DON'T... BED BUGS? Are you kidding? ; = cats love Imocking ff off tables?THERE ARE ONLY Ts sO ue ONE IS AS THOUGH NOTHING IS A MIRACLE: US SMe EVERYTHING IS VY YEN 6 Be Me Learn ahout life's miracles. Subscribe to Very Interesting and Very Interesting Junior today! eT RLS ne CS Cool fMags Pieced eile UE Rey moO 99 black balloons Nature photography requires patience Reet ws paid off for Shane Gross, who captured this image ofa family of Pee) Periansr PATO erga at night in order to avoid predators like water bugs and leeches. But Pra ogee Pe ey Pe ees This process is repeated daily for six eet enn See ke Pe ee Cer) Ts Itwas a real spectacle to behold,” erg Piero cers pn ts Pree PU ecu e nrs OO eee ea aeons Pn e cucy4 Viepanorama.co.za @V_1_mag (Twitter) Veryinterestingmag (Facebook) = Add gentleness to your space Social anxiety (ee our feature on page 28) feels ike a pandemic that will have afar wider reach and impact than, What we all went through a few years go with COVID. Ifyou do not yourself suller from social anxiety, is almost certain that you know someone ‘or several people -in your family, at Work, at church or somewhere in your social circle — who do. Tes a condition that’s taken much more seriously now, meaning that we aze ‘ich more aware oft than we used to be. Generation X or older? Consider family get-togethers asa child and you'll interpret your brother's or aunt's ‘or cousin's apparent discomfort atthe dinner table in a different way now. You may also need to re-evaluate your respontes then and now. ‘There ate reasons fr social anxiey, ‘even ina species where interaction isthe basis of success most of the time, and ‘there are ways to manage it* [But perhaps, a we ll to come to ‘terms will almost ubiquitous seenatios in hich people ae struggling tobe in the same room as other people, we can strive tobe gentle and caring, putting them list, ahead of deadlines and income and ‘whatever elte comes and goes, while the people remain in our lives, Opening up anisue of Very Interesting in front of your face is an effective way ‘of avoiding a conversation, Enjoy the mag! you'd like to subseribe, or to give a gill that keeps on giving, take advantage of our deals at www.coolmags.coza ‘Keep your questions coming to ‘Viepanorama.co.a, Bruce Dennill Editor Sa) SPACE Cory vik COME OUT ~| OF YOUR _,.. | SHELL The world’s weirdest creatures | Under the sea and upon the land, Genius dogs know tens of toys by name Yes, but can they pack them away? TreHNoLooY Declining cookies could be worse for your privacy than accepting them Even chocolate chip? TFeHNOLOSY Al analysis shows your fingerprints aren't unique But don't worry, they're still special. oor How many cosmetics should I use ‘on my skin? Depends. Are you a clown? ‘some animals look - to us - pretty strange... p.46 If time travel were possible, should you really avoid contacting yourself? If you're an introvert, you might do that anyway, What is a food pyramid and can it help me eat a healthy diet? Those guys in the pyramids were dead, you know. What Is the birthday effect? It’s not when you don’t get what you very clearly asked for on a typed-out listAas Le age What's behind Siberia's mysterious exploding craters? How to spice up a road tip... Is the moon radioactive? Tobe safe, don't hug it. ‘One hormone could be the key that unlocks a cure for morning sickness Ladies ave pregnant with anticipation, Scientists discover a simple trick that can drastically improve your coffee As If it could be better... Rates of ageing in your organs reveals which will fal first And Isn't it fun to know? Kids are the key to understanding obesity But we need more of their genes... p.56 All the questions you didn’t know you wanted the answer to, including: * Do animals that swallow thelr food whole perceive taste? ‘= Will taking ashwagandha actualy help me with my anxiety? "Why do people's exercise needs vary so much? How can | get better at taking, ‘compliments? 1 Winy do cats love knocking ‘tuff of tables? "= How can a virus survive in ice for hundreds of years? "What is shadow work? "Could a black hole ever die? 1s ttre we collect space dustin our hair when we're outside? "What causes rainbow clouds? Tam)PUBLISHER Us Hones EDITOR fue Deri SENIOR SUB-EDITOR Cae Renan SUB-EDITOR Gra Haroon VERY INTERESTING ACKNOWLEDGES THE FOLLOWING SOURCES: thesouticencon mag. autoeigeecoza sce rss ludezoomy ac: or vein oe nating euapis com set fear. com usar sarap as gor wleamedecoey com oecou shan. ‘hecrursaton con; eartshyrg seephunstn ar asksegp con telpie we elmo web eon eyelet oe ‘OPERATIONS AND PRODUCTION MANAGER Pru Katze SENIOR DESIGNER Arie Fraser SALES MANAGER Gan Joteson ghepornane.coz3 —<—<<==<—=—= sane CoolllfiiMags ragga: om/2hPatorana Mela Ce renresing/ Science FINANOE 2ccouns@oanoans.cozs DISTRIBUTION On The Dot, 188N2223.1457 PRINTERS, 2 @ 1s Holdings Sedans te ea . imei Deve opnsnas oy ontaansa ie mre eg dn) oy snc ny epee ok rs dere rte r., telogeg, hy iietngome br 6oner erent panorama uaLISHED BY Panorama Ctp (Py) Le Pete Bag, Wal, 1684, Souh ac 82Carpeira os, Malan, ‘ee O11 4682080 fa 01 468 2001/2 To buy or subscribe to wwn.coolmags.co.za/v/. YoryIncuig © atl Excuse Boks, Wools, Spa Chea, online, goto: (GU len Py dalle eading newsaers rome Now erg ros ae sole svar eae. ‘Stroking your cat Is ner) Ree take over the world. Hands-on treatment | the real lesson is that 1s stroking good for pets? stroking isan intimate Kathryn Simmons, activity, and pet owners need Johannesburg to treat it that way. Yes. Strokng i the The star's not equivalent of grooming and | aligned... ‘Brooming is the way that Cana planet exist without a ‘ats, dogs, monkeys and sun? many other animals maintain John Bagley, Cape Town their relationships and care for each other. They enjoy it, Yes, planets can indeed be {as well as being a means to keep clean. But ~ and it’s a big ‘but’ ~ ‘Brooming has to be Consensual. Animals approach each other cautiously, gaining permission to groom or asking to be groomed. We have to do the same. Ifyou hate being touched in the wrong way by a stranger or by someone you dislike, then you can imagine how a dog or cat might fee! if unexpectedly stroked. A recent study measured Tevels of stress hormones in cats and found that the most stressed were cats that dida't like being stroked but stil tolerated it. The results were widely misinterpreted as ‘meaning you shouldn't stroke ‘your cat, but this was not what the study showed. Lots of cats love being stroked. ‘free-floating’, without a parent star. Such planetary. ‘mass objects may have been ejected from their original star system - these are often referred to as rogue planets ‘or nomad planets. AnotherEditor, Voryintoesting, Private Bag x4, Kyalami, 1684 = X: @V_1_mag Emall: Vi@panerama.co.za nese nlce your name and addres. Th ator revere the into shorten an eat tr, CO ei hie cg Rr SOD d Sra Pere en Perea pean , CER aL y = Christian vertical or horizontal radiating & é Hiestermann Peeeeerints “ ooo Se alr Joven tine Seen Bene ce Serene om Fam dled nd ranean mace Se ineranaeeine see! pee cieeucarn Ce red ‘So much to learn from it Relineenenurstel tron at ny age of 831 Pisani ar er s PN Re ca PEt? Uke us on Faetok Vey Pee eae cc rooney Papen er rnemC S tarye creer) Sed way they can form is fs around 80 light-years away. | chest cavity so the pressure independently by the Some recent studies have inside your lungs drops. ‘condensation of material in _actually suggested that there Atmospheric pressure pushes air ‘much the same way as the may be more free-floating in through your trachea until the stars themselves - these are planets in the Milky Way Galaxy pressure equalise normally called ‘sub-brown _than there are stars! To breathe out, the opposite takes ‘dwarfs’. There are, in fact, a place, with the diaphragm small number of objects that Take a breath pushing up. have been tentatively identified _® What do our diaphragms as rogue planets or sub-brown actually do? ‘Smarts question ‘dwarfs, the most intriguing of William Tshabalala, Pretoria ‘Are geniuses born or made? which is possibly S Ori 52, 2 Lauren Botha, Fourways ‘member of the Delta Orionis Your diaphragm is a sheet of star system (the right-most star muscle below your lungs. When Both. No amount of learning or in the belt of Orion). The ‘you breathe in, the diaphragm practice wil turn most of us into a closest rogue planet to Earth contracts and flattens. This ‘enlus. Yet, learning and yot discovered, PSO J318.5-22, increases the volume of your persistent practice are essential ms Brean in arate ot Ce) Cet ai even for those born with exceptional potential. An old theory, recently - revived with new evidence, Pons a is that it takes roughly cnet won (ereeennes | 10 years to reach true expertise in any endeavour, whether it's musi, sport, ‘maths or science. Personality also