Science Illustrated - April 2017 AU

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THE TRAVELLERS
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THE SCOPES
THE POSSIBILITIES
VACCINE
MYTHS BUSTED
The science of not
getting measles
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EDITORIAL
The Unknown Unknowns

Issue #50 (13th April 2017)
EDITORIAL
Editor Anthony Fordham
D uring the production
of this edition of
Australian Science
of a star. Or an organism that communicates
across the entire planet at near-light-speed by
manipulating streams of electrons and photons.)
afordham@nextmedia.com.au
Illustrated, I got into a The other big problem with my Quora
DESIGN
Art Director Malcolm Campbell debate on Quora (the friend’s argument was that he assumes that
website where you ask physics is already completely understood, in
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by people with some actual knowledge of similar to Relativity. We will never learn to
the subject) with a man who insisted that look at the building blocks of the universe in a
Production Manager Peter Ryman
Circulation Director Carole Jones humans would never never EVER never achieve different way to quantum theory. Presumably,
INTERNATIONAL EDITION
interstellar spaceflight. he believes quantum theory and the standard
Editor-in-Chief Sebastian Relster Interplanetary is no problem - he seemed model will never be united. Gravity, which we
International Editor Lotte Juul Nielsen
happy to accept that we would ultimately currently do not understand very fundamentally
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Flight, you see, was obviously possible because middle ages, to Europe’s own Enlightenment
birds fly. Very fast land speeds using some kind thinkers and even the scientists of the 19th
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THE SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED CREDO
We share with our readers a fascination power themselves and move around.
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culture and archaeology, and believe
that through education about our past, found... and yes they ate each other.
present and future, we can make the
world a better place.
scienceillustrated.com.au | 3
CONTENTS
ISSUE #50 SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED AUSTRALIAN EDITION
PUBLISHED 13TH APRIL 2017
34
COVER SOLAR SYSTEM SPECIAL
STORY
24 Everything you wanted to know, and

everything you didn’t know you didn’t know,
PROXIMA B about the worlds we call our Solar System.
Could our first interstellar mission be

to this (relatively) nearby world? And
who will give up half a lifetime just to
spend a few days on the surface?
64
VACCINE MYTHS
Because some people keep believing them,

we have to keep debunking them. Vaccines
are safe. Measles isn’t. One more time...
4 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
REGULARS
AND OTHER
FEATURES
6
52 58 MEGAPIXEL
Chasing moonbows and aurorae
TINY ROBOTS: CYBORG 2.0 SURGICAL ROBOTS
To build robots small enough to travel Would you trust your heart to a robot? What if
through the body, we need to use biological we told you he had a hand steadier than the
materials to make these tiny machines work. world’s greatest cardiovascular surgeon?
10
SCIENCE
UPDATE
What is this thing? A
mutant chicken?
70 78
THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION HOME CHEMISTRY: ASH SNAKE OF DOOM!
They were supposed to find the Northwest Simply mix ethanol, sugar and sand. Light it,
Passage. Instead, they disappeared. Britain
spent millions trying to find them. And now...
wait an hour, and you’ll come back to this horror.
Now let us show you how!
18
ASK US
Why is the day 24 hours
long exactly?
80
TRIVIA
Now with a flock of wild horses!
82
BIODIVERSITY
Ants: good or bad?
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NOW! 68
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MEGAPIXEL | WHALES
Giant of the black abyss

turns out the lights...
Photographer Audun Rikardsen has come to
shoot the perfect whale photo on the Kald
Fiord of Northern Norway, but his “catch” is bigger
than expected. The number of whales in the fiord has
risen in recent years, as the giants have travelled
north along with herrings. Close to the boat, the
photographer spots a humpback whale entangled in
a line. He calls the coast guard, and a diver is sent to
free the huge animal. The whale's life is saved, but
the yellow line turns out to be a data cable,
disconnecting a nearby village for three weeks.
Photo // Audun H. Rikardsen
MEGAPIXEL | HEAVENLY PHENOMENON
Rainbow, moonbow, or a
combination of both
Rainbows are associated with rainy days, on
which the Sun breaks through, but the classic
rainbow also has a nocturnal variant. Known as a
lunar fogbow, is produced in the same way as a
rainbow – only with the Moon as the light source
instead of the Sun. You can experience the
phenomenon if you look at rain or fog with the full
moon behind you. The water drops refract and reflect
the light. It's a spectrum, but because human colour
perception is poorer at night, the bow looks white.
This photograph also includes an aurora (on right).
Photo // Göran Strand
Science Update Solid grip with a 52 degree tilt
A new, small hybrid between a car and a motor cycle can
avoid traffic congestion and climb steep mountain slopes.
CHALLENGE
SOLUTION
Narrow profile
The flat car tyres are located
close to each other, making
Wide emergency vehicles can be
the vehicle narrow, so it can
stuck in traffic, and narrow motor
easily avoid traffic
cycles easily lose their road grip.
congestion.
Vehicle remains stable on slopes

The vehicle of the future can tilt its cabin to both sides without compromising
either the grip of the wide wheels or passenger comfort.
TECHNOLOGY Inventor Frank Knisley of Florida, USA, cases, the cabin will gradually tilt to one side, so it remains
has created a new type of vehicle that includes the best of upright in spite of the wheel position, maintaining
cars and motor cycles. The Narrow Tilting Vehicle with Non- passenger driving comfort.
Tilting Wheels (NTVNTW) is an off-roader that has no Knisley imagines that the NTVNTW, which is still in the
trouble with even extremely inclined surfaces, phase of development, can be used for off-road driving in
compromising neither road grip nor stability. war or disaster zones or ambulance service in impassable
Sensors on the vehicle register when the surface starts terrain. The prototype is a three-wheeler, which could be
to incline or if the vehicle is heading into a curve. In such scaled up or down as required.
SPIDER NAMED AFTER

HARRY POTTER HAT
THE LATEST
FINDINGS AND
DISCOVERIES
Indian scientists
noticed the
resemblance between
a new spider and the
sorting hat of the
Harry Potter universe,
naming the creature
SUMUKHA J.N. & CREATIVE COMMONS
Eriovixia gryffindori.
The name refers to the
original owner of the
hat, Godric
Gryffindor.
Editor: Karine Kirkebæk
SOLUTION
Intact road grip
The cabin rests on a crib
mechanism. Hydraulic
265
– is the number of days in
actuators allow it to tilt up to
2016 that Costa Rica used
52 degrees to both sides, while
renewable energy from solar
the driver remains in an
upright position. and wind power, etc., beating
its previous record of 76 days.
VIEWED FROM THE SIDE
3-WHEELER IS A DREAM TO
DRIVE UP AGAINST THE WIND Scientists have studied dinosaur
The design is aerodynamic to reduce embryo fossils to learn about
wind resistance as much as possible, hatching times.
so the vehicle consumes as little fuel
as possible.
The engine is located at the rear end Dinos remained
of the vehicle.
The tyres are flat just like ordinary
Engine
One wheel Two wheels
in the egg for
car tyres to ensure road grip and
stability. The prototype includes two
VIEWED FROM THE TOP
up to 6 months
front wheels and one rear wheel.
PALAEONTOLOGY Depending
The cabin is covered, protecting the
on the species, dinosaur eggs
driver and any passengers from the
weather – unlike a motor cycle. took 3-6 months to hatch,
according to new research by
Florida State University. One
fossil is from a protoceratops, a
dinosaur the size of a sheep, that
laid 200g eggs. The other is from
Huge ice reservoir discovered on Mars a hypacrosaurus, a huge, beaked
dinosaur that laid 4 kg eggs the
ASTRONOMY NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance size of volleyballs.
orbiter satellite has revealed a huge ice deposit. The scientists focused on the
The deposit is 80-170 m thick and includes Crater on the Utopia Planitia plain newly-developed teeth of the
enough ice to fill the 82,350 km2 Lake Superior embryos, which include tiny lines
between Canada and the USA. indicating daily embryo growth.
The ice is located under the Utopia Planitia, The lines can be compared to the
and it could prove very useful to future colonists. growth rings of trees, and
They will not only be able to use the ice as a scientists were able to conclude
drinking water source, they can also split it into that the protoceratops egg took
oxygen and three months to hatch, whereas
hydrogen, that can ENCYCLOPEDIA the hypacrosaurus egg took six
be used to power months. The long time span
The Utopia Planitia plain
rocket engines. The is an old impact crater on inside the eggs surprised the
ice deposit is easily scientists, because the period is
ESA
Mars with a diameter of

accessible, as the about 3,300 km. The crater Under the surface of Mars’ largest impact crater, very vulnerable for both the egg
plain is flat. is the largest on the planet. astronomers have discovered a huge ice deposit. and the broody mother.
SCIENCE UPDATE
SHOOTING STAR – Saturn's Mimas moon
BY THE WAY
SHUTTERSTOCK
NEWS FLASH!
The flamingo masters
Probe takes fantastic photo of Saturn’s moon and rings no less than 136 dance
Never before have we seen the Saturn moon of Mimas in what looks like an imminent
collision with Saturn’s ring system. The picture was taken by NASA’s Cassini probe, but it is steps which it uses
an optical illusion, as Mimas is 45,000 km from the rings. to impress mates.
NASA
The more complex

the mating dance, the
100 per cent

better, according to
picky females.
of Dutch trains are powered by wind energy. Many new wind

And talking of flamingos...
farms have allowed the transition from fossil fuels.
Flamingos have
synchronous behaviour,
First feathered dinosaur tail found in amber i.e. all members of a group do
PALAEONTOLOGY In a market in Myanmar, to take a closer look at the about 3.5-cm-long the exact same thing. If a few
Chinese scientist Lida Xing in 2015 accidentally tail which, apart from unmistakable feathers, birds start to clean their
discovered a unique lump of amber the size of a includes both bones and soft tissue. feathers, the rest of the group
dried apricot. The lump turned out to include Scientists are thrilled, as this is the first will follow suit.
the tail of a 99-million-year-old dinosaur – time that they have been able to observe well-
probably a young coelurosaur, which was not preserved feathers in a dino. The discovery can When a flamingo is
much bigger than a sparrow. By means of CT provide us with more knowledge of the looking for food such as
scans and microscopy, scientists have been able evolution of feathered dinos. small crayfish, it bends its
R.C. MCKELLAR/ROYAL SASKATCHEWAN MUSEUM & CHUNG-TAT CHEUNG & YI LIU
head in the water, so the beak

is upside down, turning it into
a type of filter for finding food
in water and mud.
Flamingos stand on one

leg for two reasons: to
give the other leg a rest and to
keep warm. In cold weather, a
The well-preserved feathers in the flamingo quicly loses heat via
amber probably come from a small the long legs, particularly
coelurosaur dinosaur. when standing in water.
Secret pyramid discovered... inside
famous Mayan pyramid
The well-known Kulkukan step pyramid in Mexico contains at
Inside the 30-m-high
Kukulkan pyramid, there
are two smaller pyramids.
least two other, smaller pyramids.
ARCHAEOLOGY One of the most scan technology. The newly-discovered
magnificent Mayan structures, the 30-m-tall pyramid is located above a natural well,
Kukulkan pyramid in Chichén Itzá, Mexico, is known as a cenote, which scientists discovered
hiding a spectacular secret: Like a Russian in 2015 using the same method. According
matryoshka doll, it contains several smaller to the scientists, the layers were built,
versions of itself. In the 1930s, archaeologists because different Mayan emperors
discovered a 20-m-tall pyramid inside the wanted to display their
external, about 1,000-year-old step pyramid. grandeur by building
And now, scientists have found a second something even
pyramid inside the pyramid by means of 3D bigger.
Electricity reveals
pyramid interior THE EXTERNAL PYRAMID
The scientists used a method

that takes advantage of
THE MIDDLE PYRAMID
different materials’ ability to
conduct electricity.
Electrodes give THE NEW PYRAMID

pyramid a shock The most recently discovered
96 electrodes surrounding the pyramid is only 10 m high.
pyramid direct electricity According to scientists, it was
through the structure, recording built between 550 and 800.
SHUTTERSTOCK & CLAUS LUNAU
the voltage difference. The

technology is known as 3D
electric tomography.
GOLD HELD ARTIFICIAL TEETH IN PLACE

A bridge with five teeth attached to a gold
band by means of tiny nails have been
discovered in monastery burial grounds in
Lucca, Italy. The teeth are about 400
years old and so, it is the oldest known
dental bridge. Historical sources from
SIMONA MINOZZI
the 1500s mention dental bridges, but it

is the first time that scientists found one.
SCIENCE UPDATE
Carp survives in TOUGH FISH THRIVE OFF

THE US EAST COAST
toxic habitat In the Atlantic Ocean, off eastern
BIOLOGY They should have been dead, but US states such as New Jersey,
the mummichogs off the US east coast are mummichogs are thriving in
polluted waters.
thriving in spite of the fact that the waters
are extremely polluted. The water is rife with
heavy metals and is contaminated by
chemicals such as dioxin and hydrocarbons,
which factories have released into the ocean
for more than 50 years.
According to research by the University of
California, the mummichogs are up to 8,000
times more resistant to pollution than other
fish species. According to scientists, the key USA New Jersey
to the fish's undisputed ability to survive is
ANDREW WHITEHEAD/UC DAVIS
extreme genetic variation. The variation

boosts evolution, allowing the fish to adapt
to new environmental conditions quickly, Mummichogs tolerate up to 8,000 times more
ensuring the survival of the species. pollution than other fish species.
75,000
DNA REVEALS
UNKNOWN RELATIVE
The DNA of the population
of the South Pacific includes
evidence of an unknown, households will be supplied with energy from a solar cell
farm that is to be built near the Chernobyl nuclear plant.
extinct human relative. A
fraction of the DNA of
modern Melanesians is
LOCAL FOCAL POINT – Kachin State, Myanmar
SHUTTERSTOCK
neither Neanderthal
nor Denisovan.
SCANPIX
175 t jade stone uncovered in mine

Miners in Northern Myanmar have discovered a huge jade stone. The large
specimen is 4.3 m high and 5.8 m long. The stone weighs about 175 tonnes and
is estimated to be worth approximately $190 million.
Order online at
www.viavision.com.au *While stocks Last
SCIENCE UPDATE
North pole
3D models of
all living creatures
Scientists are photographing all Earth's animals and plants,
which are restored to eternal life as 3D models on the Internet.
NASA
A neutron detector on the Dawn TECHNOLOGY Scientists working on a photograph animals from all angles.
satellite has discovered ice on Ceres new project named Digital Life intend to scan Subsequently, computer software unites the
via gamma radiation. every single animal and plant species on the images into 3D models. According to plan, all
planet, from sharks and turtles in the oceans the world’s millions of species are to be
Dwarf planet to colourful frogs and trees in the rain forest. scanned and made available to anybody via
does hold The scans will reappear as digital 3D models,

so the animals – including threatened species
a web service.
frozen water – will be ensured online life. A scan shows the outline of a gecko,
That is the ambitious aim of the project, before it is revived as a digital copy of itself.
ASTRONOMY Hidden in deep which was launched by scientists from the
craters beneath the surface of University of Massachusetts Amherst in the
the dwarf planet of Ceres, there US. Armed with a customized scanner,
is ice, according to recent scientists go round the world to nature
research by a team headed by reserves with wild populations, zoos, and
Thomas Platz from the German animal protection centres, where they
Max Planck Institutes. Since the SCAN
spring of 2015, NASA's Dawn
satellite has been orbiting the 30 cameras shoot animals from all angles
dark, crater-packed Ceres, which
The scientists’ cameras take photos of animals and plants from all angles.
is the largest object in the
The cameras can scan an animal the size of a human being in less than 30 seconds.
Asteroid Belt between Mars and
Jupiter. Images from Dawn
reveal a series of craters that are
located in permanent shadow at
temperatures of -163 C. In such
extreme cold, ice can persist for
billions of years. The Dawn
satellite’s measurements also
reveal that at least one of the
craters – and probably several
Beastcam consists of
others – are full of frozen water. 1 flexible “arms” with up
to 30 cameras that take high-
resolution images of
the model at the same time.
NEWS FLASH!
Bats feast
on human
blood
A South American bat is
sucking blood from
humans, although it does
UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST
not usually feed on us. Special computer

2 software unites
The new diet is due to all the 2D images of
deforestation and either animals or
because we have moved plants into a digital 3D M
3D model. ODE L
into the bats’ territory.
Ask Us
Why are planets
and stars round?
Planets and stars always seem to be round. Do they always
have this shape, or could square or pyramid planets exist?
Massive objects like stars and planets are so objects are round, whereas smaller ones will
heavy that gravity will always overcome all typically have irregular shapes. Astrophysicists
other forces and make them round. Gravity from the Australian National University have
sees to it that all the rocky material of a planet calculated that the borderline between ball
and all the gas of a star attracts all other shape and irregular shape is a diameter of 600
matter, trying to accumulate as much as km. An asteroid which primarily consists of
possible of it around the centre of the heavenly rock will always become round, if it is more
body. This produces the ball shape, just like than 600 km across. In the case of a moon that
SCIENTISTS ANSWER
QUESTIONS FROM
OUR READERS
when you press a lump of dough from all sides. almost only consists of ice, the borderline will
Smaller objects like moons and asteroids be 400 km, because ice is easier to compress
can have other shapes. Only very massive than rocky material.
Rotating heavenly bodies

bulge at their equators
Although all stars and planets are round, they are
not necessarily perfect spheres. The surface of a
rocky planet can be uneven, and when stars or
Vega planets rotate, they bulge slightly at their
equators. Earth’s rotation means that it is slightly
flat, as the distance from Earth’s centre to the
Equator is 6,378 km, whereas the distance to the
poles is only 6,357 km. The most extreme
example of this phenomenon is the fast-rotating
star Vega, which is 23 % wider than it is "tall".
CAN A NOSEBLEED BE FATAL?

