Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
26
56
A Times of India publication Volume 6 Issue 2
February 2016 `125
THE BIG
QUESTIONS OF
What mysteries of
Ancient Egypt have the
centuries concealed? p38
R.N.I. MAHENG/2010/35422
COVER STORY
38 The Big Questions
of Ancient Egypt
What mysteries of
Ancient Egypt have the
centuries concealed? We
find out in this story
AKG-IMAGES/ALAMY, GETTY/BRIDGEMAN, ILLUSTRATOR: ANDY POTTS, WIKICOMMONS, SEAORBITER /
JACQUES ROUGERIE, ERIC TOURNERET, LEON_BAASS, SUZI ESZTERHAS, MICHAEL NOLAN, HENNY BOOGERT
44
FEATURES
26 Relativity On Trial 64 Sweet And Low
We put Einsteins Theory of Relativity to the Enter the world of the honeypot ant,
test, 100 years after he proposed it where piling on weight is the goal of every diet
42
34 Meet The Real Life Super Humans 72 Scratch And Sniff
Youll be amazed by the limits of Understand how ring-tailed lemurs communicate
physical endurance and fortitude the human in this feature on the gregarious primates
body is capable of
REGULARS
42 Women Scientists You Ought To Know
Learn about the ladies who broke into the boys club 06 Q&A
of science and left their mark Our panel of experts answer the questions
youve always wanted to ask
44 The Final Frontier
Could the SeaOrbiter represent the 14 Snapshot
next phase of oceanic exploration? Outstanding photographs to inform and engage
60 10 Things Your Face Says About You 48 Portfolio: Miracles At Your Feet
Read on to decode the hidden messages your These captivating images by photographer Leon
face is broadcasting to the world Baas highlights the lives of bugs and insects
64 72
48
78 34
84 Puzzle Pit
A veritable buffet of brain teasers guaranteed to
test your mind
84
88 Gadgets
This holiday season, we help you pick the best tech
for all budgets
91 Edu Talk
We interview Seema Sapru, principal of
The Heritage School, Kolkata
94 In Focus 92
This months spotlight is on Charles Darwin, who
proposed the theory of evolution
FROM THE
EDITOR Its a new year and change is again knocking at
our doors. As all years go, 2015 was eventful
too. But I think some events that occurred,
have made this past year a bit more significant
than others to the story of our world.
Knowledgemagazineindia KnowledgeMagIND
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4 February 2016
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CIN: U22120MH2003PTC142239
OA &
Could robots be programmed to evolve? p8 If humans became extinct,
how long would it take for all traces of us to vanish? p9 Why do people
cheat? p10 Can computers make mistakes? p12 Why do we have moles
on our skin? p13
EXPERT PANEL
Susan Blackmore (SB)
A visiting professor at the
University of Plymouth, UK,
Susan is an expert on psychology
and evolution.
Alastair Gunn
Alastair is a radio astronomer
at Jodrell Bank Centre for
Astrophysics at the University of
Manchester, UK.
Robert Matthews
Robert is a writer and researcher.
He is a Visiting Reader in Science
at Aston University, UK.
KNOW SPOT
The device used to measure
your foot at a shoe store is
called a Brannock Device.
6 February 2016
QUESTIONS ANSWERED |
YOUR
Is crying good for you?
Many people would say yes. Crying is said
to be cathartic, relieve stress and even
remove toxins from the body, and most
therapists claim its beneficial. There is
evidence that blood pressure and heart rate
fall after crying, while some allergic
reactions are reduced after watching weepy
films, and sufferers from rheumatoid
arthritis who cry have less pain than
those who dont.
Yet the experimental evidence is
mixed. Benefits are more likely when the
reason for crying is a resolvable problem
and the person crying is comfortable
Most oxygen expressing their emotions and not
actually comes otherwise depressed. One function of
from plankton
crying may be to show our distress,
which can help build relationships, and
this may be why crying helps. SB
How does Earth
maintain a constant
level of oxygen? Could we exist on Earth under
It doesnt! The oxygen level of the a red giant star?
planet has varied quite dramatically in
the last 500 million years. It was 35 per About five billion years from now, Earth may just outrun the
cent during the Carboniferous period, the Suns usual source of nuclear swelling red giant but its
around 300 million years ago; as the energy will be depleted. It will proximity, and the resulting rise in
climate cooled and land plants died off, begin to expand and cool temperature, will probably destroy
oxygen fell to as low as 12 per cent by significantly, becoming a red all life on Earth, and possibly the
the beginning of the Triassic. Back giant. Its outer layers will be planet itself. However, theres no
then, the air at sea level would have thrown off into space. As the Sun reason that life could not survive
felt thinner than at the top of the loses mass, its gravitational pull on another planet (or moon)
Alps today. will weaken and the planets sufficiently far out from the Sun,
Burning fossil fuels has reduced orbits will widen. We know that as long as it lies within the Suns
oxygen levels very slightly about 0.057 Mercury and Venus will not be expanded habitable zone. Life
per cent over the last 30 years. able to outrun the expanding could also survive on suitably
Deforestation only has a small effect Sun, and will be engulfed hospitable planets around other
because when rainforest is cut down, and incinerated. red giants. AG
other plants are usually grown in its
place. But its marine plankton, rather The futures so
bright, were all
than trees, that produces about 70 per
goingto die horribly
cent of atmospheric oxygen. Global in a stellar inferno
warming will have a significant impact
on plankton, which is a much more
serious threat to oxygen levels. LV
ITAL STATS
V
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Is the a fossilised foe e
ong y. Th
12.5cm-l ied in German an
d be
being stu n is thought to s
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AND ANSWERS
QUESTIONS
Parenting,
On average, how many robot-style
of our muscles do we
use regularly?
Just about all of them! But our least-used
muscles are probably the lumbar multifidus
muscles in the lower back. Studies have
shown that prolonged slumping in front of the
Why do bees die after stinging you?
ALAMY X2, ISTOCK X2, GETTY IMAGES
8 February 2016
STATS
VITAL
m
0.23e o5f thm
e world
s
Is the siz ee-living (non
tiniest fr ) insect a
parasitic ing beetle
featherw
9. JAPAN
ISTOCK, PRESS ASSOCIATION IMAGES
10. FRANCE
Number of users: 23 million
Population: 66 million
10 February 2016
HOW IT WORKS
THE DRINKABLE BOOK
EVERY YEAR, OVER 3.4 million people die from her current institution and the University of days of clean water up to 100 litres and
problems associated with water, hygiene and Virginia to create The Drinkable Book. each book can last for up to four years.
sanitation. Its a huge problem, because the Once water has been passed through a The text printed on each page of the book
vast majority of individuals who live in areas page of the book, it comes out on the other helps educate people about water safety, by
with dirty water dont even realise that its side with a 99.9 per cent reduction in bacteria, explaining the importance of keeping rubbish
unsafe to drink. which makes it comparable to tap water in and human waste away from the water supply.
To try to solve the issue, Dr Theresa the USA. So far, the filters have been trialled
Dankovich created a special type of bacteria- It works because each page is coated with successfully in the developing world. However,
destroying filter paper for her PhD at McGill silver nanoparticles, which are capable of at present, the papers are not capable of
University. Shes now based at Carnegie destroying bacterial diseases such as E. coli, destroying other organisms, such as protozoa
Mellon and has teamed up with scientists from typhoid and cholera. Each filter can offer 30 and viruses.
1
consumption both in English and local language Tear out a page, insert
into a filter holder
issued with book
3
Silver ions positively-charged particles interfere
with a bacteriums metabolism, producing substances called
reactive oxygen species (ROS)
4
ROS damages the membrane that
surrounds a cell, as well as the
DNA and proteins. Bacterium dies
AND ANSWERS
QUESTIONS
12 February 2016
Why does time go so fast when youre asleep? Why do we have
Does it? Generally this is not true, dreaming or while awake, the times
moles on our skin?
and most people are good at judging taken match closely. And when
how many hours theyve slept. Some asked to estimate how long a dream
can even tell themselves to wake up event took, those estimates are
at a specific time and do so. Time accurate. So if time does go fast
perception can be distorted, though, when you are asleep, you are
and experiments show that unusual! SB
estimates are generally good, but
people tend to overestimate time
passed during the early hours of During the first 12 weeks of pregnancy,
sleep and underestimate during the the developing foetus is making
later hours. Time estimations during melanocytes the skin cells that
dreaming are much more variable produce ordinary skin colour. These
and some people claim to have arent always evenly spread out:
dreamt a whole lifetime in one random areas will acquire a cluster
dream. However, the best and during your life, these clusters can
experiments to test this come from grow into a mole.
those very rare people who can Moles are quite different from
induce lucid dreams (knowing they freckles. Almost everyone has from 30
are dreaming) at will, and then signal to 60 moles on their body, but freckles
to experimenters to indicate what only occur in people with certain
they are doing in the dream. When genes particularly the one
asked to count to 100 while responsible for red hair. Freckles also
need sunlight to trigger them, while
moles appear spontaneously. LV
SCIENCE
February 2016 15
Sandy sweeties
There are catacombs hidden under Paris that contain
the skeletons of the deceased. While these tombs
seem a world away from a tropical coastline, the two
locations are more similar than you might think. On
the beach, the fine, white sand between your toes is
made up of the remains of tiny invertebrates. But when
viewed through a microscope, the beauty of the sand
is brought to life. What looks like colourful pick-and-
mix sweets are actually spicules. These defensive
calcium-based structures protect the soft bodies of
marine organisms such as Gorgonian corals, sponges
and sea cucumbers. This image was taken by award-
winning wildlife photographer David Maitland.
DAVID MAITLAND/RPS/REX
16 February 2016
SNAPSHOT |
NATURE
Breathtaking branches
Nope, this isnt the root structure for some fearsome
plant. This mass of black tendrils is part of a silk
moth caterpillars respiratory system, which differs
dramatically from that of a mammal.
Rather than lungs, insects rely on a tracheal tree,
which is a network of tubes that conveys oxygen
around their bodies. Air is drawn in through spiracles
openings in an insects exoskeleton where it enters
the tracheal tree. The branches extend throughout the
insects body, allowing the air to reach all its organs,
tissues and cells. Hoops made of chitin the same
material that forms an insects hard exoskeleton
keep the tubes open so air can flow freely.
David Maitland created this image by using
differential light microscopy to magnify the tracheal
tree that he found on an Edwardian microscope slide.
