A-Q Abbasi Whatsapp Group Join Us # 0301-2383762
T
Th
GRE
WEEKLY November 24 – 30, 2018
37
TRILLION
PIECES
OF YOU
Mapping the epic complexity
of the human machine
No3205 US$6.99 CAN$6.99
4 7
, A-Q Abbasi Whatsapp Group Join Us # 0301-2383762
n
CONTENTS
Management
Executive chairman Bernard Gray
Chief executive Nina Wright
Finance director Jenni Prince
Chief technology officer Chris Corderoy
Marketing director Jo Adams
Human resources Shirley Spencer
Non-executive director Louise Rogers
Publishing and commercial
WWW.ASPHYXIA-PROJECT.COM
HR co-ordinator Serena Robinson
Facilities manager Ricci Welch
Executive assistant Sarah Gauld
Receptionist Alice Catling
Display advertising
01
Tel +1 617 283 3213
Email
Commercial director Chris Martin
03
Lynne Garcia, Richard Holliman, Justin Viljoen, Volume 240 No 3205 News A summer of science begins in Ant
Henry Vowden, Helen Williams
Recruitment advertising
#
Tel +1 617 283 3213 On the cover Leaders
Email
us
Recruitment sales manager Mike Black 40 Smart plants 5 Academic publishing’s stranglehold 28
Isabell Cavill, Nicola Cubeddu They hear, they learn – and they needs to be broken. We must let
Key account manager Viren Vadgama
US sales manager Jeanne Shapiro remember
in
radical ideas bloom
32
Jo
Marketing
32 Ghost particle
Head of marketing Lucy Dunwell
Nashitha Suren, David Hunt, Chloe Thompson The hunt for the elusive fourth
News
up
Web development neutrino 6 THIS WEEK A brand new type of 36
Maria Moreno Garrido, Tom McQuillan, plane. NASA picks landing spot on
ro
Amardeep Sian
7 Green sky thinking Mars. Au revoir, Le Grand K 40
New Scientist Live
G
An entirely new kind of aircraft
Tel +44 (0)20 7611 1206
Email 8 NEWS & TECHNOLOGY
p
Events director Adrian Newton 28 37 trillion pieces of you Antarctica’s summer research
Creative director Valerie Jamieson
ap
Sales director Jacqui McCarron Mapping the epic complexity season begins. Gene silencing
Exhibition sales manager Charles Mostyn of the human machine may treat pre-eclampsia. Termites’
Event manager Henry Gomm
ts
Marketing executive Sasha Marks monumental mounds. Star smash 42
36 Disrupting science shows Einstein was right.
ha
US Newsstand
Tel +1 212 237 7987 The radical plan to make Exosuit-assisted car makers.
W
Distributed by Time/Warner Retail, all research free China’s stone tools may rewrite 43
Sales and Marketing, 260 Cherry Hill Road,
Parsippany, NJ 07054 our species’ ancient history.
Plus Termite nation (10). The missing Blockchain genome sequencing
si
Syndication
meteorites (8). Very ancient service. Deleting your cookies 44
ba
Tribune Content Agency
Tel 1 800 637 4082 China (15) won’t stop this web tracker. Ghost
Email
galaxy lurks behind Milky Way
Ab
Subscriptions
newscientist.com/subscribe
Tel 1 888 822 3242 or +1 636 736 4901
19 IN BRIEF Walking backwards
Q
Email boosts your memory. Microrobot
Post New Scientist, PO Box 3806,
grabs heavy metals. Your taste 26
A~
Chesterfield MO 63006-9953
for coffee may be in your genes.
