STRANGE FACTS

ABOUT PLACEBOS
WHY WE BELIEVE
WHAT WE WANT TO BELIEVE
ISPECTRUM
MAGAZINE
Issue 09/September-October 2014
T HE GR E AT
VAR NA C ULT UR E
1
FEATURES
03
THE GREAT VARNA CULTURE
AND THE DAWN OF
CIVILIZATION IN EUROPE
07 The Rise of the Varna Culture
12 Grave 43
16 The End of the Varna Culture
19
TEENAGER INVENTS OCEAN
CLEANING DEVICE
INTERVIEW WITH BOYAN SLAT
23 The Ocean Cleanup project
26 How to cleanup the Great
Pacific Garbage Patch
31
WHY WE BELIEVE WHAT WE
WANT TO BELIEVE
32 Wasons experiment
34 Information bias
39 Confirmation bias
42
STRANGE FACTS ABOUT
PLACEBOS THAT WILL
SURPRISE YOU
INTERVIEW WITH DR. IRVING
KIRSCH
44 Response Expectancy Theory
48 Nocebo effect
49
POLLINATORS AND
PESTICIDES:HOW CAN WE
IMPROVE THE BLEAK
SITUATION OF OUR BEES?
53 The risk of neonics on
pollinators
55 Spider-venom biopesticide
19
42 49
31
CONTENTS
3
2
Mado Martinez
Editorial Director
Editorial Director
Mado Martinez,
madomartinez@ispectrummagazine.com
Art Director
Rayna Petrova
raynapetrova@ispectrummagazine.com

Contributing Editors
Matt Loveday
mattloveday@ispectrummagazine.com
Jennifer James
Ravinder Dhindsa
Contributing Writers
April Holloway
Jacquelyn Keun
Rob Hutchinson
Declan Perry
Images
Cover : Zoomorphous applications, gold,
Eneolithic necropolis Varna
Photo credit: Varna Regional Museum of History
commons.wikimeadia.org ,
morguefile.com ,
freeimages.com
editorial
Ispectrum
magazine
Varna Culture is thought to be one
of the most advanced civilizations of
ancient Europe. Older than the empires
of Mesopotamia and Egypt, Varna has the
largest prehistoric necropolis in South-
eastern Europe and, as far as we know,
was the first to craft golden artifacts.
April Holloway introduces us to its cul-
tural practices, complex funerary rites,
belief systems, and more.
Boyan Slat was only 17 when he solved
a problem that most said was insoluble,
and had thus never been attempted:
cleaning the floating plastic from the
oceans. He then launched The Ocean
Cleanup Project and has so far raised $2
million to make his idea reality. Jacquelyn
Keun has interviewed this teenager who
is amazing the world and leading a unique
environmental initiative.
Rob Hutchinson returns in this issue
with surprising psychological phenomena.
Have you ever wondered why you believe
in determined things? Lets change the
question to explain the trick: why do we
believe what we want to believe? Robs
wonderful article answers this question.
We have also interviewed Dr. Irving
Kirsch, Associated Director in the Placebo
Studies Program at Harvard Medical
School, about his research and findings
on placebos. This article reveals some
surprising and bizarre facts about pla-
cebo effects.
And to close the issue we address the
problem of the extinction of the bees,
which is strictly linked to their lack of
food. Declan Perry teaches us how the
discovery of new non-toxic biopesticides
could improve the bleak situation of our
bees.
WWW.ISPECTRUMMAGAZINE.COM
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admin@ispectrummagazine.com
+44 7938 707 164 (UK)
Published Bimonthly ISSN 2053-1869
3
verybody has heard of the great
civilizations of Mesopotamia,
Egypt and the Indus Valley,
which are all noted for being
the earliest known civilizations to fea-
ture urbanization, organized adminis-
tration, and cultural innovation.
But few of heard of the mysteri-
ous civilization that emerged on
the shores of lakes near the Black
Sea some 7,000 years ago not far
from the modern-day city of Varna
in Bulgaria.
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The Great Varna Culture
and the
Dawn of Civilization in Europe
4
BY
APRIL HOLLOWAY
WEBSITE
WWW.ANCIENT-ORIGINS.NET
The Varna culture,
as it has come to be
known, was not a small
and inconsequential
society that emerged
in a little corner of
Bulgaria and disap-
peared quickly into the
pages of history. Rather,
it was an amazingly
advanced civilization
that was more ancient
than the empires of
Mesopotamia and
Egypt, and the first
known culture to craft
golden artifacts. Varna
is also now home to
the largest prehistor-
ic necropolis in south-
eastern Europe, which
reflects a richness in
cultural practices, com-
plex funerary rites, an
ancient belief system,
and the capacity to
produce exquisite and
expertly-crafted goods.

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Grave 4, Eneolithic necropolis Varna

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Sceptre, bone and gold, Eneolithic necropolis Varna,
grave 4 - late Eneolithic period
The earliest evidence
of human presence in
the Varna region can
be traced back to the
Early Palaeolithic Age,
some 100,000 years
ago. But it was during
the Chalcolithic period,
typically defined as a
transition between the
Neolithic and the Bronze
Age, that the inhabit-
ants on the shores of
the Black Sea entered
a new stage of devel-
opment. As archaeolo-
gists undertook more
and more excavations
in the region, they
began to see evidence
of mastery of metallur-
gy, skilled craftsman-
ship, extensive trade,
social differentiation,
agriculture, and reli-
gion. It became clear
that they were look-
ing at the remnants of
a once advanced and
highly-developed soci-
ety that existed from
at least the 5th millen-
nium BC. It has come
to be known as the
cradle of civilization in
Europe.
The Black Sea is the
earliest center of civi-
lization in human his-
tory, said Prof. Dr.

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7
Henrieta Todorova, who has led
excavations in the region. Many
people are reluctant to believe that
but it is true. It is obvious from
the social structure in 5,000 BC
which is adequate to the scientific
requirements for the creation of a
civilization.
According to Dr Vladimir Slavchev,
curator at the Varna Regional
Museum of History, the Varna cul-
ture can be attributed to a number
of important factors.
Its emergence was the result
of new elements in social and
economic development min-
ing, metallurgy and the related
increase in long-distance trade and
exchange, Dr Slavchev told iSpec-
trum Magazine. The separation of
crafts and proto-trade from farming
and agriculture provided conditions
for the concentration of power in
the hands of a restricted group of
significant and respected commu-
nity members, he added.
Evidence suggests that it was
between 4600 and 4200 BC, when
gold smithing first started in Varna.
THE RISE OF THE VARNA
CULTURE
8
Varna culture had trade relations with distant lands (pos-
sibly including the lower Volga region and the Cyclades),
perhaps exporting metal goods and salt from the Provadiya
rock salt mine.
The copper ore used in the artifacts originated from a
Sredna Gora mine near Stara Zagora, and Mediterranean
spondylus shells found in the graves may have served as
primitive currency.
Source: Wikipedia.com
9
As advances were
made, and craftsmen
mastered metallurgy of
copper and gold, the
inhabitants now had
something extreme-
ly valuable to trade.
Increased contacts with
neighbours both north
and south eventually
opened up trade rela-
tions within the Black
Sea and Mediterranean
region, which was of
great importance for
the development of the
society. Archaeological
evidence, such as clay
models of boats found
in the region, suggest
that ship building was
already very advanced
in the Late Chalcolithic
Period, and that mari-
time trade was highly
developed. The deep
bay, along which the
settlements of Varna,
provided a comfortable
harbor for ships sail-
ing across the Black
Sea and Varna became
a prosperous trading
center.
Zoomorphous applications, gold,
Eneolithic necropolis Varna,grave 36 - late Eneolithic Period

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Increased trading
activity allowed the
metallurgists to accu-
mulate wealth and very
quickly, a societal gap
developed with metal-
lurgists at the top, fol-
lowed by merchants in
the middle, and farm-
ers making up the
lower class. Incredible
discoveries made at a
nearby cemetery also
suggest that Varna had
powerful rulers or kings
but we will come back
to that.
And so, the foun-
dations had been laid
for the emergence of
a powerful and flour-
ishing culture, whose
influence permeated
the whole of Europe
for thousands of years
to come.


