New Scientist Magazine - November 19 2022

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Watch video accompanying this feature and
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don’t know – if the numbers were different –
what kind of thing you might call life. However,
it raises a question to do with conformal cyclic
cosmology: do the constants get jumbled up
each time you go round to the next aeon?

ESO/IDA/DANISH 1.5 M/R. GENDLER, J.-E. OVALDSEN & S. GUISARD Do you mean that according to CCC,

consciousness and the fundamentals of physics

would look different from one aeon to the next?

It’s an interesting question, and it relates to
something I wrote with a colleague where
we look into conformal cyclic cosmology
for a signal coming from the previous aeon,
which would suggest some consistency in
the underlying physics between one aeon
and the next. It’s due to the collision between
supermassive black holes: they produce
gravitational wave signals, which we should
be able to see the implications of in our aeon.
And the claim is that we do. Again, people
dispute this, but I think they are pretty strong
arguments: there’s something going on there.

of “platonic solids” [polyhedra with sides things which aren’t logical: if something crops So these signals that traverse the aeons
of equal lengths] and other things in up as infinite, you can ignore it. It’s probably a might support some underlying purpose
mathematics. Also, I learned quite a bit kind of instinct that some people have; I don’t in the universe?
from my older brother Oliver. He was very think I have that kind of instinct. I want to be Well, our argument starts from the fact that
precocious – unlike me. I was very slow at logical. If it doesn’t hang together, I can’t see I’m not all that optimistic we’re going to go on
school. This was still the case when I did my way through it. for a huge length of time. The probability that
mathematics at University College London. something will trigger a nuclear catastrophe
You have spent decades thinking about is not that tiny – in fact, I think we’re pretty
I remember that I chose two geometric lucky to be around now. But maybe other
projects for my special topics and those were the structure of the universe, and about civilisations will be more sensible and settle
not my best papers. I could see how to do the down. In fact, I think some version of SETI
problem using the geometrical part of the consciousness. Does this give you any [the search for extraterrestrial intelligence]
brain, if you like, but I had to translate that should look for different civilisations,
into words and that was slow, so I didn’t finish sense of whether there is inherent meaning successful ones that survived very late in the
the papers. I tend to think visually, and I think previous aeon. That may be more promising
there’s a big selection effect: people who think in the universe? in some respects. But maybe we, maybe others,
visually tend not to do so well as the people In a certain sense you might say that the will learn how to send signals into the next
who think the other way. You probably lose universe has a purpose, but I’m not sure aeon. Probably gravitational wave signals
quite a lot of people who would be good what the purpose is. I don’t believe in any are the best bet, but very, very low variations
mathematicians because they’re largely visual. religion I’ve seen. So in that sense, I am an in the electromagnetic field could get through
atheist. However, I would say that there is too. And we might be able to get them to do
What is your advice for people starting their something going on that might resonate better than we have, by saying, “No, you stupid
with a religious perspective. idiots, that’s what we’re doing!” ❚
career in physics now – what to get involved
I think the presence of consciousness, Michael Brooks is a consultant
in or what to avoid? if I can put it like that, is not an accident. It’s for New Scientist and author of
That’s a difficult one: it would be very easy a bit complicated to say what I really mean The Maths That Made Us (Scribe)
for me to impose my prejudices. There’s a lot by this, but it has a connection with the fact
of work in particle physics, for instance, and that nobody knows where the fundamental
clearly a lot of progress is made in that subject. constants of nature come from. If they didn’t
But I find it very hard. A lot of what you have have the particular values that they have, then
to do in particle physics depends on doing maybe we wouldn’t have interesting chemistry,
and then wouldn’t have life. I find that a
difficult argument to make clear, because you

19 November 2022 | New Scientist | 49



The back pages

Puzzles Almost the last word Tom Gauld for  Feedback Twisteddoodles
Try our crossword, Would life on Earth be New Scientist Morbid curiosity for New Scientist
quick quiz and any different without A cartoonist’s take and punishments Picturing the lighter
logic puzzle p53 moonlight? p54 on the world p55 for cursing p56 side of life p56

Citizen science

Scanning the Martian skies

Cloud gazing isn’t only an Earthly pastime. You can help planetary
scientists by cloud spotting on Mars, says Layal Liverpool