Alien world hides in plain sight 52
, A-Q Abbasi Whatsapp Group Join Us # 0301-2383762
LEADERS
Editorial
Editor Emily Wilson
Managing editor Rowan Hooper
Art editor Craig Mackie
News
News editor Penny Sarchet
Editors Jacob Aron, Timothy Revell
Reporters (UK) Jessica Hamzelou
Michael Le Page, Clare Wilson, Sam Wong
(US) Leah Crane, Chelsea Whyte
(Aus) Alice Klein
Features
Chief features editor Richard Webb
Editors Catherine de Lange, Gilead Amit,
01
Julia Brown, Daniel Cossins, Kate Douglas,
Alison George, Joshua Howgego,
Tiffany O’Callaghan
03
Feature writer Graham Lawton
Culture and Community
Editors Liz Else, Mike Holderness, Simon Ings,
Open science
#
Frank Swain
us
Subeditors
Chief subeditor Eleanor Parsons
Tom Campbell, Chris Simms, Jon White
It is time to revolutionise academic publishing
Design in
Jo
Kathryn Brazier, Joe Hetzel,
Dave Johnston, Ryan Wills HERE is a trivia question for taxpayers too. (Some readers may expe
Picture desk you: what is the most profitable scent a whiff of hypocrisy, given But
up
Chief picture editor Adam Goff business in the world? You might New Scientist also charges for its 43 re
Kirstin Kidd, David Stock
think oil, or maybe banking. You content. But good journalism have
ro
Production
would be wrong. The answer is does not come free.) part
Alan Blagrove, Anne Marie Conlon,
academic publishing. Its profit The academic publishing faile
G
Melanie Green
Contact us margins are vast, reportedly in business model is indefensible. a gra
p
newscientist.com/contact the region of 40 per cent. Practically everybody – even the it is
ap
General & media enquiries The reason it is so lucrative is companies that profit from it – Pl
because most of the costs of its acknowledges that it has to The
ts
US
210 Broadway #201 content is picked up by taxpayers. change. And yet the status quo real
Publicly funded researchers do has proven extremely resilient. perf
ha
Cambridge, MA 02139
Tel +1 617 283 3213
the work, write it up and judge The latest attempt to break the Rese
UK
W
25 Bedford Street, London, WC2E 9ES its merits. And yet the resulting mould is called Plan S, created wor
Tel +44 (0)20 7611 1200 intellectual property ends up in by umbrella group cOAlition S. It taxp
AUSTRALIA the hands of the publishers. To demands that all publicly funded Plan
si
PO Box 2315, Strawberry Hills, NSW 2012
rub salt into the wound they then research be made freely available on b
ba
sell it via exorbitant subscriptions (see page 36). When Plan S was how
and paywalls, often paid for by unveiled in September, its backers pub
Ab
Q
But
Let radical ideas bloom and
A~
reve
WHEN New Scientist first wrote to some research inspiration, brai
© 2018 New Scientist Ltd, England.
, A-Q Abbasi Whatsapp Group Join Us # 0301-2383762
THIS WEEK
Volcano of
Fire erupts
THOUSANDS of people were
evacuated from the area around
the Volcano of Fire in Guatemala on
Monday after it erupted for the fifth
time this year. The eruption appears
to have quickly died down.
The authorities were taking no
chances after around 200 people
died in an eruption in June, during
01
which fluid-like masses of ash and
debris called pyroclastic flows struck
03
ESTEBAN BIBA/EPA-EFE/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK
several villages on the surrounding
slopes. Such flows can reach up to
700 kilometres an hour.
#
The Volcano of Fire, also called
us
Vulcan de Fuego, is one of the most
active volcanoes in Central America.
Numerous small eruptions occur
each day but large ones are rare.
in
Jo
up
week, which may help to contain the
NASA picks Mars Dry summer set the M
ro
blaze. However, wet conditions bring
rover landing site stage for Camp Fire G
G
a threat of mudslides and could also
hamper search and rescue efforts.
p
AFTER four years of deliberation, THE cost of California’s devastating This year has seen California’s most TH
ap
NASA has picked its next Mars landing wildfire known as the Camp Fire destructive wildfire season on record, fun
spot: Jezero crater. The hope is that it continues to rise. As New Scientist with 7579 fires burning 1.7 million an
ts
has the right environment to preserve went to press, there were acres in total. The long dry spell and un
signs of ancient life. 79 confirmed deaths, with almost record summer temperatures created Con
ha
Satellite images suggest the 700 people still unaccounted for. ideal wildfire conditions. in V
W
50-kilometre-wide crater once had a Authorities say the fire, which has Due to climate change, such dry
river flowing along its rim and into a hit the town of Paradise (below) and conditions are about seven times def
big lake. It is thought to hold rocks that other parts of Butte County, will more likely now than they were at the and
si
can preserve organic molecules, such probably continue to burn until the end of the 19th century, says Patrick the
ba
as clays and carbonates. It is located end of the month. The first major Brown at the Carnegie Institution for Cop
18 degrees north of Mars’s equator. rainfall in six months is expected this Science in Washington DC. dis
Ab
“Getting samples from this unique dis
area will revolutionise how we think rev
Q
about Mars and its ability to harbour litt
life,” said NASA’s Thomas Zurbuchen val
A~
in a statement.
