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    New Scientist - 31 January - 6 February 2015

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    OUT OF THE TWILIGHT ZONE Portable mind-reader gives voice to the locked in NewScientist WEEKLY January 31- February, "ye 6 an HOW PLASTIC X IS RESHAPING THE ROCKS AND OCEANS “PLASTIC THE JOY OF MATH We lust after proof as much as sex NWNTs Na ial cro) od UCT Mm Co) Ae) 1a Nae cies Co ccs eae tS Dreyer tars Pete meee ur enc conclu et ind technology news www.newscientist.com Opportunities in academia OMEGA Roem THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON The Apollo 8 astronauts were the first people to see the dark side of the moon with their own eyes. The black ceramic [ZrOz] Co-Axial Speedmaster salutes Ce ee ee) Dea ge ca ee ut eae A OSC eT aa ee ee For forward thinkers new fora) 9) |S) me Microelectronics : Autom) we BY -t- 1c) for a small the house, or New Scientist, 16 March 1972 Discover tomorrow’s news today To subscribe visit newscientist.com/6819 or call 1-888-882-3242 and quote 6819 NewScientist CONTENTS News 8 \d-reading gets portable Talking tolovedones trapped ina coma-like state becomes easier Onthe cover 28 Plastic planet How plasticis reshaping the rocks and oceans om Features 40 Thaw point Whyis Antarctica’s seaice still growing? cbinsns recycle © Outofthetwilightzone Portable mind-eader vesveicetothe sient 26 Thejoy ofmath How welust after proot 40 Thaw point Antarctica’ ring ice 35 Afterthegoldrush ‘tea aatbooming 45. None more black Making the itimate partaito nthing Algorithms that run your life “The machines making decisions about you The world's most hated bird ‘Why do cormorants get sucha bad press? Volume225 No 3006. ‘Thisissue online rewscientist.comissue/3006 News UPFRONT Healtncare paved way or Creekelection win. Ebola onthe wane, The tol of ran’ ‘ought XPrize anards for moonmiestnes ‘THIS WEEK Rosetta summer witha comet Sieisnt ‘everything forrnouse tastes. Light ates the Sovvane.Lasarbeams caughcon camara, The cles eoplanets. Tree-sningersfrom 3imilonyearsago ith took? Stressed immune cts actike antcpressarts INSIGHT ‘Ouratttuse to sun expesure needs arth INBRIEF Brainzapping rests ele out, Supemavae ‘gos0lo.Poluton inked to strength of polar bear penisbones. Thunt gets broadband Technology 1B High speed internet beamedin from orbit, Oata-cunching taboos ood donations. How tavod ances when exating Aperture ‘Aspeemwale"poonad™ 8 Opinion learing the ale Free Pearce peers through the global haze over attempts to cut smog ‘One minute with...The Duke ot Edinburgh Wry enginaaringmatters Beautifulseductions ManyaRaman ‘Sundstémon an inure fer math LETTERS Ausism and st, Question oftime ge oe Features Plastic planet (see above le) ‘After the goldrush sitcoin'scashed butferunes ae stlbeing made Thave point (see) CultureLab ‘The greater good Figuxing out what makes usbehave eessiyisa complex business None more black Two xhbiionsask hat biackisallabout andcanyoupaimtrothing? Regulars 5 LEADER Theneutatyofheintemetisa publcgood that needs constant defence [56 FEEDBACK Using one feat he another 57 THELASTWORD Raybandsinthe sky ‘46 JOBS & CAREERS 3 Janvary2015|NewSclentst3 Everything you always wanted to know ele =Ipelelmaelesliale) Find out why nothingis the key to understanding absolutely everything bara ai steal a eu Larue MMe mas resend a Pian es eset ata ner ies Piceneeecaearenca rsa Featuring contributions from 20 respected science writers, this fore e na cee Meer c ek to aul cy for centuries. Buy Nothing today - available in all good book stores and online ete meals : salsa rine eo LEADERS NewScientist eecee, zerewe. Long live net neutrality ‘There's more at stake than the right to make money ‘al nactngronarenn PROMitsbasementbeginnings, the FCCto preserveneutrality,and Rights inzesponse tothe atrocities focrscesronasine theinterethasspread across thesmartmoneyisonthestatus _ofthesecond world war. many of Sencar theglobe ttets usconnect more quo. Butthe fact thatthevoteis _whichwere revealed tothe world myer A efficientiythanany technology happeningdemonstratesthat net 70 years agothis week ance beforeit.andhasbecomeacrucial neutralityisapublicgoodthat- Among