Popular Scienceの March 2015 の目次

A few months ago, I caught up with a buddy for a drink. He’s in advertising, and like most of his colleagues, he works awful hours. Nights, weekends, you name it. But it didn’t appear to bother him. He always seemed like one of those corporate ironmen, the guys suspiciously impervious to heavy work loads and overly demanding bosses. But on that night, my buddy came clean. He told me he stopped sleeping well a few years before. Then he’d gotten a weird back pain that wouldn’t go away, so he slept even less. At the same time, his job ramped up. In pain and perpetually tired, he was working even more. Eventually, this all became intolerable, so one morning he marched over to his boss, gave his two weeks…

In December 2013, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos surprised viewers and announced on 60 Minutes that his company is working on drone delivery. It seemed like a PR stunt, but since then, Amazon has run test flights, lobbied the Federal Aviation Administration, and listed drone engineer jobs. Few are closer to the project and better positioned to talk about its future than Gur Kimchi, vice president of Amazon Prime Air. Popular Science: Where did the idea of drone delivery come from? Gur Kimchi: I’ve been passionate about aviation all my life. So, something like drone delivery was never far from my mind. Amazon has been working on it for years, and in 2013, when we decided the technology was mature, we went public with it. We think it’s going to change…

Trending 4.5 Power consumption, in watts, of an Intel Core M processor, used in new, fanless hybrid devices 11.5 Power consumption, in watts, of an Intel Core i5 processor, found in standard premium laptops Hybrid computers—the laptop tablet chimeras that include convertibles, detachables, and tablets with keyboards—always sounded better than they actually were. That’s because they always came at a cost. Most hybrid devices were either powerful (and big as a breadbox) or slim (and grossly underpowered). For the average business traveler, hybrids could never really serve as a primary computer. That was how things stood—at least, until late last year. In October 2014, Intel launched the Core M processor, which is built on a new energy-efficient architecture that allows it to draw less than half the power of its…

The Big Idea Elon Musk is terrified of artificial intelligence (AI). The founder of SpaceX and Tesla Motors predicts it’ll soon be “potentially more dangerous than nukes,” and recently he gave $10 million toward research to “keep AI beneficial.” Stephen Hawking has likewise warned that “the development of full AI could spell the end of the human race.” Musk and Hawking don’t fear garden variety smartphone assistants, like Siri. They fear super intelligence —when AI outsmarts people (and then enslaves and slaughters them). But if there’s a looming AI Armageddon, Silicon Valley remains undeterred. As of January, as many as 170 startups were actively pursuing AI. Face book has recruited some of the field’s brightest minds for a new AI research lab, and Google paid $400 million last year to…

HEART RATE Your heart races in tense situations, which may be one of the reasons Tulane University researchers found heart attacks were three times as common in New Orleans post-Katrina. BLOOD PRESSURE Notice that your forehead vein throbs when you’re about to blow up? Stress boosts the force against the artery walls as the heart pumps blood. HORMONES Changes in cortisol and other hormones register in your saliva, indicating not only stress, but according to a recent study, possibly also how well you respond to it. INFLAMMATORY MARKERS Thinking about stressors can actually increase inflammation and the level of inflammatory markers, such as c-reactive protein, circulating in the bloodstream. ALLOSTATIC LOAD A fancy word for the toll taken by all of your chronic stresses, as measured by the cumulative wear…

“WE COMBAT STRESS MOSTLY BY PREPARATION. IT’S A BAD DAY WHEN YOUR ROBOTIC ARM FREEZES AS THERE’S A SPACEWALKER RIGHT ON THE END, BUT IT’S SOMETHING YOU KNOW HOW TO DEAL WITH FROM TRAINING.” —Michael Barratt, NASA astronaut and space medicine specialist 1 BOUNCE BACK Some people are naturally resilient, but it’s also a learned skill. Stress inoculation gradually exposes people to stressful situations so they develop calmer reactions. Elizabeth Stanley, a security studies expert from Georgetown University, uses this training to help soldiers prepare for high-stress missions. And a 2014 study from Islamic Azad University in Iran suggests the technique can help civilians too. 2 SAY OM It sounds cliché, but mindful meditation, breathing exercises, and introspective tasks like gardening or running lower stress, says Steve Hickman, a clinical…

