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WORLD’S OLDEST CITY
Could Liangzhu be the
true cradle of civilization?
LIFE UNDER A RED SUN
Nearest star system to ours
may be habitable after all
WONDERFUL WASPS
Just like bees,
but with terrible PR
WEEKLY March 21–27, 2020
C O R O N AV I R U S S P E C I A L
Introducing
our new podcast:
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guests to include:
In the Big Interview you get to sit down with special
guests who have had a particularly big impact on science
or culture, and you get to hear their stories.
We havve prepared a stellar line up of inspirational voices,
from award-winning novelist Philip Pullman to Nobel-
Philip
prizewinning biologist Venki Ramakrishnan. Pullman
The big
This week’s issue
MYSTERIES OF
THE HUMAN BR AIN
Explore the intricacies of the most complex object in the known
universe with the latest issue of New Scientist: The Collection
Testing times
We will understand this pandemic only when we have more data
ABRUPTLY, the world is in lockdown. not least because coronavirus is so the close contacts for 14 days so that
Many of the countries that aren’t notably different from flu. they could figure out if any were
there yet will be there shortly. We will understand this pandemic infected. Those were the measures that
In the UK, advice to stay at only when we have more data. That is stopped transmission in China, not the
home and government restrictions why, as countries scramble to boost big travel restrictions and lockdowns.”
have arrived more slowly than in their intensive care capacity, they should There are hard days ahead. Aylward
neighbouring nations. That has sparked also listen to the advice coming from the explains that lockdown is the hard part,
criticism from a number of scientists and effectively isolating all covid-19
outside the government science “Many people are doing cases is the really hard part. Our feature
advisory team. Such disagreement everything they can to limit the on the race for a vaccine (see page 44)
has been confusing for a public so spread of this virus and support reinforces the fact that there will be no
often encouraged to trust the experts, the most vulnerable people” quick or neat solutions to this crisis.
especially in the middle of this We are all adjusting to our new lives
pandemic. Who do they trust when World Health Organization to “test, test, in the time of the coronavirus, but signs
the experts disagree? test”. As WHO assistant director general of strong community spirit are already
The fact is: no one knows what Bruce Aylward tells us in this issue emerging. Many people are doing
the correct course of action is. (see page 8): “To actually stop the virus, everything they can, not only to limit
Epidemiologists have a saying: [China] had to do rapid testing of any the spread of this virus, but also to
“If you’ve seen one pandemic, suspect case, immediate isolation support the most vulnerable people
you’ve seen one pandemic.” of anyone who was a confirmed or in their communities. This is a war in
We are in an entirely novel situation, suspected case, and then quarantine which we really can all do our bit. ❚
BEING
HUMAN
Take a step back from the everyday
chores of being human to tackle the
big – and small – questions about our
nature, behaviour and existence.
UK government advice is
to avoid all non-essential
contact and travel
21
Number of new, confirmed
cases in China on 16 March
were all hit by SARS. Similarly, if Is that why it has been so bad How effective is closing schools? of transmission? We know that
you look at Canada, it had a big in Italy, because the population That’s a tough one. The data it probably won’t reduce the
SARS outbreak back in 2003, with is older? [on this is] for a different number of sick people very much,
hundreds of cases. We are not sure. I saw some disease – it’s for flu. Kids get because not many kids get sick.
[These countries] saw the data from the north [of Italy] these rip-roaring flus, and the But what we don’t know is, are
devastation a coronavirus can that suggests around one-third whole classroom gets sick. The kids getting infected and we just
cause – they jumped right on it. of cases are being managed at kids get their families infected. can’t see it? And if they are, are
home. Some of the milder cases Parents have to stay at home they carrying it back to their
Why has the case fatality rate just aren’t being tested and families? Even there we don’t
been lower in South Korea than officially diagnosed. That’s part “Lockdown is the hard part. have a lot of data to suggest that
in other countries? of the problem. Making sure cases are kids are infecting their families.
It has a relatively young The second is the older effectively isolated is the So as a result, countries have
population. The population population. The third is it is really hard part” done things differently.
aged over 65 in South Korea is also very early in their outbreak,
something like 14 per cent – half and that can sometimes be where with the kids, and then they get There is a chance that when cases
that of Japan and much lower than you see higher mortality among sick, go to work and infect others. decline in countries and restrictions
Italy. A case fatality rate of around older people, and it distorts the But one of the curious things loosen, we will see more infections.
1 per cent – close to what we are picture. with [covid-19] is that we have What happens then?
seeing in South Korea now – is not seen school outbreaks. I talked China decided that it cannot
what we see in a young population. What do you think of the UK, to my colleagues in South Korea, afford to wait for cases to go to
But the case fatality rate has been which hasn’t been taking as strong in China, in Italy, everywhere – no absolute zero – not knowing if
creeping up over time. The thing measures as some countries? one has seen school outbreaks. they ever will – so it decided to
that I would remember, even right People have different reasons They have seen situations where strengthen its whole system
now in South Korea, is that [the for taking different measures at a teacher is infected and they so that it could live with the
fatality rate] is still tenfold higher different times in an outbreak. have infected kids, but that is disease if it had to. It is building
than seasonal flu. Chris [Whitty, chief medical different to the kids all getting additional capacity to isolate
adviser to the UK] is one of the each other infected. people, and it is building
A covid-19 testing booth brightest, most sensible and careful When you talk about school additional ventilators. It is
outside Yangji hospital in people I know. I’m not going to closures, you want to know, is planning to be able to manage
Seoul, South Korea second-guess anybody at this time. it going to reduce the intensity low-level disease and prevent
large outbreaks. It’s a very
sensible way to plan.
ED JONES/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
enzymes called proteases, which Lipid membranes stuff we really don’t have a firm
first cut themselves out of the grasp on,” says Letko.
polyprotein, and then cut out In the immediate future,
other proteins, freeing them understanding these proteins may
to carry out their functions. not help us slow the outbreak, but
“When you interrupt that, it could help us build antiviral
the virus cannot replicate,” says drugs in the future. ❚
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News
Conservation
Shrinking Amazon
Weak law enforcement may be behind record deforestation levels
Adam Vaughan
Health
Type 1 diabetes symptoms. “A child diagnosed cells and there were also signs stronger immune attack tended to
before the age of 5 is likely to have that the pancreases were better be under the age of 7, while those
may come in two a more severe form of disease at making insulin. diagnosed at 13 and up usually
different forms than someone over 30,” says The team then looked at blood fell into the category of people
Sarah Richardson at the University samples from 171 people who whose pancreases contained fewer
THERE could be more kinds of of Exeter, UK. had been diagnosed with type 1 immune cells. Those aged between
type 1 diabetes than we thought, To find out why, she and her diabetes before they turned 30, 7 and 12 when diagnosed could fall
a finding that might lead to colleagues looked at 32 pancreas and found they seemed to fall into in either category (Diabetologia,
changes in treatment. samples from young people with the same two categories. People doi.org/dpvj).
In type 1 diabetes, the immune diabetes who died in the 1950s. whose type 1 diabetes involved For now, “the outcome is the
system attacks the pancreas cells They found two distinct categories. poor insulin production and a same: both need insulin. But they
that make the sugar-regulating In the first, some pancreases didn’t may have got there through a
hormone insulin. appear to make insulin properly “The two groups both different pathway”, says Richardson.
