New Scientist - June 18, 2016

7/25/2019 New Scientist - June 18, 2016

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MONKEY ARCHAEOLOGYDig reveals primate cultur

is stuck in the Stone Ag

NO MAGIC BULLETSIs proton therapy realla cancer cure-all

YOU WAIT 100 YEARS..LIGO spies a second

gravitational wave

TRIAL AND ERROR Five ways forensics can get you falsely convicted

WHITE FRIGHTHow ethnic change is pushing the US to the right

WEEKLYJune 18 - 24, 2016

0 7 0 9 8 9 3 0 6 9 0 5

2 4

Science and technology newwww.newscientist.com

US jobs in scienc

No3078 US$5.95 CAN$5.95

Rethinking the evolution of the universe

HOW TO MAKEDARK ENERGYDISAPPEAR


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Subscribe toNewScientist

Visitnewscientist.com/9016 orcall

1-888-822-3242andquoteoffer9016

FOCUS LONGER

Live Smarter

ANDRZEJWOJCICK/SPLI/GETTY


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Professor Dame CarolRobinson20 15 Laureate for United K ingdom

B y B r ig it te Lacomb e

Science

needs

w om enD am e C arol R obinson, Professor ofC hem istry at O xford University, invented a ground-breakingm ethod for studying how m em brane proteins function, which play a critical role in the hum an body.

roughout the world, exceptional wom en are at the heart ofm ajor scientific advances.

For 17 years, LO ral has been running the LO ral-UN ESC O For W om en In Science program m e,honouring exceptional wom en from around the world. O ver 2000 wom en from over 100 countrieshave received oursupport to continue to m ove scienceforward and inspire future generations.

LOR A LUNESCOAW A RDS

J O I N U S O N F A C E B O O K C O M / F O R W O M E N I N S C I E N C E


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18 June 20 16 |NewScientist |3

O T TVolume 23 0 No 3078

Thisissu eonline

news cientist.com /issue/3078

Com in gnextw eek

Thefutu reofw ork

Yournine-to-five is changing forever

Lightrelief

Banishing pain with the flick of a switch

Coverim age

GandeeV asan/GettyImages

28

36

G ravitational

w aves again

N ow a secondripple in

space-tim e has been

detected by LIGO

8

JEROENHOFMAN

/GALLERYSTOCK

WILLIAMWIDMER/REDUX/EYEVINE

H ow tom ake

darkenergy

disapp ear

Ret hinking the

evolution of

the universe

Trialanderror

Five ways forens ics

can get you false ly

accused

N ew s

O nthecover

Features

9 M onkey archaeology

Stuckinthe StoneAge

8 You wait 100 years

LIGOspies second

gravitationalwave

18 No magic bullets

Proton therapys potential

36 Trial and error

Five flaws offorensics

4 0 W hite fright

Ethnic change is pushing

US to the right

N ew s

6 U P FR O N T

Calls forgay blood donationlaw change after

Orlando. Killerb ears inJapan. Light pollution

hides Milky Way. Names fornew elements

8 T H IS WE EK

Primate archaeology. Supernovaeffect on

early humans. Bettergene-editing to stop

Zika. GMmonkeys to unlockbraindisease?

15 IN B R IEF

Froggy style sex. Turn CO2 intorocks.

Alien life could be on ice. Nospace elevators.

Ancestorof allbacteria. Planet makes its

starspin. Indoorweather

Techn olog y

22 Taking babiesfingerprints. Onthe trailofa

missing elephant. Bot spots hidden ads on

socialmedia. Listening out foricebergs

A n alysis

18 Cancer therapy Whats driving the push

forprotons?

20 CO M M EN T

High time to tackle the pills killing America.

Noneed forspeed at aviations new frontier

2 1 IN S IG H T

Why antidepressants are so popular

Features

28 How to make dark energy disappear

(see above left)

32 Commandand cure Acheap and easy

way to fixgeneticproblems

36 Trial and error (see left)

4 0 P EO P LE

Ethnic change is pushing the US to the right

Cu lture

4 2 Children of tomorrow When itcomes to

making babies,it could allbe overforsex

4 3 Click festival Tech meets art inDenmark

4 4 Penis thieves Geograph y of odd disorders

R egulars

52 LET TER S Empathy versus compassion

56 FEED B A CK Berries that smellofdirty feet

57 T H E LA ST WO R D Autonomous trains

A pertu re

26 A century of tourism inUS NationalParks

Leaders

5 Like it ornot,primate research remains

necess ary. Dont let project fearwin


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L

TH E useofanim als in biom edical

research is som ethingofan

elephant in the room .M odern

m edicinewouldbeim possible

without it,and forthem ost part

society has tacitly accepted that

sacrificing anim als forthe greater

good is tolerable.Bu t we rarely

discuss it explicitly.

Thenews that scientists in

Japan and Ch ina are ram pi ng upbrain research usi ng genetically

engineeredm onkeys has

reopened the debate (see page 12).

Prim ate research is especially

contentious;the fact that public

opposition is lowerin these

countries than in theW est,and

that W estern neuroscientists hope

toshare in the resultsto bypass

ethicalqualm s at hom e, wil l only

A s a c r if ic e w o r t h m a k in g

D o n t le t P r o je c t F e a r w in

Likeitornot,prim aterese arch rem ains a necessity

addto som e peoples disquiet.

Anim alexperim entation

shouldalways beup for

discussion.But it is hard to see

howthis substantially changes

anything.Prim ate research still

happens in W estern countries and

the debate aroundit was settled

longago.Them ost recentUK

assessm ent, the2006 W eatherall

Report, found a strong scientificcase forthe carefully regulated

useofnon-hum an prim ates

where there are no otherm eans to

address clearly defined quest ions

ofparticularim portance.

Thereis nodoubtthat the

questions are im portant.In

Europe alone, a third ofpeople

are affected by brain-related

disorders, and the cost oftreating

them is around 800 billion a

year, m ore than the com bined

cost of treatin g cancer, diabetes

and coronary heart d iseas e.

Som e m ay find it especially

objectionable that the p rim ates

are genetical ly engineered to

m im ic the sy m p tom s ofhu m an

brain diseases.That adds a

new dim ension tothe debate,

but existingstandards oughtto beable to deal with any

welfare is sues.

The bald fact is t hat Japan and

Ch ina are going t o do thi s research

any way.It i s surely bet ter for it

to be part of a global sci enti fic

program m e accom panied by a

welfare debate so we can all

benefit from the research as

ethically as possi ble.

TH E poli tical im pulseknown as

nativism is on them arch.In the

US, D onaldTrum p is runningan

openly racist cam paign.In the

UK , Eurosceptics are stoking

resentm ent of im m igrants to

propel the country towards th e

Brexit door.N ativist s i n other EU

countries are licking t heir lip s i n

anticip ation of a dom ino effect.

That th e US is flirting wi th th e

notion of President Trum p

beggars belief.In the words of the

m an him self, we need to figure

out what th e hell is going on.

Political com m entators point the

fin ger at th e frus tration of th e

whi te working class , who have

seen their incom es stagnate.

But th at is only p art of the st ory.

To understand com plex issu es,

it i s often a good idea to ask a

scien tis t.O ne factor un covered by

research is t he USs shifting racial

dem ographics, which m any find

threatening and respond to bybecom ing racially intolerant

(see page 40).The changing

dem ographics oftheUK seem s

to be having a sim ilar effect.

Fearofchangeis a natural

im pulse;thedesire topull up

the drawbridge follows.But as

we have repeatedly reported, that

resp onse i s i rrational an d self-

defeatin g.W e urge everyone t o

thin k about what th e hell is really

going on before decidin g whi ch

way to vote.

L O C A T IO N S

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6 |NewScientist |18 June 2 016

FO R G ET earth ,w in d,w ateran d

fire th ere are fou rn ew elem ents

in tow n .Th e In tern ation alU n ion

ofP u re an d A pp lied Ch em istry

(IU PA C)h asan n ou n ced nam esfor

th e recen tly d iscovered elem en ts

113,115,117 an d 118.Th ey w illbe

called nih on iu m ,m oscoviu m ,

tenn essin e and ogan esson ,

pen din g a p u blic review .

Th e fou relem en ts com p lete

th e seven th row ofthe period ictable.Th ey go tth e officialn od of

ap p rov alin Jan u ary th is year after

discov eries by team s in Jap an ,

Ru ssia an d th e U S,w h o suggested

nam esto govern in g bod y IU PA C.

R esearchersat R IKEN in Wako,

Jap an ,offered nih on iu m (sym bo l

N h)for th eir d iscovery,elem en t

113,afterN ih on ,on e of th e

Jap an ese w ords for Jap an .

M oscow and Tenn esseeget

th eirm om en to fglory w ith

m osco viu m (M c),ak aelem en t115,

PEO PLE th ou gh tIw asm ad,says

Jen ny R em in gton -H ob bs,w h o w as

d iagn osed w ith m u ltip le sclerosis

in h erlate 20 s.Sh e w as abo u tto try

a rad icalnew treatm en tth atcan

cureM S by rebooting the im m un e

system bu titcan also be dead ly.

R esu lts released lastw eek fro m

a trialsh ow th ata sim ilar

treatm en tstop p ed th e disease

progressin g in 70 p ercent of

cases,bu tth ere w asa 4 p ercen t

risk ofd yin g from com p lication s

ofth e chem oth erapy itinv olves

(TheLancet,doi.org/b jzz).

G

In am e y o u ... D an g e ro u s M S c u re

O T

E le m e n t s 1 1 3 , 1 1 5 , 1 1 7

an d 1 1 8 are n o w n ih o n iu m ,

m o s c o v iu m , te n n e s s in e

an d o g an e s s o n

A rare s igh t

Waiting to d onate

an d ten n essin e (Ts),form ally 117.

