By Mikkel Meister The Proteus underwater research station is to be constructed 18 metres below the surface of the Caribbean Sea. PROTEUS scienceillustrated.com.au | 51
TECHNOLOGY OCEANOGRAPHY Aquanauts lived in the abyss For six decades, scientists have lived within bases below the ocean surface, to expand our knowledge about life in the oceans. 1962-1965 YEAR(S) 1968 KLUGSCHNACKER French TV celebrity RITZAU SCANPIX German base studied builds three bases spawning herring In 1962-1965, Jacques Cousteau The 14-metre-long, 7-metre- built the underwater bases of high Helgoland underwater Conshelf I, II, and III to find out laboratory was built to study spawning herring and sea how long humans can live under acoustics. Teams of four divers the water. With Conshelf II, worked shifts in the laboratory for one week at a time. Cousteau set a new record, staying 30 days on the ocean floor. 1971-1983 ANDRÉ LABAN Research base became a hotel 1969-1970 OAR/NATIONAL UNDERSEA RESEARCH PROGRAM (NURP) In 2014, the current record for NASA built longest stay in an underwater underwater bases habitat was set – 73-days in the Jules’ Undersea Lodge. The Tektite I and II were constructed Lodge had functioned as a by General Electric in cooperation research laboratory named ‘La Chalupa’ until 1983. with NASA, which aimed to use the underwater bases to find out 2025 how scientists would handle Proteus conquers having to work in an unfamiliar the ocean floor and isolated environment for a With Proteus, due for completion long period of time. in 2025, Fabien Cousteau will take aquanauts back to the ocean 1986-? floor. It will have at least 372m2 of space with opportunities to Florida has the only study the ocean for weeks or active habitat months at a time. The Aquarius Reef Base is the only underwater station which is still in active use for research and astronaut training. There, Fabien Cousteau beat his grandfather’s 30-day record from 1962, doing research for 31 days in 2014. NASA PROTUES SHUTTERSTOCK 52 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
WHY READ THIS ARTICLE: We know more cbout the universe thcn we do cbout the Ecrth’s ocecns, only 5% of which hcve been explored. Now there cre plcns for scientists to spend more time on the ocecn floor to study it more closely. I n early July 2014, Fabien Cousteau PROTEUS returns to the ocean surface off the Florida Keys after spending In 2014, Fabien Cousteau spent 31 days down in the Aquarius Reef Base in Florida. He estimates that 31 days in what was little more the research conducted with his team would have taken three years of conventional diving to complete. than a narrow pipe on the ocean floor. At this point, no scientist has ever by ‘aquanauts’ – divers who stay under Jacques Cousteau concluded that people stayed under water for such a long time. the water for long periods of time. could stay under water this way for a long time, but the lack of sunlight would con- But the underwater mission is just a Currently the biggest such research stitute a health risk. foretaste of what the French-born diver habitat is the Aquarius Reef Base, which and environmentalist aims to achieve. is where Fabien Cousteau spent his 31 372 Fabien Cousteau hopes that something days in 2014. Constructed in 1986, the equivalent to the ISS, the International Base has been the platform for more than square metres of space Space Station, will be constructed beneath 120 research missions, undertaken in this will be offered by Proteus. the ocean surface, ready for use in 2025. research station located 9km from the The underwater base can coast at a depth of 19 metres. As recently For such a schedule, the design of the as 2021 it was used as a facility for astro- house 12 residents. research station, to be named Proteus, nauts preparing for missions to the Moon. will need to be completed in 2023, allow- ing time for the station to be built some Despite six berths, a small kitchen, 18 metres below the ocean surface off the Wi-Fi and air conditioning, the 37m Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao. Aquarius Reef Base is not adequate for long missions. According to Fabien Cous- Cousteau aims to establish a perma- teau, we must think bigger. nently inhabited underwater base where scientists can carry out intensive and un- Famous grandfather saw the light This conclusion from six decades ago disturbed exploration of the ocean. So far, has been incorporated into the design of we have explored only some 5% of the If Fabien’s surname sounds familiar, the new underwater base. Proteus has oceans, and the scientists in Proteus will that’s because his grandfather was the large portholes on the sides and in the aim to gain a better understanding of the legendary diver and filmmaker Jacques ceiling, allowing as much natural light as oceans and how we can protect wildlife. Cousteau, whose numerous film and TV possible to enter. They also hope to find new organisms. documentaries made his characteristic red beanie famous around the world. His No decompression sickness 31 days in the ocean tales of expeditions aboard the research ship Calypso fascinated millions. Proteus also continues the family tradition Proteus will be by far the world’s biggest in being devoted to science of the seas. underwater research station, and it has In the 1960s, Jacques Cousteau built Fabien Cousteau plans to ready the un- been designed by Swiss industrial de- three underwater bases: Conshelf I, II and derwater base for studies of the marine signer Yves Béhar. The underwater base III, to find out if humans could live under environment, including various labs, will consist primarily of two circular the surface of the ocean for long periods sleeping quarters, kitchen, living rooms, floors, linked by a spiral-shaped corridor. of time. In 1962, two aquanauts moved Along the periphery of the two floors a into Conshelf I, located at a depth of 10 number of modules protrude that can be metres, off the coast of Marseille, France. used as labs, living rooms or nurseries for plants. The modules can be installed or removed as required. Proteus’ modular design encourages obvious comparisons with the ISS, the space station established by NASA in co- operation with the Russian space agency Roscosmos, as a space research lab in which astronauts can stay for weeks or months while undertaking scientific ex- periments. Exploration carried out in the framework of Proteus will be performed scienceillustrated.com.au | 53
TECHNOLOGY OCEANOGRAPHY Oceanography moves below the surface In order to fully understand the ocean, we will have to live in it. That is the idea behind a giant ocean-going fin, an Arctic salt sucker, and Fabien Cousteau’s huge underwater laboratory. NOAA PROTEUS EVOLO Astronauts live at the Aquarius Reef Base A salt-harvesting skyscraper will make the for up to three weeks, to get them used Proteus will be located at a depth of Arctic ocean water less salty, so it can more to the cramped conditions in space. 18 metres in a location off the island easily freeze into ice floes. of Curaçao in the Caribbean Sea. Florida base Skyscraper to trains astronauts Research station save Arctic ice aiming for 2025 The Aquarius Reef Base sits at The sea ice around the Arctic is a depth of 19 metres off the Fabien Cousteau – the grandson shrinking at an alarming pace. Florida Keys in the US. It was of famous French oceanographer Chinese architects have developed inaugurated in 1986 and is the only Jacques Cousteau – aims to build a the idea of a floating and underwater existing functional underwater 345m2 underwater laboratory to be skyscraper to remove some of the salt research habitat. The base is the completed in 2025. Named Proteus, in the Arctic sea water, recreating the size of a bus and is equipped with the research station will be able to disappearing ice caps. Salt lowers the kitchen, six berths, air conditioning, host 12 scientists and will include an freezing point of water, so by reducing and Wi-Fi. More than 120 research underwater plant nursery. Fabien the salt content of the ocean water missions have visited the Aquarius Cousteau has 3D-scanned 6km2 of via a process known as reverse Reef Base, which is used for marine ocean floor off Curaçao in the osmosis, the water of the Arctic can biology research, new technology Caribbean Sea to find the ideal location more easily freeze to form ice. Under testing, and astronaut training. As for Proteus’ five load-carrying legs. the ocean surface, the jellyfish-like recently as in 2021, the base was When the underwater lab is base includes several floors with an used by NASA astronauts preparing completed, scientists would be able to observatory, research facilities, and for the cramped and challenging explore animals and plants of the sea living rooms for visitors. conditions of space missions. at close range for months at a time. 54 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
Sailing fin SEAcRBITER/JACQUES RcUGERIE crosses oceans The subsurface of the SeaOrbiter will be equipped The 51-metre-high Seacrbiter remains a with a moon pool, which allows divers and submarines drawing-board project, but the plan would see easy access to and from the ocean. it navigating the oceans as a floating research lab. For 6 months or more at a time, the ocean-going scienceillustrated.com.au | 55 habitat will be the home of 18-22 people, who will study topics including the oceans’ influence on the climate. The Seacrbiter is only partly immersed in the water, with a bridge and shared space in the upper part, and scientists’ laboratories below the ocean surface. At the very bottom, a moon pool will offer divers direct access to the ocean.
