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#92017
DECEMBER
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How are viruses treated? What was Aristotle wrong about? Why do we send flies into space?
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SOCIAL MEDIA
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PHYSICS
How did we catch the
Gravitational Wave,
ns
and how did this experiment catch for its researchers the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics? p. 4
T
ab е t lе of соn
MATH
The Pythagorean Theorem: The most used theorem in the world! p. 10 Master your multiplication tables in Chinese p. 12
CHEMISTRY
MEDICINE
Using highly Analytical Technology to learn the composition of a substance
Why is Alzheimer’s Disease called the Plague of the 21st century, and what is its cause? p. 16
p. 22 BIOLOGY
The slow death of
Spontaneous Generation: p. 30
can life arise from death?
GEOGRAPHY
Machu Picchu: The City in the Clouds. Architectural wonders of antiquity, from road systems to terraced agriculture p. 38
STUFF
Lucky Duckies: human history through the prism of rubber ducks p. 50
LINGUISTICS
How does language influence thought? p. 76
The Ice Age: our planet’s coldest era p. 44
HISTORY
The evolution of Furniture p. 82 TECHNOLOGY
SCI-FI:
How can we cure
The Elf at Level 80: the Top 3
Artificial Viruses?
Famous Mistakes in Games
Can we modify the HIV virus to treat cancer? p. 55 How can we see inside a human being? p. 60
that you didn’t know about p. 90
The Matrix: why did it become a cult film? p. 94
NASA’s Great Observatories: how do we observe the cosmos?
p. 68
PH Y SIC S
HOW DO YOU CATCH A
GRAVITATIONAL WAVE?
M AT H
a 2+b 2=c 2
b
a b
a c
c
c
Who was Pythagoras?
c
b
a a
Figure 1
b
The Pythagorean Theorem Proof using Area Let’s calculate the area of a large square (Figure 1):
S= (a+b) 2=a 2+2ab+b 2 The area of a large square can also be represented as the sum of the areas of a small square and four right-angled triangles.
Pythagoras (569–475 BCE) was the founder of mysterious and mystical teachings based on mathematics. He believed that you could explain everything using mathematics and also prescribed to the special magic of numbers. Pythagoras was of the opinion that the Earth was spherical. This famous formula was named in his honour, but it is possible that he did not even author it. There is anecdotal evidence that suggests that it was devised by one of his students.
M E DICIN E
Today we are faced with diseases that did One of these is Alzheimer’s disease, which has It destroys the brain, eventually wiping away a perrelatives, close friends, and even their own name.
not exist in ancient times. become the plague of the 21st century. son’s personality. The patient forgets their And we still don’t know how to cure it.
Q& A holes inste ad of ea rs
Q
How can you tell a true seal and a fur seal apart? Crawling Seals, Baikal seals, and Fur seals… When you search for images of them, Google shows you the same exact pictures of precious, big-eyed creatures with fins.
Seal
Fur seal
s ears it ha
Seals are thought to represent two families of animals — eared seals and true (or earless) seals. The family of eared seals includes 14–15 species of fur seals and sea lions. They dwell in the Pacific Ocean but can be found as far-flung as the Atlantic coasts of South America, on the southwestern shores of Australia, and in the Indian Ocean. Normal seals, Baikal seals (also known as Nerpas), elephant seals, and bearded seals are all part of the true seal family. It is comprised of 20–24 species, three of which reside in freshwater: the nerpa seals of Lake Baikal, Saimaa, and Ladoga. Representatives of this family prefer circumpolar and temperate waters, with one
A
exception — monk seals, which prefer warmer waters. The habitats of the two remaining varieties are the Black and Mediterranean Seas and the Hawaiian Islands. It is possible to distinguish true seals from eared seals based on their external appearance. First of all, “eared seals” possess, as their name would imply, actual ears. Their small ears are clearly discernable on their heads. If a seal does not have ears, then you have a true seal before you. If it looks like a little blob with a tail on it, then it’s probably a nerpa. The paws on the representatives of both families long ago transformed into fins. Only in true seals have the hind limbs merged with the tail almost entirely, such that the animals have to wiggle and jerk about when moving on dry land. In contrast, eared seals can crawl around on the
seal*
E
d are
back flippers more defined (can walk)
beach comfortably because they have four fins. They are more active on the shore than true seals, as well as have sharper eyesight and hearing. But, true seals can stay underwater for longer. If you call a nerpa a seal, it’s not a big deal. But it’s best to not confuse a nerpa with a fur seal. If you do, you’d be making a big biological mistake!