The first evidence of
Varnas ancient civ-
ilization came in the
form of tools, vessels,
utensils, and figurines
made from stone, flint,
bone, and clay. Then an
incredible chance dis-
covery came to light,
that made headlines
around the world. In
October, 1972, exca-
vator operator Raycho
Marinov stumbled upon
a vast Copper Age
necropolis containing
the oldest gold artifacts
ever discovered. It was
to become one of the
most important archae-
ological discoveries
ever made in Bulgaria.
Extensive excavations
were launched under
10
DISCOVERING ANCIENT
VARNA
11
the direction of Mihail
Lazarov (19721976)
and Ivan Ivanov (1972
1991), revealing for
the first time the mag-
nificent civilization of
Varna.
More than 300 graves
were uncovered in
the necropolis, and
between them over
22,000 exquisite arti-
facts were recovered,
including 3,000+ items
made from gold with a
total weight of 6 kilo-
grams. Other precious
relics found within the
graves included copper,
high-quality flint, stone
tools, jewellery, shells
of Mediterranean mol-
lusks, pottery, obsidian
blades, and beads.
Analysis of the graves
revealed that the
Varna culture had a
highly structured soci-
ety elite members
of society were buried
in shrouds with gold
ornaments sewn into
the cloth wrappings and
their graves were laden
with treasures, includ-
ing gold ornaments,
heavy copper axes, ele-
gant finery, and rich-
ly decorated ceramics,
while others had simple
burials
w i t h
f e w
g r a v e
goods.
There
is a
c l e a r
distinc-
t i o n
in the
t y p e
and the
quality of the grave gifts
which is determined by
the social rather than
the material status of
the deceased, said Dr
Slavchev. This distinc-
tion is proof of social
stratification in the Late
Chalcolithic period in
the Balkans the Varna
cemetery illustrates
the early stage of the
emergence of a class-
separated society.
Dr Vladimir Slavchev,
a curator at the Varna
Regional Museum
of History
While there were
many elite burials
uncovered, there was
one in particular that
stood out amongst the
rest grave 43. Inside
grave 43, archaeolo-
gists uncovered the
remains of a high sta-
tus male who appears
to have been a ruler/
leader of some kind
more gold was found
within this burial than
in the entire rest of
the world in that peri-
od. The male was bur-
ied with a scepter a
symbol of high rank or
spiritual power and
wore a sheath of solid
gold over his penis.
The burial is incred-
ibly significant as it is
the first known elite
male burial in Europe.
Prior to this, it was the
12

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Grave 43, Eneolithic necropolis Varna,
late Eneolithic period
GRAVE 43
13
women and children who received
the most elaborate burials. Marija
Gimbutas, a Lithuanian-American
archaeologist, who was well-known
for her claims that Neolithic sites
across Europe provided evidence
for matriarchal pre-Indo-European
societies, suggested that it was the
end of the 5th millennium BC when
the transition to male dominance
began in Europe. Indeed, in the
Varna culture, it was observed that
around this time, men started to
get the better posthumous treat-
ment.

The burials in the Varna necropo-
lis have also offered a lot more than
the precious artifacts found within
them and discoveries relating to
social hierarchies; the features of
the graves have also provided key
insights into the religious beliefs
and complex funerary practices of
this ancient civilization.
COMPLEX FUNERARY
RITES
Grave 2, Symbolical Burial
Eneolithic necropolis Varna

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It became apparent to research-
ers that the males and females were
laid out in different positions within
the graves males were laid out
on their backs, while females were
placed in a foetal position. But most
surprising of all, was the discovery
that some graves contained no
skeleton at all, and these symbolic
graves were the richest of them all
in terms of the amount of gold and
other treasures found within them.
Some of these symbolic graves, or
cenotaphs, also contained human-
sized masks made of unbaked clay
placed in the position where the
head would have been.
These cenotaphs usually are
interpreted as symbolic graves of
community members who perished
far away from the community,
said Dr Slavchev. It seems prob-
able that the religious beliefs in
the Chalcolithic period demanded
a ritual burial for the soul of the
deceased in the community ceme-
tery, strictly observing all funerary
rituals aimed at sending the soul to
the underworld, where it was sup-
posed to meet the members of its
family.
The graves containing the clay
masks were also found to con-
tain gold amulets in the shape
of women placed in the position
15
where the neck would
have been. These amu-
lets, associated with
pregnancy and child-
birth, indicate that the
burials were those of
females. Further evi-
dence of this is the
fact that there were
no battle-axes found in
these cenotaphs, but
each of them had a
copper pin, a flint knife
and a spindle whorl. Dr
Slavchev has explained
that these findings,
taken together, suggest
that these graves were
those of females real
or deified. A guess was
made that effigies of
the deities worshiped
by the local population
were buried in these
symbolic graves, said
Dr Slavchev.

