N

N AT U R E SCIENCE PEOPLE S PAC E

E
W
Earth Magazine Issue four February 2017

Search for
an astronaut
NATUR E

7 ANIMALS
THAT LOVE Reality TV
EACH OTHER
FOR LIFE goes orbital

PEOPLE

MEET THE

Look NOMADS
FACING A

out
SEA CHANGE
The scary
secrets of
predatory
plants

SPACE SCIENCE

HOW HUMAN
COMPUTERS
Its the new
WON THE rocknroll!
SPACE RACE Liz Bonnin
Issue four 3.99 February 2017

02
PLUS SPY IN THE WILD YOSEMITE ON FIRE EXTREME WEATHER
124 PAGES OF AMAZING ANIMALS, IDEAS AND SCIENCE 9 772398 964004 >
 From the editor
This month

February

073
THE RIGHT STUFF

FEEDBACK

Let us know what you

think of BBC Earth
magazine by emailing
bbcearthmagazine@
therivergroup.co.uk. This
magazine is yours, even
more than ours. Help us
plot its destiny. Thank
you for joining us, and
see you next month.

Could you be an astronaut?
Thats one of the questions
we pose in this months issue
of BBC Earth. An upcoming
BBC reality TV show puts
12 volunteers through some
of the actual training that NASA
Cover photographs: Alamy, NASA, Vivien Cumming. This page: Alamy
after reading Matilda Battersbys piece (page 52)
on the real women behind the story, and how they
put the US back in the Cold War space race, all the while
experiencing sexism and segregation.
Its not a completely spacey issue this month,
however. We celebrate Valentines Day by looking
at the animals that pair up for life, and Angela Saini

applicants undergo, so we look uncovers some fascinating insights into the

at what qualities you need to do one of the toughest
jobs in the universe. The first Brit in space, Helen
Sharman, tells us how she earned her place on the Juno
mission, and we get a sneak peek inside the capsule
that took Tim Peake to the International Space Station
and back again and which you can now see at the
Science Museum in London.
I am pretty sure I will never be an astronaut (I dont
have the maths for one thing, and long-haul travel is
not my favourite activity) but the more I look, the more
fascinating I am finding the whole subject of our place
in space. Ill be heading to the South Downs Dark Sky
Reserve for some of its stargazing events this month
for sure, and cannot wait to see the film Hidden Figures
neuroscience of bonding on page 80.
We also salute the Gyps vulture, an unsung hero
whose natural instincts at waste disposal save humans
billions each year. I was shocked at the stats showing
their steep decline in numbers over the past 30 years.
And we go down to the woods or ancient woodland
specifically to find out what Team Earth can do
to protect an irreplaceable part of our landscape.
I love plants, so the feature on the freakiest
frankenflowers youll ever come
across, with Katie Scotts
illustrations, was a joy, too.
As always, let us know what
you think of the issue.

/ 003
 BACK FROM SPACE
078
N AT U R E
020 SPY IN THE WILD
We go behind the scenes of the BBC TV show
048 RARE EARTH - VULTURES
They may not be pretty, but vultures are vital as
natures waste disposers and as their numbers
dwindle, the consequences are far-reaching
058 ANATOMY OF THE SNAKE
Unexpected facts about natures most slippery customers
066 BIZARRE BOTANY
From a metre-wide flower that smells of rotting flesh
to the carnivorous plants that trap their prey in glue,
discover some of the worlds most wicked weeds
080 ANIMAL LOVE
It seems were not alone in wanting a lifelong bond with
a partner, as a surprising number of animals mate for life
088 TEAM EARTH: HERITAGE TREES
The UK has a huge number of ancient trees and woods but
did you know these leafy landmarks are not protected?
110 CABINET OF CURIOSITIES
Our series on the collection at the Field Museum of Natural
History continues with a sorry tale of overhunting
080
TRUE ROMANCE
004 / / FEBRUARY 2017
Contents
SCIENCE
043 DREAM JOB ENTOMOLOGIST
Fascinated by flies? Bees give you a buzz? Find out
how you could work in the world of creepy crawlies
062 TERRIFIC SCIENTIFIC
We meet TV presenter Liz Bonnin, a woman on a mission
to get kids interested in science and the natural world
096 WEATHER FORECASTING
Will it be a barbecue summer? Will Christmas be white?
Weather forecasting is an imperfect art, but the experts
have a new weapon in their armoury our smartphones
104 ANIMAL MAGNETISM
Discover the bright sparks of the natural world that taught
us how to harness and generate electricity
PEOPLE
026 PHOTOGRAPHY MASTERCLASS
Its conservation first, image second for photographer
Luke Massey. Plus: share your photos with us
031 IT SHOULDNT HAPPEN TO A PRESENTER
CBeebies My Pet and Me frontwoman Ferne Corrigan tells
all about working with animals and children
034 OCEAN NOMADS
Vivien Cumming meets the Bajau people of the Coral
Triangle spear-fisherfolk who spend their lives at sea
114 TRAVEL: STARGAZING TRIPS
Want to see the galaxy in all its splendour? Check out our
rundown of the best astronomy spots at home and abroad
043
BUG DETECTIVES
 Contents
February

062
020
MEET THE ANIMAL SPY BOTS
HANDS-ON
SCIENCE

S PAC E

052 NASAS HIDDEN HEROES

The black female computers of 1950s NASA were
instrumental in getting the first man on the moon but
they are only now getting the recognition they deserve

073 COULD YOU BE AN ASTRONAUT?

As a new BBC show starts a search for candidates with the
right stuff, we find out just what it takes to go into space

078 HOW DOES A SPACE CAPSULE WORK?

We have a nose around the Soyuz shuttle that took Major
Tim Peake to the International Space Station and back,
and find out what all those buttons do

REGULARS

008 A WORLD LIKE NO OTHER

Our planet in awe-inspiring pictures: mirror-like Bolivian
salt flats, wildebeest calving and Yosemites firefall

014 NEWS OF THE EARTH

Stories from the frontline of the natural world

016 WATCH LIST

The best things to read, view and download this month

019 WHATS ON
AROUND THE UK

088
Countrywide events

025 IN FOCUS: NOT OUT OF

SMART WATCHES THE WOODS
Find out what makes the latest
multitasking timepieces tick

102 SUBSCRIPTIONS
SPECIAL OFFER
Get three issues of BBC Earth for just 3

112 COMPETITION
Win a luxury family holiday worth 3,000

113 LETTERS
Your views on BBC Earth magazine

117 CURIOUS WORLD

The big questions answered in easily digestible chunks

034
A LIFETIME AFLOAT
120 EARTH BY NUMBERS

122
Thailands vital statistics

WHAT ON EARTH?
Can you guess the answer to our photo challenge?
Contributors
PHOTOJOURNALIST
VIV CUMMING
Viv Cumming is an earth
scientist and photojournalist
who loves to tell stories where
science and humanity are
interlinked. On page 34 she
meets the Bajau people of the
Coral Triangle, who spend
their entire lives at sea and
catch fish by diving without
tanks of air. What struck her
most about the people she
met was how relaxed they
were in the water, as if they
belonged among the fish. This
assignment was special as
Ive never before met people
so in tune with nature; every
aspect of their lives involves
the sea, she says.
WRITER
DAV I D C R O O K E S
Journalist David Crookes
is from Manchester, so he
knows a thing or two about
the weather! Not only does he
always keep a brolly handy,
hes never too far from his
phone, so he was interested
to learn that scientists are
using data collected from
smartphones to make more
precise forecasts (page 96).
Published by The River Group, Garden Floor, 16 Connaught Place, London W2 2ES Telephone 020 7420 7000 Fax 020 7583 8598 Email bbcearth magazine@
therivergroup.co.uk; bbcearthmagazine.com River Publishing Ltd 2016 ISSN: 2398-9645 To advertise in BBC Earth, call 020 7420 6527. No part of this
magazine may be reproduced without the permission of the publisher. Colour reproduction by Zebra. Printed by Precision Colour Printing Ltd. This magazine
is printed on chlorine-free paper from a sustainable source. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the publisher, but of individual writers.
Prices correct at time of going to press. Subscriptions and back issues: Telephone 01293 312135 Email bbcearthmagazine@subscriptionhelpline.co.uk
Post BBC Earth Magazine, Intermedia Brand Marketing Ltd, Unit 6 The Enterprise Centre, Kelvin Lane, Manor Royal, Crawley, West Sussex RH10 9PE.
Subscriptions for 12 issues: UK 47.88; Europe and Eire 60; Rest of World 72
006 / / FEBRUARY 2017
I L L U S T R AT O R
K AT I E S C O T T
Katie Scott is an illustrator
who has worked with Kew
Gardens on Botanicum , a new
book featuring incredible
plant species (page 66). The
weirdest plant she illustrated
was the stinking corpse flower,
which looks like something
from an alien planet. She says,
It was the most fun Ive had
as an illustrator.
034
BAJAU PEOPLE
WRITER
M AT I L DA B AT T E R S B Y
Freelance journalist Matilda
Battersby is our acting
managing editor. She has
a passion for history and
science, which converge
in Reaching for the Moon
(page 52), about the African-
American women who helped
propel the first US astronauts
into space. She says she was
overawed by their strength.
Editor Celia Woolfrey
Art director Matt Ford
Consultant editor Carolyn Fry
Acting managing editor Matilda Battersby
Chief sub-editors Jo Hooper/Vic Davies
Editorial assistant Yashi Banymadhub
Picture editor Beverley Ballard
Production director Nigel Mackay
Senior production manager Martin Black
Advertising director Daniel Connor
Ad production manager David Ryder
Sales exec Bethany Stuart
Classified executive Paul Aird
Inserts manager Tszkwan Chan
Head of digital Pares Tailor
Digital manager Andy Greening
Group promotions manager Sally Gue
Promotions manager
Kelly Ashoush
Creative director, new business
development Jonathan Clayton-Jones
Editorial operations director
Mary Frances
Group publisher (launches) Sharon Kirby
Publisher (launches) Becca Bailey
Publishers assistant (launches)
Kate McGovern
Financial controller Gavin Love
Editorial content director Claire Irvin
Managing director Jackie Garford
Finance director Keith Amess
Chief executive officer Nicola Murphy
BBC Worldwide
Director of editorial governance
Nicholas Brett
Director of consumer products and
publishing Andrew Moultrie
Head of UK publishing Chris Kerwin
Commercial brand manager
Jonathan Williams
Publisher Mandy Thwaites
Publishing co-ordinator Eva Abramik
UK.Publishing@bbc.
com; bbcworldwide.
com/uk--anz/
ukpublishing.aspx
PEFC Certified
This product is
from sustainably
managed forests and
controlled sources
PEFC/16-33-1007 www.pefc.org
 Welcome
February

All about us
Welcome to BBC Earth - now join us
on a thrilling journey of discovery

nature science people space

Theres nothing more spectacular, important, dramatic and REGULARS

exhilarating than life on this planet. Each month we invite you
to explore the fascinating world of BBC Earth, finding out
about everything from the smallest creatures under the
microscope to the limitless expanses of space.
Our magazine is part of the BBC Earth family, and you can
enjoy other BBC Earth content on television, on the web
(bbc.com/earth), through virtual reality experiences and
other digital apps and also across our social channels including
Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
Dive into our pages for amazing imagery, timelines, infographics
and stories that bring you face-to-face with heart-pounding
action, mind-blowing ideas and the wonder of being human.
Every month to help you (and your children) find your way
around the magazine youll recognise these regular features:
Adventure hackers Ever dreamed of being an astronaut or
a polar bear researcher? We ask the professionals how they
started out, and show you how you can, too
A world like no other The best of our planet in pictures
Earth news Stories from the frontline of the natural world
Rare Earth Showcasing species on the brink of extinction
Earth masterclass Your essential guide to upgrading
your own photos
Anatomy of Discover the talent for adaptation of Earths
most extraordinary creatures.

T E A M
Look out for these icons
TEAM EARTH
that appear throughout the
Get behind
magazine. They signpost DID YOU KNOW? FIND OUT MORE solutions to the
ways to drill down into Fascinating facts and Follow links for more issues facing
content and get involved. background to the stories in-depth information our planet

Follow BBCEarth across D I G I TA L E D I T I O N

social media to find out
Download BBC Earth to your tablet
even more and tell us
what you think. Digital magazine available on

Letters bbcearthmagazine@therivergroup.co.uk (please mark if not for publication)

Saleros harvesting
the salt create these
distinctive mounds
on the surface of the
Salar de Uyuni

Mirror, mirror

008 / / FEBRUARY 2017


he mirror-like Salar de Uyuni, the
T worlds largest salt flat, is almost
indistinguishable from the horizon
above it at this time of year. You
could probably see your face in it.
The 12,000sq km salt-encrusted prehistoric lakebed
Words: Matilda Battersby. Photographs: Alamy
is located in Potosi, southwest Bolivia, near the crest of
the Andes, 3,660m above sea level. It is almost 100
times larger than the famous Bonneville Salt Flats in
Utah, USA, and so flat that NASA uses its surface to
calibrate sensors on board satellites.
During the dry season, from May to October, the
surface crust of sodium chloride more than 10m
deep in places is parched and cracked and looks as
though it belongs on another planet. But, come the
A world like no other
February
rainy season (roughly November to April), it is often
covered with a shallow layer of water, which makes
it hard to tell where land ends and the sky begins.
For years, only intrepid tourists and saleros (salt
gatherers) have made it to this remote place. But
now the Bolivian government has ambitious plans
for mineral extraction that will bring big changes to
the isolated landscape.
The region is believed to contain the biggest store
of lithium in the world in demand for its use in
lightweight batteries. Plans to link this remote area
to the modern world via new infrastructure are
underway, with the mineral wealth hidden beneath
this pristine reflective surface leading some to predict
Bolivia will be the Saudi Arabia of the 21st century.
 he plains of the southern Serengeti Serengeti, which extends from northern Tanzania

T become a giant maternity ward in

February, as wildebeest calves are
born in their thousands. Around
8,000 calves come into the world each day making
a total of about 300,000 over the calving season.
Wildebeest also called gnu or wildebai band
together in herds tens of thousands strong because
theres safety in numbers. The bigger the group, the
less risk an individual faces of being picked out by a
to southwest Kenya. For many, life is an endless
journey, moving around 3,000km each year in a more
or less clockwise direction following the rains,
because where that falls, the grazing is lush and
theres water to drink.
If you want to spot wildebeest, or youre a lion on
the hunt for a meal, the predictability of their
relentless migration is great news. But, as a member
of the agile antelope family, the wildebeest are far

Words: Matilda Battersby. Photograph: iStock

predator such as a lion, hyena or cheetah.
The herd forms a barrier around
female wildebeest while they give birth,
and immediately afterwards, when the
newborns are finding their feet. Calves
learn to walk within minutes of being
born, and within days can keep up with
the rest of the herd. There are an
estimated 1.5 million wildebeest in the
from being easy prey and predators
must work hard for a kill. Grazing
alongside the wildebeest are zebras
and gazelles both react quickly to
To watch a short clip
the threat of attack, and provide an
of the migration
from Natures Great early warning system for the herd,
Events, visit which can stampede for safety, and
bbc.in/2h1DwON reach top running speeds
of as much as 80km/h.

010 / / FEBRUARY 2017

 A world like no other
February

Gnu-born babies

February is peak calving

season for wildebeest in
the Serengeti when their
vast numbers help to shield
the calves from predators
In February if the
conditions are perfect
the rays of the setting
sun fall on Yosemites
Horsetail waterfall
and set it alight

012 / / FEBRUARY 2017

 A world like no other
February

In full glow
oud be forgiven for mistaking this clear, there must be snow at the very top of

Y cascade of red for volcanic lava.

But it is actually the wet stuff
El Capitan mountain (to feed the waterfall with
snowmelt) but the temperatures need to be
Words: Matilda Battersby. Photograph: Alamy

a waterfall transformed into a warm enough for the water to be flowing.

firefall, one of natures rarest phenomena.
Its a spectacle you might get the chance to see at
the 300m Horsetail Fall in Yosemite National Park,
California, on just a few days in February each year.
When the conditions are right, the rays of the
setting sun seem to set the stream of water ablaze,
creating a luminescence lasting up to 10 minutes.
But it doesnt happen every year: the sky must be
If it is too cold, it is raining, or the sky is overcast
then the many photographers and spectators who
gather here annually will go home disappointed.
The first well-known colour photograph of the
firefall was taken in 1973 by Galen Rowell. But it
wasnt until the dawn of digital cameras and
photo-sharing sites like Instagram that this
Yosemite firefall achieved worldwide fame.

Listen to a clip
about what its like
to witness the
Horsetail firefall at
bbc.in/2hLsnCU
 Wangchuk (standing, far
right) with students who
helped build an ice stupa
that brought irrigation water
to Ladakhi farmers; he plans
to build 20 more

News
of the
Earth

Thanks to chimpan-seeds
Next time you munch on a chocolate bar,
think of chimpanzees. Researchers have
found that wild chimps in the Republic of
Guinea, West Africa, are helping farmers to
cultivate cocoa plants by dispersing the seeds.
After eating the pulp, chimpanzees spit out
the seeds or, erm, expel them from the
other end. Farmers later tend to the saplings,
clearing trees so sunlight can reach them.
This symbiosis reveals the ability of wildlife
to coexist in human-impacted habitats,
says lead author of the study Dr Kimberley

Words: Matilda Battersby, Yashi Banymadhub. Photographs: iStock, Shutterstock, Science Daily
Hockings from Oxford Brookes University.

News from the museum

The Natural History Museum is set for a big
transformation this year. Dippy the Diplodocus,
the 21m replica that has had pride of place in
Hintze Hall since 1979, is to be replaced with
a vast blue whale skeleton. The blue whale
was one of the first animals that humans took
the decision to protect from extinction, so Sir
Michael Dixon, director of the Natural History
Museum, thinks it is a perfect symbol of hope for
a sustainable future. The museum will also bring
back its Sensational Butterflies exhibition next
month, and introduce after-hours events such as
grown-up sleepovers throughout the year.

014 / / FEBRUARY 2017

 From the frontline
February

Super stupa
The desert-like climate 3,500m up in
Ladakh, India, is extreme: the winters are
long and bitterly cold, and in summer,
water is scarce. Farmers rely on glacial
meltwater during the April and May
planting season. But, with the retreat
of the glaciers due to climate change,
theres less of that when they need it.
Teacher and mechanical engineer
Sonam Wangchuk has come up with an
Chemicals in road
ingenious solution. Hes found a way
salt have been
of piping water from winter snow-melt found to adversely
streams that no one can make use of, affect frog biology
letting it freeze in the cold air and
storing it as an ice stupa named after
the mound-like Buddhist monuments of
Salt at fault for female frog decline
Ladakh and Tibet until it melts in spring.
Every winter, councils grit our roads and pavements to keep the
How can water flow high in the
traffic moving safely. But a new study has revealed that the road
mountains, but freeze at lower levels? salt they use can wash into ponds and have an alarming impact
Its to do with surface area. A flat ice field on the frogs that breed there. The research found that naturally
at altitude melts faster in the sun than occurring chemicals in the road salt have a masculinising effect,
a vertical cone of ice in the valley. altering tadpole biology and turning females into males in the early
stages of development. Researchers from Yale University in
Wangchuk builds the stupa by spraying
Connecticut and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York
the water from a spike at the end of the say that where there was exposure to road salt, the number of
pipe it freezes in the cold air as it falls. females was reduced by 10 per cent, and female frogs were also
In 2015, the first stupa brought 1.5 found to produce fewer eggs and of a lower quality.
million litres of water to 5,000 saplings
planted near Phyang, 14km from Leh.