Team s atth e Join tIn stitu te for

N u clearR esearch in D u bn a,

R u ssia,and O ak R id ge N ation al

Lab oratory,V an d erbiltU n iversity

an d Law ren ceLiverm ore N ation al

Lab oratory (LLN L)in th e U S,

suggested th ose n am es.

Fin ally,th e D u bn a an d LLN L

team scam e up w ith o ganesson

(O g)after Yu riO gan essian ,

a R u ssian p hy sicistw h o h elp ed

d iscov erelem en t114 in 199 9 .Th at

elem en t,no w called fleroviu m ,

an d liverm oriu m ,116 ,w ere th e

lastto join th e p eriod ic tab le,

back in 20 11.

D u rin g th e treatm ent,bo n e

m arrow cells are ex tracted ,th en

allth e im m u n e cells th atrem ain

in th e bo dy are killed .Th e stored

bo n e m arrow is th en tran sp lan te

back in to th e bo dy.Thisreboo ts

th e im m u n e system ,stop p in g it

from attackin g n erve cells,w h ich

isth e cau se ofM S.

D esp ite th e risks,R em in gton -

H ob bs w ent ah ead w ith treatm en

in 20 11,bu tw a rns its n o q u ick fix

Th e year th atfollow ed w as qu ite

a d ark tim e, she says.B u tth e

treatm en tstop p ed th e M S in its

tracks,an d p u she d itin to reverse

She has now m ade a fullrecovery

SEE IN G stars is gettin g h arde r.A

th ird o fu s can tsee th e M ilky Way

atn igh t,accordin g to a n ew m ap

ofligh tp ollu tion across th eglo be

A rou nd 80 percentofthe

w orld sp o p u lation live su n d er

skiesobscu red tosom ed eg reeby

h u m an -m ade ligh t.Sin gap ore

n everexp erien cestru e n igh t

co n d itio n s artificialtw iligh t

m asksthed arkn ess.C h ad ,th e

C en tralA frican R ep u b lican d

M ad ag asca rh avethelow estlevel

M ilk y w h e re?

CARLOSFERNANDE

Z/GETTY

B lo o d ru le s c h a lle n g e dDONORS have be en que uing up

outs ide blood b anks in Orlando since a

shooting at a g ay nightclub in the city

on Sunday left 4 9 d ead a nd at least 5 0

serious ly wounde d. Th e traged y h as

rene wed calls for ch ang es to th e US

gu idelines on d onation that seve rely

limit gay me n from giv ing b lood.

Under new rules unve iled by t he

USFood a nd Drug Ad ministration

(FDA)in December,men wh o h ave

sex with men mu st h ave b een celibate

for a ye ar before d onating . Th e rule

change rescinded a 3 2-year ban on

alldonat ions from g ay men.

The revis ed policy is s till

dis criminatory, rea d a s tatement from

th e NationalGay Blood Drive,a g roup

camp aig ning for relax ation of the FDA

gu idelines th at favours a syste m whe re

each donor is as ses se d individ ua lly.

Pau lVolbe rding ,director of

th eAIDS Res earch Institute at

th eUnive rsit y of California,Sa n

Francisco,says th at p olicies around

blood donation are outda ted .

Cu rrent HIV blood te st s are

incred ibly s ensitive and accurate.

Infection can be detected within days

of exp osu re,making th e cu rrent

USFDA requ irement of a 12 -month

gap from last sex ua lact to donation

meaning les s, h e say s.

Th ere are not any significant

scientific ju st ifications for th e

ban,ag ree s Winst on Berkman

atNew York Unive rsit y.

A stud y two years ago by th e

Williams Inst itu te es timated th at if

more g ay me n were allowed to g ive

blood,the US nationalsu pp ly would

grow by between 2 and 4 per cent.


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STO P th e gene bom b!T hats

th e rallyin g cry ofo p po n en ts of

techn ology kn ow n as gen e drives.M ore research n eeded ,w asthe

rath er lessd ram atic callfrom th e

U S N ation alAcadem y ofScien ces,

w h ich released its rep orton gen e

d rives lastw eek.

G ene drivesare bitso fD N A

th atcan sp read them selves

rap idly th rou gh a p op u lation .

Th ere are m any natu ralgene

d rives,an d b iolog ists are n ow

creatin g artificialo n es.In th eo ry,

gen e drives cou ld be u sed to

stop m osq u itoe s tran sm ittin g

d iseases,or even to d rive p ests to

ex tin ction ;in p ractice,this w illb e

d ifficu ltb ecau se organ ism s can

evo lve resistan ce (see p age 10 ).

Som e w antallw ork on genedrivesban n ed b ecause ofth e

risks,w h ich in clu d e th eir

p otentialuse asb iow eapo n s.

Ith asb een sugg ested th atgen e

d rives cou ld be u sed to m od ify

bitin g in sects to m ake th em

p rodu ce tox in s th atkillanyon e

th ey b ite,for in stan ce.Th e N A S

rep ortaccepts th ere are seriou s

risksb u tcon clu de s th atth e

p oten tialb en efits are so great

th atlab an d h igh ly con tro lled

field stu d ies sh ou ld b e allow ed .

Sp rea ding fea r

S

For new stories every day, visit new scientist.com /new s

K yoto crunching

TH E results are in .Th e fin al

em ission s figu res from th e

cou n tries th atp articip ated in

th e Kyoto Protocolh ave n ow

been assessed bu tw h eth erit

w asa successd epends on how

yo u in terp retth em .

U n d erthe 19 9 7 clim ate treaty,

38 d evelop ed cou n tries agreed

to reduce th eirm ean ann u al

greenh ou seg asem ission s

betw een 200 8 and 20 12 to 5 per

cen tb elow 19 9 0 levels.While th e

U S and C anada dropp ed out,the

figu ressh ow th ato verall,th e

rem ain ing 36 nation sm anaged

to m eetth ese redu ction s(Clim ate

P o licy ,doi.org/b jz4 ).

In large p artth is w as becau se

th e em ission s ofform erSo viet

statesh ad p lu m m eted before th e

dealw as even sign ed.

Ten co u n tries ach ieved their

targets p artly th an ks to bu yin gcarbon cred its rath er th an en tirely

th rou gh tru e redu ction s.Th e

fin an cialcrisis an d th e sh iftin g

o fin du strialactivities to n ation s

such as Ch in a also h elped .

These nu m berscan be

in terp reted o n e w ay or an other,

says stu dy au th or Igor Sh ishlov

o fthe In stitu te for C lim ate

Econ om icsin P aris.B u t,h e says,

th e p rotocoldid h elp lay the

fou n dation sforth e 20 15 Paris

clim ate agreem en t. Attacks are commonb ut rarely fatal

o fligh tp ollu tion ,w ith three-

q u arterso fth eirp op u latio n s

en joyin gp ristin e n igh tskies.

Th eM ilkyWay,visible in

d arkn essasad im glow streakin gacrossth esky,is h id d en fo r6 0 p er

centofEu rop ean s an d 80 p ercen t

ofN orth A m ericans.

Its a big p arto fo u rco n n ection

to th e cosm os an d its b een lost,

saysstu dy au th or C h ris Elvid ge o f

th eU SN ation alO cean ic an d

A tm osp h ericA d m in istration ,

w h obu iltthe m ap u sin g satellite

im ages,com p u term od els an d

citizen -scien ce m easu rem en ts

from th e grou n d (Scien ce

A d van ces,doi.org/b jz2).

6 0 S ECO N D S

First of many?Say goodbye to the B ramble Cay

melomys. This rodent,which lived

only on a Great B arrier Reef island,is

thought to be the first mammal to be

made extinct primarily by human-

made climate change. The s pecies

hasnt been s een since 200 9,

probably w iped out by se a-level rises .

T hrees not a crowdA controversial three -parent ge ne

fertility therapy could be us ed in

humans within two years,afte r new

trial results s how it can produce

healthy embryos free from diseas e.

The te chnique aims to prevent

fatal mitochondrialdisease beingpassed fromparent to childby

placingt he nucleus froma fertilised

egg intoa healthydonoregg

(Nature,doi.org/b jz3).

Double sun giantSometimestwo suns are betterthan

one.Astronomers havediscovered

thelargest-everplanet toorbit a

binarystar. Knownas Kepler-1647b,

it is agas giant slightlybiggerthan

Jupiter ands its inthe habitablezone

of its star,meaning anyrockymoonsinorbit couldhave liquidw ateron

theirsurface.

Organ boostTheUS W hiteHouse has announced

new initiatives to helpimprove organ

transplants,including a $160 million

investmentby theUS Department of

Defense,a data-sharing agreement

between transplant centres,and

funding forresearchers working

ong roundbreakingregenerative

therapies.

Not such a bird brainW hos a cleverb irdy? Someb irds

behavef armoreintelligentlythan

we wouldexpectfromtheirtiny

brains. Now we know why by

denselycrammingas many neurons

into theirbrainsas someprimates

(PNAS ,doi.org/bjzx). Th e macaw ,

forexample,has more neurons in its

forebrain than a macaque,despite

its brain being walnut -sized.

M an-eat ing bea r s hot in Jap anAN ASIATIC black be ar shot in

Japanhad human t iss ue in its gu t.

The animal was killed by hunters near

the site of the f ourth fatal bear attack

in the Akita prefecture in the space of

three weeks.

B ear attacks are common in this

area of Japan,but t hey rarely result

inpeople b eing killed as prey. It

remains unclear whether the b ear

that was shot caused all four deaths,

says David Garshelis,co-chair of t he

IUCN Bear S pecialist Group.

The most recent victim,a

74-year-old woman,had bee n

gathe ring edible plants in a forest.

The previous atta cks were all on men

picking ba mboo shoots in the reg ion,

in three separate incidents. P eople

who gathe r edible plants at t his time

of year are at high risk,because be ars

eat thes e plants too,says Garshelis.

