Discover - NovemberDecember 2023

EXPOSING RESEARCH FRAUD p.
48
®
SCIENCE THAT MATTERS
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023
MYSTERIES OF
TUT'S
TREASURES
WHAT YOU
NEVER KNEW
ABOUT HIS
PRICELESS
ARTIFACTS p.40
HOW
ARTISTS
ENVISION
ALIEN
WORLDS p.52
THE SCIENCE
OF FIRE
INVESTIGATIONS
p.30
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CONTENTS
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023 VOL. 44, NO. 6
p. 30
THIS PAGE: KARL MONDON/MEDIANEWS GROUP/THE MERCURY NEWS VIA GETTY IMAGES
30 Answers in the Ashes 48 Science Sleuth

Wildland fire investigators sift through Elisabeth Bik is on a mission to
the charred remains of devastation as expose scientific fraud in published
they search for evidence with profound research — and thousands of people
consequences. are watching.
JOHN RIHA ANNA FUNK
40 Tutankhamun’s Treasures 52 How Do We Draw

COVER: JARINO47/ISTOCK/GETTY IMAGES PLUS.
The artifacts from Tut’s tomb have been Alien Planets?

recorded and repaired — and poked, With every big exoplanet discovery
prodded and photographed — since comes a stunning artist’s rendition of a
their discovery over a century ago. new world. Are these images realistic?
Today, scientists are still digging ALISON KLESMAN
through their secrets.
EMILIE LE BEAU LUCCHESI,
SAM WALTERS AND MARISA SLOAN
N OV/D E C 2 02 3 . D IS C OV ER 3
CONTENTS
p. 62
COLUMNS & DEPARTMENTS
HOT SCIENCE
6 58
EDITOR’S NOTE HISTORY LESSONS
p. 11
Cursed With Curiosity Blowing Smoke
The mysteries of King Tut’s tomb continue Modern CPR was developed in the middle
to inspire scientific inquiries. of the 20th century. Before that, life-savers
employed the tobacco-smoke enema.
8 EMILY MCCRARY-RUIZ-ESPARZA
INBOX
Our readers ask about martian rocks, 62
vanilla’s origins and dreamlike states. ITINERARY
FROM TOP: QUALTAGHVISUALS/SHUTTERSTOCK; CHROMATOS/SHUTTERSTOCK

Floating in the Clouds
22 One of the oldest Andean Indigenous
VITAL SIGNS communities survives on artificial islands
A Penny for Your Thoughts drifting atop South America’s largest,
This 20-year-old college student’s erratic highest lake.
Scientists look to behavior was only the first sign that TIM BRINKHOF
solve a black hole something was amiss.
paradox, plants try DOUGLAS G. ADLER 66
#SCIENCEIRL
to communicate,
tastes change
26 The Not-So-Northern Lights
PLANET EARTH Auroras dance across dark skies in the
over time, and
Moth to a Flame lower 48 states.
more! Years after a massive wildfire destroyed its TREE MEINCH
home, the fate of a critically endangered
moth may still be in jeopardy.
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EDITOR’S NOTE
®
BY STEPHEN C. GEORGE S CIENCE T H AT M AT T ER S
STEPHEN C. GEORGE Editorial Director

ELIZABETH M. WEBER Design Director
EDITORIAL
Cursed With Curiosity TREE MEINCH Features Editor

ELISA R. NECKAR Senior Production Editor
ALEX ORLANDO Associate Editor
MARISA SLOAN Assistant Editor
GROWING UP in the SAM WALTERS Assistant Editor
SAMANTHA HILL Editorial Assistant
1970s, I was obsessed ANNA NORDSETH AAAS Mass Media Fellow
with all kinds of global
threats. Not climate DISCOVERMAGAZINE.COM
ERIN BERGE Digital Editor
change or nuclear war, mind you, but DUSTIN J. ZICK Social Media Manager
important things — well, important to MONICA CULL Assistant Digital Editor
ANDREA BURBACH SEO Specialist
a 10-year-old. ELIZABETH GAMILLO Staff Writer
Like quicksand. If shows and movies MATT HRODEY Staff Writer
were anything to go by, it was a constant IN EGYPTIAN HISTORY, Tut may be a
CONTRIBUTORS
menace the moment you set an unwary minor figure, but thanks to the goods
BRIDGET ALEX, GABRIEL ALLEN,
found in his tomb, his legend lives large
foot in the woods. Or killer bees! They in the modern imagination.
RILEY BLACK, KATE GOLEMBIEWSKI,
AVERY HURT, ERIK KLEMETTI, EMILIE LUCCHESI,
were coming, we were warned for years. KENNETH MILLER, STEVE NADIS, SARA NOVAK,
And those were just natural threats. This last adventure was a revelation. JOSHUA RAPP LEARN, ELIZABETH SVOBODA,
TOM YULSMAN, SCISTARTER,
Meanwhile, unnatural hazards preyed Standing in the tomb of this unlikely DARLENE CAVALIER (special projects)
on my mind, thanks to shows like In king gave me deep appreciation of the
Search Of …, hosted by Leonard Nimoy culture that placed such value on the ADVERTISING
KRISTI RUMMEL Advertising Representative
and devoted to mysteries and strange afterlife. Visiting the actual treasures of 608 435 6220 krummel@kalmbach.com
phenomena. I realize now, of course, that the tomb (in the Egyptian and Luxor
KALMBACH MEDIA
such programs had no more relation museums) helped me to appreciate the DAN HICKEY Chief Executive Officer
to real science than Mr. Spock did. value of these relics, which you can learn CHRISTINE METCALF Chief Financial Officer
Nevertheless, that show sharpened my more about on page 40. In the sweep of NICOLE MCGUIRE Chief Marketing Officer
STEPHEN C. GEORGE Vice President, Content
resolve to plumb the depths of these mys- Egyptian history, Tut is a minor figure, BRIAN J. SCHMIDT Vice President, Operations
teries, especially when it came to cryptids but what he left behind continues to SARAH A. HORNER Vice President, Human Resources
LIZ RUNYON Circulation Director
(looking at fascinate and inspire. ANGELA COTEY Director of Digital Strategy
What scientific you, Bigfoot), Incidentally, after I visited Tut’s tomb, MICHAEL SOLIDAY Director of Design & Production
mysteries the Bermuda I came down with a terrible illness, losing KATHY STEELE Retention Manager
KIM REDMOND Single Copy Specialist
inspired you as Triangle, and, 30 pounds in a few days. It took prompt
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know. As I got older worth the trip. I hope you also enjoy
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INBOX
A ROCKY JOURNEY
(“New Life From an Old Rock,” Mar/Apr 2023)
The article by Elise Cutts suggests the Mars rock reopened some avenues for NASA
to continue doing what they do best: namely, exploring the cosmos. But finding this
rock in Antarctica raised two puzzling questions for me: How could anybody know
if this lump of stone is from Mars? The find happened before the Mars explorers
landed there. And given the distance and dynamics of two planets in orbit, how did
it wind up on Earth?
Mel Goddard
STEPHEN C. GEORGE, STORY EDITOR AND DISCOVER EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, RESPONDS:

Great questions, Mel! First, we already had some infor- As for how it landed on or comet — crashed into
you are correct that in 1993, mation about Mars, including Earth: Further study of our Mars. The resulting debris
when ALH84001 was identi- the composition of the atmo- little rocky traveler revealed floated around the solar
fied as being from Mars, we sphere. By comparing that molecular details that helped system for quite a while; it
were still a few years away data with traces of gas still in scientists conclude it was shot wasn’t until 13,000 years ago
from putting rovers on the the rock, NASA determined into space about 16 million that ALH84001 eventually
Red Planet. However, thanks that ALH84001 was indeed years ago, after some large drifted into Earth’s path. The
to the 1976 Viking missions, martian in origin. body — probably an asteroid rest is history.
•
VANILLA'S ROOTS PERCHANCE TO DREAM
(“The Archaeology of Flavor,” (“Dream Weavers,” May/June 2023)
May/June 2023) In her Piece of Mind column, Avery Hurt included a quote from researcher
This Origin Story column was very Jennifer Windt that states, “Wakefulness is actually more dreamlike and much
interesting, but the part about the vanilla more sleeplike than we would have thought.” But there wasn’t really much
flavoring in wine from sixth century else on that subject afterwards. I was wondering if you could give some back-
B.C. took me aback. My understanding ground information explaining why that statement is true.
is that vanilla only came to Europe after Franklin Matlock
the 1500s, since it is native to Mexico
and Belize. If the vanilla came from East AUTHOR AVERY
Africa or India, where is the proof? Even HURT RESPONDS:
more unlikely is the idea that there was Thanks for your
trade between the Americas and the question, Franklin.
Mediterranean at that time. This is a fascinating
Robert H. Birdsey area of research that
unfortunately we
AUTHOR BRIDGET ALEX RESPONDS: didn’t have room
Hi Robert! The vanilla we know of today to explore. Windt’s
was domesticated from one particular work, and that of
vanilla orchid species in Central America. others, has looked at
It was known to the Aztecs of Mexico and brain-wave activity,
brought back to Europe by the Spanish as well as subjective
after A.D. 1520. reports of experiences
FROM TOP: NASA; GUY WILKINSON
However, there are 100-plus species of during mind-wandering and daydreaming, and found that they are remarkably
vanilla orchid. The study’s authors propose similar to what we have when sleeping. Windt put it this way in our conversation:
that the earlier vanilla remnants found “Dreaming is just part of a bigger class of spontaneous experiences that we also
in jugs of present-day Israel came from a have in waking, but it’s not sharply distinguished from them.” One paper of
vanilla orchid species endemic to tropical hers published in 2021 even suggested that — pending further research on these
regions of the so-called “Old World” — a emerging ideas — “the alleged rift between sleeping and waking might virtually
kind not widely exploited today. disappear.”
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HOT SCIENCE
TH E L ATE ST N E WS AN D N OT E S
FUZZY BLACK HOLES • CHATTERBOX PLANTS • THE CATS AUTHORING RESEARCH PAPERS
WHEN YOUR TASTE BUDS GROW UP • WHY MINDS WANDER • PROFILE OF A GREEN CHEMIST
TRASHY TIDES
T
ethered to self-made floats in 2019. Sampling the surface of ocean currents. Reporting their
of trapped air and mucus, the patch — which forms where results in PLOS Biology in 2023,
Janthina sea snails follow the many ocean currents meet in the researchers say the currents
flow of the ocean — all the way to the North Pacific — the team create a space for floating
a swirling muddle twice the size of found a surprising concentration organisms to mate and share
Texas, spotted with plastic debris. of drifting creatures, including meals, not apart from the trash
That’s where researchers found the jellyfish-esque tentacled blue but alongside it. — SAM WALTERS;
them when they sailed more than button and by-the-wind sailors, IMAGE BY DENIS RIEK/THE GLOBAL
300 nautical miles to arrive at oval-shaped organisms with OCEAN SURFACE ECOSYSTEM
the Great Pacific Garbage Patch distinctive sails for gliding along ALLIANCE
HOT SCIENCE
SOME PHYSICISTS
THINK THAT WE
NEED TO SERIOUSLY
UPDATE HOW WE
THINK OF BLACK
HOLES. A THEORY
THAT SUGGESTS
THEY MAY ACTUALLY
RESEMBLE GIANT
“FUZZBALLS” WOULD
DO JUST THAT.
Solving the Black Hole Paradox