Be happy,
live longer
Its official: optimists may live
longer than pessimists. Of the
70,000 women who were
monitored as part of an
eight-year study by Harvard TH
Chan School of Public Health,
those who had a positive reaction
to setbacks were 52 per cent less
likely to die from infection, No need to protist
39 per cent less likely to die of
How do you find your dinner if you live
stroke, 38 per cent less likely
underground and cant see anything? You sniff it
to die of heart and respiratory
out. Like the mole that uses scent to find its prey,
disease, and 16 per cent less
tiny single-celled organisms called protists have
likely to die of cancer. The study
been found to target their desired meal soil
also found that low-cost
bacteria using scent. Ecologists have long
interventions, such as writing
known that soil bacteria emit scents, caused by
down positive outcomes for
volatile organic compounds, as a way of talking to
different areas of life, could help
each other, but they have now discovered that the
Tuning in to the beauties boost optimism. Watch out for the
protist eavesdrops on the communication
of nature boosts your BBCs upcoming Real Happiness
between bacteria. Because soil bacteria cause
optimism levels, Project, which will look at other
plant disease, scientists at the Netherlands
scientists are finding factors that promote wellbeing.
Institute of Ecology are keen to develop protists
as a form of biological pest control, which could
have far-reaching implications for agriculture.
 Words &
pictures
The best of this months
books, apps and TV
Words: Yashi Banymadhub. Photographs: Sara Mulvanny, Brett Lowell, Anchorage Skijor Club

FILM

Young Guns
Taking in some epic locations from Norway to Japan, this vertigo-inducing short film
tells the story of two incredible young climbers: 15-year-old Ashima Shiraishi from
New York and 16-year-old Kai Lightner from North Carolina (pictured). Hanshelleren
cave, capped by a 260-foot slab of overhanging granite, can intimidate even the
most experienced of climbers, but not Ashima. For her, this is just a warm-up,
and the climax of the film documents her journey to the far east, where she scales
Mount Hiei and becomes the first woman and the youngest person to climb a grade
V15 boulder problem (a type of rock-climbing performed without harnesses).
senderfilms.com, 16 to download, 20 on DVD

BOOK
Quantum nonsense?
Everything You Know About Science is Wrong is the
latest hilarious myth-busting book from Matt Brown
(following on from Everything You Know About London
is Wrong). This time hes challenging the basic facts
of our existence, covering everything from the laws
of nature to the theoretical physics proposition that
particles can pop in and out of reality or quantum
nonsense, as he calls it. Youll find yourself questioning
if you are actually human or whether we live in a
four-dimensional universe. Its a highly entertaining read
from the former stand-up comedian, and itll leave you
questioning everything youve ever thought to be true.
Pavilion Books, 9.99
App: 3D Bones and Organs
Discover the intricacies of the human
body with this free educational app.
Choose from 10 different organs and
body parts, then conduct a virtual
dissection, navigating your way
through the human anatomy. You
can tilt each organ to view it from
different angles and test yourself
with a quiz. The new version now
comes with audio pronunciation
for bone names, great for helping
children learn how to say these long
words, and a memory aid for older
medical students. Available on
Android and iPhone.

016 / / FEBRUARY 2017

 Watch list
February

The UK and Ireland leg of the
2017 Banff Tour begins this
month, featuring the best films
from the Banff Mountain Film
Festival that takes place in
Canada each year. Some 60 films
celebrating mountain culture and
adventure sports are chosen from
the 300 entered. A jury then
selects the top films for awards,
among them Young Guns (left)
which won the Peoples Choice for
Radical Reels. Dont miss Dog
Power (below) for a celebration of
mountain spirit across the globe.
For tickets, go to banff-uk.com.
BOOK
Total eclipse
Eclipse chasers are devoted astronomers who
spend their time travelling the world to get the best
view of these celestial phenomena. One such is
Frank Close, Professor of Physics at the University
of Oxford, and his book, Eclipse, Journeys to the Dark
Side of the Moon, documents his lifelong obsession
that began when he first observed a solar eclipse,
aged eight. Compelled to discover more about them,
he braves a war zone in the Western Sahara to try to
understand the 3,000-year-old mystery described in
the Book of Joshua, in which the moon was said to
move backwards. These optical illusions, and the
myths and legends woven around them, make for
some fascinating reading.
Oxford University Press, 12.99

FILM

Dog Power
In the world of action sports, a good teammate is loyal, doesnt judge you and has got
your back in any situation. Which is why dogs make such great team players! The
unbreakable bond between human and dog is at the heart of this short film about
canine-powered sports activities that attract tens of thousands of people around
the world, from Europe to South America and Australia. We meet dozens of canine
athletes and their human teammates, and watch them train, play and race
together. We also learn about the growing number of sports that people and their
pooches can take part in, including dog sled racing, canicross (running with
dogs), skijoring (dog-powered skiing) and scooter-joring (youve guessed it
scootering with dogs). Its the ultimate feel-good film for dog lovers.
dogpowermovie.com, 5.75

BOOK

Journey into space

Shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book award for Best Book With Facts,
Destination: Space is a vividly illustrated, encyclopedic hardback covering
all aspects of space for inquisitive minds from interstellar clouds
to black holes, space robots to aliens, earth cycles to moon phases.
Astrophysics professor Dr Christoph Englerts insightful depictions
of our universe are brought to life by Tom Clohosy Coles eye-popping
illustrations, plus it comes with a giant double-sided poster showing the
beauty of the night sky on one side and an illustration of our galaxy on
the other. Sure to keep budding astronomers engrossed for hours.
Wide Eyed Editions, 12.99
 Events
February

WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER
OF THE YEAR, UNTIL
19 FEBRUARY, EDINBURGH

Whats
T most prestigious collection of
The
nature photography comes to Scotland.
n
See 100 stunning images of wild
S

on this
animals and landscape from the nature
a
photographers of 96 different countries,
p
and experience events in nature that you
a

month?
may never get to see with your own eyes.
Free entry. Visit nms.ac.uk

Find talks, workshops

and more, countrywide ANIMAL MUMMIES
REVEALED, UNTIL
26 FEBRUARY, LIVERPOOL
Animals in Ancient Egypt were mummified
as an offering to the gods. See a display of
NORTHERN IRELAND SCIENCE specimens including jackals, cats and
FESTIVAL, 16-26 FEBRUARY, birds, and discover how science and CT
BELFAST AND BEYOND imaging (x-rays of structures within the
body) can give insights into how these
With more than 100 events celebrating
animals lived and their environment. Free
science, technology, engineering and maths
entry. Visit liverpoolmuseums.org.uk
to awaken the science geek within us, this
festival is the biggest annual science event
in Northern Ireland. There are daytime
shows and workshops for young children
and evening events to inspire and educate BIRDWATCHING AT NEWTOWN
adults. For prices and bookings, visit NATIONAL NATURE RESERVE,
nisciencefestival.com 21 FEBRUARY, ISLE OF WIGHT
At the Newtown National Nature Reserve
you can spot visiting winter birds and year-
round resident birds. This event is an intro
to birdwatching and is aimed at families.
Theres a guided walk and youll learn
FROST LAB, AT-BRISTOL SCIENCE
to use binoculars. Free with admission
CENTRE, UNTIL 27 FEBRUARY
charge. Visit nationaltrust.org.uk
Head to Frost Lab, which is At-Bristols
seasonal lab where children aged seven-
plus explore all things chilly. You will get to
test materials to see how they behave when
hot or cold, and theres a fun dressing-up BRIGHTON SCIENCE FESTIVAL,
activity with foil blankets and sleeping bags 11-17 FEBRUARY, BRIGHTON
to see which is best at keeping you toasty. Half-term week is chock-a-block with
Open everyday from 10am to 4pm. Free with thrilling science activities looking at
admission charge. Visit at-bristol.org.uk everything from cockroaches to coding,
giant drawing machines to microscopic
organisms. Join the BBC One Shows
resident scientist Dr Marty Jopson and
GALAPAGOS: WILDLIFE, other big scientists for some spectacular
BIRDS AND DARWIN, demonstrations. For prices and bookings,
8 FEBRUARY, TAVISTOCK, DEVON visit brightonscience.com
Words: Yashi Banymadhub. Photographs: iStock

Evolution still has some people in a flap, so

birdwatcher Ian Gaspers illustrated talk
should be insightful and entertaining. Hes
been to the Galapagos Islands in search of
Darwins finches, whose variations gave a
clue to how species adapt to survive. 3
donation. Visit devonwildlifetrust.org

Are you involved with an event of interest to readers

of BBC Earth magazine? If so, please do let us know.
Email details to: bbcearthmagazine@therivergroup.co.uk

/ 019
 Unmissable
viewing
this month

020 / / FEBRUARY 2017

 Television
February

Spy
in the
Wild

From grieving monkeys to respectful giraffes, TV spy-cams have

captured some of the most incredible footage ever seen on BBC One,
showing the remarkable links between animal and human behaviour
 Television
February

The animatronic
ow would you feel if a robot that looked like animals are designed

H you, and even sounded a lot like you, joined

your family uninvited and turned its beady
to look, move and
make the same
sounds as the species
camera eyes on what you were up to? they are spying on
We might not like it much ourselves, but animals respond
quite differently, which has made for brilliant TV in Spy in the
Wild, as a host of animatronic animals housing top camera
equipment brought us up close to some eye-opening
behaviour. In fact, the programme revealed a greater
spectrum of emotions and understanding among our furry
and scaled cousins than we humans give them credit for.
We saw langur monkeys in India adopt - and then grieve
for - a baby monkey that was actually an animatronic; we
witnessed the first wobbly steps of a newborn elephant calf
thanks to an animatronic tortoise so realistic it wandered
undetected among the herd; and we watched a procession
of giraffes apparently paying respect to a deceased elder.
Its not the first time cameras have been hidden in this way:
we saw it in Dolphins: Spy in the Pod and Penguins: Spy in the
Huddle, which used a camera hidden in a remote-controlled
ice boulder. But Spy in the Wild is some of the most creative
filming yet to hit our screens more details of which are
revealed in the making of episode screened in early February.
John Downer is the man behind all these covert animal-
surveillance documentaries, including Snow Chick:

The programme
revealed a greater
spectrum of emotions
and understanding
among animals than
we give them credit for
A Penguins Tale, broadcast just before
Christmas. His groundbreaking techniques
turn the idea of fly on the wall into
something more literal than viewers are used
to we wouldnt put it past him to make
fly-size cameras in the future.
All the spy-cams, many of which have
robotic capabilities, have been carefully
invented by Downer and his team using
technology normally only seen in Hollywood
films. But the filmmakers have had to think
beyond making a robot look like an animal,
theyve had to make them move like their
Right: spy-bowerbird, spy-prairie dog and spy-tortoise
are the stars of the new BBC Spy in the Wild television
series, filming animal behaviours that long-lens
photography would struggle to capture
animal counterparts and work out the right
behaviours so that the cameras can ingratiate
themselves into animal groups. For example the
pup-cam has submissive movements and can
wag its tail to indicate it wants to play.
The first spy film went out in 2000, Downer
says. Lions: Spy in the Den featured a
bouldercam that could safely carry a camera into
the pride to capture never-seen-before footage.
As technology has evolved, with cameras
getting smaller and lighter and still producing
broadcast-quality footage, so, too, have the
possibilities for Downer, and Spy in the Wild is
the first series shot fully in ultra high definition.
After Lions, we developed the concept of
using animatronic cameras further on Dolphins:
Spy in the Pod [broadcast in 2014], where 13
different spy creatures were deployed, says
Downer. [The technique] pioneered the idea of
getting cameras close to the subject, allowing
the conventional long lens to take a lesser role.

/ 023
Television
February
Did you
know?
Spy in the Wild footage of
giraffes taking it in turns to
visit the body of a dead elder
suggests an awareness of
death and associated rituals.
They even bowed their heads.
More than 30 spy creatures
were created for the series,
including a spy-sea otter
and sloth, which between
them shot 8,000 hours of
material over three years.
Chimpanzees are capable of
empathy for another species,
seen in the programme when
a young chimp found an
abandoned genet kitten and
treated it with love and care.
024 / / FEBRUARY 2017
Above: an incredibly life-like animatronic baby langur
monkey meets its new family (it would later be destroyed
as a teen monkey tried to carry it around). Right: wild dogs
in Botswana give their spy-cam companion a good sniff
The results were incredible. Wherever the
cameras went, they captured extraordinary
intimate moments of animal behaviour, says
Downer. Few animals had been studied in
that kind of detail before and the similarities
between the challenges they faced and the
way they dealt with them, and aspects of our
own lives was impossible to ignore.
The success of Dolphins and Penguins
inspired Downer to make his projects even
more ambitious. The aim of Spy in the Wild
was to look across the whole of the animal
kingdom and investigate how like us animals
really are, he says. It seemed the perfect
moment to take this approach, as there has
been a sea change in the way animal
behaviourists view animals.
Whereas once any reference to the
similarity between animal behaviour and our
own was dismissed as anthropomorphism,
its now almost impossible to study animals
without acknowledging the links between us.
The change came first with primatologists,
but its now seen by behavioural scientists
studying a vast range of species.
There were striking
similarities between the
challenges the animals
faced, and the way they
dealt with them, and
aspects of our own lives
This was never more evident than when primates interacted
with the spy-cam. These intelligent creatures were quick to
discover that tortoise-cam - the one that had been hanging
out with a herd of elephants was not quite what it seemed.
A young adult chimpanzee in Senegal, West Africa, tapped the
tortoise, even licked it, to try to work out what strange animal
the fibreglass animatronic might be. The curious chimp
appeared to recognise it as a toy thing, rather than a living
being, taking possession of it, turning it over in his hands, not
letting others play with it, and even bringing it to bed with him.
Not all of Downers animatronic cameras survived their
missions. Spy-pup lost its tail to a boisterous wild dog; a fake
Words: Matilda Battersby. Photographs: BBC Pictures/John Downer Productions
hatchling crocodile found itself mistaken for the real thing
and was yanked from its riverside position into the mouth
of a mother caman - still filming as it suffered its watery
end (the caman was trying to carry it into the river, not drown
it). The animatronic baby langur monkey fell from a great
height after a teenager tried to carry it around a real
langur baby would have clung on.
The aim of this series was to capture these elusive
moments where animals do something so extraordinary that
it makes us consider our own connection with the natural
world, says Downer. Inevitably capturing these moments is
rare, but by deploying a menagerie of spy creatures and other
remote cameras over a long period of time...it was possible.
Spy in the Wild concludes in early February, and all episodes
are available on iPlayer
 Gadgets
Smart watches
The right watch can help
ensure you dont get the
bends when diving and
can tell you where you
are if you get distracted
by a passing shoal

All in good time

Watches today do so much more than just tell the time. They
are like mini computers on your wrist, packed with advanced
technology to give you vital information in extreme
environments. They are a tool to help you be bolder in your
adventures and can even show you the way home if you
get lost. This month we check out the latest smart watches,
with features such as depth and pressure sensors for
underwater adventures, GPS navigation for activities on
land or at sea, and a built-in mobile phone. One of them is
even powered by the person who wears it. But are these
fancy modern functions a necessity for everyday life or are
you wasting your money? We tell you how they work and
whether they are worth splashing out on, plus we ask
some sports enthusiasts for their verdicts.

GARMIN FNIX 3 SAPPHIRE HR G-SHOCK GWN-1000B TECHSIXTYFOUR GATOR SWATCH SISTEM51

GPS watch for extreme sports
The Garmin Fnix can tell you
precisely where youre headed
whether youre skiing, rowing
or venturing deep into mountain
trails. Its large but light to wear,
with an extremely helpful GPS
navigation system and compass.
Mountain runner Jackie Newton
prefers an old-fashioned map
and compass herself, but of the
Fnix she says, Beginners can
use this watch to get their
coordinates if they are lost as
long as they are not competing!
Costs 540; buy.garmin.com
Words: Yashi Banymadhub. Photograph: Istock
Shock-proof watch with
useful depth gauge
The latest model of the
Gulfmaster watch has new water
depth sensors to help you stick
to the safety ascent rate of 18m
per minute. The altimeter mode
means you can calculate a safe
decompression rate to prevent
nitrogen from staying in the
bloodstream, says Emma Bolton
from the London School of Diving.
A carbon-fibre casing stops the
watchs metal parts from being
corroded by sea water, too.
Costs 700; g-shock.co.uk
GPS tracking for kids
Whats not to love about a safety
device that can double as a spy
watch for make-believe games?
Give one of these to your kids
and you can easily find them
using real-time location tracking,
and you can even have two-way
phone calls between their watch
and numbers that you specify.
Children place calls by holding
down both volume buttons, which
could be a little fiddly for small
fingers though. You can also
adjust the settings using the app.
Costs 99; techsixtyfour.com
Eco watch powered by
movement, not batteries
A watch that charges up every
time you move? We were a little
dubious. Would it stop working
when you were sat still? Actually
this can happen if the watch is
inactive for a long time (youd need
to wind it manually), but it wont
just stop overnight. Even tiny
movements are enough to trigger
the rotor, storing hours of battery
life. It may not have the advantage
of quartz accuracy but you wont
need batteries or any maintenance.
Costs 108; shop.swatch.com

FOR THE
FOR THE
OUTDOOR KIDS
TYPE

FOR THE FOR

DEEP-SEA THE ECO
CONSCIOUS
DIVER

/ 025
 Photographer Luke
assey blends creativity
with conservation
and says he soaks up
knowledge like a sponge.
He shares his opinions
on the natural world and
reveals how he uses his
skills to make a difference
Drinking it in

026 / / FEBRUARY 2017

 Photographer in focus
Luke Massey

his fish-eye-lens shot of an orphaned

T
sun bear just two months old may be
cute, but the story behind it is far from
sweet. A week earlier he would have
been roaming around the Indonesian
jungle with his mother, says Luke Massey, as he explains
that the young bear was taken so he could be sold to a zoo.
Massey, a wildlife photographer and camera operator for
the BBCs Natural History Unit says the trader making the
deal was arrested, but for every success story, there are
thousands that slide under the radar of police. The illegal
wildlife trade is now bigger than the drug trade, and
second only to the arms trade, says Massey. You can do
your bit by never having your picture taken with a slow
loris at the floating market in Bangkok, never going to the
tiger temples and never taking an elephant ride. If everyone
boycotts these awful attractions, theyll die out.

Keep a cool head. The Iberian
lynx is the rarest cat in the world,
so when we went to Spain last
year it took us two months to
find one. I was lining up the shot
and there was a grass stem in
the way, so I took a step to the
left. Always think about your
frame, even when youre madly excited.
I won the Urban category at 2016s Wildlife
Photographer of the Year awards with an image
of meat being tossed to kites in Delhi. Locals in the
Muslim Quarter feed the kites as a mark of giving to
those less fortunate, which seems like an ideal way
to help Delhis 30,000 breeding pairs of kites thrive.
But its being done in the afternoon, when locals fly
paper kites. I worked with a bird rehab clinic, and
over 90 per cent of the kites they treat are hurt in
collisions with the kite strings. Locals are now
being asked to only feed the kites in the morning.
Wildlife black markets are shocking. Theres a
saying in Indonesia that a man is only a real man
once he has a house, a wife, a horse, a dagger and a
bird in a cage. So its tradition for most households
to have a caged bird. I once saw a pair of javan
green magpies in a market, a critically endangered
028 / / FEBRUARY 2017
Im willing to put myself
in dangerous situations
species. Seeing them at a weekend market was like
seeing an amur leopard for sale at a car boot sale.
I get funny looks going through airport security,
as I have cable ties and tape in my bag, like a serial
killer might! I use them for attaching cameras and
flashes to trees. I also always have bird seed or dried
dog food, for attracting birds or foxes. Its sometimes
frowned upon, but as long as the creature doesnt
become dependent on it, I dont see the issue.
I never complain about life in the UK now. I once
spent a morning shooting on Delhis biggest rubbish
IN FOCUS
Leave a little patch of your garden
wild, rather than paving it or putting
down a lawn. Plant wildflowers, if there
are none. Youll see a lot more wildlife.
Find someone objective to choose
your best shots. My girlfriend, also
a photographer, edits my work.
My favourite shots dont win awards.
to highlight issues
Get a detectives
nose for a story
I saw an amazing shot
on Instagram of falcons
nesting on a Chicago
skyscraper balcony,
and messaged the owner
of the apartment to ask if
I could shoot them. Falcons
were almost extinct in the
80s and nobody could
have predicted theyd
make a comeback nesting
on skyscrapers, which are
like a cliff habitat. There
are now 20 breeding pairs
in Chicago alone.
dump. I was retching every few steps, yet there
were seven-year-old kids combing the heaps for
scraps to sell. Theyll probably do that all their lives
and only live to 40. I think the I cant go on holiday
this year unhappiness we see in the UK is a result
of consumerism. The happiest people Ive met were
the islanders of Moturiki, in Fiji. When I first visited,
they had no electricity, they lived off the land and
sea, and hung out with each other. No hot showers,
but a coral reef to swim in. Then the government
gave them solar panels. Now, some of the islanders
have TVs and fridges, while others cant afford
them. Its created a keeping up with the Joneses
divide. When I returned, they didnt seem as happy.
Use the long waits to quiz local guides. I spent
three months tracking a leopard family in South
Luangwa National Park. Id often wait for three
hours while the leopards slept. My Zambian guides
were hilarious and full of knowledge about the
wildlife, so I used the opportunity to soak it up like
a sponge. You can predict the shot better, once you
understand the species.
If I could only choose one shooting location,
it would be Zambia. Theres something about
African light. We only get really spectacular golden
light once or twice a year in the UK. They get it

Dont shy away from tough issues
In Cyprus, the killing of blackcap birds to make
ambelopoulia, an illegal local delicacy where
the songbirds are served pickled, grilled
or boiled, is a highly organised operation.
In remote areas, trappers play birdsong out
of huge speakers at night to draw the birds
into their nets. The industry turns a profit of
15 million euros a year. The trapper who killed
these black caps was arrested, thankfully,
and the 20 remaining birds were released.
Photographer in focus
Luke Massey
practically daily. Last time I was there, I tried new
technology that lets you take better quality stills
while shooting video footage. Often Ill think,
Agh, this would make a great still while Im
shooting video, or vice versa. Now you can get 30
8-megapixel stills a second, which is just incredible.
London could become a wildlife haven. Id love
to see tax breaks for green roofs there. Theres a
solicitors office a stones throw from St Pauls with
a roof garden that has rare black redstarts nesting
in it. From a helicopter, you can see that London is
a sea of gravel-covered roofs. If every building in
London planted a wildflower patch on their roof, it
would only cost around 1,000 each, and we could
have a prettier city full of wildlife and birdsong.
Im a conservationist before Im a photographer.
Im willing to put myself in dangerous situations to
highlight issues such as underground wildlife
markets. I often go out with activists who have been
shot at, and Ive seen police beaten up. But I feel like
my camera protects me. It girds me with an I have
a job to do determination. The quote that keeps me
going is from Sir Peter Scott, who was a founder of
the World Wide Fund for Nature. He said, We
shant save all we should like to, but we shall save
a great deal more than if we had never tried.
You can follow Luke on Instagram @lmasseyimages,
or visit his website at lmasseyimages.com
If youd like to comment on the issues raised,
email bbcearthmagazine@therivergroup.co.uk
Give it time
The adult male on the left
should be killing the cub
on the right, because
despite being his half-
brother, the cub could
Words: Catherine Gray. Photographs: Luke Massey
grow up to be a threat.
Instead, hes playing with
him affectionately. A very
rare behaviour to capture.
Rather than frantically
shooting and moving on,
sit back and wait for
scenes like these to unfold.
Photography
#Earthcapture

Our world
Your photos
Every month in BBC Earth magazine well be Brian Taylor

showcasing your pictures of the natural world.