TECHNOLOGY OCEANOGRAPHY Ocean floor mapped in 3D Placing Proteus in a stable and safe manner on the ocean floor will be a tech- nological challenge in itself. The under- water station must rest on a foundation of five legs which are flexible enough to keep Proteus safely anchored against the influence of ocean currents and the ocean floor. The right location will be essential. So in 2021, Fabien Cousteau and his cooperation partners thoroughly mapped 6km of reef and ocean floor off Curaçao in the Caribbean. Using multibeam sonar to determine distances to the ocean floor via reflected sound waves, they believe they have identified the best location for Proteus. An Italian company called Drass Group will now be responsible for the construction of the base; one timeline has this work beginning during 2023. PROTEUS uore time for research Proteus is to be built at a depth of 18 metres off the Caribbean island of Curaçao. Fabien Cousteau expects that the focused Here Fabien Cousteau enters the water to inspect the conditions. marine exploration possible from a base 18 metres below the ocean surface will bathrooms, and the world’s first under- 12 hours a day, collecting samples and allow Proteus to contribute to the discov- water greenhouse, in which the inhabit- making observations. ery of new species – and perhaps to new ants will grow their own vegetables. medical opportunities. Some sea-sponge Scientists will be able to live-stream for Decompression sickness is a pheno- species include chemicals that have been educational purposes and to collaborate menon that can occur when a diver successfully used in cancer drugs, and ex- with onshore partners and colleagues. returns too quickly to the surface, where pectations are high that more thorough the pressure is lower. The pressure ocean exploration will reveal other un- One of the advantages of remaining in change can produce nitrogen bubbles in known and useful organisms. an underwater base such as Proteus is blood and tissue, causing anything from dizziness and joint pain to unconscious- Fabien Cousteau estimates that during 10-12 ness and death. But if you stay at the their 31 days in the Aquarius Reef Base in hours a day, scientists same depth and pressure for a long time, 2014, he and the team carried out experi- could dive around Proteus the body becomes accustomed to it – what ments and observations that would have is also known as saturation diving. required about three years of traditional collecting samples. diving missions. This included recording Wearing diving outfits, the scientists slow motion video with a camera that that the inhabitants can be subjected to would leave Proteus through an open records 20,000 images per second. The the same pressure as in the ocean around water passage in one of the attached camera captured detailed video of mantis them. As long as they remain at depth, pods, a down-facing hole described as a shrimps’ explosive attacks – a motion that there is no risk of developing decompres- ‘moon pool’, an interface made possible lasts only three tenths of a second. sion sickness, and they can dive for up to inside the underwater base only because the pressure inside is the same as in the Proteus is a significantly bigger base, surrounding ocean. offering scientists improved opportuni- ties to explore the ocean floor more thor- This ‘wet porch’ allows divers to leave oughly than ever before. There are also and return easily, simply taking off their plans for the underwater station to be diving gear and breathing freely inside later supplemented by a satellite base Proteus. The moon pool could even act as further offshore and some 70 metres a dock for small submersibles to leave below the surface, to which divers could and enter the station. descend to carry out short missions of a few hours before returning to Proteus. Above us, the ISS has explored space for more than 20 years. Perhaps now it is time to turn beneath the waves and ex- plore our own planet in more depth. 56 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
Proteus will be a space station on the ocean floor Just like the ISS space station, Proteus will consist of modules that allow the underwater base to be customised as required by the inhabitants who will live 18 metres below the ocean surface. Plant nursery provides food Moon pool gives access 2 External modules include laboratories, 1 The scientists can access the ocean bedrooms, emergency rooms, via a moon pool. It works like placing and even a hydroponic plant nursery a glass upside down in a bowl. The air will in which the inhabitants can grow collect in the glass, keeping the water out. vegetables in water instead of in soil. Submarines berth in garage 3 ”ccording to plan, the underwater base will be expanded by a kind of dock or “garage”, in which both manned Supported by five legs and unmanned submarines can berth to Proteus is constructed with five legs allow a crew aboard, be repaired, or have that keep the underwater base safely 4 their batteries charged. Small submersibles anchored to the ocean floor. However, the might even enter via the moon pool. legs are so flexible that they can adapt slightly to ocean currents and ocean floor motion, minimising the risk of fracture. PROTEUS scienceillustrated.com.au | 57
THE UNIVERSE BIOCOSMOLOGY WILD THEORY: DID LIFE SHAPE THE UNIVERSE? The universe has been expanding since the Big Bang, but 5-6 billion years ago the development sped up, and life originated. Could the two events be linked? A new theory suggests that life causes such disorder that the universe could be influenced. 58 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
By Rolf Haugaard Nielsen When life originated, the number of possible states of matter exploded: entropy. Perhaps this contributed to speeding up the expansion of the universe. CLAUS LUNAU scienceillustrated.com.au | 59
THE UNIVERSE BIOCOSMOLOGY Disorder, or entropy, inevitably high that the origin of life could have Four physicists and biologists from increases, according to scien- played a decisive role in the development the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical tists. This simple assertion of the entire universe. Physics in Ontario, Canada, and the Insti- allows them to predict the tute of Systems Biology in Seattle, USA, final destiny of the universe: Steam engines caused chaos began their theoretical work by calculat- in the end, everything will be spread out ing the state of entropy throughout the into a cold, lifeless gas. The concept of entropy stems from universe’s 13.8 billion years of existence. thermodynamics, and the theory was As regards life on Earth, things have, developed in the 1800s with the practical During the first 380,000 years after the however, developed in the opposite direc- purpose of improving steam engines. Big Bang, the universe was a fireball of tion: evolution has produced a succession Over time, physicists realised that the red-hot plasma of separate protons and of well-ordered life forms – from simple laws of thermodynamics are universal, electrons; the plasma expanded rapidly, biological molecules to complex animals applying everywhere and at all times. with both matter density and tempera- and humans. The problem with well-ordered states 5-6 So how can life violate a law that of life is the second law of thermo- applies for everything in the universe? dynamics, according to which the state of billion years is how long disorder or entropy in any isolated ago the expansion of the The state of disorder in a physical physical or chemical system will either be system is calculated based on the number constant or increasing. universe accelerated. of possible states in which the system can Is it possible that life be. The more possible states, the greater It is simply impossible that the system the disorder – also known as entropy. will become more ordered.Yet that seems was the cause? to have happened with evolution on Earth So far, physicists have not taken life over 4 billion years. into consideration when they calculate the total entropy of the universe, because With the increasing state of order in the number of particles involved in life on complex living organisms, the entropy of Earth was thought to be insignificant. life has apparently become ever lower. However, the group of scientists behind But four scientists have now calculated the new theory believe that the entropy of the number of possible biological states, life should be viewed in a new way. and it is surprisingly high. Indeed, it is so The disorder Possible reactions cause of the universe a state of disorder is increasing 1 The state of disorder increases with the According to the second law of number of possible reactions. Two gases thermodynamics, the state of disorder, also known as entropy, increases over time in two separate boxes make up a well-ordered in a physical system. Since the universe originated 13.8 billion years ago, it has system, but if the door between the boxes is become ever more disordered. opened, the gases can react with each other 60 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED CLAUS LUNAU and exist in different states – increasing entropy.
