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Does moral action depend on reasoning? Not really. W hatif most humans,regard­ less of their culture or religious beliefs or age or sex, chose the same option when faced with a moral conflict? What if those same people gave wildly different reasons for why they made their particular choices? This, in fact, is the state of affairs for much of our moral behavior. Recent research in human brain science and ancillary fields has shown that multiple factors feed into the largely automatic and deterministic processes that drive our moral decisions. Some theorists think that our brains possess a finite number of moral modules that have certain response biases. These uncon­ scious biases explain the reliability and predictability of our moral behavior, even though experimental subjects, when queried, will make up various stories about why they did one thing over another... CONTINUED ONLlNE.

MithaelGazwnig a is thedirectoro!the SAGE Cmter for the Study ofMind at tbe Uni versity of California, Santa Barbara. He ispresident of the Cognitive Neuroscience Institute andthe author of, amongmany other book, The Ethical Brain: The Science of Our Moral Dilemmas.

Yes, if... that means that moral action depends on reason. I prefer to put it t his way because we do

law of reason.

Less than it should.

Two distinctions will help to

My camera has a set of handy,

CONTINUED ONLINE.

clarifY this claim. The first is

point-and-shoot settings

Josh ua D. Creme is an assistant proftS5oTif

between intelligence and reason.

("portrait," "action, " "landscape")

psythologyat Harvard Universityand tbe director of

Intelligence is a power that looks

that enable a bumbler like me to

simply know. But moral action does not merely depend on reason.Moral action is rational action, because the moral law is a

"That's a deadly snake alright, but it's in a glass cage. Nothing to fear." Our automatic settings sometimes get things wrong, but we would be lost without them ...

th e MoralCogn ition L ab . He uses neuroscientific

andbehavioral methods 10 study moro/judgment and

outward, to the world around

take decent pictures most of the

decision-making, llS we/llls other traditionally

the intelligent animal. Speaking

time. It also has a manual mode

philosophica ltopics.

roughly, an intelligent animal is

that allows me to adjust every­

one who learns from his

thing myself, which is great

experiences, displays some

for those rare

awareness of what causes what,

occasions when I want to try

and can use that awareness to solve problems. Reason, by

something fancy.

contrast, looks inward, to what is

A camera with

going on in the animal's own

both automatic

mind.A rational animal is aware

settings and a manual mode

of the grounds of her beliefs and

exemplifies an elegant solution

actions, of the way in which

to an ubiquitous design problem,

perception tends to influence her

namely the trade-off between

beliefs or desire

ejJiciencyandflexibility. The auto­

tends to influence

matic settings are highly efficient,

her actions. She is

but not very flexible, and the

able to ask herself

reverse is true of the manual

whether the

mode.Put them together,

forces that incline

however, and you get the best of

her to believe or to do certain

both worlds, provided that you

things amount to good reasons

know when to manually adjust

to believe or do those things, and

your settings and when to point

then to determine what she

and shoot.

believes and does accordingly.

The human brain employs a

Because we can make these

similar hybrid design. Our

assessments, rational animals

brains have "automatic settings "

can exert a kind of control over

known as emotions. A fear

our beliefs and actions that other

Reason isn't enough.

Would that reason were enough to keep us moral. But it isn't, and we know it isn't, and people have known this for a very long time. Aristotle pointed this out in his critique of Socrates' view that knowledge leads to virtue.

What, he asked, about akrasia,

weakness of the will? Knowing what is good and doing it are two very different things. In his Epistle to the Romans,Paul was eloquent on the subject: "What I want to do,"he said, "I do not do,but what I hate I do." Our will seems to have a will of its own, only tangentially

response, for example, is the

connected to the mind ...

animals, even very intelligent

activation of an automatic

CONTINUED ONLINE.

ones, cannot ...

program that recognizes

CONTINUED ONLINE.

Christine M Korsgaard is theArthur Kingsley Porter Professor ofPbilo so phy and the director ofgraduate studies in philosophy at Harvard University. Her books i nclude The Sources ofNo rmativity; Creating the Kingdom of Ends; The Constitution

not have to go through a process

of Agency; and Self-Constitution: Agency,

of reason-ing in order to arrive at

Identity, and Integrity.

dangerous things and tells us, quickly and forcefully, to back away. Our brains also have a "manual mode,"an integrated set of neural systems that support conscious reasoning,enabling us to respond to life's challenges in

a view of what morality requires

a more flexible way, drawing on

on every occasion. Often, we

situation -specific knowledge:

jon athan Sack became ChiefRabbi of tbe United Hebrew Congregations of th e Britisb Common­ wealtb in 1991.A recipiento! tbejerusa/emPrize

anda lifepeer in tbe House ofLords, be has written

more than a dozenb ooks.

To read these essays in their entirety, or to receive a printed version, visit www.templeton.orglreason.

JOHN TEMPLETON FOUNDATION SUPPORTING SCIENCE-INVESTING IN THE BIG QUESTIONS THIS IS THE SIXTH IN A SERIES OF CONVERSATIONS AMONG LEADING SCIENTISTS, SCHOLARS, AND PUBLIC FIGURES ABOUT THE "BIG QUESTIONS." TO JOIN THE CONVERSATION. PLEASE VISIT WWW.TEMPLETON.ORG/REASON.

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Southpaws

22 Sprinkle with care Excess dietary salt is a big

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Handedness isn't just for humans

FEATURES 2B Electoral dysfunction (see right) 32 The autistic brain The talents that come

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"Animals as diverse as fish, toa d s an d b"I rd s are more likely to attack prey viewed w ith their right eye"

1 May 2010 1 NewSci entist 1 37

IS YOU R PET A SOUTHPAW? Try these tests to see if your furry,

record if your fish go around it

feathered or scaly friends prefer to

clockwise or anticlockwise,

use their left or right appendages for

indicating their eye preference. Be

certain tasks - and what this reveals

aware, though that the preferred

about their behaviour.

eye might change depend i ng on

Dogs: See if Fido wags his tail to

whether the object is d i sturbing

his left or right. If he's l i ke most dogs,

or attractive and whether your fish

furious wagging to the right means

are bold or shy (Animal Behaviour,

he is relaxed and ready to approach

voI 74, p 231).

whatever he sees; if he wags to the left he might prefer to withdraw. Cats and rodents: Give your cat, rat or hamster a jar with a tasty treat

Reptiles and amphibians: Move a food morsel into your pet's field of view from either the left or right side and watch which direction elicits

and see which paw they use to try

more or quicker catches. For most

and extract it. If your pet is a cat.

species tested so far, the right side

expect toms to use their left paws

appears to be the favourite.

and the females to use their right. Parrots and other dextrous birds: This is an easy one. "Anything they

Horses: Chances are that your horse has already been trained to be handled from the left side. Recent

are interested in they will pick up

research suggests that horses prefer

with their dominant foot;' says

to use their left eye for assessment

Culum Brown at Macquarie

and evaluation of their surroundings

University in Sydney, Australia.

regardless of such training. Yet

Watch out for odd combinations of

horses are also l i kely to react more

lateralised behaviours too. Unlike

strongly to alarming sights they see

most bird s which view the objects

with the left eye too, which leads

they hold with the eye on the same side, the Australian galah manages

Lesley Rogers and Nicole Austin at the University of New England i n

to pull off a cross-over number, using

Armidale, New South Wales, Australia,

the eye on the opposite side.

to propose that it might be worth

Fish: Place an unfami liar object in the centre of your fish tank and

exploring if they should actually be trained from the right instead.

part, but environmental factors can have an impact too. Rogers, for example, has found that a chick's bias depends on whether its egg was exposed to light before hatching - if they are kept in the dark during incubation, neither hemisphere becomes particularly dominant. Fortunately, this observation allowed Rogers to test the possible advantages ofa brain bias in 2004, by hatching broods with either strong or weak lateralisation. She had the notion that a lateralised brain, with each hemisphere processing input from a different eye, might help chicks to do two tasks simultaneously -watching out for predators with one eye while searching for food with the other. So she studied the behaviour of the two groups of chicks presented with a smattering of grains among small pebbles under the threatening silhouette of a fake predator bird flying overhead. As expected, the chicks incubated in the light looked for grains mainly with their right eye, while using the left eye to check out the predator. The chicks incubated in the dark, however, had trouble deciding where to look. They had no preferred eye for foraging or checking on the predator and became so distracted by the challenge of muIt itasking that they actually became less likely to detect the predator. And their ability to spot the grain declined over the course of the experiment (Proceedings ofthe Royal Society B, V01 271, P 5420). Parallel processors Similar results probably hold true for many other animals. Angelo Bisazza at the University of Padua in italy, for exam pie, has studied goldbelly topminnows with different levels of brain lateralisation. With the threat of a predator looming over them, the strongly lateralised fish caught tasty brine shrimp twice as fast as weakly lateralised ones. Assigning d ifferent jobs to different brain halves may be especially advantageous for animals such as birds and fish, whose eyes a re placed on the side oftheir heads so that there is little overlap between the two visual fields. Processing in put from each side separately, with different tasks in mind, would seem a natural way to distribute their resources. "So functional left-right a symmetries are much more relevant in everyday behaviour for a fish or a bird than, for example, for a primate with frontal eyes," says Bisazza. Nevertheless, there are many other cases of lateralisation that can't be explained this way.