he rightsitensbrined eas Ingredient of modemlife needsconstantand vigilant —_werefreedomof expression, ress Oneofthe keystoitssuccessis defenceagainst privateinterests. freedomof thought, freedom of we ge “netneutrality’~ajargony way Variousprojects announced __peacefulassembly andthe right cofsayingthatallintemet traffic lastweekhave'the potentialto_toeducationand culturalife -mustbe treated equally securenetneutralityforyearsto Theintemetisthe most powerful Neutrality hasheenaguiding come. Google, SpaceX andothers_forceeverinvented to spread principleofthenetsinceitsbirth, areracingtoprovide global, those rights. bbutnext month heUS Federal neutral, internet access from ‘Those who regard net neutrality Communications Commission space (se page1).Theirprojects asanulsance should bear thisin willvoteonitsfatureintheUS. arewelcomenotonlybecause mind. The neweomers mustalso Internet providerslargely want to they providealtemativestothe avoid the temptationof letting seeitend,allowingthemtogive _existingtelecom providers,but__ commercial goalsoverrde their preferentialtreatmenttotraffic becausetheymovethe world _earlyidealism, Net neutrality is fromeertainwebsites.orslow closer touniversal access. ‘becoming human rights issue downtraficfromcompetitors. _In948,the UN published its initsownright Like the others, President Obamahasadvised Universal Declaration of Human itis worth fighting for. ee . Teal ng ome er Cranking up the heat deta Nonetheless ot Se inet Lastyearwasthewarmeston record floods-andsnow-inmany scentntsrensurexat record, eventhough EINifiofailed places, with Mozambiqueand the what'sgoingon, toshow up. Mostoftheprevious Usthelatesttofeeltheeffects.Sea However, it would be wrongto hottest years suchasi998, have _levelisrisingeverfaster Seaicein take comfort from this blip-or ‘Sana come with the warmersea the Arctic is Vanishing exploit ito claim that scientists mee surfaces that EINiio brings Butthere'sablipinthebig __can'tgettheirstory straight. In Peet Ithereeverwasawarming pice. Thewinlerseaicearound justaboutevery other way, the a hiatus itisover.Thelong-term Antarcticahas grownslightiyover _climateis changing as expected, See trendcontinues.Theworldis the pastfew decades. itisnotclear orworse. This \snotanew aces warmingby 0x6°Cperdecade. why seepage go). ‘message, bt witherunch UN ‘Seowe prey Theetfectsareevident:record Theseasarotind Antarcicaare climate talks comingat the end me heatwaves,asin Australia,and hardtostudy,andcomputer_oftheyea,itbears repeating, @ BL anuary2015| NewSciontst 5 UPFRONT Self-help and Syriza surge FISCAL waterboarding Thats how YanisVaroufakis, Greece's new finance minister views austerity ‘Asthe dust settle after Sundays elections, which saw the radical Syizapaty tke power inGreece, slthelp groups proving heatheare andother services are pringingup across much of Europeinresponse to ‘utback. They may aso be helping tofocus ote attention onparties lke Syriza, which have pledgedto ‘vertu the European Unions financial reforms. edb Alexis sires, Syriza aso focused on adressng the needsofmilionsof Greeks who havefallenonhardtimesas.a result of euts- which include 924 percent recuctoninheattheare spending Inthefiveyearssince 2008, 6 NewScientist 31 January 2015, Accordingtoa Greek campaigning ‘group, the Omikron Project the ‘country rowhasmore than 400 ‘91955 rots groups providing vital services Around 40 aa hoc clinics re ‘thought to exist throughout Greece, staffedby volunteers anatundedby ‘onations Such clinics have almost certainly helped maintain the heath ‘of thousands of Greeks ina country ‘where the unemployment rates ‘around 25 per cant “The volunteer nie were created tacetertocesperate neath ‘needs says Ale Kentiklenisof the ‘University of Cambridge, who has sited some of them. "Theyrealt ‘autonomous andrelyondoctrsand ‘purses volunteering thelr time, and ‘peop and pharmacies donating ‘rugs, plus ther things ike diapers corm" He says manyof the volunteers are left-wing, a Syria ‘lack datamakesitificut toquanttytectinis overall ‘contribution says Kerikeri. "Forty clinics may not be enough ‘anyway, and they can ony provide primary healthcare services. 