Get inspired by our favourite images this
month, then grab your camera or smartphone
to join in the #earthcapture adventure!
Email your pictures to us at earthcapture@therivergroup.co.uk. As well as
featuring a selection each month, well also share your work with the BBC
#earthcapture team, who regularly post contributed images on their social
media platforms. You could end up sharing your work with the world!

Kate Snowdon

Nicole Haines Lucy Smith Craig Blackley

PHOTO OF THE MONTH

I took this photo of Loch Fyne on

the west coast of Scotland during
a weekend trip from Glasgow,
where I live. I work as a doctor in a
stressful accident and emergency
department in the city, and I can
find it difficult to relax, and I dont
often get the chance to escape to
sunnier climes. I like this photo as
it shows an area only an hour from
Glasgow where I found the time to
unwind in my own country.
Mike Allen Gemma Lochhead

Want to share your work with the rest of the world? BBC #earthcapture makes that possible. Just
download the BBC Earth Capture app (its available on iTunes and Google Play) on your smartphone
and it will explain how to share your photograph or video. Selected pictures are then posted on
bbc.com/earth and on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To see the stunning photographs taken
#earthcapture
by people all over the world, search for #earthcapture and prepare to be amazed.

030 / / FEBRUARY 2017


FERNE CORRIGAN
They say never work with
kids or animals... I do both
Ferne Corrigans job as
a CBeebies presenter has
taken her from the Arctic
Circle to the Galapagos, but
it all began with one feisty
and scratch-happy cat
erne thought her CBeebies
F audition was an absolute
disaster. I was up against all
these vets who really knew
their stuff. I found myself in front of a camera
with a little girl and a cat. While I was trying to
get the cat out of its carry-box, it scratched
me and ran under a sofa. The girl screamed
and tried to climb under the sofa too. I just
stayed as calm as I could and cracked jokes.
She got the job. For the past three years,
Ferne has co-presented My Pet and Me,
a show that profiles kids and their pets, aimed
at the under-10 crowd. She has leapt from
postgraduate obscurity as a runner, to being
watched by tens of thousands of rapt children.
Her job comes with more than a few perks,
from international travel and a quad-bike
Ferne has filmed with
a wide variety of animals,
from huskies to guinea
pigs, but will never forget
being scratched by a
reticent kitty at her audition
commute up a pristine snow-capped
mountain, to stroking Siberian huskies. But
there are also the quirks: handling tarantulas,
and singing about not forgetting to wash your
hands after pet-handling, to name but two.
Cats have continued to be Fernes nemesis.
I would like to own one, but theyre a
nightmare to film with. Ive been scratched
dozens of times. Once, I was doing a piece
about cleaning litter trays. I had to pick up and
put down this sloppy turd about six times.
Under hot lights. I feel like I will be able to
smell that poo forever.
How did she break into such a competitive
industry? Persistence, she reveals. I was
always obsessed with animals. From an early
Profile
CBeebies star
age, I was stung constantly from poking
things in the garden, but it didnt deter me.
She toyed with the idea of being a vet, but
wasnt sure she could handle the emotional
fallout of always seeing animals in distress.
She studied zoology and animal biology at
Dublin university, her home town, and as part
of her dissertation, she spent six weeks on a
game reserve in South Africa. Once, when
helping the rangers relocate three male lions,
I was helping pull a lion into a box by its hind
legs, she says. He was tranquillised, but at
one point I was in the box with him. He was
eyeballing me and growling, but totally unable
to move. I was excited, not scared. I thought,
I want the world to see this kind of thing.
How can I show kids how cool this is?
Ferne found a masters degree in wildlife
documentary production at Salford
University and started a few months later.
I struggled greatly with the technical side,
/ 031

she says. I had never used a DSLR camera,
let alone edited footage. I found it fiddly and
frustrating. I decided the storytelling aspect
of filmmaking was more my forte.
She discovered that the media industry
was much tougher to get into than her course
tutors had suggested. You need experience
in running to become a runner. Its a
catch-22! I would advise all students to do
work experience in their holidays, with local,
independent companies. That way, theyll
graduate with experience.
I was bombing
about on sleds
thinking, I cant
believe this is
my actual job
After a couple of years running with
production companies, Ferne finally got
called to audition for My Pet and Me in 2014.
As well as cat-wrangling, Ferne had to
perform a song. She adapted the lyrics of
Queens We Will Rock You to portray a dog
trying to catch a ball. It went something
like I will, I will catch you. I had this
blow-up guitar that was deflating as I sang.
Thankfully, they found it funny. Two long
months later, Ferne got the call saying
Words: Catherine Gray. Photographs: iStock, Alamy, Shutterstock, Ferne Corrigan
shed been chosen. I cried.
Since then, her job has been a dream come
true. I was in the Arctic Circle recently,
bombing about on sleds with reindeer
| SC R E E N SHOTS |
On-set must-have Coffee. Ive given it up
for Lent, but I just get headaches. Life is
betterwithcoffee.
Most-used phrase at work?And again! And
again! I have to make it into a game for the kids,
them repeating themselves.
Hardest bit of working with under-10s?Trying
not to swear when things go wrong.
herders. I thought,
I cant believe this
is my actual job.
Its obvious that
Ferne is a curious
combination of
fiercely fearless yet
endlessly cheerful, which makes her ideal for
working with the trouble-squared combination
of kids and animals. Its challenging, she says.
There are a lot of tantrums. From the kids, not
me! One of her first episodes was BAFTA-
nominated. That was a complete shock and
delight. It was a segment on kunekune pigs.
Pigs are such characters to work with.
What is her standout filming moment? We
have a My Pet and Me special coming out in
March, set in the Galapagos and featuring a
five-year-old boy called Kian. His fathers
a national park guide out there. Theres a
harbour on his doorstep with black-tipped
reef sharks swimming around. Suddenly,
Best part of her
job?Knowing the kids
will remember it forever. That
it will likely be shown at their wedding.
Worst part?Being trolled on Twitter.
I get comments from parents about
having an annoying voice. Ouch. But,
hey, you cant be liked by everyone.
Profile
CBeebies star
Filming with reindeer
in the Arctic was a
career highlight for
Ferne. Below left: one
of her first episodes,
with kunekune pigs,
was BAFTA-nominated
Kian jumped into the water and was
thrashing around, happily chasing the
sharks, says Ferne. Several sharks circled in,
curious. The cameraman and I started to get
a little anxious, but rationally, you know that
a reef shark isnt remotely interested in
eating a human, even a snack-sized one.
I love to cover the so-called bad or ugly
of the wildlife kingdom, to destroy the myths
that they are dangerous.
Her ambition is to do more adventure
wildlife work. By 35, I want to be the female
version of Steve Irwin, she says. And Id love
to go into producing and directing.
Most of all, Ferne wants to educate young
people that there is no need to be afraid of
animals. Kids and teens seem to be more
scared of bees, birds and dogs now, but
education leads to less fear. I was so thrilled
to read that the first few episodes of Planet
Earth II were watched by more young people
than The X Factor, she says.
/ 033
 Skilled freedivers and
spear-fishermen, the
Bajau people of the Coral
Triangle have traditionally
lived almost entirely at
sea. Vivien Cumming
meets the last true
nomads of the ocean

034 / / FEBRUARY 2017

 People special
Bajau spear-fishermen

S E A

C H A N G E

F O R

O C E A N

N O M A D S

rying to keep up, I dive as deep as I can, but
T it isnt long before La Uda disappears below
me. I can barely make him out as he dives
deeper and deeper, over the lip of a coral wall
and down its cliff-like face past a myriad of coral and sponges.
Suddenly, I realise that Im out of breath. Looking upwards, air
seems to be far above me. I kick frantically to reach the surface
and gasp I must have been down there for a minute. La Uda is
still going and it seems like an age before he reappears nearly
five minutes later, proudly bearing a fish on his speargun.
La Uda and his father, La Udedi, are Bajau spear-fishermen.
They are from one of the few families that still solely spearfish.
They live in the village of Sampela, off the coast of Indonesias
Kaledupa Island in Southeast Sulawesi in the heart of the Coral
Triangle, a region so-called for its incredible biodiversity. It is no
ordinary village. Built entirely on wooden stilts and piles of dead
coral in the shallow water, its nearly a kilometre from the coast.
At low tide the seabed is exposed, with meadows of seagrass
lying ready to be scavenged for their shellfish. Then, when the
Top left and right:
Sampelas stilt houses,
a kilometre from
land, with fish pens
for aquaculture in the
foreground. Right:
everyday food staples
036 / / FEBRUARY 2017
tide comes in, the village is accessible by
only one means of transport boats.
The Bajau people have lived in the
Coral Triangle the area of ocean north
of Australia, between Indonesia the
Philippines and Papua New Guinea for
centuries. They traditionally spent their
entire lives on houseboats at sea. Only
two generations ago many Bajau would
have been born, lived and died at sea,
but this existence is at odds with the boundaries of modern
nation states. Over past decades, under government pressure,
most Bajau have been forced to settle and have chosen to
build villages such as Sampela entirely on water. Even with
a settlement, some of the 1,500 residents havent set foot on
land for several years. One man gestures towards the coast
and says: When Im on land, it moves. Its as though he gets
landsick, his body more in tune with the rhythms of the ocean.
Deep respect
Hundreds of children greet our arrival, showing off their
acrobatics and swimming skills by launching themselves into
the nearby water. The village is made up of rickety wooden
walkways that lead you around a maze of houses. Endless
battering by the ocean means that occasionally the walkways
collapse and sometimes you have to circumnavigate the entire
village before reaching your destination.
There is no past or future tense in the Bajau language,
so asking when the village was built brings only baffled
expressions. The generally used frame of
reference for when something happened
is: My grandfather first came here,
or my father first came here, rather
than talking about years or dates.
In the early days, many of the
walkways were made up of just two
lengths of bamboo, and practising the
art of acrobatics to get from A to B was
commonplace. Today the easiest way to
get around, when the tide is high, is by
small dugout canoe, paddling between
the houses, under the walkways, and
avoiding the occasional childs head as it
pops up to say hello. Watching children
 People special
Bajau spear-fishermen

Bajau women taking

their fish to market on
Kaledupa Island, so they
can in turn buy fresh
water and vegetables
for their families

Some residents of Sampela havent set foot on land

in several years. When they do it feels strange. Its as
though they get landsick
 People special
Bajau spear-fishermen

G O I N G D EEP ER U N D ERWAT ER

As the Bajau descend beneath the waves, their

bodies are adapted in unique ways to withstand the
ocean pressure. Having little body fat reduces
buoyancy, making it easy to dive deep without using
La Udedi, one of the
fins. With every 10m descended, pressure increases
men who still go
by one bar so at 30m below, the pressure is three
spearfishing, can
dive to a depth of 30m times that of the surface. This puts extraordinary
on just one breath forces on the body. Ear pain is the first thing you
Below: Bajau children notice. The pressure on the outside of the eardrum
increases pushing it inwards. If the pressure isnt
equalised by holding your nose and forcing air into
the middle ear, the eardrum will rupture. As you go
deeper, the pressure increases on your lungs.
However, the body has a clever blood shift
mechanism blood from other parts of the body
so at ease in the water, its easy to understand why the Bajau is diverted to the lungs to equalise the pressure.
As you continue your descent, heart rate and
are renowned freedivers. That breath I longed to take as I
metabolism slow and blood pressure increases,
followed La Uda downwards is a reflex caused by carbon
to use less oxygen. Diving deeper still then causes
dioxide building up in my body. Its a reflex the Bajau have blood to be drawn away from your hands and feet
taught themselves to ignore, gradually building confidence and sent to your vital organs. Adding to the incredible
with deeper dives. adaptations for diving deep below the waves is mind
Their relaxed attitude makes them look like underwater control. Relaxation is key to allow the body to make
all the necessary adjustments and to prevent
dancers, comfortable in that airless world. La Uda and
hyperventilation. Many freedivers enter a meditative
La Udedi are at ease using homemade wooden-and-glass state by using deep-breathing techniques. The
goggles and spearguns, swimming to depths of nearly relaxed attitude of the Bajau suggests that this effect
30m without fins, and walking along the ocean floor until even translates into their everyday lives.
they find their prey.
Traditionally, this community caught all its fish by
freediving, fishing only for subsistence, but since settling,
their way of life has changed and there are few families left
that solely spearfish. Many supplement their income by
fishing using nets and lines, or by seaweed farming.
Times are changing for the Bajau in other ways, too. While
watching them dive, I spotted none of the larger fish such
as grouper and Napoleon wrasse that are vital to the coral
ecosystems, and much of the coral was dead or damaged.
One man tells me: The fish are smaller now, gesturing with
his hands from the length of his forearm to the size of his
hand. He adds that they have to dive deeper to find bigger fish
and explains that they try to only take fish over a certain size.
Everyone knows from experience that if they take everything,
the fish disappear faster, but they have to feed their families.
Professor David Smith, a marine biologist at the University
of Essex, and director of the Coral Reef Research Unit there,

/ 039
 During a Bajau healing
ceremony at a family
house in Sampela,
a shaman heats a cup
over burning embers

The Bajau have learnt that the natural world ebbs and
flows. Such an intricate knowledge must surely come
to good use in protecting the reefs and the fish

040 / / FEBRUARY 2017

 People special
Bajau spear-fishermen

has been working in the region for

some 15 years.
Our data suggests an average 75 per
cent reduction in fish abundance since
we started recording in 2002, he says.
I would argue that habitat degradation
and overfishing are the key.
Theres no doubt that unsound
fishing practices and Asias booming
live fish trade have not helped, with
the majority of reef fish swimming in
restaurant aquariums coming from the
pristine waters of the Coral Triangle.

The old ways and the new Lean and keen

La Udedi follows the
Its easy to understand why people in
traditional Bajau method
the region itself are so reliant on fish. of fishing, using only his
It makes up all the protein in their diet, homemade speargun
and is eaten at every meal. Hospitality
is unrivalled in Bajau culture and guests
are treated to a lavish feast from the
sea on arrival every kind of seafood
I have ever seen with nothing wasted,
from fish to sea urchin to squid. meant that formerly it wasnt eaten, but many Bajau have
During one feast that preceded a healing ceremony, an converted to Islam and, with fewer fish now available, they
elderly lady a shaman speaking via a translator, explains have started to hunt and eat it.
Photographs: Vivien Cumming

some of the Bajaus animistic beliefs in which coral reefs,
mangroves, even the tides themselves, are manifestations of
spirit. We are spiritually twinned with either an octopus or
a crocodile, the shaman says, adding that which one you are
matched with depends on whether the placenta you were
born with had a hole in it. This association with octopus
Did you
Islam is now commonplace, so there is a divide in the village
between the old ways and the new. Most of the population are
practising Muslims. Theyve built a mosque and a school, and
use nets and fences for bigger catches.
Sticking to animistic beliefs, using subsistence spearfishing
and teaching your children the ways of the sea are now seen as
somewhat backward. But whatever path
a family chooses, fish are essential, even
if it means a trip to the market at a nearby
town for the women to sell the fish their

know? husbands have caught so they can in turn

Most Bajau can dive to depths of
20-30m with no equipment - one
Bajau man broke the Philippines
freediving record in 2013 with a
dive of 79m.
Bajau children spend so much
Above: fish on sale time underwater they develop
at the market on
unusually strong underwater
Kaledupa Island.
vision. Their eye muscles adapt
Below: fishermen
to constrict the pupils more, and
return home at sunset,
with Kaledupa Island their eye lens shape adjusts so that
in the background objects underwater are in focus
rather than looking blurry.
The spleen plays an important
role in freediving as underwater
pressure constricts it causing it to
squeeze out more red blood cells
that carry oxygen around the body.
This means Bajau blood is like that
of people who live at high altitude
where there is less oxygen.
buy fresh water and vegetables.
For every Bajau, however, there is a
deep respect for the ocean. Watching the
healing ceremony, it was clear that every
aspect, including the ceremonial offerings,
revealed how nature and the seas are
revered. The Bajau have learnt that the
natural world ebbs and flows.
Such an intricate knowledge must surely
come to good use in protecting the reefs
and the fish that inhabit them the Bajau
are, after all, the primary stakeholders.
The people I speak to have a relentlessly
positive attitude, questioning why, If weve
got fish now, why wouldnt we have fish in
10 years time?
Their belief is that the ocean is for
everyone and will always provide. Whether
they are right remains to be seen.
 Adventure hackers
Bug detectives

| A DV E N T U R E H AC K E R S |

If creepy crawlies such as this rhinoceros beetle dont scare you,

then you might have what it takes to be an entomologist. The
atural History useums flea-, fly- and spider-woman tells all

SO YOU
WANT TO
BE A BUG
CATCHER?

/ 043
 rica McAlister was bitten by the insect bug

E while studying for a degree in environmental

biology. She went on a placement year at
what was then the Institute of Terrestrial
Ecology (now the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology) in Dorset.
I was studying the effects of climate change on heather
beetles, she recalls. Id spend my lunchtime eating
sandwiches and watching parasites emerge from the beetles
abdomens. The more I learnt, the more I wanted to know.
Dr McAlister went on to gain a PhD in ecological
entomology, which involved studying invertebrates on a
wetland, before joining the Natural History Museum (NHM)
10 years ago. Today she is the NHMs collections manager of
diptera (flies); siphonaptera (fleas); arachnida (spiders, ticks,
scorpions, mites, harvestmen and their cousins); and
myriapoda (millipedes and centipedes). Anything that bites,
pierces, maims; theyre my babies, she says, grinning.
Specifically, her babies are some 3-4 million specimens
of insects and arachnids held at the NHM, either in spirit jars,
on slides or pinned in glass-topped drawers. McAlister and
the five staff she manages divide up responsibility for this
collection between themselves. McAlister is in charge of
part of the fly collection, including the horse flies and robber

Dr Erica McAlister
is collections
manager at the
Natural History
Museum, and
has particular
responsibility for
the fly collection

flies, mosquitoes and fleas. Our main directive at

the museum is to maintain, enhance and research
the collection, she says.
This often involves taking insect collections left
to the museum by keen amateur entomologists
and incorporating them into the NHM archives.
McAlister is currently working to curate one such
collection of bee flies (bombyliidae). She has to
individually check the identity of many hundreds of
specimens, then file them into the collection within the Anything that
floor-to-ceiling grey cabinets that house the museums
insect tree of life. This painstaking, but essential, work helps bites, pierces or
to keep the collections relevant. There are many new species
being added, so the work includes keeping the nomenclature
maims; theyre
up-to-date and supporting the research of visiting scientists. my babies
Being an insect expert opens doors into surprisingly
diverse fields of work, ranging from medicine to food security.
In 2010, McAlister worked for three years in Tajikistan, helping
people to identify mosquitoes, teaching curating techniques

044 / / FEBRUARY 2017

 Adventure hackers
Bug detectives

Did you
know?
The titan beetle (below), which
lives in South America, can grow
up to 20cm long.

The largest purely terrestrial

animal in Antarctica is a fly
(a 3-6mm midge).
The first animal in space was a fly.
There are more than 160,000
described species of fly on the
planet (but there are many, many
more to be identified).

