EDITORIAL

Issue #60 (5th July 2018)

EDITORIAL
Editor Anthony Fordham
To Break the Rules, First Learn the Rules
afordham@nextmedia.com.au

DESIGN
Art Director Malcolm Campbell

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And the answer is: because we don’t know. than a normal power station, then pause.
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education about our past, present and future,
we can make the world a better place.
THINGS WE LEARNED IN THIS ISSUE
+ When you want to lay the first undersea cable,
you need GUTTA PERCHA to make it work.
+ Elephants LIE DOWN ONCE A WEEK to get a really
good sleep, instead of a standing nap.
+ The machinery in NASA’s new VENUS SURFACE
ROVER has to run on clockwork, not silicon.
+ There are places so polluted the RIVERS ARE RED
AND THE SNOW IS BLACK but we can fix this.
+ One day you might have to choose between a
FULL EYE TRANSPLANT and an electronic retina.

scienceillustrated.com.au | 3
CONTENTS
ISSUE #60 SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED AUSTRALIAN EDITION
PUBLISHED 5TH JULY 2018

24
THE END OF BLINDNESS

Amazing new technologies and therapies are

slowly winning the war against blindness.
From artificial retinas to full eye transplants!

54
TOUGHEST ROBOT EVER

To build a rover that can survive in the

crushing pressure and temperature of
Venus, we need to rethink everything...

COVER
STORY

26
LIFE IN THE MULTIVERSE

Does this weird cold spot far out in

intergalactic space mean we once
rubbed against an alternate reality?
And if so, what does this mean?

4 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
 REGULARS
AND OTHER
FEATURES
6
42 46 MEGAPIXEL
How much does a cell weigh?
ANIMALS IN TOWN DECONTAMINATING EARTH

We usually think of cities as destroying We’ve sure made a mess of the place. Red
habitats and causing extinction. But some rivers, black snow, and much worse. It all needs
animals actually like the concrete jungle... to be cleaned up. Here’s how we’ll do it.

10
SCIENCE UPDATE
Everything you need to know about
stuff you didn’t know about!

18
ASK US
Will cracking my knuckles eventually
give me arthritis... or worse?!

64 68
LOG IN TO THE FLYING INTERNET
Major corporations want to blanket the Earth
with free Internet. By laser drone, by balloon
and by microsat, total coverage is coming.
60
SLEEPING ANIMALS
You think you can sleep? This is sleep!
72
LAYING THE TRANSATLANTIC CABLE BRAIN TRAINING
We explain how practice can make you
Today we’re building a flying internet. But in the better at maths. Includes hard maths!
19th century the biggest challenge for
communications tech was laying a single cable. 78
INSTANT EXPERT: TORNADOES
Learn the facts, reap the whirlwind.

80
TRIVIA
Melt your brain in 10 easy steps!

82
BIODIVERSITY
Sorting out venom versus poison.

SUBSCRIBE
NOW! 58
Get Australian Science
Illustrated delivered to
your door and save $$$!

scienceillustrated.com.au | 5
 MEGAPIXEL CELLS

6 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
 How Much Does
a Single Cell Weigh?
How much does a living cell weigh? Scientists
can now answer this question very accurately
by means of a new cell scale. The scale is so tiny that
it can be placed directly under a microscope to
weigh a cell, while you study the processes in the
cell interior. The scale includes an extremely thin

MICRONAUT.CH/ETH ZURICH/UNIVERSITY OF BASEL

arm, which captures a cell. The arm is induced to
oscillate using laser, and by measuring its
oscillations with and without the cell, the weight can
be calculated with an accuracy of trillionths of a
gram. Cells usually weigh 2-3 nanograms.

Photo // Martin Oeggerli

scienceillustrated.com.au | 7
 MEGAPIXEL CORAL TREES

Off Florida, Corals Grow On...

Telegraph Poles?
If a branch of a coral reef breaks off, it can
grow into a new reef. The principle is used by
scientists to grow new coral reefs to help endangered
reefs. Small fragments of coral are placed on tree-like
structures, which are tethered to the ocean floor off
Florida, US. After 6-9 months, the fragments have
grown large enough to be removed from the trees
and ”glued” to coral reefs, which are under
restoration. In perfect conditions, coral grows very
quickly, and it may be possible to save some reefs.
TRUNK ARCHIVE

Photo // Spencer Lowell

8 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
scienceillustrated.com.au | 9
Science Update
Dna Robot Eliminates Tumours
A new robot made of DNA strands can find and kill cancer tumours by
causing blood clots, which cut off the tumour’s supply vessels.
M E D I C I N E Cancer tumours depend on blood supply. react to. Cancer cells liberate a specific protein, which does
Without blood, they will wither and die. So, scientists not exist in healthy cells – nucleolin. The robots are
from the US Arizona State University and the Chinese equipped with DNA, which binds to nucleolin. The robot
National Center for Nanoscience and Technology have does not liberate the thrombin until the binding takes
developed a robot designed to eliminate tumours by place. The enzyme activates the blood’s coagulating
blocking the blood supply. substances and causes a blood clot that blocks the blood
The robot was created by means of a special method, supply to the cancer tumour.
which shapes DNA strands as required by the scientists. In Scientists have successfully tested the robot on mice
this case, they created a tube-shaped structure, which with cancer. After 24 hours, the robots had found the
contains the thrombin enzyme. The enzyme exists tumours and begun to cause blood clots. In three in eight
naturally in the body, ensuring that blood can coagulate – mice, the cancer tumours disappeared completely.
such as in wound healing. The tiny DNA robots are injected Moreover, the experiments showed that the DNA robots
into the blood stream to flow with the blood about the are efficient against breast cancer, lung cancer, birthmark
body, until they find the target that they are designed to cancer, and ovary cancer.

DNA ROBOT
SEEN FROM ABOVE
DNA STRUCTURE
SHAPED LIKE
A TUBE

THROMBIN A nanorobot seen under

a micro-scope. In the
circles, you see the
thrombin molecules.
THE THROMBIN ENZYME, WHICH
MAKES THE BLOOD COAGULATE.

SHOOTING STAR · Jupiter's north pole

Nine Storms
Reveal the
Interior of
THE LATEST
FINDINGS AND
DISCOVERIES

Jupiter
The Juno probe is still orbiting
Jupiter in a path which allows us
a view of the poles. This picture
shows the planet’s north pole,
where a large cyclone is
surrounded by eight smaller
storms. Studies of how deep
into the atmosphere the storms
reach can provide new
knowledge about Jupiter’s
NASA

unknown interior.
 Editor: Babak Arvanaghi

Special enzyme makes

the blood coagulate
The robot can feel it, when it is approaching The DNA robot
BLOOD VESSEL 1 flows with the
a cancer tumour, releasing its load of thrombin
blood towards the
enzymes, which make the blood coagulate.
cancer tumour in a
rolled-up version. At
ROLLED-UP
this point, the robot's
ROBOT load of enzymes has no
access to the blood.

Close to the
2 tumour, the robot
PROTEINS
encounters proteins that
are unique to cancer
UNROLLED cells. This makes the
ROBOT
robot unroll, so it can
release its load of
thrombin.
BLOOD VESSEL

Now, the thrombin

3 has free access to the
blood, in which it activates
FIBRIN
the body's natural
coagulating substances
and produces chains of
THE THROMBIN fibrin, which is normally
ENZYME
involved in ulceration.

The blood clot is

4 formed by the
coagulating blood,
blocking the blood vessel,

HYBRID MEDICAL ANIMATION/SPL & YAN ET AL.

CANCER TUMOUR so the tumour receives
no oxygen nor nutrients.
CLAUS LUNAU

This eliminates the

BLOOD CLOT cancer tumour.

Cave Paintings Made By Neanderthals

A R C H A E O L O G Y New datings of cave paint- paintings over the years. Calcite contains tiny
ings in Spain have turned an old discussion quantities of uranium, which slowly decay into
about the Neanderthals upside down. The thorium. By measuring the thorium content in
major question was whether some of the cave the calcite, the scientists dated the paintings.
paintings that exist throughout Europe could Although the Spanish cave paintings are
have been made by the extinct not as detailed as more recent
The Neanderthals
human variant. A team of paintings, they demonstrate that
were early humans, who
archaeologists have dated cave the Neanderthals were able to
lived in Europe and spread
paintings found in three different to Asia. They became extinct express themselves via art and
caves in Spain to be at least some 40,000 years ago.
capable of symbolic thinking. So
64,800 years old. That's 20,000 far, most scientists have believed
years before modern humans left Africa. that those qualities were unique
PEDRO SAURA

Cave paintings are difficult to date using characteristics of modern humans. This used
the carbon 14 method, as they rarely contain to be why we thought Neanderthals
any organic material. So, the scientists studied succumbed in the competition with our The orange and red painting on the rock
the tiny deposits of calcite, which trickling ancestors, but the new datings show that it is was made by Neanderthals long before
water has left as a thin film across the probably not that simple. modern humans came to Europe.

scienceillustrated.com.au | 11
 S C I E N C E U P DAT E

BY THE WAY · Ants

BACTERIUM

WOUNDED
LEG

AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR MICROBIOLOGY

ANTS SAVE EACH OTHER
After a group of Megaponera analis ants have GOLD
fought termites, they treat their wounded mates.
They disinfect the peers’ wounds with their mouths The C. metallidurans bacterium collects tiny lumps of gold, pumping them out
onto its surface. The ability might be used for mining.
for several minutes. This improves the wounded
creatures' chances of survival from 20 to 90%. Using Bacteria to Dig for Gold
ERIK T. FRANK/JULIUS-MAXIMILIANS-UNIVERSITÄT WÜRZBURG
B I O C H E M I S T R Y Today, gold bacterium’s special enzymes and
miners use mercury to bind gold the metals of copper and gold.
NOW YOU MENTION ANTS ... and extract it from hard-to-access
places. But the metal is toxic, and
Like other creatures, the
bacterium needs the copper to
THEY COMBAT BACTERIA
so, scientists are searching for a survive, but in large quantities,
WITH ANTIBIOTICS
new method for extracting the the metal is toxic. When a certain
Solenopsis molesta ants protect
themselves against bacteria hard-to-access gold. And now, quantity of copper has entered
attacks by liberating a particularly they might have found a solution. the bacterium, it will pump it out
powerful antibiotic, which can kill The C. metallidurans again by means of a special
MAGDALENA SORGER/NCSU

most bacteria, according to a study by bacterium has found its own way enzyme. But if gold atoms are
North Carolina State University in the of handling heavy metals, also present, the bacteria react
US. Scientists hope that we can use
enabling it to live in places from differently. The gold and copper
the ants to make a new type of
antibiotic for humans. which other organisms keep away. combination is more toxic than
Without competition from other the individual metals, so another
ANTS BECAME PEASANTS microbes, it thrives in soil layers enzyme takes over, changing the
30 MILLION YEARS AGO that are rich in heavy metals. way in which the metals behave,
Long before humans invented Unlike other bacteria, C. metalli- so they become less toxic and are
TED SCHULTZ/SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

it, ants used agriculture in durans has a faculty for getting prevented from entering deeply
their colonies. Several ant species
rid of the metals, so they will not into the bacterium. Instead, the
grow specific mushrooms, which
they fertilise, water, and weed. The accumulate in the organism. copper is immediately pumped
mushrooms have adapted to the Scientists from Germany and out, taking the gold with it. In the
luxurious life, so they cannot make Australia have found out, how it is process, the gold is accumulated
it without the ants. The adaptation done. It's all thanks to a complex into tiny, extractable lumps on
took 30 million years.
interaction between the the surface of the bacterium.
SICK ANTS DIE FOR

0.0000001
THE COMMUNITY SICK ANT
IN PUPA
In an anthill, contagious
diseases such as fungal infec-
tions can spread rapidly, threatening
CHRISTOPHER PULL/IST AUSTRIA

the entire colony. So, the ants have

developed an ability to track down m is the diameter of a gold lump.
sick creatures in the colony – both
ants and pupae. If they find a sick
Still, the bacterium's capacities can
peer, they kill it, so the fungus will replace mercury, when we extract gold
not spread to the rest of the colony. from otherwise inaccessible deposits.
12 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
 S C I E N C E U P DAT E

Scrapped
Planes Keep
Pavement Dry
TECHNOLOGY By combining
two very different problems,
scientists from Washington State
University have found a common
solution. The first problem was to
develop a new pavement
material. Traditional slabs are too
compact for rainwater to pass
through, meaning that in many
places, streets are flooded after
heavy rain. Torrential rain is often
sudden, and sewage systems
often cannot handle it.
Experiments with porous slabs
show they are quickly worn down
by the water. So, scientists have
developed concrete that is both
porous and durable by adding
carbon fibre. The latter is
expensive, but to keep prices
down, scientists have solved
another problem. Carbon fibre
materials have been made for so
many years that the products in
which they are included have
started to be scrapped, so lots of
carbon fibre waste exists, for
which we have not yet found good
recycling solutions.
That's why scientists used
carbon fibre from scrapped Boeing
planes, but it might just as well
have been from cars or wind
turbines. In the process, the
scientists also focused on
New Method Can
Read Your Mind
The test subjects had their
brain activity measured
by means of EEG, as they
A team of scientists have decoded what their test were observing faces
subjects see by measuring their brain waves. in the display.
B R A I N By feeding a computer data about the EEG patterns on a computer together
brain activity, Canadian scientists have with the different faces that were shown to
managed to tell when their test subjects are the test subjects. Based on the data, the
looking at a face and when they are not. computer learned to recognize the pattern
The electric activity in the brain changes produced in the brains of the test subjects,
rapidly, when we see a human face, as as they were looking at a face.
shown by experiments from the University of Using the collected data, the scientists
Toronto Scarborough, Canada. In one inverted the process and "read" when a test
experiment, test subjects looked at a subject was looking at a face. It is the first
flickering display, as their brain waves were time that the process has been successful
measured with EEG. Suddenly, the flickering using the EEG method.
was replaced by a picture of a face, and In the long term, scientists hope to refine
immediately, the brain waves changed to the method, so they can see what a person is
produce a new pattern. As soon as the face thinking about, remembers, or imagines
disappeared from the display, the brain based on the brain waves, allowing people
activity turned back to the original state. The who cannot express themselves to
scientists repeated the experiment, storing communicate with the outside world.
Faces are read rapidly - and hopefully consistently
The test subjects’ brains only took 0.17 seconds to find out that the image changed
from flickering to a recognisable subject – a face.
NO RECOGNIZABLE SUBJECT THE SIGHT OF A FACE
EEG MEASUREMENT

processing the carbon fibre

material using methods that
neither required chemicals nor
much energy. The concrete slabs
have been tested in the lab with
such positive results that they will
now be tested on real pavements.
Test subjects were placed in front of a When the flickering image turned into a picture of
flickering image, and brain activity measured. a face, the brain activity changed considerably.
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

WATER

ELECTRODE
WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY

Carbon fibre from scrapped

planes makes the slab sturdy enough
to endure water.

14 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
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 S C I E N C E U P DAT E
Colourful Dinosaur Feathers Attracted Mates
P A L A E O N T O L O G Y New studies of a dinosaur
fossil have provided surprising new knowledge
about the extinct animal’s plumage. The fossil,
which was discovered by a peasant in China,
ended up in the hands of scientists from the
palaeontological museum in Liaoning in 2014. It
has been dated to be 161 million years old.
The fossil is so well-preserved that scientists
have been able to recreate the colours of the dino’s
plumage, with reasonable confidence. Using a
scanning electron microscope, they have studied
structures known as melanosomes, which are tiny
organelles that contain colour pigment.
The pigment is long gone, but that did not stop
the scientists. The shape of the
melanosomes determine how the
light is reflected and this
determines colours of the feathers.
In some of the feathers, the
The well-preserved fossil (left) has allowed scientists to
reconstruct the colours of the dinosaur’s plumage.
SHOOTING STAR · Picturesque Mars
NASA
Avalanches draw patterns on Mars
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured a dust avalanche, which has travelled down a hill in
Mars' whisper-thin atmosphere. The dark colour is due to the fact that the dust has been removed,
baring the ground, while the surroundings remain covered in dust. Scientists do not know
exactly what caused the 1-km-long avalanche.
16 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
scientists found pancake-shaped melanosomes,
which also exist in hummingbirds. By subsequently
JESSICA ROSS/UC MERCED
studying all organelle shapes, they managed to
recreate the colours of the dinosaur’s plumage.
The result shows that the dinosaur had
colourful feathers on its head, neck, and part of the
wings, which have inspired its Mandarin name, When notice something follows a
Caihong juji, meaning "rainbow with the big crest". rhythm, we use a centre in the
The Caihong juji was the size of a duck, but cerebral cortex of the parietal lobe.
appears to have been incapable of true flight. The
plumage probably kept it warm, and the colours
may have attracted mates. Colourful feathers have
Scientists
previously only been found in dinosaurs that Locate Sense
existed 40 million years later.
Of Rhythm
BRAIN The ability to hear a false
note is located in the brain’s
centre of hearing, but the sense of
rhythm is not. A study has
revealed that our ability to follow
a rhythm is closely related with
the brain centre that has to do
with motion planning. The centre,
the posterior parietal cortex, is
ZHAO CHUANG & HU ET AL.
located in the cerebral cortex of
the parietal lobe. When this
region is disabled or destroyed,
the sense of rhythm is lost.
In the experiment, which was
carried out by scientists from the
University of California, Merced,
25 adult test subjects were
subjected to a magnetic pulse,
which temporarily paralysed the
activity of the brain centre.
Subsequently, scientists made
the test subjects listen to a
rhythm. Along with the rhythm,
beeping sounds sometimes
followed the rhythm, and
sometimes they did not. The test
subjects were asked to identify
the beeping sounds that were on
beat and off beat. During the
hour when the brain centre was
paralysed, the test subjects could
not tell the difference between
the two types of sounds.
So, the scientists think that
this particular region of the brain
doesn't only have to do with
body motion, but also manages
our ability to define time
intervals. After all, sense of
rhythm is the ability to predict
the timing of the next sound, also
known as relative timing.
Telescope to Search For Does dark energy
inflate the universe?
The Big Bang created the universe

Mysterious Dark Energy

13.7 billion years ago, and ever since,
it has grown at different speeds.

