- Email: [email protected]
Shipping forecast
OPINION LETTERS Higgs hunting From Michael Luk Steve Wilson writes to suggest that experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) record only particle collisions that fit the standard model (SM) (7 April, p 32). I am part of the Compact Muon Solenoid collaboration at CERN. We typically do data analyses that test theories beyond the SM. Examples include looking for signs of fourth-generation quarks, black holes, gravitons and supersymmetric particles. A direct search for the Higgs is the easiest way to test the theory behind the SM. We also do many more general searches that look for anything unusual. These do not receive as much public attention. They have so far seen nothing unexpected, but the experiments necessarily give weaker results: it is always easier to look for something specific, especially in the mountains of data collected at the LHC. Providence, Rhode Island, US
View from a mouse From Virginia Lowe Dan Jones begins his piece on why we are different from chimps saying: “Nobody would mistake a human for a chimpanzee, yet we
nights in the library, rewarded by good marks. Silly me, little did I realise they were studying for the test they’d just taken. This is a bit like the volunteers in psychologist Daryl Bem’s experiment, who appeared able to anticipate words from a list they had not yet been given to memorise. Grimsby, Ontario, Canada
share more DNA than mice and rats do” (24 March, p 34). I’m sure your average mouse couldn’t tell a human and a chimpanzee apart, but would see no relationship whatever between mice and rats. It all depends on your point of view. Ormond, Victoria, Australia
Retroactive revision From Shyam Rangaratnam Experimental results suggesting precognition discussed in Bob Holmes’s article (14 January, p 38) remind me of a quirk of certain high performers at college. Upon finishing an exam, they would rush back to their rooms to open their books and see what they’d got wrong. I had always assumed that this was a sign of the obsessive behaviour that had led to long
Enigma Number 1695
Odd one out SUSAN DENHAM In the following list of five numbers I have consistently replaced digits by letters, with different letters being used for different digits: CAST THE ODD ONE OUT. All but one of those five numbers is a perfect square. What is the numerical value of the odd one out? WIN £15 will be awarded to the sender of the first correct answer opened on Tuesday 29 May. The Editor’s decision is final. Please send entries to Enigma 1695, New Scientist, Lacon House, 84 Theobald’s Road, London WC1X 8NS, or to [email protected] (please include your postal address). Answer to 1689 What’s my number?: Amy = 6, Bob = 7, Carol = 8 The winner Terry Lovekin of Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
30 | NewScientist | 28 April 2012
Slight scan risk From Eric Kvaalen Jessica Hamzelou writes that because obese people receive a higher dose of X-rays in a CT scan, “they are 60 per cent more likely than those of average weight to develop the disease” (14 April, p 13). No – they are 60 per cent more likely to develop the disease as a result of the CT scan. But CT scans only slightly increase the risk of cancer. The increased risk for obese people is 60 per cent of “slight”. Les Essarts-le-Roi, France
Antibiotic attack From Hilary Gee You report on another attempt to ban routine use of low-dose antibiotics to increase growth in livestock, mainly because it will encourage the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (31 March, p 6) – and over the page say that antibiotics may also play a role in making people fat (p 8). If antibiotic-induced growth in animals is also disproportionately of fat, we will consume more fat. Epigenetic studies link higher birth weight in babies (as result of maternal nutrition) to their later susceptibility to obesity and related diseases such as diabetes. Perfect storm anyone? Cartmel, Cumbria, UK From Alasdair Cook A retired vet gave me copies of the Veterinary Record, and I found this little gem from 10 January, 1948: “For some time past, there
appears to have developed a diminution in the efficiency of penicillin, and it is significant that about two or three months ago, general medical practitioners were increasing the dosage by as much as 100 per cent. The British Medical Journal of November 29 directs timely attention to what it calls ‘the magnitude of this unwelcome change’, and discusses the possible causes hereof.” That was just four years after penicillin became available to civilians in the UK. Dumfries, UK
Shipping forecast From Graham P. Davis Your story on laying fibre-optic cables in the Arctic (17 March, p 19) stated “the underside of sea ice also has ridges, or ‘bummocks’, that reach depths of 18 metres”. I thought I remembered greater depths mentioned, and on rereading the accounts of the submarine USS Nautilus’s journeys under the Arctic in 1958 and those of USS Skate, I found reports that they often encountered ice 18 metres down, with the lowest at 38 metres. Arctic Fibre’s aim of staying at least 50 metres down does not seem overly cautious. Bracknell, Berkshire, UK From Clive Semmens Jeff Hecht writes that the biggest threats to marine cables in warmer waters come from “fishing trawlers and ships’ anchors”, which are extremely rare in the Arctic. This is true today, but for how much longer? Ely, Cambridgeshire, UK
