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Cuttlefish mimics crab to catch fish
STEVE LENNIE / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
IN BRIEF Cuttlefish mimics crab to catch fish
The strange conifer that leans towards the equator PERHAPS they’re pining for warmer climes? The towering Cook pine tree tends to lean towards the equator – the only tree known to grow in such a fashion. Matt Ritter at California Polytechnic State University was writing up a description of the Cook pine (Araucaria columnaris) for a book on the urban trees of California when he realised that the pines always leaned south. So he rang up a colleague in Australia to see if the same was the case there. It wasn’t – instead, the pines usually leaned north. “We got holy-smoked that there’s possibly a tree
that’s leaning toward the equator wherever it grows,” says Ritter. He and his colleagues studied 256 Cook pines scattered across five continents. They collected tree data at 18 locations between latitudes of 7 and 35° north, and 12 and 42° south. The team calculated that the trees tilt by 8.55 degrees on an average (Ecology, doi.org/b73f). The trees also slant more the further they are from the equator. “It’s a shockingly distinct pattern,” says Ritter. One tree in South Australia slants at 40 degrees. Trees normally correct for such asymmetry in their growth, but for some unknown reason the Cook pine does not, says Ritter. “We could be just dealing with an artefact of its genetics,” he says. Alternatively, it could be an adaptation to catch more sunlight at higher latitudes.
AI will best us by 2060, say experts ENJOY feeling superior while you still can. According to a survey of more than 350 people developing artificial intelligence, there is a 50 per cent chance that machines will outperform humans in all tasks within 45 years. AI is predicted to be better than us at translating languages by 2024, writing high-school essays by 2026, driving a truck by 2027, working in retail by 2031, writing
a bestselling book by 2049 and surgery by 2053. In fact, all human jobs will be automated within the next 120 years, say the respondents. The survey, by the University of Oxford and Yale University, took the views of AI researchers around the world. We’re not completely outdone, however. Computers may be able to beat us at specific activities, but it will be a long time before we see
an AI with human-like versatility, says Eleni Vasilaki at the University of Sheffield, UK. What’s more, the survey focused on the cognitive aspects of intelligence that fit welldefined tasks. “But parts of intelligence, such as emotional intelligence, go beyond cognition,” says Georgios Yannakakis at the University of Malta. “It would be interesting to ask when AI will surpass humans at being art or movie critics.”
CALL it a scuttlefish. The pharaoh cuttlefish (Sepia pharaonis) can walk like a crab – adding to its reputation as a mimic. Kohei Okamoto at the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa, Japan, and his team spotted the molluscs raising their front arms while they bent their other legs, as if they had joints. They moved these legs rapidly to mimic scuttling (Journal of Ethology, doi.org/b72z). Posing as hermit crabs could deter predators, given that cuttlefish lack the hard shell that helps keep crabs safe. It could also be a tactic to get close to prey, as crabs don’t hunt. The team found that pharaoh cuttlefish making crab-like arm movements caught about twice as many fish. “It’s possible that the distance between cuttlefish and their prey is reduced when they exhibit the behaviour,” says Okamoto.
Mars lake layers right for microbes ANCIENT Mars’s lakes may have had two habitable zones. NASA’s Curiosity rover has inspected Gale crater on the Red Planet, revealing rusty oxidised iron deposits at the edges and nonoxidised samples from the middle. This oxidation gradient shows the lake could have been ripe for life – types that need oxidants as well as those that don’t (Science, 10.1126/science.aah6849). The two zones can tell us about past atmospheric oxygen levels and the ancient Martian climate. More than 3 billion years ago, the planet’s overall climate began to cool and dry out, but these zones show warming over a shorter period of time. This adds to past evidence that ancient Mars had an environment hospitable to life. 10 June 2017 | NewScientist | 17
IN BRIEF Cuttlefish mimics crab to catch fish
The strange conifer that leans towards the equator PERHAPS they’re pining for warmer climes? The towering Cook pine tree tends to lean towards the equator – the only tree known to grow in such a fashion. Matt Ritter at California Polytechnic State University was writing up a description of the Cook pine (Araucaria columnaris) for a book on the urban trees of California when he realised that the pines always leaned south. So he rang up a colleague in Australia to see if the same was the case there. It wasn’t – instead, the pines usually leaned north. “We got holy-smoked that there’s possibly a tree
that’s leaning toward the equator wherever it grows,” says Ritter. He and his colleagues studied 256 Cook pines scattered across five continents. They collected tree data at 18 locations between latitudes of 7 and 35° north, and 12 and 42° south. The team calculated that the trees tilt by 8.55 degrees on an average (Ecology, doi.org/b73f). The trees also slant more the further they are from the equator. “It’s a shockingly distinct pattern,” says Ritter. One tree in South Australia slants at 40 degrees. Trees normally correct for such asymmetry in their growth, but for some unknown reason the Cook pine does not, says Ritter. “We could be just dealing with an artefact of its genetics,” he says. Alternatively, it could be an adaptation to catch more sunlight at higher latitudes.
AI will best us by 2060, say experts ENJOY feeling superior while you still can. According to a survey of more than 350 people developing artificial intelligence, there is a 50 per cent chance that machines will outperform humans in all tasks within 45 years. AI is predicted to be better than us at translating languages by 2024, writing high-school essays by 2026, driving a truck by 2027, working in retail by 2031, writing
a bestselling book by 2049 and surgery by 2053. In fact, all human jobs will be automated within the next 120 years, say the respondents. The survey, by the University of Oxford and Yale University, took the views of AI researchers around the world. We’re not completely outdone, however. Computers may be able to beat us at specific activities, but it will be a long time before we see
an AI with human-like versatility, says Eleni Vasilaki at the University of Sheffield, UK. What’s more, the survey focused on the cognitive aspects of intelligence that fit welldefined tasks. “But parts of intelligence, such as emotional intelligence, go beyond cognition,” says Georgios Yannakakis at the University of Malta. “It would be interesting to ask when AI will surpass humans at being art or movie critics.”
CALL it a scuttlefish. The pharaoh cuttlefish (Sepia pharaonis) can walk like a crab – adding to its reputation as a mimic. Kohei Okamoto at the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa, Japan, and his team spotted the molluscs raising their front arms while they bent their other legs, as if they had joints. They moved these legs rapidly to mimic scuttling (Journal of Ethology, doi.org/b72z). Posing as hermit crabs could deter predators, given that cuttlefish lack the hard shell that helps keep crabs safe. It could also be a tactic to get close to prey, as crabs don’t hunt. The team found that pharaoh cuttlefish making crab-like arm movements caught about twice as many fish. “It’s possible that the distance between cuttlefish and their prey is reduced when they exhibit the behaviour,” says Okamoto.
Mars lake layers right for microbes ANCIENT Mars’s lakes may have had two habitable zones. NASA’s Curiosity rover has inspected Gale crater on the Red Planet, revealing rusty oxidised iron deposits at the edges and nonoxidised samples from the middle. This oxidation gradient shows the lake could have been ripe for life – types that need oxidants as well as those that don’t (Science, 10.1126/science.aah6849). The two zones can tell us about past atmospheric oxygen levels and the ancient Martian climate. More than 3 billion years ago, the planet’s overall climate began to cool and dry out, but these zones show warming over a shorter period of time. This adds to past evidence that ancient Mars had an environment hospitable to life. 10 June 2017 | NewScientist | 17