Most fish i n a species turn the same way when facing danger

unpredictable. The team's models showed that the most stable grouping in the face of various evolutionary pressures is one where a large ma jority are lateralised in one direction, accompanied by a small minority of individuals that buck the trend (Proceedings ofthe Royal Society E, V01 271, P 853). Surprise attacks Similar trade-offs between majority and minority preferences may exist within a population too, explaining the varied patterns of lateralisation in many species. Numerous studies have found, for example, that both cooperative behaviours such as courtship displays or parent-offspring interactions and aggression among peers tend to be lateralised What about animals that prefer to use a across populations in creatures as diverse as Vallortigara and his colleague Stefano specific paw or foot for almost all tasks, for Ghirlanda at Stockholm University in Sweden, lizards, wading birds, Siamese fighting fish example? This led Maria Magat and Culum and primates. Here, the balance between left have found an answer in game theory. They Brown at Macquarie University in Sydney, have constructed mathematical models which and right preferences would depend on two competing factors - in this case, the benefit of Australia, to wonder if there were a more show that every animal gets the best deal in being able to react in kind during cooperation, general cognitive advantage that might apply a group that's made up of many individuals to any lateralised animal. To investigate, they and conversely, the ability to go against with the same lateralisation, plus a small expectations in antagonistic interactions and turned to parrots, which, like humans, can proportion of outsiders like myself. launch an attack from an unexpected quarter be either strongly right or left-footed or They considered a group of individuals totally ambidextrous. constantly faced with the threat of predators- (Philosophical Transactions ofthe Royal Society E, vo1 364, p 861). The parrots were given the intellectually fish swimming in a sea with sharks, for Perhaps this can partly explain the example. In these situations, you might think demanding task of raising a tempting snack dangling on a string up to their beaks, using existence ofleft-handers in human societies. that there would be safety in numbers -your Numerous studies have found that left­ a coordinated combination of their claws and risk ofbeing caught reduces as you surround handers have an advantage in many sports beak to pull the string. The results, published yourself with ever more potential victims. So last year, showed that the parrots with the it would make sense for each individual fish to involving a direct opponent, such as tennis or boxing, and the advantages may run to more strongest foot preferences solved the problem stay in sync with the crowd, turning together serious encounters: many sports are forms of far more quickly than their ambidextrous in the face of a predator. peers (Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Conversely, however, Vallortigara supposed ritualised combat, after all. Charlotte Faurie that as long as most fish do exactly this, it and Michel Raymond at the University of vo1276, p 4155). Why lateralisation would lead to this might pay for a very small proportion of group Montpellier in France compared eight general cognitive advantage is not clear, members to esca pe the other way. They would un industrialised indigenous societies and though multitasking is probably still involved. benefit by running off in the direction that the found that those with the highest number of homicides also had the most left-handed Lateralisation allows the brain to channel predator is not expecting. However, this people, suggesting that lefties really are information from multiple sources and advantage only holds as long as this more likely to survive hand-to-hand fights process different parts of complex tasks alternative strategy remains rare and (Proceedings of the Royal Society B, in different hemispheres so that each can be processed separately at a quicker rate. One side "H u ma n left -han ders a re vo1 272, p 25). All this is good news for me, a left-hander in ofthe brain, for example, may process wellmore likely to survive a right-handed world. I survived the complex established, routine "housekeeping" tasks potentially fatal handcognitive challenges of higher education while the other side detects and processes unexpected stimuli and challenges. thanks to my highly lateralised brain, and with to-hand fights" a good set ofleft-handed appliances, I don't Yet in all these cases, it is the strength of even get wrist ache anymore. Fair enough, my lateralisation, rather than the direction, that confers the benefits, raising another puzzling drawing and needlework still leave a lot to be desired, but I take comfort in the knowledge question: why do most animals within a that should anyone tease me about it, I might species prefer the same side, making their just be able to pull off a surprise attack with behaviour extremely predictable to predators, my left hand.• prey and competitors alike? And why are there always a few oddballs, like me, who are wired differently from the rest of the population? Nora Schu ltz is a writer based in Berlin •

1 May 2010 1 NewScientist 1 39

YouYou

are a re what what

youyou copycopy

40 1 N ewSci e ntist 1 1 May 2010

Y

Forget free t h i nking, a talent for im itation is what rea l ly m a kes us smart. M a i ri Macleod reports

OUR plane crashes and you find yourself stranded in the middle of a vast jungle. How would you work out which fruits are safe to eat and where to find clean water? You could muddle along on your own for a while, but you would probably end up sick and very hungry. Far better to find some friendly locals and learn how they do things. Learning from others is something we do all the time, not just in extremis. We are more reliant on so-called (( social learning" than any other animal - it is thought to be at the core of culture and tradition and is credited with our successful colonisation of the planet. Yet no one knows exactly how social learning works. Obviously, copying others allows us to acq uire useful knowledge without having to bear the costs of working everything out for ourselves. But there is a catch. If societies are to adapt to changing conditions, there must be innovation too - people cannot blindly copy everything because the information may be wrong, outdated or unavailable. This problem has occu pied Kevin Laland of

the University of St Andrews, UK, for some time. "Individuals ought to be selective with respect to when they rely on social learning and from whom they learn," he says. "Natural selection ought to have fashioned specific ada ptive learning strategies." But what are these strategies? If social learning is such a powerful force in our species' success, surely we need to know when, where and why it happens. Yet previous attempts to answer these questions have only scratched the surface. Laland realised that ifhe was going to get anywhere he would have to come up with an original approach. Until then, only a tiny fraction of the possible learning strategies had been investigated. The most thoroughly researched was the "conformist transmission model"­ the idea that a person is more likely to copy traits that are common in the population than those that are rare. An alternative is "copy an expert", which seems like a reasonable rule to follow when buying a new cornputer or shares on the stock market, for exam pie. "Copy the

most successful" also makes intuitive sense, although in our celebrity-oriented world there is a chance it might backfire -George Clooney may endorse a certain brand of coffee, but does he really know any more about beverages than the next person?

the field," he says. So, teaming up with several other experts in social learning, Laland secured enough funding from the European Union to pay for the project, including a €10,000 prize for the tournament winner. Their corn petition was going to be a game of survival, taking place in a computer-generated world. Virtual agents would have the potential Let battle commence to acquire 100 possible behaviours, each with a different associated pay-off that would Laland wanted to consider a much broader change over the course ofthe game. The pay­ range of strategies and, crucially, to find out which ones work best. He realised he could not off represents the benefit an individual gains do that with a traditional experiment, so he by performing a particular behaviour, its hit on the idea of holding a tournament. His changing value reflecting the fact that information can become outdated as the inspiration came from a series of open competitions held in the 1970S to examine environment changes. E ntrants to the tournament would start why cooperation evolved. These tournaments, based around the prisoner's dilemma, which with 100 agents each, which would involves deciding when to cooperate and when accumulate a repertoire of behaviours over to defect, were a shot in the arm for research their lifetime through learning. At every into cooperation. Laland hoped a tournament round of the game, each agent would have three options: innovation, in which they could be just as successful for social learning. randomly acquired a new behaviour by "We thought if we were to advertise this idea widely we could attract all kinds of people into individual learning; observation, in which > 1 May 2010 1 NewScientist 1 41

they acquired a new behaviour by social learning; or exploitation, in which they used a previously learned behaviour and so gained its pay-off. The entrants had to devise a strategy that their agents would use to decide between these options. The challenge was to create the strategy that generated the most successful or "fittest" agents - a criterion measured by dividing an agent's accumulated pay-off value by the numberof rounds it had survived. Furthermore, in each round, every agent would have a 1 in 50 chance of dying. The deceased would then be replaced by an "offspring" of another agent. Agents were chosen to "reproduce" with a probability proportional to their mean lifetime payoff. So the better a strategy's performance, the bigger the share ofthe population its agents were likely to have. By this simulated version of natural selection, the entrant with the most successful strategy would have the most agents at the end of the game. There were two phases to the tournament. The first was a round robin where all strategies played each other for 10,000 rounds in pairwise contests. The strategy with the most agents at the end was the winner. Then, in the second phase, the 10 highest scoring strategies were thrown in together to see who would win overall. They battled it out in a variety of simulated environments, differing in such parameters as the number of agents a potential learner was able to observe, the likelihood that an agent using social learning would pick up the wrong information, and the way in which pay-offs associated with behaviours changed over time. The aim here was to test how robust the strategies were in different learning environments because in the real world the costs and benefits of social learning versus individual learning may vary. And the winner is ... The competition, held last year, turned out to be an irresistible challenge to many, with over 100 entries submitted from a variety of academic disciplines, ranging from philosophy to computer science, and even some school pupils. In fact, two teenagers from Westminster School in London beat most ofthe academics to come tenth overall. Last month, Laland and colleagues published their findings in Science, DOl: 10.1126/ science.1184719. So what did they discover? It seems a successful strategy rests primarily on the amount of social learning involved, with the most successful agents spending almost all their learning time observing rather than 42 1 NewScientist 1 1 May 2010

innovating. However, avoiding spending too much time learning either socially or individually was just as important. "Between a tenth and a fifth of their life seemed to be the optimal range," says fellow organiser Luke Rendell, also from St Andrews University. "If they did more learning than that it seemed that life was just passing them by." Successful strategies were also good at spacing out learning throughout the agents' lives. The winning strategy, Discount Machine, submitted by PhD students Daniel Cownden and Timothy Lillicrap from Queen's University in Ontario, Canada, stood out because it did just this. It seems packing all your learning into the early part of your life is not a great idea -we need to keep updating our knowledge as we go along. Lillicrap points out that the questions their strategy addressed resemble those posed in real life. "We face similar trade-offs all the time -for example, how much education should I get before I join the workforce?" To answer such a question we need to consider various factors such as how much more do I expect to earn with this training? How long is it going to take? What's the likelihood that my training will become irrelevant? How long will I be in the workforce? "Our strategy takes those things into account," he says. Another attribute of the most successful strategies is that they are parasitic. This is the essence of social learning - somebody has to do the hard graft to find out how to do things before other people can copy them, so it only pays to learn socially when there are some innovators around. Indeed, in contests where Discount Machine agents were able to invade the entire population, they actually ended up with a lower average pay-offthan they did in contests where the conditions allowed some agents with more innovative strategies to survive, so providing new behaviours to copy. This also has real-world implications. Could it be that we don't all use the same optimal social learning strategy? "It's quite clear that you would expect social learning to evolve and