If all goes to plan, NASA will launch kilo
T
Th
GRE
WEEKLY November 24 – 30, 2018
37
TRILLION
PIECES
OF YOU
Mapping the epic complexity
of the human machine
No3205 US$6.99 CAN$6.99
4 7
, A-Q Abbasi Whatsapp Group Join Us # 0301-2383762
n
CONTENTS
Management
Executive chairman Bernard Gray
Chief executive Nina Wright
Finance director Jenni Prince
Chief technology officer Chris Corderoy
Marketing director Jo Adams
Human resources Shirley Spencer
Non-executive director Louise Rogers
Publishing and commercial
WWW.ASPHYXIA-PROJECT.COM
HR co-ordinator Serena Robinson
Facilities manager Ricci Welch
Executive assistant Sarah Gauld
Receptionist Alice Catling
Display advertising
01
Tel +1 617 283 3213
Commercial director Chris Martin
03
Lynne Garcia, Richard Holliman, Justin Viljoen, Volume 240 No 3205 News A summer of science begins in Ant
Henry Vowden, Helen Williams
Recruitment advertising
#
Tel +1 617 283 3213 On the cover Leaders
us
Recruitment sales manager Mike Black 40 Smart plants 5 Academic publishing’s stranglehold 28
Isabell Cavill, Nicola Cubeddu They hear, they learn – and they needs to be broken. We must let
Key account manager Viren Vadgama
US sales manager Jeanne Shapiro remember
in
radical ideas bloom
32
Jo
Marketing
32 Ghost particle
Head of marketing Lucy Dunwell
Nashitha Suren, David Hunt, Chloe Thompson The hunt for the elusive fourth
News
up
Web development neutrino 6 THIS WEEK A brand new type of 36
Maria Moreno Garrido, Tom McQuillan, plane. NASA picks landing spot on
ro
Amardeep Sian
7 Green sky thinking Mars. Au revoir, Le Grand K 40
New Scientist Live
G
An entirely new kind of aircraft
Tel +44 (0)20 7611 1206
Email 8 NEWS & TECHNOLOGY
p
Events director Adrian Newton 28 37 trillion pieces of you Antarctica’s summer research
Creative director Valerie Jamieson
ap
Sales director Jacqui McCarron Mapping the epic complexity season begins. Gene silencing
Exhibition sales manager Charles Mostyn of the human machine may treat pre-eclampsia. Termites’
Event manager Henry Gomm
ts
Marketing executive Sasha Marks monumental mounds. Star smash 42
36 Disrupting science shows Einstein was right.
ha
US Newsstand
Tel +1 212 237 7987 The radical plan to make Exosuit-assisted car makers.
W
Distributed by Time/Warner Retail, all research free China’s stone tools may rewrite 43
Sales and Marketing, 260 Cherry Hill Road,
Parsippany, NJ 07054 our species’ ancient history.
Plus Termite nation (10). The missing Blockchain genome sequencing
si
Syndication
meteorites (8). Very ancient service. Deleting your cookies 44
ba
Tribune Content Agency
Tel 1 800 637 4082 China (15) won’t stop this web tracker. Ghost
galaxy lurks behind Milky Way
Ab
Subscriptions
newscientist.com/subscribe
Tel 1 888 822 3242 or +1 636 736 4901
19 IN BRIEF Walking backwards
Q
Email boosts your memory. Microrobot
Post New Scientist, PO Box 3806,
grabs heavy metals. Your taste 26
A~
Chesterfield MO 63006-9953
for coffee may be in your genes.