matters, with geniuses found to be ‘open to experience, introverted, hostile, driven and ambitious, And is personality born or made? Diaphragm contacts Diaphragm eles Again, its both. = Dashage cima) 7NATURE Genius dogs know tens of toys by name, but truly gifted canines know over 100 If your pooch can retrieve its toys by name rather than chewing them to pieces, you may have a genius on your hands ents nave pinned down the characteristics of a unique type of genius dog, and it all comes down to how well they know their toys. These dogs are known as Gifted Word Learners (GWLs), as they know the names of many of their toys and can retrieve them on command. Published in Nature Scientific Roports, the study confirmed that these canine geniuses are incredibly rare. In fact, it's one of the first studies to investigate the ‘ Ta * Positive reinforcement training isthe most cffective way to train a dog. = For most dogs, food Is. the best reward during ‘raining, but some profer & play session with thelr owners, ‘erbal praise or some other show of affection, austestvegccsts “By the time the study ong oe go Sgn 28 had finished, 50% of isinwacesesuiymse sree the PUpS observed time the study had finished, 50% of the pups being observed knew the ri pel pti knew the names Gus te esonctars coed. Of over 100 toys. dogs retrieving their toys by name.‘Max, a five-year-old Border Collie from Hungary, knows the names of over 200 toys After this, the researchers met the owner in a ‘virtual lab’ to test this toy retrieval in more controlled conditions. The team then ave each of the owners a survey to complete, which asked questions about their dog’s life experience, the owners’ experience of training them and how the dogs learned the names of their toys. The study, conducted by scientists from E6tvés Lordnd University in Budapest, Hungary, reveals that owners of GWL dogs report that their gifted pups are able to learn the name of a new toy in under 30 minutes. ‘According to the study, certain breeds are more likely to be GWLs than others. While 56% of the GWL dogs in the study were Border Collies, there were several non- worker breeds too (including a Corgi and a Shi-Teu). The majority of owners surveyed didn’t have a professional background in dog training. In fact, most didn't even intend to teach the dogs this trick; the dogs simply learnt the names of the toys by having their owners say things like “Do you want to play with your snail “The relatively large sample of dogs documented in this study helps us to identify the common characteristics that are shared among these dogs and brings us one step closer to understanding their unique ability,” said Prof Adam Mikl6si, head of the Department of Ethology at Eotvds Lordnd University and co-author of the paper. Rionotg Declining cookies could be CRM m Nee mur PTH y mC Choosing whether to accept or reject cookies is a catch-22 users in this group search for and oy Bees pieces of information from one person Serre Ue cad Pec unk) De ee ore ey Piece ene ens Perey ee UL ae a research. Cree oer once Pee se person who's declined them (the eu rt Se eee Ey details. They can also track your online | fact that they've declined cookies), Pi oe rue Peace ee) ee Te ee UL ee don't lke this, whether because they | authors, IBM research scientist, want to keep their personal ues information private or because they _| The researchers believe this CO ee ero me oY NL CO n rs pus ee eg Cea Pre ecng ‘rusting of tech companies. n fact, ROUSE CC ec ame a eee no) Ree Pee TPL Peer ee es revealed there's a particular Cen cee eer Pee ease OMe eri Pug eed Further, the US doesn't have the same Eee es Pee Gaeta) cone co ee Ue nS Pau PUR U Marg Cookie rejection tends to depend on | protected. The highest rate of cookie Pe eee ‘America and are over 34 years old, | where 64% of users usually click Sen Smite! pose ionicy ‘reject all the algorithm assumes | The authors hope that their research you're part ofthis demographic and | will inform policymakers when it applies ‘collaborative filtering’ to tailor | comes to creating rules for regulating, peer ae Gore smc oo aTeornrad Al analysis shows your fingerprints aren’t unique The findings could lead to the reopening of many criminal cases UOC ce COC eng fingerprints aren't unique. Well, at least not when compared to other fingers on Re eo cok Ty has its own pattern of whoris, loops and Sat Sea ae a es ue LS unlike that of your ring finger. This See ee Cue cred being unique has had a huge impact on ee aac MeY perpetrator left prints from different fingers at separate crime scenes, it ‘would be difficult for police to link them er) However, a new ‘deep contrastive Pe rece econ) Te oer et OCC id training it on a database of 60,000 fingerprints, the researchers discovered Cena cer rd Oe a) {rom the same person with 77% accuracy. eer ee ace RON Rg ee es hand - a breakthrough that, the Oe cu eens ea ered “Just imagine how well this [At] will perform once it’s trained on milions instead of thousands of fingerprints,” said Aniv Ray, of Columbia Engineering ‘clear fingerprint has around 180 points of information Chimpanzees and koalas also have fingerprints. Ce ‘thanks to artificial intelligence. Denes SUA u etic ee eee! revived and that even innocent people Poe ire ae See Ce eos scientists had been missing for decades? eS eC cree the Al didn't focus on similarities in eee ee ed in fingerprint ridges. Instead, it honed in fn the angles and curves of the whor AI eRe cn Sect) Ror eens ic ers Pe ee ee erry UO Lord pe aed around for years, can provide insights that have eluded experts for decades.” “The Al didn’t focus on the branchings and endpoints in fingerprint ridges. TRU RUC C mace the whorls and loops in the centre of the fingerprint.”—Albert Einstein - DO enn eee ROC m a eee erm Ury Fed EN THA subscriptions@panorama.co.za aS Pe eaGot questions you've been carrying around for years? Very Interesting ‘answers them! Mail your questions ki to Vi@panorama.co.za O&A Questions & Answe! How many cosmetics should | use on my ski Geri Qasthuizen, Randburg few as possible, according to the ‘skinimalism’ beauty trend ‘Skinimalism, or skin minimalism, is based on reducing the number of cosmetics you use on your skin. There are plenty of reasons to consider following this trend, but first, you should think about what you're trying to achieve. Do you want to spend loss time in front of the mirror, while getting the ‘same results? Do you want to reduce the amount of chemicals you put on your skin? Maybe you just want fo spend less or create less waste? Hf you're mainly trying to save time and are less concerned about ingredients, you need to look for multipurpose products - such as. foundations that also work as moisturisers. But if’ the chemicals you're concerned about, then you're going to have to work towards the cosmetic equivalent of a ‘capsule wardrobe’ - in other words, only the products you deem essential (some TkTok ‘experts’ suggest paring it down to a cleanser, a moisturiser and a sunscreen) Furthermore, the ‘essentials-only’ products you choose will ideally contain fewer (and Safer) ingredients. This is where things get tricky, though, as there's alot of information about the potential harms associated with chemicals in skincare products, from mild irritations to mare serious complaints. To take just one recent study as an example: in 2023, Polish researchers analysed 50 random cosmetic products and found that they all contained potentially carcinogenic chemicals. While there is limited data or low risk for some of those chemicals, your risk can vary depending on how much of the products containing those chemicals you apply, how often you apply them and whether they're rinse-off or leave-on. One way to get a better idea about the risks. associated with any cosmetic product or ingredient is to check on the Environmental Working Group's ‘Skin Deep’ database (cwg.org/skindeep), which grades cosmetic ingredients according to risk and the amount of scientific data available. {As for the remaining concems about ‘whether to follow the skinimalism trend, it's reasonable to expect that using fewer products would have a positive effect on both your wallet and environmental ‘footprint. According to a survey by Picotl, the average ‘woman spends R9,000 on cosmetics each year and is more concemed with price than the planet. Meanwhile, the manufacturing processes and packaging favoured by the cosmetics industry contribute to waste ending up in landfills and water systems, although recent estimates of quantities are “It’s difficult to say if skinimalism has any clear-cut benefits to offer.” 