Research: New Scientist Magazine – August 26, 2023
Category Archives: Science
Culture: The American Scholar – Autumn 2023
THE AMERICAN SCHOLAR – AUTUMN 2023:
Will the Real Vergil Please Stand Up?
Making sense of the life of a poet about whom we know so little
by Sarah Ruden
Great works of literature are sly and powerful beasts that pounce on their readers, grabbing them by the neck and shaking them back and forth. The young Augustine looks like a typical victim of Vergil’s Aeneid. The schoolboy being brought up as a Christian in fourth-century CE North Africa found the first-century BCE epic poem of pagan Rome the most impressive thing in his cultural life to date. Tellingly, his reaction shows no interest in the poem’s theme of individual sacrifice in the name of imperial destiny; rather, into middle age, the great theologian and founder of institutional Catholic monasticism remembered weeping for Dido, who commits suicide after her lover, Aeneas, abandons her at the end of Book IV.
A Room for the Ages
Oglethorpe University’s time capsule was meant to last thousands of years, but will it?
by Colin Dickey
Ancient Art: How Experts Are Uncovering Forgeries
Stephan Lehmann has uncovered around 50 suspected forged artworks to date – in the marketplace, in private collections and even in museums. Now, a large bronze of Alexander the Great has resurfaced in Greece. It was owned by a British art dealer and was handed back to Greece as previously looted art. But Lehmann and other experts say it’s a fake. Due to his work, archaeologist Stephan Lehmann is not always a popular figure: in the art trade and the museum world, many people prefer to sweep the problem of forgeries under the rug.
But one anonymous Swiss collector decided to confront the issue. He sent Lehmann an allegedly ancient but highly dubious bronze depicting Emperor Augustus, which he had purchased for several hundred thousand dollars in New York. Lehmann examined it and had it X-rayed at Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute, using one of the most powerful CT scanners in the world.
Testing the material an artwork is made of can not only uncover forgeries; it can also shed light on how forgers go about their work. This documentary sets out on the trail of art forgers, uncovering a dark and concealed side of the antiquities trade. It reveals just how good forgeries can be. Fakes have even sometimes turned up among supposedly looted works being returned to states as part of the restitution process.
Research Preview: Science Magazine – August 18, 2023
‘Still in shock.’ Amid wildfire tragedy, Maui scientists assess their research losses
Blazes and high winds blew projects apart and left a tight-knit research community shaken. What will it take to prevent future island fires?
In the wake of a series of powerful wildfires that ripped through Maui’s dry forests and the historic city of Lahaina this week killing more than 50 people, researchers on the island remain concerned about the personal fallout for fellow scientists and their families. Some are reeling from disruption to their projects: Studies of whales may be disrupted, for example, and a rare plant facility sustained damage. “We’re still wrapping our heads around what this really means, because right now, most of us are still in shock,” says marine mammal ecologist Marc Lammers. “And, of course, we’re thinking about our colleagues.”
Research Preview: Nature Magazine – August 17, 2023
Anti-obesity drug also protects against heart disease — what happens next?
Clinical-trial data suggest that semaglutide, sold under the name Wegovy, slashes risk of heart attacks and other cardiovascular incidents.
Can oyster farming help save the planet?
Ecologist Elena Tamburini hopes to show that shellfish farming efficiently absorbs carbon.
Science Review: Scientific American – September 2023
Rare ‘Pinwheel’ Stars Are a Beautiful Astronomical Puzzle
The doomed class of stars named Wolf-Rayets produce mysterious pinwheel shapes
Deep-Sea Mining Could Begin Soon, Regulated or Not
Mining the seafloor could boost global production of clean energy technology—and destroy the ocean in the process
How Sauropod Dinosaurs Became the Biggest Land Animals Again and Again
New research hints at how sauropod dinosaurs got to be so gargantuan
Research Preview: Science Magazine – August 11, 2023
First up on this week’s podcast, we hear about the skewed perception of our own hands, extremely weird giant viruses, champion regenerating flatworms, and more from Newsletter Editor Christie Wilcox
Research: New Scientist Magazine – August 12, 2023
How working out your ageotype could help you live healthier for longer
Your body is ageing down one of four – or more – possible pathways. Figuring out your “ageotype” could help you zero in on the things you can do to stay healthier for longer
THERE is a (probably apocryphal) story about Henry Ford sending agents out to junkyards across the US in search of scrapped Model Ts. The famous industrialist wanted to know which of the car’s vital components failed first, so he could do something about it. The agents reported back that every bit of the car was susceptible to failure, but some were more susceptible than others, except for one – a component of the steering system called the kingpin, which almost never failed. They expected Ford to announce plans to extend the working lives of the weaker components. Instead, he ordered his engineers to make less resilient kingpins. No point wasting good money on a component that always outlived the others.