B ear numbers in northern Japan

are high this year,after more cubs

than us ual survived to adulthood

thanks to a b umper crop of beechnuts

in spring. There have already b een

1200 bear sightings in the region this

year double the numbe r for the

whole of 20 15. In Iwate prefecture,

eight people have been attacked by

bears since April.

Newly mature bears can behave

unpredictably,says Lori Egg ert at the

University of M issouri in Columbia.

Th eyre prospecting in areas w here

they havent g rown u p, she s ays . If

its b een in an a rea where there have

not bee n humans,th en they re not

going to be af raid of us.


10/60


TH EYV E do n e itagain .O n

26 D ecem ber,20 15,for th e secon d

tim e,th e Laser In terferom eter

G ravitation alWave O b servatory

(LIG O )cau gh tth e rip p les in space-

tim e shaken o ffby th e death

spiralofa p airo fb lack h oles.

In oth er w o rds,w e are officially

in th e era o fgravitatio n alw ave

astron om y.

Th is gives u s con fiden ce,

says Salvatore V itale atthe

M assachu setts In stitu te ofTech n ology,on e ofth e LIG O team .

Itw as n ot ju sta lu cky acciden t.

Seein g a secon d o n e tells u s clearly

th atth ere is a p op u lation o fb lack

h oles th ere,an d w e w illsee a lot of

th em in th e com in g scien ce ru n .

Th e discovery w asan n ou n ced

atth e A m erican A stron om ical

So ciety m eetin g in S an D iego

on 15 Ju n e,an d w illbe p u blished

in th ejou rnalPhysical Review

Letters.

T h eLIG O team m ad eh istoryin

Febru ary w hen th ey ann ou n ced

th e firstd etection ofg ravitation al

w av es.A lb ertEin stein p redicted

they w o u ld be produ ced w h en

m assive ob jects like black h oles

m ove arou nd .D ubbed G W1509 14,

th e sign alarrived attw in

d etectors in H an ford ,Wash in gton ,

an d Livin gsto n ,Lou isian a,

on 14 Sep tem ber lastyear.

Th e detectorsp icked u p the

m in u scu le stretchin g of space-

tim e spu rred b y th e collision o fa

pairofb lack ho lesabo ut 30 and

35tim esthe m assofthe sun ,

1.3 b illion ligh tyears aw ay.

Th e secon d sign al,called

G W151226,also cam e from a p air

of black h oles m ergin g.Bu tth ese

w erem u ch ligh ter abo u t14.2

and 7.5 tim esth e m asso fth e su n .

Th ey m erged to form a black h ole

of 20 .8 solar m asses,m ean in g

abou t1solarm asso fenergy

radiated aw ay in grav itation al

w aves du rin g th e collision .

Th is even tradiated th e

equ ivalento fth e m asso fou rsun

in a cou p le of secon ds, V itale

says.O u ro w n su n radiated ab ou

a m illio n th o fits m ass in 5 billio n

years.Th is really gives yo u th e

scale ofh ow violent an d su dd en

th is release o fen ergy is,as

T W

L IGO s e e s s e c o n d b lac k h o le m e rg e rG r a v it a t io n a l w a v e a s t ro n o m y is re a lly h e re , s a y s Lisa Grossman

T h is e v e n t ra d iat e d th ee q u iv ale n t o f t h e m as s

o f o u r s u n in a c o u p le

o f s e c o n d s

CH R IS T M A S R U IN E D

Another in the b a

LIGO saw its second signalat

03 :38 :53 UTC on Boxing Day last

year,which was still25 December in

th e US . It was a Christmas gift,

say s team member Salvatore V itale.

Th at means the fact that it was

dis covered at a llis a b it of a lu cky

break,as the team deb ated wh ether

or not to keep th e d etector running

over th e winter h oliday s.

Bu t it was awkward timing for

V itale,who h ad be en vis iting family

in Italy in S epte mber whe n th e first

signa larrived. As part of th e te am

stu dying the signalto learn th e

properties of th e black h oles ,his

holiday wa s ab rup tly cu t sh ort by

frantic d ata ana lys is.

Obviously my time th ere wa s

totally d es troyed by th e first eve nt,

he s ays. Th e team was sworn to

se crecy,so h e cou ldnt ev en t ellhis

parents what had happ ened.

I h ad to ju st say its imp ortant ,

bu t d ont worry,I willmake it u p to

you at Christmas, he says . Th e

morning of th e 26 th ,I woke up,and

this is what happens. This teaches

you a less on:never check your email

th e morning of th e 2 6 th .


11/60


com pared to ou reveryday

ex p erien ce.

Ify ou cou ld see it,th e collision

w o u ld b e 10 ,0 0 0 tim esb righ ter

th an a gam m a-ray bu rst,th ebrigh testexp losion sw e kn ow of

in th e u n iverse,says A viLoeb at

H arvard U n iversity.

Into the m a instream

Th ose sm allerm assesare

reassu rin g,becau se th ey fit

squ arely in the 5 to 20 solarm ass

ran ge ofb lack h oles,th e kin d

already o bserved w ith X -ray

telescop es.Th ose black h oles

u su ally p airu p w ith o rd in ary

stars,an d w e can see th e discof

h otgas th ataccum u latesarou nd

th e b lack h ole as itsteals m aterial

from its com pan ion .

Th e factth atth ey d etected

low erm assb lack h oles brin gs it

closerto m ain stream astron om y,

w h ere su ch b lack h olesare often

seen , Lo eb says.Ite stab lish es

gravitation alw ave astron om y

as a field.

Wh en w e m ade th e first

d iscovery,itw as kin d o f

surprisin g because th ey h ave

zero o verlap w ith the kn ow n

d istribu tion ofb lack h oles, V itale

says.N ow w e are back on tw o

black h oles w ith m asses th atare

totally co m p atible w ith w h atw e

ex p ect.Its n ice to see th atw e can

target a sim ilar p op u latio n .

Italso m ean tth atLIG O

w atched m ore oftheird eadly

w altz.T h e black h o les in th e first

eventw ere so m assive th atth ey

sw u ng arou n d each oth erless

th an 10 tim es before m ergin g.

In th e secon d collision ,th e teamw atche d 55 fu llorbits b efore

the end.

B u tth esign alfrom thesm aller

b lackh olesw asalso m o red ifficu lt

tod etect.T h efirston ew asso

p ow erfulthatyou co u ld seeitin

thed ataw iththen ak ed ey e.You

co u ld ev en h ea rit:tran slatin gthe

sign alin tosou n d w avesgav ea

ch irp ,arisein p itch an d volu m e

asth eb lackh olescircleea ch oth er

fasteran d faster.

Th isn ew o n erequ iredm ore

In this section

GM monkeys could unlock human brain dise ase ,page 12

W e c an fi n g e r p rin t b a b i e s sh o u ld w e ? p a g e 1 8

W h a ts d r iv in g t h e p u s h fo r p r o to n c an c e r t h e ra p y ? p a g e 2 2

targeted algo rith m s an d

sop h isticated p rocessin g,to

tease th e sign alou tofthe n oise.

Th e firsteven tw as so lou d an d

so scream in g in th e data,itw asfou n d by algo rith m s th atju st

loo ked for an ythin g really,n ot

p articu larly b in ary b lack h oles,

V itale says.For th is on e itw as

im po rtantto kn ow w e w ere

loo kin g fo rco m p actb in aries.

Ifyo u tried to m ake a chirp

ou tofth e data allyou w ou ld h ear

iskssh h h h h h h , saysLIG O

team m em ber N ergis M avalvala,

also atM IT.

R egardless,seein g m ore

cycles m akes th is system a better

lab o ratory to testEin stein s

th eo ry o fg en eralrelativity.

Ifthere is an y sm alldev iation

from ge n eralrelativity,itw ill

accu m u late, V itale says.Ify ou

have m ore cyclesyou h ave a better

h op e to see ifth ere is som eth in g

w ron g. So far,th e even tm atches

ge n eralrelativity p erfectly.

Th e team also m easu red a

n ew attribu te of th e black h oles:

one ofthe behem oths w as

spin n in g slow ly.

M easu rin g spin isa w ay to

probe h ow th e black h olesform ed .

Ifth ey cam e from a p airo fstars

th atboth ex plod ed and b ecam e

black h olestogeth er,th ey ou gh t

to spin in the sam e d irection .

Ifthey w ere alread y b lack h o les

w h en they fou n d each oth erin a

den seen viron m en tlike a glob u lar

clu ster,th ey sho u ld n ot.

M ore detection s w illhelp g au ge

th e size ofthe u n iverse,probe th e

n atu re ofm atteran d testgen eral

relativity to ever h igh er p recision .

Theseareth e kin ds ofth in gsw e w antto do,and w e can

h ardly do them in an y oth erw ay,

V itale says.

B u tw ew illn eed alotm o re

sign alstoan sw ersu ch qu estion s.

T h esign ifican ceo fthisp ap er

isitestab lish esap o p u lation ,

ratherthan asin gleex am p le,

say sLo eb .T h ereisab ig

qu alitatived ifferen cebetw een

h avin go n ed atap oin tan d h avin g

tw o.Ilookforw ard toim p rovin g

th estatistics.

T H E fir s t m o n k e y a rc h a e o lo g y

d ig h a s u n c o v e re d t h e to o ls u s e d

b y p r e v io u s g e n e ra tio n s o f w ild

m a c aq u e s a g r o u p o f p r im a te s

s e p a ra te d f ro m h u m a n s b y s o m e

2 5 m i lli o n y e a r s o f e v o lu t io n . T h e

d is c o v e r y m e a n s h u m a n s a re n t a lo n e

i n le a v in g a re c o r d o f p a s t c u lt u r e th a t

c an b e p rie d o p e n b y a rc h a e o lo g y .