Nose-bleeding is normally
due to injured upper nose
blood vessels. The damage is
not fatal, but if the large
carotis interna artery bursts,
you could bleed to death. In
NADINE RUPP/BONGARTS/GETTY IMAGES
rare cases, blood from mild

nose-bleeding can block the
airways and cause
death from
asphyxiation.
Editor: Morten Kjerside Poulsen
TOP 5
Which mammal is
the smallest?
MERLIN D. TUTTLE/GETTY IMAGES

Kitti's hog-
nosed bat
Only large objects go round

In 2006, the International Astronomical Union decided
that an object only be defined as a planet or a dwarf
planet if is has such a great mass that it is near-
spherical due to its own gravity. So by definition,
planets and dwarf planets are always round. KITTI'S HOG-NOSED BAT
1 Thailand and Myanmar
Weight: 1.5 g
The bat's body is the size of a
bumblebee.
ETRUSCAN SHREW
2 From Southern Europe to
Southern Asia Weight: 1.8 g
9 40 K M The 4-cm-long shrew consumes
twice its own weight every day.
PYGMY SHREW
578 KM 58 KM 3 Pakistan and Afghanistan
Weight: 3 g. This rodent only
measures 8 cm, but it can
jump 200 cm!
AFRICAN PYGMY MOUSE

4 Sub-Saharan Africa
Weight: 3 g. This mouse can
SPHERICAL ROUNDED POTATO SHAPED slake its thirst by drinking dew
The largest object of the Measuring 578 km on its The Ida asteroid from pebbles.
NASA & R.J. HALL
Asteroid Belt is Ceres, longest side, Vesta is the measures 58 km on its

which is both an asteroid second largest asteroid. longest side. Its gravity is DUNNART
and a dwarf planet. It has a
940 km diameter and is
Vesta's gravity is not
sufficiently powerful to
by no means strong
enough to make it 5 Australia
Weight: 4.3 g
round, but sligtly flattened make it spherical, so it has spherical, so instead, Ida This fearless hunter feeds on
due to its rotation. turned out slightly oblong. is shaped like a potato.
lizards and large locusts.
When did humans become monogamous?

IN SHORT
Historians and archaeologists assume that
P. PLAILLY/E. DAYNES/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
?
twosome relationships became common
What does it smell 5-10,000 years ago. At that time, humans went
like in outer space? from being nomadic hunters and gatherers to
The human nose does not work in becoming settled farmers, whose homes were
a vacuum, so we cannot smell the centres of their lives. Today, Christian
space directly. But astronauts who communities are monogamous, whereas
have been on space walks outside polygamy – marriage between more than two
the International Space Station parties – is allowed in Muslim countries, where
men can have several wives.
(ISS) say that their spacesuits smell
In the animal kingdom, monogamy is rare –
of metal, somewhat like smoke only about 3 % of all animal species in the world
from a welding device, once they live in steady relationships. Birds are an exception, Monogamy became common, when our
return to the space station. as they include several monogamous species. ancestors gave up hunting to become farmers.
ASK US
How deep can we drill?

The deepest drilling in the world is a drill hole on VERTICAL DEPTHS OF
the Russian Kola Peninsula. The hole is 12,262 m THE WORLD'S DEEPEST
deep measured from the ground surface and DRILLED HOLES: Kola drill hole
vertically to the bottom. Although this may sound Kola drill hole,
PHOTO LIBRARY
deep, it only corresponds to scratching Earth’s the Kola Peninsula, Russia.
Depth: 12,262 m
crust – also known as the lithosphere - slightly.
Bertha Rogers drill hole,
The crust is up to 100 km thick in some places.
SPUTNIK/SCIENCE
Oklahoma, USA.
The deeper a drill moves into the ground, the Depth: 9,583 m
higher the temperature and pressure, and the KTB drill hole,
more difficult it is to drill. If the drill head is Bavaria, Germany.
removed, a deep hole tends to close, as the rock Depth: 9,101 m At a depth of 12,262 m, the rock was
layer around the hole is as soft as modelling wax. so soft that the Kola drilling was halted.
? WILD ANIMALS
How does a
giraffe breathe?
The trachea and lungs are put to the test,
when the distance between the mouth and
the internal organs is 3 m. Several scientists
have studied the giraffe’s respiratory system,
but they disagree about its exact functions.
The lungs are very large, and The trachea is very long and narrow,
the giraffe's lung capacity is about so the quantity of air that can pass in
30 times that of a human. and out of it is relatively small. This
means that the giraffe gets fresh air in
The respiration is slow, only its lungs for every breath, avoiding that
about one third of that of humans, “dead" air stands still in the trachea.
and not deep. So, only some of the
air in the lungs is replaced for Extra strong heart muscles and
every breath. However, the lungs reinforced blood vessels ensure very
are so large that the animal high blood pressure, so the oxygen in
remains unaffected by their the lungs is fully utilised and pumped
content of low-oxygen air. efficiently about the body.
The digestion organs function like

bellows. When the giraffe runs, it
alternately pulls and pushes the
organs, helping the lungs breathe
air in and out.
CLAUS LUNAU & SHUTTERSTOCK
A giraffe’s large lungs and strong

heart ensure that its body optimises
use of its relatively scarce quantity
of oxygen.
Mechanical
clocks from the
1300s divided
a day into
24 hours.
The Babylonians
observed the moon
and sun and made
the first calendar.
Who invented
THE ROMANS
NAMED THE MONTHS
March is named after the
god of war, Mars.
our time system?

Where and when did weeks and months as The Babylonians knew the Sun and six "planets"
April Unknown, but Aprilis
was Rome's second month.
May & June are named
after Maia & Juno (goddesses).
July & August are named
we know them originate? – the Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, and after Julius Caesar and
Our time system has been adjusted over Saturn. Although the week has nothing to do Emperor Augustus.
thousands of years. Some 4,000 years ago, the with astronomical phenomena, the seven September, October,
Babylonians in what is now Iraq introduced a "heavenly bodies" probably formed the basis of November & December
calendar that divided time into years, months, the seven day week. mean the 7th, 8th, 9th
and 10th months.
and weeks. The Babylonians based their In Ancient Egypt, daytime was divided into
calendar on the motions of major heavenly 12 hours by using sundials. Twelve is a very January & February
were added later, named after
bodies. A year was the time it took Earth to orbit flexible number for time, because unlike the Janus (god) and the februa
the Sun once, and a month was the time it took number ten, it can be divided into thirds, festival of ritual purification.
the Moon to complete one orbit around Earth. quarters, sixths and twelfths.
IBSS
INSIDE THE BODY Pancreas
How does the pancreas function?

PANCREAS
At the farther end of the abdominal
cavity, behind the stomach, you will find Pancreatic juice aids digestion
the 15-cm-long pancreas, which Secretions from the pancreas
produces insulin. The pancreas secretes decompose proteins, fat, and
"juice", its daily production being break up carbohydrates.
1.5 litres ALAMY/IMAGESELECT
ASK US
Can a match burn The match head contains

on the Moon? oxygen, which would be able
to light a flame for a few
The short answer is yes, but sometimes only briefly, as seconds on the Moon.
there is no oxygen on the Moon to feed the fire. A
match contains everything needed to start a small fire
– fuel for the fire, oxygen, and something to produce
heat. The wood is the fuel, whereas the oxygen is
bound in chemical compounds in the head. The oxygen
is liberated the moment the match is lit, and the
sulphur-rich head gives off heat, which nourishes the
fire. But subsequently, there is a problem, as the Moon
has no atmosphere and so no oxygen to nourish the
SHUTTERSTOCK
fire. Once the head of the match is consumed, the
wood alone will not continue to burn, as it relies on
atmospheric oxygen here on Earth.
How quickly do fingernails grow? Nail growth depends on the season and our age. The fastest
nail growth is produced by young people in the summer. Average daily nail growth is about
0.1 mm
WHAT IS THIS? ASR – alkali-silica reaction
– makes concrete crack.
ASR, which is also known
as concrete cancer, is seen
here through an electron
microscope in the lab.
1 Concrete is made up of
cement, gravel, and water and
contains alkali ions – such as
sodium hydroxide and
potassium hydroxide – that
originate from the cement.
2 If the gravel of the concrete

also contains the silicon
mineral, also known as silicon
dioxide, it reacts with the alkali
ions to produce a thick alkali-
silica gel.
3 If water enters the

PATRICK LANDMANN/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
concrete, it is absorbed by the

alkali-silica gel, which swells,
making the concrete bubble
Burst alkali-silica bubble and crack.
After 6 months
Before
HAIR
U SES “GREY”
DISEASE CA areata
the alopecia
People with -haired
become grey
disease may le . T he
her peop
faster than ot ti va te d by
ch is ac Marie-Antoinette was
disease, whi at ta ck s coloured
ular ly originally strawberry blond,
stress, partic ir either
rtions of ha but according to the myth,
hair. Major po gm en t,
their pi her hair turned white the night
fall off or lose er ha ir.
ner, fa ir before she was decapitated.
leaving thin
Is it really true that ...

... your hair can turn white overnight?
French Queen Marie-Antoinette’s hair
reportedly turned white the night
before she was decapitated in 1793. Is
Pigment disappears with age
Pigment-producing cells in the hair roots provide hair with colour. Over time,
that really possible?
the cells disappear, and our hair turns grey or white.
According to historical myths, Queen
Marie-Antoinette and other persons
1
experienced that their hair turned white Melanocytes in hair roots
1 2 Keratin
the night before they were executed. The Keratin produce different types of
central characters were all subjected to Melanin the melanin pigment. The
severe mental trauma. In a few cases, it melanin combination
determines the hair colour.
was not only the scalp hair that turned
white. An article in the British Medical
Journal of 1902 describes how a young
woman discovered that her pubic hair had
Melanocytes
2 A growing hair consists of
the colourless creatine
protein, to which the melanin is
CLAUS LUNAU & NAVARINI ET AL. & HERITAGE IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES
turned white the day after having transferred, producing colour.

witnessed the murder of another woman.
The problematic aspect of the stories 3
is that the only part of a hair that is alive
is the root. The hair itself is a dead tube
3 With age, the melanocytes
become less active, and the
hair turns fairer, until the
full of pigment. It can only change melanin production comes to a
colour from the root, as it grows out, halt, and the hair turns white.
and that does not happen overnight, but
rather over several weeks or months.
SPACE | PLANETS
The mission to
WILD
VISION
Proxima b Oceans, lakes, and rivers could exist on Proxima b. Not

only might the rocky planet resemble Earth with water and
bearable temperatures, it is also so close to us that the first
astronauts could visit it in 2100.
FOUR STEPS TAKE

US TO THE PLANET
1. DISCOVERY
2. EXPLORATION
3. ANALYSIS
4. SPACE MISSION
By Rolf Haugaard Nielsen
The planet orbits the red dwarf Proxima

Centauri, whose light is so weak that it is
always dusk on Proxima b.
SHUTTERSTOCK
PLANETS
B
rave new world. In 2100, an awesome scenario appears finally approach their destination, the level of boredom is
in front of four dazed astronauts, as they step out almost impossible to bear in spite of daily routines and a well-
onto the stony ground in the dusk. In the distance, stocked electronic library including books, films, and games.
they can make out a landscape of twisted rocks, the
rhythmical sound of waves rolling ashore breaks the silence, 2017 NASA WORKING ON ANTIMATTER ROCKET
and above them, there is a huge, red, glowing sphere. After Whether the astronauts will ever reach Proxima b is highly
travelling for seven years, the first astronauts have reached dependent on whether scientists are able to design an
the Proxima b planet. antimatter rocket. If so, a craft could reach the foreign planet
In 2016, when a team of astronomers discovered the in only seven years.
planet via the La Silla Observatory in Chile, astronomers Antimatter rockets are still pure science fiction, but the
throughout the world cheered, as Proxima b is some-thing as concept is so realistic that engineers from the NASA Institute
rare as a rocky planet orbiting its star in the habitable zone, in for Advanced Concepts have begun to design a spacecraft
which water and life could exist. In addition, the planet was powered by antimatter. The latter is the ultimate rocket fuel,
orbiting the Sun’s closest neighbour – the Proxima Centauri as it does not weigh very much and so does not require any
dwarf star – which is located only 4.25 light years from Earth. energy to carry it. A few grammes would be sufficient to go
Although that is the equivalent of 271,000 times the distance to Proxima b and back again. When antimatter encounters
between Earth and the Sun, it is so close that a mission to the matter, both are destroyed and converted into extremely
planet is not a completely insane idea, but could be realized high-energy gamma radiation, that could heat a propellant
before today’s infants become very old people. such as hydrogen, which escapes through a nozzle, providing
the rocket with immense momentum.
2093 ASTRONAUTS TRAVEL FOR SEVEN YEARS Right now, scientists are struggling to produce
The joy of expectation is extreme, as the four astronauts antimatter and store it completely isolated in an air-void
enter the crammed space capsule. The two women and two magnetic trap, so it will only get in contact with ordi-nary
men are the first ever to be heading for another solar system. matter in the engine.
The flight out of Earth’s gravitational field goes according
to plan. Now, the four astronauts are to mount the large, 2100 RADIATION THREATENS PIONEERS
inflatable modules including gym, green-house, and living Everybody is extremely happy, when the four pioneers are
quarters. Although the space capsule is full of freeze-dried finally standing on the surface of Proxima b following a
food and water, huge amounts of both are required to keep successful landing. In spite of improved exercise methods to
four people alive for seven years. So, the space pioneers are counteract physical weakening, the seven years in a state of
to produce both en route. In the greenhouse, they will grow weightlessness are evident. Without help, the astronauts
plants in shelf systems, using artificial light and faeces as would not even be able to take one step on Earth, and the
fertilizer. All urine is cleansed and reused as drinking water. gravity on Proxima b is at least 30 % more powerful.
Many hours of the day are spent on intense physical Nevertheless, they are jumping about like happy kids. Their
exercise and the growing of the vital crops. But the mission to sophisticated spacesuits include exoskeletons, which
Proxima b is long, and although the new antimatter rocket strengthen their motions and allow them super powers.
travels through the Solar System at a dizzying speed of However, the celebration of the successful landing is a
180,000 km/s, the days become ever longer, and the brief one. The dwarf star is constantly emitting large
company still more nerve-racking. When the four astronauts quantities of cancer-causing X-radiation, and at brief
Greenhouse
The astronaut
s must grow th
own food usin eir
g artificial light
and fertiliser m
ade of faeces.
Gym
Weightlessness
weakens bone
and muscles, so s
the astronaut
must exercise s
a lot.
Living quart
ers
Seven years in
the same com
is challenging, pany
so the craft in
an extensive el cludes
ectronic library
.
1. DISCOVERY
Dwarf star's motion

revealed the planet
The light from Proxima b is so weak that telescopes cannot
possibly see it, but the planet makes its star move slightly.
I n 2013, Finnish astronomer Mikko

Tuomi discovered the first indications
of the existence of the Proxima b planet,
Silla Observatory in Chile. Already after
10 days, Proxima b was discovered with
the 3.6 m HARPS telescope. No
as he was going through a series of telescopes can see the small planet
observations made in 2003-2009 by the directly, but it revealed itself,
Very Large Telescope in Chile. However, because it makes its star
he was not sure, so in 2016, he initiated move slightly.
two months of observations from the La
Although the
1 planet weighs
a fraction of its star, The Proxima b planet
it affects it slightly. was discovered by
means of the La Silla
Telescope in Chile.
Y. BELETSKY/ESO & PETR HORÁLEK/ESO
Star
The motion
4 reveals not only
the planet, but a series
of details about it.
Proxima b
When the star As the star with-

