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BBC Focus 04.2017
BBC Focus 04.2017
S C I E N C E I T E C H N O L O G Y I F U T U R E
SOCIAL
HOW Plus
NETWORKS THE GENETIC
MAKE US
ANTISOCIAL GOLDRUSH
What companies want
with your DNA
WHY WE NEED TO GO
BACK
TO THE
MOON
How a new lunar mission
would change life on Earth FIND OUT
with chris hadfield
WHY THE SEA
SMELLS LIKE THE SEA
HOW SLEEP AND
ANAESTHESIA DIFFER
#306 | £4.50 April 2017 sciencefocus.com
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SSeven exoplanets
l have b
h been
discovered around TRAPPIST-1
–› p13
WE LCOM E W H AT W E ’ V E FO U N D
OUT THIS MONTH
Kangaroos can
produce milk
Daniel Bennett, Editor of different
types from
their teats
–› p78
IN THIS ISSUE
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APRIL 2017
CO NTE NTS
29
REGULARS
6 Eye opener
Stunning images from around the world.
13 Discoveries
All of the month’s biggest science news.
27 Innovations
The Range Rover Velar, must-have gadgets
and the new BlackBerry.
35 Reply
Your letters and emails.
73 Helen Czerski
On sunshine, the sea and split ends.
75 Q&A
This month: why is the human brain so big,
what is the deepest lake on Earth, do
elephants really never forget, what’s the
dodo’s closest surviving relative, and more.
88 Out there
The best books, TV shows and days out.
94 Crossword
Our tricky science-themed crossword will get
your grey matter churning.
98 My life scientific
Helen Pilcher talks to forensic psychologist
and author Kerry Daynes.
56 Subscribe
Save 40% on the cover price
when you subscribe today! 38
4
CONTENTS
64
FEATURES 58
Back to the Moon
38
A human last set foot on the
Moon in December 1972. Five
scientists explain why it would
be a good idea to go back there soon.
Antisocial network
50
Do social networks do what
they say on the tin, or are they
actually making us more
antisocial? Neuroscientist Dr Dean Burnett
examines the evidence.
58
Apps and services offering
DNA-based advice on everything
from planning a workout to
choosing a wine are increasingly common.
Kat Arney finds out more.
64
In Part 1 of our new series, Brian
Cox and physicist Jeff Forshaw
ponder the baffling
idiosyncrasies of the space-time continuum.
50
5
EYE OPENER
It takes two
to tango
BUENOS AIRES,
ARGENTINA
PHOTO: ROBORACE
6
7
8
EYE OPENER
Feeding
frenzy
SHETLAND ISLES,
SCOTLAND
9
EYE OPENER
All fired up
NAIROBI,
KENYA
10
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SPACE
TRAPPIST-1, an ultracool dwarf star located just 40 light- Current climate models suggest the three innermost
years from Earth in the Aquarius constellation, was first planets are probably too hot to support liquid water, and the
detected by researchers from Liege using the Transiting one furthest from the star is too cold. However, the
Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope (TRAPPIST) in remaining three sit comfortably within the habitable zone
Chile, and later confirmed by NASA’s Spitzer Space and could host oceans of surface water – a feature thought to
Telescope and the Very Large Telescope, also in Chile. be essential for the existence of life.
The planets were detected by observing dips in the star’s “The energy output from dwarf stars like TRAPPIST-1 is
light output caused by each of the seven planets passing in much weaker than that of our Sun. Planets would need to be
front of it, events known as transits. in far closer orbits than we see in the Solar System if there is
PHOTO: NASA
The researchers found that all of the planets are to be surface water,” said researcher Dr Amaury Triaud.
comparable in size to the Earth, while density measurements “Fortunately, it seems that this kind of compact
suggest that the innermost six are rocky. configuration is just what we see around TRAPPIST-1.”
13
DISCOVERIES
EXPERT COMMENT
The star is relatively small, just 8 per cent the mass While finding water vapour would increase the
of the Sun, and would appear to glow salmon pink belief that the planet under investigation is
when observed from the surface of the planets, the “ROCKY potentially habitable, there are other factors that
researchers say. could affect a planet’s ability to support life.
Now that astronomers know that the planets are PLANETS ARE To investigate those, Bourrier and his team have
there, the next job is to find out what they are really already used the Hubble Space Telescope to look at
like. The first step is to make an accurate THE CLEAR the ultraviolet signature of TRAPPIST-1’s two
determination of their densities. When searching innermost planets. His work shows that those
for habitable worlds, rocky planets are the clear PREFERENCE planets could have had their atmospheres
preference because – put simply – they provide a
surface for life forms to walk, slither or otherwise
BECAUSE THEY completely eroded away by the radiation from the
star – rendering the planets barren. Could this have
move across.
The European Space Agency (ESA) will launch
PROVIDE A happened to the other worlds of TRAPPIST-1?
Actually proving that a planet is habitable may be
CHEOPS (CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite) in SURFACE FOR really tough. Astronomers will have to look for
2018. The main science goals of the mission are to ‘biomarkers’. These are gases that only exist together
measure the densities of planets with radii between LIFE FORMS” in an atmosphere because they are being
one and six times of Earth. The TRAPPIST-1 system replenished by the metabolisms of living creatures.
YKNNDGJKIJQPVJGNKUV| Oxygen and methane are good examples in our own
The next step will be to analyse the planets’ atmosphere. So far, there are no firm plans to build
atmospheres to see if any look like they could be a space telescope capable of making such an
habitable. “The main goal will be trying to detect exacting measurement, although NASA and ESA
the signature of water,” said CHEOPS scientist Dr have both studied engineering concepts.
Vincent Bourrier. NASA’s next exoplanet mission, the Transiting
Water vapour in a planet’s atmosphere could Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), also launching
betray widespread oceans and a water cycle. Its next year, could reveal many more solar systems
signature appears in the infrared region of the like TRAPPIST-1. This mission will survey
spectrum and this is where the NASA-built James 200,000 stars and is expected to discover thousands
Webb Space Telescope (JWST) comes in. of exoplanets, from the size of Earth up to Jupiter
ESA will launch the JWST in the same year as and larger.”
PHOTOS: NASA X3
14
APRIL 2017
STAR
Mercury
1b
1c
Venus
2
1d
1 Earth
1e
1f
Mars
1g
4
Asteroid belt
1h
8
TRAPPIST-1
solar system
b c d e f g h
Orbital period 1.51 2.42 4.05 6.10 9.21 12.35 ~20
Days
15
DISCOVERIES
HANDLE
What’s so interesting
about handles?
Ah, not handle but Handle
ZOOLOGY
– the latest robotic
creation to come out of the
Boston Dynamics
development labs. FOOTBALLING BEES
Hang on. Who are
Boston Dynamics?
An engineering and
SHED NEW LIGHT ON
robotics design company
based in the US who are
responsible for the
INSECT INTELLIGENCE
impressive walking robots
such as Big Dog and Atlas. We bet these guys are good on the wing:
bumblebees have been taught to play football by a
Right. What’s so special team at Queen Mary University of London.
about Handle then? The team trained the bees to dribble a ball into a
As it has a combination of round goal in three different ways: some observed a
both wheels and legs, it previously trained bee scoring a goal, some watched
can travel over varied the ball being moved into the goal by a magnet, and
terrain. It has a top speed others simply ‘found’ the ball in the goal. The bees
of 14km/h (9mph), it can were rewarded with a
make vertical jumps of up sugary treat for a
to 120cm and can pick up successful ‘shot’.
and carry loads as heavy as
50kg. It’s also able to travel
“BUMBLEBEES, ALONG WITH observing Of the three, those
other bees
up to 24km on a single
battery charge.
MANY OTHER ANIMALS, learnt the quickest.
“Our study puts the
MAY HAVE THE COGNITIVE final nail in the coffin
Impressive. So what of the idea that small
can it be used for? CAPABILITIES TO SOLVE brains constrain insects
So far Handle is just being to have limited
used for R and D purposes, COMPLEX TASKS” behavioural flexibility
but the future uses
es could and only simple
range from everything learning abilities,” said
from unloading lorries to researcher Prof Lars Chittka. The bees’
team colours
search and rescue. Further tests
t showeed that the bees were able to are yellow
PHOTOS: CAHID/UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE X2, LIDA LOUKOLA
16
APRIL 2017
ANTHROPOLOGY
FACE OF BRUTALLY
MURDERED
PICTISH MAN
RECONSTRUCTED
This handsome chap may look like an East
London hipster who knows his espresso
ristretto from his latte macchiato, but he
was actually a Pictish man who lived in
the Scottish Highlands 1,400 years ago.
This mug shot was digitally
reconstructed from a skeleton found buried
in a cave in Black Isle, Ross-shire by
researchers from the University of Dundee.
The body was arranged in a cross-legged
position with large stones placed on its
legs and arms. Several severe fractures in
the man’s skull suggest he was brutally
murdered before being laid to rest.
