Ay Ae aGca ss The malign force driving the universe to destruction Cae aa ated eo meer ca arr Pe WA WR WG There's more going on in the Peso aunts’ Pr tae FAITH OF THE FAITHLESS Is atheism just another religion? LIQUID SEC a We're close to making ST rion | aa a een Ucn Pree) US jobs in science r mNU aj ie ata 2 aS Sb Ee diesens only living person on the periodic tableIntellectual stimulation Subscribe and save up to 76% .com/9667 or call E ‘888. 822- 304 and quo ote 9667 Ek NewScientist FEEDING MINDS FOR 60 YEARS) E wid Alan Turing is arguably one of the greatest scientists of the modern age. Join us as we explore his life, work and greatest achievements and learn more about this fascinating figure in 20th century science 20 - 22 OCTOBER 2017 From £465 per person STUDENT DAYS CODE BREAKERS y Cambridge Bletchley Park Visit King's College where Turing ‘Soak up the atmosphere ofthe huts ) Two nights’ bed and breakfast Getorecdfondstnetormoder, Germany iltaywetedecrped vist Welcome reception, dinner computers. Marvel at the chapel’s ‘Turings office to see how it would have and lecture famous Goihc architect and Teoed uring the second word wat : medieval stained glass. Our guided tour Discover the ingenious mathematical ¥ Second night dinner with of the ety inches the American techniques and devices thet Turing and wine and talk Canine cercery ad the Eagle pub, _—_-isealeagues designed to rack the : ‘here Francis Crick fist announced Enigma code. At the nearby National Private coach that he and Jones Watson haa Museum of Computing sea rebuild of tiseovered DNA After diner, enjoy Colossus the welds Hest electronic } Local expert guides takby ntligence expert Mark bain compute. Reminisce overthe museums Al talks, admissions eee cemented ued tous a) FIND VIORE Ear ey Call +44 (0)20 7251 0045 Va, or visit newscientist.com/travel/turingCONTENTS 8 Dark energy flipped around Thermodynamics could explain the universe's: biggest mystery On the cover 28 Liquid starlight Weare close to making sunshine into fuel emerge Features 32 Faith of the faithless Isatheismjust another religion? rbi recycle 8 Eternal darkness Themaign fore destroying theuniverse 36 Boltfromtheblue Tetnuth about ightning 410 Dream, dream, dream Inside the sleeping brain 32 Faith ofthe faithless Isathelsm just religion? 40 MrElement 118 They ving persanion theperodic table Coming next week... Who are you? The quide to your true self Finishing first How to win a marathon without any training ‘Volume 234 No3121 Thisissue online newscientistcom/ssue/3121 Leader 5 testimeathelstsembracedthe sclened of reigion News 6 UPFRONT (Goat Baris Reef ibe NASA funds welrlceas 23AndMe to offer Aheimers test 8_NEWS& TECHNOLOGY Reprogranming braincel to beat Parkincon’s. Race to automate Pgerpinting Special signature of dreams. Hintsof eepestlife 10 klometes below sea evel Historic heath inequality in US. Ecstasy boosts trust. Gantviusis asmal/-time thet Bactorialock up nuclear waste. Fake fms ‘on Goonlemaps. Robot vision prenares for 30. Virus provokes guten allergy INBRIEF ‘Sabre toothed tigers vith bad backs, Stoke ‘rug ightspancreatc cancer, Twistedight Analysis ‘Mega-canals Nicaragua couldkckoffa inv erat colossal ci engineering projects ‘COMMENT Whyitsohardtotake sugar out of fod, Turkey son a peous path fram freedom INSIGHT Deesharmonal exposureatfectsenualty? Aperture 260 rne snaps whales cicling for Feast Features 2B Liquid starlight (see above let) 32 Faith the faithless (see et) 36_Boltfromtheblue Everything weknow tout lightning wrong 40 PEOPLE Mr Element 118-The oly ving personon the periodic table Culture ‘42 Raiders ofthe lost phone What will futre archaeclogsts makecf our culture? {43 _Lift-of! The story of NASAS mission contol 44 Wellcome book prize The shoristintul Regulars S52 LETTERS Speokoutsbout asteecng $5 SIGNALBOOST Youthe-mentus ‘56 FEEDBACK Prov fatn oundorS8250 57 THELASTWORD His mucy mass 15 Apr 2017 NewScientist|3, eT ne New Scientist SUSE Be ta SERIES Maas Benes cers ea THE MOST IMPORTANT SUBJECTS IN SCIENCE. & HOW YOUR re) eau WORKS reece UNIVERSE CAME FROM THE lea | WORLD AE THE aN MONEY eae NewScientist Se ee rc C)LEADER Samora Magzs8 ‘ Sout, Sersaienee Syeteston ence Holier than thou? It's time atheists embraced the science of religion ITISjustover adecade since ‘mind that the cognitive by Richard Dawkins it the blue product theory does not imply. touchpaperwith hisbook TheGod that religious beliefsare trae far Delusion.