BBC_Knowledge_India_2014-02.pdf

8/13/2019 BBC_Knowledge_India_2014-02.pdf

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Volume 4 Issue 2February 2014 `100

SCIENCEHISTORYNATUREFOR THE CURIOUS MIND

How it created the Universe - and youp22

R.N.I.MAHENG/2010/35422


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CONTENTS

ONTHECOVER:123RF.COM;WARNERBROTHER

S,BREITLING,LABORATORYOFNEUROIMAGINGUCLA/

HUMANCONNECTOMEPROJECT.ORG,SCIEN

CEPHOTOLIBRARYX2,IGORSHPILENOK,PENGU

ININDIA

REGULARS

6Q&A

Our panel of experts answer the questions

youve always wanted to ask

12SnapshotOutstanding photographs to inform and

engage you

18Update

The latest intelligence - from making light frommatter to discovering how sleeping helps clean

up the brain

76Inside The PagesIn an excerpt from Land of The Seven Rivers -

A Brief History of India's Geography, Sanjeev

Sanyal traces the history of India

80ResorceOur picks offer the best of science, history

and nature on the web

FEATURES

28Smarty AntsAdam Hart comes off impressed with the societal

behaviour of ants

34Flying SoloFly with the birds with these new age jet packs

40Portfolio: Kamchatka WinterIgor Shpilenok, a photographer and conservationist

captures the winter wildlife in Russia

50Journey To The StarsScientists experiment with alternative tranport

methods to propel rockets into space

54A Beautiful MindWe pick the brain apart and figure out the truth

behind how the grey cells function

58The Future Of UsFind out how new science suggeststhat humans are still evolving

64How To Survive A Space DisasterWe list the occupational hazards of a job located

370km above Earth

72How Do We Know:The Theory Of Evolution

Ever wondered how we evolved? Rebecca Stottreveals the process

COVER STORY

22The Incredible Truth About TimeTime meets Science meets the Universe; and we

reveal the truth about the origins of our beginnings

2 February 2014

W o r l d M a g s . n e t W o r l d M a g s . n e t

W o r l d M a g s . n e t
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82Principal SpeakInterview with Sathish Jayarajan,

Principal of Mallya Aditi International

School, Bangalore

83Games ReviewWe review the latest video games

released in the market

84Gadgets

The travel gadgets you can't dowithout on your next vacation

86Puzzle PitA veritable buffet of brain teasersguaranteed to test your mind

90In FocusWe look at J Robert Oppenheimer,

the man who created the first

atomic bomb

64

76

28

40

50

54

34




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You know how time flies

when you are having fun, and

minutes seem like hours when

you are knee deep in some

kind of misery or the other?

But did you know that many

successful theories in physics

prove that time does not exist?

Do read The Incredible

Truth About Timeon

page 22and find out how, one way or another, time

could be fundamental to the understanding of our

existence. While we were putting this issue together,

there was a piece of news in the papers about Japanese

scientists finding clearest evidence yet that our

universe could actual ly be a hologram. In simpler,though not very elegant terms, it means we could be

living in a 3D version of a reality that has only two

dimensions. So you can imagine the kind of exciting

flux fundamental sciences is experiencing

There are more stories inside that reflect on the

human condition The Future of Us(pg 58) is a

fascinating feature on humans and evolution. It talks

about how our species are probably not a work in

progress anymore, but is definitely changing rapidly.

There is talk about super humans, merging of man

and machineall the good stuff. Another is about the

latest results of the Human Connectome Project

(HCP), which much like the Human GenomeProject (and genes), maps connections in our brains as

precisely as have been possible ti ll now.

This months excerpt is from Sanjeev Sanyals book

Land of The Seven Rivers, A Brief History Of Indias

Geography. It is fascinating read, condensed with

riveting facts and theories. I highly recommend it.

And from now on In Focusreplaces The Last Word.

Every month, we will bring you a quick guide to a

world figure that raised the stakes. This month:

J Robert Oppenheimer, also known as the father of

the atom bomb.

Enjoy.

MRIGANKSHARMA(INDIASUTRA)

4 February 2014

Knowledgemagazineindia KnowledgeMa

Download this current issue fromwww.zinio.com www.magzter.com www.rockasa www.readwhere.com

Has something youve read inBBC Knowledge Magazine

intrigued or excited you? Write in and share it with us. Wedlove to hear from you and well publish a selection of your

comments in the forthcoming issues.

Email us at: [email protected]

We welcome your letters, while reserving the right to editthem 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 [email protected]

www.knowledgemagazine.in

Adam Hartis professor of science

communication and also delivers

lectures and animal behaviour. He has

a number of active research interests,

including ant communication, ying ants and

thermal biology of ants. In this issue, he talks

about the societal behaviour of ants.

See page 28

Igor Shpilenok is a wildlife

photographer based in Russia and a

fellow of the International League of

Conservation Photographers. He has

authored his memoir,The Stork's Nest: Life and

Love in the Russian Countryside. In this issue, he

captures different proles of wildlife found during

winter in the Bryansky Les Nature Reserve, Russia.

See page 40

Kelly Oakes is a science editor, for

BuzzFeed UK, a website, and

contributes features and columns for

Scientific Americanand UK-based

BBC Focus magazine. She has also been

shortlisted two years running for the Wellcome

Trust Science Writing Prize. In this issue, inspired

by the movie Gravity, she talks about how to

survive a disaster in space.

See page 64

FROM THE EDITOR

SEND US YOUR LETTERS

EXPERTS THIS ISSUE




5/92

HERES HOW TO GET IN TOUCH

TEAM INDIA

Chief ExecutiveOfficer Tarun RaiEditor Prti Singh

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Art Director Snla Phatak

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Brand Publisher Soela Joshi

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YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

EXPERT PANEL

Stuart BlackmanA zoologist-turned-science

writer, Stuart is a contributor

to BBC Wildlife Magazine.

Susan Blackmor (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.

Q A&How does an anti-snore pillow work? p8 Are humans the only spe-cies to commit suicide? p9 Why do voices change as we age? p10 Issocial network changing the way our brains work? p11

At what distance does the Earth

no longer pull on an object?Strictly speaking, the Earths gravity will always pull on anobject, no matter how distant. Gravity is a force that obeys aninverse square law. So, for example, put an object twice as faraway and it will feel a quarter of the force. Put it four timesfurther away and it will feel one-sixteenth the force. But,however far away the object is, it will always feel the pull ofgravity, even though it might be vanishingly small. AG

You can never escape theclutches of Earths gravity

ASK THE EXPERTS?email our panl at

[email protected] Wr

sorry, but w cannot rply to

qustions individually.




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The Ultimate Breakfast Platter, from Burger Kings menu in the US, has

1450 calories and topped a recent poll that compared calories per dollar

for 10 US fast-food chains.

However, for a single, unprocessed food its hard to top the almond.

They are often cited as one of the highest-energy single foodstuffs.

A report by the Institute of Food Technologists stated that foods with

smaller particle sizes are absorbed better, so almond butter ought to

have the most calories per hundred grammes. In fact, its about the

same as peanut butter at 620kcal/100g. Ordinary butter is slightly higher

(740kcal/100g), but pure sunflower oil beats both at 900kcal/100g. LV

Whats the highest energy food?