DAVID MAITLAND/RPS/ REX FEATURES
SNAPSHOT |
NATURE
January 2016 19
| NEWS AND VIEWS FROM THE WORLD OF SCIENCE
SCIENCE
DISCOVERIES
MOST EARTH-LIKE PLANETS
ARE YET TO BE BORN
According to data from the Hubble Space Telescope and Kepler,
Earth may be one of the earliest habitable planets in existence
The Universe may continue to pump out planets for billions of years
T
he Earth may be one of the earliest habitable Earth-like planets that will ever said study author Dr Peter Behroozi.
habitable planets ever to form, form existed. Compared to all the planets that will
researchers from the Space The overwhelming majority a ever form in the Universe, the Earth is
Telescope Science Institute have found. whopping 92 per cent of the planets actually quite early.
Scientists surveying data collected are still yet to be born and will not For a planet to be considered
by NASAs Hubble Space Telescope appear until long after our Sun burns habitable, it has to orbit its parent star
and the planet-hunting Kepler space itself out in around six billion years time. at a distance that could allow liquid
observatory have found that when Our main motivation was water to exist on the surface not so
our Solar System came into being 4.6 understanding the Earths place in the close that it boils away, and not so far
billion years ago, only 8 per cent of the context of the rest of the Universe, away that it freezes. Based on data from
20 February 2016
The Kepler mission is
GOOD MONTH/
BAD MONTH
looking for planets around
other stars in the Milky
Way
December 2015
1 MINUTE EXPERT
Meson f0(1710)
One day, could drugs offer all the
Whats that? A new first- benefits of pounding the pavements?
person shooter, perhaps?
Way off. Its an exotic particle MEDICINE
proposed as a candidate for the elusive
glueball by scientists at Vienna University Could we create exercise in a bottle?
of Technology.
We all know that working out is good for us from four untrained, healthy males following
So whats a glueball? but sometimes the sofa and a bag of crisps 10 minutes of high intensity exercise. They
Its a particle made up entirely are just too inviting. found that activity triggered more than
of gluons elementary particles A team at the University of Sydney 1,000 molecular changes within the muscle.
that help to bind quarks together to has found that drugs could potentially be Most traditional drugs target individual
form protons and neutrons. Its existence created that mimic the effects of exercise. molecules, but the exercise blueprint shows
was first proposed by physicists Murray Exercise is the most powerful therapy that for any drug to mimic exercise it will
Gell-Mann and Harald Fritzsch in 1972. for many human diseases, including Type need to target multiple molecules at the
2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and same time.
Okay. What makes them neurological disorders, explained research We believe this is the key to unlocking
so elusive? leader Prof David James. However, the riddle of drug treatments to mimic
Glueballs are so unstable that for many people, exercise isnt a viable exercise, James said. Our data clearly show
they can only be detected indirectly by
treatment option. This means its essential we the complexity of the response: it is not one
searching for evidence of their decay
find ways of developing drugs that mimic thing, but rather the drug will have to target
patterns. This means that researchers
the benefits of exercise. multiple things. Our research has provided
must look for the signature particle trails
they leave behind as they break down.
The researchers analysed muscle biopsies the roadmap to figure this out.
The team has proposed a mechanism for
this decay process.
targeted areas of the brain to activate and mood disorders, are correlated with changes
deactivate it. in REM sleep, and some widely used
REM (rapid eye movement) sleep is the drugs affect REM sleep, so it seems to be a
dream state characterised by activation of sensitive indicator of mental and emotional
the cortex, an area of the brain connected health, said researcher Franz Weber.
to memory, thought and consciousness, and
paralysis of the skeletal muscles.
People used to think that this region
of the medulla was only involved in the All tuckered
paralysis of skeletal muscles during REM out from
sleep, said lead author Yang Dan. What experiments
we showed is that these neurones triggered
A glueball is made up of gluons
THE LATEST FROM THE FIELD OF SCIENCE |
SCIENCE
MONKEYING AROUND WITH NASAS LATEST BOT
WITH DAVID SHUKMAN
S
tepping into the robotics lab at RoboSimian could
NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory be used in Earth-
in California takes you into a world bound missions
of extraordinary inventiveness. Facing us, as well as space
between workbenches crammed with exploration. Watch
laptops, soldering irons and spools of cable, it in action at bit.ly/
RoboSimian
was a bundle of technology the size of a
small dustbin: a highly versatile machine
called the RoboSimian.
Named for the agility and adaptability
of a monkey, this robot is meant to serve
as an emissary on missions too dangerous
for people entering anything from the
wreckage of a gas plant to the smouldering
aftermath of a radioactive accident to the
unknown terrain of an alien world.
To manoeuvre over debris, its four legs
descend to provide a crawling motion.
To roll across a smooth surface, the robot
morphs into a shape that uses wheels. And
to drive a car, it extends its limbs into a
standing posture so it can slip behind
the wheel of the vehicle. certainly a long way, they say, from anything batteries that last more than a few hours,
Watching it go through these that could think or act remotely like a that the threat of a robot army seems too
transformations is a little unnerving. The human being. distant to take seriously.
movements are extremely slow but the In fact, the lab is a good place to come But whenever we filmed the RoboSimian
twists, turns and elevations are executed for some balance in the furore over whether being put through its paces, we found
so smoothly that the machine gives an robots equipped with artificial intelligence ourselves keeping a sharp eye on it. And one
impression of effortless self-confidence. will inevitably overtake and then destroy us. of the NASA team was always on hand with
The engineers running it keep stressing Such are the difficulties of creating a kill-switch. Just in case, they said. As I left,
that although the robot is unusually robust synthetic intelligence that might be I wondered what safety measures a future
and versatile, its two on-board computers comparable to human brainpower, and film crew would need if they were close to a
give it pretty limited processing power its motors that are small but powerful and robot that was far smarter than RoboSimian.
February 2016 23
| NEWS AND VIEWS FROM THE WORLD OF SCIENCE
SCIENCE
10 Migraine
breakthrough
Abnormal activation of a
cluster of neurones may
cause migraines
material thats also a form of carbon. The
atoms initially form a circuit but gradually
move out of position. The speed of this
change depends on the temperature
Abnormal activation and specially designed structures on the
of a cluster of brain cells called surface. In addition to espionage there are
the trigeminovascular system medical applications: different patterns of
is believed to be responsible for atoms could trigger the release of drugs
causing migraines. The cluster into a patients bloodstream.
relays sensory information,
including pain signals, but which
part of the nervous system
triggered it was unknown. Now,
an international team has treated
migraines in rats by targeting cells
deep inside the brain. The scientists
used a compound to block PAC1 a
receptor protein but so far it has
only been applied directly to the
C BICKEL/SCIENCE TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE, ROB FELT, VIPUTHESHWAR SITARAMAN, FLORIDA ATLANTIC
UNIVERSITY, TRILITE, RUVID, AMY BETZ/KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY, MINORU TAKASATO, MARCO TRIPODI
brain, rather than intravenously. Andrei Fedorov created the Bond-like circuit
24 February 2016
Microbe Youre gonna need a
fingerprints bigger screen
Crimes could be
identified from
microbes in the air.
We all have bacteria
living on us, but the
combination varies.
University of Oregon
scientists told 11 people Your bacterial
apart simply by sampling aura is unique
the air around them.
Robotic
finger
Self-repairing Personalised
material education
Imagine how useful a self- Everyones brain cells neurones
repairing material would be. It form a unique pattern of
could be used in parts for cars, connections, according to research
planes and spacecraft to help by Yale scientists. They identified
prevent catastrophic failures, 126 individuals from brain scans
and medical implants that break taken as they performed a variety
inside a human body could of tasks, producing a fingerprint
simply heal themselves. Such called a connectivity profile. The
a material, which is capable of profiles could be used to
rejoining itself in less than 15 predict how logical
seconds if cut with scissors, has you are, how
now been developed. Scientists good at solving
at the University of Alicante say problems, and
that the flexible, transparent could even be
resin is even able to heal itself used to tailor
Very good, but give
underwater, retaining its original us a call when youve educational
shape in the process. made an entire dinner courses.
set from the stuff
ILLUSTRATOR: ANDY POTTS
PHYSICS |
SCIENCE
RELATIVITY
ON TRIAL
One hundred years ago, Albert Einstein wrote a
groundbreaking theory that transformed physics
forever. But are there any chinks in its armour?
Marcus Chown delves deeper
A
t the height of WWI, in that all bodies, irrespective WHAT IS
November 1915, of their mass, fall at the WHAT IS GENERAL
German physicist
Albert Einstein published a
same rate under gravity,
hitting the ground at the
GENERAL
RELATIVITY?
revolutionary theory of
gravity. Not only did
same time if dropped from
the same height. How
RELATIVITY?
The General Theory of Relativity
General Relativity show that could this be? describes how mass and energy cause
Isaac Newton, arguably the Einstein imagined a the fabric of space-time to warp, giving
greatest scientist to have spacecraft far away from
ever lived, was wrong, it the Earth, which is rise to what we perceive as gravity.
predicted black holes and accelerated at 1g. If an This theory built on Albert Einsteins
that the Universe had been astronaut inside lets go of earlier Special Theory of Relativity. Both
born in a Big Bang. It even a feather and hammer from theories are based on the idea that the
showed, at least in an identical height, the
laws of physics act in the same way
principle, how to build a floor accelerates up
time machine. towards them at 1g and everywhere and that the speed of light
The key thing Einstein both objects hit the floor at is constant. From this starting point,
recognised is that, in any the same time. If the Einstein deduced that as everything
small region of space, windows are blacked out
is moving relative to everything else,
gravity and acceleration and the astronaut doesnt
are the same thing. He know they are in space, different viewers see the same event
came to this conclusion they might conclude they differently. This is where the theory
after considering Galileos are experiencing gets its name.
17th-century observation gravity on Earth.
February 2016 27
| PHYSICS
SCIENCE The LISA Pathfinder
mission will test the
concept of a space-
based gravitational
wave detector
Catching waves
Gravitational waves are ripples in the fabric of
space-time, which spread outwards from an
accelerated mass like ripples on a pond. The
problem is that space-time is about a billion billion
billion times stiffer than steel. This means it takes a
lot to vibrate it and create gravitational waves. Only
Left: Albert Einstein the most violent astrophysical events such as the
published his General birth or merger of black holes or the collision of
Theory of Relativity in super-dense stars are capable of causing vibration.
1915 the same year On 3 December 2015, the European Space
this image was taken. Agency (ESA) launched LISA Pathfinder, on a
mission to test the concept of a space-based
gravitational wave detector. The idea of LISA,
which stands for Laser Interferometer Space
Antenna, is to put a giant equilateral triangle in
space, probably in 2034. The triangle will consist of
three satellites, somewhere between one million
and five million kilometres apart, bouncing laser
light back and forth using mirrors. Think of the
sides of the triangle as giant rulers. A passing
gravitational wave is expected to alternately stretch
space in one direction and squeeze it in a
ESA, NASA, GETTY
28 February 2016
PH YSIC S
SCIENCE
5 WAYS
an orchestra recital and only being able to watch the
musicians without hearing any sound now turn
on the sound this is what it will be like when we
start to observe the Universe with gravitational
waves. Prepare yourself for the cosmic symphony.
