Professional Documents
Culture Documents
LAST YEAR WE
SAW OUR FIRST
BLACK HOLE
NOW WE KNOW
IT SAW US TOO
How black holes are filming the entire
history of the universe
WHY DINOS
CAME TO RULE
The secret superpower that No3293 US$6.99 CAN$7.99
made them unstoppable
News Features
12 Atlas of everywhere 30 Last year we saw our first
Biggest map of the universe News black hole. Now we know it
covers 11 billion years saw us too
How Einstein’s monsters capture
14 Slavery’s legacy footage of our universe’s history
The genetic trace left by
the transatlantic slave trade 36 Why dinos came to rule
The secret superpower that let
17 Cleaning planet plastic dinosaurs take over the world
Avoiding a plastic catastrophe
will be difficult, but we have 42 The stronger sex
to start trying How superior genes help
women to live longer
Views
The back pages
21 The columnist
Bring on the weather report 53 Puzzles
predicting storms on social Quick crossword and the quiz
media, says Annalee Newitz
54 More puzzles
22 Letters Can you figure out the best
An eyewitness account of way to take the biscuit?
bias during work at university
54 Cartoons
24 Culture Life through the lens of
Exploring the many ways Tom Gauld and Twisteddoodles
that the universe could end
ANDREA IZZOTTI/ALAMY
55 Feedback
25 Culture Rhea bites and naked comet-
The tough reality of balancing watching: the week in weird
family with being an astronaut
56 The last word
28 Aperture 13 Under the sea Microbes discovered beneath the sea floor Why is UV radiation stronger
A natural kaleidoscope of the South Pacific Ocean may be more than 100 million years old when the sun is high?
ROST-9D/iSTOCK PHOTO
Online
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of the Neanderthals, shedding The end of everything Astrophysicist Katie Mack on our cosmic fate features and interviews.
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The leader
Cosmic visions
Astronomical breakthroughs show the age of scientific discovery is far from over
PHOTONS travel light. They have been understanding is far from complete. “job done”. But the power and beauty
zinging around the cosmos largely If you leaf through the SDSS paper you of scientific discovery is that it builds
unimpeded since around 380,000 years might think that, for such a grandiose on itself. As often as not, such events
after the big bang, when atoms formed view of the universe, it rather lacks in represent the closing of a chapter
and the universe became transparent to visual appeal. Not so for the image that and the opening of many new ones.
them. Astronomy is essentially the act of is the centrepiece of our cover story In this case one new chapter is the
capturing as many photons as possible; this week. Rarely have photons been mind-bending, yet simultaneously awe-
cosmology that of translating this act inspiring, thought that the black hole’s
into a coherent picture of the universe. “Future generations will have orange glow hides infinite rings of
News this week that we have made our the chance to look further, photons that it captured at different
best ever map of the cosmos, depicting and sharper, into the universe times – a movie of the universe as seen
some 11 billion years of its history, is a than we can” from its perspective (see page 30).
milestone on both counts (see page 12). Does it matter that we lack the
It is the result of two decades of light combined to such iconic effect than in capability to see much of that cosmic
gathering by astronomers at the Apache the first direct picture of a black hole, footage yet? Not really. We should see
Point Observatory in New Mexico reproduced once again on page 34. these insights, and those of SDSS, as
involved in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey There is a tendency with such a investments for the future. They remind
(SDSS). For cosmologists, the map is the momentous breakthrough as this – us that if we preserve ourselves, and the
best confirmation yet that their standard made by the Event Horizon Telescope planet we live on, future generations will
model of the universe is correct – albeit in April last year and, again, one decades have the chance to look still further, and
with one big caveat that suggests our in the making – to walk away thinking sharper, into the universe than we can. ❚
Healthcare workers
check temperatures
in Mumbai, India
LAST week was a big one for Sarah injection site, tiredness, aches against coronaviruses that infect
Gilbert at the University of Oxford, and fever in some cases. humans, so there is nothing to
leader of the team that created the The big question is whether compare with.”
“Oxford vaccine”, a front runner in it really protects people from Normally, human trials of
the race for a coronavirus vaccine. infection. To find out requires vaccines take a decade or more.
On 20 July, her team published phase III trials in which thousands “The reasons for being slow
results showing that the vaccine of people are given either the usually are financial,” says Gilbert.
produces the desired immune vaccine or a placebo. They aren’t If all goes well, the Oxford
responses in people. told which, so they don’t change vaccine might get the go-ahead
Gilbert says she took a their behaviour. These trials are from regulators this year. This
JOHN CAIRNS
moment to pause ahead of the now under way (see page 10 for would be an amazing achievement,
announcement – she had most more on vaccine trials). but Gilbert thinks we might
of the day before, a Sunday, off. If the vaccine works, fewer have done even better. “We could
That is a rare luxury these days. Profile people given it should end up have been quicker to get started
She normally works long hours, Sarah Gilbert is professor of catching the coronavirus if we had been better prepared.
including on weekends. “There is vaccinology at the University of compared with those who got We need more investment in
a lot going on during the week, so Oxford, leading its research on flu the placebo. Ideally, there would pandemic preparedness to do
weekends are a time to catch up on vaccines and emerging pathogens be no cases at all among those better next time.”
more substantial pieces of work vaccinated, but even a vaccine that
with fewer interruptions,” she says. and T-cells that destroy infected provides only partial protection
Gilbert gradually moved into cells before they make more virus. would be better than nothing.
How much protection?
vaccine development after joining To create the coronavirus “We all want the best vaccine One of the biggest worries around
Oxford in 1994. Even so, she never vaccine, which is being developed we can get, but will accept the promise of a vaccine to end
imagined working on a vaccine to in collaboration with drugs firm one that is safe, despite some the pandemic is that our immune
tackle a massive global pandemic. AstraZeneca, the researchers tolerable side effects imme response to the virus might only
“We had been starting to prepare simply had to put DNA coding diately after vaccination, and provide short-lived protection.
for a ‘disease X’ vaccine, but that for the virus’s surface protein into reduces mortality,” says Gilbert. However, that issue doesn’t
was always envisaged as a novel the adenovirus “cassette” they had “There aren’t any vaccines necessarily translate to vaccines,
already created for other vaccines.
“We all want the best That meant they could produce
vaccine we can get, but small batches of the vaccine for
we will accept one that is initial tests in just weeks. It can
safe and reduces mortality” take several years to get to this
point in vaccine development.
pathogen that would cause an A chimp adenovirus shell is
outbreak rather than a pandemic.” used instead of a human one
The type of vaccine she has been because it doesn’t get mopped
working on against coronavirus up by our immune system before
is known as a viral vector vaccine. delivering its cargo. “Vaccines
The key component is DNA coding based on human adenoviruses
for a surface protein – which don’t work quite so well in people
would normally trigger an who have some immunity to the
immune response – from the adenovirus,” says Gilbert.
virus you want to protect against. So far, things look good. The
Like a Trojan Horse, this is put results published last week show
inside the shell of an adenovirus that the Oxford vaccine produces
that causes colds in chimpanzees, good antibody and T-cell responses
which delivers it to human cells, after two doses and only minor
where the protein is made. side effects, including pain at the
In response, the body produces
both antibodies that circulate In Brazil, large trials of
in the blood and bind to any the Oxford/AstraZeneca
matching viruses they encounter, vaccine are under way
1/3
Reduction in deaths of ventilated
used to treat arthritis, could be
beneficial against covid-19.
Another recent development
that inhibited the coronavirus’s
replication in cultured cells.