Butterflies know by instinct. As

extraordinary as this seems, they

are able to travel thousands of

kilometres to find food, warmth or a

mate, without ever having made the

journey before or having any

opportunity to learn the route.

The famous Monarchs migrate

annually between Mexico and

Canada, each generation

continuing the journey begun by

their parents. So their ability to find

the correct route north in summer

and south in winter must be

inherited. The Painted Lady,

weighing less than a gramme, takes

up to six generations to complete a

14,400km (9,000 mile) round trip

from tropical Africa to the Arctic

Circle, passing through Britain on

the way. By way of comparison,

many birds and mammals make the

same journey many times in their

lifetime. So migrating species may

learn the way from travelling in

flocks or herds and from learning

geographical features of

mountains. SB

How do some butterflies knowwhere to migrate?

Because, like other animals, we evolved

through competition and natural selection.

Early humans who had a strong desire

to outcompete everyone else might

have found better quality food or more

desirable mates and so passed on their

desire to win.

In most societies men are more

competitive than women, and this sex

difference is seen as early as three years

old. But there are some societies, such as

the matriarchal Khasi of northeast India, in

which women have more power and reveal

greater competitiveness. Although thenature of winning has changed, the desire

to show off, to be the best, or to belong to

the top team, remains deeply embedded in

human nature. Sadly, this desire does not

necessarily make us happy. Losing is

distressing and painful, but so can

winning, and the stress of modern

high-performance sports can lead to both

mental and physical illness. SB

Why do people likewinning so much?

In a nutshell, itshigh-energy food

The greatest British athleteever? Mo Farah knows

what its like to win

The Monarch butterfly

travels for thousands

of kilometres, a journey

that takes three or four

generations of the insect

February 2014


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8February 2014

How does an anti-

snore pillow work?

As the Universe

expands, objects

become further and

further apart

Snoring is caused by the soft palate

vibrating as it partially blocks the

airway. Anti-snoring pillows tilt the

head backwards as you lie on your

back. Its similar to the way that you

tilt the patients head during

cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR),

helping to hold the airway open. LV

What is a black boxrecorder made of?

Lets start by dispelling one myth. Flight data

recorders are not black, but coloured bright orange so

that they can be found easily after an aviation

accident. Aircraft carry two black boxes. The flight

data recorder continuously logs details like the planes

speed, altitude, time of day and engine parameters.

The other unit records the pilots voices in the cockpit.

The units need to be resistant to fire and water and

able to cope with the force of a major impact. Theyalso need to withstand low air pressures at altitude

should the aircraft suffer a sudden decompression.

Likewise the recorder should be capable of bearing

the crushing pressures down on the seafloor should

the aircraft plunge into the ocean.

As a result, black boxes require very strong

casings. Earlier models were simply made from

stainless steel, but now housings also incorporate

titanium, as well as an inner layer of heat-resistant

material. GM

Subduction zones occur where one

vast slab of the Earths crust slips

below another and into the

2,000C-plus regions below. As such,

they sound ideal for disposal of

radioactive waste, arguably the

biggest problem facing the wider use

of nuclear power.

The idea is beset by a host of

problems, however. The most obvious

is that suitable subduction zones

would be far from any land, deep

below the sea, and thus tricky to

access reliably. In any case, such out

of sight, out of mind disposal at sea is

currently banned. The law could be

changed if a strong enough scientific

case could be made, but this is

unlikely. Subduction zones are

geologically highly unstable, and are

the site of some of the worlds most

powerful earthquakes. This raises the

possibility of the waste containers

being damaged and driven back onto

the sea-bed, rather than incinerated in

the depths of the Earth.

These risks, along with the

problems of simply getting to the

dumping sites, have been assessed by

scientists from nations faced with the

problem of nuclear waste disposal,

including the UK Committee on

Radioactive Waste Management. And

to date all have ruled out the idea. RM

Why cant we bury nuclear wastein a subduction zone?

Q A&

The anti-snoringpillow could be a

boon for maritalrelations

Nuclear waste has to bestored somewhere, making ita growing problem

PRESSASSOCIATION,STOCKBYTE,ALAMY,THINKSTOCK,GETTY

The black box of anaircraft is built to bevirtually indestructible

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Are humans the

only species tocommit suicide?

If we define suicide as

deliberately taking an action that

will kill you, then there are plenty

of examples. Bees will sting us

even though it kills them; certain

species of aphids will rupture

themselves in a shower of sticky

fluid that glues their body to a

predatory ladybird larva killing

both. But these are examples ofaltruistic sacrifice to protect the

colony. For it to count as suicide,

the main motive of the animal

should be simply to escape its

own suffering, rather than to

nobly assist some larger goal.

Thats almost impossible for us

to determine.

Rats that are infected with the

bacterium Toxoplasma gondii

lose their fear of predators and

so are more likely to be eaten by

cats. The bacterium has evolved

this effect because cats are its

primary host and it benefits by

ending up in a cats intestine. To

call the behaviour of an infected

rat suicidal appears to stretch the

definition, because the rat isnt

acting entirely of its own free will.

However, a 2013 study at Imperial

College, London, found that there

may also be a link between T.gondii infection in humans and

schizophrenia. If we accept that

mentally ill humans can commit

suicide, then why not rats?

Suicide can be difficult to

distinguish from recklessness or

accident, even in humans. But

once we accept that some

animals can suffer from

depression and other mental

illness, it seems reasonable to

suppose that this could

sometimes result in suicide. LV

What would happen

to the weather if wechopped down allthe trees?In the UK, there are about 150 million tonnes

of carbon locked up in trees. Cutting them

down and burning them would result in

roughly the same amount of CO2that the UK

emits in a year. Deforestation globally

currently contributes about 15 per cent of

greenhouse gas emissions. Trees play an

important role in taking water from the

ground and releasing it into the atmosphere.

Without trees, more rainwater would staylocked underground, or run off into the sea,

reducing the amount of evaporation from the

land. The soil erosion that occurs without

tree roots to stabilise the ground would also

lead to an expansion of the desert regions

and overall, the climate would probably

become windier, warmer and drier. The exact

effect on the local climate in the UK could be

hard to predict though. If weather systems

like the Gulf Stream were disrupted, Britain

could actually get much colder. LV

KNOW SPOT

The fastest camera takes images with

an exposure of 1.7 trillionths of a second

and is able to show the movement of light.

Bees kill themselveswhen they sting you, butcan it be called suicide?

How do pineapples reproduce?Each of the diamond-shaped scales on a pineapple is formed by a

different flower. Up to 200 of them grow together in the middle of

the plant. The fruits that each one produces swell and fuse

together to form a pineapple.

Pineapples are pollinated by insects, hummingbirds and bats

but they will produce fruit without being pollinated. In fact the

seeds worsen the quality of the fruit, so commercial growers try to

restrict pollination. Instead they are propagated using growths

called suckers that grow from the base, or by planting out the

crown after it has been cut off the top of the pineapple. LV

A pineapple is actuallylots of little fruit

squashed together

Chopping down

trees leads to 15per cent of the

worlds greenhousegas emissions




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Why do bags form

under our eyes?There hasnt been much research to

establish whether its caused by a

lack of sleep or something else. The

skin under our eyes is very thin and

fluid retention there can cause it to

sag. Its possible that when we sleep

this fluid has a chance to drain away,

but diet may also play a part. Staying

up late is often associated with

drinking alcohol or coffee or eating

salty junk food. Any of these could be

the real cause of eye bags; we dont

really know for sure. LV

Q A&

REXFEATURE,THINKSTOCKX2,ALAMYX3

For several reasons. During

childhood our voices change

gradually as the larynx (voice box)

grows larger, making a stronger

sound, and the vocal cords mature.