HOW TO GET INVOLVED

The traditional route to becoming an
entomologist is to study for a degree in
biological sciences and then a further
masters degree or PhD in entomology.
You dont need to be a professional
bug-catcher to work with insects however.
The Amateur Entomologists Society
(amentsoc.org) is a good place to find out
about alternative opportunities. The great
thing about entomology in this country is
that museum and university staff are very
welcoming to amateurs if they know were
serious about what were doing, says retired
maths teacher and amateur entomologist
Howard Bentley. Despite his amateur status,
Immature male bees make a
Bentley grew so skilled at identifying the
tasty snack; the Nordic Food Lab
dolichopodidae family of long-legged flies
(nordicfoodlab.org) has made
that he was asked by the NHM to help sort
granola out of them.
and identify specimens in a collection
bequeathed to the museum.

and training in the determination of malaria in hosts. identify different insects

She also travelled to Peru to work with NHMs Queen and to understand that
of Potatoes Dr Sandra Knapp and learn more about the entomology can provide More than 2,000 species of
insects that can infest potato crops. a varied and fulfilling insects are eaten around the world.
A particularly fascinating aspect of entomology is its career. Its great when
application in forensic science. One drawer in the NHM I get a kid who comes
collection labelled entomology of the cadaver is dedicated to along and says Oh no, I thought I was going to be diving and
showing the insects that can help police to solve murders. doing adventure sports, and Ive got to collect insects with a
When a corpse is fresh and begins to smell, it attracts flies, net instead, she says. Then by the end of the day theyre
such as blow flies. Maggots that are seen in corpses are the saying, Its amazing; can we pin some more insects please.
larval stage of the blow fly. They appear on corpses Best bit: I cant answer that. Id tell you something different
immediately and have been known to travel considerable every five minutes.
distances. As the bodys fats become rancid, flesh-eating Worst bit: Having to go to meetings about things like what
hister beetles (histeridae) move in, feeding off the larvae and kind of storage cabinets to buy.
pupae of the blow flies. So the types of insects present in a Top tip: Learn maths. If youre not frightened of it, maths is
body can help police ascertain when death occurred. simply a tool. And be passionate!
Raising awareness of the diverse uses and fascinating Dr McAlisters new book The Secret Life of Flies is published
life-cycles of insects is another side to Dr McAlisters role. by the Natural History Museum in March 2017. Look out for
She often visits schools, teaching pupils how to collect and our review in next months issue.

Dragonflies and
damselflies are among
early colonisers of
water bodies that
have been cleaned, so
conservationists often
want to know if they
have been seen, as it
tells them that a project
has been successful
A chance encounter with a dragonfly led freelance
copywriter and web developer Sonja Todd to become
a volunteer insect surveyor. She had been paddling
in a stream in Manningtree in Essex when the
beautiful turquoise damselfly, with a large black
spot on its wing, alighted on her.
Words: Carolyn Fry. Photographs: Alamy, iStock, Trustees of Natural History Museum, London
When I got home, I looked it up and found it was a
banded demoiselle. I was very excited, she says. Then
the very next day, an email came through from the
Wildlife Trust seeking volunteers for a new London-
wide dragonfly survey called Water for Wildlife.
Sonja, who lives in east London close to Woodberry
Wetlands, the London Wildlife Trusts newest nature
reserve, immediately signed up and was accepted.
After two days training on the odonata (the order of
carnivorous insects that includes dragonflies and
damselflies) and on wetland habitats, she began
helping with surveys at locations in north London.
We undertake transect walks, she explains. You
have a set path of 50 to 100m, with the vegetation and
any water features mapped out.
We walk along in a small group looking out for
dragonflies and damselflies and if we spot one we
make a note of it and the habitat that we see it in.
THE VOLUNTEER
INSECT
SURVEYOR
The surveys are repeated every few weeks to see
if anything has changed.
Todd found that she quickly learned the behaviours
of different species and found herself looking out for
odonata even when she wasnt volunteering. In her
local Clissold Park she spied some green damselflies
but couldnt quite work out what kind they were.
I thought they were either emerald damselfly or
willow emeralds, she says.
I took some pictures and our group leader,
Rosanna, sent them off to Steve Brooks at the Natural
History Museum and Adrian Parr at the British
Dragonfly Society. They confirmed they were willow
emeralds and said it was the first official sighting of
the species in inner London. Apparently willow
emeralds are becoming more common in southeast
England because of climate change.
Best bit: Seeing the willow emeralds. To see
something in my first year of surveying odonata in
my local park was really incredible. Its been a
highlight of the year for me and its made me really
excited about going out and spotting them again.
Worst bit: The only downside is that it has pulled me
away from work a little bit. Its tempting go out
every week in the summer.
Sonja Todd works as
a copywriter and web
developer but has
a passion for insects,
and she regularly
conducts dragonfly
and damselfly surveys
for the Wildlife Trust
Adventure hackers
Bug detectives
I THINK IT
WOULD BE GREAT
TO DISCOVER A
NEW SPECIES
Insects are very different to
humans, both biologically and
behaviourally, making them
interesting to study. Im interested
in the way they have adapted to
different environments and the
way they have developed different
camouflage. The fact that they
support so many life forms above
them in the food chain, and that
many other species would not
survive without them makes their
place in our world important.
There is a growing industry as
people start to eat insects, which
could become more popular.
Working in entomology can
involve lots of travel and
conservation work, which
interests me. I think it would be
great to discover a new species.
Douglas St Ledger Smith, aged 14
JOIN THE INSECT
INVESTIGATORS
Find out about volunteering
opportunities at your local Wildlife
Trust; wildlifetrusts.org.
Become a dragonfly detective.
The presence or absence of
dragonflies and damselflies can
indicate whether a water cleaning
project has been effective. If
you live in London and see one on
your local patch, report it at
bit.ly/2iE70nm. The collective
findings will be used to create an
atlas of Londons odonata.
Use the iRecord Dragonflies
app to upload your sightings
to the Biological Records Centre;
brc.ac.uk.
Volunteer at the Dragonfly
Centre at Wicken Fen,
Cambridgeshire. More info,
go to bit.ly/2jdcN45.
/ 047
 Have a bone to pick with the scraggy
vulture? Just remember theyre vital
as natures waste disposers which is
why their decline is very bad news

ultures, with their big, ungainly wings, beaky

V faces and fondness for scavenging on dead

meat, have a terrible reputation. They are
seen as harbingers of death, circling dying
animals, ready to pick at decaying flesh.
But they dont deserve a bad press. They offer a vital service
by feasting on carrion, protecting us from diseases spread by
rotten meat and saving us the expense of cleaning it up.
Yet their existence has been threatened thanks to us. In
Southeast Asia, 98 per cent of vultures have been wiped out
in 20 years. The white-backed vulture, long-billed vulture,
slender-billed vulture, the Indian vulture and the Himalayan
griffon are now officially critically endangered. The white-
rumped vulture has dwindled from 80 million in the 1980s to
only a few thousand today, a decline of 99.9 per cent.
The vastly reduced species are all Gyps, a genus of Old World
vultures, typically with bald heads, beady eyes and a cloak of
dark plumage. The kind you see feasting hungrily in cartoons.
So, why have these creatures been dying in their droves in
India? Its mostly due to modern veterinary medicine. Vultures
consume the carcasses of farmed animals, exposing them
to a drug that gives them fatal kidney failure. That drug is
diclofenac, prescribed to cattle to ease joint pain and keep
them going for longer.
This first came to light in 2003 when there were reports of
the near-extinction of the white-backed, slender-billed and
Indian vultures due to unknown causes.

048 / / FEBRUARY 2017

 Rare Earth
The Gyps vulture

Nice to meat you

a white-backed vulture,
one of the threatened
species, prepares to
feed on a carcass

In for the kill


Did you Vulture species are New
World (the Americas and
know? Caribbean) or Old World
(Europe, Asia and Africa),
depending on location.
Its a myth that they instead regurgitating food
circle dying animals they for their offspring.
050 / / FEBRUARY 2017
actually have exceptional
eyesight and can spot a
carcass from miles away.
They have weak legs so
never carry prey to a nest
To learn more about
how magnificent
vultures are, visit
bbc.in/2izvQor
Contrary to popular
belief, the reason vultures
have bald heads is not
so they can get inside
carcasses without dirtying
their feathers, but because
it helps them stay cool.
 Rare Earth
The Gyps vulture

Vultures have a digestive system with

special acids that will dissolve anthrax,
botulism and cholera bacteria

of Birds and other bodies, which

studied vultures and cattle
from 2006 to 2010. It found that,
While were familiar with
by 2009, the number of cattle
the vultures scruffy looks
we forget about their carcasses treated with
spectacular ability in the diclofenac fell by 49 per cent.
air. Here a Himalayan
The knock-on result of this was
Griffon soars on thermal
currents. Opposite: a pair of that diclofenac-related vulture
white-backed vultures deaths had fallen by 65 per cent.
It might be a case of too
little, too late, however. Dr Toby
Galligan, who is an RSPB
scientist and co-author of
A year later Dr Lindsay Oaks, a researcher from Washington this study, said: The good news is that veterinary use
State University, backed by the Peregrine Fund, published a of diclofenac in India has decreased significantly; the bad
report in Nature proving the connection with diclofenac. He news is that it has not stopped completely.
said: This discovery is significant. It is the first known case This is because Indian pharmaceutical companies are
of a pharmaceutical causing major ecological damage over manufacturing diclofenac for human use in vials large enough
a huge area and threatening three species with extinction. to treat livestock; and some veterinarians and livestock
On 20 November 2005, the connection was further owners continue to choose [cheaper] diclofenac over the
confirmed when villagers found an injured Himalayan griffon vulture-safe alternative, meloxicam.
vulture at Kullu in Indias Himachal Pradesh. The Gyps species of vulture might not look cuddly, but it
They took the bird to a veterinarian. It had a broken leg, plays a vital ecological role. How so? The vultures are equipped
so to treat the swelling and pain, the with a digestive system that contains
vet gave it diclofenac. special acids that will dissolve anthrax,
Two days later the vulture was botulism and cholera bacteria.
dead. It died from visceral gout of the
kidney, caused by diclofenac toxicity. Natural-born cleaners
Dr Oaks team and later studies That vultures can dispose of carrion and
proved that when vultures eat the eliminate bacteria is useful, if not vital,
flesh of livestock dosed with the drug, in countries such as India, where cattle
the effect is fatal within days. are valuable assets (for milk and dung
for fuel) and are kept until they die of
A vulture-safe drug natural causes but are not eaten.
In March 2006 the Indian government Eating beef is not acceptable in
threw vultures a lifeline by backing much of the subcontinent on religious
Words: Matilda Battersby. Photographs: Alamy, iStock

a ban of diclofenac. A similar drug, grounds, so vultures have performed a

called meloxicam, was recommended
as a vulture safe alternative.
However, diclofenac is cheaper than
meloxicam and use of the drug in
India continues.
Things are improving a
little, however. A 2014 study in
Philosophical Transactions of the
Royal Society B cited research from
the Royal Society for the Protection
there are no longer enough birds to do
A fluffier young vulture. In the first few
months of their lives, vultures remain in
the nest, protected and fed by their parents,
who provide regurgitated, chewed meat
vital role in disposing of dead cattle. But
this effectively and the consequences
are significant: an estimated 65 million
cattle die in India each year, and must be
properly, and expensively, disposed of.
The battle to save these vultures will
be tough, but the cause of their decline
is now clear and the campaign to
preserve them is well under way.
 Reaching for the moon

052 / / FEBRUARY 2017

 Space
NASAs hidden heroes

They were some of the most

brilliant minds of their generation
and their desire to dream big
helped put the US back in the
space rac et the black, female
human computers of 1950s
ASA, overlooked until now
New Hollywood film
Hidden Figures stars
Taraji P Henson as one
of the black female
mathematicians whose
contribution was not
recognised at the time

hey say behind every great

T man is a great woman. But,

behind every giant leap for
mankind is a group of
individuals far larger than the names that
history remembers many of whom dont
get the credit they deserve.
Youd be forgiven for not having heard
of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan
and Mary Jackson. These were three
extraordinary mathematicians who worked
at NASA during the space race and whose
intelligence, rigour and determination
overcame the prejudices they lived with as
black women in a white mans world.
They were crucial in putting the first
Americans in space Alan Shepard and John
Glenn. Their calculations helped Neil
Armstrong to step onto the moon in 1969,
putting the USA ahead of Russia in the Cold
War-era battle for space supremacy, and starring Taraji P Henson (who plays Johnson),
inspiring awe worldwide. Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer (Vaughan)
But their remarkable contribution was and singer Janelle Mone (Jackson). It
almost forgotten. That was until 2010, when captures the irony of a time in US history that
they came to the attention of author Margot was forward-thinking enough for the
Lee Shetterly, whose father had worked at brightest minds to be working to put a man
Langley, the NASA station in Hampton, on the moon, while also refusing to drink
Virginia, and who as a girl saw that the face coffee from the same pot as a black person.
of science was brown like mine. She Virginia, where these women lived and
discovered that few people knew there had worked, was one of the worst states for racial
been women at NASA, let alone black women, inequality. Black people had to sit at the back
and she wrote their stories in Hidden Figures. of the bus, couldnt attend public schools and Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA),
The book, which came out in September even had to use separate rubbish bins on the as early as 1935. They were hired to do
2016, has been made into a Hollywood movie street. When Johnson, Vaughan and Jackson important number crunching and were called
worked at Langley, in their early days at least, computers long before the invention of
they were placed in a separate wing from computers as we now know them.
These black female their white counterparts, and were forced to Computers were women, says Shetterly.
use coloured bathrooms and dine separately. It was a job title, and it was seen as womens
mathematicians With such narrow thinking the norm, it is work just like being a writer or a driver.
were forced to use perhaps surprising to learn that there were Computers wore skirts and blouses.
women working as mathematicians at NASA During the Second World War, when male
coloured bathrooms at all. But in fact the first female members personnel were in short supply, there was an
and dine separately arrived at what was then the National influx of female computers at the NACA,

054 / / FEBRUARY 2017

 Space
NASAs hidden heroes

KATHERINE JOHNSON
BORN: 26 AUGUST 1918
WORKED AT NASA: 1953-1986

Johnson was a maths prodigy who graduated

from high school at 14 years old. She became
a high school maths teacher and mother
of three girls. After her first husband died,
she became the family breadwinner,
working full-time.
Once at NACA, Johnsons brainpower
was impossible to ignore. At the height of
the space race, when Russias Yuri Gagarin
had already orbited the Earth and America
was furious to be on the losing team, NASA
needed the best minds, whatever shape or
race they came in. Johnson was given the
then totally unheard-of opportunity to join
an all-male flight research division, where
many of whom were recruited from the her propensity for analytical geography
separate, but excellent, university system meant she was able to calculate the flight
available to African Americans. trajectory for Alan Shepard, the first
On the whole, the black computers were American to go into space, in 1959.
better qualified and more motivated than After NASA began using electronic IBM
the white computers, says resident NASA computers to make these calculations,
historian Dr Bill Barry. You didnt have to Johnson was personally asked by John Glenn
have a university degree to be a computer. to double-check the numbers for his orbit
But all the black around the Earth in 1962, and he refused to
Left: Alan Shepard
computers had at fly until she had done so. She would go on to
being fitted for his
capsule seat least one degree, calculate the flight trajectory for Apollo 11s
Above right: Katherine sometimes more. flight to the moon in 1969. She was right there
Johnson calculated
Certainly time then, making the history happen: but as Shetterlys
the trajectory for
Shepards space flight to recognise their book title suggests, her contribution was
the first for the US contribution. entirely hidden from the outside world.
These women were Even after the arrival
hidden in plain of IBM computers,
Katherine Johnson
sight. They didnt continued to double-
check the numbers,
draw attention including for the Apollo
11 mission to the moon
to themselves

Johnson faced sexism on top of racism,

being barred from vital meetings because of
her sex. She overcame this with a mixture
of brilliance and personality, going on to
co-author 26 scientific papers, gaining
a historically unique listing as a female
co-author in a peer-reviewed NASA report.
She retired from NASA in 1986. Now aged
98, and still living in Hampton, Johnson told
Shetterly repeatedly during her research:
I was just doing my job.
But her place in the history books is
now secure: in 2015 she was awarded the
Presidential Medal of Freedom and saw a
NASA building named after her but these
honours came after four decades of being
overlooked and after suffering segregation.
In the film there is a scene in which Johnsons
frequent absence from her desk is questioned
by a superior, only for her to explain that the
colored bathroom is a 20-minute walk away.
Shetterly says NASAs support in helping
this story to get told has been unwavering.
You cant change history, she says. What
you can change is
how you look at it and
Dorothy Vaughan
(left) worked at NASA how you understand
between 1943 and that it takes the good
1971 and was the first
moments and it takes
African-American
manager at the the difficult moments
organisation to move forward.

DOROTHY VAUGHAN at Langley, but always used her position to

BORN: 20 SEPTEMBER 1910
(DIED 10 NOVEMBER 2008)
WORKED AT NASA: 1943-1971
Vaughan was also a maths teacher before
becoming one of the first black computers
recruited by NACA during the Second World
War. From 1949-1958 she was supervisor of
the segregated West Area Computers, making
her NASAs first African-American manager
and one of the very few female section heads.
The mother of four would go on to be
recognised as one of the brightest minds
further the careers and job security of
talented computers of both races. She
worked with well-known white computers,
like Vera Huckel and Sara Bullock, and would
later be at the forefront of electronic
computing at NASA. As women computers
became obsolete thanks to IBM machines,
she made sure her workforce adapted with
the times to keep hold of their jobs.
In 1971, after 28 years of service, Vaughan
retired from NASA having sought, but never
received, another managerial position at
Langley. What I changed, I could, and what

056 / / FEBRUARY 2017


From top: Apollo 11
lunar module; Octavia
Spencer, Taraji P
Henson and Janelle
Mone in Hidden
Figures; Mary Jackson
at work at NASA
I couldnt, I endured, Vaughan told the
historian Beverly Golemba in 1992. As part
of Vaughans legacy, Shetterly cites the
successes of other West Computers alumni
Words: Matilda Battersby. Photographs: Alamy, NASA, Getty Images,
including Johnson and Jackson, who
flourished under her early tutelage.
MARY JACKSON
BORN: 9 APRIL 1921
imagery courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox
(DIED 11 FEBRUARY 2005)
WORKED AT NASA: 1951-1985
Jackson was a native of Hampton, Virginia,
with degrees in physical science and maths.
In 1958, she became NASAs first black female
engineer, specialising in wind-tunnel
experiments and aircraft data. She would also
go on to have a major influence on diversity
Space
NASAs hidden heroes
and equal rights at NASA as Langleys Federal
Womens Program Manager.
Her efforts for others drew on her own
struggle. She had been forced to go to court to
get special permission to join her white peers
at evening classes at Hampton High School so
she could obtain the qualification needed to
be an engineer at NASA. Her sparky attitude
won her friends and support among her male
colleagues and superiors, who encouraged
her development on numerous occasions.
She retired in 1985 and died 20 years later.
An obituary on the NASA website describes
Jackson as a role model of the highest
character, [who] through her quiet, behind-
the-scenes efforts managed to help
many minorities and women reach their
highest potential.
Legacy
The work of this trio of women
intersected major points in history: the
Second World War, the Cold War and
the Civil Rights movement. Its one of
the reasons Shetterly chose them to
represent the hundreds of women computers
at Langley. These women were hidden in
plain sight, in a way, says Shetterly. They felt
they had a chance to do the jobs they loved
and they loved this challenging math so
they didnt draw attention to themselves.
They saw the idea of raising up other
women as part of their job at NASA. They
realised that by being excellent and by
advocating for other people, whether thats
women, black women, African-American
men or other minorities, that they were going
to have an impact on the lives of others.
But I chose Johnson, Vaughan and Jackson
because they were all exceptional, she adds.
Civil rights leader Barbara Rose Johns
famously described the move toward equality
as seeming like reaching for the moon.
Which makes the fact that three talented
black women were actually helping America
reach for the moon while enduring racism
and inequality all the more remarkable. That
it has taken 50 years for them to receive the
credit they deserve just shows how long it
takes for progress to happen.
Oscar-nominated actress Taraji P Henson,
who plays Johnson in Hidden Figures, says:
I grew up in the hood, so all I ever had was
dreams. Maybe if I had known women like
this existed when I was growing up, I would
have wanted to become a rocket scientist.
 They have no legs but can outrun
their prey, they smell with their
tongue not their nostrils and
some give birth to live young.
We investigate the most slithery
riddle of the reptile world
he scaly, sibilant snake is as striking
T for the physical attributes it lacks as
for the scaly ones it possesses. It is a
creature without legs, shoulders, hips,
arms or claws. It doesnt even have eyelids or a nose
(yes, it has nostrils but not to smell with).
This tube of jewel-coloured, muscle-coated vertebrae,
offset by a swivelling head and poking forked tongue,
is one of the most fearsome creatures on the planet.
But though they might be the stuff of nightmares
and, thanks to the Bible, seen as a physical
manifestation of the devil only around 450 of the more
than 2,700 species in the world are actually venomous.
And of those, most are unlikely to harm humans unless
provoked. But that doesnt mean they cant eat large
prey. They are keen carnivores, which means they will
consume only meat including, sometimes, each other.
Smaller snakes, like the thread snake, eat the eggs
of insects like ants and centipedes, while the largest
snakes pythons and anacondas have been known
to chow down on fully grown deer and pigs. They use
powerful muscles to move their kill down their long
throats into their stomachs. And once in a snakes
stomach, the food can take anywhere from a few days
058 / / FEBRUARY 2017
to a couple of months to be digested. Which explains
why some snakes only eat twice a year.
These cold-blooded reptiles inhabit virtually every
area on Earth, the exceptions being Antarctica, Iceland,
Ireland, Greenland and New Zealand. They reside
mostly on land, in deserts and forests, but can also
be found in salt and freshwater. Most reptile species
have four legs and there is fossil evidence to suggest
that snakes once did, too. They may have evolved from
burrowing lizards during the Cretaceous period, or
from marine reptiles called mosasaurs that appeared
in the Earths seas around 100 million years ago. But
reports of snake evolution are conflicting and, so far,
their development is something of a mystery although
palaeontologists have discovered evidence of snakes
dating as far back as 150 million years, the fossils tend
to be incomplete or scattered.
Some prehistoric snakes are believed to have reached
humungous sizes, such as the Gigantophis, a late Eocene
monster measuring about 10m from head to tail.
Still got the heebie-jeebies? Luckily, snakes have
poor eyesight and memories, so if you do stumble
across one, stay still for long enough and they might
just forget you and slither off.
 Anatomy of
The snake

scale
off
the
 Hiss
Snakes have a small opening
behind the tongue called the
glottis, which opens into the
windpipe. A small piece of
cartilage inside it vibrates
when the snake breathes
out, which produces the
characteristic hiss.