“This is a fascinating skeleton in a
remarkable state of preservation which
has been expertly recovered. From
studying his remains we learned a little
about his short life but much more about
his violent death,” said researcher Sue
Black. “As you can see from the facial
reconstruction he was a striking young
man, but he met a very brutal end,
suffering a minimum of five severe
injuries to his head.”
Radiocarbon dating indicates that the
man died sometime between 430 and 630
AD. The remains were surrounded by
evidence of iron smithing from around the
same period and suggestions of more
recent leather working.
Ongoing analysis of the
skeleton and artefacts
from the cave is
expected to offer
additional details
of the man’s place
of origin and
significance,
as well as
provide more
information
about the cave’s
archaeological Even though the man
was brutally killed, his
and historical body was laid to rest with
importance. some consideration
17
DISCOVERIES
PHOTO: THOR BALKHED/LINKOPING UNIVERSITY, ARTWORK: BY CHRIS GASKIN; COPYRIGHT ©GEOLOGY MUSEUM, UNIVERSITY OF OTAGO, ILLUSTRATIONS: DANIEL BRIGHT
Artificial muscles made of woven fabric
could be sewn into clothes to help
disabled people get about more easily
MEDICINE
18
APRIL 2017
BA D M O NTH
Prehistoric penguins were
much larger than the birds
we know and love today
INTERNET TROLLS
Like posting nasty comments online? It might be
time to get back under your bridge: Google has
started trialling a comment-policing AI to sift
through internet forums and remove toxic posts.
TATTOO ARTISTS
Getting inked up can be just as painful for the
artist as the client. A team at Ohio State University
has found that the long working hours and poor
posture that are typical for tattoo artists can lead
to headaches and chronic back pain.
19
DISCOVERIES
20
APRIL 2017
ANTHROPOLOGY
3
in what is now central Belize has raised new there are raised hieroglyphs on the back
questions about the Mayan civilisation that which say as much. These tell us that the
ruled Central America from around 2000 BC pendant was made for King Janaab’ Ohl
until the Spanish colonisation. K’inich, who ascended to the throne in 647
million
The pendant was unearthed at Nim Le AD, while inscriptions on the walls of the
Punit, some 40km north of the town of Punta 9th-Century tomb in which it was found
Gorda, in 2015. Nim Le Punit, which was show the priest-king wearing the pendant in
discovered in 1976, is known to have been a incense-scattering ceremonies.
The number of people in the
Mayan settlement between 150 and 850 AD, So what were the king and his pendant
UK who suffer from colds
in keeping with the pendant’s estimated doing in lowly, outlying Nim Le Punit, and
and flu every winter thanks
creation date of around 670 AD. why was the pendant buried in a tomb at all?
to vitamin D deficiency,
However, it was believed to be a village of It’s as though an ancient British crown had
according to a study by a
relatively low importance, lying on the mysteriously surfaced in a small fishing
team at Queen Mary
outskirts of the Mayan empire. And yet the village in Devon, and archaeologists now
University of London.
T-shaped pendant clearly belonged to a intend to investigate further.
2
HOURS
The average time a wild
African elephant spends
sleeping per day – the least
amount of any mammal
studied to date.
12
The number of antibiotic-
The hieroglyphs on the
pendant say that it was
resistant superbugs named
made for the Mayan king by the World Health
Janaab’ Ohl K’inich Organization as posing a
threat to human health.
21
DISCOVERIES
FOSSILS
22
APRIL 2017
SPACE
MATTER CREATED
It’s dark matter as we’ve never seen it through the ‘lens’. The team decoded
before: a team from Yale University has these distortions to create the map of
put together one of the highest resolution dark matter.
maps of the elusive particles by using “With the data of these three lensing
images from the Hubble Space Telescope clusters we have successfully mapped
to study three clusters of galaxies. the granularity of dark matter within
Dark matter is a theorised substance the clusters in exquisite detail,” said
that doesn’t reflect or absorb light and is researcher Prof Priyamvada Natarajan.
thought to comprise 80 per cent of the “We have mapped all of the clumps of
matter in the Universe. It can only be dark matter that the data permit us to
detected indirectly through its detect, and have produced the most
gravitational effects. detailed topological map of the dark
Dark matter particles are thought to matter landscape to date.”
provide the unseen mass that is They found that the map closely
responsible for a phenomenon known as
gravitational lensing, by bending light
matches computer simulations of dark
matter theoretically predicted by the
‘SURROGATE’ HENS
originating from distant galaxies. This cold dark matter model – dark matter BRED TO LAY OTHER
CHICKENS’ EGGS
light bending produces distortions that moves slowly compared to the
in the shapes of galaxies viewed speed of light.
23
DISCOVERIES
Robinmoore’s night
frog is tiny enough to
crouch on a coin
W H AT W E
LEARNED
THIS MONTH
LIFE EXPECTANCY
SET TO EXCEED 90
FOR FIRST TIME
A study by researchers in
London has found women in
South Korea will live to an
average of 90 by 2030.
24
COMMENT
Having been a kid during the Space Race of the The mere fact that they were female meant their
1960s, I’ve always reckoned myself something of a work was largely viewed as just a higher form of
space buff. While still in short trousers I could
reel off the names of all the astronauts and
“THE WOMEN ‘chore’ women were supposedly naturally good
at. Then there was the effect of the racial
cosmonauts and their achievements. But I must THEMSELVES segregation in US military and federal
confess the story behind the hit movie Hidden
Figures came as a complete surprise.
WERE institutions of that era, which even dictated who
Johnson and her colleagues were allowed to sit
Was it really possible that NASA had used ALWAYS VERY next to in the work canteen. With so few beyond
rooms full of people to work out rocket
trajectories and orbits by hand? And not just any
MODEST their own circle to talk to, it’s hardly surprising
their heroic efforts remained unsung.
people, but teams of mathematically gifted ABOUT THEIR Perhaps most telling of all, however, is the fact
African-American women – at a time when
discrimination on the basis of ethnicity and
EFFORTS” that the women themselves were always very
modest about their efforts. As Shetterly told BBC
gender were rampant? History magazine in a recent interview, when
The story of how Katherine Johnson and her Johnson and her former colleagues learned their
fellow “colored computers” – as they were known stories would be told in a book and a movie, their
at NASA in the early 1960s – helped America win reactions was: “What’s the big deal?”
the Space Race is truly inspiring in both human Yet at the same time, they knew they had never
and scientific terms. Each day, Johnson and her got the accolades they deserved. This will seem
colleagues tackled mathematical problems of utterly paradoxical – especially to those of us
mind-bending complexity while simultaneously known as ‘men’. From the first time we
dealing with routine sexism and racism. successfully use a potty, we males tend to be very
Yet despite all of the hardships they faced, the keen on making sure everyone knows of our
quality of their work was such that when John achievements. But women… not so much.
Glenn, the first American into orbit, was given And no, it’s not just me saying that.
his flight details worked out using an IBM Research shows that women are less likely
computer, he insisted on having them personally than men to put themselves forward for
re-calculated by Johnson – just to be sure. promotion, often because they think that if
So how come the story of Johnson and her they just keep doing great work, someone
colleagues has remained hidden for so long? will surely notice eventually. That’s a big
According to author Margot Lee Shetterly, mistake – and one that benefits pushy blokes
author of the eponymous book on which the with no qualms about bragging to the boss.
movie is based, part of the reason is that In Lean In, her celebrated study of leadership,
much of their work was secret. Facebook’s chief operating officer Sheryl
The booster rockets that were used to put Sandberg cites this phenomenon as a key reason
the first US astronauts into space were why women are under-represented at the top
essentially just modified ballistic of their professions. Hidden Figures does a
missiles, which had originally been grand job of showing the feistiness and
designed to lob thermonuclear determination of Johnson and her
weapons at the Soviets. As such, their colleagues in helping America win the
ILLUSTRATION: DANIEL BRIGHT
range, acceleration and other Space Race. But anyone who thinks women
characteristics needed to make trajectory would find it all less of a struggle today is
calculations were classified. But as living on another planet.
Shetterly researched her book, she found
other reasons for the role of NASA’s human
computers remaining hidden – reasons Robert Matthews is visiting professor in science
that are hard to fathom today. at Aston University, Birmingham.
25
OPEN FOR
ENTRIES!
CLOSING DATE
30 APRIL 2017
27
INNOVATIONS
VR ON THE
EDITOR’S
CHOICE MOVE
LENOVO THINKPAD P71
28
APRIL 2017
APP FEED
Blynk
Add smartphone
control to projects that
use an Arduino or
Raspberry Pi. Just drag
and drop widgets to
build your device’s own
app-based UI.