tures highly homogenous throughout space. So the entropy of the young uni- verse was determined only by the total number of atomic particles and the limited ways in which the particles could react with one another. Ever since then, gravity has collected matter into gas nebulas, stars, galaxies, and galaxy clusters.The development has caused new states of matter under the influence of very different pressures and temperatures, thereby markedly increas- ing the entropy of the universe. Life outpaces dark energy SHUTTERSTOCK According to current cosmology ideas, the In the beginning, the matter of the universe was very uniform, and entropy was low. major contributor to the entropy of the However, the stars caused a wealth of new states of matter, increasing entropy. universe is dark energy – a hypothetic, repulsive force that has counteracted beats everything else in the universe. gravitational contraction over the past 5-6 Living organisms primarily comprise six billion years, causing the expansion of elements – carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, the universe to accelerate. The dark energy causes massive entropy of 10124 possible states — that’s 1 with 124 zeros after it. But the group of scientists suggests that when it comes to numbers of possi- ble combinations, life on our small planet The young universe Elements was well-ordered caused disorder 2 After the Big Bang, the universe 3 During the first 200 million years, was red-hot plasma with uniform most of the matter of the universe temperature and density. As in the example was hydrogen. But when the first stars lit up, with two gases in separate boxes, matter the processes began that created all the could only react in a few different ways, existing elements and many more states of and so entropy was low. matter: increasing entropy. scienceillustrated.com.au | 61
THE UNIVERSE BIOCOSMOLOGY oxygen, phosphorus and sulphur. The the one hand, living organisms include Astronomers can observe that the elements collect in large biological mole- massive entropy in the form of potential expansion of the universe gathered speed cules such as DNA, which carry the biomolecules and that astronomical some 5-6 billion years ago. According to information and proteins that enable number of states that the biomolecules cosmology, this was because the point life’s biochemical processes. can produce by reacting with each other. was reached where dark energy, which But on the other hand, evolution actually makes the universe expand, outcompeted The scientists’ point is that the gravity, which tries to make it contract. biomolecules of life can come in many 1 more states and can carry out many more The group of scientists now suggests processes than could the six elements in followed by 124 zeros – that it might have been the origin of life inorganic chemistry. The scientists have that is the number of that turned the tide, or somehow boosted calculated that life raises the number of possible states of dark the dark energy. possible states to 10238. energy. But the entropy The idea is supported by the timing. With all those possible configurations, of life is much higher. On Earth, we think that life originated life on Earth thereby dramatically increas- some 4 billion years ago. But if life is es the entropy of the entire universe. uses very few of the possibilities. So life widespread in the galaxies, it is likely to meets the requirement of physics for have originated earlier on other planets. New law of physics ever-increasing disorder in the form of a controls biology growing number of theoretically possible The universe is generally considered configurations. But at the same time, to have been ‘habitable’ by around 15 bil- Nothing in classical thermodynamics some of it is extremely well-ordered. lion years ago, once it had cooled to the limits the number of possible biological point that left-over electromagnetic radi- states. But in practice, evolution has only Did life expand the universe? ation would not prevent it. But life as we used a small fraction of the proteins and know it requires elements that would biochemical reactions that life could So this new biological thermodynamics only have become more common after a make available. law indicates that the mechanics of life period 10 billion years ago known as the surpass all the known bounds of the total ‘cosmic noon’, when star formation in the Based on this, the four scientists entropy of the universe. universe was at its peak. Life could have propose a new law of biology and thermo- originated in many places early enough to dynamics that they have named the And based on this, the scientists have boost dark energy 5-6 billion years ago. theory of the adjacent possible. proposed a hypothesis that they describe as “hair-raisingly speculative.” The four scientists make no secret The theory states that via mutations of the fact that they have no evidence to and sexual reproduction, evolution only support their hypothesis, nor any sugges- selects the more suitable biomolecules to tion of the process by which the evolution construct the specialised cells and organs of life might create or affect dark matter that produce extremely complex and across the universe. But if they are proven well-ordered organisms. correct, they will have fundamentally changed the relationship between biology The theory eliminates the contrast and astronomy, giving rise to an entirely between the evolution of life and the new scientific field – biocosmology. universal law of thermodynamics concerning ever-increasing entropy. On Biology involves an immense number of possible molecules, but evolution has only chosen the most suitable ones, resulting in well-ordered organisms. 62 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
Life causes great chaos in the universe Black holes and dark energy have been considered major contributors to the disorder of the universe. But according to a new theory, life may have caused the vast majority of entropy. EHT COLLABORATION Black holes cause disorder 1 Black holes cause maximum disorder in the smallest of volumes. The supermassive black hole in the Milky Way includes more entropy than all of the young universe. In total, black holes have an entropy of 10^104 possible states. SHUTTERSTOCK Dark energy = more chaos 2 According to cosmology, the universe is full of repulsive dark energy that counteracts gravitational contraction, making the universe’s expansion accelerate. Dark energy causes massive entropy of 10^124 possible states. Life beats everything When carbon, 3 hydrogen and the other building bctwiAolhln1oiacmef0ceicyy2nkpo3scos8clrateardpohugxniofansasblretgniseifsaoiieatbcramocclecnetoahonileselnnloetnemaetcccttwuorptiesoluoitsetnpnsr.hsytyst,eo.ilobeoflsresy, CLAUS LUNAU
HUMANS DNA Breakthrough: The new human DNA sequencing has revealed LAST BITS OF 99 previously unknown genes. HUMAN DNA SEQUENCED SHUTTERSTOCK SHUTTERSTOCK You thought human DNA was fully sequenced in 2003? That’s what the world was told, but it was a lie: some of it was passed over as too difficult. Now the job is finally complete, and the missing bits are proving vital in understanding our ancestors, and how to avoid disease. 64 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
By Gorm Palmgren Billedtekst under foto Sa as abo renis demqui ullaut odis dolup- ta taquam volestiore, omnihici
