ura ire Oa ae raat TRAU LaLa mene PLUS GIANT QUANTUM VORTEX ARE PEOPLE IN HILLY TOWNS HEALTHIER? THE SCIENCE BEHIND FLUFFY PANCAKES WHY THERE COULD Pes YOUR KIMCHI HOW UKRAINE'S DRONE ARMY IS (CHANGING WARFARE Nola MUU d PY Ets Th Te) Baga teg COSMOLOGY Why cells from ad pre ange Do human Pee Uae exist? aac Fe a ee Ua Bad See NIce Peg ORY Pa eee Rerieeee edMya el eet) ante) been living its best life since you got a card reader from Barclaycard. [ere Rie hea ure AcN old ih aks Na stays connected and comes with free accounting software,' you spend less time waiting and more time watering. Cee RNC UE eter) ee arr e What's good for small business is good for everyone. ne %) barclaycard | payments The payment part is just the startOnthe HEY threo Features cover FRaSgte gE | cocmen rnin “ea HowUteine's drone Mysteries ofthe gt. armyis chaning wartare challenge aman bod § mt ners nS Nobel winner im Pesbes tobe etvourbobgy and nthe future cosmotony iconoclastic why they mater andalso not nutty” Gant quantum vortex Ae people intilly tawnsheatier Volast No3ars Thestlece behind Cover image: Pau Wearing ‘ty pancakes News Features Ancent ecosystem Marvellous you Netwerkt organisms heed Though we have anintimate inte sea 3.4 on yeas 290 wasp tre humanbodys cormplety ysteiesremain Thermodynamic ive plore tne most bafing Computer namesses random questions eto answer an tha Auctions torun clelations insightsthoy re thoweg up catehing up olden opportunity Lie expectancy gap between Thetime siete a elution imenandwomeniscosng Incosmolgy says Peebles, souhichasrenomicacurostes ‘xe going tolead usthere? Views ‘ The back pages Thescience of cooking Thesecrettopllowy pancakes Comment Using euphemisticlanguage formenstualproductsis haamfu says en Gunter Puzzles Tryour crossword, quick que and logicpuzle ‘The columnist ‘Annalee Newte contends vithpost-covdteaching Almost the last word What triggers ccadasto chirp Inunison then go sient? Aperture Industry ses ts sights on Blk ithum eserves Tom Gauld for New Scientist ‘cartoons’ take onthe world Letters Te Mediterranean dite one ‘fmary options for heath . Sal Feedback culture Se = (nthe chopping block kalalin Karkds Nobeljouey Fishy business Seabed tawing sarnajox source of CO, emissions anda lotto stomach arJanuary2024| NewSclentistElsewhere on New Scientist Instant Expert Newsletter Brain: The latest “The difficulty sma isn’t getting Join si leaging bran scentstson 110 February at London's Conway Hall 8y way f the lates research Innewrosclence psychology and ptysilogy they wil eveal what Isgoig oni our heads when we think fel and communicate. 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Buy npr ow newscientist.com/nspod youtube.com/newscientist fixtheplanet shop.newscientist.com alNewScientist27 January 2025If you're more about exploration than (aie Mele Tiel eam SOMES MCR CNC eune en cela el Rea RR ERE 1p SCC mee ciueh soca eeean cy PSUR Ure Soc) eee Pee Renna eae ss ean) Galapagos Islands, or getting up close eee ea scuetier netics ce eee oe ett aa oe Paha ec ican ee aii) Roll Romolo iSubscriptions NewScientist 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 Bilal \. for just £1 EAsThe leader Aska silly question Exploring the peculiarities of human physiology can bring serious benefits ANCIENT Egyptians would have considered it bizarreto contemplate whether the brain might contain our :mind:for them, the heart wasthe repository for our thoughts and wisdom, Likewise, not solong ago, t would have seemed ridiculousto wonder what the bacteria living in our guts were doing, nevermind consider their connectionto depression or our ability to fight disease. Now, ofcourse, we know that our icrobiomeis vitalto both mentaland physical health. And although we arestill, someway offunderstandinghow our brains giverise to consciousness, there canbenodoubtthat asking questions about the strangest aspects of our physiology can lead tosome seriously helpfulinsights~as we discover in our PUBLISHING & COMMERCIAL ommend event decor ian Newton Display avers ‘ms aaionen ese ma epied neces state count manage Petacchipe conan Aa, Recrnent ating ‘bagless ween ‘eraliment sl Steno "ey mont manger on ‘realy 554 Balle newceecom "sleor ances ‘Meadofevent production Marines eel agen tmnt coe engage ey Sper ean Nat Tew sent Discovery Toure intr ken cue Senor rod manage te sds datecode ate Hedofsrtoy and prod elopment ass Ae santchnlog ht chon sen nitenntng Sima gear raadlw ei decope nl gue love oie te Sans "areetige const tor tn Nall special featureexploringthe mysteries ‘ofthe human body, starting on page30, ‘Most recently Knowledge gained by investigating bacteria that livein ‘the gut has led researchers to question ‘what is goingon with theother microbes “investigating the stranger aspects of our biology could ‘open doors to new treatments” residing within us. What areallthose fungi doing in there (page 32)? ‘Theemergingansweris that, just like ‘thebacteria that call your body home, ‘thefungiliving inside youarenot only linked with serious infections and some ‘cancers, but can also help prevent ‘common conditions likediarrhoea NewScientist het exes ln Aor asinine ronal ose ad ‘commer finance manager cation ‘Nanaprment acount: fbn Fanagenent scat tan Les ‘un bsinse partner huni subaanine covnerts acm eae ey stn ae ange Santee see cance rompers cae cote mei om tom mane percocet Poste Scents Rovswood fuse ery Road, Seine ae a crete meres ee, ett Saag Qrecycle andthrush.Allof which leads othe tantalising possibilty that wecouldone day manipulatethemtoimprovehealth, justas weare ryingto dowith gut bacteria, Itisjustoneexampleothow questions about what might seem tobe irrelevant aspects of ourbodies from why they re soasymmetrical (page34) and whether we possess pheromones (page35)towhy we have cells fromsiblings inside us (page 33) andwhat taste budsare doing intesticles (page 36)-are more valuable than wethink. Investigating such peculiaritiescan reveal fresh insights into our evolutionary past, open doors to new treatments and ‘even change how we thinkabout what it Istobehuman.So weshould encourage morebizarre inquiries “the answersthey throw up arerarely ily. © RS Ee bse segicte, ‘Akrancra Thompson, sam Wook eget ie cg ti tay “pectedot ane ado feature one Conane sc en Thomson "teria Mc eter een wt ‘Cale snd Commenty omntandc oo Pd tinge ger Tom canol SS ey fm nae sn eden sna ia ‘rest forcitn a cena ag eres SEE ES foe" Taine neree ‘27 famuary 2024] New Sclentsts| refer) _. eerie Support life-changing euineeienn medical research. sg Join Research Bakers Many diseases have been cured thanks to medical research, but some areas of health are still in desperate iene eyelelae Hold a charity bake sale with a scientific twist. Scan the QR code to find out more. wu mescokesesch eesixyearstobe spotted bydoctors pg greatwhiteshark pas geometry pis PS Tole L oT Bld ctaled ast) ‘This container holding samples oer ene Perr nh eee on pet eenmnt erty thathad prevented accessto pene een a Loe nae Peee eaters ‘Therock particles, measuring up toabout 1 centimetre across, Pe ence Seer ee 2 Jamary 2025 New Slentist7News Ancient ecosystem revealed Analysis of rocks in South Africa reveals a network of organisms thriving in the sea 3.4 billion year's ago, adding to evidence for an even earlier origin of life, finds Michael Marshall AS EARLY as 3.qbillion years ago, ‘on Earth had formed diverse communities. Exceptionally preserved remains fromthe period revealanecosystem of microorganisms that sustained themselvesiin a range of ways. ‘Thecomplexity ofthe ‘ecosystem suggests life had already existed for hundreds ‘ofmillions of years and began carly in Barth’shistory. Asample ofchert rock “Manuel Reinhardt at the containing what may University of Gattingen in be the remainsof Germany and his colleagues ‘microorganismsthat studied rocks from the Buck Reef Chert, patt ofthe Barberton Greenstone Belt in South Africa Therocksare3 42billion years old and arethought obethe preserved remnants of shallow