REALITY CHECK - Cosmological Mystery Testosterone Discrimination COVID - Literary Theory and Criticism
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FEBRUARY 2021 SCIENTIFICAMERICAN.COM Cosmological
Mystery
Testosterone
Discrimination
COVID
Smell Loss
Explained
REALITY CHECK Four urgent science priorities for the new president
© 2021 Scientific American
Fe b r ua ry 2 0 2 1
VO LU M E 3 2 4 , N U M B E R 2
PHYSIC S SPORT
56
24 Cosmic Conundrum 50 On the Basis
The strangely small value of the of Testosterone
cosmological constant is one of Hormone levels are being used
the biggest unsolved mysteries to discriminate against women
in physics. B
y Clara Moskowitz athletes. By Grace Huckins
SPECIAL REPORT S PAC E F L I G H T
30 The Four Most 56 Space Pollution
Pressing Science Priorities The new private launch industry
for the Next President can learn a lot from aviation about
32 Controlling COVID sustainability. By Martin N. Ross
By Tanya Lewis and Leonard David
P U B L I C H E A LT H
35 Committing to Climate
By Andrea Thompson 60 How COVID Scrambles
the Senses
37 Reestablishing Reality Explanations begin to arise at
By Jen Schwartz the molecular level for this vexing
40 Restoring Expertise but commonplace phenomenon.
YURI SMITYUK TASS via Getty Images
By Jane Lubchenco By Stephani Sutherland ON THE C OVER
The new American president taking office
A N I M A L B E H AV I O R ENVIRONMENT in January faces a host of urgent problems,
42 Attack of 64 The Day the Music Died the still raging COVID-19 pandemic being
the Zombie Maker “Swamp ash,” the wood behind only the most obvious. This month’s special
report is about the science-based solutions
The emerald jewel wasp is a some of the world’s most famous
that the Biden administration can begin
cockroach’s worst nightmare. guitars, is vanishing. implementing right away.
By Kenneth C. Catania By Priyanka Runwal Illustration by Egle Plytnikaite.
February 2021, ScientificAmerican.com 1
© 2021 Scientific American
4 From the Editor
6 Letters
10 Science Agenda
“Psychological first aid” can ease pandemic angst,
and anyone can learn its techniques.
By the Editors
11 Forum
Anti-Asian racism is pervasive in science—
and more institutions need to step up.
By Michael Nguyen-Truong
10 12 Advances
The race to produce drinkable water with solar heat.
Leaves’ wrinkly defenses. Attracting diverse entrepre-
neurs. The “brainpower” of spider legs.
22 Meter
The poetry of love in the cosmos.
By Kit Wienert
23 The Science of Health
A lung disease plaguing young people looks
like COVID, but it’s really from vaping.
By Claudia Wallis
68 Recommended
The world of fractal geometry. New conversations
12 around sexually transmitted infections. Wild ideas that
might save Earth. An epic quest to study an alien ocean.
By Andrea Gawrylewski
69 Observatory
Criticism of colleagues’ research is a necessary
part of science—but some step over the line
from bluntness into cruelty.
By Naomi Oreskes
70 50, 100 & 150 Years Ago
By Dan Schlenoff
72 Graphic Science
Dinosaur discoveries are booming.
69 By Katie Peek
Scientific American (ISSN 0036-8733), Volume 324, Number 2, February 2021 published monthly by Scientific American, a division of Springer Nature America, Inc., 1 New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, N.Y. 10004-1562.
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2 Scientific American, February 2021
© 2021 Scientific American
FROM
THE EDITOR Laura Helmuth is editor in chief of Scientific American.
Follow her on Twitter @laurahelmuth
Zombies and point out the problems with exhaust, particulates and other emis-
sions from rocket launches and argue that the industry will be more
Conundrums
successful and sustainable if it controls pollution immediately.
When (and if ) the postponed Summer Olympics are held in
Tokyo this year, some of the world’s best athletes will be prohibit-
ed from competing because of their natural levels of testosterone.
When science is taught in school, it’s usually presented as a logi- The Court of Arbitration for Sport claimed that science under-
cal sequence of hypotheses and experimentation. One delightful pinned its recent decision to require athletes to suppress their
surprise when you start learning more about the process of sci- hormone levels if they want to compete in certain women’s events.
ence is that it’s unpredictable, messy and weird. Some scientists Neuroscientist Grace Huckins shows why there’s little science to
prefer to highlight ways their research worked as expected—but support this form of discrimination (page 50).
it’s a much better story when a scientist tells you everything that Muddy Waters and Chrissie Hynde, among other musicians,
was spectacularly strange. Starting on page 42, neurobiologist Ken- have played guitars made of “swamp ash,” a lightweight wood that
neth C. Catania explains how a parasitic wasp turns its cockroach grows in Mississippi River lowlands and gives a warm, clear sound.
prey into a zombie, how the cockroach tries to protect itself from Lately seasonal flooding exacerbated by climate change, as well as
the precision attack, and how the process of studying this conflict an invasive beetle, has threatened these trees. Guitar makers are
became more improvisational and goofy with every discovery. It’s adapting, reports Priyanka Runwal (page 64), but it’s another exam-
appropriate that the wonderful graphic by Matthew Twombly ple of how climate change is disrupting basically everything.
depicting this Battle of the Bugs looks like it’s from a comic book. As Joe Biden and Kamala Harris take office, they have many
The more we’ve learned about the universe in the past 175 years problems to solve, and some of the most urgent involve science:
since S cientific American was founded, the more mysteries and climate change, the C OVID pandemic, misinformation and mistrust,
conundrums we’ve faced. One of the biggest puzzles right now has and rebuilding the science capacity in the federal government. S ci-
to do with three interrelated concepts: vacuum energy (which entific American e ditors Andrea Thompson, Tanya Lewis and Jen
describes the stuff in otherwise empty space), dark energy (which Schwartz, respectively, take on the first three issues, beginning on
is pushing the expansion of the universe) and the cosmological con- page 30. A former head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
stant (Einstein’s fix for making the math of relativity work out). The Administration, Jane Lubchenco, recounts her experiences with
so-called cosmological constant problem is “generally regarded as Biden when he was vice president and shares some excellent
one of the most awkward, embarrassing, difficult problems in the- advice about how he can use science to make the country better.
oretical physics today,” physicist Antonio Padilla tells senior editor One of the strangest symptoms of C OVID is persistent loss of
Clara Moskowitz, who on page 24 guides us expertly through the smell and taste. There’s some good news—the virus isn’t invading
stubborn challenge of accounting for the state of the universe. the brain, as people worried at first. Damaged cells in the nose can
The private space industry is growing quickly, with a lot of exper- recover, although the returning sense of smell can sometimes be
imentation but not a lot of regulation, and to aerospace scientist distorted. For one poor patient, everything tasted like window
Martin N. Ross and space journalist Leonard David, it can apply cleaner. It’s one more reason to be careful out there and try to
lessons from the early days of commercial aviation. On page 56, they avoid this dreadful virus. Be well.