Free, iOS/Android
POOCH PRYER
JAGGER & LEWIS SMART DOG COLLAR
Like a Fitbit for Fido, this smart device how much they’re eating and drinking
from Jagger & Lewis will track your dog’s and how often they bark. This
behaviour and provide analytics via an information is then correlated against Lego Life
accompanying app. It clips onto your your dog’s age and breed to alert you if This Instagram-like
dog’s collar, then tracks their body something looks like it may be amiss. social network for
temperature, how far they’re walking, £149, jagger-lewis.com under-13s lets kids
share pictures of
their creations
without revealing
29
INNOVATIONS
SLEEP EASY
Sleep trackers could actually harm, not help,
your sleep quality. ‘Orthosomnia’, aspiring to
a perfect night’s sleep, could become an
unhealthy preoccupation, according to a
report in the journal Sleep Medicine.
30
APRIL 2017
M AT E R I A L S
Building better
batteries
Two different batteries developed at
Harvard and Pennsylvania State in the US
could hold the key to better energy storage.
Both of the batteries aim to make energy
storage more efficient and less
environmentally harmful. Much of the
current research focuses on ‘flow cells’ – a
type of battery that can be recharged by
simply replacing the electrolyte fluids
inside – and it’s this path that the Harvard
team has gone down. The researchers have
ROBOTS modified the molecular structure of the
electrolytes so that they can be dissolved
more real
VR Sense is a virtual reality gaming
cabinet from Koei Tecmo Wave. It features
enhancements designed to turn VR into a
multisensory experience, complete with a
moving seat, realistic aromas, and
weather and temperature effects.
If you play GI Jockey Sense, for instance,
your seat will buck up and down like a
real horse while you feel the wind and
rain lashing on your face. Meanwhile, a
version of Koei’s flagship title Dynasty
Warrior features “a realistic reproduction
of hot flames covering the battlefield”. But
we’re not sure we’re brave enough to dive
into survival game Horror Sense…
The cabinet is expected to find its way
into Japanese arcades some time in the
next year or two.
31
INNOVATIONS
MEDICAL MARVELS
6JGUGƂXGICFIGVUEQWNFOCMG)2UNKXGUGCUKGTKPVJGPGCTHWVWTG
1. BIO BATTERIES
&QEVQTUKPETGCUKPIN[WUGUYCNNQYCDNGUGPUQTUVQUGGYJCVoU
IQKPIQPKPUKFGCRCVKGPVoUDQF[DWVVJGRTQDNGOKUVJCVVQDG
UCHGVJG[ECPUVQTGQPN[NKOKVGFRQYGTCPFVJGTGHQTG
V[RKECNN[NCUVLWUVCPJQWTQTVYQDGHQTGVJGDCVVGTKGUFKG$WV
CVGCOCV/+6JCUWPXGKNGFCPGYDCVVGT[VJCVJCTPGUUGUVJG
GNGEVTQN[VGUKPFKIGUVKXGHNWKFUVQIGPGTCVGEWTTGPV7UKPIQPG
UWEJDCVVGT[VJGVGCORQYGTGFCVGORGTCVWTGUGPUQTHQTQXGT
UKZFC[UCUKVRCUUGFVJTQWIJCRKIoUFKIGUVKXGVTCEV
2. LITTLE LABS
#OKETQEJKRJCUDGGPFGXGNQRGFCV5VCPHQTF7PKXGTUKV[
VJCVECPECTT[QWVQXGTFKCIPQUVKEVGUVUUWEJCUKUQNCVKPI
CPFKFGPVKH[KPIDTGCUVECPEGTEGNNUCPFUETGGPKPIHQT
XCTKQWUVQZKPU$GUVQHCNNKVECPDGOCPWHCEVWTGFHQTNGUU
VJCPCRGPP[RGTWPKV+VoUJQRGFVJGFGXKEGEQWNFDGWUGF
VQRTQXKFGDGVVGTJGCNVJECTGKPFGXGNQRKPIEQWPVTKGUYJGTG
JQURKVCNUCTGUECTEG
3. TINNITUS APPS
6KPPKVWUQTTKPIKPIKPVJGGCTUKUCUUQEKCVGFYKVJVJG
DTCKPoUCWFKVQT[EQTVGZ4GUGCTEJGTUCVVJG9[UU%GPVGTHQT
$KQCPF0GWTQGPIKPGGTKPIKP)GPGXCJCXGFGXGNQRGFC
DTCKPKORNCPVVJCVGPCDNGUVJGWUGTVQSWKGVGPVJGFKPD[
VJQWIJVEQPVTQNCNQPG5KIPCNUCTGVTCPUOKVVGFHTQOVJG
KORNCPVVQVJGRGTUQPoURJQPG6QUVQRVJGVKPPKVWUVJG
RGTUQPEQPEGPVTCVGUQPCNVGTKPIVJGFKURNC[QHCURGEKCNKUGF
CRREJCPIKPIVJGDTCKPCEVKXKV[KPVJGRTQEGUU
32
If you want to fit study into your busy life, T University of Nottingham is
The
a UK top 10 engineering faculty
The University of Nottingham’s distance
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If you’re looking for a pursue your interest Courses
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study, The University of Whether you choose a Architecture Part 3
Nottingham offers a range distance learning or part- (part-time)
'Our engineers and architects
of courses designed to fit time course, you’ll learn • Applied Ergonomics and
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For more information, including
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An inspir ing
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Discover the fascinating finds unearthed
during construction of a railway under London
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M ES SAG E O F T H E MO N T H MO R E FO R YO U
Something to
Don’t forget that our magazine is also
available on all major digital platforms.
detects when you’re stressed, and will $130 hydrogen sulphide being one of the smelliest along The latest special edition explores the
offer exercises to help. spire.io with methanethiol. spacecraft
ft touring the Solar System, and
– Mun Keat Looi, science writer takes a peek at future space missions.
35
COVER FEATURE
WHY WE NEED TO GO
B A C K MOON TO
THE
38
n 14 December
THE LAST 1972, Gene Cernan
stood at the foot
MOONWALKER, of the lunar
landing module
GENE CERNAN, and said, “…I take man’s last step
from the surface, back home for
DIED AGED 82 ON some time to come – but we
believe not too long into the
16 JANUARY THIS future”. He was the 12th person
to walk on the Moon, and clearly
YEAR, SERVING anticipated a fairly prompt
return. That was not to be, as
AS A STARK ambitions – if not funding –
turned towards Mars. No one
REMINDER has walked on the Moon since.
Now the tide is turning. After
THAT AN years of interest in the Red
Planet, the scientific and
AWFUL LOT OF astronautical community is
uniting behind a push to return
TIME HAS to the Moon, both to continue
the research that was started by
PASSED SINCE the Apollo missions and to
prepare for future exploration.
A HUMAN We spoke to five leading voices
from the worlds of astronomy,
LAST STOOD philosophy, science and
technology to understand why
ON THE MOON we have to go back.
39
COVER FEATURE
PROF
LEWIS DARTNELL
Astrobiologist,
University of Leicester, UK
40
NAVEEN
Astronaut Charles Duke
takes a stroll next to the
JAIN
Moon’s Plum Crater
Co-founder and chairman, Moon Express
41
COVER FEATURE
MISSIONS TO
THE MOON NEARSIDE OF MOON
TIMELINE
LUNA 17
LUNA 2
LUNA 21
LUNA 13 APOLLO 15
APOLLO 17 LUNA 15
Spacecraft Launch Year LUNA 23
date LUNA 9 SURVEYOR 5 LUNA 24
LUNA 5 SURVEYOR 2
LUNA 8 SURVEYOR 4 RANGER 8
LUNA 2 SEPT 12 1959
SURVEYOR 3 LUNA 20
1960 SURVEYOR 6 LUNA 18
SURVEYOR 1 APOLLO 14 APOLLO 11
1961 CHANG’E1 LUNA 16
APOLLO 12
LUNAR ORBITER 4
1962
APOLLO 16
RANGER 7
1963
RANGER 9
4
196
HITEN
2 8
LY SMART-1
JU
R7 7
NGE B1
RA E 65
R 8F 19 SURVEYOR 7
E 21
NG AR
RA KAGUYA
9M 9
ER AY
NG M LUNA PROSPECTOR
5
RA
3
A
EC
UN CHANDRAYAAN-1
D
L
3 1
8
66
N
A
19
JA
N
30
LU
AY
10
1967
1968
NA
1M
LU
UG
0
T2
OR
6
A
21
OV
EP
EY
R1
FEB 5
3 APRIL 17
SURVEYOR 6 NOV 7
LUNAR ORBITER 4 MAY 4
SURVEYOR 4 JLUY 14
SURVEYOR 5 SEPT 8
SURVEYOR 7 JAN 7
DEC
2S
2N
RV
ITE
SU
OR
RB
ER
ITER 3
A 13
EY
RO
BIT
RV
LUN
NA
OR
SURVEYOR
R ORB
SU
LU
AR
LUN
LUNA
LUNA 2
The first spacecraft to
reach the surface of
the Moon, and the
first human-made
object to land on
another celestial body
42
MISSIONS STATS KEY
LUNAR ORBITER 3
A
74
U
G
19
9
73
LU
OC
197
N
A
T2
2
JA
24
1971
1969
1970
8L
DE
N
8L
UN
APR
C7
FEB
UN
A
SEPT
JULY 26 A
AP
JULY 13 LUNA 15
JULY 16 APOLLO 11
NOV 14 APOLLO 12
SEPT 12 LUNA 16
NOV 10 LUNA 17
JAN 31 APOLLO 14
23
IL 1
A2
1
OL
4 LU
6A
1
2 LUN
LO
POL
NA 2
17
POLLO 15
LO
A 18
16
ILLUSTRATION: ACUTE GRAPHICS
CHANDRAYAAN-1
India's first lunar probe.