Then in boys a dramatic change

occurs with puberty as changing

hormones affect the size and shape

of the larynx and the voice breaks.Most voices then remain relatively

stable for many decades until in later

life our voice becomes weaker and

more tremulous as our muscles begin

to shrink, membranes thin, and fine

control weakens. Mens voices tend

to rise in pitch while womens voices

drop. Despite all these changes,

though, our own voice can remain

recognisable by our family and friends

throughout a whole lifetime. SB

Why do voices change as we age?

10February 2014

Dont go out drinking;stay in with the latest

BBC Knowledgeto avoidbags under your eyes

The rich tones of aseasoned choirare thanks to thinningmembranes andweakening muscles

Weve been broadcasting our

existence on Earth into deep

space via radio leakage foraround 100 years. Travelling at

the speed of light, that

encompasses a sphere 200

light-years across and dozens

of planetary systems. But any

aliens will need receiving

antennae hundreds of

kilometers across to pick up

the signals. RM

How far intospace have radiosignals travelled?

Lets hope that aliensdont get anyideas by tuning intoIndependence Day


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Yes, and in many ways. In one

study, researchers found that

people with more Facebook

friends had more grey matter in

several important brain

regions, although this might be

because people who start with

larger brains attract morefriends. In another study,

people who regularly used text

messaging were asked to type

strings of numbers. Although

texting wasnt mentioned, they

preferred the number strings

that would spell a nice word on

a phone. So without realising it

we associate number strings

with meanings and this affects

the way we behave and feel.

Of course our brains change

all the time, but there are good

reasons to believe that social

networking can have profound

effects. Our brains evolved

when our ancestors lived in

relatively small groups,probably no more than 150,

and all interactions were

face-to-face. To spend hours

every day communicating fast

and briefly with lots of people

we cannot see needs a

different kind of brain. Whether

this is good, bad or just

different remains very much an

open question. SB

Is social networking changingthe way our brains work?

Can eating burnt

toast cause cancer?Its long been known that just over-heating, let

alone burning, some foods can lead to the

formation of compounds linked to cancer.

These include heterocyclic amines and so-

called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

(PAHs), which can lead to fried or smoked

foods posing a health risk. In the case of burnt

toast, most concern surrounds the risk from the

formation of acrylamide, a compound that has

been linked to cancer and nerve damage in

animals. That said, the evidence of a direct link

between cancer and acrylamide in food

consumed by humans is far from compelling.

While some studies have pointed to a doubling

in risk of ovarian and uterine cancer among

women consuming this compound in food,

other studies have found nothing. Even so, in

2007, the European Unions health advisors

decided to take a precautionary

approach, and

recommended that

people avoid eating

burnt toast or

golden-brown chips

as they may contain

unacceptably high levels

of acrylamide. RM

How many photos areuploaded every day?

More photos are uploaded to Facebook daily

than any other website. Facebooks latest

figures report that it uploaded an average of

350 million photos per day in the fourth

quarter of 2012. That dwarfs even specialist

photo sharing sites like Flickr, which hosts

over 8 billion pictures, about the same amount

that Facebook uploads every 23 days. GM

Social networks areexpanding our minds

Burnt toast contains acrylamide but the jury is still out on how

much of a health risk it poses

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NATURE | SNAPSHOT

SNAPSHOT




13/92 1February 2014

White outICE BLANKET

This is the Rhone Glacier, primary contributor

to Lake Geneva and source of the Rhone River.

The white blankets seen in the foreground have

been placed there by local business owners

in an attempt to preserve their glacier-reliant

tourist attraction an ice tunnel. The tunnel is

under threat because the glacier is melting. It is

believed that 8000 years ago the Rhone Glacierwas the largest in Europe, reaching all the way

to Lyon, France. Now, there is a mere 9.6km (6

miles) of ice left. These blankets mask the ice

from sunlight, just like being under a parasol,

explains Dr Jez Everest of the Iceland Glacier

Observatory, who is not involved with the tunnel

preservation attempt. It will work both by

blocking solar radiation, which causes direct

heating of the ice, and also by allowing an air

gap to exist between the blankets and parts

of the glacier, creating a cooler air barrier that

slows the melting of the ice surface.




14/92




15/92

Full metal jacketGUNSHOT

This 9mm bullet looks almost like an

asteroid as it hurtles through a sheet of

plastic glass. The bullets comet-like

tail shows that it has skid, says ballistic

forensics expert Dr Christopher Shepherd

from the University of Kent. This tells me

the gun wasnt fired perpendicular to theglass. With closer analysis you could get an

idea of the angle it was fired from. Look

closely and you can also see that the skid

is made up of a series of fine lines, which

Shepherd says would be another useful clue

at a crime scene had a bullet been shot

into a similarly dense material. As a bullet

travels down the barrel it picks up rifling

marks, and they create a kind of negative on

the glass. If the bullet is missing, this can

help narrow down the type of ammunition

fired, and the kind of gun it was fired from.

SNAPSHOT | SCIENC

1February 2014


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17/92

Slimy swimmingGREEN SPREAD

You could be forgiven for mistaking this

plush green blanket for a golf course. In fact,

it is Chinas largest ever algae bloom, which

took place in July. The phenomenon has

become something of a tourist attraction,

with visitors bathing in the green growth. An

influx ofEnteromorpha proliferaalgae occurs

every summer, but the amount produced

this year was exceptional, covering an area

of 28,000km2. There could be several

causes of this, says Dr Michele Stanley,

an algae specialist at the Scottish Marine

Institute. Nitrate and phosphate run-off

from agriculture is likely to play a part, as isincreased water temperature. Some people

have also blamed the seaweed industry.

Further up the coastE. proliferainvades

seaweed farms and the farmers just throw

it into the sea. Whatever the reason for

the prolific bloom, Chinese officials duly set

about removing the algae. Once collected, it

was sent to processing plants that transform

it into animal feed, medicinal supplements

and fertiliser.E. proliferais not toxic to

humans some areas in south China even

enjoy the green growth known as sea lettuce

as a delicacy, frying it up with peanuts.

SNAPSHOT | NATUR

1February 2014




18/92

XXX

UPDATE THE LATEST INTELLIGENCE

Light could be used to

build three-dimensional

structures, thanks to

pioneering research thats

produced a new form of matter.

It involves light interacting

with itself to behave as if it

has mass and raises the

prospect of creating StarWars-style lightsabers.

For decades, scientists

had thought that light didnt

interact with itself. Shine two

laser beams directly at each

other and theyll just continue

as if the other isnt there. But

researchers in the US have now

managed to make light interact

so strongly it binds together,

a feat that was only believed to

be possible in theory.

Light consists of tiny

photons: elementary particlesthat have no mass and zip

around at 299,792,458 meters

per second. To bind them

together, the team led

by Professor Mikhai l Lukin

from Harvard University

and Professor Vladan Vuletic

from Massachusetts Institute

of Technology used a laser

to fire photons into a gas of

rubidium atoms. This was

cooled to just a few degrees

above absolute zero.