As well as trying to use existing
patients given dexamethazone relates to an inhaler-based drugs to tackle covid-19, some
treatment that delivers a protein pharmaceutical companies are
In June, the US bought up called interferon beta to the exploring entirely new ones.
virtually all global stocks of lungs. A preliminary finding In addition, researchers
the drug remdesivir, an antiviral showed that it reduced the risk have started to rule out
that suggested promise against of patients going on to develop certain drugs. For example,
Ebola. The move came after severe covid-19 by 79 per cent, hydroxychloroquine and
one trial found that it reduced compared with a placebo group. lopinavir-ritonavir haven’t been
recovery time by four days in However, this was a small, early shown to provide any benefit,
AMANDA PEROBELLI/REUTERS/PA IMAGES
covid-19 patients. trial of the drug, called SNG001, at least in hospital settings.
However, other studies have developed by UK firm Synairgen. For now, the focus remains
yielded mixed results: one in April The blood plasma of covid-19 on treating the most severe,
showed no clinical benefit, while survivors offers another possible short-term problems caused
an analysis last month by Gilead, treatment because it contains by the illness. But with growing
the company behind the drug, antibodies to the coronavirus. evidence pointing to longer term
indicated a reduced risk of death An alliance of companies formed symptoms, treatments will be
in those severely affected by in May to pool research on its needed to tackle those too. ❚
AMID rising global numbers of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine Where are all
daily coronavirus infections, a Trial phases produced the desired immune the vaccines?
fresh flush of vaccine trial results responses without showing
is offering hope for the longer run. Phase I serious adverse reactions. That Scores of vaccine candidates
There are more than A vaccine is given to a small was in a combined phase I/II trial are in development around
160 coronavirus vaccines in number of healthy people to of 1077 volunteers (see “Trial the world, but only a handful
development around the world. see whether it is safe to use phases”, left). It is now being tested have made it to the final
About 140 of these are at the Phase II in many thousands more people. stages of testing, and none
preclinical stage, meaning they are A greater number and diversity Six days earlier, US company has so far been approved for
still being looked at in laboratories of people are tested, to see if it Moderna and the US National general use.
and in animal tests. Another 25 are triggers an immune response Institute of Allergy and Infectious
already being tested in people. Phase III Diseases revealed that 45 people
The rate at which the tally has
risen to 160-plus is unusually
fast. “What is phenomenal is the
Involves hundreds or thousands
of people, including a control
group to see if the vaccine works
had received their mRNA-1273
vaccine and shown an antibody
response. On Monday, they began
139
Vaccines in preclinical trials,
numbers changing over the past in the population at large a phase III trial intended to have not yet tested in humans
few months. The amount of Combined phases 30,000 participants.
research is incredible,” says Sheuli Because of the urgency of the The other two most promising
Porkess at the Association of the current pandemic, some phases candidates are from CanSino
British Pharmaceutical Industry.
As the candidates advance,
the World Health Organization
are happening in parallel Biologics in China, which
published encouraging phase II
trial results on the same day as
25
Vaccines being tested in
(WHO) last month started to few weeks. Initial trials show the Oxford team, and another humans, some of which are
convene a working group to that they can trigger an immune from German company BioNTech in more than one trial phase
prioritise the most promising response and appear safe – but with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer,
vaccines. “Practical realities will it is too early to say if they will which published a promising
require a process that focuses protect against coronavirus and preliminary report on 14 July.
global efforts on a small handful whether they will work across At this stage, we don’t know
of candidates that may have the many different groups of people, which, if any, of the vaccines will
highest impact,” the WHO said.
Four vaccines have made big
steps in development in the past
including older individuals and
those with chronic health issues.
On 20 July, a team led by
succeed. “The eyes of the world
are on these that are closest. But
without being pessimistic – I’m
18
Vaccines in small-scale
Sarah Gilbert at the University being realistic – drug development phase I safety trials
A volunteer in Seattle takes of Oxford (see interview, page 8) is a risky business,” says Porkess.
part in a trial for a vaccine and pharmaceutical company The much larger phase III trials
developed by Moderna AstraZeneca showed that their in coming months, involving
thousands of people, will give
a better idea of which vaccine
might be deployed first. “This
is the pointy end, this is when
you are getting into real-world
11
Vaccines in large
testing of a vaccine,” says Margaret phase II safety trials
Harris at the WHO.
Any vaccines that are successful
in clinical trials will still need to be
manufactured at scale, which will
TED S WARREN/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK
YOU may have heard that your with type O blood appear to have
blood type can protect you against been elicited by antigens very
covid-19, or make you more similar to those on type A blood
vulnerable. The science suggests cells. This could explain why
that it can do both, a bit, but people in the type A blood group
researchers say that it is too soon don’t have these antibodies: even
to make decisions about personal if they had been exposed to the
risk based on your blood group.
The idea that blood type might “Susceptibility to the virus
affect susceptibility to infection behind SARS is affected by
by the coronavirus that causes blood group, with type O
covid-19 began circulating in somewhat protective”
Machine learning
AI learns to weavers contribute to their colonies. The system has so far been tested pictures of the back of birds, as that
This is normally done by putting on captive zebra finches, wild great is the view biologists usually get
recognise individual coloured tags on their legs and tits and wild sociable weavers. Tests when observing behaviour. It might
birds from behind sitting by nests to watch them, with photographs that weren’t used also fail if the appearance of a bird
which is very time-consuming. for training reveal its accuracy is changes, such as during moulting.
ARTIFICIAL intelligence has been So Ferreira and his colleagues around 90 per cent for a single However, Ferreira thinks that
trained to identify individual birds. turned to AI. The difficult part is image (Methods in Ecology and all these issues can be overcome
The system is being developed for getting the photographs required Evolution, doi.org/d438). if given large-enough data sets.
biologists studying wild animals, to train the system. “We need For now, the system is still quite He and his team are now setting
but could be adapted to help people thousands of pictures of the limited. It has only been trained on up cameras to take pictures from
recognise birds in their surroundings. same individual,” says Ferreira. multiple angles, not just the
André Ferreira at the Center for The researchers solved this “The system could be back. The plan is to release the
Functional and Evolutionary Ecology problem by putting RFID tags adapted to help people software for others to use as it
in Montpellier, France, started the on the birds, which triggered recognise individual birds is further developed. ❚
project while studying how sociable cameras at bird feeders. in their surroundings” Michael Le Page
MICROBES that have been In the lab, the researchers dead as this,” says Kallmeyer. AN ULTRA-FAST camera has
hibernating deep below the gave the microbes nutrients The microbes may be even captured a video of light as it
Pacific Ocean since the reign laced with distinctive isotopes more astonishing than that. bounces between mirrors.
of the dinosaurs have been of carbon and nitrogen. Within Although they can probably Although light isn’t normally
revived in the lab. Some may be 10 weeks, these isotopes began gather sufficient nutrition visible in flight, some photons from
100 million years old, perhaps showing up inside the microbes, from the mud to repair cellular a laser pulse will scatter off particles
making them the longest-lived indicating that they had begun damage, it isn’t clear if the mud in the air and can be picked up by
life forms on Earth. to feed like typical bacteria contains enough nutrients to a camera. Using these photons to
We already know that (Nature Communications, DOI: fuel cell reproduction. “They recreate the pulse’s trajectory is
microbes can survive deep 10.1038/s41467-020-17330-1). may have divided since they difficult, because by the time they
below our planet’s surface, even That is remarkable were buried, or they may not,” reach the camera, the pulse has
though nutrients are generally considering what the bacteria says Virginia Edgcomb at the moved to a new location.
scarce. Biologists suspect that have been through, says Jens Woods Hole Oceanographic
the microbes enter a minimally Kallmeyer at the GFZ German Institution in Massachusetts.
active mode to stay alive. But Research Centre for Geosciences “I don’t think anyone knows.”