Tr
ue s eal
seal *Seals are also considered as True seals
CH E M IS T RY
Analytical High-tech Not long ago, a burette, bulb, and scales were the classic set of any analytical chemist, enabling him to learn the secrets of the composition of matter. But in recent decades, instrumental methods of analysis involving the use of exceptionally sensitive devices have made a sudden entrance into chemistry. Such a chemical high-tech made the “vision” of scientists quite pointed – no compound will go unnoticed.
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M EG A PI XEL
Aerosols on our Planet This image was created by the Goddard Earth Observing System Version 5 (GEOS-5) at the NASA climate modelling programme. GEOS-5 creates a picture of the global movement of aerosols (extremely tiny particles of solid and liquid matter suspended in air) in Earth’s atmosphere. Dust (red) rises from the surface of the land,
smoke (green) comes from fires, sea salt (blue) moves in a spiral inside of cyclones, and sulphate particles (white) rise above volcanoes and enter the atmosphere when fossil fuels are burned. It is expected that modelling with the GEOS-5 will significantly improve weather forecasts.
Dust from Saharan sandstorms oating over the Iberian Peninsula on February 21, 2016
A 2003 satellite photo showing active ďŹ re zones and smoke trails in southern California
BIOLOG Y
The Slow Death of Spontaneous Generation Rats are born from dirty laundry, frogs and crocodiles materialize from silt. This is exactly what people thought in antiquity. But today, every child knows that living beings are born from other living beings. And this is all due to simple, but bold, experiments.
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G EOG R A PH Y
Machu Picchu: The City in the Clouds
L A I C A L OUR G PERIOD G EOG R A PH Y
45
Diego, the sabre-toothed tiger from the Ice Age films was, in reality, a smilodon. Scrat the squirrel should have run not after acorns, but after beetles. And the Ice Age lasted for four instalments of the cartoon… plus a few thousand years. What else do we not know about the Ice Age and how many of them were there?
S T U FF Fear of the bathtub drain, Nikita Khrushchev, labour movements, ocean currents, childish adults, and a hall of fame… You might think that this is just a random assortment of words, but you’re wrong. It’s the history of rubber ducks!
Lu
cky Duckies COLONIZATION (1736–1746)
ANTIQUITY
(4th Century BCE — 2nd Century CE)
History’s Mystery Did children in Ancient Greece and Rome have toy ducks to play with when bathing? You won’t believe it, but this question is extremely controversial among historians. It is known that members of the ancient noble classes had numerous hygienic procedures and rituals. It’s no secret that there were even toys in the shape of ducks. But we have not found any mention of these objects being used during bathing, and, alas, rubber had not been invented yet.
God, Glory, and… Rubber? European colonists had hoped to find massive gold deposits in America, but the reserves of this metal were rather modest. They had to turn their focus to other resources. Rubber, which was extracted from local trees, ended up occupying a significant place in colonial exports. It was first discovered in the middle of the 18th century by the French scientist and traveller Charles Marie de la Condamine.
STUFF
THE CHINESE ECONOMIC MIRACLE (Early 90s to Present)
Trading Ducks for Democracy Even a C-student in Economics and Geography knows that the majority of rubber duckies in the world come from China. In the early 1990s, the country became the leader in the production of cheap plastic products (and not only that). In order to achieve this economic breakthrough, however, they had to pay in democracy. Recall that in 1989, students in Beijing marched to Tiananmen Square, demanding reforms. The clashes between protesters and government troops led to the death of somewhere between a few hundred to several thousands of people (based on various estimates). During these events, photographer Jeff Widener captured an image of a young man, standing alone in a road, preventing the advancement of a column of tanks. The image has gone down in history. In 2013, on the 24th anniversary of the Tiananmen events, a parody image appeared online. Instead of tanks, yellow rubber ducks were staring down the protester. Chinese authorities banned all keywords that could be used to search for the image. So don’t try searching “Big Yellow Duck” on Chinese Google.
THE ERA OF ADULT CHILDREN (Early 2000s)
Fashion for Childishness A whole generation grows old but doesn’t grow up. Thirty- and forty-year-old uncles and aunts adore comics, cartoons, and video games. The entertainment industry bends and twists to please the “Kidults.” The mass production of underwear adorned with rubber ducky patterns begins — for both men and women. It’s suddenly fashionable to be childish.