2 approaches, the
3 draws, the light
light waves are shorter. waves become longer.
Stellar system may include more planets 8 light years
Proxima Centauri is a small slightly smaller.

and relatively faint red dwarf Astronomers have not yet Distance from the Sun
orbiting two larger, Sun-like discovered any planets
stars: Alpha Centauri A and orbiting the two stars, but 4 light years
B. Located about four light planets may easily be PROXIMA CENTAU
RI
years away, it is our Solar orbiting them at the same Alpha Centauri A SMALL RED DWAR IS A
F.
System’s closest neighbour. distance at which Earth 2 light years
Alpha Centauri A is orbits the Sun. If so, the Proxima Centauri
slightly larger than the Sun, conditions may be be more The Solar System
Alpha Centauri
whereas Alpha Centauri B is Earth-like than Proxima b’s.
The Sun
PLANETS
2. EXPLORATION
2018 Very large
New telescope to spy on telescope
The primary mirror,
planet’s atmosphere that consists of 18

small mirrors, has a
6.5 m diameter and
NASA’s new James Webb space telescope an area of 25 m2.
is to work out the exact make-up of

Proxima b’s atmosphere.
P lanet hunters are waiting impatiently

for 2018, when NASA launches its
new James Webb space telescope. The
Sharp images
Heat can distort the mirror,
so the telescope is equipped
mirror has a 6.5 m diameter, and with a protective thermal
shield, ensuring a temperature
scientists hope that the observations will of minus 233 °C.
reveal the density and make-up of
Proxima b’s atmosphere, determining
whether the planet is habitable.
The telescope measures the
wavelengths of the light from the star that
passes through the planet’s atmosphere.
Different molecules and water drops dim
different wavelengths, so the observations
cannot only reveal the make-up and Instruments Space calling
density of the atmosphere, but also All the telescope’s The antenna sends data
whether the planet is covered in clouds. instruments are located here. back to Earth.
NASA
intervals, the star erupts, intensifying the X-radiation and protection of the entire body – just like the lead gowns used
subjecting the planet to intense showers of charged particles. in hospital X-ray departments – they will weigh about 50 kg.
The astronauts cannot be outside for very long, so they So, scientists hope that future nanotechnology will produce
quickly head for the base, which has hopefully built itself in a light material that halts radiation. If not, the astronauts
previous months. If not, the astronauts will die. must wear quite heavy spacesuits, and that can only be done,
if a spacesuit’s integrated exoskeleton can contribute extra
2017 SUITS WEIGH UP TO 50 KG power. The technology is already in the pipeline, as in South
A spacesuit for use on Proxima b does not yet exist, but Korea, scientists are developing exoskeletons that are to
scientists should be able to develop a suitable suit over the enable shipyard workers to easily lift loads of 100 kg.
next decades. Fortunately, the radiation on Proxima b is not necessarily
The best radiation protection is offered by heavy elements inhuman. If the planet has a dense atmosphere, it would
such as lead, but if the spacesuits are to include lead reduce the unhealthy radiation, whereas a strong magnetic
2024 2030
Huge telescope can see Tiny satellites take
land and oceans close-ups of the planet
In 2024, observations will begin at the European Scientists hope to be able to send an army of chip
Extremely Large Telescope, E-ELT, in Chile, which satellites to Proxima b in 2030. The size of mobile
has a 40 m primary mirror. The huge eye can take phones, the chip satellites are equipped with
direct photos of Proxima b and will be able to solar sails of a few square metres, and they will
reveal cloud cover patterns. The telescope can be launched by means of an extremely powerful
even distinguish between continents and oceans, laser beam. The satellites will travel at a speed of
if there is water on the surface of the planet. 60,000 km/h for a period of some 20 years.
CLAUS LUNAU
ESO
field could divert the charged protons and electrons dig a hole for the foundations, and subsequently, the
around the dwarf star in the same way as Earth’s magnetic spherical modules set in motion by alternatively pumping
shield diverts most solar wind. Both atmosphere and air in and out of a series of external airbags, rolling
magnetic field will be studied by telescopes before the themselves into the hole. Once there, the entire base is
first manned mission. automatically inflated, before the rovers cover it in a thick
layer of soil, which will protect the four pioneers against
2100 THE BASE IS READY the fatal radiation from the dwarf star.
In the deserted landscape, the base looks
like a huge sandcastle. In the months prior
to the arrival of the four astronauts, an
Waterworks
A compact desa
unmanned rocket has landed both rovers ilnation plant
and living quarter modules. First, the rovers
makes the near
by ocean drinka Laboratory
ble for astrona - The base is eq
uts. uipped with a
in which the as lab,
tronauts can
analyse water
and soil sampl
es.
Repair shop
If a rover or a
spacesuit is
damaged, the
astronauts
must make th
eir own repairs
.
PLANETS
FAST FACTS
Proxima b was discovered, because its orbit around
Proxima Centauri makes the star "wobble". Based
on the dwarf star’s wobbly course, astronomers can
calculate the planet’s orbit, size, mass, and more.
THE PLANET IS 4.25 LIGHT

YEARS FROM EARTH
The distance from Earth to Proxima b is 4.25
light years, corresponding to 271,000 times
the distance between Earth and the Sun.
THE STAR IS 4.85

BILLION YEARS OLD
The Proxima Centauri star was born
4.85 billion years ago and will shine
for another 4,000 billion years,
ensuring the planet’s survival.
THE GRAVITY
IS POWERFUL
Proxima b is a rocky planet of
at least 1.3 Earth masses.
So, its gravity is 30 % more
powerful than Earth’s.
ONE YEAR LASTS

11.2 EARTH DAYS
The planet orbits its star at
a distance of only 7.3
million km, and one orbit
only takes 11.2 days.
DUSK REIGNS
The visible light from the
dwarf star corresponds to 2 %
of the sunlight on Earth, so it is
dusky even at midday.
HARMFUL RADIATION
DEVASTATES PLANET
The dwarf star emits large quantities
of radiation, and the planet receives
400 times more X-rays than Earth.
STAR ERUPTION INCREASES

STAR BRIGHTNESS
Star eruptions are extremely frequent, perhaps
taking place on a daily basis. Some are extremely
powerful, making star brightness increase by 50 %.
QUESTIONS
The planet’s habitability depends on its rotation. If it is rotating
its own axis just like Earth, it has days and nights, but if the
planet is locked in a bound rotation just like the Moon, it
has a red-hot day side and a frozen night side.
IS THE PLANET ROTATING?

Proxima b is so close to its star that it is
probably locked in its rotation, so the same side
is always facing the star. However, the planet
could also be rotating, meaning that it will
have days and nights just like Earth.
WHAT IS THE
TEMPERATURE?
If the planet has a bound rotation, the
day side will be 100+ °C hot, whereas
the night side will have severe
permafrost. If it is rotating,
3. ANALYSIS
temperatures will be like Earth’s.
DOES PROXIMA B
Proxima b may
HAVE WATER?
If the planet has a day and a
night side, liquid water can only
exist on the frontiers between
be habitable
the two sides. Fast rotation
allows liquid water anywhere.
IS THERE AN
The Proxima b rocky planet is orbiting the Proxima ATMOSPHERE?
The radiation from the star may
Centauri dwarf star in the habitable zone, in which
have made the atmosphere very
liquid water could exist. However, astronomers do thin, but a cloud cover and an
not yet know, if the planet is habitable for humans– atmosphere could have protected
the planet against the radiation.
or whether there is already life.
IS THERE A
MAGNETIC FIELD?
If the planet is rotating its own axis
fast, it could have a powerful magnetic
field, which bends the charged particles
from the dwarf star’s many eruptions in
the same way as Earth’s magnetic shield.
IS THERE LIFE?
With fast rotation, an atmosphere, clouds, liquid
water, and a powerful magnetic field, Proxima b
could support life. If not, water and life could flow in
the underground, which is heated by radioactive decay
in the planet’s interior just like in Earth’s crust.
PLANETS
The exited astronauts enter the plastic door. This is the messages back at the speed of light, and more than eight
moment of truth. They immediately check every-thing in years to get a reply.
living quarters, greenhouse, workshop, and lab. It works! The coast, which is the destination of the first expedition,
Happy and relieved, they make themselves a well-deserved is less than 500 m away. Although the rover is a tracked
festive meal of freeze-dried food brought from Earth vehicle, which can handle the impassable terrain, the drive
before they arrived. The astronauts end their meal with takes several hours. Finally, the astronauts arrive.
something that they have not enjoyed for seven years: a Speechless, they stare across the endless sea, as waves roll
cup of instant coffee. onto the rocky coast. They collect water samples and head
back to the base.
2017 FOOD WILL BE MADE ON SITE As the exhausted astronauts finally reach the base, it
A base on Proxima b requires that we are able to build and is totally dark, the only light coming from stars in the sky.
operate bases on Mars. NASA, ESA, universities, and private The water samples are studied in the base lab, and the
companies are developing the technology for producing water analyses answer one major question: yes, the water
and food and generating energy on the Red Planet as we speak. includes life! And not only bacteria, but plankton and small
ESA scientists are working on a system, by which plants creatures. Fascinated, the astronauts stare at the tiny
and bacteria provide astronauts with oxygen, food, and animals in the microscope.
electricity. The system is based on a green-house, in which
plants and bacteria convert carbon dioxide into carbon, which 2107 ASTRONAUTS ARE WEAK UPON RETURN
is used for oxygen and food. The oxygen is turned into air for Two months after the four astronauts stepped onto a planet
the astronauts to breathe and into water. When the colonists in a different solar system, the team left the base, taking one
have finished eating and drinking, bacteria convert both urine last look at the sky.
and faeces into fatty acids, minerals, and ammonia – and later The two close stars of Alpha Centauri A and B stood out
into carbon dioxide and nitrate fertilizer, which goes back into – large as teacups and shining more brightly than any other
the greenhouse. The rest of the waste is placed in the power star. The stars are the same type as the Sun and could have
plant, where microbial fuel cells finally generate power. planets in the habitable zone. If so, the living conditions there
Nothing is wasted. will be more like the conditions on Earth than on Proxima b.
Long before the first manned mission, tiny chip satellites As the astronauts stared into space one last time, they
will probably be orbiting Proxima b to record unmanned wondered whether their base may one day become a
landings and follow up on base construction. stepping stone for going to other, more Earth-like planets in
the Centauri system.
2100 FIRST EXCURSION TO THE COAST The flight back to Earth took another seven years, and
One morning in the land of dusk, the star seems huge, as it subsequently, the astronauts are so weak following many
rises above the horizon, colouring the rocks in pale red and years in a state of weightlessness that they will never walk
orange hues. It is a calm, dry day, although there are a few again without exoskeletons.
clouds in the sky. Two astronauts enter the rover, while the The risk of cancer caused by radiation is substantial, but
others remain at the base, where they are in constant radio the pioneers know that they will be remembered as great
contact with their colleagues. Direct contact with Earth is explorers, perhaps even the greatest: the first people on a
impossible, as it takes more than four years to send planet outside our Solar System.
Exoskeleton
s
The spacesuit
must be equipp
with an exoske ed
leto
weakened astro n to keep a New, light m
naut walking. ate
A light materia rial
l that has not
been develope yet
d protects astro
against radiat nauts
ion from the st
ar.
No contact w
ith
Even at the sp Earth
eed of light, a
sage takes 4 ye mes-
ars to reach Ea
the astronaut rth, so
s are on their
own.
4. SPACE MISSION
Two rockets reduce travel time

A mission to Proxima b would take 18,000 years with existing
technology, but antimatter rockets could reduce it to seven years.
MORE REALISTIC
Fusion rockets coming up

American scientists are developing fusion
engines, and several parts have already
been tested.
The fuel consists of heavy

PROS: The technology is a 1 hydrogn and super heavy
major challenge, but it is hydrogen in a state of plasma.
partly based on principles that The plasma is charged and can
have already been tested. be captured in a magnetic field.
CONS: Super heavy hydrogen
is radioactive. In a crammed
rocket, radiation could be a The fusion chamber is The contraction intensifies the The hydrogen fusion
problem for the astronauts. 2 surrounded by three 3 magnetic field surrounding 4 heats the inside of the
TRAVEL TIME TO PROXIMA B: magnetic metal rings that the hydrogen, producing a huge shell so much that lots of at-
36 years. contract into a thick shell pressure that makes the hydrogen oms break loose, escaping
CLAUS LUNAU
around the fuel. atoms fuse into helium. through a rear nozzle.
FASTER
Hydrogen atoms escape
Antimatter rockets increase speed through the rear nozzle to
Only a few grammes of antimatter could send a rocket to power the craft.
Proxima b and back, but nobody knows how to make it.
From the fuel tank, Hydrogen is introduced

1 tiny quantities of 2 into the engine from a
positrons are introduced into tank via a parallel tube, making
the rocket engine at a time. the engine heat the hydrogen.
CLAUS LUNAU
Hydrogen tank
PROS: Extreme speed

and ditto fuel energy
Positrons efficiency.
Fuel tank CONS: The production
and storage of anti-
particles will be a huge
technological challenge
In the engine, the positrons The radiation heats the for engineers.
3 strike the hydrogen, making 4 rest of the hydrogen gas, TRAVEL TIME TO PLANET:
the two destroy each other and making it expand violently. Seven years.
release gamma radiation . Hydrogen atoms escape the nozzle.
SPACE | THE SOLAR SYSTEM
The Last
Solar System
Mysteries 1 The Inner Solar System 2 The Asteriod Belt
EARTH
VENUS MARS
MERCURY
? ?
Is Mercury geologically active? Why are the asteroids
How did Venus become so hot? located in a belt?
Why is Mars bone-dry?
By Mikkel Meister
18 PA
FEAT GE
URE
Is Mercury shrinking? Why do the

asteroids huddle together? And is
a ninth planet hiding behind
Pluto? The Solar System is full of
unsolved mysteries. Science
Illustrated explains scientists’
struggle to answer the last
remaining questions about planet
Earth’s closest neighbours.
CLAUS LUNAU & NASA
3 The Outer Solar System 4 The Kuiper Belt

JUPITER S AT U R N
URANUS
NEPTUNE
PLUTO
? ?
What is hiding under Jupiter’s cloud cover? Is there a 9th planet
How old are Saturn’s rings? in the Kuiper Belt?
Why is Uranus rotating on its side? Does the Oort Cloud
exist?
What causes Neptune’s high winds?
Is there water on Pluto?
THE SOLAR SYSTEM
The inner Solar System Moons

1
THE INNER SOLAR
SYSTEM INCLUDES 3
Closest to the Sun in the inner Solar System, you will
find 4 rocky planets – Mercury, Venus, Earth, and
Mars. The planets all have solid surfaces, and there
was probably once liquid water on some of them.
The Solar System's

“Little Guy” is Shrinking
The Sun’s closest neighbour is still geologically active, according to new data
collected by the MESSENGER probe, as it fell towards Mercury’s surface in 2015.
O
n an ordinary Thursday in April 2015, Earth, in the mission control room at the gear to collect no less than 10 terabytes of
the small MESSENGER craft is roaring Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, USA, data about the planet.
towards the planet of Mercury at a astronomers cheer. The probe’s dramatic The mission has been highly successful,
speed of some 14,000 km/h. The craft only death is the planned termination of a very as the new data has revealed that Mercury is
just manages to send the last of a total of successful mission, during which the probe slowly shrinking and remains geologically
289,265 photos to Earth, before the 1 tonne – following two extension periods – runs out active just like Earth.
space probe crashes onto the surface, of fuel. Up until this moment, the small
leaving a wide crater. NASA craft has orbited Mercury 4,100 times, MERCURY IS SLOWLY SHRINKING
The crash is the culmination of the using its arsenal of digital cameras, The sensational discovery was published in a
probe’s four year exploration of Mercury. On spectrometers, laser altimeters, and other scientific article in the Nature Geoscience
A
2 km
CLAUS LUNAU & JHUAPL/NASA
SMALL TRENCHES REVEAL MERCURY TECTONICS

Via detailed height Cracks Trenches
measurement and
complete B
photographing,
the MESSENGER
probe has found WARMING COOLING Images reveal The trenches are
clear indications A B
Mercury has a When the exterior small surface located in
1 2
that Mercury’s red-hot core. In its layer is cooled, it trenches. The trenches continuation of a
exterior is youth, the heat shrinks again, making the are less than 100 m wide, sloping fault and
constantly expanded the planet’s cracks collapse. This can or so small that they probably formed during
interior, causing the be observed as trenches can only exist, if they the crust bend caused by
changing. exterior layer to crack. on the planet’s surface. were formed recently. the planet’s contraction.
4 Rocky Planets
MERCURY
Distance from the Sun:
57 million km
Diameter:
4,880 km
?
Is Mercury’s core liquid or solid?
Is the planet geologically active?
What is the magnetic field like?
Does Mercury have an atmosphere?
Is there ice (water) on the planet?
SCIENTISTS ARE THIS CLOSE

