bbc knowledge - april 2014 - 123doc

Volume 4 Issue 3 April 2014 ` 125

R.N.I.MAHENG/2010/35422

PREPARING FOR

SCIENCE HISTORY NATURE FOR THE CURIOUS MIND

A Times of India publication

Your guide to survive on the Red Planet p26

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RegulaRs6 Q&AOur panel of experts answer the questions youve always wanted to ask

14 snapshotOutstanding photographs to inform and engage

20 UpdateThe latest intelligence - A nano drug delivery breakthrough and how scientists can now detect water vapour on exo-planets

82 Inside the PagesAn excerpt from The Great Speeches of Modern India, edited by Rudrangshu Mukherjee, which recounts former PM Indira Gandhi's speech declaring a state of emergency on 12 June 1975

84 ResorceOur picks offer the best of science, history and nature on the web

featuRes32 Portfolio: nocturnal Animals

The animals all come out to play at night; Eric Mdard captures the nocturnal wildlife in an array of photographs

40 10 things You Didn't Know About sleepEver wonder what your body does while you are sleeping

42 the shadow Universe Making sense of the Universe and what lies within it

50 nAsAs craziest Ideas NASA is synonymous with space technology.

Take a look at 10 projects that border on the bizzare

58 origins of Islam Historian Meenakshi Jain talks about the genesis

and the formation of Islam as a religion

62 How smart Are Dolphins? Find out whether the large brain size of the dolphins

equates to them having higher intelligence

68 India's Border Wars The cloak and dagger circumstances that led

India to defend its borders post independence

70 How Do We Know: the structure of the Periodic tableThe periodic table is a familiar classroom affair.

Find out what led to the discovery of the elements

76 Ye olde travel Guide: Madrid, 1621 Pretend you are taking a trip through Madrid in

the year 1621

78 Killed By their own InventionsThe stories behind the ironic demise of scientists

killed by their own inventions

CoveR stoRY26 Preparing For Mars

We look at what you need to pack in your bag for a journey to Mars

2 April 2014

86 edu talk Interview with Kiran Bir Sethi, Director of Riverside School, Ahmedabad

87 Games ReviewWe review the latest video games released in the market

88 Gadgets Lowdown on gadgets riding the new green technological wave

90 Puzzle Pit A veritable buffet of brain teasers guaranteed to test your mind

94 In FocusElon Musk, billionaire visionary, engineer, and entrepreneur who is transforming the way we travel

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The great Jocelyn Bell-Burnell was in the country recently and BBC Knowledge got the rare opportunity to speak with her. For those unacquainted with Burnell, she was the one who discovered radio pulsars in the late 60s. Hers is a very intriguing story. There was an outrage in the scientific circles as Burnell was left out when the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1974 was

given to her thesis supervisor Antony Hewish and Martin Ryle for the discovery. Of the episode, she said, I believe it would demean the Nobel Prizes if they were awarded to research students, except in very exceptional cases, and I do not believe this is one of them. Read Burnells interview on page 24.

The discovery of radio pulsars has affected fascinating areas of research in astronomy, such as black holes and dark matter. Another feature inside, The Shadow Universe, (pg 42) is about the enigma of dark matter a phenomenon suggested to explain some wonky behaviour of the Universe, such as the whizzing stars (faster than usual) circling on the outskirts of spiral galaxies like ours. What is keeping them in check from flinging themselves into far off space?

But questionable behaviour is not only some stars prerogative. NASA has laid claim to some of that too. Audacious and insane, these ideas are set to change how we will explore space (pg 50). Exploring Mars on the other hand is on the cards sometime very soon. A TV show plans to send manned-missions from 2024 every two years. And over 200,000 people globally have applied to travel one way. Read the cover story on page 26.

This issue is not only about space and astronomy. Find out about scientists who died while testing their own inventions. And the real story about dolphins intelligence. And the Origins of Islam, along with the 10 Things You Didnt Know About Sleep. Starting with this edition, we introduce Ye Olde Travel Guide a witty informative walk around a city of the world from a time that is not the present. We start with Madrid of the 1620s. On page 76.

Enjoy.

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Has something youve read in BBC Knowledge Magazine intrigued or excited you? Write in and share it with us. Wed love to hear from you and well publish a selection of your comments in the forthcoming issues.

email us at : [email protected] welcome your letters, while reserving the right to edit them for length and clarity. By sending us your letter you permit us to publish it in the magazine. We regret that we cannot always reply personally to letters.

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FRoM tHe eDItoR

senD Us YoUR letteRs

4 April 2014

Jocelyn Bell-Burnell discovered radio pulsars. She is an astrophysicist who has worked in areas of the electromagnetic spectrum, and

observing new sources from radio frequencies to high energy gamma rays. See page 24

sean Blair is a freelance writer, a space expert, science journalist and currently is the web editor for the European Space Agency website. In

this issue, he talks about how to make the journey to Mars and how to live the Martian way of life. See page 26

Meenakshi Jain is a former fellow of the Nehru Memorial Museum and library. she is currently the associate professor of History at Delhi

University. In this issue, she takes us through the conception and formation of Islam as a religion. See page 58

Justin gregg is a science writer and the author of the book Are Dolphins Really Smart? A background interest in linguistics and the evolution of

language, his research focuses on the dolphin's social cognition. In this issue, he talks about what is intelligence and how animals use their grey matter. See page 62

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Printed and published by Joji Varghese for and on behalf of Worldwide Media Pvt. Ltd., The Times of India Building, 4th floor, Dr. D. N. Road, Mumbai 400001 and printed at Rajhans Enterprises, No. 134, 4th Main Road, Industrial Town, Rajajinagar, Bangalore 560044, India. Editor- Preeti Singh. The publisher makes every effort to ensure that the magazines contents are correct. However, we accept no responsibility for any errors or omissions. Unsolicited material, including photographs and transparencies, is submitted entirely at the owners risk and the publisher accepts no responsibility for its loss or damage. All material published in BBC Knowledge is protected by copyright and unauthorized reproduction in part or full is prohibited. BBC Knowledge is published by Worldwide Media Pvt. Ltd. under licence from Immediate Media Company Bristol Limited. Copyright Immediate Media Company Bristol Limited. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part prohibited without permission. The BBC logo is a trade mark of the British Broadcasting Corporation and is used under licence. British Broadcasting Corporation 1996

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bbc WorLDWIDE MAGAzInES UnItManaging Director Nicholas Brett Publishing Director Chris Kerwin Editorial Director Jenny PotterUnit Coordinator Eva Abramik

6 April 2014

experT paneLStuart blackman A zoologist-turned-science writer, stuart is a contributor to BBC Wildlife Magazine. 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. gareth Mitchell As well as lecturing at Imperial college london, Gareth is a presenter of Click on the BBc World service.

luis villazon luis has a Bsc in computing and an Msc in zoology from oxford. His works include How Cows Reach The Ground.

Ask the experts?Email our panel at [email protected] Were sorry, but we cannot reply to questions individually.

Molecules of lactic acid will be the bane of everyone trying to

shed the festive season pounds in the new Year

YouR QuEstIoNs ANswEREd

& What is the maximum number of names a person can remember? p8 Why do cold drinks give me 'brain freeze' and how do I avoid it? p9 How did the goldilocks zone move from Mars? p11 What makes Google so much more successful than other search engines? p12

Why does lactic acid build up in our muscles?

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During aerobic exercise our muscles burn glucose with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide, water and energy. But when we are exercising hard, the lungs cant keep up with the muscles demand for oxygen. Rather than just giving up, our muscles switch to an anaerobic chemical reaction that doesnt need oxygen.

This is less efficient because it doesnt produce as much energy per molecule of glucose burned, but its better than nothing. Unfortunately, instead of water and carbon dioxide, anaerobic respiration produces lactic acid as one of its waste products. If you exercise hard, this will be produced faster than your bloodstream can transport it away to your liver where it is processed and broken down.

