BBC Knowledge IN 2014-10 (Vol. 4 Issue 6)

A Times of India publication

Volume 4 Issue 6 October 2014 `125

SCIENCE • HISTORY • NATURE • FOR THE CURIOUS MIND

take a Trip to hell valley

Find out how Japanese macaques battle sub-zero temperatures p32

R.N.I.MAHENG/2010/35422

contents

A Times of India publication

Volume 4 Issue 6 October 2014 `125

ANDREW NEWEY , Geoffrey Malins and John McDowell, esa/Andy Potts, Anup Shah and Fiona Rogers, yann hubert/flpa, illustrator: gluekit

SCIENCE • HISTORY • NATURE • FOR THE CURIOUS MIND

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Cover story 32 Northern Exposure

Anup Shah and Fiona Rodgers photograph Japanese Macaques in Japan’s foreboding Hell Valley

TAKE A TRIP TO HELL VALLEY

Find out how Japanese macaques battle sub-zero temperatures p32

features 24 Who Is The Greatest Genius?

Eminent scientists from across the globe nominate their selection for history’s greatest mind

38 The Comet Chaser

Find out what the rendezvous of the Rosetta spacecraft with the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko means for space exploration

46 The Science Of Blockbusters

Decoding the seemingly impossible laws of physics that govern the movie universe

56 The Scientific Legacy Of World War I

R.N.I.MAHENG/2010/35422

regulars 6 Q&A

Our panel of experts answer the questions you’ve always wanted to ask

A hundred years on, the advancements made during the First World War are in use today, though probably not in the way their makers intended

12 Snapshot

58 Ten Photographs That Made History

The latest intelligence – the speed of light may not be as fast we think, and spiders with a taste for seafood

Leading historians pick images, which captured their era to commemorate the 175th anniversary of the discovery of the Daguerreotype process

66 Animal Supersenses

Nature has gifted animals with senses and abilities we’d normally associate with superheroes. We examine the most spectacular

74 World's Greatest Explorers

Follow the footsteps of history’s most intrepid trailblazers as we chart out the voyages undertaken by mankind’s greatest explorers

October 2014

Outstanding photographs to inform and engage

18 Update

76 How Do We Know: The Structure Of DNA

Unravelling the secrets of the building blocks of life, DNA

78 Ye Olde Travel Guide: Reykjavik, 1828 Visit the beautiful Scandinavian city and bask in the beauty of 19th Century Iceland

80 Edu Talk

Interview with Dr. Saini, the principal of Delhi Public School, R.K. Puram, New Delhi

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58

38

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81 Games Review

We review the biggest title in competitive gaming, DOTA 2, and bring you nuggets of gaming news from across the industry

82 Puzzle Pit

A veritable buffet of brain teasers guaranteed to test your mind

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86 Gadgets

Browse through a varied collection of some of the coolest gadgets on the market

88 Inside The Pages

In this literary feast, we bring you the latest titles, characters we love to hate, and get your views on what’s worth reading

82

90 In Focus

By taming the Yangtze River and pioneering irrigation, Yu the Great changed the course of human history

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from the editor Take a trip to Hell Valley. This issue carries a few testaments of tough times, visual journeys into the worlds of nature and history when they have been at their demanding best. Don’t be fooled by the cute pink faces of the Japanese macaques, it takes much more than hot geysers to keep these primates thriving in extraordinarily extreme temperatures. Read and see on page 32. My favourite and a must see is another photo essay, 10 Photographs That Made History, put together with inputs from historians across the globe. These are moments frozen for posterity that have come to define our past. As always, this edition is packed with knowledge. Find out about the how the structure of the DNA was decoded and the special senses of some animals. And for you young movie buffs, just in case nobody has told you about the impossibility of half the stuff your action hero does, please read The Science of Blockbusters (page 46). Enjoy.

[email protected] www.knowledgemagazine.in

experts this issue Will Gater is a prominent astronomy journalist and author. His articles have appeared in Focus, New Scientist, and Astronomy Now. Gater has a degree in astrophysics and is also a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. In this issue, he analyses what Rosetta spacecraft’s arrival at its destination means for space exploration. See page 38 Helen Pilcher is a former stem cell biologist and holds a PhD in Neuroscience. She is currently a freelance science journalist, specialising in writing about biology, medicine, zoology, and unusual science stories. In this issue, she examines the unbelievable science that our movies are full of. See page 46 Helen Czerski is a science presenter for BBC and oceanographer working at the University College in London. In this issue, she rounds up the fantastic abilities that animals posses and how they use them. See page 66 Hannah Kent is the winner of multiple fiction writing awards, including 2014 Indie Awards Debut Fiction Of The Year. She is the co-founder and publisher of the literary journal, Kill Your Darlings. In this issue, she takes us back to Reykjavik, Iceland in the year 1828. See page78

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

Email us at : [email protected] Mrigank sharma (India Sutra)

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. We regret that we cannot always reply personally to letters.

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Your Questions Answered Does urine ease the pain of jellyfish stings? p8 Why do children dislike vegetables? p9 How does a NASA Starshade work? p10 Is there an advantage to having a beard? p11

How are planes protected from lightning strikes?

A plane’s metal fuselage is effectively a Faraday Cage, safely conducting the current from where the lightning strikes to where it exits. But lightning can potentially induce secondary currents in cabling beneath the aircraft’s skin. So, for added protection, wiring and computers are electrically screened. The latest aircraft, like the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, are made of less conductive composite materials. Conductive fibres are woven into the skin to guide lightning safely around the plane’s body. GM

Expert PANEL

Alamy, getty x2

Flying through a storm is still a terrifying experience, regardless of how well protected the plane is

Susan Blackmore (SB) A visiting professor at the University of Plymouth, UK, Susan is an expert on psychology and evolution. Alastair Gunn Alastair is a radio

astronomer at Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Manchester, UK.

Robert Matthews Robert is a writer

and researcher. He is a Visiting Reader in Science at Aston University, UK.

Gareth Mitchell As well as lecturing at Imperial College London, Gareth is a presenter of Click 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.

Ask the Experts? Email our panel at bbcknowledge@ wwm.co.in We’re sorry, but we cannot reply to questions individually.

Why do some people sweat more than others?

Why do humans show affection by kissing? It’s not just humans that enjoy a smooch; lots of animals have courtship behaviours involving the mouth. Pigeons touch beaks, cats and dogs nuzzle each other, male fruit flies lick the females. At the most basic level, kissing is just a way of tasting and touching a potential mate, as part of the process of assessing suitability.

Even pigeons do it - well, they touch beaks

In primates though, kissing might also be a behaviour that has transferred from maternal feeding. We depend for our first meals on our ability to suckle, and the positive feedback mechanisms that evolved to encourage infants to do this last into adulthood. Kissing triggers lots of hormone changes, including raising oxytocin levels – the hormone that creates a sense of attachment. Kissing is virtually universal in all human cultures, so it’s possible that it is instinctive. LV

Receptors in the skin detect changes in the external temperature and pass this to the hypothalamus region of the brain, which can make the body sweat in response. An overweight person is better insulated and has a smaller surface area to volume ratio. Their core temperature will be higher for a given external temperature, simply because it’s harder for them to dump excess metabolic heat, and they will sweat more as a result. Fit people also sweat more than normal. This is because their bodies have become conditioned to start sweating sooner in response to exercise, for optimum cooling. LV Office etiquette rule No. 1: make sure you apply antiperspirant in the morning

Why do people behave differently in a crowd?

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Finnish students gather at a festival to mark May Day; traditional hats enable them to become part of a crowd

They may wish to fit in by imitating others, feel constrained by being observed, become excited by the noise and actions of the crowd, or may respond to local conditions and culture. An odd example is that in different countries pedestrians step right or left when meeting others on a crowded street. This is unrelated to which side of the road they drive on and appears to emerge spontaneously and then stick in each culture. Perhaps the most worrying behavior is when people feel less responsible for helping someone in trouble when there are others around. This ‘bystander effect’ is quite rare but more likely the larger the crowd. SB

October 2014

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Q&A If one of these critters gets you don’t look to Friends for medical advice

Does urine ease the pain of jellyfish stings? Regardless of what you saw on that one episode of Friends, urine is completely ineffective for jellyfish stings. At best it will do nothing, at worst it could trigger any remaining stinging cells. Rinse the area liberally with seawater, then scrape any attached tentacle fragments off with a credit card. LV

One of Nature’s great spectacles: the rings of Saturn

Why does Saturn have rings? It is not entirely clear why Saturn possesses rings. Astronomers have developed three theories of their formation. They could have formed from material left over from the formation of the planet itself – material that was unable to form a moon. Or, they could have formed from the debris of a moon that was destroyed by a large impact, perhaps by a comet or asteroid. Finally, they may have formed from a moon that broke apart due to the tidal forces

from Saturn itself. If the rings were formed along with the planet, then they will have had about four billion years to gather a large amount of ‘dirt’ from micrometeorite impacts. However, Saturn’s rings (composed mostly of water ice) are almost completely devoid of such ‘dirt’, implying they are actually quite young. This may suggest the impacted moon hypothesis is more likely. However, the jury is still out on this question. AG

Why do mosquito bites itch? When a mosquito punctures your skin, the chances of striking a capillary on the first try are rather low; only about five per cent of your skin is blood vessel. So the mosquito will saw its proboscis back and forth as it hunts for a capillary, which creates extra damage under the

skin. On top of that the mosquito injects an anticoagulant protein to prevent blood clots from clogging the proboscis. Your immune system reacts by increasing blood flow to the area and sending lots of white blood cells, creating an itchy bump. LV

What are the most common phobias?

getty, alamy X2, nasa

Arachnophobia, or fear of spiders, heads most Top 10 lists, although it’s impossible to be precise about the true order. Happily, most of us can avoid seeing spiders very often, and arachnophobia can be treated relatively easily with cognitive behavioural therapy or hypnotherapy. More damaging to people’s lives is agoraphobia. The name literally means fear of the market place (from the Greek

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October 2014

word ‘Agora’). More generally it means fear of open places and crowds, or situations that are hard to escape from. Agoraphobics can have panic attacks and then become even more afraid of BBC Knowledge sincerely apologises for this image if you’re arachnophobic

further attacks. This can lead to them staying at home, drastically restricting their life. Again treatment is possible and people can overcome agoraphobia. Other common phobias include the fear of being shut in (claustrophobia), of social situations such as public speaking (glossophobia), of snakes (ophidiophobia), of heights (acrophobia), and of germs and dirt (mysophobia). SB

Q&A Kids are merely trying to avoid a painful toxic death when they refuse to eat broccoli

Why do children dislike vegetables? Our evolutionary ancestors lived with lots of toxic plants and we evolved a gene that makes the toxins in these plants taste bitter to discourage us from eating them. Children probably evolved a stronger aversion to bitter tastes because they haven’t yet learned which plants are dangerous. We learn which plants are safe and lose half of our taste receptors by the time we are 20, making vegetables taste less bitter. LV

Do animals have a sixth sense of when disasters are about to strike?

Alamy X2, science photo library

The idea that animals can predict impending natural disasters dates back thousands of years, and anecdotes persist to this day. Following the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami that struck on Boxing Day 2004, reports emerged of elephants, buffalo and other animals running to higher ground before disaster struck. More recently, the respected Journal of Zoology reported an exodus of toads from a pond in L’Aquila, Italy, just before the town was struck by an earthquake in 2009. The idea that animals can detect such events ahead of time has some credibility. In 1997, researchers at the University of California

reported that elephants could detect the stomping of others over 48km (30 miles) away, which may also allow them to detect tremors ahead of the main quake. Earthquakes also release electromagnetic pulses and positive ions which may be detectable by animals. To get to the bottom of the mystery, the space agencies of Germany and Russia are collaborating on Project Icarus, which will tag around 1,000 birds and bats and monitor them from space. The aim is to find out if unusual behavior is more common before seismic events – a sign that animals have an ability to detect coming disaster. RM

There were recent reports of bison fleeing the Yellowstone National Park, possibly because they could sense an impending supervolcano about to erupt. At the time of writing, Yellowstone was still in existence

Even the empty space in this vacuum chamber has a temperature

What temperature is a vacuum? The temperature of a substance is a measure of the kinetic energy of its constituents. So, for example, nitrogen at room temperature consists of molecules whizzing around with typical speeds of over 1,800km/h. Yet in principle at least, a vacuum is utterly devoid of constituents, making this definition of temperature problematic. In practice, however, genuinely perfect vacuums don’t exist. Quantum theory implies that even apparently ‘empty’ space is seething with energy, as a consequence of the uncertainty principle. The ‘hardest’ vacuum we know of in real-life – that is, the closest to a perfect vacuum – is space, yet even this contains an average of around one particle per cubic metre, plus radiation left behind from the Big Bang. After 14 billion years, this radiation now has an energy corresponding to a temperature of around 3°C above absolute zero (–273°C), making this the temperature of the hardest known vacuum. RM

STATS VITAL

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Is the u reat Red Spot. km sG ,038 Jupiter’ measured 41 rinking 1800s it said to be sh It’s ar across. 933km per ye by

Q&A how it works Nasa Starshade We know alien worlds are there - we’ve detected over 1,800 of them. But as yet just a handful of images have been taken of only the largest, giant Jupiter-type worlds as specks of light. The quest is on to take a snap of a small, rocky planet close to its parent star – a world like ours. We could then analyse its spectra to see if it could be teeming with life. The problem is that stars are so bright that it’s near impossible to see anything orbiting them. But NASA has a surprisingly beautiful solution - a huge flower-like starshade that can be perfectly positioned in space to block the light from the star. A telescope can then image its surrounding worlds. While it’s just a concept, NASA says it could be launched with a telescope in the future.

Tightly wrapped up for the journey to space, the starshade is launched as a package with a space telescope.

The starshade is released from the telescope and begins to unfurl its petals to reveal its flower-like form.

Fully deployed, thrusters on the starshade itself manoeuvre it into position. It requires millimetre accuracy to effectively block the starlight for the waiting space telescope.

The flower-like shape of the starshade doesn’t just look pretty. The jagged edge formed by the petals means that light rays from the star are bent less, making the shadow of the starshade very dark and reducing glare. The telescope is then able to snap the orbiting planets.

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October 2014

Q&A Can external sounds influence your dreams? Yes. Many people have dreamed of a church bell ringing or a fire engine’s siren, only to wake to the sound of their alarm. Sometimes dreams seem to build up gradually towards the final sound – walking miles to the church for example, or running through a blazing city before the fire engine arrives. This may seem impossible, or even paranormal, but it probably occurs as the brain tries to build a story from a lot of jumbled dream fragments as it wakes up. Dripping taps, distant voices, and traffic are often claimed to affect dream content. In recent experiments thousands of people have used an app that plays different ‘soundscapes’ when they are dreaming. Those who listened to nature sounds were more likely to report dreaming of greenery and flowers while those who selected beach sounds were more likely to dream of sunshine holidays. SB

Why do we feel drowsy after eating a large meal?

getty, thinkstock, alamy, nasa

Steak and chips will induce a ‘rest and digest’ response Contrary to myth, it’s not caused by blood being diverted from your brain to your stomach. The drowsiness is partly because your body activates a ‘rest and digest’ mechanism (the opposite of the ‘fight or flight’ response) and partly because high carbohydrate meals increase the levels of melatonin in the brain, which makes us feel sleepy. LV

QuicKFIRE Does every planet have an equator?