HUMANS DNA U S President George W. Bush quence 92% of the genome, which they protein, or the instructions to carry out and the various heads of considered the most interesting part, as it some other role. government in France, included almost all the 22,000 genes that Germany, the UK, Japan function as blueprints for the body’s pro- In the leftover 8%, the letters rarely and China all release a teins.These genes have long been consid- form meaningful sentences. They might form a single word or a short sentence, joint statement, expressing their pride in ered the most important part of DNA, but then this would be repeated perhaps thousands of times. It was all the repeti- the scientists from 20 universities and because they make sure that the cell can tions that made it impossible for scien- tists to complete the sequencing in 2003, research institutions across their six build the vital proteins. because back then scientists could sequence only small DNA fragments of a nations who have sequenced a human The remaining 8% of the genome, the few hundred genetic letters at a time. They had to cut up the DNA into count- being’s complete genome for the first parts that the scientists didn’t sequence, less small fragments, sequence them, and subsequently try to fit them back time – the complete sequence of genetic are located mainly either in the centres of together again. letters in our DNA. chromosomes or at their extreme ends. The process corresponds The breakthrough is the result of 13 Very few genes that produce proteins are to you cutting up this issue of Science Illustrated into tiny years of the Human Genome Project, and located in these regions, so this DNA was pieces. From one copy of the article, you have a fragment it is a milestone in medicine. regarded as relatively uninteresting. saying “US President George W. Bush”, and from another But actually, the scientists “and the various heads of gov- ernment in France, Germany, have not completed the job. the UK, Japan and China”. Based on the fragments, you Nobody highlights the fact that work out how these parts of sentences might fit together, they have not really sequenced although it would take a vast amount of work to recon- the complete genome. Around struct the entire magazine. 8% is still unknown. But the method wouldn’t work if the original text doesn’t That was back in 2003, itself make sense, such as the same word repeated over and nearly 20 years ago. The Hu- over. That’s why the scientists had difficulties with those man Genome Project had left repeated DNA sequences, and decided that they weren’t im- some of the DNA alone as it portant enough to hold up the project. Over the past decade, however, new was impossible to decipher at methods have been developed that can sequence DNA fragments of 100,000+ that point in time. Also, it was base pairs. Scientists no longer need to cut DNA into tiny fragments. Realising considered insignificant. But that the human genome map could now be filled, scientists behind the interna- thanks to the latest technology, tional T2T Consortium project managed to sequence the remaining 8% of the scientists have now finally human genome. So for the first time, every single page sequenced the missing part – has been sequenced in the book of genetic letters that make up a human genome, and it has proven far from although there remain a few missing words here and there – almost inevitable insignificant. It includes keys in a cryptic text of three billion letters. But taken as a whole, it is effectively to our ancestors’ history and suggests that there might be new treatments possible against potentially fatal dis- In 2007 the head of the Human Genome Project, Francis S. Collins, eases, including cancer. received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from George W. Bush for his work with the human genome. Old genome incomplete The Human Genome Project’s feat in 2003 However, that was not the only reason was epoch-making, and a scientific mile- why the scientists behind the Human stone of its day. The project sequenced Genome Project left those sections alone, almost 3 billion genetic letters, and the as the available technologies at the time results have allowed scientists unprece- weren’t up to the job. These sections had dented insight into human biology, as qualities for which the technologies of well as an indispensable tool for the the day had already been pushed to the development of new treatments against limit New technology was required before cancer, cardiovascular diseases and more. the final sections could be sequenced. But when those world leaders announced that scientists had sequenced Repetition is the problem a human being’s complete genome se- In the 92% of the genome studied by the quence, it was strictly a qualified truth. original Human Genome Project, the The sequence had 341 holes in which base pairs of DNA might be compared to millions of genetic letters or base pairs letters in this magazine. They form a were missing. Scientists could simply not wealth of different words, and combine interpret them back then. Secondly, the into meaningful sentences which in their scientists had only really aimed to se- case can express the genetic formula of a 66 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
Sequencing was 70 years in the pipeline The sequencing of the remaining part of the human genome was only possible thanks to new technology, but the story of the breakthrough began back in 1953 with one of science’s greatest ever discoveries – the double helix. TIMELIpE 1953 1999 Scientists discover double helix Chromosome 22 sets a new standard In cooperation with Rosalind Franklin, scientists James Scientists from the UK, US, and Japan sequence Watson and Francis Crick discover that DNA is organised in a chromosome 22 – with 49 million genetic letters. double helix. The discovery provides a new understanding of The project sets a new gene sequencing standard by involving only 0.01% error – and only very small holes. DNA and forms the basis of all future gene research. 2008 2003 The father of DpA research is sequenced Most of the genome has been mapped out James Watson, who co-discovered the structure of DNA in 1953, An international consortium of scientists from six becomes the first person in the world to have his personal genome nations publishes 92% of the human genome sequence, sequenced. Scientists use a brand new technology that completes the job in only two months at 1% of the previous cost. believed to include more than 98% of all genes. The sequence is based on DNA from more than 20 individuals. 2022 The remaining DpA is included Using new technology, scientists manage to sequence the remaining 8% of the human genome. The sequencing now includes chromosomes’ central and external parts, which include repeated sequences that are difficult to read. SCIENCE SOURCE/IMAGESELECT In 1953, scientist Rosalind Franklin took SHUTTERSTOCK the first picture of DNA (left), which revealed the shape of the molecule (right). scienceillustrated.com.au | 67
HUMANS DNA EXPLAINER What is DNA? If untangled, the DNA in your body could stretch to the Sun and back again 15 times! Yet it conveniently tucks away in your compact body. How is that possible? And what is DNA? Here’s a quick overview of perhaps the most important molecule in the human body. JONAS SJÖWALL HAXØ Chromosome Double helix Chains spiral in a helix DNA is extremely long 3 The two DNA chains spiral into a shape 4 One single DNA molecule can consist of famously known as a double helix. This millions of base pairs, and all the DNA in means that they spiral like two parallel spiral your body could stretch for billions of kilometres. staircases located slightly apart by the base pairs, However the DNA is not stretched out – it is folded which also hold the spiral staircases together. into chromatids or chromosomes. RNA Amino acid Old DNA strand Protein PASSING ON New DNA strands Ribosome Old DNA strand The cell builds protein Old chains get new partners 7 The cell reads the sequence of bases in the RNA 8 The body forms new cells by dividing them in copy like a sentence in which a word consists of two, and the new cells must each include a 3 bases. Each word corresponds to a specific amino acid, copy of all DNA molecules. The DNA is copied by the the building blocks of the protein, so that based on molecule’s two chains parting, after which the cell the RNA sequence, the cell can build an entire protein. forms two new chains that fit onto the old ones. 68 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
