This week’s issue On the 8 Monkeypox: What 48 Features you need to know cover “ A spectre of 18 How to tackle the the distant 38 The nuclear option global food crisis Do we need nuclear power past, plague to beat climate change? 9 Australia’s ‘greenslide’ election could well 16 Has DeepMind finally become a cracked human-level disease of intelligence? today” 44 A new way to think about cause and effect Vol 254 No 3388 Cover image: Irena Gajic News Features 10 War strikes seed bank 38 Our energy future Priceless samples from News What role, if any, should nuclear Ukraine’s national collection power have in the push for destroyed by bomb attack net-zero carbon emissions? 14 Black hole photo 44 Higher causes Astronomers question A new way to measure accuracy of landmark image causation could change our understanding of biology 15 Losing sleep Climate change is affecting 48 Return of bubonic plague how well we rest Why the disease could resurface in a dangerous new guise Views The back pages 27 Comment We must give dogs more legal 52 Science of gardening protections, says Jules Howard Put your soil to the acid test 28 The columnist 53 Puzzles Annalee Newitz takes on Try our crossword, quick the paradox of free speech quiz and logic puzzle 30 Aperture 54 Almost the last word Polar bears gorge themselves CK Do our beliefs give us an O T on a whale meat feast RS evolutionary advantage? E T T U H S 32 Letters O/ 56 Feedback T O Perhaps we can still be PH Elon Musk and Twitter R U optimistic about our future? N bots: the week in weird A/ HIJ K A M 34 Culture K 56 Twisteddoodles N A We have hit peak bee, now AY for New Scientist M wasps need time in the sun 18 Food crisis Heatwaves in India have contributed to rocketing prices Picturing the lighter side of life 28 May 2022 | New Scientist | 1 Elsewhere on New Scientist Academy Podcast Tour “ Word pairs Everyday quantum physics like ‘playboy This course will reveal how the parrot’ and world around you is the way it is thanks to strange goings-on ‘gnome in the quantum realm, the most fundamental layer of reality we bone’ came know of – from the technology you use to biological life itself. out on top” Join now for £99. S E G A M academy.newscientist.com Y I T T E G A/ G O Tour G Life in the clouds Discover the secrets of the Incas at Machu Picchu Science of the Incas Immerse yourself in the Inca civilisation’s most important Newsletter archaeological sites, science ES G A and history while exploring M Y I T the beautiful Sacred Valley in T E G Peru. Plus, visit Machu Picchu VIA T and discover religious sites, KE C O accompanied by Peter Getzels, TR H G an anthropologist, mountaineer LI S/ E and Emmy award-winning AG M cinematographer. From PA I O S 17 September 2022 for S/ O N 10 days. The cost is £3499. A L L E T newscientist.com/tours AS C E G R O J Podcast Kids and covid-19 Will parents want the jab for their under-5s? Weekly This week, the team look at solutions to the global food crisis, Video Newsletter which has been brought on by a Wait in line Health Check mix of the coronavirus pandemic, intensifying climate change Have you ever seen a pod of Reporter Clare Wilson and the war in Ukraine. They dolphins queuing? These intelligent has been looking into new also discuss a new field of study aquatic mammals have recently covid-19 vaccine roll-outs Essential guide called “ecoacoustics”, which is been spotted waiting patiently for young children. A jab for being used to assess biodiversity, for their turn to rub themselves under-5s may become available Consciousness is the ghost in our sharing sounds of an “animal against corals and sea sponges, in the US later this year, but machine – our feeling of being and orchestra” recorded in the which contain a number of it is unclear when it will reach our relationship with the world. But Brazilian rainforest. Plus, find compounds with antibacterial the UK and the rest of Europe. what does it consist of and why do out why some word pairings and antioxidative properties. What impact will it have, and we have it? Delve into the ultimate are funnier than others – It is thought they could be treating will people actually want it? mystery of being with the latest “spam scrotum” anyone? their wounds and skin diseases. New Scientist Essential Guide. newscientist.com/ newscientist.com/nspod youtube.com/newscientist health-check shop.newscientist.com 2 | New Scientist | 28 May 2022 The leader The nuclear question Nuclear power’s promise remains elusive, and a massive issue remains: who pays? ON PAPER, nuclear power is a brilliant way rhetoric, including his pledge to build a