Despite the significance of Berthold’s findings, his results went largely unnoticed at the time – it would be another half a century before scientists returned to his work and progressed his ideas. Other scientists theorised that ‘internal secretions’ might be affecting the function of various organs, but the scientific community just couldn’t comprehend that chemicals in the blood could have such wide-ranging effects on the body. Towards the end of the 19th Century, the study of these mysterious glands and their functions went somewhat off-piste.

Ernest Starling depicted during his experiment on pancreas function that led to the discovery of the hormone secretin

news of his story led to a bizarre fad for such injections, and by the end of 1889 thousands of physicians were administering them, while chemists began selling ‘miracle cures’ made from various animal fluids. Fortunately, as more robust experiments with glandular extracts continued, endocrinology soon got back on track. In 1891, George Redmayne Murray announced he had managed to cure the medical condition myxedema. Now recognised as untreated underactivity of the thyroid gland, the condition caused alarming swelling of the hands and eyes. Murray’s treatment involved injecting extracts from the thyroid glands of sheep. Like Brown-Séquard, he simply chopped up the animals’ tissues and squeezed the juice out, straining the murky fluid through a muslin sheet before injecting it straight into his patients. Unlike Brown-Séquard’s potions, Murray’s extract did contain high levels of thyroid hormones. It would be many years before the thyroid’s role in regulating metabolism and growth was understood, yet the treatment worked – making it the first effective application of endocrinology in conventional medicine. By 1895 George Oliver and Edward Albert Schäfer had shown that injecting extracts of the adrenal glands and pituitary glands into animals raised their blood pressure. It was further proof that secretions released by glands could create important effects elsewhere in the body.

Dark paths Despite mounting evidence of an internal chemical control system, the British Medical Association was still reluctant to accept the idea. The prevailing wisdom since ancient times was that the nervous system controlled the body’s functions, and it was difficult for people to accept that this might not be the case. This incomplete understanding led endocrinology down dark paths. In the early 1900s, thousands of men (including the poet WB Yeats) had a vasectomy-like procedure known as ‘the Steinach’ after the Austrian physiologist Eugen Steinach, who said tying off the testicles could reduce ageing and increase sexual vigour. Tragically, from the late 1800s to the early 1900s, hundreds of thousands of healthy women had their ovaries removed – often by force – in the

CAST OF TERS CHARACTERS

Charles-Édouard Brown-Séquard (1817-1894) Brown-Séquard wa as a distinguished scien ntist from Mauritius who o made many great contributions to medicine and our understanding of the nervous system. However, he derailed hormone science by injecting himself with the juice of animals’ testicles and making wild claims about how it made him feel.

Harvey Cushing (1869-1939) Cushing was an American neurosurgeon and pioneer of brain surgery. He was first to describe various disorders of the pituitary gland and even experimented with pituitary gland transplants.

Five innovative scientsts who helped us u de sta d how understand ho hormones ho o es work Arnold Berthold (1803-1861) Berthold was a German physiologist G and zoologist. He studied the organs and sexual characteristics of various animals, but it is his work on castrated cockerels that is remembered ass the first experiment in the field of endocrinology.

Ernest Starling (1866-1927) Starling was the English physiologist who coined the term ‘hormone’ in 1905. Along with his brother-in-law William Bayliss, he made a number of contributions to the study of hormones. Their experiment to extract secretin is a classic.

Rosalyn Yalow (1921-2011) was an American physicist awarded the Nobel Prize in 1977 for the development of the ‘radioimmunoassay’ technique. It measured minute amounts of hormones in blood or tissue samples. Although the tool revolutionised all areas of biochemistry, Yalow refused to patent the technique.

Vol. 7 Issue 12

71

SCIENCE

TIMELINE

Once scientists had established the significance of glands, it didn’t take long to get to grips with hormones The height of the craze for ‘castratos’ – male opera singers castrated before puberty. Giuseppe Aprile (pictured) was one such singer.

1849

1905

1700S

Arnold Berthold’s famous experiment on cockerels reveals that the testes play a key role in the development of male characteristics, even when severed from the nervous system.

George Redmayne Murray cures myxedema patients using extracts from the thyroid glands of sheep.

1891

Ernest Starling uses the term ‘hormone’ to describe the chemical messengers g that are rapidly being discovered..

PHOTO: GETTY X2, ISTOCK X2, JAMES LIND LIBRARY, SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

1915 Harvey Cushing starts his work on the pituitary gland and establishes it as the ‘master gland’ that keeps many other metabolic processes synchronised.

1921

Insulin therapy for diabetics is developed by Frederick Banting and Charles Best. Banting is awarded a Nobel Prize two years later – he shares his money with Best. Along with Roger Guillemin and Andrew Schally, Rosalyn Yalow is awarded a Nobel Prize. Yalow’s ‘radioimmunoassay’ allowed Guillemin and Schally to precisely measure tiny amounts of pituitary hormones in the blood.

72

Vol. 7 Issue 12

1977

mistaken belief that it could prevent moodiness, hysteria, insanity and other conditions in later life. To move on from these barbaric and crude ideas required a more thoughtful approach than the ‘mash up a gland and see’ method. Thankfully, in 1902, a defining experiment was conducted by the physiologist Ernest Starling and his brotherin-law William Bayliss. The two were known to be compulsive experimenters, and they proved that chemicals in the blood could change how an organ behaves independently of the nervous system. Having become known for this work, Starling was invited to give a series of lectures to the Royal College of Physicians in 1905. Here, while describing the chemical agents he and his peers had been studying, he used a word he had apparently made up the night before while dining with a scholar of Greek poetry. That word was ‘hormone’, based on the ancient Greek word for ‘I arouse’, or ‘I excite’, and the term stuck. From here, advancement in endocrinology began to gather pace. In 1921 Frederick Banting and Charles Best discovered insulin, the hormone that tells the body to absorb sugar from the bloodstream. The pair’s elegant experiment would lead to a treatment that still saves millions of lives. Before Banting and Best’s discovery, those with diabetes often succumbed to a slow and painful death at a young age. Type 1 diabetics do not produce enough insulin, meaning the sugar from the food they consume remains in their blood instead of being absorbed into their tissues for energy. The pair started by removing the pancreas of a dog. The dog quickly became diabetic, indicating that the pancreas had a key role in the disease. The majority of tissue in the pancreas secretes digestive juices, but the pair believed the organ had another function. In another dog, they tied up the pancreatic duct with string, causing the digestive juice-producing cells of the pancreas to wither and die. Ingeniously, what it left them with was just the cells of the pancreas they wanted to experiment on; these are now known as pancreatic islets. After extracting the secretions from just these cells, they injected it into the diabetic dogs. Their blood sugar levels quickly returned to normal levels.

NEED TO KNOW A handy glossary of terms for understanding endocrinology

1 ADRENALINE

Adrenaline is one of the most familiar hormones and is famed for the ‘buzz’ it gives when released during frightening or exciting moments.

2 ENDOCRINE SYSTEM

Humans have at least 80 known hormones and 10 hormone-producing glands. The release of hormones, their effects, and their interaction with each other is known as the endocrine system.

3 HOMEOSTASIS

Hormones play a key role in the body’s constant maintenance of a stable internal environment, known as homeostasis.

4 HORMONE

Hormones are chemicals released by the body to control processes including digestion, metabolism, respiration,sleep, reproduction, mood and growth, to name a few. They travel through the blood and bind to specific receptors on the target cell, triggering a change in cell function.

5 HPA AXIS

This stands for the hypothalamic– pituitary–adrenal axis, a complex system including the hypothalamus, the adrenal and pituitary glands, and many hormones.