A ll s o r ts o f a n i m a ls c a n u s e t o o ls ,

b u t t h e y a r e u s u a lly m a d e f ro m

p erish ab le m aterials like leaves an d

t w ig s . T h is m a k e s th e o r ig i n o f t h i s

b e h a v io u r d i ff ic u lt to s t u d y .

B u r m e s e lo n g -t aile d m a c aq u e s a r e

a ra re e x c e p t io n . T h e y a re re n o w n e d

fo r th e ir u s e o f s to n e t o o ls t o c r a c k

o p e n s h e llf is h , c ra b s a n d n u t s , m a k i n g

t h e m o n e o f t h e v e ry f e w p r im a te s

t h a t h a ve f o llo w e d h o m i n i n s i n t o

t h e S to n e A g e .

M ic h a e l H a s la m at t h e U n i ve r s it y

o f O x fo r d a n d h i s t e am c o n d u c te d t h e

d ig o n t h e s m a ll is la n d o f P ia k N a m Y a i

in T h a ila n d , o n e o f th e is la n d s w h e re

t h e m o n k e y s liv e an d u s e s t o n e t o o ls .

T h e y s ift ed t h r o u g h t h e s an d y

s e d i m en t s at th e s it e a n d fo u n d 1 0

s t o n e t o o ls a t tr ib u t e d t o m a c aq u e s ,

b a s e d o n t h e i r w e a r p a tt e rn s .

B y d a tin g t h e o y s t er s h e lls fo u n d

i n t h e s a m e s e d i m e n t la y e r s , t h e y

d e t er m in e d t h e to o ls c o u ld b e as

o ld a s 6 5 y e a rs , g o in g b a c k t w o

m a c aq u e g e n e r a tio n s .

W e k n o w fro m e y ew it n e ss ac co u n t s

t h a t t h e s e m o n k e y s h a ve b e e n u s in g

t o o ls f o r a t le a s t 1 2 0 y e a r s , s o t h e

s t u d y d o e s n t p u s h t h e ag e o f t h e

b e h a v io u r b a c k . B u t H a s la m s e e s it

a s a fir s t s t e p t o w a rd s d ig g in g d e e p e r

in t o t h e o r ig i n s o f th e b e h a v io u r.

Its a very clever id ea an d its

s o m e th i n g t h at w a s w a it in g to b e

d o n e , s a y s M ic h a el H u f fm an at K y o t o

U n i v e rs it y in Ja p a n , a p r im a to lo g i s t

w h o s tu d ie s ro c k h an d lin g b e h av io u r

in Ja p a n e s e m a c a q u e s . It ju s t t o o k

s o m e o n e to g o o u t a n d d o it .

E x a c t ly h o w fa r b a c k in t i m e th e

m a c aq u e s St o n e A g e e x t e n d s is

a n y o n e s g u e s s . A ra re c h im p a n z e e

a rc h a e o lo g y d i g a d e c a d e ag o

s h o w e d th i s a p e h a s b e en u s in g

s to n e t o o ls f o r m o r e t h a n 4 0 0 0 y e a rs .

A lo n g re c o rd o f a n c ie n t s t o n e

t o o ls c o u ld t e ll u s i f t h e m o n k e y s

p i c k ed u p t o o l u s e in r e s p o n s e to a n

e n v i ro n m e n t a l s t r e s s , s u c h a s ra p i d

sea level ch an g es, fo r exam p le.

It m a y o n e d a y b e p o s s i b le t o a d d r e s s

q u e st io n s ab o u t h o w an d w h y t o o l

u s e a ri s e s in a n i m a l p o p u la t io n s , a n d

ab o u t t h e e x te n t to w h i ch t h at k in d

o fb eh avio u r is o r isn t u n iqu ely

h u m a n , s a y s H a s la m . Alex Kasprak

M onkey archae ology hint s at p rim ate culture

U s in g t h e i r t o o ls o f t h e t r a d e

T h e s e m a c a q u e s a re o n eofthe few prim at es tofo llow hom in ins in to the

S t on e A g e


12/60


T W

Sh annon Hall

TW O stel larblasts m ay havem ade

life interesting forearly hum ans.

Roughly 2m illion years ago,

twos upernovae explodedso close

toEarth that they showeredthe

planetwith debris, leaving behind

traces ofradioactivei ron-60 now

buried in the sea floor.

Those sup ernovae were several

hun dred light -years from Earth,farenough away that their

radiation didnt lead to a m ass

extinction, but close enough to

have affected ouran cestor o m o

e r e c t u s , which was descending

from thetrees atthetim e.

N ow, Brian Thom asat

W ashburn University in Topeka,

Kansas, and his colleagues posit

that the twosupernovaecould

havehurled enough radiation

at Earth to affect our ancest ors

behavioural patterns, andpotentially increase cancer rates.

The first radiat ion t o hit Earth

would have sim ply been visible

light .Supernovae can be so bright

that they briefly outshine all the

stars in theirhost galaxy which

wouldn t go unnot iced on Earth.

In fact, such a close supernova

would h ave been as bright as a ful l

m oon every ni ght for up to a year

after the ini tial explosion.The

added light pollut ion could have

had som e biological im pact.

Certain sp ecies use light from

the m oon to navigate, Thom as

says.They al so use th at cue for

m ating, reproduction, layin g eggs,

thin gs like th at.Even jus t foraging

for food.This can s crew wi th their

usual behavioural p rocesses.

Increased light at n ight can

also affect horm one producti onin p eople.Take m elatonin for

exam ple:it doesnt just pu t us to

sleep, it also m ediates som e of the

repair m echanism s in our bodies.

W ere not talkin g about wip ing

out species here, but there m ay

be som e im pact on one or two

generations, says Thom as.

But visi ble light isn t the only

radiat ion that would have burst

from these stellar expl osions.

Roughly 500 years after the

supernova faded, it s radioactive

particles would have p elted Earth

Thom as and his colleagues

calculated that th e average globa

radiat ion woul d have been three

tim es the backgroundlevelstypical today.They speculate

ourancestors m ay have faced an

increased cancer risk as a result

(arxiv.org/abs/160 5.0 49 26).

But they m ight not have had

m uch to worry about, says M icha

W eil at Colorado State University,

as t he average is nt very t elling

theres a considerable range acros

the globe.Forexam ple, theres

a radiation hotspot in Kerala,

India, where the radiation can

be20 tim es the global average.

People havestruggled to showan increase in cancer rates i n

those areas, and they havent

m anaged to do it, W eil says.

Thom as andhis colleagues

calculated that the increased

doseis equivalent to getting one

CT scan p er year, which recent

studies have shown can increase

the risk of leukaem ia and brain

tum ours in children ( h e L a n c e t ,

doi.org/f2fm fz).

Any dam age caused by the

supernovae is hard to quanti fy.Luckily, nearby blasts only happ e

once every bil lion years, says

M ichael Sivertz at the NA SA Space

Radiation Laboratory.You

wouldn t h ave to take out a life

insu rance policy on it, he says.

E arly h u m an s felt

su pern ovae blasts

N

A

SA

/CX

C/SA

O

Itco u ld stop m o squ ito es

carryin g Zika viru s,bu t w e

do ntkn ow w hat the othe r

consequ en ces m igh tb e

Cancer caus ing?

INTRODUCING the gene drive 2.0.

An improved way ofcreating gene

drives could help wipe out some of

the worlds most des tructive disease s.

A gene drive is a piece ofselfish

DNA that cansp read rapidly through

a popu lation. Biologists have created

gene drives that spread among

insects and are already testing

them inlabs around the world.

The proposed use ofgene drives is

controversial(see pag e 6 ),because if

they turn outto haveu nexpected

Gen e -ed itin g

tech n iqu e

cou ld stop Zika

conseq ue nces after be ing releas ed

th ere may b e little we ca n do ab out it.

Bu t th ere are also many p otential

benefits,such as stopping mosquitoes

from ca rrying malaria or Zika.

In rea lity,flaws in exis ting d es igns

mean th at g ene d rives w ouldnt las t

long in the wild. Bu t sou pe d-up

versions are in th e works t hat might

ju st d eliver on th e tech nology s h u ge

potentialto do good or bad.

Gene drives based on the CRISPR

gene-editing technique recognise

a specific DNA sequence in a

chromosome, cut it, and splice a copy

of themselves into the gap. By copying

and pasting themselves from one

chromosome to another in this way

they ensure all offspring inherit them.

In practice, though, resistance to a

gene drive often evolves in just a few

generations because natural variation

means that some organisms have

chromosomes in which the target DNA

is different. These chromosomesspread through a population in

response to the release of a specific

gene drive, stopping the gene drive

spreading further.

The copy-and-paste process can

also go awry. Instead of a copy of a

gene drive being pasted in after the

target DNA is cut, sometimes the

severed ends are stuck back togethe

introducing mutations into the target

DNA. This can create chromosomes

resistant to the gene drive.

Now, George Churchs team at

Harvard University has a plan: to makthetarget DNApartof a crucial gene

andto cutthisgenein severalplaces

(Biorxiv, doi.org/bjzt). The gene drive

includes the sequences needed to

repair the crucial gene and insert a new

gene. This means that if the process

goes awry, the gene containing the

target DNA is wrecked. Because this

gene is crucial to the organisms

survival, a chromosome carrying a

wrecked version will not spread even

if the organism becomes resistant to

the gene drive. M ichaelLePage


13/60

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14/60


Andy Cogh lan

TH E w orldsfirstm onkey

genetically engineered to have

Parkinsonsdisease hasbeen

created by researchersin Japan ,

N ew Scientist can reveal.O ther

m onkeyscreated aspartof

the sam e projectm im ic

Alzheim ersdisease and m otor

neuron e disease.

While m any scientistsw ere

encou raged by the possibility of

gaining uniqu e insightinto hard-

to-treatbrain disorders,the new s

w illalarm thosew ho feelitis

w rong to use prim atesin research

(seeLeader,page 5).