reactors at a serious rate. For that to to tackle climate change. Yet the reality of new nuclear plant every year, will be hard happen, though, societies need to have this technology, which promises a steady to deliver on. It also brings up the question an honest conversation about whether supply of low-carbon power to cope with that always bedevils nuclear: who pays? they are willing to pay for its benefits. wind-free days, frequently disappoints, Hinkley’s cost overrun will be borne by They also need to weigh up what is lost as Michael Brooks reports on page 38. EDF, the downside to its upside of lucrative by supporting nuclear. Last month’s UK Take the news that the UK’s first new government subsidies when the reactor energy strategy offered nothing new on nuclear power station in a generation may starts generating power. Yet a new model solar power or energy efficiency: low-cost, be two years late and cost up to £8 billion low-carbon options that can be deployed “ Societies need to have an honest extra. This is the third time since the plant now, not years in the future. What’s more, conversation about paying for was first approved in 2016 that the budget wind farms have the UK on course to the benefits of nuclear power” and schedule for Hinkley Point C have become a net electricity exporter by 2030, been revised by EDF Energy, the French as we report on page 12. Nuclear money state-owned firm leading its construction. for funding nuclear plants, set to be agreed could be spent on even more wind. The delay doesn’t mean that lights imminently by the UK and EDF, would see Nuclear power advocates have been will go out, nor missed carbon targets. consumers paying more via their energy overpromising for almost seven decades, But it does hold consequences for future bills if construction budgets balloon. ever since the 1950s claim that it would nuclear projects, in the UK and around the Nuclear power could yet play a big role be “too cheap to meter”. Nuclear can be world. It shows that UK prime minister in decarbonising electricity grids outside part of our race to net zero, but cool heads Boris Johnson’s recent nuclear power China, the only country building new are needed to assess its true costs.  ❚ PUBLISHING & COMMERCIAL EDITORIAL Commercial and events director Adrian Newton Chief executive Nina Wright Editor-in-chief Emily Wilson Executive assistant Lorraine Lodge Magazine editor Catherine de Lange Display advertising Team administrator Olivia Abbott News and digital director Penny Sarchet Tel +44 (0)203 615 6456 Email [email protected] Creative director Craig Mackie Sales director Justin Viljoen Finance & operations Account manager Matthew Belmoh Chief financial officer Amee Dixon News Partnerships account manager David Allard Financial controller Taryn Skorjenko News editor Jacob Aron Commercial finance manager Charlotte Thabit Assistant news editors Alexandra Thompson, Sam Wong Recruitment advertising Commercial finance manager Anna Labuz Reporters (UK) Michael Le Page, Matthew Sparkes, Tel +44 (0)203 615 6458 Email [email protected] Management accountant Dani Duffy Adam Vaughan, Clare Wilson, (Aus) Alice Klein Recruitment sales manager Viren Vadgama Management accountant Charlie Robinson Trainees Jason Arunn Murugesu, Alex Wilkins Key account manager Deepak Wagjiani Intern Carissa Wong Human resources New Scientist Events Human resources director Shirley Spencer Digital Tel +44 (0)203 615 6554 Email [email protected] HR business partner Katy Le Poidevin Audience editor Alexander McNamara Sales director Jacqui McCarron Podcast editor Rowan Hooper Head of event production Martin Davies Head of product management (Events, Courses CONTACT US Web team Emily Bates, Matt Hambly, Chen Ly, David Stock & Commercial Projects) Henry Gomm newscientist.com/contact Features Marketing manager Emiley Partington Deputy head of features Daniel Cossins, Helen Thomson General & media enquiries Events and projects executive Georgia Peart Editors Abigail Beall, Anna Demming, Kate Douglas, US PO Box 80247, Portland, OR 97280 Alison George, Joshua Howgego New Scientist Discovery Tours UK Tel +44 (0)203 615 6500 Feature writer Graham Lawton Director Kevin Currie Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London, W8 5TT Australia 58 Gipps Street, Collingwood, Victoria 3066 Culture and Community Marketing & Data Comment and culture editor Alison Flood Marketing director Jo Adams US Newsstand Tel +1 973 909 5819 Senior culture editor Liz Else Director of performance marketing Distributed by Time Inc. 