'fsomething'smore serious, they probably haveneither the staff ‘orthe faces to deal tht” Elections ae also due tis yearin Spain which itself has face major ‘utboces andhasits onmant austerity party. Podemos. Against ‘thebackdrop of dsilusionment with cuts andmainstream politicians, Helena Leido-Quigley ‘ofthe Landon Schoolaf Hygiene and Topical Medicine says that ‘ealthinequalties wil probably ‘ranslateinto support for Paderos, aswilthe sucess ofSyrza, Ebola reprieve ‘THE ight against bola has ‘tured acorner. There are now only fiveconfirmed cases in Liberia, the country’s {government announced lst ‘week, Falling infection rates are reported across the region, with new case numbers halving in Sierra Leone every 19 days, and every 1odaysin Guinea. ‘The Liberfan reprieve coincides with the shipment ofan experimental vaccine developed by GSK and Merck, and could mean that there aren’tenough partieipants for alarge-scale rial toassessits effectiveness. "It does seem ironic that the improved response to ‘the outbreaks threatening vaccine development, butit’s that improved response that has led tothe dramaticdecreasein cases," says Jonathan Ballat the University of Nottingham, UK Margaret Chan, director. sgeneralof the World Health Organization said on Sunday that ‘the WHO is ooking to expand ts “surge capacity"~itsabilityto respond quickly to future crises, “Never again should the world be caught by surprise, unprepared UK space telescope TWINKLE, twinkle little star, we're tryingto figure out what your exoplanetsare. That's the idea behind a proposed UK led space telescope called Twinkle that wllanalyseknownalien ‘worlds to better understand them. Thereare over i800 known ‘exoplanets, and both NASA and the Furopean pace Agency plan tolaunch dedicated planet hhuntersin 2017 to find more. Butastronomers aren't content tojustcollect exoplanets says Fornew stories every day, visitnewsclentistcom/news GiovannaTinettiof University — Moon milestones College London, they want to know moreaboutthem.Soshe IT'S prize money without the and her colleagues propose prize, TheGoogle Lunar XPrize, Twinkle-socalledbecause twill acompetition designed to watchforadipinlightasthe —_encourageprivatespace Mightto planet passesin frontofitsstar~ _themoon,hasawardedatotal of toobservelight filtering through $5.25 millionin“milestone prizes” known planets'atmospheresto_tofivecompetingteams. The ‘workout what gasesthey contain. money intended tohelp them, Thespacecraftisbeingdesigned getoff the ground, afterthe by UK firm Surrey satelite Xbrize Foundation repeatedly ‘Technology,andanumberofUK pushed back he deadline from universities are already onboard, — the originaldate of 2012. bbuttheteamsstilllooking for Astrobotic, based in Pittsburgh, funding. They aimtolaunch inthe Pennsyivania received $1:75million next three orfouryears-much _ fordeveloping technology for fasterthan most space missions. imaging, mobility andlanding. Fourother teams picked up prizes inoneor twoo! these categories. TheactualXPrize of §20 milion isforthe first team tosuecessfully landonthe moon, travel 500 metres and beam images “Five teams have received ‘prize’ money tohelp them get private space flight off the ground” back toEarth-supposedly before theendof 2016. "Clearly it's very hard todo, but they've not stopped \Working.”says Bernard Foing ofthe International Lanar Exploration Working Group. India sees green Brazil hit by worst drought in 80 years GREEN vislonisago. USpresident UIGHTSout. ras south-east, Barack Obama’ vist tolndiathis home toRiade anereandSso Paulo, \weekralsed speculation that 'sfacingits worst drought since ‘meaningfulactiononclimate _ 1930andthedry weatherloks et changemightbetakenatthe UN tocontinue.More than 90 cteshave summitin Paris laterthis year. imposed water rationing affecting Thetwonations agreed to ‘dose to 4 milion people, according collaborateonclean technology tomediareports. that could help India cutits ‘Thegoveenmenthascalled on hhugecarbonemissions. India's Brallanstocutthei water and prime minister Narendra Modi energyuse."Weare living an atypical ‘unveiled plansteboost the share stuationanditis very important that ofitsenergythatcomesfrom people dotheirpartand void the renewablesourees.Theaimis __wasteof water” the environment toproduce 100 gigawattsof power minister Izabela Tebxia,saidat fromsolar panels by2022.The __apressconferencelast week. country isalso consideringa Low water levelsalso spell trouble targetof 60 gigawalls from wind forelectriity generation. ranileies powerandexpandingitsnuciesr _onhydroeleciepowerfor around energy resources. 