seas around ‘chain of voleanicislands. lived 3.4 billion yearsago Carbon clues The ayersof rockcontain, icroscopicblobs of carbon-based matter, believed tobe the remains of microorganismsthat lived Inthesewaters.Reinhardtand The Buck Reef Chertrock hisgroupanalysed this material layerwithinthe Barberton todetermineitschemical Greenstone Bet in South makeup, which they used to Africa was under the sea infer what sort of metabolism these lifeforms had, Theteam focused on the carbon itself This element comes in several forms called isotopes, 4.1 Life might have emerged ‘his many billion years ago billions of yearsago Which areldentical apart from thenumberofneutronsinthe nucleusoftheatom.Thetwomain & carbonisotopesarecarbon-i2and carbon-13 Living things prefer touse carbon-r2,sobiological matter tends o have more carbon-i2andless carbon-t3, than non biological matter, ‘1 New scientist 27 January 2004 However, notall living things are equally goodat preferentially absorbingcarbon-12, That means theratio between the two forms canprovidectues about an organisin's metabolism. “Much ofthe material studied hasacarbon signature that ‘matches photosynthesis: theability to use ight energy to ‘make sugar, This suggests there were enormous quantities of| photosynthetic microbes living near the surface ofthe sea billions of years ago (Precambrian Research, dolorg/mdce) However, some ofthe blobs hhad less carbon-12. Photosynthetic organisms can't achieve this, so Reinhardt says those microbes ‘must have been feedingona chemical called acetylcoenzyme A. Otherblobs hadstilllower levels of carbon-t2, suggesting themicrobesin them were ‘making either methane or acetate as waste products, which other ‘microbes were then feedingon, Itisn't possible totellit allthe microbes wereliving Inexactly he same placeat thesame time, says Reinhardt Thephotosyntheticones must have lived near the surface of the water, but the others may have 'sedimentson the seabed. Theresearch is “brilliant” and “really painstaking’, says Frances ‘Westallatthe French National Centrefor Scientific Research in ns," What I'm reading out of this is that early life was working very much similarly tolifetoday” Thestudy alsoaddstothe evidence foran early origin oflifeon Earth, earlierthan crude reading ofthe fossil record might suggest Theoldest widely accepted evidence for lifeis35 billion yearsold, from Pilbarain “What 'mreading out of this is that early life was working very much similarly to life today” Australia, Researchershave reportedevidence of older fossils from37billion years ago ‘oreven earlier, but others say, theevidence isn't convincing inmost ofthose cases, “allthe rocks olderthan about 35 billion years old they areso badly metamorphosed,” says Westall. That meansthe ‘oldest ecosystems wecan see are ich communities ike the ‘oneReinhardt’s team studied. There must have been older and seen them becauise they aren't preserved -at east notin ways. ‘wecan currently detec, Asa result, theearlest history of ‘unknown, “It's very difficult to see the trend, simply because ofa lack of well preserved rocks,’ says Westall What does seem clears that lifeis significantly older than 435billion years. Personally, Ithinklife emergedon Earth duringthe Hadean [eon}, probably about 42, 4.1billion ars ago)” says WestallHealth Endometriosis takes six years to be diagnosed due to a lack of awareness Elizabeth Hlavinka POORaccesstohealtheareand Inthe US, the averagedelay is gaps in medical knowledge mean s1years,compared with .5years that endometriosis can take years, in Australia, where the federal orevendecades,tobe diagnosed. government announced Thecondition occurs when _hationalaction plantoimprove tissuesimilartotheliningof endometriosis care in 2018, theuterusgrowsinotherplaces, __Theresearchers foundthat suchasthe ovaries andfallopian poor access to private healthcare tubes,whichcanleadto painand —_sareason for delaysinsome difficulty conceiving Thecause countries forpeople with limited cofendometriosisisinknown, incomes. Some arealso unableto butithas been linkedto genetics physically access healthcare. The and immune system problems, Researchershave previously PeopleinPariemarch reported how peoplewith tocallforactionon tendomettiosisofen face a delay endometriosisin 2018 {in diagnosis. To find out how widespreadsuch delays areand why they occur, Jodie Fryerat North Yorkshire County Council intheUKandher colleagues atthe University of Yorkand Yorkst John University lookedat 22 studies from18 countries They found that those with endometriosis waltanaverage of 6,6 years tobe diagnosed, with much variation between countries, For instance, one study found that the diagnostic delay in Braallisjust six months, ‘compared with 27 years in the UK. Space Slimhope remains _ power,puttingthecratttosteep. i: The apan Aerospace Exploration forresuscitating “Agency (AXA) launched SLIM in ingmoontander september 2023 andittook along, tooping path toits final destination, JAPAN stricken lunarcraftcould _ciring Earth several times inorder stillberevived by sunlight. tsSmart to save fuel. Since Decamber, Landerforinvestigating Moon _ithasbeen orbiting the moon, (SLIM) touched down onthe surface taking images ofthe surface cn 19|anvary,making the country and preparing forlanding. the itthtomanage his aftertheUS, stouchdownmarked the fist theSovietUnion, China andindia. use fa technology that engineers But the probe's solar panels have nicknamed "smart eyes" werepointing west, away rom —_whichallowed SLIM to target thesun,leavingit operatingon _Itslanding spot with extreme batteries. These were turnedoff precision. This system compared Bhoursaftertouchdowntosave images romits on-board cameras eamalso iden sdageneral lack ofendometriosis knowledgein medical professionals and people with thecondition’ssymptoms. ‘Many of those with cendomettiosissay they feel ‘unheardorasiftheir symptoms are dismissed. Five studies reported how people seean average of four doctors before they are diagnosed (medRxiv, dojorg/mdcb). Getting adiagnosis gives you thelanguage toexplain your cexperlenceand providesthe {gateway toaccess supportand todatafrom other spacecraft orbiting the moon to pinpoint ts own location, and then autonomously navigated to standing spot onthe slope of Sholicrater. Unless SLIM canbe restarted, the mission’ scientificcapabilities are drastically reduced. Although INisinsleep mode at the moment, ‘SLIM dropped off two tiny rovers, ‘each withits own small payload of “if sunlight hits the moon from the west, we believe power generation” treatment,” says Carol at De Montfort University in Leicester, UK Seeking diagnosis fon top of having symptoms can be really mentally gruelling, she says. Linda Griffith atthe Massachusetts institute of Technology, who was diagnosed with endometriosis 4 yearsafter theonset ofher symptoms, cites how thecondition usedtobe ‘the career woman's asitwas believed to affect those who delayed pregnaney toprogress at work, despite sometimesarising in teenagers. In 2022,endometriosis research received just 0.038 percent ofthe Us National Institutes of Fiealth budget, despite the condition affecting atleast percent of Uswomen. The poor funding results in alackof research, which then affects awareness and medical practice, says Elise Courtolsatthe Jackson Laboratory in Connecticut, “itis extremely common and yet we don't know the most basicreason why endometriosis, arises, how Itspreadsand how itevolves,’ she says. scientific instruments ast flew down tothe lunar surface. One of ‘them is designed to hop around instead of oling on wheels, while the otherisa sphere slightly smaller thana tennis ball, designed by a ‘toy manufacturer to roll across the lunar surface. The rovers seem, ‘tobe functioning property. AXA hopes the lander can be awoken, though. “if sunlight hits the ‘moon from the westinthe future, we believe there's possibilty ‘of power generation, and we're ‘currently preparing for restoration,” ‘the agency saidina statement. Leah