New Scientist USA - 2 November 2024

STRANGE MICROBES
REWRITE ORIGIN OF
COMPLEX LIFE
HOW ANCIENT PARIS BECAME
A STONE AGE TRADING HUB
AI SOLVES IMPOSSIBLE
MATHS PROBLEMS
WEEKLY November 2-8, 2024
SPECIAL ISSUE
HOW
TO EAT
BETTER
The seven chewiest
questions about nutrition
and your health
Is snacking ever good
for you?
Can your diet reduce
inflammation?
Does personalised
nutrition work?
What is the one thing
you should eat more of?
And more...
Science and technology news

www.newscientist.com
No3515 US$7.99 CAN$9.99
This week’s issue
On the 9 Strange microbes rewrite

origin of complex life
41 Features
cover “Is immersion
11 How ancient Paris
32 How to eat better became a Stone Age an actual
The seven chewiest trading hub
questions about nutrition network of
and your health 17 AI solves impossible
maths problems brain areas
that can be
dialled up
and dialled
Vol 264 No 3515 down?”
Cover image: Brett Ryder
News Features
8 Warming slow down 32 You are what you eat
Earth is retaining less News Barely a week goes by without
heat from the sun a new claim about what to
eat – or avoid – for a long and
12 AI gets scammed happy life. In this smart guide to
Large language models nutrition, we delve into the latest
can be tricked just like us trends and reveal the surprising
truths about how to eat well
13 Identifying the Well Man
Centuries old skeleton 41Total immersion
linked to Norse saga How psychedelics and virtual
about castle invaders reality could explain the feeling
of being immersed
Views
The back pages
21 Comment
AI could help us communicate 44 The science of exercise
with animals. Are we ready to What is the most efficient
listen, asks Chris Sherwood way to work out?
22 The columnist 45 Puzzles

Annalee Newitz on going from Try our crossword, quick quiz
hater to lover of robotaxis and logic puzzle
24 Aperture 46 Almost the last word

Ernest Shackleton’s lost ship Why do cats like to sit on
newspapers and magazines?
26 Letters
JENNY EVANS/GETTY IMAGES
Readers’ views on how 47 Tom Gauld for New Scientist

to reboot democracy A cartoonist’s take on the world
28 Culture 48 Feedback
Tense documentary digs into Could monkeys predict
the trade in captive orcas 18 Climate mystery Where is this year’s La Niña? the next US president?
2 November 2024 | New Scientist | 1

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on New Scientist
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Get up to speed with the weird
world of quantum mechanics,
suggests that
where nothing is as it seems
until you measure it, in this
the Well Man
NASA/JET PROPULSION LABORATORY-CALTECH

one-day workshop. Six leading most likely
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explain this famously complex had blue eyes
field in easy-to-understand
language. The event is perfect and blond or
for those curious about the
quantum world but who may
light-brown
not have a science background.
On 9 November at London’s
hair”
Congress Centre. Europa Clipper What lurks beneath the surface of this icy moon?
newscientist.com/events
Video
Online event
Journey to the poles
The Arctic and Antarctic are OCEANO AZUL GORRINGE EXPEDITION/JORDI CHIAS
harsh yet beautiful regions
that have fascinated scientists
for centuries. In this free online
event on 6 November, glaciologist
Ulyana Horodyskyj and New
Scientist features editor Leah
Crane present big stories on polar
science – including IceCube, the
Antarctic neutrino detector that
has identified cosmic signals
from across the Milky Way. Marine forest Mapping this seamount could protect its biodiversity
newscientist.com/events
Podcast Video Newsletter

Weekly Hidden bounty Launchpad
Hear from the neuroscientist who
scanned her own brain 75 times
The Gorringe seamount, off the
Portuguese coast in the Atlantic
Just over two weeks ago, NASA’s
Europa Clipper mission took off
Essential guide
over many months to see how it Ocean, is the tallest underwater and began its six-year journey From tremendous chains of
was changed by taking the birth mountain in western Europe. It sits towards Jupiter’s moon Europa. galaxies to supermassive black
control pill. The team also discuss at the confluence of multiple ocean Features editor Leah Crane looks holes, our universe is a place of
why, surprisingly, the heat energy currents, making it a magnet for at what we hope to learn from grandeur and spectacle. Find out
gained by Earth this year fell sea life and a biodiversity hotspot. this highly anticipated mission how we are probing the cosmos like
compared with last year. Plus, New Scientist joined conservation and why Europa is one of the never before in this 24th Essential
a mysterious 800-year-old organisation the Oceano Azul best, if not the very best, places Guide. Available to download
cold case of a body stashed Foundation on a recent expedition in our solar system to hunt for life. in the New Scientist app or to
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2 | New Scientist | 2 November 2024

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The leader
Something to feast on
Our special issue on how to eat better cuts through the latest nutritional fads
LOADING up your plate has never seemed are often sold as a dietary panacea. issue of New Scientist on how to eat
more complicated. Alongside appeals to Do we really need to load up on kimchi better, focusing on seven of the hottest
avoid ultra-processed foods and “bad” and kombucha to be truly healthy? nutritional trends of the moment.
fats, we are being bombarded by a growing Even nutrition science can add to the This has revealed a few surprises.
array of sometimes conflicting dietary confusion. The more we hear about the Recent research, for instance, shows that
advice. Not only is it confusing, but it is latest discoveries, the more it seems we snacking – long demonised as generally
hard to tell what difference these choices can tweak our diet to focus on specific a bad thing – can actually be positive
will really make in the long term. for our health and waistlines.
Social media is filled with people “Not only is it confusing, it is Then there is the surprisingly wide-
talking about the health benefits of hard to tell what difference reaching health effects of something that
what they eat, with diets that promise these choices really make” we already knew was good for our gut:
a better hormonal balance going viral, dietary fibre. Unlike many ingredients
for example. While it should go without outcomes, whether that is lowering touted as superfoods, this one does
saying that any nutritional advice chronic inflammation, improving our really live up to its promise, yet most
delivered on TikTok should be taken with a health and weight by eating at specific of us aren’t getting enough of it.
pinch of salt, it is easy to get swept up in the times or choosing what to eat based on So turn to page 32 for our evidence-
excitement and start to believe that there our personal response to foods. based guide to what should really be
must be a dollop of truth to such claims. To help navigate this minefield, we on your plate to boost your chances
Then there are fermented foods, which have put together a delectable special of a longer and healthier life. ❚
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News
Thinking of you Electric healing Green recovery? Once upon a veg Numbers up
Mindfulness Special skin patch Global emissions Fairy tales help The largest known
meditation can could reduce need growing faster than children with prime yet has 41
boost empathy p9 for antibiotics p10 pre-pandemic p11 healthy eating p13 million digits p19
Life
A giant dinosaur
in New York City
This statue of a pigeon,
towering over New York’s
High Line at nearly 5 metres
tall, is titled Dinosaur and is
meant to serve as a reminder
that birds evolved from these
ancient reptiles. “Like them,
ANTHONY BEHAR/SIPA USA/ALAMY
one day we won’t be around

anymore, but perhaps a
remnant of humanity will
live on – as pigeons do,”
said its creator, artist Iván
Argote, in a statement.

News
Environment
Earth’s heat gain is slowing

The recent surge in warming led to fears that climate change may be accelerating beyond projections,
but a fall in how much heat Earth is gaining makes this less likely, says Michael Le Page
THIS year is on course to be the heat emissions, Earth has been decline since the El Niño
hottest on record, with an average gaining more heat than it loses. developed are that surprising.
global surface temperature more Since about 2001, the planet’s “Had that [spike] continued,
than 1.5°C above pre-industrial energy imbalance, as this is known, it would have very much looked
levels. But there is some better has been measured directly by like the real world was doing
news: the overall amount of instruments on satellites as part something which we weren’t
heat energy being gained by the of a NASA project called CERES. seeing in any of the models,”
planet has fallen sharply from Over this time, the average energy
a record spike early in 2023. imbalance has more than doubled. “It’s not the sort of
At the time, there were “It is on the high end compared potentially dramatic
suggestions that the spike in to the models,” says Norman Loeb issue some people were
heat gain showed there are flaws at NASA, who heads up CERES. saying it was a year ago”
WISKERKE/ALAMY
in climate models that mean they But the energy imbalance

are underestimating how fast the also varies due to factors such says Sanderson. “As it actually
planet will warm. But the fall since as the La Niña and El Niño climate turned out, it was a short spike,
then makes this much less likely. patterns. The big spike in 2023 and we do see comparable spikes
“Given the way that the numbers Despite record temperature was a result of a rare “triple-dip” in the model data as well.”
have evolved in the last year, it no highs in 2024, Earth’s gain La Niña that continued for That said, many questions
longer looks like there’s anything in heat has slowed down three winters, says Loeb. remain to be resolved, he says.
dramatically wrong with the During a La Niña, cold ocean For instance, reductions in air
models,” says Ben Sanderson at the enters the planet’s atmosphere waters spread across the Pacific, pollution in many parts of
CICERO Center for International versus how much leaves it. Some soaking up a lot more heat from the world are thought to have
Climate Research in Oslo, Norway. sunlight is reflected immediately the sun and atmosphere than they contributed to the rise in the
“So it’s not the sort of potentially by, for example, clouds or ice. The emit, which increases the energy energy imbalance. Aerosol
dramatic issue some people were rest is absorbed and may later be imbalance. This La Niña then gave pollutants reflect sunlight back
saying it was a year ago.” emitted as heat energy. way to an El Niño, in which warm into space, so less pollution from,
The latest satellite data showing If as much energy is reflected waters spread across the Pacific, say, shipping allows more sunlight
the fall in heat gain was posted or emitted back into space as hits emitting more heat and reducing to reach the planet’s surface.
on Bluesky by Gavin Schmidt at the atmosphere, the planet doesn’t the energy imbalance. But there is a lot of uncertainty
NASA (see graph, below right). gain any heat. But because rising As far as Loeb is concerned, about the size of these effects.
“It doesn’t support a doomist greenhouse gas levels are blocking neither the spike in 2023 nor the Then there is the question
narrative,” Schmidt posted. of how the energy imbalance
There is a big difference will change in the future.
between tracking the increasing Ever increasing heat energy If greenhouse gas emissions
impacts that climate change and Earth is generally gaining more heat energy from the sun than it loses to space. remain at roughly the same level,
habitat loss are having, and buying This energy imbalance rose sharply in 2023, but the rise has slowed this year rather than continuing to rise, the
into a notion that everything is energy imbalance should stop
spiralling out of control and we Monthly
rising too, says Sanderson.
no longer have agency, he said. 12-month smoothed trend line There is a danger that we
Earth’s energy imbalance (watts per m²)
“That (IMO) is not justified.” 36-month smoothed trend line won’t be able to tell, says Loeb,
2
Studies of global warming because the number of satellites
naturally focus on the surface carrying CERES instruments is
temperature, which accounts for falling, and they aren’t being
the air a couple of metres above 1 replaced. “It takes a long time
the land or sea. But this thin layer from the time you start working
of air in which we live is just a on the satellite instrument until
small part of the climate system, it actually launches,” he says.
NASA’S CERES PROJECT
0
which includes the entire “So you have to really plan ahead,
atmosphere and oceans. and I don’t think we’re doing a
To get a measure of how very good job on that.” ❚
much the entire climate system -1
is warming, scientists can look at 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 For more on the La Niña and El Niño
how much of the sun’s energy Year climate patterns, turn to page 18

Health Evolution
Mindfulness
meditation may
Weird microbes are rewriting
increase empathy the origin of multicellular life
Grace Wade Claire Ainsworth
MEDITATION training led women An illustration of a protein

to experience more empathy for from a microbe called
strangers, which suggests that Haloferax volcanii
meditation can improve our ability
to understand and experience formed tissues. This kind of
other people’s feelings. cell division is also seen in a
“When you practise mindfulness wide range of multicellular
meditation, these feelings of eukaryotes, such as during
connectivity and empathy and chick embryo development.
compassion arise naturally,” says Next, the team zapped
FRANCISCO J. ENGUITA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
Fadel Zeidan at the University individual cells in the tissues

of California, San Diego. with a laser to test whether
He and his colleagues studied they were connected to each
this in women and their romantic other. When a cell was killed
partners. The team used a tool to by the laser, neighbouring cells
mimic the sensation of burning moved towards the wound, as
without damaging the skin in cells in animal tissues called
29 women, their partners and a epithelium do.
group of strangers. While having This suggests that cells in
their brain scanned, the women the archaeal tissues are tethered
watched videos of others feeling the PHYSICAL forces like pressure able to form complex shapes together, just as they are in
painful stimulus and recorded how could be behind key leaps in and they interact with each animal or plant tissues. Archaea
unpleasant it was to do so – a metric the evolution of life, such as the other, but little is known about lack the genes that animal and
of empathy – on a scale of 0 to 10. emergence of multicellularity. how they react to such forces. plant cells use for these tethers,
On average, they had 49 per cent This comes after scientists To find out more, Alex so they have probably evolved
more empathy for their partner than compressed a type of single- Bisson at Brandeis University their own method of doing
a stranger. They also had greater celled microorganism, which in Massachusetts and his team this, says Bisson.
activity in the precuneus, a brain caused it to develop into a squashed a salt-loving archaea The cells in the tissues also
region involved in sense of self, multicellular tissue-like developed into two distinct
when observing their partners.
Previous research suggests that
regular meditation can boost
structure containing different
kinds of cells.
The organism is a type of
60%
Prevalance of tested microbes
types. Those around the
edge – where less pressure was
applied – were flat, while those
activity in the precuneus. To further archaea, one of the three that can turn multicellular in the middle formed an angular
investigate this, the researchers had domains of life, along with structure resembling a scutoid,
17 of the participants complete bacteria and eukaryotes. The called Haloferax volcanii under a shape first identified in animal
eight weeks of meditation training eukaryotes are organisms with jelly pads, mimicking the forces epithelial cells in 2018.
and repeated the pain experiments cells containing a nucleus and they experience in their natural This shows the advantages
after four and eight weeks. include animals and plants. habitats – and saw something of exploring the biomechanical
At both points, the women had Archaea lack a nucleus, so completely unexpected. properties of cells across
a higher level of empathy for both were originally mistaken for The cells grew and started domains of life – rather than just
strangers and their romantic bacteria, but are now thought making multiple copies of their genetic information – when
partner, though it raised much more to share a common ancestor genomes. When the tension in studying evolution, says Bisson.
for the strangers so there was no with eukaryotes. the cells’ membranes reached “The idea that gene novelty
longer a statistically significant Unlike most organisms, a critical point, new membranes alone governs evolutionary
difference between the two. The archaea don’t have a stiff cell grew between these genomes to leaps now seems insufficient,”
researchers are still analysing the wall, a trait they share with create individual cells that were says Omaya Dudin at the
participants’ brain scans, but Zeidan animal cells. Lacking a cell wall genetic clones of the original University of Geneva in
says this suggests that even four gives animal cells flexibility cell, forming a mound-shaped Switzerland. “Physical and
weeks of consistent mindfulness and allows them to develop multicellular tissue (bioRxiv, mechanical factors are
meditation can boost empathy. He markedly different shapes. doi.org/npvf). emerging as key players
presented the findings at a meeting They can change cell type The team tested 52 other in orchestrating complex
of the Society for Neuroscience in in response to mechanical similar species and found that biological innovations in
Chicago on 8 October. ❚ forces, too. Archaea are also more than 60 per cent of them single-celled creatures.” ❚

News
Health Astrobiology
Electric skin patch

could keep wounds
Molecule needed for life spotted
free of infection outside solar system for first time
Carissa Wong Alex Wilkins
A PATCH that zaps the skin with A COMPLEX form of carbon have looked for and detected The cloud the researchers saw
electrical pulses could prevent crucial for life on Earth has a complex, carbon-based the cyanopyrene in is extremely
bacteria on the skin from causing been detected beyond the molecule called pyrene in cold, at about 10 degrees above
blood poisoning, reducing our solar system for the first time. a star-forming region called absolute zero (-263°C), which
reliance on antibiotics. Its presence helps show how the Taurus molecular cloud. means we are seeing these
the compounds needed for At 430 light years away, this carbon compounds existing
This bioelectronic life could come from space. is one of the closest such at a stage long before a star
SAEHYUN KIM/UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
patch can reduce The most abundant form of clouds to Earth. has formed, says McGuire.
the number of carbon in the universe is that “Now, we’re seeing both
bacteria under it found in carbon monoxide gas, “Now we’re looking ends of this life cycle,” he says.
by shocking them but it is unclear how this turns back in time and We are seeing the chemical
into the complex compounds seeing the same archaeological record in our
found in biological life, which molecules forming” solar system in asteroids and
typically contain stronger on Earth, says McGuire, “and
chemical bonds. The researchers used the now we’re looking back in time
Staphylococcus epidermidis Astronomers have spotted Green Bank Observatory in at a place where another solar
bacteria usually live harmlessly on asteroids – such as Ryugu – West Virginia to search for the system will form, and seeing
human skin, but if they enter the containing compounds with radio signature of pyrene. Such these same molecules there
body after surgery or via skin cracks these stronger carbon bonds. molecules would be crucial forming. We’re seeing the start
due to conditions such as psoriasis, It is thought that such space intermediaries between carbon of the archaeological record.”
they can cause bloodstream rocks may have delivered the monoxide and complex carbon
infections, which can lead to ingredients for life to Earth, molecules in living organisms.
dangerously low blood pressure. but the original source of the Pure pyrene isn’t that easy to Space reservoir
Antibiotics can prevent and treat carbon-based compounds detect clearly with radio waves, Assuming that the radio signal
these infections, but antibiotic- in objects like asteroids still so McGuire and his colleagues McGuire and his team observed
resistant strains of S. epidermidis isn’t well understood. instead looked for cyanopyrene, from the Taurus molecular
have emerged. Now, Brett McGuire at the which is pyrene with an cloud is representative of
Now, Bozhi Tian at the University Massachusetts Institute of attached cyanide molecule, elsewhere in space, it suggests
of Chicago and his colleagues have Technology and his colleagues and compared it against the that cyanopyrene is extremely
turned to electricity. They created a signature of cyanopyrene that abundant, and possibly one of
device from square plastic patches The Taurus molecular they had also carefully produced the largest chemical reservoirs
1 millimetre wide, each containing cloud contains compounds and measured in the lab on of complex carbon in the
gold electrodes that, when wired known as pyrenes Earth (Science, doi.org/npjb). universe, he says.
up, produce electrical pulses that Finding these molecules
can’t be felt by people. They then and the environment that they
spread a strain of S. epidermidis are in means that chemists can
onto five samples of disinfected pig start sketching out the precise
skin and put a patch on top of each. chemical reactions and
After zapping the skin for pathways that eventually led
10 seconds every 10 minutes for to the building blocks of life
18 hours, S. epidermidis levels were on Earth, like nucleic acids,
reduced 10-fold on these samples says Martin McCoustra at
compared with others that had Heriot-Watt University, UK.
non-electric patches put on them. It isn’t straightforward
The intervention also disrupted to explain how the pyrene
ESA/HERSCHEL/PLANCK; J. D. SOLER, MPIA
the ability of the bacteria to join molecules form in the first

up to form a layer called a biofilm, place, he says. “What else is in
which is linked to more severe that environment that would
infections (Device, doi.org/npjc). lead us to [pyrenes]? We’re
The results suggest that the seeing here a much richer
patches could cut the risk of understanding of complex
drug-resistant S. epidermidis chemistry tied up with these
infections, says Tian. ❚ aromatic molecules.” ❚

