- Email: [email protected]
What fine-tuning?
OPINION LETTERS What fine-tuning? From Lawrence D’Oliveiro Where does everyone get the idea that the universe is fine-tuned for life (for example: 6 December 2008, p 12)? If it were that finely tuned, it would be teeming with life. But it’s not. As far as we know, the only place in the universe with any life able to cling to it for any period of time is one insignificant rock circling one nondescript star in a remote corner of one galaxy. It seems to me that the universe is about as mistuned for life as it is possible to be, without being completely hostile to it altogether. Hamilton, New Zealand From Spencer Weart, Center for History of Physics A further important conclusion can be drawn from your report on Ben Freivogel’s calculation that the dark matter mix is “just right” (6 December 2008, p 12). His ingenious twist on the anthropic principle is to assume that in a multiverse of countless different kinds of universes, the number of intelligent species in a given universe is proportional to the number of galaxies. He can then calculate how much dark matter a universe needs to produce an
abundance of galaxies, and thus at least one intelligence that can observe its existence. But a good many basic constants of physics may vary between universes: not only the proportion of dark matter, but the gravitational constant, speed of light, and others. It will be exceedingly rare that they all have exactly the right values to produce an abundance of life. Alongside a few well-populated universes, there must be an immense number in which the parameters are not quite so nearly perfect. For every universe that has 1000 intelligent races per galaxy, there must be vastly more in which only one such emerges in 1000 galaxies. The odds are thus overwhelming that we happen to inhabit a universe in which intelligent races are very rare. College Park, Maryland, US
RICHARD ENGLAND Before being the youngest member of the British team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Tom Daley had become the youngest European diving champion on record by winning the individual title from
From Perry Bebbington Anil Ananthaswamy passes on the assumption that all parts of the universe must once have been in causal contact in order for the temperature of the universe to be as uniform as we find it today
the 10-metre platform board while still aged only 13. So it is appropriate that I can offer this puzzle: TOM × 13 = DALEY Each letter stands for a different digit, and no number starts with a zero. What is the five-digit number represented by DALEY?
WIN £15 will be awarded to the sender of the first correct answer opened on Wednesday 4 March. The Editor’s decision is final. Please send entries to Enigma 1530, New Scientist, Lacon House, 84 Theobald’s Road, London WC1X 8NS, or to [email protected] (please include your postal address). Answer to 1524 Prime furniture: 313, 317, 373 euros The winner John Lutz of Denistone, New South Wales, Australia
24 | NewScientist | 31 January 2009
Oil be damned
and distract suddenly redundant fishermen – while simply cooking all remaining life forms. So I am astounded that Olof Linden, commenting on the study, is “surprised they even find any oil at all after 18 years”. I was also unimpressed that Paul Boehm’s survey of just 25 sites throughout this vast area, according to your report, found only small patches of oil “deep within cracks between boulders and pebbles, much of it degraded”. I might have had more confidence in these findings had Boehm’s surveyors included neutral observers and dug deeply into many more beaches. Anchorage, Alaska, US
Isotopes and ageing
Boing!
Enigma Number 1530
Tom Daley
(13 December 2008, p 32). Surely it is possible that the temperature of the universe is uniform because it was all created by the same process, and as a result different parts that have never been in causal contact have not only the same temperature but also the same laws. As an analogy, my body has the same temperature as those of other human beings, not because I am in contact with them but because we were all formed by the same process. Nuthall, Nottinghamshire, UK
From Arndt von Hippel An Exxon-funded study has once again given the enormous Exxon Valdez crude oil spill site “a clean bill of health” (20/27 December 2008, p 6). We need to remember that Exxon fouled not only the uniquely productive waters in Alaska’s Prince William Sound, but also more than 1000 miles of shoreline, out to Cook Inlet, which has the world’s second-highest tides – up to 11 metres. In warmer climates with lower tides, oil spills are repeatedly stirred and washed by storm waves, subjecting the oil to degradation by wind and sun. But when a high tide floats thick layers of toxic crude oil onto the upper parts of a sandy or stony beach, receding waters naturally draw that oil deep down through sand or stones. That deeper oil is unaffected by colossal charades such as steam-cleaning newly toxic beach surfaces to employ