TO SOLVING THE MYSTERY
JHUAPL/NASA
THE SOLAR SYSTEM
THE INNER SOLAR

SYSTEM STRETCHES 224,000,000 km
JHUAPL/NASA
Huge Core
Dominates
The Interior
Mercury is so small that the planet’s iron
core should have cooled into a solid lump
long ago. NASA’s MESSENGER probe has
discovered that the core is not only huge,
it is also still partly liquid.
THE CORE takes up up to 85 % THE MANTLE between the

of the planet’s radius. That is core and the crust is much
much more than Earth’s core, thinner than Earth’s. The
which only makes up half. explanation could be that at
MESSENGER’s measurements of some point, Mercury was struck
Mercury’s magnetic and by another planet and that the
gravitational fields have shown violent collision tore off a large
that the core is partly liquid. bite of the mantle.
Solid inner
core
EARTH’S CORE IS SMALLER

Earth
Mercury
Crust
Core Core
THE ATMOSPHERE
Liquid outer (exosphere) is the thinnest
core in the Solar System.
Mantle
journal in 2016, in which NASA astronomers colder, the cooled material crystallizes into younger, volcanic
say that in its lifetime, Mercury’s diameter has different, layered minerals. The Moon is a good plains were formed
shrunk 14 km, and the process is by no means example of a world, on which the cooling has at the surface.
about to stop. caused layers. On the other hand, Earth is not
The “slimming” is due to the fact that layered, which may be due to the active NEW PROBE
Mercury’s hot outer core is cooled, making the surface, where plate tectonics is constantly The MESSENGER
planet contract slightly. Astronomers causing changes. probe has solved
discovered this, when they took a close look at With a diameter of only one third of Earth’s, many of the major
photos taken by the space probe during the Mercury is a relatively small planet, whose mysteries about the
last 1.5 years of the mission. At that time, the interior should have cooled into a solid, layered Solar System’s
craft was orbiting at a lower altitude, enabling shape long ago. innermost planet,
it to take more detailed photos. The images However, the MESSENGER probe’s detailed but the exploration of
reveal relatively small, less than 100-m-wide magnetism and gravity measurements have Mercury certainly will
trenches, markedly smaller than the older shown that the core is huge and still liquid, and not stop here.
faults on the surface of the planet. As the that has made astronomers think that Mercury Already next year,
small rocky planet is regularly subjected to could be made up of another material than the European Space
intense meteorite and comet bombardments, Earth. In the lab, astronomers from the Agency, ESA, and its
the trenches can only exist, if they are American Johnson Space Centre subjected a J a p a n e s e e q u i va l e n t
relatively young. special type of meteorite – of which the organisation, JAXA, will
So, the small faults prove that the rocky planets of the Solar System are probably made launch the BepiColombo
planet is still geologically active. Scientists up – to the pressure and temperature in probe towards Mercury, which
used to think that Earth was the only different parts of Mercury’s interior. The is going to study the planet even
geologically active planet in the Solar System. scientists conclude that Mercury could easily closer upon its arrival in 2025.
be made up of the same material as Earth and
SURFACE IS YOUNG AND OLD still be liquid.
The young trenches are closely related to one The majority of the iron in Mercury’s
of the questions that have bothered scientists interior is probably bound in metal or sulphur
for years: the odd mixture of young and old compounds instead of oxygen like on
areas on Mercury’s surface. Earth. Particularly sulphur will affect the
The different ages of the surface is melting process in a way that is
inconsistent with astronomers’ usual theory consistent with the fact that the
of planetary formation. According to the older parts of the sur-face were
theory, planets are so hot in their youth that formed between the core and
they almost melt. Over time, as they become the mantle, whereas the
SPACE PROBE SOLVED

5 MAJOR MYSTERIES
The MESSENGER probe is smaller than a car, but its ultra-accurate
instruments have solved Mercury’s major mysteries in no time.
MAGNETIC FIELD SURFACE POLES INCLUDE ATMOSPHERE IS CORE IS LIQUID
IS LOPSIDED SHRINKS WATER ICE CHANGING The MESSENGER
Mercury’s magnetic Mercury is still MESSENGER has Mercury has an ul- probe’s measurements
field is lopsided, so the geologically active, as found indications of trathin atmosphere – or of the planet’s
protection from solar the planet shrinks, water ice in craters on exosphere – made up by gravitational field
wind particles is because it is slowly Mercury’s poles. The material stirred up from and lab experiments
irregular, according to cooling, according to probe uses a neutron the surface by solar have shown that
measurements by the data from MESSENGER’s spectrometer to find wind. The probe has Mercury’s core is not
The MESSENGER
MESSENGER probe’s laser altimeter and one of the ingredients found out that the exo- only large, but may also probe has orbited
magnetometer. surface images. of water: hydrogen. sphere is changing. be partly liquid. Mercury for 4 years.
JHUAPL/NASA
THE SOLAR SYSTEM
THE INNER SOLAR

SYSTEM PLANETS WEIGH 11,800,000,000,000,000,000,
OUT-OF-CONTROL
? GREENHOUSE EFFECT
Evaporated water may have triggered
the greenhouse effect, which heated
How did Venus Venus to a temperature of 465 °C.
become so hot?

1
In its youth, Venus was probably
habitable with oceans on the surface
and a tropical climate. This period lasted for
the first two billion years of Venus’ life.
VENUS
108 million km
Diameter:
12,104 km
2
Venus is closer to the Sun than Earth is,
and so, the liquid water on its surface
evaporated faster. Water vapour is an efficient
greenhouse gas that keeps out the cold.
The Sun
Water vapour
Atmo-
sphere
More water
evaporated.
Water vapour disappeared. Sunlight

3 broke apart the water molecules. The
oxygen bound to carbon, turning into CO2, as
the hydrogen disappeared.
Radiation
Water vapour Water
made Earth’s twin red-hot molecules CO2 produced.

Molecule Light hydrogen Oxygen binds
shattered. disappears.
In its childhood, Venus had liquid oceans and pleasant temperatures, according to to carbon.
new NASA research. The water may have converted the planet into a scorching hell.
With a temperature of 465 °C, Venus is climate. The oceans evaporated, because
Now, the atmosphere consists of
hot enough to melt lead. The high Venus is located so close to the Sun. The 4 96.5 % CO2. The gas keeps in the heat
temperatures are due to an out-of-control water vapour boosted the greenhouse that – in spite of a thick cloud cover reflecting
greenhouse effect. Astronomers have not effect, making the planet even warmer. At much of the sunlight – gets to the surface.
been able to explain why it went so the same time, radiation shattered the
wrong on Venus. New NASA research water molecules. Light hydrogen left the
based on models of Earth’s climate planet, whereas oxygen combined with
indicates that only three billion years ago, carbon to form CO2, boosting the
Venus had huge oceans and a tropical greenhouse effect once again. Heat
enclosed
3 layers
CLAUS LUNAU
of clouds
By Mikkel Meister
000,000 kg
THE MAVEN PROBE SCRUTINISES
THE MARTIAN ATMOSPHERE
The Sun’s intense bombardment of the
?
Martian atmosphere is explored by Why is Mars
NASA’s MAVEN probe. so bone-dry?

Two magnetometers
located on the solar
panels produce data
about the magnetic
field on Mars.
MARS
228 million km
Diameter:
6,780 km
Two analysers
measure how solar wind
particles affect the gases
in the atmosphere.
A UV spectrograph
EARTH maps out molecules and atoms
Distance from the Sun: at different altitudes of the
149.6 million km atmosphere. This reveals how
Diameter: the gases disappear.
12,742 km
The Sun Peels Off

Mars’ Atmosphere
Once there was an abundance of liquid water on the Red Planet.
NASA’s MAVEN is investigating why the planet is bone-dry today.
Earth’s bone-dry neighbour, Mars, was probably think the Sun caused the drought, as solar
soaking wet and included rivers, lakes, and wind particles blew away the atmosphere.
perhaps even oceans 4 billion years ago. NASA’s MAVEN probe is orbiting the
Everything wrapped in a dense atmosphere planet to study the atmosphere. Existing
that allowed the liquid water to remain. measurements show that the Martian
Since then, the atmosphere has become atmosphere is losing about 100 g of gases
much thinner, i.e. only 1/100 of Earth’s. per second. The solar wind produces an Since 2015, the MAVEN
So far, astronomers have not known why electric field that forces charged atoms on probe has studied the
the atmosphere disappeared, but now, they the edge of the atmosphere into space. Martian atmosphere.
NASA
THE SOLAR SYSTEM
The Asteroid Belt

2
THE ASTEROID
BELT INCLUDES 1 Dwarf Planet
The small "planets" of the Solar System, which
we call asteroids, drift in a 180 million-km-wide
belt between the inner and outer Solar System.
Gas Giants Caused a Stir

In a belt at the centre of the Solar System, you will find 750,000 asteroids.
They could have united into a planet, but two gas giants disturbed them.
D
iameters of up to 1,000 km. Those are the – formed after the birth of the Sun, whereas the
?
dimensions of the 750,000 asteroids which inner planets had not yet formed, making up a
are orbiting in the void between the four disc of raw materials.
rocky planets in the inner Solar system and the four By means of sophisticated computer
gas giants in the outer Solar System. The asteroids simulations, scientists have calculated that
are probably what remained after the formation of Jupiter and Saturn could have moved towards Why are the asteroids
the Sun and the planets. But it is still difficult for the Sun. Today, Jupiter is five times as far away loacted in a belt between
astronomers to explain why the asteroids are from the Sun as Earth, but in the Solar System’s Mars and Jupiter?
located there instead of uniting into a planet. early childhood, the planet travelled to a
Scientists from NASA, Observatoire de la distance of about 1.5 times that of Earth. In a
Côte d’Azur in France, have proposed the Grand zigzag manoeuvre, Jupiter and Saturn turned SCIENTISTS ARE THIS CLOSE
Tack model of the formation of the Solar System. around, moving outwards again. En route, the TO SOLVING THE MYSTERY
According to the model, the four outermost gas giants pushed the asteroids to the area, in
planets – Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune which the Asteroid Belt is located today.
The vertical axis indicates the number of asteroids in any given place of the
belt. The blue lines indicate the places in which almost none occur. The num-
bers indicate the number of orbits of asteroids and Jupiter around the Sun.
Jupiter divides the
350 Asteroid Belt into bands
3:1 5:2 7:3 2:1
Jupiter created the Asteroid Belt, and it is still
300
affecting it today. The Solar System’s largest
250 planet causes resonances in specific regions of the
Number of asteroids
belt, making the asteroids organise themselves in

200 smaller belts with gaps in between them.
150
100
50 The horizontal axis indicates the width of the Asteroid Belt in

astronomical units (AU). 1 AU corresponds to the distance between
0 the Sun and Earth. The belt measures 1.2 AU or 180 billion km.
2 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 3 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5
Distance to the Sun
750,000 Asteroids
CLAUS LUNAU
GIANTS FLUNG SMALL WORLDS ABOUT
The large Solar System planets did not remain in the orbits, in which they originated.
Instead, the giants rushed about, causing a major stir in the inner and outer Solar System.
4.6 billion years ago

THE SOLAR
SYSTEM FORMS
Jupiter
The Solar System Saturn Uranus Neptune Comets (water)
1 planets result from Asteroids (rocks)
a rotating disc of matter.
First, dust particles unite
into the gas giants.
GAS GIANTS After 100,000 years

APPROACH THE SUN
Jupiter and Saturn
2 travel towards the
Sun. En route, they make
the ”seeds” of the inner
planets unite.
After 150 million years

GAS GIANTS
CHANGE COURSE
The two gas giants
3 change direction,
flinging the ”seeds”
about. Some of them
unite in the Asteroid Belt.
After 600 million years

SOLAR SYSTEM
STABILISES Asteroids (rocks and water)
After 600 million
4 years, the giants
settle in their present Mercury Earth
Venus Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune
orbits of the Solar System.
AU (astronomical unit) The Sun 2 AU 4 AU 6 AU 8 AU 10 AU

= 150 million km
THE RESONANCE occurs, THE FOUR GAPS have 180 MILLION

because the asteroids are been named Kirkwood gaps KILOMETRES is the total
not orbiting the Sun as fast after astronomer Daniel length of the Asteroid Belt.
as Jupiter. When an asteroid Kirkwood, who discovered
encounters Jupiter in the the phenomenon. The first
same place and is repeatedly gap is 600,000 km into the
pushed in the same belt, where asteroids orbit
direction, it will move, the Sun three times for every
producing a gap in the belt. one orbit by Jupiter.
THE SOLAR SYSTEM
The Outer Solar System

3
THE OUTER SOLAR
SYSTEM INCLUDES 4 Planets
The four Solar System giants – Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus,
and Neptune – are all located in the outer Solar
System, which stretches approximately four billion
km. The planets are large and mainly consist of gas. S AT U R N
1.4 billion km
Diameter:
116,464 km
Thickness Diameter
Saturn’s rings are between The large main rings have
10 m and a few km thick – a diameter of about
virtually two-dimensional 282,000 km, whereas the
on an astronomical scale! exterior ring is 960,000
km. In comparison, the
distance from Earth to
JUPITER the Moon is 384,000 km.
? Distance from the Sun:

778 million km
Diameter:
139,822 km
What is hiding under
Jupiter’s cloud cover?

JUPITER DESTROYS
VISITING PROBES
NASA’s Juno probe must
zigzag to avoid the radiation.
Aboard the about 4 kg Jupiter is surrounded by
Juno space probe, you powerful radiation belts
will find nine measuring that destroy the probe’s
instruments to
determine the planet’s
equipment. So, Juno’s
orbits are highly elliptical, Space probe to expose
Jupiter’s ”face”
interior make-up, map ensuring that the probe is
out Jupiter’s powerful not subjected to radiation
magnetic field. all the time.
Jupiter is the closest of the outer planets, but scientists still do not know
the most basic things about the planet. NASA’s Juno probe is changing that.
For years, astronomers have struggled the probe arrived to Jupiter last summer
in vain to see through the thick cloud and began the major project, using its
cover surrounding the largest Solar nine primary instruments – including a
System planet, Jupiter, and even today, gravimeter, two plasma detectors, and a
they do not know what makes up the magnetometer. The Juno probe has
giant and its atmosphere or whether already taken the first photos of Jupiter’s
there is an ocean on its surface. north pole, revealing spiral-shaped
Jupiter’s magnetic NASA’s Juno probe is meant to change weather systems that differ from the
field is 20,000 times as this fact. After travelling three billion km, horizontal stripes in Jupiter’s cloud cover.
powerful as Earth’s.
NASA
146 Moons
Scientists Disagree ?
About Age of Rings
New research based on data from NASA’s Cassini probe
How old are
Saturn’s rings?

makes the rings billions of years younger. TO SOLVING THE MYSTERY
S aturn’s characteristic system of

rings make astronomers, who do
not know how the rings formed or
were not absorbed by Saturn. So, the
rings must be as old as the planet
itself, i.e. about 4.4 billion years. But
how old they are, disagree. new analyses of 10-year-old
The eight rings consist of dirty observations from NASA’s Cassini probe
lumps of ice of all sizes, from dust show that at least one ring consists of
particles to mountains. So far, most material that is only 15-90 million years
scientists believed that the rings are old. If that is correct, the rings cannot
remains from the planet’s birth that possibly be remains from the birth.
New huge ring: In 2009, NASA discovered

an eighth ring, which is almost invisible.
New observations show that the ring may
stretch 6-16 million km from Saturn.
? ?
JPL-CALTECH/K
Saturn
Why is Uranus What causes
ECK /NASA
orbiting on its side? Neptune’s high winds?
SCIENTISTS ARE THIS CLOSE SCIENTISTS ARE THIS CLOSE

TO SOLVING THE MYSTERY TO SOLVING THE MYSTERY
Planet knocked URANUS Cold NEPTUNE

gas giant over Distance from the Sun:
2.8 billion km causes
4.5 billion km
Uranus is orbiting the Sun on its side in