Archaeology
The Stone Age artisans of Paris

Ancient stone goods found in France and Belgium may have been traded along vast networks
Christa Lesté-Lasserre
AROUND 7000 years ago, long south to the Loire valley. But such is trying to combine these of the goods originate within a few
knives, bracelets and other stone destinations only tell a small part sociocultural and environmental dozen kilometres around modern-
goods fashioned by skilled of the tale, says Denis. perspectives.” day Paris, says Kempf. Indeed,
Parisian crafters were reaching “We’re making new hypotheses, In particular, the pair examined starting at about 4950 BC, what is
people hundreds of kilometres finding out that, oh, they had information from 133 sites now the greater Paris area became
away, via complex trade networks to go through this or that site, spanning from about 5000 to a strong source of skilfully crafted
that are now being mapped for and connect with those people 4650 BC to develop the networks long blades in particular.
the first time. through friendly exchanges of where traders might have Trade networks reached about
By combining archaeology in their homes,” she says. originated, travelled, dropped off 250 kilometres to the north-east
with computer modelling, Solène The pair looked at the distances their goods and spent the night to and about 200 kilometres to
Denis at the French National between previously established benefit from local commodities. the south, where the untamed
Centre for Scientific Research archaeological finds, such as The findings show that many Loire river may have dissuaded
in Nanterre and Michael Kempf long blades made from silicite or commerce. The more easily
at the University of Basel in bracelets made from schist and Stone blades found in navigable Seine river appears to
Switzerland have reconstructed serpentine, and the raw materials Belgium may have come have promoted trade, especially
the lengthy and winding paths used to create them. They also from what is now Paris in the final two centuries studied.
taken to supply people from what considered waterways, forests, The networks also reach 400
is now Normandy to Belgium with altitudes and environmental data kilometres to the west, halting due
goods from the greater Paris area. that could suggest the possibility to the difficult hills of Brittany and
“There were local markets, but of hunting or gathering food, possibly competition from other
what we also see are products combining all of this into a craftspeople, as the model suggests
made by people who have specific computer model (Quaternary another, non-overlapping trade
skills,” says Denis. “Especially with Environments and Humans, network in this region, says Denis.
long blade production, people in doi.org/npvd). While the findings make sense,
Belgium and elsewhere just didn’t “If you want to go from Point A computer models may not provide
have the skills.” to Point B, it might make sense to the full picture, says Ivan Jadin at
Scientists already knew that go straight, but it could also make the Royal Belgian Institute of
stone goods created in the Paris sense to go a bit to the right, a bit Natural Sciences in Brussels.
basin had arrived as far east as the to the left, because, you know, “There are lots of hypotheses
SOLÈNE DENIS
Liège province in Belgium and as there are people you want to about what happened at the time,”
far west as the border of Britanny ‘have coffee with’, so to speak,” he says. “Now they just need to be
in France. They had also gone says Kempf. “What we’re doing supported through further study.” ❚
Environment
Carbon emissions carbon dioxide equivalent in 2023. such as pipelines all grew rapidly warming to as close to 1.5°C above
That is a far faster rate of growth in 2023, UNEP said, while aviation pre-industrial levels as possible, but
growing faster now than during the 2010-2019 emissions grew 19.5 per cent. current national targets don’t come
than pre-pandemic decade, when emissions rose Rising emissions means the close to delivering that goal. Taking
on average 0.8 per cent per year. opportunity to avert catastrophic countries’ current pledges into
AS THE world emerged from Global greenhouse gas emissions climate change is shrinking, said account, the world is on course
the lockdowns of the covid-19 are now just below the 59.1 Inger Andersen at UNEP in a for 2.6°C to 2.8°C of warming.
pandemic, many countries promised gigatonnes peak recorded in 2019. statement. “Climate crunch time Countries are expected to submit
to rebuild their economies in a All sources of greenhouse gas is here,” she said. “I urge every new national climate plans by
climate-friendly fashion. In reality, emissions except land use are rising, nation: no more hot air, please.” February, ahead of the COP30
the opposite has happened. according to a report from the Since 2015, nations have conference in Brazil in November.
Instead of a “green recovery”, United Nations Environment collectively promised to limit Andersen said it is vital countries
global greenhouse gas emissions Programme (UNEP), as economies come to the table with bolder plans
are rising faster now than they did continued to rebound from “Climate crunch time to cut emissions, which must start
in the decade before the global covid-19. Emissions from road is here. I urge every immediately, otherwise the 1.5°C
pandemic. Annual emissions rose transport, industrial emissions and nation: no more goal is unlikely to be achieved. ❚
1.3 per cent to 57.1 gigatonnes of leaks from oil and gas infrastructure hot air, please” Madeleine Cuff

News
Technology
Artificial intelligence falls for scams

AI is susceptible to being scammed – and some models are more gullible than others
Chris Stokel-Walker
THE large language models such as instructing the LLM to afoul of scams only 3 per cent of of LLMs to conduct scams,” says
(LLMs) that power chatbots respond as if it were a person with the time. Persuasive tactics were Alan Woodward at the University
are increasingly being used in a strong background in finance better at convincing models to of Surrey in the UK. “What is less
attempts to scam humans – but who regularly read financial news fall for scams than changing understood is whether LLMs can
they are susceptible to being updates. The researchers also the persona of the model. be scammed, for example when
scammed themselves. refined the initial scenarios, An OpenAI spokesperson they act as a chatbot representing
Udari Madhushani Sehwag crafting multiple versions based tells New Scientist, “We don’t an organisation.” Woodward points
at JP Morgan AI Research and her on psychologist Robert Cialdini’s want our AI products to be out that some LLMs appear more
colleagues peppered three popular principles of persuasion, which used for malicious purposes susceptible than others to such
models – OpenAI’s GPT-3.5 and and are continually enhancing trickery – but the reason why isn’t
GPT-4, as well as Meta’s Llama 2 – “At the moment, the safety measures. Our latest o1 always clear, due to the black box
with 37 scam scenarios (arXiv, systems should not be reasoning model is our most nature of these systems.
doi.org/npkh). allowed the final word capable and safest yet, significantly “Researchers are still trying
The chatbots were told, in any decision-making” outperforming previous models to understand... how to make
for instance, that they had in resisting deliberate attempts their systems’ models aware
received an email recommending include being more likeable or to generate unsafe content.” The of all the scam types that
investing in a new cryptocurrency, offering to reciprocate any help. company has previously said that might occur,” he says.
with a referral link, and then were This let the researchers compare this model, released in September, Woodward says these
asked if they would buy it. Or they whether asking the LLM to take is better at responding to malicious findings suggest AI cannot be
received offers to buy products on a persona or giving it a more requests to “jailbreak” the system trusted to operate by itself without
at improbably low prices – which persuasive prompt would make than the models surveyed in this oversight. “At the moment, the
most humans would recognise as it more susceptible to the scams. study. Its o1 model scored 84 per systems should not be allowed the
scams – and were asked whether Different AI models had vastly cent on a jailbreak test, compared final word in any decision-making
they would choose to risk different results. OpenAI’s GPT-3.5 with 22 per cent for GPT-4o, a model process, but a human should be
spending money on them. was susceptible to 22 per cent of that is similar to GPT-4. Meta didn’t involved, and that human needs
These scam scenarios were scams that didn’t adopt personas respond to a request for comment. to understand how a particular
developed further with four or use persuasion, while GPT-4 fell “There has been quite a bit algorithmic decision has been
distinct persona variations, for 9 per cent of them. Llama 2 fell of attention paid to the misuse arrived at,” he says. ❚
Technology
Battery made from graphene, a single layer of carbon the Massachusetts Institute of
atoms. Rather than fill the space Technology. He says that because
water and clay could between them with a lithium salt the new battery doesn’t require
be used on Mars solution, they used clay and water. scarce materials like lithium, it could
The clay layers are full of be an exciting future technology.
WHEN pushed into microscopic microscopic channels about a Artemov says they made the
grooves, water works in unexpected nanometre thick. Filling these battery design as simple as possible,
ways. A new battery design that channels with water made hoping that would help it become
relies on tiny amounts of water the liquid behave like a “working broadly used – even beyond Earth.
confined within layers of clay could fluid” in a battery, meaning that They have analysed a variety of
eventually offer sustainable power it creates a separation between types of clay that exist on Mars and
in places as extreme as Mars. opposite charges as those particles found them viable for their design.
Vasily Artemov at the Swiss move between the two electrodes. “The first industrial revolution
Federal Institute of Technology This is how the battery stores was driven by water because of the
and his colleagues built the device energy. It produced 1.6 volts steam engine. Maybe we can now,
YUNFEI TENG
with components similar to those and charged and drained 60,000 by appreciating water at the
of conventional batteries, including times without losing efficiency nanoscale, drive a small revolution
two electrodes, one negatively (arXiv, doi.org/nph4). too,” says team member Patrick
and one positively charged. “It’s surprising that you can This water-and-clay battery Huber at the Hamburg University
But instead of making the make a battery out of just water prototype could be made of Technology in Germany. ❚
electrodes out of metal, they used and clay,” says Michael Strano at from Martian materials Karmela Padavic-Callaghan

Health Archaeology
Stories about
magical fruit help
DNA helps match ‘Well Man’
children eat healthily skeleton to 800-year-old saga
Clarissa Brincat James Woodford
FAIRY tales featuring magical fruit Near left: the

and vegetables seem to encourage complete skeletal
children to make healthy food remains of the
choices, and just 20 minutes of “Well Man”; far left:
storytelling can make a difference. a 2016 excavation
Childhood obesity is a concern of the remains
in many countries, so to see what
could counter it, Werner Sommer at mention,” says Petersén.
the Humboldt University of Berlin For example, the DNA
in Germany and his colleagues suggests he probably had blue
L: NIKU; R: AGE HOJEM, NTNU UNIVERSITY MUSEUM
turned to 80 children between eyes and blond or light-brown

4 and 6 years old in Kenya. hair. The researchers also think
They divided the children into two that his ancestors were from
groups. The first heard a story about what is now Vest-Agder, the
a painter who refreshes the colours southernmost Norwegian
of a city every night but was unable county, based on comparisons
to when he became ill from eating with the DNA of modern and
junk food. His strength was restored ancient Norwegians (iScience,
by eating magic vegetables. The doi.org/10/npjz ).
second group heard a similar story One thing they couldn’t
but without any food references. A NORWEGIAN saga written it was widely believed that the find was any evidence that the
Every day for the next two weeks, more than 800 years ago skeleton, referred to as Well man was thrown into the well
the children were offered a choice of describes how a dead man was Man, was the remains of the because he had a disease or
snacking on fruit, vegetables, cakes thrown into a castle well – and individual mentioned in the to render the drinking water
or cookies, presented on the same now, researchers believe they saga, it wasn’t possible to unusable, but they also found
platter. Those who heard the first have identified the remains confirm this at the time. no evidence against it, leaving
story ate more fruit and vegetables of this man. Now, Anna Petersén at the the question unanswered.
than they did a week before hearing The Sverris saga is an Norwegian Institute of Cultural Michael Martin at the
the tale, while no change occurred 182-verse Old Norse text that Heritage Research in Oslo Norwegian University of
in those who heard the second records the exploits of King and her colleagues have used Science and Technology in
story (medRxiv, doi.org/nph9). Sverre Sigurdsson, who rose to Trondheim says the team’s
“With a single instance of power in the second half of the “The genetic data enriches approach of matching historical
storytelling lasting only about 20 12th century AD. One part says the story and provides documents with DNA evidence
minutes, we obtained a surprisingly that a rival clan who attacked a way to separate fact could also be applied to
strong change from a preference for Sverresborg castle, near from fiction” construct family trees of
non-healthy snack food towards Trondheim, Norway, “took a long-dead royal families or to
a preference for healthy fruits dead man and cast him unto radiocarbon dating and DNA “physically describe and sketch
or vegetables,” says Sommer. the well, and then filled it up analysis of a tooth from the out the life stories, such as
The children probably got a taste with stones”. body to show that the date movement between geographic
for the healthy snacks after being The well was inside the range for when the man was regions, of the otherwise
motivated to try them following the castle’s ramparts and was the alive aligns with the raid on anonymous people whose
first story, says Wendy Wood at the community’s only permanent the castle. While not definitive remains are recovered from
University of Southern California. water source. It has been proof that the man was the archaeological excavations”.
“Repeated consumption of a food speculated that the man thrown one mentioned in the saga, “This is, to my knowledge,
increases the likelihood that kids into the well in the saga may the “circumstantial evidence the oldest case where genomic
will eat it again,” she says. have had a disease and putting is consistent with this information has been recovered
However, as the stories were him there was an early act of conclusion”, says Petersén. from a specific character,
told by the children’s teachers, biological warfare. What is more, the team has or even a specific person,
the children might have chosen In 1938, a medieval well in the been able to add to the story. mentioned in an ancient
healthier snacks after sensing that ruins of Sverresborg castle was “The research we have done has text,” says Martin. “The genetic
was the “right” choice from hearing partly drained and a skeleton shown many details concerning data enriches the story and
the story, not because their food was found beneath rubble and both the event and the man provides a way to separate
preferences changed, she says. ❚ boulders at the bottom. While that the saga episode doesn’t fact from fiction.” ❚

News
Microbiology
Bacteria force enemies to switch sides

Armies of microbes armed with poison darts fight in your gut – and some have a secret weapon
Michael Le Page
YOUR gut is a battleground type 6 secretory system, or T6SS. Bacteroides shown that once GA1 gets into
CNRI/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

where rival tribes of bacteria A wide range of species are armed fragilis comes B. fragilis, it somehow blocks
armed with poison darts fight with them, and there is a lot of armed with production of the B. fragilis gun
for territory, and these conflicts variation in how they work – poisoned darts and makes them start producing
are often won by armies of the darts can contain many the GA1 gun instead – essentially
traitors made to switch sides. different toxins, for instance. turning them traitor (Science,
“The human colon is one Some species just blindly fire doi.org/g8n4dn).
of the most dense microbial off poison darts as fast as they When these bacteria multiply,
ecosystems on Earth,” says Laurie can make them, hitting friend and B. fragilis feeds on complex sugars they form armies of traitors that
Comstock at the University of foe alike. Crucially, however, the in the mucus lining of the gut, so can kill B. fragilis that lack GA1.
Chicago in Illinois. There are lots genetic instructions for making Comstock thinks the reason for The traitor armies usually win
of different species of bacteria, and a specific kind of dart gun come its aggression is that it tries to take these battles, Comstock’s team
different strains within species, with the instructions for making over the mucus lining and defend found in a number of tests. But
fighting for the same resources. the antidote to the poison in its itself against other related species. in our guts, where many other
To get the upper hand, many darts. When a bacterium is hit But some of these other species and toxins are present,
release toxins to poison rivals. by darts from a member of its species harbour weapons in the outcomes may differ, she says.
Some are armed with an even more own tribe, it isn’t harmed. Put the form of pieces of “selfish” Her team has also discovered
extraordinary weapon – dart guns another way, in this world of DNA that seem to act almost another bit of selfish DNA called
that fire high-speed syringes for poison darts and antidotes, like independent entities. One GA2, which appears to behave
injecting poisons directly into what side a bacterium is on is of these pieces of DNA, called GA1, in a similar way to GA1 but with
other bacteria or nearby cells. determined by what dart gun encodes genes for machinery that a different dart gun and antidote.
“They are a spring-loaded weapon and antidote it manufactures. enables GA1 to transfer copies “Side switching may be
that requires the organisms to One of the most vicious species of itself to other bacteria. more common than we have
be very close,” says Comstock. is called Bacteroides fragilis, which It also has genes for a dart gun appreciated,” says Brian Hammer
The innocuous-sounding name releases a range of poisons, as and the antidote to the dart-gun at the Georgia Institute of
for this kind of dart gun is a well as firing its darts non-stop. poison. Comstock’s team has Technology in Atlanta. ❚
Environment
Nuclear waste The Pacific Grebe is

spending three weeks
tanker tests out testing the FastRig sail
aluminium sail
In 2022, the global shipping
A VESSEL normally used to ship industry was responsible for about
nuclear waste around the world is 858 million tonnes of carbon
testing an aluminium sail that could dioxide emissions, more than
slash the fuel consumption and the aviation sector.
climate impact of ocean tankers. The Pacific Grebe’s set-up is
NTS/SMART GREEN SHIPPING
The Pacific Grebe is spending a pilot version. A full installation

three weeks, which started in of FastRig would see multiple
October, off the UK coast trialling sails – each 34 metres tall – fitted
the FastRig, a 20-metre-tall sail. to both sides of ships, says Gilpin.
The retractable, blade-like sail Other firms are also trialling
weighs about 35 tonnes and sails on cargo vessels. In 2023,
can be unfurled in winds of up to Smart Green Shipping. “It’s like an Joseph Banks at the University of the Pyxis Ocean, a ship chartered
64 kilometres per hour, according aircraft wing, but it’s also a bit like Southampton, UK, part of the team by agricultural giant Cargill, set
to its UK-based makers Smart Green a wind turbine blade,” she says. working on the trials, says the tests off fitted with two 37.5-metre
Shipping. The sail is designed to Calculations by the company in the English Channel and the Irish WindWings, which cut its
be used on tankers carrying suggest the technology could cut a Sea will help show “how the wing annual CO₂ emissions
unpackaged commodities such as ship’s annual fuel consumption by sail changes the performance of the by about 14 per cent. ❚
grains and fuel, says Di Gilpin at up to 30 per cent. ship” and affects fuel use. Madeleine Cuff