As the level of acid builds up in your muscles, you feel a burning sensation that acts as a warning that your muscles are almost out of energy. Like other sorts of pain, the purpose is to signal that your body needs to rest. So, next time you go for a run bear your overworked body a thought and maybe catch your breath. LV

The appendix was classically regarded as unnecessary even its name implies that it is a leftover bit. Its a thin tube, about the size of half a pencil, that sticks out of the cecum, which is a pouch at the start of the large intestine. Charles Darwin thought that our ancestors ate a lot more plant roughage than us and needed a larger cecum to digest it, so the appendix was originally a useful compartment of the intestine that had dwindled through millions of years of disuse. Koalas, which eat very indigestible leaves have a two-metre-long cecum that is essentially a giant appendix.

Certainly its true that you can amputate the appendix without any obvious long-term consequences for the patient. But that same argument applies to a toe.

Being able to get along without something doesnt mean its entirely useless. Recent research that compared the intestines of 361 mammals found that 50 different, quite unrelated, species have an appendix. This means that the appendix must have evolved independently at least 32 times, which suggests it must be doing something useful.

Its now thought that the appendix acts as an emergency bunker for your gut bacteria to shelter in. Its narrow opening and out-of-the-way position mean that bacterial infections dont normally get inside it. So after diarrhoea has flushed the last of any bad bacteria out of your intestines, the good guys can emerge from the appendix and re-colonise your colon. LV

What is the function of the human appendix?

the appendix (pictured on the left in this x-ray image) could be a safe-haven for friendly bacteria in emergency situations

Blood viscosity, or how thick your blood is, is partly determined by the number and size of your red blood cells. These make up 41-53 per cent of the blood volume in men and 36-46 per cent in women. This value is higher if you are obese, which can increase blood viscosity by as much as 15 per cent and can cause a heart attack. But being dehydrated can also have an impact. One study found that just sitting in a warm room for four hours without drinking was enough to increase blood viscosity by 10 per cent. LV

Keep your blood running smoothly by staying hydrated

Why cant we trace the sender of an email?Each email has an invisible header containing information like time stamps and routing information. It does not contain personal details like the senders street name or phone number. However, the header does contain the originating IP address. That can narrow the origin down to a city or district, but seldom anything more specific and certainly not to an individual.

Online webmail services like Gmail are even more anonymous. A Gmail message, for instance, can only be traced back to a Google IP address. GM

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Does your bodys level of hydration affect your bloods viscosity?

What is the maximum number of names a person can remember?

kNOW spOt

the air around a lightning strike is the hottest place on Earth. For a split second temperatures hit 30,000c; hotter than the surface of the Sun.

Theres no known limit! If you ask a mnemonist or memory savant to learn a list of names they may remember thousands, tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands with no trouble, just as they can learn lists of thousands of digits. Some people, who have a neurological condition called hyperthymesia, remember everything that happens to them every day, including the name of every person they have ever met.

The rest of us evolved to cope with no more than about 150 social relationships. This is known as Dunbars number after the anthropologist Robin Dunbar. He discovered that groups of hunter-gatherers, units in armies, divisions in businesses and many other groups tend towards a limit of 150. And it seems that social media do not change our basic nature. Even people who have thousands of friends on Facebook rarely maintain more than 150 meaningful relationships. SB

some people dont need name tags and can put a name to thousands

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Goats are adapted to living and feeding on steep, rugged slopes. Their slim bodies help them creep along next to near-vertical walls and their cloven hooves have two toes which can spread out wide, improving their balance and allowing them to grip onto rocks or even the branches of trees. The soles of their feet are

soft and the rough pads under each toe provide extra grip. They also have two vestigial toes higher up their legs, called dewclaws. These are found on other species, including cats and dogs, but goats dewclaws are much stronger and stubbier and help them clamber up branches, or scramble down sheer cliff faces. SB

8 April 2014

Can dogs laugh?They make a sort of breathy, panting sound when they are playing. If you record this and play it back to other dogs, it appears to reduce their stress behaviours, such as barking and pacing, and increase their social behaviours, such as lip licking. Is that the same thing as laughter? Or is it just the dog equivalent of a broad smile? Its hard to say. Humans mostly laugh at verbal jokes and seeing other people fall over, neither of which have much effect on dogs. SB

Dogs dont laugh? tell that to scooby-Doo

the ultimate rock climber:

the humble goat

Why do goats have such good balance?

Substances generate a smell when their molecules land on so-called olfactory neurones in our noses (which, for some things, is a pretty unpleasant thought). But the exact nature of the interaction is somewhat controversial. Until recently, it was believed it took the form of molecules physically docking with protein receptor molecules in the walls of the olfactory neurones, like keys fitting into locks. This in turn implied that molecular shape is what determines a specific smell. But this fails to explain why some molecules with similar shapes can smell completely different, while others with quite different shapes can have a similar scent. These conundrums have led Dr Luca Turin of the Alexander Fleming Research Centre, Athens, to suggest that molecular vibrations are critical. Hes recently published intriguing evidence that molecular shape is not everything by showing that two molecules with identical shape but different vibrational properties can have a different smell. RM

What gives substances their scent?

next time you smell something interesting,

think about the substances molecules jiggling around

inside your nose

Why do cold drinks give me brain freeze and how do I avoid it?Anything cold against the roof of your mouth cools the brain, which is right above it. To maintain temperature, the anterior cerebral artery dilates to bring more warm blood to the brain. If the cooling is very sudden, the artery dilates too quickly and the pressure in the brain jumps up, which gives you a headache. Drinking more slowly, with pauses to warm your mouth back up, is normally all you need to do to avoid it, but brain freeze is worse in people who are prone to migraines. LV

Walt Disney was delighted to be offered the chance to appear in Focus Magazine

Q A&

Plants use carbon dioxide (CO2) during photosynthesis to make glucose. It takes six molecules of CO2 to make every molecule of glucose, and this basic building block is then used for energy and to make the structure of the plant itself. This biochemical reaction is the same for all plants, but the faster a plant grows, the more carbon dioxide it will use up per second. By that measure, bamboo might be the best at sucking up CO2. However,

fast-growing plants tend not to live long and when a plant dies, all the carbon in the plant is broken down by insects, fungi and microbes and released as CO2 again.

So the plants that are considered the most adept at locking away carbon dioxide from the atmosphere are the longest-living ones, with the most mass hardwood trees. Its all temporary though. Eventually every plant returns all the carbon dioxide it uses back to the atmosphere. LV

Are some plants better than others at sucking up carbon dioxide?

Hardwood trees will happily feast on your exhaust fumes,

but you probably dont need to go to these lengths

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10 April 2014

the home of Anakin skywalker is slowly being

consumed by the desert

How long can a structure last in a desert before being swamped by sand?

Top Ten bIggEST MOONS IN OUR SOlAR SYSTEM

10. OberonRadius: 761kmLocation: Uranus

9. RheaRadius: 764kmLocation: Saturn

8. TitaniaRadius: 788kmLocation: Uranus

7. TritonRadius: 1,353kmLocation: Neptune

6. EuropaRadius: 1,561kmLocation: Jupiter

5. MoonRadius: 1,737kmLocation: Earth

Q A&

Buildings dont actually sink into the sand, they are covered as its blown sideways by the wind. Without any plants to hold the sand in place, it is blown into horseshoe-shaped dunes, called barchans. Each grain gets blown from the bottom of the dune up to the crest and then tumbles down the steeper slope on the leeward side. This means that the barchan as a whole gradually creeps downwind at about 15m per year. In Tunisia, the set of Anakin Skywalkers home, used for Star Wars Episode I, is currently being engulfed. In another five or six years it will be completely covered. LV

Whats better: one big bet, or lots of small ones?For many people, the best advice is probably not to have a bet at all, as gambling is notorious for messing with peoples minds. But if you insist on doing so, its vital to use probability theory. This shows that how you bet depends on the odds, and in a casino theyre stacked against you.