BOARD OF ADVISERS
Robin E. Bell Jonathan Foley John Maeda
Research Professor, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Executive Director, Project Drawdown Global Head, Computational Design + Inclusion, Automattic, Inc.
Columbia University Jennifer A. Francis Satyajit Mayor
Emery N. Brown Senior Scientist, Woods Hole Research Center Senior Professor, National Center for Biological Sciences,
Edward Hood Taplin Professor of Medical Engineering Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
Carlos Gershenson
and of Computational Neuroscience, M.I.T., John P. Moore
Research Professor, National Autonomous University of Mexico
and Warren M. Zapol Professor of Anesthesia, Harvard Medical School Professor of Microbiology and Immunology,
Alison Gopnik Weill Medical College of Cornell University
Vinton G. Cerf Professor of Psychology and Affiliate Professor
Chief Internet Evangelist, Google Priyamvada Natarajan
of Philosophy, University of California, Berkeley Professor of Astronomy and Physics, Yale University
Emmanuelle Charpentier
Lene Vestergaard Hau Donna J. Nelson
Scientific Director, Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology,
Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics and of Applied Physics, Professor of Chemistry, University of Oklahoma
and Founding and Acting Director, Max Planck Unit for the
Harvard University Lisa Randall
Science of Pathogens
Hopi E. Hoekstra Professor of Physics, Harvard University
Rita Colwell Martin Rees
Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology, Harvard University
Distinguished University Professor, University of Maryland College Park Astronomer Royal and Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics,
and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Ayana Elizabeth Johnson
Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge
Kate Crawford Founder and CEO, Ocean Collectiv
Daniela Rus
Director of Research and Co-founder, AI Now Institute, Christof Koch Andrew (1956) and Erna Viterbi Professor of Electrical Engineering
and Distinguished Research Professor, New York University, Chief Scientist, MindScope Program, Allen Institute for Brain Science and Computer Science and Director, CSAIL, M.I.T.
and Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research New York City Meg Lowman Meg Urry
Nita A. Farahany Director and Founder, TREE Foundation, Rachel Carson Fellow, Israel Munson Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Yale University
Professor of Law and Philosophy, Director, Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, and Research Professor, Amie Wilkinson
Duke Initiative for Science & Society, Duke University University of Science Malaysia Professor of Mathematics, University of Chicago
4 Scientific American, February 2021 Illustration by Nick Higgins
© 2021 Scientific American
LETTERS
editors@sciam.com
“Thanks to your bold choice to support
Biden, Trump got one fewer vote in Arizona.
The world seems a little brighter now.”
rebecca thompson south pasadena, calif.
conservative media. Alarmingly, he trusts But we do intend to be even more engaged
just about anything it tells him. in the most urgent social issues of the day.
When you issued your first endorse-
ment ever for a political candidate, I for- INTERSTELLAR VISITOR
warded the announcement to my father. In “Interstellar Interlopers,” David Jewitt
He soon called and sounded a bit shaken. and Amaya Moro-Martín write that the
Thanks to your bold choice to support shape of 1I/‘Oumuamua, the first inter-
Biden, Trump got one fewer vote in Ari- stellar object ever observed, was inferred
zona. Thank you, thank you, thank you. from its light curve, or the plot of how
The world seems a little brighter now. the sunlight it reflected to Earth changed.
October 2020 Rebecca Thompson But could that light curve have instead
South Pasadena, Calif. been produced by a more rounded object
with a nonuniform albedo? Are there
POLITICAL NECESSITY In one fell swoop, you trashed an ad known or hypothesized mechanisms that
I do not think S cientific American s hould mirable tradition of political neutrality could leave an asteroid significantly more
have endorsed Joe Biden for U.S. president and became a propaganda agent of the reflective on one side than the other?
in “From Fear to Hope” [Science Agenda]. I progressive movement. The willingness Martin Schulman H erndon, Va.
do strongly dislike Donald Trump as a of the editors to break that 175-year pol-
president and understand and share the icy indicates they are not just biased but Reading the article, I was reminded of
editors’ frustration with a leader whose obsessed with progressive political views. author Larry Niven’s 1966 science-fiction
focus is not on being scientifically correct Richard Grumm A rcadia, Calif. story “Neutron Star.” Have astronomers
but on being politically viable. The U.S. considered tidal forces as a possible ex
will be a better place without his reelec- I am thankful that you stepped away from planation for ‘Oumuamua’s elongated
tion. Yet 175 years of political neutrality your norm of not endorsing a political fig- shape? Could it first have become plastic
should have been more jealously pro- ure because you realized that it was criti- from the heat from a close encounter with
tected. Losing it further divides the coun- cal for us to understand the significance a gravitationally dense object and then
try. Trump’s supporters will conclude that of this year’s election. As a physician with passed near enough to a body such as a
Scientific American is unfairly partisan. If both an M.D. and a Ph.D. in biophysics, I neutron star for the tidal effects of the
there are no institutions where those sup- would hope that a majority of those in sci- strong gravitational field to stretch it out?
porters and detractors can interact with- ence and medicine already came to the Dan Graifer F airfax, Va.