THIS year’s hottest destination is the mission’s scientists in Nature Due to the harsh environment and a spectrometer, which it will
Mars. On 23 July, China launched Astronomy (doi.org/d4vg). on Mars, the rover is expected use to create a map of the mineral
the Tianwen-1 mission to the Red If all goes well, Tianwen-1 will to last about 90 Martian days. composition of Mars’s surface,
Planet – one of three spacecraft arrive at Mars in February 2021 It weighs around 240 kilograms, as well as radar and detectors to
slated to head there in 2020. and the lander and rover will about the same as China’s Yutu-2 examine particles in the Martian
This is China’s second touch down two or three months rover, which is currently roaming atmosphere. It will also look for
interplanetary mission, but later. They will take pictures the moon. “The Chinese mission
the first that the nation has
launched on its own. The
other, Phobos-Grunt, was a
from the surface, measure the
soil composition, make radar
observations of the planet’s
to the far side of the moon has
been hugely successful, so
they’re building on that success
90
Number of Martian days that
collaboration with Russia that underground structure and now,” says Forczyk. China’s rover is expected to last
didn’t make it out of Earth’s observe Mars’s magnetic field. The orbiter, which will relay
orbit after blasting off in 2011. data from the lander and rover deposits of water ice that could
The new mission, called The Tianwen-1 mission back to scientists on Earth, be helpful for future explorers.
Tianwen-1 – which translates as includes a Mars lander also carries a suite of scientific Tianwen-1 won’t be alone in
“questions to heaven” – consists and a rover instruments. It has two cameras Mars orbit. The United Arab
of an orbiter, a lander and a Emirates has just launched
rover, the last of which will be its first mission to Mars, and
named via a public competition. NASA’s Perseverance rover is
“It’s very ambitious because it’s set to launch on 30 July. These
a four-part mission: there’s the missions are all leaving now
launch, getting into orbit, the because Mars is at its closest point
landing and the rover, and every to Earth, which happens once
single step has to go right,” says every two years. They will arrive
space consultant Laura Forczyk. at Mars around the same time
All those steps must work on and help us understand the
the first try, a feat no other space planet and its history.
programme has accomplished “If we learn what Mars is truly
on a Mars mission because of the like and how we can operate
difficulty of landing there. “No there robotically, then those
planetary missions have ever been lessons can be applied to future
CNSA
Biodiversity
Spiderwebs can Academy of Sciences and Arts Orb webs like of concept in the wild. The approach
turned to an unusual tool to collect these can catch could complement traditional
help us monitor such environmental DNA: the orb DNA from surveying of pollinators, which
forest life webs of garden spiders (Araneus insects in the are suffering major declines, or to
diadematus) and sheet webs of surrounding detect pests or invasive species.
SPIDERS may build their webs to common hammock-weaving area The use of environmental
PIX/ALAMY
catch prey, but trials in Slovenian spiders (Linyphia triangularis). DNA to monitor ecosystems is
forests show they can also serve The webs act as a passive air growing, with the technique being
as a way for humans to monitor filter, capturing DNA from insects, deployed by regulators in English
the biodiversity of ecosystems. fungi and bacteria – and providing 50 families of animals: nematodes, rivers and lakes. It doesn’t require
There has been growing interest an elegant alternative to the air butterflies, moths, wasps, bees, years of taxonomical knowledge
in detecting species by collecting filtering machines ecologists use, beetles and flies, everything. The to identify species, which instead
the fragments of DNA they shed in which need to be powered by heavy richness of information surprised have their DNA matched against
an environment, a method that can generators (bioRxiv, doi.org/d4xn). us a lot,” says Gregorič. databases. “You don’t have to be
be less invasive and quicker than “The results are fantastic, He and his colleagues got the a spider expert to use spiderwebs,”
surveying with nets and trays. much more than I hoped for. idea from a 2015 trial in a zoo, but says Gregorič. ❚
Matjaž Gregorič at the Slovenian From 25 webs, I found [DNA from] Gregorič says this is the first proof Adam Vaughan
THE DNA of ancient smallpox They then looked for more viral eliminated by vaccination in the Strains with the full 200 genes
viruses has been found in the DNA in the original samples. They 20th century – which killed 1 in 3 typically cause only mild disease,
bones and teeth of people who found it in 13 individuals, 11 of people – had lost about 30 genes. says Antonio Alcamí at the
died in northern Europe during whom died between AD 600 and The strains that Mühlemann Autonomous University of
the Viking age. Unexpectedly, 1050. This overlaps with the Viking sequenced had lost only half Madrid, Spain. He thinks the
these smallpox strains are quite age from AD 793 to 1066 (Science, of these 30 genes. They derive Viking age virus type was less
different to the strain that was DOI: 10.1126/science.aaw8977). from the same ancestor as the deadly than the 20th-century one.
eliminated in the 20th century, Most of these people died in 20th-century virus, but didn’t “It was probably able to kill but
and possibly far less deadly. Scandinavia or what is now give rise to it. Instead, they are was not as terrible,” he says.
Historical accounts and lesions western Russia. Three were found a now-extinct side branch. This flies in the face of current
on Egyptian mummies suggest on Öland island in the Baltic Sea, “It’s more complicated than thinking, which is that viruses are
that the Variola virus, which one in a boat burial from around anyone imagined,” says team most deadly when they first jump
causes smallpox, has plagued AD 700 and two others in burials member Terry Jones, also at to humans and evolve to become
people for thousands of years. from around AD 1000, who may the University of Cambridge. less deadly, because viruses that
Barbara Mühlemann at the have died in the same outbreak. kill hosts are less likely to spread.
University of Cambridge and The Variola virus was also One explanation for the
her colleagues now have the first found in a man from a mass diversity of strains is that smallpox
unambiguous evidence. grave in Oxford, UK, which is odd jumped to people from animals
They started by looking for because all 35 men in the grave more than once. That might mean
viral genetic code in previously are thought to be Viking warriors it is more likely to happen again
sequenced DNA from nearly killed in a massacre in AD 1002. than we thought, says Jones.
2000 individuals who lived In four cases, Mühlemann’s Increasing numbers of people
in Eurasia and the Americas team recovered near complete are being infected by monkeypox
THAMES VALLEY ARCHAEOLOGICAL SERVICES
between 30,000 and 150 years ago. viral genomes. These reveal that virus – whose normal host is
“Presumably many people died the ancestor of the Variola virus unknown despite the name – but
of the virus,” says Mühlemann. probably had about 200 genes, so far there has been no sustained
In these people, viral DNA might similar to some pox viruses still human-to-human spread.
be present in their remains and circulating in animals. The strain The increase in cases could be
could have been sequenced along due to the fact that people are
with their own DNA. Sure enough, Skulls of Vikings buried no longer being vaccinated
the researchers found signs of in a mass grave in Oxford, against smallpox following its
Variola DNA in 26 individuals. UK, in AD 1002 eradication, says Mühlemann. ❚
Wearable technology
Colour-changing show UV exposure, as measured at the patches and determine that produces acid when exposed to
by UV index (UVI) hours, a standard whether the reading would UV light – as well as a pH-sensitive
hair dye shows your measure of UV radiation. indicate sunburn risk for three dye that responds to that acid.
exposure to UV rays They also accommodate for different skin tones with an “As you’re more exposed to UV,
different skin tones, which have accuracy of 73 per cent. The work it generates more acid and the dye
STICKERS and hair dye that change different minimum UV-exposure was presented virtually at the changes colour,” says team member
colour in response to ultraviolet points for sunburn, says Mariakakis. 2020 ACM Designing Interactive Bichlien Nguyen at Microsoft
light could help people gauge The stickers display thresholds Systems Conference last month. Research in Redmond, Washington.