Drug discovery A year later, after working out how to purify their mixture, they injected their first human patient. Soon, they were personally injecting entire wards of diabetic children, who quickly roused from their deathly stupor to the amazement of their families. Within two years of Banting and Best’s discovery, a pharmaceutical company called Eli Lilly was making enough insulin, produced from animals such as oxen, to treat all the diabetics in North America. By the 1960s, the hormone was being created synthetically without the need for animals. Modern endocrinology was now in full swing, and there were many major

Seen through the gaze of a transmission electron micrograph, a colour-enchanced cell (orange) in the pituitary gland can be seen secreting hormones (light green)

breakthroughs throughout the rest of the century. Many of them came thanks to the ability to measure minute quantities of hormones circulating in the blood. Such precise measurements would be impossible without a technique called the ‘radioimmunoassay’, developed by an American physicist Rosalyn Yalow. Yalow was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1977 alongside the endocrinologists Roger Guillemin and Andrew Schally. Her technique, which uses specially designed antibodies to bind to biological molecules of interest, allowed Guillemin and Schally to measure minute concentrations of pituitary hormones in the blood. The work was vital in understanding the pituitary gland’s role as a regulator of other hormone glands. Sometimes known as ‘the master gland’, the pituitary links the brain’s hypothalamus region with the rest of the endocrine system. It is a crucial connection between the outside world, our senses, and the body’s chemical response system. According to endocrinologist and author Dr Saffron Whitehead, Yalow’s radioimmunoassay and the development of high-resolution imaging are what have driven almost all of the advances in modern endocrinology over the last 50 years. “The ability to do immunoassays has revolutionised endocrine research and

diagnostics. For the first time levels of circulating hormones could be accurately measured,” she says. Today, our understanding of hormones has grown immensely – scientists have discovered around 80 human hormones to date, and we now know that more tissues than just the endocrine glands produce hormones. Work is ongoing to unravel the complex relationships between hormones and the great problems of our era like obesity, cardiovascular disease, depression, and ageing. Understanding the link between our genetics and our hormonal system will also keep endocrinologists busy for years to come. Whitehead believes there are still many more hormones to be discovered. “I think we will find that as well as being secreted into the bloodstream, there are hormones that act locally, between cells.” Today, endocrinology is at the cutting edge of the life sciences – using modern lab techniques and computer modelling to understand the immensely complex biochemical systems that keep us alive. But modern science owes much to the physicians from the Victorian era, who first conducted those early and gloriously grisly experiments. TOM IRELAND is managing editor of The Biologist, the Society of Biology’s magazine

Vol. 7 Issue 12

73

SCIENCE

Scan this QR Code for the audio reader

THE UNIVERSE Deciphering space is tricky – after all, you can’t shove a planet in a petri dish. But as Colin Stuart reveals, a new computerised cosmos could revolutionise astronomy as we know it

74

Vol. 7 Issue 12

stronomy is unique among the sciences as it is conducted at a distance. Geologists can go out in the field to study rocks face-to-face and even bring them back to the laboratory for further analysis. The same goes for biologists, palaeontologists and chemists – they’re all very hands-on. But what if your area of interest lies in galaxies and how they evolved to form the structure of the known Universe? What do you do then? You can’t haul a galaxy down to Earth for closer inspection and telescopes

A

only provides a snapshot of what they were like at for a brief moment. For a group of astronomers based in Durham and Leiden, in the Netherlands, the answer is to build a replica of the Universe in a supercomputer. Their brainchild is the EAGLE (Evolution and Assembly of GaLaxies and their Environments) project. This virtual reality universe consists of an enormous cosmological cube measuring more than 300 million light-years on each side,

“It is incredible how much a simulated galaxy in EAGLE looks like the real thing” Prof Richard Bower, EAGLE team member

enough to contain around 10,000 galaxies like our own Milky Way. To construct it, the team went right back to a time before the first galaxies, and even the first stars, formed. Three main players governed the evolution of our Universe at this time: dark matter, normal (baryonic) matter and dark energy. Dark matter acted as an invisible scaffold around which the structure of the Universe developed. Dense regions of dark matter created gravitational dimples into which more and more normal matter flowed as the Universe aged. This material was drawn together to form stars, which then coalesced to form galaxies. Dark energy is the unseen force that tries to resist dark matter’s natural desire to clump together over large distance scales. Previous computer simulations of how the interaction between these processes form galaxies haven’t always worked. “They tended to produce galaxies that were

Gases in the Universe as seen with EAGLE – red for the hottest, blue for the coolest

Vol. 7 Issue 12

75

SCIENCE

THE COM U

EAGLE simulation showing star locations within a galaxy

far too big and therefore a Universe with far too many stars in,” says Prof Richard Bower, part of the EAGLE team at Durham University. So using the latest data on those three key ingredients from missions like the European Space Agency’s Planck satellite wasn’t enough, the EAGLE simulation also had to factor in the latest thinking on how galaxies evolve from youth to maturity. Doing this required modelling of how exploding stars and marauding black holes

affect the development of the structure of the galaxies in which they reside. Translating all these aspects into a suitable computer code took Bower and his team three years, but the time-consuming work didn’t end there. Running that code through the DiRAC-II supercomputer to create the simulated universe took more than a month and a half of solid computing time. But the results were remarkable. “It is incredible how much a simulated galaxy in EAGLE looks like the real thing,” says

US$

the initial i i i l co ost of the he Dirac-I ac II supercomputer with ih a furth her £ £15m for upgrad ades in i 2012 20 2

4, core prrocessors h had d to run fo or over o e a month o and a half alf to b build ild the h simula ated ed universe u e se

53,7 GB of RAM (Random Access A Memory) y)

PHOTO: ISTOCK X2, JAMES SMITH/THE GURDON INSTITUTE, GETTY

2.4 PETABYTES of storage, more than double the amount used to create the movie Avatar

The EAGLE simulation needed serious power to build it, which was provided by the DiRAC-II 76

Vol. 7 Issue 12

12

TH

most powerful supercomputer in the UK (as of 2012)

Are we living in a simulation?

NASA’s Voyager 1 probe entered interstellar space in 2012 on its continuing journey

Bower. “I give talks in which it takes people five minutes to twig that they’re looking at a simulated image rather than a real one.”

Star system An accurate computer counterpart to the real Universe is a powerful tool. You can take any galaxy and hit what Bower describes as “the big red button” to travel back in time and follow the evolution of that galaxy from its earliest days, revealing how it ended up in its present state. Theories for galaxy evolution that do not match what EAGLE shows can be discarded. It also has the ability to clear up mysteries. When astronomers use telescopes to look at distant objects, they’re looking into the past, seeing light that has been trekking across space for billions of years to get here and bringing information about what its source was like at that time. It’s a well-established

fact that the early Universe contained many red and very compact galaxies. But these red galaxies seem to have disappeared as the Universe evolved because we don’t see

them any more. This vanishing act is also seen in the EAGLE simulation. Unlike with telescopes, astronomers using EAGLE can wind the clock back and keep tabs on these galaxies to see what happened to them. It turns out that in most cases these small red galaxies merge with galaxies that are much bigger than they are. “EAGLE is telling us something important about the Universe that we couldn’t know any other way,” says Bower. The simulation is also shedding light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the rate at which stars form in galaxies. When astronomers look out into the Universe they notice that galaxies bigger than the Milky Way have very little star formation, whereas galaxies smaller than ours seem to be making new stars at a relatively impressive rate. It has long been suspected that this has something to do with our galaxy’s central black hole. The bigger the galaxy, the more rapidly the black Vol. 7 Issue 12

77

SCIENCE

Inside eagle hole forms, which doesn’t lead to a lot of stability for star formation. In smaller galaxies, the black hole seems to grow at a more sedate pace, giving stars time to form. Yet the reason why black holes grow faster in larger galaxies was unclear. Now, by looking at the simulated galaxies in EAGLE, researchers can see exactly what is going on.

“The simulation is shedding light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the rate at which stars form” As larger galaxies contain a lot more material, gas near the centre is prevented from flowing outwards. With the rich supply of food this extra material provides, the black hole is able to gorge more effectively. “This shuts down star formation in the galaxy,” says Bower. “Understanding this process is a huge step forward in our knowledge.” After using the simulation to travel back in time to provide some valuable insights, the team are now setting their sights on the future – using EAGLE to see what lies in store for our Universe. This is a much trickier task than going backwards, however. And to understand why, we need to return to the key players in the evolution of the Universe: dark matter and dark energy. As the Universe has been expanding, 78

Vol. 7 Issue 12

Here is the Universe on the largest scale from within the EAGLE simulation. You can see the tentacle-like filaments of normal matter strung out on an invisible scaffold of dark matter. As the Universe aged, normal matter was drawn towards the dark matter until it coalesced into stars, then galaxies. The simulation created all types of galaxies, not just grand spirals like the Milky Way. Astronomers classify galaxies according the Hubble ‘tuning fork’ diagram, pictured below. It shows elliptical galaxies on the left, lenticulars in the middle and the spirals to the right. Galaxies within EAGLE also followed this pattern.