YOU CAN SEE EINSTEINS
Going deeper
The fact that General Relativity breaks down in the
THEORY IN REAL LIFE
singularity of the Big Bang and a black hole, where
the density of matter skyrockets to infinity, is not
very helpful in trying to find a deeper, more
fundamental theory. The hope is that General MASS
Relativity might reveal a chink in its armour in less The Higgs field accounts for only about 1 per cent
extreme circumstances. This is the idea behind an of your mass. 99 per cent is due to a relativistic
Earth-orbiting experiment called Satellite Test of effect. Specifically, the quarks that compose
the Equivalence Principle, or STEP, which is you are moving so fast they gain mass. Without
seeking NASA funding. If it gets the go ahead, it Einstein, you would weigh only about 1kg!
could f ly in six years, says Paul Worden, one of the
originators of STEP in 1971.
The Equivalence Principle is the fancy name for
gravity being indistinguishable from acceleration so SUNLIGHT
that all masses fall at the same rate. Since the According to Einstein, mass is a form of energy
and so can be converted into other forms of
energy. This is what is happening in the Suns core,
Electromagnetic waves where nuclear reactions convert about 0.7 per
allow us to see the cent of the mass of hydrogen nuclei into heat and,
ultimately, sunlight.
Universe, whereas
gravitational waves will GOLD
allow us to hear it An atom absorbs and re-emits light when an
electron moves between orbits. The lights
energy (colour) depends on the energy
difference between the orbits. Gold ought to
principle is the foundation of General Relativity, it appear silver, but its innermost electrons move
is a key place to look for an anomaly. Galileo is
February 2016 31
GENERAL RELATIVITYS SUCCESSES
THIS ISNT THE FIRST TIME EINSTEINS FAMOUS
THEORY HAS BEEN PUT TO THE TEST
SCIENCE
An image would be
a turning point in our
understanding of black
holes and gravity
the supermassive black holes in the cores of other
galaxies, with up to 30 billion times the mass of the
Sun, are too far away. Only one black hole is within
reach the one 26,000 light-years away at the
centre of the Milky Way. Sagittarius A*, as it is
called, will be magnified in size by its own intense
gravity. It will appear as big as a grapefruit on the
Moon viewed from Earth, says EHT scientist Shep
Doeleman of the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology and leader of the EHT team.
The key thing is to observe the black holes event
horizon the point of no-return for in-falling
matter and light and see whether it behaves as
predicted by Einstein or even whether it exists.
Stephen Hawking suggested it might not. This will
which different masses fall to be magnified. Above: The Apollo 8 image test Einsteins theory in the realm of strong gravity,
The Equivalence Principle is known to hold to of Earth taken from the where it has never been tested before. An image
Moon is pretty iconic but
one part in a trillion, but STEP will better that by would allow us to test General Relativity at the
a photo of a black hole
another factor of a million. All attempts to unify event horizon could be black hole boundary but, just as importantly, it
General Relativity with quantum theory involve even more impressive. would make the case for the existence of black holes
new forces, which may affect different materials in as solid as it is ever likely to be, says Doeleman. An
different ways. A violation is basically the image would symbolise a turning point in our
discovery of a new force of nature, or something understanding of black holes and gravity.
really weird, says Worden. If theres no violation, Doeleman is being modest. It is possible that the
at least to experimental accuracy, we can rule out a first image of a black hole event horizon will be an
lot of theories of gravity but not Einsteins. iconic image to rival the Apollo 8 image of the
Earth rising above the Moon.
The hole story In the world of science, 100 years is an awfully
But General Relativity might be put to its toughest long time. Countless theories have been proposed
test within only a year or two. So far, the theory has since Einstein published his famous paper, with
been checked only in situations where gravity is many of them turning out to be nonstarters or dead
relatively weak. Nobody has tested it where gravity ends. After a century of extraordinary success, it
is strong close to a black hole. That could all still remains to be seen how far the General
change when the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Theory of Relativity can be stretched before NASA X2, SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY X2, GETTY
images the black hole at the centre of our Milky reaching its breaking point. Could its time be
Way, probably in 2017. finally up? After all, even Einstein viewed the
The EHT is an array of cooperating radio theory as being incomplete. If STEP, LISA or the
telescopes scattered around the globe. The radio EHT are able to find even the tiniest hole in its
signals recorded at each site are f lown together and venerable armour, scientists could be on the brink
combined on a computer at Haystack, Massachusetts of formulating a new theory of gravity, or maybe
to simulate a giant dish the size of the Earth. The even making the first tentative steps towards the
bigger the dish and the shorter the observing elusive theory of everything.
wavelength EHT is using 1.3mm the more it
can zoom in on details in the sky. Marcus Chown is a science writer and author of
The trouble with black holes is they are very What A Wonderful World: Life, The Universe And
difficult to see. Stellar-mass ones are too small and Everything In A Nutshell.
February 2016 33
H U M A NS
MEET THE
REAL-LIFE
SUPERHUMANS
These people have tapped into the biology of
their bodies to unleash the true power of our
species. Katherine Nightingale explores what
scientists are learning from them
PHOTO: CATERS NEWS, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC IMAGES
NATURE
COLD RESISTANCE
HIMALAYAN MONKS
Up in the climes of the Himalayas, there are tales of monks who use breathing and
meditation to raise their body temperatures to the extent that they can dry wet sheets
wrapped around their bodies, casting off steam into the freezing air.
Researchers from the US and Singapore have investigated these claims by measuring
the monks core (armpit) and peripheral (finger) temperatures. During the measuring,
they asked them to use the breathing techniques either with or without the meditation.
The researchers found that while the breathing could raise body temperature, adding the
meditation increased it to that seen in a typical fever.
Iceman Wim Hof, pictured left, has used similar techniques to the monks to achieve
the world record for longest ice bath (one hour, 52 minutes and 42 seconds) and has
even run a marathon in the Arctic Circle wearing just a pair of shorts.
So what might be the benefit of being able to boost your own body temperature?
Adaptation to cold environments is an obvious one, but higher body temperatures are
also linked to better cognitive performance and improved immunity.
Our eyes are adapted to a life on land, which means we can only see blurry shapes when
we swim underwater without goggles. But children in a tribe of sea nomads the Moken
who reportedly learn to swim before they can walk, can see well enough to collect
shells, sea cucumbers and clams from the seabed.
There are around 2,000 to 3,000 Moken living in the Andaman Sea, off the coasts of
Myanmar and Thailand. Researchers at Lund University in Sweden estimate that Moken
children have more than twice the underwater visual clarity of European children, even
though their sight on land is the same. They focus underwater by constricting their pupils
and changing the shape of the eyes lens. The researchers found that European children
can be trained to see just as well as the Moken.
Its difficult to tell whether Moken children learn this better vision from a young age or
whether evolution has played a role, so we might all be able to see a little better beneath
the waves if we put our minds to it.
February 2016 35
| SUPER HUMANS
NATURE
EXTREME RUNNING
TARAHUMARA TRIBE
36 Februaury 2016
H U M A NS
FREEDIVING
BAJAU NOMADS
38 February 2016
The famous gold death
mask of Tutankhamun
was discovered in
tomb KV62 by Howard
Carter and his team
but was it originally
made for Nefertiti?
5 How many
pyramids are there?
It is estimated that 138 pyramids survive in
Egypt, varying widely in layout, size, location
and purpose. The first was built in c2650 BC
Intricately carved hieroglyphs at the White Chapel of Senusret I for King Djoser. His bench-shaped mastaba
at Karnak (c1950 BC). Did hieroglyphs evolve from early tax records?
tomb was embellished to form a six-tiered, 60
NATURE
6 How old was the oldest known Egyptian?
The remains of the earliest human yet found in 8 and 10 when it died, though the remains
8 Are any discoveries
still to be made?
Egypt were discovered by Belgian archaeolo- were so fragile and fragmentary that it was This is perhaps the question most often asked
gists in 1994 during their excavation of a Stone impossible to determine whether they were of Egyptologists and the answer is a
Age quarry at Taramsa Hill near Dendera, about male or female. resounding yes!
40 miles north of Luxor. They unexpectedly Not only is this the oldest known burial from Some of the most exciting discoveries are
uncovered the shallow pit grave of a young north Africa, but it also provides a vital missing being made in museums. Last year museum
child. Its body was carefully buried in a link in the human story. As the anthropologists staff in Wigan, combining their collections
seated position, oriented east toward the who examined the childs remains explained: in new storage facilities, rediscovered
rising sun, with its head resting back on a sand The location of this find is significant, because antiquities covering the entire span of Egypts
bed to face skyward. The child, who lived its on a possible dispersion route of modern ancient history, from c3500 BC to the early
during the late Pleistocene, approximately humans from Africa into Asia and Europe centuries AD, the highlight being a gilded
60,00055,000 years ago, was aged between between 50,000 and 100,000 years ago. face from an 18th-dynasty coffin. Also last
year, a re-examination of ancient linen
wrappings from Mostagedda stored in Bolton
February 2016 41
| WOMEN SCIENTIST
HISTORY
WOMEN SCI
YOU OUGHT TO KNOW
ENTISTS Pioneers in their respective fields
but overlooked by history, meet the women who dedicated
their lives to science and made groundbreaking advances.
Moshita Prajapati revisits their achievements
ADA LOVELACE
First computer programmer
GRACE HOPPER
Programmed the first compiler
42 Februaury 2016
NETTIE CECILIA What are stars made of? Cecilia Payne-
STEVENS PAYNE Gaposchkin, British-American astronomer and
The science of gender The composition astrophysicist, answered it in 1925 whilst at
of stars Harvard University. She was accurately able to
Stevens was an American prove that the composition of stars depends on
geneticist who discovered their temperature and the ionization of the atoms
that sex of a species is in the elements. She calculated the relative
determined by a particular amounts of 18 elements in space and the results
combination of chromosomes. showed similar compositions in all. Stars are
In 1905, while at Bryn Mawr almost entirely composed of the two lightest
College, she successfully stated elements in the Universe, hydrogen and helium.
from her experiments on the Her findings have helped astrophysicists
yellow mealworm that the combination understand the Universe better.
of an X and Y chromosome was and is
responsible for the determination of the
sex of an individual. XX for female and XY for male.