when they are at risk of sunburn. corresponding to 0, 3.33, 6.67 and The stickers are made from The team also made hair dye with
Alex Mariakakis at the University 11.11 UVI hours, which roughly UV-sensitive ink and can be printed pigments that change colour in the
of Washington in Seattle worked match the minimum amount of in an inkjet printer. The ink uses a presence of UV light – from clear to
with a team at Microsoft to develop UVI hours that can cause sunburn photoacid generator – a compound pink, for example. It changes colour
printable stickers that change colour in people of differing skin tones. irreversibly, so it can only indicate
from purple to light pink throughout After being taught how to “As you are more exposed UV intensity at a given moment
the day to indicate cumulative compare the colour-changing to UV light, it generates rather than cumulative exposure
exposure to UV light. The patches section with the reference colours, more acid and the dye throughout a day, like the patch. ❚
contain a reference colour scale to 35 people were able to glance changes colour” Donna Lu
spacecraft have visited it, including groups. In the UK, bottles are
NASA’s Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 mostly recycled because it is easy
probes in 1979, and the Galileo to do and there is an end market for
spacecraft from 1996 to 2000. the material. By comparison, pots,
Images from these visits revealed tubs and trays are tricky because
cracks or furrows on the surface, they are made from so many
each up to several kilometres wide, polymers. Meanwhile, plastic films
which appeared to be in concentric get contaminated, clog machines
rings. Researchers thought they and have little end market.
might have been caused by an Jacob Hayler at the
impact that rocked half the moon, EVEN if we took every feasible substituting it for other materials, Environmental Services
but the true extent of the collision action to cut plastic pollution, we rather than from better recycling Association in London says
or its location wasn’t clear. would still only manage to get and disposal or from reducing chemical conversion to break
Now Naoyuki Hirata at Kobe rid of 78 per cent of it by 2040 mismanagement of waste, polymers down to individual
University in Japan and his team compared with a business-as- though they are essential too. All compounds could help with
re-examined the images, finding usual scenario, according to a new the approaches and technologies pots, tubs and trays in the future,
the impact structure may stretch analysis. This huge effort would still covered by the study exist today. but is too expensive for now.
nearly 16,000 kilometres across leave us with an extra 710 million “We are not asking for something The study’s ambitious scenario
the surface, meaning it wraps tonnes of pollution by 2040. Are new to be created,” says Winnie assumes that 6 per cent of plastic
around almost the entire moon, we in a hopeless predicament? Lau at the Pew Charitable Trusts waste reduction would come from
narrowly avoiding meeting up No, says Richard Bailey at the in Washington DC, who was part this process, so investment would
on the other side, and was caused University of Oxford, who worked of the research team. be required to meet that goal.
by an impactor 300 kilometres on the study. While a complete Despite innovations and policy
across (Icarus, doi.org/d4sn).
This dwarfs the next biggest
known impact structure in the
ban on plastics is unrealistic, there
is still much we can do, he says.
Pollution aside, a war on plastic
710m
Extra tonnes of plastic pollution
changes, some problems will
remain. For instance, Lau says that
there isn’t yet an obvious fix for
solar system, the South Pole-Aitken makes financial sense. The team by 2040, even with large cuts microplastics from car tyres, about
basin on Earth’s moon, which found that its ambitious scenario a third of which were recently found
is 2500 kilometres across. would be about a fifth cheaper Julian Kirby at Friends of the to be ending up in oceans.
The size of the impact structure than business as usual, as the Earth in London points to existing What’s more, the coronavirus
had been difficult to constrain until cost of more waste and recycling examples of plastic reduction, such pandemic could prove to be either
now, says Paul Schenk at the Lunar facilities would be offset by lower as UK football club Arsenal saving a blessing or a curse. Plastic face
and Planetary Institute in Houston, production and selling recycled 500,000 cups by switching masks are already turning up in
Texas, because it didn’t form in material (Science, doi.org/d4vc). from single-use cups to reusable oceans, and coffee shops have
a normal way. “The icy shell of Yet no single silver bullet, ones. He believes approaches that halted the use of reusable cups.
Ganymede was too thin to form such as mass recycling, is enough. depend on consumer demand, like “It feels like it’s going to make
a classical rim like you see on other “What we found was there isn’t refillable products, could scale-up the problem worse in the short
large craters elsewhere,” he says. a single thing that we can say due to changing public attitudes. run because of more plastic use
Future missions, most notably we can, ‘let’s just do loads of X’. “There is a sense of momentum and potential for waste,” says
the European Space Agency’s We’ve got to do it all,” says Bailey. we’ve got with plastics now that Bailey. “The silver lining is it’s
JUICE spacecraft scheduled to orbit Despite it varying by region, the means the Loop system has a an enormous opportunity to
Ganymede in 2032, should tell biggest savings at a global level chance of working,” says Kirby, change the system, to rebuild
us even more. ❚ come from curbing plastic use and referring to the US firm that things in a different way.” ❚
Environment Zoology
MOSQUITOES living in places through and systematically a long, intense dry season were
with intense dry seasons evolved characterised behavioural much more likely to prefer humans
to bite humans, according to a variation in Africa,” says Noah (Current Biology, doi.org/d4vd).
study of African mosquitoes. The Rose at Princeton University. A long dry season is a problem
insects need water to breed and He and his colleagues captured for A. aegypti because it needs
may have latched onto us because A. aegypti eggs from 27 sites in standing water to rear its young,
we often create standing water. sub-Saharan Africa and raised says Rose. But humans often
Many mosquitoes feed on a them in a lab. The mosquitoes create this, whether by storing
Recent floods are wide range of animals, yet some were put in a chamber where rainwater or irrigating crops.
among the worst only bite humans and nobody they could catch a whiff of either a Mosquitoes that lived thousands
knew why until now. Aedes aegypti human or an animal – a guinea pig of years ago may have been drawn
The years 1990 to 2016 mosquitoes often specialise in or a quail – to see which they would to these places and thus evolved
rank among the worst humans, bringing diseases like move towards to attempt to bite. to bite humans. Michael Marshall
periods of flooding in
Europe in five centuries, Animal behaviour Robots
according to a study of
historical letters, annals
and legal records (Nature, Flapping drone can
doi.org/d4sb). hover like a bird
Rats modified A DRONE that flaps its wings and
to hear the light can make quick turns like a bird
could one day be used to monitor
Cochlear implants that crowds or check on crops.
restore hearing could be It consists of a battery and motor
improved by genetically attached to a set of X-shaped wings
modifying the nerve made from polyurethane film and
cells in people’s ears to carbon fibre. It has rear stabilising
respond to light instead fins of expanded polystyrene.
of electricity, a study in rats Other robots with flapping
DOUGLAS GIMESY
Columnist
A
Annalee Newitz is a science FEW weeks ago, I noticed by Twitter and Reddit, which Alizadeh and his colleagues set
journalist and author. Their that a foul and offensive contained distinct troll activities them loose on data sets that
latest novel is The Future of hashtag was trending originating in Russia, China and contained some troll posts and
Another Timeline and they on Twitter. Like a horror movie Venezuela between 2015 and 2018. some “control” posts from typical
are the co-host of the character who goes into The campaigns were all aimed users. After several tries, the
Hugo-nominated podcast the basement after hearing at the US, but they had very algorithms were able to predict
Our Opinions Are Correct. monster noises, I clicked on it. different approaches. Trolls from whether or not a post was from
You can follow them Every post on the hashtag China seemed mostly to target a troll most of the time. The
@annaleen and their website was like a parody of a political people in the Chinese diaspora, Venezuelan trolls were easiest to
is techsploitation.com debate, with each side making especially ones with an interest identify, with 99 per cent accuracy
the same screaming accusations. in Islam. Venezuelan trolls tended on some tests. When it came to
It was almost as if these people to be bots spouting political news Chinese and Russian trolls, the
had learned to argue from and links to fake news websites. algorithms got it right between
bad algorithms. 74 and 92 per cent of the time
That is when it hit me. Maybe “These weren’t bots (Science Advances, doi.org/d4p7).