IN THE 1970S, Stephen Hawking discovered something impossibly gobbles up everything that encounters
wrong with black holes: It was mathematically possible for them to it, and even light. From far away, a black
shrink or even disappear. If a black hole disappeared, that would mean hole behaves like any other object with a
that everything it had sucked in disappeared too. And in physics, stuff lot of gravity, like a star. But if you were
isn’t supposed to just disappear — it can change its form, but its component sub- to drift too close to a black hole, you’d
atomic information still needs to exist in the universe. reach a point of no return called the
event horizon, “the distance from the
In other words, black holes, by the fuzzballs that might resolve it — black hole where even if you’re moving
their sheer existence, are capable of hinges upon the structure and behavior at the speed of light, you still can’t escape
destroying information about sub- of black holes themselves. Black holes it,” explains Lisa Medeiros, a National
atomic particles that (according to owe their existence to the attractive Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow
quantum physics) shouldn’t be able force of gravity. “If you have a lot of at the Institute for Advanced Study.
to be destroyed. This problem, called mass somewhere, then everything in And beyond that event horizon,
the black hole information paradox, that mass attracts everything else,” says the traditional thinking goes, there’s a
has plagued physics for decades. But Mathur, a professor at Ohio State who whole bunch of empty space, with all the
theoretical physicist Samir Mathur has specializes in black hole physics. “If it’s stuff that the black hole has consumed
ELENA11/SHUTTERSTOCK
proposed a solution: changing the way a star, every point in the star attracts squeezed into one tiny point in the
we think of black holes and picturing every other point in the star. So it tries middle. We call that point of compres-
them instead as “fuzzballs.” to shrink.” sion the singularity.
That shrinking results in a black hole: Two problems arise from this
THE INFORMATION paradox — and a super-dense region of space-time that traditional model of a black hole, says
region as a messy ball of strings. By
getting rid of the event horizon, a stray
Therein lies the paradox: particle or antiparticle falling into a
Given enough time, black hole doesn’t result in information
this very slow process destruction; rather, that new informa-
tion simply gets added to the fuzzball.
could ultimately lead
You still get your ever-hungry black
to an entire black hole hole, but you don’t need to worry about
disappearing. it shrinking and taking information
along with it.
“A fuzzball is so insanely dense
that you drop something into it, and
it stays in there, but it takes an insane
would interact with the event horizon amount of time for the thing to come
and then go spinning back off into out again,” says Nicholas Warner, a
space, without picking up any of the physicist at the University of Southern
information inside the black hole to take California. In that sense, a fuzzball
with it. Its antiparticle twin, though, mimics the traditional model of a black
could get sucked into the black hole. hole. However, Warner says, a fuzzball
Once inside the black hole, that lone actually behaves more like a very dense
antiparticle could meet a single particle, star, such as a white dwarf, than like the
resulting in the two, in Pacucci’s words, traditional model of a black hole. That’s
“annihilating each other.” because we can still retrieve information
A BLACK HOLE’S “It seems to an external observer that from inside a white dwarf.
gravitational
pull is so strong the black hole is actually losing mass, “There’s no information problem with
that nothing can one particle at a time,” says Pacucci. That a white dwarf,” says Warner. “Whereas a
escape it, not would result in the black hole losing a black hole, once it falls past the horizon
even light.
tiny bit of the information associated you can never see anything inside. A
with that particle, and information fuzzball is just an incredibly exotic state
is supposed to always be conserved. of matter.”
Fabio Pacucci, an astrophysicist at Therein lies the paradox: Given enough
Harvard University. One is that the idea time, this very slow process could SOME PHYSICISTS have embraced
of a singularity — a point of infinite ultimately lead to an entire black hole fuzzballs instead of the traditional picture
density and infinite gravity — doesn’t disappearing. of black holes; Warner’s been using them
play well with the natural world. “You in his work for 20 years. But the fuzzball
will never find a tree that is infinitely LIKE MANY physicists, Mathur had theory isn’t the only possible solution to
tall, or a planet that is infinitely massive,” been puzzling over the paradoxes of the information paradox. Other scientists
says Pacucci. While it’s possible that black holes for many years, and just have proposed that the answer might
black holes are the one thing in nature couldn’t figure it out. But then he and lie in islands, firewalls, holograms, or
with infinite properties, it makes sense his colleagues turned to string theory, wormholes. All of these theories try to
to be skeptical. which holds that everything in the account for the “missing” or destroyed
So the singularity is a problem. universe is made up of tiny, vibrating information Hawking noticed.
And, as it turns out, so is some of the strings. They mathematically modeled Madeiros says she isn’t married to any
behavior we see around a black hole’s what a black hole made up of strings one theory, either. Still, she notes that
event horizon. Stephen Hawking and his would look like. “We found it was not scientists are at the beginning of a new
colleagues showed that black holes radi- looking like the traditional picture at era of black hole astrophysics.
ate energy. That in and of itself isn’t an all,” says Mathur. “Instead of shrinking Meanwhile, Mathur’s work doesn’t
issue, but it carries a lot of mathematical to a point and leaving all the empty stop at fuzzballs. He’s now applying his
baggage. The process, called Hawking space around it, it actually fluffed up.” findings to the rest of the universe, since
radiation, involves a paired particle The fuzzball theory does away with its expansion is almost a mirror image of
and antiparticle popping up next to the the concept of the event horizon and a black hole contracting. “[To] under-
event horizon of a black hole. the singularity. Instead, it allows the stand the sky, you have to understand
It’s possible that one of them (let’s information consumed by the black the magic of black holes first,” he adds.
say the particle, but it works both ways) hole to be distributed throughout the — KATE GOLEMBIEWSKI
N OV/ D E C 2 02 3 . D IS C OV ER 13
HOT SCIENCE
In a study published in the

journal Cell this March,
Hadany’s team put tomato
and tobacco plants in an
acoustically isolated box and
then recorded any ultrasonic
sounds produced between
20 and 150 kilohertz. They
experimented with cutting
stems or leaving them
without water to simulate
drought.
SAGEBRUSH PLANTS (left) send out airborne chemicals when threatened. Meanwhile, tobacco plants The researchers found
(right) emit popping and clicking sounds in response to environmental stressors, like being cut or
starved of water.
that the plants emitted
popping and clicking sounds
at around 60 decibels in
Is Plant Communication Real? response, approximately as
loud as human chatter. These
NEW RESEARCH IS UPENDING BELIEFS ABOUT HOW PLANTS TALK WITH sounds were at an ultrasonic
OTHER LIVING THINGS — AND EACH OTHER. frequency that humans can-
not naturally hear, however.
IF YOU’VE ever caught a delicious whiff of the University of California, Hadany’s team even used
freshly cut grass, you’ve communicated with a Davis. “And they respond to artificial intelligence to
plant: Those blades of grass are actually crying for reliable information.” match different sounds to
help by warning of potential danger. A growing When a plant sends
body of research shows that when plants are damaged, they out airborne chemicals in
emit airborne chemicals. response to a perceived
threat, other sensitive leaves
Scientists have long plant communication is a on that same plant — as
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: JULIA SENKEVICH/SHUTTERSTOCK; VASILIY KOVAL/SHUTTERSTOCK; EUGENEGURKOV/SHUTTERSTOCK

pondered the question of perplexing topic. What we well as the leaves of their
whether — and how — do know is that plants have neighbors — perceive those
plants communicate. For a wide range of mechanisms signals and subsequently
years, the topic sparked for communicating with increase their own defenses.
controversy. Pseudoscientific each other and their Karban’s research, for
books like 1973’s The Secret surroundings.“It’s quite instance, shows that sage-
Life of Plants seemingly clear that plants are not brush plants sound the
undermined the credibility just unresponsive victims alarm when they’re attacked
of early research in the field of their herbivores, but by pests, so that other sage-
by suggesting that plants that they are very aware of brush plants respond by the plants’ environment.
thrive if you, say, sing or play all kinds of things in their growing faster and stronger. And each type of stress could
classical music. Such state- environment,” says Richard Even other species, like be matched with a specific,
ments were later debunked: Karban, an entomologist at tobacco, can sense and react identifiable sound. How
Any empirical evidence that to the alarm. the sound is produced and
music helps plants grow is whether it has any use is
flimsy at best. OTHER RESEARCHERS still unknown.
Still, researchers remain Plants have a are tackling the topic from “We don’t know if they’re
adamant that there is some wide range of different angles. Lilach using the sound, or if the
sort of communication going mechanisms for Hadany, a professor at Tel sounds are emitted in a
on between plants — and communicating Aviv University’s School completely passive way due
between plants and animals. with each of Plant Sciences and to physiological changes,”
other and their Food Security, wanted to Hadany says. “But we do
PERHAPS BECAUSE better understand whether know they are in the air, and
surroundings.
scientists are still learn- plants use sound as well as they contain information.”
ing about the process, chemicals to communicate. — SOFIA QUAGLIA
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HOT SCIENCE
SCIENTISTS ARE increasingly citing AI tools like ChatGPT as co-authors in their research, reigniting a long-standing ethical dilemma
about honorary authorship.
From Cats to Chatbots: Non-Humans Are