"The most successful agents spent almost all their learning time observing rather than in novating"

Copy an expert: gymnast Zhao Chaoyue, age 8, leads morn i n g exercises at her school

gives you an idea of how quickly information will become outdated. Discount Machine was very good at doing just that - in variable environments it placed a higher value on more recently acquired information and discounted older information more readily. It is in this ability that humans seem to have the edge over other animals. That's not to say we are alone in making these sorts of calculations, though. For exam pie, Laland and his colleagues have found that sticklebacks can do it. First they taught individual fish to expect more food at site A than site B. Then they switched the food around, but the only clue to the deception was that there were now more fish feeding at B than A. It turns out that the longer it has been since the fish checked the sites out for itself, the more it will rely on social information to tell it which site has the most food (Proceedings ofthe Royal Society B, vo1 Z71, p 957) . While this is impressive, humans have a unique talent that allows us to take account of passing time and changing circumstances far more effectively: language. "You can simply talk about what might happen," says Rendell. Or you can use language to imagine yourself be favoured," says Laland. But if everyone in a different place or time. Rendell suspects "50cial learning is this may be what has enabled us to take full relied heavily on it then there would be a widespread in nature. advantage of social learning, leading to the decrease in the population's fitness and subsequent advantages for individuals who huge gap between human culture and the 50 what's so special about behaviour of other animals. are more inclined to learn for themselves. copying in humans?" General observation certainly suggests that The tournament has undoubtedly provided several insights into social learning. people vary considerably in their propensity to copy others or find stuffout for themselves. According to Rob Boyd of the University of California, Los Angeles, a pioneer of social Personality traits such as creativity and curiosity are clearly linked to the ability and learning research and another ofthe willingness to carry out successful individual tournament's designers, its big advantage social learning is widespread in nature, even over previous approaches is the level of learning, and these traits vary widely. being used by invertebrates. So what's so realism. It entails "much more environmental There also seems to be a gender difference. Kimmo Eriksson of Malardalen University in complexity and more cognitive complexity in special about copying in humans? Firstly, says Laland, the competition reveals the organisms", he says. Nevertheless, there is Sweden, one of the tournament's designers, and Pontus Strimling of Stockholm University that social learning does not require much room for improvement. Rendell points out discovered this when they carried out a game brain power. "You don't need any clever that the simulations cannot track particular called explore and collect, in which paired copying rules. You can just copy anyone at individuals through time, and that it doesn't players tried to get the highest possible score random," he says. "Other individuals are doing include formal teaching, a vital part of among a number of undisclosed options by the filtering for you. They will have tried out a learning in the real world. "We want to explore additional complexities with some more either uncovering the relative ranks of options number of behaviours and they will tend to for themselves or choosing options already tournaments in the future," he says. perform the ones which are reaping the favoured by the other player {Journal of highest rewards." That explains why even Before they do that, however, the team insects can benefit from social learning. "But," has another intriguing idea to pursue. "We Evolutionary Psychology, vol 7, p 309). "We want to go out and try to explore this in the he adds, "to become the winner ofthe found that women tend to invest more in individual learning than men, in the sense that tournament you really have to do something a real world," says Rendell. "We plan to set up they spend more effort on trying out a greater bit more sophisticated than that." You have to an experimental version ofthis tournament where we get people to play it themselves and number of unknown options," says Eriksson. weigh up the relative costs and benefits of As well as highlighting the variability in our sticking with the behaviour that you have, see what they actually do." • individual approaches to social learning, the versus inventing a new behaviour, versus Mairi M acleod is a science writer based in tournament has also shed light on an apparent copying others. That requires assessing how Edinburgh, UK quickly the environment is changing, as this paradox. Laland and others have found that 1 M ay 2010 1 NewScientist 1 43

BOOKS & ARTS

In search of an impossible sound Modern l ife has cast us ad rift u pon a sea of n o i se, Are there a ny isla nds of q u i et l eft?

In Pursuit ofSilence: Listening for meaning in 0 world of noise

by Gearge Prochnik, Daubleday, $25 Zero Decibels: The quest for absolute silence by Gearge Michael

Fay, Scribner, $24 The Unwanted Sound of Everything We Want: A book about noise by

Garret Keizer, Public Affai rs, $27,95

Reviewed by Deborah Blum TICK. Tock. Tick. 1111 l'urlUlil "I 5iltlkc' I......�a,. , "!t·lwl'lI . . ...... r..

I would do a much better job reviewing books if the clock in my office didn't thump out the seconds like a

crazed drummer. The dog's tail whacks the floor. The floor creaks. How does a nyone expect me to write in the midst of this racket? It doesn't surprise me that many of my fellow writers share my fantasies of a golden bubble of silence. Why else do we have writer's retreats, tucked into sheltering forests or beside pastoral streams (where, frankly, the water gurgles damn noisily)? Three new books embrace this silence-is-golden theme. George Prochnik'sIn Pursuit of Silence and George Michael Fay's Zero Decibels focus on hunting for the perfect hush. In The Unwanted Sound of Everything We Want, Garret Keizer takes a nother route, critically surveying the cacophony of our industrial world. Keizer's is probably the most realistic approach because - as becomes obviou s - books about silence inevitably turn into books about noise. As both Prochnik and

The wh i spe ring voice of your better nature may be audi b le now 44 1 NewScientist 1 1 M ay 2010

For more reviews and to add your comments, visit www.NewScientist.com/books·art

Foy quickly discover, quiet is

we may eventually hear the

an elusive goal in our surround­

voice of our better selves.

sound environment. (Must my

Foy's book is edgier, jazzier.

husband have the television

He has an elegant way with

blaring at this moment?)

description - lakes are "the colour

Foy becomes so obsessed with

of Parker ink" and rocks rise from

the constant roar of i ife a round

the ground "like the back of a

him that he begins to think of the

surfacing whale". But his

sound as something almost alive,

perspective is darker. When

the rumbling exhale of a great

he visits the famously taciturn

creature, "the monster-breath".

Lakota Indians, for insta nce,

He buys an audiometer, which

he finds them not so much

measures noise in decibels. Zero

beaut ifully silent but culturally

decibels refers to the tiniest sound

crushed, left with nothing to say.

audible to healthy human ears, a n

Eve n so-ca l led sponta n eous behavio u r i s pred i cta b l e, tha n ks to o u r "bursty" natu re

Keizer, on the other hand, likes

infinitesimal notch above silence.

the idea of a joyful noise. He

The sound of your own breath in

watches two young boys poised

a quiet room is about 30 dB; the

F its a n d bu rsts

to roar off on all-terrain vehicles and feels a leap of happiness.

"Industria lisation has left us in a decibel-blasted lifestyle that doctors link to d epression and rage"

"l wanted them and their noise to exist forever." But the occasional tribute to rowdy children aside, he is no noise lover either. For Keizer, the real noise is

hum of a refrigerator averages

the noise of industry, and noise

above 50. Subway trains register

pollution and industrial pollut ion

in the gos. The scale refers to

walk arm in arm. "The history of

the pressure of sound waves on

noise in this book is in many ways

the ears, with rising numbers

an implicit history of fossil fuels,"

indicating a logarithmic increase.

he notes. Industrialisation has left

On the decibel scale, Foy notes, a

us with a decibel-blasted lifestyle

jet engine at 120 dB generates a

that doctors link to depression

trillion times more sound-wave

and rage. People have killed their

pressure than one ofthose

neighbours for refusing to turn

fleeting whispers at 0 dB.

off the stereo.

Foy obsessively measures the

And that's what really ties these

Bursts: The hidden pattern behind everything we do by Albert- Laszl6 Barabasi, Dutton, $25.95

Reviewed by Jessica Hamzelou .