THE END OF THE VARNA
CULTURE
By the end of the
fifth millennium BC,
the once strong and
powerful Varna culture
began to disintegrate.
Many hypotheses have
been put forward to
explain the fall of this
great civilization, from
climate change to a
sudden catastrophe,
epidemics, or destruc-
tion from invading war-
riors, but not enough
evidence exists to date
to conclude one way or
the other.
Dr Slavchev explained
that global warm-
ing during that period
increased sea levels.
The settlements situ-
ated along the coast of
the Varna Lake at that
time were flooded, the
water table increased
and large areas of ara-
ble land turned into
marshes and swamps,
all of which may have
contributed to the
decline of the Varna
civilization.
16
In addition, there is
evidence of the incur-
sion of horse-riding
warriors. The concept
of an invasion of tribes
coming from the steppes
into the Balkans at the
end of the Late Copper
Age is based on sev-
eral pieces of evidence.
One is the stratigraphic
and chronological rup-
ture between the Late
Copper Age and the
Early Bronze Age in
the eastern Balkans,
reflected in the aban-
donment of settlements
without reoccupation
around 42004000 BC,
which in some regions
continued for up to
800 years, said Dr
Slavchev.
Concrete evidence
for an external military
invasion into the ter-
ritory of present-day
Romania and Bulgaria
is scarce and rather
uncertain, consisting
of secondary evidence
rather than direct
proofs. The steppe ele-
ment might not have
appeared as a result of
an invasion. In recent
years there has been
an increase in the num-
ber of researchers con-
sidering the idea of a
peaceful penetration of
groups of people from
the steppes and their
gradual cultural infil-
tration.
Nevertheless, it may
not have been one rea-
son or the other, but
rather a combination of
17
factors that caused the downfall of
the Varna civilization.
Most probably a combination of
factors such as hostile neighbours
and climatic changes were the prin-
cipal causes that forced the inhab-
itants of the Northeast Balkans to
abandon their homes. They migrat-
ed at first to the south of the
Balkans, where settlements, slight-
ly later than the Varna cemetery
(ca. 4000 BC), were found. These
sites witnessed the last attempts
of the bearers of this bright culture
to retain their old customs on the
peninsula. But the ongoing climate
deterioration forced them either to
migrate or to change their way of
life completely, said Dr Slavchev.
He added: The beginning of
the fourth millennium BC brought
an end to a sophisticated soci-
ety that had briefly achieved a
level of political and aesthetic bril-
liance unrivaled elsewhere. It dis-
appeared from the historical stage
and remained unknown until it was
discovered by archaeologists six
thousand years later.
Although the Varna civilization did
not leave any direct descendants,
the members of this ancient culture
did leave behind many lasting lega-
cies and set the stage for the emer-
gence of subsequent civilizations
throughout Europe. Their skills in
metallurgy were unprecedented in
Europe and indeed throughout the
world, and their society demon-
strated many features of a highly
advanced and developed civiliza-
tion.
Even more than six thousand
years ago in the Varna culture
people started to switch to differ-
ent professions in which various
THE LEGACY OF THE
VARNA CULTURE
18
Avramova, M. 2000. Myth, ritual and gold of
a civilization that did not take place. In:
Varna Necropolis. Varna, Agat, 15-24.
Chapman, J., T. Higham, B. Gaydarska, V.
Slavchev, N. Honch. 2006. The social context
of the emergence, development and aban-
donment of the Varna Cemetery, Bulgaria.
European Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 9, No.
2-3, 159-183.
Dimitrov, D. & Georgiev, G. (2011). Black Sea
coast as cradle of first civilizations. Current
Archaeology Research in Bulgaria. Available
from: http://berberian11.tripod.com/dimi-
trov_postprocession.htm
Linehan, C. (2012). The victorious Varna cul-
ture. The History of Europe Podcast. Available
from: http://thehistoryofeuropepodcast.
blogspot.com.au/2012/05/victorious-varna-
culture.html
Norman A. (2003). The Oldest Gold in the
World in a Varna Cemetery. ANISTORITON:
ArtHistory Volume 7, September 2003:
Available from: http://www.anistor.gr/eng-
lish/enback/o033.htm
Varna Museum of Archaeogy. Available from:
http://www.archaeo.museumvarna.com/en/
category
REFERENCES
individuals had varying degrees of
skill - mining and metalworking,
pottery, weaving, spinning, pro-
duction of stone and flint tools and
more, said Dr Slavchev. A second
key feature that was present was
centralized authority a person or
institution to monitor and ensure
the proper functioning of the soci-
ety. All the fundamental principles
of modern society had been found
a model of civilization that we
still follow to this day.
BY
JACQUELYN KEUN
19
INTERVIEW WITH BOYAN SLAT
TEENAGER INVENTS
OCEAN CLEANING DEVICE
oyan Slat is the dynamic wun-
derkind behind The Ocean
Cleanup Project a project that
not only asks the audacious
question, Can we clean the oceans of
all the plastic floating in it? but also
answered it with a resounding Yes!
in his TED talk in October 2012 when
he was just 17. At the age of just 19
he has left behind the beginnings of
an aerospace engineering degree to
fully concentrate on turning what had
been a school project into a spec-
tacular social enterprise, which has
B
Photo:Boyan Slat,The Ocean Cleanup
used crowdfunding to raise over $1.8
million; not far off its goal of raising
$2 million by the 14th September. On
his website, www.theoceancleanup.
com, contributors can donate as little
as 4.50Euros or can make donations
in the thousands. He has brought
together an international group of sci-
entists and engineers and they have
researched a problem that most have
said was impossible to solve, and that
had never before been attempted.
20
21
The problem
is huge, cost-
ly both eco-
nomically and
e c o l o g i c a l l y
and apparent-
ly intractable:
millions of tons
of plastic have
entered the
worlds oceans.
Ocean currents
have moved the
plastics in the
oceans, concentrating
them into five main
gyres vast, rotat-
ing whirlpools of cur-
rents that dominate
the oceans. A third
of the oceanic plastic
is concentrated in the
Great Pacific Garbage
Patch a floating mass
of chemical sludge and
debris ranging in size
from microscopic par-
ticles to huge fishing
nets, trapped in the
North Pacific. Why
bother cleaning it up?
Well, 44% of seabirds
and 22% of many sea
creatures have been
documented to have
plastic in or around
their bodies. At least
one million seabirds
and one hundred thou-
sand marine mammals
whales and dolphins
die each year due
to plastic pollution.
For many species, this
could mean extinction.
Toxic, carcinogenic
chemicals such as PCBs
and DDTs adsorbed by
the plastic enter the
food chain through fish
but no one yet knows
the full extent of the
human health impact.
Furthermore, the eco-
nomic cost in beach
cleaning, vessel dam-
age, fishing loss etc.
is estimated to be $13
billion a year.
His concept is simple
but revolutionary. Why
think that the only way
to clean up the oceans is
to trawl through it with
ships in the manner of
fishing boats with nets?
It would be inefficient,
time-consuming, pol-
luting and expensive.
Boyan asks: Why not
stay still and let the
oceans move through
you? To this end,
he proposes building
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huge static
pl atf orms
in strate-
gic places
within the
gyres with
solid float-
ing barriers
or booms
that will
deflect the
flow of the
water and
divert the
plastic into collection
areas. This plastic can
then be sold for reuse
offsetting the cost of
the project. Efficient,
eco-friendly and cost-
effective: Boyan Slats
ideas may be crucial
to an environmental-
ly sound future. He
and his group recently
published a 530-page
report on the feasibility
of the project, and have
been able to respond to
its detractors and crit-
ics with detailed results
and computer models
of his ground breaking
concept that conclude:
this is feasible.
We caught Boyan for
an interview in the mid-
dle of his busy sched-
ule.
22
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JK: Could you tell us about
the school project that started
it all?
Boyan: I went diving on holiday
to Greece (in summer 2011) and
I suddenly realised I saw more
plastic bags than fish! That was
the first time I found out about
the plastic pollution problem. I
returned to the Netherlands and
started working on it for my
school project. It was
supposed to take
about 80 hours
and I ended
up spend-
ing about
800 hours.
I used
this time
to learn
about the
p r o b l e m
and why it is
so difficult to
solve. I came
across all these
people saying that
its impossible to clean up
so wed better just focus on preven-
tion. But, when I started looking
into it, I couldnt find any serious
studies proving that. I decided to
find out for myself. I finished the
school project but I couldnt stop
thinking about it and kept work-
ing on the problem throughout the
first half year of university which I
suppose was also my last half year
of university! So then The Ocean
Cleanup Project began.
JK: At the start you had
a lot of critics to face
- how did you get
people to under-
stand that you
had a solution?
Boyan: Well, I
dont rely on
the support
of critics but
they were actu-
ally very help-
ful: they really
thought with me
about this and sup-
plied me with feed-
back, and they under-
lined the questions we set out
to answer were the right ones. At
first I just started contacting peo-
ple myself but that was a really
time-intensive process. So it really
24
took until April/May of 2013, when
it went viral online and I started
receiving 1500 emails per day with
people offering their help, for me to
assemble this team.
JK: So youve had to cover a lot
of different areas of science
how did you do it all?
Boyan: I think we covered several
subjects, mainly marine engineer-
ing and oceanography but we also
did work on ecology, maritime law
and recycling. The smaller topics we
were able to do in-house. We had
a large group of volunteers, many
doing this as part of a PhD, so they
were able to complete this research
for free in a small amount of time,
which was great. For the engineer-
ing we primarily outsourced that to
some offshore companies and to
some engineering agencies as well
that collaborated with them. Quite
a few of them had already offered
their help so that made things a lot
easier. We just worked together
and eventually we did about 2 mil-
lion euros research with only about
100,000 euros in cash by utilizing
the goodwill of people and compa-
nies and organisations doing the
actual work. Its surprising how
much work weve been able to do
for so little money.
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JK: Do you think its helped not
being restricted by traditional
funding bodies?
Boyan: I think its helped in two
ways. First, the mentality of aca-
demics in general is all focused on
publications and grants and as you
need a certain amount of publica-
tions, you try to split them up into
as many as possible. Secondly, our
efforts are purely applied research.
We arent looking at questions that
dont really have answers like:
Why is the plastic only at a cer-
tain depth? It would be interesting
but it doesnt get us any closer to
our goal of removing 50% of the
Great Pacific garbage patch in ten
years time. We did look into some
PhD funding but if we went ahead
with that the results wouldnt be
delivered until 2016. By then the
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first stage of engineering should be
complete. Its great that we can
determine our own timeline.
JK: What was the most original
research youve undertaken?
Boyan: One of the great things we
did was, as there wasnt any really
good data on the vertical distribu-
tions of plastics, we didnt really
know up to what depth we had to
clean up. So we went out and did
three expeditions to measure it.
Also, the entire engineering pro-
cess is new and we successfully
applied for patents so that proves
how new our designs are.
JK: What are the main differ-
ences youve found between
what you thought you could
achieve at the time of your TED
talk and what you know now?
Boyan: Interesting question...
I think its important to stress
that the basic concept remains
unchanged and has now been vali-
dated. However, there are some
details that werent filled in. For
example, the platform responsible
for collecting the plastic started off
looking like a speedboat. Its now
more like an oil rig because thats
the way things stay afloat during
hurricanes. I couldnt have known
that, especially when I started this
because I didnt have any offshore
knowledge. Science is a continual
work in progress and every time we
get new results we should be flex-
ible enough to immediately imple-
ment that.
JK: The feasibility study sug-
gested a cleanup efficiency of
42%. How did you arrive at
that figure?
Boyan: In the past there have been
many computer models that map
ocean currents; they throw expen-
sive stuff with GPS into the ocean
and track them. In 2010, there
were 3 scientists that independent-
ly started to make models with data
on the concentrations of the plastic
and got pictures showing the five
garbage patches in the gyres. The
garbage is not static; its moving
around so we use those compu-
tational fluid dynamics models to
27
count the number of particles
of plastic that went through
a strip of a certain length for
a certain amount of time and
that way we were able to cal-
culate the speed of cleanup.
That doesnt mean that 42%
is the maximum efficiency
because if you make the array
of floating barriers twice as
long, you would collect about
70%. I believe that if you
have a 100km long barrier
deployed for 20 years the
clean up efficiency is 75%,
so the 42% is an arbitrary
number; this is the efficiency
you would get if you deploy
the array for 10 years with
100km sides.
JK: The feasibility report said
that you are unable to remove
the smallest microplastics
millimetre sized plastic debris.
Is that going to be a problem?
Boyan: I dont think so. Of course
we would prefer to catch all plastics
but we also have to be realistic;
we wont collect every last kilo of
plastic. Its just about removing as
much as possible. Microplastics can
be defined as below 5 mm in length
and people sometimes erroneously
refer to all ocean plastics as micro-
plastics. Over 90% of the plastics
are larger than microplastics and
also removing larger plastics will
prevent the increase of microplas-
tics tenfold because a fundamen-
tal problem is that large plastics
get eroded by the sun and waves
into smaller bits that get eaten by
fish and mammals and birds. We
can collect the plastics over 2mm
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in length so we would collect the
ones that get eaten. Importantly,
there are much larger plastics that
cause entanglement, especially for
marine mammals as well as being
a cause of economic damage for
ships and tourism.
JK: The environment is at the
heart of The Ocean Cleanup;
so how are you addressing the
impact the project itself will
have?
Boyan: Of course, if you want to
solve a problem you dont want
to create another problem. There
are two categories of sea life: one
is able to just move away from
the barrier; then theres of course
planktonic creatures that are not
able to resist the current but they
are swept under the barrier and are
carried away by the current itself.
So bycatch isnt a concern although
thats something we will continue
to do research on. Then, theres
the carbon footprint. Because the
major part of the project is powered
by the ocean and the extraction pro-
cess is powered primarily by solar
power we calculated they wouldnt
create any significant emissions.
The only emissions come from the
transport of the plastic back to land
by ship and thats equal to about
400 cars; so its still more worth-
while to remove the several million
kilos of plastic from the oceans.
JK: Part of the way you want to
offset your costs is to sell the
plastics and possibly turn them
into oil, though?
29
Boyan: Interestingly, if you look
at the process of getting oil from
ocean plastic, it has lower emis-
sions than getting new oil from the
ground, so we were actually able to
account for that as a negative car-
bon footprint according to the car-
bon footprint analysis standards.
If you dont include the transport
process the whole cleanup process
is actually carbon negative as well
actually reduce the amount of car-
bon that would be emitted into the
atmosphere.
JK: But if someone went and
used that oil for fuel or for mak-
ing more plastics wouldnt that
actually create a carbon foot-
print?
Boyan: Of course it does, but then
it is equal to the carbon foot-
print created if that person used
oil derived from crude oil and the
process required to make oil out
of crude is a lot dirtier than that
of making oil out of plastic. And,
there are a lot more valuable ways
in which the plastic could be used.
Probably 20% will be so degraded
that it could only be turned into
Test with a 40 meter size boom in Nieuwe Maas river (Rotterdam)
Photo credit: Bea Nagy (www.beabird.net), The Ocean Cleanup
30
oil. We will separate that from the
better quality plastic and the rest
would be turned into new materi-
als. Weve done tests and weve
been able to heat press these bet-
ter quality plastics. Its probably
easier if I just show you...
(He gets up and returns with some
samples of plastic)
This is to give you an idea: this is
what plastic from the ocean looks
like. This was part of a buoy and it
looks like you cant really do any-
thing with it; do you see the cracks
on it?
JK: Yes.
Boyan: Then we send it out and
actually the quality of something
like this is still good and we can
make a book cover out of this. We
also tried injection moulding it.
Injection moulding can make any-
thing out of the plastic. The quality
is good even though its made out
of this material. The possibilities
are virtually endless and now weve
calculated that its 4.50 Euros/kilo
to get the plastic out of the cen-
tre of the ocean to land, it could
at least return a significant part of
costs.
JK: So in terms of the project
where are you at right at this
minute?
Boyan: So right now we are finish-
ing up the first phase and making
minor improvements to the report
before we consider it completely
done. Were making preparations
to start the second phase as soon
as possible, ideally by the end of
September. Then through a series
of upscaling tests were working
towards a large scale operation-
al pilot in 3 4 years time. Our
crowdfunding campaign is going
well; weve raised over $1.8 million
dollars and were looking forward to
achieving the $2 million dollar tar-
get on the 14th September exactly
on schedule.
JK: Well Im sure youll be suc-
cessful and I know I hope you
will!
You can help Boyan Slat to clean
up the oceans. Just check out
WWW.THEOCEANCLEANUP.COM
eople tend to believe or
attach more importance
to information that
confirms their exist-
ing beliefs or thoughts, and
this is best illustrated when
people selectively remember
WHY WE BELIEVE WHAT
WE WANT TO BELIEVE
information or interpret new
information biasly. This is
known as confirmation bias,
and plays a strong part in
how we assess information in
our everyday lives.
BY
ROB HUTCHINSON
WEBSITE
WWW.ISPECTRUMMAGAZINE.COM
P
31
32
The discovery and observation
of confirmation bias was record-
ed even before psychology as we
know it today existed. Evidence
has been found in the writings
of such varied figures as Dante,
Francis Bacon and even as far back
as Greek historian Thucydides, who
wrote in The Peloponnesian War
....for it is a habit
of mankind to
entrust care-
less hope
what they
long for,
and to use
sovereign
reason to
t h r u s t
a s i d e
w h a t
they do
not fancy.
Although
this is
o b s e r -
vation of
what could
be taken as con-
firmation bias,
numerous observations along these
lines throughout history would sug-
gest that some learned souls were
aware of the phenomena, although
they had no ability to discern why
it occurred. Confirmation bias was
termed by Peter Wason in 1960.
Briefly, his experiment focused on
participants identifying a rule that
applied to a sequence of three
numbers. Participants generated
their own set of triple numbers
and the experimenter would
tell them if the rule applied
to that set or not.
With this information the
participant then had to
discover the rule. The rule
itself was actually stag-
geringly simple - any
sequence of numbers that
ascended. Despite this par-
ticipants had a devil of a
time discovering it.
By studying the participants
creation of number sequenc-
es Wason saw that participants
appeared to be testing numbers
that only fit into their hypothesis of
the sequence rule.
33
They tried doggedly to
prove their own idea
about what the rule
was, which Watson
coined as confirmation
bias - trying to prove
their own hypothesis by
selectively processing
information. Wasons
experiment was later
called into question as
it was possible partici-
pants were employing
something called posi-
tive stress strategy - a
tendency to make tests
that are consistent with
a working hypothesis,
and not confirmation
bias. However, from
Wasons experiment
and coining of the term
confirmation bias went
on to be proven in many
later experiments.
34
Biases occur in our
search for and interpre-
tation of information,
as well as our
memory of it.
The search
for informa-
tion bias is
par t i cul ar -
ly common
(and crucial)
in the science
and business
sector. By
looking for
the informa-
tion we want
and design-
ing questions biased
towards the answer
we favour all manner
of problems can be
caused. Scientists, psy-
chologists, researchers
and anybody else who
is looking to prove their
point (and theirs alone)
gravitate towards test-
ing a hypothesis in a
biased way, search-
ing for evidence that
proves rather than dis-
proves the hypothesis.
This hypothesis can be
worded in a specific way
that searches for only
the positive or nega-
tive evidence that they
require. A simple exam-
ple of this would be
someone who wants to
investigate if 4x4s are
more popular than cars
by going to the country-
side to tally the num-
ber of cars and 4x4s
they see. Obviously, in
the countryside there
is a greater need for
4x4s and thereby the
r esear cher s
are biasing
their search
for informa-
tion. A pref-
erence for a
positive test
can also be
evidenced in
hypot hesi s,
as a posi-
tive question
favours a pos-
itive answer.
More peo-
ple are likely to give
a positive answer to
the question Are you
happy with your childs
education? than Are
you unhappy with your
childs education?. This
bias for positive ques-
tioning often simplifies
complex issues.
35
As we can see from above, word-
ing is critical to a hypothesis, and by
making small changes the experi-
menters can skew the research
in their favour. By using positive
language in a question people will
look for the positives, but by using
negative language then people will
look for the negatives.
If youre looking for a negative
aspect simply use negative lan-
guage in the question and you will
have a better chance of receiving
the information you want.
For example, by asking Which
of these immigrants should be
approved for a visa? people will
look for the positives, whereas by
asking Which of these immigrants
should be declined a visa? people
will look for negative aspects. Not
only the wording can be a power-
ful influence over search biases.
Personality traits have been shown
to influence search biases too.
Selective exposure concerns how
we search for information that is
consistent or inconsistent with our
beliefs, and those who are influ-
enced by selective exposure tend
to search for the former.
Research has shown that when
individuals were asked to refute an
argument that contradicted their
beliefs, those with high confidence
levels searched for the informa-
tion that went against their beliefs
to form an argument against it.
However, those with low confidence
levels searched for information that
supported their personal point of
view, making little effort to address
the argument from the other side.
A confident person is therefore less
likely to be influenced by search
biases than a low confidence per-
son. The disasterous results that
36
can be caused by search biases can
be demonstrated by the invasion
of Iraq - with no solid evidence of
weapons of mass destruction, it is
quite evident that the politicians
and others with vested interests
were affected (whether by choice
or not) by confirmation bias, espe-
cially in searching out proof of the
WMDs existence.
A more obvious source of bias
is interpreting the information that
has been collected or provided.
Even if the information is free from
bias, the way we interpret it can
differ widely.
Lord et alii (1979) at the University
of Stanford experimented on partici-
pants who had strong views in favour
or against capital punishment. Each
participant read a brief description
of two studies, a comparison of US
states with and without the death
penalty and the comparison of
murder rates before and after the
introduction of the death penalty
in those states that employed capi-
tal punish-
ment. They
were then
asked if their
opinions had
changed, and
were pro-
vided with a
more in depth
account of
the studies
procedures
and to rate
them if the
research was
well conduct-
ed and con-
vincing. All of this infor-
mation, including the
study description they
first read was fiction-
al. Half the participants
were told that of the
two studies they were
being presented with,
one supported the death
penalty as a deterrent
and the other didnt.
The other half was told
the same thing but for
the opposite studies.
Regardless whether the
participants were for
or against the death
penalty they all slight-
ly shifted their opinion
towards the first study
they read. However,
once they had access
to the more detailed
information all the par-
ticipants returned to
their original viewpoint.
Participants had picked
out from the detailed
information anything
that corroborated their
original viewpoint and
used this as evidence
that they were right,
rating the study that
agreed with their view as
more convincing and as
37
38
havi ng
b e t -
ter pro-
c e d u r e s
than the
other. This
demons t r at es
that even though the
information can be the
same when present-
ed to two groups with
differing opinions, the
groups interpretation of
this can be skewed in
favour of their beliefs.
Of course, it is possi-
ble for information to be
searched for and inter-
preted without bias-
es, but it can still be
selectively recalled to
reinforce prior expecta-
tions.
Two main theories
dominate psychology
in terms of selective
recall, but they have
very different views.
Schema
theory shows that infor-
mation matching expec-
tations will be more eas-
ily remembered, stored
and retrieved than
information that goes
against prior expecta-
tions. A schema is an
organized pattern of
thought or behaviour
that categorises infor-
mation and the rela-
tionships between it.
People are more likely
to notice things that fit
in with their schema.
Schemas use automat-
ic thought to organise
new perceptions and
categorise them. On the
other hand, other theo-
ries provide evidence
that
s u r -
pr i s i ng
information
stands out more and
is therefore more like-
ly to be remembered.
Memory recall can also
be influenced by chang-
es in our emotional state.
Participants memories
of their emotional reac-
tions gradually broke
down over time when
asked about how they
felt about O.J Simpson
being acquitted for
murder (Levine et al,
2001). They assessed
the stability of emo-
tions over time and the
relationship between
current appraisals and
memory for emotions. A
week after Simpson was
acquitted participants
were asked how they


