The science ramble: Recent Episodes
Simon Lichtinger
For "the science ramble", each month we look at a part of the human experience and how it links to a recently published advance in the natural sciences.
From the diffusion of particles to the foraging patterns of animals, random walks are a useful mathematical model to describe many statistical processes. But just as one might walk randomly across a new city to get a feel for the place, simulated walks can also be used to study the structure of cities. For this episode of the science ramble, let’s look at how the issue of urban segregation can be quantified in this way.
This will be the last regular episode of the science ramble for now, while I will focus on other projects. I hope to still release the occasional episode though, so stay tuned.
Further reading
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The study covered in this episode: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-33344-3
A more accessible summary of the research: https://www.pnas.org/post/journal-club/virtual-city-walks-offer-more-precise-metric-urban-segregation
The richness and beauty of coral reefs stems from a juxtaposition between the smallness of animals that construct them and the huge features that emerge, of relationships between animals and algae, and the sessile nature of corals combined with miniscule movements that are essential for animal life. This intricate ecosystem can erect entire islands from the ocean floor but is also extremely vulnerable to changing environmental conditions. For this month’s science ramble, let’s look at how corals come to form reefs, and how their motions might change with global warming and higher sea levels.
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Further reading:
The paper covered in this episode: https://journals.aps.org/prapplied/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.18.024078
A more accessible news article covering the story: https://physicsworld.com/a/waving-coral-synchronizes-according-to-temperature-and-light-conditions/
Used for centuries in spiritual ceremonies, psychedelic drugs such as LSD have become known to Western society as fuel to the 1960s counterculture movement. But since they first sparked the interest of researchers in the late 19th century, there has also been a keen interest in their medical use. Initially, they were regarded as tools for psychiatrists to study the effects of a model psychosis they were thought to elicit, but focus has since shifted towards directly treating patients in psychedelic-assisted therapies. These have shown great promise for treatment of depression, addiction and anxiety, but why some patients respond better than others is still unclear. For this month’s science ramble, let’s look at the history of psychedelics in medicine, and a recent study that may explain differences between patients based on small variants of the underlying receptors in the brain.
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Further reading:
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acschemneuro.1c00815 - The paper covered in this episode.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2018.00172/full - An accessible review about how psychedelics may elicit their effects, with useful background information.
DISCLAIMER: This episode features short snippets of “Tomorrow never knows” by the Beatles, “Eight miles high” by the Byrds and “Purple Haze” by Jimi Hendrix. I do not have copyright for these tunes (do check them out on any listening platform, if you want to hear the full versions, I recommend!), but my use here falls under “fair dealing” under UK copyright law, which permits use for “research and private study, criticism or review, or news reporting”.
Style may change rapidly in our day and age, but the making of art predates written history. Thousands of paintings and engravings have been discovered world-wide, yet often the context of their creation and use has been lost. Experimental archaeology tries to fill in the gaps with experiences that can be produced today. For this month’s science ramble, let’s look at how technology helps to shape these efforts.
Further resources
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The paper covered in this episode, scroll down for videos of their lighting simulations: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0266146
A book with much detail and many example of prehistoric art: https://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/archaeology/prehistory/cambridge-illustrated-history-prehistoric-art
Many lines of evidence in modern physics indicate that 85% of all matter in the universe is invisible because it doesn't interact with light, and only weakly interacts with the matter we know. However, we have only hypotheses as to what this dark matter is composed of. This month for the science ramble, let’s look at how the study of fast galactic collisions, which separate dark matter from ordinary matter, can help physicists find the answer.
Further resources
The paper covered in this episode: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04665-6
An accessible article about dark matter: https://www.space.com/20930-dark-matter.html
That humans can behave deceptively is well-known. Commonly, it is attributed to our mental capacity and ‘theory of mind’. This makes evidence of intentional deceptive behaviour in the realm of other animals particularly intriguing. For the science ramble this month, let’s look at birds performing the act of a broken wing to defend their nests against predators.
Further resources
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Paper covered in this episode: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2022.0058
A recent general review about distraction displays in birds: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ibi.12814
How do organisms adapt to low oxygen environments, and why are there no Mexican cave fish swimming at the bottom of your tequila bottle? Join me with Matthew Harris for the first ever episode of 'the science ramble' in conversation!
Further resources
Mexican cave fish adaptations: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-07619-0
A history of blood: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/01/14/the-history-of-blood
Following the commercialisation of space flight, larger and larger numbers of satellites orbit the earth at low altitudes. The streaks they leave in images when passing through the field of view of a telescope can impact ground-based astronomical studies, and this is expected to become much more common in the near future. For this episode of the science ramble, let’s take a look at the night sky, now home to new mega-constellations of communications satellites.
Further resources
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The original paper featured in this episode: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ac470a
A brief history of space-flight: https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/spaceflight
With ever-increasing computational power, simulations of biological systems have advanced exponentially over decades. For this month’s science ramble, let’s look at how close we are to simulating whole cells, and what our ability to simulate might teach us about the reality we inhabit.
Further reading
https://www.cell.com/cell/abstract/S0092-8674(21)01488-4 – Research paper covered in this episode.
https://elifesciences.org/articles/45379 – An accessible review about minimal cells.
https://www.simulation-argument.com/matrix.html – A short essay by Nick Bostrom summarising his simulation argument.