Authoring Scientific Papers
RESEARCHERS HAVE LONG PRACTICED HONORARY AUTHORSHIP, BUT THE RISE OF ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE IS MAKING IT EVEN EASIER.
THOUGH PROVING a scientific paper is called honorary Unfortunately, a colleague pointed

to be a daydream tool for authorship, and it’s caused some serious out a problem: Hetherington had
many industries, ChatGPT ethical issues in the past. One of the referred to himself as “we” in the paper,
is quickly becoming a earliest of these issues occurred in the yet he was the only author, which could
nightmare for academia. mid-1970s and involved, surprisingly, cause the paper to be rejected. So,
As of January 2023, four separate a cat. instead of retyping the whole paper,
research papers have cited the AI In 1975, Jack Hetherington, a Hetherington simply added the name
RALF HAHN/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES
chatbot as a co-author in a research University of Michigan physics of his cat, a Siamese called Chester, as a
project — forcing scientific journals to professor, had just finished writing an co-author.
scramble to update their policies and influential paper on changing particle In an anthology book by author R.L.
regulations addressing possible ethical behaviors at different temperatures. The Weber, Hetherington explains that he
problems. paper was due to be published in Physics created Chester’s pseudonym, F.D.C.
The process of adding an author Review Letters, and the deadline was Willard, by adding Felix domesticus (the
who made little to no contribution to looming. Latin name for domestic cats) in front of
Chester’s first initial. Then Hetherington of scientific misconduct reported is
slapped Chester’s father’s name, Willard, honorary authorship. “It could be some
on as a surname. kind of bribe,” Paruzel-Czachura says,
Chester’s story is just
“I did not ignore the publicity value,” offering a few possible reasons for the
Hetherington admits in the book. “If it one of a handful in which prevalence of the practice. “It could
eventually proved to be correct, people scientists have added help a researcher get a better job, or
would remember the paper more if the a pet or animal test funding for a conference. It could even
anomalous authorship were known.” subject as a co-author. be a partnership, where both researchers
Hetherington’s theory turned out agree to add each other as honorary
to be correct: Not only did the paper authors.”
become widely cited, but eventually This, however, causes problems
the world found out about Chester’s with authorship inflation, in which an
authorship — arousing even more author’s number of citations is higher
publicity. While the University of appointed. Matzinger also became the than it should be because they seem to
Michigan leveraged this attention, subject of an internal investigation at have “published” more papers.
even offering Chester a faculty position the University of California, San Diego, Now, thanks to the rise of artificial
as a Distinguished Visiting Fellow, as a result. Luckily, she was able to show intelligence and all that comes with it
others were not as thrilled. The editors that her dog had indeed contributed to (we’re looking at you, ChatGPT), it’s
at Physics Review Letters, for one, felt her research and that no fraud had been even easier for researchers to practice
misled and silly for publishing a paper committed. honorary co-authorship. Because of this,
co-authored by a cat. Regardless of whether these animal most scholarly journals are finding it
The ethical controversy was mostly “collaborators” are test subjects or simply more difficult to regulate AI co-authors.
overlooked at the time, however, and pets, Hansrudi Lenz of the University “We’re trying to take the most
Chester went on to co-author two of Würzburg in Germany argues this cautious approach that we can,” says
more papers and one solo paper before practice is unethical. “Logically, a pet H. Holden Thorp, the editor-in-chief
passing away in 1982 at the age of 14. or deceased relative cannot make a of Science. “We’ll start with something
To honor Chester’s legacy, on April 1, genuine and identifiable contribution more restrictive and then loosen it up
2014, the American Physical Society to a scientific publication,” he says. over time.”
announced an open-access initiative The whimsy of these stories can
for all cat-authored papers. easily obstruct the ethical dilemmas IN A JANUARY 2023 Science edito-
they cause. Yet the process of honor- rial, Thorp cites a couple of these policy
CHESTER’S STORY is just one of a ary authorship — even beyond pets changes — including a complete ban on
handful in which scientists have added a — continues, thanks to the pressure the use of any part of the text, images,
pet or animal test subject as a co-author. scientists feel to continually publish. figures or graphics made by ChatGPT or
Nobel-Prize-winning physicist Andre In a 2020 study, psychologist Mariola other AI tools. Thorp, like others, hopes
Geim co-authored a paper with an Paruzel-Czachura of the University of that the National Academy of Sciences
author suspiciously named “H.A.M.S. Silesia in Poland and her colleagues will address this issue soon, in order to
ter Trisha.” While the paper did not found that the most common form set the precedent of dealing with an AI
disclose Trisha’s contributions, honorary author.
Geim still was able to add the One possible path forward
pet hamster as an honorary may come from a paper
author. published in 2017 by researchers
Others have not been as from the University of Cologne
lucky. Immunologist Polly in Germany. The authors
Matzinger published a paper write: “The appropriate way of
with her dog, Galadriel considering [others’] factual
Mirkwood, as an honorary role in scientific publications
author in the Journal of should generally be in the
CHROMATOS/SHUTTERSTOCK
Experimental Immunology Acknowledgements section.”

in 1978. Upon finding out The researchers then went
the truth, the journal’s editor on to thank their goldfish,
banned Matzinger from the Einstein and Heisenberg, in
publication until that edi- this very section. — KENNA
tor died and a new one was HUGHES-CASTLEBERRY
N OV/ D E C 2 02 3 . D IS C OVER 17
HOT SCIENCE
Why Our Sense

of Taste Changes
As We Get Older
WE CRAVE SALTY OR SWEET AS CHILDREN, BUT OUR SENSE OF TASTE BECOMES MORE COMPLEX
OVER TIME. HERE’S THE SCIENCE BEHIND OUR EVER-EVOLVING TASTE BUDS.
MAYBE YOU became a brussels sprouts convert in your late teens. Or sour, salty, bitter and the more recently
perhaps you were addicted to sweet stuff as a kid, only to grow out of discovered umami.
it later. It might have taken until adulthood for you to start craving bitter In fact, a penchant for sweet and
foods and drinks like sautéed kale or a martini with olives. salty foods when we’re children may
be hard-wired into our basic biology.
Sure, it’s a given that we like different to have a bigger and more long-lasting From an evolutionary perspective,
foods at different points in our lives — impact.” says Mennella, sweetness is nature’s
FROM TOP: 4 PM PRODUCTION/SHUTTERSTOCK; DMITY TRUSH/SHUTTERSTOCK

