Sasa eet pee Aas ee pte ag ee Ue Qn a rd rt SCIENCE BOOKS OF 2024 THE REAL REASON SO MANY PEOPLE REGAIN LOST WEIGHT Rr eee —_\ "RE VERSING——— bbl OE A Et he incredible new technology... __that can save lives... oe _hoours after the heart has stopped ____ ee DOGGY DAY CARE Bi Rrelcn ire Vanier cme Tm el malelt lied IEBEEeee a PLUS ASTRONAUTS THINK SLOWER IN SPACE / THE FISH THAT DOESN'T SLEEP / ROBOTIC PIGEON / POA Co). OU Yah A OO eR AN Meal melsisCHRISTMAS TREE PROJECTOR TIN Open this festive tin that projects a ‘Merry Christmas? message to find even more magic - heaps of mel all butter shortbread trees. £6 THIS IS NOT JUST FOODThis week’s issue On the cover 32 Reversing death The ncreabie new technologythatcan save neshours after ‘eheart has stopped 36Dogoy day care The scent: way to hhouse-tran your hound News ‘Realisticreptica Alcan mime the behaviour ‘ofinavidua peopie 11 Supergiant star Phototakenofastarin another galaxy fr fist time 14 Counting calories Isisting the umber of calories Indishes onmerus doing ‘more harm than good? Views 21.Comment ‘We should be more sceptical ‘ofchaty nurman-thkerobots, saysNicoleKobie 22The columnist ‘Annalee Newtzona visionary cil engineer 24 Aperture fein and around.a shrinking oassin Moxocco 26Letters Prospects of colonsing Marsare tulydre 2sculture Tis year's best science books, 12 Why useful quantum computers realy are loser than ever REVERSING avis 28 Our writers pickthe best science books of 2024 19 The realreasonsomany peopleregainlost weight 18 Astronaut think slower in space 16 Thefishthatdoasn seep 15Robaticpigeon Vol264 No3si9 Hot wateron Mars ‘Cover image: Westmac ‘9 Wty COP29 was alte 13 Transferable skills Chimps seem to buldon each others techniques 36 Features “For millennia, e expected dogs to guard our property and protect our family” Features s2Backtolite Experiments that reanimate brains suggest that death couldn fac, be reversible 36 Good dog! How selective breecing ‘and carefultraningcanhelp ‘ogsatapt to indoor fe a0 Electric dreams: Thehuntfornew particles vith strange elect charges The back pages ‘48 Debunking gardening myths Do crushed eggshels around plants putoff slugs? 45 Puzzles Tryourcrossword, quick qua and logicpuzle 6 Almost the last word Why do we growlots of and nose ha as we age? 437 Tom Gauld for New Sclentist ‘cartoons’ take an the worl 438 Feedback Asclentiiestudy of badassery, plus emus take fight 3oNovernber2024|New Scentist |xon New Scientist Online event Best of New Scientist Joinus fora resow ofthe biggest clonic storia ofthe yea as, told by the team at New Scien Ps, put yourquestions tour expert panel ofoumalts about thal favour atilas of 2024 and what they predict wllbe the big science sores of 2025 and beyond This subscriber-only onlineevent starsat 6pm GMT/1pmESTon 10 December newscientist.com/events Tour Mysteries of the universe: Cheshire, UK Over aweokend, basedin 4-starhotl you wil enjoy ‘cele of fascinating lectures hasted by astronomy journalist Stuart Clark Hear leading astrophysicist discuss the cosmos from lackholesto the James Webb Space Telescope There aso an excursion ta ‘UNESCO WorlaHertage Ste Jodrel Bankto see te conic Lovel Telescope This three-day Weekender statson 27 une and costs £000, newsclentist.com/tours Podcast Weekly Ina food speci ne team ddscuss wy some people put weight barkon after hey have lost rand what theetfects are of acing calorie abelsto menus ‘There's anew study showing that lchatbats can replicate people'sunigue thoughts and personales. Pus hear about haw chimpanzee cuture gras ‘cumulatively across generations newsclentist.com/nspod alNewScientist|30 November 2025, Incredible nebula Discover cosmic sectetson a weekend ‘Super cell newkind of cheap battery can boost renewables Video Fearsome lava ‘Arve volcanic eruption has occured on celands Reykianes peninsula the sith this year, fallowing the 15-Kdometre-ong crack hat openedin January. ‘Brone photographer leroen Van ‘Neuwenhnovefle over the Fissure causedby the volcano inthe early outs of 21 Navernbefiming thelava low, whichcoversatleast 7 squareklometres youtube.com/newscientist 3 : 2 Newsletter Fix the Planet Blecticvehicebateres are wing up tum esenes,buta cheaper itenatwemade romabundant | urBlckFiéay& Cyber Monday Sodiumisbelngmass-produced | Salels here Unt December you InChina ind, the US and ‘anenloy discounts tthe New Sweden, Sodiumionbatieres | Scientist Shop, Whether you are arelesspowerfulandso largely | actriousreader looking io expand ‘wont be used invehices, but yourmindor whether youare ‘theycanstoreenerayproduced | searcingforthe perfect a,naw bysolarand wind farms, tne time to die into evrything the ‘newsclantist.com/ ‘New Sctentist Shop hast offer. fixtheplanet shop.newscientist.com‘Bel Can-do’ eee Re ee co ae horology accessible, This subtly chiming timepiece caused @ cacophony. And enormous demand. (The first 600 sold out in 8 hours.) Asked could Re eR ee ee Oe ead Re Coa Cee a a a es for purpose as the gear chain of the new Bel Canto Classic. Which features en ee ee eur eas Cee ana eee en eee eee ed laser. Outward displays, we like to think, of inward grace. (Bel Can-)Do your research ee Paver) CreeThe leader Dealing with monsters In both literature and science, banning ideas that sound scary holds us back IN 1818, Mary Shelley invented technology that has been used for both good andillin the centuries since. Its called science fiction, ‘You may not thinka literary genre countsastechnology, but sc/fistories have long been tools for predictingand critiquing science. Shelley's Frankenstein, regarded by many asthe first true sci-fi novel, was powerful enough forSouth Africato ban tin 1955. Itset the formula, withatale that serves even today asa warningof unintended consequences. ‘Theprecisescience employedby the eponymous Vietor Frankenstein in his creation isn’t, as far as we know, possible. ‘But researchers today areableto bring dead humanbrains backto something resembling life. Experiments are under PUBLISHING & COMMERCIAL emerald vet decor has Newton Dla versie maltese ‘ama iataeaicom ‘ncountmnoper isch ‘saxo 8 tall salpgscenscom Nunes dir ics sous ‘ey acount manager ph Wo New Sent rents “lung 554 alingnewnenin Sttesanger Seen indo eadofevent progution inves Ne mmerdal recs cr sve and fecal ‘one an sistant vi ses Tew Scent Dcovery Ture Dirt Kern cue ‘Senor ra mana Paton Prout manger Ost Data Maken dco ons ead of campaign nating er halen rach manager retrace eee acme Shea cs aap Headofs andicinoogy eerie ch uate omen cig arse an ur erence Maw eet cn eager aegis nor not end Geioer iat sanes "ratmeipe ‘ont dir sinlins te depen ‘way toresume cellular activity (but, crucially notconsciousness) after death, totest theeflects oftreatments forthe likes of Alzheimer’s disease (see page’). Itishardnottothinkofthemany sc/-fitalesdealing with similar scenarios and imagine what might happen next. “The teams behind the work are blurring the lines of fact, fiction and what it means to be human” ‘Thesameis rue of workreportedon page, in which researchers are usingthe technology behind ChatGPT toreplicate ‘thethoughtsand behaviours of specific Individuals, with startling success. Inbothcases,theteams behind this research, blurringthe lines of fact, fiction NewScientist intron ttn gic ‘GacFamcbtontce Soak al ‘Chenin Wah ects nee ua incr ats on senirtinaer anythin ances k= contactus eon coment Genre sapien ee nated mal ntommnatorsettiee on ‘ymin “ebune comet gency ced nos s88 Tats sense Serre sewacentcom/neription compen