The age someone is diagnosed and experienced a stronger immune need insulin. But they may In future, she thinks they may need
with type 1 diabetes seems to system attack. In the other, the have got there through a different treatments. ❚
be linked to the severity of their samples contained fewer immune different pathway” Jessica Hamzelou
AI nudges guests
and staff to cut
Stellar flares could make
hotel energy use Proxima b more habitable
Frederick O’Brien Abigail Beall
AN ARTIFICIALLY intelligent AS IT orbits the small red This causes the production of and many of the Earth-sized
eco-assistant can persuade hotel dwarf star Proxima Centauri, hydroxide in the atmosphere, exoplanets discovered in recent
guests and staff to reduce electricity the nearest system to ours, an which reacts with methane to years are orbiting them.
use by up to a third. exoplanet called Proxima b is create carbon dioxide and water. “This is good for planets such
My Green Butler is a cloud-based pummelled by nearly constant That process limits methane as Proxima Centauri b, but not
system that monitors equipment stellar flares and cosmic rays. in the atmosphere, which necessarily for those closer to
connected to the internet and gives Until now, it was thought these could otherwise absorb solar their star,” says Abel Méndez
regular, environmentally friendly might be damaging to potential radiation and lead to an anti- at the University of Puerto Rico
tips, such as suggesting guests life, but new research suggests at Arecibo. Yet for those in the
switch off air conditioning units at
night or recommending that they
take shorter showers.
the flares could actually help
make the planet more habitable.
Markus Scheucher at the
85%
Stars in the Milky Way that are
sweet spot, stellar flares might
not be a bad thing after all.
“There are other possible
Via computers, tablet devices or Technical University of Berlin red dwarfs, like Proxima Centauri good things about flares,”
printouts, the system also advises in Germany and his colleagues says Méndez. “For example,
staff to modify behaviour, such as modelled how energetic greenhouse effect, cooling the they might provide enough
lowering the temperature in rooms particles from stellar flares and planet as it would be unable to energy to create basic molecules
when they aren’t in use. The more cosmic rays would affect the trap heat from the star (arxiv. necessary for the origin of life.”
the system is used, the more temperature of Proxima b. org/abs/2003.02036). A study in 2018 found that
tailored its recommendations Because it orbits such a This type of cooling happens UV light from stars could help
become, allowing it to feed back on small star, Proxima b only gets in our own solar system. For form precursors to RNA, a
what actions have the most impact. 65 per cent of the energy that example, Saturn’s moon Titan process called abiogenesis.
“Encouraging people to follow we receive from our sun, despite has a methane-rich atmosphere, Yet detecting life on a planet
suggestions is much easier than orbiting at one-twentieth of the where 90 per cent of the energy that is four light years away, like
going up to them and saying, distance that we do. from the sun is absorbed in Proxima b, would be tricky. Still,
‘Save the planet’,” says Christopher “An otherwise likely too cold the upper atmosphere, so it it is possible life could adapt to
Warren, founder of My Green Butler, planet could actually experience doesn’t reach the surface. these conditions, and any life in
which is based in Australia. habitable surface temperatures The study provides a new the exoplanet’s potential oceans
The system has been trialled at if [it] is actually Earth-like and is way to think about planets would be more protected.
10 sites across the UK, Australia, frequently bombarded by stellar orbiting active stars like Life on Earth is thought to
and France, including at two energetic particles,” he says. Proxima Centauri. Red dwarfs have moved from oceans to
Disneyland Paris properties. Last The stellar flares, along are the most common stars in land about 450 to 400 million
month, My Green Butler reported with cosmic rays, batter the the universe, making up 85 per years ago. This step might not be
that its technology can lead to planet with hydrogen nuclei. cent of those in the Milky Way, possible for planets around red
20 per cent cuts in gas use and a dwarfs like Proxima Centauri
33 per cent decline in electricity use. due to the hostile surface
Guests can choose whether they environment maintained
want to use the system, and an by flares, says Méndez. “If life
estimated 5000 people have opted is limited to the oceans, this
in so far. Response to the AI has might also exclude intelligent
been largely positive, with only one life capable of technology.”
of the 10 trial sites reporting people For example, they wouldn’t
opting out. be able to make fire, he says.
Elaine Weidman-Grunewald at When looking at wavelengths
the AI Sustainability Center, a think of light absorbed by molecules
tank in Sweden, says that the hotel in the planet’s atmosphere,
assistant “shows great potential to methane and carbon dioxide
be an environmental helper”, but might mask signs of water,
that caution is needed over data making it potentially harder
collection, storage and use. to detect signs of life, he says. ❚
ESO/M.KORNMESSER
THE ancient human species Heel bones suggest that When they measured two
Australopithecus afarensis may Australopithecus afarensis A. afarensis heel bones, they
have been the earliest hominin could have run if necessary calculated that the species
to run on two legs. Although it might have had an Achilles’
had relatively short, ape-like legs, She and Jeremy DeSilva tendon that extended more
A. afarensis may have had shared at Dartmouth College in New than halfway up its calf, just as
a musculoskeletal feature with Hampshire focused on the we do (The Anatomical Record,
modern humans that enables Achilles’ tendon, a band of doi.org/dprh). For comparison,
us to run efficiently. tissue connecting the calf chimpanzees – which can’t run
P. PLAILLY/E. DAYNES/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
Conventional thinking muscles to the heel. well on two legs – have an Achilles’
is that early hominins like Modern humans have a long tendon that stretches barely
A. afarensis – the species to which Achilles’ tendon that extends higher than the ankle.
the famous Lucy fossil belonged – more than halfway up our lower “Currently, I think A. afarensis
walked on two legs long before leg. It stretches when we run to
they could run. Lucy was an
ape-like bipedal hominin seen
by some as a likely direct ancestor
store elastic energy that it then
releases explosively. This helps
us to use 35 per cent less energy
35%
The running efficiency gained due
of the earliest species of human. when running. “A long Achilles’ to the human Achilles’ tendon
Some evidence places the tendon is helpful for efficient
origin of bipedal walking more should have had some ability walking, but it is especially is the earliest hominin for which
than 10 million years ago. But to run when faced with a predator, critical for efficient running,” we have good evidence for some
many researchers think it was for instance. says McNutt. of the key adaptions necessary
only with the appearance of the McNutt looked for evidence Tendons rarely fossilise. But for modern human-like running,”
human genus Homo, between of running ability in A. afarensis, by studying the shape of the heel says McNutt.