The EAGLE simulation encompasses 10,000 galaxies similar to our Milky Way, contained within a volume that’s 300 million light-years wide on each side. The large image on the left shows one of these beautiful galactic analogues with its bright centre of old, yellow stars and sweeping dust lanes picked out by bright, young blue stars. The smaller image is a computer graphic of our own Milky Way.

“The effect of dark energy is that it increases the computing time required to run the calculations” Prof Richard Bower, EAGLE team member

and the galaxies have been moving further and further apart, the collective force of dark matter has been gradually dwindling. The strength of dark energy, however, has remained constant throughout the Universe’s history. This means that there came a time when the attractive strength of dark matter dropped below that of repulsive force of dark energy. At this point the expansion of the Universe began to accelerate. It is this acceleration that makes

modelling the future in EAGLE difficult. “The effect of dark energy is that it increases the computing time required to run the calculations,” says Bower. And that makes it almost a prohibitively expensive project. However, Bower and his colleagues are hopeful they can find a way to do it. They are already working with Intel, the American computer-chip manufacturer, to incorporate their next generation of processors. If they

There is far more dark matter (top left) in the simulated universe than visible matter (bottom right), just as in our own Universe

can get the maximum efficiency out of the new chips, it should provide a tenfold increase in the speed of their calculations. Bower’s team is also looking to upgrade the supercomputers and that will lead to a further increase in the computing power at their disposal. They could then boost the size of the simulation from the 10,000 Milky Way-like galaxies it currently contains to 30,000. With a much larger set of galaxies, they could begin to do serious statistical analysis to determine how rare a galaxy like ours really is.

Crazy project Yet Bower wants to go even further, with what he describes as his “crazy project”. He’d like to use EAGLE to see just how special our Universe is. For many years astronomers have encountered a ‘finetuning problem’. When you look at the fundamental constants of the Universe – the strength of gravity, the amount of dark energy and so on – everything seems eerily balanced. Say there was more dark energy. That would have accelerated the expansion of the Universe at a much earlier time, leaving dark matter no chance to gather all the normal matter into stars and galaxies. How come with all of the values these cosmological parameters can have, they seem to be just right to give rise to a Universe capable of supporting life? One answer is that our Universe isn’t the only one. If there were other Universes, and the parameters were set slightly different in each one, then of course we’re going to find ourselves in the Universe with the right combination for stars, galaxies, planets and people. We could hardly live in one with the wrong settings. Bower hopes to use EAGLE to discover exactly how changing these initial conditions affects how a universe turns out, once again providing an insight into how we came to be. In many ways, the success of the EAGLE project represents a watershed moment. It marks the point at which supercomputers have become as important to astronomers as telescopes. COLIN STUART is an astronomy writer and coauthor of The Big Questions In Science

Vol. 7 Issue 12

79

SCIENCE

THE FUTURE OF GADGETS

TECHHUB ON THE HORIZON

AI DOCTOR Digital diagnoses are coming to a desktop near you usa.baidu.com

80

Vol. 7 Issue 12

ick of waiting so long to see a doctor that you get better before you find out what’s wrong with you? Well, now there’s a solution – for patients in China, at least. Baidu is a Chinese web services company that operates Chinese-language equivalents of Google and Wikipedia, but it also runs research projects in both Beijing and Silicon Valley. Recently, it launched an app that can diagnose patients’ medical

S

problems and put them in touch with a local GP. But what makes Baidu’s AskADoctor software different to the existing contact-a-GP websites and apps, such as ask-a-doctor.co.uk (a separate enterprise to Baidu’s new scheme) or onlinedoctor.lloydspharmacy. com, is that there’s no medical practitioner at the other end of the line. Instead, your condition is diagnosed by artificial intelligence (AI). And it’s an AI with voice-

recognition capability, which means patients don’t have to painstakingly type their symptoms out or select them from a series of checklists. Baidu’s researchers have built a system that can deal with spoken Mandarin – no easy feat considering that it’s a tonal language – but can also cross-reference what it hears with the vast health records that the company has on file to arrive at a suitable

TECHOMETER WHAT’S HOT

HA HA AND How we laugh online has been making the headlines recently after researchers at Facebook looked into the ways its users show their appreciation of humour. To the relief of English teachers everywhere, simply typing the words ‘ha ha’ was by far the most popular method – appearing in 51.4 per cent of the posts where laughter was expressed on the social network. Laughter emojis (such as ) were the next most popular method, popping up in 33.7 per cent of the posts examined.

Baidu is a web services company in China that is looking to make headway in the world of artificial intelligence

network ‘learns’ to spot particular groupings within the data and can draw conclusions when those groupings appear. For example, the Google Brain learnt to recognise cat videos after being exposed to a selection of 10 million random YouTube clips. But in the case of Baidu’s AskADoctor, speech and symptoms are being used to identify particular medical conditions. Baidu hopes that the AskADoctor app is the first step in a journey that will eventually lead to a medical robot. But Baidu is a commercial enterprise and ultimately needs to make a profit to survive. AskADoctor may not be staffed with GPs that have to be paid, but like existing online medical services it does charge patients for putting them in touch with a local medical practitioner (aska-doctor.co.uk offers a free seven-day trial, after which it starts charging a subscription fee of US$30-per-month). Could Baidu’s system be the key to delivering David Cameron’s election promise of seven-day access to a GP? Perhaps, but if you can’t pay for it will you be left loitering in the waiting room?

LOL The irritating text-speak abbreviation for ‘laughing out loud’ has fallen out of favour, if Facebook’s survey is anything to go by. LOL appeared in just 1.9 per cent of posts on the social network during the last week of May 2015. The world hasn’t stopped wasting time at work by sharing clips of cats falling over or wearing silly hats but, according to Facebook, we’re acknowledging them in ways that are less annoying.

READER POLL Would you trust an AI doctor?

83% No – I’d prefer to wait for a proper GP appointment

17% RUSSELL DEEKS is a freelance science and technology journalist

PHOTO: GETTY

diagnosis. It’s said the system can identify over 500 different diseases, which comprise 90 per cent of the most common medical problems in China. Once a diagnosis has been reached, the system will put the patient in touch with a local doctor who can confirm the result and prescribe the relevant treatment. While Baidu’s AskADoctor is currently a desktop app, work is already underway on creating a smartphone and tablet version for health help on the go. It’s hoped the software will help to ease the pressure on China’s stretched healthcare system. AskADoctor is the one of the first creations to come out of Baidu’s ‘deep learning’ branch. In this research area, computers are programmed to behave like brains and infer things through recognising patterns. The man heading up Baidu’s work on artificial intelligence is Chief Scientist Andrew Ng, who is a Stanford professor and one of the specialists who worked on the Google Brain before being hired by the Chinese company in 2014. Developing a deep-learning system relies upon building a neural network of computers and providing it with a vast amount of data to process. In doing so, the

WHAT’S NOT

Yes – I’d trust them with my medical details

Vol. 7 Issue 12

81

SCIENCE

THE NEXT BIG THING

BETTER BATTERIES

PHOTO: NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE ILLUSTRATOR: ANDREW GIBBS

Tapping into the biggest power source in the Solar System

In his remarkable sciencefiction novels about an advanced civilisation called the Culture, Iain M Banks solves the problem of fuelling a starship by using limitless energy from The Grid, a fictional field between our Universe and a mirroring antimatter one. It’s a nice idea but in the real world we have to make do with more traditional methods of generating and distributing power. As many have pointed out, there’s more than enough energy arriving from the Sun every second to fuel our needs but capturing it in a useful form is a challenge. Currently we rely on a million-year-long process of compressing organic remains into coal and oil to make fuel, a method that’s both inefficient and causes unwelcome climate changes. But we are on the verge of a transformation in our relationship with energy – partly because of the increasing efficiency with which we can convert light into electricity but also due to developments in battery technology. Electric-car maker Tesla got a lot of attention this year with the launch of its

FROM THE LAB

‘Powerwall’ battery systems, offering an alternative to the existing electricity grid. At the Intersolar conference in June,Tesla’s JB Straubel argued that falling battery costs and improvements in solar panels mean we’ll soon be able to generate, store and deliver electricity more cheaply than with current fossil fuel systems. But we won’t do this with existing battery technology. The main reason is that conventional batteries are just too complicated and bulky. A lithium-ion battery like the one in your laptop isn’t just a collection of chemicals but a complex machine with builtin safety systems to contain the highly reactive chemicals that store the energy. A promising direction for battery technology seems to lie in solid-state devices such as the Sakti3 battery, which has been getting some publicity thanks to a US$15m investment by the domestic appliance manufacturer Dyson. This doesn’t mean that incremental improvements in Li-ion technology won’t matter, or that we won’t be using lithium-based batteries

These devices use an electric current to control air as it passes over a surface – in other words, a way to improve a vehicle’s aerodynamics.