Crane 2r}amary 2024 NewSclentist!9News Technology 7 i 1 i First ‘thermodynamic computer A prototype computer harnesses random physical fluctuations — or noise - to run calculations Karmela Padavie Callaghan ACOMPUTER can now perform advantage of that process to “Ithinkit’snot widely calculations using ust the random performacalculation, Because appreciated what could bedone “noise” that isinherent inour thewarm component would with thermodynamiccomputing, world. tis builtusing standard change temperature in any andthisisagood start says ‘components andcould eventually case,exploitingthisto perform Todd Hylton at the University runartficial intelligence calculation makesthecomputer of California, an Diego. programs moreefficiently Ql more efficient. he fundamental proposition thanconventionalcomputers. TousetheSPU,theNormal _behindthermodynamic Inconventionalcomputers, — { Computing researchersexposedit computing isthat, essentially, if allcalculationsarereducedto—& toelectricalcurrents with random, wewere less prescriptivein telling sequences of sands, However, smalFamplitudefluctuations. the hardware what todo, and et it thesecomputersmustcontend | Thecircuitboardof the SPU They andifferent computations _sortof dothese thermodynamics withrandomthermodynamic "thermodynamic computer" by changing these input currents, noise like piece of acircuit tuningthecircuitssothat,for | “We are making lemonade warmingupandunexpectediy _stochasticprocessingunitorsPU~ instance,one“pendulum*has out of lemons, using the tuminga0intoa1.Thiscauses _onacircult boardsimilartothose agreaterinfluenceovertheway _ fact that physical systems errors,butPatrickColes at New _usedinconventionalcomputers. theothersevenosillate.They are naturally noisy” York-based start-up Normal Itcontains eight interconnected then measured the currentsand Computingandhiscolleagues circuits, each of which stores voltagesofthesPU'cireuitsto {processes} that ae already there havebuiltacomputerthattakes energy inanelectricoscilation~ assess theresultofthecaleulation. more naturally..then wewould advantage ofthenoise instead. _alittlelikeanelectricversion of Theresearcherssuccessfullyran get much more capable Al systems “Weare makinglemonade __aswinging pendulum. aprogramthatcan findtheinverse and probably onesthat are much outoflemons,usingthefact ‘Athermodynamiccomputer of so-called mathematical ‘more energy efficient” hesays. that physical systemsare receives its inputs fromthe rmatrix,whicheanbea challenging Artery Kolchinsky at Pompeu naturally noisy” says Coles. Dhysicalenvironmentrather calculation. Theyalsoranseveral_ FabraUniversityn spain says The researchers uilta thanthrough akeyboard. For _programsthatare important for that ifthe SPU were made prototype thermodynamic instance, ifoneofits components creatingandusinggenerativeAl bigger, it ight be useful for computer-whichthey namedthe gets warmer, the computertakes algorithms (arkiv,doiong/mdb8). computations beyond AL Environment Seaweed could help _ tiscotleagues have modelled how \ ‘Seaweedbeing harvested ir well seaweed wouldfare under Comal UX forsale avert global famine jrehccearsceare They found , ‘restaurants afteranuclear war thatseaweed would stillbe able to grow up to:13 percent per day which is typically limited by nutrient ‘ONE of thebest options forfeeding —_inplaces suchas the east Pacific. availability. na nuclear winter, people inthe event of anucear Within nine to 24 months, cooling surface waters would Catastrophe thatblotsout the _seaweedcuttivated onropes. = sink and force nutrient-rich deep sunmay be seaweed. between buoyscouldsupplyup = waters to ise. That would expand euclear war broke out, t025>per centof the food currently = the area suitable for growing touring citesandforestscould eaten by humans, as wellas 10 per seaweedlike Gracilaria tikvahiae, ‘emit150:milliontonnes.ofsoot, cent of animal feed and 50 percent = red alga that is already farmed dimming the sun. Temperatures of biofuel production, according £ for foodinAsia. ould drop by 9°C(16F)and global _to the simulation. Expanded ‘$2023 United Nations report food production fromagrculture seaweed cultivation could avert found that farmed seaweedisa could decline 90 percentinthefist up to 1.2 bilion deaths trom says|ehn."[Seaweed! is definitely low-carbon source of protein and year ofnuclearwinter.Anasteroid starvation theteamestimates__oneof the topcandidates.” ther nutionts that could boost impact ouldsimilarly disrupt our (Earth's Future, doi.oro/mat®). Thetropicsandsomeofthe food security. Butt can absorb foodsystems by occluding sunlight. “Wewillneedfood,and we wil subtropics wouldstithave enough dangerouslevels of heavy metals Florian Ukich ehnat the liance need alotofitbecause our current warmthandiight to grow some _inpolluted waters. 1 toFecdtheEarthinDisastersand food systemwor/t work any more" landcropsaswellasseaweed, -—AlecLuhn sol NewScientist|27 January 202§Health Life expectancy gap between menand womenis closing Chen ty WOMENhave historically outived ‘men, but changing lifestyles may be helping men tocatchup. Globally the averagehuman ltespan has sen overthe past century atrend that s expected to continue as nations become richer. But there hasbeen a consistent gap between thelife expectancies of ‘menand women. ‘Now, David Atance del Oimoat the University of Alalsin Spain and his colleagues have analysed the mortality data of 194 countries from 1990 to 2010. ‘They divided the countries Into five groups according to thoirlongevity trends. The group with the highest life expectancies Included the places with the highest Incomes, suchas Australia, Japan, the US, the UK and other parts of western Europe. The group with the lowest lteexpectancies consisted of just Rwanda and Ugands ‘The greatest life expectancy jump ‘was among men in Rwanda and Uganda, whohad an average lite expectancy of just 30.85 yearsin 11990, increasing by 14.37 years to45.22 yearsin 2010. Among women in these countries fe ‘expectancy increased over this period by just 0.94 years from 50.37 yearsto 51.31 years. Inthe group with the highest lite expectancies, the average ‘gap betweenmen and womenin 1990 was 4.84 years tipping inwomen's favour. This dropped 104.77 yearsin 2010, and the researchers think the gap will have continued to close (PLOS One, oi.org/atd2pa). Inrecent decades, both men and womenhave benefited from ‘advances inhealtheare, says del (Oimo. Smoking and alcohol-related deaths, which isproportionately affect men, have also decreased, which may have helped to reduce the life expectancy gap, he says. ‘Seepage 13 fer more on espan Archaeology Humans reached China thousands of years earlier than we thought ‘Michael Marshall [MODERN humans were living Inwhat snow China by 45,000 years ago. Thefinding means ‘our species reached the area thousands of years earlier ‘than was generally hought. Francesco dErricoat the University of Bordeauxin France andhiscolleagues have re-examined an archaeological sitecalled Shiyuin northern, China. twas first excavated {n1963,not long before the Unrest of China’s Cultural Revolution, "Thiswas not the best moment tofindsuch an Important sit says dErvic. shiyu isan open-airsiteina river gully. Itholds a 3o-metre ‘deep deposit of sand and other sediment, which the original ‘excavators divided into four layers, the second-from-bottom ‘of which was foundto hold evidence of human occupation. ‘Theexcavators found more than 1,000 stone artefactsand thousands of animal bones, There was also aplece of hominin skull identified as ‘modern human (Homo sapiens) Some artefacts weretaken to Beljing’s Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology. But those left at local facilities~ineluding thehomininbone-were lost. “We have perhaps o per cent ofthe stone tools” says dErrico. D’Errico andhiscolleagues have re-excavated Shiyu tofind its age. They dated5 sediment samplesusing technique called optically stimulated Juminescence and carbon-dated so animalbonesand