Schema theory shows that informa-
tion matching expectations will be
more easily remembered, stored and
retrieved than information that goes
against prior expectations
39
felt about their emotional reactions
and appraisals at the time when
they found out about the verdict.
After two months, and then a year,
participants recalled their initial
emotional response and described
their current appraisals of the ver-
dict. After a period of two months
the more the participants apprais-
als of Simpsons guilt or innocence
had changed the less stable their
memories for happiness or anger at
the verdict became. After one year
systematic changes in memories
for happiness, anger and surprise
were found to be shifting towards
the participants current apprais-
als of the event. For example, if
at the time of the verdict a per-
son held the belief that Simpson
was innocent he may have reacted
with happiness at this result. But,
one year later if this person shifted
their appraisal of the situation to
thinking Simpson was guilty then
the recall of his emotional reac-
tion to the verdict will change - he
would report he was not happy but
disappointed with the verdict at
the time, even though this was not
true.
Confirmation bias is a result
of unintentional thought strate-
gies rather than deliberate mental
actions with the aim of deception.
There are cognitive and motiva-
tional explanations of why this
occurs. Cognitive explanations are
based upon the limitations that
people experience when carrying
out complex tasks. People employ
heuristics, a problem solving and
learning technique used to speed
up the process of finding a solution
by using mental shortcuts to cut
down the cognitive effort required
to make a decision. The solution
may not be the optimal one, but
it will be satisfactory. An educated
guess would be an example of heu-
ristics - not all information is pro-
cessed but the answer is usually
thought to be satisfactory.
40
An availability heuristic may be used
by people to judge a particular sit-
uation based on what information
easily comes to mind. Motivational
explanation for confirmation bias
focus on wishful thinking - prefer
happy thoughts or outcomes to
unhappy ones. This form of positiv-
ity bias is known as the Pollyanna
Principle, the tendency for people
to remember a pleasant item more
than an unpleasant item. At a sub-
conscious level the mind tends to
focus on optimism whilst the con-
scious err towards negativity. When
applying this principle to sources
of information or evidence it sug-
gests why the outcomes we want
to be true are often considered to
be true. People will more readily
believe evidence that they prefer to
be true and demand a much higher
standard of evidence for evidence
that they do not want to be true.
Confirmation bias can involve a dif-
ferent thought process called con-
firmatory thought, which seeks evi-
dence to justify an already held point
of view. Lerner and Tetlock have
succeeded in separating two differ-
ent trains of thought. Exploratory
thought is a neutral process that
considers all the evidence and pre-
dicts all possible outcomes, whilst
confirmatory thought attempts to
validate their currently held view.
Interestingly, Lerner and Tetlock
claim that people only force them-
selves to use critical thinking when
they know they will have to argue
their point to those whose opin-
ion they do not know or are well
informed on the subject.
Confirmation bias can easily dis-
rupt our social and work lives.
Confirmation bias can lead to over-
confidence, causing bad invest-
ments and poor decision mak-
ing. In the stock market, it has
been shown that those who make
the most profit resist confirmation
bias. We can see from above that
41
scientific research can easily be
compromised by searching for the
desired answer, either consciously
or unconsciously.
Confirmation bias could prolong
scientific theories or experiments
for years through compromised
research. Peer review - the pro-
cess of equally qualified experts
assessing the study - hopefully
reduces the effect of confirmation
bias in research. Randomly select-
ing participants has also contrib-
uted in the effort to minimize the
bias effect. Biases are also at play
when we assess our own image.
Self-verification (upholding beliefs
on self-image) and self-enhance-
ment (the desire to receive positive
praise) are influenced by
confirmation bias.
We are less likely
to remem-
ber feedback
that goes
against
our self-
i ma ge ,
a n d
we are
more likely to remember the person
who gives us praise than critique.
Any emotional issue leads to a
stronger confirmation bias, often
polarizing existing biases.
Even when two people with dif-
ferent views are exposed to the
same information it can serve to
actually make them take an even
more extreme viewpoint than the
one they previously had, a theme
which has come to be known as
attitude polarization. This serves
to entrench our views, making
us more stubborn and less likely
to change our beliefs. From the
research above we can see how big
a part confirmation bias plays in
our life. And this is only skimming
the surface. Think back to the last
argument you had - about poli-
tics, holiday plans or even which
restaurant to go to - and there is a
good chance confirmation bias was
involved. Even if you recognize it,
and you know it influenced your
viewpoint would you change your
mind? Probably not, I wouldnt!
rving Kirsch is Associated Director
in the Placebo Studies Program
at Harvard Medical School and
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical
Center, and professor of psychology at
the University of Plymouth (UK). He has
excelled in the scientific community for
his research on placebo effects, anti-
depressants, expectancy, and hypnosis.
Kirsch is the creator of the theory of
response expectancy and studies in this
field regarding antidepressants and pla-
cebo effect have had a lot of influence on
treatment protocols in UK.
INTERVIEW WITH
DR. IRVING KIRSCH
BY
MADO MARTINEZ
WEBSITE
WWW.MADOMARTINEZ.COM
I
42
STRANGE FACTS ABOUT PLACEBOS
THAT WILL SURPRISE YOU
43
44
M.M. I have the feeling that we
have not paid enough atten-
tion to the placebo effect and
we only consider its importance
for testing new medicaments,
but its more than that and has
more to do with healing than
many drugs, right?
I.K. For decades, the placebo effect
was only considered as part of the
process of testing new medica-
tions, but that has been changing.
Medical researchers are becoming
more interested in understanding
the placebo effect and figuring out
how one can make use of it in clini-
cal practice.
M.M. You have a very interest-
ing theory, called the response
expectancy theory. What is it
about?
I.K. Response expectancy theo-
ry was inspired by study of the
placebo effect. Expectancies are
anticipations of what will happen.
Response expectancies are antici-
pations of what we will experience
in various situations (e.g., pain,
sadness, joy). What the placebo
effect shows is that these expectan-
cies are self-confirming. Believing
that we will have a certain experi-
ence can produce that experience.
M.M. Modern medicine has a
pill for everything, even for
depression, but you conducted
a research that showed the real
effectiveness of antidepressants
is very small, while the placebo
effect in the administration of
these antidepressants is much
bigger. Considering that anti-
depressants are drugs, most of
them very addictive and with
many undesirable side effects,
should we consider other alter-
natives?
I.K. The clinical trials conducted
by the drug companies show that
most of the effectiveness of anti-
depressants is due to the placebo
effect. Many other treatments (for
example, psychotherapy and phys-
ical exercise) are just as effective
as antidepressants, but they dont
produce the side effects or other
45
health risks associated with the
drugs. These alternatives should be
tried first. Antidepressants should
be used only as a last resort, after
other, less risky alternatives have
failed.
M.M. What does the placebo
effect have in common with
hypnosis?
I.K. The power of hypnosis and
the placebo effect are both based
on suggestion. One way to think
of hypnosis is as a non-decep-
tive means of producing a placebo
effect.
M.M. During my years of experi-
ence as a journalist and anthro-
pologist, I have encountered
many cases of people who
assure me that they recovered
from a sickness (herpes, can-
cer, etc.) with a healer, going to
a sacred place or using alterna-
tive therapies such as hypnosis,
positive thinking, etc. Is this
related to the placebo effect?
I.K. Probably yes
46
M.M. When is a placebo more
effective? In tablets, injections,
or some other form?
I.K. Placebo capsules are more
effective than placebo pills, injec-
tions are more effective than either
pills or capsules, and sham surgery
is the most effective of all.
M.M. Can the doctors attitude
improve the placebo effect?
I.K. Yes! When doctors have pos-
itive attitudes and expectations,
they communicate these to their
patients, often without even being
aware that they are doing so. This
can lead the patient to have greater
confidence in the treatment and to
show a better response to it.