out reminders of their differences, both same conclusions, but this was a wonder-
sides will self-segregate. And unnecessar- ful summary of the important points. THE AUTHORS REPLY: Schulman’s sug
ily ostracizing Trump’s supporters ampli- Sometimes it is critical to take a different gestion is possible, but based on observa
fies the cohesiveness of his base. path so that what is obvious to some may tions of thousands of solar system aster
Brendan Rafferty P hiladelphia become obvious to most. oids, we think it’s unlikely. While small
Robert Hootkins G eorgetown, Tex. albedo differences do exist on asteroids,
As far back as I can remember, my father they are typically variations of a few per
was an avid reader of your magazine, al THE EDITORS REPLY: We received hun cent, not 1,000 percent. Only Saturn’s
though he allowed his subscription to dreds of letters expressing strong ap moon Iapetus has very different albedos
lapse a few years ago. Dad has always proval or dismay in response to our deci from one side to the other, and that is a spe
been conservative. I never have been. We sion to endorse Joe Biden. It was not made cial case likely caused by pollution from
have fun coming up with arguments to lightly. This was an extraordinary elec another moon hitting a single side of the
convince each other. tion, with a clear choice between a candi body. In interstellar space, all sides of
It is confounding how so many other- date who supports science and evidence ‘Oumuamua would be bathed uniformly
wise intelligent people stubbornly con- and one who has consistently rejected it to in starlight and cosmic rays, and it is hard
tinue to support our so-called president, promote dangerous policies that hurt peo to see why any asymmetry would exist.
no matter how much science he dis- ple. We hope we will not find it necessary Interestingly, an idea like Graifer’s was
misses. I suspect Dad began consuming to endorse a political candidate again. suggested by researchers Yun Zhang and
6 Scientific American, February 2021
© 2021 Scientific American
LETTERS
editors@sciam.com
ESTABLISHED 1845
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Laura Helmuth
MANAGING EDITOR Curtis Brainard COPY DIRECTOR Maria-Christina Keller CREATIVE DIRECTOR Michael Mrak
Douglas N. C. Lin in the September 2020
EDITORIAL
issue of Nature Astronomy. They posited CHIEF FEATURES EDITOR Seth Fletcher CHIEF NEWS EDITOR Dean Visser CHIEF OPINION EDITOR Michael D. Lemonick
that a planet passing close to a dense star FEATURES
SENIOR EDITOR, SUSTAINABILITY Mark Fischetti SENIOR EDITOR, SCIENCE AND SOCIETY Madhusree Mukerjee
could be shredded and stretched into pieces, SENIOR EDITOR, CHEMISTRY / POLICY / BIOLOGY Josh Fischman SENIOR EDITOR, TECHNOLOGY / MIND Jen Schwartz
SENIOR EDITOR, SPACE / PHYSICS Clara Moskowitz SENIOR EDITOR, EVOLUTION / ECOLOGY Kate Wong
one of which became ‘Oumuamua. This
NEWS
scenario would require a close approach to SENIOR EDITOR, MIND / BRAIN Gary Stix ASSOCIATE EDITOR, SUSTAINABILITY Andrea Thompson
SENIOR EDITOR, SPACE / PHYSICS Lee Billings ASSOCIATE EDITOR, HEALTH AND MEDICINE Tanya Lewis
the star but not so close as to vaporize all ASSOCIATE EDITOR, TECHNOLOGY Sophie Bushwick ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR Sarah Lewin Frasier
the water ice, which would be needed to MULTIMEDIA
SENIOR EDITOR, MULTIMEDIA Jeffery DelViscio
supply the nongravitational acceleration SENIOR EDITOR, AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT Sunya Bhutta SENIOR EDITOR, COLLECTIONS Andrea Gawrylewski
detected in ‘Oumuamua. As with all such ART
ART DIRECTOR Jason Mischka SENIOR GRAPHICS EDITOR Jen Christiansen
speculative models, the question is “How PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR Monica Bradley ART DIRECTOR, ONLINE Ryan Reid
can it be tested?” ASSOCIATE GRAPHICS EDITOR Amanda Montañez ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR Liz Tormes
COPY AND PRODUC TION
SENIOR COPY EDITORS Angelique Rondeau, Aaron Shattuck
STOPPING SYSTEMIC MANAGING PRODUCTION EDITOR Richard Hunt PREPRESS AND QUALITY MANAGER Silvia De Santis
DISCRIMINATION CONTRIBUTOR S
EDITORS EMERITI Mariette DiChristina, John Rennie
I could not agree more with Naomi Oresk-
Gareth Cook, Katherine Harmon Courage, Lydia Denworth,
EDITORIAL
es’s conclusions in “Sexism and Racism Ferris Jabr, Anna Kuchment, Robin Lloyd, Steve Mirsky,
Melinda Wenner Moyer, George Musser, Ricki L. Rusting,
Persist in Science” [Observatory]. I am a Dan Schlenoff, Dava Sobel, Claudia Wallis
retired part-time professor who taught ART Edward Bell, Zoë Christie, Lawrence R. Gendron, Nick Higgins, Katie Peek, Beatrix Mahd Soltani
chemical engineering, materials science EDITORIAL ADMINISTRATOR Ericka Skirpan EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT SUPERVISOR Maya Harty
and engineering science for 13 years.
Many of my best students in these diffi- SCIENTIFIC A MERIC AN CUS TOM MEDIA
MANAGING EDITOR Cliff Ransom CREATIVE DIRECTOR Wojtek Urbanek
cult and demanding classes were women MULTIMEDIA EDITOR Kris Fatsy MULTIMEDIA EDITOR Ben Gershman
ENGAGEMENT EDITOR Dharmesh Patel ACCOUNT MANAGER Samantha Lubey
and people of color. I have no doubt that
we are not utilizing such individuals of ACTING PRESIDENT
talent in the sciences and engineering. I Stephen Pincock
strongly believe that these fields should EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT Michael Florek VICE PRESIDENT, COMMERCIAL Andrew Douglas
PUBLISHER AND VICE PRESIDENT Jeremy A. Abbate
be free of sexism and racism and that our
CLIENT MARKE TING SOLUTIONS
country will be better served if we spend MARKETING DIRECTOR, INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERSHIPS AND CUSTOMER DEVELOPMENT Jessica Cole
PROGRAMMATIC PRODUCT MANAGER Zoya Lysak
more time and effort in encouraging sci- DIRECTOR, INTEGRATED MEDIA Matt Bondlow
entific talent free of such discrimination. BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Stan Schmidt
HEAD, PUBLISHING STRATEGY Suzanne Fromm
A. G. Tobin via e-mail
CONSUMER MARKETING & PRODUC T
DEVELOPMENT TEAM LEAD Raja Abdulhaq
SENIOR MARKETING MANAGER Christopher Monello
SIRI, CAN YOU HEAR ME? PRODUCT MANAGERS Ian Kelly, John Murren
“Siri Is a Biased Listener,” by Claudia SENIOR WEB PRODUCER Jessica Ramirez
SENIOR COMMERCIAL OPERATIONS COORDINATOR Christine Kaelin
Lopez-Lloreda [Forum], notes that MARKETING & CUSTOMER SERVICE ASSISTANT Justin Camera
speech-recognition software more fre- ANCILL ARY PRODUC TS
ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Diane McGarvey
quently misunderstands people who do CUSTOM PUBLISHING EDITOR Lisa Pallatroni
not have a “standard” accent. Programs C O R P O R AT E
such as Siri share the problem with HEAD, COMMUNICATIONS, USA Rachel Scheer
PRESS MANAGER Sarah Hausman
many of us who have high-frequency
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© 2021 Scientific AmericanSCIENCE AGENDA
O PINI O N A N D A N A LYS I S FR OM
S C IENTIFIC A MERIC AN ’ S B OA R D O F E D ITO R S
A Psychological
First Aid Kit
Simple skills might ease
a COVID mental health crisis
By the Editors
As soon as Joe Biden w as elected U.S. president, he made his
priorities clear by appointing a panel of distinguished experts to
advise him on the coronavirus pandemic. The panel has mem-
bers who can help the new administration organize vaccine dis-
tribution to millions of people and help millions of others who
need to be protected until they can get the vaccine. These experts
will certainly weigh in on preventive strategies to minimize the
likelihood of infection and advise on treatments that can reduce
the severity of the disease in those who get sick.