Than kstoourcloseevolutionary

history,thebrainsofprim atesare

farm oresim ilartooursthan those

ofthem ice,fliesan dw orm sthat

currentlydom inatebrainresearch.

M arm osets,forinstance,haveone

partner,severaloffspringan d

m akeeyecontactw itheachother.

Lackofpublicsupporthas

lim itedprim ateresearchin

EuropeandtheU S.M ost

neu rologicalresearchinthese

countriesfocu sesonm icebutit

islim itedinitsscope.Forex am ple,

hundredsofcom pou ndsthat

show edprom iseinm icew itha

versionofAlzheim ershavefailed

com pletelyw hentheyaregivento

peoplew iththedisease.

InJapan an dChina,opposition

ism utedbycom parison.Lastm on th,H ideyukiO kan oat

theKeioU niversitySchoolof

M edicineinTokyorevealedhis

team sm arm osetm odelof

ParkinsonsattheStateofthe

Brainm eetinginAlpbach ,Austria.

Th eteam m odifiedm arm osets

tohavem utatedcopiesofa

hum angenecalledSN CA,w hich is

linkedtoParkinsonsdisease.

Whenthisgeneisfau lty,aprotein

calledalph a-syn ucleinbuildsup

inthebrain,disruptingan dthen

killingthebraincellsthatm ake

dopam ine,asign allingchem ical

vitalform ovem ent.

Inthethreeyearssincethe

engineeredm arm osetsw ereborn,

theydevelopedParkinson s

sym ptom sinthesam ew ay

peopledo.Thisbegan w ithsign s

ofsleepdisturbanceintheirfirst

year,follow edbytheappearance

ofa-synuclein-associated

globules,kn ow nasLew ybodies,

intheirbrainstem sthenextyear.

Bytheirthirdyear,them onkeys

began toshow thecharacteristic

trem orsassociatedw iththe

condition.A sfurthereviden ceof

how sim ilarthesem onkeysareto

hum answ ithParkinsons,O kan o

show edthattheirtrem orscou ld

beeasedbygivingthem L-D O PA ,

adruggiventopeoplew ith

Parkinsonstom akeupforthe

lackofdopam ine.

Withthesediseases,itsvery

difficulttoinvestigatew hatshappen inginlivingpeople,so

know ledgeofthebraincircuits

responsiblearem ostly

uniden tified,saysO kano.H is

team hopestow orkoutthekey

neu ralcircuitsdam agedateach

stageofthem onkeysdecline.

Wehopetofindw aystopredict

theonsetofeach sym ptom ,

and develop drugsto slow dow n

disease progression ,he says.

InChina,thereare40breeding

com paniesw hichtogetherhave

250 ,00 0cynom olgusm onkeys

and40 ,00 0rhesusm acaquesthat

couldbeusedforscientific

research,saysM u-M ingPooofthe

ChineseA cadem yofSciencess

InstituteofN eu roscience,an d

leaderofagovernm ent-funded

plan fora15-yearnationalbrain

projectalsoinvolvinggen eticallym odifiedm on keys.O kan osays

thatJap an alsohascolonies

hou singarou nd1000 m arm oset

Itsgettingm orean dm ore

difficultforneu rosciencelabsin

theWesttodoresearch onnon-

hum anprim ates,saysTerrence

Sejnow skioftheSalkInstitutefor

BiologicalStudiesinLaJolla,

California,an dco-organiserofth

StateoftheBrainm eeting.H e

hopesthatresearcherscan

produceaglobalbrain

program m ethatw illbring

togethertherespectivestrengths

ofteam sfrom arou ndthew orld.

N oteveryoneishappyw iththi

kindofprim ateresearchbeing

carriedoutatallregardlessof

w hereinthew orlditisbeing

done.Therew illbem anyinthe

scientificcom m unityw ho,like

m e,w illbeveryconcernedbythi

research,saysV ickyRobinson,

chiefexecu tiveoftheU KN ationa

CentrefortheReplacem ent,

Refinem entandRedu ctionof

Anim alsinResearch.The

availabilityofm onkeysan dless

stringentregu lationsarepoor

reasonsforjustifyingtheuseof

theseanim alsinresearch w her

theresnoguaranteethatthe

resultsw illtran slatetohum an s

an ym oreeffectivelythan ifthe

scientistsusedotherspeciesor

technologies,shesays.

M akingG M m onkeysm eans

youcanstudycom plex

behavioursoverlongertim e

span s,saysRogerBarkerattheU niversityofCam bridge,w ho

research esfetalcelltreatm en ts

forParkinsons.Buthecau tions

thatm od ifiedm onkeysare

unlikelytoan sw erallofour

question s.M osthum anbrain

diseasesdontoccurbecauseof

singlegen edefects,saysBarker.

Becauseofthis,hesaysthat

m onkeysgivenfau ltyversionsof

onlyonegen ew illprobablybeof

onlylim itedclinicalrelevanceto

eachofthesediseases.

M o n k e y s c re a te d

w ith P ark in s o n s

GETTY

IM

AGES

B y t h e ir t h ird y e a r, t h e

m o n k e y s b e g a n t o s h o w

t h e c h a ra c t e r is t ic tr e m o r so f t h e d is e a s e

Primate b rains are similar to ou rs

T W


15/60


16/60

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17/60


A FARAWAYp lanetlocked in a

closedancew ithitsstarism aking

itspartnerspinfaster.Theorbital

w altz,w hichm irrorsthatofEarth

an ditsm oon,couldbethebest

labyetforstudyinghow plan ets

affecttheirstarsandviceversa.

Astronom ersusingthe

H un garian-m adeAutom ated

TelescopeN etw ork-Sou th

Exoplan etSurveyspottedthebig,

gassyw orldaroundastardubbed

H A TS-18,w hich isalm ostiden tical

in sizeand tem peratureto our

sun .Itsso close to the starthat

itorbitsinjust20 hours.

KaloyanPenevofPrinceton

U niversityan dhiscolleagu es

noticedthestarw asspinningtoo

fastforitssizean dage,m eaning

som ethingw ascau singittorotate

faster.Theyfou ndthattheplan et

ism ovingeverclosertothestar,

speedingitupthrou gh aprocess

know n astidaldissipation(arxiv.org/abs/1606.00 848).

The opp osite happ ensin the

Earth-m oon system :the m oon

ism ovingaw ayfrom Earthand

Earthsspinisslow ingdow n,w ith

daysgraduallygettinglonger.The

pronounced effectin H ATS-18

m eans researchersw illbe able

to usethesystem tostudytidal

dissipationelsew hereinthe

cosm os,from distantstarsystem s

totheinteractionofJupiterandits

m oons,saysPenev.

n c e s t o r o f a ll b a c t e r ia s p e n t

it s t im e in a h o t b a t h

THE ancestor of all bacteria may have had sophisticated

enzymes 3.4 billion ye a rs a g o ju s t 6 0 0 m i lli o n y e a r s

a f te r t h e o r ig i n o f li fe o n E a r th . T h a t s a ls o a b o u t a b i llio n

y e ars b e fo r e m a n y p e o p le t h o u g h t t h e e n z y m e s e vo lv ed .

M o d e rn e n z y m e s fit t h e m o le c u le s t h e y re ac t w it h

lik e a lo c k t o a k e y . In c o n t ra s t, t h e e a rlie s t e n z y m e s

w e re s lo p p i e r a n d le s s s p e c if ic .

N o w R ein h a rd S te rn e r a t t h e U n iv ers it y o f R e g e n s b u r g

in Ge rm an y an d h i s c o lle ag u e s h av e lo o k e d at a n e n z y m e

c a lle d t ry p t o p h a n s y n t h a se .It a id s t h e c re at io n o f a n

a m in o a c id c r u c i al to b a c te r ia , ar ch a e a, p la n t s a n d f u n g i,

s o a f o r m o f it h a s p ro b a b ly b e e n a r o u n d f o r a lo n g t i m e .

T h e y fe d t h e g e n e s eq u e n c e s th at co d e fo r th e e n z y m e

in m o d e rn b a c te ria an d a rc h a e a in t o a c o m p u t e r p r o g ra m

t h a t s e ar c h e d f o r s im i la ri ti e s . T h e y t h e n r an s i m u la t io n s

o f w h a t th e D N A s e q u e n c e m ig h t h a ve b e e n b e fo r e th e

g r o u p s s p lit . T h e te a m re c o n s t ru c t e d t h e m o s t p r o b a b le

s e q u e n c e a n d i n s e r te d t h e g e n e i n t o E .co lic e lls , w h i c h

c h u r n e d o u t a n e n z y m e t h at b e h av ed m u c h lik e t h e

m o d e rn v ers io n s (CellChe m icalB iolog y, d o i .o r g / b jz k ) .

T h e e n z y m e k e p t it s s tru c tu r e u p to ab o u t 7 0 C.

Y o u c a n in f e r w it h s t ro n g c o n f id e n c e th a t t h e o r g a n is m

liv e d i n a h o t e n v i ro n m e n t , s ay s M a th ie u G ro u s s in a t

t h e M a s s ac h u s e t ts In s t it u t e o f T e c h n o lo g y . T h is ad d s

w e ig h t to h y p o t h e s e s ab o u t th e fir s t b a c t e ria liv in g i n

h o t w a te r, h e a d d s .

P la n e t s c lo s e d a n c e s p e e d s s t a r s s p in

B o n e h o r m o n e

r e j u v e n a t e s m u s c le

WIN D backtheclock.Wevefou nda horm one thatcan rejuvenate

the m usclesofelderly m ice.

O steocalcin a horm one

secreted by bonebooststhe

abilityofm usclestoburnfuel

andgenerateenergy,G erard

KarsentyofColum biaU niversity

an dhiscolleagu esdiscovered.

