BBC Knowledge Magazine PDF

Big mouth strikes again
An insight into the elusive Bryde’s whale p46
www.knowledgemagazine.in Volume 2 Issue 6 October 2012

` 100
SCIENCE • HISTORY • NATURE • FOR THE CURIOUS MIND
Unlocking secrets of the
Earth’s
Core
Plus: THE REBEL IN ALL
OF US - Why do only some
p30
choose to take a stand? p38
FREE! Sept-Oct
Calendar Inside
R.N.I. MAHENG/2010/35422
Celebrating Hubble’s Find out how illusions Do animals have

greatest hits p54 deceive us p61 feelings too? p74
On the cover october 2012
BIG MOUTH STRIKES AGAIN

BRYDE’S WHALE
Nature
Science
An insight into the elusive Bryde’s whale p46
BIG
www.knowledgemagazine.in Volume 2 Issue 6 October 2012
` 100
MOUTH SCIENCE • HISTORY • NATURE • FOR THE CURIOUS MIND

STRIKES AGAIN
Charging at a baitball is the mother-of-all-mouths:
a Bryde’s whale on the rampage. DOUG PERRINE gets
up close and personal with one of the world’s most
UNLOCKING SECRETS OF THE

DOUG PERRINE
Barely 2m away from the

photographer’s camera,
a Bryde’s whale opens its
spectacular, but least-known, marine animals.
EARTH’S
cavernous jaws to engulf
Photos by Doug Perrine and Brandon Cole
XXX
some sardines
42 October 2012 October 2012 43
46 Big Mouth Strikes Again

Rarely seen and even less photographed,
CORE
meet the Bryde’s whale
Portfolio
20 YEARS OF HUBBLE
Science
p30
PLUS: THE REBEL IN ALL

choose to take a stand?
Hubble’s FREE! SEPT-OCT
p38
Greatest Hits
To celebrate the Hubble Telescope’s 22nd anniversary Stuart Clark
CALENDAR INSIDE
looks back at the most amazing and important images it’s captured
THE EAGLE NEBULA

STELLAR NURSERY
This giant dusty cloud stretches across four
light-years of space. To give you an idea of just
how vast that is, if you placed our Sun on the tip of
this cloud (far right), the other end of it would
reach all the way to our nearest star, Proxima
Centauri. Unlike the empty expanse of space that
exists between these two suns, this image shows
the multitude of forming stars packed into the
Eagle Nebula. Each young stellar object is a
condensing cloud of gas and dust, busily pulling
itself together to build up enough mass to spark
nuclear fusion and become a star. Hundreds of
thousands of years from now they will all blow
away the remaining dust from their birth cloud and
on the cover: Marcin Molski/Ars Thanea, Martin Camm/wildlifeartcompany.com, Dough perrine/brandon cole
shine as a brilliant star cluster.
October 2012 53
54 Portfolio: Hubble’s Greatest Hits

We celebrate the Hubble’s 22nd year of
photographing the Universe
THE SCIENCE OF ILLUSION
Science
R.N.I. MAHENG/2010/35422
Celebrating Hubble’s Find out how illusions Do animals have

Just an greatest hits p54 deceive us p61 feelings too? p74
ILLUSION? Seeing doesn’t necessarily mean
believing. Paul Parsons examines
the science of how illusions deceive us
umans have an odd new theories about how our brains

H fascination with being are wired.” Scientists are discovering
deceived. From the that illusions are in fact an essential
conjuring tricks of magicians to consequence of the mental machinery
mind-bending optical illusions, our through which we see the world.
love of being shown the impossible They’re partly responsible for our
keeps us coming back for more – success as a species and they could
even though we know, deep down, even help explain the very nature of
that it’s all nothing but a clever trick. consciousness.
It’s long been this way. Before Indeed, rather than pulling the
Derren Brown and David Blaine, wool over our eyes, illusions help us
Harry Houdini amazed onlookers perceive the world more efficiently.
with his death-defying stunts. That’s because the brain simply
And the power of illusions is even doesn’t have the power to analyse
Science
mentioned in the writings of every single scrap of information
ancient Greek scholar Epicharmus. that’s available to our senses. Instead,
Now modern-day researchers are it picks out what it thinks are the
subjecting illusions to rigorous important bits from the torrent of
scientific scrutiny to unpick the information coming in – and then
workings of the human mind. uses its expectations about how the
“Scientists are using illusions to world works to fi ll in all the gaps.
understand more about how our “Only 10 per cent of what we think
senses work,” says BBC producer we see comes from our eyes,” says
Naomi Austin, whose forthcoming Austin. “The other 90 per cent comes
Horizon fi lm Is Seeing Believing? from other parts of the brain.”
Earth’s Core
reveals how illusions shape our Illusions are what happens in
feelings and emotions – and even the small number of cases when
save our lives. “This has opened up the brain’s assumptions get it
October 2012 29
61 Just An Illusion?
Now you see it, now you don’t! Unravel the What does the core do for us? Aidan Laverty
science behind illusions with Paul Parsons
explores the least known part of our planet p30
ANIMAL EINSTEINS
Nature
A female orangutan can raise only

three or four young in her lifetime,
developing an extremely close
bond with her infants. Are her
tender caresses and fond looks
evidence of maternal love,
comparable to the attachment a
human mother has for her child?
Do
animals
have
EARTH'S CORE
TS OF THE
UNLOCKING SECRE
feelings EARTH’S
too? CORE
Changes taking place at
the centre
all our lives.
A growing body of evidence suggests we of the Earth could affect
the part of
Aidan Laverty looks into
MITSUAKI IWAGO/MINDEN/FLPA
aren’t the only species with feelings. least about

HENRY NICHOLLS asks whether animals our planet we know the
also experience emotions such as love,
grief, fear and envy
in
ate one Friday afternoon
62 October 2012 L
March 1997, NASA satellite
engineer Ken LaBel received
the
a call from the team running was
There
Hubble Space Telescope.
recently
a problem with the most
installed equipment.
the coast
As Hubble passed over
74 Do Animals Have Feelings Too?

dangerous
of Brazil, a potentially through
spike of current was passing to cause
the electronics, threatening engineers
irrevocable damage. NASA
didn’t
noticed that the problem
the telescope’s
occur anywhere else in
over South
orbit, only when it passed
seeing about
America. “They were
a week and
two problems like this
to see any,”
they weren’t expecting
A growing body of evidence suggests that

says LaBel. the
Astronauts had just installed
included
new equipment, which the
a spectrometer for measuring
of the incoming light and
properties
was part of an
an infrared camera. It designed
important NASA experiment clouds Additional reporting:
Professor
THANEA
to peer through the interstellar Bill McGuire, Director

of the Benfield
the secrets of
XXX
humans aren’t the only species with feelings

of gas and dust to reveal UCL Hazard Research
Centre
Universe. The
MARCIN MOLSKI/ARS
the earliest days of the agency

space
equipment had cost the October 2012
49
$136 million (£85 million). years
For the team who’d spent
these
designing and building
October 2012
48
October 2012 3
Contents october 2012
FEATURES
ON THE COVER
Science
30 Unlocking Secrets Of The Earth’s Core

Aidan Laverty journeys to the centre of the Earth and
learns how the core affects us all
38 The Rebel In All Of Us

Science
Rebellion is alive and kicking, yet only some of us

choose to take a stand. Lousie Ridley explores the
psychology behind being rebellious
ON THE COVER
Nature
science photo library, Akiyoshi KITAOKA, Mitsuaki Iwago/Minden/FLPA, Mitsuaki Iwago/Minden/FLPA, nasa, getty, wildlifeartcompany.com, corbis

Doug Perrine introduces the most spectacular yet
least known species - the Bryde’s whale
ON THE COVER
Science
54 Portfolio: Hubble’s Greatest Hits

30 Earth’s Core
A pictorial celebration of 22 years of the Hubble -
the photographer of the Universe
ON THE COVER How close are we to
Science
understanding the Earth’s core?

Visual phenomenon or just a distortion? Paul
Parsons examines the science behind illusions
70 The Undaunted Wilderness

38 The Rebel
In All of Us
Nature
What is it that makes the Western Ghats of

Are you a rebel or a
India one of the world’s hottest biodiversity
mere spectator?
hotspots?
ON THE COVER
Nature
74 Do Animals Have Feelings Too?

Henry Nicholls asks whether animals too
experience a similar gamut of human emotions
82 Higgs Don’t Lie

Science
The discovery of the Higgs boson particle

will change the way we understand
Mysterious workings or a
the Universe
scientific actuality?
86 The Big Idea: The Placebo Effect
science
Does replacing a proven treatment with a

harmless alternative genuinely have an effect? 70 The
And, if so, how does it actually work? Western Ghats
BIG MOUTH STRIKES AGAIN
the elusive Bryde’s whale
An insight into
p46
Unlock the
natural secrets of
2012
Volume 2 Issue 6 October
www.knowledgemagazine.in ` 100
SCIENCE • HISTORY • NATURE
UNLOCKING SECRETS
EARTH’S
OF THE
• FOR THE CURIOUS MIND
74 Do Animals
the Sahyadris
CORE
68 Subscribe today Have Feelings Too?
Every issue delivered
p30
PLUS: THE REBEL IN ALL

choose to take a stand? p38 Find out if they feel
direct to your door
FREE! SEPT-OCT
what we feel
CALENDAR INSIDE
R.N.I. MAHENG/2010/35422
Find out how illusions Do animals have

Celebrating Hubble’s feelings too? p74
greatest hits p54 deceive us p61
54 Portfolio Regulars
Iconic
images that 6 Inbox
capture the Read what’s on the editor’s mind and a
Universe selection of your letters on topics covered in
through the our recent issues
lens of
the Hubble 10 Think n Win
Challenge your brain and use your coffee
break by solving this issue’s Olympics
themed crossword
12 Q&A
Allow our BBC Knowledge expert panel to
solve the questions that boggle your mind
to the point of annoyance
24 Update 12 Q&A 18 Snapshot

A trio of outstanding and arresting
Are scientists closer to How high can
finding the cure for cancer? helicopters fly? images from the worlds of science, nature
and history to entertain and educate
96 Gadgets
Update your tech-quotient as we explore
the latest innovations in the world of
gadgets and apps
UPDATE
24 The Latest Intelligence
A breakthrough in cancer treatment and a
supersized dinosaur that wore a fuzzy coat
26 Insights
Mathematician and educationist
Anand Kumar talks about his Super
How have the Bryde’s whale 30 programme
managed to remain elusive
for so long? 28 Comment & Analysis
Herpetologist Romulus Whitaker believes
it is time we paid attention to the
neglected bite
29 Principal Speak
Abha Sahgal of Sanskriti School, talks
about the need for equity in the
education sector
98 Last Word
Vivek Menon lauds the recognition
given to the Western Ghats as a World
Heritage Site
October 2012 5
inbox
From the editor
Did you know that the north and south magnetic question – if subtleties in our behavior are proved
poles swap positions periodically? Okay, okay, to be governed largely by our biology, then what
every 300,000 years on average but it is still a very about free will?
cool fact. If it weren’t for the Earth’s inscrutable
core, ships wouldn’t have sailed, animals wouldn’t There are more introspective and thought
have minutely-detailed migratory routes and our provoking features, such as Do Animals Have
atmosphere may not have been the star performer Feelings Too, and how illusions deceive us. Also
that it is. It is oft said, and rightly so, that we know a must-read is renowned herpetologist Romulus
much more about what lies beyond our planet than Whitaker’s article on the neglected problem of
we know what lies under. And there is a possibility snakebites in India as well as Vivek Menon’s Last
that this mysterious place includes a ‘forest’ made Word on challenges faced before the Western
of 10km long crystals. Read more in our cover Ghats could be anointed as a World Heritage Site.
story on page 30.
Enjoy.
Talking of what lies beneath – check out our
story on The Rebel In All Of Us on page 38. It
is an insightful view into why some of us choose
to go against the tide and stand against what we
perceive as injustice and the rest of us don’t. Does
it boil down to nature and our genetic makeup
or nurture and our environment? Find out. New Preeti Singh
strides in science are increasingly addressing issues
that have traditionally been the playing field of [email protected]
psychologists and sociologists. Doesn’t it beg the www.bbcknowledgeindia.com
knowledgemagazineindia KnowledgeMagIND
Download this current issue from www.zinio.com • www.magzter.com
Experts this issue

Doug Perrine Vivek Menon Henry Nicholls Enjoy your favourite magazine
is a marine is the founder, has a PhD in wherever you are
and wildlife Executive Director evolutionary
photographer and CEO of the biology and India • Editor: Preeti Singh • www.knowledgemagazine.in
whose photo- Wildlife Trust of is a freelance
graphs have been carried India and an Advisor and Director science journalist whose UK/USA/Canada • Editor: Sally Palmer • www.knowledgemagazine.com
in renowned publications. A for International Fund for work regularly appears in Asia • Editor: Ben Poon • www.regentmedia.sg/publications_bbc.shtml
recipient of a number of awards Animal Welfare. He is a wildlife publications such as Nature, Brazil • Editor: Cáren Nakashima • www.revistaconhecerbbc.com.br
Mrigank sharma (India Sutra)
including the BBC Wildlife conservationist, environmental PLoS Biology and New
Photographer of the Year and commentator and photographer Scientist. In this issue, he Bulgaria • Editor: Hristo Dimitrov • www.knowledge.bg
the Nature’s Best/ Cemex and author of eight wildlife looks into the growing body Sweden • Editor: Jonas Berg • www.bbcknowledge.se
competition in the Professional books including the bestselling of evidence that suggests Taiwan • Editor: Hui-Wen Lan
Marine Wildlife category. In this Field Guide to Mammals of India. that animals too experience
issue, he introduces us to the In this issue, he gives his Last feelings similar to the human
elusive Bryde’s whale. Word on the Western Ghats of spectrum of emotions. SCIENCE • HISTORY • NATURE • FOR THE CURIOUS MIND
See page 46 India. See page 98 See page 74
Know more. Anywhere.
6 October 2012
CorrespondencE
Star LETTER Write in and you have a chance to
win a UCB wristwatch worth `4499.
 Chanakya: a political and economic thinker
Congratulations, Ketan K Shah, winner
I was very glad to find an article featured on Chanakya by Himanshu Prabha Ray
of this issue’s star prize.
in the latest issue of the BBC Knowledge magazine. Whatever he may have been,
Chanakya, the kingmaker or Kautilya and the author of Arthashastra, deserves
a prominent place in the annals of Indian history. He built the Mauryan empire
(uniting India for the first time) which lasted for more than 130 years.
Although scores of researchers are quick to acknowledge that the
Arthashastra is basically a political treatise advising the king on the matters
of administration, what has gone almost neglected is a vast treasure trove of
principles in economics embedded in it. There are startling similarities between
modern day economics attributed to Adam Smith and the one given by Kautilya.
More importantly, the type of economics embedded in his scheme of things
adopts a heterodox and multidisciplinary approach to which contemporary WRITE
economists are now turning to, in order to make the discipline illustrate IN AND
WIN
lucidly real world economic events. It was some 2,300 years ago that
Kautilya strictly advocated a mixed economic system for efficient
management of scare resources making him a memorable figure.
Ketan K Shah, Ahmedabad
Ruskin Bond
The last word
writes about Charles
Dickens, the purveyour
of great storytellin “MY FAVOU
g
CHARLES DIC
RITE EXTRACTS”
KENS:
TRIBUTE TO A GEN
IUS
to mesmerise me with his meticulousness ‘Chanakya: The man behind the empire’
OLIVER
Oliver Twist
TWIST
of slow starvationand his companions
for three suffered
so voracious the tortures
“F or me, Charles
Dickens was, and
will be, the greatest always
thing (for
his age, and
months;
was tall for and wild with hunger, at last they got
that one
English language, novelist in the his father hadn’t been boy, who
used to that
reason. When and for one simple darkly to had kept sort of
his a small cook-shop),
Copperfield, read
I was twelve, I
discovered David basin of gruelcompanions, that hinted
unless he
it night happen per diem, he was had another
and unabridged) right through (complete to eat the afraid he
whenever the happened boy who might some
boarding school routine life of to slept next
wild, hungry be a weakly youth
and diplomacy. from the August 2012 issue.

a him, who
NYC
permitted, and Mr. Charles Dickens’s

of tender
going to be a writer. decided I was
And in a single-minded,
last reading council was eye; and they implicitly age. He had
COLLECTION,
determined, Dickensian held; lots believed a

the master were cast him. A
one. Not a major sort of way, I became after supper who should
and it fell that evening, walk up
literature was
writer, but one
for whom
to Oliver
The evening Twist. and ask for to
religion. arrived; more;
Before I was fi The master, the boys
THE GRANGER
fteen I’d read Oliver in his cook’s took their

Pickwick Papers, the copper; places.
A Tale of Two Cities, Twist, his pauper uniform, stationed
Nickleby, Sketches behind him; assistants himself
By Boz, and the Nicholas grace was
the gruel
was served
ranged themselves at
Barnaby Rudge. unfashionable said over out; and a long
I still dip into disappeared the short
time to time; it’s Pickwick Papers ; the boys commons.
DREAMSTIME,
an antidote for from winked at whispered The gruel

various other ailments. depression and Oliver; while each other,
him. Child his next
as neighbours and
I have read Copperfi and reckless he was, he was desperate nudged
eld several times.
the sheer joy of advancing with misery. He rose with hunger,
Aswitha, Chennai Gaurav Oberoi, via email

its youthful exuberance. For to the master, from the
VOL 56” (1870),
recently I read And somewhat basin and table; and

Our alarmed
London’s dockland Mutual Friend for the fi rst time. “Please, Sir, at his own spoon in
temerity: hand, said,
came I
I don’t think Dickens to life again for me. The master want some more.”
ever wrote a bad very pale. was a fat,
certainly not a novel; He gazed healthy man; but
dull one. He was the small in stupeﬁ he turned
LONDON NEWS
brilliant, from consistently rebel for ed

the time he took support to some seconds,astonishment on
create Mr. Pickwick up his pen to the and
and friends to with wonder; copper. The assistants then clung for
his fi fties when the time in the were paralysed
he “What!” said boys with fear.
writing The Mysterycollapsed in the middle of
of Edwin Drood. “Please, Sir,” the master at length,
C.: “ILLUSTRATED
His greatest The master replied Oliver, “I in a faint

voice.
want some
ladle; pinioned aimed a blow at
“
him in his Oliver’s head more.”
the beadle. arms; and with the
shrieked
When I was twelve, The board
Bumble rushed were sitting
in
aloud for
into the roomsolemn conclave,
I discovered David
LEIGHTON, GEORGE
addressing when Mr.

the gentleman in great excitement,
“Mr. Limbkins, in the high and
Copperfield... has asked I beg your chair, said,
and for more!” pardon, Sir!
was going to be decided I

Oliver Twist
”
a writer
 Knowledge to keep you glued  Ancient India way ahead of times

Ruskin Bond
112
August 2012
August 2012
113
In today’s world, where we are constantly I find a slight contradiction in the feature
 Thought bombarded with loads of information, BBC stories of this issue.You mention Chanakya
for food Knowledge magazine hands us a basketful of and the Aryans as great examples, but do
As a student facts and an assortment of carefully picked not include India among ‘The 10 Greatest
of the 11th articles. I would like to thank the entire Cities of All time.’ India can be mentioned
grade from team of BBC Knowledge for designing a on top in the earliest and the final category
Vidya Mandir magazine that is full of intellectual insights (3000 BC and 2020 respectively). In ancient
School, Chennai, on various topics ranging from different times, India was way ahead in mathematics,
I am relatively fields of science, history and nature that it astronomy, medicine, and engineering. The
interested in literature and history and will keep you glued to your seat, be it the Vedas are a very accurate and advanced
articles regarding biochemistry and genetics. article ‘How to make anything invisible’ scientific treatise.
Could you publish articles regarding from the June 2012 issue or the one on Arjun, Delhi
genetics more often? Human chimerism
is astonishing and I think it would grab a
million hearts with its sheer wow factor.
Your recent article on Charles Dickens  Send us your letters
was interesting, as it showed the personal Has something you’ve read in BBC Knowledge Magazine intrigued or excited
life of a man whose works I admire. I you? Write in and share it with us. We’d love to hear from you and we’ll
publish a selection of your comments in the forthcoming issues.
never knew Ruskin Bond was a fan of
Dickens. It is interesting because I can now Email us at : [email protected]
trace the similarities in their writing styles. We welcome your letters, while reserving the right to edit them for length
Another story that I found interesting and clarity. By sending us your letter you permit us to publish it in the maga-
was on Chanakya, which gave me an insight zine. We regret that we cannot always reply personally to letters.
into the mind of a man, who continues
October 2012 7
Here’s how to get in touch
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Think & win
Solve this Olympics themed crossword to win fabulous prizes from the British Council
Crossword NO.12
 E Across H Down
2 The Olympics are hosted once every 1 & 27 Indian badminton star who won
___ years (4) a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympics
5 Olympic shooting event where one (5,6)
shoots a clay pigeon (4) 3 & 9 First Indian (post independence)
7 Ac & 23 Dn Indian boxer who won to win an individual silver at the Olympic
a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympics Games (12,7)
(8,5) 4 ___ Spitz: American swimmer who
10 See 30 Down won seven gold medals at the 1972
11 He won a bronze medal for India in Olympics (4)
the 10m Air Rifle event (5,6) 6 See 21 Down
14 The Ancient Olympic Games were 8 Indian shooter who won a silver
hosted in the honour of this Greek medal at the 2012 Olympics (5,5)
God (4) 9 See 3 Down
15 City which will host the 2016 11 Sport scheduled to make a
Olympic Games (3,2,7) comeback at the 2016 Olympics (4)
19 Leander Paes won a bronze medal 12 See 31 Across
at the 1994 Olympic Games hosted in 13 See 25 Down
____ (7) 16 American athlete who made history
20 The Soviet invasion of this country at the 1936 Berlin Olympics (5,5)
led to a boycott of the 1980 Olympic 17 City which has hosted the Olympics
Games by the United States and some thrice (6)
of its allies (11) 18 Over the years this country has won
22 The 1940 and 1944 editions of the the maximum number of medals at the
Olympic Games were cancelled on Olympic Games (3)
account of World War ____ (3) 21 & 6 He holds the all-time record for
24 City which hosted the first ever the maximum number of gold medals at
Winter Olympics (8) the Olympics (7,6)
26 Country which topped the medals 23 See 7 Across
tally at the 2008 Beijing Olympics (5) 25 & 13 In 2008 he became the first
28 The number of medals India has Indian to win an individual gold medal at
won in hockey over the years (6) the Olympic Games (7,6)
29 City which hosted the first ever 26 Along with croquet this popular
Summer Olympics (6) game only featured in the 1900
31 Ac & 12 Dn Indian wrestler who Olympics (7)
Your Details won a bronze medal at the 2008 27 See 1 Down
Name: Age: Olympics (6,5) 28 Continent which has hosted the
Address: 32 Boxer Muhammad ___ won a Olympics the most (6)
boxing gold medal as Cassius Clay (3) 30 & 10 Ac First gymnast to score a
PostCode: Tel: 33 Ancient Olympic Games venue (7) perfect 10 at the Olympics (5,8)
School/Institution/Occupation:
Announcing
Email: Solution NO. 11
the winners of
Crossword No. 11
How to enter: Post your entries to familiar to crossword enthusiasts how many letters are in the answer.
BBC Knowledge Editorial, Crossword already, although the British style All spellings are UK. Good luck!
No. 11, Worldwide Media, The Times may be unusual as crossword grids Terms and conditions: Only Harini U.B.
of India Bldg, 4th floor, Dr Dadabhai vary in appearance from country Chennai
residents of India are eligible
Navroji. Road, Mumbai 400001 or to country. Novices should note to participate. Employees of Rudrakshi kesarwani
email [email protected] that the idea is to fill the white Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd. are Kolkata
by October 10, 2012. Entrants must squares with letters to make words not eligible to participate. The Ahalya P. Rajesh
supply their name, address and determined by the sometimes winners will be selected in a lucky Haryana
phone number. cryptic clues to the right. The draw. The decision of the judges
How it’s done: The puzzle will be numbers after each clue tell you will be final.
10 October 2012
10 i
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Shop at the ‘Tamu’: Fer rata : With a pro per system of routes,
gle with the Via
Hunt for bargains and min rket or ‘Tamu’. devices and an exp erience d trainer to guide
al ma
locals at an open-air loc you, experience the ‘Via Ferrata’ or ‘Iron Road’
ade crafts, crystals,
Browse through handm iting challenge of this sport
and pick up the freshest seafood, and enjo y the exc
Tamu
antiqu es, ns.
vegeta bles and exotic fruits. under the safest of conditio
local cakes,
Reason 3
Hot Springs:
Soak in a hot bath at Poring these scenic springs. Soak in
a
a trip with fam ily to exp erience nature’s marvels at . You can also exp lore
Take perties
antage of its skin curative pro
hot sulphur bath and take adv ning landscapes and indulge in bird
-watching.
s thro ugh the stun
various nature trail
Reason 8 Park :
Reason 4 nku Abdul Rahman
Island Hopping at Turk, a cluster of islands
Get up close with the Orang Utan at Visit this ma rin e pa m
by speedboat fro
the Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary: just 10-20 minutes e sure to be ta
Enjoy the thrilling opportunity to see Kota Kinab alu . Yo u’r
shallow waters, Ferra
an orang utan up close at this sanctuary, mesmerised by its rdens and Via
ral ga alu
inab
which rehabilitates orphaned orang magnificent co
white beaches. tK
utans. A boardwalk leads to a viewing
M oun
gallery, from where you can see the
orang utans being fed by the rangers.
Reason 9
Madai Cave:
Bird Nest harvesting at most
Reason 5 Plan a trip to one of the
al sites of
Organic Tea at Sabah Tea Garden:
Tea important archaeologic ruary - April gs
aficionados should not miss this Sabah. Visit between Feb the caves Ho t Sprin
one-of-its-kind tea garden. Savour
the or July - September, wh
en
of the Poring
freshly brewed tea at Tea House,
and come alive, as members to harvest
her
experience that extra ‘kick’ which
one Idahan community gat
icacy - Bird’s
usually gets from coffee. nests for that famed del
Nest Soup.
Reason 10
Reason 6
at Sipadan Island: Lowland Rainfor
Explore stunning seascapes ionally famous es
Valley: Put this co t of Danum
Go dow n und er at this internat nservation area
its abundant on your must-se
paradise for divers and explore e list
of the last remain , for this is one a
marine life in the mid st of gorg onia n sea fans, ing primary
u Tig
ula
giga ntic soft tree corals. lowland rainfores
s and ts
barrel spo nge Here, you’ll enjoy in Asia. P
rar
glimpses of plant e
an
species found on d animal
Reason 7 ly in Borneo.
Take a warm mud bath at ‘Pulau Tiga’: Visit
this secluded group of islands made famous
by the television series ‘Survivor’. Dive,
snorkel and discover the rich and fascinating
marine life. Enjoy a warm mud bath in the
and
an Isl
bubbling mud pools and explore the varied
species of wildlife unique to this region.
Madai
Sipad
Cave
MUMBAI: Tel: +91 22 66352085 • E-mail: [email protected]