2 CEE hhard to come by. A hefty dose of scepticism garding terms like ‘renewable’ and ‘biodegradable’ in relation to packaging is a sensible approach, however, as eliminating products entirely from your cosmetic routine is the only way to make them zero waste. Its difficult to say if skinimalism has any clear-cut benefit to offer because itBsa The patent for nail polish was issued in 1919, "The Aztecs ma red lipstick from cerushed-up cochineal beet depends on the products you use and what's in them. Arguably, it’s just another trend designed to sell cosmetics - some brands already market minimalist ranges with slogans lke ‘less is more’. The thing to consider carefully is what you're hoping to {get from skinimalism and do your research before you buy anything. If time travel were possible, should you really avoid contacting yourself? Daniel Gibson, Johannesburg f we consider the universe to be a single, unbroken chain of cause and effect, and time is just our perception of that sequence as we move forward along the chain, then there's no need to worry. By this interpretation, the past, present and future must all be fixed by the immutable laws of physics. Even seemingly random events, such as radioactive decay, ‘would be predetermined and must play ut in exactly the same way, even ‘though we can't predict them. If you travel back in time to meet your younger self, it must follow that this has already happened in your past. I you don’t remember it, then maybe you were in disguise or you wiped your memory afterwards, but whatever effect this had on the future is already locked in Conversely, if you travel forward in time and meet yourself in the future, it follows that you must return to your point of origin and carry on with your life, or else there would be no one there in the future for you to meet. This means that the version of you that you meet when you travel forward already remembers the encounter from when they were the time traveller. Alternatively if every act of causation creates a parallel universe in an endlessly branching tree of possible timelines, then every version of reality already exists somewhere and it probably doesn’t matter what you do. Luckily, time travel is purely theoretical, and all of the proposed mechanisms involve exotic matter or negative energy for them to work at a macroscopic scale. This just explains one impossible idea by invoking another. The only kind of time travel wwe know of involves moving forward at the rate of one second per second.O&A Questions & A Got questions you've been carrying around for years? Very Interesting ‘answers them! Mail your questions to Vi@panorama.co.za Do animals that swallow their food whole perceive taste? ed RWIS he five primary tastes are sweet, bitter, umami (savoury), sour and salty, which are detected oy ae typically released by chewing, so animals that swallow their food whole may taste Rae Pra CR ae Psy etre roe) PCs re eer Puerto receptors. They can't taste pees uo eee) ences een oe Ce ey regulating sodium levels or blood pressure. What is a food pyramid and can it help me eat a healthy diet? ‘Amanda Lombaré, Pretoria he food pyramid is a visual representation of a balanced diet, illustrating the types and proportions of foods that contribute to overall health. Imagine a pyramid divided into sections, « with each section representing a different food group. While the specific design can vary, a Classic food pyramid typically includes the following categories from the base to the top: BASE (GRAINS) The widest section at the bottom includes grains ike bread, rice and pasta. These provide complex carbohydrates, a primary energy source. Whole grains are good for added fibre too. i ‘SECOND LAYER (FRUIT AND VEG) Next come fruits and vegetables, rch in vitamins, minerals, fibre and antioxidants. Aim for a colourful variety to ensure a diverse range of nutrients and at least five portions every day. THIRD LAYER (PROTEINS) This section includes proteins. such as meat, poultry, fish, “ TUT] eggs, beans and nuts. Proteins are crucial for muscle maintenance, immune function and growth and can help you stay fuller fo longer TOP LAYER (DAIRY OR ALTERNATIVES) Ths section represents dairy products or fortified alternatives, such 235 soya milk. These provide calcium for bone health and other essential nutrients ‘OUTSIDE THE PYRAMID (SWEETS AND FATS) Here's where you find fats and sweets. While fats are necessary for various bodily functions, opt for healthy fats, suchas those in olive ol and avocados. Limit. Your intake of added sugars and sweats The food pyramid serves as a guide to creating a balanced diet by incorporating a Vatity of foods fom different groups while Preventing overemphasi on one category. The concept has been shaped into a plate inthe UK and is called the Eatwell ‘Gude. It shows how much of each ood group you should eat based on how much space it should take up ‘on your plate. According tothe Eatwell Guido, healthy eating means balancing your choices ‘tom fie food groups over the day or week one-third fruits and vegetables, one-third ‘rains and starches and ‘the final third, a mix of daity producis, proteins and fats, from both b animal and plant sources.There are 31,536,000 seconds between each of our birthdays. Worldwide, there are more birthdays. ‘celebrated in August than in other months. What is the birthday effect? Jenry Moeketsi, Cape Town hen our special day rolls around, we're often torn between celebrating another year of wisdom and dreading the march of time. But the ‘birthday effect’ ‘adds a curious twist to this age-old celebration. The birthday effect is a statistical phenomenon (and a real party pooper) in ‘hich a person's likelihood of dying is higher on, or around, thir birthday. This ‘somewhat gloomy discovery has been validated by various studies, such as the 2012 Swiss study, which identified a 13.8% tise in the number of people aged 60 and ‘older who meet their end on their actual birthdays, compared to other days. ‘Similarly, a 2015 study in the US found that, on average, the risk of dying on your birthday is 6.7% higher. ‘So why does this peculiar phenomenon ‘occur? There are a few theories. Firstly, birthdays often lead to over-the-top ‘celebrations with excessive consumption of alcohol. This can increase risky behaviour and poor decision-making, which can result in more accidents and drunk driving incidents. For some individuals grappling with terminal illnesses, the birthday serves as a significant milestone to aim for. One theory is that they're able to muster the strength ‘to make itto one more candle on the cake before letting go. Birthdays can also trigger introspection and sometimes lead to ‘birthday blues’, characterised by sadness or depression. These feelings often stem from unmet expectations, reflections on ageing, loneliness and stress. Tragically, these ‘emotions can elevate the risk of suicide, as was found by a 2016 Japanese study that showed the likelihood of people committing suicide on their birthdays was 50% higher than on other days. ‘Another possibility is that death registration records might contain inaccuracies, with some individuals mistakenly recorded as having the same birth and death dates. However, these errors are unlikely to significantly distort the results to the extent observed. The birthday effect is a complex phenomenon that is yetto be fully lunderstood and could be influenced by a combination of all the factors mentioned above and maybe more besides. So, when your birthday comes around, go ahead and blow out those candles, but maybe skip that extra shot of tequila. Cae] 15ASE (etsy Take a tour of the weirdest spots in the universe, where the ‘normal’ rules don’t apply. Places that squeeze time, Ce OR ear aa a ALTO) roy > THE DIAMOND PLANET orty-one light years away lies a | suggest that the carbon would star known as either 55 Caneri, | mostly exist in diamond form. ‘or Copernicus. Ripping around it at'a | It would be a blazingly hot planet Pert Premieres eee a rec en re Scone eet tr a ere ar on renee Preeti e ~ Rot mar ete ay 55 Cancrio isa scorched super. | previously believed. That aves the Earth. The temperature climbs as | diamond Idea on a more unsure rene yc uceee Sic am meen tal eer ono F Back in 2010, a study concluded | exactly match the earbon-oxygen Pt Un eee aE) I te iis | Panaracer one Dereon eer | high If that ratio also exists on | up from some athe source, could SSearcts nen conintumn | sete mes pesos fine a 3 Pere nee ML a LL AC2a a ansta Se hss Salah SN Tir Sd Oars Dae Oe Puen ceS Se ere nd eau brightness), known as apparent ‘magnitude. Vega is the reference point of pte ea ed eee enor ee Penn) ‘Vega is also a pole star, atleast sometimes. Right now, Earth’s north pole ces as the North, or Pole, Star. Ce ut eco eee ey eee ee Coa ae uO around 14,000 years ago and will be PRS Nee aL! Yet the strangest thing about Vega is its See ee almost a perfect sphere, but that's Roe ems Se ee ue ee Se uy eee T CO a ee coerced Aeane ae sd a _ THE CURVEBALL CLUSTER * CRMC RTE Coe Cer Uo n cans