Whentheteam injectedthe

horm oneintooldm ice,the

anim alsw ere able to run justas

farastheiryoungercou nterparts,

despitebeing up to a yearolder

a longtim einm ouseyears.

O ldm icethatdidnotreceive

thehorm oneranabouthalf

asfar(Cell M etabolism,D O I:

10.1016/j.cm et.20 16.05.004).

Itw asextrem elysurprising,

saysKarsenty.

O steocalcinlevelsdeclinew ith

ageinbothm icean dhum ans,

an dtheteam now plan stotest

w hetherthehorm on ecan

im provem usclefunction in

peopletoo.

S p a c e e le v a t o r s

c a n t w o r k

BYE-BYE,spaceelevator.Carbon

nanotubesarefam edforbeing

super-strong.Butjustoneout-of-

placeatom seem senough tocut

theirstren gthbym orethan half.

Th atm eanson eofthem ore

outlan dishapplicationsaspace

elevatorbetw eenEarthan da

satellitem igh tbedoom ed.Fen gD ingoftheH ongKon g

Polytech nicU niversityan dhis

colleagueshavesim ulatedcarbon

nanotubesinw hichasingleatom

isoutofplace,creatingakinkin

thetube.Theyfou ndthekinkacts

asaw eakpoint,easilysnap ping

thenorm allystrongbonds

betw eenthecarbon atom s.O nce

thishappen s,thebondsinthe

adjacenthexagonsalsobreak,

unzippingtheen tiretube(ACS

Nano,doi.org/bjzj).


18/60


Fo rnew storieseveryday,visitnew scientist.com /new

Froggystyleinthe

heatofthenight

HOP on,hop off. Th e frog Kama S u tra

jus t got u pdated . An Indian nigh t

frog has been caug ht in a new sexu al

position d ub bed the dorsalstradd le.

Sathya bh ama Das Biju at th e

University of Delhi a nd his team

spe nt 4 0 night s filming th e sex

lives of B om bay nig ht frogs

(N y c tib a t r a c h u s h u m a y u n i

) in a

fores t in th e W es tern G hats in India.

They have now spotted the seventh

known m ating p osition in frogs.

M a ny frogs d o it dogg y st yle ,

w ith a m ale on top of a fem ales back.

The new position is a va riation of

this, but t here is no contact between

the s ex organs .Inste ad, w hen a

m a le straddles a fem ale, spe rm is

releas ed on he r back.The fem ale

the n lays here ggs and the spe rm

trickles down to fertilise the m .

It was une xpected,says D as B iju.

The team observed other

unusual behaviours in these frogs.

In addition to m ale m a ting calls ,

w hich are ty pical in all frogs , they

found that fem ales occasionally

initia te d calls whe n they couldnt

m ake contact with a vocal m ale

(P e e r

, DO I:10.77 17 /pee rj.211 7).

Ry an Taylorat Salisbury

University, M aryland, w ho studies

frog courts hip, th inks t hat t he

successive release ofsem en and

egg s is p articularly interest ing.

This be haviourapp ears to be

unique and it is unclearhow orwhy

it evolved,he says .

A llsetforlargestindoorw eathertest

N EX T m onth, the Biosp here 2

glas sed-in ecosyst em in the Arizona

dese rt w ill start the largest -ever

expe rim ent to study how waterm oves through the landscap e.

The p rocess ofwe athe ring

underlies everything in an

ecosystem .All the calcium ,

potass ium and m agnesium we eat ,

forex am ple , origina tes from rocks,

says Jean D ixon, a geom orphologist

at M ontana S tate University in

B ozem an.Chem ical we athe ring is

the first t hing y ou nee d in order to

form a habitable planet ,she says .

B ut we st ill know little about it.

Th at s wh ere Bios phe re 2 com e s

in.The e xpe rim e nt will begin with

three hills weighing 500 ,00 0

kilogram s each, m ade from crus hedbasalt a volcanic rock tha t w ill be

exp osed to sim ulate d rain.

The hills are studded with m ore

than 180 0 em bedded sensors, which

m e as ure everything from carbon

dioxide levels to watercontent .

Eventu ally, plants will be added, too.

The tea m hopes this w ill faithfully

sim ulate weathering at real-world

scales unlike previous lab studies

tha t gave different result s to thos e

obse rved in natu re.

A SM A L L p ilo t p ro ject in Icelan d

h as sh o w n th at carb o n d io x id e

can b e safely sto red in b asalt ro ck s.T h e fin d in g co u ld b e u sed to h elp

tac k le clim ate ch an g e,es p ec ially

in co u n tries su ch as In d ia th at

h ave little sed im en tary ro ck o f th e

so rt reg ard ed as b est fo r sto rin g

CO2b u t lo ts o f b asalt ro ck .

T h e team fo u n d th at w h en CO2

d isso lved in w ater is in jected in to

h o t b asalt d eep u n d er g ro u n d ,

it rap id ly r eacts w ith th e ro ck

to fo rm carb o n ates.Fo r

p erm an en t sto rag e,th is is th e

u ltim ate in safety, say s team

m em b er Ju erg M atter at th e

Un iv ersity o f So u th am p to n in

th e UK .Carb o n ate m in erals arereally st ab le.

In jectin g CO2in to b asalt is

slig h tly m o re ex p en siv e th an

o th er sto rag e m eth o d s,su c h as

p u m p in g i t in to d ep leted o ilan d

g as reservo irs.It also req u ires a

lo t o f w ater.B u t o n th e p lu s sid e,

o n ce it tu rn s to sto n e,th ere w i ll

b e n o n eed to k eep ch eck in g it h as

stay ed p u t (Science,d o i.o rg /b jw q ).

Its n o t n ecess ary to tu rn CO2to

sto n e to sto re it secu rely,say s

Jo h an n es M io cic at th e Un iversity

o f Ed in b u rg h ,UK ,b u t u sin g

m eth o d s lik e th is c o u ld ease

fears ab o u t safety an d so b o o stp u b lic su p p o rt fo r carb o n cap tu re

an d sto rag e.

T h e m ain p ro b lem ,h o w ever,

is cap tu rin g th e CO2,w h ich co sts

far m o re th an sto rin g i t.B ecau se

o f th e co sts,su ch tech n o lo g ies

are u n lik ely to catch o n u n less

g o vern m en ts eith er p ay fo r th em

o r in tro d u ce a carb o n p rice h ig h

en o u g h to fo rce co m p an ies to

cap tu re th eir CO2w aste.T h ere

seem s t o b e little ap p etite fo r

eith er ap p ro ach at th e m o m en t.

CO2injectedundergroundturnstorockandstaysthere

A lienlifecouldlurk

underdeepice

SOM E p lan ets aro u n d o th er stars

co u ld h ave life h id d en u n d er

lay ers o f w eird h ig h -p ressu re ice,

in o cean s far d eep er th an Earth s.

Ex trem e p ressu res can create

u n u s u alfo rm s o f ice rarely seen

o n Earth .T o in vestig ate w h at th is

m ean s fo r o th er p lan ets,Len a

N o ack at th e Ro y alO b servato ry

o f B elg iu m an d h er c o lleag u es

m o d elled ro ck y w o rld s w ith very

d eep o cean s.

T h ey fo u n d th at o n a p lan et

w ith Earth s m ass,a lay er o fh ig h -

p ressu re ice can fo rm in o cean s

ab o u t 170 k ilo m etres d eep m o re

th an 15 tim es th e d ep th o f th e

lo w es t p o in t in E arth s o cean s.

Given am p le h eat fro m th e

p lan ets in terio r,w ater can rem ain

liq u id u n d er th e ic e lo n g en o u g h

fo r life to tak e h o ld .T h e m o d elw o rk s fo r p lan ets u p to 10 Earth

m asses (Icarus,d o i.o rg / b jx k ).

Su ch m o d ellin g is sp ec u lative ,

b u t co u ld ap p ly to w o rld s w i th in

o u r so lar sy stem . N o ack n o tes th at

Ju p ite rs m o o n Gan y m ed e h as a

lo t o f w ater as a p ro p o rti o n o f its

m ass,far m o re th an Eart h d o es.

D ep en d in g o n h eat fro m th e

in te rio r,it s p o ssi b le Gan y m ed e

co u ld h ave h ig h -p res su re ic e

co ver in g a liq u id lay er,an d N o ack

p lan s to ap p ly h er m o d els th ere.

SD

BIJU


19/60

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2 5 FEB RUARY 3 M ARCH 2017


20/60


IN A U G U ST 20 14,th e B ritish

pu blic w ere grip ped by th e story

of A shya Kin g,a 5-year-old bo y

w ho h ad a form ofbrain cancer

called m ed u llob lasto m a.H e w as

rem oved from h ospitalby h is

parentsw ith ou tth e consentor

kn ow ledge ofh isd octors.

A n in tern ation alhu n t

w a s sparked w h en itw as realised

th ey had taken A shy a abroad in

th e h op e ofgettin g h im h igh -

en ergy proton beam th erapy

(PB T),a typ e of rad iotherapy

u n available in th e U K.

Like so m any p arentso f

ch ild ren w ith b rain can cer,B rett

and N aghm eh Kin g w ere w orried

abo u tth e sid e effects of X -ray-

based radioth erapy an d h ow

th is cou ld affecth is fu tu re

develop m ent.Scou rin g th e w eb

for altern atives,th ey d ecid ed th at

PBT w o u ld pu tA shya atlow errisk.

So th ey setofffor a PB T centre in

Pragu e,on ly to b e jailed in Sp ain

for over 24 ho u rs w h ile en route.

