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WIN CONTRACTS | FULFIL ORDERSThis week’s issue Onthe cover s2Seerets of the ‘Mediterranean diet Trerealreasonit's sosuccessfland how toerioy hebenefts Whereveryoutve News SLargest primate How the mysterious ape ‘Gigantopthecus went extinct 16 Vial trigger Severe covid-19 infections lnkedt schizophreniarsk 17 Vital refuge ‘Submerged area near ‘Austraa may have hosted 500,000 people Views 21.Comment Weshouldallbe concemed bythe shortage of science teaches, says lam Shaha 22Thecolumnist Chanda Prescod-Weinstein ‘ona sola year forspace 24 Aperture Images of focks of starings 25Letters ‘Why surviving doomsday may beforthefew 28culture ‘Anoptimisticbook an saving Earth from climate change 18 Tiny Trex fossils may ‘bea whole new species 10 Blackhole istands' could solve Hawkins paradox ‘1 interview: Meet the first ‘woman tofly tothemoon 15 How Venus ippedits spin 36 Afcas lost manatees Vol261 No3473 2/sittimeto stutdown bitoin? Cover image: Rachel Tunstall 30 2024's best deo garnes tH i 24Birds ofa feather Soren Solze'sphotos of staring murmurations 36 Features “How manatees swam across the Atlantic Ocean to Africaisa mystery” Features s2Anoliveaday Induloing ina Medteranean dt canstae of heart attacks ‘36 Elusive manatees ‘Strange sightings ofthese ‘aquatic mammals farfom their usual coastal habitat in Guinea “51 Backto the moon Cstina Koch witbecome thefirstwomanto travel to the maon ater this year The back pages 44Mathematicsof tte Howto calculate your ancesty 45 Puzzles Ty our cossword quickquiz andiogic puzzle 46 Almost the last word ‘What are the odds of Voyager 1 ‘or2hitinga stro planet? 47Tom Gaul for New Scientist ‘cartoonists take on the world 49 Feedback Baackhalebateres and confusing coffees spJanuary 2024 |New Seentist xon New Scientist Virtual event Podcast The dark side “It looks like oe acomputer Freese recount stories tomer book The Cosmic Cocktail: Tiree pris dark mate fromhistoric scoveresto the deluge of data from underground labs, space that can crack quantum. Senaraharwesramet encryption is songrarpayarwratgias ” calaxestogthernthsonkne on the way talkat 7pmeST on21 Fetnuay! ‘am GMT on22 Februay newsclentist.com/events Jane Goodall Thorelsstitimeta change oelatonship wh nate Tour Newsletter Tasmania's flora, fauna and geology “The Australian sandof Tasmania boasts golden beaches, misty ‘mountains andionely patches cof vkerness Join biclogistand conservationist Martin Cohen Inseeking ou Tasmanian devils, platypuses and fary penguins. Wander among ancient geology andlscovertheistand’s Indigenous cultures, This 12-day tourbeginson 20 February andteletscost £4595, Year ofthe moon sha! tomake of thee spat iar missions newsclentist.com/tour Podcast Video Newsletter Weekly Wild optimism Launchpad Whatextingorsobering tends __-Renowned conservation! jane Space reporter Leah Crane i i co New Scientists reporters Goodal aks to New Scent matcuyaecuynt | Essential guide expecttocontinuecovernginthe | witerGrahamLatwton2bouther | weareramping us the pace ‘ourmind underpins your yearahead? Ard whatsurpsng —‘hopesfortheyoutnottedayand | ofnarexusions. Themoon | everyexperenceandis integral innavations re they keeping wystettinkswecanstitumthe | hldsan maluaberecordof tobotnthe ntemafeeing of thereyesoutfor Fretoutinins —tdeagarst climate change. Imuly | thesolrsysteristeenageyeass, | bemg"you'andhowothers 2024 prevew covering record belevethstwevegotawindow | yetmanyof 2024spianned perceive yu iso fai, obaltemperatues the scaring _—oftmetomake change buts | méssorstotaregearedtowards | yetextremelyhatopindown, opulaty of weight ss cruas losing’ shesays."Whennature | humanspaceesricrationrather | Urravelthetuth about you ner andnew hrizons for quantum suffers we alsuffer When natue | thanplanstry research world wth helatest New Scent computers anceryptogapty. flourshes, we al foursh" ppeweclantistexon/ Essent Gude Buyin pen non newsclentist.com/nspod