.. . .. -�.!II. . . . ".. 1· ..ll·,·I "· ...

people we are introduced to who take us on "Einsteinian jumps through time and space". One minute Barabasi is describing a gun seller who marks his dollar

DO YOU think

bills so that their movement can

sounds of da ily life as he searches

three books together. It's not just

your spontaneous,

be tracked throughout the US, the

for his zero-decibel moment.

any noise that makes us crazy, it's

free-spirited take

next we are following Einstein's

Eventually, he resorts to spending

our noise - our am p lified

on life makes your

pattern ofietter-writing.

time in a sensory deprivat ion

systems, our revving engines,

behaviour random

tank. Prochnik also tries sensory

the whole exasperating, jangling

and unpredictable?

deprivation, and d iscovers that

loudness of modern life.

with no distraction he can hear

sound

So, these writers agree, if there

As well as these specific examples, Barabasi shows how

Albert-Laszl6 Barabasi takes a

bursty behaviour can be found

d ifferent view. Human behaviour,

everywhere, from online

the sound of saliva swooshing

is no perfect quiet, it wouldn't

he argues, is predictable due to its

browsing to visits to the doctor.

in his mouth. In further pursuit

hurt us all to turn it down a little,

"bursty" nature - long periods of

The reasons behind these bursts

of quiet, Prochnik goes on

respect our neighbours' need for

low activity interspersed with

of activity may vary, but they

to investigate noise-control

occasional peace and find a little

bursts of high activity. By tracking

don't make us any less

regulations and soundproofing

ourselves. And now, if you'll

our past behaviour, Barabasi

predictable, he says.

technologies.

excuse me, I' m taking the battery

thinks we might be able to predict

out of the clock and asking my

our future actions.

My favourite part of Prochnik's

Bursts opens with the story of

Barabasi concludes that we are all simultaneously bursty and quite regular; apparently

journey is the time he spends at

husband to turn down that movie.

a Trappist monastery in Iowa,

Otherwise I don't know how

Hasan Elahi, an American artist

random but deeply pred ictable.

tucked away in a landscape of

anyone expects me to finish

whose work takes him around

He foresees a future in which

gentle hills and small farms. It

this review.•

the globe. Elahi's erratic travel

a "Vast Machine" follows our

patterns set him apart from the

every move, cataloguing human

allows him to ponder the idea that "some things we cannot put into

Deborah Blum is the author of The

c rowd, making him an outlier

behaviour. Perhaps the large

words are yet resoundingly real",

Poisoners Handbook: Murder and the

and attracting the attention of

amount of data this would collect

and captures the author's belief

birth offorensic medicine inJazz Age

the US Department of Homeland

will enable us to predict the

that if we can find a way to listen

New York (Penguin, 2010)

Security. Elahi is the first of many

future, but at what price? •

1 May 2010 1 NewScientist 1 4 5

THE I NSIDER

WHEN news b roke in the springofzoog of a

Catching the bug

new strain of flu in Mexico and California, it ap peared to take the world by surprise. Yet across the globe several grou ps of scientists were primed and ready to react. As the flu spread and people began to die of it, these researchers worked together to identify the

Res pon d i n g swiftly to a pa n d e m i c req u i res co l la b o rati o n a n d open n ess on a g l ob a l sca le, as Catherine de Lan g e d iscovers

strain and produced vaccines in double quick time. How did they do it? Peter Palese, chair of the department of mic robiology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, keeps around 4000 strains of influenza in the freezer for just such an occasion. When a new strain arises, his lab will compare it with previous viruses and use animal models to work out how the microbe is transmitted. You need to be tenacious in these

Reacti ng qu ickly to an outbreak can make the d ifference between life and death

46 1 NewScientist 1 1 May 2010

To search for career opportunities go to www.NewScientistJobs.com

initial stages, says Palese, until you

Maryland, which works to understand how

understand how dangerous the pathogen is.

new viruses arise and find ways to respond

This means research has to take place in high­

better next time around. "Scientists within

Ca l l of d uty

containment facilities, which can make work

government make decisions on how

If developing vacci nes isn't for

cumbersome and slow the process down.

government funds should be expended,

you, then you might prefer to tel l everyone about them

Palese's lab, one of a small number of centres

and on which vaccines and what kinds of

of excellence funded by the US National

preventative measures should be used," he

instead. Karen Robinson,

Institutes of Health, forms part of a group

says. A good place for aspiring science policy­

director of public relations at

of specialised laboratories around the world

makers to start is the Cent er for Infectious

Medlmmune Vaccines in

which come together to analyse emerging

Disease Research and Policy at the University

pandemics. Others, such as the National

of Minnesota, Minneapolis, which has a team

Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) in

dedicated to studying influenza.

London, and the Center for Disease Control

California, explains what a job in communications entails. "It was a very frightening time for many people. Nobody knew what the pandemic was

in Atlanta, will work in parallel with them to

REAP THE REWARDS

isolate the new virus as a first step to

If you are passionate about developing a

Robinson, recalling the uncertainty

producing a vaccine. Good communication

vaccine, you will need to be committed: it is

surrounding the H1Nl outbreak a year ago.

at this stage is crucial, says John McCauley,

a tough challenge. Last year researchers were

Following the first infections in Mexico, the

director of the World Health Organization's

working through the night "doing whatever

virus seemed to be spreading fast and the

Influenza Centre at the N IMR, and regular

they could to ensure that we could make the

stories about it even faster. For communications

teleconferences between specialist labs to

HINI vaccine in a timely manner", says

specialists l i ke Robinson, who were at the

coordinate their efforts are set up by the WHO. The next stage is to move towards the

going to do or how it was going to behave," says

Kemble. Despite the long hours, this can be

centre of the media storm, it was a once-in-a­

the most reward ing aspect of creating a

career event, one that put all their capabilities

production of a v irus that can be used a s a

vaccine. "These people were putting their

to the test. "Coming into work that Monday, it

vaccine. It's at this point that pharma

heart and soul into this because they knew

companies are invited in on the discussions,

that ifthey came up with a vaccine they would

just kicked into high gear. It was pretty much non-stop, hectic activity for the next eight

with the aim of finding a way to mass-produce

be helping their friends, family and people

months," she says.

the vaccine. "All the information is given as

they didn't even know," he says. "It was a very

soon as possible because everyone is pulling

tiring but fulfilling time to be in the business."

in the same direction," says McCauley.

To work in emergency pandemic response, a

Medlmmune adopted a novel approach to vaccine development, working on a live nasal spray vaccine - which also proved to be the first

qualification in im munology or mic robiology

H1Nl vaccine made available to the public in

manufacturers that get together routinely

is the obvious academic background to have,

the US when other manufacturers were

during this strain selection and early vaccine

although Pale se believes a rigorous grounding

developing injectable vaccines based on deactivated virus. As a result, there was a lot of

"There is a group of influenza

-

manufacturing time frame," explains George

in any biomedical science will be helpful too.

Kemble, vice-president of R&D and general

Nabel goes one step further: "I would be

media interest in the company's work. Robinson

manager of Med Immune Vaccines in

surprised if you could find any discipline of

not only had to keep the media u p to speed with

California. They share information, typically

science that couldn't be somehow matched to a

Medlmmune's progress, she also had to monitor

discussing how the various candidate strains

pressing need in vaccinology." His advice is to

the ensuing coverage, prepare scientists and

are behaving, whether they are growing well

think about the scope of the problems involved,

spokespeople for public meetings and be the

and what other candidates might grow better.

then see which areas best fit your interests.

first port of call forthe press. "It was a

"Certainly we all compete with each other, but

Once you are working in the field, it is

"The work of a relatively small group of scientists can help save the lives of so many people"

constantly changing landscape," she says.

flexible, says Kemble. The nature of infectious

Connecting the media with top scientists is exciting, says Robinson. To do that well, it's

disease is constantly changing, so researchers

important to understand the science i nvolved,

important to remain open-minded and

need to be able to adapt. "There are a lot offolk

although a science background isn't a

who come in with one disci pline and find

prerequisite as researchers are usually only too

in these early stages there is a lot of very good,

themselves working on something completely

happy to explain their work. "It's rewarding to

open com munication among the d ifferent

different a few years down the line because it

have a level of scientific education straight from

agencies and companies to ensure they are

fired up their passion," he says. And although

some great m inds."

making as much vaccine as they can," he says.

working in a crisis environment can be

Collaboration takes place internationally,

difficult, the benefits of success can be far­

A key challenge for anyone wanting to join a communications team is to convey a sense of

although there will be some d ifferences in

reaching. "A stunning thought is that the work

balance. For example, while many companies

vaccine development between countries

of a relatively small grou p of scientists can

were having trouble harvesting their vaccine,

depending on national policy - for exam pie,

save the lives of so many people," says Kernble.

Medlmmune was achieving a high yield, but its

over whether certain substances are licensed

"You take basic knowledge and you relate it to

production was l imited by the number of

for use as components of a vaccine. Can scientists get involved in policy

problems that really have a huge impact on

sprayers they could secure. "As much as we had

people's l ives." •

a great story to tell, we needed to make sure that balance came through as wel l," says

decisions too? Yes, says Gary Nabel, d irector of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases' Vaccine Research Center in Bethesda,

Cath e ri n e de Lange is a freelance writer based in London

Robinson.

