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MONKEY ARCHAEOLOGYDig reveals primate cultur
is stuck in the Stone Ag
NO MAGIC BULLETSIs proton therapy realla cancer cure-all
YOU WAIT 100 YEARS..LIGO spies a second
gravitational wave
TRIAL AND ERROR Five ways forensics can get you falsely convicted
WHITE FRIGHTHow ethnic change is pushing the US to the right
WEEKLYJune 18 - 24, 2016
0 7 0 9 8 9 3 0 6 9 0 5
2 4
Science and technology newwww.newscientist.com
US jobs in scienc
No3078 US$5.95 CAN$5.95
Rethinking the evolution of the universe
HOW TO MAKEDARK ENERGYDISAPPEAR
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Professor Dame CarolRobinson20 15 Laureate for United K ingdom
B y B r ig it te Lacomb e
Science
needs
w om enD am e C arol R obinson, Professor ofC hem istry at O xford University, invented a ground-breakingm ethod for studying how m em brane proteins function, which play a critical role in the hum an body.
roughout the world, exceptional wom en are at the heart ofm ajor scientific advances.
For 17 years, LO ral has been running the LO ral-UN ESC O For W om en In Science program m e,honouring exceptional wom en from around the world. O ver 2000 wom en from over 100 countrieshave received oursupport to continue to m ove scienceforward and inspire future generations.
LOR A LUNESCOAW A RDS
J O I N U S O N F A C E B O O K C O M / F O R W O M E N I N S C I E N C E
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18 June 20 16 |NewScientist |3
O T TVolume 23 0 No 3078
Thisissu eonline
news cientist.com /issue/3078
Com in gnextw eek
Thefutu reofw ork
Yournine-to-five is changing forever
Lightrelief
Banishing pain with the flick of a switch
Coverim age
GandeeV asan/GettyImages
28
36
G ravitational
w aves again
N ow a secondripple in
space-tim e has been
detected by LIGO
8
JEROENHOFMAN
/GALLERYSTOCK
WILLIAMWIDMER/REDUX/EYEVINE
H ow tom ake
darkenergy
disapp ear
Ret hinking the
evolution of
the universe
Trialanderror
Five ways forens ics
can get you false ly
accused
N ew s
O nthecover
Features
9 M onkey archaeology
Stuckinthe StoneAge
8 You wait 100 years
LIGOspies second
gravitationalwave
18 No magic bullets
Proton therapys potential
36 Trial and error
Five flaws offorensics
4 0 W hite fright
Ethnic change is pushing
US to the right
N ew s
6 U P FR O N T
Calls forgay blood donationlaw change after
Orlando. Killerb ears inJapan. Light pollution
hides Milky Way. Names fornew elements
8 T H IS WE EK
Primate archaeology. Supernovaeffect on
early humans. Bettergene-editing to stop
Zika. GMmonkeys to unlockbraindisease?
15 IN B R IEF
Froggy style sex. Turn CO2 intorocks.
Alien life could be on ice. Nospace elevators.
Ancestorof allbacteria. Planet makes its
starspin. Indoorweather
Techn olog y
22 Taking babiesfingerprints. Onthe trailofa
missing elephant. Bot spots hidden ads on
socialmedia. Listening out foricebergs
A n alysis
18 Cancer therapy Whats driving the push
forprotons?
20 CO M M EN T
High time to tackle the pills killing America.
Noneed forspeed at aviations new frontier
2 1 IN S IG H T
Why antidepressants are so popular
Features
28 How to make dark energy disappear
(see above left)
32 Commandand cure Acheap and easy
way to fixgeneticproblems
36 Trial and error (see left)
4 0 P EO P LE
Ethnic change is pushing the US to the right
Cu lture
4 2 Children of tomorrow When itcomes to
making babies,it could allbe overforsex
4 3 Click festival Tech meets art inDenmark
4 4 Penis thieves Geograph y of odd disorders
R egulars
52 LET TER S Empathy versus compassion
56 FEED B A CK Berries that smellofdirty feet
57 T H E LA ST WO R D Autonomous trains
A pertu re
26 A century of tourism inUS NationalParks
Leaders
5 Like it ornot,primate research remains
necess ary. Dont let project fearwin
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18 June 2 016 |NewScientist |5
L
TH E useofanim als in biom edical
research is som ethingofan
elephant in the room .M odern
m edicinewouldbeim possible
without it,and forthem ost part
society has tacitly accepted that
sacrificing anim als forthe greater
good is tolerable.Bu t we rarely
discuss it explicitly.
Thenews that scientists in
Japan and Ch ina are ram pi ng upbrain research usi ng genetically
engineeredm onkeys has
reopened the debate (see page 12).
Prim ate research is especially
contentious;the fact that public
opposition is lowerin these
countries than in theW est,and
that W estern neuroscientists hope
toshare in the resultsto bypass
ethicalqualm s at hom e, wil l only
A s a c r if ic e w o r t h m a k in g
D o n t le t P r o je c t F e a r w in
Likeitornot,prim aterese arch rem ains a necessity
addto som e peoples disquiet.
Anim alexperim entation
shouldalways beup for
discussion.But it is hard to see
howthis substantially changes
anything.Prim ate research still
happens in W estern countries and
the debate aroundit was settled
longago.Them ost recentUK
assessm ent, the2006 W eatherall
Report, found a strong scientificcase forthe carefully regulated
useofnon-hum an prim ates
where there are no otherm eans to
address clearly defined quest ions
ofparticularim portance.
Thereis nodoubtthat the
questions are im portant.In
Europe alone, a third ofpeople
are affected by brain-related
disorders, and the cost oftreating
them is around 800 billion a
year, m ore than the com bined
cost of treatin g cancer, diabetes
and coronary heart d iseas e.
Som e m ay find it especially
objectionable that the p rim ates
are genetical ly engineered to
m im ic the sy m p tom s ofhu m an
brain diseases.That adds a
new dim ension tothe debate,
but existingstandards oughtto beable to deal with any
welfare is sues.
The bald fact is t hat Japan and
Ch ina are going t o do thi s research
any way.It i s surely bet ter for it
to be part of a global sci enti fic
program m e accom panied by a
welfare debate so we can all
benefit from the research as
ethically as possi ble.
TH E poli tical im pulseknown as
nativism is on them arch.In the
US, D onaldTrum p is runningan
openly racist cam paign.In the
UK , Eurosceptics are stoking
resentm ent of im m igrants to
propel the country towards th e
Brexit door.N ativist s i n other EU
countries are licking t heir lip s i n
anticip ation of a dom ino effect.
That th e US is flirting wi th th e
notion of President Trum p
beggars belief.In the words of the
m an him self, we need to figure
out what th e hell is going on.
Political com m entators point the
fin ger at th e frus tration of th e
whi te working class , who have
seen their incom es stagnate.
But th at is only p art of the st ory.
To understand com plex issu es,
it i s often a good idea to ask a
scien tis t.O ne factor un covered by
research is t he USs shifting racial
dem ographics, which m any find
threatening and respond to bybecom ing racially intolerant
(see page 40).The changing
dem ographics oftheUK seem s
to be having a sim ilar effect.
Fearofchangeis a natural
im pulse;thedesire topull up
the drawbridge follows.But as
we have repeatedly reported, that
resp onse i s i rrational an d self-
defeatin g.W e urge everyone t o
thin k about what th e hell is really
going on before decidin g whi ch
way to vote.
L O C A T IO N S
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6 |NewScientist |18 June 2 016
FO R G ET earth ,w in d,w ateran d
fire th ere are fou rn ew elem ents
in tow n .Th e In tern ation alU n ion
ofP u re an d A pp lied Ch em istry
(IU PA C)h asan n ou n ced nam esfor
th e recen tly d iscovered elem en ts
113,115,117 an d 118.Th ey w illbe
called nih on iu m ,m oscoviu m ,
tenn essin e and ogan esson ,
pen din g a p u blic review .
Th e fou relem en ts com p lete
th e seven th row ofthe period ictable.Th ey go tth e officialn od of
ap p rov alin Jan u ary th is year after
discov eries by team s in Jap an ,
Ru ssia an d th e U S,w h o suggested
nam esto govern in g bod y IU PA C.
R esearchersat R IKEN in Wako,
Jap an ,offered nih on iu m (sym bo l
N h)for th eir d iscovery,elem en t
113,afterN ih on ,on e of th e
Jap an ese w ords for Jap an .
M oscow and Tenn esseeget
th eirm om en to fglory w ith
m osco viu m (M c),ak aelem en t115,
PEO PLE th ou gh tIw asm ad,says
Jen ny R em in gton -H ob bs,w h o w as
d iagn osed w ith m u ltip le sclerosis
in h erlate 20 s.Sh e w as abo u tto try
a rad icalnew treatm en tth atcan
cureM S by rebooting the im m un e
system bu titcan also be dead ly.
R esu lts released lastw eek fro m
a trialsh ow th ata sim ilar
treatm en tstop p ed th e disease
progressin g in 70 p ercent of
cases,bu tth ere w asa 4 p ercen t
risk ofd yin g from com p lication s
ofth e chem oth erapy itinv olves
(TheLancet,doi.org/b jzz).
G
In am e y o u ... D an g e ro u s M S c u re
O T
E le m e n t s 1 1 3 , 1 1 5 , 1 1 7
an d 1 1 8 are n o w n ih o n iu m ,
m o s c o v iu m , te n n e s s in e
an d o g an e s s o n
A rare s igh t
Waiting to d onate
an d ten n essin e (Ts),form ally 117.
Team s atth e Join tIn stitu te for
N u clearR esearch in D u bn a,
R u ssia,and O ak R id ge N ation al
Lab oratory,V an d erbiltU n iversity
an d Law ren ceLiverm ore N ation al
Lab oratory (LLN L)in th e U S,
suggested th ose n am es.