NEW DELHI: Tel: +91 11 46011674/5 • E-mail: [email protected]
CHENNAI: Tel: +91 44 45068080 • E-mail: [email protected]
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Q&A [email protected]
Your Questions Answered
HIGHLIGHTS E How often do the planets in our Solar System line up? p13 E Are toeprints unique, like
fingerprints? p14 E What is the future of the Internet? p15 E What is the noisiest animal in the world? p16
E How do we know that plastic bags take 500 years to decompose? p16
Expert PANEL How high can helicopters fly?

Stuart Blackman
A zoologist-turned-science Helicopter flight at high altitudes is problematic, as rotors produce less lift than at
writer, Stuart is a contributor lower levels where the air is thicker. Conventional engines also become inefficient, so
to BBC Wildlife Magazine. gas turbines are used instead. Most helicopters can fly to about 5000m (16,400ft), but
in 2005, French pilot Didier Delsalle landed a helicopter on the summit of Mount
Susan Blackmore (SB)
A visiting professor at the Everest at 8850m (29,000ft). GM
University of Plymouth, UK,
Susan is an expert on psychology
and evolution.
Alastair Gunn
Alastair is a radio astronomer
at Jodrell Bank Centre for
Astrophysics at the University
of Manchester, UK.
Robert Matthews
Robert is a writer and researcher.
He is a Visiting Reader in Science
at Aston University, UK.
Gareth Mitchell
As well as lecturing at Imperial
College London, Gareth is a
presenter of Click on the BBC
World Service.
Nick Rennison
An editor and writer based
in the UK, Nick is also a
regular contributor to
BBC History Magazine.
Luis Villazon
Luis has an MSc in zoology
from the University of Oxford.
He is a freelance science
journalist living in England.
Getty, corbis, dreamstime, thinkstock
Ask the Experts

Email your queries to
STATS
[email protected]
We’re sorry, but we cannot VITAL
answer questions individually.
9,800,000
69
The summit of Mount Everest marks the 3
km
highest altitude yet achieved by a helicopter me, in
xim ate volu e Pacific
ppro f th
is the a ,948 miles ) o Atlantic’s
3
0
(167,89 , dwarfing the 0km3
Ocean ,00 3
10,400
12 October 2012 mere 3 ,920 miles )
(74 ,46 8
KNOW SPOT
Hayden’s bone-
crushing dog
(Epicyon haydeni)
roamed the plains of
North America 10
million years ago. Weighing up
to 170kg (375lb), it is the
largest species of wild dog
so far discovered.
The real Solar System is,
of course, somewhat larger
than this fountain in Poland
How often do the planets in our Solar System Why do we

line up? say ‘Ow!’?
The answer to this question depends on how we define ‘line up’. Because the planets orbit the Sun The semi-involuntary sound
with slightly different orbital inclinations, it is extremely unlikely they will ever align perfectly – the odds we make when we stub a
of this happening are something like one in 86 billion trillion trillion trillion years! However, if by ‘line up’ toe or burn a finger is
we just mean that some of the planets appear close together in the sky, then this occurs fairly regularly. surprisingly constant across
For example, the five planets visible to the naked eye cluster within 25 degrees or less of each other languages and cultures. The
once every 57 years, on average. The last time this happened was on 5 May 2000; before that it was 4 Spanish say ‘Ay!’, the
February 1962 and it will happen next on 8 September 2040. But these are not true planetary Germans ‘Ach!’, the
‘alignments’. They are simply interesting and beautiful groupings of the planets in the sky. AG Chinese ‘Aiya!’, the
Norwegians ‘Au!’.
In each case, it’s a
wide-open mouth with a
Why is water so essential to supporting life? short breath. This is the

fastest and simplest way to
make a loud noise and it
We don’t know for certain that it is. There probably evolved as an
may be life on other planets based around alarm call to the tribe that
the chemistry of liquid methane, or even danger was nearby. In case
creatures inside stars, powered by fusion. that danger is a wild animal,
But on Earth, water definitely is a saying ‘Ow!’ also has the
prerequisite. Water is a polar molecule, with effect of baring your teeth
positively charged hydrogen atoms and a threateningly. LV
negative oxygen atom. This makes it a good
solvent of other polar compounds. It also
creates hydrophobic interactions that make
oily compounds form into bubbles, which
helps materials self-assemble into cells.
The electrostatic bonds formed by water
molecules help to stabilise the shape of
large proteins, but aren’t so strong that they
prevent chemical reactions.
Water covers around 70 per cent of
Earth’s surface and has the unusual
properties of remaining liquid over a
large temperature range and floating
when it freezes. Both of these
properties help to prevent our oceans
and seas from freezing over. LV
Your questions Answered
Are toeprints
unique, like
Why do many girls fingerprints?
prefer the colour pink? Yes they are. The whorls and ridges
that make up a footprint develop
The obvious explanation is that it’s just a cultural uniquely in each person and are not
quirk – baby girls happen to be dressed in pink genetically determined.There are a few
and the preference develops from there. But famous cases in which criminals have
recent research hints at a deeper reason. Anya been caught by using toeprints, such as
Hurlbert of Newcastle University, UK, asked at a Scottish bakery in 1952 when a
adults from different cultures to choose their safe-cracker was identified by the
preferred colour from pairs of coloured footprints he left in flour. Toeprints were
rectangles. This revealed that females do have a even suggested as biometric data to be
natural preference for redder colours – included in the now-abandoned UK
prompting Hurlbert to speculate that evolution identity card scheme. SB
may have led females to prefer reddish colours.
This would give advantages in many areas of life,
from selecting riper reddish fruits when gathering
food, to finding healthy pink faces more
attractive when choosing a mate. RM
Why are people less

alamy, dreamstime, getty, Illustration by Jonty clark, thinkstock x2
likely to enter an art gallery

if nobody else is there?
There are probably two factors at work. It may be that a gallery is initially
empty because it’s a quiet time of day. As each potential visitor stands
outside and considers whether to enter or not, he uses the same criteria as
every other visitor. Whatever it was that made the gallery empty up to that
point continues to hold true and it stays empty.
But we are social animals and an additional discouragement comes
simply from the fact that the gallery is empty, which creates an alarm signal.
What’s wrong with it? Is there a danger we can’t see? This primitive unease
evolved as a predator avoidance tactic – the deserted waterhole may have a
KNOW SPOT
leopard hiding nearby, whereas the crowded one is presumably safe.
The oldest message in a bottle was released on 25 Leopard attacks in art galleries are fairly rare, but primitive fears are
April 1914 from Aberdeen, Scotland, and recovered in replaced with more complex ones – perhaps we will be pressured into
the Shetland Islands 92 years later, on 10 December 2006. buying something, or maybe the art isn’t critically acclaimed. LV
14 October 2012
VITA
L ST
ATS
1900
w
is the
avera
fibres ge number
Did you know?

garme released by of microsc
nt
fibres
a
a
Such each time synthetic
you w
a
opic
QuicKFIRE
cause re now a m sh it.
of oc ajor
polluti eanic
on
General incompetence
One of the Duke of Wellington’s senior commanders in the 19th-century Peninsular War – fought
between various European powers for control of the Iberian Peninsula – had twice been confined
in an asylum for the insane before being despatched to Portugal. The Iron Duke was a little
worried that Sir William Erskine was on the way to join him. “I generally understood him to be a
madman,” he wrote to the authorities in London. “No doubt he is sometimes a little mad,” came
the less-than-reassuring reply, “but in his lucid intervals, he is an uncommonly clever fellow, and I
trust he will have no fit during the campaign, though he looked a little wild when he embarked.”
The appointment proved a disaster, not because Erskine suffered any recurrence of his mental
illness, but for the simpler reason that he was militarily incompetent. NR
Why do cats
like boxes?  
Because they feel warm and safe.
Cats have few predators but still
prefer to sleep somewhere they
cannot easily be seen. They use
ambush tactics when hunting
and a box is a good place from
which to spring out. They also
seek warmth, and cardboard,
a good insulator, feels nice and
warm to sit on. SB
Why do your ears

sometimes ‘ring’?
Loud noises – including music,
fireworks and machinery – can
damage hair cells in your inner
ear. These transform sound into
neural impulses that travel to the
brain and loud noise can literally
What is the future of the internet? break their ends. They usually
grow back in about 24 hours but,
while broken, they send false
We are heading towards the ‘internet of things’, with everything from your washing machine signals to the brain. Tinnitus
to the central heating networked. To make these billions of devices identifiable, we are (Latin for ‘ringing’) can also be
migrating to a new incarnation of the internet protocol (IP). IPv6 is a supercharged version caused by ear infections,
of the existing IPv4, allowing billions of new addresses. certain medications and
gradual impairment due
But there are also trends away from global
to ageing. SB
interconnectivity. Iran is creating its own internet,
corralling its citizens’ data onto servers solely
within its borders alone. Iran is unlikely to be
alone for long, as nations and major
corporations grapple with threats from activism
to cyber-terrorism. At the device level, our
refrigerators may well be networked, but at the
macro level, perhaps the internet will fragment into
myriad digital islands. GM
Your questions Answered
How do we know that

plastic bags take 500 years
to decompose? STATS
VITAL
372.6pee d in k
31.5 m
m/h (2 1 race.
ula
ph)
stest s g a Form Juan

is the fa corded durin Colombia’s
er re p b y L n
are
ev du his Mc
clocke
It was lo Montoya in g the 2005
Pab rin
des du x
Merce an Grand Pri
Itali
Why doesn’t all food stay

fresher in the refrigerator
In general, low temperatures will slow bacterial reproduction and
the chemical reactions associated with spoilage. But for some
foods, other processes are accelerated. The cell membranes in
banana skin become unstable at low temperatures and release the
enzyme polyphenyl oxidase, which makes them turn black. Bread
goes stale fastest at 4°C (39°F) because of reactions between
amylose, amylopectin, gluten and water. LV
What is the noisiest animal in

the world?
That depends what you mean by noisiest, but if you mean
Plastic bags have only been around since 1957 so this is loudest then the Smithsonian National Zoo in the US reckons
obviously just an estimate. Polythene is degraded fairly that the blue whale’s low-frequency pulses win. At up to 188
effectively by ultra-violet light, but plastic bags in landfill are decibels (dB), they are louder than a jet engine and can be
quickly buried and so don’t get much light. Bacteria and fungi detected more than 800km (497 miles) away. On land, the
have a much harder time digesting it. Polythene doesn’t exist loudest animals are probably howler monkeys, which can be
in nature so soil microorganisms that are well adapted to heard 4.8km (3 miles) away. The loudest amphibian, at 100dB,
breaking it down haven’t yet had time to evolve. is the common coqui frog native to Puerto Rico.
In 2008, Daniel Burd, a high-school student from Canada, Similarly loud among birds are oil birds, which live in caves
found that a brew of Pseudomonas and Sphingomonas and, like bats, use echolocation. Their clicks and squawks can
bacteria, together with yeast and sodium acetate, could reach 100dB; as thousands of them nest together, that’s quite
digest 43 per cent of a plastic bag in six weeks. But this a cacophony. One species of water boatman, the size of a
culture needs to be kept at 37°C (99ºF), so it would probably grain of rice, can ‘sing’ at 103dB by rubbing his penis against
need to be used in an industrial reprocessing plant rather his belly in a process similar to how crickets chirp. This is the
than an ordinary landfill. LV loudest known sound relative to the animal’s size. SB
KNOW SPOT
alamy, superstock, flpa
The only scientist to win both Nobel and Ig Nobel prizes is

Russia’s Andre Geim. In 2010, he was awarded the Nobel Prize
for Physics for his work in developing graphene – 10 years
after a project that levitated a frog using magnets had earned him
an Ig Nobel, the annual prize awarded for ‘improbable research’.
16 October 2012
Snapshot
Science
Fantasy island
Krausnick, Germany
What do you do with an airship

hanger when you no longer build
airships? One solution is to turn
it into a tropical island – and
that’s exactly what has happened
inside this vast building located
between the German cities of
Berlin and Dresden. Big enough to
accommodate eight football pitches,
the Statue of Liberty could stand up
within its walls and the Eiffel Tower
could lie across it. This unique
24/7 holiday resort offers perpetual
26ºC (79ºF) heat and is home to the
world’s biggest indoor rainforest,
Europe’s largest tropical sauna and
spa complex, a tropical sea with a
200m (656ft)-long sandy beach, and
a host of other attractions, making
this the ultimate in recycled resorts.
weisflog.net
October
May/Jun
2012 2012 19
Nature
Smoke on the water?

lake malawi, africa
Rising hundreds of metres into the
air above Lake Malawi in southeast
Africa, these tornado-like plumes
consist of millions of phantom midges
– Nematocera flies of the species
Chaoborus edulis – recently grown
from larvae just below the water’s
surface. This phenomenon happens on
a monthly basis around the time of a
new moon. The temperature of the lake
is perfect for the flies’ development,
while the waters are rich in minerals
from volcanic rocks deposited on the
lakebed. These minerals support vast
quantities of plankton, which in turn
provide food for the developing larvae.
Thanks to these excellent breeding
conditions, nowhere else on Earth are
these flies found in such vast numbers.
Roland Ellis
20 October 2012
history
High flyers
early rollercoaster
Neither manned flight nor the
automobile had been around for long
when this picture was taken around
100 years ago. Despite appearances, the
scene isn’t an early attempt to combine
these new modes of transportation.
Rather, the assembled group are
witnessing the testing of a potential
new attraction at a French amusement
park. Nowadays, fairground rides are
engineered to be millimetre-perfect,
using the most sophisticated software.
This scene looks somewhat less
Rex Features
precise. Fortunately for all concerned,

the passengers aren’t human – they’re
primitive crash test dummies.
22 October 2012
Update The latest intelligence
P Will DNA tests help cure cancer? p24 P How are pigeons able to navigate while flying? p25
P The giant dinosaur that was covered in feathers p25 P Is our body ready to face chemical attacks? p26
Could the future of cancer

treatment rely on tailor-
made therapies?
Corbis, Sam Ogden / Dana-Farber, Alamy, Dr. Brian choo, Cranfield University, Getty, Anna Mayall / university of manchester, Thinkstock
“Each individual tumour will

have a unique genetic code,”
says Levi Garraway
In a separate study, scientists

led by Matthew Garnett at
the Wellcome Trust Sanger
Institute in the UK tested 130
Cancer treatment revolution

drugs on different cancer cells.
“Genetic testing will give
many patients an opportunity
to get a treatment that would
not normally have been
Genetic tests on tumour cells bring personalised therapy closer considered,” says Garraway.
“It also means you will not
ew research provides these two studies provide a much “Cancer cells are derived give patients futile treatments
N the clearest picture yet more detailed picture, paving from the host’s cells, so each that will only cause toxicity
of why specific cancer the way for an era of mainstream individual tumour will have a when patients have a few
drugs combat some tumours personal genomics – the study unique genetic code,” says Levi months to live. I would bet
and are ineffective against of the genomes of organisms Garraway at the Dana-Farber that within the next 10-15
others. Two studies, carried – in which a patient has a DNA Cancer Institute in Boston. years there will be whole
out by separate teams, have test to determine the individual “But it’s clear that there are cancer types for which genetic
revealed the extent to which treatment they should receive. recurrent characteristic changes testing is routine.”
the genetic material inside Cancer therapy is likely
cancers determines how they
will respond to treatment. The
Cancer patients may have DNA tests to to be among the first fields
in which routine genetic
findings could revolutionise determine their individual treatment testing is adopted. “There are
cancer therapy. several disease areas where
Drug companies are already In one of the investigations, to the genes that one can see genomics can have an impact,”
tailoring their cancer treatments scientists in the US carried out across many tumours from says Garraway, “but I think
to forms of the disease with genetic tests on several different different individuals.” It is cancer is special because there
specific combinations of genes. forms of cancer cell from these changes – or mutations are large numbers of gene
But information about the many different patients before – that doctors could test for to alterations that can impact on
interplay between genes and assessing the effectiveness of 24 see which drug is most likely the likelihood of a response
drugs has been limited. Now, anti-cancer drugs on them. to be effective. to treatment.”
24 October 2012
EEE ROUND UP
The top science, nature and history research from around the world
ASTRONOMY
A dying star produces a stream
of gas and dust, which removes
as much as half of its mass. It PALAEONTOLOGY
was thought this ‘superwind’ A carnivorous dinosaur that
included minute dust particles, was 9m (30ft) long would have
but models show these would sported a fuzzy down of feathers,
have evaporated. Now, using palaeontologists have discovered.
the Very Large Telescope in Weighing 1.5 tonnes, Yutyrannus
Chile, astronomers have spotted huali, which means ‘beautiful
that the dust grains grow larger feathered tyrant’, was 40 times
than thought and act like mirrors larger than any previously known
rather than absorbing the heat. feathered dinosaur. The feathers
This means the dust grains can were spotted in fossils found in
be pushed out by the starlight, northeastern China and were
eventually forming new stars. probably an adaptation to the
cool climate at the time when
Yutyrannus, an ancient relative of
The dust grains of a
dying star are actually
Tyrannosaurus rex, was alive in
larger than thought the early Cretaceous period.
ANTHROPOLOGY GENETICS ARCHAEOLOGY WILDLIFE