eee suo nd Pe errr aes Ronee Cnr ec Traditionally, star clusters are divided into globular Ce eer CUR cena ad ‘whereas open clusters contain young stars that are Oran ta ee ead aS er eon eeu Cred heavier than hydrogen or helium is called a metal ee ed ny OM eu) the stars that have gone before them. DRM Cee Ul Se Puce ae Peau Re) POs csce Dt Renee eas entre n) open - a definite oddity. Oe ne ete eee metals around. Yet stars tum hydrogen and helium into NOTHING v Aa [Senet aeeise ae eae Ne ea nL Sores URLs average density is just 9.9 attograms per cubic Seu ‘quintilionth of a gram), the equivalent of six protons in a space the size of a sugar cube Sau oer Pe ec ey about 10% of the average. They're known as Ce eich typically spanning 30 million to 300 milion Te ea COT eee Fomax Void, Bodtes Void and Canis Major Void. eo eur rg Sr mg Boren ‘Microwave Background (CMB) the relic radiation from the Big Bang. One explanation aU a Cornea Pe een Byer en Err ows err Lead the argest structures inthe @ observable universe.ASE (ts)bg eile Sata mca BUBBLES < Cae em he Milky Way, the galaxy to which we belong, is shaped lke two fried eggs stuck back-to-back. ‘There's a central bulge (the yolks), witha fatter Ce aus Seen ea Perec cero) ‘coming out from the centre. They've become known Pe ee eek) isc Ce Sco Saad Sooo eee uu with a border of x-ray radiation. Their size and well-defined edges suggest they were created by a cere curd Pee ae eT eeu ac) cee Peers, THE WOUNDED Ci MAG Tt aa COL CCutN ‘ot all of the weirdest places in the universe are Coens ewes OL Pe eae) Red seawater flows from the Taylor Glacier, giving it Sai Ree ene ee ee ‘algae, but now they know it’s that colour because the salty water rch with ion. It comes from an ancient Ooms cee eee eu od Ce ee es ead oxidises (rusts) giving the brine its gory tnt. There's life around Blood Falls. When biologists took ‘samples, they found 17 types of microbes living beneath the glacier. Some of which have even a [i mEGwis0914 Oe uy where space and time are stretched and squeezed beyond Se au Os Rar ee ee unin) Pees binary pair before merging into one. Einstein told us that just as Pee Cee as objects moving through the universe create gravitational waves in the fabric of space-time. The closer two black holes get to each other, the oe ara This energy is converted into gravitational waves, which spread out RT orca) Ne eas a Ue by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) CU ge produced by the merger ofthe binary er reer Pern) MU tr Ty RT eer Ree Ree cd CS Ce ere ee og ecm Red eee ce Pee ett cues a Ae) otal el WITH GLASS SvaNIN| COC Era) ‘cated some 65 light-years away in the constellation of Vulpecula, exoplanet HD 189733 b is larger than Jupiter and ‘33 times closer to its star than Earth isto the sun. Its proximity to its star would give the planet Se Rea ate) hot for liquid water, so the blue ight LOR UC silicate particles instead. Siicates, such as ‘sand, have melting points of around SR or oC Cer ee ‘So, it probably rains glass on HD 189733 b. Ce ec nom! Be eu ee ECLcK Ty Ute ied SO eo ee cae Pe Colin Stuart (@skyponderer) is an award- Se ee Ce een Royal Astronomical SocietyMORE DESTINATIONS MORE AIRCRAFT » \ MORE FLIGHTS i ON TIME — = ARREINIS ¢ uanda Dar es Salaam Lubumbashi Walvis Bay Airlink Cargo. Connecting customers in Africa. 15 countries, 45 destinations, 65+ aircraft, 85,000 annual flights. Expand your business's footprint in Africa with Airlink Cargo’s over 30 years experience in servicing the largest network in sub-Saharan Afr See Un OL ae ee Cd documents to perishables to massive equipment and parts, and anything cs soohyurcoymantnewo 7 (108403650 AS AIRLINK eee ceric i CARGOcur)WE HAVE IGNITION ‘The rocket engine being test-fired here has been built to be kinder to the ironment, Unlike other engines, h commonly use some sort of rocket fuel (refined kerosene, for example), this one burns biomethane derived from cow manure. = The engine is called the Zero and is. 2 being developed by Interstellar Technologies, a Japanese rocket company, to launch small satellites without adding extra carbon dioxide (CO,) to the atmosphere That’s not to say biomethane is an emission-free fuel, CO, is still released when biomethane is ignited, But unlike fossil fuels, combustion of biomethane is CO, neutral (it doesn't add to the natural production of C0.) land also means a reduction in the use of fossil fuels. “As more and more rockets launch, it becomes more important that we minimise the impact that they have fon the environment if we're to continue with space travel,” says Dr Russell Hall, the lead for sustainable manufacturing at WMG, University of Warwick. "More sustainable space travel is possible, though it may take time and needs to be fully thought through.”around for years? Very Interesting (OlvesielonsReayAVeIS\c\sI) answers them! Mail your questions Why do people’s vary so much? Chatie Adams, Johannesburg xercise needs vary among people due to a number of factors, including, GENETIC VARIABILITY Genes play a big ole in determining a person's response to exercise. Genetic Variations influence factors such as muscle fibre composition, metabolism and cardiovascular capacity. Some people may be naturally predisposed to endurance activities, while others may have a genetic makeup that favours strength exercises. METABOLIC RATE Metabolic rate varies between people due to genetic and physiological factors. Some people have a higher basal metabolic rate, meaning they burn calories faster while at rest. This affects energy expenditure during exercise and influences the type and intensity of exercise needed for weight management and fitness. BODY COMPOSITION Variations in body composition affect how a person responds to exercise. Someone with a higher percentage of lean muscle mass may have different strength and endurance capabilities to someone with a higher percentage of body fat AGE Exercise requirements change over the course of a person's life. Children and 2 CET SRS exercise needs to Vi@panorama.co.za adolescents may have different needs for growth and development compared to Adults or older people focusing on bone density and functional abilities. PERSONAL GOALS Not everyone wants to get faster or be stronger. Most people have their own goals ‘when exercising, and the plan they follow needs to cater to those goals. Personal preferences also come into play, as some people prefer exercising in a team or class, ‘hile others prefer solo workouts. IN BETWEEN EXERCISE ‘Activity levels between workouts will also influence a person's exercise needs and how much they eat. If you're in an active jb, for example, you might not need as much exercise as someone who is more sedentary. Recovery is also important, as this is where the majority of your gains are made. Everyone has different recovery ‘times, even after doing the same workout. PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS Psychological factors, including motivation, stress levels and mental healt, also affect exercise preferences and adherence Recognising and embracing these differences is vita for tailoring effective and sustainable exercise programmes that meet a person's needs. 3Why do cats love knocking stuff off tables? Kate Andrews, Randburg L tert none rows why domeste cats do anything, and they're lying if they tell you otherwise. That said, cats are predators, with a strong hunting instinct. When a prey animal, such as a mouse, is scared, itl often freeze, hiding in plain sight and trying to look uninteresting until the threat has passed. So, when a cat bats a tabletop item, such as a pen or a pair of lasses, they could be testing it to see if it will unfreeze and flee. Think of it as an‘ wonder if| can chase and chomp it’ test. Also, the cat might just be bored. How can a virus Mmm e Ue Lrg Cet cermafrost, ground that is continually frozen, appears to be an unlikely Pr aout ee ey) Paice Une Se Ee alive. ‘Awide range of viuses have been found, COU ots Soe RL old permafrost in Siberia. The cn ees ee CU eng infects amoeba Other more concerning viruses have also been found, including the strain of eee eo cs SPA ran ee ree Reesor hii mummy. In both cases, the genomes of The electron microscope allowed selentists to see Individual virus particles forthe first ‘ime in the 1940s. In Latin, vires De ce ELL juses were no longer infectious. Fortunately, most viruses don't survive long Outside oftheir hosts, so finding a still- Ce ee ue Peau on eo SL eeu ero Sree Cn ay CC us Scorn Pn ere se) eee bacteria may still be able to cause disease. eS Leta a) See ued animals. I's thought that permafrost melting exposed the bacteria leading to the outbreak. Anthrax is a type of Pee au ree LL Oui Coa {As climate change causes more melting of the permafrost, it's possible that ere eC Caer Ue see a new virus emerge from the