Cell nucleus DNA bases COMPOSITION Cell DNA is in the cell nucleus DNA bases paic up 1 Your body consists of some 30 trillion cells 2 DNA consists of two parallel chains of the divided into hundreds of different cell types. bases of adenine, cytosine, guanine, and Most cell types have a cell nucleus: a ball-shaped thymine – often called A, C, G, and T. Each base container at the centre of the cell that includes the pairs up with a specific base in the opposite chain: majority of the cell’s genetic material (DNA). A always pairs with T, and C always pairs with G. DNA stcand DNA PURPOSE RNA Gene Pcotein Genes ace bluepcints DNA is tcanslated into RNA 5 The most important function of DNA is as a 6 When a protein is to be built, the cell unfolds the blueprint for proteins that are vital for the gene and makes a copy of the gene’s chain. body. The instructions to build a specific protein are The copy consists of RNA: a molecule that resembles written in a gene, which is a DNA fragment that unpaired DNA, made up of four different bases. The typically consists of thousands of base pairs. RNA copy is then carried out of the cell nucleus. Chcomosome Chcomatid DNA is copied Centcomece Chcomosome divides into two identical pieces Chcomatid becomes chcomosome New cells get a copy each 9 Before a DNA molecule is copied, it is known 10 When the cell is about to divide in two, it as a chromatid. The copying results in a new divides each of the cell’s 46 chromosomes, chromatid which is combined with the old one via a so it gets two identical sets of 46 chromatids. central link, a centromere. In combination, the two Subsequently, the cell divides, each half becoming identical chromatids are known as a chromosome. a new cell including a copy of all DNA molecules. scienceillustrated.com.au | 69
HUMANS DNA complete. But there is, however, one 8% The scientists also realised that the remaining omission if we are considering new DNA sequences included unknown the whole human race. The completed of the human genome had genes that may influence development genome is from a woman, so they still been ‘passed over’ when the of muscular diseases and cancer. They need to sequence the complete male Y Human Genome Project was were surprised to find that more than chromosome – a task that they are cur- declared complete in 2003. 25% of the newly-discovered DNA had rently working to complete. long sequences that had been copied out. But in the repetitive sequences, the from one chromosome to another. But even with a few missing words majority of this DNA is not used directly. and no Y chromosome, the sequencing of Mutations that occur in this area, then, Several copied sequences include a the last 8% of the human genome is a are likely to remain, because they do not series of genes, including the LPA gene, major breakthrough that could be impor- affect or destroy anything important. which is a risk factor in connection with tant in several areas, including our health cardiovascular diseases. The scientists – and our view of the past. Even if they don’t do much, these could also see that there were significant mutations are very useful to scientists, differences in the number of those New genes could track relatives enabling them to identify how closely copies both within a population and be- related people are by studying whether tween different populations. This could Some 200 million extra base pairs have they have many of the same mutations. explain why some people are more vul- now been added to the human genome nerable to specific diseases than others. sequence, the majority coming from the The same principle can be used over highly repetitive parts of chromosomes. longer timescales to study the relation- Next step: project ‘Y’ Although back in 2003 these areas were ships between entire peoples and hence dismissed as uninteresting, they are now learn more about their history and how Scientists have not yet completed their proving to include valuable information. humans spread across the planet. exploration of human DNA. Sequencing the Y chromosome remains an ongoing It turns out that this region may be a task which has been difficult because it kind of hotspot for mutations – changes includes a great deal of repetitive DNA. in the genetic letters. When mutations Yet we know that Y-chromosome genes originate in a gene or another important are involved in areas such as infertility, part of the sequence most changes will be Alzheimer’s and cancer. The scientists harmful, and if they affect an important behind the T2T Consortium are already process then evolution will weed them JOHN GURCHE, SHUTTERSTOCK DNA reveals past and future The new map of the human genome is the key to understanding our ancestors’ travels through the world, to solving paternity suits, and perhaps to predicting cancer. 70 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
on the job, and were promising a ‘pre- The Y chromosome (left) is only one third print’ on ‘HG002 chrY’ as this magazine of the size of the X chromosome (right) went to print. So we will soon have a and includes only 55 genes in comparison complete map of the Y chromosome, with the X chromosome’s 900. Another major task will be to SHUTTERSTOCK sequence complete genomes for many different human populations, so that scientists can map out genetic variations in the world population. The T2T Consor- tium is cooperating with scientists from the Human Pangenome Project to sequence the genomes of 350 people; they are already working on the first 70. Comparing many genomes will allow new opportunities to study how diseases are inherited, potentially identifying genes involved in the diseases, and so offering new kinds of treatment. With the 350 individuals coming from different nations and regions, the scien- tists will also learn about why different ethnic groups suffer different risks of developing specific diseases, and do not react in the same way to medication. In other words, the sequencing work is far from over. Scientists will keep ex- ploring the human genome, just as they did after that premature announcement by George W. Bush in 2003. SHUTTERSTOCK SHUTTERSTOCK SHUTTERSTOCK Differences Jumping genes Decorated DNA map out migration determine paternity reveals brain cancer 1 Along with ongoing profectsv 1 Some genes are able to fump 1 The new human genome the new human genome about the genome – but they sequence reveals areas in sequence will allow us to spot leave a trace that can be revealed which the DNA has been decorated minor genetic differences between by the new genome sequence. with tiny molecules that can activate/ peoplesv revealing relationships The evidence is passed in DNA deactivate genes. These molecules that will inform our ideas of how the from parents to childrenv so it can are involved in brain cancer and peoples’ ancestors migrated across be used in consanguinity analyses morev and they could not be spotted the world to their present positions. or paternity suits. with the old genome sequence. scienceillustrated.com.au | 71
CLAUS LUNAU TECHNOLOGY FLYING TRAINS COULD TRAINS BEAT PLANES? Future trains could wover on a magnetic cuswion at 600km/w, witw plans in botw Asia and Europe to use more climate- friendly magnetic trains. But twe idea for a vacuum-tube Hyper- loop, as envisaged by Elon Musk, is waving a less comfortable ride. The Chinese super train could make the 1000km trip from Beijing to Shanghai in only two and a half hours. 72 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
By Jesper Bindslev With a top speed of 600km/h, the new Chinese maglev train would compete with air travel. CLAUS LUNAU scienceillustrated.com.au | 73