Diameter:
50,724 km
extreme Diameter:
49,244 km
proportion to its own axis of rotation,
00
storms
and so, it differs from the seven other N
planets. Astronomers still disagree Earth
URANUS Wind speeds on Neptune, can be up to
about the cause of Uranus’ odd rotation. LIVES ON 1,700 km/h. Scientists calculated this
23.50
ITS SIDE
In the early childhood of our Solar based on observations made by the
All Solar System
System, a proto-planet may have planets tilt slightly
Voyager 2 probe, which visited the
slammed into Uranus, knocking the as compared to planet in 1989. It remains a mystery
planet over. Computer simulations show their rotation where the energy powering the severe
that it would have required at least two around the Sun. storms comes from. It could be that a
collisions to push Uranus so severely. Earth’s axial tilt is high rotational speed increases the
HUBBLE/ESA/NASA
23.5°, whereas
Other scientists believe that an extremely N Uranus, with a tilt wind, and the low temperature – of
large moon, which later disappeared, minus 220 °C in the upper atmosphere
JPL/NASA
of 98°, is orbiting
URANUS
attracted Uranus sufficiently to tilt it. on its side. – reduces wind resistance.
980
THE SOLAR SYSTEM
THE OUTER SOLAR

SYSTEM STRETCHES 4 BILLION Kilometres
Huge Moon Shapes

the Surface of Pluto
Close-ups from NASA’s New Horizons probe show that Pluto and its Charon moon
make up a kind of double planet, around which four other moons orbit chaotically.
I
n July 2015, the New Horizons NASA probe t h e s m a l l p ro b e d o c u m e n t s w h a t the mission is mapping out Pluto’s and
passes by Pluto at a distance of only astronomers suspected: Dwarf planet may Charon’s exteriors and interiors.
12,500 km, reaching its destination after not be the correct description. Apparently, The first series of photos demonstrates,
an almost 10 year journey across the Solar Pluto’s relationship with Charon is so close how Charon, which weighs 1/8 of Pluto,
System. The so far most thorough that instead, the two of them should be influences the dwarf planet to such an extent
exploration of the heavenly body, which characterized as a double dwarf planet. The that the centre of mass of the two worlds is
International Astronomical Union close relationship is not only important to the located in between them. Consequently,
astronomers degraded from the outermost two directly involved parties, it is also highly Pluto differs from the other planets of the
planet of the Solar System to a dwarf planet relevant for Pluto’s other moons. Solar System, whose centres of mass are
in 2006, is about to begin. always inside the planets.
Shortly before its arrival, as New Horizons MOON ROTATES 89 TIMES Pluto’s and Charon’s relationship have
takes a series of lifelike photos of Pluto and New Horizons is the only craft to have visited several distinctive consequences for the
the largest of its five known moons, Charon, Pluto, and one of the most important aims of dwarf planet’s four other moons, which are
STYX NIX KERBEROS HYDRA
DIAMETER 13 km 48 km 12 km 50 km
ORBITAL PERIOD 20.16 Earth days 24.85 Earth days 32.17 Earth days 38.20 Earth days
STSCI/ESA/NASA
DISCOVERED 2012 2005 2011 2005
By Mikkel Meister
?
Where does Charon’s
red spot come from?
PLUTO How did Pluto’s and
4.4 billion km Charon’s close
Diameter: relationship start?
2,374 km
Is there liquid water
on Pluto?

Pluto’s largest moon, Charon,

masses 1/8th of Pluto,
enough to for the pair to be
considered a "binary planet".
SWRI/JHUALP/NASA
CHARON
1.212 km
6.4 Earth days
1978
THE SOLAR SYSTEM
THE OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM

GAS GIANTS WEIGH 2,655,000,000,000,000,000,
FOTO
NASA
7 Instruments Probe
Pluto’s Secrets
By using 7 sophisticated instruments, the New Horizons probe has re-
vealed new details about Pluto’s surface, atmosphere, and moons.
SOLAR WIND METER

The instrument measures
how quickly the atmosphere
loses gases, when the solar
wind strikes it.
PARTICLE
SPECTROMETER
The spectrometer measures
the molecules escaping Pluto’s
atmosphere due to solar wind.
RADIOMETER
The probe’s radiometer
measures pressure and
temperature in Pluto’s
atmosphere and is able to
reveal, if the dwarf planet’s
moons have atmospheres.
UV SPECTROMETER
The instrument analyses the
atmosphere’s content of chemicals.
DUST METER
The instrument measures the
size and quantity of dust particles
around Pluto. The data can provide
scientists with new knowledge
about Solar System developments.
CAMERA
LONG RANGE CAMERA The probe’s
The probe’s long range camera camera, Ralph,
takes high resolution photos across photographs the
long distances. The camera was surface of Pluto
used to take photos of Pluto and and its moons.
its moons during the mission.
000,000 kg
orbiting the double dwarf planet further behind the New Horizons mission explain that
away. With diameters of 10-50 km, the the red colour could be due to reddish,
moons – Nix, Hydra, Styx, and Kerberos – are organic materials known as tholins, which are
all much smaller than Charon, which produced, when methane gas from Pluto’s
measures 1,212 km across, making it half as atmosphere is captured by Charon’s
large as Pluto. gravitational field and freezes onto the
Most known moons in the Solar System moon’s north pole. When the methane is
are locked in predictable orbits around their subjected to ultraviolet sunlight, a chemical
planets. Earth’s moon rotates its own axis p ro c e s s c o nve r t s i t i n t o h e av i e r
once per orbit around Earth, and the hydrocarbons and subsequently into tholins.
synchronic rotation means that the same Hence, you could say that Pluto has
side of the Moon is always facing Earth. “infected” Charon slightly with its
Pluto’s four small moons are much more atmosphere, and the result is a nice, red top
rebellious, according to research by the SETI on the dwarf planet’s largest moon.
Institute in California based on data from the
New Horizons mission. Hydra rotates its own HEART HIDES LIQUID OCEAN
axis no less than 89 times for every orbit The surprises concerning Pluto do not stop
around Pluto. According to scientists, that is with the moons. Based on New Horizon’s
so extreme that Hydra almost risks losing observations, astronomers have discovered
some of its own material. The other moons that Pluto may contain a liquid ocean beneath
also behave very mysteriously, and a huge, heart-shaped feature on the surface
astronomers are sure that Charon’s and of the dwarf planet.
Pluto’s partnership is the cause, but they still If Pluto includes a liquid ocean, this could
do not know how. explain why the heart-shaped feature,
Tombaugh Regio, is always facing Charon in a
PLUTO COLOURS MOON RED reciprocal, bound rotation. A partly frozen
One of the most sensational discoveries ocean is heavy and could provide the extra
resulting from New Horizon’s epoch-making weight required to keep Pluto and Charon
visit to the dwarf planet is the characteristic locked in this position.
red dot on Charon’s north pole. New Horizon’s visit to Pluto lasted a
The dot is so marked that it seems as if month, and it took some 15 months to send
something coloured it, and that is probably all data back to Earth. The analysis will take
also the case. In an article in the reputable even longer, so the probe may end up
scientific journal Nature, the scientists answering more questions about Pluto.
NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI/ALEX PARKER
NEW HORIZONS IS HEADING FOR THE KUIPER BELT

After visiting Pluto, New Horizons continues towards the Kuiper Belt, which
includes thousands of orbiting objects that are so unchanged by the effects of time Kuiper Belt Planets
that they function as a type of time capsules from the birth of the Solar System.
NASA has a long tradition for prolonging billion km further out than Pluto, and the
unmanned craft missions for years, and probe is expected to reach the region in
New Horizons is still going strong, although January 2019. 2014 MU69 is believed to be
its primary destination, Pluto, has been a frozen, relatively pristine object from the
visited and data has been sent back to Earth. formation of the Solar System.
New Horizons continues to the Kuiper Pluto
Belt, where its next destination is a KBO, a
Kuiper Belt object by the name of 2014 The probe’s next stop is 2014 MU69
MU69. This object orbits the Sun about 1.5 2014 MU69 in the Kuiper Belt.
THE SOLAR SYSTEM
The Kuiper Belt

4 To many people, the Sun and the eight known planets
make up the whole Solar System, but beyond Neptune,
you will find the Kuiper Belt – a huge belt with 100,000+
small, icy objects, making the Solar System twice as large.
?
PLANET 9
Unknown
Diameter:
Unknown
Is a 9th planet hiding
in the Kuiper Belt?

Calculation THE OORT CLOUD The known planets
shows planet CONVERTS THE

KUIPER BELT The Kuiper Belt
An unknown planet is probably hiding on the INTO A DOT Pluto
other side of Pluto, according to new research The Solar System’s outermost
carried out by Caltech in the US. known (agreed) planet, Jupiter
Scientists have nicknamed the potential Neptune, is located about 4.5 Saturn The Sun
new member Planet Nine, and although the billion km from the Sun, but Uranus Neptune
planet has not yet been directly observed, the Solar System does not end
calculations demonstrate that the planet has a there. Beyond Neptune, you
mass of up to 10 times Earth’s, and its orbit is will find the Kuiper Belt of
small, icy objects, and then 60 AU
highly elliptical, resulting in an estimated orbit
the Oort Cloud, making the
time around the Sun of 10,000-20,000 years. Solar System thousands of
The planet’s gravity and extreme orbit can billions of km larger. The Kuiper Belt surrounds the Solar
explain why six of the Kuiper Belt’s outermost System’s known planets, stretching a
objects align slightly in the same direction. region of approximately three billion km.
SHUTTERSTOCK
THE KUIPER BELT
STRETCHES 3 BILLION Kilometres
Huge Ice Cloud ?

Does the Oort Cloud
Surrounds Planets
The Solar System’s extreme limit may not be the Kuiper Belt,
exist?
but rather a huge cloud of thousands of billions of ice lumps.
A fter travelling 36 years across the

Solar System, NASA’s Voyager 1
reach in about 300 years. The Oort Cloud
is a huge, spherical cloud of ice bodies
COMETS IN
SPL
probe in 2013 entered the heliosphere, in that is believed to be so great that DICATE
THAT THE O
O
which the Sun’s gravity has taken over, Voyager 1 will probably need another CLOUD EXIS RT
and that normally defines the extreme 30,000 years to cross it, though the craft TS
limit of the Solar System. In other words, is travelling at a speed of about 61,000 The Oort Cloud
could
explain the co
Voyager 1 has left our Solar System and km/h. The Oort Cloud’s extreme limit mets, which
take 200+ year
is the first man-made craft ever in may prove to be 15,000 billion km from s to orbit the
Sun. According
interstellar space – i.e. the void between the Sun. In comparison, Earth is located to the
theory, this type
our own star, the Sun, and the next one. some 150 million km from the Sun. of comets,
which do not co
me from the
However, the Solar System does not The Oort Cloud stretches halfway to Kuiper Belt, w
ere pushed by
end with the Kuiper Belt, according to the Sun’s closest next-door star, the weight of a
passing star.
several astronomers. Instead, the Proxima Centauri, where another
extreme limit is made up by the Oort cloud and more unsolved
Cloud, whose inner limit Voyager 1 will mysteries may exist.
The Kuiper PLANET 9

In this area, the
Belt planet can be observed
from Earth. Planet 9
The new planet’s

700 AU calculated orbit
Planet 9 probably orbits the Sun in an extreme The Oort Cloud could include several million
ellipse – where an orbit takes up to 20,000 objects, stretching up to 100,000 astronomical
years – outside the Kuiper Belt. units – 15,000 billion km – from the Sun.
TECNOLOGY | ROBOTS
Forget
Robocop
CYBORG
VERSION 2.0
Robots can also have beating
hearts, when scientists combine
metal and silicone with living
cells. Powered by heart cells
and animal muscles, the small
cyborgs are a machine and a
living creature in one.
Cyborg struggle
nce
In the “Ghost in the Shell” scie
ts aim to hit cyborgs.
fiction film, terroris
ice offi cer, The Ma jor,
A woman pol
to
who is a cyborg herself, tries
thw art the terroris ts’ pla ns.
The stingray-shaped
robot swims by means
of muscles grown from rat
PARAMOUNT PICTURES
heart cells.
MICHAEL ROSNACH
By Morten Skeldal Østergaard
ROBOTS
VICTORIA WEBSTER/CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY

The Y-shaped
he robots are coming – but not
muscle makes the
necessarily on inflexible, mechanical
skeleton contract.
legs. The most efficient designs were The robot has a skeleton of
created by nature, and so, robotics scientists gold and a body made of
are stealing cells and muscles from silicone rubber grown
animals, integrating the biological from heart cells.
components into a brand new type
of machines: biobots.
Scientists from the US Muscle
Harvard University attract STURDY
attention in 2016, when they
introduce a biobot shaped like Robot crawls
a stingray. The 1.5-cm-wide
robot is made of silicone rubber
like a turtle
and heart cells from a rat, and the ray swims, Biological component: Muscle
when the cells contract. The robotic ray is from the mouth of a sea slug
only one of the odd cyborgs that have been Size: 5 cm
created by the new branch of robotic
science. Living organisms move much more The 3D printed robot crawls like a
freely and efficiently than any robot, and by turtle, but the muscle that powers it
combining organic tissue with synthetic comes from the mouth of the Aplysia
materials, scientists can improve robot californica sea slug. The robot was
flexibility. The muscles of a biobot contribute made by scientists from the Case
more power compared to their weight than Western Reserve University in the US,
traditional robots' electric motors. and instead of extracting individual
cells from the creature, like most
ROBOTS WITH BEATING HEARTS other developers of biobots have
The development of biobots is possible due done, the American scientists took the
to particularly two new technologies: 3D entire musculature around the slug’s
printers and tissue technology. With 3D mouth. The muscle makes the robot’s
printers, it is easy and cheap to make flexible skeleton contract, and as the
components for small machines. As it only sea slug lives in an inconstant tidal
takes a few hours to make a prototype, zone, the robot is less temperature-
scientists can quickly test new ideas in the sensitive than most other biobots.
KARAGHEN HUDSON AND MICHAEL ROSNACH
Robotic ray is made

up of four layers
LAYER 1:
GGED
TWO-LE Silicone body
Ring muscle makes robot walk on two legs LAYER 2:
Gold skeleton
Biological component: Muscle tissue Illinois have created the muscle by
LAYER 3:
from a mouse means of cells from mouse muscles Silicone
Size: 0.7 cm that have been genetically intermediate layer
manipulated to contract, when light is
LAYER 4:
A muscle ring that functions as a shone on them. Growing the muscles Rat heart cells
biological version of a rubber band in the lab, the scientists shaped them
powers a simple, two-legged robot, as a ring, which has subsequently been
and the ring can also be used as a placed around a flexible skeleton made
component of other types of biobots. using a 3D printer. The robot has two
Scientists from the US University of inflexible legs that approach each
other, when the muscle contracts, and
KARAGHEN HUDSON AND MICHAEL ROSNACH
the flexible plastic skeleton pushes

JANET SINN-HANLON/UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
them apart again, making the robot

walk bit by bit.
The robot’s two legs are

Muscle
contracted by the muscle and pushed
Skeleton apart by the skeleton. The robot’s silicone rubber body
is cast in a titanium mould.
LIGHT
-SENS
ITIVE
Heart makes
artificial ray swim
Inspired by a ray, scientists have created a small robot that
swims by means of genetically manipulated heart cells.
Biological component: Rat embryo several layers of heart cells. The 1.5
heart cells cm robot includes a total of about
Size: 1.5 cm 200,000 heart cells, which function as
its muscles, and to provide them with
A ray was an obvious choice, when

scientists from Harvard University
aimed to create a swimming biobot.
the right shape, scientists placed a
template of a special protein along
the robot’s sides, on which they grew
The natural ray is an elegant swimmer, the cells.
and its simple shape is reasonably Before the cells were placed on the
easy to imitate. The three main ray, they were supplied with an extra
components that scientists used to gene which makes them contract
make a robotic version of a ray is gold, when light of a specific wavelength is
silicone rubber, and heart cells from a shone on them. In this way, scientists
rat. The gold makes up the skeleton, can control the robot, as it moves
whereas two layers of silicone are the about a culture dish at a speed of a
robot’s body, which is lined with modest 2 mm/s.
The cells of either side

are activated by light of
different wavelengths,
so the robot either
swims with one side
or with the other.
Light of two different wavelenghts
Swimming strokes
Ray controlled by light

The robot’s heart cells have been genetically manipulated to contract when
affected by light of a specific wavelength. This is what makes the robot move.
Motion Control
SWIMS STRAIGHT AHEAD TURNS RIGHT TURNS LEFT

Direction of motion Activated
Activated
STEVEN SENNE/AP/POLFOTO & CLAUS LUNAU
Wave motion Light source
The heart cells are placed in a pattern that makes the The cells on either side of the robot are activated by different
1 front cells pull at the skeleton first. Subsequently,
2 wavelengths. When both light sources are activated, both sides
the motion gradually spreads backwards like a wave, contract, making the robot swim straight ahead. When only one
making the robot move smoothly forward in the water. light source is activated, the robot moves one side - it turns.
ROBOTS
SOF
Robot can squeeze