The ‘equator’ of a planet is an imaginary line on its surface, equidistant from its poles. By definition, any planet that rotates will therefore have poles and an equator. Planets are formed by the gravitational collapse of clouds of gas and dust around stars. Any initial rotation of this material will be greatly enhanced as the planet forms. In a turbulent Universe like ours, this means all planets will have a degree of rotation and hence equators. AG

Kids: the ultimate in morning alarms

How would we keep time on Mars?

Is there an advantage to having a beard? Yes, if you want to attract women, but only when beards are relatively rare. In Britain big beards are currently popular, but some say we have reached ‘peak beard’ and hairy chins will soon decline. New research suggests that wearing a beard may be similar to what is known in biology as ‘negative frequency-dependent sexual selection’. This means that a rare trait is more attractive to the opposite sex than a common one. In biology this effect depends on genes but in the case of beards it depends on an idea: deciding to shave or not. In the experiments nearly 1500 women and 200 men were shown photos of men with varying amounts of facial hair. When most of the photos were of clean-shaven men the women preferred the bearded ones, and vice versa. SB Bring back the razor! We’re reaching ‘peak beard’ in Britain

It’s a question that has already faced Earth-bound engineers monitoring missions sent to Mars. As a day on A day on Mars is the Red Planet lasts 40 minutes longer around 40 minutes than on Earth longer than on Earth, engineers had to start shifts 40 minutes later each day. So they all wear watches that deliberately run slow by this amount. RM

How do governments prevent cyber attacks?

In 2007 much of Estonia was knocked offline by cyber attacks that had originated in Russia. State, business and banking websites were overwhelmed by a barrage of requests for information in so-called distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. A year later, a cyber defence centre was established in the country and Estonia is now a leader in national cyber security. Most governments base their defence plans on prevention, detection and response. This is based partly on intelligence to spot threats from criminal organisations or even hostile governments. Controversially, that involves harvesting terabytes of data on web traffic and mobile phone communications. GM

nature | Snapshot

ANDREW NEWEY

snapshot

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October 2014

What a buzz A Sweet climb When members of the Nepalese Gurung tribe fancy a taste of something sweet they have to get it the hard way. Instead of simply pottering to a supermarket to pick up a jar of honey, these men dangle 60m (200ft) in the air, probing at the giant rounded combs made by the world’s largest honeybees, Apis laboriosa, with bamboo poles. The bees grow up to 3cm in length. “In certain areas, this bee would struggle to find big trees with cavities, so it’s easier for them to find a place where they can nest underneath an overhang of a cliff,” says BBC presenter and insect expert Adam Hart. The Gurung tribe brave these mountain faces wearing very little to protect themselves. But with each hive containing up to 60kg, the Gurung tribe deem the hunt worth the risk. “We’re so used to sugar being everywhere, but historically this wasn’t the case and people would go through huge lengths to get hold of it,” says Hart.

MARK MOFFETT/FLPA

nature | Snapshot

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October 2014

Explosive altruism Ant attack As far as taking one for the team goes, Borneo’s carpenter ants are up there with the best of them. When attacked by predators, such as the larger worker ant pictured here, the bomblike bugs grab onto their assailants and hit the self-destruct button, spraying toxic yellow glue into the air. “Ants have a mandibular gland that is normally confined to the head,” explains entomologist and BBC presenter Adam Hart. “However, in some species of carpenter ants the gland is enormous and runs down the length of the body. As a last-ditch defence mechanism, the ant can violently contract muscles that cause its abdomen and the mandibular glands to rupture. This sprays the sticky, corrosive contents all over its attacker.” This defence mechanism is known as ‘autothysis’ and is also seen in some species of termite.

nature | Snapshot

Military mannequin Sensory protection

PRESS ASSOCIATION

This character is Porton Man, the Ministry of Defence’s newest robot. Taking its name from Porton Down, the home of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, it is used to test the effectiveness of protective military clothing. “We have designed software that enables the figure to run and walk at different speeds and with different styles of movement, such as a highstepping march,” says Jez GibsonHarris, director at i-bodi, the company that built Porton Man. “The figure, made out of carbon composites, can simulate sitting, kneeling and sighting a gun in a realistic manner. The head is wirelessly controlled and can rotate and tilt.” After decking him out in state-ofthe-art protective clobber, Ministry of Defence scientists then bombard Porton Man with all manner of chemical and biological weapons. The 276 sensors – the metallic pits all over his body – record exactly how much damage makes it through the protective gear.

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update

the latest intelligence

Not so dumb cavemen Studies suggest that Neanderthals weren't intellectually inferior to Homo Sapiens

I

The Natural History Museum, London

f you thought Neanderthals were simple-minded brutes that were driven to extinction by the intellectually superior ancestors of modern humans, it may be time to think again. Neanderthals thrived in a large area of Europe and Asia between 350,000 and 40,000 years ago, but died out after the arrival of ‘anatomically modern’ humans from Africa. It has traditionally been suggested that this was due to the newcomers’ more advanced hunting and communication skills, and ability to innovate and adapt. But a review of recent studies on Neanderthals carried out at the University of Colorado, Boulder has challenged this long-standing assumption. “The evidence for cognitive inferiority is simply not there. What we are saying is that the conventional view of Neanderthals is not true,” said Paolo Villa, a curator at the University’s Museum of Natural History. Villa cites

who’s in the news? James Franson

xxx

Professor of Physics at the University of Maryland, USA

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evidence that Neanderthals probably herded bison, mammoths and woolly rhinoceroses to their deaths by steering them off cliffs. This implies that Neanderthals could plan ahead and communicate effectively as a group. Ochre – a kind of pigment that may have been used for body painting – and ornaments have also been found at Neanderthal sites, suggesting they carried out complex cultural rituals and used a symbolic communication system. “Researchers were comparing Neanderthals not to their contemporaries on other continents, but to their successors,” says Villa. “That would be like comparing the performance of Model T Fords, widely used in America and Europe in the early part of the last century, to the performance of a modern Ferrari, and concluding that Henry Ford was cognitively inferior to Enzo Ferrari.”

What did he say? The speed of light may be slower than currently thought.

Franson argues that light moving through space may be slowed by ‘vacuum polarisation’.

Woah there… that sounds like a bold claim? It is. When, by international agreement, the speed of light in a vacuum was determined in 1983 to be 299,792,458m/s, it was largely assumed to be definitive. However,

Vacuum what? As photons – particles of light – travel through space there is a slight chance that any given photon will split into an electron-positron pair. These pairs exist for a brief period before recombining to create

When it comes to mental capacity, Neanderthals may have been judged unfairly

another photon. Franson believes this process could slow the photons down. What if he is right? As the speed of light is used in cosmological calculations, many measurements taken over the last 30 years could be wrong. However, Franson’s paper is yet to go through the peer review process.

psychology

update

the latest intelligence

Neuroscience

zoology

Time for the truth

Spiders are partial to a fish supper

How honest people are may be governed by their body clock

Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise, so the saying goes. However, it seems ‘morning people’ may become less ethical as the day goes on. Researchers gathered together a number of early risers, or ‘larks’, and a number of ‘night owls’, who are prone to staying up late at night. They randomly assigned them to experimental sessions from 7 to 8.30am or from midnight to 1.30am and tested their honesty by asking each participant to roll a die without the researchers seeing, and report back the number. A small amount of money was given to each participant, with higher rolls receiving a higher payout. According to the laws of

probability, the scores should have averaged out to 3.5 (1+2+3+4+5+6, divided by 6). However, larks in the night session reported getting higher rolls (4.55) than larks in the morning sessions (3.86), while owls in the morning session reported higher rolls (4.23) than owls in the night sessions (3.80). “We assume that good people typically do good things, and bad people do bad things,” says the study’s lead author, Christopher M Barnes from the Foster School of Business, Seattle, “but there is mounting evidence that ‘good’ people can be unethical and ‘bad’ people can be ethical, depending on the pressures of the moment.”

It’s news that’s likely to send arachnophobes running for the hills: spiders have been observed eating fish. Don’t fret, they’re not working their way up the food chain. Although spiders are typically thought of as predators of insects, a team at the University of Basel, Switzerland and University of Western Australia has catalogued five families of spider that hunt fish in the wild. “The finding of such a large diversity of spiders engaging in fish predation is novel. Our evidence suggests that fish might be an occasional prey item of substantial nutritional importance,” says study coauthor Martin Nyffeler. “Fish meat is high quality in terms of protein content and caloric value,” adds Nyffeler. “Feeding on fish may be particularly advantageous during the

mating period, when the elevated energy and protein requirements of pregnant female spiders require increased food intake, or at times of limited availability of invertebrate prey.” These semi-aquatic, fisheating spiders typically live around the edges of shallow freshwater streams, ponds or swamps. A number of them are also capable of swimming, diving or walking across the water surface itself. They use potent neurotoxins to disable the fish and have powerful enzymes that enable them to digest fish up to twice their own size. The feeding process usually lasts several hours, researchers say. But fear not: although fish-eating spiders can be found on all continents save for Antarctica, they are most prevalent in north America, particularly in the wetlands of Florida.

4.23

3.86

3.8 Expected result (3.5)

Larks

Owls

Larks aren’t just at their best in the morning – they’re at their most honest, too

Research into whether spiders are fond of pickled eggs is still ongoing xxx

Average reported dice socre

4.5

alamy, PETER LILEY

SCIENCE

October 2013

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update

the latest intelligence

Graphic science Seeing research differently new TITANOSAUR 100 Million YEARS OLD

20m

The weight of 14 African Elephants

Argentinosaurus 97 million years old

15m

Fossilised bones found at La Flecha, Argentina

Height 10m

77 Tonnes

20m tall Roughly the height of four giraffes

5m

Dr Jose Luis Carballido/Dr Diego Pol, MIT

0m

The biggest dinosaur ever found Discoveries don’t come much bigger than this: palaeontologists in Argentina have found the remains of what is thought to be the largest creature ever to walk the Earth. Using the gigantic thighbones, or femurs, as a reference, scientists say the animal was 40m long, 20m tall and weighed in at 77 tonnes, seven tonnes heavier than the previous record holder the Argentinosaurus.

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It is thought to be one of a new species of titanosaur, a huge plant-eating dinosaur that lived during the Cretaceous period. The remains were first discovered by a local farm worker in a desert near La Flecha in Patagonia. The fossils were then excavated by a team from the Museum of Paleontology Egidio Feruglio, which uncovered 150 bones from seven animals.

A palaeontologist lies next to a femur of the newly discovered titanosaur

e6 e 4 Issu `125 Volum r 2014 Octobe

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Knowledgemagazineindia

History | Greatest genius

WHO IS THE

The history of science and technology is rich with great minds, but who is the greatest? We asked some of the world’s top scientists for their nominations

W

hat defines a genius? Traditionally, it’s the ability to be more original and skilled than anyone else, or the first to glimpse new shores of knowledge. In science, flashes of insight often go hand in hand with persistence and methodical working practices. You could also give kudos to someone who’s worked across multiple fields, or whose discoveries have influenced the largest number of people. All these are arguments made by the top scientists we’ve interviewed for this article. This isn’t just a list of great scientists, though all the nominees are unarguably great. Rather, it’s a celebration of individual achievement. So vote for the greatest genius by logging onto BBC Knowledge’s facebook page.

nominated by Michael Mosley is writer and presenter of Trust Me I’m A Doctor.

What Kepler achieved was extraordinary. He was the person who made sense of astronomy. He realised, following in the footsteps of Copernicus, that the Sun is not the dead centre of the Universe and that the planets go round in ellipses. He was a wonderful, weird character: incredibly shortsighted and yet he gazed at the stars. He would get into fierce debates with Galileo about tides and why they happen. Kepler quite correctly said that it’s because of the Moon – he basically predicted gravity. Kepler was very stubborn too. He worked for Tycho Brahe for a while, who had been studying all this data about the Solar System but wouldn’t let Kepler lay his hands on it. One of the stories goes that Kepler poisoned him – certainly Brahe died under mysterious circumstances. Either way Kepler managed to nick all his data, and use it for his own purposes. He spent 16 years just creating model after model after model, until finally he got into ellipses. For too long, circles obsessed him: circles were perfect, circles were what his hero Copernicus had championed. It turned out circles were wrong and it was the data that swung it. What stands out was Kepler’s willingness to just grind away at the mathematics. One of the most important things about genius is persistence.

Johannes Kepler 1571-1630

nominated by Sarah-Jayne Blakemore Director of Cognitive Neuroscience at UCL

1920-1958

October 2014

getty, alamy illustrator: gluekit

Rosalind Franklin

Rosalind Franklin systematically, methodically, and meticulously spent many years encoding or deciphering the structure of DNA using X-rays. It was her pictures, her X-rays, that made Watson and Crick absolutely certain about the structure of DNA. They were close but they needed the evidence. They were theoreticians, but her work was the real data that solidified what they had been getting to. Unfortunately she died of ovarian cancer at a young age and the Nobel Prize is not given posthumously, so we’ll never know whether she would have been recognised. She was working in very maledominated conditions back in the ’40s and ’50s. The question of genius is an interesting one. Some people argue that genius is a leap of creative thought, where you take a few disparate pieces of information, put them together and leap further than anyone else would. I’d argue there’s another side, which is the more methodical, precise, and meticulous route that’s equally vital. The point is, even though she wasn’t the first to say it, the general consensus is that in her mind she knew what the structure of DNA was before anyone else, but she wasn’t prepared to go out there on a limb without knowing the evidence for sure. Perhaps that’s something women suffer from even now: a lack of confidence in their own convictions and their own findings. Perhaps if she did, she might have aired her views earlier.

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History | Greatest genius

nominated by Rasik Ravindra is the Chair Panikkar Professor at the Ministry of Earth Sciences, India.

wikipedia, thinkstock, julia nottingham, getty

For me, Aryabhatta, the famous Indian mathematician and astronomer who wrote his first monumental classic on mathematics, Aryabhatiyam, incorporating among other complex subjects, spherical trigonometry, quadratic equations, and sine tables at an age of 23 years. His explanations of sine tables (sine, cosine, versine and inverse sine) are considered the forerunner of modern trigonometry. He was correct up to 4 places of decimals in assigning values to sine and versine from 00 to 900 . In times when computing systems were not evolved, he could comprehend the value of π, again correct up to 4 decimal places and the circumference of earth to 99.80% accuracy. Many mathematicians give credit of knowledge of zero to Aryabhatta as it is considered implicit in his place value system as a placeholder for powers of ten. He also hypothesised, contrary to existing views then that the earth rotates on its axis daily and that solar and lunar eclipses were caused by shadows cast by sun and moon on the earth. He calculated positions of the planets in terms of distance from the earth and calculated the sidereal rotational value of earth correct up to seconds (23:56:4.1 as against modern value of 23:56:4.091). His calculation of the length of the sidereal year was correct up to 3 min and 20 seconds over a length of full one year. Such accuracy and insight, independent of time and space, can only come from a real genius.