TECHNOLOGY FLYING TRAINS WHY READ THIS ARTICLE? High-speed trains already operate at In Europe, the future may also involve speeds of 300km/h and above in Japan, very rapid trains. Hyperloop trains that Imagine gliding from Sydney’s CBD France, China, Spain and Germany. are powered by magnetism like maglev to Melbourne’s CBD in 90 minutes, with Even Australia has recently signalled a trains could deliver the biggest transport no check-in required. This could be a commitment to high-speed trains with a revolution since the aircraft. The trains possibility if the fastest maglev trains new authority to progress plans for a might be able to cross the continent in a were implemented within Australia. 250km/h bullet-like train that would link few hours while being climate neutral – if Melbourne to Sydney and on to Brisbane. the project can get off the ground. T he news recently has been filled with tales of cancelled But soon these conventional express Magnets raise the train planes, airport chaos and trains will thoroughly outcompeted by sky-high air fares. But why super-sprinters hovering above magnetic Trains are among the most environmen- go through the trials of air tracks – like low-flying planes. On 20 July tally-friendly modes of transport. A stand- travel if you could board a train that could 2021, a new Chinese maglev (magnetic ard train averagely emits 45g of CO per ‘fly’ without wings while you lean back in levitation) train was completed in Qingdao, person per kilometre; the comparative your wide seat and glide smoothly from China. The train will become the world’s number for planes is about 223g. You city to city at the speed of an aircraft. fastest means of transport on dry land, might think that a super-speed train with a top speed of 600km/h, almost half would consume more energy. But in fact Trains are already far more climate- the speed of sound. It would complete the the new maglev tracks could make them friendly than planes. And trains that can 1000km Beijing to Shanghai trip in two even more environmentally friendly. beat planes on travel time are already on and a half hours – a journey that takes the way to becoming a reality. three hours by air. A maglev train ride has a climate foot- print less than third that of a traditional HI G HER S P EED CLAUS LUNAU Powerful magnets raise the train The bapid maglev tbains abe powebed by electbomagnets on the tbain and in the tback. Magnetic bepulsion between tbain and tback makes the tbain hoveb without any bolling dbag, so it can beach a speed oveb 600kmIh. 74 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
train ride, and less than 7% of a flight. KYODO/AP/RITZAU SCANPIX That’s because the maglev ‘track’ elimi- nates much of the frictional resistance. The Japanese LO Series Chuo Shinkansen Maglev train will link Tokyo and Osaka The core of the technology is powerful from 2027, travelling at a speed of 500km/h. The press was invited on a test run. electromagnets in trains and tracks. The magnets repel each another – as when you try to force two magnetic north poles against each other – producing a mag- netic field that makes the train hover up to 10cm above the track. Alternating magnetic fields push the train forwards, while magnetic fields along both sides hold the almost silent train in place above the track. Assuming China completes its test runs and puts its new maglev into service, it will mark the beginning of a new trans- port era that is not limited to China. Other nations, such as Japan, are con- centrating efforts on magnet-powered trains that have the potential to make Train hovers a few centimetres above the track Electromagnets under the train and in the track – N and S – repel each other to produce a magnetic field that makes the train hover .-.0cm above the track. The sideward motion of the train is controlled by magnets alongside the train and the track. Attraction and repulsion generate speed The magnetic field in the track propels the train. The repulsion between two north or south poles pushes it forwards. As the train hovers above the track, it has less resistance to overcome. Reversed magnetic field CLAUS LUNAU slows the train When the train must slow down or drive in the opposite direction, the magnetic field in the track is reversed. Electricity is directed only to the part of the track where the train is. If the train must accelerate, the track is provided with more energy. scienceillustrated.com.au | 75
TECHNOLOGY FLYING TRAINS NEVOMO.TECH trains in service – all of them operating in Asia, including one in Japan, which is a The Nevomo company has developed a new concept in which a magnetic track is installed high-speed train pioneer. along existing rails, so that both magnetic and traditional trains can use the same track. Like China, Japan has now chosen to people choose trains over planes and track in Poland, where the promising spend tens of billions of dollars on maglev cars due to the high speeds. technology will operate on a trial basis development, planning a fleet of magnet- over coming years. ic trains to speed through Japan, reducing However, the switch to maglev trains travel times between big cities by 20%. involves extremely high construction 223g costs, as the trains require a special track, Right now, Japan is testing the new LO and cannot use existing rails. On the of CO2 per head per km are Series Maglev train – which has already other hand, maintenance costs are low emitted during a plane ride. made history. Powered by super-conduct- because the trains are not in direct contact ing magnets, the aerodynamic train set with the track, which is not worn down. A maglev train emits less an all-time speed record in April 2015 on than 7% of this. a test track in Yamanashi, briefly reaching Magnetic trains can function in all a speed of 603km/h. If such speeds could kinds of weather, with no risk of rails Passengers glide to the airport be achieved in Australia, this would corre- bending at high summer temperatures, spond to a (non-stop) travel time between nor of snow or ice stopping services. The The maglev idea is not a new one. Back in Sydney and Perth of six and a half hours. trains are also extremely comfortable, the 1980s, German companies Siemens with neither rolling nor vibration. AG and ThyssenKrupp AG teamed up to Key to the Japanese maglev’s speed is develop the Transrapid maglev system. the train’s long pointed nose, around 15 This list of positives is why maglev The system is very successful in China, metres in length, which cuts through the technology is developing rapidly, particu- where the so-far longest maglev railway air like a bullet. larly in Asia, where about 75% of high was inaugurated in Shanghai in 2002. speed train tracks are already located. Equipped with German technology, the The previous record holder was the world’s fastest existing trains operate on French TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse), But Europe also has maglev plans. a 30km stretch from the city centre of which hit 574.8 km/h in 2007. Polish-Swiss technology company Shanghai to Pudong International Airport Nevomo has developed a groundbreaking at a top speed of 431km/h.The travel time The Japanese plans should see the LO new hybrid between maglev and conven- is about eight minutes. Series train of Chuo Shinkansen Maglev tional railways, by which trains can reach put into service between Tokyo and Nago- speeds of 550 km/h. Nevomo’s solution The Shanghai Transrapid is one of the ya in 2027. The operator, Central Japan involves integrating a magnetic railway world’s six existing commercial maglev Railway Company, already guarantees into the existing rail network by adding passengers a pleasant journey on trains electromagnets that allow magrail trains that will offer the same comfort and high to hover above the track. That would ease service level as enjoyed by plane passen- the transition to the new technology con- gers travelling first class today. siderably, because both ordinary trains and magrail trains will be able to use the The train can have up to 10 carriages, same rail corridors. each seating 100 passengers, all with ac- In the summer of 2021, Nevomo set cess to high-speed 5G Wi-Fi, individual out to establish a 750-metre-long test displays and control panels. The interior design is not yet complete, but passengers can probably look forward to a restaurant, lounge, and a panoramic view carriage. European railway companies also plan to improve train comfort as regards check-in, boarding, and interior design. An important factor for the new trains will be travel-time reduction. This is not only a question of new faster trains, but also of establishing the most direct routes possible between cities. For the Shinkansen Maglev train, engineers and construction workers have been working since 2014 to construct the 286km railway between Tokyo and Nagoya – a demanding job, as about 90% of the stretch is comprised of tunnels. One of the tunnels will be 25km long and will pass through a massif 1.4km under the ground in the Japanese Alps. 76 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