Annalee’s week these angry tweets were generated That isn’t perfect, but it is a
spewing automated
What I’m reading by algorithms. Or by operatives at lot better than I can do with
hate; they were
Our History is the Future a place like the Internet Research my armchair speculation about
by Nick Estes, a deeply Agency in Russia, where they Russian operatives, how a nasty hashtag might be
researched history of make memes to fan the flames reacting to US news an influence campaign.
uprisings by indigenous of the political trash fire in the US. in real time” The real question is, how do
people in the US. Not for the first time, I wished you separate real social media
that I could check some kind The Russian trolls were the nonsense from fake, when the
What I’m watching of social media weather report craftiest. They responded quickly fake accounts are so nimble
The surprisingly smart on outbreaks of propaganda. to current events in the US. Their and constantly changing what
and sweet time-loop That dream isn’t so far from posts about Black Lives Matter they are discussing? Alizadeh
movie Palm Springs. being turned into reality, it spiked during protests, and ones says the answer is to train these
turns out. Meysam Alizadeh at about Islam peaked during troll-seeking bots on new data
What I’m working on Princeton University is making an President Donald Trump’s every month. Based on the
I’m researching the automated system for identifying various travel bans on Muslims previous month’s activity, he
history of psychological trolls on social media – and entering the US. believes it is possible to generate
warfare. predicting what they will say Alizadeh says there was a accurate propaganda weather
next. He and his team say they distinct, week-long Russian reports for the next month.
want to create a public dashboard influence campaign aimed at actor Here’s hoping that Alizadeh’s
that shows “what’s happening Alec Baldwin, who has done many algorithms are coming to a
on social media and whether satirical impressions of Trump social media platform near you.
there is coordinated activity on Saturday Night Live. Alizadeh I can’t wait for the warnings:
sponsored by foreign states”. speculates that these weren’t bots “An 80 per cent chance of foreign
To do that, they have trained spewing automated hate; they government-sponsored
a set of algorithms to spot the were trained Russian operatives, disinformation about Islam
This column appears telltale signs of so-called influence reacting to US news in real time. this week, with a 40 per cent
monthly. Up next week: campaigns. The group started Once the algorithms had chance of conspiracy theories
James Wong by working with data sets released learned these distinct patterns, about voting.” ❚
and some boroughs presumably When investigating indoor found by astronomers might be
Editor’s pick have even higher levels than this. air quality, it is common practice created by aliens, but there may
Logically, the places most to monitor carbon dioxide levels. be one. We know that when our
I have witnessed bias in
vulnerable to a resurgence of the Since CO2 is also a respiratory civilisation began broadcasting
my work at university virus are those where it spread product that responds to radio waves, these also spread out
27 June, p 14 the fastest before – areas with high occupancy density and to from our planet in an expanding
Name and address supplied housing density and high use dilution caused by ventilation, sphere that, in theory, could be
You report on institutional racism of public transport, for instance. this could be used as a surrogate detected by alien civilisations.
in science. I am a white woman in These places are exactly where for microdroplets and as an It seems to me that, seen from
a fairly senior support role at a immunity is at its highest. indicator of risk. Advice for indoor a great distance, such a sphere
university, but I have seen racism Secondly, even at immunity levels gatherings should include “open might look something like an ORC.
and sexism in my own institution. well below 60 per cent, there could all the windows, turn down the This would also account for the
It isn’t just the hurdles that be a significant reduction of spread. heating and turn off the fans”. edges of the ORCs being brighter
BAME students have to overcome So while the main reasons than their interiors. When we
or the more obvious forms that for the lack of a second wave began broadcasting, we needed
Reasons why distant
discrimination can take, but also are probably the continuing to use very highly powered
the daily small-scale occurrences of precautionary behaviours and oceans may be lifeless transmitters to distribute
bias that can make life unbearable the remaining restrictions, as 20 June, p 40 the signal, but as technology
for both BAME people and women Clare Wilson suggests, the possible From Ben Haller, improved, the same effect was
in science. It is even worse if you contribution from existing Ithaca, New York, US achieved at lower power.
happen to be a BAME woman. immunity shouldn’t be ignored. Kevin Hand, in reference to moons Recently, more and more signals
I am not a social scientist, so I in our solar system with ice-capped have been distributed via cables
don’t know how we might change oceans, says the presence of rather than by broadcasting. This
We must do more about
these behaviours other than by microbial life in a range of extreme would result in a very radio-bright
challenging them when they indoor airborne transfer environments on Earth suggests edge with a less bright interior. As
happen in front of us. We have Letters, 4 July that “if life emerges easily these signals are only now coming
compulsory online training about From Nick Baker, wherever the conditions are right, within the sensitivity range of our
unconscious bias, equality and Rowhedge, Essex, UK then these alien oceans beyond telescopes, it could well be that we
diversity, but I suspect it needs I share Peter Borrows’s feelings Earth should be inhabited”. are making our first observations
something more personal and on inverse square laws applying This would seem to conflate two of the TV and radio signals from
provocative. Consistent efforts to to social distancing. But there is things: where life can originate alien civilisations.
ensure a better attitude by senior another mechanism beyond direct and where it can evolve and adapt
staff, plus disciplinary action in transfer that is relevant to stopping to survive after it has originated.
What happens to water-
some cases, will be required to the coronavirus. The question We don’t really know much about
bring about change. It is, however, of indirect transfer – inhaling the beginnings of life, but it seems filled windows in a fire?
the responsibility of those of us in contaminated air that has been likely that the range of habitats in 11 July, p 15
the privileged groups to work for circulated from a distant person – which life can originate is much From Scott McNeil,
and aspire to real change. seems relatively neglected. narrower than the range it can Banstead, Surrey, UK
In anything but still conditions, subsequently adapt to. The oceans Regarding the use of water instead
the respiratory plume from an that Hand discusses may have of argon in double-glazing, two
Immunity may still
infected person who is outdoors never had conditions under which thoughts come to mind. Firstly,
have some benefits will quickly be carried away. Even life could begin, even if it could wouldn’t water add a fair amount
11 July, p 9 in still outdoor conditions, the have ultimately adapted to them. of weight to each window? This
From Tony Cains, temperature difference between wouldn’t just be from the weight
Northampton, UK the plume and the ambient air of water, but also from the frame
We may be seeing the first
When discussing why there should ensure that it is convected and seals, which would have to be
hasn’t yet been another wave of upwards away from head height. TV signals of alien worlds upgraded. Would building designs
the coronavirus in the UK, you say This useful effect, which might 11 July, p 14 need to be modified to take this
one explanation that can be ruled also occur in large indoor spaces From Ian Simmons, additional weight into account?
out is herd immunity as the level like supermarkets, can be nullified Thorpe Bay, Essex, UK Secondly, how does this window
required for this virus has been by ceiling fans. Even desk fans Jason Wright may not be able react in the event of a serious fire?
estimated at 60 per cent, while only serve to move virus-laden to think of a reason why the Is there a pressure release system?
