Table of contents for Summer 2017 in BBC Science Focus Magazine

I have to admit I’ve got a soft spot for hackers. Pop culture’s to blame. Novels like William Gibson’s Neuromancer and Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash painted hackers as 21st-Century cowboys: mavericks and mercenaries subject to their own laws. I didn’t want to be John Wayne, I wanted to be Keanu Reeves. Of course, in the real world the picture (and actually hacking a system) is more complicated. Hackers can be heroes or villains depending on your perspective. Some want to fight the system while others are motivated by money, politics or boredom. In the wake of high-profile hacks and tragic terrorist attacks, politicians on all sides of the debate want to introduce tighter regulation on the internet. But will it work? On p38 we talk to security experts and former…

Until recently, most experts thought that modern humans had evolved between 150,000 and 200,000 years ago, with the earliest known fossils found at sites in Ethiopia. It was not until new research was published in Nature in June that we have compelling fossil evidence to suggest that the evolution of our lineage is deeper rooted than previously thought, and not confined to East Africa. Now dated to about 300,000 years ago, the assemblage of human fossils from Jebel Irhoud represents the earliest known examples of Homo sapiens. However, it is not yet known how peripheral the Irhoud population would have been. Populations of H. heidelbergensis, H. rhodesiensis and H. naledi were living contemporaneously in central and southern Africa and it is likely that there were other populations of early H.…

On 22 April 2016, in an attempt to prevent global temperatures from raising to 2°C above pre-industrial levels, the world’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases banded together to strike the Paris Agreement. It was a shining example of global cooperation, that is, until US president Donald Trump indicated in June that the US will be pulling out. If all countries implemented their commitments under the agreement, global greenhouse gas emissions would peak over the coming decade before returning to close to their current level in 2030. Global temperatures would still be rising, but at a constant rather than an exponentially increasing rate if nothing were to be done. Crucially, the agreement accepts that to stop the warming, net global emissions need to be reduced to zero. It also sets up…

US military research agency DARPA has announced that it will partner with Boeing to develop its next-generation hypersonic spaceplane, the XS-1. DARPA has been working on the Experimental Spaceplane XS-1 for several years. The goal is to create an unmanned, reusable craft that can launch payloads into low-Earth orbit at just a few days’ notice, compared to the months of planning needed for a Soyuz or Ares rocket launch. The XS-1 will take off vertically, powered by liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen propellants. Once the craft achieves sub-orbital altitudes, a booster rocket will launch an expendable upper stage carrying a payload of up to 1,360kg into low-Earth orbit, while the reusable first stage returns to Earth, where it will land on a runway. The craft’s primary propulsion system, an Aerojet…

The Gogoro electric scooter ‘sharing’ (read: hire) system continues to go from strength to strength, with the launch of two new models and the addition of Paris to the list of cities where Gogoro operates. The new Gogoro 2 and Gogoro 2 Plus scooters feature an improved electric motor that delivers the same 6.4kW of power but with smoother torque. They also have slightly larger wheels than the original model, plus a longer wheelbase and, accordingly, a longer seat that means riders can carry a passenger in greater comfort. Meanwhile, in Paris, Bosch’s Coup Mobility service will have 600 Gogoros available for short-term rental starting this summer. Coup Mobility already runs a fleet of 1,000 Gogoros in Berlin, after launching the service with 200 of the vehicles only a year…

The last six months have been busy for European politics, with Austria, the Netherlands, France and the UK all heading to the polls. Each one of these elections was preceded by fears that hostile powers, acting online, would seek to manipulate the outcome of the elections. These fears came closest to being realised in France, where eventual winner Emmanuel Macron and his En Marche! party were victim to a 9GB leak of emails, just 48 hours before the voting took place. Things are little different across the Atlantic, with four legislative committees, as well as the FBI, investigating alleged Russian influence over the US election, including the hacking of Hillary Clinton’s emails. Here in the UK, hacking was recently in the news when the WannaCry ransomware worm crippled computer systems…