Fin ally,th e D u bn a an d LLN L
team scam e up w ith o ganesson
(O g)after Yu riO gan essian ,
a R u ssian p hy sicistw h o h elp ed
d iscov erelem en t114 in 199 9 .Th at
elem en t,no w called fleroviu m ,
an d liverm oriu m ,116 ,w ere th e
lastto join th e p eriod ic tab le,
back in 20 11.
D u rin g th e treatm ent,bo n e
m arrow cells are ex tracted ,th en
allth e im m u n e cells th atrem ain
in th e bo dy are killed .Th e stored
bo n e m arrow is th en tran sp lan te
back in to th e bo dy.Thisreboo ts
th e im m u n e system ,stop p in g it
from attackin g n erve cells,w h ich
isth e cau se ofM S.
D esp ite th e risks,R em in gton -
H ob bs w ent ah ead w ith treatm en
in 20 11,bu tw a rns its n o q u ick fix
Th e year th atfollow ed w as qu ite
a d ark tim e, she says.B u tth e
treatm en tstop p ed th e M S in its
tracks,an d p u she d itin to reverse
She has now m ade a fullrecovery
SEE IN G stars is gettin g h arde r.A
th ird o fu s can tsee th e M ilky Way
atn igh t,accordin g to a n ew m ap
ofligh tp ollu tion across th eglo be
A rou nd 80 percentofthe
w orld sp o p u lation live su n d er
skiesobscu red tosom ed eg reeby
h u m an -m ade ligh t.Sin gap ore
n everexp erien cestru e n igh t
co n d itio n s artificialtw iligh t
m asksthed arkn ess.C h ad ,th e
C en tralA frican R ep u b lican d
M ad ag asca rh avethelow estlevel
M ilk y w h e re?
CARLOSFERNANDE
Z/GETTY
B lo o d ru le s c h a lle n g e dDONORS have be en que uing up
outs ide blood b anks in Orlando since a
shooting at a g ay nightclub in the city
on Sunday left 4 9 d ead a nd at least 5 0
serious ly wounde d. Th e traged y h as
rene wed calls for ch ang es to th e US
gu idelines on d onation that seve rely
limit gay me n from giv ing b lood.
Under new rules unve iled by t he
USFood a nd Drug Ad ministration
(FDA)in December,men wh o h ave
sex with men mu st h ave b een celibate
for a ye ar before d onating . Th e rule
change rescinded a 3 2-year ban on
alldonat ions from g ay men.
The revis ed policy is s till
dis criminatory, rea d a s tatement from
th e NationalGay Blood Drive,a g roup
camp aig ning for relax ation of the FDA
gu idelines th at favours a syste m whe re
each donor is as ses se d individ ua lly.
Pau lVolbe rding ,director of
th eAIDS Res earch Institute at
th eUnive rsit y of California,Sa n
Francisco,says th at p olicies around
blood donation are outda ted .
Cu rrent HIV blood te st s are
incred ibly s ensitive and accurate.
Infection can be detected within days
of exp osu re,making th e cu rrent
USFDA requ irement of a 12 -month
gap from last sex ua lact to donation
meaning les s, h e say s.
Th ere are not any significant
scientific ju st ifications for th e
ban,ag ree s Winst on Berkman
atNew York Unive rsit y.
A stud y two years ago by th e
Williams Inst itu te es timated th at if
more g ay me n were allowed to g ive
blood,the US nationalsu pp ly would
grow by between 2 and 4 per cent.
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18 June 2 016 |NewScientist |7
STO P th e gene bom b!T hats
th e rallyin g cry ofo p po n en ts of
techn ology kn ow n as gen e drives.M ore research n eeded ,w asthe
rath er lessd ram atic callfrom th e
U S N ation alAcadem y ofScien ces,
w h ich released its rep orton gen e
d rives lastw eek.
G ene drivesare bitso fD N A
th atcan sp read them selves
rap idly th rou gh a p op u lation .
Th ere are m any natu ralgene
d rives,an d b iolog ists are n ow
creatin g artificialo n es.In th eo ry,
gen e drives cou ld be u sed to
stop m osq u itoe s tran sm ittin g
d iseases,or even to d rive p ests to
ex tin ction ;in p ractice,this w illb e
d ifficu ltb ecau se organ ism s can
evo lve resistan ce (see p age 10 ).
Som e w antallw ork on genedrivesban n ed b ecause ofth e
risks,w h ich in clu d e th eir
p otentialuse asb iow eapo n s.
Ith asb een sugg ested th atgen e
d rives cou ld be u sed to m od ify
bitin g in sects to m ake th em
p rodu ce tox in s th atkillanyon e
th ey b ite,for in stan ce.Th e N A S
rep ortaccepts th ere are seriou s
risksb u tcon clu de s th atth e
p oten tialb en efits are so great
th atlab an d h igh ly con tro lled
field stu d ies sh ou ld b e allow ed .
Sp rea ding fea r
S
For new stories every day, visit new scientist.com /new s
K yoto crunching
TH E results are in .Th e fin al
em ission s figu res from th e
cou n tries th atp articip ated in
th e Kyoto Protocolh ave n ow
been assessed bu tw h eth erit
w asa successd epends on how
yo u in terp retth em .
U n d erthe 19 9 7 clim ate treaty,
38 d evelop ed cou n tries agreed
to reduce th eirm ean ann u al
greenh ou seg asem ission s
betw een 200 8 and 20 12 to 5 per
cen tb elow 19 9 0 levels.While th e
U S and C anada dropp ed out,the
figu ressh ow th ato verall,th e
rem ain ing 36 nation sm anaged
to m eetth ese redu ction s(Clim ate
P o licy ,doi.org/b jz4 ).
In large p artth is w as becau se
th e em ission s ofform erSo viet
statesh ad p lu m m eted before th e
dealw as even sign ed.
Ten co u n tries ach ieved their
targets p artly th an ks to bu yin gcarbon cred its rath er th an en tirely
th rou gh tru e redu ction s.Th e
fin an cialcrisis an d th e sh iftin g
o fin du strialactivities to n ation s
such as Ch in a also h elped .
These nu m berscan be
in terp reted o n e w ay or an other,
says stu dy au th or Igor Sh ishlov
o fthe In stitu te for C lim ate
Econ om icsin P aris.B u t,h e says,
th e p rotocoldid h elp lay the
fou n dation sforth e 20 15 Paris
clim ate agreem en t. Attacks are commonb ut rarely fatal
o fligh tp ollu tion ,w ith three-
q u arterso fth eirp op u latio n s
en joyin gp ristin e n igh tskies.
Th eM ilkyWay,visible in
d arkn essasad im glow streakin gacrossth esky,is h id d en fo r6 0 p er
centofEu rop ean s an d 80 p ercen t
ofN orth A m ericans.
Its a big p arto fo u rco n n ection
to th e cosm os an d its b een lost,
saysstu dy au th or C h ris Elvid ge o f
th eU SN ation alO cean ic an d
A tm osp h ericA d m in istration ,
w h obu iltthe m ap u sin g satellite
im ages,com p u term od els an d
citizen -scien ce m easu rem en ts
from th e grou n d (Scien ce
A d van ces,doi.org/b jz2).
6 0 S ECO N D S
First of many?Say goodbye to the B ramble Cay
melomys. This rodent,which lived
only on a Great B arrier Reef island,is
thought to be the first mammal to be
made extinct primarily by human-
made climate change. The s pecies
hasnt been s een since 200 9,
probably w iped out by se a-level rises .
T hrees not a crowdA controversial three -parent ge ne
fertility therapy could be us ed in
humans within two years,afte r new
trial results s how it can produce
healthy embryos free from diseas e.
The te chnique aims to prevent
fatal mitochondrialdisease beingpassed fromparent to childby
placingt he nucleus froma fertilised
egg intoa healthydonoregg
(Nature,doi.org/b jz3).
Double sun giantSometimestwo suns are betterthan
one.Astronomers havediscovered
thelargest-everplanet toorbit a
binarystar. Knownas Kepler-1647b,
it is agas giant slightlybiggerthan
Jupiter ands its inthe habitablezone
of its star,meaning anyrockymoonsinorbit couldhave liquidw ateron
theirsurface.
Organ boostTheUS W hiteHouse has announced
new initiatives to helpimprove organ
transplants,including a $160 million
investmentby theUS Department of
Defense,a data-sharing agreement
between transplant centres,and
funding forresearchers working
ong roundbreakingregenerative
therapies.
Not such a bird brainW hos a cleverb irdy? Someb irds
behavef armoreintelligentlythan
we wouldexpectfromtheirtiny
brains. Now we know why by
denselycrammingas many neurons
into theirbrainsas someprimates
(PNAS ,doi.org/bjzx). Th e macaw ,
forexample,has more neurons in its
forebrain than a macaque,despite
its brain being walnut -sized.
M an-eat ing bea r s hot in Jap anAN ASIATIC black be ar shot in
Japanhad human t iss ue in its gu t.
The animal was killed by hunters near
the site of the f ourth fatal bear attack
in the Akita prefecture in the space of
three weeks.
B ear attacks are common in this
area of Japan,but t hey rarely result
inpeople b eing killed as prey. It
remains unclear whether the b ear
that was shot caused all four deaths,
says David Garshelis,co-chair of t he
IUCN Bear S pecialist Group.
The most recent victim,a
74-year-old woman,had bee n
gathe ring edible plants in a forest.
The previous atta cks were all on men
picking ba mboo shoots in the reg ion,
in three separate incidents. P eople
who gathe r edible plants at t his time
of year are at high risk,because be ars
eat thes e plants too,says Garshelis.
B ear numbers in northern Japan
are high this year,after more cubs
than us ual survived to adulthood
thanks to a b umper crop of beechnuts
in spring. There have already b een
1200 bear sightings in the region this
year double the numbe r for the
whole of 20 15. In Iwate prefecture,
eight people have been attacked by
bears since April.