{tintroducedmuchof —_ fromit. Nordoesit claim religion theworld totheso-allednew _andscientificmaterialism are atheism-aforcefulrejection of compatible. It merely attempts religionbasedonthe premise _texplore religious beliefand that scientific materialism offers disbelief using the tools of asuperforexplanationofthe science, rather than rhetoric. universe, while religion isa Thenew atheists attacked it corrosive influence onsociety: anyway. Intermsof public debate pathological meme plantedin around the appropriate ole of| thheminds of defencelesschildren. religion in sockety this wasa Though agreatreadland a Uerating infiuenceformany _“Tarring militants with their closet atheists, The God Delusion own brushundermines largely omitted anewstrandof atheists’ claimto occupy the scientificenquiry emerging intellectual high ground” around the time itwas published. ‘Those workingon the“science of mistake. Ttalienated as many religion’~a motley crew of peopleasit wonover, eavingthe psychologists, anthropologists newatheists preaching tothe andneurosclentistsexplained converted, polarising the debate itasa by-product of normal and dissuading moderates ofboth cognition. Thankstoevolution, secular and religious persuasions ‘theyargued,ourexplanation-. _fromgettinginvolved atl, seeking mindsfind eligiousideas Perhaps most damagingly, Intuitively appealing, gobbling it fostered an ideaalready doing them upas a hungry trout the rounds: that atheism isa swallows fishing fy belief system whose adherents Tomany diseiplesofthe new canbeas blindly dogmaticas any atheism, thiswaslittlemorethan, other. Inotherwords, that tis, well, heresy. Theydecrieditas “Just anotherreligion’ ‘accommodationism’~an At firstglance thishasall the illogical and often harmful sophistication ofa playground attemptto pretend :eligionean tainting match: yousmell. No, stillservea purposenow that _yousmell, But as arhetorical selencerulestheroost. Never ‘device ts highly effective. Tarring militant atheists with, thelrown brush undermines their claims tothe intellectual high ground, and when tcametosome ofthe new atheists, it had the ring oftruth toit, Buti it really truco allthe godless? (Once again, those practising actual sclence offeranswers, The selence of atheism, brought to you by the people who brought you the science of religion, says that atheism realy isnt justanother religion but something altogether different~although not for the reasons you may think (see page 32). Nodoubt militantathelsts will say” we knew itall along”; but pechaps they will also find some ‘common ground with those they hhad dismissed.as apologists. Orpethaps not, The science of religion challenges core elements ofthe new atheism: for example, thebelle that religion leads on thewhole to misery and suffering. Belief ologists say religion was the"social glue” that held early societies together (17 March2012, page 42}. That doesn't mean religions required to play that role today. But simply ignoring orhigh-handedly dismissing its power will not abolish its sway orfurther the secularist cause. And giventhe rise of religiosity in global affairs, there is much more thana rhetorical joustat stake. 15 Api2017| NewsUPFRONT Syria's chemical game ‘THESyrianconflcthasentered an Damascus, when 1400 people ced Comincusnew phase, withtheUS __Thattime, the US abandoned threats firingcruisemissles ata Syrian air of military action when Russi, Syria base fromwhichamassivechemical al joineditin forcing Assadto attackaslaunched ast week. ‘ign upto the International treaty ‘AtleastO6 people werekiled banning chemical weapons, and anchundreds more woundedwhen _todestray the country'stockplle. ‘chemical weaponsrained down on But Assad as continued to use ‘the northern rebel-held tawncof Khan chemical veapons, launching around ‘Shelkoun. Samplesfrom victims and 100 chore attacks, There have also ‘the attacksitearestilbeing analysed been unconfirmed reports smaller butearlautopsiesshow thatsarin sarin attacks. wastoblame,say Turkish authorities, Russiadenlesthe regime used Inresponse.the USfiredcruise chemical weapons. caiming Syrian misslesatthe Shayratairase, where rocketshitastoreofrebet-heldsarin. sarinhad beenprevicusystored, __Butsarinould not have been keot ‘ancfromhichUSradartracked ints finished, toxi form, says Ralf theattackingairraftlastvesk. Trapp. aformeronsuitantat the Sarin. anilegalvreapon.waslast Organisation forthe Prohibition of usedonsuchascalebythe Assad chemical Weapons. Andititas, regimein2013,inGhovta,near_ the last wouldhave destroyed Innocent victims Wacky spacers skip.andjump’isa proposed Planet finders The volunteers identify light lander that willakeadvantage curves witha repeated dipeach THEideassoundlikescience of Pluto'slowgravitytoleap AFTER just twodays,volunteer__timeaplanetorbits. fiction, but NASAispputtingits __kilometresat time, taking scientiststakingpartinaplanet-_Thisnew planetary system, weight behindthem.Lastweck, measurementsasitgoes.Then hunting projecthave discovered _so7lightyearsaway inthe theagencyannouncedfunding there's ‘Dismantlingrubble pile _foursuperfarthsorbitinga ‘onstelation Aquarius, has dips for22technology proposalsunder asteroids with area-of-effectsoft- sun-likestar.Thisbrings he _from fourdifferent planets, The itsNASAInnovative Advanced ots". Itwillusea robot shaped —_countofstarswith fourormore _planetstakeonly 3t013Farth days Concepts programme. like floppy frisbee that would planets upto7a. toombit theirstar. The