After the Big Bang, the universe

1 grew explosively in the brief period
5,000 small robots will zoom in on 30 million galaxies to study known as inflation.
the effect of the dark energy of the universe. BIG BANG
13.7
ASTRONOMY A 45-year-old telescope in has to be an unknown force that has the billion
years ago
Arizona in the US, hopes to solve one of the opposite effect of gravity, beating it across
major mysteries of the universe. The long distances. The force is called dark
telescope has been equipped with 5,000 energy, as we know nothing about it, but

MIKKEL JU
small robots the size of pencils. The robots according to calculations, it makes up
have been programmed to aim a fibreoptic some 70 % of the total quantity of matter 8

UL JENSEN
billion
cable at different galaxies to collect colour and energy in the universe. years ago

samples of their light. The light is sent on As in the future, the telescope can
to a spectroscopic instrument, DESI, which observe the light from 5,000 remote
can analyse the wavelengths. Wavelength galaxies at a time, it will over the next five 4
billion
changes reveal how fast the galaxies are years be possible to measure the speed of years ago
moving away from us, and based on the some 30 million galaxies. The telescope is
data, scientists can see how fast the able to capture light from galaxies that are
universe is expanding. 11 billion light years away.
Now
It has long been clear that the universe According to plan, DESI will be ready
is not only expanding, it is expanding at an to start the project in the spring of 2019,
accelerating pace. This means that there and the final result is expected to be the
most detailed 3D map of
For a long The steady
the universe ever made. 2 period of 7+ 3 pace was
billion years, the replaced by the
expansion happened accelerating
at a steady pace. expansion, which
is still going on.

LAWRENCE BERKELEY NATIONAL LABORATORY & P. MARENFELD/NOAO/AURA/NSF

5,000 tube-shaped robots the size of pencils will keep an eye on

different galaxies in search of dark energy.

scienceillustrated.com.au | 17
Ask Us
How Does a
Spinning Ball
Change Direction?
Some of the most spectacular soccer goals are scored,
when the ball changes direction in the air. How is it done?
When a soccer player sends a ball around the air steals its way along the surface of
a line-up of opponents and into the goal, the ball, bending the air flow slightly,
the ball spins due to the magnus effect. In causing a low pressure on one side and a
order to benefit from the magnus effect, high pressure on the other. To equalise
the ball must be caused to rotate its own the pressure, the ball changes direction.
axis. This is done by hitting it on the side. The magnus effect is also responsible
As the ball travels forwards, it forces itself for the spin effect in other sports such as
SCIENTISTS ANSWER
QUESTIONS FROM
OUR READERS

through the air. The air flow will pass
unevenly across the ball’s surface,
because the rotation on one side is up
against the air flow, slowing its passage,
whereas the rotation on the other side is
along with the direction of the air. On the
side that rotates up against the air flow,
golf and table tennis, but it also plays a
decisive role in connection with firearms
and missile systems. A bullet fired from a
barrel with a right hand twist will travel
slightly to the left, as its spin bends the A free kick goal often requires
air vertically on its inevitable way that the ball change direction
towards the ground. by means of the magnus effect.

Ball rotation causes dissimilar air flows

A ball that rotates around its own axis will interact differently with the air
on either side, producing the spinning magnus effect such as in soccer.

On the left side of the ball, the AIR DRAG

3 rotation means that the air flows
close to the ball's surface. The ball bends
MAGNUS EFFECT
the air flow direction behind it.

The player hits the ball on

1 its right side, causing it to
rotate its own axis counter- clock-
wise. Travelling through the air,
the ball is influenced by air drag.

The direction of rotation

2 means that on the right
side, the ball curbs the air flow
slightly, minimizing its contact
with the surface of the ball.
 Editor: Jeppe Wojcik

How Does a Drip Work? TOP 5

A drip takes advantage of gravity to deliver a fluid
(medication, blood etc), from a plastic bag to a patient.
The bag is always located about 100 cm above the Which mammals
patient’s heart on a stand, connected to the patient via a kill each other the
tube and a cannula in a vein. most often?
A drip is an efficient way to deliver drugs over a long
period of time, such as chemotherapy. Drip bags typically
have a transparent drip chamber, by which a doctor can
control the dosage by the number of drips per minute.
Air bubbles in the tube have
plenty of space to rise, Unlike an injection,

SHUTTERSTOCK
before the liquid enters a drip relies on gravity
the bloodstream. to deliver liquids

MEERKAT
1 19.36 % are killed by peers
Offspring are often victims,
because the killing is
hierarchically determined.

RED-TAILED MONKEY
2 18.18 % are killed by peers
Males kill young group
members to assert dominance
and control territory.

BLUE MONKEY
3 17.70 % are killed by peers
Blue monkeys often live in
groups with red-tailed monkeys
in central Africa.
EARTH-SAVVY?
RED-FRONTED LEMUR
4 16.67 % are killed by peers
? How warm must Earth be to
be uninhabitable?
Like most lemurs, the species
comes from Madagascar.
Humans need to sweat to survive in a warm Rivalry causes the killing.
environment. This is only possible, if the
MONGOOSE LEMUR
temperature at 100 % relative humidity – also
known as the wet-bulb temperature – remains 5 15.38 % are killed by peers
Again the main reason for in-
below 35 °C. Global average temperatures must rise terspecies killing is severe
The ball's bending of rivalry, and social dominance.
4 the air flow causes an by 12 °C, before this becomes a potential scenario.
opposing force in the air on
the right side, making the
ball spin towards the left.

WHY DOES IT FEEL COLD TO BITE INTO MINT?

Biting into chewing gum or mints can cause a cold
sensation in the mouth, though the temperature
does not change. The sensation is due to
CLAUS LUNAU & ULLSTEIN BILD/ALL OVER & SHUTTERSTOCK

the menthol chemical affecting

proteins in nerves
that normally
register cold. Lots
of menthol can
SHUTTERSTOCK

cause moderate
pain because of this.

scienceillustrated.com.au | 19
 ASK US

What is the Sun’s Corona?

The huge, external part of the Sun’s
atmosphere is known as the corona and can be
seen with the naked eye during a solar eclipse.
It's made of of gases that are millions of
degrees hot. The high temperature makes the
gas atoms collide forcefully, turning into
plasma, as they are split into negatively
charged electrons and positively charged ions.
Iron atoms contribute to the corona’s glow.
The corona is much hotter than the Sun’s
THE SUN IS SURROUNDED
BY RED-HOT PLASMA
Temperature: 1-4 million °C.
Size: Varies depending on
solar activity, but there is
no fixed upper limit.
Density: The corona's density
is 10-16 g/cm3, 10 million times
lower than the Sun's surface.
Contents: Primarily

hydrogen, helium, and low
surface. Scientists still do not know why, but it concentrations of iron in a
is probably due to special magnetic activity. plasma state, etc.
NASA
The corona is visible during
a solar eclipse, when the sunlight is blocked out.

How Does Milk Become Cheese? THE 4 STEPS

Answer: Cheese is made of milk that is acidified and dried, before the cheese matures
for a number of weeks, depending on the taste. The acidification is carried out by adding
lactic acid bacteria, which lower the pH value, whereas rennet ensures the texture.

CUTTING DEVICE

CHEESE MILK

ACIDIFIED MILK

Rennet from calf stomachs, etc., is added to the The solidified cheese milk contains a watery
1 acidified milk, causing the casein protein of the milk
to make the liquid turn into a jelly-like substance.
2 by-product of whey, which is drained off using
a cutting device. The curd is shaped in a press.

HARD CHEESE Mild cheese Aged cheese

10-20 °C 8-12 °C
5-8 35
weeks weeks

The curd is cut into smaller pieces and pressed in moulds After a few weeks, the cheese is moved to a 8-12 ° C
3 before maturation. Yellow hard cheese is initially dried in 4 maturation room. Mild cheese typically matures for 5-8
JØRGEN STAMP

a fermentation room at a temperature of 10-20 °C. weeks, whereas aged cheese matures for 35 weeks.

20 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
 A whale skeleton is broken down
in salt water due to creatures and
microbes in the water, not salt.

Can Salt Water

Dissolve Bones?
Bones do dissolve in salt water, but not as a
direct result of chemical interaction with the
salt. Creatures and microbes continuously
break down all living tissue – also on the ocean
floor. The speed depends on a series of factors
ALAMY/ALL OVER & PLACEBO365/GETTY IMAGES
If the animal had died on dry land, it would
often take at least 10 years for the skeleton to BONE-EATER BREAKS
disappear completely. The longest process DOWN BONES
takes place in dry, warm air, in which microbes Osedax mucofloris spe-
and bacteria have the most difficult living cialises in eating bones, pri-

such as water temperature, oxygen content,
acidity, and the creatures and microbes
available. Under favourable conditions, a dead
creature in the ocean is turned into a "naked"
skeleton in 3-4 days, whereas the bones will be
gone after about a year.
conditions. Bones are made up of living cells marily those of whales. Be-
with blood vessels and nerves like any other fore it sets to work,
Gammarus locusta has con-
tissue. The hard parts consist of a porous sumed soft tissue such as
network of protein plus calcareous and muscles and interior organs,
phosphorous minerals, which bacteria can and shrimps have broken
dissolve and feed on. down cartilage and tendons.

WORLD RECORDS

How long did the longest surgery take?

NATION
In 2001, 20 doctors separated the Where: Singapore.
conjoined twins Ganga and Jamuna, What: 20 doctors
including tens of thousands of brain separated conjoined twins.
blood vessels. The surgery lasted Both babies survived.

103 hours REUTERS/RITZAU SCANPIX

scienceillustrated.com.au | 21
 ASK US

Why Are Satellites

Wrapped In Gold?
The golden wrapping, with which many satellites and
space probes are provided before launch, functions as
insulation and ensures that the equipment gets neither
too cold nor too warm in space. The satellite must
remain above a minimum temperature to allow its
electronics to work properly. The golden colour reflects
the sunlight, so it does not heat the equipment. The
insulation consists of several layers of foil, which also
offers slight dust grain collision protection.

NASA
The foil used to include gold, but now, it is typically
made of the kapton plastic material covered in a thin
layer of aluminium. The combination makes the Satellites are wrapped in golden foil to protect
insulation resemble gold, but is much stronger. equipment from sunlight, etc., but the foil does not include real gold.

How forceful was the most powerful bomb? The Soviet Tsar Bomba hydrogen bomb in 1961 caused
a fire ball with an 8 km diameter. If it had been made of TNT, it would correspond to detonating

50 million t
These strange clouds
WHAT IS THIS? were photographed in
Queensland, which is
the only place in the
world where they
form regularly.

Known as Morning Glory

clouds, the phenomenon can
be observed in the mornings
of days with high relative
humidity and forceful
onshore wind.

The clouds consist of

condensed air that rises
rapidly on the front of the
cloud and descends slowly at
its centre and on the rear side.

The phenomenon occurs,

when air with different
characteristics meets,
producing a rolling boundary.
The cloud is produced at the
top of the lower air mass.
MICK PETROFF

22 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
 Finger cracking comes Is it really true that ...
from fluid between joints
The sound of cracking fingers does not
come from bones or tendons. In fact,
doctors didn't discover how the sound is ... finger cracking
causes arthritis?
made until 2015!

BONE JOINT FLUID JOINT CAPSULE

1 The fingers are joined via a joint capsule filled
with lubricating fluid. The joint fluid is full of
dissolved air molecules such as nitrogen and
carbon dioxide.
AIR MOLECULES
I have always been told that I
could develop arthritis over time,
if I make my fingers crack. But is it
really true?
Many people crack their fingers as a
kind of compulsive behaviour, while
others are disgusted at the popping
sound of the joints. Perhaps the
myth that finger cracking causes
arthritis originated as protection
against the unpleasant sound. No
scientific studies support the theory
– and it's like to be harmless.
In a study from 2011, an American
doctor, Kevin deWeber, compared
X-rays of the hands of 215 elderly
people, who had either been cracking
their fingers regularly for several years
or had never done so. His study
produced no evidence of the behaviour
being harmful. A not quite as scientific
study was made by American doctor
Donald Unger, who cracked the fingers
of his left hand every day for 60 years,
leaving the fingers of his right hand
alone. Again, there was no evidence of
the habit causing arthritis or other
illnesses. On the other hand, the
dedicated study earned him an lg
Nobel Prize in medicine.
The sound of cracking fingers
arises, when the fingers are
overstretched one way or the other
such as by subjecting them to
pressure with the other hand or by
stretching oneself with one's fingers
crossed. The motion pulls the finger
joints apart, so air molecules
consisting of nitrogen and carbon
dioxide are liberated into the joint
fluid with a snap. The formation of
the bubbles produce the
characteristic sound. About 20
minutes after the gasses have been
liberated, they are incorporated back
into the joint fluid, and the fingers
can crack again.

2 When we crack our fingers, the joints are pulled

CLAUS LUNAU

apart, and the joint capsule volume increases,

causing an empty space in the fluid, into which the
air molecules rush, causing the cracking sound.

D
ST RE TC HE
N OR M AL
e
clearly show th
s of th e cracking joint ound ing
OF ALBERTA

scan surr
MRI
atio n. Air enters from the
bubble form re.
ing the pressu
tissue, equalis
UNIVERSITY
 ASK US

Why is the Ocean Full of Salt?

When it rains, water erodes soil and rock and THE OCEANS CONTAIN
dissolves ions such as sodium and chlorine. HEAPS OF SALT
These combine into sodium chloride, also Concentration: Salt makes
known as table salt. The salt flows into rivers up an average of 3.5 % of
and streams, finally ending up in the ocean. ocean water.
Over billions of years, the salt has collected Inflow: Rivers and streams
supply the oceans with
in the oceans, from where it cannot escape.

SHUTTERSTOCK
about four billion tonnes
The oceans also get salt from volcanoes and of salt annually.
geysers, which eject minerals from Earth’s
Record: The Dead Sea
crust under the oceans. Rivers and lakes have a contains about 33 % salt, Rain carries salt from the
continuous flow-through of rainwater, so they and the Don Juan Pond in
ground into the oceans over billions of years.
are not salty. Antarctica has 44% salt

? INSIDE THE BODY

How Do Insects Breathe?

Insects do not have lungs, they breathe via tubes or tracheae,
into which the air enters through tiny openings in the body
surface. Inside the body, the tracheae become gradually smaller,
reaching tissue and cells, into which the oxygen enters directly.

The insect's surface, which is covered by
1 exoskeleton, includes tiny spiracles, into
which the oxygen enters. The spiracles can open
and close, and they have filters to keep out dust.
Air sacs are expanded to allow air The oxygen exchange does not take place via
2 into the body. A branching network of 3 blood like in mammals, but in the thinnest
thin tracheae carries the oxygen about the tracheae, called tracheoles. They are so tiny that
body and C02 out of the body. they can deliver oxygen directly to the cells.

CELL

TRACHEOLE

SPIRACLE

SKIN SKELETON

TRACHEA
MIKKEL JUUL JENSEN

AIR SAC

24 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
 Viking ships were up to
36 m long and built with
overlapping planks sealed
with animal hair and tar.

How Did the Vikings Make PLANT FIBRES

FILLED THE CRACKS
Long after the Viking Age,

Wooden Ships Waterproof?

Mediterranean seafaring
nations began to build ships
using the carvel method,
where the planks
do not overlap. The hull is
sealed with plant fibre
The success of the Vikings was due to their the hull. Shipbuilders used an axe to cut out the dipped in tar and placed
mighty longships, but how did they make planks, planed them, and boiled the planks in in between the planks and
them waterproof? long cooking vessels. Subsequently, the planks covered in thick, boiled
About 1,000 years ago, the Vikings roamed were bent to suit their positions on the ship hull. tar known as pitch.
most of the Old World thanks to their unrivalled By means of wooden or iron nails, the
ability to build seaworthy ships - and even made planks were fastened to frames, which
it to America. Their most common method of functioned as the ship’s ribs.
CLINKER CARVEL
building the efficient ships is known as clinker To make the ship waterproof, the BUILDING BUILDING
building and dates back to the Iron Age. Vikings placed animal hair dipped in tar
Clinker building requires that the boat is built between all the planks. In other cases,
IMAGESELECT

like a shell of planks, that overlap and hence seal they used moss. This had to be done yearly.

WORLD RECORDS
What is the heaviest object
that was ever weighed? Most super he- USA
avy weights are estimated. But NASA’s Where: Florida
What: A 93.6-m-tall tower
Rotating Service Structure, which loa- at the Kennedy Space
ded space shuttles, is the heaviest Centre's launch pad 39B.
object ever to be actually weighed.

2,423 t SERVICE TOWER

NASA

scienceillustrated.com.au | 25
 S PA C E M U LT I V E R S E

THE
UNIVERSE
IS ONLY ONE
OF MANY
For decades, scientists have
questioned theories about our
universe not being the only one.
Now, astronomers have
discovered the first possible
evidence that the universe is
surrounded by many others, in
a multiverse. A cold spot in
space could be a sort of scar,
resulting from a collision with
another universe.
S
E
S
R
E
IV
LT
E
S

U
R
E

M
E
S

IV
R

L
E

A
LT
IV

R
U

E
N

V
M
U

E
A

S
 By Rolf Haugaard Nielsen

Our universe might be

surrounded by billions of other
universes in a multiverse.
DETLEV VAN RAVENSWAAY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/KEN IKEDA MADSEN/SHUTTERSTOCK

OT IN
RIOUS SP
A MYSTE E IS 0 .00015
ERS
THE UNIV T HAN
COLDER
DEGREES PA CE .
T OF S
THE RES
 S PA C E M U LT I V E R S E

EVIDENCE

The Universe Has a Cold Spot

(That Can't be Explained)
The temperature is the same throughout the universe – except from in one cold spot. Scientists thought
that the spot was an optical illusion, but according to a new theory, it may be evidence of a collision.

I n 2015, the Planck satellite mapped

out a cold spot in the background
radiation of the universe. The radiation,
which was emitted by the young universe
380,000 years after the Big Bang, fills the
entire universe. Originally, the radiation
was very energetic (or hot), but the
expansion of the universe has extended
the rays into much cooler microwaves
with a temperature of 2.73 degrees above
absolute zero. Except for slight variations
of a few millionths of a degree, the
temperature of the universe is generally
the same, and so, the cold spot fascinated
astronomers. First, they thought that the
spot had been caused by a huge void
between the spot and Earth. On the way
through the void, the wavelength of light
is stretched, getting colder than when
light travels through space with a normal
quantity of galaxies. However, new
observations by English scientists show
that this void does not exist and so, it
cannot explain the cold area.