Newly mature bears can behave
unpredictably,says Lori Egg ert at the
University of M issouri in Columbia.
Th eyre prospecting in areas w here
they havent g rown u p, she s ays . If
its b een in an a rea where there have
not bee n humans,th en they re not
going to be af raid of us.
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8 |NewScientist |18 June 20 16
TH EYV E do n e itagain .O n
26 D ecem ber,20 15,for th e secon d
tim e,th e Laser In terferom eter
G ravitation alWave O b servatory
(LIG O )cau gh tth e rip p les in space-
tim e shaken o ffby th e death
spiralofa p airo fb lack h oles.
In oth er w o rds,w e are officially
in th e era o fgravitatio n alw ave
astron om y.
Th is gives u s con fiden ce,
says Salvatore V itale atthe
M assachu setts In stitu te ofTech n ology,on e ofth e LIG O team .
Itw as n ot ju sta lu cky acciden t.
Seein g a secon d o n e tells u s clearly
th atth ere is a p op u lation o fb lack
h oles th ere,an d w e w illsee a lot of
th em in th e com in g scien ce ru n .
Th e discovery w asan n ou n ced
atth e A m erican A stron om ical
So ciety m eetin g in S an D iego
on 15 Ju n e,an d w illbe p u blished
in th ejou rnalPhysical Review
Letters.
T h eLIG O team m ad eh istoryin
Febru ary w hen th ey ann ou n ced
th e firstd etection ofg ravitation al
w av es.A lb ertEin stein p redicted
they w o u ld be produ ced w h en
m assive ob jects like black h oles
m ove arou nd .D ubbed G W1509 14,
th e sign alarrived attw in
d etectors in H an ford ,Wash in gton ,
an d Livin gsto n ,Lou isian a,
on 14 Sep tem ber lastyear.
Th e detectorsp icked u p the
m in u scu le stretchin g of space-
tim e spu rred b y th e collision o fa
pairofb lack ho lesabo ut 30 and
35tim esthe m assofthe sun ,
1.3 b illion ligh tyears aw ay.
Th e secon d sign al,called
G W151226,also cam e from a p air
of black h oles m ergin g.Bu tth ese
w erem u ch ligh ter abo u t14.2
and 7.5 tim esth e m asso fth e su n .
Th ey m erged to form a black h ole
of 20 .8 solar m asses,m ean in g
abou t1solarm asso fenergy
radiated aw ay in grav itation al
w aves du rin g th e collision .
Th is even tradiated th e
equ ivalento fth e m asso fou rsun
in a cou p le of secon ds, V itale
says.O u ro w n su n radiated ab ou
a m illio n th o fits m ass in 5 billio n
years.Th is really gives yo u th e
scale ofh ow violent an d su dd en
th is release o fen ergy is,as
T W
L IGO s e e s s e c o n d b lac k h o le m e rg e rG r a v it a t io n a l w a v e a s t ro n o m y is re a lly h e re , s a y s Lisa Grossman
T h is e v e n t ra d iat e d th ee q u iv ale n t o f t h e m as s
o f o u r s u n in a c o u p le
o f s e c o n d s
CH R IS T M A S R U IN E D
Another in the b a
LIGO saw its second signalat
03 :38 :53 UTC on Boxing Day last
year,which was still25 December in
th e US . It was a Christmas gift,
say s team member Salvatore V itale.
Th at means the fact that it was
dis covered at a llis a b it of a lu cky
break,as the team deb ated wh ether
or not to keep th e d etector running
over th e winter h oliday s.
Bu t it was awkward timing for
V itale,who h ad be en vis iting family
in Italy in S epte mber whe n th e first
signa larrived. As part of th e te am
stu dying the signalto learn th e
properties of th e black h oles ,his
holiday wa s ab rup tly cu t sh ort by
frantic d ata ana lys is.
Obviously my time th ere wa s
totally d es troyed by th e first eve nt,
he s ays. Th e team was sworn to
se crecy,so h e cou ldnt ev en t ellhis
parents what had happ ened.
I h ad to ju st say its imp ortant ,
bu t d ont worry,I willmake it u p to
you at Christmas, he says . Th e
morning of th e 26 th ,I woke up,and
this is what happens. This teaches
you a less on:never check your email
th e morning of th e 2 6 th .
7/25/2019 New Scientist - June 18, 2016
11/60
18 June 2 016 |NewScientist |9
com pared to ou reveryday
ex p erien ce.
Ify ou cou ld see it,th e collision
w o u ld b e 10 ,0 0 0 tim esb righ ter
th an a gam m a-ray bu rst,th ebrigh testexp losion sw e kn ow of
in th e u n iverse,says A viLoeb at
H arvard U n iversity.
Into the m a instream
Th ose sm allerm assesare
reassu rin g,becau se th ey fit
squ arely in the 5 to 20 solarm ass
ran ge ofb lack h oles,th e kin d
already o bserved w ith X -ray
telescop es.Th ose black h oles
u su ally p airu p w ith o rd in ary
stars,an d w e can see th e discof
h otgas th ataccum u latesarou nd
th e b lack h ole as itsteals m aterial
from its com pan ion .
Th e factth atth ey d etected
low erm assb lack h oles brin gs it
closerto m ain stream astron om y,
w h ere su ch b lack h olesare often
seen , Lo eb says.Ite stab lish es
gravitation alw ave astron om y
as a field.
Wh en w e m ade th e first
d iscovery,itw as kin d o f
surprisin g because th ey h ave
zero o verlap w ith the kn ow n
d istribu tion ofb lack h oles, V itale
says.N ow w e are back on tw o
black h oles w ith m asses th atare
totally co m p atible w ith w h atw e
ex p ect.Its n ice to see th atw e can
target a sim ilar p op u latio n .
Italso m ean tth atLIG O
w atched m ore oftheird eadly
w altz.T h e black h o les in th e first
eventw ere so m assive th atth ey
sw u ng arou n d each oth erless
th an 10 tim es before m ergin g.
In th e secon d collision ,th e teamw atche d 55 fu llorbits b efore
the end.
B u tth esign alfrom thesm aller
b lackh olesw asalso m o red ifficu lt
tod etect.T h efirston ew asso
p ow erfulthatyou co u ld seeitin
thed ataw iththen ak ed ey e.You
co u ld ev en h ea rit:tran slatin gthe
sign alin tosou n d w avesgav ea
ch irp ,arisein p itch an d volu m e
asth eb lackh olescircleea ch oth er
fasteran d faster.
Th isn ew o n erequ iredm ore
In this section
GM monkeys could unlock human brain dise ase ,page 12
W e c an fi n g e r p rin t b a b i e s sh o u ld w e ? p a g e 1 8
W h a ts d r iv in g t h e p u s h fo r p r o to n c an c e r t h e ra p y ? p a g e 2 2
targeted algo rith m s an d
sop h isticated p rocessin g,to
tease th e sign alou tofthe n oise.
Th e firsteven tw as so lou d an d
so scream in g in th e data,itw asfou n d by algo rith m s th atju st
loo ked for an ythin g really,n ot
p articu larly b in ary b lack h oles,
V itale says.For th is on e itw as
im po rtantto kn ow w e w ere
loo kin g fo rco m p actb in aries.
Ifyo u tried to m ake a chirp
ou tofth e data allyou w ou ld h ear
iskssh h h h h h h , saysLIG O
team m em ber N ergis M avalvala,
also atM IT.
R egardless,seein g m ore
cycles m akes th is system a better
lab o ratory to testEin stein s
th eo ry o fg en eralrelativity.
Ifthere is an y sm alldev iation
from ge n eralrelativity,itw ill
accu m u late, V itale says.Ify ou
have m ore cyclesyou h ave a better
h op e to see ifth ere is som eth in g
w ron g. So far,th e even tm atches
ge n eralrelativity p erfectly.
Th e team also m easu red a
n ew attribu te of th e black h oles:
one ofthe behem oths w as
spin n in g slow ly.
M easu rin g spin isa w ay to
probe h ow th e black h olesform ed .
Ifth ey cam e from a p airo fstars
th atboth ex plod ed and b ecam e
black h olestogeth er,th ey ou gh t
to spin in the sam e d irection .
Ifthey w ere alread y b lack h o les
w h en they fou n d each oth erin a
den seen viron m en tlike a glob u lar
clu ster,th ey sho u ld n ot.
M ore detection s w illhelp g au ge
th e size ofthe u n iverse,probe th e
n atu re ofm atteran d testgen eral
relativity to ever h igh er p recision .
Theseareth e kin ds ofth in gsw e w antto do,and w e can
h ardly do them in an y oth erw ay,
V itale says.
B u tw ew illn eed alotm o re
sign alstoan sw ersu ch qu estion s.
T h esign ifican ceo fthisp ap er
isitestab lish esap o p u lation ,
ratherthan asin gleex am p le,
say sLo eb .T h ereisab ig
qu alitatived ifferen cebetw een
h avin go n ed atap oin tan d h avin g
tw o.Ilookforw ard toim p rovin g
th estatistics.
T H E fir s t m o n k e y a rc h a e o lo g y
d ig h a s u n c o v e re d t h e to o ls u s e d
b y p r e v io u s g e n e ra tio n s o f w ild
m a c aq u e s a g r o u p o f p r im a te s
s e p a ra te d f ro m h u m a n s b y s o m e
2 5 m i lli o n y e a r s o f e v o lu t io n . T h e
d is c o v e r y m e a n s h u m a n s a re n t a lo n e
i n le a v in g a re c o r d o f p a s t c u lt u r e th a t
c an b e p rie d o p e n b y a rc h a e o lo g y .
A ll s o r ts o f a n i m a ls c a n u s e t o o ls ,
b u t t h e y a r e u s u a lly m a d e f ro m
p erish ab le m aterials like leaves an d
t w ig s . T h is m a k e s th e o r ig i n o f t h i s
b e h a v io u r d i ff ic u lt to s t u d y .