teeth. They say the hominin ayeris about {44,600 years old (Nature Ecology & Evolution, dol.org/mdbé) Theshiyuhominins were probably H. sapiens, says Arina Khatsenovich atthe Insituteof Archaeology and Ethnography 5000 ‘Number of yeas the arrival ‘of modern humans in China hhas been pushed back inNovostbirsk, Russia, who wasn't involved inthe study. Assuch, thenew study {implies modern humans had reached northern China about 45,000 years ago. Th back our species’ ari CChina by about 5000 years. ‘ThenextoldestH. sapiens stein CChina is Tianyuan cave, whichis 40,000 yearsold, says Erico. Some researchers have et gee Left: the first modem human toreach China may havecome fromthe north, Abover artefacts including a graphite dise ‘fromthe Shiyusite, China claimed ourspecies arrived ‘earlier, potentially upto 260,000 years ago. But Errico saysothers have critiqued much, of theevidence forsuch an early presencein the region. Itmay be that, as humans centered Asia from Africa, they spread out via multiple routes, says Khatsenovich, Aswellas exploring the tropical southern regions of Asia they also seem. tohavegonefurther north. Khatsenovich says there are signs ofa modern human presence inthis region, includingat Ob/-Rakhmat ‘grottoin Uzbekistan from 48,800 years ago.{tmay be that ‘our species reached Shiyu, and China, viathisnorther route. Asmodern humans arrived, they encountered hominins that already livedthere,likethe Neanderthalsand, further east, the Denisovans. There may have been cultural exchanges: the artefacts at Shiyuinelude some thatlook more like tools from these earliergroupsandfour pieces of obsidian, a volcanic ‘lass. Theteam traced them to sites 800 and 1000 kilometres north-east of hiyu. D'Errico saysitis unlikely the inhabitants travelledthis farthemselves. January 2024 New Sclentst x.News Analysis Technology What does Ukraine's million-drone army mean for the future of war? In 2024, the besieged nation is likely to have more drones than soldiers in its armed forces. Itis changing the way war is waged, finds David Hambling UKRAINE'S president Volodymyr Zelensky has promised thatin 2024 the country’s armed forces willie arilion crones. Hsnation has already deployed hundreds of ‘thousands of mainiy smaller drones, but this fs big shift ~a transitiontoa itary with more of these mactines ‘than soldiers, What daes that mean forthe future of armed conflict? ‘Such technology has already transformed the conflict between Russia and Ukzaine. ‘Mt this point in Ukraine, anything that moves ~ solder or a vehicle ~ canbe identified, tracked and utimatey rit with acrone}" says Samuel Bendett, adviser ta the Center fora New “American Security think tank. "This isamajor change rom previous conflicts evena few years ago” ‘Small drones, many of ther tank That didn’t happen. though quaccoptersthatare available to _arange of causes, frm international Consumers haveplayed.akeyrale. support to Ukrainian courage, helped FromnotlongafterRussiaizaded _themmountahistorc defence, inFebruary 2022, Ukraine hasused drones na doubt were abig facto such madelsasscouts todrect ‘These of thistechnologyin the atilery re and to drop small war acceleratediniate 2022, wth the introduction of ist-person view “Before the war, the (FVyracing quadcopters repurosed common thinking as guided weapons Ther powerful was Ukraine would ‘motors mean they cancartyan get demolished” anti-tank warhead 20 kilometres todestroy tanks artlary and other ‘grenades. Theyre often known as targets. FPVS can chase down Mavis aftertheMavicdronemade speeding trucks, enter buildings by Chinese fim Russian soldiers andbunkers through windows and son copiad these tactics. docrwvays or cve into trenches, and Theseconsumermachineshave have beenbuitinlarge numbers. ‘been supplemented with smaller ‘Commanders on bothsides ‘numbers ofheayy muticopters were nay sceptical about using tocropbombsandlonger-range consumer drones on the battefild, reconnaissancetypes resembling andprocurementhas largely been tiny aircraft, as wellassingle-use via volunteer groups, doncrs or aftackdrones that are essentialy _solciersbuying the devices diminutive cuisemissiles. Ukraine themselves. But governments now feldsassauitunitsmadeup _arenow-drivingthe efforts. ofamixafadfferentsorsof drones. *Thiswarhas demonstrated an "Before the way thecommon unprecedented use commercial thinking was Uizaine would drone technology by statemiltaries)" ‘get demolished’ says Zachary ays Bendet Kallenbornat he CenterforStrategic _ Ukraine deployed an estimated and Intemational Studies, US thik 200,000 of them in 2023,mainly s2New Scents |27January 2004 FPs and Mavictypes, something ‘made possible by thelow-cost, off-the-shelf nature of thernachines, incontast to the usual ower rriltarypracurement process. "Over SO percent of equipment andpersonnel are destrayed by ‘ones, andthe ather 5O percent aredestroyed ith assistance fram tones according tone vounteer (quoted by United 24, a fundraising initiative set up by Zolensky that hashelned buy the devices. War of adaptation Iwas als intially thought that rones would be very winerable ‘oracio-frequency jarnming, which blocks communication between them ‘andthe operat: But while thousands of drones have succumbed to such electronic attacks, operators modify ‘hem with antjamming measures ‘sucha fiters and recevers working on different frequencies. "lammingand other countermeasures do have an effecton drones, but thereisan ‘adaptation-counter-adaptationrace taking place in Ukraine, withinew counter methods and technologies Abatch of DIMatrice 300 [ATK drones, part of Ukraine's “Remy of Drones" project ‘appearing constantiy’ says Bendett ne response tojamming sto make crones more autonomous so hey cannavigate andcary fut attacks withaut continuous contol The operatorjustindicates atarget and the drone does the rest Kalenbor says these systems, often using artifical inteligence, are currently quit rile and prone tofailure."lexpect both sices toexperiment with and field autonomous systems, but stil probably ata more limited scale or for mare narrow function" he says. Kallenbom and Bencettooth say this wars ikely toset the pattern for future conflicts, Akey factor the se of the drones has been the fas speed with which new ones can be deployed and how $400 FPVS canbe fieldedin much largernumbers than $200,000 Javelin anti-tank missiles. ‘We can absolutely expect to seeextensive drone use in future confit’ says Kallenborn. "The war has demonstrated that militar that wants to fieldmany ‘drones need nt spenda lot on their development, procurement and use” says Bendett "Weare seeing this, pattern aireadyin the [srael-Hamas ‘war, Sudan civil war, Syria cil war and the use of drones by drug caftelsinLatin America’ ‘The US Department of Defense 'salsoattemptingto capitalseon Uleaine's success witha project called Replicator which would allow to rapily fel thousands ‘ofsmaly highly capable drones, ‘Although the use of ronesis ‘becoming frequent inmany conflicts, the ways they are put fo work can be very diferent, saysKalenbom, “suspect the debate willshifttowhat speciictypes of drones areusefulin which oles, inwhat quantities! #Mass death of elephant seal pups raises fears of bird flu spreading in mammals Lake Taylor ANUNPRECEDENTEDmassdieoff —“Themortaltyofpupswas __waskilledby the virus earlier Newborn elephant sea pups ofelephantsealsontheshoresof extraordinay.catasrophie _thismonth suckethelr motherstofeed, Patagonia, Argentina suggests andprobablyalsoincludeda Researchers largely thought sothereislitlechance ofeating thatahighiycontagiousstrainof — largenumber ofadultssays mammals wereonlycatchingthe infected bids, says team member bidfuisnowbeingtransmitted Campagna. "Itmay ake decades vrusftom contact with infected Marcela Uhart atthe University between ammalsandposesforthesesealpopulationstogetbirds,suchasbyeatingthemor of california, Da agrowingthreattotheworlds _backtowherethey were: catingfarmfeedcontaminated The diseasealo spread biodiversity