1 May 2010 1 NewScientist 1 47

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www.NewScientistJobs.com Maribel, Patient

Our CAUSE is Maribel and her cancer. For more than 30 years, G enentech has been at the forefront of the b iotec h n o logy i n d ustry, u s i ng h u m a n genet i c i nform ation to develop nove l m ed i c i nes for ser ious and l ife-th reaten i ng d i seases. Tod ay, G enentech is among the wor l d 's lead i ng b iotec h com pa n i es , with m u l t i p l e thera p i es on the m a rket for c a n c e r a n d other ser ious medical con d i t ions. Pl ease take t h i s opport u n ity to l earn about G en entec h , where we bel i eve that our e m p l oyees a re o u r most i m portant asset. G en entec h 's research organ i zation features wor l d -renown ed s c i ent i sts who are som e of the most prol ific i n th e i r f i e l d s and i n t h e i n d ustry. G e n e ntech researc h ers have consiste n t l y p u b l ished i n prest i g i ous peer-revi ewed jou r n a l s a n d h ave secu red a p p rox i mate l y 7 , 400 c u rrent, non -expi red patents worl d w i d e (with a bout 6 , 2 50 mo re pen d i ng) . G e n entec h 's research orga n i zation com b i nes the best of the academ i c a n d corporate worl d s , a l l ow i ng rese a r c hers not o n l y to p u rs u e i m porta nt sc i e nt i fic q u est i ons but a l so to watch a n i d ea move from t h e l abo ratory i nto deve l o p m ent a n d out i nto the clinic.

G e n e ntech Postdo cto ra l Progra m T h e G e n e ntec h Postdoctora l P rogram i s d es i gned to c reate a v i bra nt a n d s u p port i ve e n v i ro n m e n t f o r r i gorous sc i en t i f i c tra i n i n g. T h e p r i m a ry a i m of t h e progra m i s to t ra i n postd ocs to co n d u ct research o f t h e h i ghest poss i b l e q u a l ity, to p u b l i s h res u l ts i n t o p-t i e r j o u r n a ls a n d to tra n s i t i o n to i n d ep e n d e nt sc i e n t i f i c i nvest i gators , bot h i n academ i a a n d i n d ust ry. As a G e n e n tec h Postd octora l R esearc h Fel l ow, you wi l l f i n d yo u rself co l l aborat i ng w i t h wor l d -c l ass s c i e n t ists both at t h e com p a n y a n d beyo nd G e n entech 's wa l ls . O u r fel l ows h i ps typ i c a l ly l ast fo u r yea rs a n d offer t h e c h a nce to d o c u tt i n g-edge resear c h i n a n i ns p i red , p u r posef u l a n d reso u rce-r i c h envi ro n m e n t . Th ro u g h o u t t h e progra m , you w i l l b e e n cou raged to p u b l i s h a n d present t h e progress a n d res u l ts of yo u r work both i ntern a l l y a n d a t exter n a l sc i en t i f i c conferences. As o u r m a ny Postdoctora l Progra m a l u m n i c a n attest, t h e p rogra m offers a n u n riva l ed o p po rt u n ity to p u t yo u rse lf at t h e forefront of sc i e n c e . Cons i ste n t l y recogn ized as o n e o f t h e top c o m p a n i es to work for i n t h e U n i ted States , G e n e ntec h offers em p l oyees o n e of t h e most com pre h e n s i ve be nefits progra ms in t h e i n d ustry. For m ore i nformat i o n o n the program a n d to read c o m m e n t a ry from c u rre n t a n d past postdocs, p l ease v i s i t postdocs.gene .com. For a co m p l ete l ist i ng of c u rre nt postdoc o p po rt u n it i es a n d to a p p ly, p l ease v i s i t

ca reers .gen e. c o rn . G e n entec h i s a n eq u a l o p port u n i ty e m p l oyer.

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Genentech A Member of the Roche

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NewScientist Jobs

Incorporating ScienceJobs.com To apply online visit www. NewScientistJobs.com

East Coast Office

225 Wyman Street Waltham, MA 02451

Email N SSal es@N ewSc ient ist com Phone 781 734 8770 Fax 720 356 9217

West Coast Office 201 Mission Street, 26th Floor

San Francisco, CA 94105 Email [email protected] Phone 415908 3353 Fax 4155436789

Calls may be monitored or recorded for staff training pu rposes

B IOLOGY

Fo r more i nformation visit NewScientistjobs.com job I D :

Chemistry Regulatory Affairs 1400760862 Manager (00104) M on santo MO - M issouri

The Chemistry Regulatory Affairs Team is seeking a Regulatory Affairs Managerwho will work with a cross-functional team to build regulatory approval strategies, data and subm ission packages to obtain and maintain global approvals for Monsanto's chemical pesticide products,

Enterprise Senior Data Architect-TPS (OOOSQ)

The Lead Scientist - Statistical Geneticist will have responsibil ity for leading a team of Statistical Geneticists working in collaboration with other researchers across our Com Breeding organization, For m o re information visit

Monsanto

NewScientistjobs.com job I D :

MO - M issouri

1400767253

The successfu l candidate will work with the TPS team in the definition and implementation of ournext­ generation high-performance architecture capable of managing mUlti-petabytes of data,

For m o re information visit

Fo r more i nformation visit

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1400767239

1400767389

Engagement Manager (OOOSM)

Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry Scientist (001F2)

M on santo

Monsanto

MO - M issou ri

MO - M issouri

The accepted candidate will join the emerging field of IT systems i nformatics leveraging their training to play a key role i n defining and del ivering breakthrough science in high throughput R&D business platforms (Breeding, Breeding Technology, Biotechnology and Compliance) for Monsa nto,

The successfu l candidate will be responsible forinitiation and oversight of ecotoxicology studies accordi ng to Us., DEeD, and/or EU regulatory guidelines, and the preparation and review of ecological risk assessments and other documents to support registration of plant protection products,

For m o re information visit

Fo r more i nformation visit

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MO - M i ssou ri

1400764184

Monsanto Company, a global leader in agricultural biotech nology and crop protection chemicals, is seeking a PhD toxicologist to join the Toxicology Team in its Regulatory Product Safety Center,

Breast Cancer Post-doctoral Fellowship

Department of Med icine, Department of Cell B iology and

1400767259

Physiology MO - Missouri

ADME Scientist Position (R5R7) Pfizer U S MA - Massachusetts

The successful candidate will have experience to design, conduct and i nterpret lab experime nts to evaluate biotherapeutic disposition in pre-clinical models, and provide leadership to advance science related to ADME properties of novel biologics,

Advanced Postdoctoral Fellowship in Neurophysiology of Cognitive Disorders

Field Agronomist (OOlBY)

NewScientistjo bs.com job I D :

Monsanto

1400762802

For m o re information visit

Francisco ( UCSF) CA - California

Postdoctoral fellows and graduate students who have been well trained in electrophysiology and are interested in investigating pathophysiological mechanisms underlying cognitive dysfunction in mouse models of Alzhei mer's disease or related conditions are encouraged to a pply for advanced postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Professor Lennart Mucke,

IL - I l l inois

Fo r more i nformation visit NewScientistjobs.com job I D :

1400767254

Lead Scientist - Statistical Geneticist (OOODS)

Medicine, Division of Oncology,

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NewScientistj o bs.co m job I D :

Neurolog ical D i sease and the

Washington University School of

For m o re information visit

1400767231

U n i vers ity of Cal ifornia, San

Work independently to provide statistically sound experimental design and data analysis expertise to noncli nical i nvestigators within Genentech, Areas of su pport include scientists from Research, Development Sciences, Process R&O, and Product Operations,

Toxicologist (OOlBB)

NewScientistjobs.com job I D :

The successfu l candidate must possess a un ique combi nation of skills i ncluding outstanding applied agronomic experience; attention to detail that enables the conduct of high qual ity experiments per required protocol and committed tofollowing strict data collection parameters,

CA - California

Monsanto

1400767390

Gladstone Institute of

Biostatistician- Nonclinical Genentech

Breast Cancer Post-doctoral Fel lowship Washington Un iversity School of Medicine is one of the top five US medical schools based on NIH grants, The Division of Oncology and the Genome Center here are using next-generation genome sequencing on h u man cancers Fo r more information visit NewScientistjobs.co m j ob I D :

1400767744

Post-Doctoral Fellow (205233) Henry M Jackson Foundation M D - Maryland

Bioinformatics, Business Analyst (Translational Sciences/Ell Tools) Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (US) MA - Massachusetts

Actively work with NIBR scientists to u nderstand their needs Collect scientific user requi rements, plan and implement application changes by involving all relevant parties (e,g, IT QA Busi ness), Perform rapid prototypi ng to refine the requirements For m o re information visit

HJF provides administrative and management su pportto MHRP The Military HIV Research Program (MH RP) is dedicated to H IV vaccine development prevention, disease surveillance and care and treatment for H IV Fo r more informat i o n visit NewScientistjobs.co m j ob I D :

1400763843

Executive Director, Compliance Un iversity of M i ami, Miller School of Med icine

Monsanto

NewScientistjo bs.com job I D :

FL - Florida

lA - Iowa

1400764109

The Executive Di rectorof Research 1 May 2010 I NewScientist 1 51

www.NewScientistJobs.com

Compliance works directly with the Vice Provost for Research to oversee the Office of Research Compliance Assessment, the Export Control Compliance Program, the Financial Disclosure process and Conflict of Interest Management, the Scientific Misconduct i nvestigatory process, and the Administrative Support for Compliance Committees (IACUC, I BC, ESCRO),

programming actives in the Clinical Programming &: Writing (CPW) group, SAS programming is a core skill, but main focus of the position is oversight of extemal providers performing programming,