THE 2015 The best visualizations communicate complex subjects with evocative images, enlightening illustrations, and engrossing interactive media—all things we value tremendously at Popular Science. So we’re especially pleased to partner with the National Science Foundation to award the Vizzies. The international competition, which the agency has led for more than a decade, recognizes the finest illustrations, photographs, videos, graphics, and apps, whether produced by academic researchers, artists, or hobbyists. Without further ado, here are the honorees. HOW WE CHOSE THE WINNERS During two rounds of judging, science and visualization experts at the National Science Foundation and Popular Science winnowed 303 entries to 50 finalists, 10 in each category. To arrive at the Experts’ Choice, a panel of final-round judges rated the visualizations on their artistic merit and communication excellence. Readers…

In late summer of 2006, the Japanese division of McDonald’s decided to run a new promotion. When customers ordered a Coca-Cola soft drink, they would receive a cup with a code. If they entered that code on a designated website and were among 10,000 lucky winners, they would receive an MP3 player pre-loaded with 10 songs. Cleverly constructed, the promotion seemed destined for success. Who doesn’t like a Coke and a free MP3 player? But there was one problem the marketers at McDonald’s could not anticipate: In addition to 10 free songs, the music players contained QQPass malware. The moment winners plugged their players into a computer, the Trojan horse slipped undetected into their system and began logging keystrokes, collecting passwords, and gathering personal data for later transmission. McDonald’s eventually…

William Gurstelle Roman soldiers invading your backyard? William Gurstelle’s interest in historical weaponry, machines, and defenses could help. For the first installment of his Manual column, History Fights Back (page 68), Gurstelle adapted a Roman-style catapult, simplifying it to make it easily replicable. Early tests worked a little too well: They attracted, rather than deterred, neighbors. Jonathon Kambouris Assembling a sandwich is not usually deemed a feat, but photographing one suspended in midair for “Your Lunch Is a Sodium Bomb” (page 34) certainly is. Aided by food stylist Susan Ottaviano and a near-invisible combination of props, shelves, and wires, photographer Jonathon Kambouris built and sculpted each layer of the sandwich independently, then assembled them in a single shot Daniel Grushkin When writer Daniel Grushkin scans the room at scientific conferences,…

PRINTABLE, HACKABLE VR There’s a growing problem in the virtual reality (VR) industry: Filmmakers and game developers don’t want to produce content for a headset few people have access to. And hardware manufacturers don’t want to build accessories for headsets that don’t have content. Razer’s new open-source virtual reality (OSVR) platform could eliminate this catch-22, clearing the way for more VR experiments. Using Razer OSVR, hackers and companies alike can build software that works on multiple VR operating systems and headsets. The platform supports popular videogame engines, gesture controls, and head-mounted displays (including industry leader Oculus Rift DK2). Razer also released the OSVR Hacker Dev Kit, which comes with a modifiable VR headset. The kit ships with open-source hardware, and the circuit boards are modular, so they can be swapped…

Long Awaited MONTHLY TIME SPENT BY MEDIUM Just a few years ago, watching TV in the U.S. was relatively simple: Pick from a handful of big cable or satellite companies, and plug in a television. Then along came Netfix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime Instant, and other streaming services, effectively turning smart phones, tablets, and computers into TV-watching machines. The hype, of course, is these new services will spell the death of cable and broadcast, but the reality is a bit more nuanced—and it bodes well for anyone who loves TV. First, though, a few facts: In 2014, the number of American households that rely on a broadband Internet connection rather than a cable or satellite subscription grew by 112 percent since 2013, audience research frm Nielsen reports. So yes, a…

