N O V E M B E R t*OEJBOFEJUJPOt3T
G A
N E W
W O R L D
O F
Mexico Carving out a new life in a world without men
K N O W L E D G E
Gallery of Life
From the first cell division to the rise of the mammals: 4 billion years of evolution
Uranium Hunters
Averting nuclear disaster
Free-diving
The ultimate extreme sport
Algeria
Gardens bloom in the sand
John F. Kennedy
The man behind the myth
G NOVEMBER 2010 True PDF release: storemags & fantamag
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G GEOscope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Architecture, marine biology, history, physics, nutrition, cell research, sociology, astronomy, mathematics and developmental biology .
COVER STORY Panorama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Using technology and scientific research to illustrate earth’s history .
4 Billion Years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 From the first cells to dinosaurs and finally to the reign of mammals .
Success Formula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Living organisms spread across the earth like wildfire .
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FEATURES
Gallery of Life
GEO offers an illustrated view of the great epochs of earth’s natural history . Art and science come together in this unprecedented attempt to show evolution in all its splendour .
Uranium Hunters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Saving the world from a potential nuclear catastrophe .
Free-diving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Two athletes face-off over a daunting goal in the deep blue .
Algeria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
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The green islands between the 300mhigh sand dunes of the Sahara .
The emergence of the first cell is a fantastic process—and what takes place on earth over the next 4 billion years is nothing short of a miracle .
The Kennedys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Reaching the top: an inside look at a clan of winners .
Mexico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 A new self-confidence spreads among the women of Oaxaca .
Scotland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 The Knoydart revolutionaries take a symbolic stand against foreign rule .
REGULARS
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Billions of years ago, inanimate molecules arranged themselves into a sensitive organism, a microscopic primordial cell . It was the first step in the invisible and highly complex process of evolution, which has been developing and transforming life ever since .
Letter from the editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 GEOlino . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142 World Citizen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 Preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Cover image: GEO illustration
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NOV E M B E R CONTENTS
112
Women Abandoned
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In Oaxaca, Mexico, being a wife means waiting endlessly for husbands, brothers and sons who work in the USA. But now, some of these women are taking their future into their own hands.
Beyond Human Limits Two athletes battle it out to set a highly dangerous world record: free-diving 100m deep into the ocean, without the help of any auxillary aids.
Gardens of the Desert The desert-oases of the Algerian Sahara illustrate the ancient tradition of coping with the scarcity of water. But the age-old skill of coaxing palm trees from sand dunes is fast disappearing.
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A Pop Star in the White House An in-depth look at one family’s ruthless ambitions and a man who spent his entire life trying to be more than just second-best: John F. Kennedy.
Saving the World
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GEO accompanied a team of uranium hunters on an almost-impossible mission: to track down the highly enriched nuclear materials and store them safely away from potential terrorists.
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G g Volume 4, Issue 11 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Vinod Mehta PRESIDENT & PUBLISHER Maheshwer Peri EDITOR Kai Jabir Friese ASSOCIATE EDITOR Anita Roy ASSISTANT EDITOR Anees Saigal DESIGN CONSULTANT Ashish Rozario DESIGNER Gulshan Sharma PHOTO COORDINATOR Shruti Singh LIBRARY Alka Gupta
ASSISTANT GENERAL MANAGER Mukesh Lakhanpal ZONAL SALES MANAGERS Anindya Banerjee (West), G. Ramesh (South). Indranil Ganguly (East)
BUSINESS OFFICE ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Alok Srivastava ADVERTISEMENTS GENERAL MANAGER Shishir Saxena GENERAL MANAGER (CORP) Kabir Khattar
ADMINISTRATION MANAGER Bobby Mathew
DELHI MANAGER Megha Mishra DEPUTY MANAGER Tulika Sachdeva MUMBAI ASSISTANT GENERAL MANAGER Santosh Nair KOLKATA GENERAL MANAGER Moushumi Ghosh BANGALORE REGIONAL MANAGER Anthony Joseph CHENNAI SENIOR MANAGER Shoba Rebecca HYDERABAD MANAGER Sunil M. CIRCULATION VICE PRESIDENT Niraj Rawlley NATIONAL HEAD Himanshu Pandey GENERAL MANAGER Arokia Raj
PRODUCTION & SYSTEM SENIOR MANAGERS Deshraj Jaswal, Shashank Dixit, Sanjay Narang ACCOUNTS ASSISTANT GENERAL MANAGER Chetan Budhiraja SENIOR MANAGER Kuldeep Kothari
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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Martin Meister SENIOR EDITOR: Fred Langer PRODUCTION EDITOR: Torsten Schäfer ART DIRECTION: Sandra Kaiser / Annett Schuft PICTURE EDITOR: Maike Köhler ASSISTANT: Dörte Nohrden International Brands and Licenses Unit
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PAGEWISE PHOTO CREDITS Layout position: l. = left, r. = right, u. = up, m. = middle, d. = down COVER: Frank Parker/NHPA; Charles Kresb/Science Faction/Corbis; Chase Studio/Photo Researchers; Jochen Stuhrmann; Tim Wehrmann; Dorling Kindersley (2) (Mainphoto); Dana Romanoff/Reportage by Getty Images: r. u.; Justin Jin/Agentur Focus: l. d.; Dan Burton/www.underwaterimages.co.uk: l. m. d.; George Steinmetz: r. m. d.; Bettmann/Corbis: r. d. PAGE 3 Jochen und Franziska Stuhrmann f. Geo kompakt (3) PAGE 4 Dana Romanoff/Reportage by Getty Images: u.; George Steinmetz: m.; Frédéric Buyle: l. d.; Justin Jin/Agentur Focus: m. d.; Hy Peskin/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images: r. d. GEOSCOPE Håkan Ludwigson: 12/13, 16/17; Nam Y. Huh/AP: 14/15; Jeff Hunter/Getty Images: 18 l.; J. Musolf/Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nürnberg: 18 r.; Roger Ressmeyer/Corbis: 20 l.; Bettmann/Corbis: 20 r.; id-foto.de/fotolia: 22 u.; Dorling Kindersley/Getty Images: 22 d.; Friedrun Reinhold: 24 u.; fotolia: 24 d., 26 d.; Max- Planck- Institut für Entwicklungsbiologie/Jürgen Berger und Mahendra Sonawan: 26 u.; ESA-GOCE High Level Processing Facility: 28 u.; Scherl/SZ Photo: 28 d.; AFP: 30 (3x). THE GALLERY OF LIFE Jochen und Franziska Stuhrmann f. GEOkompakt: 32/33, 36/37, 40/41, 42/43, 48/49, 52/53; Tim Wehrmann f. GEOkompakt: 34/35, 38/39, 44/45, 46/47, 50/51, 54/55 THE URANIUM HUNTERS Justin Jin/Agentur Focus: 60-71 THE RAPTURE OF THE DEEP Dan Burton/www.waterimages.co.uk: 72/73, 76/77; Frédéric Buyle: 74/75; 78/79 THE GREEN ISLAND OF THE SAHARA George Steinmetz: 80-95 AMERICA'S FIRST FAMILY Bachrach/Hulton Archive/Getty Images: 96/97; Privatsammlung: 98 u.; Corbis: 98 d., 99, 100/101, 102; Fox Photos/Getty Images: 103; Tal/Rue ds Archives/Süddeutsche Zeitung Photo: 104/105; Yale Joel/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images: 106, 107; Hy Peskin/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images: 109. AWAKENING THE ABANDONED Dana Romanoff/Reportage by Getty Images: 112-123 THE KNOYDART REVOLUTIONARIES Murdo Macleod: 124-139 GEOLINO Zuma Press/action press: 142 (2x); Mario Weigt/Anzenberger: 143 u; Lukasz Sokol: 143 d. (2x) ONE IN... 6,697 BILLION Jürgen Schäfer: 144 PAGE 146 Xi Zhinong: l. u.; Basilica di San Marco: l. d.; L. Calcada/ESO/ STcl/NASA: r. u.; Bernhard Edmaier: m.; Elin Berge: r. m.; Anastasia Taylor- Lind/VII: r. d. MAPS Rainer Droste: 87, 123; Annett Schuft: 139; Stefanie Peters: 142, 143