Exactly how the humble pigeon
can navigate hundreds of miles
is a question that remains up in
the air. Pigeons are able to detect
the Earth’s magnetic field – useful
for navigation – and it had been
thought that this ability was down
to nerve cells in the bird’s beak
A food scarcity causes a rise in The gene responsible for the A chemical analysis of the bones containing the iron-rich mineral
the proportion of newborn babies distinctive sunflowers immortalised of 19th-century British sailors who magnetite. But advanced imaging
being girls rather than boys – or in Vincent van Gogh’s paintings served under Admiral Nelson has techniques show that this iron is
at least that’s what happened – the flowers lack a large dark shone fresh light on their diets. actually contained inside white
during the Great Leap Forward centre and feature a mass Archaeologists analysed the blood cells called macrophages,
famine in China in the 1950s of golden petals – has been isotopes discovered in the remains which are involved in defending
and 1960s, a tragedy prompted discovered. Sunflower heads are of 80 sailors buried in southern against infection rather than
by a Communist Party policy of actually made up of many tiny England and found that sailors ate relaying information to the brain.
shifting workers from the land into flowers, or florets. Typically, there more heartily than many of their
industry. The recent discovery are golden ray florets at the rim, contemporaries. But a comparison
supports the sex-ratio adjustment which resemble long petals, and with a previous analysis of the
hypothesis that suggests mothers disc florets at the centre. In van bones of sailors aboard the
in good condition are more likely Gogh’s sunflowers, a chunk of DNA 16th-century ship the Mary
to give birth to sons, whereas would have been added to one Rose show the naval diet had
mothers in poorer health are more gene so the central florets took on changed little in the
likely to give birth to daughters. the appearance of golden rays. subsequent 200 years.
October 2012 25
Update COUNT
DOWN
130 million
years ago is when the insights
first known case of Anand kumar
osteoarthritis occurred
– in a peacock-
sized dinosaur bird
called Caudipteryx.
The characteristic
degeneration of bone “The challenge came from
HEALTH and cartilage joints was
spotted in fossils in the coaching Mafiosi, who
A modified version of an enzyme Chinese museums.
produced in our bodies could did not like me educating
provide a new form of defence 1 million
against chemical weapons years ago is when one of
humankind’s ancestors,
the poor students”
such as sarin, used in the
Tokyo subway attack in 1995. possibly Homo erectus,
is now known to have
Paraoxonase 1 was known to What inspired you to start the Super 30
been using fire. The
break down ‘G-type’ nerve agents educational programme? Why was it named so?
revelation came after
like sarin, although it doesn’t do the discovery of ash at My dream was to study in the best institutions of the
so particularly effectively. Now, the Wonderwerk Cave in world, but I did not have the finances to afford it. So,
scientists in Israel have modified South Africa. The earliest when I got an opportunity to study at Cambridge
Paraoxonase 1 genes to produce known use had been less University, I was thrilled. Unfortunately, the untimely
new forms of the enzyme that are than 400,000 years. demise of my father, who was the sole breadwinner of
up to 3400 times more efficient the family, halted my plans. This event still continues to
at breaking down the three most 3862 act as a big motivation for me. I want to help the poor
toxic G-type nerve agents. km (2400) miles is how students who have the talent but not the resources at their
far some golden-crowned disposal. It is named Super 30 because my first batch of
sparrows are now known students numbered 30.
to migrate from California
ENVIRONMENT to breeding sites in
What challenges do you face?
Alaska. Before the birds
were tagged, it had been One is to run Super 30 smoothly. We do not accept any
a mystery where they donation from any agency – government or private. I
disappeared to each year. fund the programme with the income generated from the
tuition classes I run for intermediate-level students. The
40 bigger challenge however, came later from the coaching
per cent more brain- Mafiosi, who did not like me educating the poor students
teasers were solved and I have been physically attacked by them for the same.
by volunteers who had
drunk the equivalent What according to you is essential for your work?
of two pints of beer Teaching poor students is not only about books and
compared with those
Methane has been discovered infrastructure; it is about building their confidence to
who had not. It is thought
rising from the waters of the unravel their true potential, which requires 100 per cent
that a little tipple aided
Arctic Ocean, far away from creative problem-solving devotion and passion from us.
previously known sources of the in the study conducted by
greenhouse gas in the region. the University of Illinois. What do you hope for the future?
The methane was recorded I hope that my small effort makes a big difference to
either close to cracks in sea ice 5.56 the lives of students from the poorer section. Lack of
or where the ice had broken up, kilojoules per square resources should not come in the way of any student
and so could be another ‘positive metre is the amount of wanting to pursue education. It is my great dream that in
Alamy, press association
feedback’ mechanism accelerating energy required to rip the future, no one should be deprived of education due
global warming. It is thought that apart cuticle taken from to lack of money.
the methane is generated by the hind legs of locusts.
This means the insect’s
marine bacteria and, because
skeletons require more Anand Kumar is an Indian mathematician and educationist. He founded
the water in the Arctic does not the Ramanujan School of Mathematics in Bihar, under which, the Super 30
energy to tear than
mix well, the gas is trapped near cast iron. educational programme coaches economically backward students for IIT-
the surface. JEE, the entrance examination for the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT). He
has been awarded the Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad Shiksha Puraskar by the
Bihar Government for his efforts in education.
26 October 2012
October 2012 27
Comment & Analysis
Romulus Whitaker believes it is time we paid attention to the neglected bite
“...the upper estimate for snakebite deaths in

India is a staggering 50,000 per year”
One of the Big Four: venom. The horse’s hyper-immune
The saw-scaled viper serum is then refined into antivenom.
In the case of all Indian antivenoms, it
is polyvalent, that is, it is effective against
all the Big Four.
Unfortunately, Indian antivenom is
woefully low in potency. For example, a
10 milliliter vial of antivenom typically
can neutralize 6 milligrams of cobra
venom. However, one study showed that
cobras may inject 58 to as much as 742
milligrams of venom at a time. A 10 ml
vial of antivenom costs about ` 500 and
though Indian antivenom manufacturers
have managed to produce what is probably
the cheapest snakebite cure in the world, it
is not up to par. For example, considering
the above quoted dosages of cobra venom,
it might take 165 vials of antivenom to
neutralize a bite, for a cost of `82, 500.
This would be way beyond the means of a
farm labourer, and may explain part of the
reason why India’s snakebite mortality is
the highest in the world. That’s certainly
n 1883, there were a reported seven other species of kraits and two one reason victims are more likely to
I 19,060 deaths by snakebites in India subspecies of saw-scaled viper, besides a seek cheaper but spurious cures provided
when the population was less than number of other venomous species. by witch doctors, snakestones and other
half of what it is today. Reliable statistics are Let’s be quite clear: snakes are not ‘out mumbo-jumbo. Though none of these are
only now available, thanks to the Million to get us’; they are normally shy, retiring effective in the case of a real venomous
Death Study, an initiative of the Registrar- animals, who are more than happy to steer bite, there are enough non-venomous bites,
General of India (RGI) and the Centre for clear of humans. However, they will defend ‘dry’ bites and bites with sub-lethal doses to
Global Health Research (CGHR) at St. themselves when they feel threatened (like provide an illusion of success. Interestingly,
Michael’s Hospital and the University of when stepped upon). But let’s also be clear cobra antivenom of the 1950s was six times
Toronto, Canada. Based on this study, the that snakes are indeed common in some more potent at 4 mg/ml than the current
upper estimate for snakebite deaths in India parts of the country, particularly during the potency of 0.6 mg/ml! Inexplicably, the
is a staggering 50,000 per year. rainy months. One reason is our propensity efficacy of antivenom has been greatly
The primary victims of snakebites are to encourage and tolerate rats and mice reduced in recent years and something must
farmers, rural labourers and their families. to live in our homes and fields, a sure be done to remedy this sad situation.
Most bites are on the feet and legs and attractant to hungry snakes. Since there are several different kinds of
occur after sunset. There are four snakes The only treatment for venomous cobras and kraits in the country, it would
that are held responsible for most of the snakebite that has any value (despite make more sense to use a mixture of their
Romulus whitaker
serious snakebites: the spectacled cobra, what you might hear) is an injection of venoms to make sure we are covering all
common krait, Russell’s viper and saw- antivenom. Antivenom is derived by possible venom components. Venoms even
scaled viper, popularly known as the Big immunising horses with snake venom in from the same species may vary from place
Four. Complicating the issue is the fact gradually increasing doses until the horse to place. Though few adequate studies
that India has three other species of cobras, reaches a high degree of immunity to the have been done, it has become apparent
28 October 2012
Principal Speak
that there are problems with the available
antivenom. Some doctors speak of giving Abha Sahgal, Principal of Sanskriti School,
close to 100 vials of antivenom when a
mere 10 or 20 should be sufficient for
New Delhi, says equity is the need of the hour
any bite. Part of the reason could be that
the main source for venoms is the Irula
and schools have to adapt to it
Snake-catchers Industrial Cooperative
Society which collects snakes from two Sanskriti School has already
districts in Tamil Nadu. Ideally, venom implemented the new diktat,
should be collected from the ‘four corners’ that the Right to Education
of India to make sure that the antivenom Act (RTE) is currently
proposing. Can you
is effective throughout the country.
elaborate further?
Other venomous snakes that can cause
We have students from all
serious, even fatal bites are some of the 23 strata of society studying in
species of sea snakes, the king cobra and our school. There is a Civil
perhaps a few of the 20 species of pit viper. Service category, a general
There is no antivenom in India for the category, which means
bites of any of these. students from families with
Today, there are eight or more professional backgrounds and
pharmaceutical companies in India the marginalised category.
producing a total of close to two million However, I guarantee that you
vials of antivenom each year. Published will not be able to tell the
results of snakebite and venom studies difference between our
indicate that there is plenty that can be students. They are all confident
and comfortable in school. As
done to improve the potency of antivenom Your views on the current standard of
far as the academics of the latter students is
and reduce the reportedly high incidence education, and what is the need of the hour?
concerned, we provide them with a lot of aid and
of feverish and anaphylactic reactions to don’t charge a penny from them for anything. Education at this moment is at its dynamic best. It’s
antivenom. Recently, a venom study has Books and uniforms are all provided free of charge. changing rapidly and there are a lot of changes
been started by the Madras Crocodile It may be a huge expenditure but it is our way of happening so it’s a little unnerving at times. But this
Bank Trust and Centre for Herpetology giving back to the society. Apart from the regular needs to happen. I think the curriculum framers are
in collaboration with toxinologists students, we also have a large number of children really looking at enhancing creativity, lateral and
at the Indian Institute of Science and with Learning Disabilities (LD); these are on the logical thinking and application-based learning,
National Centre for Biological Sciences wheelchair and some with severe LD. We have which is good.
in Bangalore. In this first phase, their atleast 15 special educators who take care of
mandate is to test the efficacy of Indian such children. What are the strengths of education in
the West?
antivenoms against the venom of one
But there has been quite a bit of opposition. When you and I were studying, we did very well in
snake in particular, the Russell’s viper,
Equity is the need of the hour. It has to happen. If our academics but under-scored where creativity
the snake that is responsible for a high and leadership were concerned. We never really
you look at your own homes, today we treat our
percentage of serious bites. The objective household help in a way that maybe our mothers became leaders. That is probably because our
is to collect Russell’s viper venom samples would have never thought about. So equity has to schools did not create those traits in children. In the
to see if the antivenom (mainly from happen. Society is moving towards it and schools West, the children are brought up to be confident
Tamil Nadu) neutralizes the effects of the have to adapt to it. We have to now look at about themselves. It’s like saying if you want to
venom no matter in which part of the pedagogy - we have to look at how we deliver our paint the sky red, then do it! They are never
country the bite occurs. lessons because now we have a wide range of stopped from doing anything. Let the child think
experiences. For example, when we are talking and imagine in the way he/she wants to. That
about an airport, we cannot take things for granted gives the child the confidence and the ability to
Romulus Whitaker is a world-renowned because there are students who have no idea of say that he/she has their own way of thinking or
herpetologist. He is the founder who an airhostess is or what a baggage trolley is all an individual perspective.
and the Managing Trustee of the
about. So there is a need for teachers to un-learn
Madras Crocodile Bank Trust and
and re-learn. What, according to you, is good education?
Centre for Herpetology.
The learning process should really excite the child.
What is the school’s vision? That is what I call good education.
What do you think? To put it in one sentence - it is to celebrate every
Do you think the issue of snakebites has child. In whatever way their minds are wired, What is the role of schools?
been adequately addressed in India? wherever they come from, whatever their abilities Schools should provide a safe and secure
are, whatever their talents are - we celebrate every environment. The child should be emotionally,
Email: [email protected]
child the way he/she is. physically and even intellectually safe.
October 2012 29
Earth's Core
UNlockING SECRETS OF THE
EARTH’s
CORE
Changes taking place at the centre
of the Earth could affect all our lives.
Aidan Laverty looks into the part of
our planet we know the least about
ate one Friday afternoon in

L March 1997, NASA satellite
engineer Ken LaBel received
a call from the team running the
Hubble Space Telescope. There was
a problem with the most recently
installed equipment.
As Hubble passed over the coast
of Brazil, a potentially dangerous
spike of current was passing through
the electronics, threatening to cause
irrevocable damage. NASA engineers
noticed that the problem didn’t
occur anywhere else in the telescope’s
orbit, only when it passed over South
America. “They were seeing about
two problems like this a week and
they weren’t expecting to see any,”
says LaBel.
Astronauts had just installed the
new equipment, which included
a spectrometer for measuring the
properties of the incoming light and
an infrared camera. It was part of an
important NASA experiment designed
Marcin Molski/Ars Thanea
to peer through the interstellar clouds

of gas and dust to reveal the secrets of
the earliest days of the Universe. The
equipment had cost the space agency
$136 million (£85 million).
For the team who’d spent years
designing and building these
30 October 2012
Additional reporting: Professor
Bill McGuire, Director of the Benfield
xxx
UCL Hazard Research Centre
October 2012 31
Earth's Core
Prof Rick Aster and his team study

seismic waves to gain an insight into
the composition of the Earth’s core
instruments, the stakes couldn’t

have been higher. “The issue for
these devices was that the problem
could be deadly; it could take out the
systems,” says LaBel.
So figuring out what was
happening was vital and the
explanation would involve
extraordinary changes happening not
in space but deep within the Earth’s
core. That explanation not only saved
these instruments but also provided a But its effect is far greater than just The seismic waves produced by
new insight into the core itself. navigation. The magnetic field earthquakes come in different forms.
acts as a giant shield for our planet, There are surface waves, which
Navigation and protection deflecting charged particles from the travel along the planet’s surface,
We know more about the distant Sun. If it wasn’t there, we’d all be hit and body waves, which travel right
planets in our Solar System than by much higher levels of radiation through the centre of the Earth and
we do about the centre of the Earth. and our atmosphere would be eroded out the other side. Body waves are
From space, our planet may appear by the Sun’s particles (see ‘What the type of most interest to anyone
to be a tranquil blue marble, yet does the core do for us’, p34). Life on attempting to study the Earth’s core
volcanoes and earthquakes have Earth depends on the magnetic field and they also come in different types.
long hinted that a region of great generated at the core. Primary, or ‘P’, body waves travel
turbulence and violence lies quickly, compressing and releasing
beneath the Earth’s crust. And this Core knowledge any rock particles in the direction
hidden world has a powerful effect Earth’s core has long fascinated the wave is travelling. The slower-
on all our lives. scientists but there has been one moving secondary, or ‘S’, waves push
The core is responsible for rather obvious, and seemingly rock particles perpendicular to their
generating Earth’s magnetic field, insurmountable, problem with direction of travel.
A reversal of Earth’s
establishing the north and south studying it: direct observation is Crucially, the S waves only travel
magnetic field,
magnetic poles. This magnetic simulated here,
impossible. The extremes of heat and through solid material, unlike P
flux has allowed sailors to cross the could be caused by pressure make getting close enough waves. The two waves also move
oceans and help animals to migrate. changes in the core to the core to take a look at it through materials of varying densities
impossible. (see ‘Could we ever at different speeds, just like light.
journey to the Earth’s core?’, on p37). And like light waves, they can also be
But now scientists around the
world are starting to unlock the core’s
secrets thanks to some ambitious
experiments and new techniques.
And in fact, the Earth itself has
provided a useful tool: earthquakes.
“Seismology really is the best tool
for studying the inside of the planet,”
says seismologist Professor Rick
Aster at the New Mexico Institute
of Mining and Technology in
Socorro. “It’s the only method we
have to remotely study the deep
interior of the Earth with any kind of
resolution. If it wasn’t for seismology, Readings taken after earthquakes
we wouldn’t know much about the show how seismic waves travel at
detailed internal structure of the different speeds through different
layers of the Earth
Earth,” says Aster.
Earth's core
Earth’s layers
Exploring the inner structure of our planet
Like an onion, our world has distinct layers that formed mostly during the Earth’s early
history, when its interior was hot enough to melt iron. Gravity caused much of the iron, along
with other heavy elements like nickel, to sink to the centre of our planet to form the core.
reflected at the boundaries between

materials. “It only takes about 22
minutes for the fastest type of seismic Crust Crust LITHOSPHERE
wave to travel from pole to pole on The crust is built from low- 0-35km 0-100km
our planet, right through the core of density minerals that are rich in
the Earth,” says Aster. The passage of silica. It’s much thicker under
these waves through the planet has land than the oceans.
enabled scientists to create a sort of
X-ray image of the inner Earth.
Lithosphere
Among the most intriguing ASTHENOSPHERE
The crust and the uppermost
findings is that body waves travel mantle form the lithosphere. 100-200km
at different speeds depending on This brittle shell is made up of
the direction they’re travelling tectonic plates.
through the planet: they travel faster
going north-south than they do
Asthenosphere MANTLE
going east-west. To be more exact, 35-2,900km
measurements have shown that the The area in the upper mantle
where rock melts to form
speed of seismic waves is three per
magma. The tectonic plates
cent faster pole-to-pole than across
‘float’ on this hot, plastic layer.
the equator.
This evidence suggests that the
core isn’t a simple sphere of metal Mantle
but that it has a directional quality, The mantle is hot silica rock, rich
like the grain in a piece of wood. It’s in iron and magnesium. Slow
‘anisotropic’ in other words. In fact, convection here is part of what
Earth’s core is turning out to be a makes the tectonic plates move.
very strange place indeed.
Outer core
Recreating the core Convection in this layer of liquid
Professor Kei Hirose at the Tokyo iron and nickel generates Earth’s
Institute of Technology reckons that magnetic field, without which life
if you can’t travel to the Earth’s core, here would be very different.
then the next best thing is to try and Outer CORE
simulate it somewhere more 2,900-5,100km
Inner core
Despite incredible temperatures,
pressures here are so high that
the iron and nickel aren’t molten
New Mexico Tech, science photo library x3, corbis
but compressed into a solid ball.
Inner CORE
5,100-6,378km
Ocotber 2012 33
Earth's Core
What does the core do for us?

The centre of the Earth has a huge influence on our lives – but it’s also unpredictable
It seems extraordinary that something almost drives eddies in the ocean of liquid metal that
3,000km (1,864 miles) beneath our feet, can forms the outer core. Like a dynamo, this
affect every aspect of our lives. Without the core, generates a powerful magnetic field that protects
however, it’s doubtful that we – and perhaps any our planet from the bombardment of charged
life – would be here at all. Heat from the inner particles from the Sun. The field also helps keep
core, in combination with the Earth’s rotation, our atmosphere in place and enables navigation.
The protective bubble, or magnetosphere,

created by the Earth’s magnetic field helps to
prevent the never-ending storm of particles from
the Sun from gradually eroding away our world’s
atmosphere. Without it, the fast-moving charged
particles making up the ‘solar wind’ would be
free to knock atmospheric particles into space.
Ultimately, we could be left with a much thinner
atmospheric envelope less able to sustain life.
If no magnetic field existed, neither would

compasses. The effect of the field is comparable
to having a bar-magnet at the Earth’s centre,
with one end roughly aligned north and the other
south. It’s this field that a compass’s needle
responds to. This bar magnet doesn’t run
exactly along Earth’s rotational axis, it’s
skewed off-centre.
convenient to study. “We can’t go the same chemical composition as the

to the centre of the Earth, of course, core and see how it changed in these
science photo library, University of Maryland
but we can recreate the conditions extreme conditions.

corresponding to it in my laboratory,” “It’s a big challenge. Actually, it’s
says Hirose. “Doing this is a kind of more like a crazy challenge but it’s
journey to the centre of the Earth, obviously worth doing,” says Hirose.
and I was trying to be the first person He set up his experiment
to reach there.” Making a duplicate at the SPring-8 synchrotron in
core was a formidable challenge. Hyogo, Japan, where there’s an
Hirose needed to build a machine advanced X-ray facility that can
that could sustain pressures three observe any changes in the crystal
million times greater than the Earth’s structure of the metal.
atmosphere and temperatures in To generate the pressure, he
excess of 4,700°C. His aim was to Prof Kei Hirose’s laser-heated, diamond anvil is used created a tool out of the hardest
take a sample of iron and nickel with to recreate conditions at the centre of the Earth natural material known to man:
34 October 2012
Earth's core
Core
facts
5,500°C
is the
temperature of
the Earth’s inner
core – about
Every 300,000 years,
as hot as the
on average, the north Sun’s surface
and south magnetic
the most exciting moment only lasts Hirose’s work. With his diamond
poles swap positions – for a few minutes.” anvil, he now has the ability to
although the last flip was In those minutes, Hirose had create almost any material that
succeeded in recreating the resides near the centre of the Earth.
360
nearly 800,000 years
ago. This flip happens conditions at Earth’s core. And the It marks a real milestone in our
because of changes X-ray images revealed a remarkable understanding of the hidden world
in the chaotic flow of change in the crystal structure of the deep within our planet.
hot metal in the outer metal. In one experiment, the
core but nobody knows crystals increased in size by 1,000 Magnetic tests
why or when such flips
times. Just as importantly, they Seven thousand miles away at
are likely to happen.
Some core researchers,
remained stable. the University of Maryland in the
such as Professor Dan gigapascals is It helped Hirose to draw a striking US, Professor Dan Lathrop is another
Lathrop at the University how high the conclusion about the structure of the scientist working to create a model
of Maryland, believe pressure in the core. “There’s an inner core in which of the core in his lab. Not quite life
the process has inner core can we have a small number of very, very size but an impressive 3m tall and
reach – almost
already started. big crystals.” He thinks each crystal weighing in at 22 tonnes.
3.5 million times
the pressure could be 10km (six miles) long, His intention is to use it to study
of Earth’s existing in what he describes as a how the core affects the Earth’s
atmosphere “forest-like structure” in the Earth’s magnetic field.
inner core, running from north to Scientists understand the creation
south. “It was just wonderful. We of the magnetic field in terms of
15%
Super-computer
tried many, many times and we millions of tonnes of liquid metal in
modelling at the
University of California always failed. But, in the end, we the outer core moving over the solid
has revealed that, as tried a new type of diamond shape inner core, behaving like a dynamo.
of the Earth’s
the poles flip, new and we made it,” says Hirose. But the magnetic field it creates is
volume is made
magnetic poles can up of the core, but This crystal structure offers an far from simple. “People think of the
pop up anywhere, it makes up 30 explanation for the seismic anomalies magnetic field as just being a simple
causing navigational per cent of that show earthquake waves moving north and south,” says Lathrop. “It’s
chaos. The protection the planet’s mass faster north to south than across the really very complicated. That’s the
provided by our world’s equator. The waves are likely to be overall big pattern. But there are
magnetic field could
travelling faster along the grain of the patches of weaker field and patches
7,000km
also be erratic.
crystals than across them. of stronger field. And all those are
This is just the beginning of moving around the planet, some
Prof Dan Lathrop has

built a scale model of the
Earth’s core to study its
diamond. The sample of iron and effect on magnetic fields
nickel was placed between two
diamonds in a ‘diamond anvil’ and
squeezed to the intense pressure
found at the core. It was careful,
meticulous work and in the early days
there were numerous failures as the
diamond tips broke.
To recreate core-like temperatures,
a laser was used to heat the
metal. But it was a long process. or 4,350 miles is
roughly the
“It took more than 10 years,” says
diameter of the
Hirose. “Increasing temperature in Earth’s core:
particular is very, very difficult. We about the same
prepare the sample for a long time but size as Mars
Ocotber 2012 35
Earth's Core
What lives
beneath?
The creatures thriving in
the depths of the Earth
Prairie dogs, large
rodents living in the
grasslands of North
America, burrow
as deep as five
metres beneath the
surface – making
them the deepest-
living mammal.
In the most suitable