FANCY BEAR Also known by a myriad of aliases including Sofacy, APT28 and Pawn Storm, this highly capable group is widely believed to operate with at least the tacit approval of the Russian government. It has claimed responsibility for attacks on NATO, the White House, the French election, the DNC and German parliament. LAZARUS GROUP This group is known for the attacks on Sony Pictures and the Bangladesh Central Bank in 2014 and 2016, respectively. The Lazarus Group is also thought to have attacked the South Korean government between 2007 and 2013. Specialising in financial attacks and espionage, the group has been linked by researchers and the media to the North Korean regime, albeit not conclusively. SHADOW BROKERS One of the newest groups to emerge, Shadow Brokers published leaked hacking…

TITAN FALL Panoramic picture of the landing zone of the European Huygens probe on Titan, as seen from a 10km altitude. Huygens touched down at the base of a mountain range. SMOGGY SATELLITE Photomosaic of Titan, made by Cassini during its flyby on 13 November 2015. The individual photos were shot by the craft’s infrared instruments, which enabled a view through the smog layers in the nitrogen-rich atmosphere. CHILLY MOON Before entering its orbit around Saturn, Cassini approached the outer Saturnian moon Phoebe to within 12,000km. Phoebe is irregularly shaped and heavily cratered, and measures some 200km across. The moon’s low density indicates that ice is a major constituent. GLOWING GEYSERS The geysers of Enceladus show up clearly when backlit by the Sun. They were discovered by Cassini in 2005.…

WATCH NATURE’S FIREWORK DISPLAY The streaks of light we call ‘shooting stars’ are really meteors: tiny fragments of stone or ice that plough into Earth’s atmosphere at around 160,000km/h and burn up on entry. On any clear, dark night you might spot the odd meteor but at certain times of year they appear in a dramatic flurry. From 27-30 July, the Delta Aquariid meteor shower will reach its peak, resulting in up to 20 meteors per hour, and on 11-12 August it’s the turn of the famous Perseids, when you might see up to 90 per hour. You don’t need any special equipment for meteor spotting: just wear warm clothes and head somewhere very dark, well away from city lights. A sunlounger will, however, make for more comfy viewing! BUILD…

NOUGHTS & CROSSES Also known as tic-tac-toe, and immortalised in the 1983 movieWarGames, this was solved in 1972 by computer scientists Allen Newell and Herbert Simon. Hint: always open the game on a corner. VIDEO GAMES Google’s DeepMind AI has mastered a number of Atari 2600 classics, including Space Invaders, Pong, Breakout and Video Olympics. The team behind the AI now has its sights on strategy game StarCraft. BACKGAMMON TD-Gammon was a backgammon-playing neural network, developed in 1992 by Gerald Tesauro at IBM’s Watson Research Center, New York. It was able to beat all but the world’s top professional players. DRAUGHTS Also known as checkers, this was cracked in 2007 by Jonathan Schaeffer at the University of Alberta, Canada. Thanks to the 10 20  possible board positions, it was…

AMR AMR, or antimicrobial resistance, is a broad term that includes the emergence of resistance in bacteria, as well as in other microorganisms such as viruses and fungi. BETA-LACTAMASE Bacteria that can produce beta-lactamase are a major threat to healthcare systems worldwide. This chemical blocks the action of a key family of antibiotics that act on the bacterial cell wall. HORIZONTALGENE TRANSFER(HGT) As well as passing on DNA to successive generations, bacteria can also exchange DNA with unrelated microorganisms nearby. This allows them to ‘share’ useful genes, helping resistance spread from one species to another. MDROs ‘Multi-drug resistant organisms’ are strains of bacteria that are resistant to lots of antibiotics. Some are resistant to ‘last resort’ drugs. MRSA Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is a common bacterium that has developed resistance to…

