New Scientist International Edition_June_2020

2630BEN/ISTOCK PHOTODiscovery
Tours

See the world with science

We were really excited by the launch of New Scientist Discovery Tours this year. Its concept of
travel with experts on board and in the company of like-minded travellers who enjoy science
and discovery promised a range of unique experiences. But Covid-19 had other plans.

Looking to the future, however, we are now focusing on next year’s tours. On these pages you’ll
find just a few of them. If any of them lift your spirits, why not register your interest and we will
contact you when the time is right. Explore now, travel later.

SRI LANKA

March 2021

Wildlife of Sri Lanka with George McGavin

Sri Lanka boasts an impressively high number of endemic species, and
offers some of the finest wildlife-watching experiences in South Asia.
Embark on an expedition that takes you to the wild corners of this
extraordinary island in search of leopards, elephants, whales and other,
less-well known inhabitants such as the sloth bear, pangolin and loris. The
tour will take in national parks, UNESCO sites, research centres and local
conservation initiatives, staying in exceptional accommodation including
tea plantations, eco-lodges and cutting-edge safari camps.

Entomologist and TV presenter George McGavin will accompany the
tour, providing fascinating insights into the island and the exotic wildlife
that lives there.

ANTARCTICA

November 2021

The science of Antarctica

Join us aboard the Magellan Explorer for an exclusive fly-cruise
expedition to South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula, exploring the
world’s largest ocean sanctuary and most pristine marine ecosystem.
Follow in the footsteps of the great explorers and scientists such as
Shackleton and Amundsen, whilst marvelling at imposing icebergs,
ancient glaciers and ice floes onto volcanic beaches.

The tour is accompanied by experts in science, exploration and
wildlife aboard a ship where specific measures have been taken to
minimise its carbon footprint, including state-of-the-art low-emission
engines. If you have a love of wildlife and wild places, this voyage is
the ultimate travel experience.

GUENTERGUNI/ISTOCK PHOTO Want to know more?

For details of itineraries and how to register visit
newscientist.com/tours or email [email protected]

MALAYSIA

July 2021

Endangered wildlife of Malaysian Borneo

Explore Borneo’s primary rainforests and wetlands teeming with rare
species as Alfred Russel Wallace did before writing his 1869 book The Malay
Archipelago. Orangutans, sun bears, civet cats, langurs, gibbons, proboscis
monkeys and rhinoceros hornbills are among the many species you can
expect to see on this tour led by conservationist and photographer Charles
Ryan, who will also help you gain the best wildlife shots.

Visit conservation projects, hear from the experts and experience how
species and habitats are being rehabilitated and protected, while staying
in secluded idyllic lodges and nature resorts in the heart of the forest
reserves. Enjoy wildlife safaris, cruises and treks through hectares of pristine
tropical rainforest in this hotspot of biodiversity.

VIETNAM

May 2021

Caves, conservation, culture

Discover a different side of Vietnam in this wide-ranging tour that
covers history, geology, stunning landscapes and animal conservation.
Starting off in Hanoi, it encompasses a stay in Cuc Phuong National Park,
sailing down a river in the Ninh Binh valley, cruising the Halong Bay
and trekking to the famous Hang Tien cave. The tour finishes in Hue,
the ancient capital of Vietnam.

Experience tropical jungles, limestone caves, blissful villages and amazing
feats of underground engineering. Immerse yourself in local culture and
sample Vietnamese cuisine, ranging from street food to dining like royalty.
A real treat for the senses in this highly stimulating country.

ECUADOR

June 2021

Darwin’s Galapagos

The Galapagos Islands are a paradise for natural history and geology
lovers. This distinctive trip includes the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage
site of Quito in mainland Ecuador, followed by 8 days exploring at sea
with behind-the-scenes access at the Galapagos Science Centre. Our
spacious and stylish yacht, the Natural Paradise, is small enough to get
into bays that larger expedition ships cannot go near, so you experience
the Galapagos as Darwin did whilst minimising your impact.

Galapagos sea lions, marine iguanas, blue footed boobies, giant tortoises,
sally lightfoot crabs and green sea turtles are just a few of the animals
native to this fascinating archipelago that you can encounter on this tour
accompanied by marine biologist and conservationist Jonathan Green.

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Introducing our new
Essential Guides series

We experience reality all the time – yet we struggle to understand it,
or even define what it is. Let New Scientist be your essential guide to this
most essential of topics as we delve into how mathematics, fundamental
physics and our consciousness combine to define the world around us.

The first in an entirely new series, this Essential Guide is available
now. Get it in all good retailers, or buy it at shop.newscientist.com
and have it delivered to your door.