When fired individual ly,

each photon passed through

the supercooled gas travelling

at a much-reduced speed

of around 1000 meters per

second before leaving again as

a single photon. But when theresearchers fired two photons

into the gas, they found that

the photons emerged from the

cloud bound in pairs creating,

in effect, a molecule of light.

Its thought this pair ing

occurs because of the way the

two photons move through

the gas. The first photon

enters the cloud and excites

atoms in its way. But those

atoms cant immediately be

excited to the same degree

again, so the second photon

cant follow until the first has

skipped further ahead. This

results in the two photons

travelling together. Indeed, the

interaction between them is so

strong that they begin to act

like a photonic molecule.No one has ever seen this new

state of matter in light before,

says Vuletic.

One possible future

application of the work is to

use light, instead of electrical

pulses, as the building blocks

for a quantum computer

using photons as the bits of

information. Such systems are

inefficient today as light pulses

have to be converted to an

electrical signal for processing

before being converted back.

However, making photons

interact could make all-optical

computation possible.

Until now photons have

been seen as being a l ittle

boring, but we have now

found a way to make themmuch more interesting, adds

Vuletic. It is amazing what

level of control we now have

for photons.

Vuletic adds that the next

step for the team is to attempt

to bind three or four photons

together. They also have plans

to make the photons repel,

rather than strongly attract

each other. This could allow

scientists to bui ld photons

into a structure to create, for

example, a crystal of light.There are certainly a lot more

avenues for research based on

this work, says Vuletic.

And what of the possibility

of creating Star Wars

weaponry? Its not an inapt

analogy to compare this to

lightsabers, Lukin said. The

physics of whats happening in

these molecules is similar to

what we see in the movies.

Making matterfrom light

By making light behave asif it has mass, scientistshave opened the door to thepossibility of lightsabers

This complex arrangementof optics forges something

thought to be impossible:

molecules made of light

Professor Mikhail Lukin ofHarvard University surveys

his light-matter machine

18 February 2014

SCIENCEPHOTOLIBRARYX2,LAWRENC

ELIVERMORENATIONALLABORATORYX3




19/92

SCIeNCePSYCHOLOGY

Researchers at the University of Rochester

Medical Center in New York believe theyve

figured out why sleep clears the mind so well, a

question that has long puzzled scientists.

The brain is our most metabolically active organ

but its not connected to the bodys normal

waste removal network. Last year MaikenNedergaard showed that the brain has its own

cleaning system, and now she and her

colleagues have discovered that this system is

much more active while we sleep Active,

wakeful brains

accumulate

metabolic waste in

the spaces

between cells. The team measured the volume

of this space and found that it expands in the

brains of sleeping mice, allowing more fluid to

flow through and clear out the waste.

The brain only has limited energy and it

appears that it must choose between two

different functional states awake andaware, or asleep and cleaning up, said

Nedergaard. You can think of it like having a

party. You can either entertain the guests or

clean up, but you cant really do both at the

same time. Since some of these waste

products also build up in the brains of patients

with neurodegenerative diseases, this research

may also point the way to improved treatment.

The next advance for prosthetic limbs

will be to hook them up to the brain to

provide a sense of touch. And now

scientists are a step closer to giving

real-time sensory feedback via linked

neural implants.

A team led by Sliman Bensmaia,

an assistant professor of biology at the

University of Chicago, identified the

pattern of neural activity in the brains

of macaque monkeys that occurs whe

their hands are touched. When this

neural activity was then artificially

generated, the monkeys responded

as if their hands were actually feeling

something. The research paves the

way for sensors on a prosthesis to

provide a real sensation of touch.

An important break-even point in the effort to

harness nuclear fusion has been reached, say US

scientists. Fusion is a power source that could

provide an unlimited supply of energy. The

breakthrough occurred on 28 September 2013, at

the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in California,

where scientists focus powerful lasers on a small

pellet of hydrogen in an effort to trigger fusion. For

the first time, an experiment released more energ

than was absorbed by the fuel.

The idea is that the hydrogen nuclei will fuse

into helium nuclei and ignite a self-sustaining

reaction the same process that powers the Sun.

The news was revealed in an internal email sent b

Dr Ed Moses, director of the NIF. Experts stress th

the experiment is still far from achieving the

energies needed to reach the goal of ignition th

point when the reaction becomes self-sustaining.

Nevertheless, its being recognised as a significan

step on the road to a goal that has eluded science

best efforts for a long time.

Fusion power

edges closer

NEUROSCIENCE NUCLEAR PHYSICS

Prosthetic limbs to get touchy-feely

CYBERNETICS

By-products of brain activity build up inthe spaces between brain cells beforebeing flushed out while you sleep

Sleep helps your brain clean up

Tests carried out at the National Ignition Facilityare working towards harnessing the power ofnuclear fusion

We could soonhave artificial

limbs that enableus to get alltouchy-feely




20/92

GEORGIANN

ATIONALMUSEUM,PNAS2

013

Snakes on MarsA snake-like robot is currentlybeing designed to assist NASAsCuriosity rover. Presently,many areas of Marss surfaceare inaccessible to Curiositybecause of the rovers large size.SINTEF, a Scandinavian researchorganisation, believesa detachable snake armpowered by the rover wouldimprove manoeuvrability andalso allow samples of soil to be

collected and returned to Earthby future missions.

Biobots to the rescueEmergency rescue services couldsoon have a new weaponin their life-saving arsenal:remote-control cockroaches.Software developed at NorthCarolina State University cantrack the movements of thesebiobots as they alternatebetween unrestricted movementand following a series ofcommands, and use the datato map out an area such as the

inside of a collapsed building.

Legless lizardsFour new species of reptile havebeen discovered by biologists inCalifornia. Adapted to livingin loose, moist soil in sparselyinhabited areas, the leglesslizards can be distinguished bythe colour of their stomachs, thenumber of their vertebrae, and thenumber and arrangement of theirscales. Its thought that leglesslizards lost their limbs to be ableto burrow more quickly, wrigglinglike snakes to avoid predators.

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

Skull tells a surprising story

One of the new species oflegless lizard discovered:Anniella grinnelli

The scientist who discovered five ancient

skulls says they could challenge many of our

current assumptions about early humans. In

2005, palaeoanthropologist David Lordkipandize

unearthed five skulls in Dmanisi, Georgia. Thequintet all date from approximately 1.8 million

years ago, but they display varied characteristics.

One in particular, Skull 5 (seen above), had

tentatively been given the new classification Homo

erectus ergaster georgicus, as it shares qualities

with two known species: Homo erectus and Homo

habilis. Now, in a paper published in the journal

Science, Lordkipandize argues that the five skulls

exhibit no more variation than youd expect to

see in five modern humans picked at random. He

suggests theyre more likely to be Homo erectus

skulls of people of different ages and sexes.

Prof Christoph Zollikofer of the University

of Zurichs Anthropological Institute and Museum,

who co-authored the report, said the five look

quite different from one another, so its temptingto view them as different species. Yet we know

they came from the same location and the same

geological time, so they could represent a single

population of a single species.

The Dmanisi findings suggest its possible

that many existing theories about early humans

could be wrong. These theories propose an array

of Homo species including H. erectus, H. habilis,

H. rudolfensisand others, based on the discovery

of differently shaped skulls from different time

periods in different places.