youtube.com/newsclentist, launchpad shop.newscientist.com al NewSclentist| January 2024Perpetual lunacy The extraordinary new C1 Moonphase from Christopher Ward. A watch that trocks the moon for 128 years-without missing o beat. With an aventurine gloss dial infused with copper oxide to represent the night sky. And @ 3D ‘moon’ sculpted from Globolight©-a luminous ceramic—that precisely follows the real moon's journey across the sky. Awatch this advanced can cost up to £45,000. But the Cl Moonphase starts fram less than £2,000. ‘As someone once said, you don’t have to be mad to work here. Do your research. ™ Christopher @ Ward Christopherward.comeel fer-)] PSE en) Support life-changing Soy medical research. sy Join Research Bakers Many diseases have been cured thanks to medical IeXr lc ONDeSONaRe tL MNS LU CES UMA) 91= =) Cd need of support. Hold a charity bake sale idee a Scan the OR rele R CORT) out more. CeeThe leader The great moon rush A flood of lunar missions will be a boon for science, but we must proceed with care THISisthe year ofthe moon, anditis already kicking off The rst launch of the Vulcan rocketon 8 January marked the start of what maybe the biggest deluge of missions the moon has ever seen thanks toNASAs Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) programme seepage?) ‘ThefirstCLPS missionis Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander an uncrewed craft lofted on Vulean that hopedto reach the Junarsurface on23February.itcouldhave been the frst time private firm touched dwinonthemoon, but Peregrinesuffered a fuelleakand won't now makeittoits Intended destination. Nevertheless, there are moresuch missions planned thisyear, withthe worldsspaceagencies and firms determined iomake it to the moon. Inthe midst ofallthisrobotic PUBLISHING & COMMERCIAL commends ud event decor an Newton ert msl i od dapper ‘ie “i aie tr account manage ila acho, thipsscm manager At Recalinent averting ‘ls ag(ono: tad mance Rerultent soles manger it esa, eyaccount manager Deh Vi! Now Senta ent Asay (oem ot fies Ema neewscentstcom aes ‘crate sere ten conn ee mite atin tie an Deiat marneiapmampr stn sd camps marttingootinno cir sks “encase ieee eee “iris = ead of stag ae prod devcopment Chi get cas spoitatioeg ip tn ‘Senior devel rt “ela iee Soe oe unlrfrnt nd deeper isthe es Patni ‘oneal Eran line rehta exploration, preparationsarealso afoot tohavehumanslandthereas well a feat that hasn'tbeen accomplished since 1972. NASA Artemis I mission, planned for the end ofthe year, willtake fourastronauts around the moon, including Christina Koch, the first womantotravelto “The moon could be said to be entering anew geological era akin to the Anthropocene” Earth's satellite (see interview, page a). Hit goes wel this will the last dress rehearsal for the return of astronauts tothe lunar surface. ‘That surface, free from the influences ‘of geological and biological activity, ‘eangive us crucial details not just about NewScientist chet execstre Rolin Ate asinine ‘lr ag cate estan one ip ommer finance masagr be ion comer casagement sunt Act eis bins pier nm cuban contacts General media ergs ‘ie (oo 500 bers London Wa 7 san ise aad ons coo Pith ve Aor N00 [Ok ‘UkRewertand kes Uae ‘una mtommuncatersiurne am ‘syntcaton ‘ene content gene) T4020 7887585 inal crise co Saberpons — ‘one yeni subecpon Grane URETO ‘Tsagobso nso na stscfnstineeestcom ort seri eco ue erg a Tajo Westsussea yesh. seas andere oar | wegupneroamtas hanes ‘ess cgunty cnn Earth's past, ut about the evolution ofthe entiresolarsystem, Plus,itisan important jumping-off point for any Journeys further afield The technologies forthose missions willhavetobe tested somewhere, and the moon, with alits similarities toMars and otherrelatively| small worlds, is arguably the best place fordoingso. Still with so much activity on the lunar surface that it could be saidto be enteringa new geological era akin tothe Anthropocene (see book review on page 2g), we should proceed with caretoavoid ddespoiling it. Ourmoon sa pristine time capsule from our planet's past anda reminder of the way our world has changed through ouractions.Tonot earn from ourmistakes wouldbe unforgivable. 