MARIA GOEPPERT-MAYER
Nuclear shell model of atomic nuclei
Jane Goodall
SEAORBITER / JACQUES ROUGERIE
SEAORBITER |
SCIENCE
THE LAST FRONTIER
The SeaOrbiter when launched will allow man to boldly
go into the deepest part of ocean, where no man has
gone before. Moshita Prajapati finds out more
Exploring the seven seas research as well as educational projects craft where the vessels communication
An astounding 95 per cent of the ocean designed to benefit humanity. systems and lookout post is, and will
is unexplored, unseen and unknown Inspired by the scientific and pop allow researchers to share their research,
to humans. And 99 per cent of the cultural legacies of naval explorer pictures and video via a live feed.
ocean floor is uncharted, unfamiliar Jacques-Yves Cousteau, oceanographer If all goes well, construction will
and undiscovered. But that is soon Jacques Piccard and sci-fi author Jules finish by the end of 2015, and the first
about to change. The SeaOrbiter, when Verne, the vessel will be a 24/7 laboratory underwater expedition will begin in
operational, will become the first floating where the crew can live underwater for spring 2016.
sea lab where researchers can live and months to study and observe marine life
explore parts of the seas and oceans and its phenomena and collect samples. The Vessel
unknown to man. You cannot miss the SeaOrbiter when it
The $43 million SeaOrbiter project Operational finally hits the waves. The momentous
is the result of a 30-year research and The French Government, several structure measures a total of 190ft (58m),
design process. Created by sea architect companies and a crowd-sourcing of which, 89ft (27m) will be visible above
Jacques Rougerie and guided by experts campaign have provided the initial water level. Since it is taller than it is long,
like Jean-Michel Cousteau and former funding. So far, the craft is still being built, there is a chance that it might topple over
NASA chief Daniel Goldin, the vessel will albeit piece-by-piece. The Eye while navigating through choppy water or
hold a crew of up to 22 people when it of the SeaOrbiter, the first constructed stormy weather. But its design ensures
launches. Described as a self-sufficient piece of this craft was completed in that is stable than standard ships. The
slow-drift vessel, this international May of 2015. The 18m centerpiece will large saucer section and the keel below
oceanic station will conduct scientific be integrated into the upper portion of the it are denser than water. They wont sink
February 2016 45
3D PORT DISPLAY
AIR DRAFT: +27m
Communication Systems radio
and satellite antennas
DECK: +4.20
Retractable rear Command bridge
access ladder
DECK: +1.60 Multidisciplinary
modular laboratory, medical
zone and fitness area
LEVEL OF THE SEA
DECK: -1.00 Bunks area
and Captains room
Stern thruster
DECK: -6.20 Communication
zone and sanitary area
95%
Dive pit divers sub and AUVs
of the oceanic
abyssal plain remain
unexplored.
Retractable keel
(180 tonnes) Source : IFREMER
DRAFT: 31M
Exploration levels of
71% the SeaOrbiter
of the Earths surface are
formed by the oceans, oceans
representing 97% of the global
planets water volume.
+30
Source : IFREMER
85% +20
From the lookout post at 18.00, scientists
will observe from far, seabirds, whales,
of the marine biodiversity
37% are still unknow. +10 dolphins, turtles and fish hunting.
Source : IFREMER
of the global CO2
emissions are absorbed +00
by the ocean
IPCC (International Panel
on Climate Change) -10
-30
The analysis of continuous recordings
in various frequency bands will help
locate some marine organisms that
cannot be seen. It will also provide
-40 a database of sound recordings that
does not exist today.
NATURE
PORTFOLIO
Miracles
at your feet
These magical images reveal a world of
invertebrates that are incredibly accessible
but all too often ignored. Its time to get down
on your hands and knees to discover these
astonishingly diverse creatures for yourself,
says entomologist Richard Jones
PHOTOS BY LEON BAAS
February 2016 49
A grassbugs long legs allow it
to run very fast, but a lot of
insects spend their time being
still. Movement attracts
attention from predators, and
long grass is a good place to
look for these bugs
NATURE
This yellow meadow ant is trying to find its
way to dry ground. Though they nest in
soil, ants stream up stems and leaves in
search of nectar, sap oozing from leaf cuts
or aphids. A successful discovery results in
a long line of ants sharing the prize
February 2016 51
Ruddy darter at sunrise: Hanging from a seed head,
this dragonfly will roost all night and take to the
wing when warmed by the next days sun. The cool
temperature makes early morning and late evening
the best times to get close to many usually skittish
insects. Check tree trunks catching the slanting
rays of the low sun, or flowers, leaves and stems
slightly sheltered and out of any wind
PORTFOLIO |
NATURE
Green-veined white butterfly: At
the micro scale colour is not just
about brightness, it is about
contrast, tone and disruption of
any obvious body outline. Only
by getting close will you be able
to see past the shading and
concealing mottles that allow
insects to remain so secretive.
February 2016 53
The fanged pitcher plant
N. bicalcarata is found in lowland
peat forests in northern Borneo.
Some animals have evolved to use
its pitchers as a home and hiding
place, such as this small land crab
PORTFOLIO |
NATURE
This water scorpion has caught a pond-
skater in its deadly raptorial front legs. Its
easier to get close to watch insects when
they are occupied sunbathing, mating or
eating. Their behaviour is often more
startling than their appearance
February 2016 55
| CHINESE HISTORY
HISTORY
The Chinese call their country Zhongguo, the BC. But China was still divided into many
Middle Land. Originally that meant the small states it could have ended up like
Yellow river plain, and our journey begins at Europe but for the ruthless Qin emperor
a Henan temple fair with a million people Qin Shi Huang, who in 221 BC created
celebrating Nu Wa, the prehistoric mother Chinas first centralised bureaucratic
goddess who made the Chinese people out state by force. That tension between the
of the yellow mud. We are all brothers and humanistic and the autocratic is one of
sisters, one pilgrim told us, echoing DNA the burdens of Chinas history.
discoveries that claim that over a third of all So our big themes emerge: writing
Han Chinese males share just three ances- and ritual as sources of power; the
tors only 5,000 years ago (if so, they really Mandate of Heaven; and the importance
are the worlds biggest tribe!) of family and reverence for ancestors,
We also visited the great archaeological seen in a moving scene with the Ching
discoveries at Erlitou and Anyang, capital of family of Wuxi on Tomb Sweeping Day,
the first great dynasty, the Shang (c1575 a festival in which millions offer prayers
1046 BC) with whom many of the great to their forebears. Our family goes back
BRIDGEMAN, BBC/AKG
themes of Chinese culture emerge along a thousand years, said one old man,
with the script still used today. and huge changes have happened to
In 1046 BC, the Shang fell to the Zhou, us. Now everybody is asking: what are Above An owl-shaped wine vessel from the
who laid down the idea of the Mandate of our roots? late Shang period, c1200 BC
Heaven, a conception of moral rulership Today everyone in China is asking the Top: Michael Wood talks to a potter in
codified by Confucius in the sixth century same question. Kashgar, Chinas westernmost city
56 February 2016
The Tang
welcomed foreigners,
and their ideas and
religions, including
Christianity
2 The Tang
When China opened
its arms to the world
(AD618-907)
Ask Chinese people their favourite period
and most will say the Tang: an age of
political, cultural and commercial
greatness, when China went out to the
world along the Silk Roads. It also
welcomed foreigners, and their ideas and
religions including Christianity. (Just
imagine a Daoist mission being received
in Dark Age Winchester!)
To really open up to another civilisation
requires humility, curiosity and breadth of
spirit, and the Chinese had that confi-
dence in the Tang. Another great theme is
a new reflective spirit in literature. This
was the time of Chinas best-loved poets,
as we saw in a school near Luoyang when
effervescent kids took us through a poem
by the eighth-century writer Du Fu about
The Buddhist monk Xuanzang travels the tragedies of his time.
with a tiger along the Silk Road in an
image from the ninth century
| CHINESE HISTORY
HISTORY
58 February 2016
5 The Great Qing
From worlds greatest empire to
crazy old man of war (16441911) Communist
leader Mao
The Qing dynasty is often seen as a the city of Yangzhou was a centre of Zedong waves
time of decline, but in many ways the printing, painting, novels and theatre; to a rally
18th century was a brilliant epoch. there Kangxi sponsored the printing celebrating
After the horrors of their conquest, of the Complete Tang poems (over Chinas
the Manchus restored order, setting 48,000 of them!) And then theres the Cultural
out to be more Chinese than the novel of the millennium, The Dream Revolution,
Chinese. Three great emperors of the Red Chamber, an 18th-century Beijing, 1966
reigned between 1661 and 1820; and family saga magical realism long
the first, Kangxi, was one of the
greatest in Chinese history. The Qing
before Marquez or Rushdie. One
autumn day in a bar by Beijings North
6 Modern China
took control of Xinjiang, Mongolia and
Tibet, doubling the size of the empire .
Lake a young electro musician with
hennad hair spoke of Chinas Jaw-dropping cruelty
China then was still the greatest
and most populous empire on Earth,
best-loved book with a smile: Its
really about the eternal verities: love
and success (19112015)
and by far the biggest market. New and freedom!
wave Qing historians talk now of a Into this world in 1793 came the In the mid-19th century, China was shaken by a
diversified economy, and even British. Ambassador MaCartney cataclysmic war, the Taiping Rebellion, in which
aspects of what we might call summed up his hosts with breezy 20 million died. The story began in the villages
civil society: guilds, cultural self-assurance and a nautical of Thistle Mountain in Guangxi where it all
clubs, banks, charities, metaphor: The Chinese empire, he began. The Qing won, but at a price. The
newspapers, even public said was a crazy old man of war imperial system was now in crisis. New ideas
opinion all features of which may drift for a while yet, flooded in, from naval technology and railways
Enlightenment states in but can never be rebuilt on the to democracy, feminism and socialism.
Europe. It was a time of same bottom. Terminally rocked by the Boxer rising (partly
great cultural projects. China was about to motivated by opposition to foreign interfer-
Far from the capital, be overtaken. ence), the empire fell in 1911 and China became
a republic. It was on the winning side in the First
World War, but the gross injustice of Versailles
sparked new upheavals. Was the way forward
western or Chinese? A reformed Confucianism,
liberal democracy, or Marxist-Leninism?
That the communists won out was really an
accident of history: it was the Japanese
invasion that turned them into a liberation
movement. But the stark truth is that all the
20th centurys Marxist-Leninist states were
tyrannies, and Maos regime was no exception.
Recently historians have exposed the
disasters of Maoism, especially the Great
Famine in which tens of millions died, the
largest man-made catastrophe in Chinese
history. Yet the party held on to power, and
though moves to political reform were put on
hold after 1989, its economic achievements
since have been jaw-dropping.