Fo r more i nformation visit

Computational Biolog ist

NewScientistj obs.com job ID:

Genentech

1400767780

BS/MS Oncology Antibody Drug Discovery Research Associate Novartis I n stitutes for B ioMedical Research (US) MA - Massach usetts

The successfu l candidate will be a key member of a dynam ic, multidisciplinary anti body discovery team tackling a n u mber of oncology targets, Your role will be to generate novel data that increases our biological understanding of emerging cancer targets and elucidates the mechanism of action of biotherapeutics at the molecular and cellular level, Fo r more i nformation visit NewScientistj obs.com job ID:

1400766325

Clinical Scientist!Assistant Medical Director B N ImmunoTh erapeutics, I n e . CA - Cal ifornia

The Clinical Scientist position is responsible for activities to support the clinical and translational development of poxviral based immunotherapy products for cancer. BN-lmmunoTherapeutics (BN IT) is developing active vaccine based immunotherapies in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute, Fo r more i nformation visit NewScientistj obs.com job ID:

1400767768

For m o re information visit NewScientistjobs.com job I D :

1400762736

We are seeking a highly motivated individual to help with infrastnuctu re development and analysis of next generation sequencing data for basic and appl ied research worikto help with enhancing our understa nding of cancer and other diseases, For m o re information visit NewScientistjobs.com job I D :

1400764171

Evaluation Zone Lead - Far Western Pioneer H i - Bred NE - Nebraska

The Eval uation Zone Lead is responsible for coordi nating and setti ng breeding strategies for research centers within the Far West Evaluation Zone (EZ) that will del iver competitively superior products to North America Business Unit Areas, For m o re information visit NewScientistjobs.com job ID:

1400763947

NewScientistjobs.com job I D :

Pfizer U S CT - Connecticut

Role is primarily responsible forthe project managementof statistical 52 1 NewScientist 1 1 May 2010

Faculty Position, Pharmacology and Toxicology Dartmouth Medical School NH - New Hampshire

Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research ( U S) MA - Massachusetts

1400767762

Imag ing Lab Scientist Senior Scientist / Principal Scientist Pfizer U S CT - Connecticut

For m o re i nfo rmation visit

Identify and develop in vitro assays uti lizing the multiphoton microscope for various Neuroscience drug discovery programs, Lead efforts with i ntemal partner lines to integrate confocal microscopy to enable data driven decisions,

NewSci entistjobs.com job ID:

1400760460

Postdoctoral Fellow, Structural and Functional Study of Immunoreceptors National Institute of Allergy &

For m ore i nformation visit

Infectious Diseases (N lAID),

NewScientistj o bs .com job ID:

National Institute of Hea lth

1400761826

( N I H) M D - Maryland

Liver Physiologist - CVMED Target Exploration Pfizer U S CT - Connecticut

A PhD level position is available in the Ca rdiovascu lar, Metabolic, and Endocrine Diseases (CVMED) group for a biologist with a background in hepatic lipid metabolism and/or insulin sensitivity. NewScientistj o bs .com job ID:

A postdoctoral position is available in stnuctural immunology at the National I nstitute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (N IAI D) to study the structure and fu nction of immune receptors and their ligand recognition using X-ray crystallography and immunological techniques, For m o re i nfo rmation visit NewSci entistjobs.com job ID:

1400767772

1400767693

Oncology Research Associate, Cephalon, Inc., Westchester, PA

Postdoctoral Position - Molecular Cieneties, Structure Function ProtonCoupled Folate/Antifolate Transporter - New York

Cepha lon

Albert Einste in College of

PA - Pen n sylvania

Medicine

This is an experienced tumor biologist with experience in Dnug Discovery a n d basic research for a n emerging Oncology company where full use and application of standard principles, theories, and techn iques are used to solve specific problems, interpret data, i nterpret data, and perform complex as well as routi ne work with a significant degree of independence shown,

A postdoctoral position is available for studies o n t h e stnucturefunction, molecular genetics, and biological/pharmacological properties of the proton-coup led folate transporter (PCFT) recently cloned by th is laboratory (Cell 127:917, 2006) and the mutations that are the basis forthe autosomal recessive disorder, hereditary folate

MA - Massachusetts

1400761844

Ph.D. scientist - Bacterial geneticist/bacterial physiologist

The Infectious Diseases department is looking for a PhD scientist to lead an antimicrobial discovery group in novel compound/target identification and mechanism of action studies wh ile utilizing new approaches to antimicrobial screening,

Pfizer U S

The individual will provide input and expertise in the development and execution of Global Regulatory CMC strategies for lifecycle management of commercially marketed biopharmaceutical products,

1400763559

For m ore i nformation visit

For m ore i nformation visit

Manager, Cilobal CMC, Biolog ies

For m o re i nfo rmation visit NewSci entistjobs.com job ID:

NewScientistj o bs .com job ID:

CA - Cal ifornia

For m o re information visit

Clinical Statistical Programmer - CPW (D3-Manager / D4-Associate Director)

Ourgoal is to recruit an established investigator and cancer/molecular biologist with expertise in the broadly defi ned area of molecu lar therapeutics with strengths in specific areas such as intracellular signaling, genome maintenance a n d stability, drug discovery and/ or stnuctural biology using modern experi mental model system.

NY - New York

www.NewScientistJobs.com

M emphis Health S cience Center

As a core memberof the Engineered Research Assoc Immune Proteins group, this Genentech individual will work closely with RU C A - Ca l ifornia project teams and Immume Protein We are seeking a highly motivated and i nteractive research associate screening scie ntists to develop a strategy to generate optimized with versatile technical expertise to immune protein therapeutic support a cancer target validation Candidates. program in MolecularBiology Fo r more i nfo rmat i o n visit Department.

TN - Tenn essee

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F o r m o re information visit

Postdoctoral position available to study physiological fu nctions and pathological alterations in ion channels and local and global calcium signals in arterial smooth muscle cells. Projects include studying IP3 receptors, TRP channels, voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels, and mitochondria.

1400760450

NewScientistjobs.com job I D :

ma labsoption. For m o re information visit NewScientistjobs.com j o b I D :

1400767740

POSTDOCTORAL POSITION U n iversity of Tennessee

For m o re information visit NewScientistjobs.com job I D :

1400767685

POSTDOCTORAL POSITION FOX CHAS E CANCER CEN TER PA - Pennsylvania

We are recruiting a new faculty memberwhowill complement and strengthen our ongoing programs in Epigenetics and Progenitor/Stem Ce ll Biology (EPC). We seekto fill a position at the Assista nt Professor level, but consideration will also be given to established investigators.

Promotional Regulatory Affairs Reviewer (Assoc Dirl Sr Mgr); 2 Positions AstraZeneca US D E - Delaware

NewScientistjobs.com job I D :

1400766151

Regulatory Information & Documentation

Management Specialist Pioneer H i - Bred lA - Iowa

NewScientistjobs.com j o b I D :

Compliance with agency regulations and corporate policies requi res rigorous systems for lifecycle maintenance as well as to provide efficient global access to all regulatory records in support of submissions forthe approval of biotechnology products.

Postdoctoral/Research Associate Position In Tumor Virology U n iversity of Pittsburgh Cancer I n stitute (UPCI)

Research Associate, Cancer Bioinformaties and Computational Biology of Drug Response Biomarkers

Responsible for review and approval Un iversity of Virginia of promotional material and VA - Virg in i a marketi ng activities for all Postdoctoral position as a research segments (HCR Consumer, associate is available immediately to Managed Marikets), media (print work in the discovery and validation broadcast electron ic), sales train ing, of drug response bioma rikers i n faculty traini ng, study recruitment cancer. Candidates should have advertisement and Corporate an outstandi ng record in graduate Affai rs communications. school. Excellent skills in oral and Fo r more i nfo rmation visit written English and the abilityto NewScientistj obs.co m job I D : work independently are required. 1400767445 For m o re information visit

For m o re information visit

1400767748

1400764174

Molecular, ce llular, transgenic and functional genomic approaches are being employed to define the molecular mechanisms whereby the RhoGDI2, Ral and associated bi nding partners affect the metastatic phenotype.

Fo r more i nfo rmation visit

For m o re information visit

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NewScientistjobs.com job I D :

1400764275

1400766150

Research Assistant

Research Scientist Nanoelectronies and Nanophotonics

For m o re information visit

HI - Hawa i i

Under direct supervision, performs tasks to assist scientific personnel in general or routine field and/ or laboratory operations. Perform tasks according to accepted methods and training prescribed by the work group.

1400767750

Principal Scientist! Sr. Principal Scientist Engineered Immune Proteins, Group Head

Fo r more i nfo rmation visit

Pfizer US

NewScientistj obs.co m job I D :

MA - Massachusetts

1400764280

NewScientistjobs.co m j o b I D :

1400766314

Scientist (Technology) Genentech CA - Califo r n i a We are seeking a Scientistto support drug discovery and early development in the Small Molecule Pharmaceutics group. The candidate will have broad responsibi lities spanning from supporting drug discovery through clinical development Phase 1 1 . Fo r more informati o n visit NewScientistjobs.co m j o b I D :

1400764178

Senior Manager, Global CMC, Biologies Pfizer U S MA - M assachusetts

The individual will provide i nput and expertise in the development and execution of Global Regulatory CMC strategies for lifecycle management of commercially mariketed biop harmaceutical products. NewScientistjobs.co m j o b I D :

1400761834

Un iversity of Virginia VA - Virg in i a

Current studies involve programmed framesh ifting, tumorigenesis and innate immune evasion for KSHV and MCV (a new human polyomavirus), as well as searches for other new h u man tumorviruses. NewScientistjobs.com j o b ID:

Fo r more informati o n visit

Fo r more informati o n visit

Research Associate, Signal Transduction and Cell Biology of Tumor Metastasis

PA - Pennsylvania

Pioneer H i - Bred

behavior of a variety of advanced materials.