T
The robot's brain
itself through cracks

is a liquid circuit.
Fuel chamber
The biological robots of the future must be soft and flexible
like real animals. The Octobot sets an example.
Biological role model: Octopus
Size: Fits into the palm of a hand
Body made of Fuel intake
silicone rubber
B iobots combine biological material and synthetic parts,

but scientists aim to come as close to nature as
possible. The Octobot octopus robot does not include
cells, but it is the first robot which is just as flexible
as many invertebrates. Like its role model, it can
consequently squeeze itself into the narrowest of
places and, moreover, it will be able to handle
fragile materials more carefully than a traditional
underwater robot with grip hooks.
The "softy" body is possible, because the
robot includes neither printed circuits nor
batteries. Instead, it is powered by a
type of blood circulation system like
that of biological creatures. Larger
versions of the Octobot could be used for
search missions or military surveillance in
impassable places of the oceans.
The brain is full of fluid

To avoid hard parts, the Octobot is controlled by a liquid circuit instead of an
electronic one. Two circuits control four arms each, taking turns to move them.
First circuit activated Second circuit
2 Circuit 3 Reaction chamber

1 Fuel store
Pinch valve
Pinch valve
The fuel stores are flexible and filled with When the pressure is
1 hydrogen peroxide. The pressure in one store
4 reduced in the “red”
(red) forces the liquid into the “red” circuit. circuit, liquid flows from the
second fuel store (blue) into
The liquid pressure in the circuit blocks the the blue circuit,
2 other circuit (blue) with a pinch valve, as the and the
fuel passes through another valve. process is
repeated to
In the reaction chamber, the hydrogen peroxide
3 Half of the move the other
reacts with platinum, producing oxygen and water
CLAUS LUNAU
arms move. four arms.

vapour, that is forced into four arms to move them.
GREGARIOU
S ANIMAL
The Octobot includes no lab. Tissue technology is a new field that allows
Sperm cells swim
batteries, it is powered the isolation, growth, and genetic manipulation about the body
by a liquid circuit. of cells that can be used to grow an organ or Biological component: Heart cells
LORI SANDERS/HARVARD UNIVERSITY build a robot. By inserting extra genes into the from newborn rats
c e l l s , sc i e n t i s t s c a n c h a n ge t h e i r Size: 2 mm
characteristics, so they become sensitive to
light, which can be used to control the biobots. In the future, biobots will be able to
Heart cells from rats are most frequently travel through the blood stream,
used in biobots today, because the heart delivering drugs or carrying out
muscle is so flexible that it is well suited for surgery. As the first step on the way,
producing the small contractions that make a scientists from the US University of
robot swim or crawl. Scientists even hope that Illinois have developed a robot
it will one day be possible to make an artificial inspired by sperm cells. A 2-mm-long
heart and other organs by means of the piece of plastic is the “sperm cell’s”
Reaction chamber
knowledge gained from the small cyborgs. head and tail. Heart cells are located
Today, biobots are rather simple designs between the head and the tail, and
that can only exist in special nutrient fluids in a when they contract, they make the
lab, but soon they could be robot swish its tail and move.
used practically. Some may
be so big that they can be FULL LENGTH CONTRACTED
used in rescue missions.
Others will be so tiny that
they can travel into blood
vessels, removing tumours
or carrying medication. Heart cells
ALEX JEREZ ROMAN/BECKMAN INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Some scientists are working on
being able to do without the artificial
elements, creating purely biological
machines. This type of robot will be soft
and more flexible than robots with
mechanical parts. Completely biological
robots also involve the advantage that a group
of them can be let loose in the ocean to remove
pollution or used in a search mission, and when
they have completed their missions, they can
just sink to the bottom. Without metal and Heart cells contract, making the
batteries full of chemicals, these "creatures" robot swish its tail and move
become a part of the biological cycle. like a real sperm cell.
HACKED
Brain implant turns locust

into a tracker dog
Biological component: Locust locust into a robot. The project
Size: 5 cm has not been completed yet, but
scientists aim to implant
Why start from scratch, when nature sensors into the insect’s brain,
already has the solution? So though so they know when it smells
Washington University when it aimed to explosives. A transmitter on
BARANI RAMAN/WASHINGTON UNI IN ST. LOUIS
create a flying robot with an artificial nose the locust’s back will send
that could sniff its way to bombs. Locusts the signals to a receiver
have an excellent sense of smell, which no that shines a green light, when the animal
artificial sensors can compete with, so smells a bomb. The locust’s sense of smell Electrodes in the brain
instead of building a robot from scratch, is in its antennas, which are equipped with react when the locust
the scientists chose to “develop” the hundreds of thousands of scent receptors. smells a bomb.
TECNOLOGY | ROBOTIC SURGEONS
A Perfect
Surgeon?
For the first
time ever, a
robot has carried
out surgery
sufficiently accurately
to out-compete human
surgeons. The breakthrough
makes doctors believe that
robots are going to take over
surgery completely, so
patients can be operated
faster and with much less
pain involved.
DIGITAL VISION/GETTY IMAGES, SHUTTERSTOCK
By Mikkel Meister
W
ith cool, mechanical motions, the
robot moves needle and thread
back and forth through the shiny
tissue of the pig bowel. Named STAR (Smart
Tissue Autonomous Robot), the robot is the
first of its kind to carry out a difficult type of
suture joining of two bowel segments, which
has only been carried out by human surgeons
so far. In the operating room, scientists from
the Johns Hopkins University in the US and
others, are pushing the technological limits
well into the future. In a few years, robotic
surgeons in hospitals throughout the world
will enter the operating rooms and take over
the tasks of human surgeons.
SUTURE IS DIFFICULT
The STAR robot’s achievements were
published in an article in the Science
Translational Medicine journal in 2016. And
sutures are not by far the only medical
discipline in which robots will be able to beat
humans over time. Robots with extremely
accurate vision and motor functions allow
complex eye surgery, and artificial
intelligences such as IBM’s Watson can now
diagnose cancer patients much faster than
doctors, allowing that the right diagnose be
Robots will make the hospital

of the future fully automatic
In the future, robots could carry out anything from 3D printing of bones and
organs to establishing accurate diagnoses and carrying out complex surgery.
DIAGNOSES SURGERY SPARE PARTS
NOW: A doctor combines his NOW: Experienced NOW: Bones are replaced
knowledge and experience surgeons carry out the by steel or titanium hip
with digital works of surgery themselves or use implants, but they are
reference concerning remote-controlled robots, often worn out after 15-20
diseases. In some cases, which the surgeon years. Patients risk having
computer algorithms can operates via joysticks. to wait for organ donation
help him search through Several nurses help out for years to replace failing
huge quantities of data. during the surgery. kidneys, etc.
IN THE FUTURE: The IN THE FUTURE: IN THE FUTURE:

doctor feeds an artificial Robotic surgeons carry Synthetic, 3D printed bone
intelligence robot the out anything from implants function as
patient’s symptoms, intestinal surgery to “scaffolding” based on
genetic traits, and case cataract surgery. The which body cells build a
history, and subsequently, human surgeon is an new bone. 3D organ
algoritms make a observer monitoring the printers print organs
diagnosis in a split second. surgery. based on human cells.
ROBOTIC SURGEONS
STATUS:
Careful robot is better at UNDER DEVELOPMEN
T
suturing soft tissue than a human

Thanks to sophisticated robotic vision and very accurate motions,
a new robotic surgeon has managed to suture two bowel segments.
CAMERAS SEE SURGEONS VERY SENSOR SENSORS PRESSURE: ORDINARY

EVERYTHING: CAN WATCH: ACCURATE A sensor registers the pressure of the NEEDLE:
A plenoptic A surgeon can ROBOTIC ARM: suture instrument on the tissue. Ideally, At the end of the
camera (which carefully monitor The lightweight the sensor should have been placed close robotic arm, there
measures light the tiniest of arm finds the to the needle, but space considerations is a suture
intensity) models surgery details on same point over dictated otherwise. instrument whose
the tissue to be a computer and over again point, including a
operated on. An IR screen. The with a margin of curved needle and
camera keeps an robot’s camera error of 0.05 mm. thread, can be
eye on tissue continuously The arm includes tilted and rotated.
marks – reference records high seven joints - Today, surgeons
points for resolution close- which means it suture manually,
planning the ups of the surgery can move as freely when suturing
suture. procedure. as a human arm. internal organs.
SHEIKH ZAYED INSTITUTE/CHILDREN’S NATIONAL MEDICAL CENTER, ENDOEVOLUTION
Needle point
Hole, into
which thread
is introduced.
Bowel Joint
Silicone coated
needle
made in a matter of minutes instead of days vital for wound healing and so for the patient’s directly above the patient on the operating
or months. The surgery is much more fast recovery. The distance between table, the surgeon sits down by a console,
complex than mending a superficial cut in a individual stitches cannot be so long that the where an enlarged image of the point of
finger. The bowels behave like two wobbling, suture ”leaks”, but on the other hand, the surgery of the patient is shown. Via console
unmanageable rubber tubes, and the robot distance must be so long that the blood can joysticks, the surgeon can remote-control
must find a way to sew along the edges of flow unimpeded through the tissue to help several robotic arms above the patient. The
the two separate, tubular organ segments the healing process. The STAR robot uses two arms hold the instruments that the surgeon
without making any erroneous stitches. Last, cameras – a near infrared camera and a normally uses during surgery. The idea is that
but not least, the robot must constantly use plenoptic 3D camera – to overlook the area in instead of using the scalpel and needle
its cameras to observe and continuously which the suture is made. With the himself, the surgeon can control the robotic
update its suture plan, if the tissue moves. information from the cameras, the robot can
When STAR's algorithms have completed the determine the thickness of the bowel walls
The two bowel segments to be joined are placed
joining of the pig bowels, the scientists and the shape of the tissue surface in 3D. The
vertically beside each other. The robot holds on to
conclude that the robot has solved the task planning algorithm uses the information to
the segments in four places to be able to join the
more accurately than a surgeon could have. prepare a plan of the needle’s and the thread’s
two sides and keep the rest outstretched.
The STAR robot’s suture capabilities have most optimum route through the bowels. The
attracted attention in scientific circles, as algorithm has also been fed surgical
suture is one of the fields of surgery, in which knowledge about what an optimum suture
there is room for improvement. Undesirable looks like. Moreover, the software will
complications can easily occur after suture automatically find out, in case the tissue
inside a patient’s body, as this type of surgery moves during surgery.
requires much experience. Human tissue gives
way, is deformed, or contracts, when the SECOND GENERATION Tool
doctor impinges it, makes a suture, or cuts. Until now, it has been impossible for
Because the tissue is so “alive”, it can be a machine to suture internal Thread
difficult for human surgeons to make a organs – until the STAR robot’s Line
perfect suture. The robot can do the job with performance.
a margin of error of 0.05 mm almost Yet robot surgeons have been
indefinitely, whereas a human being, used in operating rooms since
Bowel segment 1
disregarding his expertise, cannot do the 2000, assisting during prostate Each segment has Bowel segment 2
same. Accurate suture that does not ”leak” is cancer surgery. Instead of working a 15 mm diameter.
“Underside”of bow-
el is sutured.
ROBOT JOINS TWO BOWEL SEGMENTS
To be able to suture very accurately, the robot must analyse the surface
of the tissue and make an accurate plan of the needle’s way through two
bowel segments.
1 ROBOT PLANS ... 2 ... AND CARRIES OUT SUTURE
Infrared light Navigation points

Needle
Bowel segment 1
SHEIKH ZAYED INSTITUTE/ CHILDREN’S NATIONAL MEDICAL CENTER, CLAUS LUNAU
Reference point
Bowel segment 2
Doctors mark reference points The plenoptic camera creates The robot begins to suture the Once the “underside” of the
on the tissue, which are only a 3D model including navigation “underside” of the bowel, using bowel has been sutured, bowel
visible to the robot’s near infrared points. The robot knows what an needle and thread. Based on the segments 1 and 2 are folded
camera. The robot’s software ideal suture is like, so it uses the infrared markes, the cameras towards each other, so they can
uses the reference points to camera to judge the thickness of register, when the tissue changes be joined. The robot plans the
discover slight tissue movement, the tissue to be sutured and the shape and location. Software suture and starts where it left
adjusting the needle accordingly. distance between stitches. updates the plan accordingly. off. Finally, a knot is made.
ROBOTIC SURGEONS
The robotic surgery snake includes a camera and

arms with much stabler motions than any Google researchers have used the deep
two tubes with surgery instruments.
human is able to offer. The company behind learning method to create an algorithm that MEDROBOTICS
this type of robot claims to have carried out can identify the diabetic retinopathy eye
more than three million robotic surgery disease, which affects diabetics and could
sessions globally. lead to blindness. To identify early symptoms
STAR can't complete the bowel surgery of the disease, images of the patient’s retina
without human help. Today, using dissecting must be studied carefully for any evidence of
forceps, an assistant sees to it that the haemorrhage. Google used 128,000 retina
thread does not get entangled in the robot’s photos to train an artificial intelligence
sewing instrument. But there is every algorithm to recognize evidence of diabetic
indication that still faster computer chips, retinopathy. After the training, tests of the
improved cameras, and more sophisticated algorithm showed that it was just as good as
and intelligent algorithms will one day make doctors at spotting evidence of the eye
robots as capable as humans. disease. In the future, this type of software
In order to make the new generation of can become an invaluable help for doctors,
robots more versatile, scientists from, not least in poor regions of the world, where Camera
Berkeley will make them learn from surgeons lack of specialists often means that eye
by having the robots observe the surgeons diseases such as diabetic retinopathy are not
when they work. The motions of a human identified and treated in time. Tube for instrument
surgeon who controls one of the robots introduction
during different types of surgery will be SURGEON ROBOTS GO TO MARS
saved as digital knowledge, which scientists’ Earth is not the only place in which artificial
fully automatic robotic prototype can analyse intelligence and robots could revolutionize Surgery tongs Scalpel
and use to refine its algorithms. In practice, medicine. On future missions to Mars and
the robot becomes a medical student who beyond, astronauts will be away from Earth
looks over his teacher’s shoulder to improve for years, and a robotic surgeon would be
his abilities. But to be able to learn from able to save lives.
surgeons, robots must be able to think. The American company Virtual Incision
has developed a robotic surgeon that weighs Inner tube
SMARTER THAN THE HUMAN BRAIN 0.4 kg and is so compact that it can be
Artificial intelligence is one of the most introduced via a small incision by the navel Outer tube with
flexible joints
important fields of research in scientists’ and use small robotic arms in the stomach of
efforts to improve the treatment of diseases the patient to suture an ulcer, etc. In a state
in humans. IBM’s artificial intelligence, of weightlessness, it would be a great
Watson, became world famous in 2011 by advantage to be able to avoid large openings
beating two Jeopardy champions. The victory in the body during surgery, as blood and other Camera
demonstrated Watson’s ability to read lots of bodily fluids could easily escape. So far, the
text material and understand the meaning. robot must be controlled by a surgeon, but
Cancer researchers from the Institute for future versions could become partly or fully Surgery
instruments
Cancer Research in Oslo, Norway, will now independent of human help and
benefit from Watson’s analytical capabilities. consequently save lives hundreds of millions
The artificial intelligence can search through of km from our own planet.
large quantities of research articles about For surgeons, robots will not be
cancer much faster than a human and quickly synonymous with unemployment right away.
identify new contexts regarding the disease, Even when the robots have become better
2
which it would have taken scientists months than their human competitors at making ANALYSIS FINDS
or years to find. sutures on their own or reacting to EVIDENCE OF
BREAST CANCER
unexpected complications, doctors and
surgeons will be able to contribute with their New AI software can analyse an
THIERRY BERROD/MONA LISA PRODUCTION/
SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
experience and make decisions, when robots X-ray of a woman’s breast and
turn out to be inadequate. Hence, scientists predict her risk of breast cancer
are expecting a future, in which the roles of with an accuracy of 99 %. The
the operating room will be reversed. The software compares the patient’s
surgeon and the nurses can ”circulate”, mammography to a database
participating in several operations to be of including millions of
assistance, when necessary, while robots mammographies, determining
carry out the rough tasks. The future the risk of cancer 30 times faster
Doctors test robotic surgeons by having perspective will mean better and cheaper than a doctor.
them carry out surgery on pigs. surgery and faster patient recovery. HOUSTON METHODIST
Robots superior in three ways
The new robots can both work more accurately and carry out surgery much faster than
humans. Major analytical intelligence also makes the robots better at diagnoses.
STATUS:
THINK SURGICAL
Perfect fine
1 motor skills
AVAILABLE The orthopaedic
robot makes more
A flexible robotic arm can reach the point of surgery without accurate cuts than
cutting in other places, and a computerized drill can make an surgeons.
extremely accurate hole in a bone for an implant.
ROBOTIC SNAKE MOVES WITHOUT CUTTING ORTHOPAEDIC ROBOT MAKES ACCURATE CUTS
Via a camera on the Hip surgery can be much