The best advice is surprising: the biggest hope of, say, doubling your money lies in putting all your money on a single spin of the roulette wheel. The reason is partly because the payout on a simple red or black bet in roulette is twice your stake. The odds of achieving this outcome are, however, slightly less than 50 per cent, the difference being the casinos profit margin. And thats why you should make just one big bet. If you split up your funds into lots of small bets, youre effectively giving the casino more opportunities to nibble away at your funds. That said, its a brave person who can follow this mathematical advice. But one person who did is British gambler Ashley Revell, who in 2004 put all his personal wealth then around 100,000 on a single roulette spin. He won. RM

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And the winner is Hong Kong! Internet users there enjoy top speeds of 63 megabits per second, according to the most recent figures from the internet firm Akamai. Hong Kongs blistering broadband speeds compare to a worldwide average of 18.4Mbps. The UK is number 12 on the list with average speeds of 36Mbps. GM

Where can you find the fastest broadband speed in the world? Hong Kong: a city in the internet fast lane

4. IoRadius: 1,821kmLocation: Jupiter

3. CallistoRadius: 2,410kmLocation: Jupiter

2. TitanRadius: 2,576kmLocation: Saturn

1. GanymedeRadius: 2,631kmLocation: Jupiter

The goldilocks zone is a region around a star (such as the Sun) where planets are able to retain surface liquid water and therefore be suitable sites for life to develop. The young Mars probably had a dense atmosphere necessary for liquid water to exist on its surface. But once it became volcanically inactive early in its history the atmosphere was no longer replenished and, thanks to Marss small

gravitational field, seeped away into space. Furthermore, the Red Planet has lost its magnetic field and so has no protection from harmful radiation. So, while the position of the goldilocks zone can change due to changes in the Suns energy output, this isnt why Mars is no longer habitable. Changes in Mars itself have turned a once warm, moist world into a cold, dry one. AG

How did the goldilocks zone move from Mars?

A couple of billion years ago you could have rolled out a towel on a Martian beach

12 April 2014

Q A&

NASA has developed a sort of jetpack called SAFER (Simplified Aid For EVA Rescue), which fires compressed nitrogen from 24 thrusters to steer the astronaut back to safety if they become detached. Theoretically, astronauts could also vent some gas from their suits or even throw a tool in the opposite direction to push themselves forward. But the problem is that unless the thrust is exactly in line with the astronauts centre of mass, they will start spinning uncontrollably and very quickly become disorientated. SAFER automatically detects rotation and uses its jets to keep the astronaut oriented the same way. LV

Could an astronaut be rescued if he/she became untethered on a space walk?

Does a brainwave equate to a mental state?No. The term brainwave comes from the patterns detected by an apparatus called the electroencephalogram (EEG) that measures electrical signals from electrodes on the scalp. The overall frequency gives an indication of a persons mental state. For example, alpha waves (8-13 per second) are associated with a relaxed state. But these surface waves are created from millions of small electrical signals in the underlying brain, so they are a very crude measure that could not equate to a precise mental state.

If you mean to ask whether any kind of brain process equates to a mental state then you are in the realms of seriously difficult philosophical questions. Identity theorists say yes mental states really are brain states. Functionalists argue that the function being carried out equates to mental states. For instance, if a human brain and a computer were both trying to solve the same chess problem they would be in the same mental state. SB

the relaxed signature of alpha waves, which are enhanced when we close our eyes to chill out

Whats the secret to Googles success? Just google it!

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Astronaut Mark c lee tests nAsAs sAFeR back pack high above earth

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What makes Google so much more successful than other search engines?

Before Google, search results were less to do with relevance than who was paying for prominent listings. Early tools also matched search terms to sites based on a textual analysis of their pages. Websites often manipulated that by littering pages with irrelevant words inserted for the benefit of the search bots. The breakthrough for Google was Larry Pages eponymous PageRank algorithm. It listed pages according to the number of sites linking to them. It also weighted

the results so that a few big pages linking to a site had more prominence than many small ones. Googles commercial advance was fuelled by AdWords, where advertisers pay for their websites to appear above the search results for the relevant keywords. The profits from advertising drove a huge research and development operation at Google, feeding back into an ever further refined engine, ever more targeted ads and more and more services. GM

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This odd-looking character is a weevil, which was found on a doormat in Greensville, North Carolina. It was taken by Daniel Kariko as part of a collection of portraits of our often-overlooked housemates. It shows the weevils head, antennae and long snout. The full insect is 7mm long.

The image was created by combining details taken using a scanning electron microscope with the colours seen under a regular optical microscope. It takes 5-10 hours of post-production to apply the colour, says Kariko.

Vine weevils, a common garden pest, are all asexually reproducing females, says Tom Pope, an entomologist at Harper Adams University, Shropshire. When alarmed, an adult vine weevil will often feign death, he says, adding that researchers are looking for ways to exploit this to control them.

15April 2014

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Jet flightWAteR WAY to tRAVel

Seen in action is Belgiums Ludovic Lucas, demonstrating the latest extreme sport: flyboarding. Invented by Francky Zapata, the Flyboard was developed in the spring of 2011 and is inspired by jet-skiing and acrobatic diving.

The device consists of a board attached to a pair of shoes on one side and a jet-ski turbine on the other. This provides 90 per cent of the propulsion, with the last 10 per cent coming from two water jets on the users forearms that are attached to the turbine by pipes. This allows additional stability and manoeuvrability, although according to Lucas, improvements to the technology are planned to make it lighter, less bulky and more manoeuvrable.

It requires a lot of power to lift a man, says Lucas. Indeed, to keep the rider seemingly flying over the surface, the machine delivers 300 horsepower to move up to half a tonne of water a second.

16 April 2014

SCIenCe | sNApsHot

Fluoro flyerUPWARDs AnD onWARDs

In a darkened wind tunnel a model of a prototype aircraft glows as it is buffeted by gusts. Fluorescent oil shows up turbulent air as psychedelic swirls, which enables engineers to study the crafts aerodynamics.

The flyer is a 5.8 per cent scale model of the X-48C aircraft created by NASA and Boeing to investigate Blended Wing Body (BWB) technology. BWB planes have wings smoothly merged with the body of the aircraft, resulting in greater fuel efficiency. The whole body of the plane generates uplift rather than just the wing. They are harder to control than conventional planes, hence the need for extensive testing. BWB planes are also quieter because the engines are mounted on the top.

The remotely piloted research vehicle was flown 122 times between July 2007 and April 2013 to explore its basic handling qualities. The project was extremely successful but it is really just the beginning for the hybrid blended wing body concept, explained Peter W Merlin of NASAs Dryden Flight Research Center.

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UPDAte ThE lATEsT inTElligEncE

W eve all been there. Youre happily working away on your computer when, without warning, the processor grinds to a halt, leaving you to look on in frustration as the spinning wheel

of death...Well, todays lacklustre laptops have

taken a small step closer to obsolescence. Researchers at Canadas Simon Fraser University have managed to store quantum

two particles exhibit quantum spin; a quantum computer takes

advantage of this property

information at room temperature for 39 minutes, smashing the previous record of 2 seconds. Its a step towards the holy grail of quantum computing, explains Simon Fraser Universitys Prof Mike Thewalt.

It would have a huge impact on security, code breaking and the transmission and storage of secure information. It would solve problems that are impossible on any conceivable normal computer and could lead to the development of new drugs by a deeper understanding of interactions between molecules, says Prof Thewalt.

The quantum computer exploits a property of subatomic particles known as spin. The idea is that an atomic nucleus acts like a tiny bar magnet when placed in a magnetic field. The spin can be manipulated to point up or down. If the spin is up, it represents zero; if down, a one. This is the equivalent of the familiar bit. But a quantum computer deals in qubits these can be in a superposition state to represent ones and zeros at the same time. Its why a quantum computer would be so fast it would perform multiple calculations simultaneously.

Until now, quantum systems have been unable to reliably store data unless theyve been first cooled down to incredibly low temperatures. So storing quantum information at room temperature for as long as 39 minutes is a major breakthrough, says the University of Oxfords Stephanie Simmons, who collaborated on the project. Thirty-nine minutes may not seem very long, but in theory, this means that over 20 million operations could be performed in the time it takes for the superposition to decay by one per cent, she explains.

However, theres still a way to go before youll be turning on a quantum computer at home. The spins of the 10 billion phosphorus ions used in this experiment were all in the same quantum state. To run calculations, the qubits would need to be in different states.

Having such robust, as well as long-lived, qubits could prove very helpful for anyone trying to build a quantum computer. To have them talking to one another controllably would address the last big remaining challenge, says Simmons.