WHY ARE THEY IMPORTANT? Due to its shape, a truck is about as aerodynamic as a brick so a lot of energy goes into pushing the air out of its path. Shaped body panels,

Vol. 7 Issue 12

for many years.The basic physics of batteries is still being uncovered and turning a promising discovery in the lab into something that can be manufactured and shipped to consumers is a long, complex and error-prone process. But just as flat-screen technology replaced the bulky cathode-ray tube monitors of the last century, once we see a reliable solidstate battery, I think it will replace today’s best efforts

relatively quickly and provide the basis for the zero-carbon energy systems that we so desperately need if we are to avoid the worst consequences of two centuries of profligate use of fossil fuels. It’s either that or we find a way to tap into The Grid.

BILL THOMPSON contributes to news.bbc.co.uk and the BBC World Service

Plasma actuators

WHAT IS IT?

82

Improvements in batteries and solar technology would make our cities greener

spoilers on the roof of the cab and tails for the trailers can improve a truck’s aerodynamics – and in doing so increase its fuel efficiency and reduce its running costs – but they add weight and can make it difficult to maintain the vehicle and to load/unload its cargo. Plasma actuators can do the same job without adding extra weight or inhibiting the truck’s use.

HOW DO THEY WORK? The actuators (made out of a pair of asymmetrical electrodes) are built into the truck’s bodywork. When a current is passed between them a layer of plasma is formed that can be used to adjust the direction and speed of the air flowing over it and lower the wind resistance. They also glow, so trucks driving at night would give off an eerie purple light.

Keep on truckin’: Plasma actuators could have haulage applications

YOUR QUESTI0NS ANSWERED BY OUR EXPERT PANEL

&

SUSAN BLACKMORE Susan is a visiting psychology professor at the University of Plymouth. Her books include The Meme Machine

DR ALASTAIR GUNN Alastair is a radio astronomer at the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Manchester

ROBERT MATTHEWS After studying physics at Oxford, Robert became a science writer. He’s a visiting reader in science at Aston Universityy U

GARETH MITCHELL Starting out as a broadcast engineer, Gareth now writes and presents Digital Planet on the BBC World Service

LUIS VILLAZON Luis has a BSc in computing and an MSc in zoology from Oxford. His works include How Cows Reach The Ground

[email protected]

Could we grow plants without sunlight?

PHOTO: REX

Yes. At the Stockbridge Technology Centre in North Yorkshire (pictured), scientists are using the principle that plants do not need all the colours in the spectrum to grow. The researchers have selected specific wavelengths of blue and red light suitable for plant growth. In distinctly psychedelic lighting conditions, the LED brightness and colour are tweaked to optimise the taste and size of produce. GM

Plaants love to go clubbing – Purrple Rain is their favourite songg

Vol. 7 Issue 12

83

& In Numbers

$33.31

was the amount of money that astronaut Buzz Aldrin was reimbursed for his travel expenses on the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon back in 1969

What’s the difference between a psychopath and a sociopath? Hannibal would do anything to try and lose weight

What gives people a lovely singing voice?

PHOTO: GETTY X2, ALAMY, KOBAL COLLECTION, SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

The general range of sounds that can come out of your mouth is affected by the size of the vocal folds, the strength of your diaphragm and the shape of the chambers in your sinuses. But making this sound beautiful seems to be largely a question of training. At the basic level you must be able to hear a note in your head and reproduce it accurately with your voice. The difference between being able to hold a tune and having a genuinely beautiful singing voice is to do with the thousands of tiny and mostly unconscious muscle contractions that subtly adjust the resonant properties of your airway in response to the emotions you feel as you sing. This is the same with any musical instrument. Being born with a wide finger span helps when playing the piano, but the rest is learning the subtleties of timing and pressure on the keys. LV

The two conditions are often treated as the same, but psychiatrists identify important differences. Both disregard laws, customs and the rights of others and feel no guilt or remorse for their behaviour. Both can be violent, although not all are. Sociopaths, however, are also disorganised, impulsive and volatile and can rarely hold down a job. They

appear very disturbed and their crimes are usually spontaneous. By contrast, many psychopaths lead relatively normal lives, manipulating people and mimicking emotions they cannot feel themselves. Their crimes are usually meticulously planned. There is some evidence that psychopathy is inherited while sociopathy is due to childhood trauma or neglect. SB

Does eating locally produced honey help alleviate hayfever?

Anna Netrebko: nice set of sinus chambers

84

Vol. 7 Issue 12

No. The myth is that local pollen in honey can desensitise the allergic reaction, but there’s no evidence to support it. A 2002 study at the University of Connecticut compared locally-produced, unfiltered honey, with nationally-produced, filtered honey and honey-flavoured corn syrup. In double-blind trials, there was no difference between the three in reducing hay fever symptoms. The pollen in honey is nearly all the heavy, flower pollen that doesn’t cause hay fever. The pollen that sets your nose running is much lighter and comes from grasses and trees that bees don’t visit. LV

Why don’t we sneeze in our sleep?

Even if an insect crawled across your nose, you probably wouldn’t sneeze while dreaming

Climate change reseacher monitoring CO2 levels over a forest canopy

Have we made any difference to climate change yet? Quite possibly – but not in a good way. The principal drivers of climate change are greenhouse gases that trap the Sun’s heat. The most important of these is carbon dioxide (CO2), produced by human activities such as energy generation and transportation. The good news is that 2014 saw CO2 emissions from the energy sector remain static, suggesting the message about fossil fuels is finally getting through. The less good news is that in May the total amount of atmospheric

CO2 exceeded the highest level recorded since scientific measurements began in 1958. Perhaps most concerning of all is the fact that even if emissions of all greenhouse gases ceased entirely tomorrow, any warming would still persist for many centuries. That’s partly because CO2 lingers in the atmosphere for several centuries after release, and partly because the oceans are slow to respond to global warming but are also just as sluggish to react to any cooling. RM

During REM sleep (the phase where dreams take place), your muscles are paralysed so that you don’t thrash around and hurt yourself. This paralysis extends to reflex muscle contractions, so you can’t sneeze while you are dreaming. In nonREM sleep your muscles are free to move again but the trigeminal motor neurones responsible for triggering a sneeze are still suppressed. It is just about possible to sneeze during this non-REM sleep, but the exertion will normally wake you up. LV

Could we create a breathable atmosphere on Mars? Various ideas have been proposed, many involving the release of chemicals into Mars’s atmosphere to trap the Sun’s heat, triggering a greenhouse effect. This might then make Mars suitable for bacteria or plants capable of turning carbon dioxide into oxygen. So, it may be possible – but don’t hold your breath. RM