Senior Research Scientist in Parallel Chemistry-Lava I, Qc, Can BOE H R I N G E R I N G ELHEIM (CANADA) Ltd . QC - Quebec

The candidate will work in close collaboration with multidisciplinary drug discovery teams (molecular and structural biology, pharmacology, computational chemistry, structural research and drug discovery support) to identify novel therapeutic agents forthe treatment of viral diseases. Fo r more informati o n visit

Sandia National Laboratories,

NewScientistjobs.co m j o b I D :

Cal ifornia

1400765264

CA - Cal ifornia

Department staff members conduct a broad and coordi nated array of experimental and theoretical research to identify and understand the fundamental physical mechanisms underlying the surface, interface, and transport

Sr Scientist (Technology) - In Vivo Pharmacology Genentech CA - California

Lead and manage implementation of in vivo pharmacology models for 1 May 2010 I NewScientist 1 53

www.NewScientistJobs.com

cancer targets of i nterest using translational and pharmacodynamic approaches to select lead drug candidates, Identify and validate biomarkers in a preclinical setting and detenm ine relationship to target modulation ad potent ia l for clinical translation,

Analyze and upload relevant data using local and enterprise data analysis tools and reporting results into the corporate database,

NewScientistj obs.com job ID:

B ioMed ical Research (US) MA - Massach usetts

The group focuses on stem cell biology and regenerative medicine, with the aim of developing therapeutics as wel l as cell-based research tools, The candidate will be expected to perform experi ments and evaluate data independently and contribute to experimental design, Fo r more information visit NewScientistj obs.com job ID:

1400768549

Genentech

Fo r m ore information visit

CA - Cal ifornia

NewScientistj o bs .com job ID:

1400763967

atthe laboratory and kilo-lab scale for ti mely delivery of early and mid­ phase sma ll molecu le development candidates in the growing GNE pipeline i n accordance with cGMP, ICH and FOA regulations, For m o re information visit NewScientistjobs.com job I D :

1400764200

CLIN ICAL Agronomic Research Associate - Fargo, ND (OOlLA) Monsanto NO - North Dakota

Tenure Track Position in Pharmacometrics Department of Bioengineering and the School of Pharmacy at the Un iversity of Washington WA - Wash ington

The Agronomic Research Associate will work with a team executi ng field research projects including, corn, soybean, cotton and chemistry, This is a unique opportunityto worik with leading edge technology and talented cross fu nctional teams such as Breeding, Commercial and Discovery Traits and Chemistry,

The primary appointment will reside in the Department of Bioengineering, School of Medicine, with a joint appoi ntment in the Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Ph a nmacy. Applications are sought at all levels i ncluding Assistant Associate or Full Professor. PhD., PhanmD or MD. degrees are requ ired.

Assay Validation Research Associate (OOlHC)

Fo r more information visit NewScientistj obs.com job ID:

1400767760

Brooke Anmy Medical Center (BAMC) in Fort Sa m, Houston, TX,

Sr Research Assoc (Chemistry)

For m o re information visit NewScientistjobs.com job I D :

Stem Cell Research Associate Discovering, developing and demonstrating process chemistry (DS!MS) N ovartis I n stitutes for

D E - Delaware

Clinical Research physicians are For m o re i nfo rmation visit involved in the design, conduct, NewScientistjobs.com job ID: monitoring, data i nterp retati on and 1400763401 reporting of cli nical trials, These individuals must ensure that all clinical studies operate to the Protein Engineering! h ighest ethical and safety standards Antibody Research Scientist and in compliance with GCP and Novartis Institutes for regulatory requi rements, BioMedical Research (US)

Fo r more information visit

1400764183

AstraZeneca US

MA - Massachusetts

Novartis is expanding its biologies capabilities, As part of this commitment the Nova rti s Institutes of Biomedical Research (NIBR) Director or Associate Director created the global Biologies Centerto enhance the growth - Health Exonomics & Outcomes Research of its biopharmaceuti cal pipel ine, AstraZeneca US 1400767447

D E - Delaware

For m o re i nfo rmation visit

Role Holderwill have responsibility to provide technical HE&OR expertise and supportfor drug projects, They will have responsibility to support and interact with Value Demonstration Directors in advising on, and undertaking where appropriate, innovative and evidence based Health Economic and/or Outcomes Research solutions to optim ize the price and value proposition,

NewScientistjobs.com job ID:

For m ore information visit NewScientistj o bs .com job ID:

1400767440

Medical Director (MD) Gen entech

1400767283

Protein Mass Spectrometry Research Associate Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (US) MA - Massachusetts

Analytical Sciences collaborates across all platfonms to comprehensively characterize molecules ranging from traditional small molecules to novel biotherapeutics and their effects in biological systems, A core fu nction is also to apply new technologies to benefit the Novartis research commun ity.

CA - Ca lifornia

For m o re i nfo rmation visit NewScientistjobs.com job ID:

Monsanto

Stays ab reast of internal and external developments (scientific, clinical, commercial, competitive, legal, regulatory and like) as such developments may implicate or otherwise impact the product pi peline and portfolio within the assigned therapeutic a rea(s) ,

MO - Missouri

Fo r m ore information visit

For m o re information visit NewScientistjobs.com job I D :

1400763053

NewScientistj o bs .com job ID:

1400766333

Research Scientist Pioneer H i - Bred lA - Iowa

Design, prototype, eval uate, implement and optimize novel algorithms, models and methods that investigate and address complex genetic problems with strategic and economic importance to Pioneers product development goals,

Senior Associate Scientist (RZ) ! Scientist (R3) - Sample QC

The team has access to state of the art sequenci ng and molecular biology facilities and equipment and is responsible for delivering genomic tools and assays to be applied in our high th roughput genotyping laboratories,

H enry M Jackson Foundation

For m o re i nfo rmation visit

Pfizer U S

For m o re information visit

TX - Texas

NewScientistjobs.com job I D :

NewScientistjobs.com job ID:

The Henry M, Jackson Foundation (HJF) is seeking a Nu rse Research Coordinatorforthe Military & Emergency Medicine Department/ Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC) located at the

CHEM ISTRY

CT - Connecticut

Provide concentration, identity, and purity determination by apply ing appropriate analytical methods using LCMS/UV/ELSD on samples that go for plate-based screening, 54 1 NewScientist 1 1 May 2010

1400767213

Director Clinical Research­ Ong lyza

1400764202

Nurse Research Coordinator (205330)

1400764293

Research Scientist - RNAi Therapeutics Novartis Institutes for

www.NewScientistJobs.com BioMedical Research (US) Research Associate or Sr. Research MA - Massachusetts Associate within the Protein The primary research goal of Engineering Department. this unit is the development of Fo r more i nformation visit NewScientistj obs.co m job ID: drug delivery technologies for therapeutic siRNA applications. 1400764180 This position will be part of a mu ltidisciplinary team focused ENG I N E E RING on using a variety of approaches Electrical Reliability to advance our mechan istic understanding of RNAi pathways Eng ineer (OOO]F) and aid in the deliveryoftherapeutic Monsanto siRNA lA - Iowa For m o re information visit An exciting opportunity to utilize NewScientistjo bs.com job I D : technology and make an impact 1400767834 within Monsanto Muscati ne Plant exists with in our Reliability Engineering Team. The Electrical Senior Director Clinical Re liability Engineer is responsible for imp lementing, monitoring, and Research- Neuroscience maintai ning processes that enhance Therapy Area manufactu ring Ast ra Zenec a US efficiency and maximize plant D E - Delaware The role of Senior Director Clinical productivity. Research provides medical in put Fo r more i nformation visit i nto the development and/or NewScientistj o bs.co m job ID: commercialization of AZ compounds 1400767382 by using detai led disease area knowledge to integrate Environmental Engineer knowledge i nto design of drug registration programs and (OOlHF) di ligence reviews of l icensi ng M onsanto ID - I daho candidates. For m o re information visit Performs hazardous waste site NewScientistjo bs.com job I D : inspections and recommends 1400767433 appropriate action to ma nagement in compliance with regulations. Pre pares, maintains and uses Senior Research Associate protective equ ipment. May Pioneer H i - B red perform tests or experiments lA - Iowa requiring the use of unconventional Works closely with Tra it Integ ration procedures and cu rrent line of instrumentation. group in ourefforts to select Fo r more i nformation visit appropriate markersfor each population to ensure efficient NewScientistjobs.com job ID: use of genotyping lab resources. 1400767215 Communicates with the Trait I ntegration group regarding all matters related to data quality and Sr Statistical Programmer provides feedback to the lab so that Analyst del ivery of the highest quality data Genentech is assured. CA California As a member of a Medical Affairs For m o re information visit NewScientistjobs.com job I D : projectteam the Senior Statistical Programmer Ana lyst applies 1400763949 advanced leve l programming techniques and leadersh ip tothe Sr Research Associate ­ plan ning, design, development, Chemical Biology implementation, and maintenance Genentech of software for the reporting and CA - California analysis of cl inical patient data. We are seeking an enth usiastic and Fo r more i nformation visit highly motivated biochemist to join NewScientistjobs.com job ID: 1400759639 a junior chemical biology group as a

Loo ki n g to h i re i n c l i n i ca l o n co l o gy? Cli nical Oncology Feature J u ne 5 issue of New Scientist.