One of the big challenges for increasing the contribution of solar power to the global energy mix is storage. Power from solar cells needs to be extracted just as it is produced, but we don't always blow-dry out hair when the sun is shining. This necessitates expensive infrastructure for stockpiling the energy until it is used. For this episode of the science ramble,we look at a recent paper which reports on a new type of solar device which can be charged in the light and discharged in the dark.
Further reading
The original paper covered in this episode: https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.217401
A short, accessible summary on the research: https://physics.aps.org/articles/v14/163
A recent review into the economics of solar power: https://oxfordre.com/environmentalscience/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199389414.001.0001/acrefore-9780199389414-e-491
Computing by biological systems doesn't only happen in the brain: all cells are capable of regulation reminiscent of logic gates in silicon-based processors. For this month's episode of the science ramble, we look at how two groups of synthetic biologists have recently completed the circle of mutual inspiration between biology and technology, and implemented a neural network-like architecture in bacterial cells.
Further reading
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The two studies mentioned:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-23336-0
https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2021/sc/d1sc01505b
About 7km off the coast of Yemen, a degrading oil tanker threatens Red Sea ecosystems and residents alike. Off-loading the oil could help avert disaster, but the ongoing conflict has prevented this for a few years now. In the science ramble this month, we look at a recent computational study which highlights the risk to public health in Yemen and beyond.
Further reading
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The study presented in this episode: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-021-00774-8
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An in-depth analysis of the history of the tanker: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/10/11/the-ship-that-became-a-bomb
Animals eat plants and then animals eat other animals? Not necessarily! A small group of plants - termed carnivorous plants - have fascinated researchers and interior designers alike, since their description by Charles Darwin in 1875. With a new research paper out this summer, we may welcome another species into the family: Triantha Occidentalis. Join the 'science ramble' this month to find out all about these unusual plants!
Further resources
The paper described in this episode: https://www.pnas.org/content/118/33/e2022724118
Broad background on carnivorous plants: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/carnivorous-plants-9780198833727
In case you want to grow your own: https://www.carnivorousplants.co.uk/blog/start-here/
The past, in the form of cultaral heritage, bears the marks of passing time. Art conservators fight the constant uphill battle of conservation and restoration, and are increasingly supported by advances of natural scientists in a range of fields. Join in for this episode of 'the science ramble', and hear about some of their latest progress, with particular attention on a recent proof-of-principle for using thin layers of carbon atoms to prevent colour degradation.
Note: this will be the last episode before a short summer break. Monthly released episodes will return on October 1st, 2021.
Further resources
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The proof-of-principle article on the use of graphene: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41565-021-00934-z
A short review on nanomaterials in art conservation: https://www.nature.com/articles/nnano.2015.38
A youtube-channel with some beautiful narrated footage of an art conservator's work: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvZe6ZCbF9xgbbbdkiodPKQ
The development of nuclear weapons has altered the course of history forever. New research on minerals formed at the first ever test-site in Alamogordo, New Mexico, has now revealed that it also accounted for the first, albeit accidental artificial synthesis of an unusual type of solid called a quasi-crystal. Join "the science ramble" this month, for two stories of scientific advance which could hardly be more different!
Further resources
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The original paper featured in the episode: https://www.pnas.org/content/118/22/e2101350118
A history of the Manhattan project: https://www.osti.gov/opennet/manhattan-project-history/
A description of quasi-crystals following the Nobel Prize in chemistry of 2011 awarded for their discovery, with fewer (https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2018/06/popular-chemistryprize2011.pdf) and more (https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2018/06/advanced-chemistryprize2011.pdf) scientific details.
Between the renaissance of home baking and 'anosmia', the loss of smell and taste with COVID, the last year had a rather diverse impact on the nature of taste. In fact, we're surrounded by surprising tastes. Join in for the 'science ramble' this month to discover how a simple variant of water which is ubiquitous in small concentrations, called heavy water, has surprised scientist with a sweet tooth!
Further resources
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The original study, published in Communications Biology: https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-021-01964-y
A blog post about this paper: http://blog.pnas.org/2021/04/heavy-water-tastes-sweeter/
Our cells use different types of molecules for storing information and for performing vital functions. One type of molecule, however, stands out because it does a bit of both: RNA. In this episode of the science ramble, we look at RNA, which extended functions it performs in humans and how all of this relates to the origin of life.
Further resources
The original study talked about in this episode: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41589-021-00763-0
A more accessible summary of the research: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41589-021-00778-7
Two views on RNA and the origin of life with slightly different focus:
https://biologydirect.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1745-6150-7-23
https://www.nature.com/articles/nrg3841
Even in an age of digital and precise information, random numbers are in high demand. The need to create very large amounts of them to high quality prompts research into their fast generation. In this episode of "the science ramble", we look at what makes a number random, how they are used in technology, and how their generation evolved from prehistoric dice to lasers.
Further resources
The original paper featured in this episode: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/371/6532/948
A more accessible summary of this research and some of its limitations: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/371/6532/889
What are you thinking? The question requires awareness of others' thoughts and beliefs, termed a theory of mind. For the first episode of "the science ramble", we look at what that entails, and how a recent study (linked below) begins to explain it at the level of single cells in the human brain.
Further resources
The study described in this episode: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03184-0
A blog article about mirror neurons, a different type of neurons involved in interactions with other: http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2016/mirror-neurons-quarter-century-new-light-new-cracks/
A philosophical encyclopedia article about theory of mind: https://iep.utm.edu/theomind/