Launched in October
2008, and operated until
August 2009. It achieved
95 per cent of its
planned objectives
43
COVER FEATURE
APOLLO HAPPENED
AND I THOUGHT IT
I THOUGHT THAT
WAS WHAT WE
WERE GOING TO
BE DOING: PEOPLE
IN SPACE”
ABOVE: NASA’s
44
G
GONZALO
MMUNEVAR Even if this is not the case, it is still important to
find out how the Earth and the Moon came to be
P
Philosopher, Lawrence Technological together like they are.
UUniversity, Michigan The Moon has a record of collisions with
comets and asteroids [shown by the size and
number of craters on its surface] that we do not
“Philosophy has to do with understanding our have on Earth. The Moon knows so much.
relationship with the world. In that sense, it is To understand the Earth is to understand the
inextricably bound to science. It seems to me that Earth as a planet, which means to understand
the philosophical concern of this is what happens what planets are, how they formed, how they
if we go to places like the Moon. evolved and how they relate to the Sun and so on.
We can look at what has already happened. By The Moon is so close to us. So going back to it is
going to the Moon, with Apollo and other going to help us improve our understanding of
missions, we have come to understand better what our place in the Universe.
the Earth is like. So knowledge of the planetary Exploring with humans is a lot more expensive
system and of the cosmos gives us knowledge of and dangerous than doing it with machines but in
the Earth. It is not just idle curiosity. It is the long run we have to do it any way. It also
something that in the long run affects us because provides other benefits because humans are much
it makes us understand our place in the Universe, more flexible than robots anyway.
and once we understand the Universe – and this is Steve Squires, the person in charge of the Mars
the point of practically all knowledge – we can rovers, once said that he was so pleased with
then interact with that world better. everything a rover had done in the previous six
For us, understanding what the Earth is like is months, but he said that an astronaut could have
extremely important because the Earth has done it all in a single day.
changed. To understand that, we need to know It is great that we have those machines, but
what kind of planet the Earth was when it formed eventually we need to be out there. I also think it
and what kind of forces have acted upon it. One of is good to have adventures as a species so that
the most important objects that we have to study is people can then dream about them and
PHOTOS: NASA X2
the Moon. By going to the Moon only a few times participate in them.
we accumulated an extraordinary amount of Going to the Moon the first time around was so
knowledge about what the Earth was like because exciting. Going back will give us the opportunity
the Earth and Moon apparently formed together. to go to other, more exciting places.”
45
COVER FEATURE
CHRIS HADFIELD
Astronaut, first Canadian to walk in space
station in Antarctica and it will tell us the air
temperature and the windspeed. But that is such a
tiny piece of the information that we need to know
about Antarctica. Most of the data needs to be
inquisitively pursued, and robots are terrible at
“Exploration is what teaches us things. doing that.
Exploration allows us to make educated and There is nothing magic about the ‘space’ in
informed decisions. If we never explore then we space exploration, but people have a very skewed
cannot improve and expand. Exploration is view of taking exploration into the third
fundamental to human nature. It is why we learn dimension. But it’s inaccurate to think like this,
to walk before we learn to talk because we have to as there are so many historical cases that are
explore to become a well-formed human being. almost identical. You could say, ‘Oh well the
And we have to have exploration as part of our technology is too expensive.’ Well, it was pretty
society in order to be a well-formed society. expensive to do each of those things at the
A lot of the world is uninhabitable without beginning but then it becomes a part of what we
technology. But once you develop technology, do and who we are as a species.
then living there has enormously valuable So should we forsake lunar exploration for
consequences for humankind. Martian exploration? They’re both largely
There are so many precedents in history. I look unknown. The real question is how do we not blow
at the businessmen of England in 1496 who were it. How do we not make fatal mistakes. We’re going
umming and ahhing about Columbus, ‘Well, okay to get it wrong. On the [International] Space
he’s discovered a new world but should we do Station, on my three spaceflights, stuff went wrong
anything, is there a quick buck to be made?’ But all the time. You would have a hard time counting
then a few far-sighted people in the Bristol area the number of times that we needed to be saved by
and a few in London said, ‘I think exploration is bringing replacement equipment up from Earth.
going to lead to good things, it is going to take a If we go to Mars for a six-month voyage, then we
while to get any money back but let’s fund John are basically trapped in our own ignorance. We’re
Cabot’. And 1496 was a complete bust. Cabot going to end up being like the Franklin
launched out of Bristol in one ship, and didn’t expedition, where you think you know what
know what he was doing, but he learned a lot. you’re doing but you kill everybody. We have to
He came back and then in 1497, he discovered recognise that failure is a big, big part of success,
Newfoundland and opened North America to so you have to give yourself the opportunity to fail
England, and began the great English exploration without destroying the entire effort that you are
over the next 300 years. trying to accomplish.”
Chris Hadfield’s
videos and photos
of his time aboard
the ISS captured
the imagination of
millions of social
media users
around the world
PHOTOS: NASA X2 ILLUSTRATION: KATE COPELAND
46
“EXPLORATION IS
FUNDAMENTAL TO
HUMAN NATUR E.
IT IS WHY WE WALK
BEFOR E WE TALK”
47
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IN FOCUS | NEUROSCIENCE
PHOTO: GETTY
50
I N FO C U S
Do
social
networks
make us
antisocial?
MANY OF US HAVE EXPERIENCED THE WAYS IN
WHICH SOCIAL MEDIA HAS CHANGED THE ONLINE
WORLD. BUT SHOULD WE BE WORRIED ABOUT IT
ALTERING OUR BEHAVIOUR TOO?
WORDS: DR DEAN BURNETT
Dean is a doctor of neuroscience at Cardiff University. His debut book, The Idiot Brain, is available now.
You can follow him on Twitter @garwboy
51
IN FOCUS | NEUROSCIENCE
52
1
2 Dopamine is released
by the brain when we enjoy
a successful social
interaction, giving us a
rush of pleasure
3
PHOTOS: SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY, GETTY X2
53
IN FOCUS | NEUROSCIENCE
2 phenomenon that should be classed as a clinical reward. Over time, the brain adapts to expect these
disorder, citing a case study of an individual who pleasurable signals, and does things like disrupt the
spent five hours a day checking Facebook, rarely areas responsible for inhibitions or conscious
leaving the house to do so, losing jobs and in one case self-control to keep them coming. Indeed, a 2013
interrupting the therapy consultation to check their neuroimaging study at the University of Zurich led by
updates – tantamount to opening a beer during an AA psychologist Dr Katrin Preller revealed that cocaine
meeting. It essentially means cutting off all other addicts have diminished activity in areas like the
forms of social contact to focus solely on social media, orbitofrontal cortex, resulting in reduced emotional
to the detriment of your overall existence. empathy and willingness to socialise. So if social
There are explanations for this. A successful social network addiction is exploiting similar mechanisms to
interaction means we experience a real-world reward cocaine addiction, then social networks may well be
in the brain. Oxytocin release gives a general sense of having an ironically negative impact on individual’s
well-being and connection, ability to socialise, rendering them more antisocial.
and the mesolimbic reward More research is needed.
“As early pathway, buried deep in the
centre of the brain, releases CONTROL FREAKS
as 2010, dopamine, giving a rush of
pleasure. Some argue – and a
Another issue is that people have a greater deal of
control over their interactions online, meaning they
54
where they may otherwise be criticised or challenged,
thus ensuring more socially acceptable behaviours.
Another intriguing finding, from a 2015 study led by
Prof Joy Peluchette at Lindenwood University, was
that certain types of behaviour on social networks –
namely extroversion and ‘openness’ – actually
increase the odds of being a victim of cyberbullying. It
may sound counterintuitive, but it makes a certain
amount of sense. A person may typically keep their
more flamboyant or expressive natures suppressed,
because social norms deter such things. Subtle signs
of discomfort in those around you, awkward body
language and responses, muted atmospheres… these
all act to keep gregarious or overly personal tendencies
in check, to some extent.