tn Ue malt atcporseremccrestcom ‘Poste Sea ctw ue eat and, Tayo eath West sss RS Severs git esc ped wy eersaantad hea wee) alse etree ‘peasy oa Crregyte and what it means o be human, are ‘deeply awareofthe ethicalconcerns involved in theirwork, which is being ‘conducted with trongeethicaloversight, and ith its details made public at an ‘early stage. Butnow that thetechnology hasbeen demonstrated, theres nothing tostopmore nefarious groups attempting, the same, without oversight and with ‘the potential to cause great harm. Does that mean the research should be banned, as helley’s book was, for fearof it ‘getting into the wrong hands? Far from it. Concerns about tech are best dealt with ‘through appropriate, evidence-based regulation and swift punishment for transgressors. When regulators overreach, we miss out not only on the technology but thechance critique and discuss it. EDITORIAL ‘eee citrine deLange erate eo io eel “Genelec crighace Newser ach oe EE at ‘aca media mangers Blin See segment eer rhe eae ete cog seria = ae soma Desien sted nae esas Phebe ae ‘Redan manage os gh ‘ruber fry Ocaaghn itr Si ste Cr Wee ‘Sbedor ls Wnuk Depa atanes coro Barders "Renita Damen yi s0November2024 New Scentst5Discovery Tours NewScientist _ New tours to amazing places for curious minds ‘The science of champagne: Northeastern France 8June 20255 days |Whet your appetite with an insightful champagne escape based in the heart ‘of Reims in northeastern France. Explore the famous champagne houses of Taittinger, Bolinger and many more as you delve into both the history and production processes of champagne. » about the grape-growing process, ‘omposition and climate that make ‘he champagne region unique. Discover he underground cellars where boties age for years, offen in stunning halk eave, 2 Experience the rch history ofthe region, Including Its rlein royal coronations and histrieal events. The science of primary rainforests and wetlands: Malaysian Borneo 11 August 2025 | 10 days, Explore Malaysia’ primary rainforests and wetlands, including the Kinabatangan ‘wetlands, Tabin rainforest and the Danum Valley as Alfred Russel Wallace did before \riting his 1869 book The Malay archipelago. 2 Expect tosee many endangered speces, anda plethora of birds. Visit the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, Bean Bear Conservation Centre and the Rainforest Discovery Centre Enjoy wilde stars river ruses, teks and evening walks 2 Throughout the tour you wil be accompanied by Martin Cohen, an experienced naturalist. Stay in rainforest lodges and nature resorts Inthe neart af the forest reserves. The world, better travelled Find out more newscientist.com/tours Churchill polar bear expedition: Canada 21 October 2025 | 6 days Travel to Churchill in northern Canada toseethe world’s greatest concentration ofpolar bears, eam more about theit evolutionary history and learn about the role ecotourism play in the protection of polar bearsand Arcticbiodiversity Experience intimate polar bear encounters, spending five days exploring the Churchill ‘area among the word's greatest concentration ‘of polar bears. Enjoyan exclusive tundra excursion after dark that provides a unique perspective including ‘hechance, on a clear night, to view the norinern lights away trom town see-through outdoor viewing deck, get You loser tothe bears.‘Wood created from Woltspecies maybe Bacteria inasteroid Einstein'stheories Enormoushomet stem cellstoreduce firstinowncamivore | sampleprobably tested on thelargest appearsin Europe treetelling pollinator from Earth sealeever forfrsttime {& Lavaheadsto Icelandic spa eee ‘This molten lavathit the roadon the Reykianes peninsula, tceland, last week - heading towards the BlueLagoon geothermalspa, amajor tourist destination. The lavaerupted froma fissure about BF 3 lometrestong that opened up near the Sundhniksgigar craters 021 November.Itisthesixth eruption there thisyear, but the lava'simpactis localised and, dospteits direction of travel, posesnothreat to people. goNovember202s|NewSclentist7News Technology Alcan mimic individual people The personalities of specific people have been replicated with Al agents as part of an effort to create an alternative to polling that also raises ethical concerns. Chris Stokel-Walker reports AN EXPERIMENT simulating more than 1000 real people sing theartificial intelligence model behind ChatGPT has successfully replicated their uniquethoughts ‘and personalities with high accuracy, sparking concerns about the ethics of mimicking individualsin this way. Joon SungParkat stanford University in Californiaand his colleagues wanted touse {generative Alto model individuals as away of forecasting the impact ‘of policy changes. Historically, this hasbeen attempted using more simplisticrule based statistical models, with limited success. “We really had to simplify human behaviour alot to make these models, says Park. "What we havethe opportunity todo now is simulated human behaviour totrialthe impact of policy is vast” says Richard Whittle at the University of Salford, UK. Politicians could also use these toolstotest messaging, hesays, ina fasterand cheaper way than focus groups or polling. Yet Whittlesounds note of caution, “Human behaviours delightfully complex and context dependent, hesays, "Simulated ‘groups may be very useful, butif thecontext changes significantly, ‘human response will likely stllbe thego-to.” y 4 Potential for problems Being too quick o rely on AL agents could create issues, says Catherine Flickat the University create models of individuals that of Staffordshire, UK. "While think areactually truly high-fidelity: We Varledashumane are, points (arXiv, doi org/ntk}. thisis really interesting esearch, canulldanagentofapersonthat Alseemsablettoreplicate “Wedidn’tquiteknow what __Ithinkthat thas somequite ccapturesa lotofthelr complexities ourresponses wewereexpecting. saysPark, problematic potential," she says. ‘and idiosyneratie nature” though hesuspected that it would “The [agents are] nevergoingto Tobuild the Al-generated ofthe“big five" personality bepossibleforAlmodelstodo understand [anything], because agents,theteam recruited1052 traits, fivebehaviouraleconomic _wellonthesetestsgiven anecdotes they can't understand what its peopleintheUS representative gamesandifivesocialscience of ChatGPTusersfindingthe Al tobeinacommunity.” ‘ofthe wider population.Each experiments. Theoriginalhuman could intuit facts about them." The workalso raises broader participanttookpartinazhour participants werealsoggiventhe _wasanicescientifievalidation” __questionsabout the ethics of speakinginterview withavoice- sameteststwice,twoweeksapart. Parksayshis“core motivation” mimicking individual humans enabled version of GPT40, the Ingeneral, the Alagents {stoprovidebettertoolsforpolicy- behaviour soaccurately. While mostsophisticatedversionof _closelyfollowedthe participants’ makerstotest outtheimpactof _thereis nosuggestion thatthe ‘themodelthat powersOpenAts responsestotests. Thehumans _thelrproposalsinamore nuanced _ALagentsarealiveor conscious ChatGPTt00l-TheAlwasgiven _didn'tgiveidenticalanswerstwo waythanbroad-brushmodelling ina Black Mirrorstylesimulation, general script to follow but weeks later, withamatch ofabout of populations. Whilesomemay even Parkand the team were keen alsoinstructedtolistentothe _‘Sipercenthetweenthetwotesting worry that theabilty oreplicate _toengage withsuch concerns. answersin ealtimeandadapt sessions forthe GSS. Inturn the “Wetake the ethics extremely