Tabla de contenidos para Issue 179 en How It Works

A new experimental hypersonic cruise vehicle could be flying as soon as next summer under an initiative from the US Defense Innovation Unit (DIU). The Dart AE high-speed test aircraft is being developed by Hypersonix Launch Systems following the award of a prototype contract. DART AE is a three-metre-long, 300-kilogram scramjet-powered technology demonstrator that can reach speeds of up to Mach 7. The DIU, which operates under the US Department of Defense (DoD), describes itself as an organisation focused on accelerating the adoption of commercial and dual-use technology to solve operational challenges at speed and scale. The Pentagon is pursuing research and development of hypersonic defence programs. As part of this, the DIU has rolled out the high-cadence testing capabilities (HyCAT) project, which brings opportunities for commercial companies to develop…

A method for ‘reanimating’ organ donors’ hearts works just as well as the standard approach to collecting hearts for transplantation, new trial data shows. If widely applied, the method could increase the heart donor pool by an estimated 30 per cent. “If we could snap our fingers and just get people to use this, I think it probably would go up even more than that,” said Dr Jacob Schroder, a transplant surgeon at the Duke University School of Medicine. “This really should be the standard of care.” Most transplanted hearts come from brain-dead donors who’ve died due to a complete loss of brain activity, rather than circulatory death, in which the heart stops. A brain-dead patient can be declared dead before their heart stops beating, and this allows doctors to…

An aeronautical engineer has invented expandable clothes for children that address fast fashion and the short-term use of children’s clothes. Ryan Mario Yasin used his experience in satellite material technology to develop a fabric that stretches as young children grow, and will therefore fit them for many years. Having combined his science expertise with the everyday difficulties he experienced when buying clothes for his growing nephew, the practical patent was granted. Ryan is the founder of Petit Pli, a company selling space-inspired expandable children’s clothes, and his invention is on display at a new interactive exhibition at The National Archives in London. The free exhibition is called Spirit of Invention, and its innovative artefacts instil just that. Showcased at the event are a range of novelty and revolutionary creations, from…

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been supplying Ukraine with Starlink terminals since the Russian invasion of the country in 2022, providing vital communications after the destruction of infrastructure within the country. However, SpaceX stated in September 2022 that it couldn’t continue funding the Starlink service for Ukraine, and had asked the Pentagon to step in and cover costs. A deal is now in place to continue providing the vital communications services. “Satellite communications constitute a vital layer in Ukraine’s overall communications network, and the department contracts with Starlink for services of this type,” cited a DoD statement. “We continue to work with a range of global partners to ensure Ukraine has the satellite and communication capabilities they need.” The Pentagon did not reveal details of the contracts, citing operational security concerns.…

This month we’re giving you the chance to win a Build Your Own Telescope kit. This amazing kit allows you to construct a fully functional refractor telescope with 16x magnification to gaze up at the stars, without the need for adhesives or glue. You’ll also win a year’s subscription to How It Works, the magazine that feeds minds For your chance to win, answer the following question: How many Earths would it take to fill the volume of the Sun? A: 1.3MILLION B: 300 C: 30 Enter online at howitworksdaily.com and one lucky entrant will win! Terms and Conditions: Competition closes at 00:00 BST on 3 August 2023. By taking part in this competition you agree to be bound by these terms and conditions and the Competition Rules: www.futuretcs.com. Entries…

LETTER of the MONTH LETTER ABOUT LUMINESCENCE Dear HIW, I was told that glow sticks are toxic and I would like to know if this is true? What’s inside them and how does luminescence suddenly appear when you crack them? Zara Bowen Glow sticks can be a fun addition to any party and are generally safe as long as the contents remain inside. You shouldn’t cut open a glow stick, as the chemicals inside can irritate the skin. Usually, the chemicals inside aren’t toxic, but they also aren’t edible and should be kept away from the skin and eyes. When you crack a glow stick, you’re actually breaking a thin glass vial inside the stick. This releases the chemical hydrogen peroxide and an acidic substance called phthalic ester into the…