and a glut of research backs that up, too. shorthand for high-energy foods, while
But what’s perhaps less understood is IT’S NOT JUST our salty flavors signal the
why our tastes change as we get older. taste buds that tell presence of a much-needed
“These senses [of taste and smell] us whether we like a mineral. That’s because until
change during development, but the particular food. When relatively recently in human
brain is also plastic, and it learns; we we sink our teeth into, say, history, children needed every
perceive these flavors with our brain,” a crisp apple, our brains must scrap of energy they could find
says Julie Mennella, a biopsychologist then process a dizzying array of to survive until adulthood. As a
at the Monell Chemical Senses Center sensory and neurochemical signals result, their palates evolved towards
in Philadelphia. “One of the biggest to help us decide whether we want energy-rich foods.
times these senses change is during to take another bite. Our taste buds, “Given their choice, they’d probably
childhood. The research is showing found on the tongue, roof of the eat a lot more sweets, because it’s
that [children] really live in different mouth, esophagus and at the back just the biology of it all,” says
sensory worlds, and that sensory of the throat, respond to five Mennella. “They’re really seek-
experiences during childhood seem fundamental stimuli — sweet, ing out that energy source.”
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AS WE MARCH through childhood particular odor or flavor. “It’s not like
and adolescence, our senses lose that all of the odors are decreasing,” she
ultra-sensitivity to certain flavors. As says. “It could be one; maybe you’re not
our bitter sensitivity — and preference as sensitive to rose, but just as sensitive INCREASE AFFECTION
for sweet and salty — diminishes, we to the [aromas] of garlic.”
Created by
become bolder and less picky, broaden- Winnifred Cutler,
ing our tastes through exposure and OF COURSE, aging isn’t the only Ph.D. in biology from
experience. It’s during this period that thing that can dull our sense of taste. U. of Penn, post-doc
Stanford. Co-
we might find we actually like once- Some medications, including those discovered human
despised foods like beets and broccoli. used to treat high blood pressure, can pheromones in 1986
Another shift happens when we alter how your taste buds perceive (Time 12/1/86; and
Newsweek 1/12/87)
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HOT SCIENCE
According to his 2022 study

published in Intelligence, “the
paleoneurological record
THE HUMAN suggests that the parietal
TENDENCY TO cortex experienced a relative
BROOD MAY enlargement in Neanderthals
HAVE ONCE and, most prominently, in
modern humans.”
BEEN THE KEY TO
As a result, humans
OUR SURVIVAL. evolved with outstanding
LEARN THE visual imaging within the
EVOLUTION AND brain’s parietal lobes, along
PSYCHOLOGY OF with past and future projec-
THE WANDERING tions. “This is a wonderful
superpower for evolution,
MIND.
enhancing evolutionary
fitness, but it was a dramatic
drawback for individuals
[because it can cause]
ruminations, fears, worries
and anxiety,” says Bruner.
TODAY, THIS ability to sur-

vive is also the seat of a lot of
human suffering. According
to Bruner, in psychology, this
is called “negativity bias”—
A WANDERING MIND or our hardwired instinct to
think negatively about the
IS PART OF OUR EVOLUTION future to preempt any threats
to our survival and our ability
MINDFULNESS on external sensory events OUR EVOLUTION is to reproduce. “In that sense,
is such a buzz- happening in the moment is largely about the complex we are […] intelligent but
word. We all of great importance during social creatures that we have sad primates,” says Bruner.
want it, but our fight or flight moments,” says become. Survival once hinged “Evolution did its job, and
ability to attain it is fleeting. Graziano. on our ability to work in happiness is not among its
We fear life is passing us by, But the other side of it is teams and understand social priorities.”
and as the world moves faster also important: When our dynamics. Often, when our Bruner says that because
and faster, living in the pres- mind wanders, that, too, is minds wander, we’re think- mind wandering was
ent moment seems even more essential to our survival, says ing about past and future important to our evolutionary
difficult. But while mindful- Graziano. Most of our time social interactions and how survival, humans today need
ness may be touted as a key to is spent in between moments to conduct them. And this to control for the damage it
happiness, mind-wandering of fight or flight, and humans mechanism isn’t by chance. can do to our lives. Regular
is the key to our survival as a have long used that time to “We’re thinking about how to meditation, for example, is
species. digest information. interact better with the people a tool that has been proven
According to Michael “It’s partly about remem- we know,” says Graziano. by research to increase time
Graziano, a professor of psy- bering how to survive the Emiliano Bruner, a spent in the present moment
JORM SANGSORN/SHUTTERSTOCK
chology and neuroscience at saber tooth tiger, but it might paleoneurobiologist at the and limit the rumination that
Princeton University, humans also be about social interac- National Research Center brings mental anguish. “We
evolved to prioritize attention tions,” says Graziano. “There’s for Human Evolution in have to train our attentional
— a crucially important pro- a lot of benefit to rumination Burgos, Spain, notes that this system to improve an
cess in the brain that has taken so long as you’re not doing it dichotomy between the past, evolutionary condition that
millions of years to perfect. the moment that a tiger is present and future takes place is definitely mindless,” adds
“Having your attention nailed attacking you.” in the brain’s parietal cortex. Bruner. — SARA NOVAK
Paul Anastas,
the Father of
Green Chemistry
THE PIONEERING SCIENTIST
IS REDESIGNING CHEMICAL
PROCESSES FOR HEALTH
AND SUSTAINABILITY.
CHEMICALS CAN conjure images of doom to head research and development.