Tested The Test We wanted to measure the TSA 230’s battery in the most strenuous situations. First, we carved 1¾-inch concrete pavers, a standard for patio projects. Next, we cleaved of sections of 3 16-inch angle steel (used to stabilize walls). Then, we halved 1¼-inch steel padlocks—the ones most commonly cut by free departments. Finally, we decided to up the ante and cut a car door in half. To determine performance, we counted the number of cuts it took before a fully charged battery drained. Ask any stonecutter or fireman about the most important tool in their arsenal, and they’ll likely tell you it’s the cut-off saw. Designed to slice through steel and stone, cutoffs are the workhorse of many job sites—and they have an engine to match, gas-powered and…

Time Machine KEY Planet Dwarf planet Asteroid • Proclaimed a planet Lost planet Status • Received first spacecraft visit ANTIQUITY Before the invention of the telescope in 1608, people could see seven bodies move across the night sky and named them “planets,” Greek for “wanderers.” EARLY TELESCOPIC ERA By 1700, scholars had accepted Copernicus’s 16th-century view that the Sun, not Earth, anchored the solar system. The Earth was added to the planet list and the Sun removed. The moon was relegated to satellite status. As telescopes grew in size, strength, and popularity, scientists started spotting additional apparent planets. Uranus was first, in 1781. Ceres, Pallas, Juno, and Vesta soon followed. By the mid-1800s, astronomers agreed there were too many rocks floating in the asteroid belt for Ceres and its companions…

Stressed out. Under pressure. Run down. We tend to think of stress as a bad thing—and it can be. Traumatic experiences in early childhood can destroy mental health later in life, and chronic stress has been linked to illnesses such as cancer and diabetes. But stress can be good too. It helps us navigate an unpredictable world and determine which new experiences are good, bad, or dangerous. It also primes us to respond to similar situations in the future. The key with stress is to strike a healthy balance—getting enough at the right moments, but not too much overall. If the prospect of following that advice makes you tense up, take a deep breath: Science can help. 252 Number of LEGO Mini figure faces expressing anger, sadness, and fear, according…

CONSEQUENCES “OUR BODIES CHANGE OUR MINDS, AND OUR MINDS CAN CHANGE OUR BEHAVIOR, AND OUR BEHAVIOR CAN CHANGE OUR OUTCOMES.” —Amy Cuddy, social psychologist at Harvard University A NERVOUS SYSTEM The brain changes in response to experiences and the environment. This is especially true in childhood, when key structures—such as the amygdala, involved in the fight-or-flight center—develop. Extreme childhood adversity can alter these structures and impact mental health later in life. An estimated 30 percent of anxiety disorders are linked to early trauma. Research from Columbia University shows that orphans who spent their early years in institutional care can have abnormally large amygdalae, physical changes that can persist even after adoption. B CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM Both chronic stress and stress-related disorders, such as anxiety and depression, increase the risk for heart…

FASHION DESIGNERS DON’T USUALLY GIVE TOURS OF BIOLOGY LABORATORIES , BUT ON A RAINY DAY THIS FALL , DEEP IN AN INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX ALONG THE BROOKLYN WATERFRONT, Suzanne Lee guides me through the warren of labs that make up Modern Meadow. Lee recently joined the biotech startup as its creative director. Beneath her white lab coat she wears leather pants and a neoprene shirt with a lightning bolt. When I ask what exactly a creative director of a biotech startup does, she points to a plastic bracelet that encases the husks of three beetles. “Nature is the best designer,” she says. Her job is to make it ready to wear. I follow Lee down fuorescentlit hallways in the Brooklyn Army Terminal. Since moving in last year, Modern Meadow shares its…