However, such cues aren’t present online, so you can
Spending time socialising
with people can be hard
be as overly expressive or personal as you like on
work for the brain there. But other people may find this unsettling or
off-putting, or could see it as cynical attention-
seeking. Either way, they react aggressively, and attack
the person. But social networks also protect the
However, these areas were only noticeably active when attacker from the consequences of their actions,
subjects tried to make themselves look bad – that is introducing a distance and degree of anonymity
when they were choosing behaviours to make people between themselves and their victim, shielding them
dislike them. If they were choosing behaviours that from the immediate effects, but supplying the same
made them look good, there was no detectable ‘rush’ of having lowered someone’s status and boosted
difference to normal brain activity. Coupled with the their own. So social networks again become a way to
fact that subjects were much faster at processing facilitate and perpetuate antisocial actions.
behaviours that made them look good as opposed to Social networks also give us the ability to pick and
bad, the conclusion was that presenting a positive choose what we see and hear from others, meaning we
image of ourselves to others is what the brain is doing can end up in the oft-cited ‘echo chamber’. Social
all the time! It’s the brain’s default state. networks make it much easier to form groups, and
Granted, it was a small and limited study, but it’s an constantly remain part of them. This can give us a
interesting outcome nonetheless. And if we’re more ‘extreme’ leanings, making more intolerant of
constantly focused on presenting a positive image of contrasting views as we grow unused to encountering
ourselves, it’s no wonder social networks are so them. What should be a casual meet-up in a pub can
popular, as they offer a much greater sense of control of easily become a blistering row about a football team.
how we come across. Antisocial behaviour, caused by social networks.
But this control is a double-edged sword. Even if It’s not all doom and gloom. More nervous or
you’re just sitting with friends, the tendency to check socially awkward people can be liberated by the
your phone rather than talk can be overwhelming. The controlled and organised communication offered by
brain is usually averse to risk, preferring predictable social networks, and great friendships and
options over less certain ones, and the cool, calm relationships can form across the world now that
interface on the screen is often subconsciously more would never have been able to exist before. But the
reassuring than the chaotic conversation going on truth is, for all that they may sometimes not work that
around you. The people you’re with may consider this well, the human brain has evolved a variety of systems
behaviour antisocial. And rightly so. to make sure social interaction happens as efficiently
More worryingly, a 2015 survey of men aged 18-40 by as possible. Social networks, though, throw many
Jesse Fox and Margaret Rooney in the journal spanners in the works here, causing overall
Personality And Individual Differences revealed that disruption, which can
the amount of time spent on social networking sites, sometimes mean they end D I S C OV E R M O R E
posting selfies and, revealingly, editing selfies to make up achieving the opposite of
PHOTOS: GETTY X3
them look better, was correlated with traits like what they’re built for, and Read a BBC iWonder article
narcissism and psychopathy. This isn’t to say social making people antisocial. about why social media
networks cause these things, but they offer an outlet, a Like and share this article seems ‘fake’ to some people
way for them to be expressed free of consequence, if you agree! at bbc.in/2c86Grt
55
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59
GENETICS
“THERE’S VERY
2 was growing year-on-year. Anyone
LITTLE HARD
EVIDENCE THAT
artists lurking up the ancestral
with a burning biological curiosity and a family tree.
thousand dollars to spare could now sign It’s certainly possible to pin genetic
up to ‘get their genomes done’. Yet despite
their growing popularity, when experts
A GENETICALLY- heritage to certain parts of the world,
particularly for populations rather than
analysed the results of these tests they
found them to be misleading or even just
TAILORED DIET individuals (though even then it’s a
relatively imprecise science), as well as
plain wrong, driven by deceptive
marketing rather than sound science.
IS ANY MORE figuring out what percentage of your
genome came from Neanderthals. But
Put off by regulatory crackdowns and a
limited consumer base, many of the
EFFECTIVE THAN many scientists working in the field of
human genetics and evolution are less
original SNP-based personalised genetics
firms closed down or sold out to larger A GENERIC ONE” convinced. For example, researchers
from the Molecular and Cultural
firms. But there have been a few Evolution Laboratory at University
survivors, and these companies continue College London have investigated and
to link SNPs to a wide range of disease risks, debunked the more dubious claims as little more
physical traits and ancestry. And as the pace of than “genetic astrology”. They argue that the
technology has accelerated and costs have complex patterns of human mating and migration
plummeted, the genetic marketplace is opening up make it tricky to tease apart the tangled genetic
once again. BELOW: A printed threads in each of us with any degree of accuracy.
copy of the The other hot topic in DTC testing comes under
FAMILY TIES human genome the broad banner of ‘lifestyle’. Companies now offer
fills a whole book
One of the big boom areas is in genetic ancestry the chance to ‘hack your body’ and ‘boost your
services, with companies offering to find your long- RIGHT: A chip human potential’ with all kinds of dietary and
containing DNA
lost genetic relatives and trace your roots around the is loaded into a
fitness advice tailored to your personal combination
globe. Some of them even tell romantic stories of machine for of certain SNPs. Some recommend combinations of
ancient tribes, fierce barbarians or sophisticated analysis ‘genetically selected’ vitamins and dietary
supplements, while others even offer personalised
meals delivered direct to your door. But although
these tests all claim to be supported by science –
and while it’s true that the SNPs they test for have
been linked to weight, metabolism or other physical
traits in large studies – there’s actually not very
much hard evidence available to suggest that
following a genetically-tailored diet and fitness
plan is more effective than following a generic one.
In fact, a large randomised controlled trial carried
out by scientists at University College London and
published in 2015 showed that giving people a
weight loss programme alongside information about
60
MINING THE GENOME
Collection
All that’s needed to analyse your DNA is
a saliva sample, which can be sent via
post to one of the many consumer
gene-testing companies.
Extraction
The company extracts and purifies your
DNA from cells in the saliva.
61
GENETICS
DIET
Some companies are offering personalised diet
advice based on a number of genetic markers – a
field known as ‘nutrigenetics’. The idea is that
matching foods to variations in genes that have
been linked to obesity, fat metabolism and hunger
will bring better weight control. And as a treat, you
can buy bespoke beer or fine wines matched to
your genes.
62
“THE SAME ISSUES
ABOVE LEFT: An But with the cost of “Information about
autoradiogram
showing the order of sequencing falling ancestry, fitness and what
nucleotide bases in a
sample of DNA
rapidly, it might only be a
matter of time – THAT HAVE ALWAYS kind of wine you like might
also be mixed in with
ABOVE: A DNA
sequence reveals the
especially as Illumina’s
new NovaSeq machine DOGGED GENETIC whether you’ve got high
susceptibility to breast
TESTING REMAIN,
presence of APO E, a cancer or a gene variant that
genetic marker for
promises to bring the
Alzheimer’s $100 genome within means you’re going to get
range. Yet for all the
excitement and talk of PARTICULARLY Alzheimer’s disease early in
life,” says Wright. “Those are
high-tech apps fuelling
the consumer genomic AROUND PRIVACY quite different types of
information, but you’ll be
revolution, the same
issues remain that have AND CONSENT” able to get it all from your
genome. Some of them
always dogged genetic are fun, and some of them
testing, particularly really aren’t.”
around privacy, consent and the question of who We’re seeing the start of a genomic gold rush: in a
gets access to the data. few years, having your DNA sequenced and rifling
Yet for all the excitement and talk of high-tech through it could be as simple and fun as browsing
apps fuelling the consumer genomic revolution, the TV box sets. But it’s important to remember that
same issues that have always dogged genetic these companies hook curious consumers with
testing remain, particularly around privacy, promises of genetic insights because they want to
consent and the question of who gets access to the make money. This is powerful, personal
data. Whiling away some idle time in a genetic app information, with potentially life-changing
store is likely to be a harmless curiosity for most consequences, and it’s worth handling with care.
people, and at a time when it’s important to
encourage the public to engage with genetics, it
seems churlish to raise a note of caution. But
wringing data out of your genome could raise more Kat Arney is a science writer and broadcaster. Her first book, Herding
questions than it answers. Hemingway’s Cats: Understanding How Our Genes Work, is out now.
63
: Jeff Forshaw and Brian Cox :
GUIDE TO THE COSMOS
Part I of IV
THE
UNIVERSAL
FABRIC
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In this exclusive four-part series, YKVJCDGCOQHNKIJV
ILLUSTRATIONS: SAM CHIVERS, KATE COPELAND
64
65
GUIDE TO THE COSMOS PART 1
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66
The key idea Glossary
A B TWIN PARADOX
The puzzle that two identical twins should
age at different rates depending on how
they move. There’s actually no paradox
– Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity
explains why this is true.
NEUTRON STAR
These astonishingly dense dead stars have
a mass roughly equal to the Sun, but
squeezed into the size of a city. Spinning
neutron stars emit pulses of radio waves,
which can be used by astronomers to test
Einstein’s theory
of gravity.
PRINCIPLE OF RELATIVITY
The idea that there is no way to define ‘at
rest’ in any absolute sense. In other words,
all motion is relative.
SPACE-TIME
Modern physics combines the three
dimensions of space and the one
dimension of time into this single,
four-dimensional entity.