But there is also a need to address a related problem. For
months a mental health crisis has accompanied the misery basic needs for food and shelter and establishing contact with
brought on by C OVID-19. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control family or a mental health professional as needed.
and Prevention reported in August that symptoms of anxiety Psychological first aid was used during the SARS and Ebola epi-
had tripled and depression symptoms had quadrupled among a demics. Social service agencies at every level of government and the
group of 5,470 adults as compared with a survey sample from nonprofit sector should provide more support now for first aid for
2019. Meanwhile mental health services have been stretched the psyche because the need has exploded as a result of COVID.
worldwide. One reason is that mental health personnel and the Before its arrival, most psychological first aid students at the Insti-
facilities they work in have been reassigned to COVID-related tute for Disaster Mental Health at the State University of New York
tasks during the crisis. at New Paltz were public safety and health-care workers. But in
All of us need to sustain and enhance our psychological resil- recent months instructors have taught librarians, who have become
ience to weather the daily toll of activity restrictions, rising case frequent confidantes to patrons experiencing extreme stress.
numbers, hospitalizations and deaths. A set of simple measures One trainer in the town of Marshfield, England, offered anyone
known as psychological first aid or mental health first aid can who lives or works there free four-hour courses in mental health
enable people to help family, friends and others in their commu- first aid because of the prevalence of pandemic-related distress.
nities who experience psychological distress from pandemic Mental health first aid is slightly different from psychological first
fatigue, COVID convalescence, or the loss of a friend or relative. aid because it is targeted at people experiencing issues even before
These techniques allow people to become mental health first a crisis erupts. The method, created by two educators in Australia,
responders. An analogy to a Red Cross first aid course is apt: both has been taught to 3.6 percent of that nation’s 25 million citizens—
teach trainees what to do when arriving first at the scene—and and its inventors are eager to reach 10 percent, which would match
also flag actions to be avoided. A physical first-aider tries to sta- or exceed the country’s first aid trainees for physical injuries.
bilize the patient; with psychological first aid, a key goal is to Biden’s coronavirus task force needs to do its part by taking into
restore a person’s sense of safety. If someone is terrified that ordi- account the mental pain from pandemic fatigue as it devises a
nary (and mental health–building) activities such as going out- national plan for COVID-19. It should recognize that modest but
side are fraught with danger, for example, the responder might readily achievable efforts such as teaching psychological first aid
mention that air currents and sunlight reduce the risk of becom- and other forms of resilience training may have a big impact over
ing ill, offering reassurance that being outdoors during a pan- a short time. But you may not have to wait on the new administra-
demic could be less hazardous than remaining isolated inside. tion or your local government. Psychological first aid is accessible
What the responder does not say is equally important. When now—people can learn it online for free through a Coursera cur-
dealing with a person suffering from a panic attack because of riculum developed by the Johns Hopkins Center for Public Health
a recent trauma, the first-aider might discourage conversation Preparedness. Everyone should take it.
about the details of the event to avoid reinforcing the memory.
Other items on a to-do list might include promoting a feeling of
J O I N T H E C O N V E R S AT I O N O N L I N E
“self-efficacy,” or confidence that the person in crisis has the Visit Scientific American on Facebook and Twitter
capability to cope with the situation at hand, such as meeting or send a letter to the editor: editors@sciam.com
10 Scientific American, February 2021 Illustration by James Heimer
© 2021 Scientific AmericanFORUM
C OMM E N TA RY O N S C IE N C E IN
Michael Nguyen-Truong is a Ph.D. student at Colorado State University. T H E N E W S FR OM T H E E X PE R T S
Anti-Asian
Racism in Science
It existed before the pandemic,
but COVID has made it worse
By Michael Nguyen-Truong
Last summer s ome people posted a listing for a fake Asian restau-
rant near my university on Google Maps and Instagram, with a
name insulting to Asians and a menu that included horrible-sound-
ing items such as “mouse tail salad” and “marinated ostrich fore-
heads.” The fake name, menu and reviews—even if they were in-
tended as a joke—were all despicable examples of anti-Asian rac-
ism that has always been present in the U.S. and has been brought
to the forefront amid the COVID outbreak.
Such behavior creates a hostile environment for researchers of
Asian ancestry such as myself. It turned out that the Instagram ac-
count was linked to students who are predominantly from my col-
lege. Knowing that my fellow students have such offensive views
has heightened my anxiety, which surfaced early in the pandemic.