This magazine is published under license from G+J International Magazines GmbH. All rights to the licensed material are owned by G+J International Magazines GmbH. Reproduction whether in whole or in part without permission of G+J International Magazines GmbH is prohibited. The name of GEO and the logo thereof are registered trademarks of or in trust of G+J International Magazines GmbH.
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EDI TO R I AL
S
The first biology lesson for your Precambrian Board exams.
OMETIMES, READING GEO is like being back in school— without teachers or classmates or reports, thank goodness. I guess all I really mean is, I learn a lot. Scanning this month’s cover story though, my mind lit up with the gratitude of a schoolboy chancing upon the answers to tomorrow’s exam. Not that anyone is likely to quiz me on the geologic timescale any time soon. But you never know—and not knowing my Cambrian from my Devonian always left me feeling a little Cretaceous. (Just kidding, kids—that’s not the adjectival form of cretin). Anyway, you can try me now. Go on, make my Quatenary day! Having rediscovered my inner swot I’ve read way beyond the assigned text, so brace yourselves. You should know, firstly, that our pictorial reconstruction of the last 4 billion years presents a mix of Supereons (such as the Precambrian), Eras (the Cenozoic) and Periods (the Quarternary). It lacks any Eons (such as the Phanerozoic which is represented by all its periods) or Epochs (like the ongoing Holocene). And did you know that the Quatenary only became official when the International Union of Geological Sciences ratified it last June? Which makes it a one-year-old, 2.5-million-year period. The mind googles. Yup, I learned a lot. I even expanded my already formidable vocabulary with the addition of ‘congulate’ (which means ball-like) and ‘testaceous’ (which, much to my disappointment, does not).
Kai Friese Editor
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LE T T E R S
WHEN I READ THE SEPTEMBER 2010 issue of GEO, I regretted not having subscribing to the magazine earlier. Every article was brimming with information on a wide range of subjects. It was surprising to find out that the Census of Marine Life, which will end this month, had its origins, in a way, back in 1872—with the researchers aboard HMS Challenger (‘Drifters of the Deep’). The photographs of the deep-sea creatures and of ancient Greece were fabulous, while the tale of Sunderban’s honey gatherers was heartstopping (‘Death in the Jungle’). I could almost sense the tigers nearby. I think the Berbers of Morocco still have a long way to go before they receive basic amenities. But the article (‘Far From the Future’) was so superbly written that I now have a great urge to visit the village of Tilfitinne. Lastly, in reference to the story about children’s rights (‘Lost Childhood’), we must come together for the welfare of suffering children across the world. We should all take an oath to support at least one such child. NIRAJ MEHTA Bharuch
THANK YOU FOR GIVING ME valuable space in the Letters page of GEO’s July 2010 issue. GEO is one of my favourite magazines, and I regularly read it at my local library. As a photographer and artist, the photos are naturally the
ALIENS OF THE DEEP, September 2010 most appealing aspect of the magazine for me. Every one of the world-class images helps the reader move that much closer towards understanding nature. CHANDAN D.N. GAONKAR Goa
THE INFORMATIVE ARTICLE ON cryonics (‘Icemen,’ October 2010) by Erwin Koch and Murray Bellard was entertaining and thoughtprovoking. If its hypothesis proves to be true, cryonics will negate religious beliefs and affect philosophies of life and death that have evolved over centuries of civilisation. The article also threw up many questions. What is expected to happen to our cognitive functions? Will we be able to preserve our memories? Will the newly re-born have to learn to adapt to future environments or will they step directly into society with their perceptions intact? Will the body be able to live out a relative lifespan
in its reincarnation? And how will the engineers know when the body has regained consciousness? Thinking of this experiment as a period of ‘hibernation’—which implies a state that has a natural purpose—is misleading. Even if it turns out to be viable, life is not something that should be manipulated in a laboratory. It is a philosophical matter that lies beyond the realm of science. ARUN T.P. Thalassery
I RECENTLY HAPPENED TO COME across your May 2009 issue, which contained a story by Disha Mullick, ‘Far Horizon,’ about photographer Milan Moudgill’s trips to Manasarovar and Mount Kailash. Wonderful article! UPDESH KAUR Email
MY DECISION TO SUBSCRIBE TO GEO was motivated by the appealing free gift of a
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rucksack. It’s been a year now and the gift remains unopened, even while I continue to enjoy GEO. The magazine actually doesn’t need any marketing to attract subscribers. I was disappointed to read about the UNICEF’s failed drive towards the betterment of children’s lives (‘Lost Childhood,’ September 2010). On the other hand, it was amusing to read ‘What Keeps Us Together’ (October 2010). Love and relationships are beyond scientific verdict— for example, in India, where choosing a life-partner is not always dictated by love, healthy and successful marriages continue to thrive. Ultimately, no amount of research can diagnose the true nature of the heart. SIDDHARTHA New Delhi
Write to
[email protected] or GEO, AB-17 Safdarjang Enclave, New Delhi 110029
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T H E FASCINATING WORLD OF KNOWLEDGE
GEOscope
Open Invitation The Za-Koenji Public Theatre in Tokyo, designed by Japanese architect Toyo Ito, almost resembles a children’s playhouse. Glass-panelled openings brightly dot the steel cladding of the theatre, while a pastel-coloured staircase winds up six floors, past an auditorium and theatre halls, finally leading to an archive and a café. This cultural centre, which is run by a non-profit organisation, is the new attraction of the capital’s Sugianami district. It hopes to follow in the tradition of the agora of the city-states of ancient Greece: a central space that is used for public assemblies.
