—Isaac Newton
FRANKENFOODS
Farmers have been creating new kinds of plants for hundreds of years. In the past, they used an old-fashioned method: cross-pollination. That means they mixed the pollen of similar plants to create a hybrid, a new kind of plant. Scientists now breed plants by manipulating their genes to produce a genetically modified organism, or GMO. And they don’t just cross one plant with another: they mix plant genes with animal genes. So scientists creating “transgenic” plants may be more like Dr. Frankenstein than Old MacDonald.
Here are a few examples of the “plants” they’ve already made, or have tried to create:
•Tomatoes that have genes from an Arctic flounder to make them resistant to frost.
•Corn crossed with genes from a bacterium to make it poisonous to insects.
•Apples with a gene taken from a moth to make the apple tree resistant to fire blight (a disease that destroys millions of dollars’ worth of apples worldwide every year).
•Smart crops with a firefly gene that makes them glow when they need water.
In nature, transfer of genes happens only between closely related species. In a genetically engineered world—according to critics—nature as we know it might cease to exist.
HOW A
MICROWAVE
WORKS
•Like visible light, radio waves, and X-rays, microwaves are waves of electromagnetic energy. What makes the four waves different from each other? Each has a different wavelength and vibrates at a different frequency.
•Microwaves get their name because their wavelength is much shorter than electromagnetic waves that carry TV and radio signals.
•The microwaves in a microwave oven have a wavelength of about four inches, and they vibrate 2.5 billion times per second—about the same natural frequency as water molecules. That’s what makes them so effective at heating food.
•A conventional oven heats the air in the oven, which then cooks the food. But microwaves cause water molecules in the food to vibrate at high speeds, creating heat. The heated water molecules are what cook the food.
•Glass, ceramic, and plastic plates contain virtually no water molecules, which is why they don’t heat up in the microwave.
•When the microwave oven is turned on, electricity passes through the magnetron, the tube that produces microwaves. The microwaves are then channeled down a metal tube (waveguide) and through a slow rotating metal fan (stirrer), which scatters them into the part of the oven where the food is placed.
•The walls of the oven are made of metal, which reflects microwaves the same way that a mirror reflects visible light. So when the microwaves hit the stirrer and are scattered into the food chamber, they bounce off the metal walls and penetrate the food from every direction. A rotating turntable helps food cook more evenly.
•Do microwave ovens cook food from the inside out? Some people think so, but the answer seems to be no. Microwaves cook food from the outside in, like conventional ovens. But the microwave energy only penetrates about an inch into the food. The heat that’s created by the water molecules then penetrates deeper into the food, cooking it all the way through. This secondary cooking process is known as conduction.
•The metal holes in the glass door of the microwave oven are large enough to let out visible light (which has a small wavelength), but too small to allow the microwaves (which have a larger wavelength) to escape—so you can see what’s cooking without getting cooked yourself.
The Rock Painting Hoax
BACKGROUND: A new piece of ancient artwork turned up in the British Museum in 2005. The artifact was a rock bearing painted images of animals, a man, and an unusual tool. The sign beneath it read: “Early man venturing towards the out-of-town hunting grounds.”
EXPOSED! The “tool” in the picture was a shopping cart; the “artifact” had been secretly placed there by British hoax artist Banksymus Maximus, also known as “Banksy.” He designed it to look like the authentic ancient pieces in the museum—and it stayed up for three days before “experts” at the museum noticed it. (The sign on the piece also dated it to “the Post-Catatonic era.”) The museum took the hoax in good humor, and even returned the piece to the artist. It quickly went up at Banksy’s latest show at another museum, with the label “On loan from the British Museum.”
Love Potion #9
The word aphrodisiac comes from Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty. Eventually, according to the Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins, her name was used “to describe any drug or other substances used to heighten one’s amatory desires.” Here are some aphrodisiacs used throughout history.
•In the Middle Ages people believed that “eating an apple soaked in your lover’s armpit is a sure means of seduction.” Others drank the urine of powerful animals to increase sexual powers.
•A 15th-century Middle Eastern book entitled The Perfumed Garden for the Soul’s Delectation suggested that lovers eat a sparrow’s tongue, and chase it down with a cocktail made of honey, 20 almonds, and parts of a pine tree.
•People once thought that eating any plant that looks phallic would increase male virility—carrots, asparagus, and mandrake root were especially popular. Bulbs and tubers—e.g., onions—which people thought resembled testicles, were also believed to increase sexual potency. And peaches, tomatoes, mangos, or other soft, moist fruits were considered aphrodisiacs for women.
•In Consuming Passions, Peter Farb and George Armelagos write that during the 1500s and 1600s, “Europe was suddenly flooded with exotic plants whose very strangeness suggested the existence of secret powers.” For example:
Tomatoes brought back from South America were at first thought to be the forbidden fruit of Eden, and were known as “love apples.” And when potatoes first arrived in Europe—the sweet potato probably brought back by Columbus and the white potato somewhat later—they were immediately celebrated as potent sexual stimulants…A work dated 1850 tells the English reader that the white potato will “incite to Venus.”