permafrost and cause the next global Par Cae) 27. “— yp a fp ep apr MG Ky) ‘if bs , SG, Mews teCOME OUT OF YOUR SHELL Social anxiety is more than just being shy. It’s a phobia born out of our evolutionary past. But that raises a puzzling question: why do so many of us fear human interaction when we're supposed to be the most sociable species on the planet? any people are afraid of many things. For good reason. But many people are afraid of things without good reason. Phobias - irrational fears such as a fear of spiders or enclosed spaces - are ymmonplace and familiar ‘They’te deemed irrational because the average person in the modern world has little or nothing to fear from such things. Unfortunately, the instincts and subconscious processes that influence and guide our thinking and behaviour run ‘on much older programming, We instinctively fear certain things because we evolved in environments where they were a threat So much so that ancient fear instincts, expressed in modern, rational contexts, can disrupt mental functioning and wellbeing Hence phobias are anxiety | interaction, why do so many disorders. of us fear this exact thing? But while familiar, ‘To answer, we need to arachnophobia and understand why humans are claustrophobia aren't the so social in the first place. ‘most common phobias. Humans aren't the most Public speaking, talking on impressive species. We're the phone, meeting new not the strongest or fastest. people, asking someone We can’t fly, we don’t have out... So many people are armour or Weapons, or even, irrationally terrified of these camouflage. And yet we've objectively harmless actions _ managed to completely that social anxiety isn't just. dominate the planet anyway. the most common class of | How? phobia, i’s one of the most common mental disorders, © The secret to our But why? Humans are success arguably the most sociable It’s because we're social, species ever. So, if we're so. cooperative. A wolf or friendly and keen on sabre-toothed tiger could “The human tendency to form tribes is what has made us so successful.” easily dispatch a single human, But five people, all working together? No chance. The human tendeney to form, harmonious, cooperative tribes is what has made us so successful. ‘And if your species’ success 4 due to cooperation and cohesion, then that affects how you evolve. The ability to interact with others, to understand, anticipate and coordinate with them, to please and reassure them, even to manipulate them via decett (i's not all positive) — these qualities led to success sn primitive human societies. ‘And the most successful individuals get to reproduce more, so these qualities, became widespread. ‘The thing is, you need much more brain power to interact, with others in such complex ways than to be fast or strong. So, human brains CT ae) 29© taiefoettal Rade | frmsny a2 meas “Some argue that, never et _ mind sharing important competition model’ of the Then there's empathy - the ee Tai teresa att info, we developed intelligence. While it's not someon: emotions. oe eee eam language primarily as a emigre | short cn means of gossiping and Guavene’” Remarte reassuring others.” to our emotional processing have dedicated regions of | pers of others are for example. the visual cortex for factored in, is processing faces. ‘We even have systems in the read and recognise the Speaking of emotions and | striatum, right in the centre dedicated brain Fegions. But | emotions of others viathe | seciablity some emotions | of the brain, that cause us to what is languaj ‘cues th y experience pleasure and feel to communicate and to bodies and faces, which can volved. farded when share complex information jer the same emotions in with others? In fact, some s. mpathy. Facial extremely powerful feeli argue that, never mind expressions are a vital part that ean affect us deeph sharing import of this process; hence, we they only oceur when the | are so heavily geared. so CETNavigating socl Interactions can leave a person feeling ‘emotionally overwhelmed and physically exhausted. towards interaction and socialisation at the most fundamental levels. Why, then, are so many of us seared of it? Risk versus reward Social interactions are very important, for all of us. We depend on them in many ways. But when you depend ‘on something to such an extent, the possibility of not getting it, of losing it, is something to be feared. Remember, humans’ success ras heavily dependent on our evolving in communal and cooperative tribes. ‘When we lived in the wild, belonging to and being accepted by a social group was literally a matter of life or death, This meant that rejection by your tribe was genuinely dangerous, something to be avoided at all costs ‘That may not be the ease these days, but that’s the context in which our brains evolved their social tendencies, so an aversion to social rejection and criticism from others is practically embedded in our DNA, Whoever said, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” couldn't have been more wrong. True, criticisms and insults don’t eause physical damage, but physical trauma isn’t the only type of injury that counts, Studies reveal that, while a positive social experience leads to a neurological feeling of reward, experiencing social rejection leads to activity in the brain that’s similar to physical pain. Being rejected hurts, even when it makes no ‘One study that simulated rejection found that African ‘American volunteers experienced the pain of being rejected even when told that those rejecting them were members of the Ku Klux Klan. Logically, those volunteers should actively want to be rejected by such individuals. But the deeper brain regions, the parts preoccupied with being social, don’t see the bigger picture that way. Aconstant threat So, as far as the underlying processes of the human brain are concerned,Ml Psychology hurts and is something to be avoided at all costs. However, the complexity of the modern world and the modern brain means we encounter the risk of rejection all the time. social rejection genuinely Hypothal ! gees rei =) cence illoe ge interaction is a constant for the average person. So, in terms of raw numbers, social rejection — and thus, social anxiety - is more likely to happen. As well as that, even arudimentary human - interaction is a cognitively Nucleus complex affair thatcan bea ageeumbens. minefield of risk. Even if it’s just an idle chat about the weather, it still requires you saygdala to monitor and process the % Ventral conversation in real time tegmental and come up with instant responses that are relevant and unlikely to offend, Al ‘of which means you have to factor in every bit of information you're getting from the other person - their words, but also their expression, posture, tone, inflection and so on, This is a lot for the brain to deal with at the best of times, even if you have a logic, analysis and self- the cause, the result is too The prefrontal cortex typically clean'bill of mental health. control, counteracts it much fear being produced, balances the fear response Ifyou don’t, itean be even We need both to function _for no real reason, ‘from the amygdala but is harder to deal with. normally, and, in most Imaging studies have shown slower and weaker in the Inany given situation, the people, there's a sort of that, in socially anxious socially anxious brain, level of anxiety we quasi-stable balance brains, the prefrontal cortex experience is usually between the two. But in is much slower and weaker analysing it, thinking about determined by interactions someone with an anxiety when it comes to responding what happened and how we between the amygdala and disorder, the balance has___to, and suppressing, fear came across. the prefrontal cortex. Ina _ typically shifted towards the activity in the amygdala. Its a considerable cognitive nutshell, the amygdala amygdala. Maybe the workload. The fact that we generates all the emotions _ amygdala has become too © The effort of do it so readily and so often (mostly fear) that cause an powerful, maybe the entertaining reveals just how powerful anxiety response, andthe _ prefrontal cortex’s influence Social anxiety is not all, and social our brains are. prefrontal cortex, home of _has weakened, but whatever __ about rejection, though, But it’s both a blessing and a There's also the workload, | curse of powerful Ifwe know we're going to be | intelligence: the ability to “The level of anxiety we feopewenonteicedy | tadakwhn inde experience is usually Reremerteraioe | meanest determined by interactions — rtiimiior” Suer nd dius between the amygdala and wvewvosscens | galheesciolhe the prefrontal cortex.” ee 2 (aa)anxiety is best dealt with by trained professionals, if you find you're struggling with it on a daily basis, there are a few reliable methods to help you cope with