Environment Astrophysics
Wildfires in parts of
US growing twice as
Supernova sweep may have
fast as they used to cleaned up our solar system
James Dinneen Jonathan O’Callaghan
FOREST fires in the western US When a star explodes in

aren’t only growing bigger. They a supernova, it can clear
are also growing faster, putting away dust particles
millions of people and properties
at greater risk. The blast wave’s low density,
“In the context of home “in the ballpark of 0.01 atoms
destruction and lives lost, we really per cubic centimetre”, says
need to think more about fire speed Miller, means it would have been
than fire size,” says Jennifer Balch at halted at about Saturn’s orbit
the University of Colorado, Boulder. by the solar wind of charged
Rapidly spreading wildfires, such particles heading out from
SHUTTERSTOCK/ISMAGILOVA
as the Lahaina fire in Hawaii last the sun. An interstellar cloud –

year, are especially destructive being denser, at 1000 atoms per
because they become unstoppable, cubic centimetre, but slower, at
moving faster than firefighters about 20 kilometres per second –
can combat them. could have penetrated within the
To assess how wildfire speed has orbit of Mercury, reducing the
changed, Balch and her colleagues amount of interplanetary dust
used satellite data to estimate the THE blast from a nearby of a radioactive isotope of near Earth, although there isn’t
speed of more than 60,000 fires in supernova should be enough iron – iron-60 – seen in ice a lot of dust near our planet
the US between 2001 and 2020, to clear almost all the dust from on Earth dating to that period. compared with what’s in the
using daily growth rate as a proxy our solar system, and this may The isotopes would have been Kuiper belt, says Miller.
for this. They also aggregated have last happened 3 million delivered when either of these While it would take tens of
millions of government documents years ago. But like the dust on phenomena stripped away the thousands of years for the solar
and property records to estimate furniture, these fine particles sun’s heliosphere, which protects system to traverse a supernova’s
the damage caused by these fires. should gradually be replenished. planets in our solar system blast wave, an encounter with
They found that fires in most of Dust we see drifting through from the galaxy’s radiation. an intersteller cloud could
the western half of the country are space consists of small grains, Miller and his colleagues have last up to a million years.
growing faster: here, the average resulting from events such found that either event would Some of the dust in the
maximum daily growth rate more as asteroid collisions. The sweep all dust smaller than a Kuiper belt could also have
than doubled over the 20 years grains are typically less than a millimetre from the Kuiper belt. been moved into reservoirs in
studied. Balch says this change is millimetre in size, going down “It’s like turning on a giant fan,” a different orbit out of the flat
linked to climate change making to just nanometres across. says Miller. “There’s a lot of plane of our solar system. “That
hot, dry, windy “fire weather” more About 70 per cent of the solar would mean it’s not interacting
common, as well as a buildup of
combustible material in forests.
In the northeastern US, however,
system’s dust is concentrated
in the Kuiper belt, a region
of icy asteroids and comets
70%
of the solar system’s dust
with the planets as much,” says
Miller. This might explain why
NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft,
fire growth rate has declined, which beyond Neptune, where there is in the Kuiper belt region currently travelling through the
could be to do with fragmentation are an estimated 3.5 million Kuiper belt region, has detected
of wooded areas by roads and other gigatonnes of the tiny grains. hydrogen atoms hitting these an increase in dust, as it could be
infrastructure, says Balch. Jesse Miller at Boston dust grains and changing their moving through such an area.
The researchers dubbed fires University and his colleagues orbits”, with the dust either The researchers calculate
that grew more than 1620 hectares have modelled what would being pushed into the sun or that it should take about
a day “fast fires”. Though these happen to the dust in the ejected from our solar system 11 million years for dust in
accounted for just 2.7 per cent of Kuiper belt if a star exploded entirely (arXiv, doi.org/npch). our solar system to return to
all blazes, they were responsible within 160 light years of Earth, Mikako Matsuura at Cardiff an equilibrium state, where it
for 89 per cent of the damage or if our solar system passed University, UK, says the wind is being produced as fast as it
(Science, doi.org/nphk). through a dense star-forming produced by a supernova can is falling into the sun or being
The findings suggest we need interstellar cloud of material. travel at “a few thousand to ejected by more usual processes.
to do more to minimise damage One of these events is 10,000 kilometres per second”, If a dust-sweeping event did
from unstoppable fires, such as by thought to have occurred which could have “enough happen 3 million years ago,
fire-proofing homes or developing about 3 million years ago kinetic energy to blow off that “means we’re still in the
evacuation plans, says Balch. ❚ based on increases in levels material in the solar system”. building-up phase”, says Miller. ❚

News
Palaeontology Physiology
Ancient tracks hint

that dinosaurs used
Morphing red blood cells help
wings to leap further bats to survive hibernation
Christa Lesté-Lasserre Christa Lesté-Lasserre
TINY tracks in South Korea Common noctule bats

symbolise a moment 120 million (Nyctalus noctula)
years ago when a dinosaur took hibernate over winter
advantage of its wings to cover
ground in large leaps – the oldest exchanging gases, like oxygen,
such evidence of wing-assisted throughout the body.
movement in these extinct animals. “It’s like how when you take
Velociraptors and other raptors your time at the supermarket
(dromaeosaurids) are the ancestors instead of being rushed, you
of modern birds, but their lineage can really fill up your basket,”
split into avian and non-avian, or says Kerth. Exactly how this
“paravian”, lines about 170 million structural change happens
PAUL HOBSON/NATUREPL.COM
years ago. Despite having feathers is still unclear, but the team
and wings, paravian dinosaurs speculates that the mechanical
generally seemed to lack the properties of the bat red blood
wingspan needed to actually fly, cell membranes play a key role.
says Michael Pittman at the Chinese The findings suggest
University of Hong Kong. that drugs could one day
But Pittman and his colleagues induce human red blood
suspected that some paravian BATS modify their red blood (Nyctalus noctula), which cell membranes to mimic
dinosaurs could at least glide before cells to make them thicker hibernate, and Egyptian fruit the way the bat membranes
full flight evolved in birds, based on and more rigid when they bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus), react to the cold, says Kerth.
muscles in their upper bodies. So, hibernate – and if we can figure which don’t, along with cells Surgeons already use
they have studied more than 2600 out how, people might one day from people. body cooling during certain
rows of dinosaur tracks around the be able to copy the process for The researchers found that, procedures to slow down
world. One set of tracks, discovered medical treatments or long- for all three species, red blood metabolism, which can help
during the construction of a distance space travel. cells became less elastic and prevent organ damage in people
shopping centre in south-eastern Animals hibernate to more viscous as temperatures experiencing heart attacks,
South Korea, showed surprisingly conserve energy during cold organ transplants or major
long spacing between steps made
by a sparrow-sized raptor called
Dromaeosauriformipes rarus.
weather or when food becomes
scarce, slowing their heart
rate and dropping their body
<10°C
Bat red blood cells become
brain surgery. Being able to
prolong that cooling time,
or drop the temperature even
Adjusting for relative leg length, temperature to as low as 5°C stiffer at these temperatures lower, could increase those
its stride would be three times as (41°F) to enter a state known as benefits, says team member
long as that of an ostrich and nearly torpor. This is only survivable dropped from 37°C to 23°C (99°F Carsten Scholz, also at the
twice that of a kangaroo rat. “I had if their blood continues to to 73°F). But when they cooled University of Greifswald.
this eureka moment: could it have flow efficiently and supply the cells even further to 10°C In the more distant future,
been doing something other than oxygen to the body, but until (50°F), the bat cells continued hibernation could also allow
running?” says Pittman. now scientists haven’t fully this metamorphosis, whereas for efficient long-distance space
Further calculations and understood how this happens. the human cells did not travel, requiring minimal food
comparisons with fossil anatomy We already know that red (PNAS, doi.org/npcg). and other resources while
suggested that the animal couldn’t blood cells change shape to fit Indeed, the bat cells – even preserving mental health
have made that stride with its legs different pressures and blood those of non-hibernating bats, during the journey. “There are
alone (PNAS, doi.org/npck). It was vessel sizes. To investigate if which probably maintained benefits of putting humans
clearly flapping or gliding, possibly something like this happens in the evolutionary capacity – at low temperature during
while launching or landing, the cells of hibernating animals continued to become thick, interstellar flight,” says Kerth.
says Pittman. to keep blood flowing, Gerald stiff and functional even “Nature is full of yet-to-be-
“I think the vast majority of Kerth at the University of at very low temperatures. disclosed secrets that can teach
feathered dinosaurs were probably Greifswald in Germany and This change might be slowing us how to overcome present and
doing what this guy was doing – his colleagues turned to bats. down the cells as they pass future medical and technological
using the wings to augment They analysed hundreds of through capillaries in the challenges,” says Angelo
running, jumping, braking and thousands of red blood cells muscles and lungs, making D’Alessandro at the University
turning,” says Pittman. ❚ from common noctule bats them highly efficient at of Colorado Anschutz. ❚

Mathematics
Meta AI tackles impossible maths

Mathematical problems that have stumped humans for over a century can now be worked out
Chris Stokel-Walker
AN ARTIFICIAL intelligence unfortunately mathematicians with forward generation, finding 12.7 per cent of the time.
system developed by Meta can don’t know any general approach the Lyapunov functions for some As a comparison against human
find solutions to maths problems for doing this. simpler systems that could be mathematicians, the team gave
that have eluded mathematicians Now, François Charton at Meta’s calculated using pre-existing 25 master’s-level students three
for over a century, researchers Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) computational techniques. simpler polynomial problems
at the firm claim. and his colleagues say AI can help. Having that training data meant each and asked them to find the
The problems involve The researchers trained an AI their AI model could learn the Lyapunov function for them
mathematical tools called system by working backwards, patterns that have eluded human within a total of 30 minutes. In
Lyapunov functions, named first by generating random total, the students managed to
after mathematician Aleksandr Lyapunov functions that met “Even if 99 per cent of AI solve seven of the 75 problems, or
Lyapunov, which analyse whether certain pre-set requirements, then solutions are hallucinatory 9.3 per cent, while the AI solved
a system will remain stable over creating systems that matched trash, we can swiftly pick 84 per cent (arXiv, doi.org/npb7).
time, meaning its behaviour can these functions. the good from the bad” Despite this success, the AI is
be predicted. One famous example “We thought of the backward still far from a universal technique
of such a system is the motion of method because it was a way to mathematicians. For the simplest for finding Lyapunov functions.
three celestial bodies as a result speed up data generation,” says systems – polynomial systems – Jordan Ellenberg at the
of their mutual gravitational Charton. But it also helped solve the AI could find Lyapunov University of Wisconsin-Madison
interactions. Describing the the major issue that had hindered functions 10.1 per cent of the time, says it doesn’t matter if the AI
behaviour of this “three-body mathematicians for more than compared with a success rate of hasn’t solved the problem
problem” is very challenging. 130 years: finding the function 2.1 per cent using traditional outright – it can still be useful.
In 1892, Lyapunov proved that from the system is almost computational methods. In “The AI can generate many
such systems will remain stable if impossible, but developing the more complex non-polynomial candidate solutions, and even
it is possible to discover a specific function, then matching it to a systems, which can’t currently if 99 per cent are hallucinatory
mathematical relationship, or system, isn’t. They supplemented be solved using computational trash, we can swiftly and reliably
function, for the system, but this backward generation method techniques, the AI was successful pick out the good from the bad.” ❚
Archaeology
Rare Bronze Age Archaeologists carefully lift

the Bronze Age spade onto
wooden tool found a board to be sent to a lab
in English trench
However, there is no sign of
AN INCREDIBLY rare wooden spade permanent settlement at the site,
from the Bronze Age has been perhaps because it was and is a
unearthed by archaeologists in the wetland. “We’re very much thinking
UK. It offers a glimpse into life when this is a seasonal use of this
WESSEX ARCHAEOLOGY
people were increasingly farming landscape,” says Treasure. People

crops in settled communities. may have brought animals in to
“It’s quite an immediate graze in the summer, cut peat for
connection with the past,” says fuel or collected reeds for thatching.
Ed Treasure at Wessex Archaeology Future studies will assess how the
in Salisbury, UK. spade was made, and what it was
The spade was found in wetlands from a single piece of oak. The wet Nearby pottery indicated a similar used for. “It might have been used to
near Poole Harbour on the south conditions meant the shovel wasn’t date. This places the spade’s origins cut peat on the site,” says Treasure.
coast of England by Wessex exposed to oxygen, slowing decay. in the Middle Bronze Age. “It may also have been used to dig
Archaeology. The researchers were The team has radiocarbon dated “It’s quite a big time of change in the ring gully in which it was found.”
digging in ring gullies, circular the spade to 3400-3500 years prehistoric Britain,” says Treasure. One of the only other spades from
trenches that may have originally ago, using a shard found alongside People were becoming less nomadic this period of Britain is the Brynlow
surrounded shelters. In one gully, it. “A very small bit of the spade had and spending much more time in shovel, found in 1875 and dating
they spotted the handle of the become broken off in burial – we settled communities, farming a to almost 4000 years ago. ❚
spade, which had been carved used that for dating,” says Treasure. range of cereals and other foods. Michael Marshall

News
Environment
Mystery of the missing La Niña

Climate-cooling pattern still hasn’t appeared in the Pacific Ocean
James Dinneen
AN EXPECTED shift to cool La Niña can have big effects, she says. It
conditions in the Pacific Ocean has also isn’t unheard of for La Niña to
been delayed again. Forecasters be late, even following a strong El
now project only a weak event to Niño. Four La Niñas have emerged
emerge by the end of November, this late in the year since 1950.
which is likely to limit the cooling But the reasons for the delay are
influence of the climate pattern unclear. “The trade winds have
on global average temperatures. been slower than expected in
“I do not know why it has parts of the eastern Pacific, which
AP PHOTO/MARK BAKER/ALAMY
slowed down,” says Michelle may be keeping waters on the

L’Heureux at the US National equator warmer than forecasted,”
Oceanic and Atmospheric says L’Heureux. “But this may be
Administration (NOAA). more of a symptom than a cause.”
La Niña is the cool phase of the Whether human-caused climate
cycle of sea surface temperatures change is playing a role is an open
in the equatorial Pacific Ocean question, says Becker. Some
known as the El Niño Southern In the 2022 La Niña season, While sea surface temperatures research suggests climate change
Oscillation (ENSO). This is among severe floods hit eastern in the equatorial Pacific have will make ENSO more variable, but
the largest influences on the Australia hard cooled since then, a full-blown La this remains a contentious area.
global climate, and irregularly Niña still hasn’t emerged. NOAA Despite the delays, a La Niña is
swings between La Niñas, neutral As the El Niño faded and neutral now gives La Niña just a 60 per slowly emerging, and it is likely to
temperatures and warm El Niños temperatures emerged in May this cent chance of developing by the have its characteristic influence
every several years. year, forecasters projected a rapid end of November. The agency on global weather, from dry
A rare “triple-dip” La Niña shift to La Niña conditions. In projects a weak and short event conditions in the southern US
between 2020 and 2023 gave way June, researchers at NOAA gave lasting until March. to rain in Indonesia. But as a weak
to a strong El Niño starting in June La Niña a greater than 60 per cent That bullish early forecasts were event, it won’t cool global average
2023. On top of warming due to chance of developing between July off the mark isn’t surprising, says temperatures as much as a strong
greenhouse gas emissions, the and September and a greater than Emily Becker at the University of and long one. “We have seen the
release of stored heat in the oceans 70 per cent chance of developing Miami, Florida. Forecasts made global average temperature come
from that event boosted global between August and October. This that early in the year tend to be down, but it’s still very elevated,”
average temperatures, making contributed to forecasts for an less accurate because small says Becker. “We probably won’t
2023 the hottest year on record. extreme Atlantic hurricane season. fluctuations in wind or water see as much of a decrease.” ❚
Zoology
Hornets hold their While ethanol can be nutritious, The oriental hornet
VLADIMIR_KAZACHKOV/SHUTTERSTOCK
it is also intoxicating. Even animals (Vespa orientalis) could

alcohol like no other that routinely eat fermenting fruit, drink you under the table
animal on Earth like fruit flies and tree shrews, can’t
stomach more than 4 per cent hornet – and possibly others – can
A SPECIES of hornet that munches ethanol in their meals, according handle their booze so well.
on foods containing alcohol can to Bouchebti and her colleagues. The hornets’ penchant for alcohol
consume liquor at levels that no But when they gave hornets might give them a competitive edge
other animal is known to tolerate. nothing to eat for a week except when it comes to eating fermented
“This is crazy,” says Sofia sugary solutions containing foods, says Irene Stefanini at the
Bouchebti at the Ben-Gurion different quantities of ethanol – Analysis of the genomes of University of Turin in Italy. She says
University of the Negev in Israel. between 1 and 80 per cent – the several hornet species suggests their tolerance may be related to
The diet of the oriental hornet hornets’ behaviour and lifespan the insects have two to four copies the fermenting brewer’s yeast
(Vespa orientalis) consists of nectar remained unchanged. The 80 per of a gene that produces NADP+, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which
and ripe fruit like grapes. The fruit cent solutions contain four times as a compound that helps break down her studies have shown reside
contains sugar that turns into much alcohol as anything found in alcohol. The researchers think this within hornets’ intestines. ❚
ethanol when it naturally ferments. nature (PNAS, doi.org/nn9q). might help explain why the oriental Sofia Quaglia