65 percent ofits supply andisnow “we very much support India's ambitious goa for solar energy, and stand ready tospeed ion with additional 1d Obama. And) India ean now also make use of US know how on nutclearenergy. “Forty percent of indiais stillnot connected tothe grid says Krishnan Pallassana foftheClimate Group,an {international think tank “Clean energy, particularly solarand wind, couldeventually connect these homes viaenewable sourees, and revitalise India's failing energy system: Running dryin SioPaulo facing shutdown of someplants Towne and ctiashave alresdybeen ity blackouts. “The situations Aguite citicutsays Luiz Pingu Rosa, director ofthe Coppeinstitute forengineeringreseorch atthe Federal University of Ro deaneito Low raifalisony partly to blame, Pinguel says. Alckof planningin the energy sectorhasmagnifed the problem, he says. ashas continuing torunhydroelectrcplonts despite low waterlevels-insteadof ‘itching to thermoelectric power. “The only solution inthe short term storeduce the consumption of water andenergy"Inthe lng run, ‘rant should focusonsolar energy. Pinguelsays butthiswillneed political witand funding. 6OSECONDS ‘Swap bitcoin for $ Bealnstar-upCoinbasehas lnunenestetsteansesexcnange inthe US. inanattempttohelpthe enptocarency sole see 929625) Backed $106mlon fom te NewYork stockBxhange and other funders let users snaps fordolarsin24US tates withthe blesingot Randal egustrs. Good news for tigers. reslamoacktineininl, where tigecrambershoveinceasecby 20S percentsne 2010. There reno 2226 toes. compared tatow of 11 n2008. dan CurermentminsterShiPrakash Jvadelarsndtheturaround was downtobetertorestmanagement andeommunty cooperation. -butterrible forrhinos South africa’ hinesarein trouble. Neri governmentfiguresrovealthat record 21S¢hinoswerekiled ast ‘year outdoing the 2013 recordof Wildlife crime charity TRAFFICSays 827 mostly whiterhinoswere taken ‘fromthe words largest population Inkruger National Park thanksin parttopoachersfromneighbouring Mozambique. Asteroid had company ‘That'snomoon! No, walt tis Radar Imagesof asteroid 2004186, whicnpassed cise byon Monday. revealedthe 325-metre-widerockis accompaniedbya70-metresatellte ‘Theparcame within12illon kometres oath aboutthree ‘imesthe distancatecurownmoon, andwon'tbeback or 200 ears An egg, unboiled "we haveinventeda ay tounbolla hen egg" SosaidGregory Welssfrom the University of Cafomia. vine, ashedescribedawaytountangle proteins suchasthoseinegguhite, sothey canbe refolded The method couldbe used torecyciepotensin ‘madicalandchemical processes (ChemBiochem dol org/f22c89). BL anuary 2015 NewSciontst7 THIS WEEK Penny foryourthoughts Mind-reading goes portable Communicating with people who are locked-in is becoming easier ‘are ison Inrecent years breakthroughs eyemovements.AdrlanOwenof _Owen'sgroupandothers are inmind-teading technology have WesternUniversityinLondon, _onamissiontogivea voice toas YOU wake upinhospitalunableto broughtthis tory closetoreality Canada, fearsthatthereIsanother _ many such people as possible. ‘move,tospeak,totwitchsomuch forahandfulef peoplewhomay formofthecondition wherethe _Heisalso askingethicists how to asaneyelid. Youheardoctors _haveaseveretypeoflocked-in_paralysisistotal.Hethinksthata respond ifsuch people, once they telling yourrelativesyouarein syndrome, previously diagnosed proportionof peoplediagnosed _cancommunicate, express wish avegetativestate-unawareof _asbeinginavegetativestate.So_asbeinginavegetativestate-in_todie(see“What if they want to everythingaroundyou-andyou far,mostworkbasrequiredalab whichpeopleare thought tohave die”, above right) hhaveno wayofletting anyone —_andagiant{MRIscanner.Nowtwo nomentalawarenessatall-are People mostoftenentera ‘know thisisnot thecase.Yearsgo teamsaredevelopingdevicesthat actually aware but unabletolet__ vegetative state after emerging by, untilone day, you'reconnected are portableenoughtobetaken anyone knaw.