Jacobsons organ
When the snakes tongue
retreats into its mouth, the
fork touches the Jacobsons
organ, a sensory part of the
roof of the mouth, which tells
the snake what it is smelling
and whether it is good
enough to eat.

Skeleton
Contrary to popular opinion
snakes do have a backbone.
In fact, they are virtually
all backbone, their spinal
column extending from
skull to tail with fragile ribs
curving outwards from it.

Movement
Who needs legs to go fast?
Snakes certainly dont.
They push off against
rocks or trees, and use
the wider scales on their
undersides to grip the
ground and propel
them forward.

060 / / FEBRUARY 2017

 Anatomy of
The snake

Eyes
Snakes have eyes but no
eyelids. Instead, they have
whats known as a spectacle Teeth
a transparent scale that is Those sharp teeth arent there
part of their skin. It is shed for chewing. They are designed
along with the rest of its to grasp and propel backwards,
skin, on average two to ensuring that, once bitten, prey
four times a year. can only move in the direction
of the snakes stomach. Non-
venomous snakes dont have
Ears fangs like rattlesnakes. Instead
While snakes lack external they have extra upper teeth.
ears, they do have internal
ones that are capable of
detecting low-frequency
sounds. The inner ear can
also detect motion and
soundwaves travelling
through the ground.

Tongue
Snakes smell with their forked
tongues. That characteristic flick
of the tongue shows a snake is
actually sniffing and tasting the
air. Snakes have a small opening
in their lips that they can stick
their tongues through so they
dont need to open their mouths.
Words: Matilda Battersby. Photographs: Alamy, Nature Picture Library, iStock

Skin
Snakes scales are made out
of the same thing as human Sex
fingernails a protein called
Many snakes mate in spring after
keratin. Their epidermis is
hibernation ends but in warmer
shed whole regularly and can
climates, mating can happen any
be an indicator of ill health or
time of the year. Some, including
poor environment if it doesnt
boas, give birth to live young.
come off in one piece.
Others, like the racer, lay eggs
and leave, while king cobras and
some pythons wait until their
eggs hatch, called brooding.
062 / / FEBRUARY 2017
 Science
A new generation

T O P O F

T H E P O P

S C I E N C E

As happy in a lab coat as she is out in the

field for alapagos, former music
TV presenter Liz Bonnin is the perfect
frontwoman for the BBCs new Terrific
Scientific project, aimed at getting kids
excited about the world around them
 elevision presenter Liz

T Bonnin has travelled the

world and seen some
incredible sights since she
left Top of the Pops and started science
broadcasting in 2005, but a recent trip to the
Galapagos Islands took her breath away.
Charles Darwin is my wildlife hero, because
of his fearless enthusiasm, she says.
And we happened to be on the island
he first landed on, on the date that he landed,
16 September, which is my birthday. It was
a really emotional and momentous day for
me. I felt very grateful and happy. I never
stop feeling inspired.
Bonnin was exploring the natural history
of the islands and the surrounding waters for
a new three-part BBC TV documentary
Mission Galapagos, screening this spring.
She travelled aboard research vessel Alucia,
which has state-of-the-art technology and
two deep-sea submersibles.
I was with a dedicated dive team and
scientists, she says. We went to the top of
this volcano in the middle of nowhere and the
scientists were studying these rare pink
iguanas and were as excited as big kids. If
people are doing extraordinary things like
that, it gives me hope for the planet. It renews
my faith in human nature.
Bonnin wants to inspire future generations
with her role as ambassador for BBC Terrific
Scientific, an ambitious new campaign that
aims to get primary children, teachers and
parents involved in nationwide, mass-
participation science experiments.
Fewer than 15 per cent of 10- to 14-year-
olds have aspirations to become scientists,
and girls are even less likely to consider a featuring famous faces like X Factor singer
science-related career. But research has Fleur East and BFG star Ruby Barnhil.
shown that girls are better at STEM [science, Next months theme will be time, with
technology, engineering and mathematics] children taking part in reaction tests to
subjects at a young age, says Bonnin. discover whether the clocks going forward
Theres a clichd image of a scientist in has an impact on their bodies, brain function
a white lab coat, but the ones I meet lead and sleep patterns. In May, children will
exciting, cool lives. People like Tim Peake conduct an audit of the carbon value of trees
and Brian Cox are flying the flag, but we in their playgrounds or local parks. All the
can do more. To ensure a more positive, experiments are brilliant, says Bonnin. But
sustainable future, we need to make science Im really drawn to the trees one because
the new rock n roll. I think we need children to understand the
The Terrific Scientific project launched last connection between us and nature.
month with the first of five UK-wide science Her own interest in science was formed as
experiments. It gets kids involved in a a child. Born in Paris to a Trinidadian mother
different investigation each month until June, and French-Martinique father, she spent the
via a series of live lessons and online films first nine years of her life in the South of

064 / / FEBRUARY 2017


ID ADVISE
BUDDING
SCIENTISTS
TO BE CREATIVE
AND HAVE FUN
Im lucky that I have
these TV programmes to
immortalise my experiences
but I write down special
moments and things that dont
always make the cut. I never
travel without my big yellow
notebook; I dont want to
forget a second of it.
My favourite nature-
watching spot is the
Cairngorm mountain Im
passionately in love with it.
I also went to Mull last May
with the Hebridian Whale
and Dolphin Trust and we
were on the water when the
first pod of dolphins arrived.
It was incredible.
I really believe theres
a science-related subject
to suit every child. Id advise
budding scientists to be
creative and have fun and
never think that a question
has been answered.
Words: Dawn Emery. Photographs: iStock, BBC Pictures, IDS
Liz Bonnin is passionate about inspiring
children to get excited about science
and the world around them
To ensure a
more positive
future we need
to make
France, before her
science the
family moved to new rock n roll
Ireland. I remember
being obsessed with
the birds that used to land on my balcony,
she says. I wanted to know how their eyes
moved, how their little hearts beat.
Before we moved to Ireland, my sister and
I were outdoors all the time with our dogs,
playing with bugs. There were
snakes, too. After we moved, wed
go to Trinidad or Martinique on
holiday. They are such beautiful
To find out
parts of the world; they ignited more visit
my love of the great outdoors. bbc.co.uk/
Bonnin studied for a bachelors terrificscientific
degree in biochemistry at Trinity
Science
A new generation
Bonnin started as a
presenter on music
shows, but her work
now revolves around
her love of wildlife.
Bottom left: she
filmed with Siberian
tigers in 2013
College, Dublin, and has a masters degree
in wild animal biology from the Zoological
Society of London and the Royal Veterinary
College. She started her career presenting
prime-time TV shows including Top of the
Pops and RI:SE, before realising she could
combine her broadcast experience with her
passion for science.
Presenting programmes such as Operation
Snow Tiger in 2013, has had a lasting effect.
I worked with scientists in Russia who are
trying to protect the last remaining Siberian
tigers, she says. It was an incredibly special
trip that changed my life. It made me realise
that Im not doing enough. There were around
300 of these wild animals during filming, but
numbers have since risen to more than 500.
Liz lives in London and admits that it takes
some adjustment when she comes home
from a trip. I spent quite
a lot of time in Botswana,
and landing at Heathrow
was such a shock to the
system. People behave
differently in a city like
this, she says.
When shes at home
in London, she gets her
nature fix by going for
long walks in Kensington
Gardens and Hyde Park.
When I surround myself
with trees, it just does
something to me. I find myself getting
bogged down by little things in the city. But
I can be filming on a mountain in the middle
of Alaska, and all my stresses and worries
dissipate. Nature is the best medicine.
And studying nature and
science is all about being curious
about the world around you.
Ive seen so many different
types of scientist in my career:
adventurers, innovators,
creatives. It shows how
exciting and fun science is.
 B I Z A R R E
B O
T A
N Y
Stinking corpse flowers eat-eating
vines? Kew Gardens Professor Kathy
Willis reveals our wackiest plants
lants provide every single thing human
P beings need to survive, from clean air and
water, to medicine, fuel, food and fibres, says
Professor Kathy Willis, director of science at
the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Yet we tend to think about
plants only in terms of colour, smell and the shape of a flower.
Willis, who is passionate about the quirkiest plant life,
is seeking to draw attention to the remarkable organisms that
grow on this planet and has written a book, Botanicum, with
the intention of beguiling young readers and adults with the
incredible and surprising capabilities of some exotic plants.
Plants are amazing: they live everywhere, from the tallest
mountains to the deepest valleys, and in the hottest and
066 / / FEBRUARY 2017
Venus flytrap
leaves snap shut
when they feel the
movement of prey
CA R N I VOROUS PL A N T S
Carnivorous plants murder their victims then
absorb the nutrients they contain, such as nitrogen,
so they can produce chlorophyll (the green
pigment), which is vital to their survival. Insects,
lizards, mice and even rats are all fair game.
One of the most ingenious carnivorous plants
is the common bladderwort (Utricularia
macrorhiza, 1), which lives in ponds and lakes.
Its leaves grow into rounded bag shapes with a
trapdoor at one end. When it senses prey, the
door springs open, sucking in water and its victim,
before snapping shut again.
The common sundew from Western Australia
(Drosera rotundifolia, 2) coats its leaves with a glue,
then suffocates and digests its captured victims
using other chemicals secreted at its centre.
Perhaps the most beautiful of these killer greens
is the Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula, 3). It has
trigger hairs that snap its leaves shut when they
feel its victims movement.
Many carnivorous plants use bright colours
and tempting fragrances to lure their victims in,
while passive traps, such as pitcher plants, have
shiny jug-shaped leaves filled with digestive
chemicals. Lured by a sweet scent, their prey
slips on the waxy surface and falls in. The most
fearsome of these is the Rajah pitcher (Nepenthes
rajah, 4) from Borneo, which is large and strong
enough to trap rats in its huge urn-like leaves.
 Nature
Botanical thrillers

4
 1

068 / / FEBRUARY 2017

 Nature
Botanical thrillers

The parasites are some
of my favourites because
I love plants that do
something weird
coldest, driest and wettest places on Earth, says
Willis. They can be huge or tiny, beautiful or ugly,
scented or smelly, weird or frightening. For instance,
one of the largest pitcher plants (Nepenthes rajah)
has pitchers [urn-like modified leaves] the size of a
rugby ball that can trap rats, which it then eats.
Whats more, we have only just begun to scratch
the surface of mapping and understanding the plants
that provide a habitat for us. So far, scientists have
counted over 400,000 plant species, but about 2,000
new ones are discovered each year, says Willis.
Botanicum showcases plants that feed off each
other, snack on raw meat, or smell peculiar, with
striking illustrations by Katie Scott. The book was
really fun to do but also quite
a challenge because, for me,
it was a completely different
way of working, says Willis.
Normally, I think about the science first, but Scotts
coloured line drawings convey the dazzling beauty
and variety of plants so brilliantly that we decided to
choose plants that were visually stunning and then
find out what made them extraordinary. It took about
a year altogether and I learnt a lot, she says.
Among the inclusions in the book is the greater
dodder (Cuscuta europaea), a parasitic plant that
Willis knew very little about. But once I started the
research, I found it was fascinating and quite scary
it seems to smell its host plant and grow towards
it. Willis says parasites are some of my favourites
because I love plants that do something weird.
What are the other more unusual plants Willis has
come across in her research for the book? The huge,
stinking corpse flower (Rafflesia arnoldii) captures
the imagination because it is almost more animal
than vegetable. It is bright red, not green, because
it gets another plant to do its photosynthesising
[converting light energy into chemical energy],
but not only does it look like an alien and feed off
another plant, it stinks like rotting flesh, she says.
Evolution has resulted in
other fascinating monster
plants. Carnivorous plants
are also brilliant, because

Flower fatales: slipper, bee and

fringed orchids lure pollinators
with gorgeous colour and pattern

ORCHIDS

There are about 28,000 known species of
orchid. Theyre some of the most complex
and highly evolved flowering plants on
Earth. They are found on every continent
bar Antarctica and can live for decades.
More than half are epiphytes, known as
air plants because they grow high up in
the branches of another plant with their
roots sticking out, and draw their water
and nutrients from the air.
Orchids come in every size, shape and
colour, with dazzling markings from
tabby spots and tiny freckles to checks
and neat stripes. This is because they are
not self-pollinating so have become
skilled mimics in order to attract their
pollinator, which may be an insect or
even a hummingbird.
Some, such as the fringed orchid
(Catasetum fimbriatum, 1) are aggressive
and shoot pollen at their pollinator,
usually an insect. Some, such as the bee
orchid (Ophrys apifera, 3) have evolved
to look like their pollinators ideal mate.
Though one seedpod can contain up
to 3 million seeds, germination is so
complex that relatively few orchids ever
flower. For some species this makes
survival in the wild precarious.
It also makes them hugely desirable.
The slipper orchid (Paphiopedilum
rothschildianum, 2), which helped to
trigger orchid fever when it was
discovered in Borneo in the 19th century,
is one such living legend and is now
highly endangered.
 PA R A S I T I C P L A N T S

Some species of plants are parasites,
meaning that they suck their food, water
and nutrients from another living plant.
All parasites have a specially modified root
called a haustorium, which they use as a
pipeline to feed from their host.
Stinking corpse flower (Rafflesia
arnoldii, 1), a native of southeast Asia,
is one such parasite. It lives on a host vine
and is generally hidden until it produces
a single, massive, fleshy flower, which can
reach 1m in diameter and weigh up to 11kg.
At its centre is a deep bowl, into which its
pollinator, the carrion fly, is enticed by its
awful scent of rotting flesh. This
frankenflower, the worlds largest,
appears infrequently and lasts for only
five days in the gloom of the rainforest.
Not all parasites are unpleasant,
however. With attractive white berries,
mistletoe (Viscum album, 2), the
traditional plant we kiss under at
Christmas, is a hemiparasite, because
although it lives on the branches of other
trees and shrubs, it also sustains itself
through its decorative green leaves
and photosynthesis.

The stinking corpse

flower can reach 1m in
diameter and blooms
for just five days

To find out more

about how plants
adapt to survive, visit
bbc.in/2ikAhEu

they are so well adapted to do truly horrible things.
And bromeliads are really cool: they dont follow any
of the normal plant rules the pineapple, for instance,
is not one fruit but a whole bunch moulded together.
In the wild they create a sort of micro-climate, and
often have tiny frogs living in the water trapped in
form in more than 300 million years. If you think of
that in terms of the survival of the fittest, algae are
the Usain Bolt of the plant world.
There are still gaps in our knowledge, and areas
where plants have yet to be studied, but Willis is
confident well get there. If life on Earth is to thrive,

Words: Diana McAdam. Photographs: Alamy, iStock, Nature Picture Library

their rosette of spiny leaves.
But it isnt just the big, impressive-looking, rat-
trapping or frog-hosting plants that do extraordinary
things, says Willis, every species has incredible
attributes and abilities. All plants are amazing, even
tiny ones like lichens there are some that produce
their own sunscreen. Algae, which tend to get
dismissed as squidgy green blobs, are mind-blowing;
some varieties have had no evolutionary change in
we need to start educating the next generation
of scientists so that they can protect our plants
from pests and climate change. More than 40,000
people came to our inaugural science festival at Kew
last year, many of them children. My hope is that
Botanicum will inspire young people to learn more
about the science of plants.
Botanicum is published by Big Picture Press in
association with Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 20

KEWS NEW ONLINE GUIDE

Kew is not just a botanical garden but a world-class research World Online that will eventually give details of every one of
institution for more than 300 scientists of all nationalities, who the 400,000 plant species currently held there. Each will have
work at discovery, classification, preservation and, crucially, its own web page, detailing everything from its uses and its
education. In 2017 it is launching an online portal Plants of the common names to how it links through to other plant families.

070 / / FEBRUARY 2017

 Nature
Botanical thrillers

2
 Space
Be an astronaut

ut?
be a n

a
es to
ak

n
ha t i t t

ro
ve w

t
h a

s
Do yo u

How to see if the space helmet fits

/ 073
 brand-new BBC Two series

A
recently put out a call to find
Britains next Tim Peake. With
the working title The Toughest
Job in the Universe, its looking
for budding astronauts to take part in a series of
challenges to see if they have what it takes to make
it to space. The appeal has garnered a huge
response, and of those who applied from around
the UK, 12 men and women will be selected to
undergo hard training exercises, including a zero-g
flight and a real NASA mission in an underwater lab.
Theyll be tested on their self-discipline, personality
and ability to learn new skills and whether they can
make life-or-death decisions.
Overseeing the recruitment process (after all,
its just for fun) will be Colonel Chris Hadfield,
retired astronaut and a former commander of the
International Space Station (ISS). To be selected
as an astronaut is intensely demanding and
competitive, he says. Im looking forward to
meeting these 12 top finalists the very best of all
who apply and testing and getting to know them
to see who has what it truly takes.
After all, the real selection process is no picnic.
Astronauts chosen by NASA and the European
Space Agency (ESA) have to beat thousands,
sometimes tens of thousands, of applicants to the
job and will undergo rigorous physical, mental and
psychological tests and profiling.
Theres no obvious career path for astronauts,
no universities offering degrees in space travel,
or designated A levels that are needed in order to
qualify. Helen Sharman, the first British astronaut,
was a chemist. She was in her mid-twenties and
had just completed a PhD at Birkbeck University

Colonel Chris Hadfield,

former commander
of the ISS, is taking
part in a new BBC
series to find out
who is tough enough
to go into space

when she heard a radio commercial that said:

Astronaut wanted, no experience necessary.
She beat 13,000 other applicants to take part
in Project Juno, a programme to send a Briton to
Russias Mir space station in 1991. How did it feel
to be picked above all those others to embark on
eight days of weightlessness in space?
Of course I had no idea at the time how many
people had applied and I never for one minute
expected to be chosen, says Sharman, who is now
52 and works as operations manager of the
chemistry department at Imperial College London.
I didnt grow up in a house of astronauts, in a
country of astronauts. Its not the kind of thing that
scientists are expected to do in Britain.
In the 1960s, during the space race, when the
Soviet Union and the US first started launching
people into space, astronauts were picked from

074 / / FEBRUARY 2017

 Space
Be an astronaut

27 and 37 years old, able to speak English and

reasonably academic.
The space agency asks for a postgraduate
degree in a natural science, medicine, maths,
engineering or computer science. Or you can be
a pilot with over a thousand hours of flying
experience, he says.
Peake, who, at 44, is slightly older than the ideal
astronaut, was chosen thanks to his 18-year career
flying military aircraft. By contrast, Sharman had
excellent science credentials. Generally, they want
people who are trained in science and engineering,
says Sharman. People who can help technically,
who can control the space station, who will
understand how the oxygen machine works.
You need to be happy doing whats known as
housework technical upkeep around the space
station and looking after the computers; and,
Clockwise from far of course, there are experiments to do, too.
left: Helen Sharman Despite the remarkable nature of the job,
(middle) was the first Sharman says astronauts should be pretty
British astronaut; Peggy normal. A middle-of-the-road, interesting,
Whitson (right) became interested sort of person is the ideal
the oldest female astronaut, she says.
astronaut in space at 56;
Peggy Whitson, who is set to turn 57 this
Tim Peakes space walk
month while inside the ISS, recently became
the oldest female astronaut in space when
she blasted off for her third NASA mission in
November last year. She has an advanced degree
in biochemistry and worked for the agency in
various research roles before being selected
as an astronaut candidate in 1996.
Whitson is currently commanding the ISS,
having previously been the first woman in charge
of it in 2007, and by the time this current mission
ends, she will have been in space for longer than

Helen Sharman was in

her mid-twenties when
she heard a radio advert
calling for astronaut
candidates. Below:
John Glenn enters the
Friendship 7 capsule

military backgrounds. Alan Shepard and John Glenn,

the first Americans in space, were among seven
air-force test pilots hand-picked by NASA to
Did you
become the first astronauts. know?
In those days they recruited the kind of people
The term astronaut
who thrived on having to fly by the seat of their
derives from Greek
pants, says Sharman. But now they want more
and translates as
measured, logical astronauts. When theres a
space sailor.
technical problem, you actually have plenty of time
Only 12 people have
to work things out, to talk about them with your
walked on the moon.
peers and solve the problem as a team.
Captain Gene Cernan
Personality is possibly the biggest clincher in
was the last man to
astronaut selection 95 per cent of the candidates
leave a footprint on the
initially selected in the ESAs latest recruitment
lunar surface.
round (when Peake was hired) were rejected
because of their personal profiles.
In a recruitment video for the ESA, Peake
describes the ideal astronaut candidate as between
 Space
Be an astronaut