say researchers. THsNiwasfirst detected inChina with nfectedbirdfaeces. However, rapidly in sealionsallalong Somegépercentofelephant inig96andhadbeenlargely thereisgrowingevidencethat the Atlanticcoast in August ast sealpups(airoungaieonina) —confinedtodomestcated birds. HsNimaynowbespreading_yea.kilingthousands in areas atthre breeding sites where from mammal to mammal where fewbitds were affected, thersdistainataantawas — GOK Somestudis suggestedlast suggesting the sealions could detected inthe Valdes Peninsula ‘oO yearthat HSNi may be circulating transmitthe virus, says Uhart. fegioninsouthern Argentina Proportion elephant seolpups between farmedminkinSpain “Thisisallhighy suggestive died in October 202309 thathave ciedat three sites and between wildsealsintheUS. _ofsomesortoftransmission Claudiocampagnaat the ‘Athesiteswhere elephant seals between manunals WildlfeconservaionSocity _Butsincezoz1ithasspread more werefounddead they hadlitieto_ Mamnalto-mammal and his colleagues. ‘qulckiyinwikipopulationsinthe nointera infecedbird transmission increasesthe xtrapolatingthe mortality rate Americas and Europe populations saysCampagna.it_risktotheworkd’s mammals atthethreesitestheresearchersThevirushasinfectedatleastjsalsohighiyuntikeythatsucha andalsothe chance ofthe virus estimatethat7400baby elephant szobirdandasmammalspecies. lagenumberofmammalscould eventually adaptingto infect, sealswerekiledbythevirusin Morethan 00,0o0birds inSouth havebeen infectedinlessthan humans more easily sys Uhat Patagonia,thehighestfiguresince America-the mostaffected amonthwithout the infection Wemust quickly study HN scientistsbeganstudyingtheir region-havediedfromthefta —beingtransmittedamongthem. nother affected populations to hhumberscloselythreedecades strainandagrowingnumber | “Wenowhavetoconcludethat understand ts geneticmutations ago Marine Mammalscience, _ofmammalspectesarebelng _—_thiswastmammaltomammal -—_inmmammalsand the possble latest figures on outcomes for bleed spontaneously. Susie Shapiroat the UKHCDO people withhaemophiiain the People with any form ot finds the ideainteresting, but says UK, whichsuggest that thosewith haemophilia used tohave alower the differences could be a statistical dotorg/mdbw) affected. A polarbeatin Alaska transmission’ riskto humans, shesays. Health Mild haemophilia Haemophilais heritable, coused Anilustrationof the by mutations ina gone that encodes pile. factor ilo wich mayaddanextra rect heproteinsimatedin 5 SI etesblocdtocer year or twotolife ‘making blood cot after an injury. . ‘The most commen forminvolves seeninthe UK maybe asignof PEOPLEwith mild haemophilia, __mutationsinthe gene that encodes possible advantages blood that hich reducesblood clotting, seem _aproteincalled factor Vl. A islesstikoly to form potentially tohavea longer fe expectancy Depending on the mutation, ER) dangerousclots, says Maks. thanthosewithout it Thismaybe people can have varying levels of Supporting this idea,in 2022 because they aretes likely tohave factor Vlinthelr blood. Having Sto = Maks and is team showed that strokes andhear attacks, which Operant the typical factor il» people withhaemophiliaare about a canbe caused by clots. levelis classed as mild haemophilia = ‘irda ikelytohave cardiovascular ‘hefinding comes om the andthosewiththisdont usually > conditions as otherindviuals. rmilderformshave an average fe _feexpectancythanaverage. thas systems getting better at identifying fluke. "'dbe cautious about the expectancy of 84 years. Thisis _risenoverrecent decades, according thecondition and giving the ight _strengthof the conclusion about 1L:7yearsmorethan for UKmenas toaNovemberreport fromthe UK treatments, saysMichael Makris _greater fe expectancy because the ‘whole, according tothe Office for Haemophilia Centres Doctors’ atthe University of Sheffield, UK. number of older people with mild National Statistics. About9in10 _Organisation(UKHCDO).Thisisdue _Forthosewiththemild form, the haemophilia is small’ she says. people withthe conditionaremen. to severalfactors includinghealth above-average lifeexpectancynow Clare Wilson ar January 2005|New Sclentista5News Environment Seabed trawling is a major source of global CO, emissions Michael Le Page FISHING by bottom trawling releases about 340 million tonnes of carbon dioxideinto theatmosphere each year, accordingto thefirst study toestimate these emissions. Thats nearly 1percent of globalC0, emissions, amajor contribution that hasbeen overlooked until now, Trawling involves dragging, ‘weighted nets acrossthe g seafloortocatch bottom: ‘dwelling fish, crustaceansand > shellfish. The practice is widely used, butthe fishing gear ‘damages seafloor environments suchas coralreefs, “Bottomtrawlingis an Sothe team has combined extremely destructive formof forces with researchers who fishingasthenetsandweights havedeveloped computer dragged along thebottom ‘models of ocean circulation, destroy marine habitatsthat_ _Accordingto those models, ccan take many years ore. some 5s percentofthe CO: establishandrecover,"says _ released into water by trawling MikaPeckattheUniversity _willend up inthe atmosphere ofSussex, UK, who wasn't after nineyears (Frontiersin Involved in the research, Marine Science, doiorg/gtda80). Italsostirs up sediments, providingthe oxygen that morethan half comesout,” Imlerobesneedtobreakdown says Atwood, “And that it organicmatterintocarbon __comesout quite rapidly” dioxide, Those sediments might otheriseconinuetotanaun 3 Ly O) {ormany millennia preserved bylowoxygen conditions, __Annial CO, emissions of bottom sothecarbon islocked away. trawling inmilionsof tonnes Inzo21 Trisha Atwoodat UtahstateUniversityin Logan _Accordingtoareportby andhercolleagues combined the Global Carbon Project, studies lookingathowmuch total COzemissions from. CO; maybereleasedduring —_-humanactivitiesroseto trawling with dataon the 40.9 gigatonnes in 2023 Soif extentoftrawling worldwide the team’sestimate iscorrect, fromanorganisationcalled _trawlingaccounts for around Global Fishing Watch, (0.8 percent of global emissions, Theteamconcludedthat __comparedwith28percent massiveamountswerereleased _foraviation and shipping, Intotheseawater.Butthebig __Conservationistssay the ‘unanswered question was findings strengthen the case howmuch ofthe COs eleased _forreducingtrawling.’A ban from sedimentsends up ofdestructivefishing practices inthe atmosphere. iskey othe futureothealthy sal New Scientist 27 January 2024 Inbottom trawling, ‘weighted nets aredragged ‘across the seafloor ‘marine ecosystems, says Peck. “Measures to reduce the carbon impact of bottom- towed fishing gearareurgently needed, though it must be done aspart ofa just transition, says Gareth Cunninghamatthe Marine Conservation Society “Thereisn’taonessize-fits-all ‘mode},and solutions will vary fromone location to another” Not al researchersare convinced by the numbers. “Tm very sceptical about their estimates” says Jan Geert Hiddinkat Bangor University, UK. Hethinks much ofthe carbon that reaches the seafloor Isinhard-to-break-down forms, such asin bones, so isn't released even when sediments are disturbed. Atwood's team ‘may be overestimatingthe quantity released by up to 1000 times, he argues. Atwood says theestimateis basedon measurements. "We took tudies that measurethe amount of CO; that was coming offofthe seabed inareas that are trawled,’shesays. 