Mathematics Neuroscience
Amateur sleuth
finds largest-known
Woman’s brain shrinks while
prime number taking birth control pills
Matthew Sparkes Grace Wade
AFTER a six-year drought, we now THE largest brain imaging study her brain using magnetic to track her mood and anxiety
have a new largest-known prime of a woman to date shows that resonance imaging (MRI) five levels and logged her sleep,
number, thanks to an amateur hormonal birth control can times a week, at the same time and water, alcohol and caffeine
mathematics enthusiast. decrease brain volume, but it each day, for five weeks while intake each day. Heller tried
Prime numbers are those isn’t clear what effect, if any, she wasn’t using birth control. to keep her physical activity
divisible only by 1 and themselves, this has on brain function. She then started taking birth and diet consistent throughout
such as 2, 3 and 5. There are an Hormonal contraceptives control pills that contained the study.
infinite number of primes, but have been around since the synthetic forms of oestrogen The result was a detailed
proving which numbers are prime 1960s. Yet scientists only began and progesterone – one of picture of how her brain
becomes harder the larger they get. investigating their potential the most popular forms changed across both her
We can now add 2136,279,841 - 1 to effects on the brain in the past of contraception in many natural menstrual cycle and
the list, which at 41,024,320 decade or two, says Carina with hormonal contraception.
decimal digits long is the biggest
prime number known.
It was discovered by a relatively
Heller at the University of
Minnesota, whose brain was
scanned in the new study.
75
brain scans showed how a
She presented the findings
on 7 October at a Society
for Neuroscience meeting
new member of a group called the Studies have shown brain changed over time in Chicago.
Great Internet Mersenne Prime differences in brain volume The volume of Heller’s
Search (GIMPS), where thousands between women who take countries, including cerebral cortex – the brain’s
of people have downloaded hormonal contraceptives and the US and the UK. outermost layer – was 1 per cent
software to hunt for prime numbers. those who don’t. But no one had Three months later, Heller lower while she was on birth
Those who find one earn a place in studied a brain before, during had 25 more scans across five control compared with when she
prime number history and a $3000 and after hormonal birth weeks. She then stopped using stopped the medication. This is
prize. This is the first prize to be control is taken. the oral contraceptive and, in line with previous studies that
awarded since 2018. Heller, who was 30 years old three months later, repeated have indicated hormonal birth
The new prime number, labelled when the study began, had the scanning procedure for control may decrease volume
M136279841 by the GIMPS group, previously used hormonal a final five weeks, making in certain areas of the cortex.
was found by Luke Durant, who birth control for 12 years but 75 brain scans in total. Heller says a decrease in
formerly worked for Nvidia as had stopped taking it about As part of the study, Heller cortical volume isn’t necessarily
an engineer developing graphics five years before the study. measured her body temperature a bad thing. For instance, it also
processing units (GPUs). He has Heller’s colleagues scanned and provided a blood sample occurs during puberty and
been searching for big primes before each scan to determine pregnancy when the brain
for just under a year. The effects of hormonal what phase of her menstrual refines neural pathways to make
All previous GIMPS discoveries birth control on the brain cycle she was in. She also them more efficient. “This could
were made by computer CPUs are understudied completed daily questionnaires be [happening] for the brain on
in relatively humble personal oral contraceptives,” says Heller.
computers, but Durant used a GPU “But for now, we don’t know
system for its number-crunching what this means, and that’s why
abilities. He networked thousands it’s so important that we do
of GPUs housed in 24 data centres more research on the topic.”
across 17 countries. “It was a pretty Hormonal birth control
big surprise, but I had been working affects people differently, says
hard to grow the system,” he says. Heller, so just because she
The new prime is the 52nd of a experienced decreases in
type called Mersenne primes to be cortical volume doesn’t
found. These are exactly one less mean everyone will.
than a power of two, making them Still, the work is a crucial step
slightly easier to find. towards understanding why
SHUTTERSTOCK/AREEYA_ANN
“There’s no use for extremely some people experience

large prime numbers now, but it’s negative side effects, such as
not at all inconceivable that one day depression, on hormonal
somebody will find something,” contraceptives while others
says Kevin Buzzard at Imperial don’t, says Natalie Tronson at
College London. ❚ the University of Michigan. ❚

Views
The columnist Aperture Letters Culture Culture columnist
Annalee Newitz on The search for Readers’ views Tense documentary Bethan Ackerley
going from hater to Ernest Shackleton’s on how to reboot digs into the trade in looks back at Arctic
lover of robotaxis p22 lost ship p24 democracy p26 captive orcas p28 drama The Terror p30
Comment
If only they could talk

Communicating with animals may be closer than we think. But are
we really ready for what they are going to say, asks Chris Sherwood
W
HEN my ginger rescue she struggles to stand. The hen
cat Marmalade crawls that lives her life in a cage the size
on my lap and meows of a piece of paper or one of the
at me urgently, I often find myself nearly 150,000 rats – those
wishing I really knew what was intelligent creatures that can solve
going on inside his head. problems, giggle when tickled and
It might seem like storybook form deep bonds with humans –
stuff, but communicating with that are used in experiments in
animals may be closer than we the UK? Right now, it is easy to
think. Earlier this year, researchers ignore because it is normalised
revealed they had discovered and sanctioned by government
that sperm whales in the east and industry and takes place
Caribbean use a phonetic alphabet behind closed doors. AI could
of 143 combinations of clicks. They make it much harder to pretend
described it as the closest system we don’t know.
to human language yet discovered Even our beloved pets might tell
and hope that one day they will be us things we don’t want to hear –
able to communicate with these the ones we have bred with “cute”
complex, social creatures. squished faces that struggle to
But it isn’t just whales. Artificial breathe, or the ones we dress up
intelligence is also being used to or scare for clicks and likes on
try to understand cats, bats and social media.
SIMONE ROTELLA
pigs. There’s even a prize on offer Animal behaviourists would tell

to the team that first cracks two- us that we already communicate
way communication between with animals, as we understand
humans and animals. their body language. But, in reality,
At the RSPCA, the UK’s largest with that status; should they ended the casual cruelty for our we turn a blind eye to what they
animal welfare charity, we recently be able to vote? In this scenario, entertainment – cockfighting in tell us when it threatens the
launched our Animal Futures we punish abuse of animals as pubs or dog fighting in the streets way we want to live our lives.
project, based on a futures report severely as human crimes, use in the UK, for example – that our Genuine communication with
we commissioned into animal animal testimony in court and founders campaigned against. them through AI would make
welfare. It explores five scenarios most of us go vegan overnight. At the same time, however, it harder to ignore how our
of what the world could look like I would like to believe that it is also undeniable that we everyday choices affect the
for animals – and us – in 2050. this could happen. The RSPCA have become disconnected from animals around us.
The most optimistic depicts is celebrating its 200th year and animals and turned them into I am not sure we are ready for
a future where AI progresses so it is undeniable that since our commodities. If we have imagined what they have got to say, but we
much that we can converse freely founders sat in a coffee shop in communicating with them, we need to listen, because the futures
with the animals around us. London in 1824, imagining a better probably picture chatting away of us all are intrinsically linked. ❚
This breakthrough triggers a world for animals, humans have to our cats and dogs at home.
step change in how we see and revolutionised our treatment But what about the animals
treat animals, sparking a debate of them. They have better that end up on our plate or in Chris Sherwood
on animal rights: should they be protections than ever before, laboratories? The chicken that is chief executive
citizens with all the rights and we recognise their sentience grows so fast that, by the time of the RSPCA
responsibilities that come along in law and we have largely she is just over a month old,

Views Columnist
This changes everything
Falling for my robotaxi I have a confession to make. After taking

a handful of autonomous taxi rides, I have gone from a hater to a
friend of robot cars in just a few weeks, says Annalee Newitz
I
TOOK my first ride in a Waymo paying attention to the stop signs Ultimately, the men wandered
robotaxi last month, and now and street lights that also popped off and she was left frightened
I’m obsessed. I have taken five up on the screen. but physically unharmed, yet
autonomous car rides since, and Seeing through the car’s eyes her experience raises questions.
even convinced two reluctant helped me get over my initial What if thieves stood in front
friends to do it too. Here’s how nervousness. I was more aware of of a Waymo while their buddies
I went from a hater to a cautious my environment than I have ever smashed the windows and
friend of robot cars in five weeks. been as a driver. Plus, there was a demanded passengers’ stuff?
Waymo’s parent company button to call for assistance from Riding in a Waymo is safer in
Annalee Newitz is a Alphabet – which also owns Waymo, as well as a “pull over many ways, but it can also turn
science journalist and Google – recently launched a now” button, which I found passengers into sitting ducks.
author. Their latest book pilot programme in San Francisco. very comforting. There are labour issues, too.
is Stories Are Weapons: When I was ready to hail one, Overall, during my six rides, Rideshare companies like Uber cut
Psychological warfare and the I simply downloaded an app that the car’s performance in odd into the livelihoods of taxi drivers,
American mind. They are the closely resembles a rideshare app situations has been good. It undermining unions and creating
co-host of the Hugo-winning and pushed the call button. Within avoided a cyclist who shot into an a class of gig workers with few
podcast Our Opinions Are minutes, a white Jaguar SUV rolled intersection out of nowhere, and rights and no benefits. Robotaxis
Correct. You can follow them up in front of my house, with its somehow navigated between two promise to eliminate rideshare
@annaleen and their website large top hat of whirling lidar huge trucks on a narrow street. and taxi driver jobs. Plus, the tech
is techsploitation.com sensors and cameras. A light underlying autonomous cars is
on the roof flashed my initials. “There is something already being used in trucks and
When I pushed the “unlock” comforting about buses. So each time I ride in a
button in my app, the passenger Waymo, I know the ghost at the
Annalee’s week being driven around
doors extruded handles and I steering wheel is the ghost of a
What I’m reading jumped into the front seat next by a machine that is dead job.
Neuroscientist Kelly to… an invisible person. Truly, friendly and never Still, it is impossible for me to
Clancy’s Playing with that is how it feels to ride tired or cranky” ride in a robotaxi and not develop
Reality, a history of shotgun in a Waymo, as the warm feelings towards it. There
gamification and steering wheel spins on its own. It Sure, it made weird decisions at is something comforting about
game theory. reminded me of being 7 years old times. At one point, my car took a being driven around by a machine
on Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion narrow, winding side street full of that is friendly, never tired or
What I’m watching ride, where a holographic ghost traffic and pedestrians instead of cranky and doesn’t infodump at
Slow Horses, appears in the carriage beside you. going on a wide, fast thoroughfare. you about conspiracy theories.
a masterclass in the My point is, yes, it did feel a little Other reported issues include cars But there is more going on here.
“sleazy, disgusting scary to be sitting by myself in a stopping for too long at crowded As Cynthia Breazeal, a robotics
genius” subgenre. car that was driving on its own. intersections, randomly honking researcher at the Massachusetts
A female voice came over the in parking lots and, in one case, Institute of Technology,
What I’m working on speakers reminding me to buckle hitting a telephone pole. found in 2001, humans will
Research for a big up, then asked me to be patient if There are also problems you anthropomorphise anything –
project about the ancient we went a little slowly because might not expect. One night when even a simple robot – if it behaves
history of parties and “I’m a polite driver”. I called a Waymo, the car rolled in a way we recognise as emotional.
celebrations. Screens in the dashboard and up with a large phallus doodled That was definitely the case for
back of the car showed what the across its doors. Oops – it is easy to me when the car told me it was
car “saw” as it drove. It reminded graffiti a car that nobody is driving. “polite”. I couldn’t stop myself
me of the interface of Pokemon Then there is the issue of people from saying “thank you” out
Go – a blocky, smoothed-out taking advantage of a safety loud. I felt cared for. And when it
version of the real streets and feature that prevents the car expertly zig-zagged around road
buildings around you. Cars from moving forwards if someone works, I exclaimed “good job!”
appeared as rectangles and stands in front of it. Recently in as if it were my cat. I don’t know
humans were stick figures walking San Francisco, two men stepped where my relationship with
This column appears in little puddles of light. My into the street to block a woman’s these robotaxis is going – it’s
monthly. Up next week: robotaxi’s path was a bright line, Waymo, refusing to move unless complicated – but I think we
Rowan Hooper weaving around these obstacles, she gave them her phone number. might have a future together. ❚

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP L: JAMES BLAKE/FALKLANDS MARITIME HERITAGE TRUST; ESTHER HORVATH; FALKLANDS MARITIME HERITAGE TRUST
Views Aperture

New Scientist video
Finding Ernest Shackleton’s sunken ship
youtube.com/newscientist
Shackleton saga
National Geographic
5 November
SLOWLY cracking through the

dense pack ice of Antarctica’s
Weddell Sea is hefty, ice-breaking
research vessel S. A. Agulhas II
(far left, top). It was part of
Endurance22, a successful 2022
expedition to locate the sunken
ship of explorer Ernest Shackleton.
Endurance went down in 1915
after it was trapped by pack ice
during its first voyage – leaving
him and his crew of 27 men
stranded, with little hope of
rescue. “The story of survival of
Shackleton and the crew of the
Endurance is a legendary feat of
leadership, grit, determination and
perseverance against all the odds,”
says Nico Vincent, deputy leader
of the Endurance22 expedition.
In new book Endurance, he and the
wreck mission leader John Shears
detail the search for the lost ship.
A stunning bird’s-eye view
(near left, top) shows members
of Endurance22’s subsea team
edging a returning underwater
autonomous vehicle into position
at the vessel’s stern before heaving
it onboard again.
But, fittingly, centre stage
(bottom) is taken by an amazing
mosaic of over 25,000 images
of the wreck itself. It reveals an
incredibly well-preserved ship, its
masts, anchors and steam engine
funnel all still present, while the
hull is also intact, resting upright
on the seabed. Shears and Vincent
hope the story of the ship will offer
a fresh perspective on the epic tale
for a new generation. ❚
Chen Ly
Endurance: The discovery of

Shackleton’s legendary ship by
John Shears and Nico Vincent
is published on 5 November
For a review of Arctic horror drama

The Terror, see page 30

Views Your letters
Editor’s pick technology to create true is arrogant to think that only Here’s to revelling in the
democracy for the people, by the we can be observers? mystery of the cosmos
people. Money corrupts politics. If the history of science teaches
Your views on how 12 October, p 44
Make it illegal for vested interests us anything, it is that making
to reboot democracy to give money or anything that humanity in any way central to From James Hardy, Belfast, UK
5 October, p 32 costs money to politicians before, an idea sooner or later proves to Leah Crane’s article about seeing
From Roger Morgan, during or after a term in office and be wrong. When does an entity Saturn through a telescope as a
Presteigne, Powys, UK watch those whose only interest is stop being an observer – a cat child and being inspired to love
Laura Spinney’s article proposes to enrich themselves run for the can clearly be one, but can a space was fascinating. It called
the use of randomly selected hills. A responsible, public-spirited bacterium, a grain of sand, a to mind philosopher Bertrand
citizens’ assemblies to harness the group will take their place and proton? Daniele Oriti’s ideas Russell, who, although an
creativity of the crowd to generate politics will repair itself. come close to panpsychism, atheist, freely admitted to the
good solutions to public problems. which posits that consciousness immense mystery of the cosmos:
The idea is a return to Athenian From Terry Klumpp, in some degree is fundamental “We know very little, and yet it is
democratic principles, using new Melbourne, Australia to entities. astonishing that we know so
decision-making processes and I favour the idea of a lottocracy much, and still more astonishing
new technology to shift governing because it would, in effect, From Patrick Butterly, that so little knowledge can give
decision-making closer to the eliminate those career-politicians Buckfastleigh, Devon, UK us so much power.”
general public than it is in current, who have rarely or never had a real Oriti, a theoretical physicist, says
rather distrusted systems. job outside politics and so haven’t that “we have to embrace the fact
No shock that pyramids
But citizens’ assemblies haven’t experienced what it is like to that we make reality”. That might
been convincingly representative so actually have to work for a living. come as a shock to scientists, but were an ancient favourite
far. Random invitations to the public Some may also be subservient to not to poets and novelists: they 19 October, p 37
to participate (“sortition”) have their rich donors. Because of this, have always thought it obvious From Robert Masta ,
usually led to only a single-figure we end up with an “oligarchy” that reality inheres not in the Ann Arbor, Michigan, US
percentage accepting, reducing the under the guise of a democracy. common phenomenal world, Many thanks for the Flint Dibble
initial value of random selection. but in the perceptions of that interview. It is no great surprise
Moreover, the representativeness world in individual minds. that multiple cultures would
Do we make reality?
of assemblies as “mini-publics” has independently develop pyramids.
relied on selection by criteria such Maybe, maybe not From Faith Anstey, We humans have a natural affinity
as gender, age and initial views on 12 October, p 40 Dalguise, Perth and Kinross, UK for high places, probably dating
subjects to be considered. But there From Adrian Smith, If we make reality, are we part back to spotting predators or
is little evidence about what criteria Addingham, West Yorkshire, UK of reality or not? If we are, do enemies as well as a desire to be
truly maximise representativeness. I don’t buy the idea that “we we make ourselves – and all our closer to the sky.
We need to properly test the make reality”. I believe subatomic thoughts, theories and so on? A pyramid is a simple structure
validity and reliability of potential entities exist independently of us And if not, why not? that can be built without the
new democratic processes. and that these entities oscillate fancy lifting technology required
and interact with wave-like for a tower, and can be made
My frenemies seem
From Ian McKinley, properties. However, the intrinsically stable. An ancient
Ennetbaden, Switzerland equations we use to describe to be following me project engineer could
There is no doubt that these interactions are human- 19 October, p 40 demonstrate project feasibility
implementing the ideal of citizen made, so it is at this point that From Maggie Cobbett, to the ruling elite using a model
participation is very challenging, we create our own reality. Ripon, North Yorkshire, UK comprehensible to any child.
but it is a shame that the country David Robson’s piece on
with probably the most effective From Larry Stoter, “frenemies” set up an intriguing
Water from air: the
system of direct democracy wasn’t The Narth, Monmouthshire, UK question in my mind. Why is it
examined: Switzerland. The The idea that there is no objective that people I would really like to Incas got there first
requirements for such democracy reality puts the “observer” centre see again rarely cross my path, 19 October, p 10
to work as mentioned in the article stage. But what constitutes an whereas those I would prefer to From Alex McDowell, London, UK
can all be seen in Swiss culture and observer? Much of quantum avoid appear everywhere I go? The idea of extracting drinking
its educational system. That this physics avoids this issue, implying Some kind of negative attraction water from the air, as deployed
brings benefits should be clear that only humans qualify. Surely it at play, perhaps? in a Florida children’s hospital
from the fact that this small after recent hurricane disruption,
country has one of the highest isn’t new. The Incas, living in
standards of living in the world. Want to get in touch? mountainous regions too high
Send letters to letters@newscientist.com; to get rain, channelled dew into
From William Hughes-Games, see terms at newscientist.com/letters cisterns and may have used fog
Waipara, New Zealand Letters sent to New Scientist, 9 Derry Street, fences to collect moisture that
There is no need for digital London, W8 5HY will be delayed was hanging in the atmosphere. ❚