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GEOscope
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A Skyline Etched in Steel A warped reflection of Chicago’s skyline sweeps across the polished stainless steel of Cloud Gate. This public artwork by Indian-born British artist Anish Kapoor has won the admiration not only of art lovers but also of the American Welding Society, because there are no visible seams joining the 168 metal plates that make up this 100-tonne sculpture. The sculpture’s flawless surface resembles liquid mercury, and its shape has earned it the nickname ‘The Bean.’
GEOscope GEO
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An Icon of a Museum The brief given by the Israeli municipality of Holon to architect Ron Arad was straightforward: design a museum that can be featured on a national postage stamp. And so Arad created a structure that looks more like a sculpture than a functional building: five ribbons of steel sweep boldly around two white exhibition galleries, serving both as support as well as shade. Holon, which lies south of Tel Aviv and has a population of 170,000, now has a striking motif for its future stamps. 11/10 g 17
GEOscope Not only a feast for the eyes: coral babies love reef noises
P O P U L A R FA L L AC Y
Flat Earth
It was a 17th-century fabrication that scholars ever believed the earth to be a flat disc.
The Call of Home Coral larvae ‘hear’ their way back to the reef. Once a year, many millions of coral polyps—those tiny builders and residents of reefs—produce and release their ova and sperm cells. These drift around in the currents of the open sea, connecting with one another purely by chance. The fertilised eggs develop into tiny coral larvae covered with fine hair—larvae that have to quickly find a rock or a place on a reef where they can settle down. So how do these coral ‘babies’ know where to head? Researchers from Bristol, UK and Curaçao, Dutch Antilles, have made a surprising discovery: although they possess no ears, the larvae can ‘hear’ the location of the closest reef. The researchers set up a tank for the larvae and used loudspeakers to broadcast sound effects that are typical of a coral reef: grunting fish, crackling crab pincers, snapping shrimps. Almost as soon as the sounds began, the larvae oriented themselves by the noise and made a beeline for the loudspeakers. One of the researchers, Steve Simpson, has a theory to explain this phenomenon: “At close quarters, the sound waves stir up water molecules, and this is registered by the cilia or fine hair on the body of the larvae, giving them a sense of direction.” This finding also suggests a possible downside of the auditory effect: manmade sounds in coral reef environments could be isolating these ecosystems from their own offspring, as the gentle noises of the reef are often drowned out in the din produced by boats and offshore drilling.
Although the earliest surviving globe was made in 1492, serious scholars of the planets had realised centuries before that the earth was not a flat disc. In his book on astronomy, Liber de Sphaera, published around 1230, Johannes de Sacrobosco described the earth as a spherical ball. And much earlier, in the 8th century, a monk named Beda had categorically called it a “rotunda.” He based his claim on the works of the Greek philosopher Aristotle (4th century BC), whose countryman Eratosthenes had made a nearly accurate calculation of the earth’s circumference being between 6,000 and 8,000km—the actual figure is 6,350km. The Roman historian Pliny also noted empirical grounds for the spherical theory: the lower part of a ship at the horizon seemed to ‘sink’ into the sea, and the earth’s shadow on the moon was always circular, which would not be possible if the earth were flat.
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The earth was always believed to be round.
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Left, a laser beam to the moon and back measures continental drift. Below, Theodore Maiman used a ruby to produce the first laser beam.
The Perfect Wave Great strides are being made in the field of laser technology which may soon result in revelations about the very creation of the universe. The word ‘laser’ stands for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. The foundation for this stimulated emission originated with Albert Einstein, who established that photons excite atoms or molecules of a suitable material to emit more photons, thus producing an artificial amplification of light. This basic principle has remained unchanged since the day in May 1960 when Theodore Harold Maiman and his assistant, Irnee D’Haenens, produced the world’s first laser beam at Hughes Research Laboratory in California, USA, with a light amplifier that generated waves of a predetermined wavelength with an absolutely parallel wave pattern. The aura of science-fiction that surrounded the blazing beam since its invention 50 years ago is now a thing of the past. From metalworks to eye-surgery to warfare, lasers have become commonplace. Still, even today, the laser can still throw up totally new discoveries. The latest example: the LISA Project (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) will greatly increase our understanding
of the creation of the universe. By 2020, NASA and ESA will jointly send three identical spacecraft into orbit around the sun, forming the vertices of an equilateral triangle 5,000,000km apart. The spacecrafts will play a kind of intergalactic laser ping-pong: an infrared laser beam will be aimed from one spacecraft to another, be reflected and then sent back. The objective: the smallest of fluctuations in the separation between the spacecrafts will change the properties of the laser light. Such fluctuations, if they can be detected, would be caused by gravitational waves. It is believed that particularly intense gravitational waves were emitted 13.7 billion years ago, when the Big Bang created space, time and matter. So far, however, the existence of these waves has not been proven. Now, by crossing the path of the astral triangle, they could cause a fractional distortion in the 5,000,000km-separation. Scientists expect the fluctuation to be no more than 1 picometer (one-trillionth of a metre); a miniscule change that can only be detected by a laser interferometer.
Lasers could also alter our understanding of the sequence of chemical reactions. So far, science has only ‘assumed’ the details of what happens when two molecules meet and produce a new material. From 2014 onwards, when the European X-ray laser project, XFEL, starts operations, it will be possible to film such processes by using a laser that generates flashes of X-ray light based on accelerated electrons. On account of the extremely short-wave lengths and the rapid succession of its laser flashes, chemical processes that take place in less than one-billionth of a second can be recorded step-by-step. Of more practical use is a new laser technology being developed by Princeton University, USA, which can be used to see through barriers such as frosted glass. Even when laser beams get scattered by an obstacle, the information about the structure they collide with is not totally lost. Physicists have now succeeded in reconstructing a sharp picture from the diffused light. So, lasers could soon have another routine application: as ‘fog eyes’ for vehicles.