Layal Liverpool is a science I AM on the lookout for clouds this NASAJPL-CALTEC
journalist based in Berlin. month. I won’t be searching here
She believes everyone can on Earth, though – that would hundreds of thousands of graphs across seasons and years.
be a scientist, including you. be too easy. Instead, I am helping since the project launched in June, “Ultimately, we want to know
@layallivs researchers spot clouds in the finding an average of three clouds
skies above our neighbouring in each one. As well as helping what processes are involved
What you need planet Mars. You can join in this researchers like Slipski develop a in forming these clouds,” says
effort too, from anywhere in the clearer picture of climate patterns Slipski. “When do clouds form?
Access to Cloudspotting world, by participating in the across Mars, their work is also And where do they form?”
on Mars via zooniverse.org Cloudspotting on Mars project. being used to train an algorithm
that will automatically recognise Clouds are a huge source of
Citizen science appears This initiative is calling for and label clouds in future data uncertainty in climate models
every four weeks volunteers to find clouds high from the NASA mission. on Earth, let alone on Mars, says
up in the Martian atmosphere by Slipski. Mapping cloud patterns
Next week searching through years of data Mars is much colder than Earth, could help modellers to improve
from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance and so are its clouds, which are predictions about how the climate
The science of cooking Orbiter. This spacecraft observes made of both water ice and carbon on Mars is likely to change in the
the Martian horizon with an dioxide ice – also called dry ice. future, and about what it might
instrument called the Mars Slipski and his colleagues hope have been like in the distant past.
Climate Sounder, which detects that the data from Cloudspotting
infrared light emitted from the on Mars will let them investigate Visit zooniverse.org and
planet’s surface. Clouds in the why the planet’s atmosphere gets search for “Cloudspotting
upper atmosphere reflect some cold enough for carbon dioxide to on Mars” to contribute to
of this light, creating arched peaks freeze, and that it will inform them this other-worldly research.  ❚
in graphs of the data (pictured). about how clouds on Mars change
between day and night, as well as These articles are
Marek Slipski at NASA’s posted each week at
Jet Propulsion Laboratory in newscientist.com/maker
California and his colleagues
want to use this information
to create a map of the clouds on
Mars, including records of how
they move and change over time,
so that they can learn more about
the Red Planet’s climate. But the
spacecraft has already gathered
eight Martian years’ – 16 Earth
years’ – worth of data, which
is more than the researchers
can analyse on their own.

As a volunteer, you will flick
through graphs of the data online
and mark any arch-shaped peaks,
which indicate clouds. There is a
tutorial available on the project’s
web page to get you started.

Volunteers have inspected

19 November 2022 | New Scientist | 51

52 | New Scientist | 19 November 2022 To advertise here please email [email protected] or call 020 3615 1151

The back pages Puzzles

Quick crossword #121 Set by Richard Smyth Quick quiz #178

Scribble 1 The order Blattodea contains
zone which two types of insect?

Answers and 2 A gumma is a soft, non-cancerous
the next cryptic growth that is characteristic of the
crossword tertiary stage of which disease?
next week
3 Which desert is home to the Very
ACROSS DOWN Large Telescope and will be home
1 Antonie ___, 17th-century 2 One of the kingdoms of living things (6) to the Extremely Large Telescope?
3 Rounded portions – of the brain
Dutch microbiologist (3,11) 4 The gauss is a unit of what?
9 Protective inflatable (6) or liver, perhaps (5)
10 Ac (8) 4 23 (5) 5 Which element has the
11 ___ tape, audio recording technology (8) 5 Large cetacean (5) lowest boiling point?
14 Of a process, irreversible (3-3) 6 Thoughts; ideas (7)
17 1980 sci-fi horror film starring 7 Oz (5) Answers on page 55
8 Old term for an eruption of pustules (8)
William Hurt (7,6) 12 Outer; near the surface (5) Puzzle
20 Town in north-east England formerly 13 Outer parts of wheels (5)
15 Timepiece (5) set by Rob Eastaway
known as Ironopolis (13) 16 Cancerous tumour (8)
23 Organic compound, C6H14 (6) 17 Saharan antelope (5) #194 World Cup table
25 Product ofЍdecay (5,3) 18 1985 film about a robot boy (5)
28 Elevated public transit system (8) 19 Haptic perception (5) It is time for the men’s Football World Cup.
29 Of writing, slanted (6) 21 Sight organ (7) Countries in eight groups of four will play
30 Devices that measure proper 22 Charles ___, Marvel character each other in a round robin, with the top
two in each group qualifying for the last 16.
acceleration (14) known as Professor X (6)
24 Lifeless (5) The final tables of the group stage provide
25 Alfred ___, Austrian psychotherapist (5) ready-made puzzles because it is often
26 Type of polyhedron (5) possible to figure out the results of a group’s
27 Separate (5) matches just from the information in a table.
For example, the following is the final table
Our crosswords are now solvable online from one of the groups in the 2018 World
Cup. Can you figure out the results of all
newscientist.com/crosswords the matches played by teams A, B, C and D?