soil conditions,
earthworms can dig
down to at least five The South becoming weaker, some becoming Mysteries within
metres and possibly Atlantic Anomaly
stronger, in a very complex way.” The Hubble team had spotted that
even beyond has caused
malfunctions in The reason the Earth’s magnetic each of the current spikes took
eight metres.
satellites field is changing is because of place in an area of space known as
changes in the flow of the liquid the South Atlantic Anomaly. In the
metal thousands of kilometres world of space science, the anomaly
beneath it, around the inner core is a region of great significance. It’s
Microbes living in oil (see ‘Earth’s layers’, on p33). an area approximately 500km above
reservoirs hundreds You can’t create a computer model Earth, stretching from the coast
of metres beneath of these flows in the outer core, even of South Africa to the far side of
the surface play with a supercomputer. You have to the South American continent and
a critical role in study something physical. That’s why has been likened to the Bermuda
converting crude oil Lathrop is developing his machine. Triangle because of some strange
into natural It’s a sphere filled with 12 tonnes of occurrences. But unlike the Bermuda
gas (methane). liquid sodium that spins at 140km/h Triangle, there is a convincing
(90mph) to examine the complex pattern of events.
patterns in the flow of a liquid metal Several satellites that have
Bacteria have been and the resulting changes in the passed through the anomaly have
discovered 1.4km magnetic field that’s created. This malfunctioned. Computer equipment
beneath the North summer, the machine will be filled on Space Shuttles has crashed. Oddest
Atlantic sea floor. with liquid sodium, with the first
Cracks in the rock spin later in the year.
allow water to “The changes we’re seeing in the
circulate in the crust, Earth’s magnetic field suggest stormy,
providing warmth turbulent weather within the core,”
and nutrients. says Lathrop. “When I say this,
I mean there are more rapid changes
now than perhaps the Earth
Earlier this year typically experiences.”
Halicephalobus It’s an eerie thought that thousands
mephisto and of miles beneath us there are storms
Plectus aquatillis, in the vast sea of liquid metal in the
roundworms were Earth’s core. It’s these changes that
found more than are responsible for the threats to
1.5km underground
Hubble’s infrared telescope that LaBel
in South African
was called to deal with on that Friday Equipment fitted to Hubble was
gold mines.
afternoon in 1997. endangered by the South Atlantic Anomaly
36 October 2012
Earth's core
Going down
Would it ever be possible to take a journey to the centre of the Earth?
In the mind of a Hollywood charges and would
producer, and with the help be contained in a flood of
of spectacular CGI, a journey dense, molten iron poured
to the Earth’s core is a piece into the gap.
of cake – as demonstrated Problems with the plan
in the 2003 film The Core. abound, however, not least
The reality, though, is that of which is the fact that no
such an excursion would be material in existence comes
mind-bogglingly difficult, if not anywhere close to being able
downright impossible. to cope with the staggering
To begin with, for any given temperatures and pressures
distance, it would take billions the probe would encounter.
of times more energy to Even keeping the crack
penetrate the Earth than to open long enough in the
hurl a rocket into space. plastic mantle is likely to be
This drawback has not, impossible. There’s also the
however, prevented Professor astronomical cost of
David Stevenson, a planetary the project and the
scientist at the California environmental impact of the
Institute of Technology, nuclear blasts to consider.
sketching out a somewhat It’s not beyond the realms
tongue-in-cheek plan to send of possibility that a human
a grapefruit-sized probe to the will stand on the surface of an
Vehicles capable of tunnelling
core. The probe would make extrasolar planet long before
deep into the Earth are
the week-long journey down a any artificial device reaches
common in science fiction
crack blasted open by nuclear the centre of our world.
of all, astronauts passing through it transferred between bits of electronic which manifests itself as a weakened
have reported seeing shooting stars, circuitry. “Data shows that this part magnetic field at the surface.
thinkstock x2, horsepower films/kobal, nasa, science photo library x2, university of gent
even when their eyes are closed. has a susceptibility to protons and The pressing question is whether
Two weeks after the call, LaBel it’s actually quite sensitive, probably this local reversal of the magnetic
and his team gathered at the Crocker even more so than we would have field is likely to cause an overall
Nuclear Laboratory at the University anticipated,” says LaBel. Armed reversal, where the north and south
of California, Davis. They brought with that understanding, NASA magnetic poles flip. It’s happened
test equipment to simulate the now powers down several high- many times in the past, the last time
conditions over the South Atlantic voltage instruments as Hubble being a little less than 800,000 years
Anomaly and watch its effects on the enters the anomaly. ago. Like Lathrop, some scientists
electronics seen on Hubble. For scientists, the weak magnetic have a hunch that it may already be
Observations have established field in the South Atlantic Anomaly happening, but nobody is sure. The
that the magnetic field in the South “The is an important window into what’s other uncertainty is how the reversal
Atlantic Anomaly is much weaker changes happening in the Earth’s core. “The will affect us as there hasn’t been
than anywhere else above our planet. South Atlantic Anomaly is a place one in living memory. But as the
The reason this is so potentially we’re seeing where the Earth’s magnetic field magnetosphere changes, satellites and
harmful for spacecraft electronics in the Earth’s is especially weak and has been other electronic gear here on Earth
is that the weakened magnetic field magnetic becoming weaker over the last few are bound to feel the effects.
allows harmful radiation to reach decades,” says Lathrop. In recent years, we’ve come a long
lower into the Earth’s atmosphere.
field suggest These changes at the surface must way in our understanding of the
This brings more subatomic stormy, be caused by changes in the flow of core and its influence on our lives.
particles (protons) right into the turbulent liquid metal in the core – changes But we’ve still got a long way to go
path of the satellites. weather happening in the area of the core and the more we learn, the clearer
LaBel set out to discover if beneath the anomaly. “That spot, if it becomes that we need to get to
Hubble’s electronics were sensitive to within you look deep within the Earth at the the bottom of what’s going on at the
these protons and he found a problem the core” edge of the core boundary, is a place centre of the Earth.
with the telescope’s optocoupler – a where the Earth’s magnetic field is
device supposed to prevent high already reversed,” says Lathrop. So Aidan Laverty is editor of BBC Two’s Horizon
or rapidly changing voltages being there’s a full-scale reversal at the core, programmes.
Ocotber 2012 37
why do we rebel?
The
rebel
in all of us
Student protests, rioting,
Twitter revolutions…
Rebellion is alive and kicking.
But why do only some of
us choose to take a stand?
Louise Ridley finds out
38 October 2012
Why do we rebel?
f you were ordered to give

I someone a fatal electric shock,
statistically you’d probably do
it. If you find that hard to believe, you
haven’t heard of a French TV game show
called Le Jeu de la Mort, or the Game of
Death. Encouraged by a glamorous hostess
and a lively audience who ‘oohed’ and
clapped on cue, the show’s participants
pulled levers to shock a man hooked up
to electrodes in a futuristic capsule while
he screamed for mercy. Astonishingly, 80
per cent of the contestants continued to
electrocute the man to his apparent death.
The contestants were later to discover that
the man was an actor and that the shocks
and his eventual ‘death’ were faked. But
they weren’t to know this as they pulled
the levers.
The French experiment was a 21st-
century makeover of social psychologist
Stanley Milgram’s infamous studies that
began in 1961 at Yale University in the
US. Here participants were instructed
by a scientist to shock ‘learners’ with
increasing voltage if they gave incorrect
answers to memory questions. Sixty three
per cent of participants administered what
they thought was the maximum 450v
shock, just because they were told to by
someone in a white coat. Today, Milgram’s
experiments are still used as the textbook
example of how we unquestioningly obey
authority, even if it involves going against
our own sense of what’s right or wrong.
But some of Milgram’s volunteers
refused to do as told, as did participants
in the French game show. They rebelled
against the pressure put on them. “People
often want to tell these stories about blind
conformity and our natural instinct to
follow orders,” says Alex Haslam, Professor
of Social and Organisational Psychology at
the University of Exeter. “But if you look
closely at the studies that supposedly E
October 2012 39
why do we rebel?
during the disputed election in 2009 and

the 2011 political revolution in Egypt, the
spirit of mutiny is very much alive.
One thing’s become clear: there’s
certainly not a single gene for rebellion.
That said, some variants of one gene,
5-HTT, are thought to influence
impulsiveness, which could have a bearing
The shocking truth:
the original Milgram
on whether you take action if you disagree
experiments in the ’60s with the status quo.
It’s hardly surprising that there’s not
a rebel gene as most of our actions are
E provide evidence of that, you also see the result of several elements of our
evidence of the opposing process.” personality. As well as being impulsive,
psychologists would say that rebellious The tuition fees issue has
Mutinous minds people tend to be extroverted and less seen rebellion returning to
the streets
So why do some of us choose to rebel? empathetic than others. So multiple genes
It’s a question we haven’t had many will play a part. And to fog the issue
answers to. Milgram’s experiments are a further, our personalities aren’t simply the
classic example of how researchers have result of something from within. They’re situationalist perspective that some contexts
concentrated their attention on those who also heavily influenced by our upbringing. will make anyone rebel. Most psychologists
conform – in a documentary about his And when it comes to rebelliousness, would argue that it’s a product of the two:
studies, Milgram even chose not to include nurture is clearly a factor. For instance, the interaction between an individual and
footage of anyone rebelling. Those who younger siblings are much more likely the situation.”
said no were confined to the cutting-room to turn convention on its head in an
floor. But new research is putting rebels attempt to win parental attention from Citizen to anarchist
firmly into the spotlight. their older brothers and sisters (see ‘Born Haslam and his colleague Steve Reicher, a
There’s never been a better time to look to be wild’, below). professor of psychology at the University
at the issue of rebellion. From student But Alex Haslam says that just focusing of St Andrews, have recently set about re-
protests over tuition fees in the UK to riots on personality alone is far too simple. analysing data from classic studies like that
in Bangkok, Iran’s ‘Twitter revolution’ “As well as personality, there’s also the of Milgram, as well as an investigation they
BORN TO BE WILD
Older brother? Little sister? How What did the supporters of Darwin’s theory of way to get attention,” says clinical psychologist
evolution have in common? Dr Frank Sulloway Linda Blair. “They’re very conventional in
family dynamics turn us into rebels at the University of California analysed data general. But a second- or third-born child has
getty x5, rex x2, photolibrary.com, Dreamstime X2
on more than 6500 revolutionary people and to find another way to get noticed. It might be
found a common factor close to home – those being good at music or sport, or ‘acting out’ and
who rebelled against convention were usually a rebelling. The further down the line of kids you
younger sibling or ‘laterborn’. Laterborns were go, the more rebellious things you have to do to
4.6 times more likely to support Darwin’s radical get attention.”
theory than firstborns. And Darwin’s theory was A 2009 study in the journal Child
certainly radical when first published. Development took saliva samples from
In our evolutionary past, our distant children between the ages of seven and 19 to
descendents would have struggled for measure testosterone, which is associated with
resources within the family. The way to rebellious personality traits. They also asked
guarantee food and shelter would have been by the children to keep a diary of their activities.
attracting parental attention. This is less likely Second-born children showed an increase in
to be a factor today, but we retain the instinct testosterone as well as adventurousness and
to win attention. “Firstborns try to conform to independence as they grew, whereas firstborns
their parents’ ideals as that’s the most obvious didn’t change much over time.
40 October 2012
Why do we rebel?
Figures of
rebellion
221,744
tweets were
posted
Modern-Day
on Twitter
mentioning
‘Iran’ in one
rebel
single hour
during the
protests about
the country’s
2009 election
Rebellion can go hand in hand with success.
59
backbench
These mavericks made it into the mainstream
Stephen Fry
rebellions took “For colossal nerve, for sheer, ruddy
place in the cheek, I have never met anyone to match
first 110 votes you,” said one of Stephen Fry’s teachers
of the current at school. The king of Twitter was expelled
parliament, the from two boarding schools and indulged in
most rebellious swiping sweets and pocket money. More
parliamentary serious was an extravagant spending spree
using a credit card stolen from a family
themselves carried out in 2001 with the period since
friend, which landed the 18-year-old Fry
BBC, known as the Prison Study. World War II
in prison for three months. Fry is adamant
Haslam and Reicher set up a prison that his bad experiences at school – he was
1
simulation and assigned 15 participants beaten by teachers – weren’t responsible:
to be either prisoners or guards. At the he would have misbehaved regardless.
beginning of the experiment, the prisoners
were told that some of them would be person out of
selected, based on trustworthiness and 9 refused Barack Obama
initiative, to be promoted to guard status. to obey and Growing up with eight half-siblings,
For the first few days, tests showed that the administer evolutionary psychology suggests the
young Barack Obama had to do something
prisoners were unhappy with their inferior the maximum
unconventional to get the attention of his
conditions but content to work towards electric shock
single mother. The president of the USA
making the prison system run smoothly. when illusionist
partied hard and studied the bare minimum
But on day three, the prisoners were Derren Brown
at college in Los Angeles, feeling that “hard
recreated
told they could no longer be promoted. work and responsibility were old-fashioned
the Milgram conventions that didn’t pertain to me.”
Almost immediately, their behaviour
experiment In the run-up to his presidential campaign
altered; inmates in one cell moved from in 2006. The he discussed using marijuana and cocaine,
discussing how to behave well to plotting one rebel had a rebellious admission in itself for a man
to kidnap one of the guards. They realised heard of the courting votes.
the only way to improve their position was experiment
to rebel and change the system, which they before
soon overthrew.
Bill Gates
What had happened? In one
150
The war that the teenage Bill Gates waged
psychometric test on the volunteers, against his parents was so intense that
Haslam and Reicher saw a huge drop they went to family therapy for two years.
in ‘citizenship’ among the prisoners – a His father allowed his headstrong son
measure of willingness to do whatever it volts is the to rebel which he says improved their
took to make the system run smoothly. charge at which relationship and contributed to his son’s
participants in success as a revolutionary entrepreneur.
Citizenship had been measured as constant,
the Milgram Gates Jr dropped out of Harvard in 1975
but fell from 5.2 to 3.9 out of seven and here appears in his mugshot from a
between days two and five when the experiment
traffic violation in 1977. He has said that he
were most
promotion option was removed. wants to be an example of the fact that
likely to rebel
“It shows that there are conditions “a very energetic kid who’s pushing hard
and refuse on the boundaries might turn out OK.”
under which people can move from being to shock the
model citizens to potential rebels,” says ‘learner’
Haslam. “It was the structural change E any further
October 2012 41
why do we rebel?
Teenage rebellion
How the adolescent brain
is hard-wired to lash out
just as real here as the conformity’.”
Frontal cortex Some data from Milgram’s experiments
The pruning of connections was never released and won’t be until at
between neurons here in
least 2038 because of the test’s sensitive
the teen brain gradually
improves judgement nature. But Haslam and Reicher say that
recent evidence suggests that when the
Amygdala experimenter phrased the instructions
Teens tend to use this – the as an order, saying ‘you must continue’
reactive, emotional part of the rather than ‘please continue’, every
brain – to a greater extent than
participant rebelled to an extent. So again,
adults when they are asked to
interpret emotional information circumstance played a big part.
Psychologists note that individual
rebellious acts like spraying graffiti or
writing an angry letter to a newspaper are
also acts of communication – speaking out
Parents might think their wayward teenagers are links between nerve cells, or neurons, are pruned in the hope to reach that group of people in
at the mercy of raging hormones, but it seems that between the ages of 13 and 18. Although it may the wider world who will agree with you.
their brain structure might encourage them to break seem that losing these links, or synapses, Connecting with each other through social
the rules. A long-term study by researchers at the is a bad thing, it works like pruning a tree. Getting networks and blogs has been a key part of
National Institute of Mental Health in the US that rid of weak links allows others to flourish.
began in 1989 has started to reveal crucial changes Secondly, when asked to interpret emotional
many rebellions making the news recently
in the brain during adolescence. information, teenagers tend to use the reactive – Iran even shut down internet access in
Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), they part of the brain, the amygdala, rather than the the country for 45 minutes to prevent
tracked brain development in children from as frontal cortex. This means they interpret the world action against the 2009 elections.
young as three years old and found that the teen around them differently from adults, which could “With a more complex society
brain undergoes a frenzied remodelling. contribute the heated miscommunications between
Two key findings have emerged. Firstly, the parents and their teenage kids. connected by the internet, people seek out
frontal cortex, the part of the brain just behind Taken together these two factors are likely to the groups they want to belong to,” says
the forehead that takes care of planning and explain why teenagers are more impulsive – and psychology professor Jolanda Jetten at The
judgement, grows just before puberty before the therefore more likely to rebel – than adults. University of Queensland. “There may
then be greater opportunity to express
individuality because of the opportunities
to communicate that have expanded over
the last decade.”
E that brought it about. If you tell people the guards, as they shifted to an ‘us’ and We’re just a click away from nearly a
that they can’t progress within a given ‘them’ mentality. third of the world’s population who have
system, then they are much more likely to “When we did the BBC study,” says online access. So as the means to connect
collectively challenge that system.” The Haslam, “it really demonstrated that with like-minded individuals grows, it
BBC Prison Study suggests that even when the big thing everybody had missed was seems that the rebel inside all of us is more
we are unhappy with a situation, it’s only resistance. That motivated us to go back likely to emerge.
when the hope of progressing in a social to Milgram and say ‘Look, the resistance is
system is removed that we are likely to Louise Ridley is a web editor and writer at BBC
break the current rules and set up our own. Focus magazine.
BBC, science photo library, dreamstime
Mutinous connections find out more

Another test showed that the prisoners
E Rebels in Groups: Dissent, Deviance, Difference
increasingly saw themselves as a separate and Defiance
group opposed to the guards. The measure Jolanda Jetten and Matthew J Hornsey (eds) (Wiley-
of ‘social identification’ – the extent to Blackwell, 2010)
which they identified with other prisoners
– soared from an average of 0.5 out of E www.bbcprisonstudy.org
seven on the first two days to 2.1 after Find out more about the BBC Prison Study
the promotion option was withdrawn. E Birth Order: What Your Position in the Family
Identifying with each other gave them Prisoners’ solidarity gives them the confidence Really Tells You About Your Character
the confidence and support to challenge to challenge authority Linda Blair (Piatkus Books, 2011)
42 October 2012
Doug Perrine
Barely 2m away from the

photographer’s camera,
a Bryde’s whale opens its
cavernous jaws to engulf
some sardines
46 October 2012
bryde’s whale
big
mouth
strikes again
Charging at a baitball is the mother-of-all-mouths:
a Bryde’s whale on the rampage. doug perrine gets
up close and personal with one of the world’s most
spectacular, but least-known, marine animals.
Photos by Doug Perrine and Brandon Cole
xxx
bryde’s whale
Marlin forced this shoal of

sardines to the surface, but fled
moments before the photo was
taken as a Bryde’s whale charges
headlong towards its quarry
ilvery scales sparkled in the water as if feigning nonchalance, occasionally Out of the blue
S all around me like the facets of a snapping to the left or right to seize a sardine Beyond the frenzy, a limitless expanse of
disco mirror ball – dazzling but not frightened out of formation or wounded by cerulean blue was pierced by dancing shafts
defeating the myriad predators intent on the marlins’ charge. Every now and again, the of sunlight that converged in the depths.
converting the little bundles of energy-rich mammals would assert their dominance by Suddenly, a dark blot appeared. It expanded
Omega 3 oils into fuel for another day’s bellowing, blowing bubbles or baring their in size faster than I could comprehend,
hunting. Striped marlin dashed through teeth at a marlin – or me. transforming itself into a giant gaping maw
the ball of schooling sardines, whipping Despite their terror, the sardines played a bristling with strands of baleen. The sardines
their 50cm-long bills from side to side to bat brave, tightly organised game – pulsing in scattered – and so did I, pumping my legs as
fish out of the seething mass, or slice them and out and twisting their shoal into hard as I could to get out of the way.
All photos by Brandon Cole
in two. Sometimes one shot into the baitball countless shapes and sizes designed to Fortunately, the owner of the mother-of-
with such speed that it emerged prevent their attackers from locking onto a all-mouths seemed to sense my presence and
with a sardine skewered on its beak like single individual. Thousands of organisms it closed just enough for my rubber fins to
a shish kebab. My heart pounded as their worked together as if controlled by a single bounce off its lower jaw, before reopening
rapiers passed within centimetres of vital mind, easily overwhelming my own senses. wide enough to engulf a Mini. I bounced
body parts. Yet the school continued to dwindle down the animal’s 10m-long flank, its throat
California sealions sauntered through inexorably under the sustained onslaught pleats ballooning against my body like a car’s
this battle zone off the coast of Mexico from all sides. airbag in a crash. I saw massive tail flukes
48 October 2012
bryde’s whale
approach at lethal velocity, then sweep past.

I had just survived a surprise encounter
with one of the least-known large mammals
on the planet. My photos clearly showed
three ridges on top of the upper jaw that,
according to skipper Mike McGettigan’s
cetacean field guide, pegged the creature as
a Bryde’s whale.
The whale gulps A mention of this name rarely elicits
fish and seawater in one recognition – especially if it is correctly
almighty mouthful
pronounced ‘BREEdahs’, after the surname
of the Norwegian who pioneered the
whaling industry in South Africa.Yet, among
the filter-feeding baleen whales, Bryde’s may
I bounced down the

animal’s 10m long flank,
its throat pleats
ballooning against me like
As the predator clamps a car’s airbag in a crash
its mouth shut, terrified fish
flee in all directions be second in numbers only to minkes. Their
worldwide population is thought to be about
100,000 – slightly higher than estimates for
the much more familiar humpbacks, which
have starred in countless documentaries and
support a global whale-watching industry.
Granted, this figure may only match the
human population of a small city, but when
you consider that a Bryde’s whale can exceed
a length of 15 metres and a weight of 15
tonnes, that’s a lot of sentient flesh existing
outside our collective consciousness.
Its manoeuvre over, Recent studies have demonstrated how
the whale turns, expelling limited our knowledge of these animals really
waste water as it dives
is. The group of whales with three-ridged E
keep your distance

Encounters with whales should be left – once, a Bryde’s whale appeared below me and
to the professionals, for the animals’ kicked its fluke up so powerfully that I was
sake and also for ours, Doug explains thrown through the water and the protective
Though popularly known as ‘gentle giants’, shade was ripped off my camera’s lens port. I
whales are considered by professional divers to soon learned to keep an eye out beyond the
be among the most dangerous of all marine periphery of the baitballs I was photographing,
wildlife. Filmmaker Howard Hall ranks them as and to move away from the action if I glimpsed
more hazardous than great white sharks; a whale lurking in the big blue.
during one dive with a grey whale he was Whale-inflicted injuries on humans are
knocked unconscious and suffered two broken seldom deliberate, however, but rather a
ribs, while on another occasion he was bowled consequence of the immense size of these
along the seabed. creatures, which can behave unpredictably,
When I unexpectedly found myself in the path like any wild species. Filming whales
of a feeding Bryde’s whale, these and other underwater is best left to experienced pros
incidents sprang to mind. I had only a split- willing to take the risk, whose in-depth
Getting this close to
second to swim out of its way. But you don’t knowledge of the animals enables them to keep a Bryde’s whale is
even have to make contact to get in trouble disturbance to a minimum. extremely risky
October 2012 49
bryde’s whale
E jaws that traditionally go by the name