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GEOscope Why the Breast Beats the Bottle Mom’s milk seems to switch on the right genes in a baby’s body.
Breast milk: a switch for the immune system?
Is it really true that breast milk is better for a baby than infant formula from a bottle? Apparently, it is. “For the first time, we can see that breast milk induces genetic pathways that are quite different from those in formula-fed infants,” says Sharon Donovan of Illinois University, USA. The researcher has studied the effects of breast milk and breast-milk substitutes on the intestinal cells of 22 infants. Nutrition has a so-called ‘epigenetic effect’ here: it switches on certain genes responsible for metabolism that would otherwise remain dormant. And although infant formula-makers are trying to develop a product as similar as possible to breast milk, enormous differences between the two continue to exist. “Natural milk expresses hundreds of genes in completely differently ways than formula milk.” This is more than just a one-time effect: billions of cells are regenerated in the intestine every few days, and these have to be re-stimulated each time. Many of the genes that are activated by a mother’s breast milk help to build up the immune system of her child.
Hair for Hearing Researchers create hair cells from stem cells, offering hope for the deaf.
One day, sign language may become redundant.
There are about 30,000 superfine hair cells within the inner ear, which detect sound waves and convey them to the brain as audio impulses. If these cells get damaged or are underdeveloped, the individual suffers a loss of hearing. So far, this kind of impairment was considered incurable. Now, however, researchers working with Stefan Heller of Stanford University, USA, have succeeded in developing a large number of synthetic, functioning hair cells. Undifferentiated stem cells from a mouse were used as a base material for the experiment. The development of the cells was monitored using biotechnical processes. Researchers were surprised to find that, even in the petri dish, the hair cells responded the same way they would inside the ear. In the future, Heller hopes to be able to use his experiment to help the deaf by placing a ‘carpet’ of cultured hair cells inside the impaired inner ear.
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TIGER COUNTRY? Amazingly, the country with the largest population of tigers in the world is the USA. Fewer than 400 live in zoos and between 7,000 and 10,000 are privately owned. Of the 50 American states, only 18 have a ban on keeping big cats as pets. Conservationists estimate that there are more tigers in private homes in Texas alone than there are in the jungles of India. According to the WWF, the number of tigers in the wild has dropped by 95 per cent over the last century, and is now somewhere between 3,200 and 5,000 animals.
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Discovery of the Super Hormone Biochemist Jiří Friml from the Czech Republic receives the 2010 Körber European Science Award. Until a few years ago, not much was known about physiological processes in plants. Now, Jiří Friml of the University of Ghent, Belgium, has made some groundbreaking contributions to the subject and has been conferred the Körber European Science Award, worth 750,000 euros, by the foundation of the same name in Hamburg, Germany. Friml’s greatest achievement is in
deciphering the growth hormone, auxin. Auxin regulates almost all developmental processes in plants, and its distribution determines which part of a plant forms leaves and which forms roots. Friml has also discovered how auxin reaches its intended destination: via transporter proteins, which move it from cell to cell. This information will help in directing the growth of crops.
Separating Earth and Moon Contrary to popular wisdom, two researchers say that the explosion of a natural nuclear reactor could have catapulted the moon from the young earth. There is a general consensus among planetary scientists on how the moon appeared in the sky. A heavenly body the size of Mars collided into the still-glowing earth 4.5 billion years ago, which caused the matter that now forms the moon to be hurled into space. On the basis of this theory, scholars have hoped to find extraterrestrial material in samples of moon-rock. But on the contrary, rocks from the earth’s satellite have been found to be incredibly similar to those from the earth itself. Now, however, two scientists from South Africa and the Netherlands have come up with a completely different theory. They say the ‘kick’ that triggered the separation did not come from an external source but, rather, from the nuclear explosion of a natural reactor, which used uranium and thorium atoms buried deep in earth’s innards. Rob de Meijer of the University of the Western Cape, South Africa, and Wim van Westrenen from Amsterdam, Holland, have put forward an astonishing hypothesis: fission energy of ten quadrillion Hiroshima bombs was needed to create the pair—earth and moon—with their present properties. This energy could well have been available on earth, even without cosmic intervention, from a ‘geologic reactor’ measuring 240km across. According to this hypothesis, the geo-reactor exploded because the heat generated during natural nuclear fission— about 100 billion°C—could not be dissipated fast enough. The separation was reinforced by the centrifugal force operating on the rotating earth. This theory has the advantage of explaining, for the first time, the common angular momentum of earth and moon without the necessity of making additional assumptions. The collision theory can do this only by assuming the earth rotated ‘the wrong way around’ before the collision.
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The question of origin is still mired in controversy: how was the moon created?
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GEOscope Unsuspected Potential The larvae of Zebra fish mature into beings that can teach us much about life. Like fruit flies, Zebra fish (Danio rerio) are ideally suited to the study of developmental biology. They are quick to multiply and are, as vertebrates, quite closely related to man. Moreover, genes in this species can be individually switched on and off, which helps us identify their functions. In addition, Zebra fish possess the amazing property of regeneration: a broken fin, for instance, simply grows back again. But even the transition from larvae (greatly magnified in this image) to fish is fascinating: contrary to what you might think at first glance, the larvae’s two indentations framed by cilia are not the eyes of the future fish—but, rather, its nostrils. The large protrusions on the side will develop into optical organs.
Leonardo’s Billiards A mathematician has worked out which pool shot is the hardest—and, in the process, has discovered the ‘golden ratio’ for billiards.
The art of pocketing the ball.