P W D L F A Pts
A3 210317
B3 120215
C3 102 2 23
D3 012 2 51

Solution next week

19 November 2022 | New Scientist | 53

The back pages Almost the last word

Drain dangles JOHN DAVIES Why is this snail carrying
a second shell and is this a 
What are these soft white This week’s new questions common occurrence?
balls, about 5 centimetres
long, found under a drain Snail double I found a snail (pictured) in my garden carrying be in the Islamic and Jewish
cover (pictured below)? an extra shell on its back. How common is this and what is its calendars, both of which are lunar.
purpose? John Davies, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, UK And without the light of the moon,
Barbie Short the seven-day week might not
Troon, Ayrshire, UK Stray photons Could any of the photons that were around exist, being about a quarter of
The white blobs look exactly me when I played outside as a child decades ago still exist, a lunar phase cycle. We would
like the spider egg sacs that hang travelling through space? John Howes, Cardiff, UK also have no months.
from the walls of the pit prison
in Dundonald Castle in Ayrshire, Lunar cycles were important
UK. Apparently, these are made to set agricultural dates and
by European cave spiders. religious festivals, so we might
have developed elaborate sun-
I work as a tour guide at the angle observatories, similar
castle. Sometimes, when visitors to Jantar Mantar in India.
are halfway down the ladder that
descends into the pit prison, Eric Kvaalen
I ask them not to disturb the Les Essarts-le-Roi, France
spiders – which are large, There are many animals whose
black and usually stationary. behaviour is timed to the phase of
the moon. There are zooplankton
Sometimes, the visitors go in the Arctic, for instance, that sink
very quickly back up the ladder, when the sun is up and rise to feed
but others become very interested. on phytoplankton during the
In fact, some people come to the night. But during winter, when it
castle just to see the spiders. is always night in the Arctic, they
time this behaviour by the moon,
The egg sacs are themselves which rises every 25 hours and
full of tiny spiders. And yes, sets 12 or 13 hours later.
the prison is dark and dank,
much like a drain.

Tim Laney sacs of the cave spider M. menardi. Moonlit life Mike Follows
Bath, UK Each sac, shown here hanging Sutton Coldfield,
The soft white balls hanging by a silken thread, contains Without moonlight (i.e. if our West Midlands, UK
below the drain cover are the a couple of hundred eggs. moon was non-reflective or black, There would undoubtedly be an
egg sacs of the European cave but with exactly the same gravity impact on life if the moon stopped
spider (Meta menardi). The rather scary-looking adult and motion), would life on Earth reflecting light. Some animals use
spider has a 5-centimetre leg span be any different? moonlight to find food or a mate,
These spiders aren’t rare, and a 1.5-centimetre body length, or exploit the relative darkness to
just rarely seen as they tend to but it rarely scares us humans as Hillary Shaw avoid becoming dinner. Others
live in dark locations such as caves, it is seldom seen. M. menardi is Newport, Shropshire, UK use the moon for navigation.
mines and – as in this example – photophobic, living away from Human culture would be very There would be winners and losers
sewers and drains. The silk of this light, and so is a denizen of different without moonlight. and it wouldn’t be easy to predict
spider is notable for its strength, dark places such as caves, Ancient stargazers, with no the outcome in advance.
which is needed to support the mines and sewers. artificial light to drown out
mass of the sizeable egg sac. the stars, would see a black void That said, losers might include
The egg sacs, however, are crossing the sky. Perhaps this the Mormon tea plant (Ephedra
David Muir often constructed close to the would lead to legends of an evil sky foeminea) that is pollinated during
Edinburgh, UK entrances of caves and tunnels, demon, similar to that described the full moon. Each of its cones
These are the teardrop-shaped egg as the developing spiderlings in Isaac Asimov’s 1941 short produces droplets of nectar,
are strongly attracted to light, story Nightfall, about a planet which help stick pollen to insects
unlike their parents. that experiences the darkness that are attracted by the polarised
of night for the first time. moonlight the droplets reflect.
This is an evolutionary
adaptation that encourages The biggest differences would Some birds, such as the Barau’s
the young to disperse away from petrel, use day length and the
the adults to colonise new areas. phase of the moon to time their
migration. And the period of near
Want to send us a question or answer? total darkness between sunset and
moonrise that occurs in the nights
Email us at [email protected] after a full moon seems to trigger
Questions should be about everyday science phenomena
Full terms and conditions at newscientist.com/lw-terms