EXPERTS’ CHOICE FALSE-COLOR X-RAY OF A SNAPPING TURTLE When Ted Kinsman picked up this specimen on the side of the road one spring morning, he was hoping to get a good X-ray image of a snapping turtle. But after he placed the turtle in the X-ray machine, Kinsman was surprised to see it had about 30 eggs hidden inside. He added false color to the image to accentuate them. A professor of photographic sciences at the Rochester Institute of Technology, Kinsman has been capturing images of local wildlife for the past decade—sometimes living creatures, but more often dead ones, like this expired turtle. His students aren’t surprised, he says, to find road kill in his lab’s freezer. PEOPLE’S CHOICE ALCIAN BLUE AND ALIZARIN RED CHAMELEON Elizabeth Marchiondo and Andrew Gillis…

Charted Territory Any car can outpace a typical human-powered bike. But within an aerodynamic carbon-composite casing (picture a large bullet with a windshield), even an average cyclist can accelerate to more than 50 miles per hour. “Here’s this teardrop missile going at highway speed, and all you can hear is the sound of air going over the body and tires on the ground,” says Alan Krause, president of the International Human-Powered Vehicle Association (IHPVA). The organization has been holding competitions since 1976, tracking the new speed records set as bike designs improve. 83.13 World human-powered speed record, in miles per hour, set in 2013 by Sebastiaan Bowier of Human Power Team Delft in the VeloX 3 bike 1 The Beginning The IHPVA’s competitions give teams a chance to test designs,…

From the Archives In the 1600s, French engineers built the Canal Du Midi, which connected the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea. But sometimes a canal just isn’t expeditious enough. In November 1932, Popular Science wrote about a wild plan to replace the canal with a 300-mile railway. According to the engineer who proposed it, the giant, 650-foot-long canal locks would act as train cars, driving down into the water to pick up ships, and after rolling across land on rails, drop them off on the other side. This would supposedly shave time off the trip and cost less than building a new water channel. Alas, we’ll never know. The project never moved forward. But the issue of how to improve canals stays with us today. This year the Panama…

1 SIMPLICAM POWERED BY CLOSELI This Simplicam security camera does more than indicate intruders. It identifies them. The device can remember 10 faces, so it can discriminate between a teen rummaging for a snack and a stranger. $150 2 HELIOS SMART Solar chargers sound great—until you wait around for hours for your iPhone to power up. Solpro’s new device reduces that downtime by up to 300 percent, meaning it can fully charge a phone in 90 minutes with just the sun. $159 3 RUST: THE LONGEST WAR An insidious foe, rust has its way with much of the metal that makes up our world. Author Jonathan Waldman follows a pipe-cleaning robot through Alaska, crawls in an abandoned steel mill, and explores why corrosion wields such power. $27 4 FLIC In…

The world’s smallest human figure, by artist Jonty Hurwitz, is only as tall as a sheet of paper is thick —just 100 microns. To “sculpt” it, he had nanoscientist Stefan Hengsbach direct long-wavelength light through a microscope onto a photosensitive polymer. This produced a single voxel, or 3-D pixel, at the focal point. Following a digital model, Hengsbach repeated the process to build the figure one voxel at a time. The hyper accurate technique also has practical applications in medicine. For example, researchers can manufacture minuscule scaffolds for growing kidney tissue inside a patient’s body, eliminating the need for an organ transplant. HEATHER HANSMAN…

By the Numbers 2,325 Total sodium, in milligrams, in this sandwich, which was built with a single serving of each ingredient Americans love their sandwiches. A recent USDA study found that 49 percent of adults eat one every day. “You’re not going to get a quicker, more economical lunch. And sandwiches can be quite healthy,” says Joan Salge Blake, a professor of nutrition at Boston University and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The problem, the study revealed, is that their sodium content has gotten out of control. A large steak sub from Quiznos, for example, contains 4,320 mg, almost twice the CDC’s daily limit of 2,300 mg. The excessive sodium in oversize portions of processed cheeses, meats, and bread raises blood pressure and, along with it, the…