The back pages Puzzles

Puzzles Cartoons Feedback The last word
Do you even know Life through the lens When AI tried to solve Does shaking a
what day it is of Tom Gauld and New Scientist’s cryptic kettle help it to
anymore? p54 Twisteddoodles p54 crossword p55 boil faster? p56

Cryptic crossword #33 Set by Sparticle Scribble Quick quiz #55
zone
1 Which predator, renowned as the
fastest in the animal kingdom, bears
the name Hayabusa in Japanese?

2 The name also lends itself to the
fastest production example of what
type of vehicle, one that could reach
a similar top speed?

3 There is a third Hayabusa, one that
outpaced both of them. It arrived
back from 25143 Itokawa on
13 June 2010 bearing what?
Answers and the
next quick crossword 4 Istiompax indica holds the animal
next week speed record in the sea; what is the
common English name of this prized
ACROSS DOWN game fish?

1 Language Olga used in explanatory text (7) 1 Alemannic leader wears clothes 5 The fastest human-made
5 Coordinate sporting event (5) fashionable in Rome? (5) object reached a speed of nearly
8 Radiation-capturing laboratory reverses 350,000 kilometres per hour in
2 Aircraft spotters’ discipline might 2018. What is it and what was
position, weaponising climate change (6,7) come second (6,7) it doing?
9 Crux of Kissinger’s wrongdoing (3)
10 Losing set theorist, say, all up for a scrap (9) 3 Moneylender revealed songbird to Answers on page 54
12 My older cousin principally Reverend Spooner (4,5)
Quick
consumes coffees (6) 4 Knight giddily heading west again (6) Crossword #59
13 Predicted dictionary would include men (6) 5 Man walking round a ruin (3)
15 Actor whose back catalogue finally lines 6 Dread seizes DNA sanctuary revolutionising Answers

millennials’ hoard (4,5) scientific method (5-3-5) ACROSS 6 Pivot, 7 Hepatica,
16 Sources of Einstein’s reasoning about time (3) 7 Even Van Gogh, rough around the edges, 10 Permian, 11 Drug rep, 12 Yolk sac,
18 Somehow turn Barcelona sustainable (6,7) 13 Pharynx, 14 Wind turbine,
20 Fun online podcast rendering lounges (5) was exhausted (7) 19 Capstan, 21 Big Bang, 23 Alumina,
21 Wants some of the rollerblades I restored (7) 11 Clumsily mounts gym equipment designed 25 Lantern, 26 Ginglymi, 27 DeCal

to kill (5,4) DOWN 1 Overflow, 2 Ethics,
12 Claim silver compound is truly extraordinary (7) 3 Phenacetin, 4 Ipod, 5 Scurvy,
14 Copied CD containing single (6) 6 Papaya, 8 Tsunami, 9 Epoxy,
17 Reference book requires a last edit (5) 13 Paraboloid, 15 Nothing, 16 Evanesce,
19 Approves absolute zero to sit on 17 Octad, 18 Agonal, 20 Plug in,
22 Gonads, 24 Aryl
top subcommittee (3)
Our crosswords are
now solvable online

newscientist.com/crosswords

13 June 2020 | New Scientist | 53

The back pages Quick Puzzle
quiz #55
Tom Gauld set by Rob Eastaway
Answers
for New Scientist #63 What day?
1 The peregrine
Twisteddoodles falcon, Falco “It’s Monday today, isn’t it?”
peregrinus. Its pondered Angie.
for New Scientist swooping dives reach “I seem to remember yesterday
over 300 km/h was Tuesday,” said Beatrice.
54 | New Scientist | 13 June 2020 “I believe we’re as far from
2 A motorcycle made Sunday as we are from
by the Japanese firm Wednesday,” said Carol.
Suzuki since 1999 “When the day after tomorrow
becomes ‘yesterday’, ‘tomorrow’
3 An asteroid sample. will be Tuesday,” interjected
The Japan Aerospace Dorothy, cryptically.
Exploration Agency “It’s not the weekend,” said Ethel.
probe was the first Clearly there was some
mission to land on disagreement – and if I told you
one and take off how many of them had got it
again successfully right, then you would be able to
work out what day it is today.
4 Black marlin. It has However, I’ve decided to keep
been recorded reeling it a secret. So who was right,
out a fishing line at and what day is it?
over 120 km/h
Answer next week
5 NASA’s Parker Solar
Probe; it was making #62 Burger run
a close pass around
the sun Solution
A

B

Yolanda’s estimate is closest - there
are 23 shortest routes from A to B
that pass through exactly one Big
Burger. One way to solve this kind of
puzzle is to systematically work from
A and keep track of how many ways
there are of reaching each point.
With this problem, you should keep
a separate count of how many ways
there are of reaching each point after
(a) zero or (b) one Big Burger visit.
For line segments that contain a
Big Burger, (b) becomes equal to
(a), then (a) becomes equal to
0, with the “old” value for (b)
effectively discarded.