54 | New Scientist | 19 November 2022

Tom Gauld Answers
for New Scientist
Quick quiz #178
Answers

1 Cockroaches and termites
2 Syphilis
3 The Atacama desert
4 Magnetic induction, or
magnetic flux density
5 Helium, at -268.9°C

Cryptic crossword
#96 Answers

ACROSS 1 Femoral, 5 Lever,
8 Rungs, 9 Coconut,
10 Archimedes, 13 Myriad,
15 Strobe, 17 Palimpsest,
21 Luddite, 22 Screw,
23 Weave, 24 Strudel

mass spawning in corals. “There would question mentioned joy, children’s DOWN 1 Forearms, 2 Manicure,
energy, evolution and having to 3 Rosti, 4 Lichen, 5 Laciest,
However, many nocturnal undoubtedly keep up with adults. But I think 6 Vane, 7 Rote, 11 Dog-eared,
animals would cope, perhaps be an impact on there is another reason, especially 12 Tea towel, 14 Apatite,
with a slight adjustment to their life if the moon for younger children. 16 Biceps, 18 Poser,
behaviour. After all, there are suddenly stopped 19 Claw, 20 Idea
already examples of animals that Where I live, we get icy roads,
sidewalks and trails for months #193 Flush tiling
have exploited changes in their reflecting light” during winter. I enjoy walking Solution
outside, but if I walk with my usual
environment: sky glow allows city heel-to-toe stride, I risk slipping The toilet (red) can go in any
and falling backwards. To counter corner or in the middle square of
birds to remain active when their starlight. Many nocturnal animals that, I walk more on my toes, in a any side, with two examples here.
sort of “tippy-toes” walk or slow
rural counterparts have already have enhanced night vision due jog. I think that younger children To prove that these nine squares
may run for the same reason: are the only ones where it is
roosted, and pipistrelle bats are to a reflective surface called the it is better to fall forwards than possible to leave a gap for the
backwards. After that, the toilet, note that each L-shaped
drawn to artificial lights for the tapetum lucidum at the back aforementioned energy tile can only cover one of the
and joie de vivre take over. red squares in the diagram below.
easy meal of insects they attract. of their retinas – the cause of Since Bonnie needs 8 L tiles to
Peter Jacobsen cover 24 squares, she can cover
The 18 species of bat in the eyeshine when such animals Port Townsend, Washington, US eight of the nine red squares at
Youngsters of many species are most, so one will be left uncovered.
UK navigate using echolocation, are caught in a beam of light. especially active. Young humans
love to run around and jump.
but switch to their powerful Lambs and colts kick their heels.
Young birds flap their wings
night vision when conditions are [Ed – look in the forthcoming while stationary. The common
thread is that the young need
favourable. This allows them to Christmas issue to learn how to develop their muscles to
escape predatory animals.  ❚
conserve energy while reducing the tapetum lucidum helps

the chance that predators will reindeer to see in the dark]

detect them. Without moonlight,

they would have to spend Nippy nippers
more time echolocating.

By and large, animals cope Why do little children run

when there is an overcast sky everywhere instead of walking?

or a thick veil of dust following Is it a legacy of sabre-toothed

a volcanic eruption. Even with a predators? (part 3)