B u r m e s e lo n g -t aile d m a c aq u e s a r e
a ra re e x c e p t io n . T h e y a re re n o w n e d
fo r th e ir u s e o f s to n e t o o ls t o c r a c k
o p e n s h e llf is h , c ra b s a n d n u t s , m a k i n g
t h e m o n e o f t h e v e ry f e w p r im a te s
t h a t h a ve f o llo w e d h o m i n i n s i n t o
t h e S to n e A g e .
M ic h a e l H a s la m at t h e U n i ve r s it y
o f O x fo r d a n d h i s t e am c o n d u c te d t h e
d ig o n t h e s m a ll is la n d o f P ia k N a m Y a i
in T h a ila n d , o n e o f th e is la n d s w h e re
t h e m o n k e y s liv e an d u s e s t o n e t o o ls .
T h e y s ift ed t h r o u g h t h e s an d y
s e d i m en t s at th e s it e a n d fo u n d 1 0
s t o n e t o o ls a t tr ib u t e d t o m a c aq u e s ,
b a s e d o n t h e i r w e a r p a tt e rn s .
B y d a tin g t h e o y s t er s h e lls fo u n d
i n t h e s a m e s e d i m e n t la y e r s , t h e y
d e t er m in e d t h e to o ls c o u ld b e as
o ld a s 6 5 y e a rs , g o in g b a c k t w o
m a c aq u e g e n e r a tio n s .
W e k n o w fro m e y ew it n e ss ac co u n t s
t h a t t h e s e m o n k e y s h a ve b e e n u s in g
t o o ls f o r a t le a s t 1 2 0 y e a r s , s o t h e
s t u d y d o e s n t p u s h t h e ag e o f t h e
b e h a v io u r b a c k . B u t H a s la m s e e s it
a s a fir s t s t e p t o w a rd s d ig g in g d e e p e r
in t o t h e o r ig i n s o f th e b e h a v io u r.
Its a very clever id ea an d its
s o m e th i n g t h at w a s w a it in g to b e
d o n e , s a y s M ic h a el H u f fm an at K y o t o
U n i v e rs it y in Ja p a n , a p r im a to lo g i s t
w h o s tu d ie s ro c k h an d lin g b e h av io u r
in Ja p a n e s e m a c a q u e s . It ju s t t o o k
s o m e o n e to g o o u t a n d d o it .
E x a c t ly h o w fa r b a c k in t i m e th e
m a c aq u e s St o n e A g e e x t e n d s is
a n y o n e s g u e s s . A ra re c h im p a n z e e
a rc h a e o lo g y d i g a d e c a d e ag o
s h o w e d th i s a p e h a s b e en u s in g
s to n e t o o ls f o r m o r e t h a n 4 0 0 0 y e a rs .
A lo n g re c o rd o f a n c ie n t s t o n e
t o o ls c o u ld t e ll u s i f t h e m o n k e y s
p i c k ed u p t o o l u s e in r e s p o n s e to a n
e n v i ro n m e n t a l s t r e s s , s u c h a s ra p i d
sea level ch an g es, fo r exam p le.
It m a y o n e d a y b e p o s s i b le t o a d d r e s s
q u e st io n s ab o u t h o w an d w h y t o o l
u s e a ri s e s in a n i m a l p o p u la t io n s , a n d
ab o u t t h e e x te n t to w h i ch t h at k in d
o fb eh avio u r is o r isn t u n iqu ely
h u m a n , s a y s H a s la m . Alex Kasprak
M onkey archae ology hint s at p rim ate culture
U s in g t h e i r t o o ls o f t h e t r a d e
T h e s e m a c a q u e s a re o n eofthe few prim at es tofo llow hom in ins in to the
S t on e A g e
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10 |NewScientist |18 June 2 016
T W
Sh annon Hall
TW O stel larblasts m ay havem ade
life interesting forearly hum ans.
Roughly 2m illion years ago,
twos upernovae explodedso close
toEarth that they showeredthe
planetwith debris, leaving behind
traces ofradioactivei ron-60 now
buried in the sea floor.
Those sup ernovae were several
hun dred light -years from Earth,farenough away that their
radiation didnt lead to a m ass
extinction, but close enough to
have affected ouran cestor o m o
e r e c t u s , which was descending
from thetrees atthetim e.
N ow, Brian Thom asat
W ashburn University in Topeka,
Kansas, and his colleagues posit
that the twosupernovaecould
havehurled enough radiation
at Earth to affect our ancest ors
behavioural patterns, andpotentially increase cancer rates.
The first radiat ion t o hit Earth
would have sim ply been visible
light .Supernovae can be so bright
that they briefly outshine all the
stars in theirhost galaxy which
wouldn t go unnot iced on Earth.
In fact, such a close supernova
would h ave been as bright as a ful l
m oon every ni ght for up to a year
after the ini tial explosion.The
added light pollut ion could have
had som e biological im pact.
Certain sp ecies use light from
the m oon to navigate, Thom as
says.They al so use th at cue for
m ating, reproduction, layin g eggs,
thin gs like th at.Even jus t foraging
for food.This can s crew wi th their
usual behavioural p rocesses.
Increased light at n ight can
also affect horm one producti onin p eople.Take m elatonin for
exam ple:it doesnt just pu t us to
sleep, it also m ediates som e of the
repair m echanism s in our bodies.
W ere not talkin g about wip ing
out species here, but there m ay
be som e im pact on one or two
generations, says Thom as.
But visi ble light isn t the only
radiat ion that would have burst
from these stellar expl osions.
Roughly 500 years after the
supernova faded, it s radioactive
particles would have p elted Earth
Thom as and his colleagues
calculated that th e average globa
radiat ion woul d have been three
tim es the backgroundlevelstypical today.They speculate
ourancestors m ay have faced an
increased cancer risk as a result
(arxiv.org/abs/160 5.0 49 26).
But they m ight not have had
m uch to worry about, says M icha
W eil at Colorado State University,
as t he average is nt very t elling
theres a considerable range acros
the globe.Forexam ple, theres
a radiation hotspot in Kerala,
India, where the radiation can
be20 tim es the global average.
People havestruggled to showan increase in cancer rates i n
those areas, and they havent
m anaged to do it, W eil says.
Thom as andhis colleagues
calculated that the increased
doseis equivalent to getting one
CT scan p er year, which recent
studies have shown can increase
the risk of leukaem ia and brain
tum ours in children ( h e L a n c e t ,
doi.org/f2fm fz).
Any dam age caused by the
supernovae is hard to quanti fy.Luckily, nearby blasts only happ e
once every bil lion years, says
M ichael Sivertz at the NA SA Space
Radiation Laboratory.You
wouldn t h ave to take out a life
insu rance policy on it, he says.
E arly h u m an s felt
su pern ovae blasts
N
A
SA
/CX
C/SA
O
Itco u ld stop m o squ ito es
carryin g Zika viru s,bu t w e
do ntkn ow w hat the othe r
consequ en ces m igh tb e
Cancer caus ing?
INTRODUCING the gene drive 2.0.
An improved way ofcreating gene
drives could help wipe out some of
the worlds most des tructive disease s.
A gene drive is a piece ofselfish
DNA that cansp read rapidly through
a popu lation. Biologists have created
gene drives that spread among
insects and are already testing
them inlabs around the world.
The proposed use ofgene drives is
controversial(see pag e 6 ),because if
they turn outto haveu nexpected
Gen e -ed itin g
tech n iqu e
cou ld stop Zika
conseq ue nces after be ing releas ed
th ere may b e little we ca n do ab out it.
Bu t th ere are also many p otential
benefits,such as stopping mosquitoes
from ca rrying malaria or Zika.
In rea lity,flaws in exis ting d es igns
mean th at g ene d rives w ouldnt las t
long in the wild. Bu t sou pe d-up
versions are in th e works t hat might
ju st d eliver on th e tech nology s h u ge
potentialto do good or bad.
Gene drives based on the CRISPR
gene-editing technique recognise
a specific DNA sequence in a
chromosome, cut it, and splice a copy
of themselves into the gap. By copying
and pasting themselves from one
chromosome to another in this way
they ensure all offspring inherit them.
In practice, though, resistance to a
gene drive often evolves in just a few
generations because natural variation
means that some organisms have
chromosomes in which the target DNA
is different. These chromosomesspread through a population in
response to the release of a specific
gene drive, stopping the gene drive
spreading further.
The copy-and-paste process can
also go awry. Instead of a copy of a
gene drive being pasted in after the
target DNA is cut, sometimes the
severed ends are stuck back togethe
introducing mutations into the target
DNA. This can create chromosomes
resistant to the gene drive.
Now, George Churchs team at
Harvard University has a plan: to makthetarget DNApartof a crucial gene
andto cutthisgenein severalplaces
(Biorxiv, doi.org/bjzt). The gene drive
includes the sequences needed to
repair the crucial gene and insert a new
gene. This means that if the process
goes awry, the gene containing the
target DNA is wrecked. Because this
gene is crucial to the organisms
survival, a chromosome carrying a
wrecked version will not spread even
if the organism becomes resistant to
the gene drive. M ichaelLePage
7/25/2019 New Scientist - June 18, 2016
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12 |NewScientist |18 June 2 016
Andy Cogh lan
TH E w orldsfirstm onkey
genetically engineered to have
Parkinsonsdisease hasbeen
created by researchersin Japan ,
N ew Scientist can reveal.O ther
m onkeyscreated aspartof
the sam e projectm im ic
Alzheim ersdisease and m otor
neuron e disease.
While m any scientistsw ere
encou raged by the possibility of
gaining uniqu e insightinto hard-
to-treatbrain disorders,the new s
w illalarm thosew ho feelitis
w rong to use prim atesin research
(seeLeader,page 5).