Bryde’s whale may actually prove to be
several species that are not necessarily more
closely related to each other than to other
rorquals – the baleen whales with dorsal
fins and throat grooves (see box, p52). There
appear to be numerous separate breeding
populations with little gene flow between
them: researchers have already identified three
distinct populations off the coast of South
Africa alone.
Warmth-loving whales
So what exactly do we know about the
lifestyle and behaviour of these mysterious
leviathans? Perhaps the most significant fact is
that they do not hide in remote polar regions
nor lurk at great depths. They prefer the same
temperate to tropical latitudes as us – though
they have been recorded in waters as cool as
15°C, they favour a sea temperature of at least
20°C. There are both offshore and coastal
populations, which may often be found
How have these ‘stealth

whales’ managed to
snatch fish from under
our noses for so long,
virtually undetected?
within sight of land.
Though Bryde’s whales sometimes dive
to 300m, they spend much of their time in
surface waters. Here, they hoover up krill,
copepods and other planktonic crustaceans
– as do right, sei and blue whales – but their
main prey are small schooling fish such as
sardines, anchovies and mackerel. We harvest
the same species in vast quantities: how on
Earth have these ‘stealth whales’ managed to
snatch fish from under our noses for so long,
virtually undetected?
For one thing, Bryde’s whales rarely engage
in aerobatics like the breaching and fin-
slapping displays that endear humpbacks to
boatloads of tourists. They do not perform
sustained, bewitching songs either (though
they do make powerful low-frequency
calls). In addition, they are highly nomadic,
appearing in an area unannounced when
there is an abundance of food near the
surface, then disappearing again as fast as the
Doug Perrine
resource is depleted.
Another factor that has helped to keep
Bryde’s whales under the radar (or should
that be sonar?) is that they are of little E
50 October 2012
bryde’s whale
A striped marlin and California sealion

round up a shoal of sardines – precisely
the situation that might tempt a Bryde’s
whale to make an appearance
xxx
October 2012 51
bryde’s whale
rorqual whales: how they compare E commercial value. They were targeted by
whalers only from the late 1970s, when larger
dough perrine, Illustrations by Martin Camm/wildlifeartcompany.com
species had been mostly depleted, until the

The genus
Balaenoptera, or
whaling ban took effect in 1986. Whalers
rorquals, contains at did not distinguish them from sei whales,
least nine species of blue whale
and records for both species were lumped
filter-feeding whale, balaenoptera musculus
together, resulting in an almost complete
including the two 21–27m fin whale lack of reliable historical biological and catch
largest animals alive balaenoptera physalus data for Bryde’s whales.
today – the blue and fin 18–26m Most recent data about the abundance
whale. Rorquals have of Bryde’s whales derive from Japanese
slim, streamlined studies in the western North Pacific. They
bodies with narrow
found that this population had rebounded
pectoral fins and a sei whale
small dorsal fin at the balaenoptera borealis
in the decade after the commercial-whaling
rear, but their most 12–16m moratorium, to an estimated 57–81 per cent
distinctive feature is of its level in the early 20th century.The lethal
the numerous deep bryde’s research methodology results in the death of
grooves along the whale about 50 Bryde’s whales a year, which end up
lower jaw. These balaenoptera borealis in everything from pet food to school lunches.
flexible folds of skin 12–15.5m Fortunately, recreational scuba divers are
expand enormously as minke whale
proving to be a welcome new source of
the whales feed. balaenoptera acutorostrata
7–10m information about these low-status cetaceans.
Offshore diving in exciting environments,
52 October 2012
Factsheet
Bubbles stream from the jaws of a Bryde’s bryde’s whale
whale as it dives after a feeding strike. Balaenoptera edeni*
The parallel pleats in its throat have
stretched to accommodate the enormous
mouthful of seawater and prey
the basics
 length Up to 14.5m (male);
up to 15.5m (female).
 weight Up to 11.3 tonnes (male);
up to 16.2 tonnes (female).
 coloration Grey; paler below.
Distinguished from fin whale by the lack
of a white patch on the right cheek, and
from minke whale by the absence of a
white band on the pectoral fin.
 Diet Small fish, krill, copepods, squid
and crabs. Takes mostly schooling
fish, but opportunistic: the species
may feed mainly on fish in one area
or year, and on invertebrates in another
location or year.
 breeding Reaches maturity when
11–12m long, at about 7 years old.
Females give birth at 2-year intervals,
after a gestation of 11–12 months. May
breed all year, but in temperate waters
reproduction could be linked to a
seasonal migration to warmer areas.
 HABITAT Open ocean.
 Lifespan Not known.
 status Listed as “Data Deficient” by
IUCN, but generally thought to be fairly
abundant: global numbers may
approach 100,000.
* Some scientists recognise several species
such as southern Africa’s ‘Sardine Run’ that to avoid sealions, marlins and humans – all of and call this form B. brydei.
occurs between May and July, is growing in which might fit into its jaws but would never
popularity. Divers drop into the middle of pass down its throat. Everything in the path Distribution
multi-species feeding frenzies, during which of a charging whale scatters in all directions,
the appearance of one or more Bryde’s and I was amazed by how often most of the Bryde’s
whales has been known to cause a rash of sardines managed to elude the predator. whale range
soiled wetsuits. It’s a very risky pastime (see Time and again, a whale would blast This species is found worldwide in warm
box, p49). through a school and be rewarded with only waters. Some populations migrate, but
a few fish, or even none. Could a handful others appear to be resident.
Down in one of fish possibly replace the energy burned
One of my first encounters with a Bryde’s during repeated high-speed charges? Perhaps
whale also took place in South African the whales were distracted by our presence,
waters. I was photographing a ball of sardines which affected their ability to hunt. Or
being attacked by sharks and gannets were they merely using small baitballs at the
when a whale surged vertically up from surface as target practice and feeding mainly
the depths like a missile, punching a giant in deeper water, out of sight? It might be
hole through the school of fish (Charles years before we begin to unravel the hidden
Maxwell, with whom I was diving, captured lives of these majestic creatures.
the action on video for the BBC’s Blue
Planet series). After studying marine biology and fisheries
More recent tv footage shows a Bryde’s science, Doug Perrine took a detour into
whale nearly catching a shark in its mouth, photojournalism. He has been a professional
and I have frequently seen the species swerve marine wildlife photographer for 25 years.
October 2012 53
Portfolio
Hubble’s
Greatest Hits
To celebrate the Hubble Telescope’s 22nd anniversary Stuart Clark
looks back at the most amazing and important images it’s captured
The Eagle Nebula

Stellar nursery
This giant dusty cloud stretches across four
light-years of space. To give you an idea of just
how vast that is, if you placed our Sun on the tip of
this cloud (far right), the other end of it would
reach all the way to our nearest star, Proxima
Centauri. Unlike the empty expanse of space that
exists between these two suns, this image shows
the multitude of forming stars packed into the
Eagle Nebula. Each young stellar object is a
condensing cloud of gas and dust, busily pulling
itself together to build up enough mass to spark
nuclear fusion and become a star. Hundreds of
thousands of years from now they will all blow
away the remaining dust from their birth cloud and
shine as a brilliant star cluster.
22 years of hubble
October 2012 55
Cone Nebula (NGC 2264)
Gas stream
The evaporating pillar in this image is being
whittled away by the fierce ultraviolet radiation
from a quadruple star system known as S
Monocerotis. The four stars are out of shot
at the top, but their effects are clearly seen.
The red gas streaming away from the pillar is
hydrogen – the raw material from which stars
are made – and the stars nestled in the top of
the pillar are newly minted creations, shining
their own starlight onto the scene. The fringe
of blue-white light at the top of the pillar is
starlight reflected from dust clouds.
22 years of hubble
Cat’s Eye Nebula

Stellar death throes
E As Europe began its climb out of the
Dark Ages, towards the Enlightenment
that would give rise to the Scientific
Revolution, so this star began to die.
Originally this flower of gas was inside the
star, helping it create starlight – perhaps
even illuminating nearby planets. Then the
hydrogen fuel ran out and the star began
to die. Around 1000 years ago, the star
became so unstable that it puffed its
outer layers into space, revealing the tiny
white point of light in the centre of the
image. Once the burning nuclear furnace
of the star, it is now a dormant, though
still hot, white dwarf.
Orion Nebula
Cave of glowing gas
E The Orion Nebula is the closest region
of massive star formation to Earth. You
can even see it with the naked eye; it’s
the fuzzy pink blob that’s the second
star in Orion’s Belt. Through the Hubble
Space Telescope it resolves into a
sweeping cavern of gas and new stars –
3000 of them in this image alone. Some
are giants containing dozens of times
more mass than the Sun. They light up
the surrounding gas, blowing a cavern
to reveal smaller stars more like the
size of the Sun. Eventually this wave of
star formation will transform the entire
constellation of Orion into stars.
October 2012 57
Eagle Nebula Pillars
Gone, but not forgotten
Before Hubble, these dark pillars were the talons of the
Eagle Nebula to countless astronomers. The telescope
identified them as incubators of newborn stars, hiding
away inside dusty wombs. Now we know an exploding
star may have wiped them out. Infrared observations
reveal a scorched cloud of hot dust just behind the
pillars, indicative of a stellar blast wave. In the time it
has taken for the light from this dust to reach Earth,
the rolling shockwave may have ploughed through and
destroyed the pillars. Astronomers will need patience to
test this hypothesis: the light from the destruction won’t
arrive until well into the next millennium.
58 Sept/Oct 2012
22 years of hubble
Hubble Deep Field Galaxy 3C321

As far as Hubble can see Death Star galaxy
 Of all the images that Hubble has taken, this one ushered in a  Not everything disappears down a black hole. The blue jet is a
revolution of thought. Until then, astronomers knew of no celestial stream of escaping gas blasting out across hundreds of thousands of
objects in this patch of sky – it appeared totally empty. Yet, after light-years. It comes from the vicinity of the supermassive black hole
10 days of continuous observation, Hubble revealed thousands in the heart of the galaxy 3C321, the angry pink blob in the corner, and
of galaxies, each containing millions or billions of stars. It took an is blasting through a smaller galaxy that’s falling into the bigger one.
exponential leap into the distant Universe, showing astronomers No-one knows exactly how such a jet is launched from so close to a
almost the very first galaxies to form. It opened up the study of black hole, though magnetic fields are probably involved. Because
‘deep’ (distant and faint) celestial objects, and illustrated just how of the catastrophic effect the larger galaxy’s jet is having on its
much galaxies have changed their shapes over the last 10-12 neighbour, astronomers have dubbed it the Death Star galaxy.
billion years.
Sombrero Galaxy
Starburst
F It hides in plain sight, around one-fifth the width
of the full Moon, yet too faint for our eyes to see: the
Sombrero Galaxy. Resembling a South American
hat, the dark band circling its centre is a vast river of
dust; the white glow is the combined light of billions
of stars. It lacks spiral arms and there’s little star
formation taking place in the dust lanes. Astronomers
call such a galaxy ‘lenticular’. The Sombrero Galaxy is
an outlying member of the Virgo cluster, a huge family
of 2000 galaxies, whose combined gravitational pull is
felt even by our galaxy, the Milky Way.
Galactic Centre (Full field)

Into the maelstrom
 If our eyes could see infrared radiation, this is how the
centre of our galaxy would look. Ordinary wavelengths of
light can’t penetrate the thick banks of dust that separate
us from the central maelstrom, but infrared light travels
through with relative ease. Revealing objects over 26,000
light-years away, this image spans the central 300 light-
years of the galaxy. Swirls and bubbles of gas loop and
thread through thousands of stars. The most massive
stars known in the galaxy reside in this region of space.
Some contain 150 times the mass of the Sun, glimpsed
here during their brief few million years of blazing life.
October 2012 59
22 years of hubble
Red Supergiant Star V838

Monocerotis
Cosmic smash-up
F What happens when two
stars collide? Or when a star
swallows a mighty planet? This.
V838 Monocerotis brightened
dramatically in January 2002.
At first it was thought to be
an ordinary erupting star, but
then it got weird. It changed
colour to a deep red, it didn’t
fade away and astronomers
began to think it was the result
of a galactic smash-up. They’re
not sure what has crashed
into what here, though they
lean more towards a pair of
stars colliding than the planet-
munching hypothesis. Shrouds
of expelled gas now surround
the star, painting a beautiful, if
mysterious, sight.
Hubble Space telescope

Earth’s eye
F The Hubble Space Telescope has revolutionised astronomy
and captured the public’s attention. In May 2009, partly due to
public demand, astronauts visited the space telescope for the
fifth and final time since its deployment, in order to refurbish
it. It’s hoped they have given the aging telescope an additional
five years or so of useful life, but it’s borrowed time. When
Hubble breaks again, there will be no further rescue: it will bring
this astonishing mission to an end. Attention is switching to its
successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, scheduled for
launch during 2014 from Europe’s spaceport in French Guiana.
Dr Stuart Clark is a widely read astronomy

journalist and an award-winning author. Stuart
Clark’s books include Deep Space and Galaxy.
find out more

E www.stuartclark.com
Stuart Clark’s official webiste
60 October 2012
The science of illusion
Just an
ILLUSION?
Seeing doesn’t necessarily mean
believing. Paul Parsons examines
the science of how illusions deceive us
umans have an odd theories about how our brains are

H fascination with being wired.” Scientists are discovering
deceived. From the that illusions are in fact an essential
conjuring tricks of magicians to consequence of the mental machinery
mind-bending optical illusions, our through which we see the world.
love of being shown the impossible They’re partly responsible for our
keeps us coming back for more – success as a species and they could
even though we know, deep down, even help explain the very nature
that it’s all nothing but a clever trick. of consciousness.
It’s long been this way. Before Indeed, rather than pulling the
Derren Brown and David Blaine, wool over our eyes, illusions help us
Harry Houdini amazed onlookers perceive the world more efficiently.
with his death-defying stunts. That’s because the brain simply
And the power of illusions is even doesn’t have the power to analyse
mentioned in the writings of every single scrap of information
ancient Greek scholar Epicharmus. that’s available to our senses. Instead,
Now modern-day researchers are it picks out what it thinks are the
subjecting illusions to rigorous important bits from the torrent of
scientific scrutiny to unpick the information coming in – and then
workings of the human mind. uses its expectations about how the
“Scientists are using illusions to world works to fill in all the gaps.
understand more about how our “Only 10 per cent of what we think
senses work,” says BBC producer we see comes from our eyes,” says
Naomi Austin, whose has made Austin. “The other 90 per cent comes
a film on this subject. It reveals from other parts of the brain.”
how illusions shape our feelings Illusions are what happens in
and emotions – and even save our the small number of cases when
lives. “This has opened up new the brain’s assumptions get it
October 2012 61
DECEIVING THE SENSES

How illusions beguile the faculties
Taste
Fictitious tastes are a rare kind of illusion. One substance that can
produce such ‘gustatory illusions’ is ‘miraculin’, a protein extracted
from the berries of the plant Synsepalum dulcificum and related
species. Miraculin itself is relatively tasteless, but it has the power
to distort our perception of other tastes – in particular making acidic
flavours, such as those of citrus fruits, taste sweet.
This has prompted suggestions that miraculin could form the basis
for an effective artificial sweetener, replacing the calorie-rich sugar in
sharp-tasting drinks such as lemonade. However, when they tried to
bring the plan to market in 1974, the US Food and Drug Administration
blocked miraculin as a food additive. Many believe this was the result of
pressure from the sugar industry, though it seems more likely that poor
understanding of the mechanism by which miraculin operates was the
true culprit.
Miraculin is, however, approved for use as an additive in Japan,
where researchers have used genetic modification techniques to mass-
produce the protein inside lettuce leaves.
Sound
In 1990, charges were brought against rock band Judas Priest that a
subliminal ‘backwards’ message in their song Better By You, Better
Than Me had led two youths in Nevada to kill themselves. After over a
month in court, the case was dismissed.
Professor Chris French, a psychologist at Goldsmiths, University of
London, says backwards messages like this aren’t real at all, but are
examples of auditory illusions caused by ‘top-down processing’, where
our perception can be shaped by our expectations. He points to another
famous example said to exist in Led Zeppelin’s (left) song Stairway To
Heaven. You can hear a clip of the song and the version you’re supposed
to hear at j.mp/backsong – first listen to the backwards version without
reading the message (you might at best pick out a few words), then
read the message and listen again.
“You now hear the message absolutely clear as a bell, and you don’t
know how you missed it the first time,” says French. “The point is that
until you’re told what to hear, you don’t hear it.”
Touch
Tactile illusions exist too. A simple one you can try for yourself
happens when you get off a moving treadmill – the ground feels like
alamy, rex, photolibrary.com x2, Akiyoshi KITAOKA, science photo library
it’s moving under your feet in the opposite direction, causing you to lose
your balance.
A more serious kind of example affects as many as 90 per cent of
amputees – phantom limb pain, where the brain registers a lasting
pain response in the amputated limb. It’s thought to be caused by
cross-wiring of the neurons in the brain’s somatosensory cortex,
where the body’s sensory inputs are processed. Different regions of
the somatosensory cortex deal with the input from specific parts of the
body. But when a limb is removed, the corresponding region of the cortex
becomes subsumed by nearby regions linked to other limbs. This leads
to a kind of cross-wiring effect that causes phantom sensations which,
unsurprisingly, can be painful.
Smell
Illusions of the olfactory (smell) system are unusual, but they can occur
due to certain brain conditions, such as migraines. Migraine sufferers
have reported all kinds of olfactory distortions during an attack –
bananas smelling like rotting flesh and even body odour smelling
like beer.
Prof Giorgio Zanchin, of the University of Padua Medical School, says
this distorted smell perception, known as ‘osmophobia’, is so unique
to migraine, compared to other headaches, that it can even be used to
diagnose them. In one study, he found that 42 per cent of the sufferers in
his sample displayed some kind of osmophobia, compared with just 1.5
per cent of other headache sufferers. “Osmophobia during a headache
attack is a very specific clinical marker of migraine,” says Zanchin. The
precise neurological cause of osmophobia remains unknown.
62 October 2012
wrong. So, when we see 12 lines wouldn’t have made so many correct
arranged to look like a cube, the assumptions. You’re a more effective
brain recognises the familiar cube information processor for making
shape and decides in an instant that those assumptions.”
what it’s looking at really is a cube It turns out that a good deal of
before moving on to the next thing. our reaction to an illusion is shaped
Most of the time it’s correct. But by our expectations about what it
very occasionally, it’s not (see j.mp/ is we’re going to see. Psychologists
firecube), and that’s when we see refer to this as ‘top-down processing’.
an illusion. It happens when our acquired
knowledge – the ‘top down’ brain
Information overload functions – influences and sometimes
To analyse every piece of data overrides the ‘bottom-up’ functions,
coming in, our brains would have which deal with the data stream
to be so big that our bones would coming in from our senses.
literally give out under the weight. One of the most striking
Instead, our brains have stayed a more demonstrations of this is an illusion
manageable size by evolving this known as the ‘Ames room’, named
ability to make assumptions about after American eye specialist Adelbert
the world. And it’s served us well – in Ames Jr, who invented it in 1934.
fact, we’d be lost without it. The walls, ceiling and floor of the
“If you tried to analyse every Ames room are inclined to one
little thing that’s happening to you, another at extreme angles, either
you wouldn’t make it across the much bigger or much smaller than
room when you get out of bed in 90°. You can look into the room
the morning,” says Prof Richard through a peephole in one wall,
Wiseman, a psychologist at the but because you’re so used to seeing
University of Hertfordshire and one- rooms with the walls, ceiling and
time professional magician. floor assembled at more or less right-
“Optical illusions reflect our angles your brain assumes this is
sophistication, not our idiocy. what you’re going to see. So much
Without them we wouldn’t be so that it’s what you actually end
where we are today because we up seeing. Even when there are
Ames rooms exploit our assumptions

Sight about coventional architecture
Optical illusions, which work their magic on the visual system,
are perhaps the most powerful of all. Now researchers are using
sophisticated brain imaging techniques to figure out how they
work. Scientists in Japan, led by psychologist and illusion designer
Prof Akiyoshi Kitaoka of Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, used
functional magnetic resonance imaging to study the brain activity
of participants while they looked at one of Kitaoka’s ‘rotating
snakes’ illusion (seen here). The stationary snake-like patterns
appear to rotate because of a phenomenon called the ‘peripheral
drift illusion’, where carefully chosen brightness gradients create
the illusion of motion in our periphery vision.
The scientists had expected motion illusions such as this to
only affect the higher brain processes connected with imagination
and visual trickery. However, much to their surprise, the
scientists saw activity in the motion-sensing areas of the visual
cortex instead. “This is the part of the brain that processes real
physical movement,” says team member Ichiro Kuriki of Tohoku
University. “The visual motion perception is not just the observer’s
imagination.” That could explain why powerful optical illusions can
trigger real sensations of motion sickness in some people.
October 2012 63
IS TIME AN ILLUSION?
A watched pot never boils…
Albert Einstein reportedly once said: of roadworks so you travel slower
“When a man sits with a pretty girl for an and make little headway, but during the
hour, it seems like a minute. But let him second part, the road is clear and you
sit on a hot stove for a minute and it’s can travel faster and cover much more
longer than any hour. That’s relativity.” ground. Even if each portion of
His point was that time is subjective – the journey takes equal time, as
time spent having fun appears to pass measured on your watch, the second
much quicker than when it’s endured in half appears to take much longer
less-than-pleasant circumstances. because you travel further.
Psychologists have found hard There’s even a school of thought
evidence for the subjective nature of among physicists that the entire notion
time, in a phenomenon known as the of time could be an illusion. These
‘Kappa effect’. This tends to make researchers think that what we perceive
journeys that cover greater distance as time emerges from some deeper
appear to take longer. physical process – in much the same
Imagine you are making a long way that large-scale quantities like
motorway journey with a single stop, temperature and pressure emerge as
splitting the journey into two parts. a result of the collisions between tiny
For the first part you encounter a lot atoms and molecules.
people standing in the room, the is a symptom of mental illnesses, made in the late 19th century by
observer’s visual system distorts their including autism and schizophrenia. American psychologist Joseph
sizes grossly out of proportion Some less-serious brain conditions, Jastrow. It can resemble either a
in order to make the room’s however, can actually make us more rabbit or a duck – depending how
architecture fit their expectation (see prone to illusions. Anyone who you look at it and how your brain
j.mp/amesroom). suffers from migraine headaches interprets what it sees.
The Ames room is an example of ‘with aura’ will be all too familiar Wiseman found that while some
how top-down processing can kick with the flashing zig-zag patterns test subjects could only see the duck
in naturally. But it can be invoked they see before the headache itself and others could only see the rabbit,
artificially, through a psychological strikes. Some migraine sufferers also a small proportion could see both
technique known as ‘priming’. Using report fictitious smells – olfactory very easily. Further tests revealed that
priming, it’s possible to deliberately illusions (see ‘Deceiving the senses’ the subjects in this latter group also
influence someone’s top-down brain on p62). Evidence from MRI scans tended to be highly creative. “They
functions – either by talking to suggests these symptoms may be can’t stop flipping between the two
them or showing them images that “Only 10 per caused by a brain phenomenon called images,” says Wiseman. “Because
are going to sway their thinking. “If cent of what ‘cortical wave depression’, where a what they’re doing is continuously
I prime you by showing you two we think we wave of heightened activity sweeps reorganising the stimuli in their
human faces and then give you an see comes slowly through the brain’s visual minds, they turn out to be far more
ambiguous image that could be a cortex, followed almost immediately creative people.”
face, but could be something else,
from our by a wave of diminished activity.
then – because you’re interpreting eyes. The Other conditions can form lesions The art of illusion
the third image within the context other 90 per (areas of damaged tissue) in the brain It seems true to say that pictures are
of the prime of a human face – you’ll cent comes that can cause so-called ‘agnosias’, the simplest yet most effective kind
see a face in the third image,” says from other where sufferers find it difficult to of illusion. After all, paintings are all
Wiseman. Magicians sometimes use recognise particular objects such as about creating the illusion of reality
priming to make their audience see
parts of the faces, words, even things as specific using a pattern of lines and colours on
exactly what it is they want them to. brain.” as fruit and veg. a canvas or a sheet of paper.
Our reliance on illusions also Sometimes different people can Perhaps one of the greatest illusions
means that anyone trying to make have radically different perceptions of ever achieved in a work of art is the
themselves less susceptible to the exact same illusion, as Wiseman’s Mona Lisa’s unfathomable smile.
ALAMY, corbis
them, believing this will somehow research has revealed. In one recent Look directly at her face and she
strengthen their grasp on reality, is study he looked at an optical illusion hardly seems to be smiling at all.
deeply misguided. Studies have even called ‘rabbit-duck’ (p65). Yet look into her eyes instead and
shown that difficulty seeing illusions This is a drawing that was first suddenly she’s beaming back at you.
64 October 2012
MAGIC The science of illusion
NUMBERS
28,000
The amount in US
dollars fetched
on eBay by a
toasted cheese
sandwich
bearing an
Some have speculated that this combining the images from both eyes (illusory)
is because da Vinci painted the – to gauge depth. If you want image of the
expression of a smile into her eyes. to flatten a 3D scene into a 2D Virgin Mary
But Prof Margaret Livingstone, a picture, then you need to inhibit that
neuroscientist at the Harvard Medical depth perception, so you blank out
30m
School, argues that the true answer one of the two images by covering
lies in the way our eyes work. The an eye. Many great artists, including
centre of your field of vision, where Picasso and Rembrandt, are believed
you focus your attention, has very to have had naturally impaired
high resolution – it’s optimised for stereoscopic vision, as evidenced by The 2009
earnings in
seeing small, detailed objects. On the portraits of them that suggest they
US dollars of
other hand your outer, or ‘peripheral’, were cross-eyed. illusionist David
vision can only see at low resolution You can actually use the same Copperfield,
(or low ‘spatial frequency’ as it’s technique to enhance the 3D effect the world’s
called). That is, it’s optimised for of some paintings – especially highest-paid
looking at big, blurry objects. those where the artist has tried to magician
“The Mona Lisa’s smile is all in the incorporate a lot of depth. Stand
low-spatial-frequency components,” close enough to the painting so that
75%
says Livingstone. “It’s blurry. And it fills your visual field and then cover
Now you see it, now you
that’s why it changes as you move one eye while you look at it. “That don’t: Mona Lisa’s smile
your eye over the painting – because shuts off your stereo system,” says
you see it differently with your Livingstone. “It will feel like you’re
central and your peripheral vision.” inside that painting and it will feel brightness so as to fox the ‘where
Da Vinci would have known very vividly three-dimensional.” system’, and create the illusion of
little about the neurology of vision. Meanwhile, other scientists have movement in their work. Some
But the insights he and other artists discovered that the part of the brain magazines use the same principle
have since gleaned about how we that tracks the position of objects – by printing garish headlines at
perceive fine and course detail, light known as the ‘where system’, which equal brightness to the background,
and shadow, and colour, have given extends from the primary visual forcing you to stare harder at the
neurologists some big clues into how cortex to the parietal lobe – is largely The amount of page in order to stop the words
what we perceive
our brains and visual systems work. colour blind. Instead of using colour, as taste that
jumping around.
For example, one of the first things it distinguishes the positions of actually comes Dyslexics suffer with a brain
you’re taught in art class is to close different objects through differences from our sense abnormality that creates much
one eye while you draw. The reason, in brightness. This is another fact of smell the same effect when they look at
we now know, is that the brain artists have been exploiting for many text presented in ordinary black
uses a process called ‘stereopsis’ – years – by painting objects at equal and white.
The 'rabbit-duck' optical illusion as