Because the disease was first reported in China, I have had to because I thought that speaking up could make me a target of jokes
struggle with growing bigotry toward Asians in addition to avoid- among colleagues and lead to alienation and loss of collaboration.
ing the virus itself. There have been many reports about Asians These concerns were magnified because I had faced frequent
facing verbal and physical attacks, fueled by disturbingly common microaggressions even before the outbreak, such as being asked
terms like “Chinese virus” and “kung flu,” hate-inspiring language about where I am “originally from,” although I am from the U.S.,
frequently used by Donald Trump and others. A recent Pew Re- or if I was related to someone because we shared a common name.
search Center survey found that Asian-Americans report a higher Non-Asians too often presume—and say—that my Asian peers and
level of negative experiences, including racist jokes and slurs or feel- I are pursuing STEM careers because we were forced to by our
ing fear of threats or physical attacks, than Black, Hispanic or white families. Asians are also often (inaccurately) viewed as the model
respondents in a survey conducted after the pandemic began. More- minority and falsely thought not to suffer from discrimination.
over, a recent Stop Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Hate I am thankful that my institution and college have condemned
National Report by the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council racist behavior. They have contacted Google and Instagram to re-
found more than 2,500 reports of anti-Asian incidents across 47 move the fake restaurant listing; have expressed concern and will-
states in a five-month period (from March to August 2020). Of ingness to take action against racism; and are holding journal club
these, 70 percent involved verbal harassment, and 9 percent of discussions and diversity symposiums about race. I deeply appre-
them were physical assaults. More undoubtedly go unreported. ciate these efforts and the care taken to create a more inclusive and
When news of these attacks became public, my family and safe space. Institutions in general should require bias training and
friends warned me to be alert and careful when I was anywhere should develop spaces such as “life issues” groups (my department
outside my home. At the beginning of the pandemic, mask wear- has one), journal clubs and symposia designed to educate the com-
ing was not required, but to protect people and myself against the munity about racism. Faculty and administration should welcome
spread of the coronavirus, it was something I wanted to do in our discussions about race issues and be more transparent in address-
laboratory and around campus. But I didn’t, because I was told ing them. I also think that social media campaigns by institutions
that co-workers and colleagues might avoid or harass me. My fam- have the potential to raise awareness and educate others.
ily and friends cautioned me not to stay out late and to avoid We have a lot of work ahead of us, but inclusion and positive
sparsely populated areas on campus; they and I worried other change within our institutions and in STEM are achievable if we
people might hurt me because I was Asian. I ended up going home unite against racism. Greater inclusion will lead to more sharing
early most days, shortening my time for experiments and work. of ideas that will help science, technology and medicine flourish,
I endured these limitations because of the xenophobia toward at a time when we dearly need them.
Asians worldwide, but the heightened anxiety became burdensome
J O I N T H E C O N V E R S AT I O N O N L I N E
and made research (as well as nonresearch and leisure activities) Visit Scientific American on Facebook and Twitter
more difficult. And I kept quiet about my concerns around the lab or send a letter to the editor: editors@sciam.com
Illustration by Martin Gee February 2021, ScientificAmerican.com 11
© 2021 Scientific AmericanADVANCES
Solar-thermal technologies could
process seawater and groundwater
to make it drinkable at less cost.
12 Scientific American, February 2021
© 2021 Scientific AmericanD I S PATC H E S FR OM T H E FR O N TIE R S O F S C IE N C E , T E C H N O LO GY A N D M E D I C IN E IN S ID E
• A brain aneurysm is built—and treated—
in a lab dish
• Snakes’ sensitive heat vision investigated
• Planes fly together to lessen fuel use
• Variety in “molecular scissors” could lead
to new gene-editing possibilities
TECH
Solar Water
A new generation of tech
uses heat from the sun to provide
clean, salt-free water
In an increasingly hot a nd crowded world,
clean water is becoming a precious com-
modity. Two thirds of the global population
will have problems accessing fresh water
by 2025, and removing salt and contami-
nants from the oceans and groundwater
is one way to slake humanity’s thirst.
Today’s large desalination plants,
though, cost millions of dollars to build.
Most use reverse osmosis, which forces
seawater through salt-blocking mem-
branes. The required electricity accounts
for up to half of a plant’s expenses, and the
process leaves behind a supersalty, chemi-
cal-laced soup that can harm local ecosys-
tems. Such facilities are typically powered
by carbon-emitting fossil fuels; efforts have
been made (especially in the Middle East,
Asia and Africa) to use solar panels instead,
but that also comes at a cost and does not
address the toxic discharge.
So researchers are trying to use the
sun’s heat more directly to remove salt and
WARREN KEELAN
other contaminants. The simplest option is
to let water evaporate, leaving behind salts
and chemicals, and then condense the vapor
J O I N T H E C O N V E R S AT I O N O N L I N E Visit Scientific American on Facebook and Twitter
© 2021 Scientific AmericanADVANCES
into clean water. Humans have used ver- a civil and environmental engineer at Rice. tic membrane that lets water vapor through
sions of this technique, called solar distilla- Such systems could surmount a big but not liquid. One side of it is coated with
tion, for hundreds of years. Today Saudi downside of reverse osmosis: it typically tiny carbon particles that heat up in the sun,
Arabian engineers plan to build a plant desalinates only half of the input saltwater, vaporizing the salty water as it contacts
with giant mirrors that concentrate sunlight and the solution left behind eventually them. This vapor passes through and con-
and superheat water within a steel-and- builds up enough salt to clog the mem- denses as clean water on the membrane’s
glass dome more than 50 meters across. brane, says Craig Turchi of the doe’s other side. Halas’s group recently boosted
But by using novel materials and designs, National Renewable Energy Laboratory the system’s efficiency by 50 percent by
researchers are trying to make the process (NREL). This noxious by-product, called a using plastic lenses to focus sunlight on the
cheaper, simpler and portable enough to brine, is typically dumped into the ocean or membrane, producing more heat.
make high-quality desalination far more injected underground. Solar-thermal desal- The team’s calculations show that
accessible worldwide. “The needs for clean ination systems can purify water with salt meeting the doe’s cost target, with a
water in developing countries are enor- concentrations at least twice that of sea- square-meter-sized device that produces
mous,” says Naomi Halas, an electrical and water. This would include brines from up to 20 liters of water an hour, should be
computer engineer at Rice University. reverse osmosis plants and brackish possible in a few years. “We’re at the Ford
“Solar-thermal technologies should allow groundwater from places such as the U.S. Model T stage—not the Mustang stage
you to lower the energy needs of desalina- Southwest, as well as some industrial and yet,” Halas says. “But it’s good enough that
tion but also to do it in remote locations agricultural wastes that reverse osmosis we’re starting to get commercial interest.”
where you are completely off the grid.” cannot handle, says NREL spokesperson Civil and environmental engineer
The U.S. Department of Energy will soon Meghan Hughes: “Generally, only thermal- David Jassby’s group at the University of
announce semifinalists for its Solar Desali- ly driven technologies, like the ones we’re California, Los Angeles, integrated heat-
nation Prize. The goal: a system that pro- working to develop through this program, conducting materials into the membrane
duces 1,000 liters of usable water for $1.50. can treat these highly concentrated brines.” in a similar setup. Underneath it, the
“No technology today can handle high- Li, Halas and their colleagues have built a researchers added a fine aluminum mesh
salinity water at these costs,” says Qilin Li, solar desalination device with a porous plas- that heats up in sunlight. “So you can
H E A LT H coils into the bulging vessel. Finally, they
Aneurysm filled the blood vessel with plasma (the liq-
uid component of blood), which formed
in a Dish a clot that sealed off the bulge.