black moon, we would still have

starlight. Human vision isn’t Mark Goldstein

outstanding, yet we can often see Green Bay, Wisconsin, US

well enough to find our way using The previous responses to this

19 November 2022 | New Scientist | 55

The back pages Feedback

Curiously Meta Twisteddoodles for New Scientist of) in reading the recent study
“The power of swearing: What
Coltan Scrivner’s curiosity about Got a story for Feedback? we know and what we don’t”,
morbid curiosity is ushering him published in the journal Lingua.
to higher and higher realms. He Send it to [email protected] or New Scientist, In the paper’s summary, these
wrote his PhD thesis on the subject Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT items read like advertising bullet
and joined the Recreational Fear Consideration of items sent in the post will be delayed points from Mother Nature,
Lab at Aarhus University, Denmark. which perhaps they are:
Scrivner defines morbid curiosity became a researcher, specialising in say the findings confirm three • “Swearing produces a
as “a motivation to seek out “user experience”, for the company widespread beliefs. First, that hypoalgesic effect, increasing
information about dangerous that now calls itself Meta. swearing is a common childhood pain tolerance and pain threshold,
phenomena”. You will find that problem. Second, that mothers while reducing pain perception.”
definition in his 2021 study called What the $%&#!? play a more prominent curse- • “Swearing increases power and
“The psychology of morbid curiosity: disciplinary role than fathers strength in physical activity tasks.”
Development and initial validation “Researchers do not know how do (“mothers were remembered • “It provides a uniquely powerful
of the Morbid Curiosity Scale”. parents respond to children’s as more responsive than fathers means of emotional expression,
cursing or what effect parents’ to their children’s cursing”). and of achieving both positive
The Morbid Curiosity Scale responses have on children later in and negative interpersonal
weighs up how much a person life.” Morbid curiosity, and maybe And third, though some parents relations. It also potentially
agrees or disagrees with 24 more other flavours of curiosity, drew physically smack their swearing shapes persuasiveness/credibility
or less morbid statements. Some Timothy Jay, Krista King and offspring, most often parents hit of messages.”
of the statements are broad (“I think Tim Duncan to write those words kids with a verbal response. The
the supernatural is an interesting in their study called “Memories study reports at least two notable Like paper, like city
topic”). Some are narrow (“If a head of punishment for cursing”. discoveries about punishment:
transplant was possible, I would Appearing in the journal Sex “Our data are the first to Reader Martin Whittle had a flatly
want to watch the procedure”). Roles in 2006, the report document the prevalence of brilliant insight on paper. He noted
Scrivner concluded that “morbidly examined the beliefs of 211 washing children’s mouths that, while length and width hog
curious individuals were rebellious, students at the Massachusetts with soap. College students have most of the public’s attention,
socially curious, and low in animal College of Liberal Arts. vivid memories of punishment; paper’s third dimension —
reminder disgust”. Depending on however 94% reported that they thickness — gets slighted. Heeding
your own levels of morbid curiosity, The study caught most of those continue to curse.” Feedback’s call about the Neom
do Google the last term. students at a moment poised ratio, Martin investigated.
between childhood and potential Swearing has many impacts.
Reader Minna Lyons alerted parenthood. Jay, King and Duncan Some are admirable and desirable, This ratio is, of course, derived
Feedback to Scrivner’s scrivenings. as one discovers (or is reminded from the proportions of Neom,
In a study called “An infectious a planned Saudi Arabian city that
curiosity: Morbid curiosity and is designed to be 170,000 metres
media preferences during a long, but only 200 metres wide.
pandemic”, Scrivner explains that We invited you to tell us about
“morbidly curious participants were physical objects with that same
also more interested specifically ratio (1 October).
[than other people] in morbid
information about Coronavirus”. Martin writes: “I thought that
maybe the long side of a sheet
Scrivner also teamed up with of paper divided by its thickness
colleagues for a related 2020 might be close to the Neom ratio.
study that New Scientist readers So I measured the thickness of
may recall: “Pandemic practice: my printer paper at 110 microns
Horror fans and morbidly curious (0.11 mm) which agrees with a
individuals are more psychologically typical value given on Wikipedia.
resilient during the covid-19 A4 paper has a length of 297 mm
pandemic”. The study includes and hence an aspect ratio of 2700,
this nugget: “As predicted, fans which is considerably in excess of
of prepper genres (zombie, the Neom value of 850. The length
apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic, needed is 93.5 mm, so that the short
and alien-invasion) were side of a piece of B7 at 88.0 mm
significantly more prepared for (aspect ratio 800) is the closest.”
the pandemic... However, being
a fan of prepper genres was As previously reported, reader
unrelated to positive resilience.” Jason Bradbury identified a Neomish
guitar string (22 October). What
And now, morbid curiosity has led else awaits discovery? ❚
Scrivner to go above it all, in a way. Marc Abrahams
To go meta. A few months ago, he

56 | New Scientist | 19 November 2022