A quantum leap Superfast computing takes a step forward

with a record-breaking experiment

20 April 2014

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Water found on alien worlds cars to drive rainfall research AstRonoMY MeteoRoloGY

The Hubble Space Telescope has detected water in the atmospheres surrounding five distant worlds. The planets are all massive Jupiter-sized bodies that orbit close to their host stars. But thanks to their blazing hot surface temperatures they are unlikely to host life as we know it.

Were very confident that we see a water signature for multiple planets, said NASAs Avi Mandell. This work really opens the door for comparing how much water is present

in atmospheres on different kinds of exoplanets, for example hotter versus cooler ones.

The studies were part of a census of exoplanet atmospheres using Hubbles Wide Field Camera 3. The researchers can identify the gases that are present on a planet by determining which wavelengths of the parent stars light are transmitted and which are partially absorbed.

The study also revealed a layer of haze or dust around the planets.

For some people cars are an outward expression of their personality, for others theyre simply a means of getting from A to B. But researchers at the University of Hannover have a different take: they want motorists to measure rainfall.

Inspired by the observation that drivers put their wipers on faster in torrential rain and slower in light showers, the team has devised RainCars,

GPS-enabled vehicles that tour German towns and cities to record levels of precipitation.

Being mobile gives the RainCars an advantage over conventional rain gauges. While accurate, they are often too sparsely distributed to capture the intricate regional variations in weather patterns.

The team is also hoping to collaborate with taxi drivers in the near future.

nano drug breakthrough MeDIcIne

Nanoparticle drug delivery systems have proved to be a huge success in the targeted treatment of everything from arthritis to cancer. However, nanoparticles have had to be injected into patients when taken orally they are unable to break through the barrier of cells lining the intestine. Being able to take them in pill form would make it easier for patients to manage their own treatment.

Now a team based at Brigham & Womens Hospital

has hit upon a novel solution that may see the cutting edge treatments reaching more patients. The key challenge is how to make a nanoparticle get through this barrier of cells. Whenever cells want to form a barrier, they make these attachments from cell to cell. Its a bit like a brick wall where the bricks are the cells and the mortar is the attachments, and nothing can penetrate that wall, said team leader Omid Farokhzad.

A Raincar undergoes tests in the teams rain simulator

We can detect water vapour on a planet by studying the starlight that has passed through its atmosphere

the hope is that we will soon be able to swallow a

pill of nanoparticles to fight disease more effectively

For inspiration, Farokhzad looked at how babies absorb antibodies from their mothers milk. The antibodies act as a key to unlock receptors found on the surfaces of cells that line the intestine. This allows them to break through the intestinal walls and enter the bloodstream.

By coating the nanoparticles with antibodies, they were able to reproduce this effect.

So far the technique has only been used for the oral delivery of insulin in mice, but researchers say it could be used to carry any kind of drug that can be encapsulated in a nanoparticle.

UPDAte

22 April 2014

ThE lATEsT inTElligEncE

life from earthBIoloGY

Its surely one of the biggest mysteries of all time: how did life originate on Earth? Now, scientists may be a step closer to finding out after the chance discovery that clay may have acted as a breeding ground for the chemicals that form the building blocks of life.

Researchers from New Yorks Cornell University stumbled upon the idea after using clay hydrogels in the production of proteins. The team noticed that the clay boosted protein production, leading them to think it might provide the answer to a long-standing question concerning the evolution of biomolecules.

In simulated ancient seawater, clay forms a hydrogel a mass of microscopic spaces capable of soaking up liquids like a sponge, the papers author Dan Luo explained. Over billions of years, chemicals confined in those

spaces could have carried out the complex reactions that formed proteins, DNA and eventually all the machinery that makes a living cell work. Clay hydrogels could have confined and protected those chemical processes until the membrane that surrounds living cells developed.

Earlier experiments have shown that amino acids and other biomolecules could have been formed in primordial oceans, drawing energy from lightning or volcanic vents. But it was uncertain how these molecules could go on to form more complex structures, and how they were able to survive the harsh conditions. Clay is a promising possibility because biomolecules tend to attach to its surface. The hydrogel structure helps to protect the delicate contents from damaging enzymes that might strip down and destroy DNA.

Where it all started? clay cliffs like these on an island off the coast of Massachusetts in the Us could be a cradle for life

nasal navigationZooloGY

Ever wondered how pigeons can find their way home having been released hundreds of kilometres away? It turns out they may be simply following their noses. Hans Wallraff of the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Seewiesen, Germany, has developed a theory that pigeons are able to smell their way by accurately perceiving the ratios of various scents given off by organic compounds. The pigeon is then able to find its way by associating certain smells with wind directions.

If the percentage of a compound increases with southerly winds, a pigeon learns this wind-correlated increase. If released at a site some 100km south of home,

the bird smells that the ratio of the compound is above what it is on average at its loft and flies north, Wallraff explains.

In order to test his theory Wallraff made a computer model based on atmospheric data. In this simulation, virtual pigeons were able to navigate successfully armed only with knowledge of winds and odours.

FooD scIence

Its every meat lovers dream, a nice juicy burger that can be enjoyed without the accompanying risk of an expanding waistline. Well, that dream may soon be realised as researchers have found a way to pack reduced-fat mince with meaty flavour.

According to a study published in the journal Meat Science, plasma proteins taken from beef can be used to replace fat in mince without adversely affecting the taste.

The proteins were obtained from the meat through ultra-filtration and freeze-drying and then combined with inulin, a type of carbohydrate often found in chicory. The resulting

concoction was then added to reduced-fat mince and fed to a group of taste testers. The process had no observable effect on colour, flavour, taste or texture and fared well when pitted against full-fat mince despite containing 20 to 35 per cent less fat, the paper says.

Mmmmm mince. And now with the added benefit of helping you keep the pounds at bay

Patties without the podge

the humble pigeon follows its nose to find its way home

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Keeping abreast of the top science, history and nature research from around the world

Neutrinos on ice

Keep fit for smarter babies

calling all pregnant ladies. If you want your child to win a nobel Prize then youd better put on your trainers. Just 20 minutes of moderate exercise taken three times a week during pregnancy can speed up the newborn childs brain development, say researchers at the University of Montreal. the team found the brains of newborns aged eight to 12 days displayed greater activity when they were exposed to new sounds if their mothers took regular exercise.

RoUnD UP

neWs In BRIeF

If neutrinos were people their neighbours would describe them as keeping themselves to themselves. Billions of the near-massless subatomic particles pass through the Earth every second, but as they rarely interact with anything they are incredibly difficult to detect.

the overwhelming majority we have spotted originate from either the nuclear

reactions in the sun or from cosmic rays hitting the Earths atmosphere. However, after three years of searching the skies, the Antarctic-based Icecube neutrino observatory has detected a group of neutrinos likely to originate from much further afield. this is the first indication of very high-energy neutrinos coming from outside our Solar System, says Francis Halzen, principal investigator of

Icecube. It is gratifying to finally see what we have been looking for. this is the dawn of a new age of astronomy.

the neutrinos may carry information all the way from supernovae, black holes and pulsars. occurring in the farthest reaches of the Milky Way and beyond, astronomers would be able to examine these events by studying the neutrinos.

the Icecube neutrino observatory uses

thousands of sensors beneath the Antarctic ice

to catch fleeting neutrinos

PARtIcle PHYsIcs

Mount sidley is part of a range in West Antarctica where the new volcano was found

Maven headed for Mars

nAsAs Maven spacecraft has embarked upon its 10-month journey to the Red Planet following a successful launch from Floridas cape canaveral Air Force station. Assuming that all goes to plan, the $671 million (410 million) probe will gather data about the Martian climate in an attempt to understand how the planet was deprived of most of its atmosphere, turning it from warm and wet into the cold, dry and hostile world we see today.

Fire and ice

the effects of global warming are well documented, but things could really heat up in Antarctica if a newly found volcano erupts. Researchers spotted the volcano buried beneath 1km (half a mile) of ice while investigating earthquakes in West Antarctica. While an eruption would be unlikely to breach the surface, the heat could create a significant amount of meltwater, scientists from Washington University in st louis claim.

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What were the key developments that contributed to your research in finding pulsars? At the time, the work that we were meant to be doing involved looking at things, which fluctuated rapidly in brightness. And nobody had done that systematically before, so that was pretty important. The other factor that led to the discovery was the Impostor Syndrome.