GRAVITATIONAL WAVE
A moving ripple in the fabric of space-time
that causes lengths to change and clocks to
The Andromeda galaxy – 50 years away (if you could travel at 99.99999999 per cent of the speed of light) tick at different rates as it passes by.
67
GUIDE TO THE COSMOS PART 1
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EQPWPFTWOYJKEJCICKPECNNUKPVQ
SWGUVKQPVJGPCVWTGQH2
68
ABOVE: Jodrell Bank’s Lovell Telescope played a part in confirming the existence of gravitational waves, and so confirming Einstein’s theories
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
The speed of light as it It’s also impossible to From these two ideas, Gravity also affects the Space and time are not
moves through empty tell the difference Einstein concluded that passage of time. Clocks fixed – they are
space is the same for between moving time and distance are slow down under the malleable and
everyone, which means uniformly and not not constants: moving influence of gravity so, subjective, and
it would be impossible moving at all – this is clocks run slow, moving for example, clocks tick together they form
to catch up with a beam known as the principle rulers shrink. So faster at the top of a universal,
of light, no matter how of relativity. Einstein’s someone zipping Mount Everest. This is a four-dimensional
fast you might, principle was around in a spaceship key result of Einstein’s fabric called
hypothetically, pre-empted by Galileo will age slower than General Theory of space-time. This idea is
be travelling. in the 17th Century. someone on Earth. Relativity. central to physics.
69
GUIDE TO THE COSMOS PART 1
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made the UVTGPIVJQHITCXKV[ YJKEJFGETGCUGUCU
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70
“Einstein’s
theory
forces us to
conclude
that, like
time,
distances
in space
are also
subjective”
ABOVE: Gravitational waves – ripples in the fabric of space and time – confirm Einstein’s theory
71
EVERYDAY SCIENCE
P
from a poster on the Sometimes you see a wide line
wall was a glamorous close to the Sun, which becomes
model, crowned with narrower as it comes in towards the
a shining fountain of shore. And sometimes it bulges in
impossible hair. A selection of the middle, or near the coast. The
different hairbrushes located to my water isn’t a perfect mirror, because
left were laid out like a toolkit, it isn’t completely flat. If it was,
primed for the pursuit of then you would just see an upside-
perfection. My own wayward down image of the Sun reflected in
mane kept falling into my eyes, its surface. But that’s rare. A glitter
betraying my utter ambivalence path is made up of thousands of
towards the hair care trade. But the individual sparkles, as different
hair scientist that we had come to waves catch the Sun’s image. Those
visit was determined to extract my waves can be slightly off to the side,
opinion anyway. He was gesturing or in front of, or behind the perfect
at three shiny tresses of hair, image, and you see the sparkles as
perfectly combed and displayed different waves catch the light
under a bright light. He was asking coming from the Sun and redirect
a question: “Which one of these do it to you. So the rougher the water
you think is in the best is, the wider and longer the glitter
condition?”. I was clearly about to path, because there are lots of
fail the first test of hair care, different places that a wave can be
because all of the tresses looked and still bounce sunlight towards
exactly the same to me. And then, you. A narrow glitter path tells
just before I admitted my you there’s calmer water. Even
ignorance, my brain made the link though you can’t see the individual
with the ocean. waves – they’re relatively small and
The mighty Pacific Ocean was they could be miles away – the
my companion when I made the glitter pattern is providing a
switch from my PhD topic to oceanography, and was measure of surface roughness.
introduced to the mysteries of our planet’s oceans. At And so back to the hair. An individual strand of
the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in hair is covered with tiny scales. On healthy hair, the
California, where I was based, the Pacific was the scales lie down flat, but on damaged hair, they stick
backdrop to everything. Every Friday after work, the out at all sorts of funny angles. One of the hair tresses
scientists would gather at a wooden hut on a cliff, was reflecting the bright light in a really narrow line,
watch the sunset over the ocean and drink beer. It and the others were wider. The same principle was at
was there that I first noticed the sparkly line on the work both here and on the ocean – I couldn’t see the
water’s surface when the Sun was low, reaching out scruffed-up scales on the damaged
directly towards me. It’s poetically known as a ‘glitter hair, but I could infer their
path’, as sunlight sparkles off the ocean into your Dr Helen Czerski is a physicist existence from the shine pattern. I
eyes. And on this very same cliff top, decades earlier, and BBC science presenter. Her pointed at the one with the narrow
ILLUSTRATION: KYLE SMART
two physicists had worked out that the glitter path book, The Storm In A Teacup, is shine pattern, and the hair
carried information. out now (£8.99, Transworld). scientist beamed at me. Maybe
You can often see a glitter path on rivers and lakes NEXT ISSUE: WHY DOES SPINACH GO there’s hope for me yet in the
as well as the ocean, whenever the Sun is low in the DARKER GREEN WHEN COOKED? world of hair care.
73
Dr
Saunders
strikes back
Psychiatrist suffers stroke, then analyses symptoms to help others
Dr Tony Saunders always looked But Tony noticed that discussing his a new generation of doctors are
after his health, so it seemed doubly stroke made him anxious – he even supporting their patients with
unfair when he collapsed with a started stuttering. powerful new techniques.
major stroke in the gym.
As a psychiatrist, he identified this This is Tony’s legacy. And now you
Tony’s family were worried that he as post-traumatic stress disorder. can strike back against stroke too,
could die, as stroke takes a life He then realised that, on top by leaving us a legacy of your own.
every 13 minutes in the UK. of his medical training, he now
And it’s the leading cause of had valuable first-hand experience
severe adult disability. of stroke.
Fortunately, with excellent So Tony struck back by overcoming
treatment, Tony eventually his anxiety, and giving talks to
returned to work. medical students. As a result,
Registered office: Stroke Association House, 240 City Road, London EC1V 2PR. Registered as a Charity in England and Wales (No 211015) and in Scotland (SC037789). Also registered in Northern Ireland (XT33805), Isle of Man
(No 945) and Jersey (NPO 369). Stroke Association is a Company Limited by Guarantee in England and Wales (No 61274)
DR ALASTAIR ALEXANDRA DR PETER PROF ALICE PROF MARK CHARLOTTE
GUNN CHEUNG J BENTLEY GREGORY LORCH CORNEY
Astronomer, Environment/ Computer Psychologist, Chemist, Zoo director,
astrophysicist climate expert scientist, author sleep expert science writer conservationist
Do elephants
really never
forget?
THEO HUNTER (AGED 11),
SHEFFIELD
75
From left
ft to right: I N N UM B E R S
preserved penis Seven Seas is the
bone of domestic main settlement on
dog, coatimundi, Tristan da Cunha
30
kinkajou and red fox
3
CL AIRE RUSSELL , LEICE S TER
36
The baculum allows prolonged
penetration and it is normally only present That record normally goes to the Tristan da
in animals that mate for longer than three Cunha islands in the South Atlantic, which are
minutes. Lengthy sex sessions are an 2,434km from Saint Helena. But they are only
The number of unique types
adaptation to maximise the male’s chance the most remote if you consider Tristan da
of forest there are in the
of impregnating the female. Humans Cunha island itself and Gough Island as part of
Peruvian rainforest,
evolved monogamy as a reproductive the same archipelago. The two islands are both
according to new research
strategy, which – along with other social inhabited and only 399km apart from each
that mapped chemical
rules – reduces the risk of females mating other. Discounting these, the next most remote is
signatures in the tree
with rival males. Men can therefore get Easter Island, which is 2,075km from the
canopy.
away with shorter copulation times. LV nearest other inhabited spot, Pitcairn Island. LV
76
Why do our ears ring after
we listen to loud music?
MEREDITH BAILE Y, HORSHAM
What’s the
slowest a
plane can fly?
LUCIE COLTMAN, LOUGHBOROUGH
77
I N N UM B E R S
54
The number of days that
traces of the Zika virus can
linger in the blood, after
symptoms have appeared.
35
The percentage increase
Here, the wall of a bacterial cell
is expelling antibiotics (green)
via a pump mechanism
in efficiency of wind
turbines, when their
design is inspired by What causes antibiotic resistance?
insect wings. EDDIE FRIEL , HULL
30
Antibiotic resistance is a good example of spontaneous changes to their genes. Some
natural selection. Exposure to antibiotics gene mutations allow bacteria to produce
increases selective pressure in bacterial enzymes that inactivate antibiotics. Others
populations, boosting the percentage of change their outer structure so that
The number of vaquitas left. resistant bacteria, with new bacterial antibiotics can’t gain access. Some bacteria
Conservationists want to generations inheriting resistance genes. even develop pumping mechanisms to expel
capture some of the Bacteria can sometimes pass on resistance by antibiotics. Overuse and misuse of
remaining individuals of this sharing genetic material with each other. antibiotics has exacerbated the problem of
small porpoise species for They can also become resistant following antibiotic resistance. ED
captive breeding.
78
H OW I T WO R KS
79
What is the current death/birth rate ratio
in the world per year?
What is the
ANTHONY PERRY, USA deepest lake
on Earth?