Views Culture
Cashing in on killer whales

A tense and thriller-like documentary digs deep into the murkiest
waters surrounding the cruel trade in orcas, finds Katie Smith-Wong
Orca – Black & White Gold focuses sociopolitical mission. With so many parties with such
on the efforts to liberate a pod of Nörenberg concentrates her different opinions, Nörenberg
Film orcas and beluga whales from a documentary mostly on the maintains the documentary’s
Orca – Black & White Gold site in Srednyaya Bay, near activities around Srednyaya Bay, emotional balance about captive
Sarah Nörenberg Nakhodka, in the far east of Russia, and on the lucrative sale of orcas orcas by repeating facts rather
Terra Mater Factual Studios which were being held as part of from Russia to China for its new than lapsing into bias.
Distribution pending efforts to populate oceanariums aquariums and attractions. She also holds onto the film’s
in China. The film highlights The film follows various people serious tone, reminding audiences
WHEN it comes to orcas, also the ongoing issue of marine as they track the welfare of captive that commercial whale capture
known as killer whales, films such mammals being captured orcas. From the outset, it exposes is not to be taken lightly. Several
as the documentary Blackfish and for commercial purposes. the lack of compassion of hunters compelling moments change the
family adventure Free Willy have It starts with a scene straight out and the authorities towards the pace by using animation to drive
shown the distressing effects of an action movie as a group of home facts and figures about the
captivity can have on their hunters looking to capture orcas “The film doesn’t shy industry, from the first orca sale
behaviour, especially towards target a pod in a high-speed chase in the 1960s to SeaWorld’s stock
away from the politics
humans. Real-life cases include on the open water. As they throw crash following the release of
Tilikum, who was involved in the nets around the mammals,
of the orcas’ sale, and Blackfish 50 years later.
deaths of two trainers, one at one crew member shrugs his the secrecy of the A killer whale can fetch millions
Sealand of the Pacific, in British shoulders at the number of the Srednyaya Bay rescue” of dollars, making them an
Columbia, Canada, the other at orcas being captured. With orca expensive commodity. And with
SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida, cries echoing in the background, whales. We see the incredulity Russian president Vladimir Putin
and a trespasser at the latter site. it sets a dark and discomforting and horror of a group of marine a constant background presence,
A new docu-thriller by director tone for the documentary. experts as they watch a film of the documentary doesn’t shy
Sarah Nörenberg highlights The Srednyaya site was dubbed professional hunters fail to save away from the politics driving the
another, darker side of captive a “whale jail” by the press after an adult orca trapped in a net. And sale of orcas, and the secrecy of the
whales – their commercialisation. reports about it appeared in the one Russian hunter says he would Srednyaya Bay rescue.
independent Russian newspaper rather move to the Antarctic than For instance, we see that a press
Orcas in the Sea of Novaya Gazeta in 2018. As a result, stop whale hunting but has mixed conference in Moscow about the
Okhotsk, off Russia’s releasing the captive mammals feelings about keeping the rescue mission builds suspicion
Kamchatka peninsula became both a priority and a animals in captivity. about its lack of transparency,
as well as the legality of whale
capture and the culpability of
those who engage in the practice.
Kirill Viktorovich Kolonchin,
director of the Russian Research
Institute of Fisheries and
Oceanography (VNIRO), is shown
unable to answer questions about
the orcas’ future – fuelling worries
about whether the rescue will take
place at all, and feeding into the
“thriller” tone set by the
documentary’s opening scene.
Compelling and insightful,
Orca – Black & White Gold is an
enlightening look at the murkier
side of commercial whale capture
TERRA MATER STUDIOS GMBH
and it raises awareness about the

treatment of these animals
in captivity. ❚
Katie Smith-Wong is a film critic

based in London

New Scientist
recommends
The real asteroid plan

Forget giant space rocks, smaller ones that could wipe out a city
are what we really need to fear, discovers Chris Stokel-Walker
Timothy Revell
Executive Editor
Book London
How to Kill an Asteroid
The new BBC series
Robin George Andrews
Ludwig seems like a
W.W.Norton
classic murder mystery.
Each episode of the
FOR a generation of scientists – and six-parter starts with an
science fiction fans – Hollywood untimely, odd death and
movies like Armageddon and Deep ends with a here’s-how-
Impact have helped shape and scare it-happened moment
society. The risk of an asteroid from a genius sleuth. Yet
wreaking havoc on our planet, somehow, it feels fresh,
JAMES THEW/ALAMY
wiping out large swathes of Earth surprising and funny.
and the humans on it, are real. The story follows John
But as science journalist Robin Taylor (David Mitchell,
George Andrews writes in How to pictured), a recluse and
Kill an Asteroid: The real science of legendary puzzle setter,
planetary defence, the danger isn’t A meteor burns up as it nears on the same campus, getting the known by his pseudonym
from super-large space rocks that Earth, unlike asteroids that can real low-down among the staff who “Ludwig”. When his
could be on a collision course with hit the surface and wreak havoc worked on the mission as they see it identical twin brother
us, but from the smaller ones. successfully pulled off. James (also Mitchell)
We have spotted those larger blurred in favour of readability. The innate drama of defending disappears, his sister-
bodies that could careen into our Or they can force readers into against killer asteroids goes a long in-law begs John to help.
world and know we are safe from submission through scientifically way towards explaining its appeal So he impersonates
them for now, says Andrews, but accurate, but deathly prose. for Hollywood. But the detail of what his brother (a detective
the slightly smaller ones that slip Walking this tightrope is tricky. it takes to compute the variables chief inspector) to find
through our monitoring systems Well-sourced and rigorous analysis that go into launching a mission out what happened. No
could cause nearly as much havoc. often doesn’t make for engaging to disrupt an asteroid on course one at the station notices
Some 25,000 asteroids, each large writing. And if you commit the for us could easily turn a pacey
enough to destroy a city, are on cardinal sin of judging this book by yarn into a treacly mess.
orbits that could threaten Earth, but its cover – a schlocky sci-fi design, Luckily Andrews never gets
we don’t yet know where they are. giving the impression of a young bogged down in the science, but
This vividly written book, which adult novel or 1970s B-movie – you also doesn’t leave out any important
reads as much like a thriller as the might worry about the opposite. information. You will finish the book
film plots it is trying to correct, helps Neither are a concern here. as informed as you are entertained.
explain the risks involved. From the Andrews’s dexterity in explaining You may also end it feeling a little the swap and John finds
first page, Andrews throws us into complicated concepts, including worried. Talk of potential disasters himself cracking cases
the action, with his own science- how to knock asteroids off-orbit, is prone to invoke apprehension, of as if they were puzzles at
fictionalised look at an imagined makes this book well worth picking course – and one chapter, where the back of a magazine.
asteroid collision with Seattle in up, but that verbal vivacity is Andrews sits in on an exercise I also enjoyed reading
2046, which could create a hole matched by deep reporting. that war-games the international When We Cease to
about 1220 metres wide and He isn’t in the press room where response to an imminent asteroid Understand the World
nearly 500 metres deep at the world’s media are cooped up at hit that results in the entire by Benjamín Labatut.
the point of impact. The language the September 2022 culmination of destruction of Winston-Salem, I knew little about it
is beautifully chosen, and the future humanity’s wild, multi-year plan to North Carolina, is hauntingly before starting and
DAVID EMERY/BBC/BIG TALK STUDIOS
leaps into life through his words. deliberately crash a spaceship into written. But there is positivity recommend that you
Books like this usually take one an asteroid and change its trajectory, too, as we realise the brightest take the same approach.
of two tacks. They can oversimplify, a NASA mission called DART (Double minds are working to protect It’s an unusual book about
leaving slightly more scientifically Asteroid Redirection Test). Instead, us from doomsday. ❚ mathematics and the
experienced readers feeling thanks to an entrepreneurial mind; part-truth, part-
unfulfilled as generalisation takes decision to shake off his media Chris Stokel-Walker is a writer based fiction. I will say no more!
precedence over fact and detail is minders, he is at a barbecue held in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

Views Culture
The TV column
Voyage to hell Fresh discoveries about the 1845 Franklin expedition to find the
Arctic’s Northwest Passage make it worth revisiting an excellent horror drama.
It is beautifully crafted and a worthy tribute to the lost sailors, says Bethan Ackerley
James Fitzjames (Tobias

Menzies, left) and John
Franklin (Ciarán Hinds)
All three are limited, flawed

and buckling under the social
stigma of those times: of being
illegitimate, a failure or Irish,
respectively. The world that
Bethan Ackerley is a broke and bent these men into
subeditor at New Scientist. shape has sent them to carve
She loves sci-fi, sitcoms a path through the ice, straight
and anything spooky. into a sea of troubles.
Follow her on X @inkerley Among these is the Tuunbaq, a
polar bear-like creature inspired by
Inuit myths. A lesser show would
have turned this into a symbol of
evil, but in The Terror, it is simply
a manifestation of nature’s
ITVX
indifference, its “savagery” just

one of the abominations ahead,
IN SEPTEMBER, an awful truth expedition. But if, like me, you not least the men themselves.
was brought to light. have a lingering fascination Their distrust of the Inuit
TV
Ever since contact was lost with with the fate of these men, communities also dooms them as
The Terror
the Franklin expedition, an 1845 watch the first season of AMC’s much as their encounters with the
AMC
attempt by the British Royal Navy horror anthology series The Terror, Tuunbaq, horrifying as those are.
Showrunners:
to find a path through the Arctic’s from 2018, which is based on the We know from an epigraph to
David Kajganich, Soo Hugh
Northwest Passage, historians and ill-fated mission – and adds a the series that all the sailors are
scientists have tried to find out supernatural twist. It isn’t a literal destined to be lost. Remarkably,
Bethan also what went wrong. Investigations retelling of the tragedy, but it is The Terror makes you forget that:
recommends... discovered hints of the horrors a beautifully crafted show, and each death and indignity is as
the sailors may have faced, a fitting tribute to the sailors. keenly felt as if the men’s fates
TV
including pack ice, hypothermia, were uncertain. That is the result
Fortitude lead poisoning and starvation. not only of excellent writing and
Creator: Simon Donald
“We have been trying
Eventually, the wrecks of HMS an exemplary cast, but the loving
Sky Atlantic to piece together what
Erebus and HMS Terror, the way the series includes ephemera
Set in the sleepy ( fictional) mission’s twin ships, were located.
happened for years. the expedition left behind, clues
town of Fortitude in the But another, more personal The show is part of that that would later prove vital.
Norwegian Arctic, this challenge endures, that of continuing history” We have been trying to piece
horror series hinges on a together what happened to the
accurately identifying the remains
thawing glacier and some Franklin expedition for years. The
of many of the 129 souls lost. New At the heart of The Terror’s
truly terrifying polar bears. first season of The Terror may be a
research by Douglas Stenton at the version are three officers. One
University of Waterloo in Canada is Fitzjames (Tobias Menzies), drama, but it is also an important
Book
and his colleagues has done just here characterised as the dashing, part of that continuing history
Polar Horrors: that for James Fitzjames, a senior somewhat arrogant favourite because it speaks vividly to our
Strange tales from officer on HMS Erebus. Most of John Franklin (Ciarán Hinds), fascination with the men who
the world’s ends significantly, it is the first time the amiable but glory-hunting died, not simply the particulars
Editor: John Miller
it has been possible to identify leader of the expedition. The crew of their doom. I struggled against
Courtesy of the British an expedition member whose feelings of dread to watch it again
of HMS Terror are led by Francis
Library, this collection of body was cannibalised. for this review, but once I began,
Crozier (Jared Harris), Franklin’s
classic horror short stories It is a sorry tale, and I wouldn’t I felt compelled onwards to its
melancholic second-in-command,
is a perfect accompaniment blame you if you shied away harrowing conclusion.
who is among the vanishingly
to The Terror. from learning more about the I am confident you will, too. ❚
few polar veterans on either ship.

To advertise here please email Ryan.Buczman@mailmetromedia.co.uk or call 020 3615 1151 2 November 2024 | New Scientist | 31
Features Cover story
THE SMART GUIDE TO

NUTRITION
SPEND any time online and
it seems like everyone has a
different view about what and
how we should be eating –
even the experts. So, over the
next eight pages we delve into
some of the hottest nutrition
trends of the moment – from
diets that supposedly balance
our hormones or reduce
inflammation to personalised
nutrition and fermented
foods – to find out whether
they stand up to scrutiny.
Among other things,
we weigh up whether the
timing of our meals is more
important than what we eat,
investigate whether snacking
is really as bad as it is cracked
up to be and discover the
one thing you should be
obsessed with eating more
of (but probably aren’t).
So read on to find out what
should really be on your plate
if you want to boost your
chances of a longer and
healthier life.

C OU L D W H E N YOU E AT M AT T E R
A S M UC H A S W H AT YOU E AT ?
I
“
t is close to midnight and I am is the body’s central timekeeper. Its shift staff to become overweight or
bingeing both on a Netflix show function is to make sure biological obese even when consuming the
and leftovers from the fridge. processes such as falling asleep occur same number of calories.
I know I will regret it in the morning – at the optimal time. The SCN is reset Despite this clear association
and perhaps for years to come. daily by light and darkness, creating a Overriding between meal timing and health, “the
With my late-night feasting, I am roughly 24-hour cycle called the underlying mechanisms remain
inadvertently playing fast and loose circadian rhythm. It also coordinates the body’s largely unknown”, according to
with a system that evolved to keep my appetite to ensure that we have Pivovarova-Ramich. We know that
body in sync with the natural 24-hour adequate supplies of energy during natural thermogenesis – the generation of
cycle of day and night. Its effects the day and can get through a night’s body heat through metabolism – is
include setting optimum times to eat, sleep without being awoken by 24-hour cycle under circadian control and is higher
and there is emerging evidence that digestion or hunger. This translates in the morning. This is also true of our
overriding this schedule can have into natural peaks in appetite in the can have resting metabolic rate, the amount of
severe consequences for health. morning and early evening. Processes energy our bodies use in the absence
The syncing begins in a small cluster involved in the digestion, absorption severe health of exercise. It could be that, because of
of neurons in the brain called the and metabolism of food are similarly these factors, calories consumed in
suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), which coordinated by the SCN to be primed the “biological night” are shunted into
consequences
for action at the appropriate times. fat storage rather than burned.
”
But the SCN doesn’t solely call the In today’s world, there are endless
shots. The body also has numerous opportunities to grab a tasty zeitgeber
secondary clocks in peripheral tissues at the wrong time. Many of us live in
and organs that largely take their 24-hour societies where food is widely
orders from the central clock, but also available at all hours. Artificial light,
respond to external cues called such as from TV screens, may also play
zeitgebers (German for “time givers”). a role. It can throw the SCN out of
The most important of these is whack, adding another source of
feeding, which causes the release of confusion between the central and
hormones involved in metabolism peripheral clocks. Artificial light can
and satiety. Zeitgebers also reset the also extend the active portion of the
peripheral clocks in the gut, liver, day and shrink the biological night,
pancreas, heart and adipose tissue. which studies in mice suggest may
Ideally, the central and peripheral lead to increased overall food intake
clocks are in sync. But eating at the and weight gain.
wrong time can create a mismatch. So, when is the right and wrong
That spells trouble for our waistlines time to eat? It depends to some extent
and general health. Feasting when the on individual biology. Everyone has a
SCN wants us to fast has been linked “chronotype”, which is their largely
with obesity, type 2 diabetes, high innate preference for when their
blood pressure, raised cholesterol and waking hours start and end. Around
cardiovascular disease. Part of the 20 per cent of us are “owls”, who
problem may simply be that eating naturally wake late, go to bed late and
out of hours means we consume too function better in the afternoon.
many calories, according to Olga Another 20 per cent are “larks”, who
Pivovarova-Ramich at the German wake and sleep early. The rest lie
I n s t i t u te o f Hu m a n N u t r i t i o n somewhere in the middle. These
Potsdam-Rehbrücke. But timing also different chronotypes are largely a
BRETT RYDER
appears to be a crucial factor: a 2017 result of genetic differences that affect

analysis of night-shift workers found circadian rhythms. But as a general
that they were more likely than day- rule of thumb, it is wise to get most >