smallest is sticktoa nearby asteroid, Zooniverse’s Exoplanet Just shy of tice Earth’ssize, and. “Arobot shaped like a launchingrocksfromittobe __Explorersprojectallowseitizen the largest is2.74timesasbig. floppy frisbee wouldsstick caught byanothereraftinorbit. scientists toscourdatafromthe _sincethe project beganon toanearby asteroid, then Alitheprojectsthat wontNIAC__Keplerspacecraftviatheirhome 4 pril.citizenscientsts have launch rocks from it” fundingarestillatanearly stage-_ computers. When planetspass classified morethana million itwillbeadecadeorlonger before betweentheirstarsand.us,they light curvesand found 184 NIACallowsspaceresearchers anyofthem mightbe usedinan _blocksomeofthelight, creating _ potential planets~s3of them topursuetheirso-crazy-itjust- actual mission, adipinthestar’slight curve. ‘categorised as super-Earths, ‘might-work ideas. This year, Radiation Plan B 15 proposals got phase funding PRESIDENT TRUMP has revived ‘of about $125,000 each, and seven projects that have made controversial plans to bury the Us'sstockpileof radioactive itthrough phase I got a second ‘waste in tunnels dug into Yucea cash infusion. Several phase I winners relate tohow we propel spacecraft Mountain in Nevada. But with (One,*A breakthrough propulsion local opposition undimmed, a architecture for interstellar backup option salso beingtested. ‘TheUShas some79,000 tonnes ‘of spent fuel nat least 76 power- precursor missions", proposes lusinga space-based laserto beam station cooling ponds and dry storesacross the country. Another powerto fast craftexploringour solarsystem and beyond, 2000 tonnesare added each year. Last month, Trump asked Others present innovative ways twexplore worlds.“Plutohop, Deep trouble 6 | NewSclenist 15 Apil2017Fornewstories every day, visit newsclentist.com/news Congresstoapprovesizomilion Alzheimer's test toresumethelicensing process forYucca Mountain. But Nevada's PEOPLE inthe US will soon be governorandsenatorsvowed _abletobuyagenetictest that tells locontinue blocking theplan, _themwhether they areat risk for as they have done since 1998. late-onset Alzheimer’sdisease. SotheDepartmentofEnergy _-Thesalivacbased test isbeing Isworkingonanalternative. It marketed by 23andMe, based in planstobury thespentfuelin California, The firm already offers hhundreds ofnarrow shaftsdrilled “spit kits” for US-based customers kilometres downinto solid ‘who want totrace theirancestry graniteacross heUS.Thetechnique or toknow thei riskof passingon hhasyet tobetested, buttheidea genetic diseases to their children, Isthat the waste would melt But in 2013, the Food and Drug surrounding ockandthenslowly Administration banned 23andMe solidifyintoagranite“coffin’, _fromofferingatest that assessed Thefirsttestdrllingsiteisset _ geneticrisktorsq diseases. The tobeannouncednext month. __FDAwas especially concerned by ‘the test's assessment of breast cancer risk~afalse positive ‘might encouragea person to get, ‘unnecessary surgery, while false negative might lead someone to Jgnore symptoms, ‘Thenew test won'tassess breast cancer risk, but wil sereen for Alzheimer's Parkinson's, coeliac disease and seven other disorders. ‘The FDA's approval was largely basedon studies and trials that show these conditions re linked togenetics, and the fact thatthe test sat least 99 percent accurate. 23andMe already markets similar product in seven countries, including the UK. Stoprevengeporn Barrier Reef’s worsening plight FACEBOOK is touse photo: {TGOES frombad to worse for ‘matching technology to help ‘Australas Great Barter Reef, prevent the spread of revenge ‘Thenorthernthirdof the reef as pornonits platforms. severely bleached in2016.nplaces, Revenge pornisthe sharing two-thirds ofthe corals died during ‘of private sexual images without thatevent,2teamat|ames Cook the subject'sconsent. Anyimages _Universtyin Townsville, Australia, reportedtoFacebookwillnow __reportedrecenty Last week the be reviewed and removed by sameteamannounced thatthe “specially trained representatives" centralportionofthereef, major fromthecommunity operations éravfor tourists, snow suffering team,saystherirm. In mostcases asia fate, theaccountthatsharedthe image In2006, the bleaching wes caused willbe suspended. byEINIo, which warmssurtace Photo-matehingtechnology waters. But his years bleaching ‘illbeused tohelpthwartfurther — iseccurting duringaso-called attemptstosharethesameimage _ “normat” year withoutsuchan event, ‘across Facebook's apps, which "The waterisjust too damnhot.” Include Messengerand Instagram. saysTerry Hughes, theleaderof “ifsomeonetriestosharethe _thesurvey.Hughes lew overthe image ater it’s been reported and removed, we will alert them that itviolates ourpoliciesandthat ‘wehave stopped theirattempt to shareit.” says Antigone Davis, Facebook's head of global safety. The new process will provide reassurance for many victims and reduce the amount of harmful content on the platform, says Laura Higgins, founder of the