Aryabhatta 476-550

nominated by Marcus Du Sautoy Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science and a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford.

Bernhard Riemann 1826-1866

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Riemann discovered several branches of mathematics that have had a massive impact since the middle of the 19th Century. He pioneered what’s called ‘high-dimensional geometry’, which was absolutely key to Einstein’s breakthrough on relativity. He understood how you can go from three dimensions to four to five to 11. That insight is absolutely extraordinary – using a mathematical language to go from the physical world around us to geometries in higher dimensions. It’s crucial for physics and, without it, Einstein wouldn’t have had the maths to develop his ideas. Another of his great breakthroughs was concerning prime numbers – numbers that can only be divided by one and themselves. These are like atoms for a mathematician, and he discovered their ‘DNA’, which basically tells us how they are distributed. You might think prime numbers are rather esoteric, but they’re at the heart of internet cryptography – they help us make unbreakable codes. Understanding these numbers has had a massive impact on the digital world. Riemann created a new way of being able to talk about geometry and numbers. His staggering breadth of work and originality is what marks him out as a genius for me.

greatest genius | history

Leonardo da Vinci 1452-1519

nominated by Heather Williams Medical physicist at Central Manchester University Hospitals and director of ScienceGrrl.

Da vinci was a mathematician, engineer, botanist, cartographer, and much more, so it’s hard to single out one achievement. He was remarkable really. This is a guy who had no formal schooling. His trade was a painter and he learnt what he did through deduction. Da Vinci’s studies in anatomy started with his desire to create realistic figures and therefore wanting to know how the body was constructed. A lot of what he discovered in that process is consistent with what we know today. When I look at his drawings they could easily have been lifted from text books that I regularly refer to. This was in the 1400s, so I think to dismiss him as an artist who just dabbled in science would be a misstatement.

He tells us a lot about what it means to be a scientist. The idea that we have both artists and scientists is actually a fairly recent one. It’s only in the last couple of hundred years that we’ve made the distinction. Kids in school effectively have to chose between doing arts and science subjects and cast themselves as one or the other, when actually doing science well is a deeply creative endeavour, one that requires you to observe and document the world in the same way that a good artist would. I nominate him as my favourite genius not just because he excels in so many different spheres, but because he shows us what science is really all about.

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History | Greatest genius

nominated by Frances Ashcroft Geneticist at the University of Oxford and author of The Spark Of Life.

I nominate Charles Darwin because he changed the way we think about life on Earth and our place in it. He is one of the most influential thinkers of all time. Not only did his idea of evolution by natural selection revolutionise the field of biology, but it has also influenced our views of society, ethics and religion. At the time it created huge controversy and Darwin knew this would be the case. He stated to his friend the botanist Joseph Hooker (in 1844) that his idea that species were not immutable, but evolved, was ‘like confessing to a murder’. What I admire about Darwin is not just his insight, but also the very detailed and careful way in which he worked. He assembled a huge amount of evidence to support his ideas. He was a superb observer and carried out extremely meticulous and painstaking experiments. Most people have heard of On The Origin Of Species, but Darwin was a prolific scientist and published many other wonderful works. He explained how coral atolls are formed, published a huge tome on barnacles and wrote on the expression of emotions in man and animals, and on carnivorous plants. My particular favourite is his book – his little treatise he calls it – on British orchids, Fertilisation Of Orchids.

Charles Darwin 1809-1882

For me it was close between Einstein and Newton, but in Newton’s time there weren’t that many people doing science. However, at the start of the 20th Century, when Einstein was working, there were lots of other great scientists such as Paul Dirac, Werner Heisenberg, Niels Bohr and several others. Even amongst them Einstein was considered special. Some people may say this is a lazy choice but I have thought long and hard about it and I feel it’s right. The three theories that he published in four papers are some of the greatest ideas ever to come out of the human mind: he proved that atoms exist with his paper on Brownian motion, discovered the fact that light is made up of packets of energy, and the whole field of cosmology and most of modern astronomy was born from the General Theory of Relativity. Any one of those would have been enough to put him up there as one of the greats. He changed forever the way we understand our Universe. Even now, when we talk about the possibility of a big idea changing science we say ‘we need another Einstein’.

Albert Einstein 1879-1955

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nominated by Jim Al-Khalili Professor of Physics at the University of Surrey and presenter of The Life Scientific on BBC Radio 4.

nominated by Robert Matthews Focus columnist and Visiting Reader in Science at Aston University, Birmingham.

Marie Sklodowska Curie 1867-1934

Back in the 1950s, James Lovelock invented the ‘electron capture detector’ – an incredibly sensitive piece of equipment that proved very useful in the analysis of the chemicals responsible for destroying the ozone layer. If he’d done just that, he’d be a major experimental scientist. But Lovelock is most famous for his Gaia hypothesis: the idea that organisms and the planet they’re on interact to keep it suitable for life. Organisms don’t just adapt in a Darwinian way to whatever environment they’re put into – they can actually shape the environment too. This idea was initially attacked, and there are still problems, but the idea that organisms and planets interact like this is being taken seriously now, and is stimulating a lot of important research. What I love about Lovelock is the variety of his work and the fact he’s totally independent, being funded by the money from his inventions. As a result, he’s free to say what he likes – and isn’t afraid to change his views. People talk a lot about Stephen Hawking and Peter Higgs. They’re really smart guys, but what they’ve discovered isn’t going to change our lives in any direct way. Lovelock’s work is both universal and relevant to all our lives through its implications for the environment. For me, that makes him our greatest living scientist.

nominated by

James Lovelock 1919-

There are only four people who have won two Nobel Prizes and Marie Curie was the first of them. She won a Nobel Prize in physics in 1903 for her work on radiation, and then one in chemistry in 1911 for the discovery of the elements radium and polonium. She did a lot of groundbreaking research looking into radiation and into the fundamental nature of atoms. During the early 19th Century, our knowledge of the atom was relatively limited. Her work was really probing into exactly what matter consists of and getting a better understanding of the elements, and of the atom itself. And she made all of her breakthroughs by slogging away in a lab. I think her genius can be seen not only in her experiments and the physical doing of things, but also in her choices of exactly what to study. She had an amazing insight to see where new science might be. It’s also worth nothing that there weren’t many women doing science at that time and I think the fact that she was doing work of such a high standard as a woman in that era is impressive in itself.

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getty X3, alamy

Aderin-Pocock Research fellow at UCL and presenter of The Sky At Night on BBC TV.

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portfolio

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Portfolio | Nature

Unique physical and social adaptations allow Japanese macaques to deal with sub-zero temperatures. Get a poolside view into the lives of these most northerly of non-human primates Photography by Anup Shah and Fiona Rogers

Warm together This family of macaques was photographed huddling together on a particularly cold morning, when the temperature was well below freezing. Higher-ranking families tend to stay in large huddles for longer periods than lower-ranking ones.

Nature | Portfolio

Barber talk These adult macaques are engaged in intensive grooming. We saw very few insects or debris being removed from their fur, so it seems likely that the monkeys were working to improve social bonding rather than their hygiene.

Social Grooming While her infant son swims in the water – he is too short for his feet to touch the floor – a high-ranking female is groomed by a female relative in a thermal pool. Since grooming strengthens relationships (see above), it comes as no surprise that females who are matrilineally related groom each other more often than unrelated individuals.

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“I am not feeling cold” This baby macaque has just emerged from a thermal pool. Though the monkey’s fur is matted and wet, it does not feel cold. Its body retains heat much better than humans because its thick fur means that it possesses fewer sweat glands.

Close encounters This family is huddling together early in the morning. A macaque pair usually huddles tummy to tummy, wriggling to get close so that the fur on their stomachs touches to trap the heat.

Portfolio | Nature

Yawn of the king This is a high-ranking male yawning as he rests at the edge of a thermal pool. He had a favourite spot in the water and would placidly sit there for hours, often dozing off. We only saw him stir when he felt hungry and headed off to forage.

A mother’s touch Bottom Females give birth every other year – the baby is usually born sometime between midnight and dawn. Pregnancy lasts about 180 days, and each female has, on average, 10 babies during her life. The species’ maximum life expectancy is about 25–30 years.

The photographers Anup Shah and Fiona Rogers This husband and wife team of wildlife photographers concentrates on primate projects in the wilds of Africa and Asia. Their work has been published worldwide.

The Location –en Jigokudani Yaen-ko

Jigokudani Monkey Park is in Nagano Prefecture, specifically the valley of the Yokoyu River which flows –gen mountains of Jo –shinetsu-ko –gen from the Shiga-ko National Park. Jigokudani, or ‘Hell Valley’, is buried in snow for almost a third of the year; the place is thought to be named after its steep cliffs and thermal vents. Macaques have lived in the area for millennia.

Jigokudani Monkey Park Sea of Japan

Kyoto

Japan

Tokyo

October 2014

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esa/Andy Potts

The Rosetta mission will deploy a lander to analyse the make-up of comet 67P/ Churyumov-Gerasimenko – it should touch down in November of this year

Space exploration | Science

This month, 10 years after it launched, the Rosetta spacecraft caught upto a comet travelling at 135,000km/h, and deployed a lander that will reveal its secrets. Will Gater takes a look at the mission

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s

TIMELINE

esa x6, ESO

ome 69km (43 miles) above the Atlantic Ocean, things were going very wrong for the Ariane 5 rocket. Minutes previously, it had thundered smoothly off the pad in French Guiana carrying a cargo of satellites. Now, though, its engine nozzle had failed and it was straying from its planned trajectory dramatically. Less than eight minutes after lift-off, the rocket selfdestructed, showering the sea below with debris. The malfunction would prove costly in a multitude of ways, but for the team working on the European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission, it marked the beginning of an especially worrying period. The same type of rocket was due to propel their spacecraft skyward, towards an historic rendezvous with the comet 46P/Wirtanen, in January 2003 – less than four weeks later. As launch day approached, it became clear that the fallout from the earlier Ariane 5 failure would see Rosetta lose its one shot at reaching the icy visitor. “Rosetta was effectively put in a shed, and no-one knew what was going to be done,”

Rosetta launched onboard an Ariane 5 rocket in 2004

JANUARY 2003

March 2004

January 2014

Mid 2014

A missed opportunity

Lift-off!

The spacecraft awakens

BURN, BABY, BURN

Rosetta was supposed to launch in January 2003 and visit the comet 46P/Wirtanen. But concerns about the rocket meant that the mission missed this launch opportunity.

Rosetta eventually blasted off from Kourou, French Guiana, on 2 March 2004. Now it was heading for an entirely different comet, ChuryumovGerasimenko, which had been discovered in 1969.

After several years of travelling through space in a state of electronic hibernation, the Rosetta spacecraft was woken up on 20 January 2014. Soon it would be taking its first long-distance images of Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

For the past few months Rosetta has been making a number of thruster ‘burns’ that are necessary to ensure it makes a successful rendezvous with ChuryumovGerasimenko. Some burns have lasted up to seven hours.

Space exploration | Science

says Rosetta project scientist Matt Taylor, who joined the team in 2013. Second time lucky The spacecraft didn’t languish there for long, though. Rosetta’s scientists soon identified another suitable target for their mission, and in March 2004 the probe safely blasted off for the comet 67P/ Churyumov-Gerasimenko. This month, it will at last arrive at the comet, giving Taylor and his colleagues a long-awaited close look at Rosetta’s objective. The team already know a fair bit about Churyumov-Gerasimenko, of course, thanks to ground- and spacebased observations. It’s what’s known as a ‘periodic’ comet – it orbits our star in almost 6.5 years – and it rotates once every 12.4 hours. “It’s a bit of a potato shape,” says Taylor, “between four and five kilometres across, depending on which way you measure it.” Crucially, the team also believe it not to be a cometary wild child. “Comets are inherently unpredictable,” explains Taylor. “But by choosing a periodic comet we have some level

of predictability as to its activity. We had measurements from its entire previous orbit around the Sun, which gave us an idea of how it was going to behave.” Churyumov-Gerasimenko is unlikely to disintegrate in the spectacular fashion that comet ISON did earlier this year, then, but like all comets, it should become more and more active as it nears the Sun.

Churyumov-Gerasimenko was first observed by Romanian astronomer Klim Ivanovych Churyumov in 1969

“Like all comets, Churyumov-Gerasimenko should become more active as it nears the Sun” Rosetta will be in a perfect position to study these developments, because it will be doing something that no mission has ever done before: f lying right alongside the comet. “Previous missions have f lown by other comets at kilometres-persecond speeds, and at hundreds of kilometres distance. So you only get

The Rosetta spacecraft’s array of solar panels being assembled and tested in an ESA clean room

August 2014

NOVEMBER 2014

AUGUST 2015

DECEMBER 2015

ARRIVAL AT 67P

Philae takes flight

67p at perihelion

Mission ends?

In August 2014, Rosetta will finally arrive at ChuryumovGerasimenko. The spacecraft will enter orbit around the comet and mimic its trajectory as it moves further into the inner Solar System.

November 2014 will see the historic event that Rosetta scientists have been waiting years for: the Philae lander will attempt to make a soft landing on the comet’s nucleus.

On 13 August 2015, ChuryumovGerasimenko will reach perihelion – that is, the point in its orbit when it is closest to the Sun. Scientists will be watching intently to see how the comet behaves here.

Rosetta’s mission is funded to last until December 2015. However, the team is already exploring ways in which the mission could be extended beyond this point, when the craft’s fuel and power supplies will be dwindling.

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a snapshot, you don’t see much of an evolution,” says Taylor. “With Rosetta we’re going to get in within one metre per second relative speed with the comet for over a year.” That will allow the scientists to watch as the warmth of the Sun causes the comet to vent thousands of kilograms of dust and gas he says. “We’ll be able to see regions of

“We’ll be able to see regions of activity start, be fully active and then reduce again” Matt Taylor, Rosetta project scientist

esa/Andy Potts

activity start, be fully active and then reduce again. Just to have that observation gives you that leap forward in really understanding how comets work.” Going boldly… Rosetta’s most nail-biting moment, though, will come this November, when the spacecraft will send a small lander, called Philae, to the frozen surface of ChuryumovGerasimenko. Its instruments and cameras should provide scientists with an unprecedented view of a cometary nucleus – the ice and rock ‘body’ of the comet. “As it touches the surface, a little thruster will push it down on the top,” says Taylor. “As that occurs, ice screws from each of the three feet will punch down into the surface and then two harpoons will fire down.” Once it’s securely on the comet, Philae will start to collect and analyse samples as well as send back high-resolution pictures of its surroundings. It’ll also work with Rosetta to examine the threedimensional interior structure of Churyumov-Gerasimenko using radio waves.

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If you’re going to spend 10 years and a billion Euros to get to a comet, you’d best make sure you’re carrying the right equipment to study it properly when you get there…

Space exploration | Science

Science | Space exploration

Inside Rosetta Mission Control at the European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany

Humanity has been fascinated by these night-sky wanderers since ancient times

esa/Andy Potts

In sending a probe to ChuryumovGerasimenko, Rosetta scientists are simply following in the footsteps of countless others who’ve sought to decode the story of these enigmatic, icy wanderers. This fascination with comets has existed for much of human history, says project scientist Matt Taylor. “It dates back thousands of years, when there is documented evidence of people monitoring these bodies,” he says. “They were originally seen as something that was a sign of foreboding, of something bad happening.”