The back pages Feedback

Crossword compiler Got a story for Feedback? we extend our thanks to A. Patton
for notifying us of the existence of
A few weeks ago, Feedback ran Send it to [email protected] or psychologist and psychotherapist
a letter from a reader that raised New Scientist, 25 Bedford Street, London WC2E 9ES Sarah Helps (we’re sure she does),
serious doubts as to the solvability Consideration of items sent in the post will be delayed and to Kate Heal for introducing
of the New Scientist cryptic us to vegetarian nutrition
JOSIE FORD crossword. Taking our duty of care would a circle if you don’t mind concerned, is why theme parks researcher Linda Bacon. Hilary
seriously, and being at the same the occasional dizzy spell. weren’t being run along these Calvert writes in to inform us that
time incapable of distinguishing lines before. the author of a recent article in the
a cryptic crossword clue from the But be wary of attempting more Daily Mail about giant hogweed
subject line of a spam email, we complex shapes without adequate Monster mash-up goes by the name of David Leafe,
decided to consult an expert. supervision. A pentagram might and Ros Hancock points out that
seem like a jolly pattern to try It isn’t often that Feedback the head of shows development
Crossword Genius is a remarkably out, for example, but it will soon sympathises with Gothic anti-hero at the Royal Horticultural Society
impressive app that uses an AI to become difficult to stay 2 metres Victor Frankenstein, but on those is named Katherine Potsides.
parse cryptic crossword clues and away from the undead spirits occasions when we receive emails
offer potential solutions. Letting it summoned forth at its centre. about nominative determinism We are also happy to recognise
loose on a puzzle by regular New the similarity becomes too keenly Brian Jones for nabbing a lesser-
Scientist setter Wingding proved Running scared felt to bear. For there is little doubt spotted double nominative
to be a stimulating experience. that we, too, have created a determinism in the wild. After
On the subject of social distancing monster, a source of modest registering interest in a vegetation
“Family becomes ilk,” it said at with the undead, The Japan Times pride at first, but whose tendency management webinar run by a
one point, “I can’t justify this – if you reports on new regulations being to leer horribly at our kitchen Peter Birch, he received an email
can you should believe this answer rolled out in the country’s window risks pushing us to on behalf of the organisers signed
much more.” “Sailboats is the amusement parks. breaking point. by an Edward Moss.
definition,” it opined about another
clue, adding, “I don’t know anything “’Ghosts’ lurking in haunted That being said, there are also Readership figures
about this answer so I cannot judge houses should maintain a healthy weeks when the Feedback well
whether this works.” And for a distance from their ‘victims’,” say runs dry and we are only too In the fleeting moments of the day
clue that contained the words the guidelines, which also advise grateful for the monster’s when our thoughts aren’t consumed
“enormous creature” it offered guests to “refrain from vocalizing continued reappearance. Such by nominative determinism,
BIGHEAD as a possible answer, loudly” on the rides. The crucial a week, alas, is this. Which is why Feedback enjoys nothing more than
saying: “Enormous becomes big question, as far as Feedback is misplaced units of comparison. This
(big can be similar in meaning to week’s example comes from Will
enormous), creature becomes Kemp, who sets the scene thusly:
head (head is a kind of creature).” “I received an email from Australian
The real answer – which, to be fair, news web site crikey.com.au which
Crossword Genius also identified – included the following: ‘Log into
was MAMMOTH. our website to go behind the
paywall to leave comments and
With the exception of a few read everything we’ve published
clues that stumped the artificially in our 20 years – that’s enough
intelligent app and the naturally reading to fill a thousand olympic
stupid Feedback, we are happy swimming pools.’”
to confirm that the New Scientist
crossword does, in fact, appear How exactly is this being
to be solvable. We also advise calculated? Feedback must have
crossword setters everywhere misplaced our reading-matter-to-
to be warned – the machines are volume conversion slide rule, so
coming for you, and they know the comparison leaves us utterly
where you concoct evil (4). baffled. Are the editors here
suggesting that their website has
Go figure so much content that, if printed,
it would fill a thousand Olympic
The latest in a long series of swimming pools? If so, what
excellent tweets by Twitter user font size are they using? What
@rhodri highlights odd advice dimensions of paper? Is there water
in The Telegraph that “groups in these pools? Won’t it disturb the
should picnic in the shape of swimmers? We may have no choice
a parallelogram, hexagon or but to log in and see for ourselves. ❚
pentagon” to maintain adequate
social distancing. A square would Written by Gilead Amit
work just as well, of course, as