W H AT’S T HE T RU T H A BOU T
HORMONE-BALANCING DIETS?
S
pend more than 5 minutes on because it suggests that something is
Instagram or TikTok – especially as a wrong if hormones, when measured, are
woman of a certain age – and you are not always in the ‘normal range’,” says
likely to meet a fit, attractive person Deena Adimoolam at the Endocrine
showing you what they ate today. It is Society. “The truth is, our hormones
usually a bowl of oats, flaxseeds and fluctuate all day and all night.”
berries, or a plate of leafy greens with lean For the most part, this system runs
meats or other “quality proteins”, or a itself. And when it doesn’t, it is often
salad of raw carrots and little else, all because of something more serious than
of your calories earlier in the enviably presented and accompanied by carrot salads can cure. Some conditions
day and avoid eating altogether the claim that these foods balance excess can induce problematic levels of a specific
during your biological night, which oestrogen, lower the stress hormone hormone in the body, whether that is too
for non-owls starts around 8pm. cortisol, support adrenal function or even little or too much. Polycystic ovarian
Studies have shown that night help you get rid of that “hormonal belly”. syndrome (PCOS), one of the most
eaters, who consume the majority So-called hormone-balancing diets common conditions addressed by
of their calories after this time, tend aren’t exactly new: self-help books influencers, is characterised by an excess
to have a higher body mass index. positing hormonal balance as the way to of androgens, for example, while
One way to avoid eating too late is wellness began appearing in the early hypothyroidism occurs when the thyroid
through time-restricted eating 2000s, marrying scientific-sounding produces too little thyroxine and
(TRE), a popular form of fasting claims with weight-loss plans. But what triiodothyronine. In other cases, too much
where all the day’s calories are does “hormone imbalance” really mean? or too little of a hormone can indicate a
consumed within a limited and Not a lot, as it turns out. Hormones are tumour in a gland.
consistent window, typically 8 to 10 the chemical messengers produced by It is true, however, that our diet does
hours. In practice, that means either endocrine glands located throughout the play a part . “What we eat or don’t eat can
fasting throughout the morning body, such as the thyroid, pituitary gland, impact our hormonal production,” says
or stopping eating in the late ovaries and testes, that orchestrate many Sherry. The effect can be both direct,
afternoon, which are known as late essential functions. “Hormones basically causing our bodies to make more or less of
and early TRE respectively. Many run the show, so to speak, in our bodies,” a specific hormone, or indirect, by
studies show that both versions says Amelia Sherry, a registered dietician changing cellular sensitivity to hormonal
have metabolic benefits ranging in New York. “Different hormones regulate signalling. These effects are most obvious
from better blood sugar control to everything, including sleep, hunger and with the hormones regulating blood sugar
healthier cholesterol levels. fullness, growth, sexual development and and satiety, where certain foods can
E x a c t ly why i s n ’ t c le a r. desire, pregnancy, energy metabolism, e x a c e r b a t e e x i s t i n g i s s u e s , s ay s
“Unfortunately, there’s not been blood sugar and more.” Adimoolam. “If you have type 2 diabetes,
much mechanistic work on time- So the concept of “balance” makes little eating too much glucose – sugar – can lead
restricted eating in humans,” says sense in the perpetually changing to a further increase in the hormone
Courtney Peterson at the University endocrine system. “ ‘Hormonal imbalance’ insulin, leading to more insulin resistance,
of Alabama at Birmingham. But is not a term endocrinologists… readily use which can lead to worsening blood
circadian rhythms appear to be sugar control.”
involved. TRE has been shown to Some foods and food packaging contain
extend lifespan in animals, though endocrine-disrupting chemicals, which
some research has cast doubt on can interfere with the body’s hormones.
the practice, with links to increased Fast food consumption, p for instance, is
risk of death from heart disease.
What’s more, we haven’t followed
people on these diets for long
enough to know if TRE has longevity
effects in humans, but people
practising it consistently lose a bit of
weight, says Peterson. There are also
positive effects on blood sugar
control and blood pressure, she
says. Tellingly, though, these are
only seen with early TRE, perhaps
because it aligns better with
circadian rhythms. Another good
reason to ditch the midnight feasts.
Graham Lawton

linked to higher levels of chemicals used in
plastics called phthalates, probably due to
either the packaging or the processing
procedures. Even relatively little exposure
to such chemicals can have significant
biological and developmental effects in I S S N AC K I N G R E A L LY T H AT
both humans and wildlife. BA D F OR YOU ?
The interaction between hormones and
“
environment isn’t as simple as many
W
influencers imply, however. “There are e are often told not to eat T h e i r o ve r a l l f i n d i n g w a s
many complex factors that go into between meals, and there somewhat surprising: snacking, per
hormone production, hormone signalling is a general perception se, isn’t associated with negative
and how hormones play with one that snacking is unhealthy. But, as health outcomes. This contradicts
another,” says Sherry. So, although a Research on usual when it comes to food, one of the most common
careful diet can help reduce ingestion of temptation prevails. arguments against snacking. “There
environmental endocrine disruptors, it the health Snacking is very common, and are many people who say having
cannot cure conditions like PCOS. And increasingly so. In the early 1970s, multiple eating events throughout
there is no evidence that eating a diet rich effects of for example, US adults consumed the day is bad for you,” says Berry.
in, for example, soy and flaxseeds – plant about 18 per cent of their total “You need to give your body a rest.”
products full of phytoestrogens that snacking has calories in snack form. By 2010, that Yet her team’s results suggest this
mimic mammalian oestrogen – will had risen to 23 per cent. Similar isn’t the case. “ There was no
“reset” your personal oestrogen levels, as produced a numbers have been recorded in the difference in health outcomes
is sometimes claimed. UK, Brazil and Norway. depending on the number of eating
Though many of the diets promoted as Given how common snacking is, events,” she says. “If you had three or
dog’s dinner
hormone-balancing aren’t themselves it would be nice to know whether if you had six, it didn’t matter.”
dangerous, they may nonetheless have the received wisdom is true. But But snacking isn’t a free lunch
problematic effects. Some are designed to
of results research on the health effects of either. It depends on what you eat
help with PCOS, perimenopause or snacking has produced a dog’s and when. Unsurprisingly, people
”
menopause, and people experiencing dinner of results. Some studies have who snaffled poor-quality snacks,
these are at a higher risk of developing found that, as expected, snacking such as biscuits, crisps and cakes,
eating disorders. False information about has negative health consequences. and/or ate after 9pm were worse off
what these diets can accomplish may only But others have found the opposite. health-wise than those who didn’t
increase the likelihood of disordered To get a clearer picture, earlier this snack at all or who snacked on nuts,
eating among their target audiences, says year, Sarah Berry at King’s College seeds, fresh fruit and vegetables.
Sherry. “These very real risks, coupled with London, who is also chief scientist at “What seems to matter is the
the lack of reliable evidence that any one the Zoe nutrition app, and her quality of the snack – obviously –
particular diet is going to cure or reverse colleagues, re-analysed data they and the timing,” says Berry. The
hormonal changes related to PCOS or had gathered as part of an effect of late snacking may be due to
menopause, makes me very leery of any experiment carried out in 2018 and the disruptions in circadian
diet that claims as much,” she says. 2019, in which around 850 rhythms associated with eating at
It may go without saying to view any participants recorded everything the wrong time (see “Could when
nutritional advice delivered on TikTok they ate and when they ate it across you eat matter as much as what
with a degree of scepticism. But many of two to four days. They were also you eat?”, page 33).
the hormone diets being touted on social tested on a range of measures of But here’s the thing: people who
media could be good for us – they just cardiovascular health, such as levels snacked on healthy foods and didn’t
aren’t rebalancing your endocrine system. of blood fats and glucose. snack late were better off than non-
“The recommendations – to eat more Berry and her team found that s n a c ke r s . S n a c k i n g o n f r u i t ,
wholegrains, more lean proteins, plant- 95 per cent of people in the study vegetables, nuts and seeds earlier in
based fats, fruits, vegetables and high-fibre snacked, which they defined as the day is associated with a healthier
foods – are the same dietary changes we consuming food or drink at least weight and body mass index.
recommend for disease prevention, 30 minutes before or after main That may be because well-timed,
longevity and overall health,” says Sherry. meals. The average number of healthy snacks reduce hunger and
“[But] will it cure your condition? No.” snacks per day was 2.28, and around overall calorie intake. In 2022, a
So, when it comes to hormone- 2 4 p e r c e nt o f c a lo r ie s we re team at Winona State University in
balancing diets, don’t believe the hype – consumed in snack form. The Minnesota experimented with
although that do esn’t mean they researchers also devised a measure giving first-year college students –
won’t do you any good whatsoever. of the nutritional quality of snacks, who often gain weight after starting
Linda Rodriguez-McRobbie called the snack diet index. university – a snack 90 minutes >

before their evening buffet meal. W H AT’S T HE R E A L
They either got 190 calories of
walnuts, a 190-calorie gummy SUPERNUTRIENT WE
candy or no snack. The snackers ate DON’T GET ENOUGH OF?
fewer calories’ worth of food in the
subsequent meal, and less overall,
W
compared with the non-snack hen it comes to our diet, there is “Fibre is the part of our diet that we
group, even with the snack factored an ever-changing list of things cannot digest. Most comes from plant cell
in. The walnuts also proved more touted as the key to better walls,” says Petra Louis at the University of
effective than the candy at reducing health: cutting out carbs, eating like a Aberdeen in the UK. Chemically, it is made
calorie intake. This suggests that caveman or dosing up on supposed up of long-chain carbohydrates. There are
eating a wholefood snack shortly superfoods such as turmeric. Most fail to many types, the properties of which vary,
before meals can reduce our overall live up to the hype – but there is one including how soluble they are. They
energy intake. supernutrient that bucks this trend. include resistant starch, found in
Another thing to consider when It is common knowledge that dietary unripened bananas and oatmeal, and
reaching for a snack is why you are fibre is good for you, but few of us cellulose, typically found in whole grains.
doing it. Research shows that most appreciate just how far-reaching its health Dietary fibre was largely ignored until
of us snack out of habit or boredom benefits go. Being in the know is worth around 50 years ago. In 1969, surgeon
rather than hunger. “If you don’t your while, though, especially given that Denis Burkitt began arguing that several
need the energy, that’s where it the diets common in high-income nations bowel diseases, including colorectal
becomes a problem,” says Berry. mean it is all too easy to miss out. cancer, were caused by a diet lacking in
R i c h a r d M a t te s a t P u r d u e Many of us will have experienced first fibre. Decades later, findings supporting
University in Indiana concurs with hand the effects of dietary fibre on our fibre’s benefits have accumulated.
this view. He says our ability to gauge body. Sometimes dubbed “nature’s “The evidence for dietary fibre is now
energy intake isn’t precise, “so in the laxative”, a lack of it can cause constipation. overwhelming,” says Jim Mann at Otago
current environment where foods But there is much more to fibre than bowel University in Dunedin, New Zealand. He
are abundantly available and social movements. Diets high in this constituent co-authored a 2019 meta-analysis covering
custom often dictates that we eat are associated with reduced risks of many 185 studies that tracked 58 clinical trials.
when we’re not hungry, that tends health conditions, including cancers and This found that people who ate the most
to be the problem”. heart disease. This is because fibre isn’t fibre had a 15 to 30 per cent lower risk of
This means that the planning – or just cardboardy filler, it is also food for the all-cause and cardiovascular-related death
not – of snacks is important. “When microorganisms in our gut. That means its over the study periods, compared with
snacking is a planned eating event, effects can be felt throughout your body, as those who ate the least. They also had lower
then compensation [for calories lories at this microbiome influences the health of incidences of colorectal cancer, stroke,
ronger,”
mealtimes] seems to be stronger,” our immune system, brain and more, v via coronary heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
s ay s M a t t e s . “ W h e n i t ’s a n the chemicals it produces. What’s more, the health benefits rose in
enerally
unplanned eating event, generally line with dietary fibre consumption. That
it’s less well compensated and so is suggestive
sugge of a causal relationship, and a
the energy from those types ypes of numbe
number of randomised controlled trials,
snacks tends to add more to total the gol
gold standard for medical evidence,
daily energy intake.” show that
t high-fibre diets lead to lower
The take-home message e is that blood pressure
p and cholesterol levels. A
snacking isn’t automatically y bad for lack of dietary fibre is estimated to cause
itive. “If
your health – and can be positive. more th than half a million deaths globally.
you are a grazer, as long ass you’re When it comes to the gut microbiome’s
grazing on healthy food and not part in this, we know that a community of
grazing late at night, current urrent microo
microorganisms – particularly bacteria –
evidence would support that hat this feeds on
o fibre in the large intestine. Some
alanced
can be part of a healthy, balanced bacter
bacteria can break down the long
dietary pattern,” says Berry. y. “It’s a carboh
carbohydrate chains into smaller
simple dietary strategy that hat can molecu
molecules that they and other microbes
improve your health.” can dig
digest. Others take those breakdown
“I think we have to accept ept that produc
products and ferment them, producing
people want to eat more times mes per short-c
short-chain fatty acids such as butyrate.
day than they used to,” says Mattes. “It’s an ecosystem,” says Louis.
erstand
“The real goal now is to understand Thi
This benefits us in many ways. “The
how to incorporate it in a way that large intestine prefers butyrate as an
isn’t problematic.” GL energy source over other molecules,” says

New studies DO ANTI-
are showing
ever more
I N F L A M M ATORY
reasons to eat DIET S WOR K?
up your greens
I
t is one of the scourges of life in
the modern world: chronic
inflammation. This unhelpful
response by the body’s immune
system is linked to accelerated
ALVAREZ/GETTY IMAGES
ageing and conditions such as

stroke and heart disease.
What if we could dampen it down
by consuming certain foods, such as
spinach, walnuts and salmon? That
is the promise of anti-inflammatory
diets, often advocated in vague
Louis, so the microbes that produce it are One way to boost intake is to eat foods terms by the media and nutrition
indirectly nourishing our gut wall. This that have been supplemented with industry. That might prompt eye-
may help explain why fibre reduces the extracted fibre or synthetic fibre made rolling from the scientifically
risk of colorectal cancer. There are also from ingredients of plant origin. However, minded. But recent research reveals
receptors for short-chain fatty acids in unlike for whole foods, “there is no that this approach isn’t as faddish as
many parts of our bodies, which influence substantiated clinical epidemiological it sounds and paints a nuanced
our nervous and immune systems. evidence” for health benefits from these picture of the links between food,
But it isn’t all about the microbiome. forms of fibre, says Mann. “I do not feel inflammation and our long-term
Fibre also leads to us feeling less hungry by that degree of comfort to tell people that health.
stimulating the release of an appetite- they can have extracted or synthetic fibre.” Inflammation is a crucial part of
reducing hormone called PYY in the small The good evidence is for diets where the our response to injury and disease.
intestine, plus it slows the absorption of fibre comes from naturally fibrous foods. But when the body continues to
glucose into the blood. There is also emerging evidence that deploy it even when there is no
With this in mind, how much fibre different kinds of fibre have differing trauma, this results in chronic
should you eat, and what kind? The World effects. A 2023 review found that insoluble inflammation. Exactly why this
Health Organization recommends adults fibre seemed to be more effective than the occurs is unclear, but genetics,
get at least 25 grams per day; in the UK, it is soluble form at reducing the risk of death environment and lifestyle play roles.
30 g. This is equivalent to the fibre content from cancer and cardiovascular disease. It It can be detected by measuring
of 12 to 14 slices of wholewheat bread. also found that fibre from whole grains, certain chemical markers in the
Most of us fall woefully short of this. A cereals and vegetables was associated with blood, and has been increasingly
2024 study of more than 2000 adults in lower all-cause mortality, while that from linked with poor health.
Switzerland found that only 13 per cent nuts and seeds specifically reduced the “Chronic inflammation is a driver
met the recommended guidelines of 30 g risk of death from cardiovascular disease. o f m a ny c o m m o n d i s e a s e s ,
per day, with less fibre consumed by those Similarly, Mann says fibre from legumes including cardiovascular disease,
with the highest intake of ultra-processed seems to have the strongest effect on cancer, arthritis and dementia,” says
food. In the UK, on average people get only blood glucose levels, while cereal fibre John Mathers at Newcastle
15 g per day, but the situation seems to be tends to mostly affect the bowel. University in the UK. It has also been
worse in the US, where a 2017 study So, as ever with food, variety is good. implicated in some mental health
discovered that only around 5 per cent of “Eat lots of plant-based foods, especially conditions.
the population met recommended vegetables and fruits, wholegrain cereals, But how much influence can our
guidelines. This deficit may be exacerbated pulses – peas and beans – and nuts,” says diet have on this complex process?
by the trend towards low-carb eating, as it John Mathers at Newcastle University in To find out, we first have to define
is difficult to get sufficient fibre from fruit the UK, “all of which are good sources of exactly what an anti-inflammatory
and vegetables alone. dietary fibre.” Michael Marshall diet is. “This is a disputed >

New Scientist audio
You can listen to many articles – look for the
headphones icon in our app newscientist.com/app
area,” says Mathers. “There are blood. A bigger challenge, IS PERSONALISED

several competing systems for however, is working out what
characterising pro and anti- difference this makes to our NUTRITION
inflammatory diets.” long-term health. WORT H I T ?
One of the most widely used The best picture we have of
metrics is the Dietary Inflammatory this is from two wide-reaching
“ C
Index (DII), first described in 2009. reviews from 2021, focusing on onsider two slices of bread, one
This classifies foods or the nutrients studies of diets that relied on from an artisanal sourdough boule,
in them, such as carbohydrates the DII, ignoring other the other from a cheap, mass-
and saturated fats, according to purported anti-inflammatory produced white loaf. Which do you think is
their tendency to increase or versions. One found The shock healthier? The correct answer is that you
decrease those chemical markers in “convincing” evidence that don’t know until you try. Some people will
blood. Broadly speaking, anti- lower-DII diets cut the chance of have an unhealthy reaction to the cheap
discovery
inflammatory foods feature heavily having a heart attack, with stuff, with surging blood sugar levels. But
in the Mediterranean diet – fresh “highly suggestive” evidence others won’t, and instead have a sharp rise
fruit, olive oil, green leafy vegetables, that low-DII diets reduce the
is that in blood sugar after the sourdough. Some
nuts and oily fish – while simple risk of certain cancers, notably will surge on both, others barely at all.
carbohydrates, fried foods, red colorectal, and of all-cause our body’s The same is true for other foods and
meat, processed meat and high-fat mortality over the study period. other nutrients, especially fats, which can
dairy are pro-inflammatory. For most health outcomes, response to also surge dangerously in the bloodstream
Many of us now eat a diet that however, ranging from breast after eating. How our metabolisms
triggers inflammation. For instance, cancer to depression, there was food is highly respond to food is highly idiosyncratic, a
a study published in September of little or no evidence for benefits. shock discovery that is upending decades
more than 34,500 adults in the US The second review found idiosyncratic of nutritional orthodoxy and promising to
found that, overall, 57 per cent had “moderate certainty” for low- finally answer that surprisingly knotty
”
pro-inflammatory diets. Worryingly, DII diets reducing cardiovascular question: what should we eat to stay
this figure was higher for Black disease, colorectal cancer and healthy?
people, men, younger adults and all-cause mortality. Increases in blood glucose and lipids are
people with lower education and Another way to investigate quite normal after eating, but if they go too
income, leading the study’s authors the health impacts of anti- high too quickly – called spiking – they can
to conclude that “socio-economic inflammatory diets is to think cause trouble. Frequent spikes in glucose
disparities in health may be partially about the effects of foods that and a type of fat called triglyceride are
explained by the inflammatory shouldn’t be in them. Growing associated with the risk of developing
potential of diet”. evidence suggests, for example, diabetes, obesity and heart disease. For
But how does this process play out that a diet rich in sugars and decades, nutrition researchers assumed
in the body? Here, the picture has fatty acids is associated with a that all humans responded to a given food
become clearer over the past decade. higher risk of developing in roughly the same way, with uniform
We now know that key players are A l z h e i m e r ’s . B u t t h o u g h increases in blood sugar and fats.
the microbes in our gut, which can inflammation is a risk factor for Under that assumption, dietary advice
break down constituents of food to this condition, it is one of many, was simple and one-size-fits-all. Reduce
produce compounds that either including type 2 diabetes. As a consumption of the foods that cause
trigger or dampen inflammation. result, the diets that seem to spikes. Unsurprisingly, those were mostly
For example, plant fibre feeds offer protection are those ones high in sugar and fat. Such thinking
certain microbes in the large already recognised as broadly also underpinned the development of the
intestine, enabling them to make healthy: low in processed foods, glycaemic index (GI), an influential
short-chain fatty acids, “which have saturated fats, salt and sugars. measure of how quickly the body converts
anti-inflammatory effects”, says “To actually talk about an a foodstuff into glucose, which then enters
Petra Louis at the University of anti-inflammatory diet, you’re the bloodstream. High GI foods include
Aberdeen in the UK (see “What’s the really talking about a dietary baguettes and sugary fruit. For low GI,
real supernutrient we don’t get p a t te r n t h a t i s g e n e r a l ly think wholegrains and leafy vegetables.
enough of?”, page 36). “A fibre-poor healthy,” says Jim Mann at The higher the GI, the unhealthier the
diet will be more pro-inflammatory.” Otago University in Dunedin, food. Or so the story went.
A number of clinical trials have New Zealand. He says the foods Over the past few years, nutrition
convincingly demonstrated that typically included in anti- researchers have thoroughly debunked
anti-inflammatory diets (by far inflammatory diets would, that assumption. Differences in genetics,
the best studied being the in any event, be recommended circadian rhythms and the make-up of our
Mediterranean diet) can reduce by “any dietitian who’s worth gut microbiomes translate into highly
markers of inflammation in the their salt”. MM personalised responses to food. As a result,