There are some things that pool players know, even without Rick Mabry’s mathematical calculations. The further the object ball is from the white cue ball, the greater the deviation from the optimal line and the harder the shot. And, less obviously: it is easier to land the object ball into the pocket when it is near the cue ball but far from the
pocket, rather than when it is near the pocket but far from the cue ball. But the professor of mathematics from Louisiana State University, USA, had not expected one outcome of his pool-formula: the discovery of billiards’ golden ratio—1.61803. For an amateur or a poor player who rarely manages to shoot the ball at the correct angle, Mabry’s calculations show that the difficulty of the shot is the greatest when the distance between the cue ball and the pocket is 1.618 times the distance between the object ball and the pocket. This configuration maximises the effect of the error. It is an incredible discovery—for it is well known that the golden ratio
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(1.618...) plays an important role in aesthetics. For instance, it is found in the ideal body proportions of Leonardo da Vinci’s artworks. And it is also hidden in the growth process: a tree whose branches increase from three to five within a particular span of time, grows eight branches after another span of time of exactly the same duration: i.e. 1.6 times more branches. The more branches there are, the more precisely the ratio of 1.618 is achieved. But Mabry himself does not know what the golden ratio has to do with improving one’s skill. After two beers, the researcher admits that his pool skills are zero. Perhaps he should try after 1.618 beers instead?
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GEOscope Gravitating Forces
Sea levels are different across the world. For instance, there is a deepsea trench off India (blue areas on the map) where the level is 120m deeper than the global average. This is due to the pull of gravity—since gravity on the other side of the Indian trench is greater, it pulls the mass of water towards itself. North of Australia and in the North Atlantic, where the force of gravity is maximum (orange areas), the mass of water surges up considerably.
This has been revealed by new data from the European Space Agency’s GOCE satellite, which shows scientists how widely the earth’s gravitational field varies across the planet. The variations have other effects, too: since gravity off the coast of India is 0.3 per mil less than the average, a person who weighs 70kg in Europe will weigh 21 grams less in South India. In other words, his weight force will be less even when his mass remains the same.
Keeping Cool Why fat people seldom become thin and thin people seldom become fat. Some people seem to put on weight just by looking at a piece of cake, while others devour mountains of pasta and still remain the same size. A research team from the University of Giessen, Germany, has now established that this effect is not merely a matter of genes, but has to do with the body as well. About 70 per cent of the energy that a person Becoming thin is very gains from food is used by the body to maintain its temperature; in other difficult for some.
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words, food energy is transformed into heat. The less heat we lose to the surroundings through our skin, the less the amount we need to eat. This fact is critical for one’s figure: in fat people, the ratio of skin surface to body mass is about 50 per cent less than the same ratio in thin people. Because of their—relatively speaking—larger skin surface, thin people lose more heat energy per unit of body mass than fat people.
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GEOscope
A Breath of Foul Air India is still exceptionally polluted. Germinating new life.
Air pollution causes premature deaths and serious illness, and countries worldwide are striving to limit pollutants. But India continues to have “exceptionally high” levels of ‘organochlorides’ like DDT (Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane), according to a recent report in the Journal of Environmental Monitoring (Sept 2010). Samplers deployed on seven continents from 2005 to 2008 indicated that the concentration of the pesticide ‘gamma HFC’ (hexachlorocyclohexane, also known as Lindane) is 0.3 nanograms at Cape Grim, Australia, but is 800 nanograms in Delhi, India.
Traffic fumes contribute to poor air quality.
Ornithological Wonders
Posthumous Recognition
A haven for birdwatchers in Gujarat, India.
The Indian pioneer of reproductive technology finally gets his due. Robert Edwards, the IVF pioneer, recently won the Nobel Prize for Medicine, 2010. But could it have equally gone to Subhash Mukhopadhyay, an unsung IVF expert who battled ridicule from his peers and bureaucratic scorn in west Bengal in the 1970s? He is now widely credited with independently creating India’s first test tube baby, Durga, just 10 weeks after Louise Brown—the world’s first such baby—was born in July 1978. Mukhopadhyay faced an uphill battle because he allegedly did not scientifically document his work. Since December that year, state authorities prevented Mukhopadhyay from presenting his work at scientific conferences and stopped him from visiting Kyoto University, where he had been invited to present his work. Worse, they transferred him in June 1981 to an ophthalmology institute. A depressed Mukhopadhyay committed suicide a few months later. It was more than two decades after his death, in 2005, that the Indian Council of Medical Research recognised him as the creator of India’s first test tube baby.
The Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary in northwestern Gujarat is a paradise for waterfowl, waders and terrestrial birds, and this month, for the first time, plays host to the Global Bird Watchers’ Conference. Located at the watershed of Ruparel and Kallindi rivers, Khijadiya has a unique ecosystem in which freshwater and marine habitats lie adjacent to each other. Ornithologists flock to see the sanctuary’s 300+
A flock of flamingos.
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species of birds—including many migrants at this time of year— such as Dalmatian pelicans, spotted eagles, flamingos, Oriental darters, kingfishers, Eurasian curleys, and the star attraction, the beautiful Blacknecked stork (Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus). This rare bird is listed as “near threatened” on the IUCN Red List; sanctuaries like Khijadiya provide a vital haven for breeding pairs.
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P REC AMBRIAN P E R I O D At least 3.5 billion to 542 million years ago
T HE FIRST CELL S Palaeontologists generally divide natural history into 12 epochs, each of which is determined on the basis of its characteristic fossils. The first of these epochs began more than 3.5 billion years ago, when, after several interim stages, the first cell finally took shape, emerging from dead, inorganic compounds. This cell was a tiny factory of life with a simple cycle of matter and the ability to split, thereby passing on genetic information. About 2.5 billion years later, multicellular, conglobate collectives evolved from this basic model. They were the earliest complex living organisms—and the beginning of all the natural diversity that would develop in the subsequent epochs.
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Life has existed on our planet for more than 3.5 billion years. Cells formed, higher organisms developed from a few basic building blocks, and nature created a complex network of relationships—a vast array of animals, plants and fungi. The story of evolution is an epic tale of adaptation, downfall and reinvention. GEO has reconstructed the 12 major epochs in natural history in the form of detailed illustrations. The result is a unique look at the distant past: sumptuous, artistic and scientifically accurate. Illustrations: Jochen Stuhrmann and Tim Wehrmann. Text: Henning Engeln and Jörn Auf dem Kampe. Production: Susanne Gilges, Rainer Harf and Torsten Laaker.
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C AMBRIAN PERI O D 542 to 488 million years ago
A WORLD FULL O F P RE DATO R S For over 3 billion years, only primitive organisms lived in the oceans—but then bizarre animals with telescopic eyes, fine bristles, amoured bodies and prickly gripper arms evolved in a relatively short period of time. Not only were almost all modern phyla formed during the Cambrian period, including the ancestors of vertebrates, but it also saw earth’s first major ‘arms race’. Alluvial substances from land, as well as metals and minerals from sources under the sea, enabled complex structures like exoskeletons to evolve. This led to the rise of the first predators— such as the Anomalocaris (in the foreground), which could grow up to 1m long, and the Opabinia (on the sea bed) which had a five eyes and a distinctive trunk. Their prey defended themselves with shells or prickles—such as the Hallucigenia (bottom right), which seemed to walk on stilts.