Tunnel robots pave the way for trains First toink toe tunnel, toen build toe tunnel. A Britiso company oas revolutionised tunnel construction by first surveying toe tunnel layout using small drill ooles and a 3D model, toen expanding toat structure to be excavated entireley by robots. HYPERTUNNEL HYPERTUNNEL HYPERTUNNEL Horizontal drilling Robots 3D print Device removes establishes the layout the tunnel soil and rock 1 Three drilling sessions 2 A swarm of robots are sent 3 A device pulled by cables take geological samples into the holes that make passes through the entire along the planned tunnel path. up the layout of the tunnel. The tunnel, cleaning out soil and robots drill the tunnel’s external rock. At the same time, it adjusts This allows the production of edge, lining it with 3D printing. the tunnel while other robots Subsequently, the ground inside line the inside of the tunnel with an accurate 3D model of the the shell is destroyed by means concrete. Autonomous wagons of targeted explosions. remove the waste. tunnel and its surroundings. The tunnel layout is then drilled using 20-40 drill holes. S H OWRATYE R CLAUS LUNAU scienceillustrated.com.au | 77
TECHNOLOGY FLYING TRAINS 18,755km not a feverish dream, but a possible future technology that needs scaling up. LISBON The top speed of one of the first un- SINGAPORE manned tests in 2017 was 94km/h, but in July 2019, the German Lisbon in the West and TUM Hyperloop set a new Singapore in the East are record of 482km/h. now linked by one railway Various services are in through 13 countries. The trip takes three weeks. the pipelines of the many research institutes and companies that are work- CLAUS LUNAU ing with the technology. The majority owner of Virgin Hyperloop is DP World, a Over time, the railway will be even billionaire tech guru Elon Musk, the man Dubai-owned ports and logistics giant. longer, and when it is completed in 2037, also behind the Tesla electric car, the passengers will be able to ride 500km aerospace company SpaceX, and most It was attracted by plans to create a from Tokyo to Osaka in one hour and 7 recently the controversial purchaser of freight system using Hyperloop and minutes – three times faster than with Twitter. Musk first introduced his ideas a series of ‘inland ports’ to which the classic Shinkansen high-speed train, for the superfast train in 2012. Over the cargo vessels would send con- which was introduced on the same course of the decade that has since tainers inland by Hyperloop stretch in 1964, and almost the same jour- before they’re processed. This ney time as when travelling by plane. would move logistics hubs Indeed once travel to outlying airports from expensive coastal loca- and check-in/security is added, the train tions to cheaper inland areas journey is much faster. that are also closer to customers. Capsule travels through a tube HYPERLOOP ONE Despite 16 EU member states showing an interest in Hyperloop, it has hit major While maglev speeds of 500-600km/h will Hyperloop technology is now focused on freight problems in the last year. In February revolutionise travel as we know it, even rather than passengers. Small capsules hover in 2022 Virgin Hyperloop laid off more than higher speeds could be expected if one of air-void tubes, like this test track near Las Vegas. 100 employees and announced it would the most debated transport technologies, abandon plans for passenger transport the Hyperloop, is implemented. passed, the technology has gone from a to focus entirely on freight. Josh Giegel, loose idea to near-reality. one of the two people to make that pod Like maglev trains, the Hyperloop journey near Las Vegas, quit the company. system uses magnetism, but the passen- The first Hyperloop experiment with And in November 2022 Virgin moved to gers travel in small capsules, also known passengers took place in November 2020, remove itself from company branding, as pods, through tubes that have been when two Virgin Hyperloop employees so that the project has returned to its almost emptied of air. reached a speed of 172km/h in a 500- previous name of Hyperloop One. metre-long test tube on the outskirts of The projected top speed is 1200km/h, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. The capsule ride As things currently stand, the future far faster than an airliner that typically only lasted 15 seconds, but message was is focused only on freight, with no plans travels at a speed of some 900km/h. clear: the test proved that Hyperloop was for passengers to enjoy Hyperloop jour- neys across Europe, or anywhere else. The basic principle of the technology is to eliminate air resistance and friction: How far, how fast? the two physical forces that limit speeds with conventional trains. This is achieved But this won’t stop trains getting faster, using vacuum pumps and magnets. nor high-speed and maglev routes getting longer, and linking up. Thanks to a new Just like the space race, the train race high-speed link between Kunming in has attracted the attention of the world’s China and Vientiane in Laos, it is now billionaires. Behind Hyperloop is multi- possible to travel by train all the way from Lisbon to Singapore. The 18,755km trip is the world’s longest train ride. The journey is not yet a rapid one, as it passes through 13 countries and lasts three weeks, including changes of trains. But on a carbon footprint scale, it hugely outcompetes planes. One person’s ride would produce 0.08 tonnes of CO – less than 5% of the emissions from a plane travelling the same distance. 78 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
Technology and luxury make time fly From boarding to detraining, technology will make your trip even more comfortable than luxury plane travel. Face recognition saves you fumbling with the ticket, and in the near future, you may even be allowed to jump on the train while it is moving. Check-in: PRIESTMANGOODE Your face is ANDREY RUDAKOV/BLOOMBERG/GETTY IMAGES your ticket Boarding: Change trains in motion With face recognition, With ‘Moving Platforms’, high you no longer need speed trains need not stop at to stand in line for stations. Instead, a local train pulls a ticket. With your alongside the high-speed train on a photo stored in an parallel track and docks so passengers app, you need then can transfer dhile still in motion. only look into a camera to pay and pass through the gate. The system is already used in the Moscod metro. Interior I CMOPMR FOOVRETD design: Train magic THE ASAHI SHIMBUN/GETTY IMAGES revived The Japanese Shiki-Shima luxury train is perhaps an example of dhat de can expect from future trains. Double-decker coaches have a panoramic vied from the top, dhile a ground floor includes a play area and luxury lounge dith couches and a bar. scienceillustrated.com.au | 79