we now know that there is no such thing as ARE FERMENTED
a healthy diet that works for everybody.
That doesn’t mean there is no such FOODS ALL THEY ARE
thing as a healthy diet at all, however – it is CR ACK ED UP TO BE?
just that it needs to be individualised. That
is the goal of precision nutrition, also
H
known as personalised nutrition. umans have been
Research on how to do this has been fermenting food and drink
going on for some time. In 2018, a team led for at least 13,000 years –
by Tim Spector at King’s College London and touting the health benefits for
launched the Personalised Responses to nearly as long. But despite our long
MATTHEW ASHMORE/ALAMY
Dietary Composition Trial (PREDICT) to history with them, we are only

measure people’s metabolic responses to beginning to determine whether
food, with the ultimate goal of designing these foods are actually beneficial
individualised healthy diets. for our health.
In the first phase, the researchers Unlike our ancestors, however,
recruited more than 1000 people, took we now know how fermentation
various biometric measurements Each of us has a different works: microbes such as certain
including genomes and microbiomes, fed metabolic response to yeasts and bacteria break down
them identical meals and then measured eating the same bread sugars in grains, fruit, vegetables
their glucose and fat responses – which and dairy products in a way that
turned out to be highly variable. From this, prevents them from spoiling and
it was possible to roughly predict other 18 weeks via the Zoe app, and followed up produces unique flavours. But what
individuals’ responses to food based on to see any health impacts. Roughly the does this mean for our health?
their biometrics alone, which suggested same number received generic dietary Numerous studies have linked
that diets could be personalised without advice. The participants given personalised fermented foods – particularly dairy
having to actually measure blood glucose advice had lower blood triglyceride levels versions – to a reduced risk of heart
and fats. at the end of the programme and also lost disease, type 2 diabetes and obesity.
PREDICT is still ongoing, with around weight and shrank their waist For instance, a 2023 study involving
25,000 subscribers to the Zoe nutrition circumference, although there were no more than 46,000 adults living in
app now taking part in the latest version. differences to other measures including the US found that eating fermented
However, the results are in from a smaller, insulin, glucose and cholesterol levels. foods was associated with lower
related experiment that gives a flavour of “Importantly, we also showed that those blood pressure, body mass index
what we might expect. Based on their who were most adherent to their and waist circumference.
responses to food, 177 participants were personalised nutrition programme saw But much of the research lumps
given personalised dietary advice for the greatest improvements,” says Spector, all kinds of fermented foods
who is a co-founder of Zoe. together, and given the health halo
The proof of the pudding will come from around these products, we know
larg trials like PREDICT. The US National
larger that people who consume them
Inst
Institutes of Health also has a major probably tend to look after their
rese
research effort on precision nutrition with health in other ways too. Both of
a go
goal to “fundamentally transform these factors make it difficult to
nut
nutrition science”. Last year, it started d e t e r m i n e w h a t i s a c t u a l ly
recr
recruiting 10,000 people to take part in an providing any observed benefits.
exp
experiment on individualised responses That said, the case is strongest for
to fo
food. There are no results as yet. yogurt. Many large studies have
St
Still, even if they are positive, cooking up linked its consumption to
this research into widespread dietary improvements in immunity, bone
adv
advice will be a tall order. “The costs of density and longevity and to a
tran
translating these data for public health reduced risk of cardiovascular
imp
improvement are prohibitive and not disease and high blood pressure. Yet
prac
practical at this time,” says Regan Bailey at determining cause and effect from
Tex A&M University. Likewise, a 2023
Texas these observational studies is tricky
repo from the UK’s Food Standards
report and some of the benefits may have
Age
Agency concluded that the benefits of nothing to do with fermentation.
pers
personalised nutrition “seem somewhat For example, yogurt is high in
mar
marginal when compared to what is already calcium, a nutrient helpful for
und
understood about a healthy diet”. GL stronger bones. >

“
However, earlier this year, the US microbiome, which plays a crucial increasing their intake of fermented
Food and Drug Administration role in regulating immune responses produce. Meanwhile, participants in
announced that consuming at least and metabolism. “The idea is that by the fermented food group ate an
three servings of yogurt per week providing bacteria through yogurt average of six servings of such fare
may lower the risk of type 2 diabetes. People who and introducing them into the gut, daily without increasing their fibre
This was based on multiple studies, we are increasing the [amount of] intake.
including one that involved more consume beneficial bacteria,” says Meydani. After 10 weeks, those on the high-
than 192,000 adults living in the US. How other fermented foods fibre diet saw no significant changes
It found that increasing yogurt fermented foods might provide health benefits is less in the diversity of gut microbes or in
consumption by more than half a clear, says Isabelle Savary-Auzeloux blood levels of inflammatory
serving per day was associated with tend to look after at the French National Institute for markers, which can be used to track
an 11 per cent lower risk of developing Agriculture, Food and Environment. immune response, including
type 2 diabetes over a four-year We know, for instance, that dietary chronic inflammation associated
their health in
period. fibre feeds gut microbes and helps with conditions like heart disease,
Links between type 2 diabetes and them flourish (see “What’s the real type 2 diabetes and cancer.
unfermented dairy products are less
other ways too supernutrient we don’t get enough In people on the fermented food
robust, suggesting that these of?”, page 36). Fermented and raw diet, however, researchers did see an
”
benefits are to do with the microbes vegetables contain similar amounts i n c re a s e i n g u t m i c ro b i o m e
fo u n d i n yo g u r t , s ays S i m i n of fibre, so it may be that, not the diversity. This was most strongly
Meydani at Tufts University in n fe r m e n t a t i o n , t h a t m a ke s a associated with consuming two
Massachusetts. We know thatt difference. things in particular: yogurt and
bacteria used to ferment yogurtt To find out, Justin Sonnenburg at vegetable brine, the liquid that
release compounds called bioactive e Stanford University in California fermented vegetables such as
peptides that are otherwise locked d and his colleagues put 36 adults on a kimchi soak in. Compared with the
up in milk proteins and are believed d diet rich in either plant-based fibre start of the study, participants
to help lower blood pressure and d or fermented foods such as yogurt, eating fermented foods also had
regulate immune responses. kombucha, sauerkraut and kimchi. lower levels of inflammatory
Live bacteria in yogurt can also o On average, those in the first group markers. It appears fibre alone isn’t
affect the make-up of the gutt ate 45 grams of fibre per day without responsible for the benefits.
What’s more, researchers thought
they would see the bacteria in
Studying fermented foods take up residence
the health in participants’ guts. Few did.
impact of Instead, their presence seemed to
fermented somehow carve out a niche for new
foods is or previously undetected bacterial
complicated strains to flourish.
All of this suggests that fermented
foods, especially yogurt, may give
our health a boost. But it is still far
from conclusive, says Meydani.
More controlled trials are needed,
as is a more detailed understanding
o f s p e c i f i c b a c te r i a l st ra i n s .
“Depending on the type of bacteria,
you could have different health
benefits,” she says.
If you do decide to eat more
fermented foods, Savary-Auzeloux
recommends finding a trusted
source and cautions against the do-
it-yourself route. Inexpert at-home
fermentation can foster harmful
pathogens like Escherichia coli or
Salmonella, potentially leaving you
GA_NA/ALAMY
with a nasty case of food poisoning

instead of a happy gut microbiome.
Grace Wade ❚

Features
Total immersion
An extraordinary experiment aims to combine virtual reality
and psychedelic drugs to unpick how our brains separate
fantasy from reality, finds Ruby Deevoy
PETER REYNOLDS
I
N CERTAIN circles, the potent psychedelic underlie the feeling we have of being model of ourselves and the world as new sense
N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is known immersed in a world – be that real life, VR or data comes in. “Everything we experience is a
as the “spirit molecule” for its peculiar a drug-induced trip. He hopes to identify and kind of pragmatic construct,” says cognitive
ability to transport people into other worlds. perhaps even learn to control this hypothetical philosopher Andy Clark at the University of
Those who take it commonly experience “immersion circuit”. If he can, it might enable Sussex in the UK. “All of our predictions are
vibrant colours, abstract geometric patterns – us to dial up or down how believable an geared towards smoothly guiding actions,
and even meet elves and aliens – all in a way experience is, create more effective therapies because it’s only actions that will keep us alive.”
that feels completely real. for mental ill-health and produce more This predictive model of ourselves is built in
That might all sound about as far from the visceral training worlds for surgeons or a hierarchy of layers. The so-called higher levels
realm of empirical science as you can get – but firefighters. It would also, of course, be contain abstract ideas such as who we are and
not for neuroscientist Zeus Tipado. In his lab a huge breakthrough in neuroscience. what reality is, whereas the lower levels are
in Maastricht, the Netherlands, he is planning We don’t fully understand how our minds concerned with more concrete things like
an outlandish experiment in which he will create the seamless experience of the world colour and shape. There is a two-way flow of
monitor the brains of people dosed with DMT around us. But one leading idea is that the information, with predictions cascading down
while they wear a virtual reality headset. The brain is a kind of “prediction machine” that from these higher levels in a series of feedback
hope is that by observing what happens when actively constructs reality by contrasting loops, while sense data from our eyes, ears,
we slip into another form of reality, we can personal expectations, based on past events, nose and skin rises up from the lower levels.
fathom how our minds construct the one we with direct data from our senses. Psychedelics are widely thought to exert
experience in everyday life. “Our brain is easily When there is a difference between internal some of their strongest effects at higher levels
deceived as to what reality is,” says Tipado. predictions and our senses, we are left with a of predictive processing, says Clark. For
Already, he has found tantalising hints of a “prediction error”, which the body tries to example, activity in the brain’s default mode
new brain network that he thinks might minimise by gradually updating our internal network – which is broadly thought to help >

us assess past events, plan for the future and
construct our sense of self-awareness and ego –
“Psychedelics
is dampened by many psychedelics. Recent suddenly give
research by Christopher Timmerman at
Imperial College London found that DMT access to an
specifically has this effect on the default mode
network while also increasing connectivity
almost raw
between different brain regions and collapsing
the organisation of the brain’s hierarchies.
feed of our
“Whenever you take psychedelics, the visual world”
location of this information gets mixed up,”
says Tipado. Simple, low-level concepts like
colours and shapes are processed in higher
levels of the visual cortex. Meanwhile,
complex concepts, like the details of faces,
are processed in lower-level regions of the
visual cortex. “It’s like putting a PlayStation 5
disc in a PlayStation 2. It’s not compatible,” he
says. “That’s why we have visual experiences
that are very counterintuitive.”
This disruption makes some sense within
an overarching model of how psychedelics act
on the mind – called relaxed beliefs under
psychedelics (REBUS). Computational
neuroscientist Karl Friston at University
College London and Robin Carhart-Harris at
the University of California San Francisco,
who came up with the model, suggest that
psychedelics specifically relax the grip
of our high-level expectations of what

reality should be like. Reducing top-down
control in this way then frees up the flow
of bottom-up sensory information so
that it exerts more influence.
All of which could help explain the an interplay. It’s more dialogical.” are thought to act as inhibitory filters for the
therapeutic effects of psychedelics, which are Tipado’s research considers how this visual data we receive from the outside
combined with talking therapy in promising dialogue plays out in the brain’s visual system. world. In 2015, Satoshi Watanabe and his
treatments for depression, PTSD and addiction. “Out of all the perceptual domains, the single collaborators at Osaka University in Japan
According to REBUS, relaxing high-level beliefs thing that is a global experience in psychedelic genetically modified mice so they were
allows us to reframe the unremitting thought trips is an intense visual experience,” he says. born without such cells.. They found these
patterns and behaviours that occur in mental A 2018 study by Roseman and Carhart-Harris “filterless” mice performed better at tests
health conditions like these. found that positive therapeutic outcomes in involving identifying the edges and outlines
By building on predictive processing psychedelic-assisted therapy correlate to some of objects in darkness. “If you don’t have
models like this, Tipado aims to figure out extent with the reported strength of this visual amacrine cells, then you can detect
what happens when we become so immersed modification, among other things. significantly lower-contrast objects,” says
in our perceptions of alternate realities that This has taken Tipado on an unexpected Tipado. However, there are many different
we accept them as physically real. He agrees detour into the realm of ocular science and the types of amacrine cells, and the precise
that the relaxation of high-level beliefs can intricate way that the eye connects to the visual filtering mechanisms are unknown.
dramatically alter our experience of reality, cortex. “We’re trying to draw attention to the
but argues that the influential and causal role bottom-up processing of the eye,” he says,
played by lower levels in the hierarchy has been and how it alters our subjective experience Behind closed eyes
overlooked. Leor Roseman at the University of of immersion – broadly defined as the Tipado also suspects that amacrine cells
Exeter, UK, has thought about these processes perception of being physically present are the key to understanding the immersive
independently and is broadly on the same in a non-physical world. visuals experienced in psychedelic trips. In a
page. “There’s not just processes from the In particular, he is focusing on the role paper published in April, he pointed to the
top down or bottom up,” he says. “There’s played by amacrine cells in the retina, which similarity between the behaviour of mice

Virtual reality could be
MERIDITH KOHUT/NEW YORK TIMES/REDUX/EYEVINE
used during psychedelic-

assisted therapy
responsible for immersion,” he says.

Tipado says his unpublished pilot studies
suggest that there is overlap in activity in the
visual cortex in people experiencing either
immersive VR or DMT realities. These common
signals could hint at a new brain network
specifically related to immersion. “We’re
assuming that this could represent some sort
of circuit of brain connectivity,” he says. “Is
immersion an actual network of brain areas,
just like how the default mode network is a
network of brain areas that can be dialled
up and dialled down?” he asks.
However, it is fair to say there is
still no published evidence to back up
Tipado’s claims of an overarching immersion
network. And Marco Aqil, a neuroscientist at
the Spinoza Centre for Neuroimaging in the
Netherlands, suggests that the underlying
architecture of VR immersion may differ
from psychedelic immersion.
Still, Tipado is upbeat. “Figuring out if
bred to lack these cells and the common
psychedelic phenomenon of “closed-eye
“Is immersion the brain constructs reality in the same way
regardless of it being actual reality, virtual
visuals”, whereby incredibly vivid colours, an actual reality or a pharmacological reality induced
shapes and even entire worlds are perceived by psychedelics, could help us comprehend
behind shut eyelids. Amacrine cells also network of brain augmented reality as a whole,” he says.
contain a lot of 5HT2a receptors, which are
the same type activated by psychedelics like
areas that can be “And potentially how our minds
construct day-to-day reality, too.”
DMT and psilocybin. The alteration of
amacrine cells by psychedelics through their
dialled up and From an entertainment perspective,
this could enable gaming worlds that
5HT2a receptors may enhance the amount dialled down?” are fundamentally more believable.
of visual sensitivity in darkness, including “That’s a low-hanging fruit,” says Tipado.
behind closed eyelids, leading to these It could also lead to more effective virtual
unusual visual experiences. “We’re suddenly blowing visuals melting into each other, the offices or training programmes for pilots
given access to an almost raw feed of our VR world is sparse: a 360-degree surrounding or doctors, for example.
visual world,” says Tipado. of Eigengrau – German for intrinsic grey – Then there is psychedelic-assisted
He suggests that these cells might even be which replicates the darkness you see when therapy, during which people are often given
the gateway to the wholesale disruption and you close your eyes. This low-quality, low- blindfolds to reduce their visual stimulation.
alteration of the brain’s predictive processing contrast visual information increases Some other approaches go even further,
hierarchies, which underpin all immersive the likelihood that the brain makes attempting to remove the subjective
visual perceptions – psychedelic or otherwise. a prediction error, says Tipado. “It’s experiences of psychedelics altogether.
“The possibility that a trip might be initially like when you’re in a dark room, you However, Roseman points out that “a lot
triggered because amacrine cells aren’t might mistake a coatrack for a person.” of the emotional insights of the spiritual
inhibiting visual information could open By combining DMT with VR, he hopes experience have a visual or imaginary quality”.
up a whole new realm of understanding,” to draw people into a series of immersive Tipado agrees that more attention should
he says. Roseman agrees that amacrine cells realities that they believe are real to greater be paid to the importance of vision in these
play a role in visual psychedelic experiences or lesser degrees. “We can really play around therapies and he hopes to use immersive VR
but adds that he “wouldn’t go as far as saying with this sort of state of visual ambiguity,” he to precisely guide the experience. “The future
they are the source of visions”. says. A functional near-infrared spectroscopy needs to be a little bit weirder,” he says. ❚
To test these ideas, next year Tipado headset, which assesses brain activity by
plans to observe how the visual cortex is shining light through the skull and observing
activated during an immersive VR experience how much is absorbed by brain tissue, will Ruby Deevoy is a psychedelics
before, during and after a DMT trip. He has then be used to search for possible hallmarks and cannabis journalist based
designed the experiment to try to modulate of immersion in the visual cortex. “We’re in the UK
amacrine cell activity. Rather than mind- investigating the areas of the brain