drawn by American psychologist
150 ms
The time it takes
It’s all in your head
Amazingly, researchers are now
Joseph Jastrow for an image to also using illusions to shed light
get from the eye on one of the greatest mysteries of
to the brain. A lot all: consciousness. Despite years of
can happen in research, neuroscientists still seem as
that time
far as ever from pinning down the
brain processes that give us
36,000 that all-important sense of self-
awareness that lies at the core of our
The amount of conscious experience. Quite how
information,
all the data entering our heads is
measured in
binary digits, or combined into a consistent picture
bits, that a of reality and our place within it
human eye can remains unknown.
process per hour Dr Henrik Ehrsson, of the
October 2012 65
Don't believe your eyes

Seeing flickering dots when you look at the grid? Don’t worry,
you’re not going mad. But no-one can truly tell why it happens
Trying to count the number of white dots in
this image is impossible because the dots
flicker from black to white as you move your
eye, which is what gives the illusion its name:
‘scintillating grid’.
But how does it work? The short answer is
no-one knows. Experts suspect it’s to do
with ‘centre-surround antagonism’ – where
bright stimulae in the area surrounding a
photoreceptor cell on the retina actually
darken the stimulus perceived by the cell.
This improves the contrast of the images we
see and helps sharpen our perception
of edges.
Centre-surround antagonism certainly
explains a simpler grid illusion, called the
‘Hermann grid’ (see below). Here the grid
lines and intersections are a uniform white,
rather than the grey and white of the main
image. Centre-surround antagonism then
makes the intersections, with their excess
of bright surrounds, appear darker than
the lines.
In 2006, neuroscientists from Texas
A&M University and MIT tried to explain
the scintillating grid by constructing a
mathematical model of vision that built in
two additional effects of the retina – known
as ‘self-inhibition’ and ‘disinhibition’. These
effects essentially reduce the degree to
which stimulae surrounding photoreceptors
get darkened under certain conditions. The
effects are sensitive to changes in retinal
stimulation – of exactly the sort produced
as you scan your eye between dark and light
areas of an image.
When the researchers applied their model
to the scintillating grid pattern it yielded
predictions for the perceived brightness
that were in good agreement with what’s
actually seen.
richardpalmergraphics.com
66 October 2012
1 The science of illusion
2a 2b
HOW 1TO PERFORM MAGIC TRICKS
You’ll like this, but not a lot…
Make
2a a card disappear
2b 3 1 4
This trick takes practice but once you’ve got it
down pat, it’ll look like you’ve made a playing card
vanish into thin air and then reappear. Karolinska Institute in Stockholm,
decided to investigate this using an
1. Take an ordinary playing card and grip it length-ways
between your index and little fingers. 2a 2b illusion that could shift our perception
3 4 of self by simulating an out-of-body
2. Grip the card fairly tightly and practice extending your
middle two fingers while gripping firmly with the index and experience. It works by placing a small
little fingers so that the card pivots round to the back of video display over each of the subject’s
your hand. eyes, linked to two cameras positioned
3. If you wave your hand up and down while you perform 1.5m behind them – so they see a
the move, it will make it very hard for your audience to see
the tips of the card protruding through your fingers.
3 4 realistic, stereoscopic image of the
back of their own head. Next, Ehrsson
4. For the finale, grip the top corner of the hidden card
tightly between your first and second fingers and then
takes a plastic rod and, out of view
relax your little finger so the card springs up into view. 1 2 of the camera, pokes the participant
in the chest. At the same time, he
uses a second rod to – visibly – poke
where the chest of the illusory body
Mind reading and telekinesis would be, just below the two cameras.
1 2 Convince a volunteer not only that you can tell what
3 4 Participants confirmed genuinely
card they’ve picked at random from the pack, but feeling as if they were looking at
also turn that card upside down without touching it. their physical bodies from an outside
1. Before performing the trick, turn the bottom card of the perspective. Many even reported that
deck upside down so that both the top and bottom of the they believed their body to belong to
deck look the same. someone else.
3 4 1 2
5 6
2. Hold the deck so most of the cards are facing down and “This illusion is important because
fan it, but keep the bottom card hidden.
it reveals the basic mechanism that
3. Ask someone to pick a card. Gather the cards back produces the feeling of being inside
together and then ask your volunteer to memorise their
card. As they do this, turn the deck upside down.
the physical body,” says Ehrsson.
“This represents a significant
4. Ask them to slot the card back into the deck. Take care
5 6 3 4
not to reveal that most of the cards are actually face-up at advance because the experience
this point. of one’s own body as the centre of
5. Wave the deck about and say magic words, so they don’t awareness is a fundamental aspect of
notice as you flip the deck back over. self-consciousness.” Ehrsson is now
6. Now skim through the deck and to their amazement combining this illusion and others
their card will be the only one face-up. with brain scanner studies to find
5 6 out what’s actually going on inside a
The vanishing coin participant’s head as their sense of self
Watch as money disappears in front of your very eyes
1 2 is radically disrupted.
– and there’s not a taxman in sight. If he’s successful it could help to
1. With your audience in front of you (not to the side), hold an lay bare the very secret of
ordinary coin between your thumb and first finger with the consciousness, the biggest mystery
palm of your hand facing upwards.
in neuroscience – and perhaps the
1 2
2. Now go to grab the coin with your other hand, fingers
grandest illusion of all.
together and palm facing downwards.
3 4
3. With the thumb of your empty hand, push back the
thumb that’s holding the coin, so the coin drops into your Dr Paul Parsons is the author
upturned palm. of Science 1001: Absolutely
4. Then close your upper hand into a fist and move it away. Everything That Matters In Science
(Quercus, 2010).
Don’t close up the thumb and first finger of the hand that
1 2
3 4
was holding the coin – this will create the illusion that it’s
been snatched away. find out more
5. Now turn your hand over and open it. While the audience 5 Sleights Of Mind: What The Neuroscience
is distracted looking where it thinks the coin will be you can
Of Magic Reveals About Our Everyday
clasp the fingers of your upturned hand around where the
coin really is and then use it to point at your empty palm. Deceptions
Amazing! Stephen L Macknik and Susana Martinez-
3 4 Conde (Profile Books, 2010)
5
October 2012 67
The
Western Ghats
U
Wild ndau
erne nted
ss
UNESCO recently anointed
the Western Ghats of India
as a World Heritage Site.
Moshita Prajapati traces
its roots to find out what
makes the Ghats one of the
country’s most talked about lder than the Himalayan range, Deccan Traps constitute the Deccan part
biodiversity hotspots O this 1600-km-long range of hills of the Western Ghats known as the Deccan
and dales, called Western Ghats, Plateau, which covers parts of central India.
runs parallel to the enchanting west coast These volcanic upthrusts led to the forma-
of India. Starting from the southern tip of tion of the Ghats.”
Gujarat, traversing through the states of The Western Ghats comprise of nine
Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala and geological landscapes with 11 distinct types
ending at the southern tip of Tamil Nadu, of evergreen vegetation spanning myriad
the Ghats, is one of the oldest mountain ecosystems, such as Myristica swamps-a
ranges in the world and one of the 10 global primitive family of flowering plants, shola-
hottest biodiversity hotspots. grasslands; and the hill plateaus of the
The Western Ghats aren’t true mountains northern Western Ghats.
but rather faults of the Deccan Plateau The imposing Western Ghats extend
formed about 200 million years ago. Their from the north all the way through
formation, according to geologist and senior Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and through
scientist, Ashok Sahni, of the Indian National Kerala, where between the border of
Science Academy (INSA), can be advocated Kerala and Tamil Nadu, a gap known as the
to the theory of the break up of the super Palakkad Gap exists, before continuing its
continent, Gondwanaland. run into the state of Tamil Nadu. Geologists
“The western margin of India was at- are still trying to decipher the reason for this
tached to the eastern margin of Madagascar natural occurring disruption in the range,
when they started to drift northwards after measuring 40km wide, of which there is no
they broke away from Gondwanaland. Then geological explanation till now.
around 88 million years ago, the west coast
of India came into existence after it broke Rich biodiversity
away from the east coast of Madagascar,” The Western Ghats have a genetic biodi-
Karunakar Rayker,keystone-foundation.org
he explains. versity tracing back to 500 million years.

Around 65 million years ago, as the Gadgil cites that the plants and animals that
Indian continent continued to drift were a part of the ecosystem during the
northwards, it passed over the Renuion period when India as an island was part of
hotspot, a volcanic hotspot, which lies in the Gondwanaland migrated to the Indian
the Indian Ocean. peninsula after the break up.
As Prof Madhav Gadgil, an ecologist “The biodiversity that was present during
and the head of the Western Ghats Ecology the continental break up can still be traced
Expert Panel, (WGEEP) further explains, in the lineages of the species found in
“The huge volcanic eruption that occurred the regions today. Yes, there have been
during this period and the imminent flow of evolutionary changes, but only on the
lava resulted in the formation of a vast bed species level. There are different species but
of basalt lava called the Deccan Traps. The at the higher consomic level. At the
October 2012 71
The Ghats is home to some of the world’s most endemic species.
A preview of them as they exist in the three natural elements
The Palani Laughingthrush (top) and the The Garra bicornuta with its two distinct A genetic difference exists amongst the
Nilgiri Laughinthrush (above) horn like structures elephant population in the Western Ghats
Birds Fish Elephants

There are 508 species of birds found in the Western Almost all the rivers in the southern part of India The elephant population is focused mainly in the
Ghats, out of which 16 species are endemic to the have their origins in the Western Ghats. A total num- Nilgiri, Anamalai Hills and the Periyar regions in
region. The Laughingthrush are amongst the most ber of 102 species of fishes reside in these rivers southern Western Ghats.
prolific ones sighted here. and hill streams of the Ghats, of which 11 species There are a number of elephant corridors in
The two main species of the Laughingthrush belonging to the Garra genus are endemic in various the Ghats including the Nilgiri-Mysore-Wyanad
found in the region are the Kerala Laughingthrush isolated areas of the southern Western Ghats. Elephant Reserves that are spread over Tamil Nadu,
and the Black-chinned Laughingthrush; the former As majority of the rivers of the Western Ghats Karnataka and Kerala. Another critical corridor
found principally in the region south of the Palakkad empty out into the sea, these fresh water fish have lies in the Tirunelli region of Kerala that links the
Gap whereas the population of the latter is confined developed a peculiar characteristic to help adapt elephant population of Wyanad and Nagarahole
to the Nilgiri region in the Ghats. to the conditions. “The fishes of this genus have with the Brahmagiri hills. A third critical corridor is
Dr P O Nameer of the Centre for Wildlife Studies, a disc protruding on the ventral side near its in the Kollegal region, near the settlement of Bailur
Kerala, adds that species differ morphologically and mouth. It is known as a sucker and is used by in Karnataka.
are allopatric in their distribution, meaning the species to attach their bodies physically to Recent studies have discovered a genetic
that their ranges do not overlap each other either the roots of the trees, small tennis sized differentiation in the elephants found in north
ensuring that each species have their distinctive pebbles or boulders and rocks near the river and south of the Palakkad Gap based on analy-
characteristics preserved. banks,” elaborates Dr M Arunachalam, professor sis of their mitochondrial DNA.
“While the two species may share their at the Sri Paramakalyani Centre for Environmental “The elephant population found in the Nilgiri
home in the high altitude regions of the southern Sciences, Tamil Nadu. This, he states, “allows the region, which is spread over 15,000 sq km,
Western Ghats, their behavioural activities are fish to avoid getting washed out into the sea while north of the Gap, can be traced to a single matriar-
different,” he says. The bird calls of the Kerala maintaining their velocity in the rapid river current.” chal lineage,” says Prof Raman Sukumar, an ecolo-
Laughingthrush consists of high-pitched series of The Garra gotyla stenorhynchus belonging to this gist from the Centre of Ecological Studies at the
steeply ascending notes ‘pee-koko... pee-koko’ genus is found, thanks to its limited distribution Indian Institute of Sciences, Tamil Nadu. On the other
while the Black-chinned resort to making birds calls pattern, only in the tributaries of the Kaveri basin. hand, research further showed the Nilgiri population
in ascending and descending sounds of ‘kek’, heard Another species called the Tunga Garra of elephants to be genetically distinct from those
during early morning and afternoon periods. Another (Garra bicornuta), found only in the Tunga River in found in the Anamalai Hills and Periyar regions,
distinction between the species is their diet prefer- Karnataka, has two distinct horn like structures separated by the 40 km Palakkad Gap.
ences. With the species in the Nilgiri region feast on the dorsal side of its head, near its mouth, “Here, three mitochondrial haplotypes (which in
on flowers, fruits and insects, their counterparts in which are made of keratin and in some cases are genetics is a combination of alleles (DNA sequences)
the south of the Palakkad Gap remain steadfastly often used as a defence mechanism by them,” at adjacent locations (loci) on the chromosome that
vegetarian by feasting on fruits and flowers. says Arunachalam. are transmitted together) have been discovered
Within the regions of the Palakkad Gap, home The Kalakad Garra (Garra kalakadensis), among the elephants living in the south of the Gap.
to the Kerala Laughingthrush, there are two found in the Pachayar River in Kalakad Though these differences among these haplotypes
distinct zones. Here the sub-species of the Kerala Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve region is characterised maybe small, as they all belong to the Beta elephant
Laughingthrush - the Palani Laughingthrush is and identified by its physical appearance. “In order clade common in southern and east-central India,”
found to the south - and the Banasura to survive in the cold waters of the Western Ghats, he concludes.
Laughingthrush is found in Coorg the Kalakad Garra, has undergone an evolutionary While the reason behind this genetic disparity
and Wayanad region, which lies adaption, thereby ridding its body of scales and is still elusive, it is indicative of the Gap acting as a
W?
DID Y OU KNO to the north of the Gap. having a naked ventral side.” biogeographic barrier in the past.
f the
igins o
The or ap remains y
ad G parit
Palakk genetic dis s
m ys tery. A e en specie
a d betw this
is foun site sides of
n o pp o e Gap
o wid
40km
Western Ghats
family level, they continue to live with

the Gondwanaland lineage,” says Gadgil.
The Western Ghats forests are home to 5,000
The Western Ghats forests are home to flowering plants, 139 mammals, 508 birds and
5,000 flowering plants, 139 mammals, 508 179 amphibian species
birds and 179 amphibian species.The region’s
forests were formed many million years ago
but the biodiversity that existed then due in the Indian peninsular, similar only to that are endemic along with 40 per cent
to subsequent climatic changes have altered, the tropical rain forest areas of the North of the butterflies and some 76 per cent
but the climate hasn’t changed much. Eastern India and the islands of Andaman of dragonflies in the region. While upto
According to Sahni, the hypothesis for and Nicobar. 10 per cent of the species of fishes found
this, can be attributed to the climate the re- “Further, unlike the forest regions of North here are endemic, the amphibians, frogs
gion has retained to maintain its rainforest- India, where there are extreme seasons, the and other related groups, of which 78 per
like climatic characteristics. Western Ghats have a high precipitation cent are endemic, is a very high number. In
level and low seasonality changes and reptiles, 62 per cent of the species found and
Point of origin dense soil, thereby lending stability to the identified here are endemic,” he states.
“A peculiar feature of the region is that biodiversity in the region,” adds Sahni. Another unique aspect of the Western
majority of the South Indian rivers originate Ghats is of the genetic diversity, which refers
from the Western Ghats.Their point of origin Gene pool to the genetic variation within a population
is very close to the western coast but they Today, these unique forests typical of of species, particularly those that are found
flow inwards, towards the east. This occurs the tropics are a ‘gene pool’, harbouring near the Palakkad Gap.
because of the high altitude of certain hills millions of species of animals, plants and the The Palakkad Gap, 40km wide, has been
in the region, the highest being 2600mts microbial world. recognised by biologists as a line dividing
high or so. This peculiar topography and Gadgil points out that the high endemic various animal and plant populations, acting
the fact that the mountain ranges are able to rate is one of the reasons why the species as a biogeographic barrier since the past.
trap moisture-laden clouds makes it the ideal found here are unique. “From the research Scientists and researchers are carrying out
DR. M ARUNACHALAM, Sandeep Das X2, John Foxx, PanorAmio.com

setting for a tropical rain forest,” he explains. collected over the years, the Western Ghats studies to help understand the disparity
The region receives the highest rainfall is home to 11 per cent species of ants within the species attributing it to either a
migration movement or the after effects of a
catastrophic natural disaster.
Between the states
of Kerala and Tamil
Nadu, there exists World Heritage Site
a 40km gap in the Global authorities have designated the
Western Ghats Western Ghats of India with the tag of
range known as the a World Heritage Site, which carries
Palakkad Gap significant implications for the future.
As Sahni concludes, “When it’s a World
Heritage Site, it means that it is unique and
therefor it depends on us to preserve this
uniqueness.”
Moshita Prajapati is a writer for BBC

Knowledge Magazine India.
October 2012 73
A female orangutan can raise only
three or four young in her lifetime,
developing an extremely close
bond with her infants. Are her
tender caresses and fond looks
evidence of maternal love,
comparable to the attachment a
human mother has for her child?
Do
animals
have
feelings
too?
A growing body of evidence suggests we
Mitsuaki Iwago/Minden/FLPA
aren’t the only species with feelings.