8 EDITORIAL or arin de ange ‘News amd gal detor Po sachet “Gene deer Cg He Norma es on ‘Roan Tranoon sun ong ‘eros ani Pe, ‘hens Anew pres Wik ‘dae wisn Gus aise Kan otf gat endo eora vdeo id sick ‘ed of eta anel cont and len Thamson loreal fae Dag Alon carp Jag han ar lr and ommend on Hod Serene ie subedon sing chi saber Trang eth scary mts on hse me a ao may na Ee oe oe ~ Se eeie Rares asa alpha hey, ey s5 January 202g [New ScientistsSubscriptions NewScientist “4 Subscribe Wess ae Rss Make sense of our changing world ‘The breathtaking advances in artificial intelligence and a growing urgency to find climate change solutions are set to dominate headlines in 2024. Stay ahead with New Scientist and let us guide you with the latest news and expert analysis. Stay ahead in 2024 Go to newscientist.com/20891 or call +44 (0) 330 333 9470, quoting 20891News ‘Marvellous material Graphenetumed nto ascmiconductorfor {nto pastecanmake is thefirst time pp meat gofurther px polsoning pia Wastenot,wantnot "Notsogolien Grindingbones ‘Mining in Bo ATCT ET a tt eee ea Ce td Cee EL ete ee Cee es Cee Se ee Cee Prem) because the Peregrine lander es ee Ec prema ete acy Neuro-rehabilitation Paychedeiedrug helps treat traumatic braininjury prs Coloured by history spJamuary2024 New Scentist|7News Palaeontology Giant ape’s extinction explained We now know more about why the mysterious Gigantopithecus blacki died out up to 295,000 years ago, after failing to adapt to a changing climate, reports James Woodford ‘THE largest known primate ‘went extinct between 295,000 and_215,000 years ago, probably driven by ts inability to adapt itsfood preferences amida ‘changing climate. relative of today's orangutans, Gigantopithecus blacki, known as ‘Giganto’, was 3 metres talland ‘weighed up to300 kilograms. Despite surviving for more than 2millionyears, the species has been abit ofan enigmasinceits Pollenand sediment fossilised tooth was foundin a Incaves (above) traditional medicine shop in Hong suggest the largest Kong in1935. Theenormoustooth ‘ape onEarth lived ‘wasinitially purportedto belong Ingrassy areas toadragon, but palaeontologists asillustrated (ett) ‘quickly recognised itwas, in fact, froma primate, “When youthinkabout them, youthink about giants." says Kira Westaway from Macquarie researchers write. "However, just availability oftheirfavouritefood. — Fossils resembling blacki have University in sydney, Australia. beforeandduringtheextinction _elngunabletoadapt oashifting —alsobeen found in Thailand, “Normally when youthink windowbetween295000and —__climate,andthefoodvariability Vietnam andindonesia, sboutagiant,youthinkabout —_215,000years.ago, there was that camewithit, probably sealed “Onethingseemsalmost, adinosaur,butthiswasagiant enhanced environmental, thecreature’sfate,theysay.In _certainsthetractual geographical inthe primate fam ‘aroblty from increased contrstorangutans ofwhich _rangethrough tmewould have Jeesonalty whicheaused thetearethreesurvvingspecls, been much greaterthan current ; hangesinplantcommunitles adaptedthelrdletary preferences fess indicate says Louys How Failure to adapt and an increase in open forest and behaviour in response to much this will affect the timing of Toestablishatimelineforwhen environments” theyadd(Natue, incressingclimate variability. __theglobalextnctionof the species theapewentextine Westaway DOL:103038/5586-025.06900-0). “Ukiately[Gblacks]siruggle isimpossiletotell” andher colleagues studied Bystudyingbandinginthe. toadaptledtotheextingion hundredsofitsteethandfour animals fossisedteeth the _ofthegreatestprimatetoever ; jawhone fragmentsfoundin _reseachersdetectedsignsof__inhabttheEarth”theresearchers_FOSsil shortage aves acrossGuangxiprovince _chroniestresscausedbyalackof write Theyalsodispelthetdea_Anne-MarleBacon tthe French insouthern China Lookingat that hominins may have National CentreforScleniic the radioactive decay ofcerain competed withorhuntedthe _Researchsaysthatthestuay chnentachaurnimontin OE I species, helping driveits helps usto understand lacks teeth andbone allows researchers demise “Thereisnoevidence _extincion, but just tudying togaugehowmuchtimehas Maximumyearssinceextnetion for this sys Westaway: fos romchinaonly reveals passedsince death. of Ggantopithecus block! Fulen Louysat Grifith pat ofitshistory. They also ookedat other Universi in Queensland, “Thispaper focuses onChinese depstssucrsnainand = DBI Australia saystheresearchers records but duetothescarcityof sediment withinthecavesto presentaconvincingeasethat _palaeontologialste in Asa, we determine theconditions that Theminimumnumberotyears_changingenvizonments and don't knowifthe geographical blacks herbivore-livedin, sine the primate ed out particularly inceasedhabiat _rangeofthe giantapeextended “Weshow that, from2:3milion noes ‘arlablity, probably had conthelndochinese peninsula yansgatnecrmananns” D wail deuimentaeffctsonG black, (mainland South-East As ‘ mosaiofforests andgrasses, million Headds,howeverhatthe —_and,furthemore, what was the providingidealconditionsfor Theta spaninyears over fossil studiedeame romaquite southernmost limi ofthis range” Uiving. black populations" the wheh6.bladkroamedEarth ——_restrctedgeographicalregion. _shesays. 4 ‘|New Scentst|1sJanuary 2024‘Technology First working graphene semiconductor could lead to faster computers ‘Matthew Spares AWORKING semiconductor Agraphene __citherpreventsorallowscurrent _rateofminiaturisation has slowed potentially paving the way for grownon shouldbeconducivetoscaling densities beyond whichelectrons anewtypeofcomputerwith asiicon upbecauseitreliesontechniques _can'tbereliably controlled. greaterspeedandefficency Carbidewafer _notdissimilartothoseused to “The fact they're using wafers than today'siliconchipsallow. create silicon chips. {simportant because thats realy, Grapheneisamaterial made § DelHeer's group used wafers of truly scalable says David Carey at fromasinglelayerof carbon) _seummmit silicon carbide that wereheated, the Universit of Surrey, UK. "You atoms thats stronger than steel forcing the silicon toevaporate atcomparablethicknesses.Itisa__theflowofcurrenttobeswitched beforethecarbon,efectively “Using graphene instead goodelectricalconductorandis onandoff.soitiseitherconducting leavingalayerof grapheneontop of siliconis like driving resistanttoheatandacids.Buta —ornotconducting,creatingthe (Nature, doLorg/mbzf),DeHeer ona gravel road versus wworkinggraphene semiconductor, binary system ofzeroesandones _saidinastatement that the driving ona freeway” which can be controled to used in digital computers electrical properties ofa graphene conductorinsulateelectrcity Whilepreviouszesearch has semiconductor werefarbetter_canuseallthe technology thatthe atwllhas evaded scientists shownthatgraphenecanbe _thanthoseofsiliconchips."I's___wholesemiconductor industry is such semiconductorsarekey _—_madetoactlikea semiconductor —_likedrivingonagravelroadversus totally comfortable withtoscale tocreatingthelogicchipsthat__onasmallscaleithadneverbeen drivingonafreeway hesaid. _upthisprocess” Buthe ssceptical power computers. scaleduptosizesthat would make Silicon chipsare cheap to thatthe world willsoonshiftto The problem has beenthelack _acomputerchip practical rmakeandbackedby massive _graphenechips, because silicon ofwhatisknown as abandgap Now,Walterdeeeratthe _-manufacturinginfrastructure, has such ahead stat.