“The possibilityis fromacoma.tnsteadof fully toamachine thatallowsyouto _outtohomes,tohelppeople that wearemissingpeople with awakening. they entera twilight communicate through your brain communicate onaday-to-vday _somesortofcompletelocked-in zone between the two tates. Their ‘waves. Itonlyallowsyesorno basis. Thetechnology mightalso syndrome,” he says eyes may sometimes open, but ‘answers, butit makes ll the beableto identify people who thelr gaze wanders randomly and difference-now youcan tellyour have been misdiagnosed, ne possibility isthat we —theydonot respond toattempts carersifyouarethirsty.fyoud _Peoplewithelassic'locked-in are missing people who tocommunicate,akey measure liketosi¢ up, even which TV syndrome are ullyeonsciousbut ar scious t lofconsciousness. There is no ‘programmesyouwanttowatch. completely paralysed apartfrom ¢i now official tally, but Derick Wade, 8 INewScientist 3 January2015, inthissection mW Rosetta summer withacomet, 1M Tho oldest exoplanets, page 13 1 Stressed immune cells act ike antidepressants, page 1S ge10 neurological rehabilitation Theteam showed in20n that consultantat Oxford University three out of16 peopleclassedas Hospitalshas estimated that there being ina vegetative state could areabout 6000 peopleinthe UK generatediscernibly different Snapersistentvegetativestate. patterns of brain activity in (Owen’sgrouphas previously _responseto these commands. shown thata proportion of these ButOwenthinks ths could stil people aninfact understand and miss some people with awareness, follow instructions, Thegroup_aseven people without brain ‘madeheadlinesin2010when injuries find the task difficult: theydemonstrated thistsingan one quarter of healthy volunteers hetested couldn't doit. "I’squite “Asking locked-in people hard toimagine squeezing your tofocusonvibrationson —_hands,"hesays, their skin produceseasy- —__Nowhehasanew version, to-read brain activity” ‘which involves placing vibrating devices on someone's arms, and {MRI scanner, which showsbrain asking themto payattention, activity. They asked people to toone ibratoror theother as ‘imagine they were playingtennis they areasked questions, Owen orwalkingaroundtheihome. told the BartsNeuroscience Notonlydid the scansshow that Symposium in.London lst week, aboutoneinfiveotthase tested —__-Focusingen sensory cauldthinkabout the different information ike vibration activities oncue,but three people seems tobe easier toread on an sofarhavebeenabletousethe EEG than imagined movernents, different patterns fbrain activity hesays."Tactle stimulation that these thoughts produced'to works very well” til, it’searly answersimple yes orno aysand Owen's works questions. "unpublished as yet."Wehave Oneman tested forinstance, _hadsomesuccesses,"isallhe who had been classed sina willsay for now. vegetativestatefortayearsafter __ Owenhas reason forcautionas acarcrash,correctly answered his workisnot without its critics questionsabouthisnameand They worry thatthe publicity thoseofhiscarerandarelative, surrounding his workis giving Hewentontosignalthat hewas _falsehope to families caring for notinpain-andthatheliked people whoaretruly ina watching ce hockey on TV."They _vegetativestate. They alsoctaim, were important questions forhis family” says Owen. t's about quality of life” Brain scanningis laborious process, though, so itis no good forhelping people communicate frequently oreasily.Thesize and costo MRIs mean that mostcare homes donothave them, To make the technology more accessible, | (Owen's team hasbeen developing aversion of the technique that usesanelectrode cap to record the brain's electrical signals, or EEG. Because an EEG can only read surface brain activity, they had to find different mental tasks. Thelr first approach was ask people to think about squeezing hand or Wiggling thelr toes, a WHAT IF THEY WANT TO DIE? Adrian Owen nas natused nis havewanted. methods of communicating with Therearewellestablshed ways locked.inpeople(seemsinstory) of deciingifsomeoneisof sound toasksomeoneittheywanttoend _mind-butanalysing brain activity is ‘theirlfe"Wedon'thavethe ethical] not