Scientific American - USA (2019-07)

4 Scientific American, July 2019 Illustration by Nick Higgins

FROM

THE EDITOR Mariette DiChristina is editor in chief of Scientific American.

Follow her on Twitter @mdichristina

BOARD OF ADVISERS

Leslie C. Aiello

President, Wenner-Gren Foundation

for Anthropological Research

Robin E. Bell

Research Professor, Lamont-Doherty

Earth Observatory, Columbia University

Emery N. Brown

Edward Hood Taplin Professor of Medical

Engineering and of Computational Neuro-

science, M.I.T., and Warren M. Zapol Prof-

essor of Anesthesia, Harvard Medical

School

Vinton G. Cerf

Chief Internet Evangelist, Google

Emmanuelle Charpentier

Scientific Director, Max Planck Institute

for Infection Biology, and Founding

and Acting Director, Max Planck Unit

for the Science of Pathogens

George M. Church

Director, Center for Computational

Genetics, Harvard Medical School

Rita Colwell

Distinguished University Professor,

University of Maryland College Park

and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School

of Public Health

Kate Crawford

Director of Research and Co-founder,

AI Now Institute, and Distinguished

Research Professor, New York University,

and Principal Researcher,

Microsoft Research New York City

Drew Endy

Professor of Bioengineering,

Stanford University

Nita A. Farahany

Professor of Law and Philosophy,

Director, Duke Initiative for

Science & Society, Duke University

Edward W. Felten

Director, Center for Information

Technology Policy, Princeton University

Jonathan Foley

Executive Director and William R. and

Gretchen B. Kimball Chair, California

Academy of Sciences

Jennifer Francis

Senior Scientist,

Woods Hole Research Center

Kaigham J. Gabriel

President and Chief Executive Officer,

Charles Stark Draper Laboratory

Harold “Skip” Garner

Executive Director and Professor, Primary

Care Research Network and Center for

Bioinformatics and Genetics, Edward Via

College of Osteopathic Medicine

Michael S. Gazzaniga

Director, Sage Center for the Study of

Mind, University of California,

Santa Barbara

Carlos Gershenson

Research Professor, National

Autonomous University of Mexico

Alison Gopnik

Professor of Psychology and

Affiliate Professor of Philosophy,

University of California, Berkeley

Lene Vestergaard Hau

Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics and

of Applied Physics, Harvard University

Hopi E. Hoekstra

Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology,

Harvard University

Ayana Elizabeth Johnson

Founder and CEO, Ocean Collectiv

Christof Koch

President and CSO,

Allen Institute for Brain Science

Morten L. Kringelbach

Associate Professor and

Senior Research Fellow, The Queen’s

College, University of Oxford

Robert S. Langer

David H. Koch Institute Professor,

Department of Chemical Engineering,

M .I.T.

Meg Lowman

Director and Founder, TREE Foundation,

Rachel Carson Fellow, Ludwig Maximilian

University Munich, and Research

Professor, University of Science Malaysia

John Maeda

Global Head, Computational Design +

Inclusion, Automattic, Inc.

Satyajit Mayor

Senior Professor,

National Center for Biological Sciences,

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research

John P. Moore

Professor of Microbiology and

Immunology, Weill Medical College

of Cornell University

Priyamvada Natarajan

Professor of Astronomy and Physics,

Yale University

Donna J. Nelson

Professor of Chemistry,

University of Oklahoma

Robert E. Palazzo

Dean, University of Alabama at

Birmingham College of Arts and Sciences

Rosalind Picard

Professor and Director,

Affective Computing, M.I.T. Media Lab

Carolyn Porco

Leader, Cassini Imaging Science Team,

and Director, CICLOPS, Space Science

Institute

Lisa Randall

Professor of Physics, Harvard University

Martin Rees

Astronomer Royal and Professor

of Cosmology and Astrophysics,

Institute of Astronomy,

University of Cambridge

Daniela Rus

Andrew (1956) and Erna Viterbi Professor

of Electrical Engineering and Computer

Science and Director, CSAIL, M.I.T.

Eugenie C. Scott

Chair, Advisory Council,

National Center for Science Education

Terry Sejnowski

Professor and Laboratory Head of

Computational Neurobiology Laboratory,

Salk Institute for Biological Studies

Meg Urry

Israel Munson Professor of Physics

and Astronomy, Yale University

Michael E. Webber

Co-director, Clean Energy Incubator,

and Associate Professor,

Department of Mechanical Engineering,

University of Texas at Austin

George M. Whitesides

Professor of Chemistry and Chemical

Biology, Harvard University

Amie Wilkinson

Professor of Mathematics,

University of Chicago

Anton Zeilinger

Professor of Quantum Optics, Quantum

Nanophysics, Quantum Information,

University of Vienna SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN

A Symphony

of Science

We live in a world of networks, write University of Pennsylva-
nia physicist and Mac Arthur Fellow Danielle S. Bassett and Max
Bertolero of Bassett’s Complex Systems Group in this issue. Con-
sider the interstate highway system, the World Wide Web, the
power grid, to name just a few. Our inner world is
also net worked—specifically, in the brain. In
their article, “How Matter Becomes
Mind,” the authors de scribe how
“what the brain is—and thus who we
are as conscious beings—is, in fact,
defined by a sprawling network of 100
billion neurons with at least 100 trillion
connecting points, or synapses.”
Until recently, neuroscientists have
looked at the different regions of the brain
in relative isolation. Just as an orchestra
requires all instruments to play together, Bassett and Bertolero
note that “living brains are massive orchestras of neurons that
fire together in quite specific patterns.” Researchers studying
these networks could lead to a clearer picture of cognitive func-
tioning, better diagnoses for psychiatric diseases and new ther-
apeutics. To learn more about them, an allegro tempo to page  
might be in order.

As I write, unfortunate outbreaks of measles are occurring in

several areas of the U.S. and other places where people have

chosen not to vaccinate out of misplaced health fears. By train-

ing immune systems, however, vaccines have the means to pre-

vent illness as one of the most remarkable and far-reaching

medical benefits humanity has ever seen. But what if, asks jour-

nalist Rowan Jacobsen, we could create virus-proof cells? Turn

to “The Invulnerable Cell,” on page 34.

Advances in discoveries often draw our attention to a time

when we’ll be enjoying the next fruits of science

and technology. But there’s great value in

appreciating the lessons of the past as

well. In our special report, starting on

page 50, we do just that as we take

“One Small Step Back in Time.”

Half a century ago Neil Arm-

strong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin

became the first humans to visit the surface

of the moon while Michael Collins piloted the or bit -

ing Apollo  11 command module—supported by thousands

of nasa engineers, scientists and mission controllers back on

Earth. Back then, I remember thinking it would be no time at all

before we moved on to Mars and beyond. Yet nobody has re -

turned to the lunar surface since the last astronaut left in 1972.

The Apollo missions demonstrated the power of big dreams to

motivate and unify a nation amid social and political strife.

Today we face other challenges. But perhaps, inspired by this

past triumph, we might again summon the will to create for our-

selves a better, more hopeful future.