Computer artwork of terraformed Mars

Vol. 7 Issue 12

85

&

TOP TEN STRONGEST ANIMAL BITES (BY POUNDS PER SQUARE INCH – PSI) AVERAGE HUMAN BITE IS 162PSI

1. Nile crocodile Bite force: 5,000psi Distribution: Sub-Saharan Africa

2. Saltwater crocodile Bite force: 3,700psi Distribution: India, Southeast Asia, Australia

3. American alligator

What caused the Big Bang? The Big Bang is the moment that space and time (or ‘space-time’) came into existence. Before the Big Bang there was no space or time. So, it is actually meaningless to ask what caused the Big Bang to happen – there was no Universe in which that cause could have existed. This might seem like a bit of a cheat, but there are other good reasons to suppose a cause for the Big Bang might not exist. Quantum physics has shown us that some events have no cause at all. Things can happen randomly, spontaneously, and for no particular reason. This unpredictable and ‘causeless’ nature of the Universe is experimentally verified but has nothing to do with our inability to observe correctly – it is a fundamental property of the Universe. So, although there may have been a cause for the Big Bang that we are unaware of, modern cosmology fin ness nor nor o rre equi eq uire ress one one. on e A G neither defines requires AG

Bite force: 2,125psi Distribution: Southern USA

4. Hippopotamus Bite force: 1,800psi Distribution: Sub-Saharan Africa

5. Jaguar

Did you know? The heaviest ever pumpkin weighed 1,054kg and was grown by Switzerland’s Meier in 2014 Fibre optics canBeni be used to transmit light and telecommunications

Bite force: 1,500psi Distribution: Southwestern USA, Central America, South America

6. Bull shark Bite force: 1,350psi Distribution: Warm coastal areas, rivers and lakes worldwide

7. Gorilla PHOTO: ISTOCK X13, GETTY, SCI ENCE C PHOTO O O LIBRAR RY, REX

Bite force: 1,300psi Distribution: Forests of central Africa

8. Polar bear Bite force: 1,200psi Distribution: Arctic Circle

9. Grizzly bear Bite force: 1,160psi Distribution: Canada and USA

10. Hyena Bite force: 1,100psi Distribution: Sub-Saharan Africa

86

Vol ol. 7 Issue Iss 12

Why do we cover ourr mouthhs when startled or shoccked?? Not to prevent our souls leaving our bodies, as some traditions would ha ave hs it. The gasp which causes our mouth ast, to open when we are shocked is a fa deep in-breath that evolved to provid de p a quick burst of extra oxygen to help es deal with startling events. This make the mouth vulnerable, so covering it may be a protective gesture. It is also a way of concealing our emotions fro om others, to avoid showing that we are e afraid, shocked or disgusted. Many experts say that the response is learrned d as a form of politeness but, like manyy other gestures, this behaviour is seen across various different cultures. So the asis, but reaction may have some inherited ba i b in modern times it may often just be a way y of hiding the fact that you were startled by nothing more serious than a fly, or sh hocked by what your friend said. SB

D n’t wo Don wor w oorryy, y, hheer soouul is safe so afee af

Can an organ be transplanted more than once? Yes. Sometimes patients will receive heart or liver transplants but die anyway within a few weeks. In very rare cases, the donated organ was still healthy enough to be worth re-transplanting to a new patient. In 2012, a 27-year old man from the US received a kidney transplant but then had it removed again two weeks later because the disease he was suffering from was damaging the kidney. Doctors rescued it in time and gave it to a 67-year old man instead, and returned the first patient to dialysis treatment. LV

Why do we have wisdom teeth?

We evolved from hominids that had longer jaws for chewing raw meat and plants. Extra molars are an advantage, but they don’t emerge until adulthood. This gives the jaw time to grow large enough to accommodate them. As teeth are widest at the top, spaces between them can also emerge as the molars start to wear down. The new teeth at the back encourage the remaining teeth to shuffle up and close the gaps. We don’t need wisdom teeth any more, nor do we have enough room for them. But dentistry offers a quicker fix than evolution. LV

Scar tissue is a major reason why a lot of organs can’t be transplanted twice

Why do toothpaste and orange juice taste so horrible together? The taste buds on your tongue are covered in proteins that act as receptors for food particles. When in contact with food and drink, these receptors send a message to your brain, evoking one of the five taste sensations: sweetness, sourness, saltiness, bitterness, or umami. When you brush your teeth, the toothpaste releases a foaming agent called sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS). This SLS interferes with the proteins that line the membranes of taste cells in the mouth. This impairs the tongue’s ability to taste sweet flavours, replacing them with an unpleasant, bitter sensation. The SLS also destroys bitterness-suppressing phospholipids, allowing the bitter taste to take over, resulting in the unique and horrible flavour you experience when you sip orange juice. Focus

How fast can a housefly fly? Not as fast as you think. They manage just 7km/hr – a brisk walking pace. They seem faster because they are very acrobatic and hard to catch. The fastest flying insects are dragonflies, with a top speed of 56km/hr (35mph). LV

In Numbers

2

Brazilian frog species have venomous spines around their skull. They are the first known venomous amphibians

Vol. 7 Issue 12

87

&

Can stars collide?

PHOTO: NASA/HUBB BLE SPACE S C TELESCOPE, SCO ALAMY, GETTY, G SCIENCE SC C PHOTO O O LIBRARY X2, ISTOCK S OCK

In general, distances between stars are so vast that it is unlikely that any two will ever meet and collide. But in some places, notably in globular clusters, stars can be crowded together much more tightly and may well collide with each other. Many clusters contain very large, hot stars known as ‘blue stragglers’, which should have detonated as supernovae billions of years ago. Astronomers think these t fformed d more recently tly as th stars the result off collisions and mergers of normal stars. It is also probable h stars collide llid in i other h star-rich i h that l h as the h centrall regions i places such o of galaxies. Some binary stars can coa esce as o e sstar a reaches eac es the ee d of its s coalesce one end f expands and consumes its life, p t AG partner.

ig Based purely on the physical strength g of bone and muscle,, it has been calculated o thatt lland th d animals i l off att lleastt 100 ttonnes and d possibly as much as 1,000 tonnes ought to be able to support their own weight and move around. That’s much bigger than even the largest dinosaur (Argentinosaurus probably weighed 80 tonnes at most), but 88

Vol. 7 Issue 12

Whhip it all you y wantt, t it will sstill ttaste t the he same sa

Why does Marmite go pale when it’s stirred repeatedly?

The collidingg Antennae Galaxies spark rapid p p sstar a formation o a o

i

g ?

that’s other cut in fi first. a s because o e limits s cu s The e largest animal to have ever lived is the blue g whale. h l At 180 tonnes, t it already l d has h to t eatt 1.5 million calories a day. Blue whales eat krill, which is one of the most abundant food sources in the ocean. Even so, about half the global population of krill is eaten every year by whales, seals and fish. A

M Marmite i looks l k dark d k because b any light li h entering e g it is likely to be absorbed by m molecules of the stuff, and thus prevented Stirring ffrom escaping g again. g g it introduces a air-filled ed ca cavities es that a increase c ease the ec chances a ces o of the light g avoiding g absorption and managing m g g to escape. Whipped Marmite c can g generate so many bubbles that it turns tu s white. e RM

Argentinosaurus, the biggest i dinosaur, i iis still i dwarfed f by the h blue bl whale h le

single g freak blue whale that was double the normal size could still probably y fi find enough h ffood d tto sustain t i it itself. lf B Butt if allll blue whales grew this big, the population would need to be smaller and they would reproduce even more slowly than they do now, making them more vulnerable to extinction. LV

What is the probability of me being me? The DNA of any two strangers never differs by more than 0.1 per cent. But that still gives around 10 million locations in your DNA that can vary. But genetic variation isn’t the only thing that makes you unique. Identical twins share the same DNA and yet they aren’t the same person. Each of us is also shaped to some degree by everything that happens to us after we are born. If you were born an hour later, some of those experiences would have been different for you. And it’s not just you – everyone you have ever met would also need to have been born at the right time and place so that they would grow up

to interact with you and produce the memories you currently carry in your mind. Remember that big snowstorm when you were a child? That memory is part of who you are too. Think of the chaotic sequence of events that led to that storm occurring on that particular day. Now multiply it by the chances that your mother got distracted at exactly the right moment for you to get lost in the department store that time. When you combine the odds of all of these thousands of formative experiences that define you, the probability of ending up with ‘you’ is effectively zero. LV

In Numbers

33,000

protein-coding genes are present in the genome of the California two-spot octopus. In comparison, humans have fewer than 25,000

Why does spicy food taste hot? The active ingredient in chilli peppers is capsaicin, one of several related compounds called capsaicinoids that bind to vanilloid receptors inside the mouth and on the tongue. These receptors detect heat and send a signal to the brain about temperature. So it is an accident of nature that capsaicin activates them, tricking the brain into responding to spicy food as though it were hot. You might think we ought to avoid such foods rather than enjoy them but they may serve many functions. Capsaicinoids are known to increase energy and reduce appetite; they also increase salivation, making it easier to eat bland food such as plain rice. Another theory is that the pain of hot chillies is a kind of benign masochism. The ‘heat’ reduces other pain by inducing the release of endorphins, which are the body’s natural painkillers, and gives a sense of wellbeing. SB

Magnified image of capsaicin, the irritant in chillis

Vol. 7 Issue 12

89

& What determines the speed of an object orbiting our planet?