currently conducive to them. {rameworksinplacefordealingwth "Wtsike tying to evaluate decsion ‘hat question” he says He's ‘making capacity nan abbreviated however workingwithethicststo_ gameot 20questions”sysethicst row up the firsts of guidelines for Andrew Peterson of Western suchcases.whichhehopestohave University inLondon, Canada, who ready next year. |shelping to write the guidelines Going downthisroadwouldnat Evan wth Owenis communication becassedaseuthanasia Peoplewho methods, theelsikey tobe some. ‘arecompetelyparalysecarekept uncertainty. Therevellbe cases allvebyartifiialmears.Thisis__whererelatveslsagre with he dlassedasmeticaltreatment, and patientorwith eachother over Canberefusedbyanyonewhols whether treatment should continue. mentally competent Treatmentcan "This'snotgoingtaendupbeing 3 ‘akeady bewithdrawnifapersons medicalissue, thisis gong to endup relativesthinkitiswhatthey would alegalissue,'sayswen, that the people with whom Owen _peopleclassed as beingina hhascommunicatedhadbeen _vegetatvestate really have some misdiagnosed and wereactually kind of awateness~and that his inaminimallyconsciousstate latest version ofthe EEG "mind: (Mc3).Such peoplecanshow reader” willhelp tofind them. EEG fluctuatingsignsofawareness, communication devicesalready suchasbeingabletoopenthelr exist for people who have classic feyesonrequest.Ifthisistrue, locked-in syndrome. They can. thenthey don't needamind- _lookat ettersasthey lash on readertocommunicate just _sereenandsselect them witha, betterdiagnosisinthetirst place, burstof mental activity picked toalertcarerstowaysthey could upby electrodes. ‘communicate ‘And company in Austria Yet Owen insists that hiswork called gtechas developed an EEG showsthataround 20 percentof device using vibrating pads for the wrists for people wha have difficulty communicating It went ‘onsale in Europeat the end oflast year. A group led by Steven Laureys ofthe University of Lege {nBelgium hastested iton people with clasiclocked-insyndrome And found that asking users to count how many buzzes they feel oneach wrist helps the electrodes pick up brainactivity more clearly, and might makeit possible or the device toenable people who are completely locked-in tocommunicat. Despite the critics, Owen seems ‘upbeat:"Ithink we may be able tosend people home with some variation of an EEG. Wewill Brain-wavedetector getthere! m 31 January2015 | NowScintst | THIS WEEK Summer holiday’ around a comet DESPITE the fantastic success ‘ofthe European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft, which has been hanging out around comet 67/Churyumov Gerasimenko foroverstx months, mission researchers had until now released only few findings ‘Now, the team has published seven reports in the journal Science covering data from “Augustand September (dolorg/ _2s)-Hereareour favourite bis: EGYPTIANGODS RULE67P The comets duckelike shape ‘makes ithardto usea latitudeand longitude system, sothe Rosetta team has split the 4-kilometre longcomet 7P into1g regions namedafterancient Egyptian deities like Sethand Anubis. PAIN INTHE NECK ‘The api regionon 67P's “neck” hosts the only visiblecrack inthe ‘comet's surface, which isabout tkilometre longand. few metres wide. Anon going mystery is whether the twohalves were once separate cometsthat merged, or ‘larger comet that eroded slowly. 10 |NewScientst 31 January 2015, ‘COMETS HAVE GOOSEBUMPS. Some parts of 67P are dotted ‘with lumps that HolgerSierks, whoruns Rosetta’ OSIRIS camera and colleagues call“goosebumps They may be formed when tiny grains of dust floating in space get ‘drawn together into” pebbles about 3metres wide. These pebbles can only grow larger by merging with others, eventually forming larger body like 67P. FLUFFY DUCK. New figures for thecomet’s mass and volume pegits density at roughly 500 kilograms percubic ‘metre, about the sameascotton ‘wool This fluffy materials hard tohold onto~67Plosesaround 4billion kilograms, 0.01 percent ofitsmass,on each six and-a-haf- year orbit around thesun, “SNIFFING OUT THE SEASONS The comets rotation gives i seasons. [tis currently “summer” ‘on 67P'shead, so some parts of the body are in darkness. That means the comet's coma-its