Cave of Bones review: Lee Berger on the discovery of Homo naledi
Sewage crisis: The truth about British rivers and how to clean them up
From time crystals to wormholes: When is a quantum simulation real?
Energy-storing concrete could form foundations for solar-powered homes
Scientists race to test claimed room-temperature superconductor
Research Preview: Nature Magazine – August 10, 2023
JWST spots what could be a quasar from the early Universe
The object’s deep red colour suggests it existed when the Universe was less than 700 million years old.
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has seen what is probably a quasar from the early Universe1.
ChatGPT-like AIs are coming to major science search engines
The Scopus, Dimensions and Web of Science databases are introducing conversational AI search.
The conversational AI-powered chatbots that have come to Internet search engines, such as Google’s Bard and Microsoft’s Bing, look increasingly set to change scientific search, too. On 1 August, Dutch publishing giant Elsevier released a ChatGPT-like artificial-intelligence (AI) interface for some users of its Scopus database, and British firm Digital Science announced a closed trial of an AI large language model (LLM) assistant for its Dimensions database. Meanwhile, US firm Clarivate says it’s working on bringing LLMs to its Web of Science database.
Nature Reviews: Top New Science Books – AUG 2023
Life and Afterlife in Ancient China
By Jessica Rawson
When constructing monumental tombs thousands of years ago, “the Egyptians built up” — with their pyramids — whereas “the Chinese built down”, writes sinologist Jessica Rawson. The geology of China’s dry Loess Plateau permitted the excavation of shafts more than 10 metres deep. These tombs were filled with objects for the afterlife. Rawson’s majestic history explores 11 such monuments and one large sacrificial deposit, dating from 5,000 years ago to the third century bc, with the First Emperor’s protective Terracotta Army.
The World of Sugar
Ulbe Bosma
Sugar’s societal dominance is a recent development. Granulated sugar was eaten from the sixth century bc in India, but refined sugar became widely available in Europe only in the nineteenth century. Its history is both a story of progress and a bitter-sweet tale of “exploitation, racism, obesity, and environmental destruction”, writes historian Ulbe Bosma in his authoritative, highly readable study — the first to be truly global. Of 12.5 million Africans kidnapped in the Atlantic slave trade, between half and two-thirds were enslaved on sugar plantations.
The Seven Measures of the World
Piero Martin (transl. Gregory Conti)
The great civilizations of the ancient world could use precise measurements — witness the Egyptian pyramids. But their units differed. Not until 1960 was the international system of measurement (SI) introduced, defining the metre, second, kilogram, ampere, kelvin and candela — then the mole in 1971. Each gets a chapter in this concise, anecdotal history by experimental physicist Piero Martin. He stresses the subjective aspect of measurement, such as the idea that the quality of scientific publications matters more than their quantity.
Unearthing the Underworld
By Ken McNamara
Earth scientist Ken McNamara focuses on palaeontology and evolution. His appealing book about rocks and their lessons — illustrated with fine photographs of fossils — leaves aside igneous and metamorphic rocks, and the wonders of mineralogy. It concentrates instead on sedimentary rocks: mudstones, siltstones, sandstones and limestones, scattered over three-quarters of Earth’s surface in “endless piles”. As he jokily advises: “Ignore rocks at your peril.” But then surely continental drift deserved proper discussion?
In Light-Years There’s No Hurry
Marjolijn van Heemstra (transl. Jonathan Reeder)
Dutch space reporter Marjolijn van Heemstra is also a poet, novelist and playwright. This translation of her highly personal meditation on the Universe reflects lyrically on the fact that the atmosphere “signifies a boundary”, whereas space “appeals to our notion of boundlessness”. She notes a growing difference of opinion between those who see space exploration as irresponsible because our planet is in deep trouble — environmental and otherwise — and those who regard space as a potential refuge from Earth.
Boomers Daily 