and gloom. But Paul Anastas, a green chemist During his time in government, he
and professor at Yale University, is transforming led the scientific response to the BP
chemistry’s image to one of health and sustainability. oil spill, to the nuclear meltdown in
“Chemistry is all about how you redesign the material basis Fukushima and to 9/11. But he says his
of our society and our economy,” Anastas says. “Nobody greatest contribution was launching
has a greater impact on the materials of our daily lives.” green chemistry.
Experts have excelled in inventing subsequent decades, even earning three THE FUTURE OF green chemistry
new chemical processes, but Anastas chemists a Nobel Prize in chemistry in is all about awareness, and Anastas
had long worried that they were pump- 2005. Innovations include methods of wastes no time building that future.
ing out too much hazardous waste. In decaffeinating coffee without the use of For example, he advises Air Company,
1991, Anastas was working with the harsh chemicals, and packing peanuts a business that specializes in convert-
Environmental Protection Agency made from renewable plant starch. ing CO2 into ethanol. The company
(EPA) when he launched a research “I work with more than half of the recently developed the world’s first
program to promote clean and green Fortune 100 companies, and I can tell carbon-negative vodka. Anastas
chemical processes. In that moment, you that green chemistry is touching acknowledges that all the vodka in
green chemistry was born — and every sector,” Anastas says. the world couldn’t address climate
chemistry’s clean revolution began. Fittingly, the color green doesn’t just change, but that was never the point.
symbolize sustainability; it’s also the “The purpose was to capture people’s
AT THE TIME, Anastas says, he color of U.S. money. “This is how you imagination. And if they recognize
recognized that chemistry involved align health and environmental goals that if you can turn CO2 into a luxury
too much pollution, and too many with your profitability goals. Why? vodka, then it’s easy for them to under-
FROM TOP: ADOBE STOCK; PAUL ANASTAS; MAXAL TAMOR/SHUTTERSTOCK
toxic substances. “Green chemistry Because that’s going to make it happen stand how to convert it to sustainable
is about inventing new materials and faster and at a scale that’s necessary to aviation fuel and a wide range of other
new manufacturing processes that are address our problems,” he says. materials,” says Anastas.
conducive to life,” he continues. “It Along with advising the private sec- “When people hear the word
cuts across the entire life cycle from tor, Anastas brought his science exper- chemical, they think toxic, harmful, and
the origins of the feedstock all the tise to the U.S. government. After scary, rather than the things that are
way through a manufacturer and the 10 years at the EPA, he moved the solutions,” he adds. “The
use of the substance.” In short, green to the White House status quo is somewhere
chemistry is the philosophy of design- Office of Science and between absurdity or
ing chemicals, products and processes Technology Policy, obscenity, and green
to make them less hazardous and more where he worked for chemistry is all about
sustainable — all firmly rooted in five years. He rejoined reinventing what
research. the EPA under the tomorrow will look
The field burgeoned in the Obama administration like.” — JASON P. DINH
N OV/ D E C 2 02 3 . D IS C OV ER 21
VITAL SIGNS
BY DOUGLAS G. ADLER
One concerned-looking young man,

who said he was Chad’s roommate, told
me about Chad’s sudden behavioral
changes: “He used to be a straight-A
student, but now he mostly skips class.”
His roommate described how Chad had
started sitting still for long stretches of
time without moving, while at other
times he appeared to have boundless
energy, staying up all night reading
voraciously or listening to music —
and then going out for a long run as
soon as the sun came up.
Meanwhile, a tearful young woman
in the group said that, until just a
few weeks ago, she had been Chad’s
girlfriend. “He and I used to be so close,
almost inseparable,” she said, “but a few
weeks ago he started to become very
irritable when I was around him, as if
everything I said bothered him.” She
described how Chad abruptly became
distant and appeared to lose all interest
in dating her — or anyone else, for
that matter. “We ended up breaking up
because of it. I was devastated,” she said.
The emergency physician had already
ordered some routine bloodwork by
the time I arrived on the scene. Chad
A Penny for wanted to leave as soon as possible,
Your Thoughts but I convinced him to stay until his

tests came back. His physical exam was
THIS 20-YEAR-OLD COLLEGE STUDENT DIDN’T EVEN unremarkable; he looked like a healthy
WANT TO COME TO THE HOSPITAL. BUT WHEN HIS young man. What’s more, his bloodwork
FRIENDS CONVINCED HIM TO GO TO THE EMERGENCY showed that he was not under the influ-
ROOM, HIS ERRATIC BEHAVIOR WAS ONLY THE FIRST ence of any drugs or alcohol. Indeed,
SIGN THAT SOMETHING WAS AMISS. most of his lab results were entirely
normal except for his liver function tests
I
walked briskly to the emergency department to see a new (LFTs), which were all slightly elevated.
consult, wolfing down a protein bar on the way. When I The ability to accurately analyze LFTs
got there, I saw the patient in question calmly sitting up is a skill that most physicians acquire
on a stretcher, surrounded by a group of trendy-looking slowly, over years of practice. There are
young adults. The patient, Chad, was a 20-year-old man many different patterns of injury that
who had been brought to our hospital by some of his college His roommate this handful of blood test results can
classmates. Chad was dressed casually in jeans and a T-shirt, described indicate. Is the source of the abnormal
and he obviously needed a shave and a shower. His hair stuck how Chad had blood test the liver, the gallbladder
out at odd angles, clearly not having been combed for some started sitting (which sits underneath the liver), or
time. He presented a stark contrast to his well-dressed and the bile ducts? The pattern of LFTs can
still for long
groomed friends. tell you all of these things.
stretches of
KELLIE JAEGER/DISCOVER
Chad himself did not have what physicians call a “chief The tests themselves measure whether
complaint,” or a specific reason for coming to the doctor. time without certain types of liver cells are breaking
Rather, his friends convinced him to come with them to the moving. open and leaking their contents into the
ED because they were worried about his recent odd behavior. bloodstream, as well as the extent that
Chad, however, insisted to me that he felt fine. the liver is failing to metabolize toxins
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VITAL SIGNS
in the body. These markers can inform physicians That’s when I development of healthy nerves, bones, collagen and
whether the liver is inflamed, infected, harboring noticed Chad the skin pigment melanin. Copper also regulates
a tumor or on the edge of organ failure. LFTs can had a ring of the enzymes that oversee iron transport within the
also often distinguish between a healthy liver and bloodstream, as well as those that create healthy
dark, golden-
a diseased one in a patient with cirrhosis, or if connective tissues.
someone is suffering from inadequate blood flow, brown coloring Many foods naturally contain copper. Normally,
among other maladies. around the our bodies closely control the amount in blood and
Strangely, Chad’s LFTs did not fit any of the corneas in organs by using specialized proteins and enzymes
typical patterns we see in most patients with liver both eyes. to excrete excess copper into our bile, where it can
disease; he was not jaundiced, didn’t appear to have be passed into the bowels and removed. Patients
an infection and didn’t show obvious signs of cir- with Wilson’s disease, however, have an abnormal
rhosis. Something stirred in my memory when I saw gene that results in poor copper excretion. As a
his results, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. result, they accumulate copper in their bodies until
levels eventually reach concentrations that are toxic.
AFTER GETTING the blood test results back, This accumulation builds up within the eyes, where
the ED physician told me he was going to let Chad copper deposits like those Chad clearly had —
be discharged. He could not think of a reason to known as Kayser-Fleisher rings — can be found.
keep him in the hospital. “People are allowed to Although too much copper in the body can
be strange,” he told me. I went back into Chad’s impact many organs, the two most commonly
room to meet with him again. He was bent over affected are the liver and the brain. Chad’s abnormal
and putting his shoes on, but as I started to speak, LFTs and odd behavior suddenly all made perfect
he looked up. I caught a view of his eyes that I had sense. Metals or other substances that build up in
not had previously, since he had been sitting up and the body often lead to abnormal behaviors such
looking towards the floor. That’s when I noticed as mood swings, variable energy levels or confu-
Chad had a ring of dark, golden-brown coloring sion; copper is no exception. In medical school, I
around the corneas in both eyes. often heard that if a young person develops new
KELLIE JAEGER/DISCOVER
Instantly, it hit me — Chad had Wilson’s disease. psychiatric issues out of the blue, copper overload
Wilson’s disease is a rare, inherited disorder that may be responsible. That’s because Wilson’s disease
causes excess copper to build up in vital organs. often manifests in this age group. These so-called
Copper plays an important role in the function of neuropsychiatric symptoms can even emerge before
many enzymes throughout the body, fostering the any signs of liver failure. Interestingly, the actual
mechanisms by which excess copper causes these If untreated, During a follow-up visit a month later, blood
problems remains unknown. Wilson’s tests showed that Chad’s copper levels had started
Once we had a diagnosis, things started to move disease is often to normalize. Chad was clearly embarrassed about
quickly. I admitted Chad to the hospital for tests how unusually he had been acting; he said that
to further confirm the diagnosis and evaluate
fatal. With it was difficult to think about all that he had said
the severity of his disease. Further blood tests appropriate and done in the weeks leading up to his diagnosis.
confirmed that he did, in fact, have Wilson’s disease. treatment, His then-former (and now-current) girlfriend
Meanwhile, a formal eye exam by an ophthalmolo- however, life accompanied him and told me that he was behav-
gist proved that he had copper deposits in his eyes. expectancy ing more like his old self. She was keeping a close
A liver biopsy also showed significant accumulation is normal. eye on him to make sure that he was compliant
of copper in that organ, as well. with his new diet and medication regimen. After
everything, he had taken a semester off from
WILSON’S DISEASE is quite rare, estimated school to recover.
to occur in 1 in 30,000 to 40,000 individuals. Chad would need to watch his diet and would
Some patients with Wilson’s disease present with likely stay on copper-lowering medications for life.
full-blown liver failure and require a transplant. Still, I was glad we were able to make the correct
If untreated, the disease is often fatal. With diagnosis before things got to the point where he
appropriate diagnosis and treatment, however, needed an emergency liver transplant — and Chad
life expectancy is normal. was grateful to start feeling like himself again. D
Fortunately, Chad’s case had not progressed that
far. We had a dietician educate him on how to avoid Douglas G. Adler is a gastroenterologist and director of the
copper-rich foods, including nuts, certain meats, Center for Advanced Therapeutic Endoscopy in Denver.
and shellfish, among others. Chad was also started The cases described in Vital Signs are real, but names and
on a drug to actively remove copper from his body. certain details have been changed.
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PLANET EARTH
BY RINA DIANE CABALLAR
Izatha psychra
Pukaki to the east raged across more