An astronaut shouldnt
be too excitable, too
depressive; they
shouldnt be extreme
any other American astronaut, surpassing Jeff
Williams 534-day record.
Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became
the first woman in space in 1963 and there have
been more than 40 female astronauts at NASA;
Sharman was the first European woman in space.
In the early days of flight, the menstrual cycle
formed part of the argument why women shouldnt
become pilots, or later, astronauts with several
airplane crashes being blamed on menstruating
women. This claim was refuted by studies as early
as the 1940s but the theory was repeated for the
next couple of decades and arguably blighted early
opportunities for women in space.
Nowadays, regardless of gender, the key requisite
for agencies is physical health and the ability to attain
a very high level of fitness. The ESA might want to
recruit people in their late twenties and thirties, but,
as Whitsons record shows, if you are physically fit,
you can fly at any age. Glenn, who died last December
aged 95, became the oldest man in space in 1998
flying aboard the shuttle Discovery at the age of 77.
However, age might be a disadvantage on a long
mission, as astronauts typically lose as much as 40
per cent muscle and 12 per cent bone mass density
after five months in space and it can take a long
time to recover that strength.
Astronauts must also have excellent spatial
abilities to help with the challenge of zero gravity.
ESA recruitment ads warn that objects dont
behave as they do on Earth, so you need to be able
to predict their course and avoid collisions.
Among the ESAs fiendishly tricky aptitude tests
are puzzles asking candidates to identify flattened
objects in three dimensions, dizzyingly difficult
mathematics, PhD-level physics and engineering
Words: Matilda Battersby. Photographs: Alamy, European Space Agency, iStock
A physician
tests Valentina
Tereshkovas fitness
as she prepares
to become the
first woman in
space in 1963
Teasers
to test
your brain
power questions, and memory tests that would challenge
even the most photographic minds.
We sat through exam after exam to test skills and
intelligence, including memory, spatial awareness
and concentration. Then they assessed personality
1 Which material does a lightning and health, Peake told the BBC last year. More than
conductor usually consist of? 900 candidates were whittled down to 10 and
unbelievably I was one of them. Weeks went by and
Plastic Lead I didnt hear anything, so I began to think I hadnt
Steel Tin made it. But on 18 May 2009, I was offered one of
six places with the European Astronaut Corps.
2 If all points within an area have The appetite for space flight appears to be
the same distance to a straight line, growing: 8,412 Europeans applied with Tim Peake
which shape results? for ESAs astronaut recruitment drive in 2008; and
more than 18,300 people applied to be in NASAs
Sphere Cube 2017 astronaut class, nearly three times as many as
Cylinder Octahedron applied in 2012. Peakes return from a six-month
stint on the ISS last year seems to have further
3 At Frankfurt airport a passenger galvanised interest in space travel in Britain, and the
wants to get from Terminal A to Russian-built space capsule Soyuz TMA-19M that

Do you
measure up?
These are NASAs on the conveyor belt?
mandatory physical
requirements:
Distant visual
acuity: 20/100 or
better uncorrected,
correctable to 20/20.
Blood pressure:
140/90 measured in
a sitting position.
Height between
5ft 2in and 6ft 2in.
Terminal B. On foot it would take
him three minutes; standing on the
conveyor belt, two minutes. How
long would it take him if he walks
astonished to get the job of space astronaut. Before
1.2 minutes 1.8 minutes
1.5 minutes 1.1 minutes
If you enjoyed these, you can
download the ESA practice
aptitude tests at
bit.ly/2hcqbVL
carried Peake and his crewmates Yuri Malenchenko
and Tim Kopra to and from the ISS, is now on
display at the Science Museum in London.
Both Sharman and Peake have said they were
her latest launch, Whitson told journalists that the
most important thing about the station is the
friendships and the work we accomplish there.
[Agencies] dont want people who are highly
reactive, says Sharman. An astronaut shouldnt be
too excitable, too depressive. They shouldnt be
extreme. They need to be able to work in a team
and not always be the loudest voice in the group.
NASAs latest recruitment round is underway,
with the class of 2017 to be announced in June, and,
as the agency prepares to send missions to Mars by
the 2030s, the stakes for the next generations of
space travellers are higher than ever.
Answers: 1 Steel. 2 Sphere. 3 1.2 minutes

/ 077
 WHAT
DOES THAT
BUTTON DO?
Ever wondered what it would be like to
travel through space ows your chance
to find out, as the capsule that took Tim
Peake to the ISS goes on display at the
Scienc useum in London. Heres a
sneak peek of what you can expect

Russian Soyuz space capsules have been the only way to

travel to the International Space Station (ISS) since NASA
Words: Carolyn Fry. Photographs: Science Museum, Getty

retired the space shuttle in 2011. Each spacecraft comes in

three parts: the lower instrument module holds an on-board
computer, communications kit, thrusters and propellants;
the central descent module is where the three crew members
sit during the launch and the return journey to Earth;
and the upper orbital module provides storage and living
quarters during the journey (including a loo, in case you were
wondering), along with the exit hatch and equipment needed
to dock to the ISS. Only the descent module part of Soyuz
TMA-19M will be on display at the Science Museum, as the
other modules are jettisoned on the return journey before the
capsule enters the Earths atmosphere.

BURNING UP
The outside of the Dalek-
shaped descent module is
black and charred, as its
heat-resistant covering is
designed to burn and slow the
craft down as it travels back
through the atmosphere. The
two window-like holes are,
in fact, where there would be
containers for the main (left)
and reserve (right) parachutes.
The huge main parachute,
which was activated just
before the module landed,
is the size of two tennis
courts. Although descent
modules are never used again
after a mission, some parts
of it are taken and recycled
the reserve parachute of this
craft wasnt needed so it will
be used on another flight.
HARIBO, ANYONE?
As well as carrying refreshments
for the journey, the capsule has a
survival kit containing everything
the crew would need to survive
back on Earth if they happen to
land in a spot that will take a
while to reach. It includes food,
fishing tackle, a knife and a gun.
and Coldplays A Sky Full of
Stars, while doing last-minute
NOT COLDPLAY AGAIN!
This is the instrument display
system (IDS), which includes
two display screens and
various system buttons and
lights. The three black knobs
are the audio controls for the
astronaut who occupied the
left-hand seat, Tim Kopra.
These and the identical dials in
front of the other seats enabled
the crew to control their audio
inputs, through which they
listened to each other, the
mission-control team, and a
pre-flight playlist. Tim Peake
listened to Queens Dont Stop
Me Now, U2s Beautiful Day
checks before blast-off.

078 / / FEBRUARY 2017


LEFT A BIT
These two cylindrical controls
enable the crafts commander
to manually pilot the capsule.
The grey control on the left
moves you in the three axes
of direction pitch, roll and
yaw and the control on the
right moves you forward or
backwards, explains the
Science Museums Doug
Millard, deputy keeper,
technologies and engineering.
The commander of this
capsule was Russian Yuri
Malenchenko, so he occupied
the central seat. He skilfully
docked the capsule to the ISS
manually after the control
system generated a general
failure message.
UNDER PRESSURE
These orange valves control
the cabin pressure. The air
supply to the capsule is very
similar to that of an airplane,
mimicking the atmosphere
of Earth (around 80 per cent
nitrogen and almost 20 per
cent oxygen). There is a main
air supply and a backup one,
plus the crew wear Sokol
survival suits. Complete with
a built-in helmet, these suits
can keep the astronauts
alive for two hours if the
spacecraft springs a leak.
YOU ARE HERE
This display on the IDS shows
the capsules location and
trajectory, in the same way
that screens on the back of
airplane seats show passengers
how far the plane has travelled
towards its destination.
As they are very expensive to
produce, the capsules original
IDS will be used again,
so this one is a replica.
Space
Inside a capsule
EASY RIDER
This was Tim Peakes seat.
Each seat is made from
a mould of the astronauts
back to ensure a very snug fit.
A hydraulic system lifts the
seat a little before touchdown,
to help absorb the violent
impact of landing.
 Valentines Day may be a uniquely human celebration of romance
but were not alone in aspiring to a lasting relationship, as many animals
have a lifelong bond with just one partner. Angela Saini investigates

080 / / FEBRUARY 2017

 Animal behaviour
Monogamous mates

The look of love

 icture the most romantic creatures in the

P animal kingdom. Perhaps some elegant mute

swans? A couple of cooing turtle doves? Or
maybe an adorably faithful pair of macaroni
penguins? One of the most loved-up animals you probably
arent thinking about is a shy little rodent that lives in North
America. The prairie vole isnt much to look at, with its coarse
pepper-shaded fur, but its rare among mammals for being
unwaveringly loyal to its mate. In fact, its such a perfect
model of lifelong love that scientists use it to better
understand how we, too, can plunge head over heels.
The crucial chemical that makes female prairie voles attach
themselves tenderly to their mates is the very same that
human mothers produce when theyre in labour and
breastfeeding oxytocin. A related hormone, known as Can promiscuous
vasopressin, has similar effects on the male vole. Mating
really seals the deal when it comes to pair bonding, says partners be turned
psychiatry professor Larry Young at Emory University
School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, who has been studying
into loyal ones with
prairie voles since 1994. When virgin male and female prairie a little biological
voles first mate, there is a release of several chemicals in the
brain, including oxytocin, vasopressin and dopamine, that tweaking?
creates the bond between them.
Young believes that a similar process goes on in us. In
human men, oxytocin makes our partners, but not other
women, more attractive, he says. There is lots of evidence
that oxytocin plays an important role in social bonding,
including romantic love in humans.

The one and only

While many species try to spread their seed as wide as
possible, setting their sights on one partner does have some
evolutionary perks. When populations are low so there
arent as many fish in the sea a vole has a failsafe partner
to mate with every year. There are benefits for the kids as
well. Bonding for life guarantees both sexes produce offspring
of very high quality and therefore maximise the chance to
pass on their genes, says Christophe Eizaguirre, an
evolutionary biologist at Queen
Mary, University of London. Having
two parents investing their energy
in a vole pup improves its odds of partners by inserting an extra vasopressin receptor gene
survival and good health. into their brains via a harmless virus transfer.
The question this raises is In humans, though, love is a little more complicated.
whether promiscuous partners I suspect that in humans, as long as the context is right,
might be turned into loyal ones oxytocin could hasten the onset of romantic love, adds Young.
with a little biological tweaking. But its not just as simple as a chemical. A single chemical
Could a shot of oxytocin or exposure is not going to make someone instantly fall in love
vasopressin act like a love potion? with whoever is around them, but if all the context is right,
In 2004, Larry Young showed that I think it could speed things up.
this might be possible, at least in However, as more research is done on animals that mate
voles. Male meadow voles, which for life, researchers are realising that even seemingly
look like prairie voles but are monogamous creatures can turn out to have cheating hearts.
unreliable playboys in comparison, According to Christophe Eizaguirre, among the many species
can be transformed into dutiful that pair up for life, infidelity is extremely common. For

082 / / FEBRUARY 2017


ANIMALS THAT HEART EACH OTHER
Southern rockhopper penguins mate
for life despite living hundreds of
kilometres apart most of the time.
Using GPS trackers, scientists know
that their mating season lasts less than
a month. Yet, year after year, they
somehow manage to find each other in
order to mate with the same partner.
Many birds go to equally enormous
lengths to snag a long-term partner.
Animal behaviour
Monogamous mates
Prairie voles may
just be the most
monogamous animals
in the world, so much
so that scientists have
studied their hormones
to decode the biological
processes at work
Albatrosses perform elaborate dances,
while male bowerbirds use whatever
they can find, including shells, trinkets Left: Mute swans mate
for life, although if one
and flowers, to build fancy nests.
of them dies, the other
One of the most recognisable images
will find a new partner.
of romance in the animal kingdom
Far left: Southern
comes from mute swans, whose long, rockhopper penguins
curved necks come together to form a travel hundreds of
perfect love heart as they bow to each kilometres to reconnect
other during courtship. in the mating season
 Animal behaviour
Monogamous mates

Almost all birds

To find out
about the tricks form eternal
animals use to find
and keep a mate, bonds but
visit http://bbc.
in/2jyLrG4 also have the
occasional tryst

biologists consider monogamous, there

are few that are always sexually faithful,
says Larry Young. This may mirror what
we see in humans. Social fidelity
having one committed partner that the
world can see is more common than
sexual fidelity what goes on in private.
People may choose to commit to one
partner, but that doesnt mean they will
always be faithful to them.

Marriage made in heaven?

Theres an awful lot of debate about
whether humans are actually
Male albatrosses
monogamous or not, says Susan
perform elaborate
dances to attract Quilliam, a British psychologist and
a potential partner relationship therapist. But this doesnt
mean that monogamy isnt still an ideal
for many people. We want monogamy
emotionally, even if were not
physiologically hardwired for it, she
example, almost all species of birds form eternal bonds says. What were looking for is having our deepest needs
with one mate, but they are also known to fly the nest at met by a partner who will stay with us for life a cry from the
times in search of the occasional tryst. heart. One theory she puts forward is that, as adults, we seek
Andrs Liker, a professor of ornithology at the University out lifelong partners to recreate the safety and security we
of Pannonia in Hungary, estimates that up to half of a female had in the womb and as children.
birds brood may contain chicks fathered by more than one In reality though, relationships in the modern world are
male. This is more likely to happen when the species is very unreliable, says Quilliam. This is one reason why we
unbalanced when there are more males than females or might look to the natural world for our ideals. When gibbons,
more females than males in a population. In some sense, grey wolves and black vultures manage to bond for life,
males and females are equally promiscuous, he says. we like to think that we can, too. Looking at animals
Paternity tests have revealed that even romantic paragons which, because theyre animals, we can project anything
like prairie voles arent always loyal. Among animals that we like onto they offer us hope, says Quilliam.

Octopuses are the biggest hearted in order to stop themselves drifting

Did you
Photographs: iStock, Alamy

creatures around they have three! away from each other.

Rafting sea otter couples have
been noted to sometimes hold
hands while they are asleep,
Gibbons were once regarded as
exemplars of faithfulness but are
know?
now known to divorce each other.

/ 085
 African adventure
at its wildest
Get up close to the Big Five on an
unforgettable nine-day safari in the
Masai Mara game reserve in Kenya

In Swahili, the most widely spoken language in the East

African country of Kenya, safari means journey. And from
the dramatic wide-open plains and rolling hills of the Masai Mara
to the Great Rift Valley, G Adventures brings you the chance to
have the journey of a lifetime. Experience Kenya in all its glory on
a fantastic nine-day, full-service camping safari, with great food
and unforgettable memories of sleeping beneath the stars.
You'll explore a magical landscape of soaring snow-topped
peaks, cavernous gorges, jungle forests, shimmering freshwater
lakes and tropical coastlines lapped by the Indian Ocean.
From the capital city of Nairobi, travel cross-country in
small safari vans. You will get off the beaten track and,
from the comfort of the vehicle, safely up close to the
magnificent wildlife for which Kenya is famous herds of
zebra, antelope, elephants, rhino and mighty wildebeest.
The trip will include a visit to a Samburu village, where
you will meet tribespeople, discover how they live and learn
about their traditional crafts. Youll also have the chance
to buy a beautiful souvenir or two.
One of G Adventures guiding principles is that you should not
just see the world but also make it better. The company believes
that the social value of what it does is just as important
as the profit it earns. Wherever the company travels,
it supports local entrepreneurs and small businesses,
which not only strengthens communities and boosts
quality of life, but also gives visitors an authentic and
potentially life-changing experience.
G Adventures also recognises the importance of animal
welfare and protection, which makes a safari experience
both valuable and memorable. Kenya has an excellent
tourist infrastructure that will allow G Adventures to take
you comfortably and efficiently from coast to coast.
So, whether you are a first-timer or an experienced
traveller, Kenya is sure to charm and amaze you. One
lucky reader now has the chance to win a nine-day
camping safari in Kenya for two, including international
flights see opposite page for how to enter.
gadventures.co.uk
 Advertising feature
Safari

W I N A S A FA R I H O L I DAY
WORTH 3,000

PRIZE INCLUDES:
A nine-day trip for two people to
the Masai Mara game reserve, famous
for its populations of lions, leopards
and cheetahs, and as the location
for the annual migration of zebras,
gazelle and wildebeest to and from the
Serengeti each year. Youll never get a
better chance to spot the Big Five!
A visit to the Samburu National
Reserve and a Samburu village, where
you will see the tribes traditional way
of living and their craftsmanship.
Trips to Kenyas most awe-inspiring
wildlife parks and game reserves,
including Lake Nakuru, two hours
from Nairobi.
A chance to view the Great Rift
Valley, one of the most astonishing
natural sights on Earth.
All transport between destinations,
and to and from included activities.
Accommodation in simple hotels
(two nights), full-service camping
(four nights) and permanent tented
camps (two nights).
Meals including eight breakfasts,
seven lunches and six dinners.
Transportation in seven-seat
4x4 safari van.
Staff, guides and camp crew
throughout.

HOW TO ENTER
Log on to therivergroup.co.uk/
Gadventures to enter online. Closing
date: 23:59 on 31 March 2017. UK
(excluding Northern Ireland) entrants
only, aged 18 and over.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS: Winner is entitled to two (2) free places on guaranteed departures of Kenya Camping Safari (Trip Code: DKWA), (no substitutions) departing before 31 December
2017 and booked before 31 July 2017 23:59 EST. Winner will be booked on to a trip that already has a minimum of four paying passengers confirmed on such departure. Winner must be 18
years of age or older in order to claim the prize. For full terms and conditions please visit therivergroup.co.uk/Gadventures
A trunk call
for trees
Theyre an important part of our
heritage and an irreplaceable part
of the landscape, but our ancient trees
and forests are unprotected and
could do with a little help from us

f only trees could talk, they could tell

I us about a Britain dating back hundreds,

and even thousands of years.
The number of ancient trees in the UK is
exceptional compared with elsewhere in northern Europe,
and our earliest native woods and landmark veteran trees
form one of our richest land-based habitats an important
sanctuary for a huge variety of wildlife.
Equally important is their historical and cultural
significance. People come from miles around to visit the tree
believed to have witnessed the signing of the Magna Carta
800 years ago; or the yew under which Britains first ever
trade union was formed 180 years ago.
But did you know that our ancient trees and woodlands
have no legal status in this country, compared with historic
buildings, for example, which can at least be listed? This
means that there are no laws designed to protect trees from
the perils of development, climate change, pests, disease or
even not being properly looked after.
We can all do our bit to help champion our trees, though
find out how over the page. But first, here are a few leafy
landmarks everyone should know about

T E A M NEWTONS APPLE TREE

Woolsthorpe Manor, Lincolnshire
Age 400 years
Species Flower of Kent (Malus pumila)
History This tree is the stuff of scientific
legend. When Sir Isaac Newton sat under
it in the mid-17th century, his eureka
moment, the discovery of gravity, was
prompted by a falling apple.
Did you know? There is evidence of apple
trees in the UK as far back as the Neolithic
era but it was the Romans who introduced
the sweet varieties we eat today.

088 / / FEBRUARY 2017

 Team Earth
Ancient woodlands

TOLPUDDLE MARTYRS TREE

Tolpuddle, Dorset
Age 300 years
Species Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus)
History The first trade union was formed
under the spiky boughs of this tree. Six
farmhands met here in 1834 to form a
friendly society to protest against their
meagre pay of six shillings a week.
Did you know? Sycamores were introduced
to Britain in the 17th century. They are
attractive to aphids, caterpillars and moths.

MAJOR OAK
Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire
Age 800-1,000 years
Species English oak (Quercus Robur)
History This tree attracts around 900,000
tourists per year. Legend has it that its broad
branches sheltered Robin Hood or, more
likely, outlaws like him.
Did you know? The English oak is the most
common species of tree in Britain. Their usual
lifespan is about 200 years and they wait until
they are 40 years old to produce acorns.

ANKERWYCKE YEW
Wraysbury, Berkshire
Age 2,500 years
Species Yew (Taxus baccata)
History This truly ancient tree is allegedly
the site of two significant historic
happenings: the signing of the Magna
Carta in 1215; and Henry VIIIs first meeting
with Anne Boleyn in the 1520s.
Did you know? The yew, native to the UK,
is dioecious, meaning that male and female
flowers grow on separate trees. Usually yew
trees live for up to 600 years and can grow
to 20m high.

LLANGERNYW YEW
Conwy, North Wales
Age 4,000 to 5,000 years
Species Yew (Taxus baccata)
History This tree has been a feature of the
churchyard of St Digains in Llangernyw
village for a very, very long time. While
some argue that the main tree is probably
only around 1,500 years (a youngster!), data
suggests that the original stump it grew
around is thousands of years old.
Did you know? All parts of the yew are
poisonous if eaten, but the leaves contain
some very useful chemicals too, that are
extracted and processed into the
chemotherapy drug docetaxel.