The Impostor Syndrome is something known in Europe and the US, which affects people who have less confidence. For example, these people find themselves in college surrounded by lots of brilliant people. And then they think, Oooh! Im not as clever as these people and the college has admitted me by mistake. This is the impostor effect. They believe that they are going to be made out and some go as far as quitting.

Before going to Cambridge for my PhD, I had been on the fringes of Britain. I suddenly found myself in this Mecca of learning amongst the best and brightest. And I thought to myself, "Aahh I shouldnt be here, Im not that bright." But instead of leaving before they threw me out, I decided I would work as hard as I could, be as careful as I could, so that when they threw me out I would not have a guilty conscience. I was being very thorough, checking everything from this new radio telescope, this new wave of operation and thats what led to the pulsars discovery.

What fascinates you most about a pulsar?Pulsars have helped test Einsteins Theory of Relativity, forced us to learn about materials that are extremely compact and have a high density. They are quite hard to understand because of their huge magnetic fields, electric fields, and huge gravitational fields. They are extreme in every sense of the word, so there are a lot of fascinating things there that I yet dont understand.

How high was the probability of finding Little Green Men as opposed to detecting

amanda Peters talks to (Susan) Jocelyn bell burnell, the astrophysicist who discovered pulsars and created a whole new subfield of astronomy

H ow was school life while growing up? I started life in Northern Ireland and was schooled there till the age of 13. I then went to boarding school in England, where I was first introduced to science. While I found biology boring, I was good at physics and chemistry. From then on it looked like I would become a physicist.

At that time in Northern Ireland, the general assumption was that when girls moved into high school they would opt for domestic science like needlework and cookery, while the boys went into the field of science. But I was keen to get into the field. So my parents and those of two other girls made a big fuss and managed to break the general norm. We ended up being the only three girls in class and I topped the science exam in the first term.

When you were growing up, was it rare to find women in science, especially in astronomy? What drew you to the field?There were more women in astronomy than in other areas, than in physics actually. I knew when I started science that I was good at physics. My father was very widely read and brought home a lot of books from public libraries. One day he brought home some astronomy books and I read them cover to cover. Looking back they were quite a tough read. I was completely hooked and realised that the physics I was learning at school level could be applied to these big galaxies and stars. So thats how I wanted to be an astronomer. My classmates remembered it because not a lot of people at the age of 15 knew what they wanted to be but I knew.

the radiation from a pulsar star can only be observed when

the beam is pointing towards the earth, much like in the

functioning of a lighthouse

coMMent & AnAlYsIs

24 April 2014

stars that emitted electromagnetic radiation? It was a bit of a joke. It would have been a very unintelligent group of Little Green Men because why would they signal planet Earth? Why would they signal at 81.5 mega hertz? Thats not sensible and why would they use amplitude changers, changing the height of the pulsars. Why would multiple different groups of Little Green Men use the same signal at the same time to contact Earth?

How has the discovery of pulsars changed the understanding of the Universe?One big change at the time of the discovery of pulsars was that it made the existence of black holes more likely. Until then people werent that sure about black holes.

Does the Universe still surprise you?There has been a huge change in the Universe since I started studying astronomy. When I started, we more or less thought we understood the Universe and subsequently we found out that there is something we call dark matter, and recently we found something we know as dark energy. The net result is that all that we thought we understood about the Universe actually makes up only five per cent. So we went from thinking we understand 95 per cent to knowing it was only five per cent, which may not be progress, but it is a step further.

What do you think has been the most significant development in another area due to your discovery? Well... NASA is launching a satellite fairly soon, which is going to see if we can use pulsars as navigating beacons. But pulsars are lighthouses, so my thesis advisor Antony Hewish, patented the idea that they could be used as navigation beacons when we start travelling through the

galaxy in spaceships. They are beginning to be important in understanding how materials react under very high density. One study suggests that the stars have so much density that they have quarks in it.

Has there been a recent discovery in the field of pulsars as significant as yours?Probably not in that sort of a field but in astronomy there are all sorts of things going on. One of the things that excite me are fast radio bursts, one was discovered several years ago and now suddenly in the last 12 months they have started finding more. We now know of about 25 of them. Do you know of the principle of dispersion? Its a single sharp radio blast with different frequencies. Radio waves travel at different speeds and different frequencies. The high frequencies come first followed by the lower ones. These new pulsars have turned out to have much greater dispersions, which means they encompass a lot of electrons far more than what is in our galaxy. They come from beyond the galaxy, so they are probably at a red shift of one, which is when the Universe was half its present size. They last about a millisecond. There has not been a repeat burst from any of them and there is nothing when you look at the same spot after the burst. So what they are is a very interesting issue at the moment. Now we know they exist and know what to look for. We are now going to find them faster and faster even though they are all over the sky and not confined to the galactic plane.

What are you currently working on?Im 70 now and retired from the field. I am no longer doing active research, but I do travel to give talks. Doing interesting high level committee work, judging prizes make for a very interesting life.

Dame (Susan) Jocelyn bell burnell, as a post graduate student in cambridge University, UK, first discovered the existence of radio pulsars in 1967. Her discovery led to the branch of radio astronomy, significant in understanding the celestial bodies in the universe using radio frequencies. she is currently a Visiting Professor of Astrophysics, oxford University, and Professorial Fellow of Mansfield college, oxford. burnell is currently on a visit to several scientific institutions in India including tata Institute of Fundamental research (tIFr), Mumbai.

the discovery of pulsars made the existence of black holes more likely

26 / FOCUS / FEBRUARY 2014

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In some of the most remote corners of the world, researchers are flocking to try out the Martian way of life. Sean Blair reveals why the quest to conquer the Red Planet starts on Earth

PREPARING FOR

FEBRUARY 2014 FOCUS / 27

Upwards of 200,000 people from 140-odd countries have applied for one-way tickets to the Red Planet from Hollands Mars One television project. Producers are now starting a two-year selection process, seeking participants suitable for both colonising Mars and becoming reality TV stars. In December 2013, Mars One announced it would send an unmanned rover and communications satellite to the Red Planet, to arrive in 2018. It hopes to follow this with manned

missions from 2024, with four-strong crews setting off every two years.

But do Mars Ones applicants have any idea what theyre letting themselves in for? Theyd be spending their lives on a cold, radiation-blasted and dust-shrouded world, 225 million kilometres from home on average. Any unprotected exposure to the outdoors would make their blood boil, while the merest contact with bleach-like surface dust might risk chemical burns.

Rock samples are collected in Utah before being taken back to the

Mars Desert Research station in Utah; how long before a similar scene is

played out on Mars itself?

plANEtARY ExploRAtIoN | SCIenCe

27April 2014


Thankfully, by the time they launch, they may know what to expect. This year is shaping up to be the busiest yet for dress rehearsals on Earth. For the whole year, a succession of crews are living in a habitat in the Utah desert a desolate environment resembling Mars. And from August 2014, a crew of six will simulate a Mars mission for 12 months in the Arctic chill of northern Canada.

Its the scientific pull of the Red Planet thats attracting researchers to the bleakest corners of our world. They live as if they are on Mars: toiling within confined modules, their power, food and water rationed. Just to step outside means donning a realistic spacesuit and passing through a simulated airlock.Even radioing the outside world involves a 20-minute time delay.

The analogue suit makes you feel isolated, recalls Ashley Dale, an aerospace PhD student at the University of Bristol, who in 2011 spent two weeks at the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in western Utah. The gloves are bulky and theres an air circulation system you cant hear a thing except through the radio. The high altitude puts strain on your cardiovascular system, and the suit weighs more than 10kg. The helmet limits your view too you dont normally realise how seeing your feet helps you walk.

During one Extra Vehicular Activity Ashley and his crewmates heard blood-curdling screams from back in the Hab. They sped back, still observing the standard re-pressurisation protocol: We didnt know if it was some kind of test. It wasnt a mouse had snuck inside, surprising the occupants.