Average global temperatures are rising at an ever faster rate despite pledges by world leaders to tackle climate change. A new study found that the pace of global warming has accelerated in recent years despite political commitments to curb the progress of the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to preindustrial times. Global temperatures increased on average by 1.07 degrees Celsius in the decade from 2010 to 2019, but the average rise in the decade from 2013 to 2022 was 1.14 degrees Celsius. That means that the pace of human-induced climate change is accelerating at a rate of over 0.2 degrees Celsius per decade. The researchers said that the still-rising levels of human-made greenhouse gas emissions are the main culprit. In 2015, at the United Nations Climate Change Conference…

Palaeontologists have unearthed a never-before-seen raptor-like dinosaur that lived during a period of extreme climate change around 100 million years ago. Researchers think the newfound species could be an evolutionary ‘missing link’ between two key dinosaur groups. The newly described species, Iani smithi, belongs to the clade Ornithopoda – an extinct group of non-avian, mostly bipedal dinosaurs with several birdlike features. It’s unclear how large this species was, but it likely grew to around three metres long. One of the standout features of I. smith is its powerful jaw, which hints that the species exclusively ate plants. Researchers unearthed a partial skeleton of a suspected I. smithi juvenile in Utah’s Cedar Mountain Formation in 2014. The bones, which include a nearly complete skull, several vertebrae and limb bone fragments, date…

Scientists have announced the first ever recorded case of a crocodile ‘virgin birth’ after a female that had been isolated for 16 years was discovered with a clutch of eggs. The discovery provides insights into the evolutionary origins of the trait. The American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) was taken into captivity in 2002 when she was two years old and placed in an enclosure at Parque Reptilandia in Costa Rica. But in January 2018, a clutch of 14 eggs was found in the enclosure. Virgin birth, also known as facultative parthenogenesis, is a type of asexual reproduction. Scientists have documented it in birds, sharks, lizards and snakes in captivity, among other species. Until now it had never been recorded among Crocodilia, the order that includes crocodiles, alligators, caimans and gharials. 7…

A stronomers have discovered hundreds of strange, string-like structures at the centre of our galaxy, possibly tracing the violent path of an ancient black hole eruption. According to new research, each of these previously unknown filaments measures between five and ten light years in length, thousands of times the distance between the Sun and Pluto, but is visible only in radio wavelengths, meaning the structures were likely created by bursts of high-energy particles that are invisible to the naked eye. When seen together, the hundreds of crackling filaments seem to point directly at our galaxy’s central supermassive black hole, suggesting that they may be the unhealed scars of an ancient, high-energy black hole outburst that tore through the surrounding clouds of gas. “It was a surprise to suddenly find a…

GENEINNO S2 DIVING SCOOTER WWW.GENEINNO.US $539 (APPROX. £423.50) It’s a superfast sea scooter that can reach up to 1.2 metres per second. Generating ten kilograms of thrust, the Geneinno S2 is a snapping scooter that will have you zipping below the water’s surface in no time. With its 30-metre-waterproof performance, you’ll be able to see new parts of the sea you’ve never seen before. It also comes with a battery life of up to 45 minutes for maximum exploration time. This gadget is great for snorkelling, free diving and scuba diving, but if your children want to have a go in the pool, there are parental controls for the scooter using the accompanying app. RAY-BAN STORIES WWW.RAY-BAN.COM FROM £299 /$299 Document your day in the sunshine with the sleek and…

Sudoku Complete the grid so that each row, column and 3x3 box contains the numbers 1 to 9 EASY MEDIUM HARD Word search Find the following words FLIES DIALYSIS FORMULA GRAVITY GALILEO RECYCLE POLICE ASPHALT MOON POOP RAIN FORCE What is it? Hint: Treat yourself at the fair A Spot the difference See if you can find all six changes between the images below QUICKFIRE QUESTIONS Q1 What type of galaxy is the Milky Way? Spiral Elliptical Peculiar Irregular Q2 What substance makes up arhino’s horn? Ivory Bone Wood Keratin Q3 What are the teeth at the back of your mouth called? Canine Molar Incisor Deciduous Q4 Which of these metals is not magnetic? Nickel Iron Cobalt Copper Q5 Approximately how long ago did work start on China’s Great Wall?…