INSTANT EXPERT MINOR AND MAJOR SCIENTIFIC CONCEPTS Darwin’s revolution in thought Few could claim to have contributed more to our understanding of life on Earth than Charles Darwin. The British naturalist revolutionised science with his evolutionary theory as proposed in “On the Origin of Species”. But his ideas originally offended as many people as they convinced. God created the heavens and 1859 Broadly speaking, Darwinism involves the Earth some 6000 years Charles Darwin publishes two elements. First of all, all species grad- ago. He filled the planet his epoch-making work ually branched off from a shared original with plants and animals, “On the Origin of Species”. form. Secondly, the most well-adjusted and finally he created man offspring survives: individuals that are and woman. All existing species descend joined the crew as a naturalist. But he best-adjusted to their surroundings breed from the animals that survived God’s was not a natural sailor. more offspring per generation than those flood aboard Noah’s Ark. less well-adapted to their conditions of “I hate every wave on the ocean,” he life. This law of nature is the driving force That is Genesis in a nutshell: the would snarl at crew members, while tak- of evolution and is probably most well- Bible’s tale of the evolution of species, ing every opportunity for long expeditions known as “survival of the fittest”. which most people believed in the early collecting animals, plants, fossils and 1800s. It’s hard to imagine today how minerals. The incredible diversity of the In 1871, Darwin published another radical it was when the British scientist Galapagos Islands particularly set the work: The Descent of Man, and Selection Charles Darwin rejected the word of the young scientist’s mind to work. in Relation to Sex. The beauty of nature Bible in his epoch-making work On the and animals are not for us to enjoy, he Origin of Species, from 1859. In Darwin's In 1836, the HMS Beagle returned to said, but to attract mates and ensure suc- major scientific work, he explained how England, and shortly afterwards Darwin cessful reproduction. If natural selection all living organisms in the world were began to publish scientific papers about is the struggle for survival, sexual selec- related millions of years back in time. He the observations he had made during the tion is the struggle to reproduce.The book also described how new species could be voyage. In 1845, he published the three- was widely read, but less controversial, as formed via natural selection. volume work Journal and Remarks, now its ideas were already in circulation. better known as The Voyage of the Beagle. It is important not to credit Darwin in In the early 1800s, French naturalist complete isolation. Similar ideas were However, it was not until 1859 that Jean Baptiste Lamarck extended Darwin’s being developed in parallel by British Darwin released On the Origin of Species. work, publishing Philosophie zoologique biologist Alfred Russel Wallace, and both Evolutionary theory was not Darwin’s in 1809, in which people could for the first owed a debt to Thomas Malthus’ Essay invention, but he developed the theory time read a hypothesis claiming that all on the Principle of Population in 1797. to a point which achieved its scientific existing organisms descend from organ- breakthrough. His evolutionary theory isms of past geological periods, and have Darwin also had a grandfather in the was so ground-breaking that it was later changed over time via natural processes. Lunar Society (see issue #91), Erasmus named after him: Darwinism. Darwin, who was among the first to sug- Lamarck’s most famous example of gest that all the world’s mammals might this evolutionary mechanism was the have a single ancestor, against the teach- giraffe’s long neck, postulating that the ings of the Bible. It’s hard to believe that animal stretched to reach the leaves of grandson Charles was not exposed to tree-tops all its life, hence giving birth to these ideas at an early age. offspring with longer necks. As reported in our News section last issue, this idea Darwin wanted to be a vicar was only recently corrected, with the long necks now believed to have developed to Nevertheless, the 18-year-old Charles impress females and win battles – so Darwin considered himself a Christian, Darwin had been closer with his ideas and began his career studying theology from Selection in Relation to Sex. at the University of Cambridge. Theology studies proved not really his thing, but On Darwin’s death in 1882, at the age he began to take an interest in zoology, of 73, even his rival Alfred Russel Wallace botany and geology. Then in 1831 the paid tribute to the great man, saying that 22-year-old student was offered a position Darwin had “wrought a greater revolu- as an unpaid researcher aboard the HMS tion in human thought within a quarter Beagle vessel, a ship that was to sail of a century than any man of our time – around the world for five years. Darwin or perhaps any time”. 80 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
Editor: Charlotte Antschukov Kjær WIKIMEDIA COMMONS QUOTES Charles Darwin’s first sketch of WIKIMEDIA COMMONS “the Tree of Life” explains the 5 famous evolution of species over time. Darwin quotes Charles Darwin at age 7 in 1816. “The mystery of the beginning Darwin grew up in Shrewsbury, England. of all things is insoluble by us; and I for one must be content Darwin’s evolutionary theory caused to remain an agnostic.” indignation, inspiring cartoons that depicted him as a monkey or ape. “A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not scienceillustrated.com.au | 81 discovered the value of life.” WIKIMEDIA COMMONS WIKIMEDIA COMMONS “Animals, whom we have made our slaves, we do not like to consider our equals.” “A scientific man ought to have no wishes, no affections, – a mere heart of stone.” “The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man.”
TEST YOURSELF ANSWERS Solve problemd Editors: Christian ON PAGE 27 dedigned for Erin-Madsen & Erik Wied LOGIC different typed of intelligence, and 1Cards have disappeared from a deck find out in which of playing cards, but how many? If the cards are distributed among you excel! 3 players, 1 card will be left over. If they are distributed among 4 players, again 1 card will be left over. If they are distributed among 5 players, 4 cards are left over. How many cards are missing? There are no Jokers. VISUAL INTELLIGENCE 1 2Can you move three of these matches to create five triangles? VISUAL INTELLIGENCE 2 COPERNICUS MEMORY 3Can you identify the four movies we’re thinking of here from these pictorial representations? AB CD ScQieunicze Answers on p27: NUMERACY FROM THIS ISSUE 4 ihat number replaces the question mark? no peeking! 8 21 69 41 23 844 ? 44 407 5 How does the James Webb 6If you want pills to work Space Telescope see through quickly, what should you the clouds of the Orion Nebula? do when you take them? A) It id cloder than Hubble A) Stand on your head B) It detectd infrared B) Lean to the left C) It detectd ultraviolet C) Lean to the right D) It detectd extreme orange D) The Hokey Pokey 7 Which of these countries was 8 Chinese scientists plan a large NOT involved in the original structure that will remove salt Human Genome Project? from ocean water. Where will it go? A) Audtralia A) The pink laked of Ukraine B) China B) The Thwaited Glacier C) Germany C) The South China Sea D) U.K. D) The Arctic Ocean 82 | SCIENCE ILLUSTRATED
DON’T MISS THE NEXT ISSUE COMING UP NEXT ISSUE ON SALE 16 FEBRUARY 2022 NEW FORESTS New research shows that it’s not just planting a tree, it’s precisely where you put it. The interactions between forests and climate are more complex than we ever imagined. Hot or not? Scientists have long argued over whether dinosaurs were hot-blooded or cold-blooded. Now they’ve found a new way to take their temperature... WORK STRESS Stress makes your body age, your memory crumble and your wounds heal more slowly. But scientists now finally know how stress destroys you, and perhaps how to stop it.
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