Revenge Porn Helpline inthe UK. "We hope that this will inspire ‘other social mediacompanies totakesimilaraction and that together we can make the online ‘environmenthostiletoabuse” —Beyondrepal? worst-affectedareain small aircraft to investigate the extentof bleachingonthereet, whichstarted ‘obenoticeableineary February. Nearly200civershaveatso been documenting the destruction. ‘Ril take up tonine months to {ind outhow many of the bleached corals end.up dying, utHughes fears ‘thatthe central reef may have been nearly as badly damaged this year asthenorthem partwaslast year "Ourcombined 2016 and 2017 surveysshow thattwo-thirdsof ‘the Great Barrier Reef hasnow beenbadly graded says Hughes. "Now that bleachingishappening every year oreveryother yearn some areas, recovery wie fficut I notimpossiole” 6OSECONDS Squid RNAtrickery ‘octopusesandscuidcaneit ‘thei owngeneticinstructions. By interteringwith RNA wanscriptsot ‘theiDNA. their cellsareabe to make a wider variety ofproteins (Cel do. org/8593).Thismayaliow themto Uundergoaspecel kind ofevoltion. conenotbasedenNAmutations. Turbulence ahead ‘irtravelcouldgetalotbumplerby ‘he idale of thiscentury, thanks ‘toclimate change'setfectonjet streams. Supercomputer modeling suggests that doublingof carbon Gloxide inthe atmosphere could lead tohazardousturbulenceon ‘commerciaifights becoming tno ‘oreventhreetimesascommon as ‘today (Advances in atmosphere Sciences, dol. ere/65q2} Cause foralarm Hackers tookcontolofall156 ‘emergency sirensinDalas Texas, ‘on5 Apri Thecitys alarms which usually warn of éangerousstorms andtomados, were riggeredat around 1.40 pm andblared until about1.20am, whenthe system as ‘turned oft officials say they believe ‘thehacker wasintheDalasarea, Renewables on the rise “Theworidenjoyed arecordgainin new renewable pwver generation lastyear. accordingtoareport compiled by UNEnvironmentand severalother organisations: Wind, solar blomass. geothermal, small salehydropomer.marineeneray andwaste-to-energy schemes added 138.Sqigawattstoglobal ower capacityin2016, up8per ‘ent from2015. Night owl gene Avariantotacireadian clock gene ‘may explain ty some people prefer ‘ostayuplate,Amutationinthis| gene corelateswithanextended Ciradian cycle in39 people in Turkey (Cet, doi.org/b592),whotendtogo ‘psleep2to 4 hourslaterthan those without the mutation. 15 Ape 2017| NewScientist7NEWS & TECHNOLOGY Dark energy flipped upside down Has cosmology muddled cause and effect, asks Anil Ananthaswamy OURuniversesrelentessmarch _Walddldthisusinggeneral_peakentropyandjustaythere, (generalised secondaw ina way tovardscokdemptydarkness relativity ButsomephyscstsThatsoundedalotiiedesitter that wasapplicabltothe whole Couldbecasingitsexpansion —hadlongsuspectedthatyou could spacetocarrolandothe'suniversallotonce saysarol toacelerteratherthanthereachthesameendstateusingHavingathermodynamicroute Thats ear when siherwayaround Thefinding thermostats tothessmeumiveralendgamte Raph! Boussoat the University Couldhelpeosmologssthink Thelinkwiththermoynamis couldhelpbreakthe stalemate of california Berkley, and Neta Citferentyaboutdarkenergy. alsodatesbacktothei98os. overthemismatch robiem But Engethardt now at Princeton Sndpossbivexplan whylthas TomBanksattheUniersty of theyeouldn'tprovetheroute Univers applied Bekenstlns thevatueitdoes Callfoia Santacruz suggested existed, ideatoa patchof spacetimeinan Tnthelate1990s,stronomers thenthatthevalueofdarkenergy Somecluescame fromblack- expanding universelike ours observedthattheuniverses couldberelatedtotheentropyof holephyscsinig7 sell _‘Theyconjecturedthatits entropy xpansionisacelerating They Spacetime. tntropyisamesure physKistlakobBefenstnshowed increases Miribuedthistodarkencrgy an ofthedhorderofssysemsislow tha theentropyot system Caraland Chatwin Davies inherent propertyefthe vacuum forasolidwithrigily organised contalningablackholeand ts took Noussoand ngelhard’s ofspacetime Homsandhightorahotgaswith immediateensronmentgrows~_ defitionefentropy-which Oneidealsthatdarkenergyis chaotclly movingafomsaresultnowealedthegenealsed uses quantum mechani realythecosmologialconstant, —Whatifthesytemis-closedin Secondlawof thermodynamics. description ofspace-ime=5 ZauanttyarsinginFinstem’s thatitcantexchangeenergy with thei starting point. They then everlrlativity-Butwhenwe itssuroundings?AcordingtotM® ayiceine in red tcleulated what happens tothe Sleslatcitstheorctialweue, — seeondlawottemedynamic,, Missingingredient eee ac theanvwerSaboutt2oorder —sentropywillicepgrowingThishintedthatthefinalstateof vols toandbehldsoncea ofmagnitudelargerthanthe untliteachesanegutibrium, theunierse predctedby general universchas reached peak observedone.The mismatchhas Ifweregardthe entireuniverseas relativity wasrelated to growing entropy tiseffectively one vexedeosmologistsfordecades. closed, thelaw suggeststhatittoo entropy. "Themissingingredient described by de sitter geometry, "Why doesthecosmological _willeventuallyreachastateof _wassomewayofformulatingthe _ they proved farsivorg/ constanthave the valueitdoes? abs/1703.0924) Why isitsosmall?” sayssean “The universe will approach, Carrollat the California Institute desitterspace and stay there of Technology in Pasadena, forever,” says Caroll . a BE Bousso simpressed.