January sees Ashley returning to the Utah station for another fortnight, leading its first UK crew. Plans include trying out a new suit with inbuilt air supplies, testing how extremophile bacteria take to the Utah desert and operating the Canadian Space Agencys Artemis Jr. rover, a prototype lunar explorer: You need to take systems like this out of the lab to really put them to the test, oE

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28 April 2014

I was attracted by the advert, offering: Hard work, no pay, eternal glory!Vladimir Pletser of the European space Agency

SCIenCe | plANEtARY ExploRAtIoN

Ashley adds. The same is true of people. The University of Bristol is also working

on some specially designed gloves that will feed information from the outside surface through to the users fingertips using ultrasonic pulses. The hope is that the gloves will allow astronauts to be more aware of the environment as well as helping them with manual tasks when gripping tools.

Human confinement studies, mimicking the isolation of long-term space missions, started in the 1960s. The major Biosphere 2 experiment began in 1991 in the Arizona desert, with eight bionauts sealed away for two years, growing their own food and generating their own oxygen. Veteran bionauts are now advising Mars One on life support technologies.

Interest in planetary analogues locations on Earth with similarities to aspects of other worlds arose more recently. Analogues have become more sought after as planetary science becomes more interdisciplinary, says Anita Heyward of Europlanet, a European network of planetary scientists that supports field trips to analogue sites from Tunisia to Siberia. Its not just geology these days, but areas like astrobiology studying life in extreme environments.

AnAtoMY oF A MARs sPAcesUIt Aouda.x is designed to give wearers a feel for Martian gravity

The Austrian Space Forums Aouda.X is designed to let wearers feel what it would be like to take a stroll in Marss light gravity, powerful radiation and toxic atmosphere. Costing around 1 million, its not a true spacesuit but instead is designed to simulate the same stresses and limitations astronauts would experience if they were to wear a suit while walking on Mars.


A researcher conducts a field test of the Aouda.x spacesuit as part of a simulated Mars mission in the Moroccan desert

With average temperatures on Mars at 63c, heated boots will keep astronauts feet warm. the suit weighs 45kg much less than current 145kg spacesuits but their equivalent in one-third Martian gravity.

like current spacesuits, Aouda.x combines a hard upper torso with pressurised hinged limbs, incorporating fireproof and bulletproof layers, and an outer aluminum covering. It can be safely worn between temperatures of -110c and +35c.

A 12-volt battery powers an on-board wireless connection enabling biomedical and engineering data to be transmitted, including glove accelerometers that check energy expended. theres also a heads-up display.

Moving inside a spacesuit has been likened to folding a balloon. An adjustable exoskeleton submits the wearer to the equivalent forces of various pressure regimes for all joints, including fingers.

theres no on-board oxygen supply; ambient air is circulated with fans. sensors check temperature, humidity and build-up of co2 to warn of overheating or stale air.


SCIenCe | plANEtARY ExploRAtIoN

Alien worlds on earth It was the Mars Society advocating manned missions to the Red Planet that began combining confinement and analogue studies. The society took advantage of the fact that NASA already had a research presence on Devon Island in the Canadian Arctic. In 2000 the society received permission to site the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS) there, explains Vladimir Pletser of the European Space Agency, veteran of both FMARS and MDRS. Nearly twice the size of Belgium, uninhabited Devon Island is the site of the 23km (14-mile) diameter Haughton Crater, formed about 39 million years ago but largely intact, offering intriguing geology.

The MDRS next took shape in Utah. I was attracted by the advert, offering: Hard work, no pay, eternal glory! recalls Vladimir, who oversees ESA zero-G flights as his day job.

This year saw a new Mars base arise, the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS), on the volcanic slopes of Mauna Loa. During an initial four-month stay, the eight occupants of HI-SEAS undertook various experiments. These included charting links between food freshness and preparation with crew well-being, as well as modelling anti-microbial clothes one participant wore a single unwashed T-shirt for the duration.

Does it help the experiments generally for us to be located here? asks Kim Binsted, overseeing HI-SEAS experiments. Well, the participants benefit from having genuinely meaningful work. HI-SEAS is near a lava field with unexplored lava tubes; there is the chance to do actual science each time they go out. HI-SEAS has a novel geodesic dome design compared to the cylindrical Mars Society Habs.

Days start early, at about 5 to 6am, with plenty to do, from scientific research to maintenance. That includes a typical two to three EVAs per day, with quad bikes in the Arctic and Utah for geological surveying further afield. With the suits, there are all kinds of problems you cant anticipate, explains Vladimir. I needed to fix computer equipment, but my gloves were so big I was tapping four keys at once. I didnt get permission to take my glove off, so I taped a screw to my finger, letting me press what I wanted. Evenings are for rest: crews typically make the effort to eat

dinner together, often followed by a movie, usually sci-fi.

Not that simulating Mars demands a habitat: last February, non-profit research group the Austrian Space Forum undertook a four-week field study near Erfoud, in Moroccos northern Sahara. More than a tonne of equipment was shipped out to the desert, assisted by the Moroccan authorities who also provided security.

Camping by night, they evaluated various European space hardware, including a Hungarian lunar rover, a prototype planetary lander and weather station, and their own Aouda.X simulated Mars suit, and performed geological retrieval amid other mock experiments inspired by the Apollo moonwalkers tasks. The suit performed well, although fine Saharan sand got everywhere, including backpack electronics. Eventually it had to be taken apart for cleaning, though we were well prepared for

this, says Forums Alexander Soucek. For World Space Week last October the

Forums timing tests went one step further, with synchronised testing of three different analogue Mars suits: their own, in Austria, the Mars Society suit at MDRS, and another from the University of North Dakota. This networked World Space Walk was a first step towards setting a common standard for suit evaluation.

Next year FMARS and HI-SEAS both plan year-long tours, paralleling the scheduled year-long crew stay on the International Space Station. And if Mars One does go forward, the concept of analogue tours should come into the mainstream. TV viewers will play their part in history as they choose the first humans to walk on Mars for real.

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sean Blair is a space expert, science journalist and editor for the European Space Agency.

30 April 2014

GRoW YoUR oWnAstronauts cultivating their own food would not only reduce the monotony but provide an oxygen bonus too. In fact, soybeans are already cultivated on the International Space Station so theres already a precedent.

PAcK VeGGIeHawaiis HI-SEAS project proposed spam-fried rice for its crew. But tinned meat takes up too much space so Tofu offers a lighter, easier to store, protein-rich alternative. Martian explorers may have to be veggie.

3D PRInt ItCornell University is working on 3D-printed food. Layers of edible gels build the desired dish and can be given various textures, tastes and nutrients by the printer. Cheese (pictured) and chocolate are among the successes so far.

HoW to FeeD A MIssIon to MARs


A Hungarian concept for a Martian lander that collects weather data is installed

in the Moroccan desert by a researcher wearing the Aouda.x spacesuit

Mars at its most distant is a thousand times further than the Moon, which is itself a thousand times further than the International Space Station. This is a major reason why more than half of all Mars probes have failed. A manned mission would need some redundancy, including twin spacecraft. A suitable launch window opens every two years and a chemical rocket trip might take seven to nine months. The main spacecraft would remain in orbit while landers dropped to the surface. Alternatively, docking with Martian moon Phobos might be simpler than immediately

landing on the surface. Either way, after three to four months, the return launch window would open, unless this is a long-term (or one-way) trip.

Cruising between worlds spells danger from cosmic radiation. Food and water (plus waste) packed around the hull would double as radiation shielding. But the best way to cut exposure is to slash travel time. NASA hopes to do this with the VASIMIR plasma rocket due for ISS testing in 2015. This could take a crew to Mars in 39 days, but to power the rocket for this length of time would require a yet-to-be developed fusion reactor.

HoW to Get to MARs Reaching the Red Planet is a long and perilous journey at least with current rocket technology

PoRtFolIo

naTUre | poRtfolIo

32 April 2014

The night has always fascinated Eric Mdard. Its when our senses are awakened, he explains. Our focus naturally shifts to sounds, smells and the feel of the wind. During the day many mammals take refuge, and its only at night that they really become active. There is so much to learn then, but were not equipped to see everything thats going on. Infra-red cameras have allowed me to unlock a few of these secrets.

WHAT A MOUTHFULNocturnal photography requires good naturalist skills and detective work to decide where to place your cameras and sensors. You can use data from websites to work out where youll see wildlife in the daytime. But at night you need to create your own data by looking for tracks and droppings to determine the paths animals use. I often position a camera along this track near my house, and its pretty common to see roe deer, badgers, pine martens and foxes. So this image was no great surprise.