it better. ye 1a (eT The problem with selousanuety deorders and phobias is that hey trigger sucha strong far eee ed Sy Preteen eee tere Poe rae et with the source (socal interaction, in ths case) erent ry Sere ee ee ee tee res RTH) aerate Wile thre wil be some negatives Denes Dey ees eer ens eect es peer og Parent te Ree eee Poet enero i ee Sted Poesy ty ies Despite being a more advanced Neue ae Pee cnn) eer ee ee recs Pee ere ery er eer See a ee ce se) Peres fers ty YA Ce eed Deus Cerro Interactions and public speaking as something See rent! Se Cn ee eon Co) See ey eee eter eee ae ters een en rn) ee es ‘the whole experience t's something successful peer rte 90 AVOID ALCOHOL Se social situations, bt many of them willbe eee eee ren er cere ene ea enon Preeti) Cer ns Ce regular alcohol consumption, alcohol has these Ce ee ee Pen Ne eter ner ee ESTABLISH CUT ey aera Ce es Anything of yourself away at all -to ee ener Cee cee meen) share things with you and get nothing ea ner CORO aes Issue, Onthe other hand, you could Ce ae Srnec aes eco ee oe ec ens Oe es Cee ee perenne Cee eed Seen es edMl Psychology koto Ps Se ra stress and anxiety as a tangible one; hence, people get reguiarly stressed about things that never actually happen, such as losing a job or failing an Because social interaction and the approval that can come from it— is so important to us, our brains regularly come up with situations where we could mess it up. Anyone reading this will be familiar with the blushes that could be caused by returning to a party from the toilet with your fly undone of your dress tucked into your underwear, or the creeping dread of saying the wrong thing in a discussion. Also, other people are complex and unpredictable. ‘Our brains glean much 4 CET ty. information from other people just by observing ‘them, but we ean never really know what's going on internally. We can only. speculate. And that means ‘we could be wrong. Our brains already spend a lot of ‘time on what's called ‘counterfactual thinking’, which is the tendency to analyse and speculate about alternative outcomes for events that have already happened. For example, say you narrowly avoid being hit by a car while crossing the road, you'll spend a long time afterwards thinking: “What if it had hit me?” Even though it didn't. ‘When it’s something as important but also complex and unelear as social approval, our brains spend “Our brains are constantly trying to predict what’s going to happen and running simulations of events to figure it out.” even more time on the “what ifs’. What if they didn't like me? They were laughing, but was it with me or at me? They sounded friendly, but they could be mocking me now that I've gone. And so on, Allin all, even if there's zero rejection involved, social gatherings can still be exhausting for many. And over time, your brain will pick up on this pattern, © Know your place We're social creatures, but this means we're often focused on social status, From popular cliques in 3school, to ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ as adults, we don’t just want to be accepted and liked by others, we want to be ‘espected, admired even, ‘To this end, our brains have complex neurological mechanisms for tracking social status and status change. Indeed, so concerned are We about our social status that becoming low status can lead to depression and. anxiety. People don’t just want approval because they're vain, ot shallow. Well, not always, Ultimately, our brains are very invested in, and reliant on, social interactions, relationships and status. But this means that anything that risks harming or losing them is, again, perceived as a genuine danger, a threat, And when we perceive something as a threat, our brain responds with stress and anxiety, So, every social interaction is ultimately a balancing act between the potential for reward and the risk of rejection, And either way, it involves a lot of mental energy. Which, again, helps explain why social anxiety is 80 common, And while ‘many label them as phobias, the workings of our brain would probably argue that they aren't irrational at all. Vi@panorama.co.za Neuroscientist Dr Dean Burnett (@garwboy) explores the nature of dreaming in his latest book Emotional Ignorance. (Cae) 38(OI roe a aus io) O&A What is shadow work? And could embracing my shadow self boost my mental health? Melanie Selepe, Johannesburg rowse the ‘mental health’ hashtag on TikTok and youl find an abundance of Videos about ‘shadow work’ Collectively they've attracted over a billion views and helped sell over a million copies of The ‘Shadow Work Journal by Kella Shaheen, a former TikTok employee. It sounds mysterious, but the shadow work craze is actually a modern take on an idea first put forward by the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung about halfway through the 20th Century. Jung was a friend and collaborator of Sigmund Freud and, lke Freud, he believed in the profound importance of the unconscious to human psychology. (One of Jung's ideas about the unconscious was that we all have a ‘shadow’ self - the part of ourselves made up of traits that we fear and dislike. He used the term ‘shadow’ to reflect the fact that this side of ourselves is always there - we can't escape it - and to capture the way we see it as dark and unwanted. Jung believed your shadow self can manifest when you make an unguarded remark or act impulsively, and he believed it ‘showed up in dreams too Essentially, the goal of shadow work is to get to know your shadow self better, learn from it and integrate it into who you are. The rationale for doing this is that your ‘shadow is a genuine part of you, so by acknowledging it and processing that side of yourself, you'll fee! more authentic and whole, Moreover, Jung argued that the shadow can have valuable aspects to it, such as raw ower and insight, that could be worth expressing, for instance, as a way to boost your creativity, your personal understanding and your resilience. ‘Shadow work typically takes the form of reflective exercises designed to help you get in touch with your shadow. In The ‘Shadow Work Journal, for instance, ‘Shaheen recommends spending some time ina quiet, dimly lt space, tuning into your ‘shadow and reflecting on what words come ‘to mind when you listen to your inner voice. There are also many visualisation exercises in shadow work. One involves picturing two doors, one leading to your ideal self and the Ea Got questions you've been carrying around for years? Very Interesting answers them! Mail your questions to Vi@panorama.co.za “The goal of shadow work is to get to know your shadow self better.” other leading to your shadow self then imagining yourself walking through each ‘one and how it would feel. Other therapists suggest creating spontaneous art to. ‘ap into your shadow, or keeping a dream diary. Some Jungian psychoanalysts have ‘welcomed the fresh attention to their field and the idea of people being reflective about themselves. Others fear that the way the shadow concept is discussed on social media is often superficial and fails to capture the depth of genuine Jungian psychology. Another concemn is that, for people with traumatic pasts, the reflective ‘exercises could provoke difficult emotions that would be better confronted in a safe therapeutic space.* Carl Jung coined the terms ‘introvert’ and ‘extrovert Jung also wrote a book about UFOs! For scientiically minded psychologists, a related problem with Jung's theories (as with Freud's) i that they lack empirical support and could even risk psychological hharm. For example, it might arguably do ‘more harm than good to tell someone that their distressing intrusive thoughts are ‘somehow part of them. [rcerestng BUSInnovation WHEN MIND AND MACHINE COLLIDE First, Elon Musk wanted to make electric cars ubiquitous, then he wanted to make space exploration a private enterprise. Now, with Neuralink, his newest venture, Musk hopes to merge humans and artificial intelligence. Turns out, it might not be such a crazy idea... INVTEXT PETER BENTLEYind-reading machines have been around for a Jong time. In 1895, serentist Julus Emmner believed his machine could record patterns of thoughts in the same way that sound could be recorded. Emmner took inspiration from the phonautograph, which plucked sound waves out of the air and committed their S) waveforms to paper. J) It seemed plausible to Emmner and the world at large that he might be able to do the same with thought. record thoughts as photographs”, which could be replayed to someone who would receive them “in an unconscious manner”. According to Emmner, mind- reading was solved: all thoughts could be recorded ind nothing could be hidden. ‘he murderer will be confronted with proof of his crime and the punis! will be an easy ta The state of the at Despite the publicity