The Week UK - 04.04.2020

NEWS 23

Theyareamuchprizedfashion accessory

among theA-listnow, andits eemstiny

dogs mayhavebeensimilarlypopulartwo

millennia ago.Archaeologistsexcavating a

Romancemetery inCórd oba, in southern

Spai n, have uncoveredthe remainsof a

22.5cm-tall dogthatthey thin kwas

transported thousandsof milesinorder to

be arich person’s pamperedpooch.With a

smallskull andlarge bulg ingeyes, it would

have closelyresembledamodern Pekingese.

Analysis of carbon andoxygenisotopes

in th edog’s bones suggest thatithad a

simi lardiettothe region ’s humans –

suggestingthatitmay have been fedfromits

owners’ table–but that itwas born intheeasternMediterranean.Yet the dog’s status

did notprevent it from meetingagrislyend: itsneckwas snapped.The likelihood is

the dog, which wasabouttwo yearsold,and whichappearsto havebeenpregnant,

was sacrificed, possibly afterits owner’s death. Romans are thoughtmainly to have

used dogs forhunting and as guard dogs.However,in one of hi sbooks, Pliny

described howatiny dog couldbe lainonawoman’sbody to easeastomach ache.

Health &Science

4April 2020 THE WEEK

Invisiblesmiles

Ifolderpeopleviewtheworldasa

threateningplace,itmaybebecauseas

weage,webecomelessadeptatspotting

friendlyfaces–butwedonotloseour

abilitytonoticeafrown.Forthestudy

atKyotoUniversity,publishedinthe

journalRoyalSocietyOpenScience,two

groupsofvolunteers–oneintheirearly

20s,theotherintheir70s–wereshown

photographsofpeoplewithvarious

expressions(happy,crossandneutral),and

wereaskedtoclassifytheiremotions.The

youngerparticipantswerequickto“read”

bothpositiveandnegativeemotions,while

takingslightlylongertospotneutralones.

Theoldervolunteers,however,though

relativelyquicktospotnegativeemotions,

foundhappyfacesnoeasiertoclassify

thanneutralones.Accordingtothe

scientists,thissuggeststhatthe

evolutionaryvalueofdetectingparticular

emotionschangesoverthecourseofour

lives:while foryoungerpeoplemaking

newfriendsisapriority, forolderpeople,

themoreimportantthingistobe able to

spotthreatening,angryfaces,and soavoid

“physiologicalandpsychological harm”.

Primordial fish fingers

Analysisofa380-million-year-oldfossil

hasrevealed that beforefishevolvedinto

land-dwellingcreatures,aspecificspecies

developedfingersin itsfront(pectoral)

fins.Thesemay haveenabled thecreature

tospread its weightoutthroughits fins,

and sosupportitselfinshallow primordial

seas–acrucial firststep in thetransition

to dry land. The 1.5 metre-long fossilised

skeleton,discovered inpiecesin Quebecin

2010 ,belongedtoasharp-fanged aquatic

creaturecalledElpistostegewatsoni,which

lived duringtheDevonianperiod.After

painstakinglyputtingthefragmentsback

together,scientistscarriedoutCTscans

ontheskeletonwhichconfirmedthatthe

fish’spectoralfins contained tinybones

–theprecursorsofvertebratearmsand

fingers,includingthehumerus,radius, ulna

andphalangesorganisedindigits.“Thisis

thefirsttimethatwehaveunequivocally

discoveredfingerslockedinafininany

knownfish,” saidProfJohnLong of

FlindersUniversityinAustralia,a

co-author oftheNature-publishedstudy.

Elpistostegemaynotbe our ancestor, his

colleague added,butit’sthe “closestwe

cangettoatrue‘transitional fossil’,an

intermediatebetweenfishes andtetrapods”.

Electric cars are greener

Electric cars havetheirdetractors:the

climatecontroversialist Bjørn Lomborg

recently argued thattheyare just

“expensive gadgets”to makerichpeople

feelthattheyare doingtheirbitforthe

planet.Butanewstudyin Nature

Sustainabilitysuggeststhatsuchscepticism

ismisplaced:thevastmajorityofelectric

carsarealreadygreenerthantheirpetrol

anddieselequivalents–andtheywill

becomeevenmoregreen,ascountries

increasinglyswitchtonon-carbonsources

ofelectricity.Fortheirglobalsurvey,

scientistscomparedprojectedcarbon

emissionsforalltheconventionaland

electriccarssoldin 59 regionsrepresenting

95%ofglobalroadtraffic.Theyfound

thatin 53 oftheareasstudied,electriccars

alreadyhavelowernetcarbonemissions

thantraditionalones,withtheexceptions

beingthoseincountriessuchasIndiaand

Poland,whicharestillheavilyrelianton

coalandgas.Incountriesthathavedone

mosttoabandonfossilfuels,suchas

SwedenandFrance,electriccarsareupto

70%moreCO 2 efficientthantraditional

vehicles;intheUK,theaverageCO 2 saving

is30%.“Theideathatelectricvehiclesor

heatpumpscouldincreaseemissionsis

essentiallyamyth,”saidleadau thorDr

FlorianKnobloch,ofRadboud University.

Salt weakens the immune system

Ahigh-saltdietdoesn’tjustraise blood

pressure: new researchsuggests thatit

alsoweakensthebody’sabilityto fight

bacterialinfections.For theGermanstudy,

tenhealthyvolunteers aged between 20

and50 were given anextrasix grams of

saltaday,on top oftheirnormal diet.

After aweek,theirimmunecellswere

foundtobelesseffectiveat engulfing

andkillingbacteria thantheyhad been.

Co-author Prof ChristianKurts,fromthe

University ofBonn,saidtheresultswere

concerningbecauseit’snot thatdifficultto

consume anextra 6gofsalt aday.“Thisis

roughlythe amountcontainedin twofast

foodmeals,i.e. twoburgersandtwo

portionsofFrenchfries,”hesaid.

Elpistostege watsoni: fingers locked inafin

The coronavirus pandemic is having a

dramatic impact on air pollution levels,

reports The Guardian. Data from the

European Space Agency’s Sentinel-5P

satellite has revealed that there was a

marked drop in levels of the toxic gas

nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 )as lockdowns

were introduced across Europe last

month. In Milan, average concentrations

of NO 2 during the week of 16-22 March

were 21% lower than for the same week

in 2019; in Bergamo, they were 47%

lower. After Spain and Portugal went

into lockdown, Madrid’s NO 2 levels fell

55% in aboutaweek; Lisbon’s fell 40%.

Nasa reported similar falls in China

during the lockdown in Hubei province.

“We’re inadvertently conducting the

largest-scale experiment ever seen,”

said Prof Paul Monks, of the University

of Leicester. “Are we looking at what we

might see in the future if we can move

to alow-carbon economy?”

Pandemicslashespollution

ParisHilton: honouringaRoman tradition?

What the scientists are saying...

RichRomans prized their lapdogs

©K

ATRINA KENNY/REUTERS