The largest rubber duck in the world is one of a several gigantic floating sculptures created by Dutch artist Florentijn Hoffman, and was sent on a world tour. In September of 2017, the duck crashed near the city of Santiago, the capital of Chile.
SUMMING UP (Today)
The Hall of Fame Ducks are now universally recognizable, made from all kinds of plastics and painted in all of the colours of the rainbow. There are glow-in-the-dark ducks. Remote control ducks. With their help, politics, sports, and arts are all explored and lampooned. In 2013, the cult status of the rubber ducky was officially confirmed: it was introduced into the American National Toy Hall of Fame.
T ECHNOLOG Y
How Do We Treat Artificial Viruses?
Viruses cause diseases - from harmless ones, like warts, to the most terrible, like Ebola. It is no wonder that they are often associated with the possible extinction of mankind. At the same time, however, the dangerous properties of viruses can be used for good...
T ECHNOLOG Y
T ECHNOLOG Y
’S GREAT OBSERVATORIES Many science historians believe that “real” observatories began only with Galileo Galilei, who took a telescope and pointed it in the direction of the heavens and celestial objects. So astronomers were now armed with super-powered eyes — telescopes. This happened at the beginning of the 17th century. Then, observational astronomy developed gradually. Until it shot into space.
Prehistory The story of NASA’s Great Observatories Program began in 1946, that is, 11 years prior to the space age. It was in this year that “Astronomical Advantages of an Extraterrestrial Observatory,” an article by astronomer Lyman Spitzer was published. The work discussed the additional advantages of observatories not located on Earth. Spitzer discussed how these benefits extended beyond the obvious, the fact that clouds and the terrestrial atmosphere
interfere with optical observations. It included (fortunately for us humans) a large spectral range of emissions which could give us entirely unique information about space as it radiates. After the first successes of extra-atmospheric observatories, Charles Pellerin, the director of NASA, had an idea: to launch large, powerful, and long-term space telescopes that would research the Universe in different wavebands. So, the Great Observatories
program was born. From 1990 to 2003, four enormous and heavy telescopes observed the Universe in four bands — infrared, optical, X-ray, and gamma-ray — while travelling in near-Earth orbit. All of them are named after great American scientists, two of whom were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics. So, meet the “fab four”: Hubble, CRO, Spitzer, and Chandra. We will discuss each telescope in chronological order from their time of launch.
legged HIS TORY
H I STO RY
Man’s faithful companion. Created especially to serve him. To live in his home. It usually has four legs. What is it? No, not a dog. It’s furniture!
S CI - FI
The
M AT R I X In 1999, the world of cinema changed definitively—”The Matrix” came onto the world screen. Before the premiere, film critics knew that a lot of money was spent on the film and that it was directed by the Wachowskis, who were, at the time, better known as the directors of their previous debut film, which had failed. Because of this, the world was expecting just another actionpacked movie; nothing about the Wachowskis’ upcoming film indicated “sensation”. “The Matrix”, however, proved to be a crushing success, and became a cult film right after its screening.
An Unexpected Sensation It’s hard to believe, but The Matrix might not have ever been made — the directors shocked the producers three times. The first time was when they estimated the budget of their film to be $80 million. The second time was when they were allotted $10 million, which the Wachowskis spent on creating just one (!!!) scene — the Agents chasing Trinity at the beginning of the film. But the producers were so impressed by what they saw that they agreed to increase the budget and finish shooting the film. Why did the movie become a cult film? It’s all because of the colossal work that went into creating the Matrix universe. For more than five years, the Wachowskis wrote fourteen different versions of the script, comprising a great number of allusions and references to philosophy, religion and
mythology. Not to mention, the Wachowskis ordered almost all of the main actors and crew to read “Simulacra and Simulation” by the French philosopher, Jean Baudrillard.
The World of the Matrix Before we talk about the structure of the virtual world, the Matrix, let’s dwell on the events that preceded its appearance. According to the the Matrix world, in the future, man-made machines will rebel against humanity, thereby initiating a monstrous war. In order to deprive the robots of their main source of energy, people create artificial clouds to prevent the sun’s rays from reaching the surface of the planet. Then the machines come up with an original way to solve the problem — they use people as sui generis batteries.
i Kirihime–te me te r e M Hape Nu Ia! We wish all of our readers a wonderful holiday season, filled with sun, togetherness, and lots of scientific curiosity!
M s and erry Christma ar! Happy New Ye