it generated, Emmner's machine Was soon forgotten because it didn't work ~reading minds is not as simple as recording sound. Our brains have around 100 billion neurons and countless other cells that help us to remember, feel and think. We're still unlocking the mysteries of exactly how ind where our thoughts are held and, to make matters trickier, we don’t have to the siate of the cel heads, so we don't know what they're doing at any given time.Innovation What we do know is that our brains affect our bodies and the closest thing we have to a mind-reading machine, the polygraph (more commonly and inaccurately known as a ‘ie detector’), measures factors such as respiration, perspiration, skin Conductivity, blood pressure and heart rate. The theory bpchind itis that, when we lie, we become anxious and our bodies undergo measurable involuntary physiological changes. But even the polygraph is unreliable and often inadmissible as evidence. Ifthe suspect isn't anxious, nothing will be detected. Orif an innocent person is anxious, it may appear that they're being deceitful Medicine has better ways to peer into our skulls. Electroencephalography (EEG), invented in the o Ta 1920s, uses a set of electrodes to detect electrical activity from the brain, often while the patient performs various ‘asks to stimulate thought. ‘The electrical spikes are the result of activity from 30 million to $00 million neurons, so, while EEG can give a general view of normal or abnormal brain activity, it can't be used to detect thoughts. Other scanning technologies include positron emission ‘tomography (PET), where a radioactive form of glucose is injected into a patient. A busy brain is a hungry one and so the bits of the brain ‘occupied by a given task, such as completing a Rubik's Cube, use the radioactive glucose as food. The food ‘can be picked up by a PET scanner to produce a 3D. image of the brain, showing which bits are busiest. Dr Tom Oxley, CEO of ‘Synchron, with the microelectrode that can be installed in people's brains without the ne “To create a ‘digital switch’, patients are asked ’ to think of an action, like stamping a foot.” This technique manages a resolution of 4-Smm, an area comprising millions of neurons. But it's still not close enough. So far, our best option is functional magnetic resonance imaging ((MRI), which measures changes in oxygen and blood flow. When the brain is busy, it draws more blood and oxygen to it to keep the neurons firing. A {MRI scanner uses huge magnets to chart where this blood, and specifically oxygen, is collecting. Typically, this gets us down to a resolution of 3mm, but new high- resolution scanners are beginning to probe brain tissue down to 50 micrometres (50/1,000ths of 1a millimetre). {MRI is revolutionising our ability to gather data, with a 2022 study from the University of, Minnesota scanning the brain activity of eight volunteers at 1.8mm resolution as they viewed around 10,000 colour images. But while (MRI scanners might enable us to gather data, they're giganticmachines installed in ospitals. ‘A key step towards more practical brain-computer Interfaces is developing portable methods that produce high-resolution measurements of brain activity,” says Jerry Tang, aPAD student at the University of Texas at Austin, who researches this area. New functional near-infrared spectroscopy GENIRS) sensors may lead toa type of wearable MRI one day, but even this may not be something anyone could wear all the time ‘And for the people who ‘want to make mind-reading computers, that’s exactly the goal What's in your head? Ifwe can’t use external scanners to see brain activity, and sensor ‘skulleaps’ aren’t good enough, that leaves one other option: brain implants. Itseems like a terrifying step to take, but it’s exactly what several companies are wursuing right now. jeuralink, funded by Elon Musk, recently announced the start of human trials for its implanted electrodes that aim to read signals from neurons. Musk’s motivation in supporting the project is. perhaps dubious, as he claims the long-term goal is “human/AI symbiosis", which he considers to be “species-level important” Putting science fiction to cone side, other companies have already demonstrated results. Synchron has pioneered microelectrodes that can be installed by passing through the blood vessels deep into the brain, removing the need for open brain surgery. “The amazing thing about sitting within the blood vessels,” says Dr ‘Tom Oxley, Synchron’s CEO, “is that this position ~ rather than sitting within brain matter - actually provides the most ‘comprehensive position for sensing brain activity.” The technology has already been trialled in sx patients with severe paralysis or ‘quadriparesis (weakness in all four limbs), and Synchron is now demonstrating how ‘digital switches’ ean be controlled by thought to ‘enable people to perform ‘asks such as texting and online shopping. ‘To create a ‘digital switeh’, patients are typically asked to ‘think of an action, such as stamping a foot. The system maps this brain activity and its trace becomes the input for ‘operation on the computer. ‘We use machine learning to ‘optimise each patient's ‘experience with our product,” says Oxley. “Every time they ‘use our device, our system makes a stronger connection.” ‘An Ilustration of how the ‘Synchron microelectrode would sit within one of the brain's blood ‘vessels to record brain activity, Researchers at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland have even shown that it's possible to use surgically implanted electrodes to read intentions ‘of movement from the brain of paralysed man. These were then beamed to another implant in his spine that was connected to the nerve endings related to walking. After some training, the man was able to walk with the aid of a walker. More encouragingly, after further use, there was some restoration of movement even when the system was turned off, suggesting that the stimulation was helping to encourage damaged nerves to regrow. Separating the signal from the noise ‘Mentally flicking switches or bypassing nerve damage is fantastic, but as our ability to gather data from the brain improves, we're still left with a problem: how can we derive more complex thoughts from data showing whether a few thousand (or million) neurons are active in different regions of the brain? Imagine we can monitor the total power usage of every city around the world. We might see that London is using 25% more power than Manchester rightM8 Innovation enabled by the latest generative AI (the tech making headlines for its ability to produce images or chat like humans). These sorts of Als rely on large language models and are trained using vast amounts of text, in the case of ChatGPT, or text and images, for the likes of DALL.E and Midjourney, so that they can learn to interpret prompts from users and generate appropriate responses, whether they be ‘conversational exchanges or pictures. And these Als, ‘work equally well with other forms of data. In 2023, researchers at the University of Texas at Austin trained an AT using the {MRI data of three volunteers who had listened to stories for 16 hours. They used this AT in combination © pewfordhave similar | Stanford University recently | large language model AI, | with a GPT-1 model (an numbers for all other demonstrated an implanted were able to decode that earlier version of the cities), but we have no set of electrodes known as data to produce speech ata _software behind ChatGPT) understanding of what any an intracortical rate of 62. words aminute. | trained on books and stories of it means. microelectrode array ina ‘This is a brand-new from the internet. They then Now scale this up to the patient with amyotrophic approach that has been, asked different volunteers to complexity of the brain and lateral sclerosis - a condition pager aten?,, makeemereetat_ “The limits and complexity seer Sees of the brain haven’t La ha a Eee aoe ieet : Be ee nea ee eer eee indwinienspornone Changed. eee datasets that enabled us to > ie Spee es eles he bch Raa ora oseivilea arene Tabatabiosts Chinese ee ot eenpee (nasa A micrograph image of one part |» of a hippocampus shows just how ‘many nerve cells there are within ‘even a tiny seetion of brain. \ odhave their brains scanned while listening to stories that didn't appear in the ATs training materials, ‘The results were remarkable. The generative Al didn't get the exact ‘words, but it often correctly predicted the general concepts. For example, when a volunteer heard, *...look for a message from my wife saying that she had changed her mind and that she was coming back,” the AI's prediction was: “for some reason, I thought maybe she ‘would come to me and say she misses me.” Volunteers were also shown silent videos and the AI was able to predict their thoughts as