Itsquestionsasneeded,asking _Alagentshadarawaccuracy of “The potential of effective seriously” says Park Hepoints out participants forthestory oftheir around 69 percent againstthefirst simulated human that any participants who want to lifeand views onsocietalissues. GSStestingsession,meaningthey behaviour to trial the can withdraw their data~and Theresearchersthenfedan Al- _wereessentialy 85 percent impact of policy is vast” —_ therefore their ALagentfrom generatedtranseript ofeach accurate when considering the thestudy orfrom being accessed Interview intoadifferent instance differing humananswersbetween humanemotions would be gold by otherresearchers. “Thisisa ofGPT-4oandaskedthe modelto thetwosessions.theaccuracy mine formarketers,theethical huge opportunity, but weare imitate each person. figuresweresimilar slightly approvalthe researchers sought _alsoextremely cautiousabout ‘Theteamputeachofthese AI —_lower,fortheothertests. he Al __fomparticipants imitstheuse not makingthis eelto seta agents through arange oftests, _agentsalsooutperformedsimpler, ofthe agentsandtheir underlying badprecedentthatsgoingto Includingalong-runningsocial _demographic-based modelsat_datastrictly oracademic mpactoursociety in waysthat attitudes survey calledthe General matchingthe responses of| purposes” he says, are creepy or not Social Survey (GSS),anassessment individuals by 14 percentage “The potential of effective toindividuals."€ powering {New Scentst|joNovember2024‘Analysis Climate negotiations Anger over COP29 finance deal threatens progress on carbon cuts Areluctant deal finalised at the climate summit may not be generous enough to encourage nations to submit more ambitious climate plans, says Madeleine Cuff AFTERalong and fraught night of talks, COP29 in Baku finaly concluded n the ear hours of 2s November witha deal that willsee weatthier countries funnel billons of dllarsto poorer counties ‘over the next decade to pay or cimate action. Despitethe high rrumbers involved it's deal that seemingly pleases no one, and hascalledthe COP climate surnmit process into question ‘The finance deal was the main focus of hemeetingin Azerbalians capital, with lower-income countries lobbying for $500 ition ‘year of support from higher- income countries. Negotiations were tense, as nations contending with inflation, strained comestic budgets and potical instability balked at sucha large spending “This deal, in our opi not address the ‘enormity of the challenge we all face” commitment. Atane point during the final stretch, talks looked on the brink of collapse as poorer nations walked out of discussions. Eventually nations agreed on a package that would see wealthier countries pay atleast $300 billion a year in grants andlow-interest loans to poorer nations by 2035, a part ofa wider target to mobilise $1.3 tllionin cimate finance year. The source of the extra $1 tilon hasn't been agreed, but Could include private investment. ‘Speaking atthe summit, COP President Mukhtar Babayev said the package was the “best possible deal we could reach’ Avinash Persaud atthe Inter-American Development Bank said the deal was ‘a the boundary betwen what is Demonstrators outside the ‘climate conference have been, «alin for stronger action, politically achievable today in developed countries and what ‘would make a difference in developing countries" But the agreement was widely condemned by poorer nations and campaigners as inadequate ‘tomeet the scale of need facing ‘these countries, which are grappting ‘with both building zero-emission canaries and coping with increasingly extrere weather. ‘Moments after the deal was gavelled through by Babayey, India's representative Chandni Raina criticised the package, which she said her country dir support ‘We are disappointed in the outcome which clearly brings out the unwilingness ofthe developed country parties to ‘uf their responsibilities’ she said. "This, in our opinion, wil not address the enormity of the challenge we al face” India, which will receive funding under the deal is one of dozens of high-emiting nations that needs to submit a fresh climate plantothe UN by 2025, ahead of next years talks in BraziIts emissions are set to grow by 4.6percentthisyear,andits India's delegate Chandni Raina criticised the climate ald deal struck at COP29, current planto cut emissions 'sratedas "highiy nsuiiient” by Climate Action Tracker an independent body that assesses ‘governments’ climate plans. Limiting warming to between 1.5*Cand2°C, asset outinthe Paris Agreement, depends on countries tke India submitting ‘much bolder carbon-cuting plans - known as nationally determined contributions (OCs) ~ tothe UN in February. Campaigners had hoped a successful agreement topravide mare cash for poorer countries would unlack more ambition from these nations ‘The disagreements over finance inBakuhave lef delegatesheacing home witha biter tastein their ‘mouth, and poorer countries are already warning that the deal does lite to build enthusiasm fr further ambition. "We are extremely disappointed inthe outcome, which Undermines any goal of having ambitious NOCS and signals a lack ‘of goodwill by develoned countries” SierraLeone's environment minister, woh Abdulai saidin a statement The often chaotic scenes in Baku, runby apresidency withlitle ‘experience in climate negotiations and extensive fossi fuel interests, has also raised wider questions about the future of UNclimate summits, During the meeting, an opentettersigned by COP veterans, including former UN secretary (general Ban Ki-moon, was released calling for the cimate meetings to become more "streamlined, with ‘greater focus on delivering catbon-cutting policies. The letter also called for hosting rules to be tightened, to only allow those counties taking ambitious climate action to hold the presidency, Iwi be up to the Brazilan ‘goverment to repair faith in the COPprocessasa vehicle for atving action whenit hosts COP30 in Belém next year. Braziian President LuzinacioLulada sina has described that meeting asa ‘turnaround COP} witha focus ‘onaccelerating the transition to rnet-zero emissions and fleshing Dut the details ofthe finance committment made in Baku "This COP processneeds to recover from Baku saidLi Shuo ofthe Asia Society Policy institut, {US thnk tank ina statement. "ttrequires more leadership to eliveran outcome inline with 15°Cnext yearin Brazil” H goNovember2024|NewSclentst9News Materials science Sliver of wood grown from stem cells Culturing wood in the lab could be an alternative to felling rare trees for lumber JamesDinneen tissue ever produced from cell = each other’,they arecombined Technology. “The million-dollar Whatthe rm calls cultured wood isthe arborealequlvalent oflab-grown meat Thetis piece & ofmaterialwas madeusingstem 3 celstom Arabidopststhatand, thebest growingconditions for stemcellsfrom diferenttrepical “The million-dollar question hardwoodspecies,suchasteak. is ifthe cells connect. Are Eventually,theresearchersaim they lumped together or tousethesecellsto replicate wood are they shaking hands?” aasimall, mustard lkeplant from opicalhardwood tees that commonlyused inlabstudies. Start-up firmNewDawn arethreatenedby ilegallogging. lumped together, orate ‘Thesplinter, which Clement says Bioiggrowing plant Clementsaysfocusingonthese they shaking hands?” isdarkbrown, isonlyaboutan _stemeelisinculture rarespeciesmeansculturedwood Clement declinedto share cighthofthesize ofapostage could displaceharmfullogging —_detalsabout how the cells