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ORDOVICIAN PE R I O D 488 to 444 million years ago
A NE W VARIETY I N T H E O C E A N Life continued to flourish almost exclusively in the ocean—the exceptions being the landfall of simple algae and lichen. Marine animals included huge predators such as the Cameroceras (right), a 12m-long cephalopod and perhaps the largest creature to have lived in this period. The earliest fish (Sacabambaspis, in the foreground) had neither jaws nor teeth. They had simple fins on their tails and defended themselves with rough head-shields made of a bone-like material. These archaic vertebrates sucked soft algal mats and colonies of microbes that they churned up in the sludge at the base of the earth’s first coral reefs.
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S ILURIAN PERIO D 444 to 416 million years ago
P IONEERS ON L A N D After the first primitive lichens and algae, complex vascular plants developed on land about 420 million years ago. The approximately 4cm-high Cooksonia was among the earliest plants to adapt to the aridity, temperature differences and the constant bombardment by the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays. It colonised the shores of seas and rivers, anchoring its body in the soil using root-like protuberances, through which it absorbed fresh water and minerals. Molluscs and arthropods like scorpions also defied the harsh conditions. Shells, such as those of the mussels pictured here, which measured 4–5cm across, protected the creatures inside from dehydration.
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DE VONIAN PERIO D 416 to 359 million years ago
S TR AGGLERS M OV E TO L A N D An immense variety of fish developed in the oceans, rivers and lakes, including those of the genus Dipterus (in the foreground). An anatomical innovation allowed this freshwater dweller to make forays into oxygen-deficient zones; it had a primitive lung that enabled it to breathe above water. This characteristic enabled Tiktaalik, an ancestor of the amphibians, to move about on land—one of the first species of vertebrates to do so—by dragging itself along on its sturdy fins. Yet, fish were latecomers to the continent where arthropods, molluscs and plants—such as the Prototaxis mushroom, whose pillar-like fruiting body could grow up to 8m high—had already long established themselves.
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CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD 359 to 299 million years ago
T H E F I R S T F O R E S TS Life had established itself across the land, leaving almost no region untouched. Vast forests covered the land masses for the first time ever, and they began merging to form the supercontinent known as Pangaea. Club moss trees up to 40m tall and 10m-high horsetails dominated the new forest ecosystem. This was also the age of articulate animals. Beneath the giant trees, 2m-long, thick-shelled Arthropleurae (left), which resembled modern centipedes, hunted dragonflies with wingspans of up to 60cm.
PERMIAN PERIO D 299 to 251 million years ago
PREDATORS ON T H E SUPERCONTIN E N T During this epoch, Pangaea’s individual land masses moved closer to each other. The climate on its fringes was tropical and moist, while a huge desert extended across its interior. The dominant quadrupeds were the Pelycosaurs, among them the Dimetrodon. This carnivore had specially developed teeth to slay prey as large as itself. This cold-blooded animal probably warmed itself by absorbing the sun’s rays via the spectacular sail on its back. The Permian period ended with the most widespread mass extinction of all time—probably triggered by a gigantic volcanic eruption.
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TRIASSIC PERIOD 251 to 200 million years ago
I N WAT E R, L A N D A ND AIR In this epoch, reptiles became the dominant animals. Some of them, like the 1m-long pterosaur Eudimorphodon, even managed to conquer the air. Others increasingly adapted to living in water. With its snake-like neck, the 6m-long Tanystropheus hunted for prey in coastal waters but lived on land. Other reptiles, such as lizard fish, already lived entirely in the sea. The first dinosaurs, lightweight lizards with pillar-like legs, appeared on land, and ginkgo trees and conifers proliferated.
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JURASSIC PERIOD 200 to 145 million years ago
T H E E R A O F T H E G I ANTS The largest land animals to ever inhabit the earth evolved about 200 million years ago: gigantic Sauropods that were as tall as houses, such as the Brachiosaurus (left). A special lung structure, their light frame, perhaps their warm-bloodedness, and their special diet of plants facilitated their gigantism. Besides the pterosaurs, the primitive bird Archaeopteryx (in front) also began to conquer the air. Gingko trees and Williamsonia, which were similar to present-day cycads, grew in the forests. Ferns and conifers also flourished during this period.
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C R E TAC E O U S P E RIOD 145 to 65 million years ago
T H E E A R T H B E COMES A S E A O F B LO S S O MS Seed plants developed a new reproductive organ: the flower. Some of them used the wind to carry the male gametes (pollen) to other flowers. Others—such as the magnolia pictured here—utilised insects for this task by attracting them with their bright, fragrant flowers and nutritious nectar. The dinosaurs experienced their biggest diversity in this period. Some, like the Gallimimus (above), developed a layer of feathers to keep themselves warm.
C ENOZOIC PERIO D 65 to 2.6 million years ago
T HE TRIUMPH OF T H E M A M M A L S Warm-blooded, furry mammals gave birth to live young and fed them on breast milk. They became the dominant group of vertebrates in the Cenozoic age. Among them were the Chalicotheriidae (right), 2m-long creatures that moved on extralong forelimbs in a knuckle-walk, as well as the elephant-like Dienotherium (rear). Giant swine as well as the huge Indricotheriidae—giants from the rhinoceros family that weighed 30 tonnes—also lived in the Cenozoic age. Some ungulates, ancestors of the whale, adapted again to living in water. Other mammals, such as the apes, moved into the trees. Flowering plants and insects gave rise to a rich diversity.
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Q UATERNARY AGE T HE END OF THE G I A N TS
2.6 million years ago until the present
Over the last 2.6 million years, the earth has experienced a series of climatic fluctuations punctuated with extremely cold periods: the Ice Ages. Until about 1.8 million years ago, giant flightless birds lived in South America, seen here attacking a 4m-long giant armadillo, which defends itself with its spiked tail. Species such as mammoths, giant stags, woolly rhinoceros and cave bears adapted to the cold. And 2.5 million years ago in Africa, an upright walking ape with an increased brain size invented the first tools. Human beings soon began conquering the entire world—and the primeval giants probably fell victim to this most dangerous hunter of all times.