M.M. If you give syrup to a
patient suffering from vomits,
and this syrup is for provoking
more vomits, but you tell the
patient that it will cure him...can
it cure him? Have you observed
this?
I.K. The answer is yes. There are
classic studies by Stewart Wolf in
CRAZY THINGS ABOUT PLACEBOS YOU
SHOULD KNOW
Europeans react more positively to injections than to pills, but
Americans believe that pills are much more effective than injec-
tions.
Although lying to the individuals is crucial for placebo effective-
ness, even when they are aware of receiving a fake drug, it can
still work.
The color, the size and the shape of the pills is very important
and it really affects how well the placebo will work. Yellow pills
are better for treating depression and red ones are more indi-
cated for keeping people awake and alert. Green pills lead the
ratings for treating anxiety while the white ones soothe stomach
problems.
Placebo surgery is amazingly effective.
When administering morphine, patients react better if they are
informed that they are receiving it than if not.
People can inebriate themselves with placebos.
Placebos can occur too among some animals.
Several high profile studies are showing that placebos basically
have the same effect than antidepressants but without side
effects.
The nocebo effect can make individuals experience the side
effects of a medication after reading the side effects warnings.
The nocebo effect can make people sick even if they are receiv-
ing treatment for recovering.
The nocebo effect can end in psychogenic death.
47
48
the 1950s, in which people were
given ipecac, a drug that usually
induces nausea and vomiting, and
were told it would soothe their
stomachs and ease their nausea.
It worked.
M.M. What is nocebo?
I.K. The nocebo effect is the conse-
quence of expecting bad outcomes.
It has been called the placebo
effects evil twin. Just as positive
expectations can produce
positive results, negative
expectations can produce
negative outcomes.