stamp. Thegoal,however isto actualtrees.Clementsaysthe _with relatively small-scale connect or the mechanical usestem ells romvarioustree approach nvolvestwomain produetion.Lab-grownwood _ properties ofthe resulting wood. speciesandto producelarger _stages.First,plantstemeellsare__would be expensive, but i Velésquer-Gareia says it would pleces of wood, suchasan putinsugarwater,enablingthem —couldstilleompetewith bbe"big”ifNew Dawn Biohas entiretabletoporachalr togrow fast. Then, they are costly wood from rare trees. solved this problem, but without Thecompany aims to produce exposed to chemical or genetle This isn'tthefirsttimescientists more detailson the splinte's ‘wood moreefficently andwith _cuestomakethemaifferentiate _havetriedtocreate cultured wood. _mechanieal properties it alowerenvironmentalimpact__intofibrecelsfilledwith cellulose Researcherspreviously reported impossible to judge whether thancutting down and processing theprimarycomponentof plant usingplantstemcellstoprint_thestart-uphasdone so. 8 Zoology Ethiopian wolves poker (Kniphofia foliosa) flowers. “"Tomy knowledge, no other i Locatpeopie have traditionally large carivorous predator May be firstknown tscitnenecarasasweetene ‘exhibits nectar-feeding, though Carnivore pollinators torcottee andontiat bread. ‘some omnivorous bears may. ‘The wolvesare thought ‘pportunistically forage frnectar” ‘Some of the wolves were seen visiting as many as 30 blooms Inasingle trip. As they lick the BY FEEDING onthesweetnectarof tobe theirs arge carnivore: ‘localflower picking uppollenon species ever tobe recorded theirsnoutsasthey do o,awolf regularly feeding on nect speciesmay bethefirst carnivore “Forlarge camivores, such nectar, the wolves! muzzles et known to act asa pollinator. as wolves, nectar-feeding is covered inpollen, which they The Ethiopian wot (Canis very unusual, due tothe lack of «ould potentially be transferring simensis)istherarest wild anid _physicaladaptations, such asa from flower to flower as hey species inthe worldand Africa's __long tongueor specialised snout, ‘most threatened carnivore. Endemic and because most flowers are tothe Ethiopian Highlands, fewer too faglleor produce too little {eed (Ecology, doi.orgins9x). “The behaviours interesting because it shows nectar-feeding than 500 individual survive. nectar to beinteresting for and pollination by non-fiving SandraLaiatthe University of largeanimalsy'saysLa ‘mammals might be more ‘Oxford and her colleagues observed Thessturdy,nectar-richflower An Ethioplanwoickng ‘widespread than currently wildEthiopianwolveslappingup _headsof the pokerplant make nectar roman Ethiopian recognised,’ saysLal. thenectarofEthiopianredhot this behaviour possible;she says. redhotpokerflower GraemeGreen sol NewScientist| 30 Noverber2025Solarsystem Meteorite crystal hints at hot water onancient Mars James Woodford CRYSTAL inside a Martin ‘meteorite suggests there was plentiful hot water on Mars \when the rock formed about ‘4.45 billonyears ago. ‘Therock, nicknamed Black Beauty, was blasted into space by an impactoon the surface of Mars before ultimately crashing into the ‘Sahara desert. Muchhas already been leamed from studying the ‘meteorite, which was discovered inMorocco in 2011 andis formally known as Northwest Africa 7034. ‘Aaron Cavosie at Curtin University in Perth, Australia and his colleagues have been studyinga fragment oft thatincudesazircon cexystaljust 50 micrometres across. ‘Theplece was crystallised Inmagma below the Martian surface. Cavosie and his colleagues, discovered thatthe zircon crystal also contained ron, aluminium and sodium, neatty arrangedin, thin layers tke that of an onion (Science Advances, oi.orgig8rad)). Elemente ike this are also found in ircon crystals ata gold ore deposit sitein South Australia, says Cavosie, “These kinds of zitcons are only known to form where hydrothermal processes, hot water systems, areactive during magmatism” he says. "Thehot waterfaciitates transportation ofthe ron aluminium. ‘and sodiuminto the crystal asit ‘rows layer by layer” ‘The absence of radiation damage tothe Martian zirconmeans the extra lements were part of the cerystalto begin with, rather than contaminating it later, says Cavosie. Eva Schaller at Stanford University in California says it the rockdld form inthe presence of hot water and magma under the surface of Mars that suggests the possibilty of water vapour being released into the planet's atmosphere before the formation ofriversandlakes. 1 Photo taken of astar in another galaxy for first time Alex Wilkins ASTRONOMERS have captured ‘thetirst detailed picture ofa star Inanother galaxy, morethan 160,000 light years away. The ‘glantstarmay be showing signs ‘that tis just years away from ‘exploding, a process we have never seen in deta. The largest stars ever glimpsed rered supergiants, ‘which arestars that have run ‘out of hydrogen fuelin their ‘cores. Ashellorhydrogen gas surroundingthe core burns Instead, massively expanding thevolume ofthe star. One of the largest red supergiants weknowof is WOH G64, sometimes called thebehemothstar.Itis between 15qoand2s75times the size of thesun and resides in asatellte ‘galaxy of the Milky Way, the Large MagellanieCloud. The starhasbeena target for astronomers since it was discoveredin the 1970s, but ltsdistance has made t hard toexamineclosely. Now, Jaccovan Loon at Keele University inthe UK and his colleagues have taken a close-up picture of WOH G64 usingthe Very Large Telescope Interferometer in the Atacama desert in Chile, ‘collection of four individual telescopes linked together tofunctionasifthey werea single, 200-metre telescope. “In this image, we can see detatl hich would be equivalentto seeing an astronaut walking ‘on the moon,” says van Loon. “Youcan'tsee that through anormal telescope pointing atthemoon” The image, which was taken using infrared light, shows bright bal of gas 2575 Giant star WOH G64 may be this ‘many times the size ofthe sun and dust, at morethan 100°C, that thestar has pumped out and that now surrounds tas dense cocoon (Astronomy & Astrophysies, dol org/g8rmdy) “tsreally astructure we hhadnot expected to actually, see,’ saysvan Loon. “We had expected just toseethe star inthemiddle” Thestarappearsdimmer ‘than when itwas last observed, sothe gas and dust probably appeared relatively recently, ‘The Very Large Telescope Interferometer (let) has takentheabovepicture ot ‘lant star WOH G64, whieh sitsinthe Large Magellanic Cloud (boxed, ltt) saysvvan Loon. It might have ‘been produced by the star Dlowingoffits outer layers, which astronomers have never ‘capturedin a red supergiant. If that is what happened and the process resembles one seen in similar stars called blue supergiants,then it might be aasign thatthe star is decades ‘oryears away from exploding, “itwe can seethisstar ‘explode, we have much more delail about astar before it’s ‘exploded than everbefore,” saysvvan Loon. “itstechnicaly extremely Impressive to be able to reconstruct an image ofthis “object given its extreme distance” says PaulCrowther at the University of Sheffield, UK. However, itisharderto say for certain whether the observed ‘gasand dust, andthe associated dimmingin brightness, area sign of an imminent explosion, “stars ke this object are well known tobehighly variable” says Crowther. "t's simply what happens in these objects where they have this dense, slow ‘outflow that doesn't govery farfrom the star. They're we known tobedust factories” 30 November2o2g New Scentst xNews Technology The