ELLIE PE ARSON, NORTHAMPTON
HEAD TO HEAD
vs
MO FARAH USAIN BOLT
Usain Bolt is the fastest human in the world, aerobic exertion, making them dead weights
but only up to 200m. His huge legs, packed with over longer distances. Usain Bolt has never
fast-twitch muscle fibres, allow explosive actually run a mile, but most experts think he’d
acceleration but they can’t sustain prolonged struggle to get a time under 4min 30s.
80
The water in Lake Baikal is very
clear, so it is possible to see to a
depth of 40m from the surface
81
W H O R E A L LY I N V E N T E D ?
The Nicobar pigeon is an
island specialist, and is
mostly found in
HANS LEONARD
LIPPERSHEY DIGGES*
living relative?
was shown on The Sky At Night.
Telescopes have been vital to science
since Dutch spectacle maker Hans
PIPPA NEIL SON, S T ALBANS
Lippershey patented the now-familiar
arrangement of lenses in 1608.
But what made Ronan’s telescope The dodo’s closest relative was the branched off from the pigeon family
different was that it was built to a design Rodrigues solitaire, a large bird that before the pigeon family radiated. Some
pre-dating Lippershey’s by decades. lived on the island of Rodrigues in the records (bit.ly/nicobar_pigeon) list the
Ronan claimed that an Elizabethan Indian Ocean. But that’s also extinct. Nicobar pigeon as the closest living
surveyor named Leonard Digges had Those two formed their own group, relative of the dodo. This is based on
found a combination of a glass lens and which was equally related to all pigeons. genetic comparison, which is more
curved mirror that also made distant So there isn’t a single living species the reliable than inferring relationships
objects appear closer. Descriptions of dodo was closest to. Their group from physical characteristics. AP
the device began to circulate around
1570, and its potential military use
prompted Lord Burghley, chief adviser
to Elizabeth I, to commission a report. What’s the neurological
After discovering this manuscript in the difference between
British Library, Ronan built the device, anaesthesia and sleep?
and suggested that it had a claim to
SOPHIA WAN, CROYDON
being the first telescope. He also
suggested Digges’s son, Thomas, had
used it to observe the sky years before If a neuroscientist used
Galileo. Ronan’s claim has failed to electroencephalography (EEG) to
convince historians, however. They record your brain’s electrical
argue that Elizabethan technology was activity while you were under
not capable of making the optical anaesthesia, the results would look
components to the required quality, and different from how they appear
that the telescope is too awkward to use when you are sleeping. In fact, your
in any case. So the consensus remains brain waves under anaesthesia
PHOTOS: GETTY X3, TRANSPORT ACCIDENT COMMISSION
that Lippershey is the originator of thee would more closely resemble those
first working telescope. RM seen were you to have the terrible
misfortune of falling into a coma
*No images of Leon
nard after brain illness or injury. Doctors
Digges are availa
able often tell surgery patients that they
will be ‘put to sleep’ during the
operation, but in terms of the
neurological effects of the
anaesthesia, it would be more
accurate (and more unsettling) to tell
them that they will be put into a
reversible coma. CJ
82
W H AT I S T H I S ?
Race face
Meet Graham. This sculpture
was designed by the Transport
Accident Commission, as part
of an Australian road safety
campaign. He portrays how
the human body would have to
evolve to survive a car crash.
His skull is large, and contains
extra fluid and ligaments to
protect the brain. Meanwhile,
his flat face is covered with
fatty tissue to reduce impact
damage, and his strong,
barrel-like chest is equipped
with airbag-like sacs to protect
the heart and lungs. Find out
more at meetgraham.com.au
83
W H AT CO N N EC T S …
1.
TOM PATERSON, C ARLISLE
2.
and encases it in a vacuole
The new FF91 electric car by Faraday perfect parallel parking all by
Future demonstrated how self-parking themselves: steering, gears, accelerator
is not always perfect, by staying and brakes – you don’t even need to be
3.
resolutely stationary during its big inside the car. However, if you want
unveiling at CES 2017. Thankfully, the most secure way of parking, try a
automated parking is improving. The robotic garage that moves your car like
best cars of 2017 will tell you when a a parcel into its own slot, already in In 1959, the US Postal Service trialled
gap is big enough, will position operation at the The Palais Coburg mail delivery with a Regulus cruise
themselves correctly and can do Hotel, Vienna, Austria. PB missile. The postmaster general
predicted that regular rocket mail
deliveries would be running before
PHOTOS: GETTY X2, ALAMY, WIKIPEDIA, SPACEX ILLUSTRATIONS: RAJA LOCKEY
4.
humans reached the Moon.
Rocket
deliveries
haven’t
taken off
yet, but
SpaceX
has
suggested
using
Falcon 9
Self-parking cars
rockets to send
eliminate any parallel
parking woes cargo from New
York to Tokyo in 25 minutes.
84
“I’d kill for a bit of
orange squash!”
Do fish drink?
ANGEL A COBB, LEICE S TER
Will e-learning
replace teachers?
EDWARD SE YMOUR, HOVE
85
Is the flag still
on the Moon?
HARRIE T F YFE, FALKL AND ISL ANDS
QU EST I O N O F T H E MO N T H
86
SCIENCE TEACHERS –
BECOME AN EXAMINER OR
MODERATOR WITH CCEA!
Opportunities available as CCEA
science examiners and moderators
A supply of well-trained and motivated examiners and
moderators is vital to the health of our entire education
system. That's why we want you to become involved in
the process of marking and moderating examinations
and assessments with CCEA.
ccea.info @ccea_info
OUT THERE
W H AT WE CAN’T WAIT TO DO THIS MONTH
APRIL 2017 EDITED BY JAMES LLOYD
PHOTO:GETTY
88
01 STARGAZING LIVE
LIVE ON BBC TWO, 28-30 MARCH.
EXPLORE THE
SOUTHERN SKY
Stargazing Live returns this March, but with a
twist – Prof Brian Cox and Dara O Briain will be
broadcasting live from Australia. For three nights
they’ll be camped out deep in the Outback, beneath
some of the darkest skies in the world.
It’s the perfect time of year for stargazing Down
Under, with the bulging heart of the Milky Way
directly overhead and the planet Saturn swinging
into view with its famous rings. In the southern sky,
familiar objects such as the Moon and the Orion
constellation appear upside down, while we’ll see
famous stars and constellations such as the
Southern Cross, Scorpius and Alpha Centauri that
are rarely, if ever, visible from the UK.
Meanwhile, we’ll hear haunting tales of
Aboriginal astronomy, meet some of the wildlife
that stalks stargazers in the Outback, and find out
why Australia is in the firing line for contact from
aliens. Maybe they just like warm beer…
DON’T MISS
STARGAZING LIVE
Are you a beginner to
astronomy? Pick up this
special edition from the
team behind Sky At Night
Magazine. On sale now.
89
OUT THERE
02 EXPERIMENT
WITH OUR FOOD
Want to cook up a delicious meal? It’s not just about
the food. We chat to psychologist PROF CHARLES
SPENCE about the strange science of gastrophysics
[of the taste] is down to the food happy with less sugar in our food.
and how much is the ‘everything
else’, but Paul Bocuse, one of How is our sense of taste influenced
France’s foremost chefs, has said by the colour of the plate?
that more than half of the There are probably two or three
experience of what he serves is the things happening here. It might be
‘everything else’. Obviously some to do with the contrast between the
things matter more than others – colour of the plate and the colour of
This duck and beetroot dish was
the background music is going to the food – our brain will find it created by Charles Spence’s
have more of an impact than the harder to pick out porridge (and Kitchen Theory. If viewed
shade of paint on the restaurant process its taste) when served in a upside-down, Picasso’s face can
be seen in the meal
walls, for instance. white bowl, for instance. A number
90
APRIL 2017
“Studies show
that serving
food off red
plates can
suppress
appetite”
MAKE AN IMPRESSION
We’re only eating for a few moments, so a lot of the
pleasure is in the memory of a meal. Create surprise
by combining unexpected flavours and textures (remember
Heston’s bacon and egg ice cream?).
DITCH CUTLERY
More and more restaurants are getting rid of cutlery.
GASTROPHYSICS We didn’t evolve to eat with cold stainless steel, and
BY PROF CHARLES SPENCE eating with our hands adds another sense to the experience.
OUT 30 MARCH (£14.99, VIKING). Just don’t try it with risotto.
91
OUT THERE
03
ME AND MY DOG: THE ULTIMATE CONTEST
BBC TWO IN APRIL. CHECK RADIO TIMES.
CELEBRATE OUR
DOGS
The bond between man and dog goes back thousands
of years, so it was perhaps only a matter of time before
we had a TV show dedicated to this enduring
relationship. Me And My Dog will see eight people
and their dogs competing in a series of physical and
mental challenges, designed to find out who has the
closest relationship with their canine companion.