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In recent years, we’ve come to realise that comets are a window into the past, and may even hold the key to understanding how life arose on Earth. “From a modern science perspective we look at them as being a frozen time capsule of what the conditions were like during the formation of the Solar System, some 4.5 billion years ago,” says Taylor. “The planets formed, and from the leftovers of that process we had the comets, hurled out into deep freeze beyond the outskirts of the Solar System, as well as the asteroid belt.” Taylor likens the task of unravelling a comet’s history to that of forensic experts at a crime scene. “You pick up dust in a forensic scene to get clues as to what was going on and who was there,” he says. “In the same way we’ll gather dust, chemicals and isotopes from the comet’s coma to work out where it came from, how it got to where it is today and also what was going on at that time.”

“Imagine you’ve got the orbiter on one side of the comet and the lander on the far side, with a radio signal propagating through it,” says Taylor. “As Rosetta orbits the comet you’ll see the variations [in the

“In recent years, we’ve come to realise that comets are a window into the past” signal] and be able to build up a reasonably accurate picture of what the nucleus looks like.” Taylor is confident the lander will make it down to ChuryumovGerasimenko. “It is very risky,” he admits. “But then if it was easy, we’d have done it already.” Will Gater is an astronomy journalist and author.

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Science | Blockbuster movie science

blockb illustrator tim mcdonagh

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usters Can you be hit by a bullet and keep on fighting, or escape from a sinking car? Helen Pilcher ponders the implausible action in big-budget movies

October 2014

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Science | Blockbuster movie science

SURVIVE nearby EXPLOSIONs the Scene A bomb explodes nearby. The hero must f lee the blast uncharred and unharmed. The Science Powerful explosives generate a sphere of compressed, rapidly expanding gas travelling faster than the speed of sound. Although this blast wave lasts just a few milliseconds, it can cause ‘hidden’ injuries whose effects may not become apparent for several days, including brain trauma and ‘blast lung,’ a potentially fatal haemorrhaging of the lungs. Immediately after comes a hurricane force blast wind of negative pressure that can raze buildings, shatter glass, and throw debris large distances. Flying debris can eviscerate, amputate and disintegrate body parts, smash bones, cause deep penetrating wounds and kill. The heat from the explosion can cause burns and if the bomb is laced with nails or other shrapnel, the risk

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of injury is increased. “If you’re close enough to the blast, you’re one of the things that’s thrown,” says Michelle Hoffman of Biodynamics Engineering, a US company that studies the physics behind accidents. No one, except the most extreme of terrorists, plans to be near a bomb when it blows, so for the most part, survival comes down to good fortune – the size and type of the bomb and your distance from it. America’s Federal Emergency Management Agency offers guidelines on safe evacuation distances for bombs. To avoid injury from a suicide bomber wearing 9kg (20lb) of TNT, stand at least 415m back. Or a mile back from a van packed with 13,607kg (30,000lb) of the same. Is it plausible? Get real. Stand too close and no-one is going to walk away from an explosion unharmed. Not even Iron Man.

Blockbuster movie science | Science

fight on after being shot the Scene The villain is shot several times, but just keeps on going, Terminator’ style. The Science The scientific study of what bullets do to bodies is called wound

ballistics. Travelling at speeds of well over 250 metres per second, bullets are pumped with kinetic energy, much of which is then rudely transferred to the unlucky target. The injury inf licted is related to this kinetic energy, which in turn is related to the bullet’s size and velocity. High-speed, high-calibre bullets are likely to f loor a man, as are bullets designed to expand on impact,

the likes of which are used by the US police force. Smaller, slower, pointier bullets can pass straight through a body, and because skin and tissue are elastic, the cavity created may close up. There doesn’t have to be huge, immediate blood loss, and a person may be able to keep going, especially if fuelled by methamphetamine, adrenalin or the like. Whether or not you fall or f lee also depends on where you are hit. A shot to the spine or head will stop you in your tracks. But if the bullets miss vital organs, you may be able to keep going, for a while at least. “I’ve had cases where people have been shot through a major

artery and kept running for several hundred feet,” says Parris Ward from Biodynamics Engineering, which simulates wound ballistics for legal cases. “I’ve also had cases where people didn’t realise they’d been shot in the leg because the bullet didn’t hit a bone or an artery.” Is it plausible? Provided your vital organs don’t take a hit and the bullet is on the dainty side, you may be able to keep going, but not for long. If the bullet doesn’t f loor you, blood loss eventually will.

illustrator tim mcdonagh

October 2014

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Science | Blockbuster movie science

Escape from a car underwater the Scene A hapless victim is in a car that plummets from a bridge into deep water and is sinking fast. They must get out alive. the Science Every year 400 people drown in their cars in North America. Many erroneously think you should let the interior of the car fill up with water, so the door can be opened once the pressure equilibrates. But most people drown well before that happens, says Manitoba University’s Gordon Giesbrecht, who reconstructs underwater escapes from cars in outdoor gravel pits. In reality, you have about a minute to get out alive – the time it takes for the water to seep in and stop the electric windows from working. Giesbrecht’s advice: take your

belt off as soon as you hit the water, open the windows, get any children out then get yourself out. Most cars f loat for about five minutes before sinking, nose down, so the escapees will likely have to manoeuvre through a back window. Calling emergency services wastes time and can be fatal. Giesbrecht laments the recorded 911 calls offering advice to people ‘already dead’, who spent that critical first minute on the phone. Is it plausible? Plausible, but only if you get out fast… or are in James Bond’s Lotus Esprit.

be thrown through glass the Scene A hero is hurled through a window. They have a smashing time, but don’t get hurt.

illustrator tim mcdonagh

the Science In the movies, breakable windows are made from sugary stunt glass. But in the real world, there are many types of glass and your injuries will depend on which you have the misfortune to meet. Plate glass, commonly used in buildings, shatters into large shards that can sever arteries and cause deep lacerations. Toughened glass, found in phone boxes and windscreens, crumbles into thousands of tiny, granular chunks that cause smaller cuts and grazing. Laminated safety

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glass, used in skylights, skyscrapers and storefronts, is incredibly strong. “You can jump up and down on it, or hit it with a huge metal ball and it still doesn’t break,” says materials scientist Mark Miodownik from University College London. If it does yield it creates a hole, but the rest of the glass doesn’t shatter. is it plausible? The safest way to exit a window, undoubtedly, is always to open it first. Smashing through plate or toughened glass could cause serious harm. Run into laminated glass and you’re likely to dent your pride more than the pavement on the other side.

Blockbuster movie science | Science

fall from a building the Scene A hero falls spectacularly from a building – and survives. the Science “It’s not the fall that kills you, but the sudden stop at the end,” says Michelle Hoffman who analyses falls at Biodynamics Engineering in Phoenix, Arizona. In the movies, falls are commonly slowed by trees, power lines, roofs, and the like. “Awnings are good,” says Hoffman. “Multiple awnings are really good.” Dividing one big fall into multiple smaller ones slows your descent, reducing the force of impact and increasing the odds of survival. For the same reason, what you land on is also important – you come to a stop more quickly on concrete than you do on bark chips. A few years ago in Melbourne, Australia, a young woman attempting suicide by jumping from a freeway bridge survived by accidentally landing on the back of a truck carrying fruit in cardboard boxes. How you hit the ground also inf luences whether or not you survive. Land head first from any height and you’re dead. Land on your back, spreadeagled, and by spreading your weight over the largest area possible, you might just live to see another day. is it plausible? Plausible but unlikely. ‘Survival’ is, after all, relative. “If you fell from a 10-storey building into a 6ft-deep snowbank and landed on your back with your arms out, there’s a pretty good chance you could survive,” says Hoffman. “But that doesn’t mean you can hop up and run around.” Brain injury, skull fractures, broken bones and chest trauma are common.

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use a car door as a bullet shield the Scene Besieged by gunfire, a cop saves his bacon by sheltering behind a car door.

illustrator tim mcdonagh

the Science The average car door offers virtually no protection from gunshot wounds. “A handgun bullet can go in one car door and out the other,” says ballistics expert Tom Fleenor from US company International Armoring Corporation (IAC). American police cars with their Kevlar-reinforced doors might offer protection from handgun fire, but not from high-powered

rif le bullets travelling at up to 850 metres per second. “Police officers do get shot through car doors,” says Fleenor. Fear not, though. If you’ve upwards of $6,000 to spend, IAC can reinforce your car doors with ballistic steel and lightweight, laminated fibres, enabling them to shrug off most high-speed, non-armourpiercing shells. is it plausible? Not unless you happen to own a bona fide armoured vehicle, or have pimped your ride into a mobile panic room.

Jump from one train to another

The Scene A goodie is on the roof of a fast-moving train being chased by a baddie. They must a) not fall off, b) run away and c) leap across carriages looking cool. the Science As a train moves forward, the air forced over its roof creates a resistive force opposing any would-be train surfer. The faster the train, the

bigger the force and the more effort it takes to stay standing. Remove the threat of decapitation by bridges, electrocution by overhead power lines and serious injury by precipitous falls, and the scenario is not so different from being in a wind tunnel. “You can just about stand in winds of 60mph,” says David Marshall, manager of Southampton University’s wind tunnel. “But you’d struggle to walk and you

Blockbuster movie science | Science

slice through steel with a blade the Scene A samurai cuts effortlessly through steel using nothing but muscle power and a sword. the Science Who needs adamantium, the indestructible metal used by Wolverine that can cut through anything? In industry, carbidetipped steel rotary blades are used to cut steel. “A steel sword could do the same thing in principle,” says materials scientist Mark Miodownik. “But it would need a high enough velocity to melt

certainly can’t run. And if you tried to jump, the wind would pull you backwards.” In India, the Bhopal Shatabdi Express trains reaches speeds of around 160km/h, engineering works permitting, while elsewhere, magnetic levitation or ‘maglev’ trains notch up top velocities of over 480km/h (300mph). Attempt the same thing on one of these moving at full pelt and it’s not going to end well. Added to that, any imperfection on the line or

the steel it’s cutting.” So it’s best to make your sword relatively thick, and coat it with tungsten carbide: with a melting point of 2,870°C, this will stop the blade from melting. Or just hope the steel you’re slicing is as wimpy as a tin can. “If steel is thin enough, you can cut it with scissors,” says Miodownik. is it plausible? Machines can do it, but we humans lack the muscle power to wield a sword fast enough to cut through thick steel – unless you’re a mutant freak, that is.

sideways jolt to the carriage is likely to physically tip you over the edge. is it plausible? Indian trains are more likely to run on time than you are to run along the roof of a speeding train and not get seriously injured or killed. But that doesn’t stop some adrenalin junkies from illegally hitching train roof rides.

In 2012, a 24-year-old Moldovan man got off lightly when he was arrested for surfing a Russian Sapsan train wearing nothing but purple pants, but many others have died.

Helen Pilcher is a science writer and comedian.

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History | History of science

The scientific legacy of

World War I

On the 100th anniversary of the war, Ned Lebow explores the more surprising advances that came out of the conflict

Blood transfusions

E

arly attempts to transfuse blood into humans often proved fatal because of an immune response that destroys red blood cells. In 1901, Karl Landsteiner of Austria discovered that humans had different blood groups and in 1907, the Czech Jan Janský identified four distinct groups. The first transfusion of stored blood was performed in 1914 by Belgian physician Albert Hustin. British surgeon Geoffrey Keynes would later devise a portable machine to preserve blood which would

facilitate battlefield transfusions, while it was an American physician, Oswald Hope Robertson, who created the first blood bank in France during the war. These transfusions required blood collection and typing, storage and accurate matching of blood type from donor to patient. Doing this helped forge new links between civil servants and the medical profession that would prove essential for later developments such as the National Health Service.

Mass manufacturing The war made huge demands on production and distribution. Weapons and supplies had to be produced in vast quantities. By 1916 the second largest concentration of British nationals outside London was the British Expeditionary Force in France. Keeping these forces fed, clothed and supplied required new railways, warehouses, barracks, hospitals, and roads. Just 1.5km of trench required 1,450km of barbed wire, six million sandbags, 28,320m3 of timber, and 33,445m2 of corrugated iron. Production and distribution need labour, and this was increasingly supplied by women. As for science specifically, in 1914 Britain imported most of its scientific equipment from Germany. It now had to manufacture its own and draw on native scientific knowledge. All this helped to professionalise science and encourage science education, and led to the creation of numerous state and public scientific institutions. World War I saw women entering the workforce in vast numbers

56 / FOCUS / AUGUST SUM M ER2014 2014

Blood transfusions became common during the last two years of the war

General Relativity For the most part the conflict stifled scientific progress, but in one case the thirst for knowledge overcame the war. Britain had banned the circulation of German scientific literature, which infuriated Arthur Eddington, the chief astronomer at the Albert Einstein and Sir Arthur Eddington University of Cambridge. together in Cambridge, 1930 This was because he had noticed that the orbit of Mercury varied much less than Newton’s laws suggested and suspected Einstein’s theory of General Relativity held the answer. One of its key ideas is that space is shaped by mass, which provided an explanation of Mercury’s anomalous orbit. Eddington realised that he could prove Einstein’s contention that light waves are deflected by mass by taking pictures of stars during the solar eclipse of May 1919. He overcame the anti-German sentiment of the Royal Society to gain funding for an expedition to the West African island of Príncipe, where the eclipse would be total. Photographs that Eddington analysed provided the first observational confirmation of Einstein’s theory.

XXXXXX

Aviation Early aeroplanes were handicapped by the weight of their engines, which had steel radiators and water for cooling. In 1908, French engineers invented the rotary engine, which had spinning, air-cooled cylinders. Aircraft engines in 1914 produced a measly 50hp, but the output was soon greatly improved by British, French and German engine manufacturers competing for aerial supremacy. For example, the Rolls-Royce Eagle and Falcon were the first in a famous line of engines.The Mark VII had 375hp, powering the Vimy heavy bomber that John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown flew across the Atlantic in June 1919. Better wings were also developed to exploit the power of these new engines. At the Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of Göttingen, Ludwig Prandtl did pioneering work on aerofoils, drag and the lift properties of wings. Using a wind tunnel, Prandtl pioneered the science of aerodynamics and created the ‘thick wing’ that gave fighter planes the ability to climb at much steeper angles without stalling. Better aircraft needed better control systems and navigation. Early groundto-air signalling used flags and lamps. But in 1916, technicians in San Diego sent a radio message 225km (140 miles), and then messages between planes. By 1917, the US Army had two-way radios on its fighter planes in France.

In 1919, Alcock and Brown made the first non-stop transatlantic flight in a World War I Vimy bomber

Public health had improved greatly during the 19th Century, and World War I witnessed further improvements with the development of the sanitary towel. Where women had traditionally used washable underwear or rags, French nurses on the frontline were the first to employ the newly invented cellulose material that was used for wartime bandages. British and American nurses soon adopted the same practice, as did many women in uniform. In 1920, US company Kimberly-Clark began to produce ‘cellucotton’ sanitary towels commercially under the brand name Kotex (cotton plus texture).

Disposable sanitary towels were a World War I invention

Richard Ned Lebow is a professor in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London, and author of Archduke Ferdinand Lives: A World Without World War I.