2 and 3 million years ago, that because this species appeared bone in humans and 11 other But we know there were
hominins began to run. about 3.9 million years ago living primates, McNutt and earlier bipedal hominins, such as
Ellison McNutt at the University and disappeared a million DeSilva discovered that the size Ardipithecus. McNutt says as we
of Southern California thinks years later, about the same of one part on the rear of the learn more about these species, we
the story is more complicated time as the first humans, heel bone scales with the length might conclude that even earlier
than that. Some earlier hominins such as Homo habilis, evolved. of the Achilles’ tendon. hominins were also born to run. ❚
Solar system
Comet 67P’s hidden immediately identify this chemical. The discovery could also help what proportion of the early planets
Olivier Poch at the University explain how some of the solar were made of solids like comets and
nitrogen may solve a of Grenoble Alpes in France and his system’s giant planets formed: asteroids as opposed to gas.
solar system puzzle colleagues compared the properties measuring how much nitrogen Ammonium salts are important to
of that light with that of light they have and comparing it with the chemical reactions that form the
COMETS appear to have 10 times bounced off artificial asteroid dust the amount in comets could reveal amino acids that living organisms
less nitrogen than they ought to, in the lab. This contained dust if comets made up young planetary are made from, as well as the
based on our understanding of how grains similar to those known to cores, says Kathleen Mandt at Johns building blocks of DNA, says Poch.
they form, but a finding from comet exist on 67P, as well as various Hopkins University in Maryland. “There is a tantalising scenario
67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko other compounds. There was “It could be valuable information in which you can imagine that if
might reveal how they have been a close match with ammonium for understanding how the ice comets such as 67P fell on the
hiding this element. salts, which contain nitrogen and giants formed and how many early Earth and the ammonium salts
The European Space Agency’s hydrogen (Science, doi.org/dprs). comets might be in there,” she says. dissolved in water, you may have
Rosetta spacecraft orbited 67P This could help explain where the That would help us understand had all these prebiotic reactions
between 2014 and 2016. Analysis missing nitrogen is. happen,” he says. If that did occur,
of the light bouncing off the comet The team found similar “Nitrogen-rich comets could comets could have been important
revealed that some compound observations from asteroids, which have made up planetary not only to the formation of planets,
was absorbing light from its means these rocks could also have cores and may help explain but also to the evolution of life. ❚
surface, but researchers couldn’t such salts on their surfaces. how giant planets formed” Leah Crane
NOR T HE RN S P A IN Departing:
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News In brief
Animal behaviour
Exoplanets Botany
This means the side facing It seems likely that iron rain is diverse plants in the world,” says
towards Earth is too dark to be present on this world, says David Scalabrin, making it vulnerable to
seen by telescope, but a small Armstrong at the University of climate change, pests and disease.
amount of starlight filters Warwick, UK. Gege Li Jason Arunn Murugesu
destruct when their colony is competitor’s toxins and made These bacteria spent an hour
attacked by other microbes, but the strain turn green when it is building up their own toxin,
the reason was unclear. Now it preparing to self-destruct and before bursting open and firing
seems they sacrifice themselves pink when it actually does so. the toxin at the enemy, probably
to save their relatives. The researchers placed a colony to help the rest of the colony
This is rare in nature because it of the modified bacteria in a dish survive (bioRxiv, doi.org/dprb).
usually contradicts an individual’s next to enemy bacteria – a This makes evolutionary sense,
Strokes now less evolutionary drive to survive and different, unmodified strain as bacteria often live in colonies
deadly in London reproduce. However, many types of E. coli – and watched them. of identical clones, says Granato.
of bacteria do self-destruct when The modified E. coli on the front “It’s like they’re helping their
Rates of death and attacked by rival bacteria. line, closest to the enemy bacteria, own genes by killing themselves,”
disability caused by To try to understand why, Elisa received a direct hit of the toxins she says. Alice Klein
stroke have dropped by
nearly a quarter in the Archaeology Genetics
past 16 years in south
London. The change is
probably due to faster Half of US would sell
hospital treatment and their gene data
better longer-term care
and rehabilitation (PLoS A SURVEY of people in the US has
Medicine, doi.org/dpqs). found that 50 per cent would hand
over their genetic data for $95.
Fish favour small Forrest Briscoe at Pennsylvania
robot guardians State University and his colleagues
asked more than 2000 people, a
Salmon seem to prefer representative sample of the US
small robots to larger ones, population, about the use of their
which could help guide how genetic data. They watched a
we automate fish farms. In 3-minute video detailing both the
a test with a human diver, commercial value of genomic data
A J E PRYOR
In fact, it isn’t answering non-GM plant varieties don’t first approved in France are
anyone’s questions. record how those varieties removed from its national
“We have raised a lot of were created. catalogue. Non-GM plants
questions with the government,” French authorities would have approved in one member state
says Emmanuel Lesprit from to track down the breeders of each are automatically added to the
the French Seed Union, which variety and ask them, she says. EU’s common catalogue. If France ▲ Minor planets
represents seed companies And the breeders might not even withdraws varieties it approved, Astronomers have
and plant breeders. “We have know, because they often use it isn’t clear if other member states discovered 139 more
no answers.” plants created by other groups can keep growing them. trans-Neptunian objects,
as a starting point. One way to resolve this issue or minor planets, making
What’s more, even if these would be to change the 2001 GMO Pluto even less special.
A variety of opinions varieties could be identified, directive, which many researchers
Kastler says the decision applies there is no way for retailers in have already recommended should ▲ Right to repair
to “random mutagenesis in vitro”, France to know if food they import happen. In November 2019, Screen smashers rejoice!
that is, mutating cells rather than from other countries derives from The European Commission
working “in vivo” on whole plants, the varieties in question. And is planning legislation
and the only examples he knows
of are herbicide-resistant crops.
Petra Jorasch of Euroseeds
in Brussels, a non-profit
if shops in France stop selling
some of these products, they
will be breaching EU rules.
“It would violate the treaties
8
Number of anti-GM groups
to make it easier to get
your phone fixed.
even if they are grown elsewhere countries could soon face the
in the EU or outside the EU. It same conundrum as France.
isn’t clear if France can or will The UK probably won’t be one
attempt to enforce this. of them – Brexit means it is likely
Implementing the ruling to diverge from EU legislation.
means identifying which varieties “There’s an opportunity for the UK
PIERE BONBON/ALAMY
N 35%
EARLY 29 per cent of those working
in science and technology careers have
experienced discrimination of some
kind at work, according to this year’s STEM
Survey. This is higher than the average figure
for UK workers, but may indicate that people Percentage of women working
working in science are getting better at in STEM who say they have
experienced discrimination
recognising and calling out discrimination.
The STEM Survey 2020, conducted by
New Scientist in association with recruiter
SRG, takes a look at the science job market.
It brings to light some positive news: that This sentiment was echoed by participants
careers in science are long and fulfilling that New Scientist spoke to in more detail. One
despite the turbulent economic times. But it young scientist in the UK said: “I don’t think
also examines the challenges STEM workers that the actual incidents have increased. I think
face, including workplace discrimination. it has become clearer what is acceptable and
The survey reached nearly 3000 people what is not. And because of #MeTooSTEM and the same amount of hours in excess of our
employed in STEM, mostly in the UK plus a other movements, the people who have been business hours. From then on, I was told that I
small number in other countries. As well as affected find it easier to speak out and seek had made the choice myself of NOT advancing
asking them what sorts of discrimination appropriate support.” my career.”
they had encountered, it also gave people Perspectives differed a little in North Part-time workers were also more likely
the chance to write about their experiences. America, where one postdoc said: “Since to face discrimination, especially on the
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment movements like #MeTooSTEM, people are basis of gender. This might partly account
of different categories of people. It is against more aware, but in my experience, this leads for the 20 per cent gender pay gap that the
the law in the UK to discriminate on the basis to more jokes about being ‘extra sensitive’.” survey also identified. About 9 per cent
of a person’s age, sex, gender, race and other When respondents were asked about the of women were working part-time versus
protected characteristics. type of incidents they had faced, gender-based 3 per cent of men. Women are more likely
Surveys tend to suggest that about a quarter discrimination came up most often (see “On in general to reduce their working hours
of all workers in the UK have experienced some what grounds?”, right). In fact, women were due to family commitments.