studies suggest that “just 1 to air laterally, rather than dilute it. Odd Radio Circles (ORCs) recently Otherwise, if the water has been
10 per cent of people have heated to over 100°C before the
antibodies to the virus”. window breaks, this would result
This misses two critical points. Want to get in touch? in an instantaneous (and possibly
Firstly, some parts of the UK have a Send letters to letters@newscientist.com; explosive) release of steam
much higher antibody prevalence see terms at newscientist.com/letters when the pressure is released –
than this – London as a whole is Letters sent to New Scientist, 25 Bedford Street, which is unlikely to please any
close to 20 per cent, for example, London WC2E 9ES will be delayed firefighters in the vicinity. ❚
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Views Aperture
Gege Li
T
HE picture was seen by billions: understanding of space and time.
a hazy ring, glowing orange-bright, Black holes are perhaps the most
surrounding a heart of darkness. The breathtaking prediction of Einstein’s general
work of many minds over decades, it was above theory of relativity, the description of gravity
all a tribute to the brilliance of one. Yet as the he presented in 1915. No cosmological
world marvelled at the first ever direct image observation has been found to contradict its
of a black hole – one of the cosmic monsters depiction of massive objects warping space
predicted by Albert Einstein’s theories – and time around them. A black hole takes
the researchers behind it found themselves that idea to the extreme: it is a concentration
confronted with a rather basic puzzle. of mass so great that space-time is warped
“After the result was published, we were all to an infinite degree. Anything venturing
getting together and asking: what does this too close is drawn across its event horizon,
thing mean?” says radio astronomer Michael beyond which we can never see.
Johnson at Harvard University. They had Although Einstein doubted that they
been so wrapped up in turning their data into actually existed, observations in recent
a picture that no one had really stepped back decades have persuaded us that black holes
and tried to digest what it was telling them. are real. Small ones, just 10 or 20 times the
Over the past year, their quest to find mass of our sun, form when huge stars
answers has led them into a cosmic hall of collapse at the end of their working lives.
mirrors, where the black hole’s gravity takes The gravitational waves detected by the LIGO
light from all directions, warps it and beams collaboration in 2015 were ripples in space-
it to us as an infinitely recast image of the time caused by two such objects merging.
hole’s surroundings. The result is an epic These are dwarfed by supermassive black
movie of the history of the universe, as holes of millions to billions of solar masses
witnessed by a black hole, playing on a that appear at the heart of almost every
dramatically curved screen tens of billions galaxy, including our own Milky Way.
of kilometres across. The image presented in 2019 was of M87,
From way back here in the cheap seats, a giant elliptical galaxy in the Virgo cluster.
about 55 million light years away, we will It houses a beast of a supermassive black
never be able to see the action’s full sweep, hole, with a mass probably 6.5 billion times
but we can catch glimpses. They could be that of the sun. The international Event
enough to unlock the true history of giant Horizon Telescope team, which includes
black holes, put Einstein to the test like never Johnson, used sophisticated signal
before and maybe even lead to a deeper processing to combine data from radio >
Space opera in the broad fuzzy orange one. “To start with, rotating, whereas real ones are expected to
Since the image came out, physicists have there was a lot of confusion about what this spin to some degree, preserving the angular
run many models of the maelstrom around meant,” says Lupsasca. momentum of material they have sucked in.
M87’s black hole. Called GRMHD simulations, It turned out that we had been here before, “When a black hole spins, it literally drags
these combine general relativity with some time ago. Back in 1959, Charles Darwin space-time into a kind of whirlpool around
magnetohydrodynamics, which describes had predicted something very similar – it,” says astrophysicist Janna Levin at Barnard
the behaviour of the hot, ionised gases that not that Charles Darwin, but his grandson, College in New York. Anything nearby is
surround the hole. Each simulation starts physicist Charles Galton Darwin. He showed dragged around with it, including light.
with some assumptions about what might how light from the surrounding universe “Nobody had studied this case,” says
be producing the radio waves – for example, passing very close to the black hole might Lupsasca. “It is way more complicated.”
matter spiralling inwards – and follows the take a swing around it before heading our But the basic picture was confirmed by
waves that would be produced by such a way. Photons passing even closer would be finer-grained GRMHD simulations. They
source as the hole’s gravity bends their path, caught for more orbits. Later work suggested show that, if you look closely, the thin bright
to predict what we would see on Earth. that light taking a given number of orbits photon ring should be made up of infinite,
It turns out that a wide range of possible would be squeezed down into a thin ring. nested subrings, each corresponding to
sources lead to a fuzzy glow like the one That all assumed a black hole that isn’t photons taking a certain number of turns
seen by the Event Horizon Telescope: the
black hole stamps its form with such force
that the emission’s true origin is hidden.
But although the models weren’t useful in “When a black hole spins,
distinguishing between the sources, they
revealed something unexpected and it drags space-time into a
intriguing. They all predicted that there
should be a very bright, thin ring embedded kind of whirlpool around it”
32 | New Scientist | 1 August 2020
hundreds of thousands of light years,
blasting out of a host galaxy and ending in
enormous plasma plumes that shine across
the cosmos. One leading theory is that a black
hole’s spin combines with surrounding
magnetic fields to act as a dynamo. This
generates an electric field so intense that it
wrenches electrons and positrons out of the
vacuum, accelerating them into two jets, each
speeding away from a pole of the black hole.
The photon rings could also provide our
most stringent test of general relativity yet.
We know the theory works very well in Earth’s
gentle gravitational field; it is verified billions
of times a day, because satnav can only work
by precisely allowing for relativity’s time
warps. Thanks to Gravity Probe B, a NASA
satellite launched in 2004, we have even seen
the frame-dragging caused by Earth’s spin,
our planet’s feeble version of the space-time
whirlpool around a rotating black hole.
As for the extreme gravitational fields
where relativity really gets to work, the
echoes of colliding black holes now routinely
picked up by gravitational wave detectors
square with the predictions of Einstein’s
around the black hole, getting exponentially to within 15 per cent or so. But the thickness theory. But the spacing between black hole
fainter and thinner as they get closer to the of its rings is highly dependent on its mass. photon rings would be a far more precise test.
edge of the black hole’s shadow. Because the “If you can resolve the super thin photon “I think it’s a great way to test relativity
inner subrings are made of light that has ring and put a ruler across it, now you are because it is very difficult to see those kinds
made more orbits, this light was captured talking precision measurement,” says of inner orbits in any other way,” says Levin.
earlier on. As the team write in their paper, Lupsasca – perhaps to better than 1 per cent. Any deviation from general relativity’s
published in March this year: “Together, the The spinning space-time around the hole predictions could help physicists to finally
set of subrings are akin to the frames of a should also squash the rings a little, so they devise a long-elusive quantum theory of
movie, capturing the history of the visible aren’t perfect circles. By tracing their shapes, gravity, which promises to tell us what space
universe as seen from the black hole.” we could get an accurate figure for the black and time are made of, what really happened
Admittedly, this movie is highly biased to hole’s spin. That could tell us about the in the first moment of the big bang – and
stuff near the black hole. Each subring is also history of M87’s monster. Did the black hole indeed what lies in the heart of a black hole.
only around six days older than the last, so form in a series of random collisions between With such promise, the prospect of actually
there is a limit to how much of the reflected smaller ones, probably giving it a low overall seeing these photon rings is exciting. But it
universe just a few frames show us. “We’re spin? Or did it grow by hoovering up gas won’t be easy. Discerning such fine features
not going to see dinosaurs,” says Johnson. spiralling in from its host galaxy, consistently will require a radio eye even better than the
But there is treasure in these golden rings, cranking up its rotation? existing Event Horizon Telescope, which is
nonetheless. For a start, their size and shape already opened as wide as Earth will allow.