Is it really possible to control a robot with your mind?

Objects captured by the Earth’s gravitation typically have elliptical orbits. The mean orbital speed of the object depends only on the Earth’s mass and the semi-major axis (half the longest diameter) of the object’s orbit. However, the orbital speed changes depending on where in the orbit the object is. It will be greatest when closest to Earth and least when furthest from Earth. AG

“You will be my friend, Mr Robot”

Satellites will orbit fastest when they’re close to the Earth

Yes it is. The USA’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has a brain-controlled prosthetic arm for upper limb amputees. As the user thinks about various movements, the arm picks up the responding brain signals that appear in the remaining nerves at the site of the amputation. With incredible dexterity, the user can remove a letter from an envelope and even move eggs from one box to another. But away from government-

funded research projects, hobbyist and engineer William (Chip) Audette in Vermont controls a small toy robot using his brainwaves. He’s using open hardware called OpenBCI where electrodes on his head pick up brainwaves. The level of control is crude but is proof that advances in EEG technology, machine learning and robotics really are ushering in an age where we can control devices through the power of thought. GM

PHOTO: ISTOCK X4, SPLASH/CORBIS, GETTY, ALAMY

Do people in a coma dream? Patients in a coma appear unconscious. They do not respond to touch, sound or pain, and cannot be awakened. Their brains often show no signs of the normal sleep-wakefulness cycle, which means they are unlikely to be dreaming. Yet many people who have recovered from comas report dreams into which something of the outside world penetrated. Others recall nightmares that seemed to go on and on. Whether they dream or not probably depends on the cause of

90

Vol. 7 Issue 12

the coma. If the visual cortex is badly damaged, visual dreams will be lost; if the auditory cortex is destroyed, then they will be unable to hear dreamed voices. If the cause is damage to brain areas such as the reticular activating system, which controls the sleepwakefulness cycle, normal dreams cannot occur but other dream-like states might. The term ‘coma’ covers many conditions. Until we understand them better, it is hard to say which ones can include dreams. SB

Why does helium change your voice? Sound travels faster through a lighter gas than a heavier one. This is because the individual gas molecules have less mass and can therefore move more quickly in response to the pressure changes of the sound wave. The speed of sound in helium is almost three times faster than in air. This changes the resonant

In Numbers

17

frequency of yo our throat so that hiigh h frequencies sou und louderr than low ones. If you y inhale a gas tha at iis d denserr than air, such a as sulphur l h hexafluoride, th he sound travels at just 39 per cent off its speed in air and d your voice i sounds deeper.. LV

Can we find where MH370 crashed, now that wreckage has washed up? By examining the tides and currents of the Indian Ocean, it is possible to identify the general whereabouts the MH370 plane, but its exact location may remain a mystery. Mapping the route by which the wreckage must have reached the island of Reunion (pictured), researchers have concluded that the plane hit waters off the west coast of Australia. Australian authorities are therefore searching these waters, spanning the investigation across 60,000km2 of sea.

Furthermore, the washed-up wing debris is currently being examined for additional clues, using the multitude of barnacles and microorganisms attached to its surface. These can be analysed to determine which part of the sea the plane landed in, as well as the time taken for the wreckage to reach Reunion. By applying this time to the routes of ocean currents and gyres, it may be possible to build a more accurate picture of where the debris came from. Focus

facial expressions have been recorded in horses by scientists at the University of Sussex. Dogs manage 16, while we have 27

Is arachnophobia a l rned or an instinct? lea Both. Overall rates of arachnophobia are around 5 per cent, although a milder fear of spiders is reported in up to onethird of the population. More women than men fear the arachnids, even in countries that have no dangerous spiders. Arachnophobes may scream or have panic attacks on seeing a spider, and judge spiders as bigger and closer than they are, so increasing their fear. There are good reasons why arachnophobia might be inherited. We evolved over millions of years in Africa. Here, many spiders are venomous and avoiding them could be useful. But this does not prove the case, and excessive fear might even be counter-productive. Children tend to fear spiders if their parents do, but this need not be genetic. Like many mammals, we learn preferences and fears from our parents at a young age. Watching a parent react with terror to a spider in the bath could instil fear in the child. So this makes it hard to know how much of this fear is learnt or inherited. SB

“Please don’t fear us!”

Vol. 7 Issue 12

91

&

When does the difference between mean and median matter?

PHOTO: SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY, GETTY, ALAMY ILLUSTRATION: ACUTE GRAPHICS

Does a human heart have a finite number of beats? Yes. At an average of 80 beats per minute, most of us will manage less than four billion beats in our lives. But you don’t die because you run out of heartbeats – you run out of heartbeats because you die. Among mammals, the number of heartbeats over the lifespan of different species is fairly constant. So hamsters’ hearts beat 400 times a minute and they live for about four years, which is 840 million beats, and an elephant manages 35bpm for 35 years, or about 640 million beats total. Those numbers are similar, but that’s just because animals with faster heart rates are also smaller and more at risk from predation and starvation. Their lifespans have evolved to compensate for this by reprod ducing g early and often – they ‘live fast, die d epair young’. Heart muscle can only re itself very slowly, so eventually every heart will wear out but not after a specific p number of beats. LV In Numbers

7,000 blood donations are taken in the e UK K every day, and one in four of us will need ne eed ee ed ed a tranfusion at some point in ourr lives 92

Vol. 7 Issue 12

Use the mean value with care – it can skew data

We all remember those boring maths lessons where the teacher droned on about the difference between the mean of a set of data, and the median. Yet the difference can be vital to understanding some controversial issues. For example, the latest official statistics show that men working full-time in the UK get paid on average around 17 per cent more than women. But that figure masks the impact of the relatively small proportion of men who get paid colossal amounts. Whenever data is seriously skewed like this, the median becomes far more

representative of what’s ‘typical’ than the mean, as it’s the value which splits the data exactly in two, with 50 per cent being above the median and 50 per cent below. In the case of pay, taking the median shrinks the gender gap among those in full-time work by around one-third, but its effect on part-time pay statistics is even more dramatic. While the mean says that men working parttime get around 5 per cent more than women, the median figures reverses this, showing that men typically get paid 5 per cent less than female counterparts. RM

How w long is a jiffy? For physicists, a jiffy is how long F light ttakes to travel a distance of one femto f ometre, which is a millionth of a millio onth of a millimetre. That means that there h e are about three hundred thousand billion n billion jiffys in a second. A jiffy also has h a an electrical meaning. It is the length off a ssingle cycle of alternating current. In the U UK’s 50Hz system, a jiffy is thus onefiftiet fif h of a second. GM

HOW IT WORKS

SMART CAP Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley have designed a 3D-printed ‘smart’ bottle cap that lets you determine whether milk has turned sour – without needing to give it a sniff. This is the first time that working electronic components h ve b have been een incorporated inco orp rporat p into a 3D-printed device. device v ce The specialised specia se cap p can n be ep placed l ced laced onto o ordinary milk k orr juice cartons to o

inductive reader, to measure the e rate of bacterial growth. ech d be In future, this technology could var ariety of packaging. embedded in a wide variety “You could imagine a sscenario where ph you can use your cellphone to check the freshn fre fr esh hn od d wh whi ille it’s still on the freshness of food while store st tore e shelves,” sh shel he ve es, says ay tthe he study’s senior author Liwei Lin. auth iwei L in.

establish when a liquid has gone off. The main body of the cap is made from plastic polymers, with a conductive silver tube hidden inside. Electronics fitted to this tube turn it into a fully functioning circuit. When a carton is quickly inverted, milk enters the circuit’s capacitor, pacit citor ito or becoming trapped trap pp inside. ins Electrical a ssignals al i nal ig als in i the th liq liquid quid a are re analysed analysed d in i real-time real tim me u using sing si ng an n

1 Spiral inductor Top electrode

The 3D-printed smart cap is fitted with an inductor and capacitor, to form a resonant circuit. It’s then screwed on to a milk carton.