“We’re trying to streamline the treat-
ment of aneurysms and take the guesswork
Scientists operate on out,” says William “Rick” Hynes, a study
a 3-D-printed model of co-author and biofabrication research engi-
a ballooning blood vessel neer at Lawrence Livermore National Lab-
oratory who performed the surgery. “The
Brain aneurysms, which affect as many as goal is to use these devices to validate
one in 50 people, occur when a blood vessel models so someone could take a 3-D scan,
wall weakens and bulges, setting the scene An induced blood clot (red balloon) is visible recreate it in the simulation, then try add-
for a potentially deadly rupture. Now scien- in a 3-D-printed model of a brain aneurysm. ing [blood] flow and determine if they need
tists have created a 3-D-printed aneurysm to treat the aneurysm or leave it alone.”
model in the laboratory and “operated” on do not perfectly resemble those in humans. “I think it’s really significant,” Matthew
it: they inserted a device to seal it off and And previous lab-dish aneurysms could not Gounis, a biomedical engineer at the Uni-
prevent it from bursting. Such models could mimic the properties of living blood ves- versity of Massachusetts Medical School,
be tailored to replicate an individual patient’s sels. “We thought maybe there could be says of the new model. Other groups have
blood vessel, letting doctors try different a better way of testing those [treatment] developed aneurysm models, but this one is
treatments and find the best solution. devices,” says Lindy Jang, a biomedical exciting because it better replicates a human
ELISA WASSON Lawrence Livermore Laboratory
To treat an aneurysm, brain surgeons engineering graduate student at Texas blood vessel by adding living cells, says Gou-
sometimes operate to install a metal clip on A&M University, who led the new study, nis, who was not involved in the new study.
the ballooning vessel that prevents the published in Biofabrication. Surgeons could practice on such models
pooling of blood. A less invasive method Jang and her colleagues 3-D-printed an before operating on a real patient, he says:
involves inserting tiny metal coils into the aneurysm structure with a water-based gel “If you have a particularly challenging case,
aneurysm via a catheter to induce a blood and populated it with human cells that line you can print out the case, and you can basi-
clot that seals it off. Most treatment devices the brain’s blood vessels. They then operat- cally practice before you get to the patient,
are tested in animals, whose blood vessels ed on the aneurysm, injecting platinum in their anatomy.” —Tanya Lewis
14 Scientific American, February 2021
© 2021 Scientific Americanroll
roll the
the membrane
membrane into into spiral
spiral modules
modules Massachusetts
Massachusetts Institute Institute of
of Technology.
Technology. Zhang
Zhang says,says, the
the efficiency
efficiency could
could be be doubled.
doubled.
because
because you you don’t
don’t have
have to to have
have large
large sur-
sur- Wang’s
Wang’s teamteam boosts
boosts its
its device’s
device’s effici
effici- Another
Another intriguing
intriguing approach
approach takestakes ad
ad-
face
face areas
areas directly
directly exposed
exposed to to the
the sun,”
sun,” ency
ency by
by “reusing
“reusing energy
energy over
over and
and over,”
over,” vantage
vantage of of humidification
humidification by by passing
passing air air
he
he says.
says. In
In rooftop
rooftop tests,
tests, the
the device
device pro-
pro- Zhang
Zhang says.
says. ItIt includes
includes 10
10 stages,
stages, each
each aa through
through aa saltwater
saltwater spray.
spray. “Air
“Air absorbs
absorbs the the
duced
duced eight
eight liters
liters of
of fresh
fresh water
water per
per square
square nylon
nylon frame
frame holding
holding aa black
black sun-absorbing
sun-absorbing water
water and and leaves
leaves behind
behind solid
solid salts,”
salts,” says
says
meter
meter of of membrane
membrane in in an
an hour.
hour. layer,
layer, aa paper
paper towel
towel and
and an
an aluminum
aluminum film.
film. Oregon
Oregon State State University
University mechanical
mechanical engi- engi-
neer
neer Bahman
Bahman Abbasi.Abbasi. His His system
system usesuses solar
solar
radiation
radiation to to heat,
heat, compress
compress and and eject
eject aa mix
mix
“Solar-thermal technologies should allow of
of saltwater
saltwater and
speed,
speed, thereby
and air
air through
thereby creating
through nozzles
creating aa vortex
nozzles at
vortex that
at high
high
that push-
push-
you to lower the energy needs of desalination es
es salts
salts and
and other
other solids
solids toto the
the device’s
device’s walls
walls
[and] to do it in more locations where you are as
as the
the humidified
humidified air
condensation.
condensation. Abbasi
air rises
rises for
Abbasi says
for collection
says the
collection and
the backpack-
backpack-
and
completely off the grid.” —Naomi Halas RRice
ice University sized
sized device
device can can clean
clean water
water with
with salinity
salinity
up
up to
to three
three times
times higher
higher thanthan that
that of
of sea
sea-
water
water and and produce
produce aboutabout 20 20 liters
liters an
an hour.
hour.
Such
Such systems
systems could
could lend
lend themselves
themselves When
When heated,
heated, the the black
black layer
layer evaporates
evaporates All
All these
these relatively
relatively low-cost
low-cost technologies
technologies
to
to compact
compact units
units suitable
suitable for
for off-grid
off-grid salty
salty water
water as
as itit wicks
wicks up
up into
into the
the paper
paper could
could unlock
unlock new new markets
markets for for portable
portable water
water
villages
villages in
in Asia
Asia and
and Africa,
Africa, communities
communities towel,
towel, and
and the
the vapor
vapor condenses
condenses on on the
the alu-
alu- cleaners
cleaners or or off-grid
off-grid uses—and
uses—and beyond.beyond. TheyThey
with
with brackish
brackish ground
groundw ater, and
water, and emergen-
emergen- minum.
minum. Condensation
Condensation releases
releases heat,
heat, which
which may
may eventually
eventually lead lead toto large-scale
large-scale solar-
solar-
cy
cy uses
uses almost
almost anywhere.