Modern China faces great challenges not
just economic, but social and political: the rule
of law; the representation of the people; the
A portrait of Kangxi, one of the safety of the food chain; the despoiled environ-
greatest emperors in Chinese ment. But the Chinese have been through many
history. He was the second Qing ups and downs, and possess incredibly rich
ruler of China, from 1661 to 1722 resources in culture and civilisation going back
millennia. And as always, in the end, the
Mandate of Heaven is theirs to bestow.
1 2
HOW MUCH HOW
CHOLESTEROL TRUSTWORTHY
YOU HAVE YOU ARE
We routinely make assumptions men that creates an impression
Mirror, mirror on the wall, whos the fittest about each others traits based of dominance.
of them all? Asking this very question on facial appearance. Sometimes Theres some recent evidence
might become a commonplace occurrence these inferences are made quickly, that we can overcome the
following the announcement this summer suggesting that we can gather personality signals given off
that a mirror is in development that will significant clues in a split second. by our static facial structure,
GETTY X3, OLIVER GARROD/UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW, DEANS CARDS X3/DEANSCARDS.COM, SHUTTERSTOCK
assess the health of anyone who looks into it. Generally, faces that are simply by pulling the right facial
The Wize Mirror is being developed by babyish (think less pointy, with a expressions. Psychologists call this
researchers from seven European countries, high forehead) are rated as more social camouflaging and it was
coordinated by the National Research trustworthy. Other face-based demonstrated in a study published
Council of Italy. The device uses five compact character assumptions appear at last year by researchers at the
cameras and a 3D scanner to measure facial first to be tied to specific facial University of Glasgow. An animated
skin tone, the amount of fat on the face and features, but the reality is more face morphed to look optimally
facial expressions. It also analyses breath. complicated. For example, theres untrustworthy based on its basic
Based on this data, the mirror estimates evidence that men with brown eyes structure was rendered trustworthy
factors such as cholesterol levels, glucose are perceived to be more dominant by programming it to pull a facial
levels, anaemia, weight gain and stress. If than men with blue eyes. But expression that involved raising the
youre looking a little run-down, the idea when a blue-eyed man dons brown lips and cheeks. Social camouflage
is the mirror will provide you with tailored contact lenses, this does nothing to of dominance and trustworthiness
health advice to get fit again. increase how dominant he appears is probably commonplace in
Right now, the mirror is still only at a to strangers. This suggests theres everyday interactions, the
prototype stage. For a more immediate something else about brown-eyed researchers explain.
estimate of your longevity, find some old
photos of yourself and see if youre smiling.
A recent analysis of baseball photos in a
1952 register found that of the players whod
since died, those pictured with a genuine Baseball players who smiled
smile had lived to age 80, on average, on their photos lived longer
than those who didnt
compared to an average age of 73 among
the non-smilers.
Brown-eyed men
are viewed as more
MEN WITH BROWN dominant than their
EYES ARE PERCEIVED blue-eyed friends
TO BE MORE DOMINANT
THAN MEN WITH
BLUE EYES
PSYCHOLOGY |
SCIENCE
3
WHAT MOOD YOURE IN
Since Charles Darwin first the Westerners and East Asians responded for example, the
compared the emotional displays East Asians were a lot less consistent in how they categorised
of humans and animals, its been some emotions (especially surprise, fear, disgust and anger),
argued by many experts that and saw movements of the eyes as more important for
humans exhibit six basic emotions interpreting emotional intensity.
via six core facial expressions: Quoting Darwin, the researchers say: Although some
happiness, surprise, fear, disgust, basic facial expressions such as fear and disgust originally
anger and sadness. No-one served as an adaptive function when
NO-ONE
disputes that facial movements humans existed in a much lower
convey what were feeling, but and animal-like condition,
DISPUTES
there is some debate over the facial expression signals THAT FACIAL
cultural universality of the emotional expressions. have since evolved and MOVEMENTS
At the recent Royal Society Face Facts exhibition, diversified to serve the CONVEY WHAT
researchers from the University of Glasgow presented primary role of emotion WERE FEELING,
their evidence that the interpretation of emotional facial communication during BUT THERE
expressions is not, in fact, universal. They used a unique social interaction.
IS SOME
3D computer system to create digital avatars that could
independently manipulate all 42 muscles in the face.
DEBATE OVER
The researchers then presented participants from a THE CULTURAL
Western or an East Asian background with these avatars UNIVERSALITY OF
showing random combinations of facial muscle movements, East Asian people THE EMOTIONAL
and the participants had to say when they recognised one tend to rely more on EXPRESSIONS
of the six basic emotions. There were differences in how eye movements when
interpreting expressions
4
HOW WELL
YOU FIGHT
The shape of your face
is related to your fighting
prowess if youre a man.
Psychologists made this
discovery in 2014 after
Wholl win this fight? The
analysing photographs of
odds are on the guy with
over 200 mixed martial the wider face
artists in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
Male fighters with faces that were wider relative
to their length tended to win more fights, and
the association held even after factoring out the
influence of body size. The result chimes with past
research linking facial width with aggression. Whats
more, it seems we intuitively know that this facial
characteristic is a marker of pugilistic prowess. When
the researchers manipulated fighters photos to make
their faces appear wider, this led observers to rate the
fighters as more deadly.
Another temporary facial cue to fighting ability is a
smile. Across the animal kingdom, its common for a
smile to be used as a signal of submission. Consistent
with this, a 2013 study of UFC fighters published in
the journal Emotion found that those who smiled at
a pre-match face-off were more likely to lose the
ensuing confrontation. Smiles appear to play a unique
role in physical confrontations, as a sign of a persons
reduced physical dominance, the researchers say.
February 2016 61
If you concentrate on someones
mouth movements, youll have
more success in deciphering
their emotional state
5
Do you think you could tell what had
just happened to someone from a short,
silent video of their facial reaction?
Specifically, could you tell whether theyd
been told a joke, heard a sad story, received
a compliment or been made to wait for
five minutes?
This is exactly the challenge that University of
Nottingham psychologists gave their participants
for a study published in 2012, which they say was a more realistic test of
the way we interpret each others facial expressions than simply naming the
emotion on display. The participants averaged around 60 per cent accuracy
not great, but if theyd just guessed each time, their accuracy would only
have been 25 per cent. Accuracy was especially high (90 per cent on average)
for recognising when someone had been made to wait.
In general, participants who were more accurate tended to focus more on
the mouth region. The researchers say: From observing just a few seconds of a
persons reaction, it appears we can gauge what kind of event might have happened
to that individual with considerable success.
PHOTO: GETTY, UC SAN DIEGO SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM, SHUTTERSTOCK
6 7
Many of us have a side of our The research, led by Owen Churches Some people certainly seem to have
face that we prefer, and that at the University of South Australia more lived-in faces than others.
we turn to face the camera for (incidentally, his web photo shows more This year, researchers at the Chinese
photos. However, an analysis right cheek) says that the findings were Academy of Sciences elaborated on
of thousands of university consistent with past work suggesting that this principle, reporting that theyd
academics homepage more emotionally expressive people tend used computer imagery to generate
photos suggests theres more to this than to pose with the left cheek on display, and 3D models of over 300 peoples faces (aged 17
vanity. Engineers, mathematicians and that naive observers assume right-cheek to 77), and that theyd used these models to look
chemists more often posed with their posers are more scientific. for correlations between specific facial features
right cheek forward, while arts scholars Academics be warned, the research and age. For example, older people tended to have
and psychologists more often posed with concluded. We present ourselves to wider noses and more sloping eyes. Some people
their left cheek showing. There was also a our students and colleagues in our had faces that were young for their age based on
gender difference, with female academics profile pictures, and the way we do so may these markers, with any two people of the same
more likely to display a greater amount of reveal more about ourselves than chronological age differing by around six face
their left cheek. we think. years on average.
Facial age correlated more strongly with
objective markers of health, such as cholesterol
THERE WAS A GENDER DIFFERENCE, WITH levels, than with chronological age showing that
FEMALE ACADEMICS MORE LIKELY TO DISPLAY a persons lifestyle is indeed written in their face.
A GREATER AMOUNT OF THEIR LEFT CHEEK
PSYCHOLOGY |
SCIENCE
8 HOW MUCH
PAIN YOURE IN
Its often difficult for people to articulate
their pain, especially children. Thankfully, researchers
at the University of California recently announced that
theyve created a computer algorithm that decodes
videos of childrens changing facial expressions to
determine how much pain theyre in. The algorithm was
tested on children aged five to 18 who were recovering
from appendix surgery, and its estimates of their pain
correlated well with their self-reports better, in fact,
than the estimates made by nurses.
An advantage of this technique is that it could provide
a continuous measure of a patients pain. Scheduled
assessments, by contrast, can miss those times when
a patient is suffering the most. Moreover, the computer
program is not biased by a patients age, gender or
In the picture on the left the boy is suffering ongoing pain, on the right he is suffering ethnicity, and could be used for children who are too
transient pain the difference in his facial expression is clearly visible
young to communicate how much pain theyre in.
9
and right respectively) Low carotenoid
a sunbed. In fact, a persons diet
specifically the consumption
YOUR SEXUALITY of carotenoid-rich fruit and
veg such as carrots can also
affect their skin in a similar way, High
Your face gives away a lot but not your making it appear more yellow.
political leaning. Researchers tested this in In 2014, psychologists from
2011 when they asked 19 subjects to look the University of Leeds and the
at the faces of 90 unfamiliar backbench University of St Andrews showed
male British MPs and to say whether they that faces made more yellow
were from the Labour or the Conservative party (using a rating through diet were rated more
scale to show how confident they were in their guesses). The attractive by observers than the
results showed the participants were unable to judge the MPs same faces with an equivalent
affiliations from their faces. MPs with beards or glasses were suntan. Its thought that skin
excluded in case these were used as cues. turned yellow through diet is
Sexual orientation is another matter. Research from 2008 attractive because its a sign the Low melanin
by Tufts University found that a 50 millisecond glimpse of 90 person is in good health.
mens faces was enough for undergrad students to judge their
sexuality (homosexual or heterosexual) with an accuracy of 57
per cent, which is superior to chance. The rapid and accurate
High
perception of male sexual orientation may be another symptom
of a fast and efficient cognitive mechanism for perceiving the Christian Jarrett is a psychologist and the
characteristics of others, the researchers say. author of Great Myths Of The Brain.
February 2016 63
Honeypot ants hold onto the ceiling
of their cave with their legs as
their sister workers tend to them.