form of discrimination, which is in line with more likely than men to experience With most of our respondents based in
last year’s STEM Survey. It might seem bad that discrimination of any kind: 35 per cent of the the UK, it was possible to build a picture of
the figure has come out higher in this year’s women surveyed said they had, compared with which parts of the country experience the
survey, but there is a caveat. As the 2020 survey 22 per cent of men. most discrimination. The areas with the
asked respondents about their whole careers, Of the men who felt that gender had played highest incidence were Northern Ireland and
the incidents they reported didn’t necessarily a role in discrimination they faced, many talked Yorkshire. Different areas also had different
take place within the past year. The increased about their experiences after having children. profiles in terms of the kinds of discrimination
figure could therefore reflect a growing One academic from Switzerland said: “For experienced there. In Northern Ireland, for
awareness of what constitutes discrimination me, it all started when I became a father example, a large proportion of discrimination
and a greater confidence in reporting it. and therefore I was unable to keep working was based on sexuality. Until January 2020,
SECTOR DIFFERENCES
The percentage of respondents that had experienced
discrimination in different employment sectors
University/education
35%
Medical/clinical
32%
30%
30%
27%
Industry
SEB OLIVER/CULTURA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
26%
ON WHAT GROUNDS? same-sex marriage was banned in Northern working longer and have had more time
Ireland, whereas it was legalised in Great to come across such situations. But the
We asked those respondents who had experienced
discrimination the principal characteristic for which
Britain more than five years ago. The survey trend didn’t hold with 55 to 64-year-olds,
they had been unfairly treated also revealed which employment sectors only 30 per cent of whom felt they had been
Gender appear to have the most discrimination discriminated against. It seems, then, that
(see “Sector differences”, above). those people aged 45 to 54 are experiencing
36%
When it comes to company size, you might more discrimination than other age groups,
Race think that when there are more employees, it for reasons that aren’t clear.
is easier to get away with bad behaviour. That Ultimately, however, it seems that
14%
isn’t necessarily so. One manager in a small discrimination isn’t what the majority
Age medical devices firm told us: “I realised that of people in STEM are most worried about.
11% there are no or not enough checks to prevent Whether or not they had experienced
any kind of discrimination. You just have to discrimination, it didn’t significantly affect
Disability rely on the personality and moral compass of their priorities when moving jobs. For both
4% the individual and that is not enough.” In fact, those who had and those who hadn’t, an
the survey found no sure correlation between increase in pay and interesting work were
Sexuality company size and discrimination. their top proirities.
2% What about younger people? Only 17 per
cent of 20 to 24-year-olds surveyed said they
Other
had experienced discrimination. In contrast, To browse thousands of
33% 43 per cent of 45 to 54-year-old respondents jobs, search online for
UK respondents (rounded to the nearest whole percentage)
said they had. It is easy to assume this can New Scientist Jobs
SOURCE: NEW SCIENTIST/SRG/2020 SALARY SURVEY be explained by age: older people have been
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Comment
P
EOPLE are keener than But the findings from this study Consider biodiversity, for and narrow. Our review, published
ever to make ethical, and similar ones are too simplistic example. The variety of life on in Nature Sustainability, shows
environmentally friendly and ignore important positive Earth is an incredibly important that organic farming’s strengths
food purchases. But a spate of bad aspects of organic farming. We factor in the health and resilience and environmental benefits are
press about the environmental have analysed such studies and of ecosystems. But worldwide, often overlooked by the current
impact of organic produce may found that the method they often it is in decline – insect and bird research, and simply claiming that
leave some people scratching use doesn’t give the full picture. populations are being decimated, organic farming is worse for the
their heads. Known as a life cycle assessment something that has been environment is misleading.
The debate about this is (LCA), this approach simply relates repeatedly linked to the damaging The current use of LCAs needs to
contentious. Critics say organic environmental impacts to the practices of intensive farming. be improved and integrated with
farming is less efficient than amount of product harvested from Organically managed land, other environmental assessment
conventional farming, and so a given area of land. Looked at this however, has been shown to tools. Only then will consumers
uses more land, leading to greater way, intensive farming is often support biodiversity levels get a more balanced picture. ❚
deforestation, which causes more efficient, since its yields are around 30 per cent higher than
higher carbon dioxide emissions higher. But this doesn’t properly conventionally farmed fields.
and biodiversity loss. A recent address all environmental aspects. It might be argued that the
paper followed this logic to find Such assessments fail to land saved through conventional
that going 100 per cent organic in fully account for the role of farming could be reserved for
England and Wales would raise land degradation, biodiversity biodiversity and CO2 absorption. Christel Cederberg is at Chalmers
JOSIE FORD
these emissions by up to 56 per decline and pesticide impacts But the relationship between University of Technology, Sweden, and
cent. The claim made headlines . of intensive agriculture. agricultural intensification and Hayo van der Werf is at INRAE, France
Is your salad going to kill you? Plants need nitrates for good
growth, but they can also accumulate in leaves of crops like rocket.
So are foods like this safe to eat, wonders James Wong
E
ATING healthily can be results of animal studies are often This has led some researchers to
tricky, especially for avid a poor guide to what will happen now go as far as to suggest that
followers of the latest food- in people. Furthermore, feeding the naturally occurring dietary
related headlines. Even fare touted lab rats heavily nitrate-laced water nitrate from vegetables “should be
as a superfood one day can be isn’t exactly a great proxy for our considered as a nutrient necessary
vilified as a cancer risk the next. salad consumption. Studies that for health, rather than as a
Perhaps nowhere is this more the look for a relationship between contaminant”. That’s fighting talk.
case than in recent claims about real-world behaviours in people So does all this mean that public
rocket, a salad leaf. (such as tracking actual nitrate health officials who moved to
James Wong is a botanist and It is “at the centre of cancer consumption) and health are limit nitrate intake in the past
science writer, with a particular concerns”, said one story, a strong generally considered far better got it wrong? Not necessarily.
interest in food crops, accusation to level at a humble evidence. So what do these show? While the new evidence of
conservation and the leaf. The claim hinges on high One of the most comprehensive potential health benefits of
environment. Trained at the levels of nitrates that rocket reviews of this type of evidence, dietary nitrate is intriguing,
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, he contains. Is there any clear conducted by China’s Fudan it isn’t an effect that has been
shares his tiny London flat with evidence to back it up? No, not University, reported no clear shown universally across all trials
more than 500 houseplants. when you dig a bit deeper into the positive association between and most of these studies are
You can follow him on Twitter complex findings around this. overall cancer risk and nitrate relatively short term, so we lack
and Instagram @botanygeek Nitrates are naturally occurring data for the long-term effects. It is
mineral compounds that plants “It is important to perfectly possible that the same
need for healthy growth. These remember that, compounds at low levels may be
are drawn up from the soil and beneficial, but harmful at high
in science, not
become concentrated in the leaves ones. Indeed, if dietary nitrate is
James’s week in some species. It has long been all evidence is one day considered a nutrient,
What I’m watching known that rocket is a particularly created equal” this would hardly be surprising,
Swamp Thing on Netflix. potent accumulator of these as many nutrients, such as
Embarrassing, I know. substances. So what is the issue? intake. In fact, in the case vitamin A, are also toxins in
But, seriously, its hero Well, from the late 20th century, of gastrointestinal cancer a too high a dose.
is part-human, we started becoming concerned slightly lower risk was observed, In all the relevant studies
part-botanist. Can that nitrates might pose a health particularly in the group whose used for setting nitrate limits, the
you blame me? hazard. This was largely about their consumption was the highest. authors went to great lengths to
presence in drinking water as a When it comes to looking for point out the limitations of their
What I’m reading consequence of fertiliser that links between intake of nitrate-rich data, as well as highlighting that
Mountains of academic washes off farmland and their vegetables, such as rocket, beets the benefits of eating fruits and
journals, as per usual. use as food additives, for example and spinach, and broader health vegetables far outweigh any
to preserve processed meats. outcomes, results are encouraging. downsides of their nitrate content.