anywhere. But But they
they will
will rises
rises to
to the
the next
next paper
paper towel
towel layer
layer and
and aids
aids thermal
thermal systems
systems to to provide
provide cities
cities with
with drink-
drink-
need
need toto pick
pick up
up the
the pace
pace and
and convert
convert evaporation
evaporation instead
instead of of being
being lost.
lost. The
The $100
$100 ing
ing water,
water, Turchi
Turchi says.
says. For
For now
now they
they “will
“will
more
more solar
solar heat
heat into
into vapor,
vapor, says
says Lenan
Lenan setup
setup yields
yields almost
almost sixsix liters
liters an
an hour
hour in
in the
the complement
complement reverse reverse osmosis
osmosis and and bebe aa key
key
Zhang,
Zhang, aa graduate
graduate student
student inin mechanical
mechanical lab
lab and
and about
about half
half ofof that
that outdoors;
outdoors; with
with player
player in in niche
niche applications
applications wherewhere reverse
reverse
engineer
engineer Evelyn
Evelyn Wang’s
Wang’s laboratory
laboratory at at the
the more
more sophisticated
sophisticated materials
materials and and stages,
stages, osmosis
osmosis may may notnot work.”
work.” —PPrachi
— rachi Patel
Patel
© 2021 Scientific American
February 2021, ScientificAmerican.com 15ADVANCES
E C O LO G Y
A New
Wrinkle
Researchers identify an
intriguing insect-defense
mechanism in leaves
Plants have evolved an impressive range
of strategies to ward off hungry, leaf- A drop of beeswax affixes a sensor to a beetle
chomping insects. Well-known defenses tasked with navigating a silicone leaf surface.
include foul-tasting toxins, sticky resins and
sharp thorns, and now scientists have iden- “There are excellent ways by which they ily on the “younger” and smoother replicas
tified yet another example: microscopic can change their structure, their chemistry but slipped on the “older” ones’ wrinkles.
OF HEVEA BRASILIENSIS ALTERS INSECT ATTACHMENT,” BY VENKATA A. SURAPANENI ET AL.,
wrinkles that make leaves harder to walk on. or their physiology to hinder herbivores “We were surprised by the way such
IN R OYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE; N OVEMBER 4, 2020 (h ttps://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.201319)
FROM “SPATIO-TEMPORAL DEVELOPMENT OF CUTICULAR RIDGES ON LEAF SURFACES
Wrinkles form in many leaves’ cuti- from eating their leaves. This is another wrinkles developed on plant leaves, and
cles—coatings that limit water evapora- example of plants changing their shape to the significant effect they had on insect
tion, mediate gas exchange, and protect make sure they survive.” attachment at different growth stages,”
the plant from pathogens. The new For the experiment, the researchers says Venkata A. Surapaneni, a biomecha-
research, published in Royal Society Open created silicone replicas of leaves from nist at the University of Freiburg in Germa-
Science, fi nds that along with the cuticle’s a rubber tree at various stages of develop- ny and lead author on the study. Surapane-
inherently slippery surface, its tiny wrinkles ment. This step let them measure the ni, who is a part of a multicenter research
also help discourage insects. The wrinkles effects of the leaf’s structural properties program called PlaMatSu, is interested in
most likely become more pronounced as alone—without the slippery influence of developing polymers that mimic these
the leaf matures and its cuticle builds up, the cuticle’s waxy coating. microscopic wrinkles to produce insect-
eventually expanding and buckling. The scientists fastened minuscule sen- deterring surfaces. And maybe, he says,
“Plants are really good at surviving,” sors to the hard forewings of eight Colorado plants could be bred or engineered to have
says Dana MacGregor, a molecular bota- potato beetles, then measured the traction more wrinkles, possibly paving the way for
nist at Rothamsted Research in England, forces as the insects meandered along a reducing pesticide use in agriculture.
who was not involved in the new study. synthetic leaf; the beetles walked more eas- — Monique Brouillette
P S YC H O LO G Y ers to register. Some of these e-mailed donations, the respondents proved more
Impact, Inc.
invitations emphasized cash, with the motivated by the social message than the
subject line beginning “More Than one emphasizing money.
$1.6 Million in Prize Money. . .” Others In an 800-person subset of the first
Messaging matters in motivating focused on social impact, with the line group, gender and location were similarly
diverse entrepreneurs “Create Greater Shared Prosperity. . .”; associated with patterns in who ultimately
still others used neutral phrasing. The applied for the IIC competition. “You see
Leadership in the tech industry continues researchers counted how many times that by this simple messaging, you can
to lack diverse voices, but new research people clicked on links in the e-mail and increase people’s submitting,” says Univer-
suggests that a simple shift in recruitment subsequently on IIC page links. sity of Massachusetts Amherst economist
messaging could attract a greater variety Men clicked about 55 percent more Ina Ganguli, who was not involved in the
of entrepreneurs. A study, published in times total when presented with a money study. “I think that’s really impressive.”
Management Science, s hows how altering message than a social one, whereas wom- Guzman says targeted messaging is
descriptions of funding opportunities en clicked about 46 percent more times important, whether recruiting entrepre-
might draw in more women, as well as with the socially motivated wording—an neurs for competitions or teaching stu-
more socially minded business pioneers. unexpectedly big effect, says study co-au- dents at business school; although the
The project targeted potential appli- thor Jorge Guzman, a Columbia Business study examined motivations among
cants to the Massachusetts Institute of School researcher. Neutral messages per- founders of existing companies, Guzman
Technology’s Inclusive Innovation Chal- formed similarly to money messages. The says would-be entrepreneurs would likely
lenge (IIC), a worldwide competition that researchers also noticed a location-based follow similar patterns. Future research,
awards money and other support to small pattern: in countries and U.S. states where he adds, might look at combining directives:
tech companies with strong growth poten- residents had previously been found more “Get rich a nd s ave the world!”
tial. The researchers invited 13,000 found- likely to say they would make charitable — Matthew Hutson
16 Scientific American, February 2021
© 2021 Scientific AmericanB I O LO G Y neer at the University of Houston and
In SCIENCE
Snake Eyes
co-author of the paper. “What we show is
that soft materials like biological cells can
I Trust
Photo Illustration by Chris Line
also act as weak pyroelectrics under some
Scientists examine how certain special circumstances.”
snakes “see” in the dark Sharma and his team developed a math-
ematical model to show how static charges
Some snakes, iincluding
ncluding pit vipers and would move in a material that is deformable
pythons, are known to hunt in the dark by and responsive to heat. They modeled the
sensing the heat their prey radiates. But pit membrane as a film that is made up of
how do snakes convert this warmth into such a material and that thickens if heated.
the thermal images they “see”? A model Most biological cells (including those that
proposed by University of Houston and make up the real membrane) naturally gen-
Rutgers University researchers suggests erate a small electric voltage across their
a potential answer. Their paper, published outer surface. The researchers found that
Matter,
in M may
atter, m ay also help in developing soft when the membrane thickens, the charges
artificial materials that convert heat to on its cells should shift slightly, resulting in
electricity, useful for applications such as a voltage change that can be picked up by
sensors and energy harvesting. nerve cells. Charles Darwin. Born Feb. 12, 1809.