Skull 5, one of five discovered in 2005,suggests there may have been fewer speciesof early man than was thought. Inset: howthe skulls owner might have looked

20 February 2014

UPDATE

NEWSIN BRIEF

ROUND UP




21/92




22/92

Time: it rules our lives, and we all wish we hadmore of it. Businesses make money out of it,and scientists can measure it with astonishing

accuracy. Earlier this year, American researchersunveiled an atomic clock accurate to better than onesecond since the Big Bang 14 billion years ago.

But what, exactly, is time? Despite its familiarity,its ineffability has defied even the greatest thinkers.Over 1600 years ago the philosopher Augustine ofHippo admitted defeat with words that still resonate:If no-one asks me, I know what it is. If I wish toexplain it to him who asks, I do not know.

22 February 2014

ILLUSTRATOR:MAGICTORCH

SCIENCE | PHYSICS OF TIME

THE

INCREDIBLETRUTH

ABOUTTIME

Theories of science have

ignored time... until now. A new

idea reveals how it created the

Universe and you




23/92




24/92February 2013

But now Smolin has news for these

scientists. He thinks theyve been led to

dismiss the reality of time by a mix of deep-

seated beliefs and esoteric mathematics. And

in a controversial new book Time Reborn,

he sets out the dangers of persisting with this

folly, and the promise of accepting times

fundamental importance. If hes right, it

means far from being irrelevant, time is ofcrucial importance to explaining how the

Universe works and is even responsible for

our very existence.

Smolin is under no illusions about what

hes taking on. The scientific case for time

being an illusion is formidable, he says.

The core of the case against time relies on

the way we understand what a law of physics

is. He isnt saying the laws are wrong, just

that scientists dont understand their true

origins. According to the standard view,

everything that happens in the Universe is

determined by laws, he says. Laws are

absolute they dont change with time. Itsthis attribute that makes laws so powerful

in predicting the future: plug in the Earths

position today into the law of gravity, and

itll give a pretty accurate location for its

position a million years from now.

The laws also seem to reveal the true

Yet according to theoretical physicist Lee

Smolin, the time has come to grapple with

this ancient conundrum: Understanding the

nature of time is the single most important

problem facing science, he says.

As one of the founders of the Perimeter

Institute for Theoretical Physics in Ontario,

Canada, which specialises in tackling

fundamental questions in physics, ProfessorSmolin has spent more time pondering

deep questions than most. So why does

he think the nature of time is so important?

Because, says Smolin, it is central to

the success of attempts to understand

reality itself.

To most people, this may sound a bit

overblown. Since reality in all its forms,

from the Big Bang to the Sunday roast,

depends on time, isnt it obvious that

we should take time seriously? And

didnt scientists sort out its mysteries

centuries ago?

Timeless physics

Prepare for a shock. Scientists have indeed

tackled the mystery of time and reached

an astounding conclusion. They insist that

the most successful theories in physics prove

that time does notexist.

nature of time: They suggest the flow of

time is just a convenient illusion that can be

replaced by computation, says Smolin. In

other words, time is just a trick that makes

the equations spit out the right answers.

Emboldened by the seemingly limitless

power of their laws and concept of time,

physicists have sought to understand the

properties of everything including theUniverse as a whole, in all its infinite

majesty. But time and again, when theyve

attempted this, theyve run into problems.

Over 300 years ago, Sir Isaac Newton

tried to apply his law of universal gravity to

the whole Universe, only to see it collapse

when dealing with the infinite extent

of space. A century ago, Albert Einstein

applied his far more powerful theory of

gravity, General Relativity, to the cosmos,

but it broke down at the large scale when

explaining the Big Bang.

Quantum conundrumIn the mid-1960s, the American theorist

John Wheeler and his collaborator Bryce

DeWitt decided to see what insights might

emerge from applying the most successful

theory in all science quantum theory to

the cosmos. Most often applied to the

1967American theorist Bryce

DeWitt, using ideas suggesby fellow theorist John

Wheeler, combines quantutheory with relativity in anequation describing the

state of the whole UniversThe eponymous equationappears to show that tim

is an illusion.

C500BCEarly Greek philosophers clashover the reality of flowing

time. Heraclitus insists thatpermanence is an illusion, witheverything in a state of flux. Incontrast, Parmenides arguesthat existence demands anabsence of change, making

time an illusion.

1687Isaac Newton publishes hisscientific masterwork, TheMathematical Principles Of

Natural Philosophy, in whichhe makes the case for the

existence of absolute time.This flows at precisely thesame rate throughout the

Universe, independently ofany influences.

1905Albert Einstein publishes hisSpecial Theory of Relativity,according to which time isrelative, not absolute. He

predicts that time as measuredby a clock moving relative toanother will appear to pass

more slowly when comparedto the stationary clock.

TIMELINE: A brief history of our changing understanding of time



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25/92

When giant stars run out of nuclear fuel they

collapse under their own gravity, triggering

a supernova explosion. If the mass left over

is relatively low, it will turn into a so-calledneutron star. But if its heavy enough, nothing

can stop gravity turning the remnant into a

black hole an object that is infinitely dense.

American theoretical physicist Lee Smolin

believes black holes spawn new universes,

and that most of these offspring including

our Universe - will be well-suited to creating

more black holes. According to current

theories of black hole formation, this means

our Universe should allow supernova

remnants of just twice the mass of the Sun

to form black holes. And that leads to a

prediction: if a remnant heavier than this is

found to be merely a neutron star and not a

black hole, it will be evidence that our

Universe isnt optimised for black hole

creation - thus refuting Smolins theory.

Astronomers have never found a neutron

star breaking Smolins limit at least, not yet.

1999British physicist and philosopherJulian Barbour publishes The EndOf Time, which attempts to bridge

the gap between the reality of atimeless Universe, as predictedby the Wheeler-DeWitt equation

and our perception of time flowingfrom past to future.

2013Prof Lee Smolin publishesTime Reborn, which makesthe case for time being real,

flowing from past to future, asthis allows the laws of nature

to evolve into the form weobserve today.

The Universe is efficient at producing black holes, which could give birthto new universes

Times existence is written in the stars

sub-atomic world, quantum theory can in

principle at least be applied to everything,

even the large-scale workings of the Universe.

Wheeler and DeWitt succeed in

producing a nightmarishly complex equation

that, according to quantum theory, capturesthe true nature of the Universe. But the

equation spawned a shocking insight. Of

all the quantities it contained, one that

everyone expected it to include had simply

vanished: t for time (see The equation that

killed time, on p26). According to the

Wheeler-DeWitt equation, the quantum

state of the Universe is just frozen, says

Smolin. The quantum Universe is a

Universe without change. It just simply is.

The contrast with apparent reality could

hardly be more stark. Astronomers insist the

Universe began in a Big Bang and is still

expanding. Stars are constantly being bornand dying along with ourselves. Clearly,

something is wrong.

Many theorists have tried to find ways

of getting what we perceive to be time

to emerge from the timeless Universe

described by the Wheeler-DeWitt equation.

Ive pondered these approaches, says

Smolin, and I remain convinced none of

them work. He believes only a fundamental

re-think about time can solve the crisis.

Not everyone agrees, however. Some

An artists impression of supernova these powerfu

blasts can result in thformation of black hole

2February 2014




26/92

The endless cycleIf th laws of physics ar a consqnc of tim, or

univrs isnt th rst and it wont b th last

1 According to qantm

thory, th bhavior

of vrything from a

sb-atomic particl to th

entire Universe can be

xtractd from knowing th

wave function, Psi. And to

do that, th Whlr-DWitt

qation mst b solvd.