A few d ays later,a U K cou rtru led

th atA shya cou ld receive treatm en t

atth e Proton Th erapy C entre in

Pragu e,w h ich w as even tu ally p aid

for by th e U Ks N ation alH ealth

Service.Fastforw ard tw o ye ars

and A shya isn ow w elleno ugh

to atten d sch oo l.M ean w h ile,tw o

PB T centresare schedu led to op en

in the U K in 20 18.A lth ou gh m ore exp ensive

th an co n ven tion alrad iotherapy,

th e pu sh forp roton sisb ased on

th e id ea th atth ey cause less

collateraldam age .Proto n s can

be p rog ram m ed tod eliverth eir

en ergy in ap ow erfu lp u n ch at

w ell-d efin ed p o in tsw ithin a

tum ou r.In co n trast,X -raysp ass

th rou gh tu m ou rsan d irrad iate

n earby h ealth ytissu es.

Yetthed atain su p p o rtof

p roton therap y,esp eciallyfor

m edu llob lasto m a,is

contentiou s h ence th e N H Ss

relu ctan ce to send A shy a abroad

for treatm en t,som eth in g ith as

don e foron ly asm allnum berof

peop le since 20 0 8.So w hatisth e

eviden ceto sup po rtproton so ver

X -rays?A n d ifits so scan t,w h y the

glob alp roton d rive?

M e dica l a rm s ra ce

Proton therapy h asb een u sed

on a sm allscale for decades.B u t

recen tly th ere h as been a surge in

in terest,stoked by th e m edia an d

techn icaladvan cesth atm ean a

10 0 -m illion p article accelerator

th e size of a foo tba llfield is n o

lon ger th e on ly op tion .Tod ays

m ach in es can costas little as

15 m illion .

Itis estim ated th atw o rldw ide

th ere are 43 h igh -en ergy p roton

beam centres.B y 20 18 th at

n u m ber w illrise to 6 6 ,in clu din g

th e tw o N H S centresb ein g bu ilt

atthe C h ristie h osp italin

M an chesteran d U n iversity

C ollege H osp italin Lo n do n .

B oth w ere app roved in 20 11at

a co m bin ed co sto f250 m illion .

A cco rdin gtoasen io rN H Sad viser,

th ego vernm en td ecid ed togo

ah ea d w iththecen treso n the

basisofthep h ysicsofh ow X -ray s

an d p roton sb eh averath erth an

an yco n vin cin gclin icald ata.

In th e U S,w h ere th ere are

u p w ards of 20 cen tres,critics

h ave d escribe d th e situ ation

as a m ed icalarm srace,w ith big

h o sp italseach w an tin gtheirow n

sh in yp ieceo fkit.

Th econ trov ersyarisesbecau se

thereislittleu n d isp u ted d atato

su p p orttheid eathatthem o re

ex p en sive p roton saresign ifican tly

betterthan con ven tion al

rad io th erapy in term s o fo verall

p atien tsu rvival.In fact,for10 years

orm ore,severalstud iesh av e

attem p ted w ith ou tm u ch su ccess

toform u lateaco st-ben efitan alysis

ofp roton sfora range ofcancers.

B u tith asntb een p ossible to

set u p ran d o m ised clin icaltrials

cap ab leofcom p arin gp roton s

w ith X -rays,esp ecially for rare

ch ild h oo d can cers.In p art,th is is

because parents often in form ed

by m ed ia coverage can be

relu ctan tfor th eir ch ild to m iss

ou to n w h atthey seeas a sup erior

treatm en t,saysR ichard G ru n dy at

th e U n iversity o fN ottin gh am ,U K.

M u ch ofthe eviden ceis th erefore

based on w eakerdata provided by

oth ertyp eso fstu dy.In 20 12,fo rin stan ce,a review

ofP BT for centralnervou s system

tu m o u rs,gastroin testin al

m align an cies,lu n g,head an d

n eck,prostate an d p aed iatric

tu m ou rsp rodu ced m ixed

results w ith n o clear ben efit

over con ven tion alrad iotherapy,

exceptp erh aps fortum ou rsin

children s n ervo u s system s

( a d io t h e r a p y O n c o lo g y ,do i.

org/b jq3).A n d arev iew th isyea r

fou n d thatfor11of15ch ild h ood

can cerstherew aslittleev id en ce

tosu ggestp roton sw erean ybette

th an X -rays( n t e r n a t io n a l Jo u r n a

o f R a d ia t io n O n c o lo g y B io lo g y

P h y s i c s

,doi.org/b jq 4).B u tn ow astu dyh asp rov id ed

thefirstev id en cethatPB Tm igh t

in d eed be w orth itfor child ren

w ith m edu llob lastom a.Itw asn t

a ran d om ised trialb u titfollow ed

ch ild ren w h oh ad o n eofthetw o

treatm en tsforaro u n d seve n

years,an d h as been d escribed

LY T Y

T he rus h for protonsH as p ro ton b eam radio therapy b een p rematu rely cast as ag ame-ch an g in g can cer treatmen t, asks Steve Connor

AM

ELIEBEN

OIST/BSIP/SCIEN

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PH

OTO

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Su rvival rat es are s im ilarbut proton propone nt ssa y t here are few er sideeffects than w ith X -rays RE

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TERS/DAVID

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CERN

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Ashy a got the rapy in Pragu e-


21/60


22/60


O T

Dont tolerate thisA deadly catch-22 is fuelling the pres cription opioid epidem ic inthe US.Tim e to confront it, says Samanth a Mu rph y

H O W d id A m e ric a s p r o b le m w it h

o p io i d p a in k i lle r s g e t s o b a d ?

S i n c e 1 999, s a le s o f p r e s c r ip t io n

o p io i d s h a v e n e a r ly q u a d r u p le d ,

a n d c lo s e t o 20 0 ,0 0 0 p e o p le in

t h e U S h a v e d i e d a f t e r o v e r d o s in g

o n t h e m , w h i le r e la te d e m e r g e n c y

h o s p i t a l v is it s n u m b e r a lm o s t

40 0,0 00 a y e a r . In 20 14 a l o n e ,

c lo s e t o 20 ,0 00 d ie d o f a n

o v e r d o s e , a c c o r d in g t o a n

e d it o r ia l in t h e jo u r n a l JA M A .

It d o e s n t h a v e t o b e t h is w a y .

T o o m a n y U S c it iz e n s a p p e a r

t o s tr u g g l e w it h p a in , p ills a n d

p h y s ic a l d e p e n d e n c e . A m o n g

t h e m w a s m u s ic ia n P r in c e ,

w h o r e p o r te d ly h a d c h r o n ic h ip

p a in . W e n o w k n o w h e d ie d a g e d

57 o f a n a c c id e n t a l o v e r d o s e o f

f e n t a n y l , a p r e s c r ip t io n o p io id

m a n y t im e s m o r e p o t e n t

t h a n h e r o i n .

T h e b a c k d r o p t o t h is s o r r y s to r y

is a h e a lt h c a re f ie ld t h a t h a s m a d e

h u g e p r o g r e s s i n a w a r e n e s s a n d

id e n t if ic a t io n o f c h r o n ic p a i n ,

le a d in g t o a d r a s tic in c r e a s e i n

d ia g n o s e d c a s e s . A c c o r d i n g t o a

20 1 1 s tu d y b y t h e U S In s tit u t e o f

M e d ic in e , e a c h y e a r m o r e t h a n

30 p e r c e n t o f A m e r ic a n s b a t tle

s o m e f o r m o f c h r o n i c p a in .

It s ta n d s t o r e a s o n t h a t

d o c to r s h a v e b e e n f ig h t in g t h is

w it h p a i n k i lle r s . S u r e , t h e r e a r e

o t h e r t r e a tm e n t s s u c h a s ta lk i n g

t h e r a p ie s a n d a c c e p t a n c e a n d

c o m m it m e n t th e r a p y (w h i c h is

e x a c tly w h a t it s o u n d s lik e )

b u t it m a k e s s e n s e t h a t t h e s in g le

m o s t e f f e c tiv e r e m e d y h a s b e e n

p a i n k ille r s . It is p e r h a p s h a r d ly

s h o c k in g t h a t t h e m o s t p o t e n t o f

t h e s e , t h e o p io i d s , a r e n o w a m o n

t h e m o s t c o m m o n ly p r e s c r ib e d

m e d ic a tio n s i n t h e U S .

A n d in t h e a b s e n c e o f a f ix

f o r t h e u n d e r ly in g c a u s e o f

p a in , t h e p ills n e e d t o k e e p

c o m in g . U n f o r t u n a t e ly , t h e

r e p e a t e d u s e o f a n o p io i d w ill

Slow revolutionIfpioneering flight is no longerabout shrinking

the world, what is it for, wondersPau lMarks

W H E N p i lo t s Jo h n A lc o c k a n d

A r t h u r B r o w n b e c a m e t h e f ir s t

t o f ly a p la n e n o n -s to p a c r o s s t h e

A t la n t ic 97 y e a r s a g o , in c e n t iv e s

in c lu d e d a 1 0 ,0 00 p r iz e p u t u p

b y t h e o w n e r o f t h e D a ily M a il

w o r t h a b o u t 1 m illio n t o d a y .

S u c h c o m p e t it io n s s p u r r e d

in n o v a t io n a n d h e lp e d u s h e r in

t h e g l o b a l a v ia t io n s y s t e m w e

h a v e n o w , w h ic h h a s u t t e r ly

t r a n s fo r m e d o u r p l a n e t .

A t t e m p t s to s e t flig h t r e c o r d s

s till g o o n t o d a y b u t a r e le s s a b o u t

c a s h p r iz e s , a n d c e r ta i n ly le s s t o d o

w it h s h r in k i n g t h e w o r ld . M o s t

p r o m in e n t a m o n g t h e s e is t h e

S w is s -le d a t te m p t t o c ir c le t h e

g l o b e in t h e s u n -p o w e r e d a i r c r a ft

S o la r Im p u ls e 2. T h is , t o o , is a b o u t

t o c r o s s t h e A t la n t ic , b u t w ill t a k e

f iv e d a y s r a t h e r t h a n t h e 1 5 h o u r s

A lc o c k a n d B r o w n c lo c k e d u p .