P R E V IO U S IO N
EX PL A NAT
COLD SPOT

BACKGROUND RADIATION

RADIATION
SHOWS
L I G H T WAV E S
TEMPERATURE VOID IS FULL
The background OF GALAXIES
ESA AND THE PLANCK COLLABORATION/KEN IKEDA MADSEN/SHUTTERSTOCK

1
radiation in the New studies
universe has the same 3
have shown
temperature – except a that the void is not
particularly cold spot empty. It includes just
3 billion light years as many galaxies as
from Earth. VOID CAUSES other places in space.
OPTICAL ILLUSION
Scientists thought
2
that a huge void
between Earth and the
THEORETICAL VOID
cold spot made light lose EARTH

energy, so the light waves

are stretched, and the
spot seems cold.
 R
ight after the Big Bang, the young
universe expanded from the size
of an electron to the volume of a
football. The inflation happened
extremely fast, i.e. at a speed
NEW IO N
higher than that of light, and lasted a trillionth
EX PL A NAT of a trillionth of a trillionth of a second.
Subsequently, the expansion continued at a
slower pace.
Cold Spot Caused The process is known as inflation, and
By A Collision With cosmology rests on this one, fundamental
Another Universe? foundation stone. However, the inflation
theory involves a major challenge to our
When scientists rejected the old theory understanding of how space is organised. It
about the cold spot, another explanation predicts that inflation did not only take place
arose: The spot is a crater caused by a in the small area that grew into our universe.
collision with another universe. During Instead, the process was more chaotic, taking
the chaotic inflation of the universe place in a much larger space, in which
shortly after the Big Bang, billions of myriads of universes popped up at the same
other universes were inflated at the same time just like popcorn in a pot of hot oil.
time, and one of the neighbouring According to the theory, billions of universe
universes collided with ours. The collision bubbles exist around our own universe – we
displaced mass and energy from the are living in a multiverse.
collision point, causing the cold spot. For decades, astronomers have debated
whether the theory’s prediction of the
OUR
UNIVERSE multiverse can be true, and now, scientists
have found the first possible evidence: the
universe includes a mysterious cold spot,
which could be a crater resulting from a
collision with another universe.
Inflation explains the universe
The inflation theory was introduced into
scientists’ model of the Big Bang in the 1980s
to explain why galaxies are evenly distributed
across the universe. If the expansion of the
DISPLACED
ENERGY AND
universe had happened at an even pace
MASS following the Big Bang, gravity would make
COLD galaxy clusters clump together to produce
SPOT
major differences in the distribution of mass.
The rapid inflation distributed the mass
evenly from the very beginning of the
universe – like when air is evenly distributed
in a balloon that is inflated.
I n f l at i o n a l s o e x p l a i n s w hy t h e
temperature is almost the same throughout
the universe. When our newborn universe
was the size of an electron, all matter had the
same temperature. During the inflation, the
temperature averaged out to be more or less
the same no matter which way we look.
The uniform temperature
can be observed from the
4
cosmic background radiation
of the universe. The radiation
was emitted in the young
ANOTHER
universe, 380,000 years after
UNIVERSE the Big Bang. Before, the
universe was so hot that
DETLEV VAN RAVENSWAAY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/KEN IKEDA MADSEN/SHUTTERSTOCK
radiation was constantly converted into
matter, so no light escaped. But when the
universe had grown big and cold enough for
the first hydrogen atoms to form, light escaped
from the matter in a glimpse. Subsequently, the
universe turned dark again, as the new, neutral
hydrogen atoms do not emit any visible light.
The light did not return, until the first galaxies
formed hundreds of millions of years later.
Decades of observations of cosmic
background radiation show that the
temperature generally only varies a few
millionths of a degree – except in one place. In
2004, astronomers discovered a particularly
cold spot in the background radiation three
billion light years from Earth. The spot covers
an area of five degrees of the sky and is 0.00015
degrees colder than the general radiation
temperature of 2.73 degrees above absolute zero.
Until recently, scientists thought that the
cold area was due to a huge void extending 1.8
billion light years between us and the cold
spot. When light waves from the background
radiation travel through such a void, the light
waves lose energy on their way into the void,
regaining energy on their way out.
Astronomers compare the phenomenon to a
ball that loses energy on its way uphill, rolling
faster down the other side. In a stagnant
universe, the light would escape the void with
the exact same energy with which the waves
entered. But because the universe has
expanded over the 1.8 billion years that the
light took to travel through the super-void, the
hill on the way out of the void will be less steep.
So, the light will not regain all the energy,
becoming slightly more long wave and colder.
Hence, scientists thought that the cold spot
was an optical illusion caused by the void.
Now, English astronomers from Durham
University have rejected the original
explanation by showing that the huge void
does not exist. There are as many galaxies
between Earth and the cold spot as between
our world and all other places of the
background radiation. So, astronomers tend to
prefer another explanation: The spot is a crater
caused by a collision between our universe
and another one under inflation.
THEORIerseES– exfroplmainsimthplee
multiv
s to
inflation of universe
fascinating paralle l
worlds.
 S PA C E M U LT I V E R S E

THEORY 1

Billions of Universes
Were Inflated Around Us
The rapid expansion of the universe right after the Big Bang happened
in a much larger space than the point that grew into our universe.

W hen the universe expanded faster

than the speed of light by inflation
after the Big Bang, it consisted of an
intensive field of hypothetical particles
called inflatons, according to the inflation
theory. The inflation stopped, when the
universe reached the size of a football,
and the inflatons were converted into
quarks and electrons, which united into
atoms and eventually galaxies during the
continuous development of the universe.
But this inflation may have taken place in a
much bigger space than the microscopic
point, which swelled into our universe.
So, billions of universes may have formed
around us – a multiverse.
POSSIBLE EVIDENCE
IF ASTRONOMERS can prove that the
inflation took place in our universe, it
is likely that the inflation theory is
also correct to say that the inflation
caused billions of neighbouring
universes around us.

Neighbouring Universes Have the Same Laws of Nature

COSMIC HORIZON
Scientists cannot see neighbouring
universes. The cosmic horizon is deter-
NEIGHBOURING UNIVERSE mined by from how far away light could
OUR UNIVERSE have reached Earth since the Big Bang.
The horizon is now 42 billion light years,
moving away by one light year annually.

INFLATION
COSMIC HORIZON
Shortly after the Big Bang, the
42 BILLION universe was inflated. The inflation did
LIGHT YEARS not only occur in the area that turned
into our universe, rather it also produced
EARTH billions of universes around us.

NATURAL CONSTANTS
NEIGHBOURING UNIVERSE All universes in the multiverse have
the same physical laws, as they were
created in a common process under the
same conditions. The quantity of mass,
number of galaxies, and the
likelihood of life can, however, vary.
DETLEV VAN RAVENSWAAY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/KEN IKEDA MADSEN/SHUTTERSTOCK

REPEATED UNIVERSES
Matter in a universe can only be
organised in a finite number of
IDENTICAL UNIVERSE
different ways, so identical universes
result. A 2D universe with four particles
can be organised in 16 ways, and the
closest copy of a universe is hence four
times the diameter of the universe
away. Our universe can include 10118
particles, and so, an identical universe
will be extremely far away.

30 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
 Multiverse has several shapes
The English astronomers’ discovery has revived
the discussion of the many different multiverse
theories. In the most simple versions, the
multiverse materialised, because inflation
happened in more places than the area that
became our universe, and so, billions of universes
were produced at the same time. Another theory
expands the simple multiverse by suggesting that
inflation did not only occur, when our universe
was formed, rather it is an eternal process that
constantly adds more multiverses around the one
in which our universe exists.
In a third and more complex version of the
multiverse, the laws of quantum mechanics
apply. Here, new universes pop up from
existing universes. Every time a situation has
more than one possible result, a daughter
universe occurs for each alternative. The most
THEORY 2
Eternal Inflation Produces Multiverses
With All Kinds of Laws of Nature
After the formation of our multiverse,
the inflation continued in other places,
producing multiverses around us.
DETLEV VAN RAVENSWAAY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/KEN IKEDA MADSEN/SHUTTERSTOCK
The inflation of universes did not only
occur, when our multiverse bubble
materialised. According to some inflation
theory variants, the inflation is an ongoing
process that can take place anywhere in
infinite space. Every time inflation stops, a
Multiverse Bubbles Fill Up Infinite Space
O U R M U LT I V E R S E
OUR
UNIVERSE
NEIGHBOURING
UNIVERSE
speculative multiverse model is based on
superstring theory, which predicts the
existence of at least 10 spacial dimensions. In
the interpretation of the multiverse theory, the
extra dimensions are, however, as large as
entire universes and include parallel worlds
that are hidden around us. Only gravity can
travel freely between the dimensions.
Search for impossible proof
Scientists’ explanations of the multiverse are
only theoretical, i.e. they have no concrete
evidence to support the ideas. And the
existence of the multiverse is by and large
impossible to prove or disprove.
Although astronomers’ telescopes are
improving, it is impossible to peer beyond the
cosmic horizon, which is the maximum stretch
across which light can reach Earth. Light travels
new multiverse bubble emerges. All the
universes in our bubble have the same
physical laws, as they materialised at the
same time and under the same conditions.
In other bubbles, the laws and natural
constants are different, as the strength of
the field in which the multiverses were
created varies. So, the universes in other
bubbles could be very different from ours.
EXPANSION
Bubbles with universes
are constantly moving
away from each other due
NEIGHBOURING to the expansion of space.
UNIVERSE
PHYSICAL LAWS
All the universes in
our multiverse bubble
have the same physical
laws as our universe.
at a speed of 300,000 km/s, and so, our view of
the universe – and possibly the multiverse – will
always be limited by how far the light waves
have been able to travel since the Big Bang 13.8
billion years ago. The field of vision now covers
42 billion light years, growing by one light year
annually into all directions. So, astronomers will
never be able to look beyond the cosmic horizon
and into a neighbouring universe.
The lack of evidence of the existence of the
multiverse makes sceptics question the
scientific validity of the theory, but supporters
hope to be able to find indirect proof based on
observations in our own universe, which could
provide the theories with some credibility.
Max Tegmark from the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology in the US is one of the
founding fathers of the multiverse theories. He
points out that scientists do not necessarily
POSSIBLE EVIDENCE
IF OBSERVATIONS show that
inflation produced our universe, and
it is hence likely that we live in a
multiverse bubble, the theory is
consolidated. Eternal inflation is
impossible to prove or reject via
observations.
PARALLEL
M U LT I V E R S E
SE .
ER G
IV DIN
U NA N
E P
TH EX
IS
NEW MULTIVERSES
Inflation is constantly
producing new multiverse bubbles.
The bubbles include other natural
constants determined by the
creation conditions.
scienceillustrated.com.au | 31
 S PA C E M U LT I V E R S E

THEORY 3

Universes Give THE UNIVERSE IS IN TWO DIFFERENT STATES

1
The laws of quantum mechanics mean that
universes can be in superposition and so exist in two

Rise to Alternative
states at the same time. Until a person measures whether
the universe is in situation A or B, both situations apply.

Realities
Electrons can be in two states at
the same time, until a measurement
determines the state. According to
quantum theory, the rejected state
could disappear into a newborn
parallel universe.

S cientists know that ordinary objects

from our world can only exist in one
physical state at a time. But in the world
The likelihood
is the same.

of quantum mechanics, the rules

change. Here, an atom or electron can A B
be in two different states at a time –
also known as superposition. An
electron can rotate clockwise and
A B A B
counter-clockwise at the same time. The
superposition is continued, until an
observer makes a measurement that
shows the direction of rotation. The
THE FIRST UNIVERSE ALTERNATIVE
measurement "locks" one state, STANDS OUT WORLD EMERGES
deactivating the other.
A person determines When universe A
However, another quantum theory 2A 2B
that the universe is materializes, and
interpretation rejects that in situation A. Superposition superposition stops,
superposition stops with the ceases, and the possibility another daughter universe,
measurement. Instead, the other state of situation B stops. Universe B, occurs,in which a copy of
is realized in a new daughter universe. A with situation A the person sees that
materialises. situation B applies.
The quantum theory interpretation
involves that entire universes can be in
superposition. Each time a situation is
determined by an observer in a
universe, and the superposition is
DETLEV VAN RAVENSWAAY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/KEN IKEDA MADSEN/SHUTTERSTOCK

broken, new universes materialise.

POSSIBLE EVIDENCE UNIVERSES RAMIFY

INFINITELY
IT IS IMPOSSIBLE to prove or reject
the theory via observations and Each time superposition
3
experiments. So, scientists are stops in a universe, two new
unable to estimate the theoretical universes materialise with
likelihood of the existence of a situations A and B. In this way, the
quantum mechanical multiverse.
universes multiply via continuous
branching and dividing.

32 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
 THEORY 4
Parallel Universes Exist
In Invisible Dimensions
Physicists have a “theory of everything”,
by which major extra space dimensions
could exist in parallel universes.
In the ultimate “theory of everything”,
Einstein’s relativity theory is combined
with physicists’ standard particle model.
The tiniest units are strings, that can
produce all force-carrying particles and
atomic building blocks. But the theory
also has a bizarre effect: the four known
dimensions (height, length, width, and
time) are not enough. The strings can
only produce all the particles in a space
with at least 10 dimensions. In most
theoretical models, the extra dimensions
are tiny and hidden inside electrons and
quarks. In other models, they are as
large as the universe and form parallel,
invisible worlds around us. Only gravity
can travel between dimensions.
POSSIBLE EVIDENCE
IF AN ACCELERATOR produces the
particles of gravity, gravitons, and the
particles' energy is absent in the
"accounts" of the experiment, it could
indicate that the particles disappeared
into invisible dimensions.
have to be able to test all predictions of a
theory to trust it – a series of evidence is
enough to make the whole theory trustworthy.
One example is Einstein’s relativity theory,
which has been proved via numerous
astronomical observations over the past 100
years. So, scientists also take the theory’s
predictions of matters that will never be
observable seriously, such as the theory’s
description of the conditions inside black holes.
According to Max Tegmark, definitive
evidence that inflation took place in our
universe can function in the same way: the
evidence can improve the credibility of the
inflation theory’s predictions of inflation
taking place in several other locations,
producing billions of neighbouring universes.
Scientists might also be able to see if other
universes could exist in invisible dimensions by
Gravity links
extra dimensions
OUR DIMENSION
OUR
UNIVERSE
INVISIBLE DIMENSION
PARALLEL
UNIVERSE
BIG BANG
PARALLEL
UNIVERSE
INVISIBLE DIMENSION
means of physical experiments. One of the basic
particles of physics is the graviton, a hypothetical
particle that transfers gravity in the same way as
photons transfer light. Physicists are trying to
produce the theoretical particles in accelerators
by making protons collide. If any energy is
lacking, when physicists measure the particles
produced by the collision, it could suggest that the
collision produced gravitons that escaped into
invisible dimensions.
Collision causes waves
So far, the cold spot in the background radiation
of the universe is the only tangible indication of
a multiverse. Scientists now know that the first
scientific explanation of the spot – an optical
illusion caused by a supervoid – is not correct.
But the spot is not final evidence of the UK
scientists’ theory of another universe colliding
UNIVERSES
Extra dimensions in space
are large enough to hide
parallel universes, which are
layered just like a layer cake.
LIGHT STOPS
Light cannot travel
between dimensions, so it is
impossible for scientists to
look into parallel universes.
GRAVITY
ATTRACTS
DETLEV VAN RAVENSWAAY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/KEN IKEDA MADSEN/SHUTTERSTOCK
Gravity passes freely
between dimensions, caus-
ing attraction, which holds
the universes in place.
BIG BANG
The parallel universes
could collide, triggering a
Big Bang, which devastates
the universes, but produces
new, parallel universes.
with ours during inflation in the young
universe. Scientists cannot obtain such evidence
at this point, but perhaps future astronomical
observations could prove the collision.
If it took place, scientists can pick up
gravitational waves from the collision. They
result, when large masses collide or are
accelerated fast through space, and in the
collision, both happened: First the collision
took place, and subsequently a large mass
accelerated through space, as the energy from
the collision blew matter away from the
collision point, producing the cold spot.
Max Tegmark is certain that he is right,
and the inflation theory is so accepted among
cosmologists as the explanation of the birth
of the universe that still more scientists
support the theory’s prediction that we are
living in a multiverse.
scienceillustrated.com.au | 33
 HUMANS BLINDNESS

AN EYE
FOR
AN EYE
When it comes to preventing
blindness and restoring sight, doctors
need all the help they can get. Now
new weapons in the war on blindness
are here: a new chip to replace the
retina, stem cells to regrow it, and in a
few years, even full eye transplants.

N
AY S T O V IS IO
T H R E E PAT H W
ELLS
E N E T H E R A PY & STEM C
G
S
RANSPLANT
FULL EYE T An ultra-thin chip in the

IMPLANTS
retina allows some blind
ELECTRONIC people to see the surrounding
world as bright contours.
DR DAVID NAYAGAM/BIONICS INSTITUTE, AUSTRALIA

34 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
 By Gorm Palmgren

scienceillustrated.com.au | 35
 HUMANS BLINDNESS

Disease Distorts Vision

Many different eye diseases can make you blind. Lens lumps cause
blurred vision, whereas burst retina blood vessels make you see dark spots.

HEALTHY The optic nerve is a thick bundle

of some one million nerve cells,
which send information about
The cornea, the external, the visual impression to the centre
transparent part of the eye, of vision at the back of the brain.
and tear film refract the
light, focusing it at the lens.
The retina includes light-sensitive
The iris controls the quantity nerve cells, rods and cones, which
of light that is allowed to enter send nerve signals to the optic nerve,
by regulating pupil size. when they are activated by light.

The lens is flexible, and

muscles make it contract
RODS AND
to focus the light at a sharp CONES
point on the retina.

CLAUS LUNAU
SICK
ERROR OF REFRACTION CLOUDED LENS MAKES
CAUSES BLURRED FOCUS VISION BLURRED
In case of refraction errors such as When natural proteins in the lens
short-sightedness, long-sightedness, break down and form lumps, vision
and old age, the light is becomes unclear.
not focused onto Known as cataract,
the retina – either this can and cause
due to the eye blurred vision,
shape or because and if left
the lens is untreated even
inflexible. full blindness.

DIABETICS SEE DARK SPOTS CALCIFICATION BREAKS

About one in three diabetics DOWN SHARP POINT
develops retinopathy. Their The light-sensitive cells are
unregulated blood sugar causes particularly densely packed in a region
retinal blood vessels to called the macula. Any
weaken and damage here
eventually burst, creates a spot at
which can be the centre of the
observed as field of vision. It's
dark spots. responsible for
50% of blindness.

OVERPRESSURE CAUSES STROKE ELIMINATES

TUNNEL VISION HALF THE VISION
When the eye becomes too full of A stroke - a cerebral blood clot or
liquid, overpressure harms the optic brain haemorrhage - could damage
nerve and slowly parts of the brain in a
narrows the field of way that makes
vision. Known as the person
GARO/PHANIE/SPL & MARK AIRS

glaucoma, the completely blind

condition is in one half
common of their field
in elderly people. of vision.