October 2014

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science and society x4, science photo library

Sanitary towels

alamy

10 photographs that made history | history

10

photographs that made history To mark the 175th anniversary of the daguerreotype process – a precursor of modern photography – we asked 10 leading historians to select what they consider to be some of the most important photographs of all time. Interviews by Charlotte Hodgman

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History | 10 photographs that made history

Photographer: Jeff Widener

A lone protest in Tiananmen Square

NASA/PRESS ASSOCIATION, CORBIS

Beijing, 5 June 1989 When this image of a lone protester standing before a line of tanks in Tiananmen Square first appeared on newspaper front pages, its message seemed simple. Here was a powerful regime brutally dealing with protesters, and this was the point at which that regime would, and should, end. Except it didn’t collapse or democratise; instead China became a huge economic superpower, making this image hard to interpret as part of a liberal historical sequence. This photo pulls together the factors that have shaped not just events in 1989, but the whole trajectory of Chinese history: the supremacy of the state; the continuing impact of conflict; and the enduring power of the individual to re-emerge. Rana Mitter is professor of modern Chinese history at the University of Oxford.

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Photographer: William Anders

Earthrise Apollo 8, 24 December 1968 Few would argue the importance of this, one of the first images of Earth rising over the Moon, taken during the Apollo 8 mission – the first manned voyage to do a full lunar orbit. The image was soon circulated around the globe, allowing people to see the planet in a way that earlier generations could only have dreamt of. But its significance in our understanding of Earth as more than just somewhere we inhabit was slow to sink in – arguably it is still doing so. Photographing Earth from space was a feat in itself, but its influence on our views of Earth as a living organism that connects us all, is ongoing. OA Westad is professor of international history at London School of Economics, UK.

Photographer: Alexander Gardner

The dead of Antietam Nr Sharpsburg, Maryland, 19 September 1862 Taken just two days after the battle of Antietam, this image is among the first in history to show dead soldiers on the field of battle. The impact of this and other similar images of civilians was extraordinary. One reporter wrote: “If he [Mathew Brady, who exhibited the images] has not brought bodies and laid them in our door-yards and along streets, he has done something very like it...” This and other photographs like it found their way into the homes of tens of thousands of 19th-Century

Ali floors Liston Maine, 25 May 1965 In the words of Malcolm X: “The revolt of the American negro” was part of “the rebellion against oppression and colonialism” that characterised the postwar world. It’s this rebellion that the image of the 23-year-old Ali, standing exultant over the defeated Sonny Liston during the rematch to retain his world title in May 1965, encapsulates. When Ali (then known as Cassius Clay) first defeated reigning heavyweight champion Liston, in February 1964, sports fans were shocked. When Clay then converted to Islam and named himself Muhammad Ali, he captured the attention of the world. By the 1970s, Ali’s was among the most famous faces on the planet and sport had been established as a global lingua franca.

Americans, who purchased stereograph images to view in 3D, presumably with a mixture of horror and disgust. Antietam was the bloodiest day of the American Civil War up to that date, with 3,600 dead and 17,000 wounded. The battle triggered an escalation in the brutality of the fighting, marking the end of the first, more restrained period of the war. Dr Adam IP Smith is senior lecturer in history at University College London, UK.

“Ali standing exultant over Liston encapsulates, what Malcolm X called, ‘the revolt of the American negro’”

Dr Peter Thompson is a lecturer in American history at the University of Oxford.

Photographer: Neil Leifer

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The nightmare of Hiroshima Taken from the aircraft that dropped the first atomic bomb, this photograph of the giant mushroom cloud that rose above Hiroshima within minutes of detonation brought home to the world the sheer magnitude of what had happened. Released on 11 August and published in the US press the following day, Caron’s photo captured the awesome power of modern military technology and prepared the world for other, more striking shots of an image that would most haunt the postwar imagination. The photograph’s focus on the mushroom cloud distanced viewers from the horrific destruction on the ground – shots of which were censored for weeks – making it easier to rationalise the use of an atomic bomb on an urban area. Dr Adrian Bingham is a senior lecturer in modern history at the University of Sheffield, UK.

“Caron’s photo captured the awesome power of modern military technology”

Photographer: George Caron ALAMY

ALAMY, GETTY/IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM

Enola Gay, 6 August 1945

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10 photographs that made history | history

Nelson Mandela’s walk to freedom Paarl, South Africa, 11 February 1990 When Nelson Mandela left prison after 27 years, he carried with him the great hopes of the majority of South Africans – but also the fears of those who supported white minority rule. To many, this image of Mandela – his right fist raised in the power salute of the ANC – symbolised the beginning of the end of apartheid. No photograph had been seen of Mandela in a generation, so few people knew what he looked like. Just before his release, a photograph with President de Klerk showed Mandela standing stiffly, with grey hair. But his first steps to freedom showed that – now 71 – his commitment to the struggle for a non-racial, democratic future was undiminished. Mandela’s walk to freedom was celebrated across the world. Four years later, he became South Africa’s first black president. Photographer: Ulli Michel

Dr Susan Williams is a senior fellow at the School of Advanced Study, University of London.

Fear and pain at the Somme July 1916, northern France Although not technically a photograph – it’s taken from the 1916 film The Battle of the Somme – this image sums up the grim realities of trench warfare. A far cry from the straight, neatly sandbagged ‘stage trenches’ constructed in London’s Kensington Gardens, the real things on the western front were revealed as confused, crumbling and shallow – offering minimal protection. Nearly half of all Britons saw the film, which was released barely a month after the bloody campaign, in which more than 1 million Allied and German troops were killed or wounded. The fear and pain on this soldier’s face as he struggles with a wounded comrade still serves as a reminder of extraordinary lives forced upon ordinary men. Dr Rachel Duffett is a lecturer at the University of Essex, UK.

Cinematographers: Geoffrey Malins and John McDowell

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History | 10 photographs that made history

Raising the red flag over the Reichstag Berlin, 2 May 1945 First published in the Soviet magazine Ogonek, on 13 May 1945, this image of a soldier flying the Soviet flag from the roof of the Reichstag in Berlin, high above the smoking ruins of Hitler’s capital, has become one of the most recognisable symbols of the destruction of Nazi Germany and the Allied victory. Far from being a candid shot, the photograph was carefully staged by photographer Yevgeny Khaldei, and subsequently manipulated, yet it remains a symbol of some of the key aspects of 20th-Century history, not least the appearance of the USSR as a power that would dominate Europe for the next 45 years. The image resonated with war-weary Europeans as a symbol of Nazi defeat, the end of the bloody conflict, and the dawn of a new era. Evan Mawdsley is professor of international history at the University of Glasgow.

Photographer: unknown

Stalin erases Trotsky from history

GETTY/PA

Outside the Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow, 5 May 1920 Stalinism as a system was peculiar in many ways but perhaps unique in one – in its morbid, almost paranoid, fear of its own revolutionary past. This is why Stalin killed the old Bolsheviks during the 1930s, why history was constantly being rewritten to fit into the needs of the Soviet state, and why one of the most famous revolutionaries of all – Leon Trotsky – had to be deleted from the historical record. This image is one of the most famous examples of Stalin’s attempts to ‘airbrush’ history. In the top image, Trotsky leans against a wooden pulpit as Lenin rallies troops; in the second image, he is nowhere to be seen. Its significance still resonates today. Vladimir Putin would of course deny that his own regime and that created after 1917 have anything in common, yet I think they do: they both believe in the old Stalinist maxim that ‘history’ has no other purpose than to serve the needs of the authoritarian state. Michael Cox is emeritus professor of international relations at London School of Economics.

Photographer: Yevgeny Khaldei

The burning girl of Trang Bang South Vietnam, 8 June 1972

Photographer: Nick Ut

This image of nine-year-old Kim Phuc (centre left), her features contorted with pain and fear as she and other children flee their burning village, is not one that can be forgotten quickly. The sight of Phuc – a victim of the accidental napalm bombing of civilians fleeing Trang Bang village, carried out by the planes of US-backed Saigon – prompted questions that revealed not just the horrific pain and disastrous personal impact of the conflict, but war’s capacity to produce appalling consequences from grotesque error. Anti-war sentiment was well established by 1972; it did not need this image

to justify or sustain it. But it made the Nixon administration anxious in the build-up to the presidential election campaign. White House tapes for 12 June 1972 reveal Nixon’s aide, HR Haldeman, suggesting the image may have been “fixed” by Nixon’s political opponents for electoral gain. Five days after this conversation, burglars operating for the Campaign to Reelect the President entered the Democratic National Committee’s HQ at the Watergate offices in Washington, the result of which really did change the world. The terrified girl survived her injuries and later established the Kim Phuc Foundation, providing medical and psychological assistance to child victims of war. Richard Carwardine is president of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. Photographer: Nick Ut

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nature | zoology

ANIMAL

SUPERSENSES bbc, thinkstock x3, robert harding, getty

There are animals with keener hearing and sharper eyes than us, but as Helen Czerski reveals, some creatures have different sensory systems altogether

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dolphin hearing

a master of acoustics The mammalian ear is a sensory marvel. Our ears funnel sound down to the inner ear, the cochlea, into a fluidfilled tube lined with hairs. Different parts of the tube vibrate in response to different frequencies, and so as a sound travels down the tube, the fluid vibrates in specific places along its length. The tiny hairs are moved by the vibrating fluid, and they send nerve signals to the brain. Evolution has shown just how much the ear is capable of. About 50 million years ago, there was a land mammal called a pakicetid. The descendants of this animal moved into the ocean, and split into two groups: baleen whales, like the blue and fin whales, and toothed whales, like orca, dolphins and sperm whales. The baleen whales evolved to use very deep sounds to communicate, and their cochlea is adapted to hear frequencies as low as

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3Hz. The toothed whales went the other way, using highfrequency echolocation to hunt. It’s thought that some dolphins can hear up to 280kHz. So this technique for hearing works over at least 17 octaves, a huge range, although no single animal can hear all of it. But in spite of having very sensitive hearing, whales and dolphins don’t have external ears. There’s no need, because sound travels from water into the dolphin’s body quite easily. Sound travelling through air will just bounce off your body, so land mammals need an external ear to help steer the sound inside. Instead of being funnelled down a small hole on the side of the dolphin’s head, most of the sound passes directly into the lower jaw and along the bone to reach the ear. Their whole jaw is doing the listening. So for a dolphin, there’s no equivalent of sticking your fingers in your ears!

zoology | nature

How we compare When it comes to hearing, humans are pretty impressive. We can hear about 10 octaves, from around 20Hz to 20kHz. We can also detect a huge range of loudness without damaging our ears. The faintest sounds that we can hear move our eardrum a million times less than the loudest sounds we can hear. Of all our senses, hearing is probably the one we are best equipped for, and the one we notice the least.

The dolphin’s entire lower jaw feeds sound to its ears

Sound waves pass through the dolphin’s lower jaw

yann hubert/flpa ILLUSTRATION: ACUTE GRAPHICS

Ear

Platypus ElectroSensitivity

dave watts/naturepl.com, getty ILLUSTRATION: ACUTE GRAPHICS

hunting with electricity Imagine you’re an aquatic mammal, searching for prey buried in the mud of a stream. You close your eyes, ears and nose, dive underwater, swim down to the bottom, and then what? This is how the platypus hunts. Blind, deaf, and unable to smell anything, it pays attention to something else. Shrimp and other prey are moving around, and each bit of movement could give their position away. All muscle contractions involve electric pulses, and because water conducts electricity those pulses are broadcast out. The secret weapon of the platypus is its beak, which is covered in mucus glands capable of sensing electric fields. Each gland has nerves and the mucus transmits the electricity to the nerves. It’s a fearsome arsenal of sensors – each platypus has an estimated 40,000 electrosensors. It’s also got 60,000 touch sensors on its beak, and it uses the two systems together to search for objects in the mud and then decide whether it might be suitable for dinner. As the platypus swims along, it sweeps its bill from side to side, and it uses the changing signal from each sweep to work out the direction of the prey. Not only will they swim straight towards a shrimp, they’ll quickly home in on the DC voltage from a buried battery as well. This is highly effective hunting – a platypus finds half its body weight in prey every single night.

One of the most unusual animals on the planet, the platypus hunts its prey by detecting electrical impulses

How we compare We live in an environment buzzing with electric fields of one sort or another, but even if we could sense them, most of the time there would be nothing to detect. That’s because we live in air, which is a poor conductor of electricity. If we did have this sense, we’d rarely be able to notice it. The closest we come to electro-sensing is being able to feel our hairs stand up on end if there’s a balloon charged with static electricity nearby.

The position of the platypus’s electro-sensors can be seen here as solid red areas on the right and left of the beak; its touch receptors are shown as open rings. It’s thought the animal may have 100,000 individual sensors

In experiments platypuses were able to detect an object set at 2Hz from roughly 30cm away. The range of the beak is shown here in red

zoology | nature

Make a movement in the water and the pressure sensors running along the length of this Great White will pick it up

Shark pressure

Surface pore

the ultimate motion detector Sharks are the kings of the sensory world. They have incredible sight and hearing, sensitive nostrils and tastebuds, delicate touch detectors and the ability to electro-sense. But they have one other sense that completes this amazing set, giving them a completely different type of information. This is their lateral line system, and it allows them to detect tiny pressure changes in the water around them. On each side of the shark’s body, a jellyfilled canal runs from the head to the tail, just underneath the skin. The jelly is exposed directly to the water at intervals via pores, and as the pressure changes in the water, it pushes and pulls gently on the jelly, making it flow inside the canal. Hair cells protrude into the jelly, and as they move backwards and forwards with the flow, they send nerve signals back to the shark’s brain. This system is incredibly sensitive, picking out the tiniest changes in pressure at single locations, and also pressure gradients along the length of the shark.

Scale

Tubule (open to sea water) Lateral line canal Gelatinous Dome

Nerve Sensory cells

LATERAL LINE

Imagine a shark swimming over a reef. As smaller fish swim past, they leave a wake of disturbed water behind them, and this wake can last up to 30 seconds. Larger fish leave larger and longer-lasting wakes. A crashing wave above might send a pressure pulse down into the water. The ocean surrounding the shark is full of delicate patterns, flowing swirling water movements, and each pattern tells a story. The lateral lines let the shark listen in to what the structure of the water itself has to say. This complements the rest of the shark’s senses perfectly. Sensory knowledge is power, and the shark has it all.

How we compare Air doesn’t transmit pressure pulses as well as water, so direct pressure sensors aren’t much use. We might detect a breeze because it cools our skin, or because hairs on our arms are moved. If there’s a large change in air pressure, we may detect it indirectly – when our ears ‘pop’, they’ve readjusted. Of course humans hear pressure differences as sounds, but we have nothing to match the lateral lines of sharks.