What I’m working on Those worries were sparked by For example, the University of One more point: the existing
A new TV series and experiments that involved feeding Plymouth, UK, reported that limits on nitrate in foods aren’t
podcast, both about large quantities of nitrates to rats, vegetarians, who can consume meant to warn consumers off
plant science. Having which suggested a raised risk of three times the average amount of eating crops like rocket, as some
a great time. conditions such as stomach cancer. dietary nitrate, tend to have a headlines imply, but are more a
Based on these findings, lower cardiovascular disease risk. guide to farmers to signal when
legislation was brought in decades What’s more, since the original they should change practices to
ago by the likes of the World cancer-link research in rats, many help reduce nitrate levels.
Health Organization and the human trials in the past decade The bottom line of all this?
European Union to limit nitrates have shown dietary nitrate in Eat your veg. Following standard
in food to what were considered the form of vegetables can have dietary advice to aim for diversity
safe levels. Given nitrates are in significant health benefits, will avoid the risk of having too
rocket, the rules applied to it too. including reduced blood pressure, much of one type of fruit or veg.
How strong was the evidence which is statistically associated There is so much more we need
This column appears on nitrates though? It is important with a far lower risk of dying from to uncover about nitrates, but for
monthly. Up next week: to remember that, in science, not cardiovascular disease, and even now, we can say your salad isn’t
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein all evidence is created equal. The improved athletic performance. going to kill you. ❚
NOR T HE RN S P A IN Departing:
18 May 2021
7 September 2021
human origins
Step back more than 10,000 years to discover how our ancestors played, lived and
worked. Travellers will go from torchlit tours of several historically renowned caves to
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These seven days will give you extraordinary insight into our forebears.
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Views Aperture
Photograph Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter
Agency NASA
Gege Li
Editor’s pick
Flaws and a ray of hope
in pandemic policy
29 February, p 7
From Colin Bargery,
Ottery St Mary, Devon, UK
It seems very likely that, to slow the
spread of covid-19, many people
will be encouraged to self-isolate.
This policy poses risks to local food
banks and similar aid organisations.
Hungry people may go to food
banks and come into contact with
others who could be in a poor state
of health. At the time of writing,
those on zero-hour contracts –
whose employer has no obligation
to provide minimum working
hours – may have no money to
buy necessities, even if they have
a friend who can shop for them.
They are well-represented among
food-bank users.
A self-isolation policy assumes
that people have both the financial We aren’t smiling at this in certain jurisdictions worse – as every language that uses the
and the social capital to survive for a result of legal professionals and Latin alphabet uses that keyboard
work on expressions
two weeks. Many visitors to the juries taking this so-called expert arrangement. As someone who
food bank with which I am involved 15 February, p 44 testimony at face value, and that touch-types, I frequently put
have neither. From Sam Edge, there are offenders at large spellcheckers to the test when
Ringwood, Hampshire, UK because they were discounted visiting customers in France and
From Alan Bundy, Edinburgh, UK Emma Young’s article on facial using the same reasoning. Germany, where some keys aren’t
The measures we are being expressions was very interesting. where my fingers expect them.
encouraged to take to avoid I was particularly taken with – From Chris Tucker, Cambridge, UK The sequence of the letters has
covid-19 are equally effective though not surprised by – the Young’s discussion of facial never been relevant to learning to
against influenza. Will there be implication that the FBI, other expressions was fascinating, not write by hand. Its utility doesn’t
fewer cases of flu this year? agencies and even commercial least for reporting research where disappear even if people mostly
operations may be funding, subjects were asked to match the type. An agreed order is critical for
From Tim Joslin, London, UK and drawing conclusions from, “right” emotion to images of sorting – allowing us to retrieve
You report that, in some countries, questionable practices. These posed facial expressions. But information efficiently. The ABC
many new covid-19 cases can’t be include programmes designed to how good were the posers? sequence is also useful because
traced to their source of infection. train agents to spot signs of fear, I wonder, too, how our reading it maps onto other character
A test exists for the virus itself, but stress and deception in people’s of facial expressions is affected sets, such as Greek and Cyrillic.
is it also possible to deploy one for faces and body movements. by the phenomena of “selfie faces”
antibodies to the virus? Sadly, some law-enforcement and by what I call “TV-reaction From Philip Belben,
Such a test would help detect agencies have form in this. Such faces” that people put on to Nettlebridge, Somerset, UK
transmission chains by revealing organisations spend vast sums on display an expression as if they The principal benefit of traditional
those who have recovered from polygraph “lie-detector” machines were characters in a soap opera. alphabetical order is felt in
covid-19. It would also allow its and on people who claim they can reference material. Although the
morbidity and mortality rates to decipher their output objectively, corpus of reference texts available
The benefits of sorting
be more accurately determined, despite the overwhelming and searchable electronically
simply by randomly sampling the evidence that false positives are stuff in alphabetical order grows ever larger, many of us
population of an infected area. common and false negatives are Letters, 29 February find that the text we want isn’t
easy to induce (25 May 2019, p 18). From Kathy Nelson, available, or is very expensive
The editor writes: They present probabilistic DNA Reading, Berkshire, UK compared with a paper copy.
We have since reported online and fingerprint evidence as Why not change the order in In these cases, the index – and
that many labs are trying to develop incontrovertible fact, and so on. which we teach the alphabet to sometimes the body of the work –
tests for the antibodies (6 March, I have no doubt that innocent the QWERTY keyboard layout, is arranged by the traditional
newscienti.st/NS-tests). people have been incarcerated – or Linda Phillips asks. Well, not alphabet, which anyone who
STUDIO CANAL
two heroes while she was growing her to work in his lab after a series with radioactivity,” says Satrapi.
up in Iran around the time of the of rejections by other scientists. The film presents a slide show
Iranian Revolution; the other was In later scenes, she says: “I have of historical objects so absurd it
French writer Simone de Beauvoir. been selfish my entire life,” and is difficult to believe they existed:
Satrapi decided to base her “I just want to do good science.” radioactive matches, chocolate, lined with radium-infused clay.
film on the visual biography The couple married in 1895, toothpaste, beauty powder, There were early intimations
Radioactive, Marie and Pierre and the film takes us through the cigarettes and so on. that radiation could be used to
Curie: A tale of love and fallout research that would lead to their Like the film’s Marie Curie, shrink tumours, but its adverse
by Lauren Redniss, which was joint 1903 Nobel prize in physics. who lies in bed cradling a luminous health effects were unknown.
adapted by screenwriter Jack green vial, the public was Marie Curie kept vials of materials
Thorne. Drawing on the feel of the Marie Curie was the captivated by radium’s glow-in-the- in her pockets and desk drawers.
graphic biography and building a first person to win dark properties. “A radium-based Astonishingly, more than a
big picture of the implications of two Nobel prizes paint called ‘Undark’ was applied century later, her notebooks are
the Curies’ work gave Satrapi ideas on everything from doorbells still too radioactive to be handled
she hoped would resonate today. and house numbers to signs in without protective clothing.