coming quantum revolution Computers that exploit quantum physics to speed up calculations are making great strides, find Karmela Padavic-Callaghan, Matthew Sparkes and Alex Wilkins QUANTUMcomputerspromise entanglement whichcant simply _Ontheerrorcorrectingfont, _thisentangledstatetheteam tosohecertainpoblemsmmuch _betransattedby ave. thetechnobogy progressing” hasalready sucesshully employed fasterthan conventional devices, Togetaroundthis researchers inmultipledirecions.One __someerrororrecton techriques, butmajorhurdlesremain such” havedevelopedamethodto promisingapproschistoconnect _shesays.nprlimlnar tests, asmakingthecomputersiarge entangleapatrotqublsand _physlealqubtsintogroupscalled using theselogcalqublts for choughwhllereduringenors. tekportonctoasscondchip, __ogkalqublis,wheresomeare _stmplecsiulationshod an eer Lastweek thre bigplyersinthe forgingaquanturalinkbetween wsedforcomputationwhile _ratecboutfourtimeslowerthn burgeoningquantum industry, thetwodevicesthat mustbeothersarereservedaseror. ——_whenusing conventional qubts demonstratednewtechniques mediatedbyaconventional _—_detectiontools Microsoft and" ManuelEndesat the California thattogethersuggestthe day computer. IBM has now Atom Computing saythey ave Insituteof Technology says thesemochinesactualy become successfully demonstrated -—«setanewecordferthe most the Wotk"Indleatesthaeror Usefull draing dover. thisbycomnectingtwooflts _entangledioglcalqubltsacrucal correction ith thousands I Fist 1BMhasmadea Beglecuantum procstingunils, steptowards efulcomputation not tens of thousands, of physical stgnicantadvanceontheroad —eachwithi2yqublttoperform—_(arkly doLorgfntal) {ubitseanear term prospect tolaygerandmorepowertil—scaculation requiring total Therirms used aquantum auanmconpetesty king ofiaquhts-moretncot cmputeronstratestom — Of two devices togethersothey can _fitatone time oneither chip ultracold ytterbium atoms to 'o performalcustionsbeyondthe (Nature dolorg/ntda) create 2g loglalqublisandlinked —Reduconin quantum computing {apabltiesofetheralone themthroughentanglement."We _enorswhenusng AlphaQubt Al TBM isusingsuperconducting arecodesigningand utldingthe chipsthateanbeproducedbythe Early steps Mork'smos powerful quantum _Svoreandhercolleaguesare Samemachinesthatmakeexisting_ Scott Aaronson atthe MnachinersayskiystaSroreat—alieady working ovtardscrestng Computerhardware.Onelste Unlersty ofTexasat Austin MlerosoR."To myknowledge, _5ologlalqubitsand eventually WwiththischoicesthattheinputsaysIEMhasnow demonstrated thsisthelargestentangled _wanttomakeo0 them, which andoutputwitesforthechipsare ancatlysteptowardsageal_sateoflogealqublts” they estimate wouldbesurfcent farlagerthanthequantumbits, dlscusedfordecades “Really Shesaysthisopensthe door _toachleveealbreakthroughsin orqublsthatdothecalcuating, saalingupsuperconducing——tousingloglalqubltstorun using quantum computers for Thsmeansthequblsmustbe quantumcomputerswilrequre algerthms Incudingthosefor _materlas lence or chemistry. spaced furtherapartthanthe amichmorehigh-fdelty tmorcorredion Infactocreate Lasth,Google DeepMind ttansiorsinaconventional _versionofthe same thing. hastatenadlfferentapproach processor reduclngthenumber onethatwouldle hundreds or Asplaymodel toemor conection using ateanbesqueezedontoachlp. thousandsofsuperconducting of BM Quantum artflalinteligenceto interpret Thatis why IBM wantstobe chips operateas one” Information fromerzor detecting ableto linkup its chips ubits This ificulttask known “iwsagamethatyouwinby asdecoding,isusually performed sort ofbreaking tup into chunks} byadassica algorithm and says Blake Johnson at 8M, “Thisis success is closely tiedtothe ‘central choice [an] engineering 5 coverallerror correction capacity choice we vemade interms of how : i ofaquantum computer which, ‘we're scaling up our systems. And Ff ‘ intuen dictates its ability to therearescientiie questions to run useful real-world tasks answeraswellas engineering Johannes Bausch at Google {questionsto answer about the DeepMind andhis colleagues consequences ofthat choice” ' havenow developedan Al model ‘That isbecausegetting called Aiphacubit that can {quantum chips tocommunicate decode these errors more witheachotherismuch more efficiently and more quickly dificultthan doingsowith ) than any existing algorithm, conventional chips, where data esigninga decoder for isrepresented by the absence or quantum error correction codes, presence of anelectrca signal you'r interested in vey, very Quantumcomputersinstead rely high accuracy highly non-trivial? conthestrange physics of quantum # Bausch old journalists ata System Twocomputer s2|New Sclentist |3oNovember2024press briefing on 2 November. “AlphaQubit learns this high: accuracy decoding task without human toactively design the algorithm fori Al-powered auschandhisteamuseda transformer neural network~ thesame technology that powers theNobel prize-winning protein: prediction Al, AlphaFold, and lange language models like ChatGPT ~ tolearn how data from error detecting qubits correspondsto aqubit errors. They first trained themodel with data froma simulation of what the errors would looklike, before fine tuning iton real-world data fromGoogle's sycamore quantum computing chip. Inexperiments onasmall ‘numberof qubits on thesycamore chip, Bausch and his team found that Alphagubit makes 6 percent fewer errorsthan thenext-best algorithm, called atensor network. Thisimprovement may seem small, but tensor networks become increasingly slowas quantum computers get bigger, so can't scaleto future machines, Whereas AlphaQubit appears tobeableto run just as quickly, according to simulations. That ‘makes it promising tool asthese computers grow, says Bausch (Nature, doi.org/g8emrx) “istremendously exciting.” says Aaronson, "Its been clear fora while that decoding and comecting the errors quickly enough, ina fault-tolerant quantum computation, was goingto push classical computing {othelimitalso.ttsalso become clearthatforjust about anything classical computers do involving optimisation or uncertainty, you ‘ean now throw machine leari atit andthey might doit bette Zoology Chimpanzees seem to pass on technological advances to others Christa Lesté-Lasserre ‘WILD chimpanzees seem to learn improving on past innovations. ‘skllsfromeach other and then Thefact that chimp tools are much ashumansdo improve often made from biodegrading fonthosetechniquestrom ene plants alsomakesit dificult for ‘generation tothenext. scientists to track thelr cultu Inpartcular, young females evolution, says Whiten. that migrate between groups To seeit young females ~ bring theirculturalknowledge which leavetheir communities ‘with them, and groups can tofind mates elsewhere while ‘combinenewtechniqueswith males stay put - bring their ‘existing ones to get better skllsets into their new groups, at foraging fr food. Such Whiten and his colleagues looked “cumulative culture" means some chimpanzee communitiesare “The genetics give us becomingmore technologically _akind of time machine advanced overtime albeit very into the way culture slowly saysAndrew Whitenat_ has been transmitted” ‘the University of St Andrews, UK. ‘tfchimpanzeeshavesome _atdataon 240 chimpanzees cultural knowledge thatthe representing all four subspecies. ‘community they'removinginto _Thedata was previously collected doesnt have,theymay passit _byotherresearch groupsat 35, ‘on-justin thesameway they're _studysitesin Africa and included passing thegeneson,‘hesays. information about what tools, “"and then