2 The cosmic scale-

factor, or roghly spaking,

the radius of the Universe.

Bizarrly, whil th univrs

is known to xpand,

implying th scal-factor

increases over time, the

qation dos not incld

any mntion of tim itslf.

3 A qantity linkd

to th so-calld Planck

scale, around 100 billion

billion times smaller even

than a proton. At this

scal vn th stitchs

making p th fabric

of spac itslf wold

become detectable.

4 Th scalar ld,

a mystrios forc

ld blivd to hav

xistd at th bginning

of th univrs. Its origin

is nknown, bt it is

thoght to hav playd a

ky rol dring th

Big Bang.

5 Th scalar potntial,

which measures the

strngth of th scalar ld

and ths its ability to

driv th xpansion of th

Universe. Once believed to

hav dcayd to zro aftr

th Big Bang, it may still

affct th cosmos today.

The equation that killed timeInsid th Whlr-DWitt qation can yo spot a t?

According to L Smolins thory,

time is the most fundamental feature

of rality so fndamntal that its

xistnc transcnds that of or

univrs. If corrct, that mans that

in contrast to convntional thory

tim did not com into xistnc at

th Big Bang. Instad, or univrs

is just the latest of an endless

sqnc of cycls.

Th ida of cyclic nivrss is on

of th oldst idas in cosmology.using einstins thory of gravity,

thorists initially blivd that ach

nivrs wold pass its hat on to its

sccssor, making it vr hottr. Yt

todays univrs is incrdibly cold.

Most thorists saw this as proof that

th cyclic thory was wrong. Bt

th argmnt was awd: einstins

thory braks down at th momnt

of th birth of th univrs, making

it slss for ndrstanding cyclic

thoris. By combining einstins

thory with th qantm laws of t

sub-atomic world, theorists have

now solvd this problm and fo

that th ida of cyclic nivrss is

possibl aftr all.

Amazingly, th xistnc of

prvios nivrss may still b

dtctabl today. In rsarch

pblishd arlir this yar,

Sir Rogr Pnros of th

univrsity of Oxford claimdthat th gravity of galaxis in th

prvios univrs has prodcd

detectable distortions in the heat

gnratd by th last Big Bang 14

billion yars ago. Pnros has b

stdying th most dtaild-vr

map of this hat, prodcd by th

eropan Spac Agncys Planck

spac obsrvatory.

Th jry is still ot on th claim

bt its yt to b rld ot.

Black holes could givebirth to other universes,part of an endless cycleof creation

1

5

2 3 4



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27/92

An artists impression oa black hole, with star

and interstellar gas beinsucked in. Could it giv

birth to another Universe

2February 2014

insist that the Wheeler-DeWitt equation

reveals the truth about time no matter

how unpalatable we find it. Chief among

them is the British theoretical physicist Dr

Julian Barbour, Visiting Professor at Oxford

University. He has spent decades wrestling

with the meaning of the Wheeler-DeWitt

equation, and is renowned for his 1999

magnum opus The End Of Time.

Unlike Smolin, Barbour insists theWheeler-DeWitt equations implication for

time cannot be dismissed. He argues that

the Universe is really a vast, static array of

nows, like frames on some cosmic movie-

reel. At any given moment, or now,

time does not need to be factored in to

explanations of how the Universe works.

The sense of time passing comes from our

minds processing each of these frames or

time capsules, as Barbour calls them. Time

itself, however, doesnt exist.

Smolin greatly admires Barbours efforts:

Its the best thought-through approach

to making sense of quantum cosmology,he says. He has even incorporated some

of Barbours latest ideas into his own. But

he believes it suffers from the same flaws

as all timeless theories of the Universe: it

struggles to make testable predictions, and

it cant explain where the timeless laws of

physics come from in the first place.

Radical thinking

Smolin thinks he can do all this, and more.

And to do it, he calls on the properties

of the most extraordinary objects in the

Universe today: black holes.

Formed from the collapse of giantstars, black holes are notorious for having

gravitational fields so strong not even light

can escape them. Exactly what happens

inside them isnt known for sure, but there

are hints from quantum theory that the

centre of black holes may be the birth-

places of whole new universes, each with

different laws of physics.

Smolin points out that if this is correct,

then a kind of cosmic version of Darwinian

natural selection could apply, in which

the most common universes will be those

most suitable for producing black holes.

And this, he says, can be put to the test

in our Universe. After countless aeons of

cosmic evolution, our Universe should bynow be ruled by laws of physics well-suited

to producing black holes. According to

Smolin, astrophysicists can check to see

if this is actually true and to date the

evidence suggests it is (see Evidence for

times existence on p25).

The most striking evidence, though,

may be our own existence. Black holes

are formed from the death of huge stars in

supernova explosions. Intriguingly, these

are the very same stars that produce the

carbon, oxygen and other elements required

for life. If there were no giant stars, there

would be no universe-spawning black holesand no evolving laws of physics and no

us, either.

Smolin is thus suggesting that our very

existence may be evidence for cosmic

evolution. And since evolution can only

happen over time, that in turn suggests

time is real. Its an astonishing line of

argument for the reality of time and one

that doesnt convince everyone. I find

these ideas very speculative to say the

least, says theorist Prof Claus Kiefer of

the University of Cologne in Germany. He

doubts even the starting-point for Smolins

argument for the reality of time: There is

no evidence whatsoever that new universes

are born inside black holes.

A matter of time

What everyone agrees on, however, is

that time certainly seems real. And there

can be no disputing the boldness of

Smolins arguments.

If hes right, our Universe is just the

latest in an endless series. Over time, over

successive universes, the laws of physics

have been evolving to the point where

the conditions are just right to form not

just black holes the birth-places of new

universes but also the building blocks

of life, including us. In other words,time explains the apparent fluke that our

Universe has just the right combination of

conditions to allow our existence.

So isSmolin right about all this or is

time really an illusion, as most theorists

insist? Only time will tell.

The flow of time is just aconvenient illusion that can be

replaced by computation

Professor Lee Smolin, Perimeter Institute forTheoretical Physics in Ontario, Canada

Robert Matthews is a Visiting Reader

in Science at Aston university,

Birmingham, uK.




28/92

SCIENCE | ANT BEHAVIOUR

28 February 2014

SMARTY

SCIENCE

PHOTOL

IBRARY



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ANT BEHAVIOUR | SCIENC

ANTST

o look inside an ant nest is to contemplate analien civilisation. The boiling mass of workerants beneath an upturned stone is both

strangely reminiscent of human society andstrikingly different. There is an industry andorganisation that fascinates us and a long line ofmyrmecophiles (or ant lovers) leads back all theway to King Solomon, who in fact advised to goto the ant, consider her ways and be wise.

Like us, ants build structures, find food, defendtheir societies and manage waste, and - also likeus they must be well organised. For example, theleaf-cutting ants of Planet Ant have specialwaste disposal areas for storing hazardouswaste and a team of waste-disposal ants

dedicated to keeping the nest clean. But antsachieve this familiar end result in a very differentway to humans.