900 KILOGRAMS The volcanoes on Jupiter’s moon Io spew nearly a tonne of gas into space every second WHALE POO OFFSETS CARBON IN THE ATMOSPHERE SIX MINUTES The brain takes very little time to react to alcohol 50% Nearly half of all museum specimens are incorrectly labelled 330 BCE The word ‘technologia’, or technology, was first coined by Aristotle over 2,000 years ago 41% The world’s most common mineral, feldspar, makes up around half of Earth’s crust 195 There are just under 200 recognised countries Fungi are neither animals nor plants; they’re in a kingdom of their own TWO Marie Curie won a Nobel prize for both Physics and Chemistry 71% Nearly three-quarters of Earth is covered in water HUMANS ARE THE ONLY ANIMALS THAT HAVE CHINS…

Ants that inflict the world’s most painful stings do so by injecting venom that targets their victim’s nerve cells. Australian green-head ants (Rhytidoponera metallica) and bullet ants (Paraponera clavata), found in Central and South America, are not to be messed with. These insects’ stings unleash a flood of toxins that cause trembling and uncontrollable and long-lasting pain in humans and other mammals. In his 2016 book The Sting of the Wild, entomologist Justin O. Schmidt described being stung by a bullet ant as “pure, intense, brilliant pain. Like walking over flaming charcoal with a three-inch [eight-centimetre] nail embedded in your heel.” Victims of these ants have also likened the pain to that of being shot, giving the insect its name. “Bullet ant stings can be painful for up to 12…

Light is the basis for almost all life on Earth. Using energy from the Sun, plants, algae and some bacteria create complex sugar molecules that serve as the foundations for most of nature’s food chains. But parts of this chemical reaction have remained somewhat of a mystery… until now. For the first time, researchers have observed the start of photosynthesis, starting with a single photon. When light hits a plant’s chloroplast, it absorbs energy from the incoming photons and uses it to turn carbon dioxide and water into glucose and oxygen, thanks to a green pigment called chlorophyll. In a new study, researchers looked at purple photosynthetic bacteria, which share an ancient ancestor with modern-day plants and algae. They set up a photon source that spits out just two photons…

A once-daily pill halved people’s risk of dying from a common lung cancer when they took the drug after tumour-removal surgery, new trial data shows. Made by the biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, Tagrisso, also known as osimertinib, reduced the five-year risk of death in lung cancer patients by 51 per cent. The study was the result of a 682-patient trial that included participants diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), one of two main types of primary lung cancer. All patients also had a mutation in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene, which codes for a protein found on the surfaces of cells. EGFR mutations can boost cancer’s ability to grow and spread, raising patients’ risk of cancer recurrence post-treatment. Osimertinib essentially works by blocking the effects of common EGFR…

Mushrooms, and possibly all fungi, have the ability to cool down by ‘sweating’ away water. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University used an infrared camera to snap pictures of mushrooms in the woods. Infrared cameras can visualise the relative temperatures of each object in a photo, and the team noticed something odd: the mushrooms seemed to be colder than their surroundings. Scientists had previously observed that mushrooms tend to be colder than their environments. However, microbiologist Dr Arturo Casadevall said he had never heard of the phenomenon, so the team decided to find out if this cooling effect applied to all fungi. In addition to photographing wild mushrooms, the researchers grew and photographed different types of fungi in the laboratory and found the same effect – the fungi were colder than…

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Without healthy kidneys, your body would quickly fill with toxins, causing it to shut down. To prevent this buildup, these two fist-sized organs are continuously working to filter out waste substances from biological processes and pass them out of the body in your urine. For people who suffer from kidney failure, an alternative method is needed to emulate this essential task. Dialysis machines, which were invented in 1943, divert blood out of the body to be cleaned before being returned to the body. Because the body is continually producing waste, patients who depend on dialysis usually undergo four hours of treatment approximately three times a week. During the process, the machine is attached to a needle, often placed in the arm, through which blood can be extracted and returned. As…

KIT LIST One square cardboard box One torch or lamp One large white spun cotton ball One paperclip Pencil Sewing thread Knife Tape Coloured paper and other decorative materials (optional) SUMMARY In this model, the spun cotton ball is the Moon and the torch’s light represents the Sun. The model shows how the Moon itself, although appearing bright, does not emit its own light. Instead it reflects light from the Sun as it orbits Earth. At different stages of its orbit around Earth, we see the Moon reflecting more or less light. It takes the Moon 29.5 days to orbit once around our planet. At the first and last quarter of its orbit, half of the Moon appears lit. This is just how it appears from our position on Earth,…