transient atmosphere varies from place toplace. Rosettas ROSINA spectrometer sniffed the comaand found higher concentrations of water near the head, and more carbon dioxide around the body. Kathrin >] , Upload your CV today at: NewScientistJobs.com APERTURE Eat rear) Watch out, it’sa poonado! Ce ues ee ee nd ‘temperedsomawhatby ararelyseendefence See Peeters redatorsinthe word, sovshethove they ferent element eae Cette ere een cna ee el hespotted oneandjumpedinforsomeclose-ups The whale approached Wikandhisthree Cee See eee eee Cee Sea ee ee eee ee er eects Pebekoue ruled een ee teens Seer een ty Se ee ena Cerner cry Sree a ee eee Ce eee perenne ees aed Ce aac eee ed pons peer Een ry OPINION Clearing the air (Obama wants to cut smog: Republicans cry foul over costs. Europe's limit looks tougher, buts it? Fred Pearce peers through the haze “VOTE Republican: vote smogs" doubt many bumper stickers carried that message during lst year's US midterm elections. But ‘hokingairand kids dyingof asthma may be what the Republican victory delivers. Republicans now control both houses of Congress and areallfor throttling President Barack ‘Obama's plansto lower the federal limiton ozone smog, announced bythe US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) right after the elections. They say its ‘unachievable, except at vast cost ‘This might surprise Europeans, ‘who have been living witha tougherlimitfor sometime. However,an analysisfor New Scientist suggests that Europe's limitsare les stringent than they appear. And reports from Brussels inrecent weeks suggest that anything tougherisoff the ‘agenda because of concern about the impact on fragile economies. Ozone in the stratosphere, miles above the round, is good ‘thing, shielding us from cancer ‘causing ultraviolet radiation. But {tisalgoa strong corrosive oxidant. Atstrect level triggers asthma attacks, damages children’s ung development and ‘causes heart problems inthe elderly. t also cutscrop yields, slowstree growth and eats away attextiles~allat levelscommonly {ound in industrialised nations. The pollutants unusual in that \wedon'temit much directly. eis largely secondary product, created photochemically [Nitrogen oxides from burning fuel react in sunlight with volatile ‘organiecompounds from solvents 24 LNewScients |31January 2015, and again in2008, under Tefineries.This cocktail brews President Rush, t075 ppb. Many especially in summer,thoughit major UScities such s Chicago, takes few hoursfor the Dallas, Houstonand much of concentration ofozone'o peak, California regulatly reach the sothehighestlevelsareoften Bush limit found insuburbsorcountryside —_Butdoctors say the limit should downwindof urbanareas, where belower till. The World Health pocketsof pollutionwillhave Organization reportsthat healthy drifted in those few hours. adults and children exposed to Thehealth risksscaleupwith _ozoneat 60 ppb for several hours the duration of continuous experienceinflamed lungs and cexposure;regulatorsmostly _ breathlessness. n200§, the WHO measure Shouraverages, Places recommended limit of 50 ppb, breach limits when they havetoo -Regulatorshavebeen timid. The ‘many days with excessive amountsoverShourstretches, “The airat Sevenoaks, near ‘The irsttSozone standard was London, passed Europe's set in1g79,at120 partsperbillion. ozone test easily but could Iwas loweredini997t084 ppb _failtthe proposed US limit” ‘Obama administration initially vetoed atougher stance, But last November, the EPA finally proposed anew limit of between {65nd 70 ppb. It would come into forcebetween 2020 and2037, with problem cities geting most time toadjust. "Bringing ozone pollution standards inline with the atest science will clean up our air and] protect those most at tisk," said EPA administrator Gina ‘McCarthy. But 2037 isa long time towait if youhave asthma, Opponents say meeting such alimitwill require expensive retrofitting of scrubbersto remove nitrogen oxides from ‘power plant fumes, andeither new technology for vehicle exhausts or limits ontransport. Ie"could ost up tosz7obilliona year and place million of jobs at isk" according to the USNational Association of Manufacturers. ‘The EPA dismisses that, reckoning, thata 