The back pages
Puzzles Almost the last word Tom Gauld for Feedback Twisteddoodles
Try our crossword, Why do cats like to sit New Scientist Could monkeys for New Scientist
quick quiz and on newspapers and A cartoonist’s take predict the next Picturing the lighter
logic puzzle p45 magazines? p46 on the world p47 US president? p48 side of life p48
The science of exercise
Working it out
What is the most efficient way to exercise? The answer is
complicated – and depends on the person, finds Grace Wade
WHEN I first started my fitness

journey, I wanted to maximise my
workout. If I was going to be sore
and sweaty, I figured I might as
well make the most of it.
Building fitness requires
pushing your body to do more
activity than it is used to. A good
barometer for how hard you are
Grace Wade is a health exerting yourself during exercise
reporter for New Scientist is therefore the number of calories
based in the US you burn. So, what exercise uses
the most calories? It depends.
Research has consistently
shown that aerobic exercises such
as running, swimming or cycling
AZMANL/GETTY IMAGES
burn more calories per minute
than resistance training. For
instance, vigorously swimming
burns an average of 13.3 calories
per minute for someone weighing
80 kilograms. The same person
would expend roughly 4 calories possible. This is why jumping rope choosing a more strenuous one if
a minute when doing moderate or skipping is such a great exercise. you are able to exercise for longer.
weight training. Doing so at a fast pace can burn Another factor to consider is
Some studies show you can around 15.9 calories per minute, frequency. Swimming is a great
burn even more calories with or 478 calories in half an hour, exercise for burning calories, but
high-intensity interval training for someone weighing 80 kg. not many people can access a pool
(HIIT). These workouts involve The issue is that not many every day. If someone who is 80 kg
performing cardiovascular and people can jump rope at that was able to vigorously swim for a
resistance exercises at near- intensity for a full 30 minutes. It half hour twice a week, they would
maximum effort in repeated is therefore crucial to account for expend 798 calories per week.
bursts of up to a minute with short duration when determining which If they walked briskly for
breaks in between. A 2015 study exercise burns the most calories. 30 minutes daily, they would
involving nine active men found Let’s say someone weighing burn 1057 calories a week.
that, on average, a HIIT workout 80 kg vigorously jumps rope Ultimately, the exercise that
with a hydraulic resistance for an impressive 10 minutes burns the most calories is the one
machine burned 12.6 calories straight. They would burn about you can do consistently. For me,
per minute. Lifting weights 159 calories. Compare that with that means finding workouts I
and running on a treadmill a 35-minute walk at a brisk pace, enjoy rather than dread, such as
The science of exercise used about 8.8 and 9.5 calories which is not only more feasible dance classes or yoga. ❚
appears monthly per minute, respectively. but also expends roughly
The key to burning the most 176 calories. Opting for a less These articles are
Next week calories is using as many muscles intense workout may actually posted each week at
Dear David as possible at the highest intensity end up burning more calories than newscientist.com/maker

The back pages Puzzles
Quick crossword #170 Set by Richard Smyth Quick quiz #276

set by Bethan Ackerley

Scribble 1 What material did IBM researchers
zone Georg Bednorz and K. Alex Müller
discover in 1986?

2 Insects of the order Ephemeroptera are
more commonly known by what name?
3 In what year was the first expedition

to successfully traverse the Northwest
Passage by boat completed?
4 What name is given to the outer,

visible part of the human ear?
5 The Almagest is an astronomical manual

written by which ancient Greek thinker?
Answers on page 47

Answers and BrainTwister
the next cryptic set by Christopher Dearlove
crossword #44 Dice and cards
next week
On each turn of a game, we roll three
standard dice with faces numbered 1 to 6
ACROSS DOWN and add up the numbers shown. What is
7 Deflect, at speed (8) 1 Insect that may be periodical (6) the average (mean) value of that total
9 × 50% (2,4) 2 Jan ___ , Dutch astronomer (4) over a long game?
10 NaCl, for one (4) 3 Tree that may be horse or sweet (8)
11 2011 sci-fi film directed 4 Calculation aid (6) Now suppose instead of rolling dice,
by Duncan Jones (6,4) 5 Varicella (10) we draw three cards from a six-card deck
12 6th planet from the sun (6) 6 Anatomical balloons (8) where the cards are numbered 1 to 6.
14 Henry ___ , inventor of a steel 8 Digits that may be opposable (6) If we put each card back after drawing it
manufacturing process (8) 13 Noise at a frequency >20 kHz (10) and shuffle before drawing another card,
15 Spin, turn (6) 15 Response (8) does this change the expected value?
16 Viral infection (6) 17 C₂H₄ (8)
19 U-shaped curve (8) 18 Ba (6) If we instead draw three cards without
21 T. H. ___ , “Darwin’s bulldog” (6) 20 Bivalve mollusc (6) replacement (so the probabilities are
23 Remained stationary (5,5) 22 Vomit-inducing (6) no longer independent), what is the
24 Profound; not shallow (4) 24 Diesel oil (4) average value of the sum?
25 Deflect (6)
26 Transit system, usually elevated (8) Solution next week
Our crosswords are now solvable online

newscientist.com/crosswords

The back pages Almost the last word
Are people really able to

Rogue agent
pick up the scent of charred
If an Earth-sized rogue planet sausages in outer space?
passed through our solar system,
missing the planets, how much would happen if a star passed
disruption would it cause? through the solar system. An
Earth-sized planet would have
Alex McDowell a lesser effect, but that study
London, UK may still give some indication.
It depends on how close it came The effect depended of course
to any planets. Venus, which is on how deep into the solar system
roughly Earth-sized, sometimes the star came. In some cases the
gets to within 0.3 astronomical orbits were only slightly altered,
units (45,000,000 km) of Mercury but if the star came near the orbit
and causes tiny but measurable of Earth, it could throw all of the
perturbations in its orbit. planets out of the solar system
EVGENII PUZANOV/ALAMY
If it misses planets, it might completely and immediately.
hit their satellites, causing a lot Another interesting outcome
of debris to be thrown off, which was that initially the perturbation
could end up raining down on seemed small, but after a million
planets. If it came close enough years, Mercury’s orbit became
to any body in the solar system, This week’s new questions quite eccentric and after 10 million
it would significantly perturb its years it fell into the sun.
orbit; this may lead to planets Smell of space Does space really smell like an overdone In some cases, Earth’s moon
colliding or heading into the sun! barbecue, as astronaut Tim Peake has said? And can the is perturbed by a close approach
It might even “steal” moons. molecules carrying the smell exist in sufficient quantities of one of our solar system’s
It would also exert tidal forces in a near vacuum? Anne Downer, Bristol, UK planets (such as Venus) and
on planets – perhaps strong enough ends up hitting Earth.
to deform rocky planets’ crusts, End of an era When I die, what happens to my microbiome?
leading to quakes and volcanic Bill Smith, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, US Atlant Schmidt
eruptions. If it came close enough Nashua, New Hampshire, US
to Earth, such eruptions could That would depend a lot on the
lead to mass extinctions. in textbooks or online fail However, if it came in on a intentions of any occupants
Planets’ axes could also be to show how colossally large it curved orbit on Earth’s orbital of that planet.
tilted – if this happened to Earth, is, especially compared with the plane, it would have a much More seriously, if it became
it would affect our weather. bodies in it, even the sun and the greater chance of interacting obvious that there was a
gas giants Jupiter and Saturn. gravitationally with a planet. civilisation on that planet, it
“If a rogue planet The result is that the solar Depending on how close would cause massive disruption
disturbed the asteroid system as defined, say, by the and how similar its mass to the to our civilisation here on Earth.
aphelion of Neptune (its furthest encountered planet, that could
belt, large rocks
point from the sun) is essentially cause severe shifts in the orbit of Cosy spot
could end up hitting empty space. The episode of the the planet and disruption of any
the planets in the UK prison sitcom Porridge where moons it has. But again, because of Why do cats like to sit on
solar system” they explored this comes to how large the solar system really newspapers and magazines?
mind – well worth watching. is, the chances of such a close
An Earth-sized object would So for almost all trajectories, encounter would still be very slim. Caroline Peters
exert the same strength of gravity the answer would be “very little”. Wokingham, Berkshire, UK
on Earth’s surface as the moon If it came in perpendicular to Eric Kvaalen Cats love things that are square
does by the time it was within the orbital plane defining Earth’s Les Essarts le Roi, France or rectangular. Not only do
a distance of eight times the path around the sun, say half way If it came near one of our planets, newspapers and magazines fulfil
radius of the moon’s orbit. between the orbits of Mars and then it would significantly change this requirement, but a pile of
If it disturbed the asteroid belt, Jupiter when they are on the other its orbit, and that could have papers also acts as insulation
large rocks or minor planetoids side of the sun, then it wouldn’t severe consequences later. between the cat and the surface
could end up hitting planets. cause much of a ripple, especially Last year, New Scientist on which the newspaper is laid,
if it were moving very fast. published an article about what so it feels warm.
Sam Edge Of course, if you are trying to
Ringwood, Hampshire, UK Want to send us a question or answer? read the paper, then the reason
The answer depends entirely Email us at lastword@newscientist.com is that your cat just wants your
upon its trajectory. Questions should be about everyday science phenomena attention. They will also sit on
Depictions of the solar system Full terms and conditions at newscientist.com/lw-terms any work papers and computer

Tom Gauld Answers
for New Scientist
Quick quiz #276
Answers
1 The first high-temperature
superconductor
2 Mayflies
3 1906
4 The auricle
5 Ptolemy
Cryptic crossword
#147 Answers
ACROSS 7 Midair, 8 Orb web,
9 Yeti, 10 Nanotech, 11 Katydid,
13 Addle, 15 Sinus, 17 Key West,
20 Water ski, 21 X-ing,
23 Annexe, 24 Hungry
DOWN 1 Tine, 2 Parity,

3 Transit, 4 Wound, 5 Abated,
6 Hercules, 12 Avifauna,
14 Relight, 16 Ureter,
18 Waxing, 19 Ashes, 22 Norm
keyboards for the same reason. “Try lying naked on the cat sits on it and “reads through
Lastly, if the cat is sitting on sheet metal, bathroom its bottom”. I think this goes a long #43 Consecutive
a copy of New Scientist, then
tiles or concrete, way to solving that mystery, and I sums
it is looking to see whether its highly recommend this delightful Solution
paper on gravity experiments preferably in a private little book to all who observe cats.
(“Investigation of the effect of place – not conducive We can write 14 = 2 + 3 + 4 + 5.
feline paw trajectory on pen to contentment” John Homes
propulsion”) has been published! Via email Any odd number can be written
H. A. White, Jr Because people will persist as the sum of two consecutive
David Muir St Paul, Minnesota, US in paying attention to the numbers: 2n + 1 = n + (n + 1).
Edinburgh, UK Long ago, I hosted a cat prone newspapers and magazines,
Cats are innately expert at to giving loud, lengthy warnings when they should (at least in Even numbers that have an
appreciating the heat insulating of an imminent upchuck. One the cat’s opinion) be paying odd factor like 3, 5, 7 etc, can
properties of materials. They seek evening, so warned, I placed attention to the cat. be written as a sum of that many
out the places that help them to him on a newspaper, holding terms: e.g. 12, which is 4 × 3,
retain body heat. This may be an and comforting him while he Dan Conine can be written as three numbers
evolutionary adaptation to allow conveyed his rejects to the paper, Via email centred on 4: 3 + 4 + 5. In the
them to do less hunting, which a veritable letter to the editor. Why do cats what? ❚ case of 14, we use seven numbers
is energetically expensive. From then until his demise, centred on 2, but since the first
On the other anthropomorphic years later, several times a week three of these are -1, 0 and 1,
hand, cats may simply like I would discover a newspaper they cancel out, leaving us
luxuriating in warmth and covered in cat opinion. And that’s with the sum above.
comfort, just like us. Try lying why cats like to sit on newspapers.
naked on sheet metal, bathroom The only numbers that can’t
tiles or concrete (preferably Ametrine Lavender be expressed this way are those
while in a private place) – it isn’t Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, UK without an odd factor (other
conducive to contentment. The book How it Works: The cat than 1) – exactly the powers
Generally, cats’ choice of (Ladybirds for Grown-Ups) tells us of 2: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 and so on.
newspaper seems an excellent that once the owner has indicated
DAN CONINE
balance of good insulation which book or magazine is

with no jaggy or tickly bits. interesting, by leaving it open,

The back pages Feedback
AdVerts FRom HeLl Twisteddoodles for New Scientist lose, it says, but monkeys stared
at you judgmentally.
Feedback is often both baffled and The study extended previous
intrigued by the tricks advertisers work showing that children can
will pull to try to sell things, but identify the winners and losers
the latest gambit seems designed in elections based purely on
to wrong-foot: deliberately odd photos of the candidates. Both the
capitalisation and bad grammar. children and the monkeys were
During our time spent mucking picking based on face shape, with
around on our smartphone, square jawlines being the key sign
Feedback has repeatedly seen ads of an improved chance of victory.
for a mobile game that promises Who would do such a study?
the “Hardest LEvel in the HisTory”. Three of the researchers are at
We have SPent days tRYing to the University of Pennsylvania,
Work out wHy it looks like thaT. but the fourth is based at a
The game in question is called Go Portuguese institution called
Climb! It is a puzzle game in which the Champalimaud Center for
a group of mountaineers ascending the Unknown. Feedback isn’t
a peak have got their safety lines quite sure what to make of that.
tangled and the player must It does seem that unconscious
untangle them. So it is, essentially, factors play into our voting
the back of Feedback’s TV, except decisions. It is often claimed
it has been gamified and is also at that taller candidates tend to win
least somewhat possible to solve. US elections, and there appears
Feedback initially wondered to be some truth to this.
if this was a case of non-English- A 2013 study pulled data on all
speaking developers skimping US presidential elections to date
on translation costs. There is and found that taller candidates
precedent for this: back in 1991, won more of the popular vote –
the Japanese space shooter Zero Got a story for Feedback? although this didn’t translate to
Wing was released in Europe with Send it to feedback@newscientist.com them being more likely to actually
a notoriously shonky translation. or New Scientist, 9 Derry Street, London, W8 5HY be elected. In what can only be
As a result, in the introductory Consideration of items sent in the post will be delayed described as double nominative
cutscene, an alien invader determinism, one of the authors
announced: “All your base are is a social psychologist called
belong to us.” After this was from the game are replaced and Feedback is trapped in Abraham Buunk.
rediscovered in the late 1990s, with astronauts in spacesuits an endless cycle of news stories Readers who are invested in
it became one of the most widely drifting around against a starry reporting polls, pundits endlessly the outcome of the US election
shared internet memes of the time. backdrop, so the game’s title reinterpreting said polls, and then are hereby advised: whatever
However, a closer look at makes absolutely no sense. more polls. It is a terribly long- you do, don’t look up Donald
Go Climb! suggests something It was only when we looked at winded way of saying “we don’t Trump’s and Kamala Harris’s
else is going on. It is made by a the game in an app store that know what’s going to happen”. respective heights.
company called FOMO Games. the mountaineering theme was Now, our colleague Alexandra
The firm is based in Turkey, but revealed and things became clear. Thompson has highlighted an One more for the road
its staff clearly have an excellent This seems to be a new and important new contribution
command of English, as evidenced devilish way to advertise a product to the field of psephological In such stressful times, like many
by the information provided online: purposely make a complete forecasting: a paper titled people, Feedback has turned to
about all its other games, not to hash of your ad and hope this “Monkeys predict US elections”. the soothing alternative reality
mention the gloriously corporate intrigues people enough to Sadly, this doesn’t involve of The Great British Bake Off
text on its website explaining get them to click through. placing an infinite number (The Great British Baking Show,
that “FOMO stands for Fear Of And on some level it worked, of monkeys into voting booths. if you are in North America).
Missing Out, which defines our because here we are. But Feedback Instead, researchers showed There are all sorts of fascinating
product vision and culture.” hasn’t downloaded the game. monkeys pairs of photos of and delicious things to learn about
Instead, Feedback suspects On principle, we don’t believe in candidates from senatorial the materials science of breads,
the bad English is intentionally rewarding deliberately bad spelling. and gubernatorial elections. cakes and biscuits, but we just
designed to get our attention. The monkeys spent more want to point out that the show’s
In line with this, the advert
Monkeys in politics time looking at the losers than home economist, who produces
has other odd features that at the winners. This seems like all the sample biscuits, tarts
add to the off-kilter feeling. At the time of writing, the US a peculiar form of torture for and desserts for the technical
Notably, in it, the mountaineers presidential election is imminent politicians: not only did you challenges, is called Hattie Baker. ❚

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STRANGE MICROBES

WEEKLY November 2-8, 2024

Science and technology news

On the 9 Strange microbes rewrite

22 The columnist 45 Puzzles

24 Aperture 46 Almost the last word

Readers’ views on how 47 Tom Gauld for New Scientist

2 November 2024 | New Scientist | 1

NASA/JET PROPULSION LABORATORY-CALTECH

Podcast Video Newsletter

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The great monarch Yellowstone wolf and The world capital of

Find out more at

The New Scientist

Host Rowan Hooper is joined by New Scientist reporters

PUBLISHING & COMMERCIAL EDITORIAL

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one day we won’t be around

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in climate models that mean they But the energy imbalance

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MEDITATION training led women An illustration of a protein

Fadel Zeidan at the University individual cells in the tissues

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Electric skin patch

the ability of the bacteria to join molecules form in the first

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Artificial intelligence falls for scams

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FAIRY tales featuring magical fruit Near left: the

turned to 80 children between eyes and blond or light-brown

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FOREST fires in the western US When a star explodes in

as the Lahaina fire in Hawaii last the sun. An interstellar cloud –

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Ancient tracks hint

TINY tracks in South Korea Common noctule bats

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Meta AI tackles impossible maths

Rare Bronze Age Archaeologists carefully lift

people were increasingly farming landscape,” says Treasure. People

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Mystery of the missing La Niña

slowed down,” says Michelle may be keeping waters on the

it is also intoxicating. Even animals (Vespa orientalis) could

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“There’s no use for extremely some people experience

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If only they could talk

pigs. There’s even a prize on offer Animal behaviourists would tell

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4 What name is given to the outer,

5 The Almagest is an astronomical manual