From Henk-Jan van Manen Mikhail Shchepinov advocates heavy water and other isotopelabelled molecules to combat ageing (29 November 2008, p 36). You caution that the idea of using heavy isotopes to increase longevity hinges on free radicals being at the root of ageing. While that might be strongly debated, there are a number of diseases in which reactive oxygen species produced by white blood cells are firmly implicated. The variety of leukocytes known as neutrophils produce large amounts of reactive oxidants to degrade microorganisms that invade the human body. These oxidants may also inflict damage on nearby tissues and are thought to be important in diseases such as acute respiratory distress syndrome, atherosclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis (American Journal of Medicine, vol 109, p 33). Would isotope-labelled molecules be more resistant to oxidative attack under these circumstances? If so, an organism containing these molecules might not only age more slowly but also be less prone to oxidant-related diseases. Hengelo, The Netherlands
abundance of galaxies, and thus at least one intelligence that can observe its existence. But a good many basic constants of physics may vary between universes: not only the proportion of dark matter, but the gravitational constant, speed of light, and others. It will be exceedingly rare that they all have exactly the right values to produce an abundance of life. Alongside a few well-populated universes, there must be an immense number in which the parameters are not quite so nearly perfect. For every universe that has 1000 intelligent races per galaxy, there must be vastly more in which only one such emerges in 1000 galaxies. The odds are thus overwhelming that we happen to inhabit a universe in which intelligent races are very rare. College Park, Maryland, US
RICHARD ENGLAND Before being the youngest member of the British team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Tom Daley had become the youngest European diving champion on record by winning the individual title from
From Perry Bebbington Anil Ananthaswamy passes on the assumption that all parts of the universe must once have been in causal contact in order for the temperature of the universe to be as uniform as we find it today
the 10-metre platform board while still aged only 13. So it is appropriate that I can offer this puzzle: TOM × 13 = DALEY Each letter stands for a different digit, and no number starts with a zero. What is the five-digit number represented by DALEY?
WIN £15 will be awarded to the sender of the first correct answer opened on Wednesday 4 March. The Editor’s decision is final. Please send entries to Enigma 1530, New Scientist, Lacon House, 84 Theobald’s Road, London WC1X 8NS, or to [email protected] (please include your postal address). Answer to 1524 Prime furniture: 313, 317, 373 euros The winner John Lutz of Denistone, New South Wales, Australia
24 | NewScientist | 31 January 2009
Oil be damned
and distract suddenly redundant fishermen – while simply cooking all remaining life forms. So I am astounded that Olof Linden, commenting on the study, is “surprised they even find any oil at all after 18 years”. I was also unimpressed that Paul Boehm’s survey of just 25 sites throughout this vast area, according to your report, found only small patches of oil “deep within cracks between boulders and pebbles, much of it degraded”. I might have had more confidence in these findings had Boehm’s surveyors included neutral observers and dug deeply into many more beaches. Anchorage, Alaska, US
Isotopes and ageing
Boing!
Enigma Number 1530
Tom Daley
(13 December 2008, p 32). Surely it is possible that the temperature of the universe is uniform because it was all created by the same process, and as a result different parts that have never been in causal contact have not only the same temperature but also the same laws. As an analogy, my body has the same temperature as those of other human beings, not because I am in contact with them but because we were all formed by the same process. Nuthall, Nottinghamshire, UK
From Arndt von Hippel An Exxon-funded study has once again given the enormous Exxon Valdez crude oil spill site “a clean bill of health” (20/27 December 2008, p 6). We need to remember that Exxon fouled not only the uniquely productive waters in Alaska’s Prince William Sound, but also more than 1000 miles of shoreline, out to Cook Inlet, which has the world’s second-highest tides – up to 11 metres. In warmer climates with lower tides, oil spills are repeatedly stirred and washed by storm waves, subjecting the oil to degradation by wind and sun. But when a high tide floats thick layers of toxic crude oil onto the upper parts of a sandy or stony beach, receding waters naturally draw that oil deep down through sand or stones. That deeper oil is unaffected by colossal charades such as steam-cleaning newly toxic beach surfaces to employ
From Henk-Jan van Manen Mikhail Shchepinov advocates heavy water and other isotopelabelled molecules to combat ageing (29 November 2008, p 36). You caution that the idea of using heavy isotopes to increase longevity hinges on free radicals being at the root of ageing. While that might be strongly debated, there are a number of diseases in which reactive oxygen species produced by white blood cells are firmly implicated. The variety of leukocytes known as neutrophils produce large amounts of reactive oxidants to degrade microorganisms that invade the human body. These oxidants may also inflict damage on nearby tissues and are thought to be important in diseases such as acute respiratory distress syndrome, atherosclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis (American Journal of Medicine, vol 109, p 33). Would isotope-labelled molecules be more resistant to oxidative attack under these circumstances? If so, an organism containing these molecules might not only age more slowly but also be less prone to oxidant-related diseases. Hengelo, The Netherlands