6s ppb limit would cost sisbilliona yearin return for health benefits worth twice as much: annually, up to4300 fewer premature deaths, as manyas 960,000 fewer childhood asthma attacks, and amillion fewer missed schooldays. Inthedog daysofhis, ‘administration, Obamais keen to seis executive powers to bring onenvironmental measures of this sort.But Congress isnot ina ‘moodte lie down. Both the Senate land House of Representatives are lookingat Republican proposals requiring the EPA toconsider the impact of air quality rules on jobs, somethingit is notallowed todo atpresent. Republicans mayalso take aim at EPA funding, Smog. Formore opinion articles, visitnewsCientistcom/opinion sceptics, like climate sceptics, seem tohave subjugated environmental concerns to theirnarrow politicalagends. Allthis makes Europe look good. A European Union ozone Timitof 6o ppb—deemed ‘unattainable in the US~hasbeen inforcesince 2010, But US and Europeanimitsarenot directly comparable, and here's why. Inthe US, being inbreach of the regulations means exceeding thelimitonfouror moredaysin, year, averaged over three years. Soni breaches inany three-year period isfine, but 2s not. In Europe, the imitan be exceeded uptozsdaysa year, again averaged over three years. Soup to75bad-airdaysare allowedin that time, That'salot,butevenso largeparts of southern Europe failed that test forthe period 20m. 102013 because ofaspike during thehot summerof 2013 Sowhich policyistougher? ‘asked smog scientists at King’s College Loncion tocompare them, Gary Fullerand Tim Baker looked atr7 yeas of data, from998 10 2014, atSevenoaks just outside london. Theresultsare remarkable. They found that Sevenoaks air passed the EU test easily, nevergettingclose tothe 7sbad.-air-days limitin any three year period. But itexceeded the proposed US test inno fewerthan, tathree-year periods. "For south- east England, the [proposed] US EPA imitismore stringent than the EU one," says Fuller This should not givesuccour tocriticsof the EPA proposal ‘Themedical evidence showsitis urgently needed. The shocks that ‘theapparently stringent £U limits are, ineality,solax. They need toughening. Which makes recent reports that EU environment ‘inistersatetryingtostymie initiativestodo thatas distressing asRepublican denials, ‘Smogs? Kids’ health? Who cares anymore? FredPearceisaconsutant or ew Scientist QUEEN ELIZABETH PRIZE FOR ENGINEERING Make things better The Queen's prize recognises the huge contribution engineers make to our everyday lives, says The Duke of Edinburgh PROFILE Prince Philips the husband of Queen lzabeth lard Serior Foleo the Royal Academy of Engineering in1957, hewrote to The New Scientist to congratulate ton its fist anniversary and wish tmany more IF YOUlookaround you, everything yousee that sftpartof the natural wed was the vision of anengineer or an architect Every power station, every oad every ras. every ridge every meble phone every ain, ever piece of equipment and every sewage works anesits fexistancetoanengineet Great engineers have a passin toimprovelife: aburingcondcion that they canimakelife better for everyone Engineersneedtohavea talent ferinvertion andinovation, but what crives them sthe conviction that they can find abetter way tod things cheaper and mere efficent soluton tothe problems of human exstenceon this plant ofmitedrescurcesthatwe cal Earth. any of usspendalot of time complaining about the dfcuties and problems of ite It'seagytofind faut wit things that make daly arduous Foran engineer, these Aitfeutties can be opportunities How can this bbemadetoworkbetter? Howvcanthat process bbemade ore efficent? How can components bbemademore cheep, mare accurately and more fit-for-purpose? Great engineers are convinced hat everything can be improved Instead of complaining they thnkof waysto ‘make things better Inadition to ambition, those who aspre to change the wold fer the beter aso need to ‘aqui the sls and knowedge that previous ‘enerationshave bequeathed the art and science of engineering. ary peopetake io engineering because they dscover that they already have techrical sks ‘they car make things wth great precision. Others

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