than 7,600 acres of forest and scrub —
including most of the Pukaki Scientific
Reserve, damaging its threatened and
declining vegetation.
Actual size
“The reserve was made naked by
5 millimeters the fire,” says Eric Edwards, a science
0.2 inch
advisor at New Zealand’s Department
of Conservation. “Before the fire, you
wouldn’t notice much of the rock
because the shrubs were fully leafed.
IZATHA PSYCHRA Then the fire came through and burned
is one of around
2,000 species
the small twigs and leaves away.”
Moth to a Flame of moths and
butterflies in
I. psychra’s sparse population depends
on the reserve’s old-growth shrubland
New Zealand, for food and shelter. And despite their
YEARS AFTER A MASSIVE WILDFIRE DESTROYED ITS more than
HOME, THE FATE OF A CRITICALLY ENDANGERED 90 percent of limited numbers, the moths play a vital
MOTH MAY STILL BE IN JEOPARDY. which are found role within the ecosystem. The genus
nowhere else in is known to feed on deadwood, dead
the world.
R
obert Hoare first spotted the elusive Izatha psychra, an leaves, leaf litter or lichens, according to
endangered moth in New Zealand, on a warm night in Hoare. Though there is no real nutrition
2005. At the center of the country’s South in this detritus, the moths
Island, amid the fenced flats and sloping digest largely fungal content
hills of the Pukaki Scientific Reserve, the entomolo- and release nutrients
gist erected a generator-powered light trap. Then, from that back into the
an hour before midnight — just as the generator’s ecosystem. CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: ROEN KELLY/DISCOVER; ERIC EDWARDS (2)
fuel threatened to peter out and plunge everything When the blaze
into darkness — he glimpsed fluttering wings and destroyed most of this
a flash of gray. habitat, it immediately
Hoare is one of only a handful of people who can shrunk the chances of
claim to have encountered the moth, as fewer than survival for the already-
a dozen have ever been seen. All of these sightings struggling species.
occurred either in the dry shrublands and scrub
of the Mackenzie District that encompasses the I. PSYCHRA’S discovery
79-acre reserve, or in the neighboring district of dates to the late-19th cen-
Central Otago roughly 140 miles south. tury, when the naturalist
However, the quest for I. psychra now covers John Davies Enys collected
a much smaller expanse. In August 2020, a fire the first known specimen,
that began near the turquoise waters of Lake now residing in London’s
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PLANET EARTH
Natural History Museum. He encountered it near The future of light. “It’s like going for a picnic,” Edwards explains.
Porters Pass, in the mountains some 186 miles the species is The team spread a white sheet on the ground,
northeast of the Pukaki Scientific Reserve. Since placed a light source in the center, then waited for
then, sightings have been extremely rare, and
ultimately tied the guests to arrive. “The moths will settle around
researchers have yet to produce even a rough to the region’s the light, and you can look at them and think about
estimate of the moth’s overall numbers. Hoare, recovery, still what species they might be,” he says.
currently a senior researcher at New Zealand’s in its early Under the cover of darkness, half a dozen or so
Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research, has seen stages. were drawn to the light at a time, an amalgamation
three, all males. “Because the female moth has of species that landed and settled before taking
never been seen, we guess that it doesn’t fly very to the skies again. Then, Edwards saw something
much,” he says. resembling I. psychra — a glimmer of hope for the
species.
The Izatha genus are known as lichen tuft
moths. That’s because most of them have little
scale tufts on their wings, which are slightly
curved or curled. “It helps them look a bit more
like rough bark or lichen,” Hoare says. “[But]
Izatha psychra hardly has these. They’re small
and inconspicuous scale tufts.”
Edwards, still uncertain of what he had wit-
nessed, took photos of two male moths and sent
them to Hoare, who then examined their features.
From their pale-gray color and scale tufts to their
wing markings — the little black streak at the
base and the eye-shaped mark in the middle —
Hoare was elated to find that the moths perfectly
matched the I. psychra species. “Anytime you have
something that’s rediscovered or saved, that’s a
good story,” he says.
THE FUTURE of the species is ultimately tied