1 LIFE SAVERS Antibiotics kill the bacteria that cause infections and diseases. They’re used in billions of operations, and without them, an infection caused by something like a paper cut could prove fatal. 2 THE DRUGS DON’T WORK As bacteria are constantly multiplying, a small number of cells will emerge now and again with a DNA mutation that gives them a kind of immunity to an antibiotic. The more drug-resistant bacteria there are, the more dangerous infections become. 3 THE RACE IS ON Scientists are on the lookout for new antibiotics and alternative ways to fight infections. Meanwhile, GPs and patients are being encouraged to curb their use of the drugs. The Longitude Prize is offering £10m for anyone who can develop a cheap, accurate and easy-to-use test for bacterial…

In May 1983, two papers appeared in the same issue ofScienceclaiming the same breakthrough: the identification of a virus apparently linked to AIDS. While neither the US nor the French teams were certain of the link, their claims were seized on in the search for a treatment. Further research by the US team confirmed the AIDS connection, and the virus was named the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). But the coincidence of two teams making the same claim sparked a bitter row between the team leaders: Robert Gallo of the National Cancer Institute, Maryland, and Luc Montagnier of the Pasteur Institute, Paris. Initially the dispute focused on who should benefit from royalties for a blood test for HIV. In 1987, the US and French governments settled that dispute by declaring both…

“I love it because it’s so remote. It used to take me three days to forget about the rest of the world” What do you do? It’s my job to provide leadership to the international polar community and to manage and represent the British Antarctic Survey. That includes overseeing all of our science, our research stations in Antarctica, the people who live and work there, and our aircraft and ships. We currently have two ships, and the RRS Sir David Attenborough which is being built. And the infamous Boaty McBoatface? Yes. Boaty McBoatface was the name given to the small robotic subs that will be launched from the ship. The original naming competition was run by the Natural Environment Research Council, of which we are part. I think it’s great…

JANE FRANCIS Jane is the director of the British Antarctic Survey and has undertaken numerous expeditions to the world’s polar regions. We wanted to find out more. p98 PAUL PARSONS Freelance writer Paul specialises in science and stats, so we sent him off to investigate the artificial intelligence that can beat the pros at poker. p64 GOVERT SHILLING Soon, the Cassini mission to Saturn will come to a close. Astronomer Govert takes a look at some of the craft’s most exciting discoveries so far. p48…

What did they do? A team at Harvard Medical School engineered gut bacteria in a group of mice to turn their poo blue when they are in the presence of disease. How did they do that? They engineered a harmless strain ofE.coli bacteria to produce a particular enzyme when it came into contact with tetrathionate – a substance seen in high levels in the guts of people with ulcerative colitis. They were then able to identify the enzyme in the animals’ stools using a test in which it changes colour. Why did they do that? Understandably, many people aren’t exactly thrilled when they hear the words “You’re going to need an endoscopy”. However, there are currently few alternatives when it comes to diagnosing gut disorders. The team hopes that their…

WATER IS SOUR Water doesn’t taste of anything, right? Wrong. Researchers at Caltech have found that drinking pure water activates the sour taste receptors in mice. JUPITER IS THE OLDEST PLANET IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM The solid core of Jupiter formed just a million years after the Sun, making it almost 4.6 billion years old and about 55 million years older than Earth, a team at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has found. MAKING ART MAKES US HAPPY Drawing and doodling cause an increase in blood flow in the prefrontal cortex – an area associated with the brain’s reward circuit, researchers at Drexel University have found. Somebody pass the crayons.…

NOKIA 3310 Though this may fill you with a sense of nostalgia, we chose this phone because it’s built for purpose. With little in the way of frills, other than Snake, the phone will last you up to a month on standby. We used it over a weekend in London and only saw the battery drop by 40 per cent. There’s a camera for selfies, and if it’s anything like it’s predecessor it’ll put up with a fair few knocks too. £50, nokia.com BIOLITE BASELANTERN Every bit of tech seems to have an app these days and this lantern is no different. Hook it up to your phone via Bluetooth and control the powerful light’s brightness and colour remotely. It features two USB charging ports for…