The workers bring food from
above ground and use their small
mouths and mandibles to clean the
distended bodies of the honeypots
NATURE
Sweet
& low
When food is scarce honeypot ants turn
to the living larders in their underground
colony. Entomologist Rob Dunn provides
an insight into the world of the insects that
use their bodies to stockpile sugar
PHOTOS BY ERIC TOURNERET
February 2016 65
T
here are about 30 species of honeypot ant in the world,
named for a very specific behaviour. Some of the colonys
worker ants prepare for hard times by storing food in their
sisters. The workers feed these special sisters, known as repletes,
until their abdomens swell. The feeding continues until theyre
so swollen that all they can do is hang from the ceiling of their
nest in diaphanous, golden rows. Then, when the hard times
arrive and everything above ground is dry and inedible,
the worker ants come back to the repletes and beg for food.
Drop by drop, the honeypots regurgitate the sugar theyve
been storing.
The practice has evolved repeatedly in regions where food is
predictably scarce for part of the year. The other thing that
occurs repeatedly in these regions is that humans discover these
sugar-loaded ants and eat them. Theyre delicious, a ball of
sugar with a subtle texture imbued by six tiny legs. In the
desert of the south-west USA honeypot ants are eaten by
Native Americans. But its in Australia that honeypot ants, and
specifically the red honey ant Melophorus bagoti photographed
here, are most valued. The insects were discovered there in the
time before corn syrup and sugar cane, and became a treat
worth some work.
The technique involves finding a nest among the roots of
mulga trees and tracking a returning ant to the entrance. Once
you have, use a stick to figure out the direction of the nests
first tunnels, then start digging, probing with your stick each
time you reach a new turn. Dig down the central tunnel until
you come to a large chamber where, hanging from the ceiling,
youll see the honeypots. Pop a few in your mouth. Savour the
texture and the exotic sensation of the wiggling legs before you
bite down and let the sugar pour through your mouth.
An Aboriginal woman and her daughter dig up
a honeypot colony, which can be located by the
discoloration of the soil due to formic acid. A
century ago the ants were one of the few sweet
Timor foods available in the outback. Now less nutritious
Sea corn syrup and cheap sweets dominate diets
Darwin
NORTHERN
TERRITORY
66 February 2016
Far left: All insects have external
skeletons. But in honeypot ants the
skin between the segments of the
exoskeleton is stretched so taut
with the volume of the honey that it
becomes transparent a body through
which the entire world appears to be
delicious and gilded.
68 Februaury 2016
The behaviour of these small-
brained insects often seems to
embody characteristics we wish
were more apparent in ourselves,
such as a selflessness on behalf of
the community and the ability to plan
ahead in order to replace scarcity
with plenty. Of course when times
are really hard ants have also been
known to eat their offspring but
then no society is perfect
| HONEYSPOT ANTS
NATURE
70 Februaury 2016
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| RING-TAILED LEMURS
NATURE
72 February 2015
SCRATCH
evolution, says Mike Unwin.
&SNIFF
( Or, how to speak lemur)
August 2014 BBC Wildlife 73
| RING-TAILED LEMURS
NATURE
I
ts a hot day in Berenty Reserve,
south-east Madagascar, and theres
a rumpus among the ring-tailed
lemurs.Yips and squeals resound
through the understorey as these
spring-heeled primates bound around
the roots of a tamarind tree. One
young male advances with quivering
tail arched forward over his head, only
to be confronted by a rival doing
exactly the same. In the shadows,
a female performs a backwards
This baby is just two weeks old. All of
handstand against a sapling. the adult females carry the groups
To the enchanted groups of tourists infants, often swapping them. Young
watching these habituated lemurs, are weaned at three months and
it looks like some kind of madcap independent at six months
primate circus. But, as their guides
explain, the action is replete with
meaning, and to catch the gist you Indeed, to people around the world it researching the ring-tailed lemurs of
need only learn the lingo. This means is emblematic of the island, and today Berenty Reserve in 1963, continuing
not only translating the lemurs various that raccoon-like bandit mask and long the study for four decades.
yips, squeals, purrs, yells and wails, but black-and-white tail make the perfect Central to her research were
also interpreting their sign language of symbol for the Madagascar National communication strategies. She
posture, leap and grimace, and even Parks Association. discovered, for example, that ring-tailed
trickier to our untutored noses their Nonetheless, the ring-tailed is far lemurs use at least 28 vocalisations,
extensive repertoire of smells. from your typical lemur. For a start, it ranging from soft contact calls, such as
Thats right: ring-tailed lemurs say it is much the most terrestrial of its kind moans and meows, to howls audible
with stink, using scent to convey strategic spending some 33 per cent of its time from up to 1km away that advertise a
messages about territoriality, social on the ground and the most sociable, groups presence to other groups in the
rank and sexual availability. Olfactory forming mixed-sex groups of generally area. Other sounds include contented
communication is far more developed in 624 animals. It is also the most active purrs during grooming, chirps given
lemurs than among monkeys and apes, by day, which makes it relatively easy when on the move, yips uttered by
and especially so in this species, which to observe and, crucially, to study. subordinates in the presence of superiors,
produces a pungent secretion from an Jolly, who died this February, began and chutters given by a dominant
array of scent glands.There are some on
the inner forearms (antebrachial glands),
some on the shoulders (brachial) and yet A couple of young males
more in the ano-genital region (perianal). scuffle. Generally, though,
Those two tail-waving individuals rivalries are less intense
were indulging in a stink fight (see among the males than
females
box, p55).The handstanding female,
meanwhile, was marking the groups
territory by smearing tree bark with
scent from her vulva. A further glance
around the group might also have
revealed a male using special horny spurs
on his wrists to gouge scent into the
bark of saplings.
74 February 2015
Ring-taileds spend
more time on the
ground than other
lemurs. Groups on
the move hold tails
aloft like flags to
signal ownership of
their territory
to mid-May, during which each female monkeys and apes, but that the smaller of ring-tailed lemurs living on the
comes into oestrus for just four to six brains of lemurs made them irrelevant. arid Mahafaly Plateau in south-west
hours at a time.The group goes into It was her revelations about ring-tailed Madagascar revealed that these naturally
social overdrive, males battling over lemur society that first implied clues forest-dwelling primates had adapted
mating rights and females copulating might lurk lower down the primate to living in limestone caves, where they
with multiple partners.The young evolutionary tree. Jolly was suggesting find sleep sites safe from predation,
usually a single infant, or occasionally that primate social life provided the refuges from extreme temperatures and
twins are born in September. Females evolutionary context of primate a ready source of drinking water.
mature sexually at about three years; males intelligence, says Christoph Schwitzer To study ring-tailed lemurs further,
leave the group when mature, and move of Bristol Zoological Society and the of course, there need to be subjects left
between groups every three to five years IUCN Primate Specialist Group. Her to study. But with Madagascars natural
for the rest of their life. work has helped us to unlock some of
Jollys studies have had implications the mysteries of primate evolution.
far beyond her lemur subjects. It seems More recent work with captive ring- Lemurs of both
likely that the rudiments of primate tailed lemurs for instance, at the Duke sexes (this is
a female) do
society preceded the growth of primate Lemur Center in North Carolina has
handstands to rub
intelligence, made it possible, and revealed cognitive skills never observed their anogenital
determined its nature, she argued in in the wild.These include the ability scent glands
a groundbreaking 1966 paper. At the to organise sequences, understand basic against saplings.
heart of her thinking was the Social arithmetical operations and use simple
Intelligence Hypothesis: the idea that tools.The discovery of such capacities in
social intelligence the collection of more primitive primates suggests that they
mechanisms such as politics, family may have existed at an even earlier stage
relationships, quarrels, collaboration and of primate evolution, though the skills
reciprocity that we see as integral to did not emerge until much further down
our own species was the driving force the evolutionary line, unlocked by the
behind the development of the large development of social intelligence.
human brain.
Before Jollys work, it was thought Survival of a national icon
that evidence of early social intelligence Who knows how much more there is
could be observed in large-brained to learn? Only last November, studies
76 February 2015
HOW TO SEE RING-
Tail is banded,
bushy and TAILED LEMURS
long up to Lotus position exposes
thinly furred bellies
63cm in adults
to the sun to help the
Ring-tailed lemurs are confined to
making it
highly visible for lemurs warm up. Its a handful of reserves and protected
signalling over a social activity in the areas within nine separate forest
long distances. early morning the
huddles are tighter on blocks in south and south-west
cool days. Madagascar. They are most easily
observed in the dry, open forest
at Berenty Reserve (1), where the
population density is high and
lemurs are extremely tame, though
youll be sharing the experience
with other tourists. Ring-tails may
also be seen in the amazing-looking
spiny forest at Anjampolo, north of
Berenty, and at Isalo National Park
(2), among impressive sandstone
Antebrachial gland on rock formations.
LEMUR LIFE
wrist produces a scent to
send signals about status Other sites include Andohahela
and territory. In the males National Park (3), Zombitse-
it also has a nail-like
Vohibasia National Park (4) and
Lemurs communicate and socialise using a host spur to gouge bark and
of both physical and behavioural adaptations rub the scent in. Anjaha Community Reserve (5).
Look for groups sunning themselves
in the early morning in open areas
or on bare rock, adopting the
environment now under severe threat, distinctive lotus or yoga position
this cannot be taken for granted. A (see p76). Family groups are
2014 update to the IUCNs Red List
categorises 90 species of lemur (91 per
RING-TAILS HAVE A COMPLEXITY OF attracted to seasonal food sources
for example, in open forests in
cent of the known total) as at risk of
extinction.Though the ring-tailed is
INTERACTION ONCE HELD TO BE THE October and November they gather
one of the more plentiful species, recent PRESERVE OF ANTHROPOID PRIMATES to eat the fruit and new leaves of
the kily tree Tamarindus indica.
HOW DO WE KNOW?
O
nce upon a time, palm trees gone since 1994. In Tanzania the snowy than 10 per cent per decade. In recent
flourished in the Arctic and summit of Mt Kilimanjaro is shrinking, and years, ships other than icebreakers have
crocodiles basked on Alaskan estimates suggest the glacier may disappear been able to glide through the fabled
beaches. There was no ice at either of the completely by 2030. One gruesome Northwest passage with ease.
poles, and Earths average temperature side effect is the number of dead bodies
was nearly 23C (todays average is emerging from under the ice from Whats going on?
around 14.6C). This was our planet 56 victims of mountaineering accidents in These measurements confirm that our
million years ago, a time known as the decades past, to recent plane-crash victims planet is warming, but whats pushing
Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum. and, in South America, Inca children who temperatures up? During Earths last major
For Earth, global warming is nothing were sacrificed 500 years ago. warming phase the Paleocene-Eocene
new. Sea ice is also disappearing, with satellite thermal maximum carbon dioxide
Today, the Earth is warming once observations showing that the area covered (CO2) was the culprit. The splitting of
more. Since 1880, the average global by Arctic sea ice is now shrinking by more the Pangaea supercontinent triggered that
temperature has risen by 0.8C, and warming: as the land tore apart, volcanoes
in recent times warming has really sprung up in the cracks, frequently
escalated, with 10 of the warmest years erupting and belching out carbon dioxide.
occurring since 2003, and 2014 being the Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, as
warmest year on record. As our planet has is water vapour, methane, nitrous oxide
become hotter, our oceans have soaked and ozone. These gases trap heat in the
up the heat, making surface waters around atmosphere and keep Earth warmer than
1C warmer than they were 140 years it would be otherwise by absorbing heat
ago. When water warms it expands: the coming from the Earths surface. On
GETTY, PRESS ASSOCIATION
sea level has risen 17cm over the last some planets, like Venus, the greenhouse
century. Already low-lying Pacific islands, effect is massive. There the dense, carbon
such as the Polynesian island of Tuvalu, dioxide-rich atmosphere elevates surface
are struggling with frequent floods. temperatures up to a blistering 460C.