Than kstoourcloseevolutionary
history,thebrainsofprim atesare
farm oresim ilartooursthan those
ofthem ice,fliesan dw orm sthat
currentlydom inatebrainresearch.
M arm osets,forinstance,haveone
partner,severaloffspringan d
m akeeyecontactw itheachother.
Lackofpublicsupporthas
lim itedprim ateresearchin
EuropeandtheU S.M ost
neu rologicalresearchinthese
countriesfocu sesonm icebutit
islim itedinitsscope.Forex am ple,
hundredsofcom pou ndsthat
show edprom iseinm icew itha
versionofAlzheim ershavefailed
com pletelyw hentheyaregivento
peoplew iththedisease.
InJapan an dChina,opposition
ism utedbycom parison.Lastm on th,H ideyukiO kan oat
theKeioU niversitySchoolof
M edicineinTokyorevealedhis
team sm arm osetm odelof
ParkinsonsattheStateofthe
Brainm eetinginAlpbach ,Austria.
Th eteam m odifiedm arm osets
tohavem utatedcopiesofa
hum angenecalledSN CA,w hich is
linkedtoParkinsonsdisease.
Whenthisgeneisfau lty,aprotein
calledalph a-syn ucleinbuildsup
inthebrain,disruptingan dthen
killingthebraincellsthatm ake
dopam ine,asign allingchem ical
vitalform ovem ent.
Inthethreeyearssincethe
engineeredm arm osetsw ereborn,
theydevelopedParkinson s
sym ptom sinthesam ew ay
peopledo.Thisbegan w ithsign s
ofsleepdisturbanceintheirfirst
year,follow edbytheappearance
ofa-synuclein-associated
globules,kn ow nasLew ybodies,
intheirbrainstem sthenextyear.
Bytheirthirdyear,them onkeys
began toshow thecharacteristic
trem orsassociatedw iththe
condition.A sfurthereviden ceof
how sim ilarthesem onkeysareto
hum answ ithParkinsons,O kan o
show edthattheirtrem orscou ld
beeasedbygivingthem L-D O PA ,
adruggiventopeoplew ith
Parkinsonstom akeupforthe
lackofdopam ine.
Withthesediseases,itsvery
difficulttoinvestigatew hatshappen inginlivingpeople,so
know ledgeofthebraincircuits
responsiblearem ostly
uniden tified,saysO kano.H is
team hopestow orkoutthekey
neu ralcircuitsdam agedateach
stageofthem onkeysdecline.
Wehopetofindw aystopredict
theonsetofeach sym ptom ,
and develop drugsto slow dow n
disease progression ,he says.
InChina,thereare40breeding
com paniesw hichtogetherhave
250 ,00 0cynom olgusm onkeys
and40 ,00 0rhesusm acaquesthat
couldbeusedforscientific
research,saysM u-M ingPooofthe
ChineseA cadem yofSciencess
InstituteofN eu roscience,an d
leaderofagovernm ent-funded
plan fora15-yearnationalbrain
projectalsoinvolvinggen eticallym odifiedm on keys.O kan osays
thatJap an alsohascolonies
hou singarou nd1000 m arm oset
Itsgettingm orean dm ore
difficultforneu rosciencelabsin
theWesttodoresearch onnon-
hum anprim ates,saysTerrence
Sejnow skioftheSalkInstitutefor
BiologicalStudiesinLaJolla,
California,an dco-organiserofth
StateoftheBrainm eeting.H e
hopesthatresearcherscan
produceaglobalbrain
program m ethatw illbring
togethertherespectivestrengths
ofteam sfrom arou ndthew orld.
N oteveryoneishappyw iththi
kindofprim ateresearchbeing
carriedoutatallregardlessof
w hereinthew orlditisbeing
done.Therew illbem anyinthe
scientificcom m unityw ho,like
m e,w illbeveryconcernedbythi
research,saysV ickyRobinson,
chiefexecu tiveoftheU KN ationa
CentrefortheReplacem ent,
Refinem entandRedu ctionof
Anim alsinResearch.The
availabilityofm onkeysan dless
stringentregu lationsarepoor
reasonsforjustifyingtheuseof
theseanim alsinresearch w her
theresnoguaranteethatthe
resultsw illtran slatetohum an s
an ym oreeffectivelythan ifthe
scientistsusedotherspeciesor
technologies,shesays.
M akingG M m onkeysm eans
youcanstudycom plex
behavioursoverlongertim e
span s,saysRogerBarkerattheU niversityofCam bridge,w ho
research esfetalcelltreatm en ts
forParkinsons.Buthecau tions
thatm od ifiedm onkeysare
unlikelytoan sw erallofour
question s.M osthum anbrain
diseasesdontoccurbecauseof
singlegen edefects,saysBarker.
Becauseofthis,hesaysthat
m onkeysgivenfau ltyversionsof
onlyonegen ew illprobablybeof
onlylim itedclinicalrelevanceto
eachofthesediseases.
M o n k e y s c re a te d
w ith P ark in s o n s
GETTY
IM
AGES
B y t h e ir t h ird y e a r, t h e
m o n k e y s b e g a n t o s h o w
t h e c h a ra c t e r is t ic tr e m o r so f t h e d is e a s e
Primate b rains are similar to ou rs
T W
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18 June 2 016 |NewScientist |15
A FARAWAYp lanetlocked in a
closedancew ithitsstarism aking
itspartnerspinfaster.Theorbital
w altz,w hichm irrorsthatofEarth
an ditsm oon,couldbethebest
labyetforstudyinghow plan ets
affecttheirstarsandviceversa.
Astronom ersusingthe
H un garian-m adeAutom ated
TelescopeN etw ork-Sou th
Exoplan etSurveyspottedthebig,
gassyw orldaroundastardubbed
H A TS-18,w hich isalm ostiden tical
in sizeand tem peratureto our
sun .Itsso close to the starthat
itorbitsinjust20 hours.
KaloyanPenevofPrinceton
U niversityan dhiscolleagu es
noticedthestarw asspinningtoo
fastforitssizean dage,m eaning
som ethingw ascau singittorotate
faster.Theyfou ndthattheplan et
ism ovingeverclosertothestar,
speedingitupthrou gh aprocess
know n astidaldissipation(arxiv.org/abs/1606.00 848).
The opp osite happ ensin the
Earth-m oon system :the m oon
ism ovingaw ayfrom Earthand
Earthsspinisslow ingdow n,w ith
daysgraduallygettinglonger.The
pronounced effectin H ATS-18
m eans researchersw illbe able
to usethesystem tostudytidal
dissipationelsew hereinthe
cosm os,from distantstarsystem s
totheinteractionofJupiterandits
m oons,saysPenev.
n c e s t o r o f a ll b a c t e r ia s p e n t
it s t im e in a h o t b a t h
THE ancestor of all bacteria may have had sophisticated
enzymes 3.4 billion ye a rs a g o ju s t 6 0 0 m i lli o n y e a r s
a f te r t h e o r ig i n o f li fe o n E a r th . T h a t s a ls o a b o u t a b i llio n
y e ars b e fo r e m a n y p e o p le t h o u g h t t h e e n z y m e s e vo lv ed .
M o d e rn e n z y m e s fit t h e m o le c u le s t h e y re ac t w it h
lik e a lo c k t o a k e y . In c o n t ra s t, t h e e a rlie s t e n z y m e s
w e re s lo p p i e r a n d le s s s p e c if ic .
N o w R ein h a rd S te rn e r a t t h e U n iv ers it y o f R e g e n s b u r g
in Ge rm an y an d h i s c o lle ag u e s h av e lo o k e d at a n e n z y m e
c a lle d t ry p t o p h a n s y n t h a se .It a id s t h e c re at io n o f a n
a m in o a c id c r u c i al to b a c te r ia , ar ch a e a, p la n t s a n d f u n g i,
s o a f o r m o f it h a s p ro b a b ly b e e n a r o u n d f o r a lo n g t i m e .
T h e y fe d t h e g e n e s eq u e n c e s th at co d e fo r th e e n z y m e
in m o d e rn b a c te ria an d a rc h a e a in t o a c o m p u t e r p r o g ra m
t h a t s e ar c h e d f o r s im i la ri ti e s . T h e y t h e n r an s i m u la t io n s
o f w h a t th e D N A s e q u e n c e m ig h t h a ve b e e n b e fo r e th e
g r o u p s s p lit . T h e te a m re c o n s t ru c t e d t h e m o s t p r o b a b le
s e q u e n c e a n d i n s e r te d t h e g e n e i n t o E .co lic e lls , w h i c h
c h u r n e d o u t a n e n z y m e t h at b e h av ed m u c h lik e t h e
m o d e rn v ers io n s (CellChe m icalB iolog y, d o i .o r g / b jz k ) .
T h e e n z y m e k e p t it s s tru c tu r e u p to ab o u t 7 0 C.
Y o u c a n in f e r w it h s t ro n g c o n f id e n c e th a t t h e o r g a n is m
liv e d i n a h o t e n v i ro n m e n t , s ay s M a th ie u G ro u s s in a t
t h e M a s s ac h u s e t ts In s t it u t e o f T e c h n o lo g y . T h is ad d s
w e ig h t to h y p o t h e s e s ab o u t th e fir s t b a c t e ria liv in g i n
h o t w a te r, h e a d d s .
P la n e t s c lo s e d a n c e s p e e d s s t a r s s p in
B o n e h o r m o n e
r e j u v e n a t e s m u s c le
WIN D backtheclock.Wevefou nda horm one thatcan rejuvenate
the m usclesofelderly m ice.
O steocalcin a horm one
secreted by bonebooststhe
abilityofm usclestoburnfuel
andgenerateenergy,G erard
KarsentyofColum biaU niversity
an dhiscolleagu esdiscovered.
Whentheteam injectedthe
horm oneintooldm ice,the
anim alsw ere able to run justas
farastheiryoungercou nterparts,
despitebeing up to a yearolder
a longtim einm ouseyears.