GOODBYE, MP3 Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute is no longer licensing the codec behind MPEG-2, Audio Layer 3 – the MP3 format that launched the digital music revolution. New music streaming and download services will have to use newer formats such as AAC. RUSSIAN ROBOT British football fans visiting the next World Cup in Russia will be greeted by a robot tour guide that will translate for them, and contact the police if it detects trouble brewing. It’s been given the name ‘Alan Tim’, after Alan Turing and Tim Berners-Lee. BRITAIN, REJOICE! British people can now proudly say that the UK is home to the world’s largest wind turbines, after Dong Energy switched on 32 new turbines in Liverpool Bay that each stand 195m tall and sport three 80m-long blades.…

White with fright The question about fright turning hair white (June, p80), brought back memories of my great uncle. He was afraid of confined spaces, and many (many) years ago, was trapped in a lift overnight. As a consequence, his hair turned completely white, and remained so for the remainder of his life. I am currently 77 years of age, so you can guess how long ago that experience happened. Herbert Magri-Overend, via email Teething problems I have been interested in T.rex’s forearms and have wondered if he used his ‘hands’ to tidy up his mouth. I have been assured that he could not reach his mouth with his hands and this looks to be the case in all the skeletons and artist’s impressions in books and museum displays. But…

VIRUSES AND WORMS Most malware tends to be either a virus or a worm. The difference comes down to the software’s ability to propagate. Like their biological namesakes, computer viruses require a host body, whereas worms can spread from one machine to the next unaided. DDOS Short for distributed denial of service, a DDOS attack is basic yet effective. It works on the principle that if a website’s DNS server can be overwhelmed by traffic requests, the site will crash. Hackers run botnets – networks of zombie computers or devices – to besiege a server from multiple fronts simultaneously. TROJAN As its name suggests, a Trojan is a form of malware that sneaks into your computer under an innocuous guise (like an email attachment). Its cargo can be any form…

1 HOW LONG DO WE HAVE? As the development of antibiotic resistance is based on chance mutations and random transfer of genetic material, it’s hard to predict when and where resistance will emerge, and how much time we have left to find solutions. However, new tools are being deployed to help identify and monitor ‘hotspots’ of resistance around the world. 2 CAN WE TACKLE IT GLOBALLY? In many ways, our efforts to curb antibiotic resistance have parallels with climate change: the most advanced efforts in one country are worth nothing if other countries continue as they are. The Western world has made significant progress, but telling developing or poorer nations that they now cannot use antibiotics is not going to be easy. 3 WHEN WILL WE HAVE NEW DRUGS? It’s…

“THE NAIL HAD GONE THROUGH BOTH TYRE AND INNER TUBE, TWICE, AND HAD RE-SEALED QUICKLY” Recently, I was cycling back from my badminton club. About halfway home, a gentle rasping sound began. It happens quite a lot – leaves or a twig get stuck somewhere in the rear wheel spokes, and then once every rotation the uninvited hitchhiker brushes against the reflector or the brakes. I was hungry and in a hurry, and although I peered back at the wheel every time I stopped at traffic lights, I couldn’t spot the twig and wasn’t bothered enough to have a proper look. The soft swish, swish, swish sound followed me home. It was only when I was inside the bike cage at my flat that I gave it my full attention.…

1. EARTHQUAKES Months of earthquakes would culminate in a huge quake, creating fissures to the magma chamber 7km below. As pressure is released, gases dissolved in the magma come out of solution, turning the magma into a boiling froth. 2. BLASTWAVE The total energy released would be equivalent to an 875,000 megaton explosion. The shockwave would kill 90,000 people. Most of the lava would fall back into the crater. Any flows would be slow and only spread 40-50km or so. 3. ASH FLOWS More dangerous are the pyroclastic flows – clouds of dense, hot ash flowing outwards from the vent. A 2016 study found that the flows would probably move at 16-72km/h. That’s slow enough that you could outrun the ash in a car. 4. VOLCANIC WINTER The US would…