1 Health Beeping shoes boost walking ability in Parkinson's disease Sara Novak ‘SHOES that beep when someone walks with astrong stride can Improve stability in people with Parkinson's disease, Parkinson's occurs due toa Joss of nerve cllsin part ofthe braincalled the substantia nigra. This leads toa reductionina chemical called dopamine, which helps regulate movement. As result, symptoms can include ‘tremors and balance problems. Inaneffort to overcome this, researchers at Physio Biometrics inMontreal,Canada,haveecreated sensor called Heel2Toe that clips ‘onto the inside of shoes. When a ‘sor walks with astrong heel-to- toe motion, it sends. signal via ‘Bluetooth toasmartphone, which produces a beeping sound. To test the sensor, Nancy Mayo, who works at Physio Biometrics and McGill University in Montreal, and her colleagues worked with 21 people with Parkinson's who hhad gait issues but could walk withouta stick. Allparticipants had five sessions witha physiotherapist and were given a workbook with tips for stable walking. Fourteen of them werealso given the Heel2 Toe sensor, which they were told to ‘wear while walking fora least Sminutes,twice a day. ‘Three months later, 13 of the 14 people who wore the sensor walked furtherin a 6-minute test thanthey did atthe start of the study. There ‘was noimprovement for the other ‘people (medixiv,dolorg/mc's8), “The brain loves getting rewards, and this device provides congratulatory beep every time Yyournake a good step/' says Mayo. ‘The esearchers didnt test Ifthe sensor changes dopamine levels inthe brain, but Mayo says ‘tmight stimulate “adopamine- driven reward and feedback loop” thathelps compensate or the reduction in the chemical among people with Parkinson's. #‘Quantum vortex’ mimics black holes Researchers have made a surprisingly large quantum vortex in a tank of superfluid helium Lech Crane AGIANT quantum vortexmay _unusualquantumeffects,andit_memberPatrikSvanéara,alsoat which are essentially small allow researcherstostudyblack _isknownasaquantum fluid. The the University of Nottingham.The vortices. When many of them, hholes.Itcomprisesaneddyina _tesearchersplacedthe helium in strengthandsizeof thevortex are are clustered together, they tend specialformofliquidheliumthat atankwithaspinning propeller _crucialforgeneratinginteractions —tobecome unstable, bu the displaysquantumeffects.The _atthebottom. Asthe propeller _betweenitandtherestofthefluld experimental set uphereallowed resulthassomepropertis similar rotated, itcreated atomado-like inthetankthataresignificant_theresearchers to combine toblackholes,allowingittoactas vortex in the fluid, ‘enough toobserve. about 40,000 quantaof rotation asort of simulator. “While similar vortices have The vortex in this work togetherto form what they Intheareasaroundblackholes, been madebeforein physical _—-measuredseveralmillimetres_callagiant quantum vortex therules ofgravityandquantum systemsotherthan uperfluld across, much argerthan (arXiv, dotorg/mdbm). ‘mechaniesinteract,leadingto _helium,theirstrengthistypically other stable ones that have “its an experimentaltour effects that aren'tobservable atleast a couple of orders of ted in quantum "says eff Steinhauer anywhereelseinthecosmos.This magnitude weaker” says team, the pas. atthe Technion-Israel Institute ‘makes those regions particularly Creatingsuchalarge version _of Technology. Important to study, ‘Wemight beable to study {s difficult because in quantum The researchers observed how “There'allthis interesting __blackholes by making liquids rotation can only oceur tiny waves inthe Mld interacted physicsthatoccursaroundblack _vorticesinhellum intiny "packets" calledquanta, _withthevortex, process that holes, but so much of tis out of mimics the way that cosmic fields reach, saysSilke Weinfurtner at {nspace interact with rotating the University ofNottingham, UK black holes. They found hints of “We can use these quantum, blackhole phenomenon called simulators to investigate the aaringdown mode, which occurs phenomenathat happen aftertwo blackholes combine and around black holes” the resulting one jiggles duetothe Tobulld their quantum residual energy from the merger. simulator, Weinfurtnerand . “Thisoffers an excellent hercolleagues used superflui starting point to investigate helium, which flows with severalblackhole physics extraordinarily ow viscosity — processes, withthe potential 500 times lower than that of water. ofseeking new insights and Because It moves without friction, ‘uncovering hidden treasures form of helium exhibits along the way." says Weinfurtn Life Megalodon was ‘42022 study by ackCooper are much arger. Hels part of a reat whites; says Underwood. i i ‘atSwansea University, UK,and_groupof 26sharkexperts that ts immer form means it wouldnt Nothinglikeagiant jccieaguesreconstuctedthe Simstoset herecordstalht. _havehadhugeacaaraton, so great white shark animalbased ona partial fossilised According to Underwood, ‘would have pursued rather than skeletonknown asiRSNBP9893. Cooper'steamdlidrtrealischow ambushed prey Palaeontologia THE ancient sharkmegalodon, __‘The results showed a stocky, incomplete the skeleton wasand Electronica, doloraigtdes). offendepicedasasuper-sized _powerulsharkbult forbursts_-howmany vertebraeit wasmissing. Based on another partial fossil reat white, was probably alonger, of speedtottackprey,similarto_—Theteambehindthenew study thebiggest specimen of megalodon rmoreslenderbeast, according great wit shark(Carcharodon_saysthestrenathof thespinal —_wasestimated tobe 20 metres toanew fossil analysis. carcharias)~but,at 15.9 metres, _columnsupgestsamore slender long. Underwood thinks might Best known fromitsdepiction about thee times as ong, body shape. *t would almost actually have been 24metresiong. inthe Meg film ranchise,Ofodus Charles Underwoodat Birkbeck, certainly not befeedinglike modern Cooper stands by his stocker megolodonwentextinctsome University of London, says that megalodon. "No matter which 3.Smilionyearsago.Itwas one study made tenuous assumptions" “No matter which hypothesis ou support about ofthelargestmarine predators aboutthesize of megalodonbased hypothesis you support _—its body shape twas very tohavelived,butnocomplete _largelyonithavingsimilarteethto about its body shape, big shark"he says. shelton hasbeen found. great whte,although megalodor’s it wasa very big shark" Matthew Sparkes January 2024] NewSclentistasNews Artificial intelligence Al cracks hard maths An Alfrom Google DeepMind scores almost as well as the best students on geometry questions from the International Mathematical Olympiad, finds Alex Wilkins AN ARTIFICIAL Intelligence from Google DeepMind can solve some Intemational Mathematical ‘Olympiad (IMO) questions ‘ongeometry almostas wellas thebest human contestants. “The resultsof AlphaGeometry arestunningand breathtaking” says Gregor Dalinar, theIMO president."Itseems that Alwill inthe IMO gold medal much soonerthan was thought” ‘TheIMO,aimedat secondary school students, isone ofthe ‘world’ most difficult maths competitions. Answering questions correctly requires ‘mathematical creativity, which Alsystems struggle ith GPT-4, for instance, which has remarkabl reasoningabty nother domains, © MS ‘scores percent onIMOgeometry ‘questions, and even specialised Als struggle toanswer aswell as average contestants. ‘Thisis partly down tothe difficulty ofthe problems, Dutalsobecause there are {ow problemstotrain on, ‘Thecompetition hasbeen runannually since1959, and ceachedition consistsof just six questions. Someofthe most successful Al systems, however, require billions of data points toleam whattodo. Geometrical problems, which makeup one ortwoof thesixquestionsand involve proving factsabout angles ‘orlines incomplicated shapes, are particularly difficult totranslate toacomputer friendly format, Gold standard ‘ThangLuongat Google DeepMind and his colleagues have bypassed this issue by creating atoolthat ‘can generate hundreds of millions ‘of machine-readable geometrical proofs. When they trainedtheir AlphaGeometry ALusing this data and tested it on 30IMO 6 |New Scientist 27 January 2024 Geometry problemsinvolve proving facts about angles ortines incomplicatedshapes geometry questions itanswered ascorrectly,compared with anestimatedscore of 25.9 for an IMO gold medallist based onthelrscoresin the contest, (Nature doiorg/meza) “Our(current] Alsystemsare stillstuggling with the ability todothings like deep reasoning, ‘where weneedto plan ahead for many, many steps andalso seethe big picture, whichis ‘why mathematis is such an Important benchmarkand test set forus on our quest artifical