don’t depend on where the photons came One option would be to use shorter
from, but on the properties of the black Elusive theory wavelengths, which potentially provide
hole alone. That could allow us to pin down Measuring black hole spin could also hold the sharper vision. The original image of M87’s
these properties like never before. Our answer to how black holes send out powerful black hole was based on radio signals at a
current best figure for the M87 black hole’s jets of material, travelling at close to the wavelength of 1.3 millimetres, and Johnson
mass, 6.5 billion solar masses, is only accurate speed of light. These jets can travel for suggests that moving to a quarter of this >
Launchpad
Voyage across the galaxy and beyond
with our monthly space newsletter
The unlikely
rise of the
dinosaurs
Dinosaurs started off as pipsqueaks in a world of
heavyweight competitors. How they ascended to
glory is a mystery we’re only just starting to unravel,
says palaeontologist Steve Brusatte
A
BOUT 250 million years ago, impact. Today, the greatest mystery of
a creature raced along the edge dinosaur evolution is how they rose to
of a lake in what is now Poland, glory in the first place.
leaving prints behind it in the mud. It The early descendants of Prorotodactylus
was a meek and forgettable animal called would have stuck to the shadows, skulking
Prorotodactylus, about the size of a pet cat away from much larger and more fearsome
and with slender limbs. But those prints animals. So what was it that allowed them
weren’t the only legacy it left: its descendants to take centre stage? Piecing together
somehow became the rulers of Earth. the answer is no easy matter. But over the
Those descendants were the dinosaurs. past few years, a surprising new idea has
The very word invokes majesty. These gained traction. Perhaps the reason for the
were among the most successful groups of dinosaurs’ ascendency lies not in their teeth
animals ever, dominating the planet for more or claws or muscles. It may instead be thanks
than 100 million years. They proliferated into to a series of strange anatomical adaptations
creatures of all shapes and sizes, some even invisible from the outside – adaptations
larger than a jet plane, and filled the land. that allowed them to thrive in one of the
Palaeontologists like me were long most extreme periods of climate change
RONALD KURNIAWAN
obsessed with understanding why these the planet has seen up until now.
mighty animals were snuffed out 66 million The world was almost unrecognisable back
years ago. We now know the answer: their when Prorotodactylus made those lakeside
days were ended by an enormous asteroid prints. Our planet had just experienced one
a tad different from those of modern birds. In the days of the Triassic,
Cecilia Apaldetti at the National University the world would have been
of San Juan in Argentina is contemplating scarcely recognisable to us.
an idea that takes pneumaticity to a whole All land was joined together
new level. Over the past decade, her team into a supercontinent.
has unearthed a bounty of new dinosaurs “Pangaea extended from
from the late Triassic rocks of the Marayes-El pole to pole and straddled
Carrizal basin in Argentina. Among these the equator, shaped like the
is a species she and her colleagues named video-game icon Pac-Man,”
Ingentia prima. This may be the oldest known says Jessica Whiteside at the
dinosaur to get bigger than an elephant. And University of Southampton,
its skeleton is riddled with holes, suggesting UK. Surrounding this
the air sacs proliferated widely. Essentially, was a vast ocean called organisms lived,” says About 220 million years
this animal’s lungs ran through its whole Panthalassa. Whiteside. Her research has ago, Earth’s land mass
body. It is as weird as it sounds. You might think that shown that the equatorial looked starkly different
“These dinosaurs had an improved animals would range freely region of Pangaea was
breathing system that provided them with across Pangaea, as there obscenely hot and muggy, successful group of Triassic
numerous advantages,” says Apaldetti. With
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Features Interview
The
stronger
sex
To explain why women live
longer than men, experts
often point to different
lifestyle choices. In fact, it’s
all thanks to superior genes,
Sharon Moalem
tells Clare Wilson
women are less likely to be colour-blind; a When you look at supercentenarians, those into two, so the cells that have a growth
gene important for eye function resides on over the age of 110, they are 95 per cent female. advantage will be the ones that dominate in
the X chromosome. Yet Moalem argues that But it isn’t just making it to old age – that tissue. Even in tissues that are initially >
HOW intelligent are you? When it comes to making good person can override the intuitive cognitive biases that lead
decisions, it doesn’t matter, because even the brightest us astray. Understanding the factors that lead intelligent
people can do ridiculous things. Clever people act foolishly people to make bad decisions is shedding light on society’s
because intelligence is not the same thing as our capacity for biggest catastrophes. More intriguingly, it may suggest ways
rational thinking – and that’s what matters when it comes to to evade the stupidity that plagues us all.
making good decisions.
IQ tests, designed to measure general intelligence, are
very good at measuring certain cognitive abilities, such as Gut reaction
logic and abstract reasoning. But they fail when it comes to Consider this puzzle: if it takes five machines 5 minutes
measuring those abilities crucial to making good to make five widgets, how many minutes would it take a
judgements in real life. That’s because they don’t test things hundred machines to make a hundred widgets? Most people
such as the ability to weigh up information, or whether a instinctively jump to the wrong answer that "feels" right –
a hundred – even if they later amend it to the correct one,
which is five.
When researchers put this and two similarly counter-
intuitive questions to thousands of students at colleges and
How to be less stupid universities – Harvard and Princeton among them – only
17 per cent got all three right. A third of the students failed to
■ Clear your mind. ■ Don’t let emotions give any correct answers.
Judgements are often get in the way. Emotions Here’s another one: Jack is looking at Anne but Anne is
based on information interfere with our looking at George. Jack is married but George is not. Is a
you recently had in mind, assessment of risk. One married person looking at an unmarried person? Possible
even if it’s irrelevant. example is our natural answers are "yes", "no", or "cannot be determined". Most
For example, people bid reluctance to cut our losses people will say it cannot be determined, simply because it is
higher at auctions when on a falling investment the first answer that comes to mind – but careful deduction
they are primed to ponder because it might start shows the answer is "yes" (we don’t know Anne’s marital
the height of the tallest rising again. status, but either way a married person would be looking
person in the room. at an unmarried one).
■ Use facts. Don’t We encounter problems like these in various guises every
■ Don’t fall foul of spin. allow your opinion to day. And regardless of our intelligence, we often get them
We have an inclination to cloud your analysis. wrong. Why? Probably because our brains use two different
be influenced by the way systems to process information. One is deliberative and
a problem is framed. For ■ Look beyond the reasoned, the other is intuitive and spontaneous. Our
instance, people are more obvious. default mechanism is to use our intuition. This often serves
likely to spend a monetary us well – choosing a potential partner, for example, or in
award immediately if they ■ Don’t accept the first situations where you’ve had a lot of experience. But it can
are told it is a bonus, thing that pops into also trip us up, such as when our gut reactions are swayed by
compared with a rebate. your head. cognitive biases such as stereotyping or our tendency to rely
too heavily on information that confirms our own >
FRANCESCOCH/ISTOCK PHOTO
New Scientist Books The Brain: A user’s guide
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Caves, conservation, culture
Discover a different side of Vietnam in this wide-ranging tour that
covers history, geology, stunning landscapes and animal conservation.
Starting off in Hanoi, it encompasses a stay in Cuc Phuong National Park,
sailing down a river in the Ninh Binh valley, cruising the Halong Bay
and trekking to the famous Hang Tien cave. The tour finishes in Hue,
the ancient capital of Vietnam.
RUSSIA
2021
St Petersburg: birthplace of Russian science
Explore the history of Russian science, from Peter the Great’s visionary
creation of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 1755, through the fraught
years of Soviet transformation, to a present day dominated by thoughts of
space exploration and settlement. Visit museums, cathedrals and sites made
famous by the likes of Pavlov, Vavilov, Dokuchaev and Mendeleev.