1.As gold is unreactive, it exists as nanoparticles in seawater and the soil. Plants and animals absorb some of these gold nanoparticles, so they pass up the food chain to us. 2.Even if you don’t have any gold fillings, there is about 2mg of gold in your body. If you could somehow extract this, it would be worth just over 6p. 3. Our bodies carefully regulate the concentrations of biologically active metals such as zinc and copper and remove any surplus via the skin and hair. Gold, though harmless, is excreted the same way. 4. Babies under three months have more gold in their hair than older people. This comes from their mother’s breast milk and can reach double the average concentration of gold in Earth’s crust.…

Astronauts will soon be able to eat bread on the ISS p17 Saturn’s moon Hyperion is as porous as pumice p51 Viruses could be used to treat bacterial infections p75 It’s not the extra weight of the butter that makes toast land butter-side down p86 Every one of us is taking in molecules from Caesar’s last breath p92 CONTACT US Advertising neil.lloyd@immediate.co.uk 01173008276 Lettersforpublication reply@sciencefocus.com Editorialenquiries editorialenquiries@sciencefocus.com 01173147388 Subscriptions focus@servicehelpline.co.uk 08448440257* Othercontacts sciencefocus.com/contact WANT MORE ? FOLLOW SCIENCEFOCUS FACEBOOK TWITTER PINTEREST GOOGLE+…

1. IT’S GOT A STRANGE MAGNETIC FIELD Jupiter’s magnetic field is stronger than expected at 7.8 Gauss – that’s 10 times stronger than any magnetic field found on Earth. It’s also quite uneven, suggesting that it may be mostly generated quite close to the surface. 2. THE POLES ARE STORMY, AND QUITE DIFFERENT FROM EACH OTHER Juno scientists found that, towards Jupiter’s poles, regular bands of gases give way to chaotic, swirling storms. What’s not yet known is the mechanism that drives these storms, or why this activity is not the same at both poles. 3. JUPITER’S ‘NORTHERN LIGHTS’ AREN’T LIKE EARTH’S Just like Earth, Jupiter is home to auroral activity caused by interaction between its upper atmosphere and the solar wind. However, the exact processes involved in their formation…

“NUCLEAR POWER IS PREFERABLE TO FOSSIL FUELS ON EVERY MEASURE” Few will lose sleep over news that the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania, scene of the worst nuclear accident in US history, is to close. What happened there on 28 March 1979 showed the world how small things count for a lot when it comes to nuclear safety. A single faulty valve and some dodgy instrumentation led to one of the plant’s reactor cores melting, resulting in the release of radioactive material, and almost 200,000 people fleeing the area. Many of them probably feared they were about to witness the so-called China Syndrome, where the incredibly hot reactor core burns through its containment vessel, then the ground beneath – and doesn’t stop until it emerges somewhere in China.…

MACRON EMAIL LEAK Just 48 hours before the run-off poll between Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen, a 9GB cache of emails from Macron’s En Marche! party was posted on PasteBin, a filesharing platform. They were spread to WikiLeaks. “The attacks were so simple and generic that it could have been practically anyone,” France’s cybersecurity chief said. BANGLADESH BANK HEIST In February 2016, hackers got the login credentials used by Bangladesh Central Bank for the international banking transfer system SWIFT. They tried to transfer $951m to accounts in Sri Lanka and the Philippines. Most transactions were flagged, but $101m was removed. A Trojan known as Dridex was used, which hides in MS Word or Excel attachments. WANNACRY ATTACK On 12 May 2017, a global ransomware attack affected more than 230,000…

OCT 1997 Cassini launches from Cape Canaveral aboard a Titan IV rocket APR 1998 First flyby of Venus, for course correction and acceleration DEC 2000 Flyby of Jupiter (left), for course correction and acceleration JUN 2004 Flyby of Phoebe (right), one of Saturn’s outer moons JUL 2004 Arrival in orbit around Saturn (right) OCT 2004 First flyby of Saturn’s giant moon Titan JAN 2005 Landing of European Huygens probe on Titan MAY 2005 Discovery of geysers erupting from the south pole of the moon Enceladus JULY 2006 Discovery of hydrocarbon lakes on Titan (left) JUL 2013 While at Saturn, takes photographs of Earth (located by arrow, left) APR 2017 First dive through the gap between Saturn’s cloud tops and rings SEP 2017 Plummets into Saturn’s atmosphere, ending its mission…