M.M. Are some of us
more predisposed to
nocebo than to placebo?
Can we change this pre-
disposition? How?
I.K. The data on this are mixed
and very complicated, although
there is some indication that opti-
mists may be more susceptible to
placebo effects and pessimists to
nocebo effects.
M.M. Can we consider voodoo
as a result of nocebo?
I.K. Anthropologists have studied a
phenomenon called voodoo death.
This occurs when someone is cursed
and subsequently dies. We cannot
be sure how reliable the accounts
o f these phenomena
are, but the theory is
that a person who
believes in voodoo
can be frightened
to death when they
know they have been
cursed.
BY
DECLAN PERRY
49
ees pollinate many of the
fruit, nuts and vegetables
we eat and without them our
supermarket shelves would
be almost empty. Last year, in an
attempt to protect our pollinating
insects, the highly controversial ban
of a group of pesticides called neo-
nicotinoids or neonics as they are
more commonly known was rolled
out across Europe. On the face of
it this was good news for bees, and
certainly better than no ban at all.
But following the pesticide restric-
tions, the future of pollinators may
not be as rosy as you might expect.
B
POLLINATORS
AND PESTICIDES:
HOW CAN WE IMPROVE THE
BLEAK SITUATION OF OUR
BEES?
50
The pesticide ban did not get rid
of all neonics and there are many
other problems that pollinators
face; habitat destruction, bee dis-
eases and a lack of food to name
just a few. Nevertheless, the dis-
covery of new biopesticides that
are non-toxic to honeybees pro-
vides hope for the future of pest
control. But it is early days for
these exiting new strategies and,
for now, more simple efforts may
improve the bleak situation of our
pollinators in the short term.
Like most other species, some
plants have sex to reproduce. This
process involves pollen grains
which are the plants male sex cells
being transferred to the female
part of the plant. Honeybees, and
other insects that eat nectar and
FALLING BEE NUMBERS
AND RISING FOOD
PRICES
51
pollen, are an impor-
tant part of this process.
They fly from plant to
plant searching for nec-
tar and pollen. In doing
this pollen sticks to the
bees body and is trans-
ferred between flowers.