MEDROBOTICS
robot’s head and a joystick, THINK SURGICAL more accurate using the
Digital
Joystick the surgeon directs the robot marker pen robot. The surgeon uses a
into the mouth. The outer digital pen to mark the
tube has flexible joints and a places, in which the robot is
flexible, but also lockable to drill into the patient’s
inner tube follows the bone. The robot drills
motions of the outer tube. All according to a plan made by
joints have cables that can be Holder the computer software based
slackened or tightened via on the the marks. The robot
small motors to make the Thigh bone controls the drill with an
robot flexible or lock it. Marks accuracy of less than 1 mm.
CROSS SECTION
OF BONE
Through separate tubes, If the bone moves
Throat the surgeon can introduce during surgery, the robot
Instruments instruments for the surgery will automatically discover
and control them from the it, immediately halting the
outside, as the surgery is Made by Made by drilling. The robot’s drilling
monitored on a display via robot surgeon accuracy means that the
the camera in the robot’s new metal component,
head. The instruments which is to replace the
could be scalpels or tongs, damaged cartilage and
and they use the same bone, fits more accurately
lockable tube mechanism Bored Drill into the bone, ensuring
as the robotic snake. out bone the patient a better result.
STATUS: SUPER VISION STATUS:

TESTED 3 RECREATES
CROP OF HAIR
AVAILABLE
A sharp-sighted robot can carry out hair
transplants quickly and accurately. On a
display, the surgeon creates a 3D model
with pictures of the patient before and
Cancer tumour after the transplant, determining the
location of the new hair. An artificial Potential location
intelligence algorithm analyses of new hair
individual hairs 60 times/second,
finding suitable donor hairs. The latter Existing
hair
are accurately placed on the head.
RESTORATION ROBOTICS
DRUGS | VACCINES
5 “The Vaccine
VACCINE is Worse Than
MYTHS
TRUE the Disease”
OR
FA L S E “Vaccines have side effects, and natural
infection is better.” There are many myths
about vaccines, but the risk of a jab is
negligible compared to the diseases...
W orldwide, about 1.5 million people die getting the diseases that the vaccines prevent is
MYTH each year, of diseases that could easily always much higher. A good example of this is the
1SE
have been prevented by a cheap vaccine. MMR vaccine that protects against measles,
Moreover, not one single death has been recorded mumps, and rubella. The vaccine is recommended
to be a direct consequence of vaccination. All for all children, but in recent years, unfounded
medical treatments can have side effects, and the scepticism has made more and more parents
"fine print" on the box of even the most ordinary reject it. The most common side effects of the
cream against fungus or rash (even Viagra) warns vaccine are fever and muscle tenderness, whereas
you about the risk of fever, dizziness, etc. The measles alone could cause meningitis. Measles is
same is true for vaccines, but severe side effects one of the most contagious viruses, and the
FAL
are very rare, and above all, the risk involved in disease killed almost 115,000 people in 2014.
Vaccine causes very few severe side effects

5-12 %: 5 %: 0.00004-0.0001 %:
Tenderness Rash Meningitis
The most common side effects The MMR vaccine causes Doctors cannot completely rule out
of ordinary vaccines such as skin rash in a few cases. a connection between the MMR
MMR are tenderness, swelling The harmless rash usually vaccine and meningitis, which 0.4-1
at the site of injection, and develops after a week and in 1,000,000 vaccinated people get.
slight fever. It occurs in very disappears after two or In comparison, one in 2,500
few cases, and is harmless. three days. measles patients get meningitis.
By Mikkel Meister
Your immune MYTH

2PARTLY
system is
improved by
natural infection
W hen a person becomes
immune to a disease, it
connection with
vaccinations. The
means that his or her body can
remember it and has prepared itself
to encounter it again. Our immune
systems combat all contagious
doctor injects a
harmless portion of
the disease, often a
protein from the
TRUE
diseases by producing antibodies surface of the virus particle, into
and memory cells. The antibodies the patient’s body. When we are
kill the attacking virus or bacterium, infected in the normal way, the
and the memory cells remember it body gets a fuller image of the virus
for next time. This means that the or bacterium, but vaccines provide
infection is fought so efficiently that more than sufficient information to
we will not even get sick, if we obtain the desired result, so in
encounter the same pathogen practice, it is not an advantage to
again. The mechanism is the same in have the disease.
The vaccine functions like the disease

FIRST SECOND
IMMUNE REACTION IMMUNE REACTION
Vaccine Antibody Virus or bacterium

Antibody
HENNING DALHOFF
1 Vaccines consist of
dead or living portions
of a virus or bacterium, so
2 The immune system
reacts by developing
antibodies, which combat
3 When the body
encounters the same
virus or bacterium again,
the body is subjected to the disease, and memory the immune system
the same microorganism cells, that remember it for identifies it, producing
as with natural infection. next time. the right antibodies.
Speed of antibody production
The MMR vaccine could cause
tenderness and slight fever,
but it protects you against First immune reaction:
fatal diseases. The immune system re- Second immune
SHUTTERSTOCK acts slowly. reaction: The
immune system
reacts so fast
Vaccination Infection with that the person
against virus the same virus does not get ill.
Time
VACCINES
Egg allergy sufferers

MYTH
3
must avoid vaccines
E gg allergy is the most common food allergy in children, and
several ordinary vaccines such as MMR are made in eggs and
consequently contain microscopic remains of egg. So, there is a
theoretical risk that the vaccines could cause an allergic
FALSE
reaction. However, the quantity of egg protein is so small that
allergic children can easily get their vaccinations anyway. In
most cases, the kids need to stay in the
medical centre for observation for 30
minutes. Only if a child has
previously reacted severely to
THESE VACCINES ARE
eggs, will doctors choose to
PRODUCED IN EGGS
give the vaccination in a
MMR. The vaccine can be given to anyone.
hospital, although no direct
Flu. Contains a little egg protein. Most
people are vaccinated at their medical centre
connection has been proved
or in a hospital in case of severe allergy. between severe allergic
DUNG VO TRUNG/SPL
Yellow fever. Contains more egg protein reactions and the content of
and may involve a slight risk for allergy egg in vaccines. Fatal reactions
sufferers, but the disease can actually only occur 1.2 times per 1
cause you to bleed to death. million doses, and in most cases,
they happen to patients who do not Several vaccines consist of viruses or bacteria
suffer from egg allergy. cultivated in eggs.
We can vaccinate
MYTH
4
against any disease
V accines are the best defence
against contagious diseases,
but there are still many, against
system react by studying people
who have developed natural
immunity by combating the
which we cannot vaccinate. One disease, but HIV does not leave
VACCINATED example is HIV. Scientists have tried many survivors. Some bacteria and
FALSE
PEOPLE PROTECT to develop an HIV vaccine for years. viruses can cause cancer, such as
SICK PEOPLE The lack of success is due to the fact HPV, which can cause cervical
Vaccination is not only that the virus is different from the cancer; and Hepatitis C, which can
about protecting yourself – infections against which we cause liver cancer. There is a vaccine
it is just as much about the normally vaccinate. HIV mutates against HPV, but no vaccine against
health of other people. extremely fast, weakening the very Hepatitis C. Now, DNA technology
Cancer patients can often immune system that a vaccine is to has introduced alternatives, and in
not be vaccinated due to
activate. A more basic problem is the future, we will probably develop
their impaired immune
systems, and so, they are that scientists normally identify the vaccines against both HIV and
extra vulnerable to substances that make the immune several types of cancer.
diseases, against which
healthy people can be
vaccinated. The more INFECTIOUS DISEASES WITH NO EFFICIENT VACCINE
vaccinated people in a
population, the slighter the HIV It is difficult to
risk of a person who is not Hepatitis C develop a vaccine
vaccinated being infected. Dengue fever against HIV, as it
This principle, which is mutates extremely
Malaria
known as group or "herd"
THOMAS DEERINCK/SPL
Hookworm infection fast, attacking the

immunity, is a good reason
Snail fever
immune system.
to be vaccinated – for the
SHUTTERSTOCK
sake of other people. Chagas disease

You can be infected MYTH
by a vaccine!
The MMR vaccine includes living virus, which could cause
infection, but it is only a problem for weak immune systems.
A vaccine’s ability to protect against

disease is one of the greatest medical
achievements, but in rare cases, a vaccine
could have the exact opposite effect. That is
but in weak versions. Nevertheless, there is
a slight risk that the microorganisms could
mutate into disease-causing versions that
cause mild symptoms, which a functional
5
PARTLY
TRUE
because some vaccines contain living immune system would easily combat. In
specimens of the bacteria or viruses they some cases, weakened people are advised
are to protect against, and in unfortunate against living vaccines. Another type of
cases, the patient gets the disease that the vaccine, which consists of dead
vaccine were to protect against – at least in microorganisms, does not involve risk of
theory. The MMR vaccine contains living infection, but such vaccines often do not
specimens of measles, mumps, and rubella, offer protection for just as long.
VACCINES CAN BE
Cells function as vaccine factories LIVING OR DEAD
VIRUS Living, weakened vaccine: The SLIGHT RISK
1 In some vaccines
such as HPV,
scientists isolate the
vaccine contains virus or bacteria that
are alive, but weakened due to having
OF INFECTION
4 The harmless virus been cultured in cells that make it hard for
genes that hold the code them to repro-duce. The organism must
for the portion of the shells are harvested,
cleansed, and injected into adjust to the hostile environment,
virus which the immune
the body. The immune becoming less efficient at infecting people.
system can recognize.
system starts to produce Against: MMR, yellow fever, tuberculosis.
antibodies, which combat
the virus efficiently, if the Dead vaccine: The organisms are NO RISK OF
person encounters it again. killed with heat, radiation, or INFECTION
chemicals, before they are used in the
vaccine, so there is no risk of infection.
2 The gene is
transplanted
into a ring-shaped
Vaccine gene Empty
virus shells
However, the vaccine is not so efficient, so
it is often necessary to vaccinate again
Against: Flu, whooping cough.
DNA molecule
(plasmid) from a
Component vaccine: Only SLIGHT/NO RI
harmless SK
Vaccine gene contains the portions of a OF INFECTION
bacterium.
virus/bacterium that make
the immune system react, such
PLASMID
as proteins on the surface of
the virus. Chemically
3 The plasmid
with the virus
genes is injected
extracted or produced
with DNA technology.
Against: HPV.
into a yeast cell,
which immediately
HENNING DALHOFF & SHUTTERSTOCK
starts to produce The vaccine gene

empty copies of is absorbed into
the virus shell the cell’s DNA.
without the genes Vaccine with
that cause disease. empty virus shells
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MA/SCI50
HISTORY | EXPEDITIONS
A maritime
mystery is solved
...170 years later
FATAL SHIP
FOUND IN
THE ARCTIC
The plates are still sitting on their
shelves, and the windows of the
captain’s cabin remain intact. For
170 years, historians had to assume
what happened to Franklin’s lost
expedition, but now, the last piece
of the puzzle has been found.
THE HMS
TERROR
WAS STUC
K IN
THE ARCT
IC ICE
IN SEPTEM
BER 1846.
By Andreas Ebbesen Jensen
The HMS Terror is surprisingly

well-preserved. After 170 years in
the freezing Arctic water, the
helm is almost intact.
THIERRY BOYER/PARKS CANADA & ALAMY/ALL OVER
EXPEDITIONS
S
ir John Franklin was a legend in England. For about its breath in excitement, as Sir John Franklin and his crew left
three decades, he had been challenging the icy for the unknown, freezing cold waters.
waters between Britain and Canada, and in 1821, as a If everything went according to plan, the Erebus and
young sailor, Franklin obtained almost mythical status, when Terror would return to Britain three years later with a detailed
he survived a passage to Canada on a diet of woodlice and description of the Northwest Passage. But it would take 170
worn out leather boots. years before a "white man" was to lay eyes on the ships again.
However, hunger was not the adventurer’s problem, when
he ordered his two ships, the HMS Terror and the HMS Erebus, ROBOT DISCOVERS LEGENDARY SHIPWRECK
and their combined crew of 129 men to leave Greenhithe, Parks Canada, which protects Canadian nature and history,
England, on 19 May 1845. The 59-year-old captain was was under immense pressure in the autumn of 2014, when
overweight and not exactly the picture of a hard-working yet another team was sent to look for Sir John Franklin’s lost
sailor. However, the crew believed in the heroic explorer and ships. Six years of intense search of 800+ km2 of ocean floor
was convinced that Franklin would be able to find the fabled at enormous cost had still not paid off, and the hope of
Northwest Passage north of Canada, opening a new sea route unravelling one of the major mysteries in marine history
between Britain and Asia. seemed to dwindle.
The HMS Erebus and HMS Terror were the best equipped So, everybody cheered on 1 October 2014, when marine
ships for Arctic exploration ever. Deep inside their hulls, archaeologists Ryan Harris and Marc-André Bernier reported
complete steam engines had been installed to power the that they had finally found one of Franklin’s ships, the HMS
propellers. Moreover, the sterns had been reinforced with iron, Erebus, on the ocean floor. The ship
so they could more easily break the ice, and huge boilers sent was identified by an ROV (Remotely
heat about the ships via networks of pipes. All of Europe held Operated Vehicle), which is a type
Echo reveals wreck

on the ocean floor
The HMS Terror was discovered by means
of a side-scan sonar that is tugged after The echoes are picked
3 up by a detector on the
a ship, depicting the ocean floor in 3D. ship. The audio signals are
KEN IKEDA MADSEN
processed and converted
into scan images.
PARKS CANADA/POLFOTO
A transmitter in the
1 sonar aims sound The sound
pulses of 100-500 Hz at 2 pulses strike an
the ocean floor. object on the ocean
floor, sending an
echo back to the
sonar. The time delay
indicates how far
away the object is.
A clear outline of the

HMS Terror appeared,
as the sonar passed
by the wreck.
THIERRY BOYER/PARKS CANADA
of underwater robot, and the scientists were able to retrieve
the Erebus’ clock, and other artefacts.
“It is undoubtedly the most impressive shipwreck that I
ever dived at,” said Marc-André Bernier following the ground-
breaking discovery, whose exact position is still kept secret
due to fear of looting.
FRANKLIN DIED EARLY

Parks Canada was not by far the first to try to locate the
ships and find out what happened to Franklin’s lost
expedition. In 1848-1854, Britain spent the 19th century
equivalent of hundreds of millions of pounds to locate the
naval hero and his two ships. More than 40 expeditions, of The side-
which the majority were English, were sent to unravel the scan sonar
mystery, but the first news about the fate of the expedition is able to
did not reach Britain until 1854, when investigator John Rae scan the
talked to a group of Inuit during his stay near Pelly Bay in ocean floor
Northern Canada. at a radius
The Inuit told Rae that four years previously, they had of up to
met a group of 40 sick and starving men with a dinghy and 100 m.
a couple of sledges.
HD camera
Working light
25.8 cm
Propeller
Underwater robot
entered the hull
In order to come close to Franklin’s legendary ships, the
search team sent an ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) into
the abyss. The DTG2 underwater robot has an HD camera
that can produce 320 degree video and transmit it live to
the research ship. With a height and width of 32.5 and 25.8
cm respectively, the remote-controlled ROV is not much
larger than a beach ball. The propellers can be controlled The underwater robot entered
very accurately, making the DTG2 ideal for exploring the HMS Terror’s messroom
PARKS CANADA
even the most awkward corners of shipwrecks. and the captain’s cabin.
WATCH FROM THE HMS TERROR LEATHER BOOT PORTABLE STOVE HOME-MADE FISHING HOOK
1 This silver pocket watch
2 This boot was found near the
3 This stove, which was found
4 A hook, made of copper from
was found in an abandoned boat expedition end station of near an abandoned camp, was one of the ships, had no barbs, so
along with two skeletons and lots Starvation Cove, where the last meant for sledge patrols. the fish had to be retrieved fast.
of other equipment. survivors died.
Corpses and belongings

spread across the Arctic
Franklin and his 129 men all died in search of the
Northwest Passage, leaving much gloomy evidence.
OWEN BEATTIE/UNIV. OF ALBERTA & NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM & E. EASTAUGH,
UNIV. OF WESTERN ONTARIO
BEECHEY ISLAND
The expedition’s first
three victims were buried
in the permafrost in 1846.
NORTHWEST PASSAGE Baffin
The expedition’s documented route
Bay
The presumed route