SUITS When holding two cards of the same suit, DeepStack plays more aggressively than most humans – hoping to make a flush (five cards suited) when the public cards are dealt. COVERAGE DeepStack plays a range of hands wide enough that it’s likely to make a strong five-card hand when the public cards come, but not so wide that it leaves itself vulnerable. MIX IT UP DeepStack almost never plays a situation the same way every time. Instead it assigns probabilities to each action (raise, fold, call) and then randomises its play accordingly, keeping its opponent guessing. BET SIZE While humans adapt their bet sizes to the situation, influencing the odds and their opponent’s play, DeepStack dominates with a small bet range – fold, call, pot-sized bet, half pot, twice…

If you’re a fan of apocalyptic disaster movies, you’ll be familiar with all manner of things that might bring about the fall of civilisation: asteroid strikes, deadly viruses, alien invasions, nuclear armageddon. Perhaps even an outbreak of zombies. But what about antibiotic resistance? Experts now believe that the spread of drug-resistant bacteria is probably the single greatest threat to society – greater even than the dangers posed by global terrorism, climate change and anything you’ll see at the cinema. There are signs that this ‘antibiotic apocalypse’ is already upon us: in Europe and the US alone, at least 50,000 people die each year from infections that don’t respond to conventional treatment. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria have been found in every country. If current trends continue, all the world’s antibiotic medicines could effectively…

Acinetobacter baumannii This can cause pneumonia, as well as wound and blood infections in people with compromised immune systems. Enterobacteriaceae Feared as the next superbug, Carbapenemresistant Enterobacteriaceae kill up to half of patients who get infected by them. Enterococcus faecium This bacterium causes urinary tract and blood infections. It’s developed six types of resistance to the antibiotic vancomycin. Pseudomonas aeruginosa Resistant to ‘last resort’ antibiotics, this bug can cause fatal infections in vulnerable patients. Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) MRSA lives harmlessly on the skin of around 1 in 30 people, but can cause fatal infections if it goes deeper into the body. Helicobacter pylori Often the cause of stomach ulcers, a mutation makes the most common treatment, clarithromycin, ineffective. Campylobacter spp. Campylobacter is found in raw meat and causes food poisoning.…

DR ALASTAIR GUNN Astronomer, astrophysicist ALEXANDRA CHEUNG Environment/ climate expert DR PETER J BENTLEY Computer scientist, author PROF ALICE GREGORY Psychologist, sleep expert PROF MARK LORCH Chemist, science writer CHARLOTTE CORNEY Zoo director, conservationist DR HELEN SCALES Oceans expert, science writer DR CHRISTIAN JARRETT Neuroscientist, science writer EMMA DAVIES Heath expert, science writer LUIS VILLAZON Science/tech writer DR AARATHI PRASAD Biologist, geneticist PROF ROBERT MATTHEWS Physicist, science writer How do young babies know how to swim underwater? GARY BARKER, DURHAM They don’t. The baby on the cover of Nirvana’s iconic album Nevermindis holding its breath, but it isn’t swimming. The breathing response is automatic and part of the mammalian diving reflex. All mammals will automatically close off their trachea and slow their heart rate when their face is immersed in…

“Holmes writes the best kind of science books, capturing exactly the wonder and awe that attract people to science, and that help pack museums and natural parks around the world. This book resurrects the miracle of flight in the days before airplanes.” “A fascinating book about the painful, complicated, and sometimes amusing transition that turned disreputable alchemists into the lions of modern chemistry. Encyclopaedic and lavishly illustrated.” “The first signs of alien life almost certainly won’t be hovering UFOs, but subtle traces of gases in the atmospheres of distant planets. Bennett’s book captures the magnitude of the quest for alien life, and its incredible implications for humanity.”…