Presented by Chris Packham over four weeks, the
contest takes place amidst the rugged terrain of the
Lake District, with disciplines including paddle-
boarding, canine parkour, and a tethered cross
country run. Along the way, we’ll learn about the
science of dog training, and find out just what makes
the human-pooch bond so strong.
04
EDINBURGH
INTERNATIONAL
SCIENCE FESTIVAL
1-16 APRIL
SCIENCEFESTIVAL.CO.UK
GO NORTH
Scotland’s capital city is set to
become a hive of science-themed
activity this April, with the return of
the Edinburgh International Science
Festival. The theme of this year’s
festival is ‘get connected’, and there
PHOTOS: THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE SCIENCE MUSEUM, FRAN MOORE
92
All our lives depend on plants. Kew’s collections, our people and our
partnerships help us to make a vital contribution to some of the biggest
issues facing the world today. From discovering and conserving plants,
to documenting and conducting research into plant diversity and its
uses for humanity, we safeguard the very basis of life.
The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a registered charity no. 803428. Registered in England and Wales.
PUZZLES
SCIENCE CROSSWORD
GIVE YOUR BRAIN A WORKOUT
DOWN
1 Replicas constructed of
respiratory aperture (8)
2 Country nut (6)
3 Go to lie about unknown study
of causation (8)
4 Just like a bear, ruins excursion
east (6)
5 Everyone turns green – that
produces a reaction (8)
6 Policeman finds chief a crawler (10)
7 I’m returning trunk outside shop (7)
8 Consort lost right to perform in
reflected light (6)
11 Dismiss insect as a beetle (7)
16 Ideal spot to view Thomas More’s
vision (6)
19 Understood to be in Latin (5)
20 British and American group of
conductors (3)
22 Bit of quiet is heard (5)
23 Venetian island and river have
one voice (6)
25 Hate talent displayed by quality of
changing matter (6,4)
26 Guided by a small light (3)
27 Spanish city has attachment to
old graduate (7)
30 Art-lover sculpted the seat
with energy (8)
31 I’d remain puzzled by line
of longitude (8)
32 Plus arrangement to conceal
compound (8)
33 Church has a cure devised
for poet (7)
35 Left racket to return injury (6)
36 Ruler of state gets terribly hip (6)
ACROSS 37 Hardly overdue bringing back
optical instrument (6)
9 Soldier to gauge an auxiliary variable (9) 26 Technophobes did let us work (8)
10 Student rings European about hard legal 28 Curse that may be Hippocratic (4)
ambiguity (8) 29 Maroon beach (6)
12 Level of wage increase, say (4) 31 Sue ran behind shopping centre for part
13 So nice to have reassessed function (6) of hearing (7)
14 Two follow ceremony east to doomed city (7) 34 Daughter organised help in America for dolphin (9)
15 Room to turn and mislay plant structure (9) 36 Developed poor, clear material (9) A N SW E R S
17 Awfully grey scoop about self-levelling device (9) 38 Hum bits composed about metal (7)
18 Try open form of confusion (7) 39 Skin contains a large binary compound (6) For the answers, visit
20 Sunset captured by fellow German (6) 40 Spots synonym for reckless (4) bit.ly/BBCFocusCW
21 Old friend gets a stone (4) 41 Quickly take erroneous core prediction (8) Please be aware the
24 Greek hero has a cold and takes additives (8) 42 Open tidal movement in celestial object (9) website address is
case-sensitive.
94
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or telephone 0117 300 8540
ART
Art editor Joe Eden
Designer Steve Boswell
Picture editor James Cutmore
Group art editor Susanne Frank
CONTRIBUTORS
Acute Graphics, Kat Arney, Peter Bentley, Dan Bright, Dean
Burnett, Alexandra Cheung, Sam Chivers, Stuart Clark, Kate
Copeland, Charlotte Corney, Brian Cox, Helen Czerski, Emma
Davies, Jeff Forshaw, Duncan Geere, Alice Gregory, Alastair
Gunn, Sam Jarman, Christian Jarrett, Raja Lockey, Mark
Lorch, Magic Torch, Lisa Moses, James Olstein, Chris Philpot,
Helen Pilcher, Aarathi Prasad, Dean Purnell, Helen Scales,
Kyle Smart, Luis Villazon
ADVERTISING & MARKETING
Group advertising manager Tom Drew
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Senior brand sales executive Jonathan Horwood
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Senior classified executive Jenna-Vie Harvey
Newstrade manager Rob Brock
Subscriptions director Jacky Perales-Morris MAY
Direct marketing manager Kellie Lane ISSUE
MOBILE ON SALE
Product and development director 18 APRIL
Richard Fennell
Head of apps and digital edition marketing
Mark Summerton
INSERTS
Laurence Robertson 00353 876 902208
PHYSICS
LICENSING & SYNDICATION
Director of licensing and syndication Tim Hudson
International partners manager Anna Brown
PRODUCTION
The truth about time WILDLIFE
Production director Sarah Powell
It’s a topic that has the greatest minds scratching
Production coordinator Emily Mounter
Ad services manager Paul Thornton their heads. What exactly is time? Where does it SAVE THE PANDA?
Ad coordinator Jade O’Halloran
come from? And in what direction does it flow? The giant panda has recently
Ad designer James Croft
PUBLISHING Follow us down the rabbit hole… been downgraded from
Publisher Jemima Ransome endangered to
Publishing director Andy Healy
Managing director Andy Marshall vulnerable. So is
Chief executive officer Tom Bureau
AI it time to
Deputy chairman Peter Phippen
Chairman Stephen Alexander transfer money
BBC WORLDWIDE, UK PUBLISHING
ROBOTS THAT LEARN and resources
Director of editorial governance Nicholas Brett Robots are getting smarter by the week, but just to conserving
Director of consumer products and publishing
Andrew Moultrie how close are they to the next big leap in their other
Head of UK publishing Chris Kerwin evolution – the ability to learn from humans and threatened
Publisher Mandy Thwaites
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PHOTOS: GETTY
97
MY L I F E S C I E N T I F I C Kerry Daynes
What was it like the first time you met one of these offenders?
It was a baptism of fire. I was 21 years old, doing research
in a high-security prison, interviewing men who had
raped and murdered their victims. While it was daunting,
I was able to separate myself from it emotionally and get
on with the job. In the end, the prison officers were more
difficult than the offenders.
I’ve worked with the most misogynistic, dangerous men To listen to episodes When the complexity and
imaginable. It takes its toll. I made a conscious decision a of The Life Scientific inhumanity of some humans
while ago to stop working with them and start working with top scientists, feels a little overwhelming, the
more in general mental health and with victims. I’ve also visit bit.ly/life_scientific simplicity and innocence of a
branched into the corporate sector. NEXT ISSUE: JAN ZALASIEWICZ happy dog is a great antidote.
98
Chemistry and Our
Universe: How It All Works
Taught by Professor Ron B. Davis Jr.
E D TIME OF GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY
IT
FE
LIM
LECTURE TITLES
55%
R
1. Is Chemistry the Science 32. Reaction Mechanisms
of Everything? and Catalysis
off 2.
3.
Matter and Measurement
Wave Nature of Light
33. The Back and Forth
of Equilibrium
AY
34. Manipulating Chemical
RD
O
4. Particle Nature of Light
E R BY 1 6 M
Equilibrium
5. Basic Structure of the Atom 35. Acids, Bases, and
6. Electronic Structure the pH Scale
of the Atom 36. Weak Acids and Bases
7. Periodic Trends: 37. Acid-Base Reactions
Navigating the Table and Buffers
8. Compounds and 38. Polyprotic Acids
Chemical Formulas
9. Joining Atoms: 39. Structural Basis for Acidity
The Chemical Bond 40. Electron Exchange:
10. Mapping Molecules: Redox Reactions
Lewis Structures 41. Electromotive Force
11. VSEPR Theory and and Free Energy
Molecular Geometry 42. Storing Electrical
12. Hybridization of Orbitals Potential: Batteries
13. Molecular Orbital Theory 43. Nuclear Chemistry
and Radiation
14. Communicating 44. Binding Energy and
Chemical Reactions the Mass Defect
15. Chemical Accounting: 45. Breaking Things Down:
Stoichiometry Nuclear Fission
16. Enthalpy and Calorimetry 46. Building Things Up:
17. Hess’s Law and Heats Nuclear Fusion
of Formation 47. Introduction to
18. Entropy: The Role Organic Chemistry
of Randomness 48. Heteroatoms and
19. Influence of Free Energy Functional Groups
20. Intermolecular Forces 49. Reactions in Organic
21. Phase Changes in Matter Chemistry
22. Behaviour of Gases: 50. Synthetic Polymers
Gas Laws 51. Biological Polymers
23. Kinetic Molecular Theory 52. Medicinal Chemistry
24. Liquids and Their Properties 53. Poisons, Toxins, and Venoms
25. Metals and Ionic Solids 54. Chemical Weapons
26. Covalent Solids 55. Tapping Chemical