36 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
T
he first thing that Rhian electronic implants, scientists are
Lewis sees is small, als o working with biological
sharp light flashes that solutions. Stem cells can recreate
resemble the night sky. damaged eye tissue, and virus can
But after a few weeks of reprogramme the cells to function
practice, her brain learns to interpret correctly again. And if everything
the flashes, so she can see the bright else fails, doctors will probably one
contours of her surroundings. The day be able to replace the entire
image is black and white and blurred, blind eye by a normally functioning

BBC/PA/RITZAU SCANPIX
but for the first time in more than eye from a deceased donor.
five years, she can make out plates
and cutlery on a laid table and see Cataract causes blindness
what time it is. A congenital vision A total of 314 million people are
defect has gradually broken down Rhian Lewis has been blind for years, but after having a chip estimated to be at least partially
Rhian Lewis’ retina, but the 49-year- transplanted to her retina, she can once again tell the time. blind, often due to dis eas e,
old British woman is part of a small malnutrition, congenital gene
group of blind people, who have now regained of electronic image sensor which is included in defects, or accidents. Total blindness, by which
some of their vision by having a new electronic a digital camera. The chip replaces the light- the person cannot tell the difference between
chip implanted into their retinas. sensitive cells that have been destroyed in the light and darkness, exists in about 39 million
The most recent version of the chip, the blind person’s eyes and sends data about the people or 0.5 % of the world population.
Alpha AMS, was introduced in the EU in 2016 light to the brain via the optic nerve, so an The group of blind people also includes
and has undergone clinical testing in Germany image is produced in the centre of vision. those who, in spite of glasses or contact
and the UK. The small chip functions as an The chip is one of several sophisticated lenses, see more than 10 times as poorly as a
electronic retina, and once it has been treatments that doctors can now or very soon person with ordinary vision. For instance,
implanted into the eye, the blind person only use on blind people. About 85 % of all cases of although you might otherwise have perfect
needs to activate it to be able to see again. In blindness can probably be prevented or treated vision, you are considered partially blind, if
principle, the implant consists of the same type with existing technology. Apart from your field of vision is very narrow.

LLS
N E T H E R A P Y & STEM CE l
GE a caused by co
ngenita
the retin
Cure damage to of old age.
fects, accide nts, or diseases
gene de

Stem cells help grow a new retina

If the problem is caused by more than one gene or by injury, this can be repaired by
means of stem cells, which reconstruct the damaged part of the retina.
VIRUS' OWN
GENES Connective tissue cells The cells are supplied Other substances
1 from the patient's skin
2 with growth factors, 3 reprogramme the stem
VIRUS
are extracted and placed in a making them convert into cells to produce an unbroken
culture dish with nutrients. thespecial iPSC stem cells. layer of retina cells.
HEALTHY
EYE GENE

Therapy replaces
defective eye gene
Several eye diseases caused by retinal STEM CELLS
damage can be treated with gene therapy,
which provides the cells of the eye with a CONNECTIVE
TISSUE CELLS
healthy version of a defective gene. The RETINA
CELLS
gene is carried into the cells by a virus. The
virus’ own RNA is removed, and the cured
eye gene is inserted. Patients with retinitis The new piece of
pigmentosa get the RPE65 gene, which 4 retina is inserted
recreates the light-sensitive cells of the into the eye to replace
the damaged retina.
SHUTTERSTOCK

retina (rods and cones).

scienceillustrated.com.au | 37
 HUMANS BLINDNESS

Full Eye Transplant The donor eye's optic

The transplant of an entire 1 nerve must be linked
eye requires that three with the receiver's own
problems be solved. optic nerve in order for the
brain to receive visual
It can probably be done BLOOD VESSELS impressions from the eye.
within 10-20 years. That is extremely difficult,
as the optic nerve is a
bundle made up of 1+
million individual nerves.
MUSCLES

The donor eye's blood

2 vessels must be
joined with the receiver's
blood circulation in order
for the eye to be supplied
with oxygen and nutrients.
In animal experiments,
donor eyes normally only
survive for a few weeks, but
the blood vessels might join,
if the eye survives longer.

The donor eye's

3 muscles must be
OPTIC NERVE linked with the receiver's
nervous system, allowing

SCIENCE PICTURE COMPANY/SPL

the eye to move. The
problem should be solvable,
when the eye survives long

& CLAUS LUNAU

COUNCIL

enough for the nerve links

to establish themselves.
IC SURGERY RESEARCH
YANG LI ET.AL./PLAST

Today, an eye can only be transplanted along
with half a face. So far, the surgery has only been
carried out on animals.
Moreover, a person is officially blind, if the
light sensitivity of his eyes is limited, i.e. it takes
very powerful light to be able to see anything,
or if he cannot distinguish between contrasts
and grey tones, causing the field of vision to
lose its contours.
Cataract causes about half of all cases of
blindness in the world, although the disease
can easily be cured by replacing the lens of the
eye. Other common eye diseases affect the
retina, and so far, doctors have not been able to
treat those. That is true for age-related macular
degeneration (AMD) and diabetic retinopathy,
which are responsible for 13+ % of all cases of
blindness. Hereditary diseases such as retinitis
pigmentosa can also make the light-sensitive
cells of the retina die. These patients with
damaged retinas can now get some of their
vision back with the Alpha AMS chip.
Chip uses healthy cells
The implant is a development of another
electronic retina called Argus II, which was
intro duc e d in 2011. The pre de c ess or
functioned by a video camera mounted on a
pair of glasses recording the surroundings and
sending the data to the electronic retina and
from there onto the brain.
Alpha AMS has no camera and only uses
the eye’s own lens to activate the electronic
retina. Moreover, the chip has a much higher
resolution of 1,600 pixels – i.e. the points that
make up the image – as compared to only 60
pixels in Argus II, providing the blind person
with a much more detailed image of the world.
And as the crowning touch, the chip uses the
nerve cell layers which still function.
The retina consists of three layers with
different types of nerve cells. The backmost
layer, which is the furthest away from the
light, includes the light-sensitive cells known
as rods and cones, and this is the layer into
which the chip is implanted. When the light
strikes the light-sensitive cells, they send
signals to the central layer, in which they are
processed by another type of nerve cells, that
compare signals from light-sensitive cells
nearby to each other to find contrasts and draw
contours. A major part of the visual impression
is produced in this layer. Only the most
important data (or approximately 0.06 %) are
passed on to the brain via cells in the front
layer of the retina.

38 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
 TRANSPLAN
T
Is the solution,
when the cornea
becomes unclea is damaged, and
r. One day, the en the lens
tire eye might be
replaced.

Damage lens
is sucked out
Doctors can replace the lens
of the eye, in the case of
catract or has a refraction

MAURO FERMARIELLO/SPL
BARRAQUER, BARCELONA, ISM/SPL
error. Using a laser, a tiny
hole is cut at the side of the
eye behind the cornea, and
the old lens is sucked out
and replaced by a new one Through a tiny cut in the cornea, the
made of silicone. About six unclear lens is sucked out and replaced
When the damaged cornea has been removed, the donor cornea is applied. million are done annually. with a new, artificial one.

New cornea from

a dead person CORNEA L E N S I S S U C K E D O U T. LENS IS INSERTED.

The cornea is the external, clear

layer of the eye, which covers the
pupil, and if it is injured, the SILICONE
LENS
vision becomes blurred. About
100,000 cornea transplants are
carried out annually. Using a
circular scalpel, a central piece of
the cornea of a deceased donor is
JACOPIN/BSIP/SPL

cut off. A similar piece is cut off

CL A

the patient’s eye, so the donor

US
LUN

cornea can be stitched on.

AU

In many blind people with damaged

IMPROVED VISION retinas, the cell layers responsible for the

Artificial Super Lens Ensures processing of the light signals remain intact.
The Alpha AMS chip uses the functional cells
Sharpness At Any Distance to process the signals from its light-sensitive
pixels, before they are sent on to the optic
With age, our vision is impaired, because the lens of the eye becomes less clear nerve, just like with the signals from the
and flexible. But in only two years from now, we might be able to get a new,
retina’s own rods and cones, markedly
artificial lens, Bionic Lens, which provides us with super vision throughout life.
The lens combines with the muscles of the eye, but as it is much more flexible improving the image quality.
than the natural one, the muscles must make less of an effort to focus. Bionic
Lens will not only give you the vision of a young person, it will also enable you Stem cells repair the retina
to see clearly across long and short distances. Though the Alpha AMS is sophisticated, it is
An upgrade will even allow the projection
still primitive as compared to the real retina. So,
of a display directly into the eye.
scientists have long been trying to transplant a
piece of the retina of a deceased donor to the
The new Bionic Lens replaces the eye’s eye of a person who has become blind as a
natural lens, allowing us to see clearly result of damage to his retina, but so far, the
across long and short distances. effort has been in vain.
CANADIAN PRESS/REX/ALL OVER PRESS
The main problem is that the retina
consists of 125 million nerve cells linked in

scienceillustrated.com.au | 39
 HUMANS BLINDNESS
many ways and uniting into one million
nerve links that make up the optic nerve. The
many nerve links from the donor’s retina must
be joined with the receiver’s optic nerve,
which is an impossible task for surgeons.
So, doctors try to cure defective retinas by
means of an alternative strategy. Instead of
transplanting a piece of retina from a donor,
they inject stem cells into the eye, making
them reconstruct the damaged retina from
scratch. Stem cells have a unique ability to
divide and develop into other specialised cell
types, depending on what the body needs.
When the stem cells enter the eye, they
develop into the retina’s light-sensitive rods
and cones, which develop links to the nerve
cells in the retina’s two other layers.
In 2012, the method was tested for the first
time on two patients who were blind due to the
AMD disease, which breaks down the retina’s
sharpest point, the macula. Steven Schwartz
from the University of California, Los Angeles,
grew embryonic stem cells in the lab under
specific conditions that made them develop into
the light-sensitive cells of the retina.
Subsequently, they were injected behind the
retinas of the two patients, whose vision
improved markedly during the following weeks.
Before the treatment, one patient could
only just sense the motion of a hand in front
of her eyes, but when the stem cells had had
time to develop for one week in the eye, she
could count the fingers of the hand, and after
a month, she could read large letters. The stem
cell therapy had enabled the blind person to
see something in a few weeks.
INDUCTION COIL
ANTENNA
In 2017, scientists from the RIKEN Centre
for Developmental Biology in Kobe, Japan,
developed the method, so the stem cells can be
extracted from the blind person’s skin cells
and used to grow a new piece of retina.
Another promising way of curing
blindness is gene therapy. The method can be
used, when the blindness is due to one single
gene. The defective gene is replaced by a
IMPROVED VISION
Eye Drops
Fix Defects
In the future, you will be able to
treat short-sightedness and long-
sightedness by means of eye
drops. First, you use a laser on
your phone to stamp a pattern in
the external layer of the cornea.
Then you use Nano-Drops, which
can enter and change the way in
which the cornea refracts the light.
healthy one, which is entered into the cells of
the eye by means of a virus. In 2017, eye
specialist Stephen Russell from the US
University of Iowa published the results of a
gene therapy experiment involving 20 people
with a congenital error of the RPE65 gene,
which makes the light-sensitive cells of the
retina perish. The experiment caused such a
marked improvement of the participants’
vision that the US health authorities, FDA,
CAMERA
approved the new treatment in December
2017, so it can now be offered to all blind
Americans with defects of this particular gene.
The entire eyeball transplanted
Although scientists have developed an entire
arsenal of electronic and biological treatments
for different types of blindness, there are still
many blind people who do not benefit from
existing options, such as the victims of
accidents that cause major physical damage to
the eye or patients with glaucoma, which
destroys the optical nerve. Their only way of
getting their vision back is to have a new eye
from a deceased donor.
Doctors already use transplants from
donors to treat damage to the cornea, which is
located on top of the pupil as the external part
of the eye. The efficient surgery is carried out
100,000 times a year, meaning that almost as
many corneas are transplanted as all other
organs combined.
However, the leap to transplanting the
entire eye is a huge one. Surgeon Kia
Washington from the US University of
Pittsburgh has transplanted eyes of research
animals, and according to her, it is still
impossible to transplant only the eyeball.
Doctors have to include the optic nerve all the
w ay i n b e t w e e n t h e t w o c e re b ra l
hemispheres to the place in which the right
and left eyes’ optical nerves cross. So, the
patient needs to have a major part of his face
replaced, including one eye and ear plus part
of the skull.
The bold surgeon has carried out the
complex surgery on 22 rats, of which 15
survived. One of the rats even kept itself and
the new eye alive for two years, but studies
showed that no electric nerve signals flowed
from the retina through the optic nerve.
Kia Washington is, however, confident,
and her research is supported by the US
Ministry of Defence, which hopes that
transplants of entire eyes can save the vision
of many soldiers who have been in accidents
or explosions. According to the scientist,
the first transplant of an entire eye can
be carried out in a matter of 10
years. By then, most blind people
would probably be able to see
something due to electronic
implants, gene therapy, stem
cells, or transplants.
The Argus II glasses provide blind
people with primitive vision by
means of a camera and a retina chip.
PHILIPPE PSAILA/SPL
 IMPLANT
E L E C T R O N I C n be repaired by means of a chip, ls.
A defective retin
a ca the eye by pixe
es th e light-sensitive cells of The chip has 1,600 pixels,
which replac
allowing a blind person to
see bright contours.
DR D. NAYAGAM/BIONICS INSTITUTE, AUSTRALIA

The Eye Sees With

An Electronic Retina
Alpha AMS is a 0.07-mm-thick chip that sends visionary
information to the brain, when it is placed beside the
retina’s natural, light-sensitive cells.

The light-sensitive chip,

1 which has 40 x 40 pixels,
is placed at the back of the
NERVE SIGNAL
retina, where it replaces the light-
sensitive cells, that have been OPTIC NERVE
LIGHT-SENSITIVE
destroyed by retinitis pigmentosa, CELLS

or other disease.

Power through the skull

The chip is powered via a cable
passing through the eyeball and
along the inside of the skull to a
bone behind the ear. The power LIGHT
comes from an external battery RETINA
and is directed through the skull
by means of magnetic induction. OPTIC NERVE
The chip converts
CHIP
2 light energy into
power, when the light
hits one of its 1,600 pixels.

LIGHT
The power activates the
3 retina nerves, which have
not been destroyed by disease.
They send a signal to the brain's
centre of vision, which produces an
image of the visionary impression.

NORMAL VISION VISION WITH CHIP

BATTERY
CLAUS LUNAU

scienceillustrated.com.au | 41
 PHOTODOC S U RV I VA L

Wild Animals rs
Becom e City Slicke
the world
The cities of some
nature, but to
encroach on le
concrete jung
species, the than
be better
might even g...
the real thin

To peregrine falcons, skyscrapers resemble the rock ledges on which they make their nests in the wild.
This female has found a home for her offspring on a highrise balcony in Chicago, which offers a splendid
view of her hunting grounds. Tall city structures and warm glass and metal surfaces produce rising air
currents, on which the predatory birds ride, as they hunt pigeons and ducks in squares and parks.
LUKE MASSEY/NATUREPL

PEREGRINE FALCONS Predatory bird finds penthouse residence in Chicago.

42 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
 By Jesper Bindslev

As soon as the tourists leave

the hotel beach, raccoons feast on
leftovers. City life has actually
made the critters more intelligent,
according to experiments. City
raccoons have taught themselves
how to open garbage bins.
SAM HOBSON/NATUREPL

RACCOONS Agile garbage collectors clean up after tourists in Mexico.

Otters have
discovered that the
water in Singapore has
become cleaner in
recent years. They have
moved back to the city,
where they feed on river
LUKE MASSEY/NATUREPL

fish. The animals, which

are not intimidated by
people, have become
one of the city’s popular
tourist attractions.
OTTERS Charmers ride the environmental wave in Singapore.

scienceillustrated.com.au | 43
 PHOTODOC S U RV I VA L

Thousands of wild
boars live in Berlin’s
spacious parks and
woods, but especially in
the winter, they can
sometimes be observed
on city streets in search
of food. The boars enjoy
city life, protected from
hunters and with access
to a buffet of garbage.

FLORIAN MÖLLERS/NATUREPL
WILD BOARS Boars find shelter from hunters in Berlin.

When darkness falls

on the Ethiopian city of
Harar, spotted hyenas
appear in the streets.
Some people feed the
large predators, which
they think have magic
powers. The animals
contribute to keeping
the city clean by finding
food in garbage dumps.
PAUL THOMPSON/BBC NHU

HYENAS Wild predators patrol the streets of Harar.

People in the South

African city of Cape
Town better remember
to close their windows.
The expanding suburbs
have cut off baboons
from their natural
habitat, and now,
the monkeys climb
house walls to find
food in private homes.
CYRIL RUOSO/NATUREPL

BABOONS Baboon burglars break into homes in Cape Town.

44 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
NAYAN KHANOLKAR/NATUREPL

PhotoDoc TAKE UP
WHEN CITIES S DON'T
AL
SPACE, ANIM AVE...
ALWAYS LE

The Indian city of

Mumbai is home to 21
million people – and 35
leopards. The big cats
live in a national park
bordering on city
suburbs, and when
darkness falls,
they hunt stray dogs
and other animals
in dark alleys.

LEOPARDS Big cats hunt in the streets of Mumbai.

scienceillustrated.com.au | 45
 TECHNOLOGY TOXINS

Cleaning Up
Our Deadly Mess
Mercury, arsenic, and oil. Earth is toxic, and
millions die annually as a consequence of the
contamination. But now, experts aim to
decontaminate the planet by means of new
methods, which involve anything from vapour
and plant roots to vacuum pumps and electrodes.