2

When milk is left at room temperature, bacterial growth increases, which causes a change in the liquid’s electrical properties.

3

When the carton is turned upside down, a drop of milk becomes trapped in the cap, allowing the circuit to test its properties.

Bottom electrode

Milk Bottle

4

A reader wirelessly detects the changes then alerts you as to whether the milk is still fresh enough to consume or stale.

Resource

A feast for the mind Hardback

The Evolution Of Everything

Paperback

MEET M E E T THE T AUTHOR

Matt Ridley 4th Estate

Though I’ve never met him, I feel like I know Matt Ridley pretty well. My first interaction with him was back in the mid-1980s, when he was the wunderkind science editor of The Economist. I’d ring him up whenever I thought I had a piece he’d print, and soon twigged my chances were greatly enhanced by having some contrarian line about a controversial issue widely believed to have an ‘obvious’ solution. Simples. Actually, it wasn’t. I soon realised how hard it is to free oneself from conventional thinking, and spot flaws in what everyone ‘knows’ is the right answer. But blowing up sacred cows comes naturally to Ridley, and he went on to build an award-winning writing career out of it. Originally trained as a zoologist, he’s made a speciality of exploring the wider implications of Darwinian evolution. Now he’s combined his two passions with his most ambitious book to date, in which he seeks to do “for every aspect of the human world a little bit of what Charles Darwin did for biology”. Specifically, he wants us to see past the view that our world is replete with the results of human intention, and notice instead how so much has simply evolved into being.

“I came away enlightened, challenged, and somewhat in awe of an author able to write so lucidly”

Matt Ridley What’s the idea behind your book? It’s that evolution – incremental, gradual selective change that produces complexity and order without a plan – is something that applies to much more than just biological systems. It explains how language evolves, and how society and technology changes.

T d To ddo thi this, Ridl Ridley moves bbeyond what he describes as the ‘Special Theory of Evolution’ to the ‘General Theory’. According to this, the processes of random events, trial and error and cross-fertilisation that are normally associated with the natural world also explain much that is held to be the product of human intervention. Those who bracket evolution with ‘nature, red in tooth and claw’ might be expecting the result to be an explanation of why the world is so awful. But here Ridley plays his contrarian card.Through a host of examples in fields ranging from psychology and technology to politics and finance, he makes the case that – broadly speaking – the world is evolving into a better state despite human intervention, rather than because of it. Or at least, he attempts to.While I’m sympathetic to Ridley’s aim and his conclusion, much of his evidence feels handpicked or partial. His free-market zeal also breaks through his claims a little too often for my liking. Even so, I came away enlightened, challenged, and somewhat in awe of an author able to write so lucidly about so much.

ROBERT MATTHEWS is Visiting Reader in Science at Aston University, Birmingham 94

Vol. 7 Issue 12

How does technology evolve? If you look at how new technologies emerge, we give far too much credit to inventors. Twenty-three people independently came up with the idea of the incandescent light bulb – it was the next inevitable step based on what had happened before. There are lots of ideas out there: some get chosen, some get dropped and the result is an incremental change in technology. You also say that morality is an evolutionary process… I argue that the idea of evolution pre-dates Darwin, and is really an Adam Smith idea. His 1759 book The Theory Of Moral Sentiments says that morality evolves because people calibrate their actions against other people’s reactions. Morality emerges from below rather than being forced down our throats from above. If you look at the history of morality, priests and teachers are actually catching up with what people are saying – that’s still very clear today with things like the toleration of homosexuality. What can this tell us about the world? There’s a long tradition of trying to look for the causes of things and define who achieved what. But there’s another tradition that got buried, which says that these things emerge. There is order and complexity in the world, but it doesn’t need an orderer or a complexifier. To me, that’s one of the most wonderful ideas.

Four Ways To Click Rewire Your Brain For Stronger, More Rewarding Relationships Dr Amy Banks with Leigh Ann Hirschman Allen & Unwin

Why Does Asparagus Make Your Wee Smell? And 57 Other Curious Food And Drink Questions

The Shark And The h A Albatross Travels With A Camera To The Ends Of The Earth John Aitchison

Andy Brunning

Profile Books

This book argues that human relationships are vital for good health and are the product of four dedicated brain areas. This allows you to ‘rewire’ your brain to improve relationships. As a neuroscientist, this sets off alarm bells. Despite being an often engaging read with supposedly laudable aims, Four Ways To Click seems deeply cynical. Brain regions of frightening diversity are cast as being for relationships only, and claims are ‘backed up’ with neuroscientific findings as if they’re proof, rather than complex and uncertain properties of the brain still subject to much research. Alarmingly, much time is dedicated to stressing the importance of human relationships, only for them to then be reduced to little more than basic behaviours. It’s apparently a simple matter of doing certain actions to make your brain better at relationships, like rearranging a room to get more space. Early in this book, it says that human relationships are highly complex and not a simple process produced by a select few brain regions. Depressingly, the rest of the book assumes the exact opposite.

Orion Books

Let’s get the spoiler out of the way first: thiols are what asparagus is broken down into when we digest it. But did you know these compounds are also found in skunk spray? And that not everyone produces asparagus-stinky urine? (In fact, 43 per cent of people do.) It’s these sorts of questions that Andy Brunning aims to answer. Using that ever-popular topic of food and drink, Brunning offers an entertaining insight into the real chemical reactions behind everyday mysteries, like why bacon smells so good, and why coriander tastes soapy. Each chapter offers a clear explanation with quirky factoids and colourful infographics. But some chapters are bogged down with chemical names more than others, and the infographics are not always enlightening. Many just parrot the text, rather than adding any particularly new insight. Why Does Asparagus Make Your Wee Smell? is a solid coffee table book to flick through. It’s not going to change your world, but it’ll definitely make you think next time you’re in the kitchen.

High on the list of enviable career paths is that of the wildlife cameraman. What other profession takes you to so many exotic locations and offers a front row seat for the world’s greatest natural wonders? Few are better placed to explain the challenges of filming animals in the wild than John Aitchison, who for 20 years has travelled to every continent, for series such as the BBC’s Frozen Planet and Life Story. As a straight travelogue,The Shark And The Albatross feels a little disjointed. But at its best, it explains what goes into capturing very specific scenes in incredibly harsh environments. For example, there is the trip to Svalbard where Aitchison struggles with the need to carry a gun in case the polar bears he’s come to film turn on him, and his negotiations with Chinese bureaucrats to film Siberian cranes. Aitchison excels at highlighting the lives of animals and explaining the conservation challenges they face, whether it’s the sharks and albatross that give the book its title, or penguins, tigers and the elusive Canadian lynx. A must-read for fans of the BBC’s natural history programming.

DEAN BURNETT is a neuroscientist who lectures at Cardiff University

MUN-KEAT LOOI is a science writer and co-author of The Big Questions In Science

MATT SWAINE is a keen naturalist and the editor of BBC Wildlife magazine

13.8 The Most Important Fact In The Search For The Theory Of Everything John Gribbin Icon Books

Cards on the table: I’m a John Gribbin fan. His books helped inspire me to study physics. So I was excited to read his latest offering – 13.8: The Most Important Fact In The Search For The Theory Of Everything. The ‘13.8’ refers to our Universe’s age in billions of years, and much room is given to the question of whether it had an origin at all. With much historical colour, Gribbin recounts the fight between the Steady State and Big Bang models. This is followed by details of the cosmological chiselling that led to modern calculations of its age. While these parts are great, I can’t help but feel a little let down. The blurb and subtitle

promise a book on how this quest for the Universe’s true age is the key to the Holy Grail of physics – a ‘theory of everything’ – that combines General Relativity and quantum theory. After some introductory passages explaining how quantum theory accounts for how stars are powered, and how long they shine, the ‘Holy Grail’ is never mentioned again. This, unfortunately, makes the claim that this is a landmark book more than a little hollow.

