9 surprising things we learned at New Scientist Live 2022

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The world's top festival of subject brought america amusement and acquisition – it besides revealed the noises gorillas marque erstwhile they eat, the astonishing determination of the hottest spot successful the star strategy and overmuch more

New Scientist Live 10 October 2022

By Matthew Sparkes

A Boston Dynamics robotic canine astatine New Scientist Live

New Scientist Live, the world’s top festival of science, finished yesterday aft 3 days of mind-expanding talks and exhilarating experiences. Thousands of radical attended each day, gathering robots, trying cutting-edge virtual world set-ups and learning everything from whether subject tin prevention humanity to the plan flaws successful the quality body. Most importantly, we had an astonishing time. Here are 9 unthinkable things we learned there.

1. Just similar humans, gorillas marque noises erstwhile they eat – and amended nutrient elicits antithetic sounds. We heard Gillian Forrester explicate that we whitethorn beryllium capable to shed airy connected the longstanding enigma of how humans evolved the quality to speak by studying these large apes.

2. The archetypal idiosyncratic to announcement clime alteration lived successful the 11th century. Atmospheric physicist Simon Clark talked astir what upwind is, however the ambiance is changing – and however the archetypal idiosyncratic to announcement clime alteration was a polymath called Shen Kuo, who lived successful the 11th century. He realised that the clime had altered aft discovering fossilised bamboo. In a 1088 enactment called Dream Pool Essays, Shen wrote astir however a landslide exposed a cavity wrong which bamboo plants “had turned to stone”. Shen suggested that the clime successful the portion indispensable person been antithetic successful the distant past – making his enactment arguably the archetypal written relationship of however the clime successful circumstantial places could alteration implicit time.

3. Placing greater precedence connected subject volition pb to greater subject security, much resilience to aboriginal threats from pandemics and clime change, and volition besides boost the country’s economy, according to the UK government’s main technological adviser, Patrick Vallance. “The existent authorities seems to person rather a absorption connected growth. And if you privation growth, past you person to person science, engineering and technology,” helium said. Vallance called for each authorities departments to consult much experts connected science, exertion and engineering, and for much graduates successful these fields to beryllium employed successful the civilian service.

Fascinating speech by @DoctorChrisVT and @xandvt astir ultra processed nutrient – learnt that astir of our “food” is made from discarded ? But person caved, aft eating thing each day, & bought crisps and skittles, the lone foods I could find that I tin devour ? I consciousness sick. Sorry boys pic.twitter.com/7R42VkDzi1

— . (@TrebbleJayne) October 9, 2022

4. Ultra-processed foods are the main operator of obesity today, revealed duplicate doctors Chris and Xand van Tulleken from children’s tv bid Operation Ouch!. They said ultra-processed foods present marque up 60 per cent of the mean fare successful the UK – and virtually 100 per cent for young babies. They claimed that these types of nutrient are the main operator of obesity today, arsenic we thin to devour much calories erstwhile processed nutrient is connected the menu. “It’s our nationalist diet,” said Chris van Tulleken. “It’s what we physique our bodies from and the bodies of our children from.”

It’s not existent that lone crab cells person “cancer-causing mutations”, says @Kat_Arney astatine #newscientistlive @newscievents @newscientist pic.twitter.com/jYbzAXSg9U

— Clare Wilson (@ClareWilsonMed) October 8, 2022

5. It isn’t existent that lone crab cells person “cancer-causing mutations”. Science writer Kat Arney delved into immoderate of the astonishing subject down cancer. We find cells with mutations adjacent successful radical without cancer. Arney said that if these mutations were seen successful tumour cells taken successful a biopsy, doctors would presume these were what had caused the cancer, truthful intelligibly subject has much to learn.

6. Nothing draws the crowds arsenic consistently arsenic a Boston Dynamics Spot robot, which spent the 3 days of the amusement trotting astir its enclosure and interacting with large crowds. The lawsuit was nary uncertainty an easier duty than Spot’s different job: assisting the UK Atomic Energy Agency with safe inspection and decommissioning of atomic powerfulness plants.

Chris Jackson connected the Engage Stage astatine New Scientist Live 2022

7. A small greenhouse state is really needed, said geoscientist Chris Jackson. Without immoderate astatine all, the world’s somesthesia would beryllium an mean -20°C (-4°F). But determination tin evidently beryllium excessively overmuch arsenic well: our clime is entering an anthropogenic epoch successful which human-created emissions are pushing the somesthesia ever higher.

8. The hottest constituent successful the star strategy isn’t the sun, but really successful a gathering about 16 kilometres from Oxford, revealed Joe Milnes from the UK Atomic Energy Authority. The plasma wrong the JET fusion reactor tin scope 150 cardinal °C (270 cardinal °F), which is galore times hotter than the aboveground of the sun. Working retired however to incorporate that somesthesia – and yet usage it to make energy – is simply a monolithic engineering challenge.

3 of @lordmartinrees’ colleagues person opted to frost themselves aft decease successful lawsuit they tin beryllium revived: 2 paid for full-body, and 1 “cut price” head-only.

“I told them i’d alternatively extremity my days successful an English churchyard than successful an American freezer,” helium says.#NewScientistLive

— Matthew Sparkes (@Sparkes) October 9, 2022

9. Three of Astronomer Royal Martin Rees’s colleagues person opted to beryllium frozen aft death. It isn’t an enactment helium wants to prosecute himself, helium told the audience.

New Scientist Live volition instrumentality successful October 2023, and super aboriginal vertebrate tickets are already available. We look guardant to seeing you there.