Another network From Gwydion Williams Your discussions of social networks were rather good, but tended to oversimplify the story (Instant Expert, 7 April). Take the assertion that we typically have
View from a mouse From Virginia Lowe Dan Jones begins his piece on why we are different from chimps saying: “Nobody would mistake a human for a chimpanzee, yet we
nights in the library, rewarded by good marks. Silly me, little did I realise they were studying for the test they’d just taken. This is a bit like the volunteers in psychologist Daryl Bem’s experiment, who appeared able to anticipate words from a list they had not yet been given to memorise. Grimsby, Ontario, Canada
share more DNA than mice and rats do” (24 March, p 34). I’m sure your average mouse couldn’t tell a human and a chimpanzee apart, but would see no relationship whatever between mice and rats. It all depends on your point of view. Ormond, Victoria, Australia
Retroactive revision From Shyam Rangaratnam Experimental results suggesting precognition discussed in Bob Holmes’s article (14 January, p 38) remind me of a quirk of certain high performers at college. Upon finishing an exam, they would rush back to their rooms to open their books and see what they’d got wrong. I had always assumed that this was a sign of the obsessive behaviour that had led to long
Enigma Number 1695
Odd one out SUSAN DENHAM In the following list of five numbers I have consistently replaced digits by letters, with different letters being used for different digits: CAST THE ODD ONE OUT. All but one of those five numbers is a perfect square. What is the numerical value of the odd one out? WIN £15 will be awarded to the sender of the first correct answer opened on Tuesday 29 May. The Editor’s decision is final. Please send entries to Enigma 1695, New Scientist, Lacon House, 84 Theobald’s Road, London WC1X 8NS, or to [email protected] (please include your postal address). Answer to 1689 What’s my number?: Amy = 6, Bob = 7, Carol = 8 The winner Terry Lovekin of Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
30 | NewScientist | 28 April 2012
Slight scan risk From Eric Kvaalen Jessica Hamzelou writes that because obese people receive a higher dose of X-rays in a CT scan, “they are 60 per cent more likely than those of average weight to develop the disease” (14 April, p 13). No – they are 60 per cent more likely to develop the disease as a result of the CT scan. But CT scans only slightly increase the risk of cancer. The increased risk for obese people is 60 per cent of “slight”. Les Essarts-le-Roi, France
Antibiotic attack From Hilary Gee You report on another attempt to ban routine use of low-dose antibiotics to increase growth in livestock, mainly because it will encourage the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (31 March, p 6) – and over the page say that antibiotics may also play a role in making people fat (p 8). If antibiotic-induced growth in animals is also disproportionately of fat, we will consume more fat. Epigenetic studies link higher birth weight in babies (as result of maternal nutrition) to their later susceptibility to obesity and related diseases such as diabetes. Perfect storm anyone? Cartmel, Cumbria, UK From Alasdair Cook A retired vet gave me copies of the Veterinary Record, and I found this little gem from 10 January, 1948: “For some time past, there
appears to have developed a diminution in the efficiency of penicillin, and it is significant that about two or three months ago, general medical practitioners were increasing the dosage by as much as 100 per cent. The British Medical Journal of November 29 directs timely attention to what it calls ‘the magnitude of this unwelcome change’, and discusses the possible causes hereof.” That was just four years after penicillin became available to civilians in the UK. Dumfries, UK
Shipping forecast From Graham P. Davis Your story on laying fibre-optic cables in the Arctic (17 March, p 19) stated “the underside of sea ice also has ridges, or ‘bummocks’, that reach depths of 18 metres”. I thought I remembered greater depths mentioned, and on rereading the accounts of the submarine USS Nautilus’s journeys under the Arctic in 1958 and those of USS Skate, I found reports that they often encountered ice 18 metres down, with the lowest at 38 metres. Arctic Fibre’s aim of staying at least 50 metres down does not seem overly cautious. Bracknell, Berkshire, UK From Clive Semmens Jeff Hecht writes that the biggest threats to marine cables in warmer waters come from “fishing trawlers and ships’ anchors”, which are extremely rare in the Arctic. This is true today, but for how much longer? Ely, Cambridgeshire, UK
Another network From Gwydion Williams Your discussions of social networks were rather good, but tended to oversimplify the story (Instant Expert, 7 April). Take the assertion that we typically have