they watched them. For example, when shown a video of a gitl being knocked over, the AI predicted the volunteers’ thoughts as, “Isee a girl who looks just like me get hit on her back and then she is knocked off.” Jerry Tang led this research, “Twas surprised at how much the decoder could generalise to different semantic tasks,” he says, “I didn't expect that decoders trained on responses to stories would perform as well as they did on responses to imagined stories or In another study, researchers took the {MRI data from the University of Minnesota's 2022 study (which scanned eight people's brains while they looked at 10,000 images) and, in conjunction with a stable diffusion algorithm (commonly used for image- generating Als), used it to try to ‘predict’ what images the volunteers had seen, Using the brain sean data to train the stable diffusion algorithm, the researchers were able to produce keywords to describe the predicted images (for Instance, an object and where it appeared in the image, say: ‘blob in the middle’ and ‘clock tower’). ‘Those keywords were then fed into another image generating AI, which produced images that, while not identical, were strikingly similar to those seen by the volunteers, Other researchers from the National University of Singapore, the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Stanford University. achieved similar results using a diffusion-based AI ‘that had been trained on images and fMRI data from volunteers viewing images. ‘The brain scans of a volunteer who had seen a Jerry Tang (left) and colleagues oneness ‘Austin prepare to use a functional Por Ld Cesc iad Pee ets photo ofa red ire engine Ted'to the generation of photorealticred Rre engine bythe al We astonishing, but Questions retin a8 to Shother i true mind: reading. “The limits and (Gtten messy) complexity of the brain havent changed, and these advances can be trerblown when thats not considered” warnsDr Dean Burnet onoray research fellow ai Cardi University Peychology School Ite perhaps not suprising thata text generating Al can generate text or that an image generating Alcan generate images One could fonsider the mind-reading of these Als as similar to the efforts of human ilusionists who ‘magically Know what image youre thinking of For even these amazing Als dont © [rierestng BUS© s2illyknow our thoughts Instead, they have vast experience studying the ‘tellin our brainwaves that may indicate we're thinking or seeing certain things. It’s another kind of polygraph, except instead of physiological changes in our odes, it's blood flow changes (or electric activity) within regions of our brains. As impressive as itis, it's not yet truly understanding what ur neurons are doing. But does any of that matter if it works? ‘There are also limits to the generality of all such brain-reading approaches. “The AI software that could read people's brain activity and translate what they were saying had to have many hours of data from people in brain scanners, as they read words,” says Burnett. “When the AI was applied to anyone else, it failed completely. So, you get this idea that brain-tech can be easily applied to everyone, when it can’t.” 4 Ca) ‘Tang agrees, “We expect ‘that decoding won't ever become completely general, since our brains are shaped by our individual experiences,” he says, “For instance, in order to decode personal details such as the hames of a person's family members, we fist need to Tearn how those details are represented in that person's brain” ‘Tang is also concerned abbott istues of mental ivacy. "We think that i's Emportant to enact policies that regulate when and how brain data can be used. © Why read minds? ‘The prospect of mind- reading AT is amazing, but it could also involve invasive surgery, so it needs to be carefully justified. Most ‘companies and researchers claim that their motivation is to help people with spinal injuries or conditions that, affect their ability to ‘communicate. But it's not, always clear whether mind-reading technology is the right solution. Glyn Hayes, public affairs coordinator at the Spinal Injuries Association, is a sufferer of spinal injury, He understands the needs of those who have sustained spinal cord injuries (SCIs) more than most. “Having the ability to communicate is one of the things that makes us human,” he says. “Research in this area is important and, for anyone unable to communicate, it's invaluable.” Yet, there are other important needs that are often overlooked. “I would like to see more research into bowels, bladder, sexual function and nerve pain, as these are issues that stop a person with an SCI from leaving their house, potentially meaning they can't work or socialise.” Burnett believes we have a Jong way to go before tech that claims to offer a mind- machine interface can help people. “At present, the best that can be offered is a computer mouse that you Images viewed by volunteers ‘while having thelr brains. ‘seanned (top), were ‘predicted’ by an Al, based on keywords produced from thelr brain scan data (below). ‘operate with your thoughts, rather than your hand,” he says. “People think that [an impianted] chip would allow you to become ‘one’ with Your device. But that won't happen. That would require creating new neural connections, in ways that our existing thinking can ‘understand and integrate, at speeds well beyond the biological limits ofthe brain. ‘There's nothing out there that comes anywhere close to offering such a thing. And it probably woulda't be a good idea, even if there were.” Viepanorama.co.za Prof Peter Bentley is a ‘computer scientist based at University College London. He's the author of Artificial Intelligence in Byte-sized Chunks. srMoTo/o8aKA UNVERSTY vurwaarsen: ATE Tey ASPRAWLING POPULATION Inthe two years since the James tiny dots. The orange arms - made of Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was stars, gas and dust - circle out launched into space, ithas dazzled counterclockwise from the centre and Us with high-quality images of appear darker in more populated exploding stars, distant planets, areas, massive nebulae and more, In one of Captured using both near- and its more recent collections, the JWST mid-infrared light, this image, and 4g has captured images of 19 relatively those of the other 19 spiral galaxies, § nearby spiral galaxies, such as this _is part ofthe Physies at High Angular e catchy-sounding NGC 4254, resolution in Nearby GalaxieS J looking spectacular with its orange | (PHANGS) programme, which alms to = arms and anchored by its blue understand the small-scale physics E central region, of gas and star formation. In this image, i's possible to see OF the four main types of galaxy, clearly how densely populated the _spiral galaxies are most common and galaxy is. Within the blue light are hold the majority of stars in the Clusters of older stars, noticeable as universe, meFy F| § 1 This sea cucumber's gelatinous ‘skin lights up and sloughs off ets s Be UCUn tg De ee cn ees stars (starfish). Generally speaking, they lie about ‘on the seabed and are as inactive as their plant US ee ec Ty ee cs Ce eu gery Se eee eS te ruby-red creature that swims about and drifts on {entle currents in the deep sea, propelied by elegant. Wafts ofits webbed cloak. Another name for itis the ‘remarkable dreamer’ - a translation ofits scientific Peace It's also been given a more grotesque nickname: the Por ec net a ey Pe sen ce Uke ened been flung into the ocean. I's roughly the right size, too, growing to about 25cm long. The body part that POM ore eu Cee tice ccc eT ea Cea ed tentacles to shovel sediments into its mouth Perea oy Se ue ‘organic detritus that sinks down from the sea surface, ‘comprising dead plankton and their faeces bound into fluffy particles by a sticky microbial glue. This swimming sea cucumber was discovered in the 1870s by scientists aboard the HMS Challenger during Prec eee wo ney eee ra Uru ae CON Ee Cre ect eer a en and specimens tend to get damaged in collecting nets. er eon is Pere eon a un time this century, with the help of remotely operated ddeep-diving robots equipped with video cameras. Or Ao ee eg buoyant and can liftoff the seabed and then swim without expending much energy - a key survival strategy in the deep sea, where food is hard to fin. ee ene La visible through its transparent body. Commonly, just Cae Cee ey Se eee tl cleaned sediment -a bit ike dumping ballast ‘sandbags from a hot air balloon. In this way, Enypniastes plays an important ecological role, mixing Poe ince eee cd Por? ee Ure ue RO Poe Pe eee rer UL TC ry {elatinous skin lights up and sloughs off like a glowing ey eee Ce aura attacker's presence to predators ofthat species, while Pear Le Ore) Laboratory studies carried out on living Enypniastes specimens have found that they can quickly regrow Cur ce ge nk cig i ea