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Reporters Leah Crane, Karmela Padavic Callaghan, Registered at the Post Office as a newspaper and printed in USA Grace Wade, Corryn Wetzel by Fry Communications Inc, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055 Subeditor Alexis Wnuk 28 May 2022 | New Scientist | 5 News Starliner launch Vitamin D Net Zero Strategy Taste of friendship Tree mixtures Boeing’s new Gene-edited tomato The UK expects to Bottlenose dolphins Plantations with spacecraft docks offers new plant- be a net electricity recognise each diverse species with the ISS p10 based source p12 exporter by 2030 p12 other’s urine p15 grow better p16 A meeting of world health representatives in Geneva on 22 May identified that would otherwise have slipped under the radar. Nevertheless, monkeypox cases are expected to rise, at least in Europe, over the coming months. “As we enter the summer season in the European region, with mass gatherings, festivals and parties, I am concerned that transmission could accelerate, as the cases currently being detected are among those engaging in sexual activity, and the symptoms are unfamiliar to many,” the WHO’s regional director for Europe, Hans Kluge, said in a statement. E S U O Early symptoms include fever, B LI BA headache and muscle aches, S ENI sometimes followed by a chicken- D RS/ pox-like rash that causes scabs. E T EU Monkeypox isn’t considered R a sexually transmitted infection, Diseases but can spread via skin-to-skin Monkeypox on the rise contact or sharing bedding with an infected person. “We would recommend to anyone who is having changes in Reported cases are growing rapidly in the largest known outbreak sex partners regularly, or having close contact with individuals that outside of Central and West Africa, reports Jason Arunn Murugesu they don’t know, to come forward if they develop a rash,” Susan AS New Scientist went to press, In the past, outbreaks outside with men. This is the first time Hopkins, the UKHSA’s chief 172 monkeypox cases had been of Central and West Africa have cases with no travel history have medical adviser, told the BBC. confirmed in North and South usually been linked with travel to been reported in Europe, according In the UK, close contacts of those America, Australia, the Middle East, those regions, where the virus is to the European Centre for Disease infected with monkeypox are North Africa and across Europe, endemic. A small 2021 outbreak Prevention and Control (ECDC). being advised to isolate for 21 days according to a list of reports in the UK occurred after someone Monkeypox is usually mild, with by the UKHSA and are being compiled by Moritz Kraemer at travelled from Nigeria to most cases resolving within a few offered a smallpox vaccine, which the University of Oxford, John Manchester. In 2003, monkeypox weeks without treatment. Bulletins is 85 per cent effective at preventing Brownstein at Boston Children’s entered the US after exotic pets a monkeypox infection. According “ Early monkeypox Hospital in Massachusetts and including mice and squirrels were to Politico, 1000 doses of the vaccine symptoms include their colleagues. imported from Ghana. have already been administered in fever, headache These same regions also The current outbreak is the UK, with 3500 doses left. and muscle aches” have a total of 87 suspected cases unusual in that infections seem In the US, the CDC is advising of monkeypox and 27 people to be mostly spreading between people with monkeypox to hospitalised with the infection. As people with no recent travel from organisations like the WHO, isolate, while the ECDC has urged of 23 May, the UK had recorded 57 links to affected regions of Africa, the US Centers for Disease Control European countries to prepare cases of the virus, and it appears to suggesting the virus is being and Prevention (CDC) and the UK infection-control strategies, be one of the hardest-hit countries transmitted undetected in the Health Security Agency (UKHSA) such as increasing contact so far. No related deaths have been community. In the UK, early cases mean countries are actively tracing and readying vaccines.  ❚ reported anywhere, according to the were largely seen in gay men, looking for infections, which has World Health Organization (WHO). bisexual men or men who have sex probably caused instances to be Turn to page 8 for more on monkeypox. 