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A CO M P I L AT I O N O F FAC TS Tim Wehrmann (35) and Jochen Stuhrmann (34) worked for several weeks on each of these artworks. From the first sketches to the final images on the computer, it was a long process. Each detail, however small—down to the last centipede’s claws—had to be rendered to scale and, of course, conform to the latest research. The challenge lay in using computers to turn dry scientific drawings into spectacular scenes from prehistoric times, and in accurately recreating the natural habitats even though our only clues to those periods are the fossils that remain.
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WHEN MAT TE R C AM E A L I V E by Rainer Harf
NATURE’S BIG EXPERIMENT Over 3.5 billion years ago, the first life forms evolved from inanimate molecules on the young planet earth. The invisible process of development that was set in motion has been constantly transforming, refining and developing life ever since: a process called evolution.
This manual was stored in a unique molecule that still regulates all living beings: DNA. And with each multiplication, the cell passed on this ‘molecular blueprint’ to its progeny, so that they could also multiply.
MILLIONS OF YEARS after the formation of the first primordial cell, mucous mats began to spread out. They were teeming with life. Billions upon billions of unicellular organisms proliferated there—and continually multiplied in number. Even back then, at the time of the early microbes, there was an invisible process at work without which life could not have HERE ARE ABOUT 100 billion a place that offered those delicate organic developed beyond this archaic stage. It galaxies in the universe, each substances, the ‘building blocks of life,’ was a continuous process of change and consisting of 100 billion stars. protection from the elemental forces at further development: evolution. Not all the unicellular organisms And, according to scientists, a system play: the cosmic rays and the destructive consisting of several planets revolves energy of asteroids that were perpetually were similar. While it was true that they around every second star, which means smashing into the ocean. Most came from the same ancestor, the cells that there are at least one sextillion other researchers reckon that the first creatures did not produce exact copies of their worlds besides the earth. And yet, it is emerged in tiny bubbles in the rocks of genotype each time they split. They absolutely possible that the wondrous undersea vents. Others believe that the made mistakes, accidentally altering the interplay of matter that we call ‘life,’ interstices in sea ice or clay sediments blueprint and thus producing offspring that were different from them. which seems as obvious to us as night were the breeding grounds of life. Regardless of where the genesis of life In most cases, such ‘flawed’ copies following day, does not exist anywhere began, it spread like wildfire. As soon as resulted in non-viable creatures. From else in the universe. No one knows—and perhaps life was sparked off, it caught on and time to time, however, the mistakes in will never know—if the earth has an spread out. the DNA resulted in unexpected benefits. It was precisely this ability to Creatures that were occasionally equivalent in the vast expanse of space, or if our planet is unique in an otherwise multiply, to produce offspring, in a sense superior to the other organisms in their to ‘replicate oneself,’ that distinguished environment emerged—bacteria that lifeless cosmos. What is certain, though, is that an the early creatures from all inorganic could conserve their energy better than incredible, amazing event happened on substances. Neither rock, stone nor the others, unicellular organisms that could our planet more than 3.5 billion years simplest grain of sand could create its suddenly produce absolutely new types ago—inanimate molecules organised own likeness. of bio-molecules, and even some that The first cell had an inbuilt blueprint could multiply faster than others of their themselves into a sensitive organism, a microscopic primordial cell, to begin a containing all the information about its species—and thus prevail over them highly complex process: to evolve into internal structure, a manual precisely with the passage of time. detailing the biochemical cycles that kept Hence, a contest for survival raged the first living being. Exactly where this creature evolved, it alive. It primarily indicated one thing: among the microbe mats. where chemistry turned into biology, is which substances had to be built in order Eventually, this rivalry with one another, this need to assert themselves, not known. However, it must have been for the organism to multiply.
T
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NATIONAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY GOvERNMENT Of INDIA
Envisioning a Safer and Disaster Resilient India
During an Earthquake… DROP ! COVER! HOLD!! ImpoRtant factS to bE REmEmbERED • Run towards an open space • If unable to move outside, bend and take shelter under a table • Guard your head with some strong object • Rush and stand in a corner and save your head
DuRIng an EaRthquakE * Don’t panic and remain calm * Wait there till shaking is stopped * Move away from windows, mirrors, bookcase and other unsecured heavy objects * Do not use elevators instead take the staircase to reach open space
aftER an EaRthquakE * After the first tremor, be prepared for after shocks * Help injured or trapped persons * Remember to help the people who may require special assistance - infants, elderly and people with disabilities * Stay out of damaged buildings
To avoid risks - Make your building strong - Seek technical advice
Then, about 350 million years ago, led to the proliferation of life forms of several, then hundreds, and later, primeval forests created a cover over much more complex than the early thousands and millions of cells. Soon conglobate algae were moving the hitherto barren earth. Mushrooms microscopic, single-celled organisms. Competition has been the driving in green masses through the oceans: the proliferated in the shade of trees; force behind evolution ever since. And ancestors of plants. They were followed scorpions and spiders, lizards and innovations and successes have written by stringy primeval fungi. And millions woodlice rustled in the foliage. of years later—at least according to one Life had now spread out across the the story of life on this planet. Over the course of millions of years, common theory—the first animal, a entire planet. And, almost imperceptibly, new creatures constantly evolved and mere sliver, no larger than a millimetre, it had vaulted over to a higher level of being. explored new habitats. Not all organisms crawled along the ocean floor. With the advent of animals, the remained at the site of their creation: some of them settled in the darkest AND YET, EXTREMELY complex world was not merely animated but also depths of the sea; others on the slopes creatures evolved from the descendents experienced. In contrast to plants and of undersea mountains or in shallow of this nondescript being: organisms fungi, these mobile creatures developed complex sensory organs with which coastal waters. they could perceive their surroundings With the passage of time, the entire in a variety of ways: they saw the world, ocean was filled with life. And those smelled it and heard its sounds. Their marine creatures, no matter how tiny, bodies had a network of nerves that was were to play a huge role in the shaping capable of assessing their perceptions of life on land. and making decisions—flight, attack or One extremely successful group of perseverance. microbes stands out among them, known There was something magical and as cyanobacteria or blue-green algae. inexplicable about this neural network. They had learned how to use the energy Matter had created something abstract: of the sun, to power their metabolism mind, feelings and emotions. In other with the sun’s rays. During this process, words, the first thoughts. their small bodies gave off a colourless, Even a frog, or so one imagines, odourless gas that changed the planet briefly pauses to consider if and when forever: oxygen. it should snap at a gnat, just as a cheetah The gaseous substance arose from assesses its chances of bringing down a the ocean and spread out into the particular antelope. atmosphere, turning into ozone high The thinking process matured, above the surface of the planet—forming with legs or fins, tentacles and prehensile an invisible layer that protected the earth claws, with teeth, shells, spikes and particularly among the animals that from harmful UV rays. The gas also suckers. Arthropods teetered along the lived in groups, helped each other and reacted with iron to form a reddish layer ocean bed, translucent jellyfish pulsated developed feelings for one another. And then, hundreds of thousands of of rust, colouring the rocks all over the in the currents, octopuses reached out for planet. Soon thereafter, terrestrial rocks prey with their tentacles, and primeval years ago, one species—human beings— resembled those found on earth’s cosmic fish cut through the water with powerful looked around and marvelled at the strokes of their fins. world. Humankind tried—and is still neighbour, Mars. And very gradually, after life had trying—to understand what exactly life The living creatures developed inexorably, and eventually some of them spent billions of years in the sea, some of is and how it came into being. And even today, as we look out into were able to emerge from the microcosm: the organisms set out to conquer another their cells stopped dividing after they world: land. Plants explored coastal the vast expanse of space, we cannot split. Instead, they clung together and regions; animals moved to dry land and help but wonder if a similar miracle has occurred elsewhere. formed a larger body that consisted penetrated ever deeper inland.