that culture buildsup." if any, each animal used, as well, Sclentistsalready knew that _astheirgenetic connections chimps are capable of using ‘ver the past 15,000 years. toolsin sophisticated ways “The genetics giveusa ‘and passingonthat knowledge kind of time machine into the ‘ooffspring. But comparison way culture has been transmitted ‘with therapid technological across chimpanzeesinthe development of humans, past" says Whiten. ‘seemed chimpanzees weren't ‘Some chimpanzees used Some chimpanzees use sticks tofishout termtestocat ‘complex combinations of tools, forexamplea driling stick and fishing brush fashioned by pulling a plant stem between ‘heir teeth, for hunting termites. ‘The researchers found the chimpanzees with the most ‘advanced tool sets were three to fivetimes morelikely to ‘share the same DNA than ‘those that used simple tools ‘oro tootsat all, even though ‘they might tive thousands of kilometres away. Advanced ‘tool use was also more strongly associated with female migration ‘than simple ornotootuse (Science, doi.oralg8rmtx). “Our interretationis that ‘these complex tool sets are really Invented by perhaps building on simpler form from before, and ‘therefore they have to depend ‘on transmission by females from ‘the communities that invented ‘them initially to all the other ‘communities says Whiten, ‘itshows that complex ‘tools wouldrely on social ‘exchanges across groups” ‘says team member Cassandra Gunasekaramat the University ‘of Zurichin Switzerland. Thibaud Gruberat the University of Geneva says the definition of complex behaviour isdebatable. Hisown team for ‘example; has found what they called cumulative cuturein chimpanzees that make sponges ‘ut of moss instead of leaves. ‘This sno more complex, but ‘works more efficient to soak tupmineral-ich water from clay pits. "t'snot a question ‘of being more complex, but ‘of just having a technique ‘that builds ona previously ‘established one he says. 1 3oNovember2004|New Scents 13News Analysis Publichealth Are calories on menus doing more harm than good? Many restaurants inthe UK and US now print a dish's calorie count on their menu, buts this really tackling obesity, asks David Robson WHEN you goto a restaurant, you ‘may wellbe presented with a wide array dishes, each printed ona ‘meny alongside cloriecontent ‘chicken burger andres may come {0 1597 kilocalovies Swapthe meat § foraplant-based substitute, andit could seto 1746 kcal. Opting for the vegan bacon ketchup adds ~anotner 300 kcal Since 2022, these calorie labels have been compulsory for any restaurant, café or takeaway chain in England with more than 250 staf, as partof an anti-obesty campaign launched in 2020 by the government ofthe then UK prime minister Boris Jahnson.Yetthe benefits to public ‘health are contentious, with ‘emerging studies rasing serious {questions about the assumed effects on cansumer behaviour, "The ideas that having mare information means that people will make better cecisions says ‘Mike Essmanat the University of Cambridge. "But there may beso ‘many other, potentially stronger, effects that are going to affect their decisions. People may think about, say, value for money rather than lower calories" England’ poy follows the US's ‘example. New York City took the lead n-2008 and, adecade later calorie labeling becarne mandatory across the US foranyrestaurent chain wth ‘more than 20 locations. Astudy {rom 2018 suggested that people ‘hose slighty Iawer-calorermeals ‘asa resull,withan average reduction (of 47 kcal - which makes up around 2 percent ofthe dally recommended Calorie intake for aman and 2.5 per cent for awornan, Using this igure, Zé Colombet atthe University of Liverpoolin the UKandher colleagues recently constructed armatheratical ‘Modelo predic the long-term. Consequences ofthe policy for the ‘body mass index and cartiovascular sease isk ofpeoplein England sglNew Scientist 30 Novernber 2025 ‘over 20 years. Theresuls predicted decrease of ust 031 percentage pointsin the prevalence of obesity, and 730 fewer cardiovascular deathsby 2041. ‘Thismay seem tke asmall affect, especially given that 830,000 cardiovascular deaths are expected ‘over that perio, but Colombet says itshouldn'tbe totaly discounted Reducing obesity and preventing deaths cannot be disappointing for me, especialy for apolicy that does not seem toincrease health 47 kcal average reduction incalorieintake ermeal with labelled menus, according toa 2018 study 730 fewer UK cardiovascular disease deaths predicted by 2041 based conthat calorie intake reduction 35% of calorie counts on surveyed UKmenus weren't accurate Calorieabelting is mandatory Inthe US forchainewithmore than 20 restaurants inequaltes nor affect people's purchasing power! she says. The ‘model also suggests thatthe policy couldprevent up to 9200 deaths if itwere expanded to include every eatery notjustlarge chains. BButthe UK governement may wish to consider ather strands of evidence before expanding the strategy in England, Megan Poiéen, also atthe University of Liverpool worked with ssman andthe'rcolleagues to survey 3000 diners before the lecislation was introduced ana anciier 3000 afterwards. They found that having calories on menus ‘made no signficant change to peoples eating choices, There may be a moralargument formaking people aware of what ‘hey are purchasing and eating, says Essman. "But people may need ‘more suppartin order tose the information. For example, menus couldincude infograpics that ilustrate what a balanced meal looks ike he says. Informationis aso onty usefulifit {accurate The guideines require the calorie counts tole within a 20 per centmargin of error but study by ‘Amy Finlay also at the University of Liverpoa, alongwith Polden and their colleagues showed that 35 percent ofcalories printed on sampled menus situtside hisrange, ‘The errorsincluded both under ‘and overestimations, which may have come about due tovariations Inpotion sizes orthe methods used tocalculae the content Thereis no reason obelieve that outlets are deliverately misleading consumes, buthis uncertainty may reduce the public's trstin the policy says Finlay. The approach'spotenia to reduce ‘obesity should also be balanced against howit may influence people with eating disorders. 2017 study found thatlisting calories on menus ‘may make people with anorexia ‘or buimia oder food with fewer Calories, whereas people with binge eating disorder maybe mot ikely tocrder meals with ore calories. *People ae talking about how they now feel Eke they cant gointo certain restaurants because they fear ‘hat itil set back their recover ays Tom Quinn atthe Uk eating disorders charty Beat ‘Whether the new UK government vill efine the policy in England remains tobe seen, but such research may influence other rations, The Scottish government, {or instance, has paused plans tointroduce mandatory calorie labels while it appraises the long-term consequences. ‘When the stakes for physical ‘and mental health are so high, the public deserves a decision based ‘onthe strongest ciencerather than assumptions. "You could say thatthe palcyisastepin the ight drection,but we need a better understanding of the ways that people are interacting with that information says Essman. &Space Bacteria found in asteroid sample brought back to Earth - but they aren't from space Alex Wilkins AROCK that was brought back fromtheasteroid Ryugu appears tohost microbial life. But these ‘microbes almost certainly came fromour planetratherthan cuter space say researchers This contamination