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The catfish is able to enjoy the taste of its dinner long before it actually eats it

catfish taste

getty, yann hubert/flpa ILLUSTRATION: ACUTE GRAPHICS

the swimming tongue On most animals, it’s easy to point to the sense organs. They’re located in specific places on the animal’s body. But in some cases, evolution has thrown that limitation out of the window. For example, the channel catfish has been described as a ‘swimming tongue’, because its entire body is covered in taste receptors. There are higher concentrations on its lips and on the barbels that protrude from its face (their similarity to whiskers is why they’re called catfish), but there are also four or five taste buds per square millimetre over the whole of the rest of its body. The detector molecules are at the surface of the skin, continually probing the water. It sounds as though the catfish would be overwhelmed by the variety of chemicals from plants, animals, humans and anything else in the water. But these taste receptors are very specific, firing only when two

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Mouth: five tastebuds per square millimetre; 25 per square millimetre in places

Body: five tastebuds per square millimetre

Gills: seven tastebuds per square millimetre, with patches of 50 per square millimetre

types of amino acid float past. These types are common in invertebrates, and when it senses them, the catfish starts snapping. The catfish can also detect and swim up a concentration gradient – closer to the invertebrate, the amino acids will be more concentrated. Near the bottom of a muddy stream where visibility is poor, a sense that can lead you right to dinner is a really valuable asset.

How we compare Our sense of taste is pretty sophisticated, and we can detect many more flavours than a catfish. We get a huge amount of information about our food, because we have many types of flavour receptor. For example, a sweet flavour indicates an energy-rich food, and bitterness warns us of potentially toxic chemicals.

zoology | nature

gecko vision

the one-eyed wonder The nocturnal helmeted gecko’s eyes work on the same basic principles as ours, but with a few nifty twists. These lizards were active during daytime for a significant chunk of their evolutionary past, and with all that bright light around there was no need for sensitive rod cells, which let us see in low light. So the rod cells disappeared and the geckos are left with three types of cone cell covering their retina, for green, blue and UV light. These days, they are active at dusk, and even with wide-open eyes, they still have colour vision in dim light. But these geckos are still out and about in bright light sometimes, and this is when their

eyes show off a really unusual strategy. The gecko’s pupil becomes slit-shaped in bright light, but it’s also got four notches along each side. When the slit closes up, instead of having one single pupil like ours, the gecko has four in a line. Each one will form a separate image on the back of the lens – unless the object is a specific distance away, in which case all four images lie on top of each other. It’s thought that the gecko uses this to judge distance. They don’t have stereoscopic vision like ours, so they can’t calculate distance by comparing the different images from each eye. But with those four pupils in each eye, they don’t have to.

In low light the gecko’s pupil dilates (left), but in bright light it closes to reveal four notches (right) that help it judge distance

Not only can this Tokay Gecko see in UV, it can also judge distance without stereoscopic vision, thanks to a remakable adaptaion to its irises

Helen Czerski is a physicist, oceanographer and BBC science presenter who appears regularly on Dara O Briain’s Science Club.

How we compare The human eye is a complex organ. Light flows in through a circular aperture called the pupil, which controls how much light reaches the back of the eye. It constricts when it’s bright, so that only a thin, intense beam of light hits the retina at the back of the eye. The small region where that beam lands is called the fovea and it’s full of densely packed cone cells. We have colour vision because there are three types of cones, for red, green and blue light. But when surroundings are dim, our pupils open up to allow in more light, illuminating the sea of rod cells that make up the rest of the retina. These only distinguish black and white, but they’re very sensitive to low light. That’s why everything looks washed-out at dusk – the light is mostly falling on rod cells, so our colour vision is poor.

World’s

Greatest Explorers Out into the wild to uncover wonders untold, these bold and intrepid explorers returned from their exciting and perilous expeditions with information that would come to define the geographical understanding of the world. Moshita Prajapati recaps their journey of discoveries Francisco de Orellana - Mapping of the Amazon River

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark - Explored United States of America

Spanish Conquistador Francisco de Orellana was the first European to travel and explore the length of the Amazon River. An expedition team led by Gonzalo Pizarro to explore the regions of Peru started their journey in April 1514 towards the jungles of South America. Dwindling food and water supplies forced the expedition to set up camp near a river. Orellana carried on with 50 men to travel further down to the river from the confluence of the Coca and Napo Rivers. On 11 February 1542, the Napo River emptied into a bigger river, the Amazon. Their journey continued until they reached the Spanish-held Island of Cubagua, off the coast of Venezuela. He named the River Amazon because on the trip, they encountered a tribe of fierce women who reminded him of the women warriors in Greek mythology called Amazons.

In 1803, American President Thomas Jefferson had purchased the territory of Louisiana from France (comprising of 15 states of present day USA and two Canadian provinces) for a sum of $15 million and annexed it to the USA. An unexplored area of 2,140,000km2 beckoned and he commissioned the Corps of Discovery Expedition. Led by Lewis and Clark, the three-year journey began on 14 May 1804 from the city of St Louis along on the east bank of the Mississippi River. The expedition consisted of 33 men who explored 11,265km of land recording at least 200 not seen before plants and animals (grizzly bear, prairie dog), the geography of the area, and establishing trade routes and relations with 72 local tribes.

Captain James Cook - Mapping the Pacific, New Zealand, and Australia

WIKIPEDIA X9, 123rf.com X3

Cook was a skilled navigator, cartographer, and an astronomer, which made him the perfect candidate according to the Royal Society to lead an expedition to chart the passage of Venus across the Sun in Tahiti. The hidden agenda of this expedition was to explore the southern seas and the islands there. After reaching Tahiti and measuring Venus’s transit, Cook charted routes and courses for New Zealand and discovered the East coast of Australia via Botany Bay and named it New South Wales. He then proceeded onto Indonesia, Cape of Good Hope and finally Africa. In his second voyage (1772) he circumnavigated the course around Antarctica and discovered several islands chains in the Pacific Ocean. His third and final voyage in 1776 was when he headed east of the Indian Ocean, where he navigated a route between the North and South of New Zealand islands, called Cook Strait and sailed to North America.

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Johann Ludwig Burckhardt - Rediscovered ruins of Petra Burckhardt was hired by the Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa to search for the source of the Niger River. After learning Arabic in Cambridge University, he left for Cairo and adopted the name of Sheikh Ibrahim Ibn Abdallah. It was on the trip to Nazareth, when he overhead locals talk about ruins near the tomb of Aaron, Moses’s brother. Under the guise of wanting to sacrifice a goat, Burckhardt hired a local guide to the ruins, which he identified as the rose-city of Petra in 1812. Afraid of being unmasked as an infidel and killed, he sacrificed his goat and resumed his journey to Cairo. While he discovered the lost city of Petra, he never did find the source of the Niger River.

David Livingstone - Explored Africa David Livingstone, in his role as a medical missionary to Africa, explored and mapped many of the regions of the continent. His first expedition was across the Kalahari Desert towards the north, where he sighted the Upper Zambesi River (1849). To discover routes for commercial avenues, he mapped the region providing westerners with a detailed map of the central and southern region of Africa. Continuing on the path of the river, in 1855, he came across a waterfall, which locals called Mosi-oa-Tunya – the Smoke that Thunders, which he renamed Victoria Falls in honour of Queen Victoria. A year later, he reached the mouth of Zambesi River on the Indian Ocean, becoming the first European to travel from the west to the east coast of southern Africa. After an interlude in Britain, he returned to Africa twice, first to lead the failed Zambesi expedition (1858) to examine the natural resources of the region and open the river. His final expedition landed him in Zanzibar (1866) to find the source of the River Nile, whereupon he was reported missing from his last port of call, Lake Tanganyika.

Henry Morton Stanley - Mapping the Congo region Henry Morton Stanley’s second expedition to the African continent is always overshadowed by his first, to find David Livingstone in 1871. After locating him, Stanley began his expedition (in 1874) to map the region of Congo by following the Congo River and explore the Lualaba River and lakes (Lake Victoria, Albert, and Tanganyika) in central Africa. Failing to interest the British government in developing the Congo region, he accepted King Leopold I of Belgium’s offer to explore the region further under his sovereignty.

Hiram Bingham III - Rediscovered the ruins of Machu Picchu In 1911, Hiram Bingham III, a lecturer with Yale University, travelled to the Andes in Peru to discover the lost cities of Inca as part of the Yale Peruvian Expedition. On 24 July 1911, the expedition cast their eyes on the intricate stone artwork that was the entrance to Machu Picchu. Abandoned and forgotten for over 400 years since its re-discovery, the citadel of the Incas stretching over five miles with 30,000 stones linking different levels would proclaim the following words from Bingham, “Surprise followed surprise until there came the realisation that we were in the midst of as wonderful ruins as any ever found in Peru.”

Roald engelbregt gravning Amundsen - The Polar regions He is counted as one of the greatest Polar Regions explorer of his time. Roald Amundsen, the Norwegian explorer, was the first man to traverse the Northwest Passage, which was sought for centuries as a trade route. Amundsen, on a three-year expedition (1903-06), navigated his 70-foot slop through the treacherous waters and pieces of floating icebergs, mapping a trade route. On 18 October 1911, Amundsen and his crew set out from the Bay of Whales on Antarctica’s Ross Ice Shelf for their journey towards the South Pole. Passing over mountains and steep crevices while battling harsh weather conditions for two months, on 14 December 1911, Roald Amundsen raised the flag of Norway at the South Pole. In 1926 along with Umberto Nobile, aboard a dirigible he flew over the North Pole, making him the first expedition leader to reach the North Pole.

Jacques-Yves Cousteau - Oceanographer Enlisted in the French Navy, Cousteau became a celebrated marine explorer due to a near fatal road accident. To strengthen his weakened arms, he swam vigorously in the ocean and one day a fellow marine gifted him a pair of goggles to protect his eyes from the stinging salt. He could now see a new unexplored world under water. From 1936 onwards, he explored the world’s water from the Amazon to the Antarctic ice shelf to identify, map and bring to attention the beauty, diversity, and fragility of the sea and the creatures living in it. A pioneer in exploring the oceans, Cousteau invented the Aqua-Lung in 1943, which now allows deep-sea divers to spend considerable amount of time underwater and was instrumental in the development of a waterproof camera.

How Do We Know?

The structure of

DNA

Before the discovery of the gene-carrying molecule DNA, we had no idea of the fundamental mechanics of life. How we described its iconic double helix form is one of the greatest scientific achievements

I

t’s the key to all life on Earth: a simple molecule known as DNA that sits in every cell of your body. It took several breakthroughs to realise its true form and understand the extent of its role in biology, triggering a scientific revolution.

The Key discovery It was a photo taken by biophysicist and crystallographer Rosalind Franklin that held the key to determining the make-up and structure of the DNA molecule Rosalind Franklin’s key experiment – the results of which James Watson glimpsed – was a series of painstaking X-ray crystallography experiments with DNA samples containing different amounts of water. The most famous outcome of this is May 1952’s ‘photo 51’ (see right), which revealed key details about the structure of DNA. The more a feature is repeated within a structure, the more the film will be bombarded with X-rays diffracted in the same way, and the darker the corresponding patch in the image. The large dark patches at the top and bottom of the picture represent DNA’s bases, and the X-shaped blobs indicate a helix. The arms of the cross

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represent the planes of symmetry in a helix viewed from the side; the ‘zig’ and the ‘zag’ of its turns. There are 10 spots on each arm of the cross before you reach the large black patch at the top, which corresponds with 10 bases stacked one on top of the other in each turn of the helix. The fourth blob from the centre is missing, which indicates that one strand of DNA is slightly offset against the other. Rosalind Franklin turned her attention to photo 51 in early 1953. Her notebooks suggest that she had gleaned all its key information and may, in time, have reached the same conclusions as Watson and Crick.

Need to Know Nucleotide The basic subunit of DNA. Each nucleotide is made up of a base (the ‘letters’ of DNA: adenine, guanine, thymine or cytosine), a sugar and a phosphate group. The nucleotides form the two parallel complementary chains of DNA, with adenine matched to thymine and guanine to cytosine. Phosphate group A phosphorous atom surrounded by oxygen atoms. The famous ‘Photo 51’, taken via X-ray crystallography by Rosalind Franklin, that reveals DNA’s double helix structure

Phosphate groups, along with deoxyribose sugars, make up the ‘backbone’ of the long DNA molecule. X-ray crystallography This is the study of the structure of crystals by firing X-rays at them.The X-rays bounce off the regular arrangements of atoms in crystals, and the patterns they make are captured on film. An equation is then used to work out the crystal’s structure.

How do we know | Science

cast of characters 1898-1961

G William Astbury was a British molecular biologist and physicist who spent much of his working life in Leeds. His work focused originally on the structure of proteins in textiles but, along with his PhD student Florence Bell, he took the first X-ray photographs of DNA in 1937.

It took the efforts of these science greats to finally realise the structure of DNA

1816-2004

1916-2004

1920-1958

1928-

 Rosalind Franklin was born in London to a rich Jewish family. The X-ray crystallographer and biophysicist provided much of the experimental evidence for the structure of DNA before switching her focus to viruses at Birkbeck College. She died of cancer at the age of 38.

 Francis Crick was born near Northampton to the owner of a shoe factory and became a British biophysicist and molecular biologist. After co-discovering the structure of DNA, he went on to determine how DNA codes for proteins, before venturing into neuroscience.

G James Watson is an American geneticist and molecular biologist born in Chicago, who gained his PhD at just 22. After co-discovering DNA’s structure in Cambridge in 1953, he worked at Harvard University and then the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory until he retired in 2007.

G Maurice Wilkins was a British physicist and molecular biologist who was born in New Zealand. As well as his DNA research, he worked in fields such as radar and microscopy. He remained at King’s College until his retirement in 1981.

timeline A series of experiments, which started in the 19th Century, culminated in DNA’s structure being unravelled in 1953

1869

1912-14

1920 Phoebus Levene discovers nucleotides – the combination of a sugar, base and phosphate group – and suggests they form short lengths of DNA called ‘tetranucleotides’.

Friedrich Miescher discovers DNA in his preparations of white blood cells extracted from the pus in surgical bandages. He calls it ‘nuclein’.

1952 Rosalind Franklin takes ‘Photo 51’, a highly detailed image of the ‘B’ or hydrated form of DNA. The photo is later seen by James Watson (pictured) without her knowledge.

1953 Watson and Crick propose a model for the structure of the DNA molecule. They publish the structure in the scientific journal Nature and suggest that the structure indicates DNA’s function.

1937 William Henry Bragg and son William Lawrence Bragg lay the foundations for the field of X-ray crystallography when they realise they can infer the structure of crystals from the patterns of scattered X-rays.

Florence Bell arrives in William Astbury’s lab and takes the first X-ray images of DNA (pictured). Astbury makes an attempt at a structure the following year.

Katherine Nightingale is a science writer with a degree in molecular biology.