HOW IT WORKS “STRESS IN THE BROADEST SENSE IS A WORD WE GIVE TO THE EXPERIENCES IN OUR DAILY LIFE, HOW WE INTERPRET THEM, AND HOW WE RESPOND TO THEM.” —Bruce McEwen, neuroscientist, Rockefeller University 1 ALARM SIGNAL When you hear, see, or otherwise perceive a threat, nerve signals whisk the message to your brain. 2 RAINTRIGGER The signals reach the amygdala—a brain region that helps with decision-making and the regulation of emotions. The amygdala in turn alerts the hypothalamus, which controls hormone production. 3 HORMONE CASCADE The fast-acting part of the nervous system releases adrenaline. Meanwhile, the hypothalamus produces corticotropin releasing hormone, initiating a sequence that finishes with the production of the stress hormone cortisol. 4 MESSENGERS Cortisol, epinephrine (a.k.a. adrenaline), and other chemicals enter the bloodstream and travel…

INSIGHTS “PEOPLE WHO ARE GENERALLY AMENABLE TO CHANGE DO THE BEST. THE RISK IS QUITE HIGH—A MISTAKE COULD BE MADE, AND THEN YOU’RE RETURNING WITH EBOLA. SO YOU’VE GOT TO UNDERSTAND YOURSELF WELL ENOUGH TO COPE.” —Alex Kumar, an infectious disease doctor who volunteered with the British Red Cross in Sierra Leone PS: At what point did you decide to turn this distressing series of events into material, especially since the trauma was so fresh? TN: It wasn’t a hard decision. I didn’t feel like there was any other option. With everything that was on my mind, I couldn’t just stand up on stage and go into some weird topic that wasn’t true. I was really hoping they would laugh, and—I mean, it was a rough night. There wasn’t explosive,…

Materials: Directions: 1. Brew the liquid: Boil 2 liters of water, and steep the tea for 15 minutes. Remove the tea bags and add the sugar, stirring until it’s dissolved. 2. Prep the culture: Make sure the liquid is cooler than 86°F, and then pour it into your container. Add the cider vinegar and the kombucha culture. Cover the container with a cloth. 3. Harvest the mat: While it grows, the mixture should be kept at room temperature. First, the culture will sink to the bottom. You’ll know fermentation has begun when bubbles and a transparent skin start to form at the surface. Over time, the culture will rise to the surface and accumulate in a thick layer. Once the mat reaches 2…

VIZZIES NEUROFOREST Last spring, London neuroscientist turned-cartoonist Matteo Farinella published Neurocomic, a graphic novel about a man who falls into a brain. In this illustration from the book, Farinella uses a forest metaphor to depict brain cells and neurons as a dense, sprawling network of intertwined tree roots and branches. “The brain is very complex—there are billions of neurons connected in ways that we are only beginning to understand,” Farinella says. Paul Lipton, a neuroscientist at Boston University, notes the image illustrates the brain’s structural diversity. “The brain is indeed a forest,” he says, “whose trees, or neurons, are its defining feature.” HONORABLE MENTION JUAN FERNÁNDEZ FIRECROWN, CABBAGE TREE Juan Luis Castillo A pair of endangered hummingbirds—the cinnamon male and the emerald female—feed from an equally imperiled tree. Both species…

History Strikes Back 2,500 Years since the invention of the catapult ANCIENT AND AWESOME Long before the invention of gunpowder, ancient armies used siege engines to hurl all sorts of terrible, yet creative, missiles at each other. The Carthaginians put poisonous snakes in clay jars and launched them at enemy ships. The Romans threw bags of bees at their foes. And the Mongols enjoyed an early but gruesome form of germ warfare that involved tossing plague-infested corpses over the walls of castles. While reading about the bad old days, it struck me that a replica Roman legion–style catapult might be just the thing to bring excitement to my next neighborhood block party. I found content written by original Roman and Greek catapult engineers in a textbook, then designed my model…