O ldm icethatdidnotreceive
thehorm oneranabouthalf
asfar(Cell M etabolism,D O I:
10.1016/j.cm et.20 16.05.004).
Itw asextrem elysurprising,
saysKarsenty.
O steocalcinlevelsdeclinew ith
ageinbothm icean dhum ans,
an dtheteam now plan stotest
w hetherthehorm on ecan
im provem usclefunction in
peopletoo.
S p a c e e le v a t o r s
c a n t w o r k
BYE-BYE,spaceelevator.Carbon
nanotubesarefam edforbeing
super-strong.Butjustoneout-of-
placeatom seem senough tocut
theirstren gthbym orethan half.
Th atm eanson eofthem ore
outlan dishapplicationsaspace
elevatorbetw eenEarthan da
satellitem igh tbedoom ed.Fen gD ingoftheH ongKon g
Polytech nicU niversityan dhis
colleagueshavesim ulatedcarbon
nanotubesinw hichasingleatom
isoutofplace,creatingakinkin
thetube.Theyfou ndthekinkacts
asaw eakpoint,easilysnap ping
thenorm allystrongbonds
betw eenthecarbon atom s.O nce
thishappen s,thebondsinthe
adjacenthexagonsalsobreak,
unzippingtheen tiretube(ACS
Nano,doi.org/bjzj).
7/25/2019 New Scientist - June 18, 2016
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16 |NewScientist |18 June 20 16
Fo rnew storieseveryday,visitnew scientist.com /new
Froggystyleinthe
heatofthenight
HOP on,hop off. Th e frog Kama S u tra
jus t got u pdated . An Indian nigh t
frog has been caug ht in a new sexu al
position d ub bed the dorsalstradd le.
Sathya bh ama Das Biju at th e
University of Delhi a nd his team
spe nt 4 0 night s filming th e sex
lives of B om bay nig ht frogs
(N y c tib a t r a c h u s h u m a y u n i
) in a
fores t in th e W es tern G hats in India.
They have now spotted the seventh
known m ating p osition in frogs.
M a ny frogs d o it dogg y st yle ,
w ith a m ale on top of a fem ales back.
The new position is a va riation of
this, but t here is no contact between
the s ex organs .Inste ad, w hen a
m a le straddles a fem ale, spe rm is
releas ed on he r back.The fem ale
the n lays here ggs and the spe rm
trickles down to fertilise the m .
It was une xpected,says D as B iju.
The team observed other
unusual behaviours in these frogs.
In addition to m ale m a ting calls ,
w hich are ty pical in all frogs , they
found that fem ales occasionally
initia te d calls whe n they couldnt
m ake contact with a vocal m ale
(P e e r
, DO I:10.77 17 /pee rj.211 7).
Ry an Taylorat Salisbury
University, M aryland, w ho studies
frog courts hip, th inks t hat t he
successive release ofsem en and
egg s is p articularly interest ing.
This be haviourapp ears to be
unique and it is unclearhow orwhy
it evolved,he says .
A llsetforlargestindoorw eathertest
N EX T m onth, the Biosp here 2
glas sed-in ecosyst em in the Arizona
dese rt w ill start the largest -ever
expe rim ent to study how waterm oves through the landscap e.
The p rocess ofwe athe ring
underlies everything in an
ecosystem .All the calcium ,
potass ium and m agnesium we eat ,
forex am ple , origina tes from rocks,
says Jean D ixon, a geom orphologist
at M ontana S tate University in
B ozem an.Chem ical we athe ring is
the first t hing y ou nee d in order to
form a habitable planet ,she says .
B ut we st ill know little about it.
Th at s wh ere Bios phe re 2 com e s
in.The e xpe rim e nt will begin with
three hills weighing 500 ,00 0
kilogram s each, m ade from crus hedbasalt a volcanic rock tha t w ill be
exp osed to sim ulate d rain.
The hills are studded with m ore
than 180 0 em bedded sensors, which
m e as ure everything from carbon
dioxide levels to watercontent .
Eventu ally, plants will be added, too.
The tea m hopes this w ill faithfully
sim ulate weathering at real-world
scales unlike previous lab studies
tha t gave different result s to thos e
obse rved in natu re.
A SM A L L p ilo t p ro ject in Icelan d
h as sh o w n th at carb o n d io x id e
can b e safely sto red in b asalt ro ck s.T h e fin d in g co u ld b e u sed to h elp
tac k le clim ate ch an g e,es p ec ially
in co u n tries su ch as In d ia th at
h ave little sed im en tary ro ck o f th e
so rt reg ard ed as b est fo r sto rin g
CO2b u t lo ts o f b asalt ro ck .
T h e team fo u n d th at w h en CO2
d isso lved in w ater is in jected in to
h o t b asalt d eep u n d er g ro u n d ,
it rap id ly r eacts w ith th e ro ck
to fo rm carb o n ates.Fo r
p erm an en t sto rag e,th is is th e
u ltim ate in safety, say s team
m em b er Ju erg M atter at th e
Un iv ersity o f So u th am p to n in
th e UK .Carb o n ate m in erals arereally st ab le.
In jectin g CO2in to b asalt is
slig h tly m o re ex p en siv e th an
o th er sto rag e m eth o d s,su c h as
p u m p in g i t in to d ep leted o ilan d
g as reservo irs.It also req u ires a
lo t o f w ater.B u t o n th e p lu s sid e,
o n ce it tu rn s to sto n e,th ere w i ll
b e n o n eed to k eep ch eck in g it h as
stay ed p u t (Science,d o i.o rg /b jw q ).
Its n o t n ecess ary to tu rn CO2to
sto n e to sto re it secu rely,say s
Jo h an n es M io cic at th e Un iversity
o f Ed in b u rg h ,UK ,b u t u sin g
m eth o d s lik e th is c o u ld ease
fears ab o u t safety an d so b o o stp u b lic su p p o rt fo r carb o n cap tu re
an d sto rag e.
T h e m ain p ro b lem ,h o w ever,
is cap tu rin g th e CO2,w h ich co sts
far m o re th an sto rin g i t.B ecau se
o f th e co sts,su ch tech n o lo g ies
are u n lik ely to catch o n u n less
g o vern m en ts eith er p ay fo r th em
o r in tro d u ce a carb o n p rice h ig h
en o u g h to fo rce co m p an ies to
cap tu re th eir CO2w aste.T h ere
seem s t o b e little ap p etite fo r
eith er ap p ro ach at th e m o m en t.
CO2injectedundergroundturnstorockandstaysthere
A lienlifecouldlurk
underdeepice
SOM E p lan ets aro u n d o th er stars
co u ld h ave life h id d en u n d er
lay ers o f w eird h ig h -p ressu re ice,
in o cean s far d eep er th an Earth s.
Ex trem e p ressu res can create
u n u s u alfo rm s o f ice rarely seen
o n Earth .T o in vestig ate w h at th is
m ean s fo r o th er p lan ets,Len a
N o ack at th e Ro y alO b servato ry
o f B elg iu m an d h er c o lleag u es
m o d elled ro ck y w o rld s w ith very
d eep o cean s.
T h ey fo u n d th at o n a p lan et
w ith Earth s m ass,a lay er o fh ig h -
p ressu re ice can fo rm in o cean s
ab o u t 170 k ilo m etres d eep m o re
th an 15 tim es th e d ep th o f th e
lo w es t p o in t in E arth s o cean s.
Given am p le h eat fro m th e
p lan ets in terio r,w ater can rem ain
liq u id u n d er th e ic e lo n g en o u g h
fo r life to tak e h o ld .T h e m o d elw o rk s fo r p lan ets u p to 10 Earth
m asses (Icarus,d o i.o rg / b jx k ).
Su ch m o d ellin g is sp ec u lative ,
b u t co u ld ap p ly to w o rld s w i th in
o u r so lar sy stem . N o ack n o tes th at
Ju p ite rs m o o n Gan y m ed e h as a
lo t o f w ater as a p ro p o rti o n o f its
m ass,far m o re th an Eart h d o es.
D ep en d in g o n h eat fro m th e
in te rio r,it s p o ssi b le Gan y m ed e
co u ld h ave h ig h -p res su re ic e
co ver in g a liq u id lay er,an d N o ack
p lan s to ap p ly h er m o d els th ere.
SD
BIJU
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Drive across Europes second largest
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shades ofblue you neverknewexisted in
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howaneruption 8000 years ago
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18 |NewScientist |18 June 20 16
IN A U G U ST 20 14,th e B ritish
pu blic w ere grip ped by th e story
of A shya Kin g,a 5-year-old bo y
w ho h ad a form ofbrain cancer
called m ed u llob lasto m a.H e w as
rem oved from h ospitalby h is
parentsw ith ou tth e consentor
kn ow ledge ofh isd octors.
A n in tern ation alhu n t
w a s sparked w h en itw as realised
th ey had taken A shy a abroad in
th e h op e ofgettin g h im h igh -
en ergy proton beam th erapy
(PB T),a typ e of rad iotherapy
u n available in th e U K.
Like so m any p arentso f
ch ild ren w ith b rain can cer,B rett
and N aghm eh Kin g w ere w orried
abo u tth e sid e effects of X -ray-
based radioth erapy an d h ow
th is cou ld affecth is fu tu re
develop m ent.Scou rin g th e w eb
for altern atives,th ey d ecid ed th at
PBT w o u ld pu tA shya atlow errisk.
So th ey setofffor a PB T centre in
Pragu e,on ly to b e jailed in Sp ain
for over 24 ho u rs w h ile en route.