History | ye olde travel guide

Historical Holidays: guidebooks from the past

Reykjavik 1828

In the latest instalment of our historical holidays series, in which experts imagine they’re writing a travel guide in the past, Hannah Kent invites visitors to sample the raw beauty of Iceland’s largest settlement

Y

ou can expect a warm welcome from Icelanders – you’ll need it if you are to conquer the country’s famously harsh climate, not to mention its cramped accommodation and putrefied shark flesh

Illustration by jonty clark , www.jontyclark.com, alamy

When to go Iceland’s mountains are still covered with snow and the passes of its thoroughfares impassable until the end of May. Go in the middle of June, when the seas are less treacherous, and when any horses you might need for travel are no longer half-starved from the winter’s scarcity of food and will be able to bear your weight. What to take with you Icelanders are necessarily compelled to depend on foreign countries for a considerable part of their supplies, so ensure you have everything you need before departing. Plenty of warm woollen clothing is advisable, as are sturdy leather boots – unless you wish to wear the flimsy Icelandic slippers of fish or seal skin – and a private supply of writing materials, candles and food won’t go amiss. Remember, also, to bring gifts for those who may accommodate or guide you. Books – rare and therefore treasured in this country – are a good idea. Costs and money Bring a money pouch well stocked with Danish rigsdaler to buy anything from the merchants in Reykjavik: all are Danish (the country is currently under Danish rule) and notorious swindlers of Icelanders, who suffer under their monopoly on trading. Should you wish to purchase items from the native countrymen, liquor, tobacco, grain and coffee can be swiftly and quietly traded for

accommodation, information, and food. Don’t be surprised, however, if Icelanders willingly give you such things for free – they are a hospitable and gentle people and curious about travellers, who are uncommon. You may receive similar courtesy and generosity from the more prosperous Danes who govern Iceland, but be aware that the cultural and political divide between the two countries is significant. Icelandic nationalist sentiment is slowly gaining influence. Sights and activities Towards the end of June, Icelanders from all over the country travel on horseback to Reykjavik with goods to trade. The town comes alive as Danish merchants establish trading stations, district authorities examine weights in shops – fining those with defective measures – and Icelanders pour in from the outer reaches of the country with fish, salted mutton, tallow, wool, skins, feathers and sulphur to trade for hooks and line, cotton, and indigo.

“Parts of Iceland are home to live volcanoes, and earthquakes are frequent”

Should you wish to escape the mercantile atmosphere of Reykjavik, head to the south-west’s hot springs, geysers and waterfalls. Dangers and annoyances Nature rules in Iceland, and bad weather can scupper even the best-laid plans. As well as the perishing cold, the wind can blow so violently as to make travel near impossible. Many parts of Iceland are home to live volcanoes, and earthquakes are frequent. The eruption known as Skaftáreldar occurred only 45 years ago, poisoning water and animals, and wiping out a quarter of the population. Should you see smoke on the horizon, prepare for a swift departure. Other annoyances include the absence of doctors, an almost total lack of fresh fruit, damp lodgings and unavoidable bed bugs. Smallpox, leprosy, and tuberculosis are also rife. Sleeping and accommodation There are no formal inns in Reykjavik,

Reykjavik today There are, no doubt, still lonesome fishermen to be found navigating Icelandic waters, and that’s not all of Hannah Kent’s vision of 19th-Century Iceland that can still be found. Inclement weather, an overly exuberant natural environment and, if only for tourists’ delectation, putrefied shark meat will all still strike visitors head-on. In other ways, though, Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik, has grown up. The compact city is both a weekend destination and an attractive Gateway to the still-wild hinterland. Many stay a few days in the capital and jaunt out to the Blue Lagoon, the world’s only must-see hot mud bath fed by a geothermal power station. While Iceland remains wild – Volcanoes, geysers and raging rivers abound – it is far more accessible, and B&Bs, boutique hotels and fashionable farm stays all abound. Iceland is a country with its own national culture, driven by folklore traditions, a closeness to the land and sea and a distinctiveness that is shaping its identity.

If you like this… so expect to rely on the hospitality of local authorities, clergymen of a high standing, or better-off Danish families if you wish to sleep in relative comfort – or at least in a wooden house. A letter of introduction prior to arrival should suffice. Icelanders live in cramped crofts constructed of turf. While you can drop in and expect a warm welcome at these farmhouses, you will be required to sleep in the same communal bedroom as the family, and possibly share a bed. If all else fails, you can always pitch a tent outside or find an empty church to shiver in. Eating and drinking Icelanders are generous to strangers, and will go to great lengths to feed you – as there are no restaurants or food markets. Depending on the social station of your hosts, you might find yourself served a feast of boiled mutton and coffee, or dried fish with whey to drink. Don’t be put off if the butter is rancid, the shark flesh putrefied, or your meat

smoky – all are methods of preservation in Iceland. Make sure you try the skyr, an Icelandic fresh cheese with the consistency of yoghurt, and expect to eat a lot of cod and haddock – Reykjavik lies close to fishing stations.

For another unusual Atlantic destination, head for the Faroe Islands. Meanwhile, an entirely different Atlantic island with a maritime history is Tenerife in the Canary Islands. The Blue Lagoon geothermal spa is just a few miles out of Reykjavik

Getting around Horses are necessary should you wish to venture out of town, as are the services of a guide. Not only are there no roads, the weather can change in an instant, and the skeletons of many have been found days after they disappeared in a sudden fog or snowstorm. Remember to provide yourself with enough horses, and tie the forelegs of your beasts together at night to prevent them from wandering. If horse riding doesn’t appeal, engage a willing oarsman to take you across the bays around Reykjavik in a boat. Hannah Kent is author of Burial Rites (Picador, 2013), a historical novel set in 19th-Century Iceland.

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edu talk Dr Saini, Principal of Delhi Public School, R. K. Puram speaks to Moshita Prajapati on the need to strike a balance between theoretical and practical learning in India What is the motto of Delhi Public School R. K. Puram and how is it inculcated into everyday learning? Our school motto is Service Before Self and through this principle, we provide an education to our students, which fosters development of their mind intellectually, inculcates the desired social skills, and educates them on values of good health. This is achieved through good teaching skills and promoting a happy teaching learning environment. How would you describe the DPS culture? Every school has a different culture, different perspective, and a different system of educating their students. At DPS, we consider parents as the most important stakeholders because the child belongs to them and they dream of a happy and secure future for their child. In India, they invest everything for their child’s education. They play a very significant role in laying and building a strong foundation of a beautiful relationship between the student and the school. And we as the management of the school try to synchronise the energy and synergy between the parents and the school by promoting unity within diversity, ensuring solidarity of relationships through transparency and accountability. What sets DPS apart from other schools? To provide an overall educational development to the students, we have noted and marked down five essential principles to success, which we have to follow to reach our desired goals and destination. They are Passion, Perfection, Performance, Patience, and Position. These are an intrinsic part of our DPS culture and we give equal weightage to the students as per their ability and capability. My students are encouraged and supported to not only focus on academics but also focus on other walks of life such as sports, music, etc and grow up as holistic personalities who can take up multifaceted roles in life. This year, 118 students from class XII scored 100 % marks in the

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‘I have noticed that the educational system abroad is more focused on practical learning than theory learning.’

subjects they appeared for! This is a record of a kind. Our students have secured admissions to reputed universities abroad and in IITs and IIMs in the country. They have also won scholarships or have been granted financial aid to a tune of `57 crores and `50 lakhs. In sports too, many former alumni have won awards and recognition from the Government of India and excelled in various international sporting events. Jemima Khan, a young student of ours, who has a passion for music, has won numerous musical awards and scholarships. She was invited to perform at the Commonwealth Youth Orchestra 2014 at Glasgow. How do you perceive the mind set of Indian parents when it comes to education? Every parent wishes for good academic record and high percentage for their child. But there is a problem regarding this in India. If you compare

it with the West, parents there want an overall educational, social, and physical development for their child. And this becomes evident when you see their CV. Apart from good grades, the students have interest in a wide range of extracurricular activities that they have taken part in. So you see the focus in schools abroad is on studies along with extra-curricular activities. However in our country, the focus is only on marks. Now, from a practical point of view, just having a good mark sheet is not good enough. Yes, you need those marks for admissions into universities here, but for an overall development a lot more is needed. What parents don’t realise is that you have to give weightage to other aspects of education and learning in your child’s life because I firmly believe that true education is to think intensively and critically. It is intelligence of the mind and integrity of character. As DPS has branches worldwide, could you offer insights into how the Indian educational system differs from other countries? During many of my international trips as part of my work, I have noticed that the educational system abroad is more focused on practical learning than theoretical learning. They give equal importance to both these forms of learning, while here in India; we give 70% importance to theory and the remaining 30% to practical learning. In countries abroad, they are providing them with opportunities to see a problem first hand and derive logical solutions to the problem, thereby developing their mental faculties with practical skills. Here, our students are not given the opportunities to solve a problem practically, so they don’t develop the skill. So if an instance comes, where our students interact with their foreign counterparts, they hear of anecdotes where they are sharing stories of their practical work, which leads to our students developing an inferiority complex. So whilst their students are better at performing in life, ours are only good in academics.

games review Dota 2

games preview Cross to the Dark Side

Kings Bounty: Dark Side puts the fun into being bad, in this PC game that puts players in the shoes of an irredeemably evil protagonist. This turn-based RPG boasts of an in-depth storyline and lots of subtle humour. If you’re not up to playing nice, give Kings Bounty: Dark Side a try. Team up with upto four friends to take part in one of gaming’s most exciting competitive experiences in DOTA 2

Enter the ring!

ilikewalls.com, gamershonesttruth.com, prowrestlingpowerhouse.com, gamespot.com

PC, Free to play, Valve

F

rom the coin arcades of the 80s to the present day LAN cafes, gamers have always been drawn to competitive formats that pit them against their peers. Over the years, competitive gaming has evolved into e-sports, and the biggest title in this domain is Defense Of The Ancients 2 (DOTA 2). A Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) game, DOTA 2 is the successor to the highly popular Defense of the Ancients, which began as a fan-made mode for the game Warcraft III. Developed by Valve, the premise is deceptively simple: two teams of five players square off against one another and attempt to destroy a relic, known as an Ancient, situated in the opponent’s fortress across the map. The game has been described as a combination of football and chess. Though the map is always the same, the possibilities are endless. Players choose their characters from a roster of over a 100 Heroes, each with their own unique set of abilities or spells. Players gain gold and experience by killing Non Playable Characters, known as Creeps, to buy items that augment their skills and gain levels. The map is divided

into two halves, a river serving as a halfway line, and the approaches to both team’s bases are protected by fortifications within their own half. Co-operating with team-mates is a must, as all five Heroes need to work together to defend their base and push towards the enemy’s. The game ends only with the destruction of one team’s Ancient, so it is not unheard of for a team that is lagging behind in kills to win a game. From its original iteration as Defense of the Ancients to the DOTA 2 of today, it has always been one of the most popular titles at gaming cafes and tournaments. In fact, it’s quite possible that DOTA 2 will bring e-sports the legitimacy its fans crave. The fourth edition of the worldwide DOTA 2 championships, The International, just concluded and its final match was watched live by an audience of 10,000, with an online audience of 20 million. No mention of The International 2014 would be complete without pointing to the prize pool of $10.93 million, with the winning team receiving $5 million. Not a bad return for playing videogames all day!

WWE 2K15’s international release date has been confirmed as 31 October, 2014. This edition of the franchise promises players the chance to relive epic feuds in WWE’s history through its Showcase Mode, including the controversial Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels story arc of 2002 – 2004.

Killing is my business In an unlikely crossover, an official Assassins Creed/Monopoly crossover is available for fans of both franchises. The popular video game transitions to being a board game, with the traditional Monopoly pieces being replaced by easily recognisable characters and structures from the series. - Compiled by Dushyant Shekhawat

in exciting Solve & W e hampers chocolat 550 from worth `

puzzle pit Questions and challenges guaranteed to give your brain a workout

Crossword NO.23 Across

7 Amjad Ali Khan's forte (5) 8 Certifies, confirms or authenticates (9) 10 One who damages valuable things (6) 11 Told; gave knowledge of (8) 12 Michael _____ : ex-captain of the English cricket team? (8) 13 Board-game - "loud" anagram (4) 15 Goddess of wealth and prosperity for us Indians (7) 17 Sri Lanka, Malta, Ireland, et al.? (7) 20 Whisk, agitate (4) 22 2014 Wimbledon Champion (8) 25 Regal, kingly (8) 26 Become loved (6) 27 Competitor or team or horse expected to win? (9) 28 Aspect or point of view (5) Down

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1 Jaipur is the capital of this state (9) 2 Virtue, excellence or kindness (8) 3 Units of angular measure (7) 4 Hidden dangers, booby traps (8) 5 Capital of Spain (6) 6 Victim of Hansen's disease? (5) 9 Conspire or scheme (4) 14 Praiseworthy (9) 16 Authorising delay of payment - "root army" anagram? (8) 18 Evading or sidestepping or dodging (8) 19 Teach (7) 21 Vibration; involuntary shaking (6) 23 Bovine animals (4) 24 Akbar's grandfather (5)

How to enter for the crossword: Post your entries to BBC Knowledge Editorial, Crossword No.23 Worldwide Media, The Times of India Bldg, 4th floor, Dr Dadabhai Navroji Road, Mumbai 400001 or email bbcknowledge@ wwm.co.in by 10 October 2014. Entrants must supply their name, address and phone number. How it’s done: The puzzle will be familiar to crossword enthusiasts already, although the British style may be unusual as crossword grids vary in appearance from

Your Details Name: Age: Address:

PinCode: Tel: Mobile: School/Institution/Occupation:

Email:

country to country. Novices should note that the idea is to fill the white squares with letters to make words determined by the sometimes cryptic clues to the right. The numbers after each clue tell you how many letters are in the answer. All spellings are UK. Good luck! Terms and conditions: Only residents of India are eligible to participate. Employees of Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd. are not eligible to participate. The winners will be selected in a lucky draw. The decision of the judges will be final.

✂ Announcing the winner of Crossword No. 22

Ishaan Semwal, Ghaziabad • Sanjay Andrew Rajaratnam, Chennai • Gaurang Bhatla, New Delhi • Sawri Madkaikar, Mumbai

Solution of crossword NO. 22

e

zl a Puz s n e M Q2

Q 1 Double Barrell e

What word ca n be placed in front of the five w ords shown to form in each case ano ther word?

d

es next?

What com

4

9

25

49

121

B O O K L O A D W O R K

Q3 Deduction

W O R M M A T E

You are given a 9-letter word. Your job is to break up this word into 9 separate letters and place them on the dashes to spell a 7-letter word, a 5-letter word, and a 3-letter word. You can use each letter only once.

il and Ta d a e the form H Q5 nswer in a e h t e lv the next so to part of the clue e second h T Look at . nswer. d r o und w e next a o h p t m f o o c t a r of pa the first answer is

___ D ___ ___ A T ___ ___ M ___ ___ G ___ U ___

In

similar)

___ (Dis Nothing __

ENCO U R A G E

st

utual intere

Basis of m

aintenance

Airplane m

Airplane fl

team

ying team

Q4 Chain word s

b sign

Private clu

g

ngular thin

Just the si

Way

n A street sig

Q6 scramb le

Solve the four an agrams and move one letter to each square to fo rm four ordinary words. Now arrange the letters marked with an asterisk (*) to form the answer to the riddle or to fill in the missing words as indicate d. BRIOT

*

*

STTNU AELTDM ERUYHM

*

Form a continuous pa th of words from START to FINISH by connectin g the word parts giv en in the boxes. There are tw o parts to each word and the second part of one wo rd is the first part of the next. You won’t necessarily need to visit every bo x to achieve your aim.