“Most Semiconductors havebandsof Georgia Insttuteof Technology but wearereachingthelimits| people who workonsilicon are higherandloverenergiesand _inatlantaandhiscolleagues have of whattheycan do. Moore's bombarded onadallybasis by apoint=the bandgap=atwhich _createdgraphene with abandgap _lawstatesthatthenumberof new, wonderful materials that exeltedelectronscanhopftomone anddemonstratedaworking_transistorsinacircuitwilldouble are about to replaceitand none totheother. This effectively allows transistor, an on/offswitchthat roughly everytwo years, butthe of t’sever happened,” he says. E Climate change Abiboard cispiays118°F (W7-8°C)during aheatware in Phoenix zona in ly 2023 was officially — scatappiiesto the tong-term theworld’shottest — suve\erree een the average fora sinole yea yearonrecord The extremes we have observed over thelast few months provide heavy rains Storm Daniel which LAstyearwasthehottestever dramatic testimony of how far we breached damsand killed more rexel. heghtalaveege —rowaretomthectmateinwiah than 11,000 peopein Libya lst temperature forthe year was our civilisationdevelopeds' said = September, much more ikely. The L.48°Cwarmerthanthe1850- _CarloBuontempo;the directorof July heatwave inNorth America 1900 pre-industrial average, C5,inastatement."Weneed = and Europe wouldhavebeen according tothe European Union's tourgentiy decarbonise:” i ‘Nirtually impossible” without CopemicusCiimateChangeService Inafirst,everydayofthe year = (C35) Thatisthehighestsince —_wasatleast°Cwarmerthanits = recordsbeganin 1940 and cquivalentin pre-industrial times. probably thehighestin 100,000 Richard Bettst the Met Ofc, the also unprecedented in 2023, years, sparking heatwaves, Uk’snationalweatherservce,says "The Met Officemakes according to C35, and contributed droughts and wifes. 2023 wasevenmorescorchingthan predictionsontheforecastfor__to-eventsike Hurricane tis, which Theyear'saverage temperature expected. Thatispartiybecause_thecoming year every year” intensified more in 12 hours than 0f14,98°C(58.96"F)cameciose —_EINiio,anaturalcimatephase _—saysBetts."2023 wasthefirst_ any storministory. tohitting 1.5°Cabove pre-industrial that booststemperatures started timeit wassubstantilly above ‘Thisyear willalso be hot times, limit that countiesare _earlierinthe year than ustal, What we would predic.” and ould even break 2023's aiming toavoid underthe 2015 _althoughmost ofthe warming The swelteringtemperatures record, says Bets. Paris Agreement-aithoughthe _isstllduetohumanemissions. _-madeextremeweatherlikethe _lecLuhn spJanuary2025|NewsScientist 9News ‘Astrophysics Away to solve the black hole paradox We may be able to measure “islands” that contain copies of information that black holes have lost Alex Wilkins WEMAY beableto findout what happens to matter that falls intoa blackhole, something previously ‘thought impossible. Thisis because some parts ofa black holes interior, calledislands, may actually poke far enough out ofthe hole or ustomeasure them, we cando this, then Stephen Hawking’s blackhole paradox might finally beresolved. "There's some extremely surprising physics that no longer hidden behind black hole horizons” Inthe 1970s, Hawking realised ‘that when the laws of quantum ‘mechanics are applied othe spherearoundablackhole where ight can nolongerescape,called itsevent horizon, then radiation should be emitted by theblack hole. This means theblackhole slowly “evaporates" This Hawkingradiation, which contains only someot the information of whateve sucked in by ablackhole’ gravity, willeventually cause the black hole to totally evaporate, which ‘creates paradox. In physics, information an'tjust disappear, ‘but ifsomething falls into. black hole andthe Hawking radiation only contains someofthe informationabout it,then when the blackhole evaporates, some information would be lost forever. Competing ideas Physicists have comeup with, ‘many ideas to resolvethe paradox, butthemost popular ones focus ‘on what happens tothe Hawking. radiation afterit is created. An approach called complementarity saysthat the lost informations actualy stored t theblackhole's boundary whilealso passing ‘through toits interior, appearing s0|New Scents 1 January 2024 Indifferent waystoan observer