- Email: [email protected]
Vanishing Amazon
News Superstrong lead Lead blasted with lasers is tougher than steel p8
Blood in space Low gravity made astronauts’ blood flow backwards p9
Toxic goo gun Australia attempts to tackle its feral cat problem p12
Extinction repetition US parrot went extinct not once but twice p14
Insulin nasal spray Treatment could help with polycystic ovary syndrome p16
Astronomy
NELSON ALMEIDA/GETTY IMAGES
Starlink obscures images of the sky
Vanishing Amazon Satellite monitoring confirms that loss of the rainforest has taken a dramatic turn for the worse, reports Adam Vaughan DESTRUCTION of the Amazon over the past year hit its highest level in more than a decade. Satellite data from the Brazilian space agency gave the first official confirmation that deforestation has soared since Jair Bolsonaro became president in January on a promise to develop the Amazon. Between August 2018 and July 2019, there was a loss of nearly 10,000 square kilometres of forest, the worst since 2008. Logging and burning of the world’s greatest rainforest jumped by 29.5 per cent in that period compared with the year before, to 9762 square kilometres. Observers noted that this is the biggest annual increase in more than two decades. It also ends a
period of relatively stable losses. The average between 2012 and 2018 was 6727 square kilometres. Gilberto Camara, ex-director of the space agency, tweeted that the trend was “terrible” and showed a very strong upward swing. He predicted losses could reach 12,000 square kilometres next year, if no action is taken. The figures don’t cover some of the worst deforestation detected between August and October. Although laws protecting the Amazon are still in place in Brazil, Bolsonaro’s rhetoric and a drop in enforcement has led him to be
accused of encouraging logging operations (pictured above, in Para state) that clear and burn trees. More than 180,000 fires have been recorded this year, resulting in global attention and pressure due to the sheer number of blazes across the Amazon. Brazilian environment minister Ricardo Salles suggested that deforestation has been rising since 2012, well before Bolsonaro took over. “Yes, it was, but it was pretty stable,” says Erika Berenguer at the University of Oxford. “It wasn’t an increase like this. That’s a misrepresentation of reality.” ❚
More on our changing planet online For everything you need to know visit newscientist.com/environment
ELON MUSK’s SpaceX is interfering with astronomy again, after its second batch of Starlink satellites got in the way of observations. SpaceX launched 60 new Starlink communications satellites into orbit on 11 November, bringing the total number of satellites it has in low Earth orbit up to 120. After the first launch, in May, astronomers noted that the satellites were extremely bright, prompting concerns that the thousands of satellites that SpaceX plans to launch could interfere with scientific research and views of the night sky. The newly launched satellites interfered with astronomical observations at the Cerro Tololo InterAmerican Observatory (CTIO) in northern Chile on 18 November. Astronomers were using the Dark Energy Camera (DECam), which can take images of large areas of the night sky in visible and near-infrared wavelengths of light. “I am in shock,” wrote astronomer Clara MartinezVazquez at CTIO on Twitter, in reference to the Starlink satellites. “Our DECam exposure was heavily affected by 19 of them,” she tweeted. “The train of Starlink satellites lasted for over 5 minutes!” SpaceX says it plans to make the base of future Starlink satellites black to help mitigate the impacts on astronomical observations, and will adjust satellite orbits if required. ❚ Donna Lu 23 November 2019 | New Scientist | 7
Blood in space Low gravity made astronauts’ blood flow backwards p9
Toxic goo gun Australia attempts to tackle its feral cat problem p12
Extinction repetition US parrot went extinct not once but twice p14
Insulin nasal spray Treatment could help with polycystic ovary syndrome p16
Astronomy
NELSON ALMEIDA/GETTY IMAGES
Starlink obscures images of the sky
Vanishing Amazon Satellite monitoring confirms that loss of the rainforest has taken a dramatic turn for the worse, reports Adam Vaughan DESTRUCTION of the Amazon over the past year hit its highest level in more than a decade. Satellite data from the Brazilian space agency gave the first official confirmation that deforestation has soared since Jair Bolsonaro became president in January on a promise to develop the Amazon. Between August 2018 and July 2019, there was a loss of nearly 10,000 square kilometres of forest, the worst since 2008. Logging and burning of the world’s greatest rainforest jumped by 29.5 per cent in that period compared with the year before, to 9762 square kilometres. Observers noted that this is the biggest annual increase in more than two decades. It also ends a
period of relatively stable losses. The average between 2012 and 2018 was 6727 square kilometres. Gilberto Camara, ex-director of the space agency, tweeted that the trend was “terrible” and showed a very strong upward swing. He predicted losses could reach 12,000 square kilometres next year, if no action is taken. The figures don’t cover some of the worst deforestation detected between August and October. Although laws protecting the Amazon are still in place in Brazil, Bolsonaro’s rhetoric and a drop in enforcement has led him to be
accused of encouraging logging operations (pictured above, in Para state) that clear and burn trees. More than 180,000 fires have been recorded this year, resulting in global attention and pressure due to the sheer number of blazes across the Amazon. Brazilian environment minister Ricardo Salles suggested that deforestation has been rising since 2012, well before Bolsonaro took over. “Yes, it was, but it was pretty stable,” says Erika Berenguer at the University of Oxford. “It wasn’t an increase like this. That’s a misrepresentation of reality.” ❚
More on our changing planet online For everything you need to know visit newscientist.com/environment
ELON MUSK’s SpaceX is interfering with astronomy again, after its second batch of Starlink satellites got in the way of observations. SpaceX launched 60 new Starlink communications satellites into orbit on 11 November, bringing the total number of satellites it has in low Earth orbit up to 120. After the first launch, in May, astronomers noted that the satellites were extremely bright, prompting concerns that the thousands of satellites that SpaceX plans to launch could interfere with scientific research and views of the night sky. The newly launched satellites interfered with astronomical observations at the Cerro Tololo InterAmerican Observatory (CTIO) in northern Chile on 18 November. Astronomers were using the Dark Energy Camera (DECam), which can take images of large areas of the night sky in visible and near-infrared wavelengths of light. “I am in shock,” wrote astronomer Clara MartinezVazquez at CTIO on Twitter, in reference to the Starlink satellites. “Our DECam exposure was heavily affected by 19 of them,” she tweeted. “The train of Starlink satellites lasted for over 5 minutes!” SpaceX says it plans to make the base of future Starlink satellites black to help mitigate the impacts on astronomical observations, and will adjust satellite orbits if required. ❚ Donna Lu 23 November 2019 | New Scientist | 7