Human societies have centralised control. Inother words, someone tells us what to do. Ants,on the other hand, have decentralised control andneither the queen nor any other ant directs work.Ant workers are the ultimate self-starters,following specific, but potentially flexible, rules in

certain situations.Chemical trails underpin much of this self-

organisation. Foragers lay a mix of chemicalsknown as trail pheromone behind them as theywalk. Other ants follow the trail and if they find

food they reinforce it, laying more pheromone asthey return to the nest. Stronger trails are morelikely to be followed, so trails leading to foodbecome progressively reinforced, while trails withno food at the end evaporate away.

This combination of positive feedback andevaporation produces an effective foraging systemthat is very good at finding the quickest routes tofood. This simple guiding principle, and others likeit, has provided some elegant solutions to thecomplex problems faced by engineers, computerscientists and businesses alike.

Could ants one day buildmicro-mechanical motors forus? Probably not, but theyreclever in all sorts of other ways

2February 2014

Compact satellites, faster

plane boarding and quicker

downloads the humble

ant has inspired all three.

Adam Hart reveals what thessix-legged marvels

can teach us




30/9230February 2014

A vast distribution

centre resembles the

high organisation of ant colony - studying

how the insects maktheir deliveries could

help us make ours

more efficiently(seen above)

Getting yourdeliveries on timeWeve all waited for a package that didnt turn up

on time. And it seems that ants do a better job ofdelivering their parcels or more specifically leafs

than your postman does. In finding the quickest

way to food, ants are solving a routing problem.Businesses that need to deliver products while

minimising costs must also solve routing problems.

Scientists have discovered that we can borrow theprinciples of ant pheromone trails to assist with our

own foraging problems.

The best known routing conundrum is thetravelling salesman problem (TSP). The TSP seeks to

find the shortest route between a number of differentpoints and this becomes progressively harder as the

number of points increases. However, simulations

using the principles of pheromone foraging in ants,an approach dubbed Ant Colony Optimisation, have

been very successful in solving TSPs.

One example is Air Liquide, which supplies gas to a

large number of customers across the USA, makingthis a particularly complex TSP. To solve it, thecompany uses a routing system based on Ant Colony

Optimisation, with trucks laying virtual pheromone

standing in for ants. Computers run through the nightto calculate the most efficient routing solution for the

next days deliveries, saving fuel and time.

Cuban leaf-cutter ando what they do best

shifting leaves. But to

do so effectively theylay down a network o

pheromones secretefrom their abdomens



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Safer crowd controlAnt researchers studying leaf-cutting ants

found that crowds of ants contained in

a space with two separate exits will tendto leave the space by both exits equally

under normal conditions, but if a repellent

chemical is added they will panic andpile up around one exit, making it take

longer to evacuate the area. Similarpanic-induced escape patterns have been

found in theoretical simulations of human

behaviour. The architecture of ant neststhat help ants move around could inspire

architects to come up with novel solutions

for our own crowd control.

3February 2014

When you hear a fire alarmhopefully you wont end up

in a pile-up outside the buildinlike this swarm of Harveste

ants, which are, in fact, mastersof organised chao




32/9232February 2014

A foraging ant colony has a

network of trails along which it

sends foraging ants to collect foodand bring it back to the nest. By

following simple rules the ants are

able to use foraging trails to self-organise food collection.

But using this system is morethan just following a trail of

breadcrumbs. As well as finding

food, the colony wants to ensurethat it sends out the right number

of foragers. If there are too many

for the food available then thecolony is wasting resources and

risking lives. But too few meansthat the colony is not getting as

much food as it could.

To solve this problem,researchers working on desert ants

found that workers can use a very

simple rule: the rate that workers

leave the nest to find food dependson the rate that workers return tothe nest with food. If there isnt

much food out there, the return rate

of successful foragers is low andvery few new foragers will leave,

but a torrent of successful foragers

signals a food-rich environmentand the colony responds by

sending out more workers.The ants foraging mechanism

is almost identical to Transmission

Control Protocol, or TCP analgorithm used to avoid congestion

on the internet. When a file is

transferred it is broken into smallpackets and once each is received

an acknowledgement (or ack) issent back to the source. A high rate

of acks shows that there is plenty

of bandwidth and the transmissionspeed can be increased, much as

a high rate of successful foragers

returning to the nest meansplentiful food.

Given that there are more than

11,000 species of ants that haveevolved in many different

ecological situations, researchers

are keen to understand moreabout how they run their network

operations. The hope is that thestudy of ant foraging networks will

reveal other useful mechanisms

that can inspire us in our ownnetwork management.

Cubesats are miniature satellites measuring

just 10cm along each edge and are a relativelyinexpensive way to do space research. Clyde

Space, a Glasgow-based CubeSat manufacture

has been investigating ant-inspired methodsto build better satellites. With weight and

space both at a premium, CubeSats need tobe designed with the minimum amount of

cabling. Just as ants use pheromones to find

food, computer programs based on virtual antslaying virtual pheromones through a simulated

CubeSat have created the most space-saving

wiring solution.

Quicker computer networks

Smaller satellites

Leave food out on a hot day and ants will be on it in minutes an efficiency that scientists are trying to replicate


The bustling swarmof an African safa

ant migration; internet datcould be sent quicker thank

to studies into the way antforage for foo






A spacecraft can use the gravity of

large bodies like planets to provide

a gravity assist. By travelling onthe right trajectory, the planets

gravity increases the craftsspeed and changes its direction

in such a way that, if you have

done the mathematics correctly, itpropels the craft towards its final

destination. Gravity assists save on

fuel and these celestial slingshotshave been used to propel space

probes like Voyager immense

distances through space. Voyager

1 has travelled so far using thistechnique that it has now officiallyleft the Solar System.

Although more complex than the

traditional Earth-bound TravellingSalesman Problem, designing

trajectories through space is

still, at a fundamental level, arouting problem. However, to

make use of gravity assists, thepassage through space has to

be combined with very accurate

The ant-inspiredapproach has producedaccurate trajectories farmore rapidly

Forging fuel-saving routes through

outer space

Voyager 1 has now left the Solar System having usedgravitational assists

Adam Hartis a presenter for BBC

Four for his documentary on Plane

Ant: Life Inside the Colony.

timing, which also makes this a

scheduling issue. Researchers at

the University of Strathclyde andthe University of Glasgow have

used the principles of pheromone

foraging trails to construct amodified Ant Colony Optimisation

algorithm (set of instructions)that predicts routes through

space. The algorithm removes

the need to check all possibleroutes (a very time consuming

process) and instead compiles

the route incrementally, with each

additional trajectory buildingon those the model has alreadyforaged. Using this ant-inspired

approach, they can predict the

schedule and trajectories requiredto take advantage of multiple

gravity assists far more rapidly

than traditional methods.

Australian jumpinjack ants feed on a leaf; thway they chose their path treach the food could be use

to create super-efficienroutes for spacecraf




34/92

BREITLING

SCIENCE | AVIATION

34 February 2014

From Leonardo da Vincis flying machines to the jet pack at

the LA Olympics, weve dreamed of flying like a bird. Now

theres a new breed of solo flying machines ready to take off

Yves Rossy has used his powered wingto fly alongside famous aircraft like aB-17 and Spitfires




35/92

JETMAN WINGor daredevils looking for

the thrill of speed and thefreedom of unencumbered

flight, nothing can beat apersonal jetpack. Powered byfour miniature jet engines, this

wing unit developed by Swisspilot and aviation enthusiast

Yves Rossy fits the bill. It can hitspeeds of up to 300km/h (186mph) and ismanoeuvrable enough to pull off loopsand rolls.