O u r pa rt i c i pat i o n i n the New S c i e n t i st Cancer Featu re y i e l ded a tremen dous res ponse to the C a n cer/O nco l ogy pos it i o n s ava i l a b l e . We rece ived a l a rge n u m ber of ext re m e l y q u a l i f i ed a p p l ica nts, a n d a re the process of

h i r i ng

in

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res ponse we receive d .

1

Lara Hess, Children 's Memorial Research Center

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Reservat ions m u st be rece ived by May 26, 2 0 1 0 . E ma i l N S S a l es@N ewSc ient ist.com Ca l l 7 8 1 . 73 4 . 8 7 7 0 Fax 7 2 0 . 3 5 6 . 9 2 1 7

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1 M ay 2010 I NewScientist 1 55

For more feedback, visit www.NewScientist.com/feed back

FEEDBACK

URL and the quackometergoes

AFTER reading our report on Morning

through its pages and assigns

Chicness Bags, those must-have

it an appropriate number of

fashion accessories for vomiti ng

canards. We a re ha ppy to report

expectant mothers (17 March),

that newscientist.com gets

Jack Wretch felt he had to buy some

0/10 canards - despite our

for a relative who is "working to add

generous helping of quantums,

to the world's population". He says

and indeed vibrations - while

that "on going to amazon.com I was,

quantumhomeopathy.co.uk gets

being somewhat parsi monious,

a well-deserved 10/10. Could this

d i sappointed to find that 'Buy new'

be the universal index we have

was the only purchase option".

been seeking all these years? BROWSING through a catalogue

THE tea room in the Caulfield School

from electronics specialist

of Information Technology, part of

Maplin, Peter Duffell came across

Monash University in Victoria,

an item that is described as a

Australia, has a fine collection of higher degree theses. They are,

"heated hat".

Tom Peachey tel l s us, all in pristine

warm during those winter

This promises to "keep you

FRUITLOOPERY is, Feedback has

and continues through a total

condition and locked behind glass.

months" by means of a battery­

proposed, most readily detected

of 37 indicators. These include

All pristine, that is, except one that

powered heater " placed between

by the uncalled-for use of the

"40 points for claiming that the

has paper damage and some paint

ears area".

word "quantum" (10 June 2006 et

'scientific establishment' is

seq). Don Jewett proposes a more

engaged in a 'conspiracy' to

d ripped on the spine. Its title is: "Some Conservation Problems of

"wouldn't it be better described

subtle detector that can spot

prevent your work from gaining

Higher Degree Theses in Victorian

as a 'brain heater"' ? He goes

fractional fruitloopery, no less.

its well-deserved fame" and

University Libraries". Tom wonders

on to suggest it could be ideal for

"40 points for comparing yourself

if any Feedback readers know of

people with plenty of empty space

first five letters of'qua ntitative

to Galileo, suggesting that a

simi larly self-referential theses.

in that particular location.

easing' are the first five letters of

modern-day Inquisition is hard

'quantum', giving a detection­

at work on your case".

"For example," he writes, "the

coefficient of 5/7. The fruitloopery

This index, presented in 1998,

In that case, says Peter,

HERE is another strange

of'quantitative easing' in the

has proved its worth overtime,

recommendation courtesy of

fiscal sphere involves much spin,

but now, as Michael Ludgate

Amazon's algorithms (10 January

but perhaps it falls short of being

informs us, it has a challenger in

2009). Apparently, as the online

fully quantal."

the Quackometer developed by

retailer told Tim Stevenson, a popular

We'll happily endorse a

Andy Lewis (see quackometer.

trend among purchasers of Motorola

fractional fruitloopery index,

net). This observes that : " Several

V3 phones is to buy, in addition, a

especially one that applies to

people have noted how quack

Pest-Stop Electronic Rat Killer along

quantitative easing. But we feel

web sites use similar language and

with a Batman: Arkham Asylum game for the PS3.

the need for a further, underlying

vocabulary and once you can spot

scale of measurement - a universal

the patterns, spotting quackery is

crackpot standard, in fact.

easy. Quack words include

LAST month we mentioned

'energy', 'holistic', 'vibrations',

Oxo stock cubes in the context of

by the physicist John Baez. At

'magnetic healing', 'quantum'.

the note on the plastic wra pping

provoked by our report on the

bit.ly/crackpotindex, he starts

These words are usually borrowed

of subscribers' copies of New

"less fat" claims of Fry's Turkish

by giving every potential crackpot

from physics and used to promote

Scientist saying that it is "Oxo

Delight (6 March) into sending

a five-point starting credit,

dubious health claims."

degradable" (3 April). Now Lynne

us a scan of a U-Turn energy bar

One such has been proposed

FINALLY, Allen Lut ins was

Moffat informs us that she

packet featuring the claim:

for every word of their theses

the canard, to express quackery.

has just bought a pack of Oxo

"125 per cent less fat than the

written in CAPITAL LETTERS

You simply feed in a web site's

cubes for her kitchen and finds

leading chocolate ca ndy brands".

that they are "Same weight, NEW

How do they work that one out?

proceeds to add five points

The site proposes an SI unit,

shaped cube ! "

I n the lobby of the Sea Ta c H o l iday I n n nea r Seattle a i rport Richard Shield tells us, there is a s i g n saying "S h uttle leaves every half hour on the hour" 56 1 NewSci entist 1 1 May 2010

Not only that. Dominic Houghton notes that they are "New X-shaped cubes". He and Lynne both wonder if Oxo has pioneered a new development in geometry.

You can send stories to Feedba ck by email at [email protected]. Please inciudeyour home address, This week's and past Feedbacks can be seen on ourwebsite,

Last words past a n d p rese nt, plus q uestions, at

TH E LAST WORD

I n a spin

www. last-wo rd .com

proprioceptors - receptors in muscles and joints - help us to

Why don't adults enjoy dizziness

figure out how our body is

like children do? When I was a kid,

positioned in space, which is

I remember thinking that adults

particularly helpful if we cannot

were rather boring for not enjoying the feeling of d izziness like I did,

d ifferent rates.

and I vowed to always enjoy it. N ow,

see. These elements mature at The vestibular system is fully

as an adult, I can't stand it - it makes

operational by the time a child

me want to throw up. It seems many

has reached 6 months of age,

other adults feel the same way. Why

proprioceptors need three or four

is this? Does something change in us as we age?

years more. The development of the visual element is complete by around 16 years of age.

• I still remember my first - and so far last - tri p to a fairground.

The sensation of dizziness and nausea following a spinning

I was 15 and vomited after a ride

movement is similar to motion

on a merry-go-round. I couldn't

sickness - a result of the

understand why my brother, who

conflict ing information our brain

is three years younger than me,

receives from the three elements

stayed for another ride.

mentioned above.

This week's questions

defrosted, the bottle was no longer full (see photo, below). The bottle was corked and the cork was

FUNNY ONION

retained by a champagne-style

If, after peeling an onion then

wire cage. Both the cork and the

feeling of dizziness - just look at

speed our vestibular system and

topping and tailing it, I wait

wire appeared intact. Where has

how roundabouts in parks and

propioceptors can feel it, but our

before chopping it, the middle

the missing wine gone?

playground s are packed with

eyes can't locate the horizon.

segments push up and outwards

Nigel Healey By em ail, no address supplied

Children obviously enjoy the

"Youngsters need the stimulation of dizziness to d evelop a h ealthy balance system"

When our body is rotating at

Our brain is desperately trying to

(see photo, above). Why ?

resolve this conflict and, because

Alan Middleton Weymouth, Dorset, UK

humans a re primarily visual, it assumes that the other senses are halluc inating, probably because

TOPSY-TURVY WORLD

of intoxication. So the brain tries

Why don't bats get dizzy

youngsters. They need that

to get rid ofthe assumed poison

when they hang upside down?

stimulation to develop a healthy

by provok ing vomiting.

Or do they?

balance system, which is necessary to crawl, walk and keep

It looks as if my brother's balance system had n't fully

their bodies upright, even on a

matured at the time of our trip

rocking boat.

to the fairground, hence his brain

Years Christopher Hatton School, London, UK

wasn't perceiving the sensory

WINE T H I E F

controlled by three senses

information as conflicting.

During t h e recent cold snap I

cooperating in complex harmony.

Therefore, he could enjoy his

inadvertently left a full bottle of

The vestibular system in our inner

ride on the merry-go-round

sparkling wine outside the back

ear informs us about the position

while, unfortunately, his older

door. It was frozen solid when I

of our head; our eyes tell us how

sister could not.

found it. I brought it inside and

our body is located in relation to

Joanna Jastrzebska North Shields, Tyne & Wear, UK

allowed it to defrost at room

Our balance system is

the external world; and

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