1
24 September 2011| NewScientist | 7 but 26 parts are likely to survive, including a 150-kilogram instrument mount and three 50-kilogram batteries. These will slam into Earth’s surface somewhere between 57 degrees north and 57 degrees south, an equatorial band that spans most of the population, as well as a large swathe of ocean. NASA puts the risk of human injury at about 1 in 3200, higher than the 1 in 10,000 now needed before it will launch a satellite. Johnson points out that no person is known to have been seriously injured by returning space debris. Planet or not? WHEN it comes to alien worlds, even poster children are fickle. Fomalhaut b – one of the only exoplanets to be pictured directly – may not be what it seems. Astronomers expected to find a planet orbiting the nearby star Fomalhaut since 2005, when its spectacular disc of dust was found to lie off centre. In 2008, a team led by Paul Kalas at the University of California, Berkeley, spotted a speck of light in just the right place in two separate images. However, no one else had spotted Fomalhaut b since then. Now, at the Extreme Solar Systems II conference in Moran, Wyoming, Kalas’s team say they see the bright speck again, this time in an unexpected place. For some, that calls the planet’s existence into question. To fit all three data points, Fomalhaut b needs an elliptical orbit that takes it across the dust disc. Yet its brightness suggests that it is too big to do that without disrupting the disc. Kalas is not giving up. Possible explanations include a second hidden planet that holds the ring steady and perturbs Fomalhaut b’s orbit. Ray Jayawardhana at the University of Toronto, Canada, is concerned: “The poster boy for directly imaged planets is the least secure case that we have.” Autism hacking INDIVIDUALS with autism spectrum disorders may soon be able to rehearse unfamiliar social interactions on their smartphones, reducing their social anxiety. The planned app is one of many that will be developed during a “Hacking Autism” weekend event that Hewlett Packard will host early next month at its offices in Cupertino, California. The app will offer a library of storyboards about everyday life, explaining the steps involved in activities like getting a haircut or going to the dentist. The app “speaks to autism’s core deficit”, says Andy Shih of Autism Speaks, a New York-based charity which is recruiting volunteer software developers for the event. “It is solidly grounded in science,” he says. Another proposed app will help autistic individuals record their behaviour and diet on a daily basis for their families and therapists. “The app will offer a library of storyboards about the activities of everyday life, like getting a haircut” GOOGLE continues to allow us to virtually go where no archaeologist has gone before. The latest finds, in the Arabian peninsula, are of spectacular stone structures that rival the Nazca lines of southern Peru in their intricacy. David Kennedy at the University of Western Australia, Perth, says that many countries in the Middle East will not provide aerial photographs or permit flights for archaeological research, so Google Earth provides the only way to analyse the region. Earlier this year, he identified almost 2000 potential archaeological sites in Saudi Arabia from his office chair using Google Earth’s satellite images. Expanding his virtual exploration to cover the entire Arabian peninsula he has now found over 2000 “kites”– stone structures with a roughly circular head and tails hundreds of metres long. Thought to be animal traps, the tails may have funnelled in gazelle and oryx, leaving them stuck in the head. Wheels between 20 and 70 metres across, thought to have a spiritual purpose, pepper the desert too (Journal of Archaeological Science, DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2011.05.027). David Thomas at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, is also an armchair archaeologist. In 2008, he used Google Earth to find 463 potential sites in the Registan desert of Afghanistan. “Google Earth has a policy of no censorship, so you can get access everywhere,” he says. Kites and wheels all over Arabia –A Jordanian “kite” – possibly a trap– APAAME 60 SECONDS Born slippy The slipperiest-ever material has been made. It takes inspiration from a carnivorous pitcher plant by layering a lubricating liquid over a textured surface. The material repels water, oil and blood, so could have a number of applications in sterile environments (Nature, DOI: 10.1038/nature10447). Puberty slowed Drugs given to children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder have been shown to slow the process of puberty in male rhesus monkeys. Monkeys given Ritalin twice a day for 40 months took significantly longer than control monkeys to grow full-sized descended testicles (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1102187108). Planning ahead Men with prostate cancer may soon be able to predict the likelihood of post-therapy erectile dysfunction. Researchers monitored 1027 men for two years after treatment for prostate cancer to develop the model, which includes information on age, race and body mass index (Journal of the American Medical Association, vol 306, p 1258). Shots in the dark Oceanic squid live in the deep sea, where it is too dark to see whether other squid are male or female, so males leave packages of sperm on every squid they meet and hope for the best (Biology Letters, DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2011.0680). Youthful hopes dashed Claims that boosting levels of sirtuin enzymes can combat age-related diseases have suffered a blow. David Gems at University College London discovered that worms and flies genetically modified to have higher sirtuin levels actually owe their extended lifespans to background genetic differences (Nature, DOI: 10.1038/nature10296). For daily news stories, visit newscientist.com/news