serves asa cautionary taleinthe search for extraterrestrial life insample return missions such asfrom, NASA’ Perseverance rover on Mars, 12020, Japan's Hayabusa 2 spacecraft returned to Earth with 5gramsof rock from thea sillion-year-oldasteroid Ryugu. Afterthe sample capsule landed in Australia, it was taken toafaeility in Sagamihara, Japan. There, the capsulewas opened in ‘vacuum room, itselflocated in sn room, before being moved toapressurised nitrogen-filled room for longer-term storage. From there, parts ofthe sample couldbe put insidenitrogen-filled containersand sent out for study. ‘One sample was ent tothe UK tobestudied by Matthew Gengeat ac Technology Roboticpigeon reveals how birds fly without a vertical fin [APIGEON- inspired robot has solved the mystery of how birds fly without the vertical tall fins that aircraft ely (on. The prototype couldlead to passenger aircraft with less drag, reducing fuel consumption. Tallfins, also known as vertical stabilisers allow aircraft to turn from side to side and help prevent Unintentional changesin direction. ‘Some military planes, suchas the Northrop B-2 Spirit are designed without atailfin because it makes them less visible to radar. Instead, they use flaps that create extra drag on justone side when needed, but Imperial College London and his colleagues. Genge’s team initially scannedthe sample using X-rays and saw no evidence of bacteria Three weeks late, the researchers transferred the sampletoaresin,and after another week they examined itusing ascanning electron Imleroscope (SEM). When they “Students were almost falling off their chairs at saw what looked like filament: shaped bacteria, Genge’sstudents ‘wore almost “falling offtheir chaits”atthe prospect they had discovered extraterrestrial. "It was an exeiting moment, but also inthe back of my mind knew from previous studies how easy itis for Dacteriato colonise rocks,” he says. By tracking the growth ‘ofthe bacteria with follow-up SEM measurements, they found this ie anineffcient solution. Toinvestigate how birds stay Incontrol without a vertical fin, David Lentinkat the University of ‘Groningenin the Netherlands and his colleagues created PigeonBot I, ‘The design includes 52 real pigeon {feathers and abird-ike tail and test lights have been successful Lentinksays the secret to PigeonBot Its successisinits programmed reflexive tail movernents, designed to mimic those known to exist in birds. you hold apigeon and ttt from side to ide or back and forward, its tal automatically reacts and moves in ‘complex ways. This has ong been, ‘thought to bethe key to birds’ stability, but nowt has been proven by the robotic replica. ‘thenumber ofbacteriach inasimilar way to known, microorganisms (Meteorites & Planetary Science, dotorg/ntth. Combined with their familiar shapeandtheirabsence duringthe first Xray scan, iis likely they were terrestrial in origin, says Genge. He suspects the sample was contaminated when orafterit was ‘embedded in resin, This took place ina facility that was also handling terrestrial space rocks, which often contain bacteriathat areadapted tolivingin rockspecimens. “When we'te preparing meteorite samples, forexample, we usually don’tseethiscolonisation ‘occurring, and that’s because the chances are really low,’ says Genge. “inthis ase, single bacterium fellon that sample andstarted to grow” he says."It only needs one bacterium orone bacterialspore ‘inorder for this to happen. Theworkshouldserve asa warning for futuresample return missions, adds Genge. nged i Pigeontot robot esigned to mimic the ‘ya techniquesof bis ‘The researchers programmeda ‘computer to control servomotors inPigeonbot I. These steer the craft sing propellers on each wing, but also automatically twist and fan the talinresponse, creating the Thediscovery of microbes within aspace return sample really shouldbe the gold standard fordiscovering extraterrestrial life hesays.“But our discovery really shows that youhaveto be so incredibly careful about that Interpretation, because samples ate so easy tocontaminate with terrestrial bacteria.” Javier Martin-Torresat the University of Aberdeen, UK, says therindings suggest aterrestrial origin, but this doesn’t ruleout that thebacteriacame fromelsewhere. "When youwant to determinethat those microorganisms are not froman extraterrestrial origin, then you should dosome DNA, sequencing,” he says. ‘The workalso booststhe idea ofbacteria surviving elsewhere "Microorganisms canutiliseorganie materials within meteoritesin orderto sustain themselves—they are dining out on extraterrestrial snacks,’ says Genge. & intheuniverse. stability that would normally come froma vertical fin. Lentink says the reflexivemovernents reso complex that no human could direct fly Pigeonbot I. Instead, the operator issues commands to anautopilo,eling it toturn eft orright, and an onboard computer determines the right control signals. After many teststorefine the system, PigeonbotIl was finally able ‘0 ake off,ruise and land safely (Science Robotics, dol.ora/g8rit7). “Now we know the recipe of how tory without a vertical tal. Vertical {alls, oven fora passenger aircraft, arejust anuisance.Itcosts weight, ‘which means fuel consumption, but also drag it’sjust unnecessary rag} says Lentink, Matthew Sparkes 30 November2004|New Scents 1sNews Geophysics Carbon may have helped Earth's iron core solidify JamesDinneen SPRINKLING of carbon in Earths Inner core could explaina mystery about how the deepest part of our planet solidified. ‘The inner core presents a paradox: itformed as a massive liquid ball of _mostiyiron, then began to solidity ‘within the past bilion years. Fr that process tostart ina pure ion object, {would have hadto cool by at least 700kelvininthat time period, Which seems impossibly {ast given how big the ores. Alfred Wilson at the University of ‘Leeds, UK, and his colleagues have ‘now simulated the cooling of the Inner core fanother element was Involved. The coremosty consist of ron and nickel, but about 10 per cent ismade up of an unknown ‘composition of lighter elernents tke silicon, sulphur, oxygen and carbon. Theresearchersuseda ‘supercomputer to simulate the Interactions of ron and carbon ‘atoms under the high pressure and ‘temperature conditions of the inner core EarthArXiy, dolorg/ns®2). ‘With earbon atoms making up about 15 percent ofthe non-iron. ‘and nike mix, solid clusters of ‘atoms started to formwithasittle 35250 Kof cooling, aplausible ‘temperature changein roughly billion years, says Wilson. Wilson says amore complex simulation ~ including oxygen ~ ‘might reveal a scenario where the inner core could solidify with ‘eventess cooling. 