Discover where modern genetics was born, how the periodic table was
invented, where Pavlov developed the concept of conditioning, and much
more. Accompanied by Simon Ings, author of Stalin and the Scientists,
and New Scientist writer.
MONGOLIA
August 2021
Dinosaur hunting in the Gobi desert
Join New Scientist on a thrilling and unique expedition to find dinosaur
remains in the wilderness of the Gobi desert with professional
palaeontologists from the Mongolian Institute. Visit the stunning
Flaming Cliffs where the first ever dinosaur eggs to be discovered were
found nearly 100 years ago. Bookend the expedition in the Mongolian
capital Ulaanbaatar, where you will visit museums and sites such as the
Laboratory of the Mongolian Institute of Palaeontology.
zone and is better known as what?
ACROSS DOWN
9/3 Down Index case in a disease epidemic (7,4) 1 Without polarity (6) Cryptic
10 Pasadena research institute (7) 2 Phases, of development, for example (6) Crossword #36
11 Sand-dwelling invertebrate (7) 3 See 9 Across Answers
12 ___ effect, change in a wave’s frequency 4 Plant reproductive organ (6)
ACROSS 1 Twang, 4 Hemlock, 8 In vitro,
to a moving observer (7) 5 Metallurgical examination (4,4)
9 Creed, 10 Oboe, 11 Cellmate,
13 Effect of synchronous sound vibration (9) 6 Wake behind a moving object (10)
13/14 Iron lung, 19 Embolden,
15 Permanent way (5) 7 Asian snake in the genus Rhabdophis (8) 22 Swami, 25 Rancher, 26 Magma
16 1987 Detroit-set science-fiction film (7) 8 Iroquoian people; 1956 nuclear test (8)
19 Fan of the Star Trek franchise (7) 14 Building block of DNA and RNA (10) DOWN 1 Triton, 2 Alveoli, 3/23 Gut
20 Collection of stored data (5) 16 Bounce; rebound (8) feeling, 4 Hoover, 5 Mycelium, 6 Omega,
21 Relating to a refracting optical element (9) 17 Lumbar pain, for example (8) 7/21 Kidney bean, 12 Coalfish,
25 Describing behaviour resulting from 18 ___ triangle, apparatus for 15 Greying, 17 Heifer, 18 Enigma,
a small change in the initial conditions supporting a crucible (8) 20/16 Brain teaser, 24 Elm
of a non-linear system (7) 22 Three Mile ___, site of a
26 1962 science fiction film 1979 nuclear accident (6)
by Chris Marker (2,5) 23 Sums (6)
28 Spiny anteater (7) 24 Fruit of a tree in the genus Prunus (6)
29 In geology, consisting 27 Order of mystical warriors
of small clots or lumps (7) in the Star Wars franchise (4)
2 Continental drift,
or what is now plate
tectonics; Wegener One way to see this is to make a
first suggested that copy of the trapezium, rotate it by
Earth’s continents
were moving relative
180 degrees and place it next to
to one another in the first. It will form a parallelogram
1912 made of five stripes, now all of
equal length. Three-fifths of the
3 Cabbage white
parallelogram is blue, and because
butterfly; for those
that distinguish, the two trapezia were identical,
P. rapae is the small they will also have the same
white, P. brassicae fraction of blue.
the large white
5 Alveoli
much astronomical research. acronyms. Maybe they should The study in question shows
Not only does he agree with our be called Astronyms.” We love it. that people consider “unlikely” Written by Gilead Amit
BRAD MITCHELL/ALAMY
tropics, sunlight has its shortest At sunset and sunrise, when
journey through the atmosphere. sunlight strikes Earth at a low
When the sun is lower in the angle compared with the observer
sky, more ultraviolet light is and therefore passes through a
attenuated because the sunlight large amount of atmosphere on
has a longer journey through the This week’s new questions its route to the surface, the result
air. That means your body will get tends to be red and yellow skies.
most UV at midday, when the sun Ups and downs When creatures accustomed to life at high This effect is enhanced when
is highest in the sky. Of course, altitude are brought to sea level, do they experience reverse there are more particles in the air,
it depends where you are on the altitude sickness? Laura Montague, Godalming, Surrey, UK which is why volcanic explosions
planet, as UV increases when you can lead to spectacular sunsets.
are closer to the equator. Cold brew People often say that to brew the best coffee
Climbing a mountain will also you must start with cold water. Are they right? Bor Carr,
Cover-up
reduce the distance sunlight has Boulder, Colorado, US
to travel through the atmosphere When you wash a duvet cover, why
before hitting you: UV radiation does other washing end up in it?
levels increase by about 10 per than UVA. Therefore, when the sun of 40 degrees. In the UK, the sun
cent for every 1000 metres of is low in the sky, the proportion of generally climbs higher than this Mary Argent
ascent. In addition, UV exposure UVB falls compared with UVA. only in the summer months. Brentwood, Essex, UK
rises when you are on a highly Because UVB can cause more This suggests that the face, The problem with the duvet cover
reflective surface, like water, biological damage than UVA, the much of it being a nearly vertical is caused by a lack of preparation
snow or even dry sand. effects of UV radiation on human surface, receives the most before the wash. The removed
About 20 years ago, I was taken skin are stronger when the sun is radiation at this angle. The parts cover should be kept inside out to
by surprise when I discovered that high in the sky. of the face that are angled slightly allow it to be correctly replaced on
my lower legs were sunburned When the sun is directly upwards, such as the nose, will be the duvet when dry. All poppers or
after I had been wandering on overhead, known as the zenith, more susceptible to burning when other closing mechanisms should
the snow around Jungfraujoch in its light doesn’t hit the face of a the sun is higher in the sky, when also be closed before the cover
Switzerland, which is at an altitude person walking below. A walker’s irradiance will also be greater. But is put in the washing machine.
of almost 3500 metres. I was face is likely to get the most caution is needed even then as the In this way, a large empty bag
there for only a couple of hours impactful UV radiation when eyes and face will still be subject is converted into a large double
and didn’t apply sunscreen to the sun is between 40 degrees to UV radiation reflected from thickness sheet. There is no way
my legs because I was wearing and 60 degrees above the horizon. the ground and backscattered it can capture other washing, as
trousers. However, sunlight had Of course, if a person is lying from elsewhere in the sky. there is now no entry point.
reflected off the snow and up on their back, their face will
inside my trousers, burning get the most UV when the Jonathan Wallace Tim Stevenson
my unprotected skin. sun is highest in the sky. Newcastle upon Tyne, UK Great Missenden,
All light waves are scattered Buckinghamshire, UK
Olivier Sorg Chris Daniel as they interact with molecules Finding itself naked and robbed of
Geneva, Switzerland Colwyn Bay, Conwy, UK and particles in the atmosphere, its proper innards in a threatening,
The UV radiation spectrum The strength of ultraviolet a process known as Rayleigh dark, wet, frothy, swirly place
is divided into three bands: radiation at ground level scattering. Different wavelengths brings out the protective parental
UVA (320 to 400 nanometres), varies through the day due are affected to a different extent, instinct in a duvet cover. ❚
which is close to visible light, to attenuation that is largely
UVB (280-320 nm) and UVC dependant on the sun’s angle
(100-280 nm). The most energetic in the sky. One recent study Want to send us a question or answer?
band, UVC, is absorbed by ozone found that the greatest amount Email us at lastword@newscientist.com
in the atmosphere, and more UVB of UV radiation reaches the eye Questions should be about everyday science phenomena
is absorbed by the atmosphere when the sun is at an elevation Full terms and conditions at newscientist.com/lw-terms
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