general intelligence, Luong {olda press conference. AlphaGeometry consists oftwo parts, which Luong comparesto aferentthinkingsystems inthe brainsa fast intltivesystem and a slower, moreanalytcalone. The first, intuitive partis alanguage ‘model similarto the technology behind ChatGPT, called GFF-.tt hasbeentrainedonthe millions of generated proofsand suggests which theorems andarguments totry next fora problem.Once itsuggests anextstep,aslower and more careful “symbolic reasoning” engine uses logical and mathematical rules to fully construet the argument that GPE hhas suggested. Thetwo systems then work in tandem, switching between oneanotheruntila problem has been solved. While this method works ‘on IMO geometry problems, the “It seems that Al will win the IMO gold medal much sooner than was thought” answersit constructs tend to be Jongerand ess “beautiful than human proofs, says Luong Butit can pot things that humans miss. Forexample,itdiscoveredabetter and more generalsolution toa question from the2004 IMO than was listed in the official answers. Solving MO geometry problems in this way isimpressive, says Yang-Hui Heat the London Institute for Mathematical Sciences, but the system isinherently limited inthe mathematicsitcan use because IMO problems should besolvable using theorems aught below ‘undergraduatelevel. Expanding theamount of mathematical Knowledge AiphaGeometry hhasaccess to might improvethe systemoreven help it make new mathematical discoveries, he says. Onthe money Itwouldalso be interestingto see how AlphaGeometry copes with not knowing what itneeds toprove, as mathematical insight canoften come from exploring ‘theorems with no set proof, says He."Ifyoudon'tknow what your endpoint is,can youtfind within theset ofall mathematical] paths \hetherthereisatheorem that ‘sactually interesting and new?” Last year, algorithmictrading company XTX Markets announced asiomnllion prize fund for AL ‘maths models, witha$5million grand prize for theft publicly shared Al modelthat can win an IMO gold medal, as wellassmaller progress prizes forkey milestones. ‘olvingan IMO geometry problemis one of the planned progress prizes” says Alex Gerko at XTX Markets. “Isexcitingto see progress towards this goal, ‘even before we haveannounced allthe details ofthis progress prize, Which would include... solving anactual geometry problem duringa live IMO contest: ‘Google DeepMind declined tosay whether itplansto enter AlphaGeometry ina live IMOcontest orwhet isexpandingthe system to solve other IMO problems. However, thecompany has previously entered publiccompetitions forprotein-folding prediction totes its AlphaFold Alsystem. IEnvironment Fertilisersadd microplastics into agricultural soil Barbara Pinho AMAJOR source of microplastic pollution in agricultural soilis fertilisers according toa long running experiment in the UK, and this pollution has increased ‘dramatically in the past 50 years. : Ferting sry sprayedon fllds can heldmicroplastes ‘Samuel Cusworth at Lancaster University, UK, and his colleagues looked at oil samples collected at agricultural science centre Rothamsted Researchinan experiment that has been running since 1843, The samples came from three groups:sollthathad received no fertiliser, soiltreated with organic fertilisers such as ‘manure or organiecompost and soll ‘weated with conventional fertilisers. Samples collected before 11966 contained ittieorno trace ‘of microplastcs. Inthe samples from the past 50 years, there was significant increase in microplastic concentrations in all three groups. However, soils treated with either organic or inorganic fertilisers contained more microplastics, showing that fertilisers are a major contributor (Communications Earth &Environment,doi.orgimez3). “with organic fertilisers, if any ofthe fed that's been given to the farmyard animalscontains any plastic this willbe digested and lend up in faeces" says Cusworth. Inorganic fertilisorscan spread rmicroplasties because many of them are coated with polymers toensure that nutrients are released slowly headds. # Health Kimchi and cheeses can contain antibiotic-resistant bacteria James Woodford FERMENTED food suchas kimchi and certain cheeses ‘can host antibiotic resistant bacteria, some of which have ‘thepotentialto cause ilhealth Hua Wangat The Ohio state University in Columbus and her colleagues assessed 10 types ‘of kimchi traditional Korean ‘dish made with salted and fermented vegetables~and four artisan cheeses, bought from either local ornational retail stores or japanese or Korean restaurants, nthe Columbus area Theteam found that nine ofthe kimehi products and allofthe cheeses contained antibiotie-esistant bacteria, someofwhich havethe potentialto cause gut-related symptoms or more severe health issuesifthey enter thebloodstream. They also ‘contained lacticacld bacteria, Which drive fermentation, that weresimiarly resistant to some antibiotics. Although fermentation bacteria can acquiteor develop resistance to antibiotics, that \wouldonly be a problem if they caused an infection oF ‘transferred their antibiotic. resistance gene to another bacterium, which “is possible ‘but hasn't yet been shown’, says Mark Turneratthe University ‘of Queensland in Australia Butone ofthe retail-bought kimchi produets the researchers tested contained astrain of Weissella,atype of fermentation bacterium that was foundto be highly resistanttoantibioties (bioRxiv, dol. org/mez2). "fthesestrains get into thebloodstream through ‘gastrointestinal tract issues, they can cause bacteraemia [abloodstream infection} ‘or sepsis untreatable by antibiotics?’ says Wang ‘eatadiet highin plant-based “Thisis regardless of| food, while the other half at thetransferof antibiotic adiet rich in fermented food. resistancegenesinthe gut” ‘Alter 10 weeks, those who Inanother part ofthe atemore fermented food had experiment,theteammade _agreaterabundanceof genes somekimchisamples."These associated with antibiot also invariably contained resistant bacteria in their stools. antibioticresistant strains There was no change among ‘of microbes” says Wang. thosein the other group. Such bacteria may beon the People with issues affecting rawvegetablesor inthewater _theirdigestivetractsor usedtomakethedish,with __immunesystems could {fermentation accelerating becomeillafteringesting their growth, shesays ‘these microbes, says Wang. The mainstream dairy ‘Many peoplealsoturnto Industry often uses pasteurised — fermentedfood afteracourse milk, long with starter ‘of antibiotics oraniliness, cultures bacteria grown to kickstartthetransformation “If these strains get into ‘ofmilkintocheese-thathave the bloodstream, they beensereened forantibiotie can cause untreatable resistant pathogens, say bacteraemia or sepsis” the researchers. Artisan ‘manufacturersmay use Inaneffortto reset their gut ‘unpasteurised milkand health, These individuals may culturesthat haven'tbeen be mostatriskwhenconsuming, sereened, though. fermented food with antibiotic: Finally theteamreassessed resistant bacteria, says Wang, geneticdatafromapreviousy Furthermore, ingesting published study. Outof such mierobes could worsen 36 adults, half weretold to the antibiotic resistance crisis when they enterthe KimehiisaKorean dish environment via faeces, made withsalted and ‘Wangexpects similar results fermented vegetables toapply to other homemade orattisan fermented food and drinks, such as sauerkraut, ‘made with raw cabbage, and kombucha, black tea made with asymbiotieculture of bacteria and yeast, or SCOBY. ‘Wangurges peopletobe ‘cautious ifthey are making fermented food and toopt forscreenedstarter cultures and pasteurised milk “Antibioticresistanceisa rmajorissue that humankind fs facing, especially bacteria that have developed resistance tolast-line antibiotics saysTurner. 