Innehållsförteckning för November 2022 från BBC Science Focus Magazine

DISCOVERIES ZOOLOGY Fossil records show that giant tortoises were once widespread. These days, thanks to predation by invasive species such as dogs and cats, and grazing competition from cattle, there are just two species left: the Aldabra giant tortoise, which lives on the Aldabra Atoll in the Seychelles, and the more famous Galápagos giant tortoises, of which there are a number of subspecies. These giant tortoises are considered to be vulnerable to extinction or critically endangered. Now, an international research team has made a breakthrough that could help halt the decline of at least one of the species, after producing a highly detailed genome sequence of the Aldabra giant tortoise. The discovery will help researchers’ efforts to breed the animals and strengthen their numbers, while also allowing them to study…

Researchers based at National Museums Scotland have identified the early pterosaur ancestor Scleromochlus taylori by making casts of impressions left in sandstone by several specimens of the reptile found in northeast Scotland. They then CT scanned these impressions and recreated the skeletons of the animals using 3D-modelling software. This enabled them to piece together the fine details of their anatomy and placed them in the family tree of lagerpetids, the closest relatives to pterosaurs. Scleromochlus was a small, cat-sized animal that lived in what is now Elgin in northeast Scotland, around 235 million years ago. Although the fossils were first found in the early 20th Century, classifying Scleromochlus proved problematic due to the difficulty in correctly identifying the fine detail in its anatomy. “It’s exciting to be able to resolve…

DISCOVERIES COMMENT Empathy is a human quality that is absolutely crucial for us all to be able to develop prosocial behaviours and to create and sustain meaningful connections and intimate relationships. You could argue that empathy is the glue that holds society together and communities close. Empathy can help construct our moral compass and is a barometer of our behaviour to others. Our ability to be empathetic has even been shown to be beneficial for our mental and emotional wellbeing, and contributes towards our ability to handle emotionally challenging situations. So it’s clearly vital that we do whatever we can to be at our most empathetic. And it turns out that getting a good night’s sleep is key. A recent study published in the journal FLOS Biology has shown that…

REALITY CHECK REVIEW “Numerous pieces of research show that cold homes can increase the symptoms of heart disease and respiratory conditions like asthma” Visit the BBC's Reality Check website at bit.ly/reality_check_ or follow them on Twitter @BBCRealityCheck Pre-COVID, 50 million homes across the EU were not being properly heated. Now, with economies weakened by the pandemic and energy costs soaring, that number is thought to be much higher. In the UK alone, an estimated seven million households are spending more than 10 per cent of their income on fuel, putting them in ‘fuel poverty’. But what does turning down the dial mean for our health? CAN LIVING IN A COLD HOME MAKE YOU ILL? Yes, and there are decades of public health studies to prove it. Numerous pieces of research show that cold…

ANALYSIS INNOVATIONS Self-driving cars have rapidly gone from science-fiction trope to the technology of today, with manufacturers all over the world racing to develop the ultimate driverless experience. While the technology has seen drastic improvements in recent years, we’re still a long way from a world free of vehicles that need humans at the wheel. And yet, the UK government has said it wants to get selfdriving cars on the road within the next three years. But how realistic is this deadline? And, assuming we hit it, is it going to drastically change the UK’s roads? We spoke to Jack Stilgoe, a professor of science and technology policy at University College London, to map out the future of cars. HITTING THE ROAD As part of a new plan for self-driving…

COMMENT TUTANKHAMUN'S TOMB On 26 November 2022, it will be 100 years since Howard Carter peered through a hole in the entrance to the chambers of Tutankhamun’s tomb and saw “wonderful things”. It was to be one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of all time. Before Carter discovered the tomb in November 1922, Tutankhamun was an obscure pharaoh, but far from unknown. It was known that he had started life as Tutankhaten and had been married to Ankhesenpaaten, the third daughter of the ‘heretic pharaoh’ Akhenaten and the queen Nefertiti, and that he had ruled briefly under this name at the city of Akhet-Aten (modern Amarna, about halfway between Cairo and Luxor). This city had been founded by Akhenaten in honour of a single deity, the Aten. This abandoned Egypt’s…