OW
R Y CAN N IL
MERC
U
D FROM SO
OV E OUR.
BE REM AT AND VAP
HE
USING

46 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
 By Esben Schouboe

Beneath the sand by

Groyne 42 at Harboøre Tongue,
110 t of toxic waste from the
Cheminova chemical plant are buried.
A new vapour method is going to
remove the mercury.
C. BONNERUP/RITZAU SCANPIX

scienceillustrated.com.au | 47
 TECHNOLOGY TOXINS

I
n the summer of 1956, a fisherman by
the name of Aage Hansen noticed
how the sea water off Harboøre
Tongue had become yellow, as the
smell of dead animals filled the air. He
set out to find out why, sailing to the island of
Sandø, where he found lots of dead sea gulls
and fish. He had discovered the disastrous
effects of contaminated soil and water on the
west c oast of Jutland, for which the
Cheminova chemical plant was responsible.
Ever since the factory was built in 1953, it
had discharged untreated waste water, and
in 1957-1962, Cheminova also deposited its
solid waste in a dune hollow on the North
Sea. In those days, it was believed to be a safe
location in which to place toxins such as the
parathion insecticide and mercury; chemicals
that we now know to be very harmful.
Cheminova is not by far the only or worst
example of this type of toxic contamination in
the world. Globally, 61 million people are
subjected to hazardous quantities of toxin
from contaminated soil. But near the Danish
chemical plant, engineers are developing a
method, which – via heat treatment and
special carbon filters – has the potential of
removing mercury directly from the soil – for
the first time ever.
Soil contamination kills millions
The contamination of the world’s soil seriously
gathered momentum with the Industrial
Revolution. From the mid-1700s, steam-
powered machines, coal burning, and the use
of chemicals were introduced in factories.
Soon, the first consequences could be observed,
such as in 1873, when a greenish-yellow pea
soup of soot and sulphur dioxide covered
London. At least 268 people died as a
consequence of the acidic carbon fog.
Today, the world is seeing still more
contamination, and over the past 40 years, 33
% of its arable land has been lost to erosion and
toxins. Particularly the quantities of heavy
metals and mineral oils in the ground are huge,
and in Europe, they account for 37 and 34 % of
total soil contamination, respectively. The
heavy metals include toxic substances such as
lead, mercury, cadmium, and arsenic, which
are characterised by their ability to accumulate
in living organisms over time. In this way, lead
and other nasties, can replace other substances
such as iron or calcium in the body and restrain
the brain’s neurotransmitters, damaging IQ
and memory. The second largest source of
contamination, mineral oil, also accumulates in
the body, such as in the spleen and the liver,
and consists of a series of petroleum distillates
from petrol refining, industrial coolants, etc.
Some of the oil contains toxic tar compounds,
PAHs, which are linked with increased risk of
a series of cancer types.
The EEA estimates that there are 2.5
million contaminated areas in Europe, and in
total, the pollution of the world’s air, water, and
soil claims nine million lives annually,
according to a study from 2017 published by
the Lancet. Environmental agencies claim that
mercury is the worst, affecting an estimated 19
million people.
Mercury poisons brain and lungs
Since the Industrial Revolution, mercury like
that of Harboøre Tongue has continuously

Mercurial Fish Mercury seems customised to

pollute and poison. It easily
spreads in its gaseous state,

Poison the Body

effortlessly binding to other
substances. Its flexibility allows
the toxin access to the food chain.
CLAUS LUNAU

SULPHUR AND MERCURY MOBILE PARTICLES

COMBINE IN THE GROUND
In the ground, the
3 positively charged mercury
might bind to negatively charged
sulphur compounds to produce
the mercury mineral of cinnabar.
CARRIED AWAY
Rainwater, ground water,
4 or eroding soil carry tiny
cinnabar particles to oxygen-
poor places at the bottom of
streams, lakes, and oceans.

SULPHIDE MERCURY
MERCURY GAS RISES INTO MERCURY FALLS ONTO
THE ATMOSPHERE EARTH AS RAIN HG+
S-
Coal includes mercury, and In the atmosphere, the gas
1 when it is burned in power 2 reacts with oxygen, shedding
GROUND WATER
plants or volcanic eruptions, the electrons. The gas can now bind to
mercury is converted into gas, which chlorine in the air, etc., mix with
can easily spread in the atmosphere. water drops, and fall as rain.

CINNABAR
48 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
 C K
TO
RS
TE
or garbage dumps, where anything from old S HU
T

thermometers to batteries and paint leak

16%
of all deaths in the world
are due to contamination
of soil, air, and water.
constituted an environmental problem
throughout the world, particularly as it is
liberated into the atmosphere in connection
with coal burning. Coal includes mercury, that,
when burned, binds to dust particles or turns
into airborne vapour, that can spread across
thousands of km. The atmosphere's mercury
content is now up to 6 times higher than before
the Industrial Revolution.
Mercury also ends up in nature as a
consequence of gold mining, chemical deposits,
mercury. In mines, mercury is even added
directly to the soil to extract gold ore.
The problem with the heavy metal is that it
easily binds to other substances and might
migrate into the food chains of animals. From
bacteria to plankton to fish, it could finally end
up in the human body, where it might restrict
important enzymes in the central nervous
system, which controls muscle motion. So,
mercury contamination could cause paralysis.
In the brain, the mercury can also break
down nerve cells and cause brain injury –
particularly in the embryonic stage and
in children. If you inhale mercury
vapour, it could also harm your
lungs and cause respiratory
problems. If it reaches your
stomach, it could bind to
enzymes, which are normally EMBRYO
NORMAL
STRUCTURE

COLLAPSE

TUBULIN

ACTIN NEURON

MERCURY ION

GROWTH
CONE

BACTERIA CONVERT METHYL MERCURY IS WE CONSUME

MINERAL INTO TOXIN
In the oxygen-poor bottom
5 silt, bacteria digest the
cinnabar particles, producing
methyl mercury, a hazardous
compound of mercury, carbon,
and hydrogen.
BACTERIA METHYL
MERCURY
ABSORBED IN FOOD CHAIN
Methyl mercury is organic,
6 as it includes carbon and
can bind to living organisms. It is
absorbed by algae, which are
consumed by shrimps, etc.
SHRIMP
ALGAE
SEDIMENT
TOXIN VIA FISH
Shrimps are con-
7 sumed by small fish,
which are consumed by larger
fish. The mercury accumulates,
ending up on our dinner tables.
MERCURY DESTROYS
BRAIN CELLS
Methyl mercury is
8 particularly hazardous to
brain development in babies and
embryos. The growth cone at the
exterior of brain cells is made of
threads, which consist of the
proteins of actin and tubulin.
The mercury ions bind to the
tubulin, so the proteins cannot
link up to maintain the cell thread
structure. The growth cone might
collapse, which could finally
cause brain injury or paralysis.
 TECHNOLOGY TOXINS

CHEMICAL COCKTAIL TURNS OLD

FACTORIES INTO DEATH ZONES
The most toxic places in the world are contaminated with everything from heavy metals
to chemicals from chemical weapons. Untreated waste water and gases from heavy
industry reduce life expectancy and cause disease and death among millions of people.

HAINA,
THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
AGBOGBLOSHIE,
GHANA

MATANZA RIVER,
ARGENTINA

P. PETTERSSON/GETTY

Skin injury is
common among
Lead-acid batteries
people living on the
contaminate entire town
Matanza river in According to the UN, the people of Haina
Argentina. have the highest level of lead-acid
A. BURAFI/RITZAU SCANPIX contamination in the world. The lead
comes from an abandoned factory, where
lead-acid batteries were remelted. 90+ %
still have too much lead in their blood.
Factories make river
bank uninhabitable
15,000 industrial facilities discharge
waste water full of heavy metals,
solvents, and more, into the Matanza
river. The 20,000 people who live
close to the river bank endure
conditions that are unfit for humans.
Cable burning
spreads heavy metals
In Ghana's capital, Accra, there is a
vast area, in which cables are burned
to get to the copper. The burning
causes heavy metals to rise into the
air, and the lead level of the air is 40
times the safety limit.

SOLUTION: SOLUTION: SOLUTION:

As the soil was so badly contaminat-
ed, the environmental authorities have
removed major quantities of it for treat-
ment in separate facilities.
TOXICITY LEVEL
The local government has
demanded plans for eco-friendly
production from local companies
and built a toxin collection station.
TOXICITY LEVEL
New recycling plants in
Agbogbloshie can use machines to
separate the plastic insulation from the
metal, avoiding the toxic burning.
TOXICITY LEVEL
 SHUTTERSTOCK

RITZAU SCANPIX

SHUTTERSTOCK
responsible for digesting fat, proteins, and
carbohydrates from food. This might cause
ulcers and digestion difficulties.

Vapour purification dethrones toxin

At Harboøre Tongue, the Danish government
Cold War chemicals The river is red, in 2006 tried to solve the problem of mercury
reduce life expectancy and the snow is black
contamination caused by Cheminova.
It's the world's most contaminated Millions of tonnes of nickel and
city. During the Cold War, sulphur dioxide are discharged Environmental engine ers de cide d to
neurotoxins and chemicals were annually in Norilsk, where the encapsulate the toxins by placing steel plates
made in Dzerzhinsk. 300,000 t of Daldykan river run red, and the snow 14 m into the ground around the toxin dump.
abandoned toxin have reduced life falls black. Blood diseases and The leakage was slowed down, but only
expectancy to 45 years. nervous disorders are common here.
temporarily. Over a long period of time, not
SOLUTION: SOLUTION: even the steel barrier will prevent the
In 2011, the citizens began to President Vladimir Putin has pollution, as it will corrode.
collect, decontaminate, and burn threatened fines and been promised So far, the only efficient method for
waste, converting the material major investments in new filtration
into electricity. plants by the city's nickel smelters. removing mercury from the ground has been
to retrieve it and take it someplace else. But
TOXICITY LEVEL TOXICITY LEVEL this method is extremely expensive and
environmentally unsustainable. So, experts
from the Danish environmental services
company Krüger have been given the
LINFEN,
assignment. The company has managed to
CHINA remove mercury from contaminated soil in
its lab, and now, the new technology is about
NORILSK, to be tested in real life for the first time. 25 m3
RUSSIA
of soil from the toxic dump near Cheminova
DZERZHINSK,
RUSSIA
are included in a pilot project that is to
determine whether thermal purification
could become part of the solution to the
world’s mercury problems.
Basically, thermal purification involves the
use of heat to make toxins in the soil evaporate.
Traditionally, the soil has been carried to a lab,
CITARUM RIVER,
INDONESIA where it has been heated. When the toxin
evaporates, it is sucked into a cooling chamber,
where liquid and gas are separated. In this way,
any toxic liquids are collected. At the same
time, the rest of the toxins remain gaseous. The
P. PARKS/RITZAU SCANPIX

GETTY IMAGES

harmful substances are captured by filters, so

Coal dust kills
people in Linfen
Hundreds of coal-fired power
stations and iron foundries fill the air
with hazardous coal dust and heavy
metals. Some 3 million people are
estimated to suffer from bronchitis,
lung cancer, and arsenic poisoning.
SOLUTION:
Scientists are using chelation, by
which acids bind to toxic metals in
the ground, resulting in new
chemicals, which are easier to treat.
TOXICITY LEVEL
clean air can finally be let into the atmosphere.
However, the method has been refined in
recent years, and today, experts are working
with on site heat treatment. Heating elements
are buried in the ground at depths of 2-30 m,
Vital river is full of and on the surface, an insulating cover is
waste and lead placed. Installed together with the heating
Industrial discharge and domestic
elements or in between them, steel pipes with
waste increase the lead level of the
Citarum river to 1,000 times the a constant vacuum are placed, also known as
recommended drinking water collector wells. The heating elements remain in
standard. The river is responsible for the ground for months, until the heat spreads to
80% of Jakarta's water supply. the entire area, and the toxins start to evaporate
SOLUTION: and rise. En route, they are captured by the
A recycling company is collecting vacuum wells, which suck up the toxic gases.
plastic waste, mixing it with dried The challenge for Krüger is that mercury in
aquatic plants and glue to
the ground exists in many versions, as the
manufacture bricks.
metal is included in combinations with other
TOXICITY LEVEL substances such as sulphur. The toxic dump
near Cheminova also includes a series of

scienceillustrated.com.au | 51
 TECHNOLOGY TOXINS
different mercury remnants – such as phenyl
and ethyl mercury from fungicides made by
the chemical plant. As the compounds have
different qualities and boiling points, etc.,
Krüger’s chemical decontamination must be
broadly-based. So, the company has increased
the temperature in the ground from 100 to 350
°C and developed a special sulphur-
impregnated active carbon filter, that binds
and captures all types of mercury vapours
from the plant.
71 %
of soil contamination in
Europe is due to heavy
metals and kerosene products.
The pilot experiment will show, if the
methods are efficient in the real world, which
is impossible to copy 1:1 in the lab.
Cloned bacteria consume oil
Thermal purification is just one of a series of
recent methods for cleaning soil of toxin.
Scientists have also found out that you can
encapsulate toxins by means of electricity.
They bury electrodes into contaminated soil,
sending a current through the soil layers, until
the temperature increases so much that all the
materials melt. Subsequently, everything
hardens. The result is a type of glass, that traps
the contamination.
However, encapsulation is rarely a
METHOD 1
SHUTTERSTOCK
52 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
permanent solution, as the soil is not really
purified. Consequently, experts tend to prefer
long-term metho ds such as thermal
purification, but also increasingly biological
treatment, which involves the use of bacteria
and plants that can purify soil by breaking
down hydrocarbons from fossil fuels.
Scientists have made microorganisms by
cloning DNA strands from microbes, which An insulating cover seals
normally live in petroleum reservoirs, where the soil, so the toxic
they break down oil accumulated in the vapours can only reach the
ground. The bacteria are of the Rhodococcus surface via buried wells.
type, which easily bind to oils and can oxidise TERRATHERM
their toxins. This is a process, in which oxygen
reacts with the substances, so they give off
electrons and can be broken down.
New methods save billions
The new heating and biological methods are P OW E R B O X F O R
particularly interesting, because they purify HEATING ELEMENT
the soil more efficiently and safely than
traditional methods. Moreover, they are much
cheaper. The major expenses of traditional soil
purification are due to the huge labour and
transport ressources required to extract soil,
carry it, and deposit it in designated waste
areas. On site thermal heat treatment is very
much cheaper than lab treatment, so analysts 230 V
also see a market for the new soil purification 50 HZ
technologies, that is expected to increase by 8
% annually up until 2021, when there will be
jobs worth an estimated at more than $50
billion worldwide.
At Harboøre Tongue, toxin experts are
working hard to obtain results before
December. If everything goes well, the method METAL ROD
can subsequently be scaled up to include the
entire Cheminova mercury toxic dump.
Subsequently, the world is waiting. At best, the
efforts at the tongue are the beginning of a new STEEL PIPE
era, in which yellow water and dead animals
are things of the past.
THE SOIL
IS HEATED
Plants consume toxin
In recent years, scientists have become more
aware of phyto-decontamination, by which HEATING ELEMENTS
plants dissolve or accumulate toxins in the ARE BURIED
ground. Some fern species can absorb arsenic in A current-carrying
1 metal rod in a steel
100 times higher concentrations than in the
pipe is buried in the
contaminated soil. Other plant species such as contaminated soil. The
poplars and willows can liberate chemicals via metal's temperature rises
their roots, helping soil microorganisms break due to the resistance of the
down crude oil, kerosene products, and more. material, and the soil is
heated to 300-350 °C.
 METHOD 2

Huge Heater Evaporates

Mercury From Contaminated Soil
For the first time ever, soil polluted with mercury is to be decontaminated by heating the
soil to make the toxin evaporate. Powerful vacuum pumps ensure constant pressure, which
sucks the mercury vapours out of the soil and into an efficient filter. The method is to be
tested on soil from the former toxin deposit of the Danish chemical plant Cheminova.

CLAUS LUNAU
VACUUM PUMP

VAPOUR

COOLING
4
5

DISPOSAL
7

LIQUID

ACTIVE
DISPOSAL
COLLECTOR
WELL CARBON FILTER

6
MERCURY TANK

SEPARATOR

TOXINS BURIED WELLS VACUUM PUMP COOLING CHAMBER LIQUIDS ARE CARBON FILTER
EVAPORATE CAPTURE VAPOUR SUCKS UP TOXIN CONDENSES GAS SEPARATED PURIFIES GASES
The mercury The heat dries and A powerful The sucked up Liquid mercury is Carbon captures
2 compounds in the 3 shrinks the soil, 4 vacuum pump 5 vapour is cooled in a 6 separated by 7 mercury in
ground slowly allowing more room for causes suction in the chamber. Pure mercury centrifugation from thousands of
evaporate, as the the evaporated toxin to collector wells, sucking condenses into liquid, other types of micropores. This active
molecules break loose find its way to collector the mercury out of the whereas other mercury condensed liquid. This is carbon is infused with
from liquid and solid wells located together ground. Close to 100 % of compounds and water, possible, because the sulphur, which binds
states, becoming with the heating the toxins can be and some pesticides, mercury is much denser to the mercury,
gaseous. element. captured like this. remain gaseous. than other substances. producing cinnabar.
 S PA C E VENUS

116 DAYShanical
a mec
is how long
function on
rover must t
lly carry ou
Venus, to fu a t a
– an d
the mission
temp er a tu re of
.
475 degrees

NASA’s vision of a rover that

functions on Venus is inspired
by World War I tanks.
NASA

54 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
 By Henrik Bendix

WILD VISION

Mechanical rover VENUS IS

THE SIZ
E
2.5 BILL
ION

conquers Venus
TH , AND
AR VE
O F E IGHT AH
GO, IT M
YEARS A .
BITABLE
BEEN HA

Scorching heat and immense pressure make all Venus

missions short-lived, but a robust clockwork rover with
springs revives the dream of exploring Earth’s neighbour.

C
rash. The Soviet probe Venera 7
speeds down through Venus' thick
atmosphere, landing hard on the
surface, when the parachute does
not function properly. For 23
minutes, it sends data back to Earth, before
falling silent. The scanty measurements tell a
story of an extremely hostile environment.
Surface temperatures are close to 475 °C –
enough to melt lead – and the pressure, which
is more than 90 times that of Earth’s surface,
would crush most submarines. Venus is more
extreme than anyone had ever imagined, so no
wonder the probe quickly succumbs to the
devastating conditions.
Venera 7 was the first probe to land on
Venus on 15 December 1970, and for the next
15 years, only nine other Russian and one
American probes managed to follow suit. Since
the space race calmed down in the 1980s,
Venus has only been visited by orbiters, but
NASA still dreams of exploring our
neighbouring planet’s surface once again. So,
engineers have designed the robust AREE
rover, which can resist the intense pressure and
the high temperatures.
The rover will study the planet’s surface
and determine what caused the runaway
greenhouse effect on Venus. However, the
studies cannot be carried out using instruments
like those on the Martian rovers. Instead, AREE
must carry out its pioneer work by means of
springs, gears, and Morse-like code.
Rover to explain disaster course
In spite of its hard landing, the Venera 7
mission was successful. It was the first time
that a probe sent a signal to Earth from the
surface of another planet, and although
subsequent Venus probes lived longer, none of
them kept up a signal to Earth for more than
two hours and seven minutes. The brief lives of
the probes are a major
part of the reason why our
closest neighbour has been visited so
rarely since 1985. When equipment is to be
brought to the surface of Venus, it must first
pass through clouds consisting of sulphuric
acid droplets, and at lower altitudes, other
highly corrosive chemical compounds such as
hydrochloric acid and hydrogen fluoride exist.
On the planet's surface, the pressure could
easily destroy sensitive instruments.
However, the high temperatures are the
major problem, as they will melt some metals
and overheat all electric systems. The electric
resistance of the circuits will increase with
temperature, meaning it will be more difficult
for a current to flow through the electronics.
But what is worse, the transistors of modern
microchips are based on silicon, which loses its
semiconductor properties in the heat, making
computer units break down.

The Soviet Union Has Top Score on Venus

Venus is our closest neighbour, but only one US and 10 Soviet probes have ever sent
data from its surface. Since 1985, Venus has only been visited by three orbiters.