28 May 2022 | New Scientist | 7 News Viruses Monkeypox: Key questions answered Cases are rising worldwide, leaving some people anxious that the virus could evolve into a pandemic alongside covid-19. Michael Le Page addresses monkeypox’s risks WITH monkeypox cases undetected, meaning the infection appearing globally (see page 7), fatality ratio – the proportion of some with no obvious source deaths among all those infected – of infection, it seems the virus can be substantially lower. may be spreading undetected. According to the WHO, children While not as serious a disease with monkeypox are more likely as covid-19, it is understandable than adults to become seriously that some people feel a sense of ill. Becoming infected during familiarity with the early days Y pregnancy can also lead to R A of the coronavirus pandemic. BR complications, including stillbirth. LI O Here are the key facts you need T O H to know as the outbreak unfolds. E P Are there any treatments C N E or vaccines? CI S What is monkeypox? CY/ Yes. The antiviral drug tecovirimat N E Monkeypox is a disease caused by AG (also sold as Tpoxx) is approved Y T a virus that, as the name suggests, RI in most of Europe for treating U C usually spreads among monkeys SE monkeypox, smallpox and H T in Central and West Africa, but L cowpox. It is only approved for A E H occasionally jumps to people. K smallpox in the US. In animal U It was first spotted in monkeys studies, tecovirimat significantly in labs in 1958. The first human Monkeypox virus particles A rash can also develop, typically increased the survival rate of case was identified in what is now captured via a coloured on the face first and then on other animals given very high doses the Democratic Republic of the transmission electron parts of the body, including the of monkeypox. Congo in 1970. micrograph genitals. The rash can look like There is also a vaccine called chickenpox, before forming scabs. Jynneos (also known as Imvanex How does it spread? used by an infected person. and Imvamune), which is approved According to the World It isn’t regarded as a sexually How deadly is it? in the US and most of Europe Health Organization (WHO), transmitted infection, but it can Monkeypox is usually mild, with “ It’s important not “monkeypox can be transmitted be passed on during sex via skin- most people recovering within to put this on the by droplet exposure via exhaled to-skin contact, says the UKHSA. a few weeks without treatment. same levels as a  large droplets and by contact In Africa, monkeypox can be with infected skin lesions or What are the symptoms? deadly in as many as 1 in 10 people novel coronavirus” contaminated materials”. Some The first symptoms of monkeypox who contract the disease, according might interpret this as meaning include fever, headache, muscle to the CDC. However, there are two for preventing monkeypox and the virus is airborne, but the aches, backache, swollen lymph main types of monkeypox: the smallpox in people aged over 18. WHO doesn’t use this term. nodes, chills and exhaustion, says Congo strain and the West African In addition, those who are old The US Centers for Disease the UKHSA. strain. The WHO states that the enough to have been vaccinated Control and Prevention (CDC) 1 in 10 figure applies to the Congo against smallpox as babies should states: “Human-to-human strain and the West African strain have some protection. Routine 1958 transmission is thought to  is deadly in around 1 in 100 smallpox vaccination ended in the occur primarily through large reported cases. UK in 1971 and in the US in 1972. respiratory droplets. Respiratory The year monkeypox was Amid the ongoing outbreak, droplets generally cannot travel first identified in monkeys only the West African strain has Have there been outbreaks outside more than a few feet, so prolonged been identified in the UK. This Central and West Africa before? 1 in 100 face-to-face contact is required.” information isn’t yet available for There have been several But the virus doesn’t usually all of the other affected countries. monkeypox outbreaks outside spread easily between people, The death rate of the West African What’s more, the WHO these regions, but usually with the UK Health Security monkeypox strain in known cases says these figures refer to involving only a handful of cases Agency (UKHSA) saying the risk the proportion of deaths in with very limited local spread. 170+ to the UK population amid the those confirmed to be infected, In 2018, a person arriving from ongoing outbreak “remains low”. called the case fatality ratio. But Nigeria spread the virus to two Monkeypox can also spread via The number of confirmed or with diseases whose symptoms people in the UK. In 2021, the contact with clothing or bedding suspected cases worldwide so far can be mild, many cases go UK reported three cases in one 8 | New Scientist | 28 May 2022