THE BIRNAM OAK

Birnam, Perthshire
Age 1,000+ years
Species Sessile oak (Quercus petraea)
History This towering medieval tree is the
last remaining relic of Birnam Wood, made
famous in Shakespeares Macbeth, as the
branches of the trees camouflaged the
advancing army come to defeat the doomed
Thane of Glamis.
Did you know? The sessile carries its acorn
not on stalks but directly on its outer twigs.
 Team Earth
Ancient woodlands

How to be a tree champion

Trees might not have a legal status, but that doesnt
mean theyre totally unprotected. Humans have long
banded together to stand up for the rights of our
deeply rooted companions and you can help, too.
Organisations like the Woodland Trust and The
Tree Council are committed to safeguarding old
forests and mature trees, as well as planting new
ones. They work to protect trees from the increasing
threats of pollution, diseases such as chalara
which has plagued the domestic Ash population
pests, overgrazing and invasive non-native species.
With environmental change happening at an
unprecedented rate, we need to adapt, and fast,
to protect our ecosystems and trees, which are
a habitat in their own right, are an essential part of
that. Heres how to take a leaf out of their book

what
can you
do to
help?

YOUR STORIES PLANT IN YOUR

Add your voice to the call for COMMUNITY
a Charter for Trees, Woods OR SCHOOL
and People by uploading Community participation is
your stories about how a great way to get as many
trees improve your life at people as possible involved
treecharter.uk. With more and planting in a school
than 50 organisations behind teaches children vital lessons
GIVE SPECIAL TREES it, itll safeguard our trees. about conservation.
VIP STATUS THROUGH A
TREE REGISTER
The Woodland Trust has launched a
register to classify, celebrate and protect
the UKs nationally important and
best-loved trees. Thats not any old oak
however lovely it might be. There are strict
criteria these special trees and woodlands VISIT THE V.I.TREES
must meet, such as: Is it an ancient tree of The importance of a tree
native or European species? Is there a is never more evident than
historic connection? Is it potentially the when people go out of their
largest or oldest of its kind? You can way to see them. Plan your
nominate a special tree, or get involved as very own tree tourist trail
a volunteer recording trees, surveying or take part in one of the
them or updating historical records. Woodland Trusts ancient
Words: Matilda Battersby. Photographs: Alamy, iStock, Shutterstock

tree hunt events.

/ 091
 W H AT E V E R

096 / / FEBRUARY 2017

 Weather
Future forecasting

T H E W E AT H E R

As a nation, were obsessed with the weather forecast which,

despite the specialised technology, sometimes leaves us unprepared.
Joe Shute reveals how traditional methods might still have a role,
while David Crookes looks at the future of prediction
 or as long as humans have

F existed on this planet,

we have been attempting to
second-guess the weather
- and it remains an imperfect art.
Organisations such as the Met Office and
MeteoGroup (Europes largest forecaster) rely
on so-called super computers. The Met
Office model cost 97m and is capable of
making 23,000 trillion calculations a second,
drawing in hundreds of thousands
of weather observations from across the
globe. The organisation claims its four-day
forecast is today as accurate as its one-day
forecast was 30 years ago.
Yet we still seem to hear of barbecue
summers and polar blasts that never
transpire. The winter of 2014 was supposed
to be exceptionally dry. Instead it turned
out to be the wettest on record. Before the
great storm of 1987, many took forecaster
Michael Fish at his word when he famously
dismissed talk of a hurricane swirling in.
Despite the best efforts of TV weather
forecasters, including the late, great Ian
McCaskill (who passed away in December
last year), many still value the old ways -
knowledge passed down through the ages,
based on close observation of how the
natural world can give us clues to what our
countrys capricious weather holds in store.
According to some, you can get warning of
a hurricane by watching for gulls flying inland
from the coast a dead cert in folklore that a
storm is coming. For many naturalists even
today, the arrival of Bewicks swans in Britain
from Arctic Russia each October marks the
onset of winter. And there are plenty of other
natural clues. Did you know, for example, that
the height of burdock and teasel in late
summer is an indicator of autumn rain (the
wetter it is going to be, the taller the plants
will grow)? Similarly, when lily pads bloom on

2016: Hottest-ever April

Last year, April felt like
W E AT H E R early summer, with
HIGHS AND temperatures breaking
LOWS the previous record
for the month by the
largest margin on file.

098 / / FEBRUARY 2017

 Weather
Future forecasting

Much weather
lore dates back
to when whole
communities
depended on
a good harvest

rivers it is a sure sign that the height of

Given the damage that storms do
(left), perhaps we should watch for
gull activity (below left) to predict
them, as naturalists do. Migrating
swans (below right) and waterlilies
in flower (below centre) hold clues
to other key weather events
summer is on its way.
If you were paying attention at the start of
the year, then its possible you already know
the weather for the year ahead: an old
method of forecasting recorded by the writer
Lodowick Lloyd in 1590 has it that the first 12
days of January predict whether it will rain or
shine during each month for the following
year. The temperature on 12 January,
meanwhile, is a rough summary of what the
weather will be like overall - which isnt great
news for 2017, as we saw the first flurry of
snow of the year that day.
Much weather lore dates back to long
before the industrial revolution when whole
communities depended on a good harvest for
survival. By the late 17th century, farmers
almanacs were second only to the Bible in
sales. These detailed not just astronomical
events but also saints days, which were
deemed a key indicator of weather.
St Swithins Day on 15 July was (and to
some, still is) regarded as a key moment
in the meteorological calendar, whereby
whatever the weather was doing that day,
it would remain so for the next 40 days.
Long before clouds were officially
categorised in the 19th century, numerous
sayings existed for the forecasting
possibilities in the sky. Mackerel sky and
mares tails make lofty ships carry low sails,
describes a mix of wispy cirrus uncinus

2014: Flooded Levels

2015: Sweltering July
Fierce coastal storms,
It was hotter than
high winds and
India in much of the
widespread flooding
UK in July 2015, as the
made January miserable.
mercury hit 36.7C,
On the flooded Somerset
making it the hottest
Levels, homeowners had
July day for 160 years.
to be evacuated.
and patchy altocumulus clouds that together
indicate a rainstorm is on its way, while
the more well-known red sky at night,
shepherds delight; red sky in the morning,
shepherds warning speaks for itself. Both
can be as accurate as any modern forecast.
Similarly, a ring around the sun or moon
means snow or rain coming soon has
providence in meteorological science. The
ring is the hazy cirrostratus that is the kernel
of a weather front forming.
While folklore can, of course, fall wide of the
mark, we dismiss it at our peril. There is good
reason why home truths persist between the
generations. And, to quote Bob Dylan: You
dont need a weatherman to know which
way the wind blows.
However, these days there are smartphone
apps that can tell us rather a lot more about
Did you
the wind than you might have thought, and know?
have the potential to revolutionise the way
meteorologists predict the weather. Many smartphones contain
built-in atmospheric sensors.
The original aim was to measure
Crowdsourcing the weather
air pressure, which helps
Rather than relying solely on giant determine what altitude youre
computers, satellites and local weather at, to improve Googles mapping
stations to get accurate, time- and place- and location services.
specific warnings for extreme weather such Atmospheric scientists leapt
at the chance to use the data
as hurricanes and snow storms, forecasters
collected by smartphones to
could potentially now gather data from produce pressure maps, which
our phones. Half of the smartphones in use would lead to more advanced
right now have the capability to collect global weather predictions.
atmospheric data, telling forecasters exactly Air pressure is important for
weather forecasting. Put simply,
what conditions are like where we are.
low pressure, caused by rising
Clifford Mass, a professor of atmospheric
warm air, tends to indicate cloud
science at the University of Washington in and rain; high pressure is a result
Seattle, says collecting air pressure data from of cold air descending, leading to
just a few hundred thousand phones would clearer skies.
give more precise observations about serious There needs to be greater
take-up of the technology to
weather incidents on the ground.
forecast a thunderstorm or a
Having a greater number of pressure tornado in a specific place at a
observations can reveal structures that certain time. But the potential
lead to thunderstorm formation, explains is undoubtedly exciting.

2013: Christmas storms

Winds of 112kph were an
unwelcome Christmas
present as tidal surges and
the worst storms for 20
years left many flooded
and without power.

100 / / FEBRUARY 2017

 Weather
Future forecasting

Wispy cirrus uncinus Professor Mass. The data from smartphones 200,000 users), says: The density of reliable
clouds, pulled into the
can be used to improve forecasters models. sensor data across large geographies is
shape of mares tails by
high-level winds, have Certainly, the idea of using phones as always a challenge.
long been a feature of forecasters has taken hold and there are But the data needs to be clean, too, so that
traditional forecasting; now phone apps, including The Weather it's reliable and quality-controlled before its
todays phones now
gather data for prediction
Channel, Dark Sky and WeatherSignal, that used in a weather model. This includes
contribute pressure readings to the major removing noise in the data from altitude
meteorological agencies. You simply changes, sensor errors and so on.
download the app, and your phone does the There is still frustration because of how
rest, though you can also upload information few people are actually using their phones
about the weather where to collect data at present.
you are, too, if you want. Professor Mass has been
WeatherSignal was trying to encourage Google
inspired by the barometer and Apple to integrate
in the Motorola Xoom five air pressure data
years ago. We thought it gathering into their
would be cool to create live operating systems,
pressure maps with no which would make the app
fancy equipment needed, automatically available
Photographs: Shutterstock, iStock, Getty, Nature Picture Library, Alamy

just users of apps, says to every phone owner

James Robinson from
maker OpenSignal.
But thats not all.
OpenSignal realised the
temperature of a phone battery could also
measure the outdoor air temperature, and
this ability has also been incorporated into
WeatherSignal, with the data shared with the
Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute.
Jacob Sheehy, who, along with Phil Jones,
devised the now defunct PressureNet
(the first smartphone network of atmosphere
sensors, which at one time had around
with one of their devices,
but Apple has yet to bite.
If Google or Apple would
help, the implications
would be revolutionary, he says. In the
meantime, experiments continue.
There are many groups working to
incorporate smartphone sensor data into
weather models, says Sheehy. But theres
still a lot of work to do to find out how much
more accurate forecasts can get.
Joe Shute writes for The Daily Telegraph;
David Crookes is a technology writer

GET APPY
UWX
Want to join in and record A free app created by the
pressure data with your University of Washington for
phone? Download the Android phones, uWx shows you
following apps the latest weather and collects
and shares air pressure data. It is
early days, as the app has been
downloaded less than 10,000
times, but the designers say
the potential is great.
SUNSHINE
Available in the US and Canada,
Sunshine works on iOS as
well as Android, since Apple
introduced barometers with the
iPhone 6 and 6 Plus and the iPad
Air 2. As more people join, there
will be more atmosphere data
in the network and forecasts
will get better and better, says
creator Jacob Sheehy.

2013: Spring snow 2012: Strong winds

The biggest deposit of Scotland was lashed by
snow in March for more very strong gale-force
than 30 years brought winds, which brought
with it widespread down power lines, and led
chaos and winds of to trees blocking roads
up to 96kph. and the suspension of
flights, trains and ferries.
 Subscribe today
G E T YO U R FI RS T 3 IS S U ES FO R 3!

1
per issue!

2 E A S Y W A Y S T O S U B S C R I B E

Call now on Order online at

01293 312 135 bbcearthmagazine.com/
and quote BBCEDPS0217 BBCEDPS0217

102 / / FEBRUARY 2017

Looking for the ultimate Subscription order form
family magazine? Yes! I would like to take advantage of the subscription offer Ive ticked below.
SAVE 75% 3* for 3 issues by direct debit and 16.76 per 6 issues thereafter
Youve found it. SAVE 18% 38.90 for 12 issues by cheque or credit card
This subscription is: For me A gift
Packed with gripping
Your details (essential) Mr/Mrs/Ms/Miss
storytelling, spectacular Forename Surname

photography and Address

cutting-edge science, Postcode Email**

Daytime phone Mobile phone
the only problem will ** Please complete your email address to receive special offers on events and products from us.
Year of birth
be who gets to read it
Your personal information will be used as set out in our privacy policy, which can be viewed online at therivergroup.
first. Pass a love for co.uk/privacy-policy.
River Publishing Ltd would love to send you newsletters, together with special offers, and other promotions. Please
tick here if youd prefer not to receive these by email text message regular post telephone
our planet down the
Gift recipients details If giving BBC Earth as a gift, please ensure you complete the
generations. recipients details (below) and your own details (above).

Mr/Mrs/Ms/Miss Forename
Surname Address
Postcode
Great reasons
Your payment details
to subscribe Complete section (1) Direct Debit (2) Cheque or (3) Credit/debit card

1. Direct Debit payment 3 issues for 3 (UK only)

SAVE on the shop
price pay only 1
per issue*
Please complete the Direct Debit instruction below to start your subscription at the low rate of 3 for 3
issues. After this my subscription will continue at 16.76 every six issues SAVING 30%
To the manager (bank name) Originators identification no
Branch address 4 2 3 7 8 8
Postcode Ref number to be completed
by BBC Earth magazine
Account in the name(s) of
Bank/building society account number Please pay BBC Earth magazine (part of

Guaranteed to receive River Publishing Ltd) Direct Debits from

the account detailed in this instruction,
subject to the safeguards assured by
Branch sort code the Direct Debit Guarantee. I understand

your copy before it this instruction may remain with the

originator and, if so, details will be passed
electronically to my bank/building society.

Signature(s) Date
hits the shelves Banks and building societies may not accept Direct Debit instructions for some types of account.

Never miss an issue

2. I enclose a cheque for 38.90 made payable to River Publishing Ltd

Free home delivery 3. Please charge 38.90 to my:

Visa Mastercard Maestro (issue no )
direct to your door Card number Maestro only

Valid from Expiry date CV2:

Signature(s) Date:

01293 312 135

How to reply
Please complete and post this
(please quote BBCEDPS0217)
form back to: BBC Earth Magazine, Calls will cost 7p per minute plus your telephone companys access
Intermedia Brand Marketing Ltd, Unit 6 charge. Lines are open Mon-Fri 9am to 5pm.

The Enterprise Centre, Kelvin Lane, Manor bbcearthmagazine.com/

Royal, Crawley, West Sussex RH10 9PE BBCEDPS0217
BBCEDPS0217

Branded BBC titles are licences from or published jointly with BBC Worldwide (the commercial arm of the BBC). Please tick here if
youd like to receive regular newsletters, special offers and promotions from BBC Worldwide by email. Your information will be handled in
accordance with the BBC Worldwide privacy policy which can be viewed at bbcworldwide.com/privacy.aspx
Terms and conditions: *Offer only available to UK residents paying by Direct Debit. Offer valid until 1 March 2017. Your subscription will start
from the next available issue. After your first 3 issues, your subscription will continue at 16.76 every 6 issues, saving 30% on the shop price.
If you cancel within two weeks of receiving your fourth issue, you will pay no more than 3. Telephone order line is open weekdays 9am-5pm.
Calls cost 7p per minute, plus your phone companys access charge. Check with your service provider for call rates.
 DANGER
ELECTRIC
ANIMALS

From electric eels to the execution chair, the story of electricity

involves more than a shock or two. So, just how did
scientists use nature to harness this mysterious force?

e think of electricity as Its body contains three organs made up of

W something man-made and

modern. But, in fact, it exists
in all of us biologically and
it took the discovery of a fish capable of
zapping us with 600 volts for us to learn how
to generate it artificially.
That creature was the so-called electric
eel (Electrophorus electricus), native to the
Amazon River. This sizeable marine animal
(technically a fish, often mistaken for an
eel) can expend enough electricity to leave
horses writhing in agony.
electrolytes, or battery cells, lined up so that
a current of ions can flow through them, and
stacked so as to add power. Its biology proved
so pivotal to informing human understanding
of electricity that the inventor of the battery
copied its formation.
There are very few electric animals and the
majority of them are fish. The electric catfish
is found in tropical Africa and the Nile River
and can emit 350 volts. The electric ray, or
torpedo fish, can produce around 220 volts
and was documented by the Ancient Greeks

104 / / FEBRUARY 2017

 Science
Electric animals

The electric eel can generate

more than twice the voltage of
a standard UK wall socket
 Its possible that lots of
aquatic animals use electricity
in ways we dont understand

and nicknamed the numbfish because it was used as a basic

anaesthetic in early medicine.
There are also animals that use electricity to help them
locate prey or navigate in murky waters. Sharks are famously
spectacular at electroreception, which is why theyre such
good predators. If your muscles give off a spark of electricity
(which they do if youre alive), sharks will find you.
Most electroreceptive animals are water-dwellers. But
there are a limited number of electric mammals, such as
the land-dwelling echidna (sometimes known as a spiny
anteater), and its cousin the duck-billed platypus, which
lives both in water and on dry land.
Both the echidna and the platypus have tiny
electroreceptors on their snouts (up to 40,000 in the case
of a platypus), which detect currents and allow them to
burrow through silt or dry land and locate prey with their
eyes closed. The echidnas electrical capabilities are all the
more remarkable for being on land. More recently, a species of
dolphin, the Guiana dolphin (also technically a mammal), has
also been found to use electroreception.
On dry land, the honeybee is known to beat its wings at
such a fast rate that it generates an electrical charge, which
is then transferred to a flower when it is pollinated. Another
bee can therefore detect the presence of an electrical
charge if visiting the same flower, and it tells them not to
bother foraging there.
Its possible that lots of aquatic

Did you animals, possibly other mammals, use

know?
From jellyfish to worms,
crustaceans to fireflies, there are
many creatures that glow in the
dark. But theres no electrical
activity behind their illumination
its a chemical reaction, which
releases light energy.
Below: this specimen of an electric eel
is on show at the Wellcome Collection
electricity in ways we dont understand
or havent logged, says Jack Ashby,
manager of the Grant Museum of
Zoology at University College London.
Because humans dont do it, we dont
pay quite enough attention to it.
The fact that we paid attention to
the electric eel is a testament to the
shocking strength of the impulses it
could discharge.
In their native South America,
electric eels had been known about
for generations and some early
experimentation began in the 1700s. But
in Europe and North America they were
akin to mythical beasts, like unicorns.
More broadly, at that time, electricity
was viewed as a phenomenon. Events
such as lightning were seen by Medieval
and Renaissance-era humans as some
miraculous, unseen occult thing like
magic or Gods wrath.
The shock of the new
When naturalists first heard about electric eels in the
mid-18th century, a time when Benjamin Franklin was
experimenting with lightning rods, the discovery sent a
charge of curiosity through the scientific community.
The eels were sent to North America and London, where
they became part of this whole scientific spectacle that was
then building, says Ruth Garde, curator of the Wellcome
Collections new exhibition Electricity: The Spark of Life.
They were put on display in theatres and were billed as
wonders and marvels of electricity. People paid huge
amounts to see them.
In those days, the term electrician was used to describe
the scientists who were interested in electrical
experimentation. As part of their investigations, electricians
collected electrical charges in Leyden jars (literally glass
jars with metal lining), which occasionally gave them nasty

106 / / FEBRUARY 2017

 Science
Electric animals

Below (from top): the electric catfish,

the echidna and the electric ray.
Bottom left: horses are attacked by
electric eels in an engraved title page
on display at Electricity: The Spark
of Life at the Wellcome Collection

One reason that sharks

are such superb hunters
is that they can use their
electroreceptive powers
to detect the tiniest
charge in their prey

shocks. The scientists were focused on trying to prove the

existence of atmospheric electricity.
The study of an animal that could, at will, produce more
volts than humans could store in a jar, proved to be a
huge help in advancing their understanding.
One of the earliest (and most dramatic) reports of electric
eels to reach Europe was from the Prussian naturalist
Alexander von Humboldt in around 1800. He visited what
was then Dutch Guiana, the region between the Orinoco
and Amazon rivers in South America, and described seeing
eels emitting such high voltage that they were feared as
monsters in the local area.
Humboldt describes the picturesque spectacle of
fisherman driving horses into a swamp to be shocked
by the eels in order that, once their electricity had been
discharged, they could be safely scooped up for study and
experimentation. Some of these horses were injured or
Science
Electric animals

Luigi Galvanis method

of re-animating the
legs of dead frogs with a
current helped to prove
the existence of internal
animal electricity

Words: Matilda Battersby. Photographs: Alamy/iStock, NPL, Science Photo Library, UCL Grant Museum of Zoology, Wellcome Library, London
dying and the native fishermen kept them in the swamp Its from biological or external sources, Mary Shelley was so
quite a gruesome story, but the way [Humboldt] writes about intrigued by the notion of a spark somehow reanimating the
it is very compelling, says Garde. dead that it would inspire her to write Frankenstein.
Galvani later proved, conclusively, the existence of
Highly charged rivalry internal animal electricity. But his work did not succeed in
But the arrival of the electric eel in America and Europe convincing Volta who objected to the notion on religious
wasnt just the biggest electrical event on the block. The grounds. Galvanis theory was largely ignored by the scientific
electric eel was critical in our understanding of how to develop community until his experiments were picked up again
electrical currents for our own use, says Garde. decades later, according to Marco Piccolino, the co-author of
Alessandro Volta, the Italian physicist who invented the The Shocking History of Electric Fishes.
electric battery (or Voltaic pile) and after whom the unit of Modern science accepts that all muscle cells, human or
electric potential is named, based his work on the anatomy of animal, have electrical potential. A further two centuries of
the electric eel. Volta called his earliest device an organ experimentation have confirmed that muscle contractions
a direct reference to its biological roots, Garde says. are initiated by electrical-nerve impulses and that a potential
In fact, the invention of the electric battery was an electrical energy is present across the membranes of all cells.
unexpected but happy consequence of Voltas research Why are some animals more electric than others? It
into the then controversial subject of animal electricity. seems to be a quirk of evolution that certain muscle cells
He had been a critic of the 1780s changed over millions of years into
experiments of Italian physician electrocytes generating much higher
Luigi Galvani, who connected the Electric fish fed voltages than ordinary muscle cells.
nerves of a dead frog to a metal wire Electric fish fed our understanding
and pointed it toward the sky during
our understanding of what electricity is, says Garde. It
a thunderstorm. The frogs legs of what electricity led to our understanding that
twitched as if it were alive. electricity is in our body, how it works
While Volta and Galvani were
is that electricity through our bodies and how it might
debating whether electricity came is in our body be sent through the body to help it.