Q&A B KIRKBY, VIA EMAIL Earth has been slowly cooling since it formed 4.5 billion years ago, and sometime between 1.5 and 0.5 billion years ago, the core began to crystallise into a solid ball of mainly iron and nickel. The core is growing by around one millimetre per year, and at that rate, Earth won't have time to fully cool and solidify before the Sun reaches the end of its life in around five billion years, when it'll expand and potentially engulf the planet we live on. If some currently unknown mechanism caused Earth to cool much sooner, it would have serious long-term consequences for most life on the planet. Without the electric dynamo of the molten outer core, Earth's magnetic field would fade to zero, and the stream…

Nordic walking is a type of low-impact exercise that uses specialised poles and striding technique to engage all the body's major muscle groups. It originated in Finland in the 1930s, as a way for cross-country skiers to train during the summer months. Since then, it's gained popularity around the world as a fun way for people of any age to get moving and out into nature. Unlike hiking poles, which are typically held in front of the body to help with balance and stability, Nordic walking poles should only ever be in contact with the ground behind you. With each step forward, the opposing arm - held straight at the elbow - swings out in front you, dragging the pole gently along the ground. As you take your next step,…

Tyrannosaurus rex lived 66 million years ago and no human has ever seen one alive. How do we know how it - or any other long-extinct dinosaur - moved? This is part of a larger question in palaeontology: how do we understand the behaviours of extinct species? In general, we rely on information from fossils, tests using computer modelling, and comparisons to modern-day animals, especially birds (the descendants of dinosaurs) and crocodiles (the closest living cousins to dinosaurs). Fossils can tell us certain things about dinosaur movement. Simply by looking at a skeleton, we can grasp the basics of whether the dinosaur walked on all fours, or only on its hind legs. Skeletons can also give us an indication of whether a dinosaur was likely to be slow or plodding,…

DISCOVERIES NEUROSCIENCE Since its release in 1972, the table tennisthemed video game Pong has provided hours of entertainment to players of all genders, ages and walks of life. Now, thanks to an international team of neuroscientists, it can add a Petri dish containing 800,000 living brain cells to that list. Named DishBrain, the ‘player in a Petri’ provides evidence that brain cells can display signs of intelligent behaviour, even when they’re not part of a fully formed organ. To create DishBrain, the team used human brain cells derived from stem cells, as well as brain cells harvested from embryonic mice. The cells were then grown in a Petri dish on a special type of silicon chip hooked up to a system that enabled them to learn to play Pong. A…

NEUROSCIENCE Super-agers have long puzzled scientists. Despite being in their 70s and 80s, they have the physical ability and cognitive function of people much younger. Now, researchers at Northwestern University in Illinois may have discovered one of the reasons super-agers are able to stay so mentally sharp: the neurons in their entorhinal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for storing memories, are much larger than those of their cognitively average peers. Furthermore, these neurons show no sign of tau tangles, the abnormal accumulations of protein that collect inside neurons and limit the communication between them, which are a telltale sign of Alzheimer’s disease. “To understand how and why people may be resistant to developing Alzheimer’s disease, it’s important to closely investigate the postmortem brains of super-agers,” said lead researcher…

SPACE On 27 September, NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft scored a direct hit on its target, Dimorphos. Now, after collecting and analysing the data, the space agency has announced that the collision has successfully nudged the asteroid off its path. The success marks the first time humanity has altered the motion of a celestial object and is a major step forward in defending the Earth from potentially devastating asteroid impacts. “All of us have a responsibility to protect our home planet. After all, it’s the only one we have,” said NASA administrator Bill Nelson. “This mission shows that NASA is trying to be ready for whatever the Universe throws at us. NASA has proven we are serious as a defender of the planet. This is a watershed moment…

WHAT IS BATTEN DISEASE? Batten disease is a term for a group of diseases which are also known as neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses, or lysosomal storage disorders. These are conditions where patients carry mutations or faults in genes that ultimately end up affecting the function of the lysosomes, which are the cells’ waste disposal and recycling system. Lysosomal storage disorders are generally referred to as the most common form of dementia in childhood. There are 14 different forms of the disease that we’re aware of. They are what we call neurodegenerative diseases and affect the function of the nervous system. It’s a rare disease. In the UK, there are maybe 100 or 150 patients at the moment. But obviously that doesn’t make it any less impactful for those people who have…