“Thisis “Dark energy emerges from S abeautifulapplication of our quantum space-time, and : ‘cosmological second law,"he says. then drives the accelerated || 2 ‘Thisthermodynamicway of expansion of the universe” | thinking turnsthe standard . ; View of darkenergy onits head: darkenergy emerges fromthe ‘quantum structure of space-time andtthen drives the accelerated expansion. Solving the mystery of datkenergy’svalue then becomes acase of justifying the choice of a particularquantum mechanieal description of space-time. Carrolliscareful not to overstate the implications. There's what we proved, and thereisthe coffe shop chatterabout what itmight imply. which isof course much more speculative,” he says. But cosmological constant willend the work could offera new way pasa flat,empty, featureless E tograpple with the cosmological void, called deitter space Bulittoexpandeverfaster? constant’stiny value. ‘Although they can’t solve that yet, Carroll and hisstudent Aidan CChatwin-Davies suggest we could make headway using something quite different: the laws of thermodynamics. "We are contributing toamovernent tochangethat question to somethingelse," says Carrol, Wehave had an dea of the universe’send state since 1983, when Robert Wald ofthe University of Chicago showed thata universe with a positive £8] NewScientst|15 Apr 2017Innis section 1 Special signature of dreams/page10 1m Robot vision prepares for 3D, page 16 1 Anew eraof colossal cil engineering] page 22 through the first round of Reprogrammed evaluation inJuly willbring their cells may ease system toa live test in Maryland i 5 InSeptember. Overone week, Parkinson's they will usetheirsystemon 300 people, and the rests wil UsINGa viustoreprogram cats inthe becompared with thoge from the bran couldbearaicalay to treat best human-operated nll-to-nall Partnsn'sdisease schemes. People wit Parkinso'shave Thewinningsystem must cifcaly controling the movements becapablecf automatically ‘due tothe death of neurons that make capturing fingerprints 90 percent ‘opamine, bran signaling chemical ‘ a . ofthe time and beno more than TTonspantsoffetalcelshave | 20 percent slower than human shown promise for replacing these Y # operated alternatives. deadneuronsinpeople withthe s ‘Competitorsareadopting a Cdseose anda scurertyunder rangeofapproaches. Amit Laat ‘way. But the ansplnt sve comes Cornell University in thaca, New from aortedpreqancies. meaning York, andhis team are using isinshor supply andsome people pulses of utrasound emitted rayfndthsethicaly atk fromaglove. the user wll wear Recipients ofthese els haveto take Thegoalistorollyourawn theglove, anda scanning chipin Imunosuppressant gs too thefingertip will then measure EmestArenasatthe Karolinska ' tninute variations inthe reflected nnanonseser Race to automate all ‘eqaturcstocesieaninagett his team have found anew way to i a the finger. “The real advantage of “amaenena” round fingerprinting trasoundisthatitcan go deeper neurons They nected visto Inthe issue to get sub-tissue thebraisofmicewhose dopamine THEUS government wantsa _simplyhavea"“flat" fingerprint __featureslike blood vesselsand neuronshadbeendestayed Tis betterwaytogetitshandson taken. Thisomly captures the sweal pores” says al Wrusmadbeenengineeredtocary people'sfingerprints-anditas centralpartofthefingerprint, Being abletosee beneath the fourgenesforrepogremming __setupacontesttofindit butcanbedonewithascanner, _ skincould help thwart fingerprint astrocjtes-thebrains support “The Intelligence Advanced TARPA wants tofind an * spoofing’ he say, Inwhich ‘ells- no gopamine neurons. Research Projects Activity (ARPA) automated way ofeapturingmai-_peopleaitertheirprints by Fheweskstatr theteamsaw haslaunched achallengethat pits to-nallprinttomakethe process burning thelr fingers or wearing imgrovemertsinhowthemicemoved security companiesand research, easer,quickerandlesspronetoathinlayer of gelatin witha (Notre Bletechnology,DOI103038/ groupsagainsteachoother,inabld humanerror."Humanbeingsare different fingerprint oni ot3835)."Teywakedbetterand—tobulldadevicethataccurately the weaklink in performance,” DanlelRagulnatblometrles ‘theirgatshowedlessasymmetry _capturesevery partofafingerprint, saysBochnen. Errorscamcreepin company Crossmatch is more ‘than controls says Arenas. ‘This“nail-to-nail”scancoversthe _ifanofficerdoesn'trollsomeone’s tight-lipped about his team’s Thsisthefiststudytoshow —__wholefingertip, fromonesideof fingercorrectly,buti’snearly approach, butsaysit willbe ‘thatreprogrammingcellsinthelving thefingernailtotheother. [tis impossibleforhumanstorecreate based on theirexistingoptical braincantesdtosuchimprovements, the goldstandard,giving police _theexael