Stay Safe!
The snakes’ pit organ—a vase-shaped They tested this theoretical model
indentation with a thin membrane with real-world values, and found that it
stretched across it, positioned near each corresponded with how quickly real snakes
nostril—seems to act like a thermal “eye.” can detect prey—as well as how close, and
The organ is exquisitely sensitive and how much warmer than its environment, Join the nation’s largest
detects animals about 40 centimeters away the prey animal must be. association of freethinkers
within half a second in pitch darkness. Biol- Yale University neuroscientist Elena (atheists and agnostics)
ogists had previously identified channels for Gracheva’s work had previously exposed working to keep religion
conducting charged ions, activated by tem- the role ion channels play in snakes’ heat- out of government.
perature changes, in the membrane’s nerve sensing abilities. Now, says Gracheva (who
fibers. Scientists knew this membrane heats was not involved in the new study), this
up very rapidly, but it was still unclear how pioneering look at signal conversion “lays
thermal variations in the pit organ became the foundation for future experimental
electric signals that travel to the brain. work by biologists to verify the model.”
“Pyroelectric materials, which convert It could also lead to new technology,
heat to electricity, do exist in nature. But Sharma says: “We can use the same model
they’re rare, and they’re hard crystals; no to create artificial materials that have pyro-
such crystals have been found in snakes,” electric properties for exciting applications
says Pradeep Sharma, a mechanical engi- in materials science.” —H
— Harini
arini Barath
Join now or get a FREE trial
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of Freethought Today,
FFRF’s newspaper.
Call 1-800-335-4021
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Images
Getty Images
SEIJDEL Getty
Pit vipers like this
JONNE SEIJDEL
one have extremely
FFRF is a 501(c)(3) educational charity.
JONNE
sensitive heat vision. Deductible for income tax purposes.
February 2021, ScientificAmerican.com 17
© 2021 Scientific AmericanADVANCES
AV I AT I O N
Tight Flight 305 m 3 km
A birdlike formation would save
fuel for planes
Commercial planes could soon mimic
migrating birds by traveling in tandem,
with one airliner following close behind the
other to gain some free lift. European man-
ufacturing giant Airbus says this initiative,
called fello’fly, could reduce the follower
aircraft’s fuel requirements by up to 10 per-
cent per trip.
Fello’fly was inspired by the way birds 1 Software selects two aircraft to pair up 2 Pilots activate onboard technology to
such as geese fly in formation to save energy. based on their flight plans. They take couple the planes together with a mere
As a bird does, a moving airplane leaves a off separately and enter the same flight three kilometers of distance between
wake of disturbed air as its wings generate path, guided by air traffic control. them while maintaining a vertical separa-
swirling vortices. These vortices circle out- tion of 305 meters.
ward as they dissipate, creating an updraft
around the wake. If a second aircraft follows
at a specific distance and just beside the
wake’s center, this updraft provides extra lift.
Such a boost lets the follower reduce
3 km
engine thrust, saving on fuel costs and
15 m
decreasing emissions. But the airliners
have to position themselves carefully: if
Wake
the follower gets too close to the center
of the leader’s path, the vortices will push
it downward instead of up. Planes must
also greatly reduce the distance they usu-
ally maintain—from a standard 55 kilome-
Updraft
ters in oceanic airspace to just three.
Airbus conducted three tests of the sys-
tem last summer. Two A350 aircraft flew in 3 The follower plane then moves into 4 The wake of the lead plane produces
France’s western Atlantic airspace, remain- a position 15 meters below, and just an updraft that provides extra lift to
ing three kilometers apart for four hours, to the side of, the lead plane. the follower plane, allowing it to save
according to Airbus. “These tests demon- energy and fuel.
strated that it is possible to stabilize the air-
craft within the wake updraft on autopilot determining the role of air traffic control- embedded in aircraft avionics, by the pilots.”
and that the fuel savings are significant,” lers, maintaining communication, planning Although the minimal separation might
says project leader Nick Macdonald, an Air- for emergency situations and bad weather, sound risky, Mrak suggests that operating
bus senior engineer. and divvying up economic benefits. “For planes so closely may not be out of the
Fello’fly is intended to work with com- example,” he says, “with two different air- question. “As aviators, we undergo exten-
patible craft from different airlines that trav- lines envisaged in a fello’fly flight, the issue sive training,” he says. “Flying aircraft in
el in the same airspace at the same time. becomes ‘Who gets to save the gas?’ ”
formation is a matter of proper training
Airbus recently signed agreements with two Belgium-based EUROCONTROL, a
and protocol.” As a further fail-safe, Lenti
airlines for the next testing stage, set for as partner in the project, will focus on codify-
says, air traffic controllers would keep
early as this year; multiple international air ing predeparture requirements and proce-
a dedicated flight route empty about 305
navigation agencies plan to take part as well. dures. Air traffic controllers are currently
meters below both aircraft in case one
Participating aircraft must coordinate largely responsible for maintaining hori-
zontal separation between two aircraft encounters a problem.
meticulously—starting on the ground—
to prevent accidents and excessive turbu- at the same altitude, says Giovanni Lenti, Airbus hopes to roll out fello’fly in com-
lence. Airline pilot David Mrak, who is not head of EUROCONTROL’s network oper- mercial operations around 2025, and Lenti
SOURCE: AIRBUS
affiliated with the project, says challenges ations services. But with the proximity says it would initially avoid heavier air traf-
would most likely include setting rules of fello’fly needs, he says, “it will have to be fic by focusing on oceanic routes.
engagement between the two planes, done by using new onboard technology, — Dhananjay Khadilkar
18 Scientific American, February 2021 Illustration by Brown Bird Design
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