For years, artist Steve Coulson wanted to make a comic. “The problem has always been I can’t draw,” he says. But in 2022, Coulson published a beautiful comic called Summer Island. The 40-page, folk-horror story about a sea god festival features detailed illustrations in a coherent visual style. The images were created with the help of artificial intelligence. As AI image generators become more widespread, some forecast the death of human artforms. But AI could make illustration more accessible, allowing for more creators and revitalising visual art. The past year has seen an explosion of machine learning models that generate digital images from natural language prompts. These AI systems use a method called ‘diffusion’, which creates random dots and then shapes them into a picture according to the semantic information…

ANALYSIS REALITY CHECK Let’s face it, few - if any - relationships are blissfully perfect. They all take effort and compromise. They go through highs and lows. Many, perhaps most, will end in a breakup, some dramatically, after an infidelity or a massive disagreement, others through a slow drifting apart. But a toxic relationship is different. It’s about more than bumpy patches, disagreements or waning romance - something is seriously and harmfully wrong. Social media is full of speculation and warnings about the red flags that imply you could be in one of these worrying partnerships, but what does the science have to say? The ‘toxic’ label isn’t a scientific term, but it’s generally used to imply that a partner is exerting some kind of harmful control or abuse - physical,…

AirPods are ubiquitous. At least, it certainly seems that way if you set foot on public transport. Little white baubles dangle out of every commuter’s ears. So what’s the big deal? Is it just a fashion trend or is it worth following the crowd to enjoy better wireless audio? We tested Apple’s new flagship-model earphones, the 2nd generation AirPods Pro, to find out whether there really is some wisdom to be found in the crowd, and if they really are the best wireless earphones money can buy. GREAT EXPECTATIONS I should start by admitting I’ve got high hopes. My other half owns a set of 3rd generation of AirPods. They rarely leave her ears. I could take it personally, but she reassures me that it’s testament to the AirPods’ comfort…

Anyone who has followed our efforts to explore other planets over the last few decades will have realised the importance of robots. They’re our mechanical eyes and ears on distant worlds, and have allowed us to see places that would have otherwise remained shrouded in mystery. Perhaps this is why the landing of each new NASA rover on Mars draws millions of viewers online. Recently, however, most of the headlines have been about the imminent return of humans to the Moon. So with people once again venturing further out into space, will robotic explorers start to fade in importance? Not at all. The fact is robotic explorers are set to become more important than ever. “There are some places in the Solar System you can’t send humans, Venus, for example,…

As flawed beings with fragile egos making our way in a hostile, unpredictable world, psychologists have long recognised that we cope by deploying psychological defences. These often take the form of self-serving cognitive biases. For instance, we're prone to the 'better-than-average' effect, whereby we think we're better than most others at various skills from driving to maths; or we'll tend to attribute other people's successes to good luck, while seeing our own good results as a sign of innate talent. Getting defensive when we're criticised, or when we make a mistake, is yet another of these self-protective mechanisms. As the politicians so often say: "mistakes were made, but not by me". So, when you give someone negative feedback or you criticise them or their beliefs, you are - perhaps unwittingly…

Imprinting is a survival strategy that occurs when a newly hatched bird sees another animal and then forms a strong attachment to it. Usually it's the baby's mother, but sometimes it can be an inanimate object, such as a stick, or a different animal, such as a human. The most impressive demonstration of this has to be from Italian hang glider pilot Angelo d'Arrigo. He reared a flock of Siberian cranes under the wing of his hang glider, and then in 2003, guided them all the way from northern Siberia to the Caspian Sea in Iran; a journey of 5,500km.…

EYE OPENER SONOMA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA These might look like ice formations, but they are actually a type of slime mould (Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa). They're also tiny, with each branch measuring just a couple of millimetres in length. This slime mould can be found growing all over the world, typically covering decaying wood like a layer of frost. But ice isn't the only thing it can be mistaken for, because slime moulds used to be classified as fungi. You can see why - they grow on rotting plant material, they release spores to reproduce, they even have mould in their name. But slime moulds are actually classified as protists, and there are at least 1,000 known species. The branches you can see here are part of the mould's reproduction process. Spores form…