A few d ays later,a U K cou rtru led
th atA shya cou ld receive treatm en t
atth e Proton Th erapy C entre in
Pragu e,w h ich w as even tu ally p aid
for by th e U Ks N ation alH ealth
Service.Fastforw ard tw o ye ars
and A shya isn ow w elleno ugh
to atten d sch oo l.M ean w h ile,tw o
PB T centresare schedu led to op en
in the U K in 20 18.A lth ou gh m ore exp ensive
th an co n ven tion alrad iotherapy,
th e pu sh forp roton sisb ased on
th e id ea th atth ey cause less
collateraldam age .Proto n s can
be p rog ram m ed tod eliverth eir
en ergy in ap ow erfu lp u n ch at
w ell-d efin ed p o in tsw ithin a
tum ou r.In co n trast,X -raysp ass
th rou gh tu m ou rsan d irrad iate
n earby h ealth ytissu es.
Yetthed atain su p p o rtof
p roton therap y,esp eciallyfor
m edu llob lasto m a,is
contentiou s h ence th e N H Ss
relu ctan ce to send A shy a abroad
for treatm en t,som eth in g ith as
don e foron ly asm allnum berof
peop le since 20 0 8.So w hatisth e
eviden ceto sup po rtproton so ver
X -rays?A n d ifits so scan t,w h y the
glob alp roton d rive?
M e dica l a rm s ra ce
Proton therapy h asb een u sed
on a sm allscale for decades.B u t
recen tly th ere h as been a surge in
in terest,stoked by th e m edia an d
techn icaladvan cesth atm ean a
10 0 -m illion p article accelerator
th e size of a foo tba llfield is n o
lon ger th e on ly op tion .Tod ays
m ach in es can costas little as
15 m illion .
Itis estim ated th atw o rldw ide
th ere are 43 h igh -en ergy p roton
beam centres.B y 20 18 th at
n u m ber w illrise to 6 6 ,in clu din g
th e tw o N H S centresb ein g bu ilt
atthe C h ristie h osp italin
M an chesteran d U n iversity
C ollege H osp italin Lo n do n .
B oth w ere app roved in 20 11at
a co m bin ed co sto f250 m illion .
A cco rdin gtoasen io rN H Sad viser,
th ego vernm en td ecid ed togo
ah ea d w iththecen treso n the
basisofthep h ysicsofh ow X -ray s
an d p roton sb eh averath erth an
an yco n vin cin gclin icald ata.
In th e U S,w h ere th ere are
u p w ards of 20 cen tres,critics
h ave d escribe d th e situ ation
as a m ed icalarm srace,w ith big
h o sp italseach w an tin gtheirow n
sh in yp ieceo fkit.
Th econ trov ersyarisesbecau se
thereislittleu n d isp u ted d atato
su p p orttheid eathatthem o re
ex p en sive p roton saresign ifican tly
betterthan con ven tion al
rad io th erapy in term s o fo verall
p atien tsu rvival.In fact,for10 years
orm ore,severalstud iesh av e
attem p ted w ith ou tm u ch su ccess
toform u lateaco st-ben efitan alysis
ofp roton sfora range ofcancers.
B u tith asntb een p ossible to
set u p ran d o m ised clin icaltrials
cap ab leofcom p arin gp roton s
w ith X -rays,esp ecially for rare
ch ild h oo d can cers.In p art,th is is
because parents often in form ed
by m ed ia coverage can be
relu ctan tfor th eir ch ild to m iss
ou to n w h atthey seeas a sup erior
treatm en t,saysR ichard G ru n dy at
th e U n iversity o fN ottin gh am ,U K.
M u ch ofthe eviden ceis th erefore
based on w eakerdata provided by
oth ertyp eso fstu dy.In 20 12,fo rin stan ce,a review
ofP BT for centralnervou s system
tu m o u rs,gastroin testin al
m align an cies,lu n g,head an d
n eck,prostate an d p aed iatric
tu m ou rsp rodu ced m ixed
results w ith n o clear ben efit
over con ven tion alrad iotherapy,
exceptp erh aps fortum ou rsin
children s n ervo u s system s
( a d io t h e r a p y O n c o lo g y ,do i.
org/b jq3).A n d arev iew th isyea r
fou n d thatfor11of15ch ild h ood
can cerstherew aslittleev id en ce
tosu ggestp roton sw erean ybette
th an X -rays( n t e r n a t io n a l Jo u r n a
o f R a d ia t io n O n c o lo g y B io lo g y
P h y s i c s
,doi.org/b jq 4).B u tn ow astu dyh asp rov id ed
thefirstev id en cethatPB Tm igh t
in d eed be w orth itfor child ren
w ith m edu llob lastom a.Itw asn t
a ran d om ised trialb u titfollow ed
ch ild ren w h oh ad o n eofthetw o
treatm en tsforaro u n d seve n
years,an d h as been d escribed
LY T Y
T he rus h for protonsH as p ro ton b eam radio therapy b een p rematu rely cast as ag ame-ch an g in g can cer treatmen t, asks Steve Connor
AM
ELIEBEN
OIST/BSIP/SCIEN
CE
PH
OTO
LIBRARY
Su rvival rat es are s im ilarbut proton propone nt ssa y t here are few er sideeffects than w ith X -rays RE
U
TERS/DAVID
W
CERN
Y
Ashy a got the rapy in Pragu e-
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20 |NewScientist |18 June 2 016
O T
Dont tolerate thisA deadly catch-22 is fuelling the pres cription opioid epidem ic inthe US.Tim e to confront it, says Samanth a Mu rph y
H O W d id A m e ric a s p r o b le m w it h
o p io i d p a in k i lle r s g e t s o b a d ?
S i n c e 1 999, s a le s o f p r e s c r ip t io n
o p io i d s h a v e n e a r ly q u a d r u p le d ,
a n d c lo s e t o 20 0 ,0 0 0 p e o p le in
t h e U S h a v e d i e d a f t e r o v e r d o s in g
o n t h e m , w h i le r e la te d e m e r g e n c y
h o s p i t a l v is it s n u m b e r a lm o s t
40 0,0 00 a y e a r . In 20 14 a l o n e ,
c lo s e t o 20 ,0 00 d ie d o f a n
o v e r d o s e , a c c o r d in g t o a n
e d it o r ia l in t h e jo u r n a l JA M A .
It d o e s n t h a v e t o b e t h is w a y .
T o o m a n y U S c it iz e n s a p p e a r
t o s tr u g g l e w it h p a in , p ills a n d
p h y s ic a l d e p e n d e n c e . A m o n g
t h e m w a s m u s ic ia n P r in c e ,
w h o r e p o r te d ly h a d c h r o n ic h ip
p a in . W e n o w k n o w h e d ie d a g e d
57 o f a n a c c id e n t a l o v e r d o s e o f
f e n t a n y l , a p r e s c r ip t io n o p io id
m a n y t im e s m o r e p o t e n t
t h a n h e r o i n .
T h e b a c k d r o p t o t h is s o r r y s to r y
is a h e a lt h c a re f ie ld t h a t h a s m a d e
h u g e p r o g r e s s i n a w a r e n e s s a n d
id e n t if ic a t io n o f c h r o n ic p a i n ,
le a d in g t o a d r a s tic in c r e a s e i n
d ia g n o s e d c a s e s . A c c o r d i n g t o a
20 1 1 s tu d y b y t h e U S In s tit u t e o f
M e d ic in e , e a c h y e a r m o r e t h a n
30 p e r c e n t o f A m e r ic a n s b a t tle
s o m e f o r m o f c h r o n i c p a in .
It s ta n d s t o r e a s o n t h a t
d o c to r s h a v e b e e n f ig h t in g t h is
w it h p a i n k i lle r s . S u r e , t h e r e a r e
o t h e r t r e a tm e n t s s u c h a s ta lk i n g
t h e r a p ie s a n d a c c e p t a n c e a n d
c o m m it m e n t th e r a p y (w h i c h is
e x a c tly w h a t it s o u n d s lik e )
b u t it m a k e s s e n s e t h a t t h e s in g le
m o s t e f f e c tiv e r e m e d y h a s b e e n
p a i n k ille r s . It is p e r h a p s h a r d ly
s h o c k in g t h a t t h e m o s t p o t e n t o f
t h e s e , t h e o p io i d s , a r e n o w a m o n
t h e m o s t c o m m o n ly p r e s c r ib e d
m e d ic a tio n s i n t h e U S .
A n d in t h e a b s e n c e o f a f ix
f o r t h e u n d e r ly in g c a u s e o f
p a in , t h e p ills n e e d t o k e e p
c o m in g . U n f o r t u n a t e ly , t h e
r e p e a t e d u s e o f a n o p io i d w ill
Slow revolutionIfpioneering flight is no longerabout shrinking
the world, what is it for, wondersPau lMarks
W H E N p i lo t s Jo h n A lc o c k a n d
A r t h u r B r o w n b e c a m e t h e f ir s t
t o f ly a p la n e n o n -s to p a c r o s s t h e
A t la n t ic 97 y e a r s a g o , in c e n t iv e s
in c lu d e d a 1 0 ,0 00 p r iz e p u t u p
b y t h e o w n e r o f t h e D a ily M a il
w o r t h a b o u t 1 m illio n t o d a y .
S u c h c o m p e t it io n s s p u r r e d
in n o v a t io n a n d h e lp e d u s h e r in
t h e g l o b a l a v ia t io n s y s t e m w e
h a v e n o w , w h ic h h a s u t t e r ly
t r a n s fo r m e d o u r p l a n e t .
A t t e m p t s to s e t flig h t r e c o r d s
s till g o o n t o d a y b u t a r e le s s a b o u t
c a s h p r iz e s , a n d c e r ta i n ly le s s t o d o
w it h s h r in k i n g t h e w o r ld . M o s t
p r o m in e n t a m o n g t h e s e is t h e
S w is s -le d a t te m p t t o c ir c le t h e
g l o b e in t h e s u n -p o w e r e d a i r c r a ft
S o la r Im p u ls e 2. T h is , t o o , is a b o u t
t o c r o s s t h e A t la n t ic , b u t w ill t a k e
f iv e d a y s r a t h e r t h a n t h e 1 5 h o u r s
A lc o c k a n d B r o w n c lo c k e d u p .