•In the 20th century, everything from green M&M’s to products like Cleopatra Oil and Indian Love Powder have been passed off as aphrodisiacs. Even in 1989, a British mail-order firm called Comet Scientific was offering an aerosol spray that it claimed made men “irresistible to women.”
When you see something you like, your pupils dilate.
THE DANCE OF
THE DUNG BEETLE, PART 1
What’s cuter than a dung beetle wearing tiny boots? Lots of things, actually, but according to biologist Eric Warrant at Sweden’s Lund University, “They’re the cutest animals you can imagine”; he also admits that “most people find them a bit revolting.”
Cute or not, these are no ordinary bugs. In a 2012 study, the Swedish research team discovered something new about dung beetles: they dance on top of their balls of dung to cool off from the African heat, which can reach 140°F. And yes, they discovered this by placing tiny silicone boots on a group of test beetles, which kept their feet cooler. The booted beetles spent much less time dancing on the ball than the barefooted beetles.
Why is this significant? Just as Jane Goodall’s chimpanzee research taught us that humans aren’t the only tool-making mammals, “Dung beetles are the first example of an insect using a mobile, thermal refuge to move across hot soil,” said lead researcher Jochen Smolka. “Insects, once thought to be at the mercy of environmental temperatures, use sophisticated behavioral strategies to regulate their body temperatures.”
So now we ask: Is there anything cuter than a dung beetle wearing tiny boots? Go to the next page to find out.
THE DANCE OF
THE DUNG BEETLE, PART 2
It’s long been known the male dung beetle rolls mammal feces into a ball several times larger than itself and then rolls it backward to its hole, where it will feed the entire beetle family. It’s also been known that beetles, like all insects, use the sun to navigate, but they’ve also been observed rolling the dung balls at
night, even when there’s no moon. How do they know where to go? That’s where the tiny hats come in. In 2012, researchers led by Lund University’s Marie Dacke set up a testing area where the beetles couldn’t see the horizon. Then they put tiny hats on some of the beetles that blocked out the stars. Those beetles didn’t know where to go. The researchers discovered that they were navigating by the band of stars we call the Milky Way galaxy, which is much brighter and more prominent in the southern African sky. Not bad for a dung beetle.
THE MOON
CAME FROM
THE PACIFIC
Over the centuries, there have been several theories explaining how the Moon came to be. Three prevailed for more than 100 years, until humans actually traveled to the Moon in the 1960s.
The Co-Accretion Theory (late 1800s). The exact origin of this hypothesis is unknown, but it was a popular one. It proposed that the Moon was formed during the accretion process that formed Earth. For this theory to be true, however, the Moon would have to have the same chemical composition as Earth—and lunar samples taken during the Apollo missions showed that this is simply not true.
The Fission Theory (1878). Mathematician and astronomer George Howard Darwin, son of Charles Darwin, proposed that centrifugal force caused by the spinning of the very early, still molten Earth caused a large piece of it to break off and fly into space, where it was caught in orbit and became the Moon. In 1882 geologist Osmond Fisher added that the Pacific Ocean basin was the scar left behind by this event. Again, lunar composition makes this theory very unlikely.
The Capture Theory (1909). This theory was proposed by American astronomer Thomas Jefferson Jackson See. It says that the Moon was formed far away from Earth and later passed close enough to be captured in its gravitational field. That would explain why the composition of the Moon is different from Earth, but this theory is largely discounted due to the extreme unlikeliness that a passing object would be moving at the correct speed and direction to be pulled into a perfect orbit.
Go to page 266 for more about the Moon’s origin.
Scientists at Birkbeck College in England discovered that, like humans, dogs can “catch” yawns from people. A 29-dog study found that after they made eye contact with a yawning person, 21 of the dogs yawned as well.
SNAPSHOT OF SCIENCE
WACKY GENIUS
Princeton, New Jersey, March 14, 1951
Many people know that Albert Einstein’s brain was preserved after his death. Fortunately, his tongue was preserved, too—on film—and made him everyone’s favorite genius. The photo was taken on the campus of Princeton University as the famed physicist was celebrating his 72nd birthday. Asked to smile for the umpteenth time, he stuck out his tongue instead and photographer Arthur Sasse captured it in full extension.
Einstein was celebrated for the wild tangle of his long hair and his expressive face, or as one put it, “a cartoonist’s dream come true.” In fact, the scientist became the model of the mad scientist (or absentminded professor) as depicted in the film Back to the Future. But that pointed tongue, at full extension, became the iconic poster of countless college dorm rooms. We can’t be sure, but perhaps it was inspiration for the rock group Kiss and bass guitarist Gene Simmons, whose “ten-foot tongue seen around the world” is the group’s enduring symbol.
•Nikola Tesla was born in 1856 during a lightning storm. While growing up in Croatia, he complained of “blinding flashes of light” followed by visions that he later said inspired his greatest inventions.
•Tesla was afraid of round things, especially pearls. He detested pearls so much that he wouldn’t speak to a woman who was wearing them.
•Tesla could fluently speak eight languages: Serbo-Croatian, Czech, English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, and Latin.