The film illustrates what mines, fishing lures, and on eyes “There are those that say my
Marie Curie described as the on toy dolls,” writes Nate Hendley radium is making them sick,” she
“spontaneous luminosity” of in his 2016 book, The Big Con. says in the film. Though troubled
radium, with a print tinged with In 1904, a piece of musical by reports that linked radiation to
a fluorescent palette. Paris, where theatre called Piff! Paff!! Pouf!!! sickness, the real Curie reportedly
much of the movie is set, is bathed took to the boards. It included never fully admitted that her
in a foggy, greenish glow. a “Radium Dance”, featuring research was behind her own ill
HENRI MANUEL (DIED 1947)/PUBLIC DOMAIN
With Rosamund Pike in the dancers in the dark, clad in outfits health. She died aged 66 of aplastic
lead role, the film spans more decorated with radium paint. anaemia, a condition often caused
than a century, from the 1870s to “Other frightening uses of by radiation exposure.
the 1980s. It opens at the end of the element included radium The emphasis on the
Curie’s life, before flashing back condoms, suppositories, and facial consequences of radioactivity’s
to her younger days, starting cream,” writes Hendley. People discovery, both beneficial and
with her first meeting (as Maria were even widely encouraged catastrophic, was essential for
Skłodowska) with Pierre Curie to drink water from receptacles Satrapi. “One question that is very
Then on to Operation Nougat, only breathe so much life into London Games
a series of nuclear tests conducted what are sketches of people. Festival is on from
in Nevada beginning in 1961, and Perhaps this is the inevitable 26 March. More than
the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power result of a struggle, especially 100,000 visitors will
plant disaster. in the case of Marie Curie, to pitch up for the 12-day
Parts of Pierre Curie’s prescient reimagine someone we feel celebration of interactive
Nobel lecture, delivered in 1905, we know so well. entertainment. Play more
are included almost verbatim. “It Yet, in its earnest, imperfect than 400 titles and find
can even be thought that radium manner, the film portrays out how games can be
could become very dangerous a luminary whose legacy good for you.
in criminal hands, and here the remains undimmed. ❚
The robots are back Steel-eyed murderers you can’t help but root for, impossibly
glamorous cities and a plot line that’s a bit more linear than last time – the new
season of Westworld is five-star viewing, says Emily Wilson
Sponsored by
Features
The civilisation
that time forgot
The discovery of a stunning culture in east Asia
that rivals ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia is
rewriting human history, finds David Robson
N
EARLY five-and-a-half millennia ago, seem remarkable. It was only in the 1970s and
a bustling metropolis lay in the delta 1980s that Liangzhu began to generate much
of the lower Yangtze, in what is now greater excitement, beginning with the
China. You could enter on foot – there was a excavation of some cemeteries in and around
single road through the towering city walls – the ancient city.
but most people travelled by boat via an While many of the tombs were rather
intricate network of canals. At its heart, was spartan, with few burial goods, some
a massive palatial complex built on a platform contained hundreds of beautiful jade objects,
of earth. There were huge granaries and including the earliest examples of China’s
cemeteries filled with elaborately decorated iconic cong vessels and delicate bi discs. Many
tombs, while the water system was controlled of these artefacts were engraved with the
by an impressive series of dams and reservoirs. image of a man wearing an enormous, plumed
The inhabitants of this city, known today as headdress, who appears to be riding a large,
Liangzhu, ruled the surrounding floodplains fanged monster – a motif that could represent
for nearly 1000 years, their culture extending a mythical or religious story. The graves also
into the countryside for hundreds of held ceremonial axes, pendants, and plaques
kilometres. Then, around 4300 years ago, the depicting the same mythical figures, which
society quickly declined, and its achievements seem to have been attached to headgear. These
were largely forgotten. It is only within the past kinds of objects had previously been assigned
decade that archaeologists have begun to to much later periods, starting with the Zhou
reveal its true importance in world history. dynasty in 1046 BC, but here they were, in a
Their startling discoveries suggest that 5000-year-old, Neolithic burial place. It was
Liangzhu was eastern Asia’s oldest state-based the first sign that Liangzhu may have been
society, and its infrastructure may even have a complex society, with workers producing
surpassed the achievements of Egypt and costly and time-consuming artwork and a
Mesopotamia, thousands of miles to the social elite rich enough to pay for it.
west. “There’s nothing in the world, from my Later digs, inspired by these discoveries,
vantage point, that is as monumental in terms revealed a huge earthen platform at the heart
of water management – or for that matter, any of the city. It is more than 9 metres high and
kind of management – that occurs so early in covers 300,000 square metres, and appears to
history,” says Vernon Scarborough at the have supported a large palatial complex with
University of Cincinnati in Ohio. One of the buildings made of wood and bamboo, which
biggest chapters in humanity’s story, the birth the researchers named Mojiaoshan. Then
of civilisation, may need to be rewritten. came signs of city walls, more than 20 metres
The first evidence of a lost ancient culture in wide and often accompanied by internal and
the Yangtze delta was uncovered in 1936, by Shi external moats. There was obviously an
Xingeng, who worked at the nearby West Lake abundance of food too: one pit in the city
FARYN HUGHES
Museum in Hangzhou. He named the site contains more than 10,000 kilograms
Liangzhu, after a nearby town. However, the of burnt rice from a local granary.
black pottery artefacts he found didn’t initially Then, in December 2017, a bombshell paper
City of canals
Together, the dams controlled the water flow
in more than 10,000 hectares of land and were
capable of holding back nearly 6.5 billion cubic
metres of water. Carbon dating, plus an
analysis of jade artefacts found near the levees,
suggests that some of these dams were in
operation 5200 years ago, near the beginning
of Liangzhu’s existence. And they were built
to last: the Qiuwu high dam is still in use today.
Besides allowing Liangzhu’s citizens to
irrigate their paddy fields and control
flooding after storm surges, the reservoirs
fed 51 waterways. Made from natural river
courses and artificial ditches, these canals were
about 30 kilometres long in total. “Internal
communication within the town must have
been largely by boat; this was a town of canals
as much as of roads,” noted Colin Renfrew at
the University of Cambridge and Bin Liu at
Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics
and Archaeology in a 2018 paper. Perhaps the
closest comparison is medieval Venice or one
of the “water towns” around Shanghai that
emerged thousands of years after Liangzhu
and that attract tourists to this day.
The canal system was also used to transport
building materials, including timber and rocks,
down from the nearby mountains and into the
city through its eight water gates. Foundations
for the city walls, for instance, appear to come
from mountains to the north. “These stones
were not quarried per se using tools to cause
physical breakage, but collected from the
surface,” says Yijie Zhuang at University College
London, a co-author on the 2017 paper.