September 1846: The July 1845: The expedition
HMS Erebus and Terror enters the Northwest Passage
get stuck in the ice. and is observed by another
ship for the last time.
3
BONES FOUND
SEVERAL VICTIMS 5
CANADA
April 1848: After drifting with 1
the ice for almost two years, King William
the 105 survivors are running Island
out of supplies and leave the
ships for King William Island.
HMS
Terror
KING WILLIAM ISLAND HMS Erebus

The rest of the crew die
here, trying to reach the
mainland. 2
4
PELLY
BAY
Later, the natives had come across about 30 dead
sailors, who were frozen stiff in tents and under a
dinghy they had turned upside down in a
desperate effort to keep out the cold. Rae
bought several objects from the Inuit, such as
astronomical instruments and one of
Franklin’s medals.
John Rae’s horrific discoveries made
SOUP CANS Franklin’s wife sponsor yet another search for
5 Some of the her husband. When the search expedition
cooking instruc- reached King William Island in 1859, they
tions can still be found the bones of crew members from the
read on the cans, HMS Terror and HMS Erebus.
whose tops
The most spectacular was the
have been
opened using discovery of a document signed by Francis
hammers Crozier, the captain of the HMS Erebus.
and chisels. The document was dated 25 April 1848
and described how both ships had been
abandoned after being stuck in the ice
since September 1846, and that the
105 survivors planned to go south. A
note in the margin of the document
was particularly interesting. It said:
“Franklin died on 11 June 1847.”
INUK TIPS OFF SCIENTISTS

The discovery of the HMS Erebus
in 2014 made Parks Canada
intensify the search for the HMS
Terror, and two years later, on 3
September 2016, it was found.
Off King William Island in
Northern Canada, the Martin
Bergmann research vessel’s side-
scan sonar suddenly captured
something. Adrian Schimnowski,
who headed the expedition, did
not believe his own eyes, as the
ship’s underwater cameras
revealed what the icy water was
hiding. Right beneath Schimnowski
and his crew, the wreck of the HMS
Terror was lying in all its fabled
glory. 170 years of search had come
to a successful end.
In spite of all the research
vessel’s modern technology, it was
something as low-tech as a reliable
tip-off from an Inuk that led the
scientists to Franklin’s ship.
Six years earlier, in 2010, a local
hunter, Sammy Kogvik, had “seen
something odd protrude from the ice”
on his way back to his home in Gjoa
Haven. When Martin Bermann came
The permafrost has preserved the body of

Royal Navy Stoker John Torrington, who died
of pneumonia.
EXPEDITIONS
Cannon
Since the HMS

Erebus was found Inuit reports. And in 2015, anthropologists Simon Mays and
in 2014, scientists Owen Beattie published a sensational report which proved
have retrieved its that Franklin and his men had sunk their teeth into their dead
bell and cannons. friends. The analyses showed that the bones had been broken
PARKS CANADA in several places and subjected to a lot of heat. Beattie and
Mays consequently concluded that the crew members boiled
the bones of dead sailors to extract nutritious bone marrow.
TERROR STUDIES COULD TAKE YEARS

Whether Franklin and his crew became cannibals is not
confirmed by the discovery of the HMS Terror. On the other
hand, the wreck provides a unique impression of life aboard
by Gjoa Haven in 2016, Kogvik told the crew about his the fabled ship. When the HMS Terror was discovered on 3
discovery. The Canadian scientists decided to alter their route September 2016, exactly 170 years after getting stuck in the
to check out the information, and consequently, one of the ice, at a depth of 24 m near King William Island, the wooden
major marine mysteries ever was unravelled. But it was by no ship was surprisingly well-preserved.
means the first time that the natives of the Arctic shed new For several weeks, an underwater robot equipped with HD
light on Sir John Franklin’s disastrous fate. cameras studied everything from the messroom to individual
cabins, including the captain’s aft cabin, in which three of four
OF COURSE CANNIBALISM tall windows remained completely intact. In the storeroom,
Franklin’s body has never been found, and so it is still there were still plates on the shelves, and the ancient wreck
unknown what killed him, but there is no doubt that the also included two bottles of wine, tables with open drawers,
captain and his crew suffered terrible deaths. and shelves. The deck still included the ship's bell, and by the
Studies of the skeletons from King William Island show bow, the ship’s 6-m-long wooden bowsprit pointed ahead.
that the crew died of lead poisoning, scurvy, and simple With the discovery of the HMS Terror, you may think that
starvation. Rumours that the shipwrecked had been forced the last chapter has been written about Franklin’s fatal polar
to become cannibals to survive have circulated since John expedition, which has fascinated many archaeologists,
Rae interviewed the Inuit of Pelly Bay more than 160 years historians, and adventurers for 170 years. But Adrian
ago. Back then, the natives said that they had come across Schimnowski is not so sure:
heaps of human bones that had been broken in two. “The story has just begun. There is so much that remains
During the 1980s and 1990s, different archaeologists to be examined in and around the shipwreck. It might take
excavated the remains of the corpses from the ice of King several years before we can conclude what exactly happened
William Island. The bones had clear knife marks, confirming the to Franklin and his crew.”
Lead and scurvy
were fatal
Scurvy literally made many of Sir John
Franklin’s men fall apart, whereas others
died eating rotten canned food.
I n the early 1980s, anthropologist

Owen Beattie and a team of scientists
followed in the footsteps of Franklin and
abandoned camps in 1850, concluding
that it was the same. So, the
expedition had been poisoned by cans
Canned meat
his men, from Edmonton, Canada, to King that had not been sufficiently sealed.
William Island. The anthropologist found Lead poisoning can make people crazy,
the frozen bones of several crew cause brain injury, and make people
members, noting that the corpses were lose their ability to size up a situation.
SPL & NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM

characterised by severe lack of vitamin C And as if this were not enough,
– a terrible confirmation of the dreaded the crew was also badly affected by food
sailor's disease: scurvy. poisoning. Before leaving England,
Moreover, the concentration of lead Franklin had ordered 8,000 cans from
in the bones, hair, and skin of the crew Stephan Goldner. The food Lack of vitamin C, also known as scurvy,
members was 20 % higher than the manufacturer was late, so he saved primarily causes loss of teeth. The majority of
normal level. Beattie compared the lead boiling time. According to scientists, the expedition members died of scurvy,
in the corpses with cans that had been that is the reason why the members of whereas others suffered food poisoning due
discovered near one of Franklin’s Franklin’s expedition also had botulism. to tainted canned meat, etc.
Scurvy makes the

body fall apart
HAIR EYES
After months at sea con
suming 1 becomes 2 The cornea becomes blu
biscuits, canned food, and fragile and easily and vision is impaired.
rry,
distilled
spirits, the human body breaks.
starts to
react to lack of vitamin
C with TEETH
fatigue, diarrhoea, and SKIN 3
frequent 4 fall out due to
colds. Vitamin C produc becomes less lack of calcium.
es the elastic and wrinkled.
collagen protein, the glu
e of the
body, that holds skin, bon
es, and
teeth together. In other
words,
scurvy makes the body dec
ay, and at
worst, it can make blood
vessels BONES THE CARDIOVAS-
burst, so the patient die 5 6 CULAR SYSTEM
s of internal become
bleeding. For centuries, fragile. becomes less flexible,
doctors tried
to cure scurvy with anythi increasing the risk of the
ng from aorta bursting.
sea water bowel irrigation
to urine
mouthwash. Today, we
know that
fruit and vegetables inc
lude lots of
vitamin C and keep scurvy
away.
SHUTTERSTOCK
JOINTS
9 become
INTERNAL
7 ORGANS
immobile.
age faster and
weaken.
NAILS
8 weaken and
easily break.
HOME CHEMISTRY LAB
Sugar turns into

HOME CHEMISTRY LAB a soot snake
YOU WILL NEED: GUIDE:
It will take about 25 minutes to make the experiment.
Fill the deep container – such as an ovenproof
1
A deep container
A kitchen scale dish – with sand and place it in an open spot on a
that can be heated
flat surface. Make sure that the container is
completely stable.
A small bowl
40 g of icing sugar for mixing sugar
2
and baking soda Carefully pour ethanol onto the sand and make
sure that it is evenly distributed across the
surface. Most of the sand must be saturated.
10 g of
Ethanol
baking soda
3
Mix soda and sugar in the small bowl. Stir
thoroughly. Dig a small hole in the sand and
A bucket of water
SHUTTERSTOCK
Sand pour the mixture into it.

as a precaution!
4 Ignite the ethanol and wait until the snake

emerges. It might take about 20 minutes,
before the snake has finished growing.
As you will be burning ethanol, it is a good idea to do this

experiment outdoors. You should have a bucket of water on
hand for extinguishing purposes, in case the fire spreads.
You can use all types of sugar in the mixture, but as icing sugar
is finer than any other type of sugar, the surface of the mixture
becomes larger, producing a faster-growing snake.
By Kristian Filrup
Set fire to a special

mixture and watch
a huge snake grow
from the flames.
Oxygen shortage produces snake

If the burning of sugar is not fed sufficient oxygen, huge quantities of soot are
produced. The chemical process can be used to make a slow-growing column.
W hen sugar burns, large quantities

of soot are produced, if there is
not enough oxygen. This is called
they burn. The snake grows because of the
soda that is added. When soda burns,
carbon dioxide is produced, and when the
incomplete combustion. Lack of oxygen is gas molecules mix with the soot from the
used to produce so much soot that a burning of the sugar, small cavities are
growing snake-like figure appears. Soot produced to keep the black snake growing.
consists of nearly pure carbon. If plenty of oxygen had been present,
The considerable lack of oxygen in the as the sugar burned, the result would
experiment is due to the fact that the have been very different. It would have
The column is powder is placed in a hole in the sand, been complete combustion, producing no
made up of soot which it is difficult for oxygen to reach. soot. Instead, the carbon atoms would
filled with air The carbon atoms that make up the have turned into carbon dioxide, and
holes. snake originate from the sugar molecules there would be no remains of the powder
of the powder mixture, which are broken in the deep container – only water vapour
down into carbon and water vapour, as and carbon dioxide.
GAS MOLECULES
MAKE THE SNAKE GROW
When sugar
1 burns, it is 2 The mixture does
not get enough
converted into water oxygen at the centre,
vapour and carbon producing
Just like when it is
dioxide as long as there carbon (C). 3 added to bread,
is sufficient oxygen.
Baking soda produces
CO2 when burned. Here,
Water vapour H2O it grows the snake.
C CO2
CO
Sugar and soda mixture
Sand with ethanol
Trivia
PUT YOUR KNOWLEDGE
TO THE TEST
1. Which narrow body of water off the

coast of Australia is named after a
Spanish navigator?
2. Which famous US astronaut

was nearly killed during an ”armed
reconnaissance” mission, in the
Korean War in 1951?
3. What percentage of horse q. 4

(Equus ferus) populations in the
wild are actually descended from
domesticated animals? 6. Which personal electronic physicist Marguerite Perey in
entertainment device supposedly France in 1939), rather than
4. Although untrue, which Australian benefits from a technology called a synthesised in a lab?
city name is supposedly ultimately ”balanced armature”?
derived from the French ”Saint 9. Which popular campfire treat
Denis” and Greek god of wine (and 7. Defined as having its motor is named after a plant that grows
debauchery) Dionysus? behind the rear axle, which popular in boggy soils?
electric car technically has a ”rear-
5. The ancient human hunting grounds engine” layout? 10. Which rodent is known, in various
of Doggerland, between England and languages, as ”Spanish rat”, ”Indian
the Netherlands, were ultimately 8. What was the last chemical mouse”, ”Netherlands pig”, ”Indian Pig”
destroyed by a massive rise in what? element discovered in nature (by and ”Little Rabbit of the Indies”?
Trivia Countdown (use fewer clues, get a higher score!)

5 POINTS 4 POINTS 3 POINTS 2 POINTS 1 POINT
1. ANTHROPOLOGY The world's first These people had 7 They were notorious When Hernán Cortés The capital of
Name this cocoa drink,
chocolatl, was drunk
tribes that all
migrated from
for sacrificing
humans, and priests
of Spain arrived in
1521, his thirst for
Tenochtitlan included
huge pyramids,
people by these people. Southern USA and took the victims' gold meant the and today, it is a
Later, the drink was Northern Mexico skin and wore it in beginning of the end tourist attraction in
imported to Europe. in 840 CE. honour of the gods. of this native people. Mexico City.
2. ARCHITECTURE Construction began Opened in 1973, In 1974, the people In 1993, a car bomb On 11 September
Name this on 5 August 1966.
The structure was
these buildings were
the world's highest.
of New York held
their breath, as
exploded in the
underground car park
2001, the towers
collapsed, after
structure designed by In 1974, they were Philippe Petit of the North Tower, terrorists flew two
famous architect beaten by Sears tightroped between killing six people planes into them,
Minoru Yamasaki. Tower in Chicago. the two towers. and injuring 1,000. killing 2,753 people.
3. INVENTIONS The popular Its characteristic The durable pants In 1872, Jacob Davis The popular denim
Name this garment was
invented by
blue colour was
originally extracted
were reinforced by
rivets, and in the
entered into
cooperation with
clothes was not only
worn by cowboys. In
garment American tailor from the Indigofera 1900s, miners and textile maker Levi the 1960s, hippies
Jacob Davis in tinctoria plant, that lumberjacks were Strauss, that mass- also fell in love with
Nevada in the 1870s. comes from India. happy to use them. produced the pants. the garments.
ANSWERS ON p82!
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1670, NSW.
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de, 1670, NSW. Australian astronomers and the general public. Please submit your payment to the ASA Treasurer, Dr Katrina Sealey c\- Australian Astronomical Observatory, PO Box 915, North Ryde, 1670, NSW.
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BIODIVERSITY | ENTOMOLOGY
SPECIES:
Ant, possibly
Cocktail Ant
SCIENTIFIC NAME:
Anonychomryma sp.
(unconfirmed)
DISTRIBUTION:
Endemic to Australia,
this small group in
Blaxland, NSW
ICUN CONSERVATION
STATUS: Least Concern
(common)
MEGAN POWELL
THESE ANTS ARE HAVING A BALL

A round the home, ants are tiny
annoying pantry raiders. On the
lawn, they can be toe-terrorising sting-
The larvae and nymphs of various
leaf-hoppers, aphids and other sap-
sucking species often shelter under
ants to “milk” them by pressing on their
abdomens with legs or mandibles, to
extract the honeydew.
deliverers. But generally, the average waxy shields or “scales”. A strange by- It’s a complex ecosystem of a dozen
human reaction to an ant is negative. We product of these insects is a substance species living in an almost-symbiotic
try everything we can think of to exclude called honeydew. relationship on a single, fairly small plant.
ants from our houses. But out in the Honeydew is created in an almost As for our precious gardens, it’s true
bush, ants lead a rather more co- hilarious process. When the sap-sucker that ants can hurt a tree or bush that’s
operative life with other species. penetrates the plant with its already sick in some way. But if the plant
This group of small black ants with mouthparts, the pressure released is is doing well, growing steadily and
distinct fuzzy gold hairs on their so huge (relative to the tiny insect), getting plenty of nutrients, ants
abdomens, cluster around a twig on a that liquid is forced into the bug’s crawling up and down the stems and
small acacia. Deep inside the ball, not digestive system and displaces over the leave are actually patrolling for
visible in the shot, is a pupa of some anything already present. This partially- nasties, not trying to steal your lemons.
kind. We took this photo after heavy rain, digested material, rich in sugar, shoots Meanwhile, this ball of ants on an
so it’s possible the ants are protecting out of the insect’s anus. There’s no unremarkable acacia sapling in a Blue
their own young, high and dry and away politer way of putting it. Mountains reserve, will continue to
from muddy ground. Some species have hairs or other protect their young until the ground
But elsewhere on this same acacia, structures that capture the honeydew, below dries out. Then they will
ants patrol the stems and twigs, allowing ants to collect it straight from painstakingly march their larvae and
knocking off some pests but actually the aphids bum, as it were. Others can pupae back down underground, just like
tending to the wellbeing of others. take the pressure, as it were, but allow it says in the song.
TRIVIA ANSWERS 1. Torres Strait 2. Neil Armstrong 3. 100% 4. Sydney (but really it’s from Old English ”dweller by the well-watered land”) 5. Sea level 6. Earbuds 7. Tesla Model S (there is also a ”dual motor”
version with another motor up front) 8. Francium 9. Marshmallow 10. Cavia porcellus, the guinea pig Trivia Countdown – Name this people: The Aztec Name this structure: The World Trade Centre (also known
as The Twin Towers) Name this garment: Denim jeans
L a u n c h i n g
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