same motioneach time. technology, usingalight sensor soysarenas. officers more chance tomatch a similar to that ina digital camera Theteamhasalsousedthesame partialprintfoundatacrime “Asystemthatseesunder —_totakeanimage of afinger placed fourgenestoconverthumanastrcytes scene, forexample the skin could thwart agalnsta glass panel. Most current into dopamine neuronsina dish, Butcapturing prints ikethis people altering their prints fatfingerprintscannersuse this suggesting thatatechniquelike this istime-consumingandlabour- By Burningtheirfingers” approach. may be possibiein people. intensive, says ChrisBochnen fsomeone cracks the “Thecritial question llbe atIARPA,whoismanagingthe _Automatingtheprocesswould challenge this year, Boehnen whetherthiswouldwerkintheaged contest. Atpresent,asecurity _helpensureaconsistently high plans toannouee the result human brain andgenerate enough officer mustrolla person'sfingers standard, he says. atabiometries confereneein ‘dopaminecellsoftherighttype across surface, one at atime. Fourteenteamshavealready _Londonin November. But it ‘thatcanconnectupwiththe rain Because of this,theUSonly uses started building nailto-nail ray takelongertodevelopa inthesamewaythattrensplanted nailto-mailfingerprinting when systems, witha top prizeof device that meetsallof the ‘dopamine cellscan” says Roger someoneistakeninto police _-_$100,0000nofferforthe best contest specifications. "tis Barker atthe University fCambridge, custodyorhasabackground —_-—overallentryaswellassmaller highly possible that noone will, Uwhoisleadingthe fetal transplant check forsecurity clearance. At _prizesforspeedlandaccuracy. __winthegrand prize inthe first tial. Andy Coghian alrports arriving passengers Competing teamsthat get, yea,"he says. MattReynolds a 15 Apil2017 INewSclentist|9NEWS & TECHNOLOGY Sleep signature reveals signofreamingtotnvestqate REMI Seesoniaicomse Ream icanrmnyane sas how much we dream team Wenormallyasscate_dreamsareforgoten Sometimes dreams with REM sleep, and the participants had afogay idea YOU dreammorethanyouknow. _ Someparticipantsreported__teamsawthatdreamsduringthis they had been reaming, but Anewwaytodetectdreaminghas havingdreamswitha narrative phasewerelinkedtoarisein high- couldn't remember what about. confirmedthatitdoesn'tonly structure, whileothersweremore frequencybrainwavesinareas_inafurtherexperimentwith cccur during rapideye movement impressionistic. Theexperiment thalareactiveinwakinghous. 10 people, the team found that (WENsieep,andhasshown ——_seemstohavehadaninfluence Thisactivitymatehedthebrain _beingableto atertemember Why weottendon'tremember _forsome.“Onehadadreamabout _areasthat would have beenactive a dreamwaslinked to higher ourdreams. reporting dream,"Siclarisays. _ifthedreamershadbeenliving __actvityinthe prefrontalcortex— “Thereis much moredreaming Theteamfound suchastrong _outtheirdreamsin eallite ‘hich isassociated with goingonthanweremember,"says corelationbetweendreaming_Thedeamsignaturealso___—_-memory-whiledreaming. “The Tore NielsenattheUniversityof and fewerlow-frequency waves revealed how much wedream region forrememberingthe dream Montreal,Canada."I'shoursand inthe“hot2one" thatthey could during non-REM seep. ‘was different fromthe region for hhoursofmentalexperiencesand successfully predictwhethera _Monitoringseven peopleoverfive havingadream,"Sielari says. ‘werememberafewminutes” personwasdreaming91percent toxonightsofsleep,Sielarifound Christoph Nissen, at University Duringsleep low-frequency _ofthetime Nature Newroscence, thevolunteersdreamedduring Psychiatric Services in Bern, brainwavesare detectable across DOI: 101038/nn.4545 Tipercentoftheirnon-REMsleep, Switzerland, saysthe team’s ‘thebrain. Now Francesca Sila mappingofreamingbrain atthe University of Wisconsin ‘Madison and her colleagueshave discovered thatadecreasein ‘these waves inan areaat the back of the brain isa sign that someone isdreaming, “Thiszone was alitdebit more awake, showing high-frequency brainwaves more common during wakefulness,” saysSiclar. This one region seems tobeall that’s necessary for dreaming, she says. Siclar’s team found this dream signature by using EEG capstomapthe bralnactivity of 32 people while they slept. The teamwoke the sleepers when they showed various patterns of brainwave activity, and asked themiftheyhad beendreaming, + activity couldlead to ways of ‘modulating our perception of sleeporeven manipulating ‘our dreams~ perhaps using transcranial direct-current stimulation toalter dream: associated brainwaves. “There's treatment potential here for people who have non: restorative sleep lke those with Insomnia, or nightmares from PISD,"says Nissen, "You might think about evoking the dream. state orsuppressing dream states, and even combine these interventions with psychological techniques toimprove the perception ofsleep inthe case of insomnia, orto improve nightmares” Chelsea Whyte m Butwillthey remember? Life could exist —U@turrersivininenetnerands. serpentintetnatrisesanderuptsout survive upto 10\ilometresbeneath COtherreseorchersagrelifeculdofmudvoleanoes the seabed (PNAS 0011030737 upto10km cexistatsuch depths, butsay thecase Examining the serpentiniteinthelr pas 1612147114) isnotyetproven"Theyeonthove samples theteamoundchemic’sTherehavebeenseverlrecent below seafloor corsieeicencesaysRoco usiallyprducedty fe incuding_reportsflfe at ret dents Moncnel anastobicisttNASAS Shine acdsondhygrcarbons._withnemetode worms founding LUrEmightekeautaneistncefar AmesfesearchCenter whostudesGventhatsomemicobescan__‘Sklometresdow ina gld ie. ewperinstatarththanwninagird. ein extreme srfronenants vethstatemperstres bigs frinstance. 