While research in Liangzhu continues apace,
discoveries elsewhere in China indicate that the
civilisation’s rise was part of a broader social
and cultural revolution. Recent archaeological
“One of the dams studies show that, starting more than 5000
in operation years ago, many settlements were emerging in
the lower and middle Yangtze regions, in what
5200 years ago is is now Sichuan province and along the lower
Yellow River. Some, including Shijiahe in the
still in use today” middle Yangtze, are large enough to have >
Dams
Dazhe Mountains
Water gates
Palatial
complex
Liangzhu
Tiaoxi river
Land gate
0 2km
SOURCE: DOI.ORG/GF77XT
Artefacts found at
China’s original cultural COPY SUB Liangzhu include
revolution black pottery (far left)
PAGE SUB
Starting more than 5000 years ago, many settlements and jade vessels
arose along the Yangtze and Yellow rivers and in what OK for press (left and below)
is now Sichuan province. Although none was as large
and sophisticated as Liangzhu, they point to an early
culture that is rewriting Chinese prehistory
Neolithic sites
BEIJING
Yellow
River
CENTRAL PLAINS
SHANGHAI
SICHUAN Shijiahe
Liangzhu
MAIN IMAGE AND ABOVE: XINHUA/ALAMY
East China
Yangtze Sea
AGEFOTOSTOCK/ALAMY
Neolithic hydraulic
engineering around
HONG KONG Liangzhu has no equal
in the ancient world
E
VERYBODY loves bees. They are and native pollinators in the UK. Meanwhile, Many people
celebrated for their glorious persecution of the huge but docile European equate “wasps”
honey, cooperative work ethic and hornet, Vespa crabro, continues, fuelled by with these yellow-
commercially valuable pollination services. fear and ignorance, even though its numbers and-black insects,
In a 2019 survey, 55 per cent of respondents are declining. Few people seem to care. but there are over
chose bees as the species they most wanted to But are we judging this diverse group of 100,000 species
save, above the likes of elephants and tigers. insects unfairly? Certainly, our perceptions
How differently we see wasps. These most are ill-informed. There are whole institutes
unwelcome picnic guests have been reviled dedicated to studying bees, while wasp
for millennia. Ancient Greek essayist Plutarch research is in the doldrums. Limited funds
described wasps as degenerate bees. The attract few projects, the results of which are
very word “waspish” summons up ideas of often misconstrued in the press, bolstering
irritability, implying they are quick to anger, an already negative stereotype. In fact, what we
LESSY DOANG/GETTY IMAGES
spiteful and vindictive. And that’s just the have learned about wasps tells a different story.
regular wasp or yellow jacket. Our attitudes Far from being bothersome and vindictive,
to the largest wasp species, hornets, are even they make valuable contributions to
more negative. The tabloids hawk horror ecosystems, the economy and even our health.
stories about how the invasive Asian hornet, Take ecosystem services – a buzz phrase of
Vespa velutina, threatens honey production our time that means the quantifiable >
diseases, including
Polybia paulista
(above), whose venom
can kill cancerous cells
buzzard, among other animals. Subterranean no exception, if bee venom is anything to that causes Chagas’ disease. Further wasp
nests are their preferred targets and, to go by. There is a long tradition of beekeepers venom constituents are being explored as
protect themselves while digging out wasp accidentally (and deliberately) courting treatments for neurological conditions,
grubs, honey badgers have dense shaving- bee stings to get relief from the pain of allergies and cardiovascular disease.
brush bristles on their snouts while honey rheumatoid arthritis. Tests in animals As if all this weren’t enough, wasps can play
buzzards have small, dense guard feathers confirm that administering bee venom a role in conservation too. They are affected by
around their faces. As the defences of predators reduces the severity of arthritis. This may climate change, intensive agricultural practices
have evolved, so too has the potency of wasp work by stimulating the immune system and the same pesticides that are implicated in a
venom to keep them at bay. or increasing the release of corticosteroids, widespread decline in insect numbers. All this
Partly as a result of this evolutionary which quell inflammation. makes them good indicators of environmental
arms race, a wasp sting is a potent weapon. stress, if we can track their fate. In 2017, the
On average, a sting delivers 15 microlitres Big Wasp Survey was launched in the UK to do
of venom – a complex cocktail of bioactive Therapeutic venom just that. It is a citizen science project that aims
molecules that varies from species to species. Being more varied than bee venom, wasp to map the diversity and location of wasps by
It includes histamines to increase blood flow, stings may prove even more useful as a source sampling specimens using traps in gardens all
proteases and lipases to rupture flesh and of medicines. Several active ingredients over the country and comparing year-on-year
blood cells, and neurotransmitters to confuse already show promise. An extract of the numbers of species and individuals.
and overstimulate nerves. Humans may not venom of the large, black Brazilian wasp, Our ignorance about wasps is still vast but,
be the intended target, but a single wasp sting Polybia paulista, for example, disrupts by looking beyond our prejudices, we can see
can raise a welt the size of half a ping-pong and kills cancer cells (in mice, at least) by their potential to tackle some of the biggest
ball. Multiple stings can cause redness, attaching to particular lipid molecules in their problems we face. A wider understanding of
nausea, vomiting, wheezing and confusion. membranes. This extract is one of a class of their diversity (see “What is a wasp?”, far left),
If you receive over 100 of them, you should wasp venom components called mastoparans. life histories, ecologies and behaviours is long
seek emergency medical help: there is no Even more promising is another type of overdue. It is time we stopped demonising
antivenom, but dialysis can remove the mastoparan. It latches on to specific lipids too, wasps and learned to love them. ❚
toxins from the blood before significant organ so could be used to rupture cell membranes
damage occurs. The average adult would be in targeted body tissues, either to destroy
lucky to survive 1000 or more wasp stings. cells or to create portals for pharmaceuticals Richard Jones is a London-
Paradoxically, however, venoms often have to get into them. It also shows encouraging based entomologist and
medical applications. Although little research antibacterial and antiviral qualities, and writer. His book, Wasp, is
has been done on wasp venom, it is likely to be inhibits the development of the parasite published by Reaktion Books
will, for the first time, have identified a new system, which can be polysaccharides (sugars),
“The fastest we disease and developed a vaccine against it proteins or a combination of these, called
while the initial outbreak is still ongoing. a conjugate. These subunits are made by
have cranked But speed can come with downsides. producing the right sugars and proteins in
“We could have a vaccine in three weeks, large vats using engineered bacteria or yeast,
out a vaccine but we can’t guarantee its safety or efficacy,” then painstakingly removing impurities.
says Gary Kobinger, a virologist at These key vaccine types have been around
in response Laval University in Canada. for decades and have an established safety
The hope is to have at least 1 million doses record, but it can still take up to 15 years to go
to an outbreak of coronavirus vaccine available to the from prototype to general use, says Berkley
public in 12 to 18 months, according to Melanie (see “How to make a vaccine, step by step”,
is five years” Saville. She is head of vaccine development page 46). Two main factors are behind long
and research at the Coalition for Epidemic development times: historically, scientists
Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), set up in 2017 have spent years studying how a pathogen
with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates interacts with the body and the immune
Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and several system before developing a vaccine; and
governments. Until now, the fastest we have fewer than one in four candidate vaccines
ever cranked out a vaccine in response to an that start clinical trials make it through the
outbreak was with Ebola – and that took five whole process and get licensed for use, he says.
years, says Berkley. Eighteen months to make
a new vaccine widely available is “naively
optimistic”, says Kobinger. It isn’t impossible, A head start
but it may mean ripping up the rule book. In principle, the tried and tested nature
All vaccines work by tricking the body into of these approaches should give them an
believing it has been exposed to a pathogen. advantage in the sprint to develop a vaccine
This causes the immune system to respond against the new coronavirus, says Maria
with antibodies and T-cells to neutralise or kill Bottazzi at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas.