BRIGHT SPARKS of generating a current), to explosive-looking

drawings of Nikola Tesla and Thomas
The Wellcome Collections latest Edisons activities in the 1880s.
exhibition, Electricity: The Spark of Life, Curators havent shied away from
features both an early electric eel specimen examining the tension between the life-
and an engraving depicting Humboldts enhancing properties of electricity and the
legendary brush with live versions. fact that it can kill us, or that we can use it for
The exhibition examines our relationship lethal purposes, such as the electric chair.
with one of the most potent symbols of the Dont miss the exhibition for a deeper
modern world, from early understanding understanding of the ways electricity has
through to generation, supply and impacted on our culture and visual landscape.
consumption and traces our fascination Electricity: The Spark of Life runs from
with it back to the ancient Greeks. 23 February25 June 2017 at the Wellcome
Many of the objects on display wouldnt Collection, London; after which it will go
look out of place in Victor Frankensteins on tour to the Teylers Museum, Haarlem,
laboratory, from terrifying curling tongs to Netherlands and the Museum of Science
early Barlows wheels (a primitive means and Industry, Manchester

108 / / FEBRUARY 2017

 Coming up
Next issue

Inside the March issue

How we can stop the cheetah sprinting towards extinction

Follow Steve Backshall as he ba s mighty Baliem River
See stars and ev y from the comfort of your armchair
Adventure hackers so you want to work in paradise?
Photograph: iStock

On sale Thursday 2 March

/ 109
C U R I O S I T I E S
O F
C A B I N E T

PA S S E N G E R P I G E O N

E C T O P I S T E S M I G R AT O R I U S

F M N H N O . 2 41 5 3

C O N S E R VAT I O N S TAT U S E X T I N C T

110 / / FEBRUARY 2017

 Behind the scenes
Field Museum of Natural History

In our latest feature on intriguing specimens in half a day at a time. Flocks stretched as far as a person
could see, one tier above another. The American
Chicagos Fiel useum o atural History, we profile naturalist and ornithologist John James Audubon
the passenger pigeon the biggest bird population observed one flock for three days and estimated the
birds were flying past at a rate of 300 million per hour.
the world has ever seen, hunted from billions to zero Professional hunters tracked the nomadic flocks
in just a few decades in the late 19th century and met the demand for meat and feathers by
knocking nests and squabs (young pigeons) from
trees, suffocating birds nesting in trees with
Five billion. Its estimated that when Europeans first settled in sulphurous fires, baiting and intoxicating them with alcohol-soaked
North America in the late 1500s, there were 3-5 billion passenger grain to make them easier to catch,
pigeons in the forests of eastern North America. How many are there and using live decoys with their eyes
now? Zero. And we know the exact date that this bird became extinct: sewn shut. In April 1896, hunters
Words: Lauren Heinz. Photographs: Marc Schlossman

1 September 1914. It remains the only species for which we know the found the last remnant flock of
exact date of extinction. How do we know? The last passenger pigeon, 250,000 and, in one day, killed all but
Martha, was in a cage at Cincinnati Zoo. 5,000 birds with some accounts
In the late 16th century, its thought that the Ectopistes migratorius claiming all were killed.
population comprised up to 40 per cent of the total bird population Even without commercial hunting,
on the North American continent. Yet just a few decades of reckless the passenger pigeon probably
overhunting and deforestation in the late 1800s decimated the would not have survived, because
worlds largest-ever bird population to extinction. of the progressive loss of its
In the mid-1800s, flocks of passenger pigeons had been so dense, woodland habitat.
the birds could simply be batted out of the air with clubs as they flew Captive breeding efforts failed.
over ridges; one shotgun blast could bring down as many as 50 birds. Martha, the last passenger pigeon, is
A description from 1854 says, There would be days and days when now preserved in the collections at the
the air was alive with them, hardly a break occurring in the flocks for Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC.
Competition
Family holiday
Win a luxury stay in Benidorm,
Spain, worth 3,000
Exchange the winter blues for the white sands
and aquamarine waters of Alicante in eastern
Spain - with some exciting wildlife-spotting
and water-park fun thrown in.
Were offering readers the chance to win a
luxury break for a family of four at the Magic
Natura resort just 4km outside of Benidorm.
The hotel, located close to the Mediterranean
coast, combines a relaxing beach vibe with
unlimited access to the neighbouring Terra
Natura zoo and Aqua Natura water park.
Zip down multi-lane slides, splash in crystalline
waters and careen down dizzying chutes (age
and height restrictions apply) at the huge Aqua
Natura park, which boasts a super- fast 15m ride
that gives you a zero-gravity feeling.
If you want a break from the wave machines,
head to the water parks aquarium where you
can see sharks and rays, and spot Nemo among
the colourful shoals of fish. Youll also learn
about caring for our marine friends and can
watch sea lion demonstrations.
Back on dry land, take a night-time safari
through the famous Terra Natura zoo, home
to 1,500 animals and 200 species - 50 of which
are on the endangered list. The animal park
has been designed to closely recreate
the habitats of these animals and it runs
environmental workshops to teach children
important lessons about conservation.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS The promoter is River Group. A winner is picked at random from all entries submitted before the closing date
that comply with the full terms. No purchase necessary. RRP value of prize is approximately 3,000. This prize must be taken before the
end of 2017 and is subject to availability. It cannot be taken over bank holidays, Easter, July, August or during any UK school holidays. The
Aqua Natura park is open May-October. The prize is non-returnable and non-transferable.
112/ / FEBRUARY 2017
As well as elephants, rhinos, deer and big
cats, family-friendly Terra Natura has a
petting zoo where little ones can get up close
to creatures their own size. Both the water
park and Terra Natura belong to the European
Association of Zoos and Aquaria and are
committed to animal-welfare best practice.
At the hotel, which hosts guests in spacious
bungalows set in a Polynesian-style landscape,
you can swim in one of three pools, eat at one
of several restaurants (providing all-inclusive
breakfast, lunch and dinner) and party away the
night at the poolside bars. The children can enrol
in family-friendly activities by day, too, and the
bungalows come with TV, Wi-Fi, minibar
and wood-decked terrace.
HOW TO ENTER
Log on and enter your details at
The holiday is for two adults and two children bbcearthmagazine.com to enter online.
Closing date: 23:59 on 28 February 2017.
(aged 12 and under) for seven nights.
UK (excluding Northern Ireland) entrants
Accommodation is all-inclusive at the only, aged 18 and over.
four-star Magic Natura resort, just 10 minutes
by car from the beach.
Return flights from UK airports, as well as
transfers from Benidorm Airport, are included.
Includes free entrance to Terra Natura for
the duration of your stay.
Includes free entrance to the neighbouring
Aqua Natura water park with sea lion
demonstrations and night safari.
 Letters
February

Inbox
Get in touch to tell us your views on nature, science, space and everything else about BBC Earth magazine

In our December issue,

we looked at the science
of hurricane prediction

W E AT H E R WAT C H caravan near Aberystwyth and head there PROMOTING DIVERSITY

I just wanted to say that I absolutely loved
the first issue of BBC Earth, and Im loving
the latest issue now, too. I especially
enjoyed the Shipping Forecasts feature in
the December issue (above) - my partner
is in the merchant navy so we both share
an interest there. I enjoyed the space
features, too. To be honest, I think Ive
just enjoyed every article!
Gemma Mooney
for the peace and tranquillity and to de-stress
as often as we can. A massive part of why we
continue to go back is the outstanding
wildlife and scenery all around this magical
place. Withdrawal symptoms have kicked in
and well be heading back in February. This
visit, Im hoping for some proper winter
weather to get out and photograph.
Brian Taylor
Thank you for the January issue of
BBC Earth the diversity of information,
photography and features was
astonishing. I really loved the animal
symphony and the Egyptology features.
The Cabinet of Curiosities is also a
favourite of mine. The magazine simply
combines every subject I'm interested in
wildlife, photography, science, culture
Louise Thacker

H A P PY VA L L E YS
I found your magazine totally by accident
while browsing in my local supermarket but
I am loving it. While I live in the northwest of
England and appreciate all the wonderful
wildlife and scenery on my doorstep, I must
admit that my heart is firmly routed in Mid
Wales. We are lucky enough to own a static
TEEN DREAM
My granddaughter asked me if I would get
her a subscription to your magazine as her
Email us at
Christmas present, and Im chuffed that a bbcearthmagazine
16-year-girl should be interested in the @therivergroup.co.uk
world around her. She loved the BBCs
Planet Earth II as well and was also given
the DVD as a gift. We all think its superb!
Irene Semple

/ 113
 Seeing
stars

It used to be that sunshine was

all you wanted on a holiday but
with travellers embracing the
growing trend for astro-tourism,
the darker the skies, the better
Light pollution means that most of us never get
to see the night sky in all its glory. A study by the
Campaign to Protect Rural England found that
only 22 per cent of Englands skies were considered
pristine, with no light pollution at all. Perhaps
the surge in interest in stargazing is a reaction to
this night blight. So, this year, why not take an
awe-inspiring trip to one of the worlds best spots
for astronomy? It could be closer than you think.

114 / / FEBRUARY 2017


NORTHUMBERLAND, UK
You can get a clear view of the
Milky Way from Britains best
International Dark Sky Park in
Northumberland. The area was
awarded the prestigious gold tier
designation by the International
Dark Sky Association in 2013,
and is one of the few places in the
country you can see our galaxy.
Admire the heavens from the
award-winning solar- and wind-
powered Kielder Observatory
building, and marvel at the sight
of meteor showers, the planets
and the moon through its
top-notch telescopes.
Nearby, architect-turned-TV
presenter George Clarke has
created a similarly impressive
building - the Kielder Sky Den.
This lofty lodge, which sleeps four,
is hidden among the trees in the
Kielder Water and Forest Park and
has a roof that opens up to reveal
the cosmos, and a telescope
through which you can admire it.
For more information, go to
kielderobservatory.org and
visitnorthumberland.com/
darkskies. The Sky Den costs
from 150 (for four) per night
and can be booked through
canopyandstars.co.uk.
SOUTH DOWNS, UK
Just two hours away from London
is another International Dark Sky
Park, as the South Downs were
awarded this prestigious status
(which applies to just 12 places in
the world) last year.
The Moore Reserve, named after
the British astronomer Patrick
Moore, is a great place to get
started in astronomy, especially
during this months South Downs
Dark Skies Festival (10-26
February). You can join in
discovery evenings at The
LA PALMA, SPAIN
The Canary Islands may be better
known for sunbathing than
stargazing, but La Palma has
become one of the worlds best
destinations for astronomy.
With clear skies and strict laws for
air and light pollution, the island is
the perfect venue for some of the
worlds best telescopes, including
the El Observatorio Roque de los
Muchachos, set an altitude of
2,420m above sea level.
Visitors can see the inner
workings of the observatory but
sadly it is only open in the day, so to
Travel
Astro-tourism
Observatory Science Centre in
Hailsham, and stargazing parties
in Old Winchester Hill and Butser
Ancient Farm, an open-air
museum near Petersfield.
There is a good selection of
accommodation nearby, including
the lighthouse at Beachy Head,
which offers beautiful views over
the South Downs.
Visit southdowns.gov.uk/enjoy/
explore/dark-night-skies/.
The Bell Tout lighthouse has
rooms from 138 per night
(responsibletravel.com).
admire the constellations by night,
follow one of the islands many
dedicated routes for nocturnal hikes
a walk through the volcanic
landscape of lava, ash and craters
is like walking on the moon.
When booking accommodation,
seek out one of the many villas that
have telescopes perfect for seeing
stars while sipping Sangria.
For more info and to find
stargazing accommodation,
visit starsislandlapalma.es/en.
Flights to La Palma cost from
165 per person with Thomson
Airways (thomson.co.uk).
Travel
Astro-tourism

ATACAMA DESERT, CHILE

If youre willing to go to the ends of
the earth to see what lies beyond, then
head to Chiles Atacama Desert, which,
thanks to its high altitude, has almost
no cloud cover and no light pollution,
making it the perfect place for
marvelling at the macrocosm.
Unsurprisingly, its home to the

Words: Carolyn Boyd. Photographs: Shutterstock, James Florio, Paul Compere

planets most productive astronomical
observatories and telescopes, with some
of the best experiences for visitors
found in the Elqui Valley. Here, youll
find Elqui Domos camp, which has
cabins with viewing windows, offering
guests the chance to gaze at the stars
from the comfort of their beds.
Surrounded by spectacular scenery,
the site has its own observatory, and
offers astronomy tours, a swimming
pool and night-time horse rides.
Elqui Domos cabins cost from 126
a night B&B (elquidomos.cl). British
Airways flies direct to Santiago from
680 return (ba.com).

PIC DU MIDI, FRANCE
In southwest France, you can have a stargazing
experience like no other, and stay overnight in
an observatory on a mountain peak. Perched
2,877m above sea level in the Pyrenees, the
Pic du Midi de Bigorre observatory is open for
both day trips and exciting overnight stays.
Plus, this year sees the launch of its own
planetarium the highest in Europe.
There are just 15 guest rooms and the
overnight visit includes a spectacular 1,000m
cable-car ascent up to the observatory, a sunset
pre-dinner cocktail while admiring nearly
200 miles of mountain summits, and a mouth-
watering meal of traditional Pyrenean cuisine.
The astronomy action takes place in the
observatorys iconic Charvin dome, where views
from the 400mm Smith-Cassegrain telescope
are projected onto screens. With some of the
clearest skies in the world, guests can gaze at
Saturns rings, Jupiters moons and the
Andromeda galaxy. Then, the following morning,
breakfast is served as the sun rises.
The overnight experience costs from around
260 for a single room; picdumidi.com.
Easyjet, Ryanair, British Airways and Flybe
all fly to Toulouse.

116 / / FEBRUARY 2017

 World uncovered
February

What makes us human?

Youd be forgiven for thinking that the banana is about as far
away from a human being as you can get. Yet we actually share
60 per cent of the same DNA. In fact, if you could peer through
the lens of a microscope at the genes that make up human
DNA, you would be astonished to discover how much of it is
present in the animal kingdom. For example, we share
18 per cent of our DNA with yeast, 47 per cent with fruit flies,
65 per cent with chickens and 90 per cent with cats.
Scientists believe that all animals, plants and fungi have
evolved from a single ancestor that lived around a billion years
ago. So why dont we all multiply in warm, moist environments,
lay eggs and purr? Because the genes we share with these
species have different functions in the human body.
While our biology may denote which species we belong to,
some anthropologists would claim that morality is what sets us
apart as humans, while the philosopher Aristotle said that we
are separated from animals by our rationality. Delving into these
questions, Dr Adam Rutherford explores the decoding of the
human genome and tracks the evolution of life in the BBC
documentary The Gene Code. Watch a clip at bbc.in/2iESrzU.

Curious
world
What is the
happiest The Australian quokka, part of the kangaroo family,
is the happiest animal on earth. At least, thats how
animal in it appears. Once described by a Dutch sea captain
as a kind of rat as big as a common cat, the furry
the world? creatures always wear a cheeky grin even when
asleep Scientists still dont understand why the
quokkas are always smiling but they put it down to an
accident of evolution. That can make it pretty hard to
judge their character. Quokkas bite dozens of people
each year on Rottnest Island off Western Australia
(their primary home), normally when snatching food.
Who knew that appearances could be so deceptive?

/ 117
World uncovered
February

Why do we dream?
The rear part of our brain gets really active
during REM (rapid eye movement) sleep,
the stage when we are close to waking and
when we dream the most.
But dreams can also occur during so-called
slow-wave sleep. And, although scientists
have been studying the dream cycle for
decades, no one really knows for sure why
we have them.
There are many theories, including that
dreams are meaningless and are a simple
by-product of neural processes. Some
scientists, however, believe dreaming is like
a virtual-reality simulation in which we can
rehearse threatening situations. Supporting
evidence comes from the fact that the
incidence of scary situations in dreams (some
studies say 70 per cent) is much higher than
in real life. Amazingly, dreams also seem able
to influence physiological state one study
found that subjects who were deprived of
water before they slept, and who drank in
their dreams, felt less thirsty when they woke
up. Read more about the fascinating subject
of sleep and dreams at bbc.in/2je5tFp.

Can robots
have emotions?
Artificial intelligence is developing at
a rapid pace and so-called emotional
robots, such as Pepper in Japan, are
now on the market and designed to live
with humans. Pepper is said to feel joy,
Curious
world
Have I shrunk?
Feel like you were taller last time you
checked? Youre not imagining it: we do
Words: Yashi Banymadhub. Photographs: Getty, iStock. alamy

surprise, anger, doubt and sadness.

actually shrink during the day as the
But are robot feelings real enough for
cartilage in our spine compresses, making
humans to build meaningful relationships
with them? Currently, these AI emotions us 1-2cm shorter. Thankfully, as we sleep,
are only superficial, and many scientists the pressure on our spine eases and we
doubt that consciousness, which enables regain the lost height in the morning.
humans to experience emotions, will However, over time the effects do become
ever be replicated by a machine. In the
permanent, and that, along with flatter feet
meantime, robots like Pepper are
programmed to mimic what humans
and loss of muscle mass, means we can lose
would do in a certain situation up to 5cm in height by the time we are 70.
and can gauge human emotion
by detecting changes in facial
expression and tone of voice.

118 / / FEBRUARY 2017

 New app
February

colouring
Download intricate illustrations from Planet Earth II with the BBC Earth
colouring app. Then watch them come to life when you add colour!

Pick from 294 colours, which
you can mix to make new tones
for block-fill colouring or more
realistic free-form shading. Print
out and colour by hand too.
Free to download and try from
iTunes or GooglePlay. Planet
Earth II pack (36 images) costs
2.99, and individual packs (12
images) cost 1.49 to download.
Share your artwork using the
hashtag #bbcearthcolouring
and keep track of upcoming line
drawings from other iconic BBC
Earth series that you love.

/ 119
6
The different types of plant
eaten by a leaf monkey. They
snack all day as their vegetarian
diet is so low in calories.

Length of time in months
that macaque monkey
babies can exclusively
be breastfed for.
100
8,000
Average number of people bitten by
snakes annually in Thailand. The pit viper
is one of the most common culprits.

Sum of paradise
on Earth

30 9
million
Lifespan in years of hermit crabs,
which protect themselves by hiding
their soft bodies in the abandoned Amount of rice in tonnes
shells of other creatures. exported every year.

2
Length in metres
giant monitor lizards
which look like
modern dinosaurs
can grow to. Their
tongues are a far- 4,000
reaching 30cm long. Number of Asian elephants
in captivity in Thailand.

120 / / FEBRUARY 2017

 Earth by numbers
Thailand

30,000 Number of Buddhist

temples in Thailand.

1980
The year the golden apple snail was
introduced, wreaking havoc on crops.
Today, farmers keep storks as protection.
6,000
Number of ying foxes (fruit bats)
that live at the Wat Pho Bang Khla
Buddhist temple.

Theres nothing like travelling to the steamy jungle from

the comfort of your sofa as we did while watching
Thailand: Earths Tropical Paradise, a three-part BBC
series that dazzled us with its scenery and wildlife.
Here are some of the most interesting things we learnt

6 metres
The size a king cobra can grow to. It is the
longest venomous snake in the region.
Words: Matilda Battersby. Photographs: iStock, Shutterstock

300,000
Number of wrinkle-lipped bats
that live in the central Thai
region, nicknamed the rice bowl
for its abundant paddy elds.
10
The duration in years that
a gibbon ape may form a
bond with one partner.
What on earth?
February

What
on earth?

In last
months
Bounty from an elder statesman of the issue
Photographs: Getty, Shutterstock

countryside, it holds food for rodents and makes Januarys

teaser showed
a nifty hat for fairies Well reveal the answer a baby sea
turtles shell
and pose another puzzler next month.

122 / / FEBRUARY 2017