Henry nicholls asks whether animals
also experience emotions such as love,
grief, fear and envy
74 October 2012
Animal Einsteins
Animal Einsteins
A pair of giant panda cubs frolic at

the Wolong panda-breeding facility
in Sichuan Province. It’s hard to
deny that they are delighting in
simply being pandas
igh in the inhospitable, snow-clad mountains of to be unique to humans. The courtship dance of
H Sichuan Province in China, two giant pandas sit on great crested grebes is choreographed with such
their ample bottoms and toboggan down a slope. extraordinary passion that it would be odd to suggest
They could be trying to get from one stand of bamboo there’s nothing going on in the dancers’ minds. The same
to another with as little effort as possible. Then again, they goes for female emperor penguins reunited with their
Keren Su/Lonely Planet Images/Getty Images, Sophie Lanfear
might simply be indulging themselves with some adrenalin- partners and meeting their chicks for the first time after
fuelled fun. an Antarctic winter spent at sea. And what about the
Thousands of observations like this suggest that we aren’t intimate glances and touches shared by a mother orangutan
the only beings with feelings. We all know that elephants and her infant?
appear to mourn the loss of one of their kind, gathering These are compelling stories – but are they anything
round in silent vigil, ears limp and trunks exploring the more than that? After all, you can’t ask an animal how it’s
corpse with tenderness. But there are many, many other feeling. Or – if you do – you’re unlikely to get a sensible
examples of animal emotion as well. answer. The Nobel-prize-winning ethologist Nikolaas
Take the female humpback whale that swam in circles Tinbergen summed up this problem in his 1951 book
of joy when freed from fishing lines in which she was The Study of Instinct. “Because subjective phenomena
ensnared, and turned to the human divers who rescued cannot be observed objectively in animals, it is idle to claim
her with gentle nudges of gratitude. Or the male rhesus or deny their existence,” he pointed out.
macaque that seemed embarrassed by falling in a ditch – he You often come across this view today. If researchers
quickly got up, looked around nervously to check if he’d attempt to delve into the minds of other species, they are
been spotted by a fellow monkey, then recovered from his likely to be accused of anthropomorphism – the act of
humiliation and carried on with what he was doing. projecting human qualities onto animals, something
Even that most complex of emotions – love – is unlikely that’s frowned upon by many scientists.
76 October 2012
Animal Einsteins
Basic instinct
Increasingly, though, there are biologists who have made
animal emotions their life’s work. “I’m happy to sacrifice
my career for the sake of reality,” admits Jaak Panksepp,
a neuroscientist at Washington State University.
For Panksepp, the evidence that humans aren’t the only
animals with emotions is overwhelming. He explains that
we have more neocortex (part of the brain involved with
thought, communication and sensory perception) than any
other mammal. “But there’s not a shred of evidence that
the neocortex can generate feelings on its own.” Feelings,
he continues, are formed by activity in the reward and
punishment pathways located deep within the brain,
a region that’s remarkably similar in all mammals.
Numerous experiments have shown that an electrode
placed in various regions of this core bit of brain is able to
trigger a range of basic emotions in animals, including rage,
fear, lust and grief. If the architecture of this brain region,
the neurotransmitters and the suite of emotional behaviour
they generate are all shared between humans and animals,
why can’t feelings be similar, too?
It’s basic Darwinian logic. ‘‘There can be no doubt that
the difference between the mind of the lowest man and
that of the highest animal is immense,” Darwin wrote in
The Descent of Man in 1871. “Nevertheless the difference
in mind between man and the higher animals, great as it is,
certainly is one of degree and not of kind.’’ At the level of
DNA sequence, cell metabolism, anatomy or behaviour, the
similarities between apes and humans are hard to ignore.
“The same will apply for emotions,” says Panksepp.
In 2009, researchers took this kind of reasoning to
its logical conclusion, creating a taxonomy of the
Director’s notes
Imaginative bonobos
Is it possible for us to connect with – features nearly 400 abstract symbols,
maybe even talk to – other animals? each representing an English word. Liz Liz Bonnin uses a
With the distinction between human had a couple of hours to immerse lexigram board to
‘talk’ to Kanzi the
and non-human minds becoming herself in this non-verbal language
bonobo at the Great
increasingly blurred, the Animal before she met the Trust’s apes,
Ape Trust
Einsteins production team wanted to rehearsing key phrases that she hoped
see if presenter Liz Bonnin could would break the ice.
possibly share a moment of true When Liz and the BBC crew met the of chase and tickle. He even seemed to with her in the Trust’s 4WD, followed by a
understanding with another species. bonobo superstars, there was a enjoy pretend-tickling through the picnic tea.
If there’s one place where that genuine sense of apprehension. We’d glass of his enclosure. Was he Simon Bell, series director, Animal Einsteins
might be possible, it’s the Great Ape been asked to keep an open mind, but imagining what it would feel like for
Trust in Des Moines, Iowa. Here, still weren’t prepared for the surreal real? It certainly looked like it. Try mastering the bonobo’s language for
primatologist Sue Savage- Rumbaugh experience that followed. Kanzi, a Kanzi’s half-sister Panbanisha had yourself: visit the interactive lexigram
is on a mission to communicate with rather forward 31-year-old male, used more refined tastes. She invited Liz on board at www.greatapetrust.org/science/
bonobos using a lexigram board that the lexigrams to invite Liz for a game a ‘date’ – a spin around the grounds history-of-ape-language
October 2012 77
Flip Nicklin/Minden/FLPA, Tony Heald/naturepl.com, Cyril Ruoso/Minden/FLPA, Karl Terblanche/ardea.com, BBC
higher primates based solely on the way they laugh. A Panksepp’s studies of laughter in rats. He confesses that this
comparison of the tickle-induced chortling sounds made line of enquiry is frequently “the butt of bad jokes” made
by young orangutans, gorillas, chimps, bonobos and humans by some of his neuroscientist colleagues. But it does show
should reflect their evolutionary relationships, the scientists how, with a bit of creative thinking, it is possible to get a
reasoned. This turned out to be the case, with human glimpse inside animal minds.
laughter most like that of chimps and bonobos and least Previous work on rat communication revealed that these
like that of orangutans. From this, they concluded that the rodents use different kinds of ultrasonic call in different
origins of human laughter can be traced back at least 10 social settings. For instance, they utter a characteristic
million years, to a time when the last common ancestor of squeak when playing and also, Panksepp noticed, when
humans and apes walked the Earth. he gave them a tickle, as if they were giggling. He found
In fact, laughter and the warm feelings it produces are that animals caged alone were particularly keen on being
likely to have an even more ancient origin, according to stroked, and giggled far more often than animals able to
78 October 2012
Animal Einsteins
Not only do bottlenose

Director’s notes
dolphins have feelings, they
also possess personalities,
which some researchers mind-reading capuchins
have dubbed ‘dolphinalities’
You can perhaps see why people stranded presenter Liz Bonnin placed two
on an island a long way from home might non-alcoholic fruit punches
succumb to the temptations of alcohol on a bar table and blocked her view of
– but monkeys? Yet this is the fate that one of them with a wooden board. Could
befell many of the vervet monkeys taken a monkey hoping to take advantage of the
from Africa to St Kitts in the Caribbean in situation put itself in Liz’s shoes and only
the 1600s. With no natural predators to approach the drink that it knows she can’t
worry about, they acquired a taste for the see? Sure enough, that’s what the cheeky
fermenting sugar cane available on this primate did.
rum-producing isle – and, more recently, Though not rigorously scientific,
for cocktails served in beachfront bars. our simple experiment does seem to add
This unhealthy habit presented the yet more credence to the research
Animal Einsteins crew with an opportunity suggesting that ‘mind-reading’ isn’t
to investigate a skill that only humans confined to humans.
were thought to possess: seeing the world Simon Bell
from another’s point
of view. It’s a trait that
gives us a big
advantage – it helps
us to predict another’s
actions, second-guess
our opponents and
outwit our enemies.
To find out if monkeys
share this capability,
Monkey business: Liz
discovers that some bars
have a sneaky clientele
Elephants show play with others. What’s more, an isolated rat given a drug
signs of distress
known to interfere with the reward pathway in its brain
when a family
member dies chuckled much less. In short, a tickled rat is a happy rat.
Other studies reveal that animals can also exhibit more
sophisticated emotional responses. Capuchin monkeys, for
Lovebirds live up
example, are smart, highly social animals and experiments to their name,
carried out over the past decade suggest that they are nestling up close
capable of something like envy. Capuchins learned to their partners
that handing a token to a researcher would lead to a reward. and displaying
great affection
If, however, a monkey received a piece of cucumber while for one another
one of its fellows got a more desirable grape, it sensed
the injustice and responded by sulking.
Sometimes a disgruntled monkey refused to
eat the cucumber; at other times it stopped
Corvids have
playing the game, or flung the token or
an aptitude for cucumber from the test chamber in a fit
problem-solving, of pique. Chimps and even dogs can be
and complex similarly sulky if they feel hard done by.
emotional lives
Such studies are all very well, but
they only get us so far, says Panksepp.
“You haven’t looked at the brain –
you still have to infer the emotional
feeling.” There are, however, ways to
study both animal behaviour and
which parts of the brain are active.
Several years ago, John Marzluff, a
behavioural ecologist at the University
Animal Einsteins
Director’s notes
Self-aware elephants
Elephants possess the largest brains of any
land animals, yet little is known about their
intelligence. One reason for this is that
they’re potentially dangerous and devour a
tonne of food every week, making them
more challenging research subjects than
your average lab rat. But biologist Josh
Plotnik of Cambridge University was
undeterred. The Animal Einsteins crew met
him at an Asian elephant sanctuary in
Thailand, where he is probing the true
extent of the pachyderms’ intellect by
giving them a mental workout.
Josh has found that elephants are able
to co-operate in tasks beyond most
primates and, amazingly, can even Puki examines himself in
recognise themselves in a mirror. This an elephant-sized mirror
sophisticated ability, once considered
unique to dolphins, humans and other apes,
is thought to be a sign of self-awareness,
linked to empathy and altruism. image – seeing it as a rival – or revel in
To investigate this further, we shipped his sense of self?
a 2.5m-tall mirror halfway around the world Luckily, the tusked, four-tonne beast
so that Josh could undertake a special proved to be incredibly vain. Instead of running
study. It was a tense moment when Puki, amok, he admired himself, thus passing our
a huge bull elephant, was confronted with mirror test.
his own reflection. Would he charge the Simon Bell
We are not the of Washington in Seattle, began to study whether

only species to American crows could recognise and remember human
enjoy a laugh,
as this young faces. He pulled on a rubber mask (it happened to be that
bonobo’s gleeful of a caveman) and set off to catch and ring some crows.
facial expression Though that was over six years ago, the campus corvids still
demonstrates remember the mask. The similarities with the human brain’s fear response
What’s more, birds that were never caught – and their were remarkable. Had there been obvious differences, one
offspring that have since hatched – also fear the caveman, might have dismissed the crows as bird-brained simpletons.
says Marzluff. “If one bird scolds us, the others come and “But there aren’t and we can’t,” Marzluff says. “It doesn’t
scold us as well,” he tells me. (In case you’re wondering, look like the crows are experiencing a simple fight-or-flight
the crows completely ignore his ‘control’ mask, that of response.They’re thinking about it a lot, too.”
former US vice president Dick Cheney.) Marzluff hopes to use the same technique to investigate
more nuanced emotions in his study subjects. It has been
Not-so birdbrained crows suggested, for example, that corvids mark the demise of one
Next, Marzluff investigated how fear was playing out of their own by giving it a raucous funereal sendoff.With
in the crows’ brains.Wearing masks that had not been the help of anaesthetics to turn a live crow into one that
encountered before, he and his colleagues captured appears to be dead, Marzluff believes it will be possible to
birds and took them to the lab. Once a crow had find out if a feathered observer is feeling sad.
acclimatised to its caged surroundings, the researchers As persuasive as such experiments might be, Marc
gave it an injection of radioactively labelled Bekoff, a former evolutionary biologist at the University of
glucose and exposed it to its captor wearing the Colorado and author of many books on animal emotions, is
fear-inducing mask.The crow was then content to look for answers by observing animal behaviour
anaesthetised and its brain scanned, the and applying some straightforward logic.
glucose revealing the regions that had If you ask any dog owner if their pet feels sad when
been most recently active. they leave for work and happy when they return, and
80
Animal Einsteins
Many animals, such

as this lioness and
her pride’s top male,
appear to derive
pleasure from
physical contact
Elephant: Mark Yates; lions: Yva Momatiuk & John Eastcott/Minden/FLPA; bonobo: Frans Lanting/FLPA
whether it would grieve for the loss of a canine companion, onto a bumper sticker on the back of his car: “If we have
the answer will almost invariably be affirmative. “Well, something, other animals have it, too.”
why not a wolf or a chimp? Why not another animal?”
Bekoff asks. Ask who, not what, you eat
“What happens in a herd of elephants when its matriarch Where does this leave us? For Panksepp, the growing body
dies?” he continues. “What happens in a troop of chimps of research suggesting that the way animals feel is not so
when it loses one of its members? What happens in a wolf far removed from how we feel has big implications. It may
pack, a coyote pack, a family of bears, mongooses, meerkats? not mean we stop eating them – “we have always been top
There’s a radical change in behaviour – the animals go predators” – but we do have a duty to do a lot more to look
through what we call mourning.We just need to use field after the emotional wellbeing of our fellow creatures.
studies to get a handle on what’s going on.” Bekoff, a long-time vegetarian, goes further. “As we’re
Bekoff has been doing just that, devoting several decades learning more about animals’ emotional lives, it’s a matter not
and thousands of hours to watching coyotes. “There’s no of what we eat and what we wear but of who we eat and
way that they could function in the wild as a cohesive who we wear. Ask who’s for dinner, not what’s for dinner,”
group without having and sharing emotions.” he says. “We’re going to have to change how we live.”
He is unruffled by the suggestion that his argument is
based on little more than an anthropomorphic gut feeling. Henry Nicholls is a science journalist, author and
“The plural of ‘anecdote’ is ‘data’. If you have a hundred editor. His most recent book is The Way of the Panda
observations you’ve got to do something with it,” he says. (Profile, 2010).
Bekoff sums up his thinking in a sentence he has stamped
October 2012 81
Higgs Don’t Lie
Dr Sunil Mukhi traces the history and discovery of the Higgs boson particle,
and throws light on how it will change the way we understand the universe
f elementary particles had will research, particle physicists have learned that no mass and travels at the speed of light
I power, one might almost have ac-
cused the Higgs particle of hiding
the vacuum, which one usually thinks of as
“empty”, is a more interesting place than it
(it is the quantum of light, after all!) and
in consequence, the force that it carries –
on purpose. As Lewis Carroll wrote about a might seem, exhibiting the behaviour analo- electromagnetism – is long-range. We know
different hunt: “they sought it with thim- gous to that of a superconducting medium. this directly from experience: the earth’s
bles, they sought it with care, they pursued magnetic field can be sensed even thousands
it with forks and hope”. Unfortunately, the Electromagnetic vs nuclear forces of kilometres away from the poles.
theory that predicted its existence could not At the root of this discussion is the behav- Besides electromagnetism, there are
say much about its mass so the experimental iour of particles like the photon that are other basic forces in nature called nuclear
william henry.net, patrick chappatte, Sunil mukhi
scientists had to scour entire ranges of mass responsible for communicating forces. A forces. These are short-ranged and are ef-
for signs of the little beast. Each time the key property of the photon is that it has fective only within the tiny atomic nucleus.
search failed to turn up anything, they were The carriers of this force must therefore
able to rule out the corresponding interval have a non-zero mass and travel more slowly
and we became wiser about the mass values “The vacuum, which one than light. In the 1960s, scientists were seek-
where the Higgs definitely did not exist. ing a theory to describe the carrier of the
Finally, a few weeks ago on July 4, 2012, its usually thinks of as ‘empty’ “weak nuclear” force, and came upon an
discovery was announced.
The Higgs particle has a history of half
is a more interesting interesting theoretical candidate. This was a
new type of particle similar in many ways
a century and is associated to a key theo- place than it might seem, to the photon, but occurring in groups of at
retical result in particle physics, the Higgs least three. These seemed eminently suitable
mechanism. This originated in the work of exhibiting the behaviour of to describe the weak nuclear force, except
a noted condensed-matter theorist, Nobel
Laureate Phil Anderson. Through subsequent
a superconducting medium” for one problem: the symmetries of their
equations do not allow us to assign them a
82 October 2012
Particle Physics
What’s Next:
mass. Hence, they would be massless like the gress, the work of Higgs and others in 1964
The Higgs particle is just the
photon and the forces they communicate did not lead to concrete predictions that ex- beginning. The Large Hadron Collider
would be long-range, rendering them useless perimenters could try to test. They provided (LHC) is expected to discover more
to describe short-range forces. what scientists call “toy models”, exhibiting new elementary particles.
Schwinger first pointed out in 1962 that a proof of the concept, rather than realistic
there can be a distinction between the mass models of the world. The latter emerged  A proposed symmetry called
appearing in the equations and the mass of somewhat later in 1967-68 when Wein- “supersymmetry” may exist in nature,
the physically observed particles. He argued berg and Salam, building on earlier work of and new “superparticles” could be
that even when the former is forced to be Glashow as well as Higgs et al, produced the found.
zero, the latter could in some situations turn Standard Model: a precise theory unifying  There may be more than one Higgs
particle.
out to be non-zero. Following up on this electromagnetism and the weak nuclear
idea, Anderson observed that the phenom- interaction in which carriers of the latter ac-  LHC might find the mysterious “dark
matter” particles that are believed to
enon envisioned by Schwinger could occur quired a mass by the Higgs mechanism. The
pervade the universe.
if the vacuum had properties analogous to force carriers were named W+, W- and Z
 It will be most thrilling if superparticles
an electrically charged plasma – a gas of particles, and there was an additional particle,
are themselves the dark matter!
free electrons. In the latter system, a sea of the Higgs. Now the hunt was on in earnest.
charged particles “condenses” (fills up the The existence of the Z boson was indi-
space) and thereby restrains the propagation rectly verified in 1973 with the detection of
of forces to a limited range. This is tanta- “weak neutral currents”, the technical name
mount to giving the force carrier an effec- for the process mediated by this charge-less
tive mass inside the plasma. particle. But it was only ten years later, at the
Super Proton Synchrotron at the Euro-
Introducing... the Higgs particle pean Organisation for Nuclear Research
Two years later Englert and Brout, Higgs, (CERN), Geneva, that the Z boson as well
and Hagen, Guralnik and Kibble, three as the Ws were seen in isolation and their
groups working independently of each masses determined with accuracy. At 91
other, went back to the original context: to Giga-electron-Volts (GeV), the Z is nearly a
A computer
find a way for photon-like particles to ac- hundred times heavier than a proton. reconstruction
quire mass in the vacuum, rather than inside Indirect confirmation has existed for the of particle tracks
some medium. Each group demonstrated, Higgs boson too, though it is less convinc- that arise from the
simulated decay of a
in varying degrees of detail, a mechanism ing. It arises from studying certain param- Higgs particle
– related to older ideas on “symmetry break- eters of the theory with very high precision
ing” – by which such fields can acquire a and noting tiny effects that must be due to
mass. For this they had to introduce a new the existence of such a particle. A related fact
type of particle that would condense in the is that without a Higgs, it is hard to under- was the Higgs discovery. Today, this phenom-
vacuum rather than in a plasma. This would stand how the rest of the Standard Model enal machine is running beautifully
then cause the photon-like particles to have could work so well! But none of these bits and seems to have found it, at a mass of
a mass and, as Peter Higgs stressed, the new of evidence could substitute for the real about 126 GeV (about 135 times the mass
particle would also be directly observable. It thing. Construction of the Large Hadron of the proton).
came to be called the Higgs boson. Collider (LHC) at Geneva started nearly 15 The properties of the new particle have
Despite this important conceptual pro- years ago and the first among its many goals yet to be fully determined to verify that
it is indeed the anticipated particle. So the
story is not over. More exciting will be the
discovery of other new particles at the LHC.
Several proposals have been put forward for
such particles, even though no unique, sharp
prediction exists. The story is too long to
recount here but some of the buzzwords
are “supersymmetry” and “dark matter”,
and we will probably hear more about these
In “beta decay” (a weak nuclear interaction) a neutron decays into a proton and a W boson.
by 2015.
The latter immediately decays into an electron and neutrino, which we observe.
Dr Sunil Mukhi is a Senior Professor and

Chair, Department of Theoretical Physics,
at the Tata Institute of Fundamental
Research, Mumbai.
find out more

During its short life, the W travels in a “condensate” or “sea” created by the Higgs particle
(blue dots). This gives it a mass and thereby renders the weak interaction short-ranged. E public.web.cern.ch/public/en/lhc/lhc-en.html
For the latest developments at CERN
October 2012 83
Is it a stimulant?
A relaxant? Or does
it have no medical
properties at all?
The Big Idea exploring life’s great mysteries
Robert Matthews investigates
the Placebo effect

Doctors have long believed in the power of the placebo effect – swapping
a genuine treatment for a harmless substitute that still cures patients.
But just how powerful is the effect? How does it work? And can it, as new
research suggests, actually improve the effectiveness of proven therapies?
he experiment could effect – from the Latin for after using mock inhalers
T not have been simpler: “I will please” – in which the containing no active ingredient
a straight comparison mere belief that a therapy is – their bronchial tubes
of the effectiveness of a beneficial can be enough to actually expanding just as if
sedative and a stimulant. The make people well. they had been exposed to a
researchers recruited over Since then, the placebo genuine medication.
50 volunteers to get either a effect has been seen at work
single or double dose of the right across the medical Controversial conundrums
test compounds. And when spectrum. Patients with How powerful is the placebo
the results were analysed, the depression or pain have been effect? How does it work? And
conclusion was clear: those shown to respond especially should doctors make more
taking the sedative were more well to the placebo effect, use of it? Such questions are
than twice as likely to feel with harmless therapies often among the most controversial
drowsy than those given the producing improvements in medicine, the answers
stimulant, with the double dose as good as those from ‘real’ promising to cast light on a host
producing a stronger effect. medicines. But it’s not only of issues, from the effectiveness
No surprise there – except mind-related conditions that of complementary therapies
the volunteers hadn’t been respond to the effect. Asthma like homeopathy to the role
given either a sedative or a sufferers find breathing easier of trust in medical care. E
stimulant. All of them had
received the same harmless
compound, the only difference
being that the ‘sedative’ pills
were a relaxing shade of blue,
while the stimulant came in
perky pink. And those getting Corbis x2, Thinkstock, Science Photo Library
two pills were getting a double

dose of nothing.
Mind games
Far from revealing the powers
of new drugs, the study
had highlighted something
much more intriguing: the
astonishing power of the mind
to affect the body. Carried out
by Barry Blackwell and his
colleagues at the University of
Cincinnati in 1972, it’s become
a classic study of the placebo Do they know what they’re taking? A clinical trial of Omega-3 supplements
October 2012 87
The Big Idea
exploring life’s great mysteries
E Until recently, the placebo effect has defined as “a commonplace method of imagination, can produce on disease.”
largely been seen in a negative light, its medicine” in contemporary texts. Not everyone was so delighted, however.
exploitation deemed ethically dubious. That began to change with the Physicians in the US regarded Perkins
Yet according to historians, it played a publication in 1800 of a study by the Tractors as bogus medicine; the idea they
key role in the emergence of the medical English physician John Haygarth. At the might work through suggestion was taken
profession. Ancient documents, such time, great claims were being made for the as a black mark against the placebo effect,
as the 3500-year-old Egyptian Ebers curative properties of special metal rods rather than as an alternative route to a
Papyrus, describe many treatments based applied to the afflicted part of the patient. cure.
on potentially effective substances, such Known as Perkins Tractors (after their Others took a more measured view
as honey and poppy seeds. But alongside American inventor Elisha Perkins), they and regarded Haygarth’s study as a
these are a host of therapies based on were claimed to work via a mysterious demonstration of the need to take account
everything from lead ore to animal dung, ‘electrophysical force’ emitted by their of the placebo effect when assessing any new
whose efficacy most likely came from the metal. Haygarth decided to compare their therapy. Among the pioneers of this view
placebo effect triggered by knowledge of effectiveness to that of dummy wooden were doctors using the increasingly popular
the success of the genuine remedies. sticks – and found that the results were techniques of homeopathy E. Ironically,
By the 18th century, physicians had identical: four out of five of his patients despite setting up some of the first ‘placebo-
started to distinguish between the direct benefited, regardless of the sticks used. controlled’ trials to test their remedies,
impact of therapies and their placebo Haygarth himself regarded the results homeopaths have since become the prime
effect. Yet the latter was not always as proof of the “wonderful effect the targets of criticism that any efficacy is
dismissed as quackery: the term itself was passions of hope and faith, excited by mere ‘merely’ the result of the placebo effect.
The unsavoury application The appliance of science

of metal rods known By the mid-20th century, medical
as Perkins Tractors
researchers were moving towards ever
more scientific methods of assessing
the effectiveness of new therapies. So-
called randomised double-blind clinical
trials emerged, in which patients were
Alamy x2, Bridgeman art library, Science photo library, getty, the national library of medicine, wikipedia
randomly assigned to receive either the

new treatment or the ‘useless’ placebo
– with neither they nor the researchers
knowing who received exactly what. Only
treatments that did significantly better than
a placebo in treating patients were deemed
medically acceptable.
But as the results from such trials came
in, researchers were stunned to discover
just how many patients appeared to benefit
from getting just a placebo. In 1955,
the American medical researcher
TIMELINE 1500
H In the Ebers
1800
H English
1891
American
1927
E Russian
The Placebo Papyrus, Egyptian

physicians describe
physician John
Haygarth reports
1859
physician Oliver
Wendell Holmes
physiologist Ivan
Pavlov publishes
Effect bizarre medicines,