TOP 3 OF ROBUST PROBES

VENERA 11: 95
MINUTES
The probe discovered thunder
and lightning on Venus and
measured a temperature of
452 °C and a pressure 92.6
times Earth's at sea level
NATION: USSR
DATE OF LANDING:
25 December 1978
RADIO CONTACT from the
surface for 95 minutes
VENERA 12: 110
MINUTES
The lander measured the
clouds in the sky of Venus and
found sulphur and chlorine. At
a lower altitude, it measured
traces of carbon monoxide.
NATION: USSR
DATE OF LANDING:
21 December 1978
RADIO CONTACT from
the surface for 110 minutes
VENERA 13: 127
MINUTES
The most die-hard probe
survived four times longer
than planned and sent the first
colour picture from another
planet back to Earth.
NATION: USSR
DATE OF LANDING:
1 March 1982
RADIO CONTACT from The Soviet Union’s Venera craft collected most of
the surface for 127 minutes the data we have, from Venus’ surface.
NASA

scienceillustrated.com.au | 55
NASA S PA C E VENUS
PRESSURE CHAMBER
The mere identification of a heat-defying
material that can protect individual microchips
cause problems for engineers.
Old inventions inspire rover
To overcome the planet’s harsh conditions,
astronomers and engineers from NASA’s Jet
Propulsion Laboratory have designed a rover
that would be able to function on Venus for
months. Known as the Automaton Rover for
Extreme Environments, AREE, the project has
been on the drawing board since 2015.
Inspired by reliable clockworks and
mechanical machines of the past, scientists
imagine a mechanical rover controlled by gears
and energized by springs, that are powered by
the wind. All parts are to be made of special
metal alloys and synthetic fibre materials that
can resist the high temperatures. The design of
the rover is inspired by the World War I tanks,
which were built to climb steep obstacles such
as bomb craters and trenches. Due to volcanic
activity on Venus, a crawler would also have to
be able to handle different types of terrain.
At the centre of the rover, there is a simple
wind turbine, that can generate wind energy
24/7. The low surface wind speed of averagely
0.6 m/second is sufficient to make the wind
turbine rotate in the thick atmosphere. By
making the rover be stationary for seven
hours, energizing a spring by means of wind
power, the rover can drive 100 m in one hour,
as the spring is automatically released. During
the planned 116 Earth days of the mission –
corresponding to one Venus day – the rover
can drive 35 km in the Sekmet Mons lava field,
56 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
In the GEER pressure chamber,
NASA engineers can simulate
Venus. They have made simple
circuits function for 21 days at a
temperature of 425 degrees.
which has a versatile geological history.
In order to make sure that the rover does
not drive in a circle, but rather explores a long
cross section of Venus, a mechanical system
must continuously count the number of
revolutions of each tread of the vehicle. If one
tread is ahead of the others, the rover must
have turned, and so, the device makes sure to
get it back on track again. A similar system
ensures that the rover continues in the same
direction if it encounters an obstacle and has to
reverse to take a slightly different route.
96.5
% of Venus' atmosphere is
carbon dioxide, whereas
nitrogen makes up 3.5%.
Data sent as flashing code
However, the Venus rover cannot handle all
tasks with mechanics. Particularly the more
detailed geological measurements require
electronic sensors. The inventors trust
physicists and engineers from NASA’s Glenn
Research Centre to develop new electronics,
which can function at temperatures of about
500 °C. In 2016, scientists managed to make
simple circuits based on the extremely
durable silicon carbide material function
under conditions like those on Venus for 21
days. However, the simple circuits cannot
make up a real computer, and moreover,
scientists would like to get data that spans a
longer period of time.
Apart from the electric components, the
rover will be assisted by a satellite orbiting
Venus, which is not exposed to the harsh
conditions of the rover. The satellite is to aim
an ultra-strong radio signal at four radar
targets on the top side of the rover. Scientists
explain that the targets function as inverted
stealth planes that become invisible by
bending radar waves. Instead, the radar targets
concentrate the radar signal back to the
satellite. By means of gears, the rover’s
measurements are transferred to four rotating
discs with holes in them, that alternately hide
and show the radar targets. So, the reflected
radar signal is interrupted in a rhythm that
reflects the collected data and sent back as a
type of flashing Morse code in the same way as
the signal lamps of ships. Finally, the satellite
sends the about 1,000 bits of data collected per
day to Earth.
Mechanics allow visit to Mercury
Venus is highly influenced by volcanic
eruptions, and the surface is covered in lava
fields. NASA’s scientists hope that a new
mission can teach them more about how
periods of volcanic activity have shaped the
surface over billions of years and perhaps spot
mineral evidence of a time, when the planet
was a much more friendly place to be.
Although the conditions sound overwhelming,
prolonged meteorological and geological
studies of the barren desert surface are
important in order to understand why the
planet’s greenhouse effect went berserk. More
than 2.5 billion years ago, Venus was not just
like Earth in size, it also included oceans and
perhaps even life. So, Venus is also known as
Earth’s twin. Data from the mechanical rover
is to help scientists solve the mystey of why
Venus was transformed. This is not only
important to Earth’s future, rather also to the
possibility of exploring the prospects of life on
other planets orbiting remote stars.
A mission to the surface of Venus has not
yet been planned, but with AREE, it might be
done. The responsible scientists emphasise that
a mechanical rover could also explore Mercury,
whose surface has not yet been visited. On
Earth, it can be used to observe active
volcanoes. No matter what, the robust vehicle
is in for a hot future.
 Powered By Wind, Rover
Sends Data Via Flashes
Computers, chemical batteries, and radio transmitters melt in the scorching
heat on Venus. So, engineers have invented mechanical substitutes for
electronics in the 700 kg rover.

MORSE RADAR SIGNAL

TRANSMITS RESULTS
On top of the rover, radar targets reflect
the radar signal of a satellite. Via gears, data
is translated into a specific pace for rotating
discs with holes that alternately shield and
expose the radar targets. The satellite picks
up the radar signal as a type of Morse code,
which is transmitted to Earth.

MECHANICAL COMPUTER
PROCESSES SAMPLES
The rover takes samples
1 from the surface using a
small arm attached to a
mechanical computer - a
calculator based on gears. The
samples are analysed by means
of electronic equipment that
works in the heat.
WIND TURBINE ENER-
GISES ROVER SPRINGS
The Savonius wind
2 turbine, which is mounted
vertically in the rover, generates
about three watts. Some of the
energy energises synthetic fibre
springs, which power the rover.
This simple power plant is
supplemented with solar cells
CATERPILLAR TREADS
CLIMB OBSTACLES
Via gears, the springs
3 power the rover's
caterpillar treads. They can
climb metre-tall obstacles, but if
the obstacles are too large, a
WEATHER STATION
MEASURES PRESSURE
AND TEMPERATURE
Mechanical sensors
4 measure wind speed based
on the wind turbine's rotations,
temperature via a stick that
expands in the heat, and
pressure based on a contracting
container. Solar cells generate
power for the small number of
more sophisticated sensors.
NASA & SHUTTERSTOCK

on the top side. bumper activates a system that

makes the rover reverse and
change direction.

scienceillustrated.com.au | 57
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 PHOTODOC SLEEP

Animals Sleepess
Their Way to Succ
Creative slee
ping position
s and extrem
nature’s
e

ns prov ide
sleep patter age in
py head s with an advant
slee su rvive.
le to
their strugg

Grey seal naps are

among the briefest in
the animal kingdom,
sometimes no more
than 90 seconds, but
A. MUSTARD/NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY

then they take many

naps during a day.
The ultra-brief naps
are often taken while
the seal is underwater,
despite the risks.

GREY SEAL The popular prey must settle for powernapping.

60 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
 By Jesper Bindslev

Sea otters sleep, as

they are floating on their
backs in the water. To
ensure their babies don't
drift away from their
mothers, they hold each
DESIGN PICS INC/GETTY IMAGES

other’s paws. Adult

otters also hold on to
seaweeds, sea grass,
etc., using the plants
as a kind of anchor.

SEA OTTER Mother and baby defy the current holding hands.

The common swift

will effortlessly remain
in flight for 10 months
at a time, and the small
migratory bird only
lands to lay eggs. The
air is safer for the bird,
which is very poor at
landing and taking off.
The common swift
P. SAVOIE/NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY

sleeps in the air, half a

brain at a time: its
cerebral hemispheres
take turns being active,
so it is never more than
"half asleep" and
always alert.

COMMON SWIFT Migratory birds sleep in flight to avoid hazardous landings.

scienceillustrated.com.au | 61
 PHOTODOC SLEEP

Bats do not have

enough lift to take off
from the ground,
so they must use
gravity, by first falling
from high places. Bats
sleep with their heads
down to be able to take
flight quickly in case of
danger. Tendons in the
bat’s claws ensure that
the animal holds its
grip in its sleep and
does not take a fall.

J. FREUND/NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY

BAT Clumsy flier slumbers in optimal escape position.

Wild elephants can

lock their knee joints to
sleep as they are
standing up – just like
cows, horses, etc. But in
order to enter into the
deep REM sleep, which
most mammals need,
the elephants have to
lie down every three or
four days. REM sleep
has to do with the
storage of memories.
SHUTTERSTOCK

ELEPHANT The savannah giant only lies down every four days.

Mallards stand in a
long line while they
are sleeping, but some
are resting more than
others. The ducks on
each end of the row only
sleep half a brain at a
time, like the swift, and
keep one eye open. In
case of danger, the sleep
guards will cackle,
LABRADOREO/ALAMY/ALL OVER PRESS

waking up the others.

MALLARD Sleep guards watch over the group.

62 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
M. LUNDGREN/NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY

Earth’s largest

PhotoDoc
predators sleep in
groups of 5-6 whales,
which drift with the
current right beneath
EEP ON
ANIMALS SL ICALLY, the ocean surface. They
R FEET, VERT
THEI DOWN. sleep vertically, and
AND UPSIDE nobody yet knows why.
It might be for safety, or
even blood circulation.

SPERM WHALE Ocean giants doze vertically.

scienceillustrated.com.au | 63
 TECHNOLOGY DRONES

THE HUGE AQUILA DRONE GOES TO THE EXTREMES AVIATION

Wing span: Weight: Energy consumption: Cruising altitude:

42 m 450 kg 5,000 W 27 km

The drone is wider With a weight of The motors consume It flies at more
than a Boeing 737, 450 kg, it weighs as much power than twice the
which has a wing one third of a as three altitude of an
span of 36 m. small family car. hair dryers. ordinary airliner.
FACEBOOK/SHUTTERSTOCK

Facebook’s huge drones transmit data to

each other across long distances by means
of quick-flashing laser light.

64 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
 By Esben Schouboe

Going Online? Just Call Up

the Nearest Laser Drone...
Worldwide, four billion people do not have Internet access – yet. But from
an altitude of 27 km, huge drones are to ensure fast wireless Internet to the
entire world with laser light that flashes up to one billion times per second.

O
ne summer morning in 2016, the unnecessary equipment such as a cabin and drone to manoeuvre at low speeds and very
peace of Arizona’s desert is landing gear. The drone is propelled by four high altitudes. It can fly from 130 to 15 km/h up
interrupted by four rotating motors that c onsume 5,000 watts – against the wind and at altitudes of up to 27
propellers that accelerate along a corresponding to a mid-size heat pump. The km. In comparison, a commercial airliner
runway, resting on a metal energy is generated by solar cells covering the typically flies 700-1,000 km/h and never
support on wheels. Shortly after, a 42-m-wide entire underside of the wing. The body is made higher than 12 km.
aircraft lets go of the metal support to take off, of ultra-light carbon fibre, so Aquila only
ascending up through the air layers. The craft weighs 450 kg. Flashing laser light sends data
is a drone shaped like a huge, thin boomerang Usually, aircraft carry much more weight, During Aquila’s first landing on a gravel plain
whose ends bend upwards. In spite of its size, requiring much more speed for the wings to in the desert, the landing calculations were
the drone is not to carry neither goods, nor produce sufficient lift. Aquila’s low weight interrupte d by a wind gust, causing
humans. Instead, it will use laser beams to does not only benefit the lift, it also allows the considerable bruises. So, engineers are still
supply fast Internet to the four billion people in
the world who do not have Internet coverage.
96 minutes later, the plane lands again, and
so, the first test flight of Facebook’s huge
Balloons And Satellites
Aquila drone has been completed. 112 years
after the Wright brothers' first flight became
Optimise Internet Coverage
the beginning of a more connected world, Some of the tech industry’s most innovative companies
Facebook has reached an important milestone are developing different solutions which are designed to
in its Internet.org project, which is to form ensure Internet connections for all people in the world.
closer connections between the people of the
world together. Swarms of interconnected Google's Project Loon is balloons flying at an altitude of 20
drones with a hyper-efficient, aerodynamic km and equipped like mobile phone masts. They navigate by
structure make up an important element of the ascending/descending to the right air flows. In 2017, it brought
ambitious plans, whereas the development of Internet access to 100,000 Puerto Ricans following a hurricane.
history’s first flying Internet network carried
by fast-flashing laser transmitters makes up From 2019, SpaceX will begin launching 4,000+ satellites in a
another one. In combination, they could be the formation, which will cover all of Earth at any time. It will also
solution to how to fill the Internet "gaps" in improve the Internet connections of spacecraft.
Africa, South America, Asia, etc., where
insufficient infrastructure and impassable In late 2017, OneWeb was allowed to launch 720 satellittes,
terrain make it unprofitable or impossible to which are to bring Internet connections with speeds of up to
JON SHENK/GOOGLE/REUTERS/RITZAU SCANPIX

lay down Internet cables. 200 megabits/second to one billion people.

Nothing is superfluous
Prior to the test flight, Facebook has spent
Google wants to ensure Internet connectivity
about two years developing a drone, that, in its
by means of transmitters, receivers,
complete version, is meant to fly nonstop for 90
and data units aboard balloons.
days – only powered by solar energy. The
engineers aim to create a plane stripped of all

scienceillustrated.com.au | 65
 TECHNOLOGY DRONES
optimising the drone, as they are developing
the project’s second leg: combined laser
transmitter and receiver units, which are to
carry the Internet signal from one drone to the
next – and the next.
They are working with a technology
FACEBOOK
known as Free-Space Optical Communication,
FSO. Laser light imitates radio waves which are
normally used to transmit data between
routers, smartphones, and more. In an ordinary
WiFi network, data is converted into radio
waves by adjusting the waves’ accurate
frequencies and when they start and stop. A
unit such as a smartphone decodes the waves,
and shows the desired content in the display. In
an FSO network, activated and deactivated
laser light produces the 1s and 0s, which make
up the bits, which combine into documents,
images, and video on the Internet.
The laser units work by a diode sending a
signal through the centre of a lens. At the same
time, the lens focuses external laser light onto
a photo detector behind the laser diode, which
decodes the frequency and intensity of the
light flashes, converting them into bits. The
lasers of the Aquila drones flash billions of
times per second and can hence send huge
quantities of data very accurately between
them across many kilometres. According to
Drones Fire Data
with Powerful Laser
Swarms of Aquila drones will hover high above the world’s
Internet black spots, hooked up with a sophisticated data
signal network. This is to ensure Internet access in densely
populated, but impassable regions.
ANTENNAS HOOK DRONES UP
WITH THE PHYSICAL INTERNET
From a server in a city, data is sent through a physical
1 network of cables to a user in an impassable area.
First, the signal must be sent from an antenna on the
ground, where the data packet is translated into millimetre
waves. Those are 1-10-mm-long radio waves of ultra-high
frequencies of 30-300 GHz. Facebook will specifically use
the almost unused E band of frequencies of 60-90 GHz.
METTE AIRS/SHUTTERSTOCK
INTERNET CABLES IN THE GROUND
66 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
Aquilla’s first test flight took place from a metal
support on wheels pulled by a large vehicle.
Facebook, they can hit an area the size of a coin
from a distance of 10 km.
Altitude ensures free passage
As the name implies, Free-Space Optical
Communication requires that nothing
interferes with the light passing between
transmitter and receiver. So, FSO data transfer
has particularly been used for communication
between satellites and in space. Close to Earth,
the technology has been limited, because it is
difficult to achieve high data speeds across long
distances due to disturbing air particles such as
fog and rain.
In this case, laser light is markedly different
from radio waves, which can function through
the walls of a house. This is because of the
waves’ different lengths and frequencies. An
MILLIMETRE
WAVES
ANTENNA
The drone flew for 96 minutes. The aim is
90 days of non-stop flight.
ordinary WiFi router's radio waves are usually
relatively long – such as 12.5 cm for the most
ordinary frequency of 2.4 GHz. FSO data
transfer us es infrare d light, whos e
wavelengths are only 700-1000 nanometres
and frequencies of 300 GHz-430 THz, near to
visible light. Waves with such minor lengths
face a greater risk of interacting with air
particles and so weakening the signal. The
particles block out the light, meaning that bits
of the data packets fail, and the digital content
such as an image will not reach the user in
perfect shape. The problem disappears at
Aquila’s working altitude of 18-27 km above
Earth, where the concentration of particles
only makes up 5 % of the concentration at sea
level. So, FSO is very efficient. The drones can
transfer data at up to 30 gigabits per second
LASERS DIVIDE INTERNET
BETWEEN DRONES
An Aquila drone receives the data
2 signal, passing it on to other drones by
activating/deactivating an ultra-accurate
laser billions of times per second. The data
packet consists of sequences of 1s and 0s,
that are translated into light or no light in
the laser transmitter. The drones fly 18-27 km
above Earth, so the signal is not interrupted
by fog, rain, or anything else.
DRONE
LASER
27 KM
between them – that is about 30 times faster
than ordinary Internet connections on Earth,
which rarely exceed 100 megabits/second.
High frequency, no bottlenecks
When the drones have taken flight, they are
hooked up with the physical Internet via cables
and antennas on the ground, and Facebook is
also innovative in this respect. The company
aims to send the signal to the drones from
antennas by means of millimetre waves. They
cover frequencies of 30-300 GHz and are a
crossbreed between radio waves and infrared
light. More specifically, they will make use of
the E band, which uses frequencies of 60-90
GHz – unlike the WiFi network of about 2.4-5
GHz. The broad spectrum of frequencies
ensures that the network will not be overloaded
– such as the WiFi network of a café will easily
be in case of many users at the same time. The
E band has existed since the 1970s, but before
Facebook’s engineers refined it, it was both
energy and space-intensive: a technology that
was not at all suited for a drone.
In the most recent tests with millimetre
waves, Facebook has sent data to a plane at an
altitude of 6000m at speeds enough to stream
4,000 HD films at the same time. It is also
millimetre waves that are to send the Internet
RADIO WAVES SEND
WI-FI TO THE GROUND
One of the drones of the swarm
3 converts data into millimetre waves
again, sending the signal to the ground via
point-to-multipoint communication.
Antennas on the ground pass the signal on
to users in the shape of either WiFi or fast
3G. One single drone supplies Internet for
an area with a diameter of about 95 km at
up to 30 gigabits per second.
MILLIMETRE
WAVES
WIFI/3G
ANTENNA
REACH: 95 KM
signal from the drones to the receiver units
and on to the users’ smartphones or computers
on the ground.
Tech giants connect the world
Facebook sees a major development potential
in supplying Internet to all people in the world,
getting four billion new potential customers.
But the company is not alone. Other tech
companies such as Google and SpaceX are
developing balloons or satellites with the same
aim. Aquila’s current climax was reached on 22
May 2017, when it flew in a clear, sunny sky for
106 minutes, before landing as it was supposed
to on a plain almost unharmed. If Facebook
reaches its goal of building drones that can fly
Drones Send Internet Content
With Flashing Laser Light
The central unit of Facebook’s laser
drones is a transceiver consisting of a
laser diode, that fires light, and a
lens, which focuses incoming laser
light onto a photo detector. A data
unit translates the light into data and
vice versa. The photo detector
INCOMING
LASER SIGNAL
OUTGOING
LASER SIGNAL
MIKKEL JUUL JENSEN
INCOMING LASER DIODE
LASER SIGNAL
LASER
for 90 days and communicate via FSO, it will be
two major milestones for drone and
communication technology, respectively.
Moreover, Aquila can be used for scientific
research, etc., which requires the monitoring
and studying of large regions at the same time
and over long periods of time.
However, the immediate intention of the
global Internet solutions is to make sure that
farmers in South Sudan have access to weather
forecasts and girls in Pakistan have access to an
encyclopedia – and to connect any desert,
mountain peak, and jungle – in short, bringing
the world closer together. So, Facebook or one
of its major competitors will close the ring that
the Wright brothers initiated in 1903.
captures the laser’s light intensity
and the intervals between its billions
of flashes per second. They are
encoded into specific sections of
code, which make up the bits and
bytes of data that combine into a
film or other content.
PHOTO DETECTOR
DATA UNIT
scienceillustrated.com.au | 67
 HISTORY TELEGRAPH
Just Connecting
You Now...
For 11 years, Cyrus Field of the US struggled to make his dream of connecting
Europe and America via a telegraph cable come true. After four failed
attempts, he was considered mad, but the fifth changed the world forever.
C
yrus Field was not a man of
tears. The noble and enthusi-
astic American was famous
for his positive approach to
life, and his inspiring eager-
ness, but on 2 September 1866, he could no
longer resist it.
Cyrus Field locked the door of his cab-
in in the mid-Atlantic, shedding tears of
joy. For 11 years, he had struggled to make
his dream of connecting Europe and
America with a telegraph cable come true.
The dream had earned him a reputation of
being both an ingenious entrepreneur and
a presumed fraudster. And it had cost him
unimaginable quantities of blood, sweat,
and most of all, money.
Eleven years previously, when there
was a knock on the door of Cyrus Field’s
home in New York, he did not know that
in a few minutes, he would be facing
the challenge of his life. His
guest was Frederick
Gisb orne, a long-
bearded Canadian
e n g i n e e r. G i s -
borne was rais-
ing money for
Cyrus Field did not know anything
about telegraphs and cables, but his
immense energy and enthusiasm
helpted him do the impossible.
68 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
an ailing project aimed at connecting
Newfoundland and the US with a perma-
nent telegraph cable.
In those days, news from Europe
reached America at the speed of a ship
crossing the Atlantic, which meant any-
thing from weeks to months, depending on
the weather. Gisborne wanted to cut the
time span to a few days by making ships
berth at the most easterly point of the con-
tinent, Newfoundland, from where the
news could be forwarded via a telegraph
cable on dry land.
Cyrus Field listened carefully to what
his guest had to say. He had moved from
Connecticut to New York at the age of 15,
and a series of good investments had now
made him so wealthy that he could engage
in new projects just out of curiosity. He
liked Gisborne’s idea, but something both-
ered him: It was not sufficiently visionary.
When Gisborne had left, Cyrus Field
stepped into his library, where he realised
what was wrong with the project – or as
Cyrus Field’s brother noted a few years
later: “It was while thus studying the globe
that the idea first occurred to him, that the
telegraph might be carried further still,
and be made to span the Atlantic Ocean.”
3,200-km-long cable
Cyrus Field’s vision was just as fantastic
as it was crazy. No more than about 100
years previously, William Watson had
discovered that it was possible to trans-
mit a current through a metal thread
across long distances, and engineers had
only just begun to experiment with sub-
marine cables. So, it was overwhelming
 By Erik Bork