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Chelsea Whyte 10 NewScentist 15 Apil2017Wealth can't always buy health health foreveryone, African ‘Americans have ashorter average Iifespan,and are at higher risk of developing and dying from cancer Jessica Hamaeiou INEQUALITY sat ahistorichigh in the US, driving a huge health gap between rich and poor. But wealth Isonly partof the story racism. means that even minorities ona high income have worse health. “Income inequality has increased dramatically, tolevels not scen since before the Great Depression,” saysJacob Borat Boston University, Massachusetts His team has reviewed research conthelifeexpectanciesof the richest and poorest inthe US. “Rich black people still had more health disadvantages compared with rich white people” between 1980.and2015-They found that not only s the health, ‘gap growing, buthealthis becoming morestrongly linked to financial status (TheLancet, do}. corg/bscv)."Your income matters ‘more for your health than itdida decade ago,” says Bor. “Poverty is >becominga more important risk factor for early death.” USlifeexpectancy is three ‘years lower than Canada's, One factor islack of health insurance: 27 million people stilldon'thave ‘coverage. Even those who docan still struggle toafford treatment, as insurance plansdon'talways cover all costs (see graph, right). But there are many other reasons why poorer peoplehave ‘worse health, says Bor. They tend togetless education, aremore lukely to be out of work, and are at greater risk of substance abuse and self harmas result Richer people can afford better insuranee, livein neighbourhoods ‘with abundant green spacesand can more easily afford to cat wel. But ahigh salary can'tbuy good visit newsclentistcom/news andheartdisease. Kanetha Wilsonat Vanderbilt University in Nashville, ‘Tennessee, and her team analysed data collected between 2000 and 2011 frommarethan 2500 people ‘who earned s175,000 atthe start ‘of the study-more than four ‘times the average salary that ‘year (Preventative Medicine, doi. ‘org/10/bg87)."We found that ut structural racism isalso black people stillhad more problemati, writes Zinzi Bailey at health disadvantages compared the New York City Department of towhite people,” saysWilson, _-Healthand Mental Fiygiene and “They hadgreaterodds ofhaving _herteam na separate study. hypertension, lower mental health and obesity” Wilson thinkseveryday racism US published soar this century, maybe partofthe problem."As they found that segregation is ‘black woman, [know thatjust _ endangeringlives. becauseyou'reonahigh income, _Theaverage white American ‘doesn't mean that people won't" _livesinan reathat is75 per cent ‘treat you differently,” shesays. white, while theaverage black Chronicexposureto “microaggressions”—including only 35 percent white. These subtle put-downs that make Reviewing all the studieson racial discrimination and health inthe American lives in areas that are areas tend tohavelowerquality people feel undervalued, criminal housing and greater exposureto orforeign-areknowntocause —_toxinsanderime-allofwhich ‘mental health problems. Health cost woes |A2016suney of people inthe US found that even those with higher incomes or health insurance Sid they had problems paylng medical ils the previ year 6 so are linked to poor health or early Household income Insurance status “$50,000 $50000- 25100000 Uninsured nares Money isn't the whale story deaths (The Lancet, doi org/bsew). Theteamalso found that erime poliey disproportionately targets black people, despiteiliet drug use being at similarlevels among. both black and white groups.One study showed that by 2014, almost ‘3percent ofall black men inthe Us were serving prison sentences ofatieast one year. Thishas farteaching consequences. A review suggests that the long-term health of people who have been in prison {is much worse, but it doesn't stop there. Nearly half ofall black women inthe Ushavea relative nprison. These women are more likely todevelop mental health problemsand cardiovascular disease, while their children are ata greater rskof early death (The Lancet, dot.org/bsex). Daughters ‘of people in prison in particular are prone to weight gai, Drug sentencing reformsand more health insuranee may help. But peoplealsonced protection from poverty, says Bor.