including crocodile
on an experiment
debunking the G US healer
attacks the
growing popularity
a study of
‘conditioning’,
dung and lizard’s use of expensive Phineas Quimby of homeopathic showing that
blood, whose medical equipment, argues that the medicine. He responses can
restorative effect showing that the claims of physicians maintains that be triggered by
is now ascribed benefits could be to cure “does not those who claim stimuli with no
to the placebo attributed depend on any drug to benefit do ability to cause
effect. entirely but simply on the so “through such responses
to the patient’s belief the influence – like dogs
patients’ in the doctor or exerted upon their salivating after
belief. the medicine.” imaginations.” hearing a bell.
88 October 2012
Homeopathic treatments continue
to divide the medical community
alternative medicine
Homeopathy
Invented 200 years ago by a German
physician, homeopathy claims to treat
medical disorders by giving patients
dilute solutions of substances that
would trigger similar symptoms in
healthy people. Controversy surrounds
the claim that the solutions are effective
even when they are so dilute that
not a single molecule of the original
substance remains in them.
Many mainstream scientists insist
that patients taking homeopathic similar number of trials of conventional against homeopathy. However, the
remedies often ‘think themselves treatments. This found that positive homeopathic community insisted that
well’ via the placebo effect. It is a results from homeopathic trials could be the trials had been specially chosen
view apparently backed by a 2005 explained by the placebo effect. and analysed by skeptical doctors,
study comparing over 100 trials At the time, the study was hailed undermining the study’s conclusions.
of homeopathic remedies with a by skeptics as a knock-out blow The controversy continues.
Henry Beecher published a landmark paper example, the common cold – are ‘self- should benefit more patients than giving
entitled ‘The Powerful Placebo’, which limiting’, meaning they get better of their absolutely nothing at all.
reviewed the outcome of 15 placebo- own accord. Patients involved in trials What Hrobjartsson and Gotzsche
controlled trials. It concluded that the also tend to have extreme symptoms that found still provokes controversy. Far from
proportion of patients who improved after become more typical over time, which can benefiting 1 in 3 patients, the placebo
being given only a placebo was typically again fool doctors into crediting benefit to effect appeared to be medically useless.
around 35 per cent. the placebo effect. Apart from some evidence of small benefits
It’s a result that has hardened into a But if the 1-in-3 figure is a myth, what for some conditions such as pain, placebos
widely accepted rule stating that around is the true figure? In 2001, two researchers appeared to be no more effective than
1 in 3 patients can be cured using nothing at the University of Copenhagen published doing nothing at all.
but sugar pills. Inevitably, things aren’t a study aimed at revealing the real power The results made headlines around the
that simple. For a start, Beecher had made of the placebo. Asbjorn Hrobjartsson and world, the media seizing on them as proof
a fatal blunder in his analysis, having Peter Gotzsche examined the outcome of that the whole idea of a placebo effect
assumed the placebo effect explained all over 100 clinical trials where a genuine was a myth. In reality, Hrobjartsson and
the improvements in patients not receiving therapy had been compared to giving no Gotzsche did not dispute the existence of
the real therapy. In reality, there’s a host of treatment at all, as well as to a placebo. the effect – simply that it is too small to
alternatives. Many medical conditions – for If the placebo effect is real, then it be medically useful. But other researchers
insist even this goes too far, arguing that
the entire study was fundamentally flawed
1955 1961 2001 2012 (see Question Time, page 91).
American Walter Kennedy, Asbjorn H Researchers at the Philipps
Clinical criticism
researcher Henry a US-based Hrobjartsson University, Marburg, argue for
Most of the criticism has focused on the
Beecher publishes physician, coins and Peter Gotzsche the use of the placebo effect to
his famous study
way the study tried to find a ‘typical’
the term ‘nocebo’ at the University reduce the amount of an active
in the Journal – from the Latin of Copenhagen drug needed to benefit patients
placebo response rate by lumping together
of the American “I will harm” – for publish a study on long-term medication. studies of everything from cold cures to
Medical the harmful effects of over 100 Alzheimer’s disease to marital disharmony.
Association. The that beliefs and clinical trials Critics pointed out that studies have found
study’s results expectation can that compares strong placebo effects in disorders like
suggest that in the have on otherwise genuine therapies depression, weaker but still substantial
region of 35 per healthy patients, to no treatment. effects in others like pain, and virtually
cent of patients who could be led The results found none in conditions such as diabetes.
benefit from the to believe that they no placebo benefit. Other researchers have criticised the
placebo alone. were seriously ill. use of evidence extracted from clinical
trials. They point out that in such trials E
October 2012 89
The Big Idea
exploring life’s great mysteries
E patients know they have only a 50 per misled into thinking they have been given
a matter of interpretation
cent chance of getting the placebo or the an active compound even when this isn’t
active drug, so they aren’t sure which true. And these kinds of studies have found
they’ve received. In contrast, laboratory compelling evidence of the reality of the The nocebo effect
studies of the placebo effect involve placebo effect – including its ability to
volunteers who, unlike genuinely ill mimic the effect of active compounds on Just as sick people can be led to
patients, can be deliberately and clearly the human nervous system, as revealed feel better by placebos, healthy
through medical scanning methods. F people can be persuaded to believe
Other studies have focused on revealing they are very ill indeed. Dubbed the
how the placebo effect physically affects ‘nocebo effect’ (from the Latin for
the body. For example, a study by Fabrizio “I will harm”) in 1961 by an American
Benedetti of the University of Turin and physician called Walter Kennedy, it
colleagues gave volunteers injections can be extraordinarily powerful.
of capsaicin, the natural substance that In 2007, doctors in Mississippi
produces the burning-like sensation of described a case of a 26-year old
chilli peppers, before administering a man rushed to hospital after taking
cream said to act as a powerful painkiller. an overdose. After telling doctors
In reality, the cream had no active the pills came from a clinical trial
ingredients at all – but the volunteers of a new type of anti-depressant,
reported that it had eased their pain at he collapsed, his blood pressure
just the place where the injection had plunging while his heart-rate soared.
taken place. The researchers then gave Medical staff set to work, treating
the volunteers naloxone, a compound the low blood pressure with a saline
that blocks the action of the body’s drip. Four hours later, he was still
neurological changes
own painkilling compounds, known as lethargic with a stubbornly low blood
endogenous opioids. The pain returned pressure. Then a clinician involved
How placebos – suggesting the placebo effect can bring in the drug trial arrived on the scene
affect brain activity the body’s painkillers to bear precisely

where required.
and realised that the man had been
part of the group secretly given a
harmless dummy substance routinely
The idea that the placebo effect Extra benefits
is ‘all in the mind’ has been given Such findings raise the intriguing
a new twist by research involving possibility of using the placebo effect
brain-imaging technology, allowing to ‘turbo-charge’ the effectiveness of
researchers to compare the effect conventional therapies. Researchers at frequently associated with powerful
of placebos with those produced the Philipps University at Marburg, and even lethal side effects. PCDR has
by active compounds. For example, Germany, have recently argued for using already been shown to produce benefits
a team led by Martin Ingvar at the the placebo effect to allow drugs to give in conditions ranging from asthma to
Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, the same benefit at lower dosages. Known multiple sclerosis. Research by Benedetti
Sweden, used so-called Positron as Placebo-Controlled Dose Reduction and his colleagues has also shown that
Emission Tomography (PET) to (PCDR), the technique involves using the dosage of a powerful painkilling drug
examine the areas of the brain placebos instead of the real drug in, say, given to patients following surgery can
affected by remifentanil, a powerful half of the tablets given to patients. In be reduced by over one-third
opioid drug used for pain relief principle, this could help increase without loss of effectiveness.
during surgery. They found that the the margin of safety Now, researchers are
so-called rostral anterior cingulate of many drugs, studying the fine detail of
cortex (rACC) region of the brain was which are placebo responses to maximise
affected by the drug – and that the their effectiveness and are
same area was also affected when finding many subtleties. For
patients were given a placebo they example, the way they are
Science photo library x2, Getty
believed would also dull pain. administered can be crucial,

Similar findings have been made with injections having
in scans of patients with depression, more impact than pills.
with changes in brain activity And it can also work in
following an antidepressant reverse, via the so-called
appearing in the same areas ‘nocebo effect’ G , in which
if the patients are given a negative beliefs of patients increase
placebo instead. the risk of negative experiences.
The mounting interest in
90 October 2012
.
Question Time
Does the placebo effect
have medical value?
Asbjorn Hrobjartsson
Nordic Cochrane Centre,
Copenhagen, Denmark
NO The classical conception of the

placebo effect that grew out of
Harry Beecher’s work in the 1950s was that
a large number of patients in a large number
of clinical conditions improved drastically
because of a placebo treatment. Despite the
The ‘nocebo effect’ can
be far more powerful than
lack of reliable evidence, many commentators
mere hypochondria continued to believe in dramatic effects of
placebos. This opinion was challenged in 2001,
when we published a systematic review of 114
used in trials to gauge the effectiveness of the nocebo effect and a neurotransmitter randomised clinical trials that compared placebo-
the real drug. called cholecystokinin, which is treated with untreated patients. Our research
Informed of the true nature of the associated with feelings of anxiety. clearly shows that there is no evidence to support
‘antidepressants’, the patient suddenly Brain scans have also revealed that such a position. However, we did find an average
began to recover. Within 15 minutes, he patients fearful of entirely harmless small-to-moderate difference between those
was fully alert, his blood pressure and treatments have increased activity in receiving placebo therapy and those receiving
heart-rate completely normal. regions associated with real harm. no treatment for patient-reported outcomes, like
As with the placebo effect, researchers But perhaps the most worrying parallel pain. It is difficult to clearly differentiate between
have attempted to link the nocebo effect centres on the attitudes of physicians. If a real effect of placebo and experimental bias
to biochemical reactions linked to human positive attitudes can benefit patients, – such as patients reporting what they think the
responses. In 2006, researchers at the the nocebo effect may lead to downbeat researchers want them to report. Furthermore,
University of Turin found a link between diagnoses harming patients. effects of placebo could be larger under special
circumstances – for example, depending on how
patients have been informed.
Bruce Wampold
exploiting the placebo effect raises got better, compared to just 39 per cent
University of Wisconsin-
questions about whether the benefits of those getting the downbeat version. In
Madison, USA
can justify the blurring of trust between other words, the attitude of the physicians
doctors and patients. This trust is already
being stretched: surveys show around half
of doctors already give placebo treatments
emerged as far more important in treating
the patient than the medicines they were
handing out.
YES The evidence for the placebo
effect is very strong in
experimental studies designed to detect it.
to a significant number of their patients. For over a century, the placebo effect Hrobjartsson and Gotzsche’s studies include
has been regarded with suspicion, seen clinical trials not designed to detect placebo
Doctoring doctors by some as the last refuge of the medical effects. For example, one of the placebos
Ironically, the doctors themselves may scoundrel. Yet that perception now seems included in their study was an injection of saline
be the most potent source of a placebo to be changing, with results that could solution into new-born babies. No-one would
effect. In a study carried out at the transform the practice of medicine. expect to see a placebo effect in a neonate
University of Southampton, one group who does not have the cognitive capacity to
of patients was given a clear, firm Robert Matthews is a science journalist create the expectations necessary to see these
diagnosis and told they would soon and holds the position of Visiting Reader effects. When my laboratory examined the
be better – with some being given no in Science at Aston University, UK. same studies as Hrobjartsson and Gotzsche, but
www.robertmatthews.org
treatment at all. restricted them to ones where placebo action
Meanwhile another group received find out more was theoretically possible and the design was
a vague diagnosis and no assurance about E Placebo Effects
adequate to detect it, we found a robust placebo
recovery, regardless of whether they by Fabrizio Benedetti (Oxford University Press, 2008) effect. In fact, the placebo effect approached
received treatment or not. The results were the treatment effect – that is the placebo
spectacular. Patients who receive treatment E Placebo: the belief effect created benefit for the patients equivalent to the
proved no more likely to recover than by Dylan Evans (HarperCollins, 2003) active treatment. Placebo researchers do not
those given nothing. But 64 per cent of E www.tinyurl.com/32pwh3 consider Hrobjartsson and Gotzsche’s study to
those patients given a positive consultation An online review of placebos in history be a reliable estimate of placebo effects.
May/Jun 2012
Buzz
A campaign for a noble
cause on social media
Knowledge Magazine India
We have always tried to make

BBC Knowledge an interactive Do your bit to save the Asiatic Lion. Share this with your friends and
read. Here’s just a snippet of educate them about the conservation of the majestic beast!
what we’ve been upto
Save the
Do your Bit
BBC Knowledge conducted an
There are campaigns, there are
extensive campaign on its Facebook pledges, and there are organisations
page, propagating the cause of the that inform you that a mere 411 Asiatic
Asiatic Lions in India. The objective lions survive in India and that you
of this activity was to spread should help save them. But haven’t
you wondered, inspite of empathising
awareness amongst Facebook with the cause- what is it that YOU can
users, about the dwindling do? After all, you’re not the poacher or
population of these species. A letter the consumer of products derived
from the animal. So what can you
posted by the BBC Knowledge team REALLY do to save the lions?
went viral, with fans sharing it with
their friends. Interactive activities Do This:
were chalked by the team to keep 1. Google the Asiatic lion.
members engaged and this included 2. Understand Wildlife Protection laws better- http://bit.ly/SaveTheLion
3. Find ways to get involved with the local lion sanctuary, zoo or wildlife
quiz contests, trivia and facts about
governing bodies. Pledge your support. Ask questions.
the Asiatic Lions. 4. Then. Spread the word. Start the conversation.
Like • Comment • Share  31

38 people like this
Knowledge - British Council India Olympics-themed Quiz

BBC
Knowledge Magazine India
Usain Bolt put up a stunning performance to successfully

defend his 100 meter title at the Olympics! Can you tell us what
country Bolt hails from?
a. United States
b. Trinidad and Tobago
c. Jamaica
Keeping pace with the Olympics fever, BBC Knowledge India partnered
with the British Council India to conduct an Olympics-themed quiz
on Facebook. A tab was created, where a new question was posted
everyday, and a daily winner was announced from amongst the
participants with the correct answers. The initiative was well received
by fans and in a span of just one week, more than 500 entries were
recorded for the contest.
Winners of the Olympics Quiz

Like • Comment • Share 
Q1 - Rohit Sharda Q2 - Preksha Modi Q3 - Amarish Nagori
59 people like this
Q4 - Aman Khanjanchi Q5 - Yasser Jehangir
Write a comment....
Q6 - Nishigandha Dande Q7 - Atanu Banerjee
SCHOOL
in f o c u s
The Bishop’s School, Pune
Established in the year 1864, The Bishop’s School,

Pune was registered as a Public Trust in 1950. The
school today has three branches in Pune: Camp,
Kalyani Nagar and Undri. In addition to being a day
school, The Bishop’s School also has a boarding
facility available for its students in Camp and Kalyani
Nagar. Students are prepared for examinations
conducted by the Council for the Indian School
Certificate Examinations (ICSE), New Delhi.
1. The Annual Speech and Prize Distribution Day

at The Bishop’s School, Camp.
2. Inaugural Ceremony of The Bishop’s
Invitational Football Tournament (BIFT) 2012,
at The Bishop’s School, Camp.
3. The Senior School Annual Concert at The
2 Bishop’s School, Camp where the musical
3
stage adaptation of J K Rowling’s Harry Potter
and the Philosopher’s Stone was staged.
4. Students from The Bishop’s School, Camp,
participated in a student exchange programme
with Neungin Middle School in Daegu,
South Korea.
5. The 7th edition of the BIFT inaugarated by
Principal Frank Freese.
6. The Annual Speech Day and Prize Distribution
for the Bishop’s Co-Ed School, Undri.
4
5 6
If you would like us to visit your school and have it featured on this page, write in to us at [email protected]
Gadgets
New Tech
The latest gizmos and apps creating buzz in the market
 Backpack on wheels  Touch-free sound

The Bergmönch, designed by Koga, Japanese group, E-Revolution has come up with
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The Dino Files!
Free apps to
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each. The accompanying dino-quizzes are a good way to test your newly
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Users: iPhone, iPod touch, iPad
96 October 2012
 MONSTER CAM
This Digital Video Camcorder by Chinavasion, comes
with a power packed zoom. This 12 megapixel camera
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turns into the big boss of zoom cameras once the screw-on optical telescope
zoom lens is attached to it. Take videos of ferocious wildlife without disturbing
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 Projecting the future

Samsung’s new smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy Beam is the
perfect low-maintenance gadget to show off. Point it to a wall,
a screen or even your palm and this smartphone is
transformed into a competent projector. Weighing
a mere 145g, it comes with a built-in 15 lumens
 Intelligent biking projector along with an SD slot. It features a bright
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just like your new-age car and be connected to all your camera, doubling up its cool-quotient! For a
smart gadgets? The Yamaha EC-Miu e-bike is a new phone that packs in so much, it is a sleek and
concept that does just this thing! This rechargeable sporty-looking number, thanks to the yellow body
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Have suggestions for any gadget/application? Share with other readers, please email [email protected]
A Hubble view! Alchemists Inc

HubbleSite, the online quarters of The Alchemy Classic is an innovative new
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Users: iPhone, iPad, iPod
October 2012 97
The last word
Western Ghats as a World Heritage Site has been long time coming, says Vivek Menon
“The world had miscalculated and only a few in

the delegation were privy to the drama”
he Sahyadris is one to the drama that ensued. box filling bureacracy, waiting
T of the 10 ‘hottest To understand this, one for all the tick marks to appear
of hot’ biodiversity must know something of the while overlooking the urgency
sites of the world. It is one of politics of heritage listings. to list what they themselves
the 25 hotspots globally and Why did Karnataka, one of have claimed as an acclaimed
constitutes up to half of the the four states that had some gap in world heritage sites, a
planet’s biodiversity in just of the 39 sites that were being place of Outstanding Universal
under one per cent of its land proposed in the combined Value (OUV). Others attribute
area. These are treasure chests, listing, object vociferously even complicated sinister
that to qualify as a hotspot instead of being happy to conspiracy theories.
need to harbour at least 1500 having a natural heritage site to Some countries have used
species of vascular plants that match that of Hampi? Follow the ‘heritage’ tag for enhanced
are endemic and should have national dailies and it is no tourism revenues (Machu Pichu
lost at least 70 per cent of their secret that the mining lobby in Peru is a classic example),
primary vegetation, i.e. these of the state controls most of others for political reasons (the
are those natural jewels that the agitations and much of the Palestinian proposal to list the
have been polished by a lethal while Italy has 49 or China politics and they had obvious birthplace of Jesus Christ which
cocktail of endemism and 43, was galling enough. But concerns about international incidentally also got through).
endangerment. In Norman the hardest nut to swallow was recognition for their raw Sometimes, it is indeed helpful
Myers’ words, they are one of the national and international material backyard. Why are to have it in the list of World
“Earth’s biologically richest opposition to the Ghats being the locals up in arms against Heritage if, God forbid, the site
and most endangered terrestrial listed on the world heritage this? Or are they really? My is threatened by destruction
eco-regions.” list. Even before we landed in only supposition is that they (such as Timbuktoo in Mali
In the above lines, lies my St. Petersburg, leading Indian are, if at all they are, misguided that is today threatened by
genetic and scientific rationale dailies were carrying articles by coteries who tell them that the Taliban) to garner world
for firmly believing the on the improbability of the such listings will deprive them support and resources to
Western Ghats to be a World Ghats making it to the list, of their rights. But all the areas protect it. So the only people to
Heritage Site. It was thus a quoting eminent scientists, declared are national parks, worry about a World Heritage
privilege to serve as an advisor conservationists and social sanctuaries and reserve forests, listing are those that have
to the Indian Government in workers while doing so. where rights have either been interests in destroying it.
its delegation to the 36th The International Union settled or if not, would be so What we make now of the
session of the World Heritage for Conservation of Nature under Indian law. The recently 39 gems set in the necklace
Committee of United Nations (IUCN) had twice deemed passed Forest Rights Act of Western Ghats is what
Educational, Scientific India’s proposal too far would doubly ensure that they the Indian polity will be
and Cultural Organisation reaching and ambitious which would. Even if skeptics believe remembered for.
(UNESCO) at St. Petersburg, required more work. that Acts are pieces of paper We must ensure the people
bringing to India the world A spokesperson for indigenous only with no ground level living in and around the
heritage tag for the Ghats. people took the floor just implementation, some of which heritage, want it and treat it
I wish it were as easy as it before the motion was tabled, I can sympathise with, this like a heritage and that their
sounds. To think that India had seeking that the proposal be condition would not change for stake is assured.
mark read, m ramith
not proposed this magnificent rejected as his constituency better or worse with a World
mountain chain as a heritage was not consulted in the Heritage Site listing. Finally,
Vivek Menon is the founder and CEO of
site till a few years back is deliberations, or so he claimed. why were natural history
the Wildlife Trust of India and Director of
itself a historical oversight. To But the world had advisors, such as the IUCN International Fund for Animal Welfare.
know that we had only 28 sites miscalculated and only a few of against India pressing for He is also a wildlife conservationist,
tagged as heritage on the list, us in the delegation were privy inscription? Some suggest petty author and photographer.
98 October 2012
August 2012 99

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Big mouth strikes again

An insight into the elusive Bryde’s whale p46

www.knowledgemagazine.in Volume 2 Issue 6 October 2012

SCIENCE • HISTORY • NATURE • FOR THE CURIOUS MIND

Unlocking secrets of the

choose to take a stand? p38

Celebrating Hubble’s Find out how illusions Do animals have

BIG MOUTH STRIKES AGAIN

An insight into the elusive Bryde’s whale p46

MOUTH SCIENCE • HISTORY • NATURE • FOR THE CURIOUS MIND

UNLOCKING SECRETS OF THE

Barely 2m away from the

42 October 2012 October 2012 43

46 Big Mouth Strikes Again

PLUS: THE REBEL IN ALL

THE EAGLE NEBULA

shine as a brilliant star cluster.

54 Portfolio: Hubble’s Greatest Hits

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umans have an odd new theories about how our brains

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aren’t the only species with feelings. least about

74 Do Animals Have Feelings Too?

A growing body of evidence suggests that

to peer through the interstellar Bill McGuire, Director

humans aren’t the only species with feelings

the earliest days of the agency

30 Unlocking Secrets Of The Earth’s Core

38 The Rebel In All Of Us

Rebellion is alive and kicking, yet only some of us

46 Big Mouth Strikes Again

54 Portfolio: Hubble’s Greatest Hits

understanding the Earth’s core?

70 The Undaunted Wilderness

What is it that makes the Western Ghats of

74 Do Animals Have Feelings Too?

82 Higgs Don’t Lie

The discovery of the Higgs boson particle

Does replacing a proven treatment with a

SCIENCE • HISTORY • NATURE

PLUS: THE REBEL IN ALL

Find out how illusions Do animals have

24 Update 12 Q&A 18 Snapshot

Experts this issue

and diplomacy. from the August 2012 issue.

permitted, and Mr. Charles Dickens’s

determined, Dickensian held; lots believed a

fteen I’d read Oliver in his cook’s took their

an antidote for from winked at whispered The gruel

Aswitha, Chennai Gaurav Oberoi, via email

recently I read And somewhat basin and table; and

brilliant, from consistently rebel for ed

His greatest  The master replied Oliver, “I in a faint

addressing when Mr.

was going to be decided I

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His greatest The master replied Oliver, “I in a faint