ULLSTEIN BILD & ISTOCKPHOTO & BRIDGEMAN

NOW OPTICAL CABLES
CONNECT THE WORLD
NORTH AMERICA

150 years ago, telegraph cables were a major breakthrough, but EUROPE

today, ultra-fast fibreoptic cables – or submarine optic fibre cables

– handle transatlantic (and transpacific) data traffic. In 2019, the

TELEGEOGRAPHY
Internet link will be upgraded with the Mermaid cable that is to
connect the US with Denmark and Ireland. The cables send light
impulses through very thin glass fibres and can carry 1 million 400+ submarine cables carry 99 % of the
megabits/second. And we still need more bandwidth... world’s Internet traffic.

The first transatlantic

cable weighed 2,000+ t,
so two huge warships
were required to lay
out the cable.

scienceillustrated.com.au | 69
 HISTORY TELEGRAPH
ATLANTIC CABLE.COM
British factories manufactured almost
600,000 km of single wire for the
transatlantic cable.
CABLE WIRE COULD
HAVE REACHED
THE MOON
For a whole year, British factories
worked on the huge telegraph
cable which was to connect
Europe and America.
The first cables that were laid down
across the Atlantic were not much
thicker than a broomstick, but they
were state-of-the-art. At the centre,
there were current-carrying copper
threads, which were protected by
several layers of natural rubber, and
tarred hemp threads. Finally, the
entire cable was lined with iron
thread. The factories manufactured
a total of about 600,000 km of single
wire for the first telegraph cable – a
length that could easily have linked
Earth and the Moon.
In 1865, when Cyrus Field made
his fourth attempt to reach America,
the cable was 1.5 times as thick and
able to transmit eight words a
minute – 50 times more than the old
cable from 1857. Messages sent via
the transatlantic cable cost $10 per
word, as much as one week’s pay for
an unskilled labourer.
The cable from 1857 was the
thickness of a broomstick.
70 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
to imagine a cable across the Atlantic,
which would have to be 3,200+ km long
and reach a depth of 3 km!
However, Cyrus Field was obsessed
with his idea, which could connect “the
old” and “the new world”. Over the next
few years, he collected a number of scien-
tists and investors, founding the Atlantic
Telegraph Company. Field himself contrib-
uted 25 % of the capital. The rest was raised
by selling shares.
In England, Cyrus Field set out to pro-
vide the cable which was to cross the At-
lantic. A few years previously, scientists
had accidentally discovered that guttaper-
cha sap from tropical trees was flexible and
not broken down by water. So, the current-
carrying copper wires were insulated with
gutta-percha, wax, resin, and tar plus an
iron thread armour.
No ship could carry the load
The cable weighed 2,000+ t, which proved
to be the next problem, as no ships could
carry such a heavy load. The solution was
to hire two ships, the USS Niagara, which
was the largest American warship, and the
British battleship HMS Agamemnon.
In the summer of 1857, the vessels were
observed by thousands of spectators, as
they loaded the heavy cables and left Ire-
land for Newfoundland. The newspapers
had covered the project with salacious de-
tail, and many had questioned its feasibili-
ty. A famous astronomer, Sir George Airy,
had even said that it was mathematically
impossible to lay down a cable at such
depths, and even if it were possible, no sig-
nal could travel that far.
However, the negative predictions did
not bother Cyrus Field, who was now lying
in his berth aboard the Niagara, listening to
the slow, heavy sound of the cable being
pulled from the ship towards the bottom,
nautical mile after nautical mile. On the
night of 11 August, the Niagara had laid out
400+ km of cable.
Cyrus Field was lying in his cabin,
when he suddenly heard shouting from
the deck: “Stop her! Reverse!” The next mo-
ment, there was a knock on the door, and
Cyrus Field got the disastrous message:
“The cable is gone!” The waves had rocked
both ship and cable, and though the cap-
tain had constantly tried to compensate by
slowing down, the cable had finally
snapped. Downcast and having lost 400
km of cable, Cyrus Field and the crew of
the Niagara turned back towards the coast.
Storm ruins everything
The accident had cost 100,000 pounds, and
one year of manufacturing the huge tele-
graph cable. But that did not upset Cyrus
Field, although he had to wait until the
next summer to make another attempt.
The time was spent improving the cable
winding gear and replacing the technical
director of the project. The new boss, Wil-
liam Thomsen, believed that the cable was
much too thin, but the company did not
have money for a new one, so Thomsen
had to settle for the thin cable.
In June 1858, the Agamemnon and the
Niagara were ready to make a new at-
tempt. This time, the two vessels were to
meet in the mid-Atlantic, continuing to-
wards separate shores with separate parts
of the cable. But on the way to the destina-
tion, dark clouds gathered above the Ag-
amemnon, and on 13 June, a severe storm
began. The large wooden ship rocked from
side to side at 30 degree angles, and huge
waves struck the hull. A week passed, be-
fore the storm died down.
Cyrus Field had travelled aboard the
Niagara on a more quiet route, but when
the two ships met in the Atlantic, he real-
ized that the cable aboard the Agamemnon
was tangled. The crew tried to untangle it
and began laying out the cable, but after
about 300 km, the worn out cable snapped.
Two continents connected
Once again, Cyrus Field's mission had
failed. He was tired, but not heartbroken,
as he considered it pure bad luck that the
mission had not been completed this time.
Soon after, the two vessels left the coast
once again, but this time, no cheering
crowds waved goodbye.
Both ordinary people and investors
had begun to lose faith in Cyrus Field’s
wild plans, so success was utterly neces-
sary, when the ships met again in the At-
lantic in 1858 to unite the two cable ends,
before the vessels once again headed for
separate continents. This time, the weather
was fine, and every-thing seemed to work.
But that same night, the signal between the

On 27 July 1866, the telegraph cable finally reached
Newfoundland. It was named “The Eighth Wonder of the World”.
US LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
two ships suddenly disappeared, and a sea-
sick William Thomsen was summoned.
With trembling hands, he tried to restore
contact over and over again. Everybody
was watching the instrument panel, as the
miracle suddenly happened. Without any
explanation, the signal returned.
In early August, the dark rocks of the
Newfoundland coast appeared against the
horizon, as the cable was still quietly mov-
ing towards the ocean floor. The Niagara
anchored off Bull’s Arms Bay, and on 5 Au-
gust, Cyrus Field entered a rowing boat in
the middle of the night, sailing towards
the coast to search for the small telegraph
station which was going to connect the
two mighty continents. He staggered
about in the darkness, but finally managed
to locate the house, from where snoring
could be heard. Cyrus Field opened the
door loudly and shouted into the night:
“The cable has been laid, the cable has
been laid!”
US LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
Celebration is a scandal
Soon, the feat was greeted with cheers on
both continents. In England, the otherwise
very cautious Times of London wrote in its
editorial: “Since Columbus’ discovery, noth-
ing has happened that can be compared to
this extreme expansion.”
When Cyrus Field came to New York,
the city organised a festive procession,
which was so long that it took it six hours to
get from one end of the city to the other.
For a while, it seemed like the speeches,
banquets, and torchlight parades would
never end. Queen Victoria was to send the
first message via the cable, and it reached
America on 16 August 1858. But what the
public did not know, was that the message
of only 99 words had taken more than 16
hours to arrive. The signal from the thin ca-
ble weakened day by day, and in early Sep-
tember, the cable fell silent.
What a scandal. Cyrus Field was termed
a crazy crook, and newspapers insinuated
that the message from the
queen had never been sent
via the cable, rather it had
been sailed across the Atlantic.
In the following years, the
American civil war was fought,
but as soon as the dust from the
battlefield had settled, the ever
optimistic Cyrus Field was ready
to try again.
The world’s largest ship
put into service
This time, the cable was half as
thick again as the old one and
therefore much stronger.
This increased the total weight
drastically, but in the meantime,
the world’s largest ship, the Great
Eastern, had just been built, and it
was able to carry the full length of
the cable. The Great Eastern left Ire-
land in July 1865, but as fate would
have it, things also went wrong this time.
Charcoal chips had gotten stuck in the cable,
and when the crew tried to remove them,
the cable was lost in the ocean.
After four failures, Cyrus Field still re-
fused to give up. The last energies were col-
lected for another go, and finally, every-
thing went well.
On 27 July 1866, the Great Eastern ap-
peared off Newfoundland in dense fog, and
the next day, the cable could be connected
with the telegraph station, producing a
powerful signal.
One month later, the Great Eastern even
retrieved the lost cable unharmed from the
ocean floor.
Every-one except Cyrus Field cheered.
Instead, he wandered to his cabin, locked
the door behind him, and wept with joy.
His dream had come true, and at this point
in time, he had not only laid down one, but
rather two fully functional cables across
the Atlantic. Two worlds had finally
become one.
The 211-m-long Great Eastern was the world’s
biggest ship, so it could carry all
of Cyrus Field’s telegraph cable.
scienceillustrated.com.au | 71
 BRAIN TRAINING

NEW SERIES

BRAINTRAINER
Numeracy
Visual intelligence
Memory
Develop more and stronger links between your neurons.
Science Illustrated has drawn up a challenging practice schedule
Logic
designed to make your brain faster and more focused in record time. Verbal acuity

y
Boost Your Numeracating
Your counting and calcul
the brain.
skills are spread across
areas indicated below,
Boost the
ms .
as you solve our proble
2

3
1

related to an area
Your counting skills are
1 in the occipital lobe close to the visual
s see.
what your eye
cortex, which interprets
e allow you to
Areas of the parietal lob
2 quickly estimate which of two volumes
or objects is the larger.
l lobe, you will
At the front of the fronta
3 find your logical thinking skills. This is
plex maths problems.
where you can solve com
in centre helps
The fusiform gyrus bra
4 you visualise objects that can contribute
tion.
to working out a calcula
 By Andreas Andersen

Discover the Joy of

Mental Arithmetic!
Your brain will soon make calculations faster and with fewer errors.
Scientists have shown how simple exercise boosts your neurons –
and they are ready to go one step further using... electric shocks.

Y
o ur brain cells (neurons)
produce new links, when you
train your brain, and the links
that you already had are
improve d. By m eans of
targeted exercise, you can choose the brain
centres that need to be boosted, and you can
shape your own intelligence, just like a
bodybuilder shapes his body.
When a group of Chinese kids started to
exercise a few hours a week using a counting
frame, they soon performed markedly better
in maths tests than their friends of the same
age, and their brains were able to switch
between different types of problems more
quickly. In 2017, scientists found the
explanation of their improved skills. Children
who exercise using a counting frame develop a
much more efficient network of neurons in the
brain centres that deal with mathematics.
The same exercise method has provided
some people with extreme skills – such as
Takeo Sasano of Japan, who can add 15 three-
figure numbers in 1.7 seconds. Only hard work
stands in the way of you achieving similar
skills, but scientists are developing a method
that can give you an extra boost. They aim to
give your brain electric shocks to quickly make
you better at maths.
Sixth sense
Are there 30 or 38 dots? Your brain can
estimate the difference in less than 200
milliseconds. It reaches a conclusion, before
you become aware of the dots and long before
you have time to count them. It is a skill that
you share with birds and fish, and you have
had it since you were a baby.
The integrated number sense is probably

WARM-UP Which of the eight rectangles include the most dots?

2 Do not count, until your sense of numbers has spoken.

Which of the rectangles includes more dots?

1 Find the answer without counting.
SEE THE ANSWERS ON PAGE 77

scienceillustrated.com.au | 73
 BRAIN TRAINING
extremely important to the survival of
humans and animals – it allows us to estimate
where to find the most food or the most enemies
– and scientists have discovered its location in
the brain. The sense sits in the parietal lobe,
which is located at the top of the back of your
head. Much to the scientists' surprise, the centre
by and large had the same structure in all test
subjects – when they saw one dot, one end of
the centre was activated, when they saw two,
the adjacent area was activated, and the more
dots they saw, the further the activity moved
towards the opposite end.
The structure is very similar to the way in
which our other senses function. The touch of
two points next to each other is registered in
two areas next each other in the brain.
But this kind of number sense is far from
the only way in which our brains process
numbers. We have other brain centres that
are brought into play, when we are to count or
make calculations.
LONG HAUL
READ THE TEXT AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS TO THE RIGHT:
Granny Takes the Train
T he sun is shining, and the summer
holidays have just begun. Peter is on a
300-m-long train with his grandmother.
When they boarded, the train’s fuel tank
was empty, but now it is being filled. The
filling takes an hour, in spite of the fact that
the speed at which the fuel flows into the
tank doubles every minute.
In the meantime, the grandmother tells
Peter about the time, when she was 19 and
had her first baby. Shortly after giving
birth, she attended a lecture along with 99
other new mothers. She could clearly
remember the fashion of the time. Of the
74 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
Scientists look into the future
Numeracy is spread across the brain – such as
on the side of the occipital lobe, on several
locations in the parietal lobe, at the front of the
frontal lobe, and in the temporal lobe. The
areas are separated from the parts of the brain
that are responsible for language. People with
aphasia – a condition which affects the ability
to express or understand language – can hence
easily have excellent numeracy skills.
The size of the different number centres in
the brain is very important to our maths skills.
Recently, a group of US scientists studied the
number centres of 43 8-year-old children and
tested the kids’ IQs and calculation skills. When
the children turned 14, the scientists subjected
them to a new maths test.
The 8-year-olds’ IQs and calculation skills
turned out not to be indicative of their maths
skills six years later. On the other hand, their
future abilities could be "read" very clearly in
the brain’s number centres. The more neurons
100 women, 85 had red handbags, 75 wore
black shoes, 60 wore a floral dress, and 90
had opal rings. Everybody had at least three
of those things.
Finally, the train sets in motion. The
grandmother talks about her six children.
They were born exactly four years apart,
and now the youngest is 19. The train
passes into a tunnel. The tunnel is 300 m
long, but the train is moving fast – 300 m
per minute – so they are soon back into the
light. Shortly after, the train arrives at the
terminal, and Peter follows his
grandmother out onto the platform.
in the 8-year-olds' centres, the better they were
at maths at age 14.
The results explain why some people find
it easier to learn maths than others, but
according to recent research, the number of
neurons in the number centres is not
paramount – the neurons’ ability to
communicate with each other is just as crucial.
And this ability can be improved with exercise.
Exercise makes cells grow
Many Chinese kids learn to calculate using a
counting frame. In the beginning, they use a
real, physical frame, but later, they only
imagine the frame. The method can be used to
solve most calculation problems. In 2017,
Chinese scientists compared the brains of kids
who had used the counting frame method,
and kids who had not. The brain scans
indicated that the kids who had exercised had
more and stronger links than the ones who
had not exercised – and they performed much
better in maths tests.
Several mechanisms seem to contribute to
allowing our brains to improve. The first one
is long-term potentiation, which ensures that
neurons are better at passing on electric
signals. When we make calculations, the
neurons of the brain’s number centres send
signals to each other. Each neuron has
branches (dendrites), which receive signals,
and other branches at the opposite end (axon
endings), which pass on signals. The
How much time passes
1 from the front of the
train enters the tunnel until
the back exits?
Couting Frames
Boost Brain Cells
Cause your brain signals to speed up and make
calculations faster and with fewer errors. According
to new research, exercise with an old-fashioned
counting frame makes your brain more efficient.