Alien world hides in plain sight 52
, A-Q Abbasi Whatsapp Group Join Us # 0301-2383762
LEADERS
Editorial
Editor Emily Wilson
Managing editor Rowan Hooper
Art editor Craig Mackie
News
News editor Penny Sarchet
Editors Jacob Aron, Timothy Revell
Reporters (UK) Jessica Hamzelou
Michael Le Page, Clare Wilson, Sam Wong
(US) Leah Crane, Chelsea Whyte
(Aus) Alice Klein
Features
Chief features editor Richard Webb
Editors Catherine de Lange, Gilead Amit,
01
Julia Brown, Daniel Cossins, Kate Douglas,
Alison George, Joshua Howgego,
Tiffany O’Callaghan
03
Feature writer Graham Lawton
Culture and Community
Editors Liz Else, Mike Holderness, Simon Ings,
Open science
#
Frank Swain
us
Subeditors
Chief subeditor Eleanor Parsons
Tom Campbell, Chris Simms, Jon White
It is time to revolutionise academic publishing
Design in
Jo
Kathryn Brazier, Joe Hetzel,
Dave Johnston, Ryan Wills HERE is a trivia question for taxpayers too. (Some readers may expe
Picture desk you: what is the most profitable scent a whiff of hypocrisy, given But
up
Chief picture editor Adam Goff business in the world? You might New Scientist also charges for its 43 re
Kirstin Kidd, David Stock
think oil, or maybe banking. You content. But good journalism have
ro
Production
would be wrong. The answer is does not come free.) part
Alan Blagrove, Anne Marie Conlon,
academic publishing. Its profit The academic publishing faile
G
Melanie Green
Contact us margins are vast, reportedly in business model is indefensible. a gra
p
newscientist.com/contact the region of 40 per cent. Practically everybody – even the it is
ap
General & media enquiries The reason it is so lucrative is companies that profit from it – Pl
because most of the costs of its acknowledges that it has to The
ts
US
210 Broadway #201 content is picked up by taxpayers. change. And yet the status quo real
Publicly funded researchers do has proven extremely resilient. perf
ha
Cambridge, MA 02139
Tel +1 617 283 3213
the work, write it up and judge The latest attempt to break the Rese
UK
W
25 Bedford Street, London, WC2E 9ES its merits. And yet the resulting mould is called Plan S, created wor
Tel +44 (0)20 7611 1200 intellectual property ends up in by umbrella group cOAlition S. It taxp
AUSTRALIA the hands of the publishers. To demands that all publicly funded Plan
si
PO Box 2315, Strawberry Hills, NSW 2012
rub salt into the wound they then research be made freely available on b
ba
sell it via exorbitant subscriptions (see page 36). When Plan S was how
and paywalls, often paid for by unveiled in September, its backers pub
Ab
Q
But
Let radical ideas bloom and
A~
reve
WHEN New Scientist first wrote to some research inspiration, brai
© 2018 New Scientist Ltd, England.
, A-Q Abbasi Whatsapp Group Join Us # 0301-2383762
THIS WEEK
Volcano of
Fire erupts
THOUSANDS of people were
evacuated from the area around
the Volcano of Fire in Guatemala on
Monday after it erupted for the fifth
time this year. The eruption appears
to have quickly died down.
The authorities were taking no
chances after around 200 people
died in an eruption in June, during
01
which fluid-like masses of ash and
debris called pyroclastic flows struck
03
ESTEBAN BIBA/EPA-EFE/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK
several villages on the surrounding
slopes. Such flows can reach up to
700 kilometres an hour.
#
The Volcano of Fire, also called
us
Vulcan de Fuego, is one of the most
active volcanoes in Central America.
Numerous small eruptions occur
each day but large ones are rare.
in
Jo
up
week, which may help to contain the
NASA picks Mars Dry summer set the M
ro
blaze. However, wet conditions bring
rover landing site stage for Camp Fire G
G
a threat of mudslides and could also
hamper search and rescue efforts.
p
AFTER four years of deliberation, THE cost of California’s devastating This year has seen California’s most TH
ap
NASA has picked its next Mars landing wildfire known as the Camp Fire destructive wildfire season on record, fun
spot: Jezero crater. The hope is that it continues to rise. As New Scientist with 7579 fires burning 1.7 million an
ts
has the right environment to preserve went to press, there were acres in total. The long dry spell and un
signs of ancient life. 79 confirmed deaths, with almost record summer temperatures created Con
ha
Satellite images suggest the 700 people still unaccounted for. ideal wildfire conditions. in V
W
50-kilometre-wide crater once had a Authorities say the fire, which has Due to climate change, such dry
river flowing along its rim and into a hit the town of Paradise (below) and conditions are about seven times def
big lake. It is thought to hold rocks that other parts of Butte County, will more likely now than they were at the and
si
can preserve organic molecules, such probably continue to burn until the end of the 19th century, says Patrick the
ba
as clays and carbonates. It is located end of the month. The first major Brown at the Carnegie Institution for Cop
18 degrees north of Mars’s equator. rainfall in six months is expected this Science in Washington DC. dis
Ab
“Getting samples from this unique dis
area will revolutionise how we think rev
Q
about Mars and its ability to harbour litt
life,” said NASA’s Thomas Zurbuchen val
A~
in a statement.
If all goes to plan, NASA will launch kilo