13 June 2020 | New Scientist | 55

The back pages The last word

Homebrew decaf How do chameleons
camouflage
I heard that if you discard the themselves?
first brew made from a teabag,
the next one will be decaffeinated. As the saying goes, a watched
How true is this? kettle never boils. You will find
it boils much quicker if you just
Guy Cox walk away and leave it alone.
St Albans, New South Wales,
Australia NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY/ALAMY Brian Pollard
Caffeine is very soluble in Launceston, Cornwall, UK
boiling water, so there is some This week’s new questions A kettle draws power from the
basis for this idea, although the mains supply when it is turned
second brew may be very lacking Colour match How do chameleons blend into the on. This power is turned to heat
in flavour. background? Peter Gillman, London, UK by the element, and this is
transferred into the water. The
If you really want to Chance win My son always beats me at Monopoly. heat transferred into the water is
decaffeinate a teabag, you might Can a better understanding of maths and probability always the same: that is to say, it is
do better soaking it in cold water help me win? Nicholas Beale, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK the heat generated by the element.
for a while. This will extract
caffeine preferentially over likely to diminish too. I suspect element rises until the difference The heat has to raise the water
the polyphenols in tea, which that your satisfaction with the between it and the water’s from room temperature to boiling
influence its taste. There is now resulting drink will also depend temperature is enough to transfer point, so the only thing that can
a trend for “cold-brewed” coffee, on your tolerance for diminished the heat from the heating element alter the time taken to boil is the
which is a caffeine hit with a flavour and your definition of an to the water. amount of water in the kettle.
mellower flavour. Cold-steeping adequate brew. Shaking it or doing anything else
tea will also change its taste. When you swirl water around can’t alter the amount of heat
Contaminants such as milk or in the kettle while it is boiling, being transferred from the
Caroline Page lemon, the water’s hardness and you improve the heat transfer to element to the water.
Haywards Heath, West Sussex, UK pH and the differential solubility the water by introducing some
This takes me back to the final between water and any oils in the forced convection. This means Modern flat-based kettles
project of my chemistry degree. tea, like bergamot, will affect the the  element will cool down do make a lot of noise compared
Although that was related to rate at which the tea’s constituent slightly. When the cooler element with old stainless steel kettles
coffee, similar principles should compounds are extracted, or else is no longer hot enough to that had curved, exposed elements.
apply for tea. remain in the second brew. produce bubbles of steam on The sound heard is that of minute
its surface, the noise the kettle bubbles of air in the water
It is true that your second The fluid dynamics of the makes falls away. bursting. It is likely that shaking
brew will be decaffeinated to a brew also matters. If you stir or the kettle alters the formation
certain extent, but how much so agitate the bag during the first As its temperature falls, the of bubbles, and so alters the
will depend on several variables, brew, or squeeze the teabag to electrical resistance of the nickel- sound  heard.
such as the type of tea, the state extract water between brews, chromium wire in the element
of the tea leaves – whether they are you will extract more caffeine will decrease slightly. Because the Danny Colyer
dried, crushed or ground – their and flavour compounds before heat generated in the element is Bristol, UK
age, their size and the conditions the second brew. inversely proportional to its Picking up a typical kettle to shake
in which they have been stored, as resistance, the heat generated it would involve removing it from
well as the available surface area Slow boil by the convection will increase its base, thus disconnecting it
and the state of the cell walls in slightly. This will cause the kettle from the mains. With no power to
the tea leaves. Does a kettle boil quicker to boil a little quicker, but the its element, the kettle won’t boil at
if you shake it? It certainly effect is only a secondary one. all. A camping kettle, heated by
Certain other factors are likely to sounds different. a flame, can be picked up without
affect the rate of diffusion and how removing its power supply. But if
much caffeine is left for extraction I am using a camping kettle, then
after the first brew. The solubility I am probably on holiday, and so
of the substances in tea will vary perfectly happy to sit and read
considerably depending on my New Scientist for as long as
temperature. A hotter brew is likely it takes to boil.  ❚
to draw out the caffeine faster. For
any given temperature, the longer Robert Carpenter Want to send us a question or answer?
the first brew, the less caffeine will Lutterworth, Leicestershire, UK
be present in the second brew. When you switch a kettle on, Email us at [email protected]
Theobromine and other flavour the temperature of its heating Questions should be about everyday science phenomena
compounds diffuse at differential Full terms and conditions at newscientist.com/lw-terms
rates during tea-brewing, but are

56 | New Scientist | 13 June 2020