Meanwhile on land, glaciers and ice In contrast, planets without greenhouse
sheets are melting all over the world. gases, like Mercury, have no way of
Satellite measurements reveal that around People on a flooded street in Tuvalu, where rising preventing heat escaping at night so they
400 billion tonnes of glacier ice has sea levels are already causing problems experience huge swings in temperature:
78 February 2015
< IN A NUTSHELL
Earths climate is determined by
the interaction of a bewildering
number of different processes.
But as our ability to measure and
analyse the climate has improved,
its become increasingly clear
that man-made carbon emissions
are driving rising temperatures.
| HOW DO WE KNOW
SCIENCE
Mercury goes from 400C in the day to tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere, every century thats 40 times faster.
-170C at night. Without greenhouse resulting in a warming of around Meanwhile, measurements show that
gases, Earths average surface temperature 6C over a period of 20,000 years, during the 21st century the burning of
would be below freezing but with vast with seemingly no ill consequences. fossil fuels released around 35 billion
variation between day and night. So why is everyone fretting about the tonnes of carbon dioxide into the
The greenhouse effect has helped to recent 0.8C rise in average global atmosphere every year. Volcanoes, by
keep Earth habitable, but the geological temperature? contrast, release just 0.2 billion tonnes
record reveals that even small changes The answer is the speed of change. In per year.
in the proportions of greenhouse gases the years leading up to the Paleocene- The link between burning fossil
can have a big effect on climate. During Eocene thermal maximum, the planet fuels and altering Earths climate
the build-up to the Paleocene-Eocene warmed by around 0.025C every was predicted over a century ago.
thermal maximum, volcanoes are thought century. Today Earths thermostat In 1896, Swedish scientist Svante
to have pumped around five billion is being cranked up by around 1C Arrhenius realised that the Industrial
THE KEY Nearly 60 years ago, US scientist Charles Keeling began monitoring atmospheric carbon
EXPERIMENT levels in Hawaii, providing the foundation for our understanding of the problem today
In 1958, American chemist and strong seasonal cycle, with levels carbon dioxide, but Keelings
oceanographer Charles Keeling began dipping every summer as plants long-running experiment provides
measuring atmospheric carbon absorbed carbon dioxide. But by 1961, the most convincing proof that
dioxide concentrations at the remote his results showed that atmospheric human activities are increasing
Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii. He CO2 levels were rising steadily. carbon dioxide levels. The Keeling
chose this location because it was far At first, his findings failed to attract Curve shows that average carbon
from the influence of smoky chimneys. much attention and he struggled to dioxide concentration was 315 parts
By taking measurements high on the find funding. Luckily, he scraped per million by volume (ppmv) in
mountain, in the ocean breeze, he together enough money to keep the 1958, and that it peaked at
could ensure he was sampling experiment going. Today there are 401ppmv in spring 2014 higher
average concentrations over a wide approximately 100 locations around than at any other point in the past
area. Initial measurements revealed a the globe measuring atmospheric 800,000 years.
SCIENCE AND SOCIETY X2, GETTY X3, CORBIS
80 February 2015
Revolution was altering the chemistry of
Earths atmosphere and calculated how
future emissions of carbon dioxide might CAST OF Five innovative scientists who helped us
alter the surface temperature on Earth.
Arrhenius showed that burning coal would
CHARACTERS understand how Earths climate works
1712
pumping water out the ocean evaporated back into the
of tin and coal mines. This atmosphere after a few years.
is the first step
on the road to the
Soon after, another US scientist,
Industrial Revolution. Charles Keeling, began measuring
atmospheric CO2 concentrations at
the remote Mauna Loa Observatory in
German engineer Karl
Benz is granted a patent
Hawaii in 1958. His initial measurements
revealed a strong seasonal cycle, with
1886
for his first automobile. By
1888 his Motorwagens carbon dioxide levels dipping every
are on sale to the public; summer as plants absorbed the gas. But
the motoring era has by 1961 he was also able to show that
begun. carbon dioxide levels were steadily rising.
Today, Keelings long-running
experiment provides the most convincing
British engineer and amateur
proof that human activities are increasing
climatologist Guy Callendar
shows that the planet has carbon dioxide levels. The Keeling
warmed by around 0.3C Curve shows that in 1958, the average
over the previous 50 years.
1938 carbon dioxide concentration was 315
parts per million by volume (ppmv),
and that it peaked at 401ppmv in spring
2014. Meanwhile, measurements of gas
1961
GETTY, SCIENCE AND SOCIETY, PRESS ASSOCIATION X3, SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF EAST ANGLIA
2007
The IPCCs 4th
Assessment Report
states: It is extremely
Unnatural change
likely (over 95 per But rising carbon dioxide alone didnt
cent) that human prove that the climate is changing, or
activities have exerted a that man was responsible stronger
substantial net warming evidence was required. By the mid-1970s
influence on climate global temperature began to rise again,
since 1750.
after a 35-year hiatus. Its now believed
that temperatures were suppressed
during this period by the particles and
soot released by burning fossil fuels,
which reflected more solar radiation
The Nobel Prize for
back into space.
Peace is awarded jointly During the 1980s there was still much
to the IPCC and former scepticism that global warming was real,
2007
US Vice President Al but there were some strong dissenting
Gore (pictured), for their voices. In 1988 US climatologist James
efforts to obtain and Hansen produced the first climate model
disseminate information
about the climate
prediction and, in the same year, gave
challenge. a testimony before the United States
Congress saying that it was 99 per cent
82 February 2015
NEED TO KNOW
A handy glossary of terms for
understanding climate change
1 GREENHOUSE GAS
A gas that traps heat in the atmosphere
and keeps Earth warmer than it would
otherwise be, by absorbing heat coming
from the Earths surface. Examples include
methane, ozone and carbon dioxide.
2 SUPERCONTINENT
A vast landmass made up of most of
Earths continental blocks. Supercontinents
have formed at least seven times in
Earths history, the most recent being the British economist Sir Nicholas Stern, speaking at a press conference on his report The Economics
supercontinent of Pangaea, which started to of Climate Change in 2006. The report highlighted the importance of dealing with climate change
break up around 180 million years ago. sooner rather than later
PUZZLE PIT
CROSSWORD NO. 30
ACROSS
1 Read aloud (7)
5 Accuses by legal process (7)
9 Housie or lotto? (5)
10 A puzzle like this one (9)
11 Without a will (9)
12 Do it to show pain? (5)
13 Bide one's time? (4)
15 Teach (8)
18 Hint; aspersion (8)
19 By ___ of : by force or means of? (4)
22 Muscular spasm (5)
24 Edifying; inspiring (9)
26 Banish; exclude by general consent (9)
27 Dormant, motionless or passive (5)
28 In an unambiguous and clear-cut manner? (7)
29 Singers Frank and Nancy (7)
DOWN
1 Common burrowing animal (6)
2 Curb, check or confine (9)
3 Blows a horn (5)
4 Spoken words for typing (9)
5 Perfume ingredient - "i.e. nor" changed? (5) YOUR DETAILS
6 Terry Pratchett's fictional universe (9) NAME:
7 Circus entertainer (5) AGE:
8 Quick and unexpected (6) ADDRESS:
14 Play your ____ ____ : use that valuable piece of
information to outwit one's opponents? (5,4)
16 Shrug one's ____ : refuse to take
responsibility? (9) PINCODE:
Q3 SCRAMBLE
HEAD AND TAIL
Q2
Solve the four an
agrams and mov the
each square to fo e one letter to
a n s wer in
Now arrange the
rm four ordinary
words. t h e
solve part
cond
letters marked w a t t h e clue to word. The se the
asterisk (*) to fo ith an Look und rt of
rm the answer to
the o f a compo is the first pa
riddle or to fill in form wer
the missing wor ext ans
as indicated. ds of the n er.
sw
next an Go
HMSAS * * Descend
FSWIT d
* * Depresse
CCELNH alloy
* Common
AIKKUB
history
*
Period of
First we make ou
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Charles C. Nob _ make us. Condition
le (6,..,6) (same
word twice) e
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123RF.COMX2
Signal
| AND GAMES
FUN
MINDGAMES Test your knowledge with our Big Quiz set by James Lloyd
What creature recently set 5 What disease is the unfortunate
1 a new record as the worlds
lady suffering from in this 19th
fastest land animal? Century medical illustration?
a) An Australian tiger beetle
b) A Southern Californian mite a) Typhus
c) A Northwest African cheetah b) Tuberculosis
b) Tooth
c) Leg
86 February 2015
14 A bizarre quacking sound heard in the 18 In what year was this photograph 24
Complete the recent headline: _______
Southern Ocean for 50 years has been the first ever selfie taken? have structurally different brains
revealed as what? A) 1779 a) Monkeys
a) The underwater callings of Antarctic b) 1839 b) Lawyers
minke whales c) 1899 c) Artists
b) The sound of ice calving
from glaciers The selfie Which of these items wasnt contained
isnt such
25
c) Sonar chirps from nearby submarines in a recent cargo shipment to the
a modern International Space Station?