LIFE SPREAD ACROSS THE ENTIRE EARTH LIKE WILDFIRE
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Mayak
RUSSIA Astana
KAZAKHSTAN Almaty
CHINA
THE URANIUM HUNTERS The place: Mayak nuclear facility in Ozersk, Russia. The mission: to ensure the highly enriched reactor fuel is secure; to guard against the possibility of it ending up in the hands of criminals and terrorists; to make absolutely certain that it is stored safely for all time. GEO accompanies the team whose job it is to protect the world from nuclear disaster. By Malte Henk (text) and Justin Jin (photos)
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storemags & fantamag - magazines for all On behalf of the USA and with the acquiescence of Russia, Ukrainian-born Igor Bolshinsky (middle) travels to sensitive regions of the world to organise the repatriation of uranium. His boss, Kelly Cummins (right), handles the diplomatic end of things. Jay Thomas lends him technical support.
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THE AMERICAN
taskforce to combat international nuclear terrorism occupies a strange underworld: one in which men, who know a lot but say little, swing between semi-official conferences and not-so-official vodka binges— and, in between, organise the secret transportation of fissile material. Life in this world is often mundane. Although the unimaginable could, of course, shatter the routine at any time, the hero of our story, a no-nonsense physicist by the name of Igor Bolshinsky, does not waste his time brooding over it. “My work is to avert large-scale disasters,” he tells himself at times. It remains an abstract thought. “You have to get on with people and treat them well” is Bolshinsky’s basic philosophy. “You can’t just simply say: ‘Hey, we are from America! Hand over
your weapons-grade uranium!’” Our week with Bolshinsky begins on a Saturday morning at Germany’s Frankfurt Airport. The man who has to stay one step ahead of the terrorists is waiting for me in the frequent flyer lounge. He is a short fellow in a navyblue pullover, with a slight paunch, a receding hairline and tired eyes. Tea and a laptop sit in front of him. A desultory shaking of hands and then he turns back to the Internet to read his emails. Is the press officer of the US Department of Energy on his way? He is meant to monitor my impressions of the trip that Bolshinsky is making, on behalf of the USA, through some former Eastern Bloc countries: a trip to ensure that weapons-grade uranium reaches safe hands before it is used to make nuclear warheads and bombs.
Also, to make sure Bolshinsky succeeds in convincing governments and atomic scientists to return this apocalyptic material to its place of origin—mostly to Russia. And, in doing so, to ensure that he makes the world a safer place for us all. By the time our plane taxis down the runway, Bolshinsky has already dropped off to sleep. We land in Kazakhstan late that night. Our destination: the Institute for Nuclear Physics near Almaty.
SUNDAY, 10AM
The WWR-K is a 1967-vintage nuclear reactor—and looks it. Antiquated panel façades, pitted glass, dull-grey tones behind a double fence. We meet the director of the Institute for Nuclear Physics of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Adil Tuleushev: a slim man who is polite
WEAPONS-GRADE URANIUM:
Security conference: Bolshinsky and the Kazakh engineers examine the containers that will transport the uranium.
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Control room at the Institute for Nuclear Physics: physicists have been piloting their research reactor from here since 1967.
THE LEGACY OF AN OPTIMISTIC ERA to the point of shyness. Cellphones are them, and their competitors in Moscow surrendered, lab coats donned. A lady followed suit: Libya, Poland, Vietnam. in a white cap points to a bare flight of About 40 countries in total, including the steps. We climb down into the depths of a Soviet Republics—Uzbekistan, Ukraine concrete structure that, if Bolshinsky has and Kazakhstan. his way, will be rid of 73.7kg of its fissile At the Institute for Nuclear Physics material in a few days. near Almaty, researchers still work with It is the legacy of an era that envisioned the element named after Uranus, a god of dazzling benefits in the civilan use of ancient Greek mythology. They produce nuclear technology. In December 1953, radioactive substances for radiation US President Eisenhower announced a therapy or analyse materials by neutron plan to improve the world: let us convert bombardment, but they cannot produce the greatest of destructive forces into highly enriched uranium, the fuel for a mighty boon. Let us give all nations their reactor. To do so, they would need, adequate amounts of fissionable material for example, a huge centrifugal facility with which to develop and test their ideas that would spin the uranium inside for peaceful uses of nuclear technology! at 70,000 rpm, like a turbo-powered The Americans shared their invention washing machine. That is how the with their allies like a father who gifts concentration of a particular isotope is his child an air rifle: play with it, but be increased, an isotope ideal for nuclear careful! They built research reactors for fission: U-235.
In its original form, it is harmless enough: a dark, oily-looking mineral with a U-235 content of just 0.7 per cent. Uranium with a U-235 concentration of 3.5 per cent or more can be used to run a light water reactor. And anything with over 20 per cent concentration is considered highly enriched and, thus, weapons-grade. The problem is that almost all research reactors around the world are operated with highly enriched uranium. And there is plenty of this fuel around. Stocks from the Cold War will last quite a while (see box, p.67). A natural material with an extremely high potential for disaster thus continues to fuel nuclear research in dozens of countries, including the successor states of the former USSR. In the upheaval that took place in the 1990s, the world was keen to secure
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