Mostly, honeybees are
kept in hives and polli-
nate our crops, but wild
insects such as bumble-
bees also contribute. As
well as pollinating wild
flowers which provide
food for thousands of
other species, scientists
have estimated that
these insects pollinate
around one third of the
worlds crops, includ-
ing; apples, onions,
cauliflower, broccoli,
coffee and cocoa (used
to make chocolate).
Because they are kept
in hives, bee keep-
ers are able to keep a
detailed record of hon-
eybee numbers. Using
this and other honey-
bee data from across
Europe, it is clear there
has been a dramatic fall
in honeybee numbers in
the last 30 years, with
the number of hives
falling by about a quar-
ter in this time (1). It
also seems as if honey-
bee numbers are falling
much faster in the UK
than in other European
countries (2).
Pollen grains
As well as affecting
the environment, the
decline in bees could also
put a dent in the wallets
of consumers. Professor
Dave Goulson, pollina-
tor expert based at the
University of Sussex,
explains: The worst
case scenario would be
ending up without polli-
nators or perhaps, more
realistically, not enough
pollinators to give us
a full yield. The fear is
that we will start seeing
yield declines in crops
like raspberries, straw-
berries, apples and
pears. Elsewhere in the
world crops like cocoa
and coffee, which rely
on insect pollination,
would also be under
threat. This may then
push up food prices,
and reduce food pro-
duction at a time when
the worlds population
is ever increasing.
A study released early
this year had a simi-
lar conclusion (3). It
suggested that Europe
had 13 million fewer
honeybee colonies than
would be needed to pol-
linate all of its crops.
This means that there
is an over reliance on
wild pollinators such as
bumblebees and hover-
flies and this, in itself,
is dangerous because
we dont know exactly
how many wild pollina-
tors there are. Goulson
said: The key problem
is that we dont really
have a reliable mea-
sure of wild bee num-
bers at the moment.
For most pollinators we
dont have much of a
clue what is happening
until they disappear.
This has worried sci-
entists with some sug-
gesting there may be a
food security catastro-
phe in the future if we
dont act to stop the fall
in bee numbers (4).
Bumblebee
52
For years, scientists
have been trying to
find out exactly why
honeybee numbers are
continuing to decline
and it turns out that
bees face a number
of problems. Intensive
farming practices have
reduced the habitat in
which bees can live,
there has also been a
decrease in wild flower
numbers meaning that
bees are running out of
food. Several diseas-
es, to which bees have
little resistance, have
also been introduced.
Added to this, bees face
a threat from several
different types of pes-
ticide, including those
containing neonics.
During their research,
scientists paid special
attention to the effect
of this group of pesti-
cides on bees.
Neonics are usually
used as a seed dress-
ing in agriculture. This
means seeds are coat-
ed in the pesticide
before being planted,
providing protection for
the crop before it has
even started growing.
As the seed grows the
pesticide coat is incor-
porated in to the plant
itself, giving it lifelong
protection from pests.
Neonics work by affect-
ing the brain and ner-
vous system of insects.
The active molecule
binds to receptors on
cells in the nervous
system, disrupting sig-
nals being transmitted
around the insect body
(5). This is irreversible
and eventually leads
to paralysis and death.
Unfortunately, neonics
are not specific to pests
and they can also harm
bees too.
After completing doz-
ens of studies, it was
found that neonics
could kill bees at very
small doses. At small-
er doses still, it was
found that the pesticide
reduced honeybees
ability to navigate and
learn new information.
The research was com-
pleted both in the lab,
and in the field making
it very convincing (6).