the invader. Afterwards, some of these remain While these vaccine types typically take years
in circulation, ready for action in case you are to develop, their established safety profile
exposed to the actual infection. In other words, could mean fewer, shorter trials in people.
your immune system is primed. And getting out of the starting blocks has
The more closely a vaccine mimics the become easier. New approaches to vaccine
disease, the more protection it will provide. development allow us to dramatically shorten
We currently have four main strategies for the first step in the process. For the new
pulling off this trick. Live-attenuated vaccines coronavirus, researchers like Annie De Groot,
use actual viruses or bacteria that have been co-founder of the biotech company EpiVax in
altered to prompt an immune response but Rhode Island, used computational models that
not full-blown illness. Inactivated vaccines can jump directly from the genetic sequence
are exactly what they sound like: they are made to a potential vaccine by zooming in on those
by growing huge amounts of the pathogen in parts of the virus that would be good vaccine
vats, which is then inactivated – or killed – with targets. As soon as SARS-CoV-2 was sequenced,
heat or chemicals. Both these strategies are researchers at labs around the world were able
used with flu vaccines, for instance. to jump in and get to work figuring out what
The third variety, toxoid vaccines, are used made it tick and how to fight it, says Florian
against bacteria that cause disease indirectly, Krammer, an infectious disease and vaccine
by producing a toxin, as is the case with specialist at Mount Sinai School of Medicine
tetanus, diphtheria and botulism. They in New York. Like Inovio, many had mock-ups
contain a piece of the toxin that readies of prototypes ready within hours. Such
your body’s response to the full thing. Lastly, advances have been a long time coming. “It
subunit vaccines contain just the small pieces took us 21 years of work to be able to develop
of a pathogen that activate the immune a vaccine in 3 hours,” says De Groot. >
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SIMON REDDY/ALAMY
springy properties of gluten, a mix
What you need of two groups of wheat proteins:
Flour glutenins and gliadins. When flour
Salt and water combine, glutenins link
Vegetable oil into a large network, while tightly
Garlic folded gliadins bond weakly
Spring onions to glutenins and to each other. Science of cooking online
Sichuan pepper Dough is stretchy because All projects are posted at
Chilli flakes the gliadins act like ball bearings, newscientist.com/cooking Email: cooking@newscientist.com
Soy sauce allowing glutenins to slide past
Chinese black vinegar each other. It is elastic because
coiled stretches of protein resist with your hands to make a fairly middle of the rectangle to
deformation and pull back to their stiff dough. Cover and leave for create two strips that are still
original shape. To make noodles, half an hour for the flour to joined together. Pick them up
you need the gluten to be strong hydrate and start forming gluten. and, holding each end throughout,
enough that you can pull the After this, knead the dough for stretch them horizontally, moving
dough without it breaking, but 2 minutes, then divide it into six your hands up and down as you
not so strong that it won’t stretch. pieces and roll each into a log pull to make the noodles slap
One consideration is the protein shape. Coat them with oil, then on the work surface. Aim for
content of the flour. Plain flour has cover and leave for 2 hours. In this metre-long noodles. Then pull
around 10 per cent protein and time, protease enzymes will break the two strips apart.
strong bread flour has up to 15 per down the gluten a bit, making the When you have prepared
cent. I have made noodles with dough softer and more stretchy. half the noodles, cook them for
both, but the plain flour dough Meanwhile, prepare the a minute and then remove from
was slightly easier to work with. toppings: minced garlic and the water. Prepare and cook the
To make noodles for two, take spring onions, ground Sichuan rest. Now heat 5 tablespoons of oil
Next week 300 grams of flour and mix in half pepper and chilli flakes. until almost smoking. In a bowl,
Pastry: gain mastery a teaspoon of salt. Salt strengthens After 2 hours, get a large pot pile the toppings on the noodles,
over this kitchen staple by the gluten network because it of water on the boil and flatten then pour over the hot oil. Add
understanding how fat interacts with charged portions of a log of dough into a rectangle 2 tbsp soy sauce and 2 tbsp Chinese
and water interact with flour, the proteins, helping them bond. with a rolling pin. Take a chopstick black vinegar, then mix until all
and make a rhubarb tart Mix in 150 millilitres of water and press it lengthways down the the noodles are coated. ❚
Cryptic crossword #27 Set by Sparticle Quick quiz #43 Puzzle set by Katie Steckles
1 The five most abundant
chemical elements in the #51 Birthday candles
universe are hydrogen,
helium, oxygen, carbon
and which other?
2 On which bridge in
northern England is the
design of Sydney Harbour
Bridge based?
who likes a good time (9) an extraction plant (3,3) Answers Pythagoras’ theorem: B2 = 62 - 1.52
4 Connects and audibly 18 In fog, no canoes go up meaning B = ĭtðt
penetrates (6) river (5) purposes So the point where the oars meet is
PHWUHVIURPWKHLVODQGóVFHQWUHRU
5 Draws blood for medical
5 Right back crushing 20/13 Whimsical writer calendar to catch up with the sun
leading infielder’s of Hamilton, say, raps from the Julian to the Gregorian PIURPLWVHGJH:HDUHWROGWKHRDUV
bone (3) song (5,7) 1752, thanks to the switch are just short of 3m, so they should be long
6 Darkness almost 22 Bar alternative used for 4 Thursday 14 September HQRXJKðDQGKRSHIXOO\VWURQJHQRXJKWRR
3 The US
upon us squares (5) quantum function (3)
2 The Tyne Bridge in Newcastle
process of nuclear fusion
stars through the alpha Our crosswords are
amounts of it are made in now solvable online
Answers and the next quick crossword next week. cent of the universe. Large
Available at
1 Neon, comprising 0.13 per
newscientist.com/crosswords
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Do we engage more with robots that How useful will your skills be after the
look human? apocalypse?
A lot of it is about projecting ourselves, so If the apocalypse is a robot uprising, very.
designing a robot to mimic certain aspects of
human emotion can make a robot engaging. But OK, one last thing: tell us something that will
the robot doesn’t necessarily need to look human. blow our minds…
R2-D2 from Star Wars only communicates through For hundreds of years, we put animals on trial for
beeps and boops, yet he has more fans than his the crimes they committed. There is even a movie,
humanoid partner C-3PO. In fact, more than 80 per The Hour of the Pig, based on a true story and
cent of people will name their robotic vacuum starring Colin Firth as a lawyer defending a pig. ❚
cleaner, which isn’t even designed to be social.
Kate Darling is a research specialist at the Massachusetts
How did you end up working in this field? Institute of Technology’s Media Lab. Her book The New
I have always been passionate about studying how Breed: What our history with animals reveals about our
systems change human behaviour. Plus, I love future with machines (Henry Holt and Co.) is out in 2021
robots, and now I get to play with them every day. COURTESY OF BITCH QUEENS
Look beyond the latest Overwhelmed by climate Get all the very latest
wellness crazes with our weekly change and want to know news on discoveries
newsletter of medical, diet and how we can build a more across our solar system
fitness news you can trust. sustainable future? and beyond
Brought to you in a carefully Get a weekly dose of climate Let our space reporter Leah
curated round-up by New Scientist optimism with New Scientist Crane be your expert guide to
health reporter Clare Wilson. chief reporter Adam Vaughan. the galaxy every Friday.