But what did catch my attention was the size of the prey that the fox had captured. I zoomed in and saw that it was carrying kittens. I assume that they were the offspring of a feral domestic cat that lives nearby.

BRIDGE OF BATS While I was out researching locations to photograph otters (see p39), I came across this beautiful ivy-covered bridge and realised that it would be the perfect setting for a picture of bats in flight. However, I had no idea whether these nocturnal aeronauts actually did come through here.

I got my answer on the first night, though they were in only one photo. My second attempt was more promising with a lot of images, but nothing that was sufficiently sharp. It was only on the third night that I captured this picture. I shot it with a single exposure and five flashes, because I wanted to fill the space underneath the arch with a number of bats.

naTUre | poRtfolIo

35April 2014

WINGED WONDER This little owl is a daily visitor to my garden its good practice to get to know the habits of animals on your patch. Ive found that owls are loyal

to a perch for weeks at a time before suddenly moving on to another. This means that, as a photographer, you have to be very vigilant, constantly

looking for clues as to their preferred spot. Fresh droppings in one

location several mornings in a row are a clear indicator, and when you

think that you have managed to find their perch, you just position the

camera and hope for the best.

A DREAM sUBJEcT

If there is a single animal that represents the night for me, it is the genet. Photographing one had always been something of a dream, but I live above the Loire Valley north of the river, where the species is very rare. so to get this shot I had to head south.

A friend of mine knew a rock where a genet marked its territory, and showed me the location. This was a great place to position a camera-trap, particularly because the surroundings were so photogenic. I set up two flashes, one above the camera and the other to the side. I was lucky that the genet looked up at just the right time to allow me to get this photograph.

naTUre | poRtfolIo

36 April 2014

TINy NOISE-MAKERS I visited this forest in Slovenia several times, mostly to photograph bears, before I realised it was full of edible dormice. In autumn they make a lot of noise all night, and since they are attracted to fresh fruit they are pretty easy to photograph.

HAPPy ACCIDENTOtters are very rare in my part of France there are only 10 or so in all the rivers of Mayenne. So it is not surprising that nobody had managed to photograph one where I live, though we knew they were here from the evidence: spraints, tracks and three dead bodies.

I set up a camera in this location after finding spraints here, telling me that an otter was marking its territory. Photography excites me but this kind of detective work, when you really have to understand animals and their behaviour, is even more fascinating. In this shot I clearly didnt capture the otter I was looking for, but I did get this beautiful grey heron. The bird visits this location to fish every night.

BLACK-AND-WHITE PHOTOGRAPHy My interest in documenting nocturnal wildlife began 25 years ago with an image of a badger outside his set, but my approach to photography has developed enormously since then. This shot was taken on a path through the woods that gets a lot of night-time traffic.

It was a single badger track that indicated this was a suitable spot, and by positioning a sensor here I knew I could use the large oak to give a sense of scale in the image and to show the animals quirky charm.

39April 2014

THE PHOTOGRAPHER

Eric Mdard is part nature detective and part optical technician. He has spent 25 years developing soundproofed infra-red equipment. His

photography covers europe but focuses on his native France.

You can see more of erics spectacular photos, including shots of his resident tawny and barn owls, in a gallery on E www.discoverwildlife.com

find out more

OTTER MAGIC It took me several weeks to find

enough evidence to identify a spot that this male otter visited

regularly. Even then I had to wait for two months to get a photo of him, though I made sure that my

equipment was totally soundproofed so I wouldnt

cause any disturbance. Once I missed my chance because the

camera failed to work after getting soaked in the rain!

Sometimes the otter passed here five or six times in the

same evening. In this photo he has just got out of the river and

is leaving a spraint on a rock.

poRtfolIo | naTUre

Ever wondered what your bodys doing while youre off in the land of nod? David K Randall delves into the science of snoozing

THInGS YoU dIdnT KnoW aBoUT SLeep10

SCIenCe | tHE scIENcE of slEEp

FEMALE SLEEP IS THE KEy To A HAPPy MARRIAGE

Psychiatrist Wendy Troxel of the University of Pittsburgh recently found that a womans ability to fall and stay asleep had a greater impact on marital satisfaction than her daily interactions with her husband. The same effect was not found for men in relationships.

CHILDREN ARoUND THE WoRLD HAVE VASTLy DIFFERENT SLEEP PATTERNS

Jodi Mindell of the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia and Avi Sadeh of Tel Aviv University found that 95 per cent of babies in Vietnam sleep in their parents bed, compared to 15 per cent in Australia. In New Zealand, the average bedtime for an infant is 7.30pm; in Hong Kong, its 10.30pm.

E DREAMS TEND To FoLLoW WELL-DEFINED PATTERNS

In his lifetime, Calvin Hall, a psychology professor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, collected more than 50,000 dream reports from anyone whod share them. Using Halls database, researchers identified that we tend to dream about the things that make us anxious. Adults tend to dream about other adults, while children are more likely to dream of animals.

SLEEP MAy HELP US To LEARN NEW SKILLS

After having people play the video game Tetris before they went to sleep, Robert Stickgold of Harvard Medical School found that test subjects tended to dream about the game that night. Those subjects who dreamed about the game showed the most dramatic improvement once they played it again the next day.

THERAPy MAy BE A BETTER TREATMENT FoR INSoMNIA THAN SLEEPING PILLS

Psychologist Charles Morin of Laval University in Quebec found that people who used cognitive behavioural therapy to deal with sleepless nights reported much better overall sleep quality than those treated with sleeping pills alone.

SLEEPING RHyTHMS CAN AFFECT SPoRTS PERFoRMANCE

Researchers at Stanford University and the University of Maine found that circadian rhythms the natural cycles that govern when were awake and when were sleepy have an outsized effect on professional sports: athletes at their peak circadian rhythms have an unseen advantage over their opponents.

SoME ANIMALS oNLy SEND HALF THEIR BRAIN To SLEEP

In dolphins and whales, for instance, this gives them the ability to surface for air and be on the lookout for danger while still technically sleeping. Ducks are also able to sleep with one eye shut and one-half of their brains asleep, allowing some of the birds to stand watch while others in the group rest.

ARTIFICIAL LIGHTS HAVE CHANGED oUR NATURAL SLEEPING PATTERNS

Without them, we would sleep in two blocks each night. We would fall asleep around 10pm and wake up a few hours later, going back to sleep after an hour. Psychologist Thomas Wehr found people revert to sleeping this way if isolated from artificial lights for more than a few weeks.

264 HoURS IS THE LoNGEST DoCUMENTED STRETCH THAT ANyoNE HAS STAyED AWAKE

In 1964, a San Diego student named Randy Gardner stayed awake without any kind of stimulants for 11 days, experiencing phantom sounds and visions the longer he went without sleep. When he finally fell asleep, he slept for nearly 15 hours. No long-term ill effects were reported.

E 16-19C IS THE IDEAL TEMPERATURE FoR A GooD NIGHTS SLEEP

Research in Lille, France arrived at this figure for someone sleeping in pyjamas and covered by sheets. If they sleep naked, the ideal temperature jumps to 30-32C.

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David K Randall is the author of the book Dreamland: Adventures In The Strange Science Of Sleep.

41April 2014

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It makes up the vast majority of the matter in the Universe, but we have no idea what it is. Now, as Marcus Chown reveals, a hidden realm of dark matter could exist right under our noses

The idea of a shadow Milky Way may sound crazy, but it is a serious suggestion from physicists in the US trying to make sense of our Universes invisible, or dark, matter. We think its worth exploring because it might explain some puzzling observations and it is testable, says Matthew McCullough, from the Center for Theoretical Physics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology near Boston.

Dark matter has been postulated to explain several baffling astronomical observations. One is that stars in the outer regions of spiral galaxies like our own are orbiting too fast. Like children on a speeded-up roundabout, they should be flung off into interstellar space. They are not, astronomers reason, thanks to the gravitational grip of a huge amount of matter, which gives out no detectable light.