Close your eyes and imagine an abacus. Then calculate

243 x 177. The method is well-known in several Asian
nations, where many children practice it at school. In a
Chinese study from 2017, a group of scientists
researched how abacus practice affects children's
brains and calculation skills.
The scientists compared 72 children who had been
practicing, with 72 kids who had not. The kids who had
practiced proved to not only make fewer errors – they
were also substantially faster at producing answers
than the other children.
When the scientists scanned the children’s brains,
they could also see important differences. They looked
CHILDREN BECOME 20% BETTER
The brains of the children who had practiced with the counting frame
particularly showed signs of improved communication between neurons
in the right fusiform gyrus – a part of the occipital and temporal lobes.
Moreover, the trained children scored about 20 % more points in the
maths tests to which the scientists subjected them.
60
50

TEST SCORE
at areas of the occipital lobe that have to do with 40

numeracy, and they were able to make out that the 30

trained kids’ brain cells were more efficient at 20
communicating with each other.
10

WITHOUT ABACUS PRACTICE

THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE
FUSIFORM GYRUS WITH ABACUS PRACTICE

SHUTTERSTOCK
How old is How How long does it take
2 Peter's 3 many 4 to fill half of the
grandmother? of the young train's fuel tank?
women at the
lecture had
brought all
four things?

SEE THE ANSWERS ON PAGE 77

scienceillustrated.com.au | 75
 BRAIN TRAINING
encounter between one neuron's axon
ending and another one’s dendrite is called a
synapse, and that is where long-term
connection takes place.
A signal is transmitted by one neuron's
axon ending, liberating neurotransmitters in
the synapsis, which the other neuron’s
dendrite receives by means of receptors that
pass on the signal. When we use a synapse
over and over again by exercising a specific
type of problem, the dendrite will produce
more receptors. En route, the dendrite
becomes packed with receptors, making it
much more sensitive to external signals. The
result is that the transmission of signals
between neurons is boosted.
And the neurons do not only strengthen
the synapses. When a neuron is stimulated, its
dendrites grow to produce new synapses with
other neurons. More – and stronger – synapses
mean that your brain becomes faster and
better at solving maths problems.
Shocks boost calculating skills
Allow scientists to give your brain electric
shocks, while you are exercising it, and you will
become good at maths in five days. That is the
vision of scientists from the University of
Oxford, England. They aim to send electric
VS
SHUTTERSTOCK/GETTY
INNUMERATE
You have difficulties telling the time,
calculating the cost of your groceries in
the supermarket, or taking in the train
timetable. Acalculia – inability to learn,
remember, or even understand
numbers and mathematics – makes
everyday life quite difficult. The
condition affects about 6% of the
population, and the cause is in the
brain. Those people's cerebral number
centres are usually rather small, as
they include fewer neurons.
76 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
impulses into some of the brain’s number
centres, using the transcranial random noise SPRINT
stimulation method. And they have already
shown that the method works.
The scientists placed electrodes on the Which number replaces the
heads of 25 test subjects – right above their
1 question mark?
frontal lobes. Subsequently, all participants
spent the next five days making calculations.
In half of the participants, the electrodes
repeatedly sent a flow of electric impulses into 9 1 5
the brain – each session lasted 20 minutes. The
other half only received 30 seconds of
impulses at a time.
When the five days had passed, the
scientists tested the test subjects’ maths skills, 4 8 3
and those who received the most impulses
performed markedly better. But the major
surprise came six months later. The scientists
tested the test subjects again, and the effect of
the impulses remained. 2 ? 7
The impulses probably improved the effect
of the exercise by stimulating neurons to
produce more and stronger synapses in the
number centres – and the increased strength
You have
remained for a long time. 2 four keys
Now, the scientists are testing if the
and four locks.
method can be used to make kids with learning You test the keys
difficulties good at maths, and the first results one at a time to
from 2017 are very promising. find out as quickly
as possible where
they fit. What is
the maximum
number of
attempts that
GENIUS you will need?
Which number should be in the
3 empty space? There are two answers.
In 2007, Alexis Lemaire of France 5
set a world record, taking only 70
seconds to calculate the 13th root of 49 9
a 200-digit number – the number
that – multiplied by itself 13 times –
results in the 200-digit number. Like 3 7
other people with extreme maths
skills, Lemaire probably has number 9 25
centres that include unusually high
numbers of nerve cells. However, he
claims that with sufficient practice,
anybody can learn how to do it.
SEE THE ANSWERS IN THE TEXT BOX TO THE RIGHT
77 | scienceillustrated.com.au
SHUTTERSTOCK

ANSWERS
WARM-UP
1. More dots in the right rectangle.
2. All the rectangles include the
same number of dots (nine).
LONG HAUL
1. Two minutes. The train must
move 300+300=600 m at a speed of
300 m/minute.
2. 58 years. She had her first baby,
when she was 19, she has six children,
and they were born four years apart,
so she was 19+4+4+4+4+4 = 39 years,
when she had the last baby. He is now
19 years old, so the granny must be
39+19 = 58 years old. total of 72 animals have 200 legs?
3. 10. If each of the 100 women only 6 respectively are there, when the
How many cats and penguins,
had three of the things, they would
have a total of 300 things. But we
know that they have 85+75+60+90 =
310 things. So there must be 10 12 X 9 11
women who have four things. Y 4 2 5
4. Some 59 minutes. If one drop of
fuel entered the tank during the first 11 4 12 3
minute, two drops would enter
during the second minute. After two
6 9 10 5
minutes, there are 1+2 = 3 drops in
the tank, after three minutes, there
are 1+2+4 = 7, after four minutes,
13 7 14 6
there are 1+2+4+8 = 15, and after five 4 3 5 2
minutes, there are 1+2+4+8+16 = 31.
Hence, the quantity of fuel in the 10 5 9 6
tank approximately doubles every
minute. So whatever the quantity is 7 8 8 7
after 59 minutes, it is only half of
what it will be one minute later.
5
Which numbers do X and Y represent?
SPRINT
1. 6 – all rows and columns must originally chose or the third one?
result in a sum of 15. money? Should you open the door you
2. Six – the first key must be tried do you optimise your chance of winning the
no more than three times to find There is no money behind the open door. How
out where it fits, the second one open the door, one of the other doors opens.
twice, the third one once, and the
last one is obvious.
decide which one. But before you manage to
1/3 2/3 open one of the doors, and you immediately
3. 3 or 81. In all the star's opposite behind the two other doors. You are allowed to
spaces, there is a number and the
square of this number.
doors, there is $1 million – there is nothing
2/3
4. Choose the third door. When you
4 facing three doors. Behind one of the
You are playing a game, in which you are
made your first choice, the chance of
it being correct was 1/3. It still is.
The chance of one of the others
being correct was 2/3. One has now
1 m2
1/3
been excluded, and the chance of the
last door being correct is now 2/3.
5. X = 8 and Y = 3. If you take a look
What is the area of the green section?
at the same locations in the other is located at the centre of the blue square.
figures, you will see a number series.
7 one in the 1/3 points, and one corner
6. 28 cats and 44 penguins.
The yellow square intersects the blue
7. 1/4 m².
 N AT U R E WIND

Instant Expert: Tornadoes

Whirls and
The rotating wind of a tornado is the most

SHUTTERSTOCK
forceful on Earth. It can reach a speed of
about 500 km/h, twice as much as the
most forceful tropical hurricanes.

Updraft Produce
Rotating Killer
A full-fledged tornado is the most forceful
and scary phenomenon in our atmosphere. It is
an intensive, rotating air column with the
strongest wind on Earth, which stretches from a
powerful thundercloud towards Earth’s surface.
Where the tornado reaches the ground, it
leaves a path of concentrated destruction.

T
ornadoes can occur anywhere on Earth except
in the coldest regions, but luckily, not many
places in the world have the full set of
ingredients required to produce the most forceful
tornadoes. Those you will find in either Midwestern
USA or Eastern India and Bangladesh, where periodic
atmospheric conditions cause heavy showers. That
could be the first step towards a tornado.
A tornado belongs to the family of whirlwinds,
and is simply rotating air. The term covers anything
from the rather innocent dust devils with an extent
of a few metres, which are caused by local warming
of the ground, to major, rotating low-pressure
systems with an extent of up to thousands of km.
Waterspouts and willy-willies are essentially small
tornadoes. A tornado is the most powerful of all
whirlwinds in the world.
The formation principles of all of them are about
the same. Instability in the atmosphere causes
intense thunderstorms. Around and inside the
thunderstorm, the whirls are produced due to a
series of processes, of which the wind change with
altitude and powerful lift are the central ones, which
provide the phenomenon with its vigorous force.
In regions with intense tornado activity such as
the United States, a constant eye is kept on weather
situations which could produce tornadoes, and
experts try to predict the situation as well as
THE WORST IN HISTORY
On 3-4 April 1974, no less than
148 tornadoes were recorded, of
which 30 were very powerful.
Combined, they left a 4,000+-km-
long path across 13 American states.
The most severe killer tornado in
the world was the Daulatpur-Saturia
tornado of Bangladesh. It was an
extreme tornado, which occurred in
the Manikganj district of Bangladesh
on 26 April 1989 and is believed to
have killed 1,300 people. Another
12,000+ were injured, and a further
80,000+ lost their homes. The
numbers are subject to some
uncertainty.
The worst killer tornado in the
history of the US was the Tri-State
Tornado on 18 March 1925. It left
695 dead people and 2,027
wounded in its 350-km-long path
through the states of Missouri,
Illinois, and Indiana.
TOPICAL PRESS AGENCY/GETTY IMAGES

possible to allow for prior warning. However, this is

difficult, even though the experts are getting slightly
better at it all the time due to more sophisticated
tools. It is difficult to predict the development of a
thundercloud and whether it is going to develop into
a tornado. So, in regions with risk of tornadoes, it is
necessary to consider safety, and many people have
built special shelters for their families.

78 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
 COLD AIR Texas is one of the US states that is most
Tornado Alley
badly affected by tornadoes, so many The prairie or the Great Plains, which is found
people choose to build shelters. in the US Midwest, is the place on Earth with the
greatest risk of tornado formation. During the
MIDWEST
months of spring, cold and dry polar air comes
from the north and from the south warmer and
moister tropical sea air from the Gulf of Mexico.
The encounter between the two air masses and
USA the fact that the sunlight begins to heat the
great, flat prairie are the main factors causing the
particularly forceful shower and thunder systems
that produce the tornadoes. The Midwest is the
WARM AIR place on Earth in which the most tornadoes form,
and so, the region is also known as Tornado Alley.
There are averagely some 800 tornados in
the entire United States throughout the tornado

PIUMATTI SERGIO/PRISMA
season from March to August. The busiest time
of the season is in April, May, and June, when
55+ % of the tornadoes are produced, but they
can occur throughout the year.

Tornado Rotation and powerful updraft in a severe shower

cloud are central factors for tornado formation.
Development
The wind changes
Tornadoes always result from 2 direction and speed
powerful shower clouds, which with altitude, causing
can develop into exceptionally powerful, rotating updraft in
severe and self-maintaining the shower cloud.
storms known as supercells on
Powerful updraft
the great US prairies. They can 3 stretches the rotation
have life spans of several hours, upwards. It becomes both faster
as the updraft of the cloud is not and stronger.
destroyed by the downdraft,
Whirls below the cloud
which is what happens in an 4 can be pulled into the
ordinary thunderstorm. The rotating updraft, causing the
supercells grow high up into the formation of a funnel cloud
atmosphere, often to altitudes of from the wall cloud
Cold air encounters underneath the main cloud.
15+ km. The updraft can be so 1 warm, moist air.
powerful that it even “bulges” The funnel cloud moves
The atmosphere becomes 5 towards the ground.
into the stratosphere. In this unstable, and powerful
When it touches the ground,
over-shooting top, the cloud shower and thunder clouds
the tornado is fully developed.
temperature could be –70 °C or with updraft develop.
even colder.
Afte
Supercells are characterised 6 has r the tornado
reached its
by a powerful, rotating updraft maximum strength,
known as a mesocyclone. Under it becomes
narrower, tilts,
the right circumstances, the
twists around
huge rotating motion could itself, and dies off.
develop into a tornado, which is
provided with force.
ALLAN HØJEN

scienceillustrated.com.au | 79
Trivia
PUT YOUR KNOWLEDGE
TO THE TEST

1. Which of these is the closest to a

perfect sphere? The Earth, the Sun,
or a soap bubble?

2. What gas do most land-based

plants extract from the atmosphere
through their roots?

3. Adding a heater to the fuel tank

will let many older diesel engines
run on what?
4. The University of
Oxford in England,
was founded in
which century?
5. The infamous island
prison of Alcatraz, in San
Francisco bay, is named
after which seabird?
6. The mass of one
proton is almost
q. 4
q. 7 exactly equal to the
mass of 1836 what?
7. Who used Thomas
Edison’s name and fame
to sell a series of snake
oil products and scams,
starting in the 1890s?
8. Because of its logo,
which car company has
named its electric sports sedan
with a Turkish word meaning
“lively young horse”?
9. In a double-rainbow, which colours
face each other between the two bows?
10. Who pirated a famous piece of
Allegri’s religious music from the
Vatican in 1770, by writing it down
entirely from memory?

Trivia Countdown (use fewer clues, get a higher score!)

5 POINTS 4 POINTS 3 POINTS 2 POINTS 1 POINT

1. TECHNOLOGY The company was According to a 2017 Now, the company The company It is responsible for
founded in 1938 as a annual report, the is most famous for headquarters is in Galaxy phones, of
Name this trading firm, but it company beat Intel making electronics Seoul, South Korea, which the Note 7
company soon expanded to to be the world's such as TVs, tablets, in an industrial area model was recalled
include a wide leading computer headsets, and that was named due to a high risk of
range of products. chip vendor. mobile phones. after the company. battery fire.

2. LITERATURE The book was first Pierre-Jules Hetzel The narrator’s name The title has a large The author is Jules
published in 1870. published the book is Pierre Arronax, number in it that is Verne, who also
Name this Its author knew a with illustrations by and another main often mistaken for wrote “A Journey to
title lot about science Alphonse de character uses a meaning “depth” the Centre of the
and technology. Neuville and name that means instead of “distance Earth” and “Around
Édouard Riou. “no one” in Latin. they travelled”. the World in 80 Days.”

The Latin name of About 2,600 These trees have a They are associated These trees produce
3. BOTANY
the botanical family different species distinct look, with with desert oases, various fruits
Name this is Arecaceae. The exist, mainly in long spiky leaves on tropical resorts, depending on the
common name tropical and sub- short branches, clus- desert islands and, species. Some are
type of tree easy to eat, others
is much easier tropical regions of tered at the top of a in Australia, your
to pronounce. the world. long smooth trunk. town’s main street. need tools to open.

ANSWERS ON p82!
80 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
 HOMEOF
AUSTRALIA’S
2NDDEADLIEST
CANCER
 BIODIVERSITY TOXICOLOGY

SPECIES:
Blue-ringed Octopus
SCIENTIFIC NAME:
Hapalochlaena maculosa,
H. lunulata, and H. fasciata
DISTRIBUTION: Tidal rock pools and shallow
water from southern coast of Australia up to
Japan and across to Bay of Bengal
ICUN CONSERVATION STATUS:
Not yet assessed

VENOMOUS...
AND POISONOUS?
L ast issue we committed the cardinal
science sin of using the word
“poisonous” when we meant “venomous” -
it was in the context of a diving water
spider. Thanks to those readers who quite
rightly pointed out that a toxin that is
injected by an animal to subdue prey or
defend against an attack, is indeed venom.
Poison is a toxin grown in the animal, that
kills or sickens, if that animal is itself eaten.
Venom also often differs from poison in
that if it is ingested, stomach acid breaks
down the chemicals in the venom and the
person idiot who drank the venom won’t
be affected. Of course, we don’t advise
drinking venom, because this rule is not
hard and fast, and if you have any tears or
cuts or nicks any place where the venom
can get into your bloodstream on the way
to your stomach, well, you’re in trouble.
As we reflected on our venom/poison
error, however, we began to wonder. Is
there an animal that, because of the
chemical nature of its venom, is also
technically poisonous too?
And here’s an example: Australia’s
own blue-ringed octopus. There are
actually four species, one of which is
called the blue-lined octopus, and one of
which (H. nierstraszi) has only been seen
twice by scientists: once in 1938 and not
again until 2013.
Of the three that are well-known, all
can be found in Australian waters. And as
all good Australians know, getting bitten
by a blue-ringed octopus is deadly.
Their saliva is full of what’s called
tetrodotoxin (or TTX). This nasty substance
doesn’t kill you, it just paralyses you. Sadly
for you, one of the bits it paralyses is your
diaphragm, so you end up suffocating.
Onset of this can take as little as five
minutes. Yet despite the lack of antivenom,
if a victim is placed on an artificial
respirator for 24 hours, the toxin wears off.
Fortunately for humans, these little
cephalopods aren’t aggressive, and
normally try their best to first escape,
and then warn you off with their bright
blue rings. This may be why only two
people in Australia (on record) have died
from Hapalochlaena bites.
So where does the poison come into
it? When scientists first started
examining the blue-ringed octopus
(working in pairs, both trained in CPR),
they discovered the venom came from
the animal’s salivary glands.
The octopus doesn’t make the venom
itself, rather it cultivates a specific
bacteria that generates the TTX. At first,
biologists called this chemical
“maculotoxin”, and realised it was very
similar to the toxin found in some
pufferfishes (see above).
Later experiments determined that in
fact maculotoxin is TTX, and that many
fish, harlequin frogs, Californian newts,
and a grab-bag of sea critters from squirts
to crabs, all use the same stuff.
Many of these animals are not
“venomous” because they don’t inject the
toxin. But it’s the same chemical. TTX does
affect you if you drink it, and this means
the blue-ringed octopus is both venomous
and poisonous. If one refuses to bite you,
biting it will get you just as dead.

TRIVIA ANSWERS 1. The Sun 2. Oxygen 3. Used vegetable oil 4. 11th. (1096) 5. The Pelican 6. Electrons 7. His son, Thomas Edison Jr. 8. Porsche (there’s a horse on the Porsche crest too!) 9. Both bows have red
facing inwards 10. Mozart Trivia Countdown – Name this company: Samsung Name this title: 20,000 Leagues under the Sea Name this plant: Palm tree

82 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
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11–19 AUGUST 2018

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