Scientific American - USA (2022-02)

4 Scientific American, February 2022 Illustration by Nick Higgins

FROM

THE EDITOR Laura Helmuth is editor in chief of Scientific American.

Follow her on Twitter @laurahelmuth

BOARD OF ADVISERS

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

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

Nita A. Farahany

Professor of Law and Philosophy, Director,

Duke Initiative for Science & Society, Duke University

Jonathan Foley

Executive Director, Project Drawdown

Jennifer A. Francis

Senior Scientist and Acting Deputy Director,

Woodwell Climate Research Center

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

Co-founder, Urban Ocean Lab, and

Co-founder, The All We Can Save Project

Christof Koch

Chief Scientist, MindScope Program, Allen Institute for Brain Science

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

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.

Meg Urry

Israel Munson Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Yale University

Amie Wilkinson

Professor of Mathematics, University of Chicago

Big Questions

What are space and time? Where do they come from? Physicists
have treated them as fundamental properties of the universe, but
scientists are finding intriguing evidence that they could just be
expressions of something even more fundamental. Author Adam
Becker, in our cover story starting on page 26, takes us on a romp
through this mind-bending research that could potentially lead
to a theory of everything.
There are a lot of weird vertebrates in the world—zippy hum-
mingbirds, absurdly long-necked giraffes, bipedal apes—but some
of the strangest are salamanders. They can regenerate limbs and
even brains, and some species stay in their larval form and nev-
er grow up. But one of the strangest things about salamanders is
their genomes, which are enormous, so big that salamander cells
become swollen just to contain all the DNA. Now, as journalist
Douglas Fox writes on page  40, scientists have figured out that
salamanders’ oversized genomes seem to account for many of
the other amazing features of their lifestyles.
Kids are vulnerable to misinformation and conspiracy theo-
ries, and teaching them how to sort truth from fiction is an
increasingly urgent educational need. On page 34, author Melin-
da Wenner Moyer explores how education experts are struggling
to design and evaluate the best techniques for teaching students
this defense against the dark arts.
Bringing any new drug to market is an arduous process, and
it is especially so for agents that are classified as dangerous
addictive substances. Neurology professor Jennifer M. Mitchell,
on page  56, shares how scientists, regulators, physicians and
patient volunteers have demonstrated that MDMA, also known
as Ecstasy, can be used safely to treat mental health problems.
Real Neandertals were a lot more sophisticated than pop cul-

ture Neandertals. Anthropologist David  W. Frayer and museum

curator Davorka Radovˇci ́c, on page  50, detail how Neandertal

artifacts and sites show evidence of symbolic thinking and

sophisticated behaviors that developed independently of mod-

ern humans.

One of the many reasons it’s so important for as many people

as possible to get vaccinated is that by slowing the circulation of

infectious disease, vaccines protect people with compromised

immune systems. Many people who have immune system diseas-

es or organ transplants or who are in treatment for cancer have

not responded robustly to COVID vaccines, as health and medi-

cine senior editor Tanya Lewis explains on page  62. Fortunately,

boosters and new approaches may help them.

People who jump to conclusions, as researchers Carmen San-

chez and David Dunning discuss on page  68, are also likely to

make bad bets, endorse conspiracy theories and be overconfident

(and misguided) in their judgments.

We’re proud to share that Scientific American won two big

journalism awards from the American Geophysical Union, the

largest organization of Earth and space scientists in the world.

Freelancer Jonathan O’Callaghan won the Excellence in Science

Journalism—Features award for his “The Curious Science of

Chondrules,” in the March 2021 issue, about dust from asteroid

Ryugu brought back to Earth by Japan’s Hayabusa2 mission.

Senior sustainability editor Mark Fischetti, who has been with

Scientific American for more than 15 years, won the most presti-

gious award, for Sustained Achievement in Science Journalism.

The awards committee observed that Mark has a “sixth ‘science

sense’ that appears to lead him to important scientific work well

ahead of other journalists.”

We’re honored to publish Mark and Jonny in our pages, along

with other excellent journalists who devote their careers to find-

ing urgent, insightful, fascinating stories to share with us all.