A second observation, which dark matter is used to explain is the fact that you are reading these words. Observations of the cosmic background radiation, the afterglow of the Big Bang fireball, show that matter in the beginning was spread very evenly throughout space. There were, however, places where it was slightly denser than average. These regions, having stronger gravity than their surroundings, dragged in matter

faster and became ever denser. But this process is too slow to build a galaxy as big as the Milky Way in the 13.8-billion-year age of the Universe. To explain our existence it is necessary to postulate a large amount of dark matter whose extra gravity greatly speeded up galaxy formation.

Dark matter theoriesDark matter accounts for 26.8 per cent of the mass-energy of the Universe. It outweighs the normal stuff the 4.9 per cent atomic matter that makes up you, me and everything else five times over. The question is: what is it? There have been scores of suggestions, from fridge-sized black holes left over from the Big Bang to relics from the future whose arrow of time runs backwards. But the most popular idea is that dark matter is made of a hitherto undiscovered subatomic particle.

There are many candidates for example axions, which might fix a problem with natures strong force, and Weakly Interacting Massive Particles. WIMPs are predicted by theories such as supersymmetry (SUSY), which attempts to show that one set of natures fundamental particles fermions are simply the flip-side of its other set, bosons.

dARk MAttER | SCIenCe

43April 2014

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SO wHAT IS DARK MATTER?Many different theories have been put forward regarding the Universes missing mass heres a step-by-step guide to some of the most popular

Some think our theory of gravity

is wrong. Its far stronger than Newton would have

predicted in the outer regions of spiral galaxies, which is

preventing the stars there from flying off into

interstellar space. So whats the answer?

Modified Newtonian Dynamics

theorises that gravity acts more strongly than predicted by classical physics below a critical acceleration

(10-10m/s2). Such tiny values exist in the outer reaches of spiral galaxies, which is why stars there whirl around faster

than expected. Another version compatible with Relativity is

known as TeVeS.

The gravitational pull of the visible matter in

the Universe fails to explain the motion of stars observed in galaxies and galaxies in galaxy clusters. For

instance, the stars in the outer regions of spiral galaxies like our own Milky Way are orbiting so fast they ought

to fly off into interstellar space. The question is, why

dont they?

They are made of fridge-sized

black holes, each the mass of Jupiter. These would have

been created in the first millionth of a second of the Big Bang and

survived. The nearest would be 30 light-years from the Earth, almost

10 times farther away than the nearest star, Alpha Centauri. So

they would pose no danger to the Earth!

There is a vast amount of dark matter, whose

extra gravity explains the anomalous orbital motion of stars in spiral galaxies and galaxies in galaxy clusters. This dark matter

outweighs the normal matter in the Universe by a factor

of about 5.5. So what exactly is it?

The dark matter is made

of axions. These have very small masses but there

are huge numbers of them. The motivation for their existence has to do with natures strong nuclear force, which holds together atomic nuclei. Axions could have been produced

in prodigious numbers during the earliest moments of

the Big Bang.

There are invisible particles

STarT Here

Gravity is wrong

mini black holes

modify gravity

particles called axions

particles called WImpS

How could we detect black

holes?

SCIenCe | dARk MAttER

44 April 2014

Collider detectors, such as

the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva, use the energy of

colliding particles to create new particles. Obviously, the energy of the incoming particles must equal that of the outgoing particles. If it does not, this missing mass would be

the tell-tale sign that a dark matter particle had also

been created.

SO wHAT IS DARK MATTER?

The way to detect a passing axion

is by placing a microwave cavity a closed metal structure

used to amplify certain frequencies of microwave in a magnetic field.

An axion is expected to interact with such a magnetic field to create microwaves, which can then be

easily detected within the cavity.

Evidence for fridge-sized

black holes left over from the Big Bang is the flickering of

the light from quasars super-bright distant galaxies. Some astronomers

suggest this might be caused when a black hole passes between

Earth and the quasar and its gravity magnifies the quasars light, an

effect called gravitational microlensing.

Direct detectors use a large

mass of a single element such as silicon or xenon. The

idea is that, if a dark matter particle slams into an atomic nucleus,

the nucleus will recoil violently. The detectors tend not to observe

the recoil itself, but rather a secondary effect such the

emission of light by the material.

Indirect detectors look for the gamma

rays expected when a dark matter particle in space meets its

antiparticle and annihilates. No-one knows the mass of any dark matter

particle and so the energy of the gamma rays they should expect to see.

However, a characteristic of such gamma rays is that they should

all be at pretty much the same energy.

Weakly Interacting Massive

Particles (WIMPS) are particles predicted by supersymmetry and by

theories that claim there are more than three dimensions of space. In the latter case, echoes in the extra dimensions manifest as so-called Kaluza-Klein

particles, which are super-heavy versions of standard subatomic

particles. How could we detect them?

How could we detect

axions?

make our own

detect WImpS

indirectly

detect WImpS directly

the Fermi telescopes gamma-ray view of the Milky Way (gamma-ray emissions are shown in bright red). It has detected radiation that the traditional view of a dark matter halo cant explain

The particles come in the guise of a whole set of superpartners of the known subatomic particles. The lightest stable superpartner, the neutralino, is a popular candidate for the dark matter.

But there is a problem. No neutralino or any other dark matter particle has yet been conjured up by the super-high-energy collisions at the Large Hadron Collider near Geneva. Its possible one will turn up when the accelerator is restarted at an even higher collision energy in 2015, says McCullough. But what if it does not?

This has got some physicists wondering whether our model of dark matter needs to be tweaked. The everyday world is complex built not out of a single Lego brick particle but a whole multitude of them, says McCullough. What if the dark matter is like that as well?

McCullough has been working with Lisa Randall of Harvard University, author of Warped Passages and the first tenured female theoretical physicist at both Harvard and MIT. She and her colleagues have proposed a new form of matter that would interact with itself while shunning normal matter. Consequently, we would not know that it is there.

Most importantly, such self-interacting dark stuff would behave very differently from conventional dark matter. Our Milky Way is believed to have formed from a giant spherical, rotating cloud of dark matter intermingled with a little normal matter. The normal stuff began to shrink under gravity. This happened faster between the poles than around the equator, where the outward centrifugal force opposed gravity. The end result was a thin, flattened disc which then

fragmented into stars. This was only possible because the normal matter was able to shed its heat heat that was pushing outwards and preventing gravity shrinking the cloud by emitting that heat energy as electromagnetic waves, or light. Crucially, however, the dark matter could not give out light. Unable to lose energy and shrink into a disc, it remained in a spherical cloud. This has led to a picture of our Galaxy as a flattened spiral disc of stars embedded in a spherical cloud of dark matter.

But Randall and her colleagues say the kind of dark matter they envisage might interact with itself via a force analogous to our electromagnetic force. So it might be able to lose energy by giving out dark electromagnetic waves, or dark light. The dark matter could then collapse into a thin disc just like normal matter, she says. We call it double disc dark matter.

The idea of a double disc might explain some observational anomalies. For instance, NASAs Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope has detected gamma rays of energy 130 gigaelectronvolts (GeV) coming from the centre of our Galaxy. This could be explained if there exists a dark matter particle of mass 130 GeV about 130 times the mass of the proton. The gamma rays might then come from the annihilation of such dark matter particles and their antiparticles. The picture

of dark matter spread thinly in a spherical halo doesnt yield a high enough density of such particles to explain such a gamma-ray feature. But with a double disc, the new component of dark matter could be denser and so find other particles to annihilate with more often, says Randall.

Detecting dark matterMost experiments to detect dark matter have seen nothing, even though the Sun is orbiting the centre of the Galaxy at 220km/s relative to the dark matter halo. If some of the dark matter is in a second disc which is turning with the visible galaxy, this is what we would expect, says McCullough. The relative motion between the dark and normal discs will be zero, so dark matter will hit the detectors too softly to be noticed.

Critics might say that dark matter does not explain what we see, and that Randall and her colleagues are simply adding bells and whistles. They might say it is reminiscent of the Greeks, who on discovering their theory that planets orbit in circles did not fit the data, added circles within circles, or epicycles, until it did.

I think its even worse than adding epicycles, says Mordehai Milgrom of the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, Israel. Its adding epicycles just for the heck of it. Milgrom is the originator of the idea of

the everyday world is complex. What if the

bbc knowledge - april 2014 - 123doc

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