Launched from a helicopter, the wingsare guided entirely by the pilots bodymovements there are no rudders, ailerons,

or flaps. A throttle attached to the righthand controls thrust; the only otherinstruments are an altimeter to report

altitude and a timer to keep track of fuel.Theres enough fuel to fly for around 10minutes, after which Rossy is able to landsafely using a parachute.

Protected from the engine exhaust bya heat-resistant suit, Rossy manoeuvresthe carbon-fibre wings by tilting his headand angling his shoulders. It takes a lotof concentration to avoid an uncontrolledspin, I stay relaxed, avoiding any fastmovements, like a ski-jumper, says Rossy.In the event of a spin, the wing unit can be

separated from the pilot, allowing both toindependently parachute to safety.

Rossy unveiled his invention to the world

in a flight over the Swiss Alps in May 2008.Four months later, he made history byusing the jet-powered wings to crossthe English Channel 99 years after LouisBlriots famous flight. Last November hecould be seen flying around Mount Fuji,circling the volcano nine times over thecourse of a week.

Dont expect to see this wing unit instores anytime soon. Difficult to use andexpensive to develop, its likely to remainone of a kind for the moment.




36/92

MARTINJ

ETPACK

X3

36 February 2014

SCIENCE | AVIATION

The Martin Jetpack can hit a top speedof 74km/h (45mph) and operates at arecommended cruise height of 500ft (150m)




37/92

MARTIN JETPACKhough its makers claim tohave built the worlds first

practical jetpack, the Martin

Jetpack is actually poweredby a pair of ducted fans, nota jet engine. Constructed from

advanced lightweight composites,its the culmination of over 30 years

of research by founder Glenn Martin,who started the project in his garage on abudget of just NZ $20 (10) per month.

The Martin Jetpack has been designedwith an emphasis on safety and ease ofuse. It can cruise at 56km/h (35mph) for upto 30km, and includes a specially designed

parachute that is fired from a casing in caseof failure. Protected by a Kevlar roll cage,the pilot controls pitch and roll with one

hand and throttle and yaw with the other.We are finding that even without flyingexperience, individuals are able to learn tofly the Jetpack in under five hours, saidPeter Coker, CEO of Martin Aircraft.

The company is already accepting orders,with a target launch date of mid-2014 forpolice and other government agencies.Sales to private individuals are expected tostart in 2015, though the US $100,000 pricetag means that it will remain the preserve ofthe lucky few for a while yet.

A test pilot takesto the skies with a

Martin Jetpack




38/92

REUTERS

X3

38 February 2014

SCIENCE | AVIATION

If youre not content with simply beatingstationary traffic on your way to work, whynot beat other bikes too with a flying one?

Were not sure if this would

qualify for use in a cycle lane

The flying bike remainsremote controlled for now - but

human test flights are planned




39/92

Sdr el Showkis a bloggr on lds o

science, nature education, evolution and

pursuing his PhD in plant biology.

FLYING BIKEhe scene in the film E.T.

when Elliott takes flight onhis bike, iconically silhouetted

in front of a full Moon, couldbecome a reality. That is if a

crack team of engineers havetheir way. Their flying bicycle uses

six electrically powered propellers:two large pairs over the wheels providinglift, and smaller ones on either side formanoeuvring and balance. Inspired byscience fiction novels, the Czech companiesDuratec, Technodat and Evektor, assistedby French company Dassault, launchedthe project in 2011. The first prototype wasunveiled in June 2012.

Although the bicycle carried a dummyduring its remotely controlled demo flight,the team is hoping to test it with a human

rider in 2014 and is working to add a controunit. Unfortunately, it only flies for fiveminutes before the battery runs dry.

This limited prototype is just the first steptowards the teams lofty goal. Their aim is tobuild a unit that works like a normal bikebut can also take off for short, low-altitudeflights, hopping over traffic or otherobstacles. We are still considering majorchanges, said Technodat engineer Jindrich

Vtu, who stressed that the bike is a proofof concept.

According to Vtu, a version that can beflown by a human will be ready in a year.If youre impatient to fly something beforethen, check out the Flyke from Germanycompany Fresh Breeze, a recumbent tricyclequipped with a paragliding wing and amotor drive.




40/92

From my first day exiled at the desk calledKamchatka, at the very back of my schoolclassroom, I dreamed of visiting thatfaraway land. In 2005 my wish came true:I became a ranger in Kronotsky NatureReserve, surrounded by brown bears,

steaming geysers and fiery volcanoes. Buteach year, as I left my remote cabin for thewinter, I felt like an absentee father, set tomiss crucial milestones in the lives of mywild charges. So two years ago I chose tospend the entire seven-month winter in thereserve. These images give just a taste ofwhat I experienced.

PORTFOLIO

40 February 2014




41/92

IGLOO WITH A VIEWIgloos are warm and effective

hides from which to watch wildlife

I can sit in them for hours,

sipping hot tea from a flask. I built

this igloo near my cabin with the

aim of photographing a wary local

wolverine. However, this curious

fox kept getting in the way, sticking

his snout right into the lens hood

and interrupting my shoots.




42/92

LOOKING FOR TROUBLE

In Kronotsky, foxes are

particularly bold. Habituated to

the visits of scientists and

rangers, they forage around the

cabins for scraps of food or,

perhaps, company. Their main

aim, though, seems to be to bring

mischief. On one occasion, when

four patrolling rangers spent the

night at a neighbouring hut, a

thieving fox targeted the boots

left outside, making off with one

from each pair; I found them

months later, stashed in the

tundra. This regular visitor, whom

I named Kuzya, became known to

tens of thousands of people when

I recounted his antics on my blog.

I shot this photo as he climbed a

tree in a futile attempt to catch a

spotted nutcracker mocking him

from above.

42 February 2014




43/92

PORTFOLIO | NATUR

FISH FIGHT Two young eagles jockey for the

rights to a sockeye salmon pulled

from the reserves icy waters. On

the right, an immature Stellers

sea eagle one of the worlds

biggest, growing up to 9kg, with a

wingspan as wide as 2.5m shields the fish while glaring at its

rival, a young golden eagle. The

larger raptor boasts a massive bill

with which it fillets fish swiftly and

effectively, but golden eagles also

enjoy salmon particularly during

the winter, when other food is

scarce. Most such confrontations,

however, end peacefully one fish

carries more than enough flesh to

feed several eagles.

FREEZE FRAMED I spotted this red fox in March,

emerging from a temporary den it

had excavated in a snow bank to

escape an icy squall a common

tactic for both foxes and wolverines

at this time of year, when drifts can

lie several metres deep. On warmer

days I often watched Kamchatkas

foxes, in their rich red winter pelage,

basking in the sunshine or hunting

in the meadows, by the lakes and on

the seashores where rodents, which

make up the majority of their prey,

congregate at this time of year.




44/92

XXX

OTTER AMBITION

I had always wanted to photograph an otter.

On paper, at least, Kamchatka is the place

to do so: its otter heaven, thanks to the

abundance of fish in its rivers and lakes.

But though they are common in the reserve

I saw at least one every week the wily

creatures would never co-operate with my

photographic ambitions. I explored the

Documents

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