“It'sabout tensuringeveryone has access to safehousingand healthy food. However, President Donald ‘Trump planstocut food vouchers forpoor women and children and repeal the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. "We will ikely see these gaps continue towiden,"says or. @ 15 Apr2017| NewScientist 111NEWS & TECHNOLOGY Ecstasy boosts people's trust hare vison ECSTASY makes you fel like everyone's your friend. Now an, experiment in which people played'a trust gameafter taking thedrugis helping toexplain why. Alsocalled MDMA, ecstasy Is known totriggerthe release of the rain chemical serotonin, as well as mimicking its actions inthebrain, Investigatinghow thisaffects us could help us ‘understand how we govern ‘our social actions, and how this process goes awry indepression and schizophrenia, says Anthony Gabay at King's College London. Intheirlatest study, Gabay land his team gave 20 men MDMA andasked themto play agame called Prisoner's Dilemmaon computer whilelyingina brainscanner, ‘The points earned in the game depend on whether youcooperate with orbetray your opponent, and ‘on what they choose todo, The game gets more complex ifplayed foveranumber of rounds, because while youearn themost pointson Giant virus may just be a small- time crook MYSTERIOUS microbes thatsome considera wholenew domain of fe ‘may ustbenormal viruses that pifer ‘genes from theirhost organisms. Te conclusion i, however, hotly contested by scentists who Identified the frst recognised giant ‘rus 2003. Unlike normal viruses, say HI, hich are tiny and only havea few genes, gant viruseshave hundreds cof genesandcanbealmostas large asbacteria,Thisis one exotic feature 121 News: ist 135 Apt2017 asingle round by betraying your ‘opponent, you earn more over time ifboth people cooperate, ‘Themen played 15 rounds cof the game with the same ‘opponent, allowing relationships tobuild although unbeknown tothem, they were playing against a computer. ‘When they were given MDMA, they became euphoricand talkative.“Some of them wanted tohug me," says Gabay. Inthis state, they cooperated twice as ‘oftenas when they had played the gameafter being givenaplacebo~ + ifthetr opponent was usually trustworthy, Butiftheir opponent usually Feeling euphoric betrayed them, the men acted the same way regardless of whether including the right superior Carolina says the findings help theyhad taken MDMAoraplaccbo, temporalsulcus.Recentworkhas shed lighton what MDMA does. playinglesscooperatively."They showntheserotonin receptor that _“There'salot westil don't know” ‘werenice butnot stupid,” says isactvatedby MDMA sfoundat-—_Mithoeferisinvestigating Gabay. The results were presented thehighestconcentrationsinthe ecstasy asanaid for treating post atthe British Neuroscience superiortemporalsulcionboth _ traumatlestressdisorder. Itmay ‘Association conference thisweek, sidesofthebrain,aswellasthe help peopletrust their therapist, Brain scans the team took cotherareasthat becamemore __moreand prevent them from, showedthat MDMAboosted active inthis study. beingoverwhelmed by their activity in several brain areas Michael Mithoefer at the traumatiememories during linked to social behaviour, ‘Medical University of South therapy, hesays. thathasperplexed microbiologists different cellar organisms (Science, Jean-Michel ClaverieatAix-Marselle studying their origins dotora/t5cr. University in France, who wasin the Buta study nowargues that ‘Thatfinding suggests the vius team that found the ist giant vius, these icrobalciantsare|ustsmall stolethese anes romitshosts,says argues tor thelrtreatment asa Viruses thatgrewlarge by stealing Schulz, whichhethinks mayexplain separate category life. He says that ‘Genes romthelrhosts-ratherthan howother glantvrusesgrewsobig analysing gonesallmixedupin the evolving separately. 1to0."Thisisthe utimateevidence that sample -themethod that Schulz Frederik Schulz atthe US ‘the viusacquredthese genesfrom team used-isprone togenerating DepartmentofEnereylointGenome differentevkaryticcels,"he says.in “chimeric” genomesmade upot Instituteandhiscoleaguesfound other words. giant viruses mighthave materialfrom several organisms. fevidenceotanewgiantviusina _changedeurnotionofwhat viruses Heads that the idea of small waste water treatment tankin ‘anbellke,buttheydon'trequireus _virusesbecoming big broaks.a Klosterneuburg. Austria, when torewritethestoryoflifejustyet. __generallawof biology because analysingallthe geneticmateratin __Othersareunconvinceé, though. _parasticmierobes tend tolosagenes samples of waterSofar. they haven't ‘and getsimpler overtime. "1am succeeded inisoltingthe viusinside “This is the ultimate waiting seea real vir isolated ahestcelsowedontyetinowwhat evidence that the giant —_withitshestheforebeleveany of Itshostis Surprisingly. about 700cfits virus stole many genes _theirevolutionaryinterpretations enesaresharedwithamulttudeot from more advanced cells” hesays.Samviong m