W it h 1 7,0 00 s o l a r c e l ls o n w in g s

a s b r o a d a s a ju m b o je t s a n d h a lf a

t o n n e o f lit h iu m b a t te r ie s t o s t o r es o la r p o w e r a n d k e e p it s fo u r

p r o p e l le r s t u r n in g a t n ig h t , it s

e f fe c t iv e l y a n o u t s iz e d , m o t o r is e d

g lid e r w it h c r a m p e d r o o m f o r o n e .

It is n o p r o t o - a ir lin e r . In s t e a d ,

it s p o t e n t ia l f o r s p a r k in g a n e a r -

t e r m r e v o lu t io n lie s in m o r e

e f f ic ie n t e l e c t r ic m o t o r s a n d

b a t t e r ie s w it h h ig h e n e r g y d e n s it

t h a t c o u ld f ir s t h e lp t r a n s fo r m lif

o n t h e g r o u n d , a s w e t r y t o s h a k e

o f f f o s s il-f u e l d e p e n d e n c e a n d

s e e k m o r e e f f ic ie n t w a y s t o s t o r e

s o l a r e n e r g y f o r u s e a t n ig h t .A s t h e p la n e s c r e a t o r s s t a t e ,

e v e r y o n e c o u l d u s e t h e s a m e

t e c h n o l o g i e s o n t h e g r o u n d t o

h a lv e g lo b a l e n e r g y c o n s u m p t io n

B u t p u s h in g t h e lim it s o f e le c t ric

f lig h t w a s n e v e r g o in g t o b e e a s y .

S o la r Im p u ls e 2s jo u r n e y b e g a n

in A b u D h a b i b a c k in M a r c h 20 15.

It s g r e a t e s t f e a t c a m e t h a t Ju n e ,

w h e n it fle w 720 0 k i lo m e t re s f o r

f iv e d a y s f r o m Ja p a n t o H a w a ii,

w in n in g e x h a u s te d p ilo t A n d r

B o r s c h b e r g a w o r ld r e c o r d f o r t h e

Eve ryo ne could u se th e

sam e techn olog ies on the

grou n d to ha lve glob al

ene rgy con sum ption


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18 June 2016 |NewScientist |21

Clare W ilson

AN OT H ER w eek,anotherstudy

casting d ou bt on a ntide pressants.

T his on e says that forch ildren and

tee na ge rs w ith m ajor de pression ,13

of the 14 drugs an alysed d on tw ork.

Previou s resea rch sug ge sts that

for adults too ,the Prozac class of

an tide pressa nts selective se roton in

reu ptake inh ibitors is no be tter tha n

a placebo ,atlea stfor peo ple w ith m ild

or m od erate d ep ression .Co nfusingly,

otherresea rch find s the se drugs do

w o rk for ad ults w ith m ajor de pression .

What is go ing on ? Itis difficultfor

studies to draw firm con clusion s

un less resea rche rs have access to

allthe trialdata.Lastyea rw hen

G laxo Sm ithKline relea sed fulldata on

on e of its studies in teen ag ers,the

rate o fside effectssuch as suicida l

thou ghts w as m uch higherthan had

initially ap peared.

D espite this,the nu m be rof

prescriptions w ritten for these d rugs

rises every yea r.In the po orestareas of

the U Ka stagg ering on e in six pe op le

is taking them .A ntide pressan ts can b e

life-saversforth ose w ith severe

de pression bu tthey are b eing dishe d

ou ttoo e asily for pe op le w ith e veryday

sadne ss,say critics.Ifthe drugs do so

little g oo d,w hy are the y so p op ular?

Fam ily do ctors,w ho w rite m ost of

the prescription s,m ay fee lthe y have

little else to o ffera patientsitting in

fron to fthem .U K gu ide line s say that

talking therap ies shou ld be the first

option forpeo ple w ith m ild d ep ression ,

bu titcan take overa yearto get seen.

M an y patien ts fee lthe se drug s

are he lpful.H ow eve r,a large parto f

this cou ld be the placeb o effect,

psych iatristJoan na M on crieffo f

U niversity Colleg e Lon do n w arne d a

m ee ting o fthe U Ks A ll-Party

Pa rliam en tary G roup for Prescribed

D rug D epen dence in M ay.

O ne factor be hind the grow ing

acceptance of antide pressant use

cou ld b e the w ide spread b elief

prom oted b y the irm an ufacturers

that the d rug s correcta chem ical

im ba lan ce in the brain.Th ey are said to

w ork by rep len ishing leve ls of the fee l-

go od chem ical,seroton in.Th is

probab ly isnttrue.While the drug s do

bo ost serotonin,there is no p roo fthat

low leve ls cau se d ep ression.In fact,

tho ugh the ories ab ou nd,w e stilldon t

know w h attrigg ersd ep ression .

A ntidep ressants do chang e how w e

fee l,in a w ay thatso m e find helpful

and others do nt.B ut that do esnt

m ean the y are correcting a chem ical

im ba lan ce.M an y pe op le find alcoh ol

he lps the m relax,bu tthats no t

be cau se its correcting an alcoh ol

deficiency in theirb rain.

T he che m icalim ba lan cem yth

could e ncou rage som e p eo ple to take

the drug s w ho w ou ldn to the rw ise.

Itis a de cision thatsho uldn tb e taken

ligh tly,since an tide pressa ntsca n have

do w nside s includ ing w ithd raw al

sym p tom s,loss of sex drive an d

w eigh tga in.M o stalarm ingly,in a

few pe op le the y trigg er violen to r

suicida lthou gh ts.

Th e lateststud y sugge sts thato f

allthe an tide pressan ts,one called

ven lafaxine w as the m ost likely to

m a ke tee nagers suicida l(The Lancet,

doi.org/bjzh ).Prozacw a sdeem edto

bethe m osteffective .B uttheau thors

com p lainedthatthe ycouldntproperly

assesssom eofthe drugsbecau seof

alackofdata.

Sothetruebalanceofriskve rsus

benefitw illprobablyonlyem erge

w he nind ep en de ntrese arche rscan

accessallthedatafrom clinica ltrials

som ethingdrug m an ufacturersare

stillresisting.

Why take depression

pillsifthey donthelp?

T etet

PETERDAZELEY/GETTY

B itter pill

The chemical imbalancemyth could encouragesome people to take drugswho wouldnt otherwise

For more opinion articles, visit newscientist.com/opinion

almost inevitably cause problems.In a cruel twist, tolerance to

opioids painkilling and euphoriceffects happens rather quickly,

unlike tolerance to toxic effects.In other words, every doseincrease because its not workingas well raises the risk of overdose.It is impossible to predict who willdevelop tolerance most rapidly.

And because people stay on topof their pain by taking more pills,it becomes harder to stop or onlytake them when needed; physicaldependence threatens withdrawalsymptoms similar to those ofheroin users, such as diarrhoea,insomnia and vomiting. That

means those in pain are driven totake the medication regularly,whether needed for pain or not.

Unliketolerance and physicaldependence,addiction is less ofa risk. In fact, true addiction onlyoccurs in a small percentage ofpeople. So referring to those withprescription opioid problems asdrugaddicts is bothmisleadingand stigmatising.

Sure,theriskofaddiction isreal,but it isnt the biggest problem.

Tolerance is where the dangerbegan, and where doctors need tofocus more attention to stem thisincreasingly deadly epidemic.

Samantha Murphy is a science writer

based in Pennsylvania

longest-duration fixed-wing flight.Celebrations were short-lived.

Postflight analysis found thebatteries lost storage capacityafter overheating. New ones were

sent outand tested, groundingtheprojectuntil April 2016.This may have been overcautious:once the overheated batteries hadbeen returned to Germany, saysBorschberg, engineers discoveredthey could easily have flown on.

No matter: this global flight isnot about speed but the politics ofenergy. Its a slow revolution buta welcome one.

Pau lMarks is a freelance science writer

based in London


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T O L O Y

M

B a b y b io m e t ric s

A d e v ic e t h a t s c a n s t h e f in g e r p r in t s o f in f a n t s c o u ld h e lp m a n a g e

c h ild re n s h e a lt h c a r e b u t m a k e s s o m e u n e a s y , s a y s

Aviva Rutkin

JU ST 6 h o u r s o ld . T h ats t h e ag e

o f o n e p artic ip an t i n a r ec en t

stu d y lo o k i n g at w ay s t o tak e t h e

fi n g e rp r in t s o f i n fa n t s . T h e

p at te rn i s t h e re at b i r th , s ay s

A n il Jai n at M ic h i g a n State

U n iv er sit y i n E as t L an s in g . B u t i t

is h ard to c ap tu re.N o w Jain an d

h i s c o lle ag u e s a re d ev elo p i n g a

d ev ic e th a t co u ld b e u p to th e task .T a k in g fi n g e rp r in ts fr o m v er y

y o u n g ch i ld r en even n ew b o r n s

is p ar t o f a d riv e i n d e velo p i n g

c o u n t ries to m o n it o r t h e h ealt h

o f i n f an t s, w h o o ft en lac k

o th er fo rms o f id entificatio n .

A b i o m e tr ic s y s te m , su c h as a

n ation al fin gerp r in t d atab ase,

cou ld allo w clin ic ians to m atch a

c h i ld w i th t h e ir v ac c in e sc h e d u le

o r h e lp w o r k e rs k e ep r ec o r d s o f

w elfare services,say s Jain .

V accin ation s are first given at

ab o u t 1 m o n t h ,so th ats w h e n w e

w o u ld lik e t o u s e b i o m e tric s fo r

recog n ition p u rpo ses, he says.

Jain also th in ks th at takin g

in fantsfin gerp r in ts cou ld h elp

fin d m issin g ch ild ren o r reso lve

c as es in w h i

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New Scientist - June 18, 2016