An international research team has discovered a new antibiotic in potatoes. Dubbed solanimycin, the discovery suggests that plant-based microorganisms might represent a rich source of antibiotics to which bacteria are not yet resistant. Antibiotic medications are becoming increasing ineffective against bacterial infections, as their widespread use has enabled bacteria to evolve resistance to them. But most of the antibiotics prescribed today are derived from microbes found in soil and there others to be found elsewhere. “We have to look more expansively across much more of the microbial populations available to us,” said Dr Rita Monson, a microbiologist from the University of Cambridge and a member of the team that found solanimycin. Solanimycin is produced by the bacterium Dickeya solani and is an effective treatment against a wide range of crop-killing…

A healthy diet and staying away from the news may have been the best way to avoid succumbing to anxiety and depression during the pandemic, a study carried out by researchers in Barcelona has found. Throughout the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us experienced increased feelings of anxiety and depression. According to the Office of National Statistics, around one in five adults in the UK experienced some form of depression at the height of the pandemic. This compares to around one in 10 before the pandemic. To make the discovery, the researchers asked almost 1,000 adult Spanish volunteers to note their levels of anxiety and depression, along with the coping behaviours they carried out, for one year during the COVID pandemic. When presenting their findings at the 35th…

DISCOVERIES COMMENT T he light, in the beginning, didn’t last. Everything started out so hot. Pure radiation, at first: drawn from some primeval impulse now lost to the obscurity of over-stretched space-time, hidden behind the wall of fire that seared through every femtometre of an incipient cosmos. There was no source of the light, no ignition point to spread from; it was everything, everywhere, and that everywhere was growing. The cosmos was swelling, space escaping from itself, spreading light across the face of creation until droplets formed: matter was born hot and screaming. The first particles tore through searing plasma in waves, acoustic vibrations spreading and colliding. The Universe was a sea of ions — unpaired protons and electrons, with a sprinkling of helium and other light nuclei - born nuclear-hot…

Some people worry that there’s too much technology in our lives. And they may have a point, given how countless people now carry the internet around in their pocket and use it as a primary form of communication. But even if you avoid smartphone use, it’s still practically impossible to shun technology in our world. There are computer chips in our watches, our cars, our light switches, even our pets! Where will it end? Well, if certain people have their way, it’ll go even further. We’ll have microchips implanted into our brains that can interact with the computers around us by thought alone. It may sound like something from the more hardcore end of science fiction, but it’s very much a possibility. And if Elon Musk’s recent claims regarding his…

LIBBY HAMILTON, KENT Stage 1: The egg sac In the spring, female spiders start to produce egg sacs. These silky, cocoon-like constructions can each contain up to 70 eggs, and a female spider can produce as many as 10 egg sacs over her lifetime. Stage 2: Spiderling Juvenile spiders, known as spiderlings, hatch from the eggs and undergo their first moult inside their egg sac. When they're ready to emerge, they cut a hole in the sac and escape, temporarily staying close by before dispersing. Stage 3: Moulting Each spiderling must go through up to eight moults before they reach adulthood and sexual maturity. Before each moult, the spider withdraws to a quiet area and stops feeding for a few days. Beneath its outer layer, a new, softer exoskeleton is…

QUESTION OF THE MONTH JAMES CRANNELL, VIA EMAIL The view of the night sky from within a globular cluster would depend on your position within the cluster. This is because stars are packed together more tightly in the core of the cluster compared to the periphery. In the core of a typical cluster, the average distance between stars is about one light-year, compared to about five light-years in the solar neighbourhood. Since the brightness of stars is inversely proportional to the square of distance, this means the brightness of stars in the night sky would be about 25 times what is seen from Earth. Now, on Earth, on a clear night, starlight has a brightness of about 0.001 lux (a unit of 'illuminance'). So, on a planet in the core of…

EXPLAINER 1. We may all have the odd memory lapse as we get older, such as occasionally losing our car keys, but this is not the same as dementia, which is different from normal ageing. 2. The time it takes to get a dementia diagnosis doubles when the patient is under 65. 3. The APOE4 gene variant carries a three-fold greater risk of Alzheimer's disease if you have a copy from just one parent, and an eight-fold greater risk if you have copiesfrom both. One in four of us have one copy, and one in 50 have two. 4. Author Terry Pratchett had an unusual form of dementia called posterior cortical atrophy, which affects outer parts of the back of the brain. It may be a sub-category of Alzheimer's or…