W it h 1 7,0 00 s o l a r c e l ls o n w in g s
a s b r o a d a s a ju m b o je t s a n d h a lf a
t o n n e o f lit h iu m b a t te r ie s t o s t o r es o la r p o w e r a n d k e e p it s fo u r
p r o p e l le r s t u r n in g a t n ig h t , it s
e f fe c t iv e l y a n o u t s iz e d , m o t o r is e d
g lid e r w it h c r a m p e d r o o m f o r o n e .
It is n o p r o t o - a ir lin e r . In s t e a d ,
it s p o t e n t ia l f o r s p a r k in g a n e a r -
t e r m r e v o lu t io n lie s in m o r e
e f f ic ie n t e l e c t r ic m o t o r s a n d
b a t t e r ie s w it h h ig h e n e r g y d e n s it
t h a t c o u ld f ir s t h e lp t r a n s fo r m lif
o n t h e g r o u n d , a s w e t r y t o s h a k e
o f f f o s s il-f u e l d e p e n d e n c e a n d
s e e k m o r e e f f ic ie n t w a y s t o s t o r e
s o l a r e n e r g y f o r u s e a t n ig h t .A s t h e p la n e s c r e a t o r s s t a t e ,
e v e r y o n e c o u l d u s e t h e s a m e
t e c h n o l o g i e s o n t h e g r o u n d t o
h a lv e g lo b a l e n e r g y c o n s u m p t io n
B u t p u s h in g t h e lim it s o f e le c t ric
f lig h t w a s n e v e r g o in g t o b e e a s y .
S o la r Im p u ls e 2s jo u r n e y b e g a n
in A b u D h a b i b a c k in M a r c h 20 15.
It s g r e a t e s t f e a t c a m e t h a t Ju n e ,
w h e n it fle w 720 0 k i lo m e t re s f o r
f iv e d a y s f r o m Ja p a n t o H a w a ii,
w in n in g e x h a u s te d p ilo t A n d r
B o r s c h b e r g a w o r ld r e c o r d f o r t h e
Eve ryo ne could u se th e
sam e techn olog ies on the
grou n d to ha lve glob al
ene rgy con sum ption
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18 June 2016 |NewScientist |21
Clare W ilson
AN OT H ER w eek,anotherstudy
casting d ou bt on a ntide pressants.
T his on e says that forch ildren and
tee na ge rs w ith m ajor de pression ,13
of the 14 drugs an alysed d on tw ork.
Previou s resea rch sug ge sts that
for adults too ,the Prozac class of
an tide pressa nts selective se roton in
reu ptake inh ibitors is no be tter tha n
a placebo ,atlea stfor peo ple w ith m ild
or m od erate d ep ression .Co nfusingly,
otherresea rch find s the se drugs do
w o rk for ad ults w ith m ajor de pression .
What is go ing on ? Itis difficultfor
studies to draw firm con clusion s
un less resea rche rs have access to
allthe trialdata.Lastyea rw hen
G laxo Sm ithKline relea sed fulldata on
on e of its studies in teen ag ers,the
rate o fside effectssuch as suicida l
thou ghts w as m uch higherthan had
initially ap peared.
D espite this,the nu m be rof
prescriptions w ritten for these d rugs
rises every yea r.In the po orestareas of
the U Ka stagg ering on e in six pe op le
is taking them .A ntide pressan ts can b e
life-saversforth ose w ith severe
de pression bu tthey are b eing dishe d
ou ttoo e asily for pe op le w ith e veryday
sadne ss,say critics.Ifthe drugs do so
little g oo d,w hy are the y so p op ular?
Fam ily do ctors,w ho w rite m ost of
the prescription s,m ay fee lthe y have
little else to o ffera patientsitting in
fron to fthem .U K gu ide line s say that
talking therap ies shou ld be the first
option forpeo ple w ith m ild d ep ression ,
bu titcan take overa yearto get seen.
M an y patien ts fee lthe se drug s
are he lpful.H ow eve r,a large parto f
this cou ld be the placeb o effect,
psych iatristJoan na M on crieffo f
U niversity Colleg e Lon do n w arne d a
m ee ting o fthe U Ks A ll-Party
Pa rliam en tary G roup for Prescribed
D rug D epen dence in M ay.
O ne factor be hind the grow ing
acceptance of antide pressant use
cou ld b e the w ide spread b elief
prom oted b y the irm an ufacturers
that the d rug s correcta chem ical
im ba lan ce in the brain.Th ey are said to
w ork by rep len ishing leve ls of the fee l-
go od chem ical,seroton in.Th is
probab ly isnttrue.While the drug s do
bo ost serotonin,there is no p roo fthat
low leve ls cau se d ep ression.In fact,
tho ugh the ories ab ou nd,w e stilldon t
know w h attrigg ersd ep ression .
A ntidep ressants do chang e how w e
fee l,in a w ay thatso m e find helpful
and others do nt.B ut that do esnt
m ean the y are correcting a chem ical
im ba lan ce.M an y pe op le find alcoh ol
he lps the m relax,bu tthats no t
be cau se its correcting an alcoh ol
deficiency in theirb rain.
T he che m icalim ba lan cem yth
could e ncou rage som e p eo ple to take
the drug s w ho w ou ldn to the rw ise.
Itis a de cision thatsho uldn tb e taken
ligh tly,since an tide pressa ntsca n have
do w nside s includ ing w ithd raw al
sym p tom s,loss of sex drive an d
w eigh tga in.M o stalarm ingly,in a
few pe op le the y trigg er violen to r
suicida lthou gh ts.
Th e lateststud y sugge sts thato f
allthe an tide pressan ts,one called
ven lafaxine w as the m ost likely to
m a ke tee nagers suicida l(The Lancet,
doi.org/bjzh ).Prozacw a sdeem edto
bethe m osteffective .B uttheau thors
com p lainedthatthe ycouldntproperly
assesssom eofthe drugsbecau seof
alackofdata.
Sothetruebalanceofriskve rsus
benefitw illprobablyonlyem erge
w he nind ep en de ntrese arche rscan
accessallthedatafrom clinica ltrials
som ethingdrug m an ufacturersare
stillresisting.
Why take depression
pillsifthey donthelp?
T etet
PETERDAZELEY/GETTY
B itter pill
The chemical imbalancemyth could encouragesome people to take drugswho wouldnt otherwise
For more opinion articles, visit newscientist.com/opinion
almost inevitably cause problems.In a cruel twist, tolerance to
opioids painkilling and euphoriceffects happens rather quickly,
unlike tolerance to toxic effects.In other words, every doseincrease because its not workingas well raises the risk of overdose.It is impossible to predict who willdevelop tolerance most rapidly.
And because people stay on topof their pain by taking more pills,it becomes harder to stop or onlytake them when needed; physicaldependence threatens withdrawalsymptoms similar to those ofheroin users, such as diarrhoea,insomnia and vomiting. That
means those in pain are driven totake the medication regularly,whether needed for pain or not.
Unliketolerance and physicaldependence,addiction is less ofa risk. In fact, true addiction onlyoccurs in a small percentage ofpeople. So referring to those withprescription opioid problems asdrugaddicts is bothmisleadingand stigmatising.
Sure,theriskofaddiction isreal,but it isnt the biggest problem.
Tolerance is where the dangerbegan, and where doctors need tofocus more attention to stem thisincreasingly deadly epidemic.
Samantha Murphy is a science writer
based in Pennsylvania
longest-duration fixed-wing flight.Celebrations were short-lived.
Postflight analysis found thebatteries lost storage capacityafter overheating. New ones were
sent outand tested, groundingtheprojectuntil April 2016.This may have been overcautious:once the overheated batteries hadbeen returned to Germany, saysBorschberg, engineers discoveredthey could easily have flown on.
No matter: this global flight isnot about speed but the politics ofenergy. Its a slow revolution buta welcome one.
Pau lMarks is a freelance science writer
based in London
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22 |NewScientist |18 June 2 016
T O L O Y
M
B a b y b io m e t ric s
A d e v ic e t h a t s c a n s t h e f in g e r p r in t s o f in f a n t s c o u ld h e lp m a n a g e
c h ild re n s h e a lt h c a r e b u t m a k e s s o m e u n e a s y , s a y s
Aviva Rutkin
JU ST 6 h o u r s o ld . T h ats t h e ag e
o f o n e p artic ip an t i n a r ec en t
stu d y lo o k i n g at w ay s t o tak e t h e
fi n g e rp r in t s o f i n fa n t s . T h e
p at te rn i s t h e re at b i r th , s ay s
A n il Jai n at M ic h i g a n State
U n iv er sit y i n E as t L an s in g . B u t i t
is h ard to c ap tu re.N o w Jain an d
h i s c o lle ag u e s a re d ev elo p i n g a
d ev ic e th a t co u ld b e u p to th e task .T a k in g fi n g e rp r in ts fr o m v er y
y o u n g ch i ld r en even n ew b o r n s
is p ar t o f a d riv e i n d e velo p i n g
c o u n t ries to m o n it o r t h e h ealt h
o f i n f an t s, w h o o ft en lac k
o th er fo rms o f id entificatio n .
A b i o m e tr ic s y s te m , su c h as a
n ation al fin gerp r in t d atab ase,
cou ld allo w clin ic ians to m atch a
c h i ld w i th t h e ir v ac c in e sc h e d u le
o r h e lp w o r k e rs k e ep r ec o r d s o f
w elfare services,say s Jain .
V accin ation s are first given at
ab o u t 1 m o n t h ,so th ats w h e n w e
w o u ld lik e t o u s e b i o m e tric s fo r
recog n ition p u rpo ses, he says.
Jain also th in ks th at takin g
in fantsfin gerp r in ts cou ld h elp
fin d m issin g ch ild ren o r reso lve
c as es in w h i