On the back of this
research, the EU asked
the European Food
53
THE RISK OF NEONICS
ON POLLINATORS
Standards Agency to
find out exactly how
dangerous neonics were
to bees. It was dis-
covered that this group
of pesticides posed an
unacceptable risk to
honeybee populations,
eventually leading to
the controversial ban of
neonics in agriculture.
But this was not a simple
process, the agrochem-
ical industry fought to
oppose the ban and the
UK government reject-
ed the science on which
the ban was based.
Nevertheless, the ban
was eventually passed
with 15 countries voting
for it and eight against.
It was then decided
the ban would last for
two years, before being
reviewed in 2015.
However, even with
the ban in place, bees
will not enjoy a com-
pletely neonic-free
environment. The ban
did not affect neon-
ics being used in gar-
dens and parks. These
spray-on pesticides are
still available in gar-
den centres. On top of
that, the ban also only
applies to flowering
crops and crops planted
in the spring or sum-
mer. Other crops, such
as winter wheat, are
not covered by the ban
and can still be treated
with the restricted pes-
ticide.
54
55
In the time since the ban was
brought in, there has been more
research into how neonics affect
bee health. There has also been
some early research into alterna-
tive pesticides, called biopesticides,
which are less harmful to pollina-
tors. A paper, published recently in
Proceedings of the Royal Society
Biology, detailed a new biopesticide
made from spider venom that may
one day control pests without kill-
ing or harming pollinators (7).
This research was completed by
Erich Nakasu and his colleagues at
the University of Newcastle. The
team chose to focus on venom pro-
duced by the Australian funnel web
spider as a potential biopesticide as
it has previously been shown to be
deadly to pest insects. They com-
bined the toxic molecule taken from
the spider venom with a second
carrier molecule. This allowed the
spider venom to be delivered to the
pest orally, by spraying on a crop
SPIDER-VENOM
BIOPESTICIDE
Australian
funnel-web spider
56
for example. Scientists exposed
honeybees to the spider venom
molecule at a range of concentra-
tions, ranging from minute doses
to doses so high that they would
never be seen in a field setting.
After completing the research the
team found that the new biopesti-
cide did not pose a significant risk
to honeybee health. In fact, the
spider venom molecule was about
as harmless to honeybees as a non-
toxic control substance, Nakasu
said: The fact it can selectively kill
insect pests, but not bees, was actu-
ally surprising, he went on to say:
we consider the molecule to be
relatively safe to bees, particular-
ly when
compared to current alternatives.
The exact reason why this new
biopesticide is harmless to bees
and toxic to other pests is not com-
pletely clear. But it seems to be
related to the spider venom mole-
cules effect on ion channels, which
are proteins found in the lining of
all cells. These proteins control the
flow of charged ions in and out of
the cell, and are vital for many
important physiological processes.
It appears that the spider venom
molecule targets and inhibits a
particular type of ion channel in
the cells of the pest insect, caus-
ing mortality. This process doesnt
seem to happen in honeybees and
this may be because they have a
slightly different version of the ion
channel found in pest species.
This different type of ion chan-
nel may not be susceptible to
the spider venom molecule,
making honeybees resistant
to the molecule. The lab
group at the University of
Newcastle is currently com-
pleting research to confirm
this theory.


the new biopesticide did
not pose a significant risk
to honeybee health
57
The results of the
study are no doubt
exciting for the future
of pest control, Nakasu
said: There is a clear
and pressing need for
alternative pesticides.
Studies like ours are
very important because
they show that these
toxins provide an
alternative that does
not have a measur-
able impact on bees at
field-relevant doses in
assays that are very
sensitive.
But it is important to
note that this is the
very first stage in bring-
ing a new biopesticide
to the market. Nakasu
said it could still be
five to 10 years before
spider venom biopesti-
cide becomes available
to farmers. During this
time the new biopes-
ticide will have to go
through the licensing
and registration pro-
cess. Field trials will
also take place to make
sure the spider venom
molecule doesnt dam-
age the environment.
58
For this reason, the
spider venom biopes-
ticide should not be
seen as an alternative
to neonicinoid pesti-
cides. Goulson also
pointed, that an alter-
native to the banned
neonics may not even
be necessary, he said:
I have been trying
to flag up for some
time now that there is
no clear evidence as
to what difference to
yields neonics make,
which is quite surpris-
ing considering every-
body uses them. If you
were to take away the
seed dressing and do
everything else the
same, there is no data
to say how this would
affect yields because
no one has done this
simple trial in the UK.
But there have been a
few trials in the US and
they show that neonic
pesticides are coming
up short. A two year
study on soybeans in
South Dakota found no
DO NEONICS
REALLY HELP
CROP GROWTH?
yield benefits from neonic seed
dressing because the pesticide con-
centration was not high enough to
kill pests (8). These conclusions
are hotly contested by the agro-
chemical industry who says that
over time neonics do provide yield
benefits. Experts have suggested
that neonics should only be applied
if there is high pest pressure on
the crop. For example, there would
be little point in applying a pesti-
cide in an area with no pests.
So why do farmers pay for and
use pesticides that may not be nec-
essary in some cases? According
to Goulson farmers receive most
of their advice from agronomists
employed by the agrochemi-
cal industry, he went on to say:
Farmers do not have any source of
good data, so they rely on advice.
It seems quite likely that they have
been using something that they
probably didnt really need.
59
60
You might think that we will have
a better idea of how neonic appli-
cation affects yields after the two
year ban, but this is unlikely. Some
of this years crops were treated
with neonics before the ban came
into action. This means neon-
ics will persist in the environment
until the crops are harvested. This
only leaves one year during which
the pesticide restrictions will be
fully observed (before they are
reviewed in 2015), which may not
be long enough to properly gauge
the effect of the ban on crop yields
and pollinator health.
It is also important to note that,
even with the neonic ban, crops
are still being sprayed with other
pesticides. So they are not open to
attack by pests in the absence of
neonics. Added to this, the evidence
for the negative effect of neonics
on pollinator health seems to be
far stronger than the evidence for
the positive effect of the same pes-
ticide on crop yields. This can be
seen in the numerous publications
that show how neonics harm bees
both in the lab and the field. It is for
these reasons that many research-
ers are calling for the neonic ban to
be extended beyond 2015, when it
is due to be reviewed.

Biopesticides, which are non-toxic
to bees, are still decades away.
And in the meantime bees will still
be exposed to neonics albeit to a
lesser extent for as long as the ban
lasts. On top of this, other pesti-
cides, bee diseases and a lack of
pollinating flowers also pose a risk
to bees. The current situation may
seem bleak for our pollinators but
there are things we can do right
now to improve the health of bees.
Goulson suggested that there are
many strategies that could improve
SHORT-TERM
STRATEGIES
61
REFERENCES:
1)sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169534710000364
2)ibra.org.uk/articles/European-honey-bee-declines/
3)plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0082996
4)theguardian.com/environment/2014/jan/08/uk-food-security-honeybees
5) ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11698101
6) ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3338325/
7)rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/281/1787/20140619.full
8)ri cehoppers.net/wp-content/upl oads/2013/05/Sci ence-2013-
Stokstad-675.pdf
the health of bees in the short term.
First we must address the loss of
habitat suitable for pollinators by
planting more flowers in gardens
and parks as well as on farmland
this will provide bees with food and
places to live. There should also be
efforts made to reduce pesticide use
in gardens, where neonics can still
be used freely. Organizations such
as the Bumblebee Conservation
Trust promote these efforts and
raise awareness to try and improve
pollinator health.
These strategies are still only in
their infancy. Goulson said: The
initiatives under way that are trying
to get people to grow more flowers
are a bit of a drop in the ocean at
the moment, but if they gathered
momentum they could make a real
difference.

62
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