Start MEW LED GER

SELF DER LAD UND ONE MIS BAL HER US FIT BUS HEL HER TER MINI MET RIC

HELP MATE LOT RING LIKE Finish

*

*

*

* *

*

If your _______ isn’t open, keep your ____ ______ shut too. — Sue Grafton (4,..,5 )

October 2014

83

84

October 2014

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Solutions: Q6 Scramble: Words: Orbit, stunt, malted, rheumy. Answer: If your mind isn’t open, Q1 Double Barrelled: Case. keep your mouth shut too. — Sue Grafton Q2 Mensa Puzzle: 169. A descending Q7 Hidato: sequence of the squares of prime numbers.

Q3 Deduction: Educate, Among, Rug. Q4 Chain Words: Mewled, ledger, gerund, undone, oneself, selfhelp, helpmate, matelot, lotus, usher, herbal, ballad, ladder, dermis, misfit, fitter, termini, minibus, bushel, helmet, metric, richer, herring, ringlike. Q5 Head & Tail: In-common-ground-crew-membersonly-one-way.

Q8 Picture Search: Biscuit, coat, duck, dumbbell, grenade, horn, jaguar, jam, monitor, opal, ostrich, pea, pear, postman, puck, Spain. Q9 Enigma Code: Reason, Aerate, Astern, Ornate, Resent, Stereo, Season.

In the jumble below, the words represented by each of the 16 pictures are hidden either horizontally, vertically or diagonally forward or backwards but always in a straight line. See how many of them you can find? Look out for descriptive names.

Each colour in our code represents a letter. When you have cracked the code you will be able to make up seven words. The clue to the first word is given to help you get started. The Clue: Cause

Q9 Enigma Code OUT

Q8 PICTURE SEARCH Q7 Hidato

Puzzle Pit

t of Find your way ou the maze.

IN

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Knowledge Magazine India

Announcing the winners of Teachers’ Day contest Knowledge is the greatest gift of all, and to mark the occasion of Teachers’ Day, our readers honoured the teachers who gave them that priceless gift.  Shruti Kaushik from Shri Shankaracharya Engineering College, an easy-going 20 year old engineering student, credits her teacher Swapna Sahu for being the only teacher to see her true potential and guide her to fulfilling her ambitions.

s e i r o

memntor of my

Me

Miss Dubey from Ashok Hall Junior School in Kolkata, has left an indelible impression on fifth standard student Shinjini Sarkar, who misses her old class teacher now that they aren’t in the same class anymore.  17 year old Anushka Bajaj credits his teacher, Deepak Tandon’s eccentric demeanour and infectious vivacity with making Mathematics interesting.

A special mention to the students of TOMOAE English Primary School, who all participated by nominating their favourite teachers for the contest.

Knowledge Magazine India

Announcing the winners of #MyCityMyHeritage contest On our Facebook page, we carried the #MyCityMyHeritage contest where we asked our fans to send in their responses to questions about their city. Four winners were selected and each has won an exciting prize from Printed Noise. Congratulations!

Follow us on:

Knowledgemagazineindia

KnowledgeMagIND

KnowledgeMagind

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You can read the winner’s letters on our facebook page from 5 September.

Gadgets

Watershot for iPhone Watersport enthusiasts rejoice! The Watershot Housing for iPhone is your perfect companion, as you go kayakying, rafting, or scuba diving. Once you are under the water, the polycarbonate waterproof housing (phone case) is to be used with the free Watershot App.The app adds additional features to your phone, such as front and rear camera use, still and video recording, social media sharing, and GPS overlaying, till as far below as 195ft. Hurry now, I can hear the water calling! Price: `11,586 • www.watershot.com

a mixed bag iRing

Remember the scene from Minority Report, where Tom Cruise is wearing gesture control gloves to gather intel on where the next murder is going to take place? Well, here is a baby step towards making gesture control devices part of mainstream technology. The iRing consists of two rings – shaped like a triangle and rectangle respectively, which when worn and moved in gestured controlled recognised actions whilst in front of an iOS device’s camera, allows the system to output music or MIDI control messages to compatible apps. Take notes of the visible gestures the next time you are invited to a musical performance directed by a musical conductor. It might inspire you to compose your musical piece. Price: `1,633 • www.ikmultimedia.com

Pinhole Camera Solargraphy kit Kicking it old school style, the Pinhole Camera celebrates photography in its simplest form. This DIY piece consists of a film (not included), a box, and a very small hole, which lets in light and makes your exposure. Because there is no lens, the image will be in focus at all distances, though it is preferable you take pictures when the sun is at its brightest. Maybe give your camera phone or digital camera a break just for this. Price: `674 • www.kikkerland.com

Knox Music Jet Everyone knows that apart from showering, the shower cubicle is the place for thinking and singing. Leave the thinking aside and exercise your vocal chords by installing the Knox Music Jet. This Bluetooth enabled showerhead music/ phone speaker when linked to your mobile’s music player, will bring music to ears as you simultaneously clean them. Also, incoming calls will be forwarded to your showerhead. One charge lasts for 10 hours of music or a really long phone conversation. The choice is yours. Price: `2,697 • www.amazon.com

s57 series bravia tv

Perlexus Epic Up for a challenge that is crazy, fun, and requires some twisting and turning on your part? If yes, then pick up the Perlexus Epic, a 3D ball in a maze puzzle game. Players have to manipulate the direction of the small metal ball inside the transparent enclosed sphere through an intricate maze composed of 100 steps along narrow plastic tracks. Though seemingly easy, it involves twisting and turning the sphere; the obstacle levels of varying difficulty make it a puzzle that you will be obsessed with for hours. Fun! Price: `2,962 • www.amazon.in

Pocketstrings The Pocketstrings is apt for beginners and experts who want to practice their chords anywhere and anytime without making too loud a noise. This portable and durable product when slid open reveals the neck of the guitar with real strings and frets. Begin your practice and train yourself for chord progressions and changes and pretty soon you will have real calluses on your fingers. Once you are done, slide the Pocketstrings shut and place it back in your pocket. Price: `1,836 • www.pocketstrings.com

Fujiflim Instax Instant smartphone printer Isn’t a printed photo so much more fun to see than a digital one? 16 seconds is all it takes for the portable Fujifilm’s Instax Instant smartphone printer to print an image you have just clicked from your android or iOs smartphone or selected one from your gallery. The printer is compatible with an app downloaded from either iTunes or Play Store. It requires two CR2 lithium batteries and uses INSTAX Mini Instant Film and prints approximately 100 prints per set. Say cheese! Price: `12,199 • www.fujifilm.com Compiled by Moshita Prajapati

presscentre.sony.eu, photographyreview.com, asavings.com X2, prweb.com, watershot.com, ikmultimedia.com X2, sothatscool.com, interest.com, existingthroughpixels.wordpress.com

Size notwithstanding, the Sony Bravia S57 series of portable TVs packs a wallop of entertainment. Weighing in at just 5.4kg and a slim 19” LCD screen, the TV comes with a detachable handle and a discreet stand. Hang it on the wall, place it on the table or carry it from room to room as you catch up on your favourite TV show. Apart from viewing shows, the TV when synced with a compatible device also doubles up as a photo album and a music player. Price: `20,708 • www.sony.com

inside the pages On the Shelf The Kaurava Empire Vol. 1 – Abhimanyu and the Conquest of the Chakravyuha Author Jason Quinn and Illustrator Sachin Nagar - Campfire Graphic Novels, ` 250

A modern re-telling of the epic Mahabharata, the novel chronicles the event leading upto battle between two teenage warriors, Pandav Prince Abhimanyu and Kaurava Prince Durmashana. As the Kaurava’s unleash the Chakravyuha upon the Pandavas at Kurukshetra, a fierce battle ensues between Abhimanyu and Durmashana, as each strives on to win the war for their family.

The Bookman’s Tale: A Novel of Obsession Charlie Lovett - Bloomsbury Publishing, ` 298

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Following the death of his wife, antique bookseller Peter Byerly relocates to the village of Hay-onWye, where he opens his own bookshop, selling and collecting antique books. He chances upon a book from which tumbles out a picture of a young Victorian woman, who bears a striking resemble to his dead wife Amanda. Piqued and confused, he starts on an incredible journey to discover the origins of the picture.

Four: A Divergent Story Collection Veronica Roth HarperCollins Children’s Books, ` 1,102

An extension of the popular young adult series Divergent, author Veronica Roth brings out Four, which revolves around Tobias ‘Four’ Eaton, the principal male character from the trilogy. Written from his perspective, the series serves as a prequel to events covered in Divergent trilogy and chronicles Four’s life, his psychology and character development, his choices (why he chose to join Dauntless) before he met Tris.

All Four Stars Tara Dairman - Putnam Publishing Group, ` 1,040

Who doesn’t love food? More so if you love to cook? Gladys Gatsby loves to cook, and not just your average grilled cheese sandwich. No, she enjoys creating gourmet dishes! When she enters an essay contest in her school, it accidently lands her a position as a restaurant critic at the New York Daily Standard! She is overjoyed, but what they don’t know is that she is all of 11 years old! Read to find out how she manages to keep her dream job whilst balancing school.

The Wild Wisdom Quiz Book WWF - Penguins Book India, ` 199

Illustrated, full of trivia and mind-boggling facts, and packed with 500 questions, this book is compiled from the Wild Wisdom Quiz held every year by WWF. It is spilt into seven broad chapters Plants, Fish, Arthropods and Annelids, Amphibians and Reptiles, Mammals, Birds and Potpourri, with questions at the beginning and snippets about the animal kingdom to complete each chapter.

Indian Mammals: A Field Guide Vivek Menon - ` 850, Hachette India

Did you know there are 400 species of mammals in India? And in this comprehensive field-ready and illustrated guide by India’s renowned wildlife conservationist, Vivek Menon doesn’t miss single mammal information for any amateur or professional wildlife enthusiast. The encyclopaedic book includes picture of different mammals, how to identify them, distribution maps, directions on where to observe the species and also folklore associated with them in different regions of the country.

Question of the Month

Fictional Characters We  To Hate

Literary character you identify with?

Dolores Umbridge from Harry Potter series The vilest of characters to come out from the Harry Potter series, Dolores Umbridge is pure evil because she can and probably does actually exist in real life. Abusing the power your position affords for personal gains, discriminating against individuals/creatures who are different, letting a few suffer for the betterment of the society, and being content with letting your sycophants run the system with threats and intimidation does not really make you reach the top of the popular list. Joffery Baratheon from Game of Thrones There is nothing likeable about King Joffery Baratheon. He is whiny, sadistic, cruel, murderous, arrogant, tyrannical, insufferable and terrifying in equal measure, a nuisance, rude, creepy, torturer, tactless, petulant… need I add more?

The literary character I identify with is Hermione Granger. I am a little impatient like her when it comes to answering questions in the class especially if I know the answer. I know how good it is to be studying beyond your level. As she is called intelligent in the books and earns points for her house through exams and test, I do the Same.And finally, just as she is discriminated for being a mudblood, I am discriminated for not liking sports. This makes her my favorite character who I identify with.

Isabella Swan from Twilight Every independent woman’s nightmare, Bella Swan supposedly set feminism back a few decades. Portrayed as a 2 dimensional character, she doesn’t evolve throughout the trilogy. She is either mooning over Edward or moping over his absence in her life. Her loquacious soliloquies over the beauty of Edward and her guilt for choosing Edward over her family make her the most boring character in fictional history. Uriah Heep from David Copperfield An unassuming villainous name didn’t stop Uriah Heep from appearing in this list. Dickens portrayed the moneylender without eyebrows, eyelashes, and eyes of reddish brown signifying him to the Devil. A slimy pernicious creature, reeking of insincerity, he was the stereotypical ‘yes man’ who robs you blind, while claiming to help you. Miss Havisham from Great Expectations Jilted by her lover on their wedding day, Miss Havisham is a scorned woman. Instead of getting over her lover, she directs her energy into consciously conditioning her ward Estelle to eschew love, emotional bonding, and attachment making her a cold and heartless woman. Effectively ruining and complicating her budding and romantic relationship with Pip. The children from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory Veruca Salt is a spoiled and petulant English girl who demands the trained squirrel as a pet, Violet Beauregarde’s incessant gum chewing is obnoxious and annoying, Mike Teevee is rude to his mother and just wants to play video games and Agustus Gloop, a boy who loved to eat everything and anything in front of his eyes without asking for permission first. No wonder Charlie Bucket was deemed the only likeable one in this group.

- By Kavya Chopra, age 10, from New Delhi

Did H e Say That! Caulif ? lower but ca is not colleg bbage withhing e edu cation a - Ma . rk Tw a in

Reader’s Reviews Recently I read The Alchemist which is a simple and short parable written by Paulo Coelho. The Alchemist is the story of Santiago, a shepherd boy content to wander through the Spanish fields and towns with his flock until a recurring dream about finding his treasure at the pyramids of Egypt rousts him from complacency. In trying to understand his dream, Santiago encounters a wise old man called Melchizedek, the King of Salem, who sets the boy off to find the treasure. He crosses from Spain into

Tangiers and further, paying heed to the omens and surmounting obstacles along the way. Paulo Coelho’s story is an inspirational parable. It is an unforgettable story about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts and, above all follow our dreams. This book makes your heart smile and reminds you to always follow your dreams.
This book is a must read. - By Mehul Gupta, age 13, from Modern Delhi Public School

in focus

Yu the Great

Inventive and doggedly dedicated; Yu the Great was the first to discover how to tame the raging floods of the mighty Yangtze River and assist agriculture, catapulting mankind forward on the march of progress

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Legacy Yu the Great was an ancient Chinese ruler who engineered the first system of canals known to man in order to contain the raging floods of the China’s rivers, including the Yangtze, the Wei River, and the Yellow River. This triumph over nature paved the way for early civilisations to exploit irrigation for the purpose of agriculture, freeing humanity from the uncertainties of existence as foraging tribes. Yu’s father, Gun, had earlier been tasked to contain the floods that were triggered by torrential rains, but his system of damming and blocking the flow of water proved to be ineffective. After Gun’s failure and consequently his execution, Yu was selected by the local ruler Shun to continue his father’s work. Instead of following Gun’s approach, Yu tried the method of digging canals to divert the flow of water and dredging the riverbeds. It took Yu 13 years to accomplish the task, but after years of hard labour, he succeeded in controlling the floodwaters. His work won him great acclaim amongst the Chinese people, and Shun selected Yu to be his successor to rule after him. Yu’s historical achievements won him a place in Chinese folklore, and he is regarded as one of the Three Sage Kings of ancient China.

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October 2014

Yu’s greatest feat was coaxing the Yangtze River through the Mount Longmen and into the sea

Did you know • One of his greatest undertakings was cutting a way for the waters of the river to flow freely through Mount Longmen, a geographical obstruction to its course. • Yu ushered in the era of dynastic rule in China, by appointing his son Qi to succeed him as ruler and start the Xia Dynasty. Before him, rulers were selected by their predecessor on basis of ability to rule, and not their parentage. • The Yu Mausoleum, outside Shaoxing City, was built in his honour and was a place of pilgrimage and ceremony for the rulers of Imperial China. • There are an estimated 600,000,000 acres of irrigated land worldwide today, all made possible by the efforts of Yu the Great.

SCIENCE • HISTORY • NATURE • FOR THE CURIOUS MIND