Scientists in the UK and Ireland have made phenomenon a) Clean underwear
15 after all b) Microbes from a T. rex fossil
graphene using which common household
appliance? c) A set of robotic legs
a) Kitchen blender
b) Vacuum cleaner What caused this red Moon,
26
c) Electric iron photographed in California in April?
a) Outgassing from the Moons craters
Between 2000 and 2013, the b) Air pollution
16 c) A total lunar eclipse
Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty
Organization detected how
many explosions on Earth caused by
asteroid impacts?
a) 6
b) 16
c) 26 19 Complete the recent headline: Mens
beard fashions guided by ________
a) Sunlight
17 This image shows a computer simulation
of what cosmic event? b) Hormones
a) A supernova c) Evolution
b) The Big Bang
c) A gamma-ray burst 20 Whats the name of the social
Q&A app launched earlier this year by
Twitter co-founder Biz Stone?
a) Jelly
b) Cream
c) Custard
the adults
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| APPLIANCES OF SCIENCE
SCIENCE
1 2 3
4 5 6
APPLIANCES OF SCIENCE
FUTURE
BACK ON CAN YOU SEE ROOM FOR SMUT-FREE BOOKSHELF
1 BLACKBERRY 2 MY AURA? 3 A VIEW? 4 SURFBOX 5 BLUETOOTH 6 FELINE
No need to check the At time of writing, this As smartphones get Torch is a router built Bluetooth speakers Designed to combat
date we really are latest virtual reality larger displays, some with families in mind. As come in many shapes loneliness in the elderly,
shouting about a new headset had smashed its have been predicting the well as all the built-in and sizes these days, Companion Pet Cat is
BlackBerry in 2015! The Kickstarter target with death of the tablet. In porn-busting filters youd but one form factor the first in a new line
PRIV is the embattled three weeks to go, and response, Samsungs expect which are user- thats surprisingly rare in of robot pets from
mobile-makers first phone the first units will ship in gone for the nuclear customisable it can be Bluetoothland is the Hasbro. Equipped with
to run on Android, and its February. Unlike Google option, serving up this easily set up via a traditional bookshelf motion and light
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the full range of Android unlike Oculus Rift or HTC tad underwhelming, but online, as well as a one-inch silk tweeter sleep if left alone for
apps plus BlackBerrys Vive, its also completely if we had a choice of providing parents with a and 5.25-inch Aramid more than a few
slide-out keyboard, could a wireless. It runs on watching The Force complete browsing fibre woofer, and pump minutes. Whether itll
BlackBerry once more Android, and comes Awakens on a Note 3 or history that cant be out 35W per channel. also wake you up at
become the mobile for complete with a this, we know which erased or circumvented Dont expect lashings of 5am by jumping on your
business? Bluetooth controller. wed choose! by private browsing. bass, though. face is still TBC.
BlackBerry PRIV AuraVisor Samsung Galaxy View Torch router Thonet & Vander Hoch BT Companion Pet Cat
blackberry.com auravisor.com samsung.com mytorch.com thonet-vander.com joyforall.com
90 February 2016
| NEWS
SCHOOL
EDU TALK
Seema Sapru, Principal of The Heritage
School, Kolkata, talks to Moshita Prajapati
on how cultivating independent thinking is
an imperative for good education
91 February 2016
| REVIEW
BOOKS
My parents are
both history buffs.
On all our holidays
together, we visit
the palaces and
monuments in the
cities we go to.
Because of this, I
would recommend
the book Raiders
THE RID RISING TRILOGY series. The author gives a modern from the North by Alex Rutherford. It is
BY PIERCE BROWN spin to the stories of Cinderella, the first book in the Empire of the
Set in the dystopian future, 700 Little Red Riding Hood,
years have passed since man has Moghul series, and tells us how Babur
Rapunzel, and Snow White.
colonised most of the planets in Set in the futuristic world where came to India to found the Mughal
the Milkyway Galaxy. But Mars humans, cyborgs and android dynasty. The book is written in a very
is still uncolonised and Darrow, co-exist. Cinder, Scarlet, Fairest, exciting manner and is also full of
a Red is working beneath the and Winter come together
planets unforgiving surface to and join forces to save the historical details, which I think my
extract precious minerals that magical kingdom. parents will be interested to learn about.
might make the planet habitable. - Vignesh Rajan, Bangalore
Or so it seems. During his work,
THE RELIC MASTER BY
he discovers a group of people
CHRISTOPHER BUCKLEY
termed Gold, who have been
living on Mars. Betrayed by Dismas is a sixteenth century relic
the privilege classes, Darrow hunter who procures religious Reader review
infiltrates the Gold class with relics for wealthy and influential
individual. When the greed of The Girl in the Spider's Web
an intention to take down the By David Lagercrantz
oppressors from behind. How one of his clients, Albrecht of
Mainz, increases for more rarer Lisbeth Salander is back! This fourth book in
does the battle end? Find out
relics, Dismas conspires with the Millenium series is the first after the death
when the last book in the trilogy of the original author Stieg Larrson. The book
releases this year. his artist friend Durer to create
has new characters, twists and a complex
the Shroud of Chambery, the plot, but the writing style is quite similar to
burial cloth of Jesus Christ. What the original. Lisbeth is still the most intelligent
LUNAR CHRONICLES BY
GOODREADS X12
follows is a hilarious tale of comic and interesting character in the book, and I
MARISSA MEYER adventure, historical details and am looking forward to the next in the series..
Fantasy fiction meets fairy tale witty repartee, make this book a
magic in this enchanting book delightful read. - Dikshita Rupani, Mumbai
92 December 2015
Top 5 Venture into the world where the plot unfurls Top 10 books
through the eyes of animals of 2015
CHARLOTTES WEB abridged animal commandant, "All animals
BY E B WHITE are equal, but some animals are more equal Go Set a Watchman
This is a heart-wrenching than others". By Harper Lee
story of an unlikey HarperCollins Publishers
friendship between a
piglet and a spider
BLACK BEAUTY
named Wilbur and
ANNA SEWELL Grey: Fifty Shades of Grey as
Narrated in first person, Told By Christian
Charlotte at a farm.
this autobiographical By E L James
Snubbed by the other
story follows the long Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
farm animals, Charlotte
and varied life of the
befriends the emotionally
horse named Black
wrought Wilbur. When Secret Garden: An Inky Treasure
Beauty. First he talks
Wilbur overhears the Hunt and Colouring Book
about his carefree days
farmers plan of By Johanna Basford
as a young foal with his
slaughtering him, he breaks down. Charlotte Laurence King Publishing
mum on the farm he was
decides to save her friend by weaving
born on, to his pride and
messages praising Wilbur in the barn in the
joy in being employed to
hopes that it persuades the farmer to spare THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN
pull the elegant horse
Wilburs life. Does she succeed? By Paula Hawkins
carriage of a gentleman. His life then takes a
turn as a cruel hansom cab driver in London Penguin Publishing Group
THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS whips and painfully overworks him to earn his
KENNETH GRAHAME daily wage. He does get his happy ending, a
Set in the Thames Valley, life of peaceful retirement in the farm where he All The Light We Cannot See
The Wind In The Willows was first born. By Anthony Doerr
is a celebrated tale of Scribner
animal cunning and
human camaraderie. TALES OF PETER RABBIT
Four anthropomorphised BY BEATRIX POTTER Enchanted Forest: An Inky
animals; Mole, Ratty, "Now my dears," said old Quest 7 Colouring Book
Badger and Toad, friends Mrs. Rabbit one morning, By Johanna Basford
who share an eccentric "You may go into the Laurence King Publishing
archetypical friendship fields or down the lane,
and unwillingly participate but don't go into Mr. Harry Potter and the Sorcerers
in misadventures in McGregor's garden: your Stone: The Illustrated Edition
gypsy caravans, stolen sports cars and in the Father had an accident By J K Rowling
woods near their houses. Spread across the there; he was put in a pie Scholastic Inc.
seasons, the story delights and brings alive the by Mrs. McGregor." Now,
imagination of the author and captures the Peter, her youngest of
hearts of its readers. five, doesnt heed to her What Pet Should I Get
warning and does visit Mr McGregors garden, By Dr Seuss
where he is caught in a jam and spotted by the Random House Childrens Books
ANIMAL FARM farmer himself! The adventurous tales of Peter
GEORGE ORVILLE Rabbit are delightful, full of sass and of course
An allegorical and
Old School (Diary of A Wimpy
fights with siblings, where the goody ones Kid Series #10)
dystopian novel, it earn bread, milk and blackberries for supper
satirizes and addresses
By Jeff Kinney
and the naughty one is fed medicine and sent Amulet Books
the socialist and to bed early.
communist philosophy
of Stalin in the Soviet
The Life Changing Magic of
Union. Set in Manor
Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of
Decluttering and Organizing
HE ?
Farm in England, the
DID H
farm animals tired of
By Marie Kondo
their servitude towards
AT ! Potter/TenSpeed/Harmony
T
SAY d to hell
the humans, revolt and
establish their own
oa
- List by barnesandnoble.com
The r ed with
society with a chosen leader and seven animal
commandants to create a society where all
animals are equal. But in a twist of fate, the
is pav rbs
animals are betrayed in their servitude towards
their animal leader Napoleon, who now acts
like a human and consorts with them. With no
way to distinguish between the pigs and adve ng
humans, the animals resign themselves to
phe n Ki
- Ste - Compiled by Moshita Prajapati
| PROFILE
PEOPLE
IN FOCUS
I am not apt to follow blindly
the lead of other men
- In The Life & Letters of
Charles Darwin, we see the
spirit of independent thinking
that led Charles Darwin
to formulate his theory of
evolution, challenging
the orthodox notion of
divine creation
the retreat of religious dogma material supporting his finds, petitioned that he be accorded the
from scientific discourse. including The Descent of honour of burial in Westminster
Darwin arrived at Man and The Expression of Abbey. His final resting place is close
his conclusions after Emotion in Man and Animals, to Isaac Newton and John Herschel.
an epic, five-year long both which are regarded
circumnavigation of the globe with the same reverence as Darwins father never thought he
while serving as the on- OOTS today. would amount to much. He once
board naturalist of the HMS By the time of his death, wrote to Charles in a letter, You care
Beagle. The notes on the nearly three decades after for nothing but shooting, dogs and rat-
flora and fauna he he had upended sciences catching, and you will be a disgrace to
encountered during the long-standing deferent status yourself and all your family.
voyage became the basis of to religion, Darwin was well
The Bank of England felicitates
his theory of evolution. respected throughout the
Darwins contribution to science
Along with fellow globe as a leading expert in
by printing his face on the ten
naturalist Alfred Russel his field. Charles with his son, William
pound note.
- Dushyant Shekhawat
94 February 2016
5th
BUZZ CELEBRATING KNOWLEDGE Anniversary
Issue
A Times of India publication Volume 6 Issue 1
December 2015 `125
Ultimate
The
All Things 5 was the flavour of the
month on BBC Knowledges social
media channels. We took to Facebook,
Gadget
Twitter and Instagram to discover the
significance of the number five.
Presenting an
exhaustive guide
Guide
On Twitter, the #KnowledgeTurns5 contest was a daylong of gizmos that
are knocking on
your door p34
quiz that saw 1800 people participate online. Meanwhile,
on Facebook and Instagram, content that contained
interesting trivia linked to the number five was put out R.N.I. MAHENG/2010/35422