1 Thelnner creat our planet is ahot, dense ballofmosty ion a 6 |New Scientist 30 Novernber 2024 Zoology Wild cavefish can somehow survive with almost no sleep Michael LePage SLEEPisthoughttobevital _of intermediate forms. The forthe health ofanimals surface fish were foundto sleep Indludingus,butonekindof between 3and 6 hours perday, cave-dwelling ishcan manage —_basedon theiractivity level, without it Itappearsto be whereasthe cavefish and healthy despite this, with Intermediate forms barely slept. anormal lifespan, Theteamthenconfined some ‘Alex KeeneatTexasA&M surface andcavefishin netted University first observed enclosures intheir natural morethanadecade agothat habitat, andsaw that each group some fishfromcave-inhabiting _ exhibitedthesame behaviour populationsofthe Mexican _asbefore. The study also shows {etra(Astyanaxmexicanus) that this ability togo without seemtobatelysleep."Some _sleephasevolved independently sleepallitle bit’saysKeene.’A_onatleast three occasions lotofthe fishsleepzero hours” —_(bioRxv, oLorg/ns8w) ‘One issue with these previousstudies isthat they “There is something involved specimens keptinthe about these caves that Jab. Now, withthehelp of is pushing the animals researchersinMexico,keene to adapt not to sleep” hhas shown that these cavefish barely sleep inthe wild,too. “Thenext step isclearly Most A. mexicanus live torecord brain activity and Inrivers outside cavesand Jookat how that’s different havenormalvisionandsome —_betweensurfacefishand colouration. Therearealsomore cavefish” says Keene. ‘than 30 populationsiiving in Brainwaverecordings have cavesthat have partly ortotally shown that somebirds sleep lost their eyes and colour. briefly during long Mights Keene'steamcaughtfish __Sometimesonlyhalfoftheir from four populations of| brain sleepsata time,asisalso surface-dwellingtishoutside _thecaseinsomewhales. While caves six populations of itispossiblethat the cave tetra cavelishandfivepopulations _isswimmingwhileasleep, says cave-dwelling populations of Mexican tetras left) barelysteep, whileriver-lving types (below) snooze for severalhoursaday Keene, itisn’tclear why it ‘would need towhen surface fish don't Yet the fact thatthe sleeplessness trait has evolved independently on atleast three ‘occasions suggeststhere isan Important reason fort. “Therehastobe something about these caves that is pushing the animalsto rapidly ‘adapt otto sleep” says Keene, ‘Onesuggestion is that they haveto spend more time looking forfood. ‘Another possibility is that they haveevolved the equivalent of uch sensitive bearingthat even the lightest noisekeeps them awake. Fish have lines along theirsides that ean detect vibrations, and Keene's team has previously shown that in cavefish, these laterallinesareextremely sensitive and that their output appearstobeinvolvedin suppressing sleep. Itisawonderful study, says Robert Kozolat St.John’ University in New York, who also studies A, mexicanus. “Itprovides strong evidence that neartotalsleep loss is ‘common and convergent ‘caveadaptation” says Kozol. WPhysi Einstein’s theories tested on the largest scale ever - and he was right Karmela Padavie Callaghan ALBERTEINSTEIN'S theory of {general relativity has passeda test onthelargest scale yet. An analysis (of millions of galaxies shows that theway they have evolved over billions of yearsis consistent with his predictions. Eversince Einstein put forward his theory of gravity morethana century ago, researchers have been tryingto find scenarios Where it doesn't hold up. Now, ‘Mustapha ishak-Boushaki atthe University of Texas at Dallas and hiscolleagues have used data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) in Arizonato runsuch atestat thelevelofthe largest distances inthe universe. Detallsof cosmiestructure and how ithas changed are agood test ofour understanding of gravity because it was this force that shaped galaxiesas they evolved out ofvariationsin the distribution of ‘matter intheearly universe. Marinebiclogy Heart-shaped molluschas windows in its shell AMOLLUSChas evolved tiny windows that work like fbre- ‘optic cables the first known, exampleinnature. Heart cockles (Corculum cardissa) arebivalve molluscs abit like clams that have a symbiotic relationship with photosynthetic algae that ive inside them. The algae have safe home, get light tophotosynthesise and provide rutrients fr their hosts. Unlike other bivalves, heart cockles don't open their shells up wide, soit wasn't known how they funneled ight 10 the algae inside. ‘Now, Dakota McCoy atthe DEST has so far collected data ‘onhow nearly million galaxies clustered over the course of ubbillion years. Ishak-Boushakiand hiscolleagues combined this with results from other large surveys, suchas those mapping the cosmic 40m ‘alaxies willbe surveyed by the DES! project microwave background radiation and supernovae. Then, they ‘compared this with predictions fromatheory ofgravity that ‘encompassed both Einstein's Ideasandmore contemporary ‘competingtheories of modified ‘gravity. They found no deviation from Einstein's gravity. Ishak-Boushakisays that ‘even though there are some uncertainties in measurements, thereis still nostrongevi University of Chicago and her colleagues have found that there are transparent caliumcarbonate crystal tructuresin heart cockle ‘hells that function lke fibre-optic bundles letting lightinside to bathe the algae. "If you don't have to open and canjust havea transparent ‘window, that's a very safe way to iradiate your algae/" says McCoy. The researchers examined ‘ragmentsof different heart cockle shells and the transparent structures within them, as well asthe intensity and colour of light that gets through. They discovered that the windows were made fromtong, ‘thin fibres of a mineral called aragonite ~ a formof calcium carbonate which ets twice _asmuchphotosynthetically useful light through asit does that any deviations from Einstein's theory would capture the state of, ‘theuniverse more accurately. Tamar Allaliat Brown University in Rhode Island says t iscrucialtobe abletotest general relativity atall scales to eliminate thepossibility that Einstein made correct predictions for objects of ‘one ize but not another. Thenew analysisalso offers hints for how darkenergy, a mysterious force thought tobe responsible for the accelerating expansion ofthe universe, fits Inco our theories of gravity, says Nathalie Palanque-Delabrouille at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, Einstein’ earliest formulations of general relativity included a cosmological constant~akindof ant-gravitational force that played thesamerole asdarkenergy - ‘but previous DESI results have suggested that darkenergy isn’t hharmfulultraviolet ight (Nature Communications, do.orgins8s). “*We put on sunblock because LUV causes mutations and cancer. Theheart cockles are using these windows asa sunblock’ says McCoy. ‘The transparent windows were consta Itmay have changed astheuniverseaged, says Palangue-Delabrouile. Seeing agreement with general relativity and this departure from thecosmological constant really ‘opens the Pandora's boxof what thedata could be telling us, says Ishak Boushaki DESIwillkeep collecting data to record the properties of 40 milion galaxies, which should clarify how tomarry general relativity and theories of dark energy. Allali says theseresults may be consequential in many ways, such aspinpointing shifts inthe Hubble constant ~ameasureof the rate ofthe universe's expansion narrowing dawnthe massof particles called neutrinos and revealing nev cosmic ingredients like “dark radiatior “This analysis will weigh inona. Jot more than gravity it will weigh Inonallofcosmology."he says, 8 ‘heart cockle shel IMuminatedto show Itssripe-thewindows of various shapes, including small triangles and ong stripes. While the aragonite threads look similar to manufactured fibre optics and transmit ight just as effectively, ‘they lacka protective, insulating sheath called cladding. This could serve as an inspiration fr cladding free fibre-optic cables, which would be cheaper tomanufacture. The natural, UV-blocking properties the shells could also be used to help protect corals, whic lke the cockles, host photosynthetic algae inside ‘them, but are more susceptible ‘toenvironmental stresses like light and heat, says McCoy. ‘Alex Wilkins go Novemberzoa4 New Sclentst x7