•The more you use your brain, the lighter your eye color becomes…according to Tesla. He said that a life of science had lightened his eyes.
•Tesla had an odd fascination with the number three that lasted until the end of his life…in 1943, three days before what would have been his 87th birthday (divisible by 3) in room 3327 (also divisible by 3) on the 33rd floor of his hotel.
More “Science” Museums
TATTOO ART MUSEUM
Location: San Francisco, California
Background: This museum is housed in the working tattoo parlor of owner Lyle Tuttle. Learn about the history of the tattoo in different societies, such as Japanese, Samoan, and Native American. But be forewarned: the collection of skin-engraving paraphernalia might make you think twice about that cute butterfly you were thinking about putting on your ankle.
FUTURE BIRTHPLACE OF CAPTAIN KIRK
Location: Riverside, Iowa
Background: Boldly going beyond a single building, the entire town is a Star Trek museum. According to the TV series, Captain Kirk will be born here on March 22, 2233. The town wanted to erect a statue of William Shatner as Kirk, but Paramount Pictures, which owns Star Trek, wanted a $40,000 licensing fee. So instead, docked in the town square is the USS Riverside, which bears a striking (but not copyright-infringing) resemblance to the USS Enterprise. For $3 you can buy Kirk Dirt, a vial of soil dug from his future birth site.
THE MAGIC MAN
John Dee (1527–1608) was a mathematician, alchemist, academic, and astronomer in Britain. From an early age Dee displayed two conflicting sides of his character: as a scientist, his feet were firmly planted on the ground; as a mystic, he really had his head in the clouds. Dee’s academic reputation grew quickly and he was offered (but declined) prestigious professorships in Paris and at Oxford.
Then, in 1553, Queen Mary (Bloody Mary) ascended the British throne. John Dee found himself on her hit list. According to the thinking of the time, supernatural spells and spirits could be conjured through scientific and mathematical experimentation. Authorities targeted scientists and mathematicians. Dee was arrested in May 1555 and held for three months before being released.
In 1558 Bloody Mary died and was replaced as queen by Elizabeth I. Dee was quickly back in favor. The new queen asked Dee to use his astrological skills to divine the most auspicious day for her official coronation, and made him her court astrologer. Why the dramatic turn? Many historians believe Dee acted as a spy for Elizabeth during her sister Mary’s reign, keeping her informed of which academic colleagues were supportive of Mary. The theory is difficult to prove or disprove.
Dee continued to look for answers to the mysteries of the universe. By 1566 he had collected innumerable scientific instruments and the largest library of books in Britain, attracting visitors from all over.
HOW TO WIN A NOBEL PRIZE
You can’t nominate yourself. If you do, you’ll be automatically disqualified. No exceptions!
You must be alive. Nominating dead people is not allowed. If you die, you’re out of the running. Even if no one else was nominated.
There are no runners-up. If you come in second to someone who drops dead before he or she picks up the medal, you still lose.
You can’t win by default. If you come in second to someone who refuses the medal, do you win, or at least get the prize money? No and no.
No organizations allowed. With the exception of the Nobel Peace Prize, no single prize can be awarded to more than three people.
You don’t get a laurel. The term “Nobel laureate” is just an expression. If you win, you get a gold medal, a diploma with your name on it, and a cash prize (about $1 million). If you want to go around wearing a laurel-leaf crown like Julius Caesar, you’ll have to make it yourself.
HAT TRICK
On page 92, we told you about black hats,
a type of computer hacker. Here’s just one of many
things they have the potential to do.
At the 2010 Black Hat Security Conference, security researcher Barnaby Jack wowed his audience by hacking into two different ATMs right from the stage. He used a remote connection for one and a USB port on the other, and made them both spit out money like a
Las Vegas slot machine. How’d he do it? He wouldn’t go into detail (otherwise we’d all become Black Hats looking for a jackpot), but he made it clear that it wasn’t just ATMs that were vulnerable. Every piece of equipment that uses a standard computer, like the kind inside an ATM, can be easily hacked: cars, medical devices, televisions, you name it. Jack also pointed out that once he hacked a bank ATM, the machine’s data gave him access to anyone who’d ever used it. He found that the ATMs at convenience stores were the easiest to hack.
WHAT RACE(S) ARE YOU?
Recent breakthroughs in the science of genetics have had a huge effect on the world, with applications in medicine, agriculture, law enforcement, and more. Genetic markers found through DNA tests can also reveal familial and ethnic lineages. And the science behind it, while immensely complex in its details, is pretty simple.
Human DNA is alike in every person—but it’s not exactly alike. Individuals can acquire mutations along the way. Some genetic mutations cause disease, some affect eye or hair color, some do nothing at all. The ones that are used for racial testing are, primarily, ones that have no known effects. Say a guy named Bob acquired such a mutation. Bob had 10 kids—and he passed that mutation down to them. They each had 10 kids—and they all got the mutation, too. This kept happening over many generations, and today there are tens of thousands of people with that specific “Bob” mutation. And they’re the only ones on earth that have it. Well, that’s exactly what happened throughout human history.
Strange Science Page 8