COLIN STUART is a science writer and co-author of The Big Questions In Science

Vol. 7 Issue 12

95

SCIENCE

MY LIFE SCIENTIFIC SIR PAUL NURSE The Royal Society President and Nobel laureate explains to Helen Pilcher why he nearly didn’t get into university

ILLUSTRATION: DANNY ALLISON

When I was a kid, I remember seeing Sputnik 2 shooting across the sky. I chased it down the road in my pyjamas pointing it out to everyone. It made me think about the sky and the world around me. Nowadays I have telescope on the roof of the Royal Society in London. Eight years ago I found out that the person I thought was my sister was actually my mother. She had me illegitimately when she was 19 so the family decided to keep it secret. I was brought up by my grandparents and thought they were my parents. I found out by accident when I was applying for a Green Card. It was a bit unsettling but I know that everyone did what they thought was best for me and I had a very happy childhood.The irony is that I’m a geneticist but I had my own genetics kept from me.

ways of finding the genes that control cellular division in yeast, then showed that the same genes existed in mammals. I realised that the same fundamental processes control cell division in almost all living things. It was a genuine eureka moment. I’m also proud of setting up Cancer Research UK. It’s one of the biggest cancer research organisations in the world. I’ve lived in lots of different places but I like London best. It’s where I was brought up. It’s vibrant. I go to the theatre a lot. If I wasn’t a scientist I think I’d like to be a theatre director. I’d be no good as an actor. I’d never remember my lines and I’d probably ham it up. I potter around Oxford on my Triumph Bonneville, a classic-looking motorbike. But I’m also a pilot and co-own a glider. I was recently flying in the Pyrenees. My presidency at the Royal Society finishes this year. I’ve really enjoyed my time there but it’s time to move on. I’m still a practising scientist – unusual for someone at my level – so I’ll carry on running my lab, and I’m boss of the Francis Crick Institute, a huge collaborative medical research institute that’s being built in King’s Cross, London.

I had trouble getting into university. Back then you had to have a language and I failed my French O Level six times. Eventually Birmingham let me in anyway.

I think that I’m a curious and busy person. It worries me that I get tangled up in doing too many things and that I don’t do enough of them properly. I think it’s possible that people find me a little tiring.

Having a Nobel Prize is very satisfying but I’m really proud of the work I did that led up to it. I worked out

HELEN PILCHER is a science writer and comedian. She tweets from @Helenpilcher1

96

Vol. 7 Issue 11

Time Out Crossword No.183 ACROSS 9 10 12 13 14 15 17 18 20 21 24 26 28 29 31 34 36 38 39 40 41 42

Gold river is source of perfume ingredient (9) Designed pool with gap to escape (8) Wise men include graduate and soldier (4) Tooth lets detectives capture American head of personnel (6) Block me returning to pub, then leave (7) Small image of digital protection (9) Three sons displaying difference (9) Resistance in opportunity for growth (7) Get air-conditioning into medical assessment (6) Living unit becomes place of confinement (4) After a walk, spies trouble at the top (8) Purely mechanical to prohibit gold like this (8) Point copper towards betting (4) Learnt to play the horn (6) Try hand at running outlet (7) Saucy picture provides prototype (9) Shyness – it affects integration (9) Opposite of trendy poetry (7) Fat wall to crumble (6) Second kind of cloth (4) Annoying situation united feeble person and garden pest (8) Making of cheese into a new container first (9)

DOWN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 11 16 19 20 22 23 25 26 27 30 31 32 33 35 36 37

Comic set turned out to be superficial (8) Old king to turn twice to a palm (6) Old mate managed to get union into balance (8) Leaflike structure may set lip off (6) Happy to sprinkle oil on island flowers (8) Wellington’s ride to the capital (10) Heard talk of dessert ingredient (7) Clear out European timber (6) Comfort at the desk (7) British spice used to add muscle (6) Finally doesn’t finish a book (5) Drink of character, say (3) Heather, or another woman (5) Felt hand move with hesitation (6) A ventricle somehow is only fixed at one end (10) Seed vessel starts to bear uncanny resemblance (3) Braids unfortunately get caught, having a rough surface (7) Freedom to move some distance from the Equator (8) Husbands have space next to river for coop (8) Time has confused county and city (8) Modernise at university, taking degree (7) Expose defence group turning evil (6) Ali is worried about key glass component (6) Drink to liveliness (6)

SOLUTION TO CROSSWORD 180

Vol. 7 Issue 12

97

The Last Word Students could put an end to false scientific claims once and for all uestioning authority is all part of growing up – and one of the foundations of science. It’s crystallised in the motto of the Royal Society: Nullius in Verba. Roughly, “Take nobody’s word for it”. By giving us the tools like the experimental method to question what we’re told, science has freed us from all kinds of twaddle peddled by authority figures. Without it, we’d still be in thrall to Aristotle and friends, who thought diseases are caused by bad air and the Sun orbits the Earth. Yet there’s a growing feeling in the research community that science could be doing a better job of questioning its own authority. The suspicion is that the pressure on researchers to produce something – anything – is leading to a lot of junk being published and going unchallenged. When new research is submitted to a journal, its claims undergo peer review. But that’s usually just a check of the claims’ logic and whether the researchers have made their case. Attempts to replicate them independently only come later. Or more likely, never: of the hundreds of thousands of scientific papers published every year, around 30 per cent are never cited again, let alone have their claims replicated. The reasons for this are understandable. While scientists recognise the need for replication, most are too busy to spend time checking others’ work. As a result, it’s usually only the most dramatic claims that get replicated. But worryingly, they often fail the test. Remember those stories about faster-thanlight neutrinos from researchers at CERN a few years back? Or that amazingly simple way of making stem cells unveiled last year by Japanese scientists? These headline-grabbing claims were quickly debunked once others tried to replicate them. All of which makes you wonder about the trustworthiness of the other, less eye-catching claims out there. Some of them have been put to the test and the results aren’t encouraging. An ongoing attempt to replicate the results of 100 studies in psychology is said to have vindicated fewer than 40. Small wonder, then, that there is mounting concern about the reliability of scientific research and great deal of soul-searching about how to tackle it. If hard-pressed, professional scientists can’t – or won’t – take on replications, who can?

Q

ILLUSTRATOR: DEM ILLUSTRATION

“While scientists recognise the need for replication, most are too busy to spend time checking others’ work”

98

Vol. 7 Issue 12

There is one intriguing solution currently doing the rounds: why not use replications as science projects for students? Some researchers argue that only graduate students can be trusted to do a good job but others are already using replications as an introduction to what real research is like. I’d go further. Given proper supervision, I don’t see why some replications couldn’t be turned into school or even public projects. Is it true, for example, that people walk more slowly after being exposed to words associated with old age – as one study recently claimed? Or that we make better choices when presented with around half a dozen options rather than 20? Trying to replicate such claims would convey more about doing science than any number of boring lectures. And it could make a real contribution by casting light on the reliability of the original research. This is surely a golden opportunity for official bodies such as the Royal Society to show they’re serious about getting people engaged with real science. After all, they’re keen to encourage the public to use science to question authority figures – aren’t they? ROBERT MATTHEWS is Visiting Reader in Science at Aston University, Birmingham

TM

Wi ! Win! A Two-Nights’ Stay at Aureum Palace Hotel & Resort Bagan, Myanmar

Munching through

Morocco

Take a big bite of this kingdom’s gourmet finds Your guide to

PLUS

› Sh Shopping h i in Tokyo › Beach getaways in Thailand › Year-round fun in Hokkaido Vol. 8 Issue 5

SGD6 / THB195 / RP75,000 ISSN 0219-8967

FREE! THE SCENT OF MELBOURNE Following after cafe culture

05

9 770219 896015

EASTERN CHARM OF BEIJING AND MONGOLIA Finding the balance between old and new

LIFE BELOW ZERO SERIES 3 PREMIERES 15TH DECEMBER TUESDAYS AT 10.45PM (SIN/HK) BBC Earth is available in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Please call your cable operator for more details or check out our website.

www.bbcasia.com /BBCEarth @BBCEarthAsia