27January 2024 New Sclentst x7News In brief Lite How tardigrades survive extremes ‘MOLECULARsensors help tardigrades withstandextreme environments. Infreezing temperatures or intenseradiation, these microscopic, eight legged invertebrates shrivelup intoa dryballcalledatunandenter state of deep hibernation. Toinvestigate how the animals dothis, Derrick Kolling at Marshall, University in West Virginia and his colleagues exposed tardigrades to high levels of hydrogen peroxide, sugar orsalt,orto-B0°C (12°F) to induce tuns. Underthesestresses, thetardigrades produce reactive ‘molecules called oxygen free radicals. hese oxidise an amino acid called eysteine, signalling theonset ofthe dormant stat, When conditionsimproved, cysteine wasno longer oxidised and the tardigrades woke (PLoS (One,doLorg/me4n). chenty Technology Mind Redditcanpredict Being better crypto price changes at navigation CRYPTOCURRENCY traders could havetripled their money by basing n’t down tenumberofpameatonng tO evolution currency on Reddit was ‘greater than theday before. MEN really do tend to have a better Emiliano DeCristofaro atthe sense of direction than women, University of California Riverside, — whichis probably due to differences andhiscolleagues analysed around inhow they were raisedrather omillionpostson 22forums,cr — thanbelng anevolutionary trait. subreddits,abouteryptocurrency Previous studies have found frombetween2005and2022, that menslightly outperform Theyalsotrackedtheprice of women onspatial navigation tasks. 30 mentionederyptocurrencies. Some researchers have suggested ‘Therewasacontlationfor —_thismaybe due to evolution. Imostcryptocurrencies between ___Toinvestigate, Justin Rhodes at thelevelofconversation,compared the University of linols Urbana~ withthe previousday,and rice. Champaign and his colleagues Inthatperiod,ifsomeonehad collected data from 21 species, tradedacryptocurtency based including humane, that included ‘onwhetherthe number of posts Informationen spatial navigation rose,they could have made stills and how far they travelled threetimesmorethan they from their homes on averags Invested arXiv,doLorg/mcgw). _fnatural selection were at play, Chris tokel-Waller Yyouwould expect the sex that sl New Scientist 27 January 2024 travelled further from home to have better navigational skills, with this being consistent across species. Instead, the team found that ‘among all the species, males were slightly better at navigating than females, even though insome species, suchas the rusty crayfish axonius rusticus) and the litle devil poison frog (Qophaga syWvatico, the females had the larger homerange (Royal Society pen Science, oi.orgime'). The findings suggest that navigational differences inhumans. ‘may becultural. They could alsobe aside effec of biological variations between sexes. Hormonal Aiforences, or examplo, "may affect allkinds of traits" says Rhodes. “The authors show ina very comprehensive way that ex. diferencesin spatial ability are ‘more likely acquired, says Antoine Coutrot atthe French National Centre fr Scientitic Research. “Spatial ability is much ke all cognitive abilities: the more you seit the more you have." CL Warm weather turns ibex nocturnal Alpine ibex (Copraibex) are ‘becoming more nocturnal toeescaperising daytime temperatures, despite a higher risk of encountering predators. Tracking 47 ibex ‘nas revealed that when ‘temperatures during daylight were higher, ex ‘were more active at night (Proceedings ofthe Royal Society®, doloraime4). Marshashugeice storeat its equator A colossal stab of ice seems tobe hiding at Mars's ‘equator. Data acquired by the Mars Express ‘orbiter indicates that this deposit called the Medusae Fossae Formation, contains. ‘enough water to cover the ‘surface of Mars in an ocean 1,502.7 metresdeep (Published in Geophysical Research Letters). Muttivitamins slow mental decline ‘Taking a dally multivitamin slows therate of memory decline in older people. ‘Atrial compared placebos ‘with supplements in $73 ‘people wo did memory testsat the study'sstart and ‘two years later(Ameriean Journal of Clinical Nutrition, doi orgiatatsp9).Thisis ‘the third randomised trial ‘to produce such result.Views ‘Thecolumnist Aperture Letters ccalture Culture columnist Annalee Newite Industry setsits ‘TheMediterranean Thestory ofatalin Bethan Adkerleyon ‘contends with post: sightson Bolivia's Aietisoneofmany Kariké'spathtoa Simon Reeve'snew covidteaching p20 Iithiumreserves pa2 optionsforhealth p2a | Nobelprize pa travel series p28 Why so squeamish? Describing menstrual products using terms like sanitary towels reinforces the trope that menstruation is dirty. It’s time to stop, says Jen Gunter ORES los procs es IY menstunteby seeing the words intended for personalcare “menstrual products” on signage by describing them based on inastore orhearing them spoken. theirfunction. Toothpaste, bubble Menstruation isnt contagious. bathandtoilet paper or tissue are ‘This might seem likean some examples that cometomind Insignificant change to some, Based on those names, wehavea possibly even an efforthardly g0od idea oftheirintended use worth the while but itisn't. The However thereisone Inability tosay orusea wordin exception: menstrual products. If print implies it isshameful When you wantedtobuy tampons, pads Someone walks intoastoretobuy oramenstrualeup,noone could theproducts they need sothey faultyou for being unabeto find don'tbleedallovertheirclothes theminastore. This isbecause andbedsheets and they are met rmanyuse euphemisms on their z witha euphemism, iteeinforces signage, uch as sanitary towels ‘thefalsenarrativethat whatis ornapkins or the more general jee happening sshamefuland dirty “feminine hygiene products’ Of ) Don'tunderestimatethe course thissqueamishness isn't negativeimpact this can have limited to storesigns,andmany onsomeone.Thisisntaonce- people have been brought upto Inatlifetime purchase, but an Use these same euphemisms. © experience they will epeat again Let’sdispensewiththe i 2181 andagain.irwecanaskforarolt “hygiene” and“sanitary” aspects - oftoilet paper ortissue, products oftheselabels.Thesetermsaren't 4 thataredestined totouch the Just incortect; they are harmful genitalsoranus,wecan certainly because they reinforcethe hnygleneorsanitaryconcerns, __things,whohadnointention__seesigns directing us to menstrual tiredtropethat menstruation _ surely wecan dothesame oflimiting myselfbasedon rules produets,oreven morespeciicaly isdiry rpolluting Thisisa with menstrual products. orideas aboutmy body created totampons, menstrual padsor falsebelicthathasbeen present Thenthereisthe"feminine” by men.Therearealso trans __napkins,ormenstrualcups. forthousandsofyearsandhas aspect. Menstruationdoesn’t___-menandnon-binary people who The terms sanitary napkins” beenusedtooppresswomen __conferfemininity:how youteel__menstruate,sousingfeminine and “femininehygiene" aren't andkeepthem {frombeing full _aboutyourselfis what matters _asanadjectiveexcludesthem.In___ some hinlinepreventing, members ofsociety,forexample there. Thinkingbacktomy early addition, menstruationstarts very society's decline. Itishigh byexcludingthem fromreligious daysofbuying padsandtampons, _earlyforsome.Dowereally want timefortheuse of euphemisms services or from preparing Lrememberbeingtumedoff _tousethetermfemininefora___formenstrualproductsto food while menstruating. by the feminine descriptors product neededby someone who end, because there s nothing Menstruation sn'tunhygienic. because,tome,the wordfeminine, ist2yearsoldoreven younger? shamefulabout menstruation. & Whensomeonemenstruates, _especallywhencombinedwith __Theeasy ix hereistorefer theyaren'tdirtyorunsanitary; _theimagery sedtosellthese __totampons, pads ornapkins, thoyaremenstruating Ifwecan products, meant delcateorfragile. menstrual cupsand menstrual Iencurtersagmaccoiogst saytolle paper-aproductlteraly —Ididn'tseemyselfasdelicate underwear as menstrual products. Herrew Dookis Bias designedtowipeawayfaecal ——_orfrgile.1wasaig-yearoldwith _Thatistheir purpose. Nothing bad Tre scerce,medeneond ratter-without ringingup _planstogoplacesand dogreat_—_willhappentothosewho don't, nybaleg/otmensratn ar January 2005 NewScientistla9