to the region’s recovery — still in its early stages.
UNBURNT “There’s a lot of still just blackened, burned sticks
Adding to this sense of mystery is the moth’s tiny LICHENS like and stumps, but some plants are starting to
size and nondescript appearance. Only around a these alerted regenerate,” says Dean Nelson, a senior ranger of
Eric Edwards
third of an inch long and three-quarters of an inch and colleagues biodiversity at the Department of Conservation
wide with outstretched wings, I. psychra’s pale-gray (below) to the who oversees the reserve. Indeed, signs of new
color allows it to blend in with the surrounding possibility that life abound: Sprouts spring up from the bottom
some moths had
scrub. Hoare, however, believes its enigmatic nature survived the of shrubs and tufts of tussock grass bounce back
has more to do with the reduction in its habitat. blaze. in open areas.
Those strongholds are facing the threat of destruc-
tion from weed invasion and a warmer, drier
climate that increases the risk of wildfires — such
as the 2020 Lake Pukaki fire.
Five months after that event, a team of ecolo-
gists including Edwards surveyed the reserve
FROM TOP: ERIC EDWARDS; SAMANTHA GALE
to search for the I. psychra moths. They turned

up a tiny, 1-acre pocket of dense shrubland that
proved impenetrable to the blaze; underneath
these thick shrubs was a small gully with undam-
aged deadwood, leaf litter and lichens in it. The
oasis was a likely site for moth survivors.
On a dry, windless day, the team returned to the
remnant of unburnt land and set up a trap using
Protecting the land from invasive shrubby lands of Mount Buster,
weeds and mammalian pests is some 112 miles south of the Pukaki
another important piece of the Scientific Reserve.
puzzle. Immediately after the fire, “As scarce and hard to find as it
Nelson and his team rebuilt the is, it has brought a fresh new look
damaged fence, with a double- at the landscape by those who
barbed wire on top. The hope is that care,” Edwards says of the species.
this will be enough to keep rabbits, This shift in perspective is what
pigs and wallabies out, all of which Māori, the Indigenous people of
chew on the reserve’s plant life and New Zealand, call kaitiakitanga,
slow vegetation recovery. or guardianship and protection of
Efforts are also underway to clear the environment. It stems from the
out the surrounding invasive pines, Māori worldview acknowledging
which cover nearly 4.5 million acres the intricate ties between humans
of New Zealand. “Wilding pines and the natural realm.
were part of the problem for the THIS EVERGREEN “It is invoking a form of steward-
fire because they burn very hot and exacerbate [it],” SHRUB (Corokia ship that communities of people in New Zealand
cotoneaster) is
Nelson says. “Fire in grassland can burn quickly, one of several are now tuning in to,” Edwards says. And when it
but it’s generally a lot less intense than fire that plant species comes to I. psychra, saving the moth’s habitat could
originates in pine forest.” in the Pukaki help bring the species back from the brink. D
Scientific
Nelson estimates it could take as many as 50 years Reserve that
ERIC EDWARDS
for the reserve to recover. But hope continues to have begun to Rina Diane Caballar is a New Zealand-based writer
burn bright for I. psychra, with two more sightings re-sprout. covering the intersections of science, technology, society
of the species in late 2022 — this time at the dry, and the environment.
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P41701
Wildland fire
investigators
sift through the
charred remains
of devastation
as they search
for evidence
with profound
consequences.
BY JOHN RIHA
ANSWERS
ASHES
IN THE
N OV/ D E C 2 02 3 3 . D IS C OV ER 31
om Kluge was at home Service had issued a Red Flag warning for strong winds and
getting ready for work low humidity. The fire had started in an area that Kluge knew
well; narrow river canyons there made the region prone to
when he got the call
PREVIOUS SPREAD: AUSTIN SULLIVAN/GETTY IMAGE NEWS. THIS PAGE: MATT DUTCHER/MOMENT VIA GETTY IMAGES
high-velocity winds channeled through the rocky corridor.
from an emergency “When I heard the location, my gut just sank,” says Kluge.
command center dispatch. It “I knew it was going to be a bad fire.” He was right: What
was Nov. 8, 2018, and a wildland followed was the deadliest and most destructive wildland fire
fire had been spotted northeast in modern California history.
of Pulga, a remote community That morning, Kluge was the closest wildland fire inves-
tucked away in the northern tigator to the newly reported blaze. He jumped into his Cal
Fire-marked Dodge pickup, and roared out. His fire-resistant
Sierra Nevada mountains about
Nomex clothes were already stashed in the truck — vital
35 miles from where Kluge protection he would soon need. As he drove toward the fire,
was stationed. lights flashing and siren wailing, the severity of the burn was
At the time a fire captain specialist and 16-year veteran of already apparent.
a division of the California Department of Forestry and Fire “I can see the column of smoke is ice-capping,” he says,
Protection known as Cal Fire, Kluge had multiple respon- “meaning it’s gone above the upper limits of the atmosphere
sibilities. He was a law enforcement officer for Cal Fire’s for the day and hitting freezing temperatures and turning
sprawling, 31-million-acre jurisdiction. He was weapons white, which is a very dangerous situation.”
certified and able to make arrests like any state trooper. He He would not know just how dangerous until later that day.
was also a qualified wildland fire investigator.
On the day of the call, Kluge’s situational awareness was WHEN A NEW FIRE breaks out, wildland fire inves-
on high alert. Another nearly rainless summer had left the tigators are among the first to arrive on the scene. Although
Sierra Nevada forests desert dry, and the National Weather their work may not be concluded for months or even years,
FROM A
Map
area SINGLE
Population areas C starting point,
A the Camp
Camp Fire LI
FO
R Fire would
N ultimately
IA
32 consume
Magalia more than
70 150,000 acres
and 18,000
Chico Paradise
structures —
half of them
99 homes. The fire
killed at least
191 85 people.
0 Km 5
Lake
0 Miles 5 Oroville
it’s crucial that they begin searching for the fire’s origins West Virginia Division of Forestry and a certified wildland
and causes before key evidence can be obscured by weather, fire investigator. “And that’s significant. It lays out systematic
wildlife, or firefighters moving through the area. methodology and science and if you follow it, it helps your
The stakes are high. Their investigations will try to investigation stand up in court.”
determine whether fires were caused by lightning strikes, Most agencies with wildland firefighting capabilities make
human negligence or something more sinister. The results of sure their personnel receive some basic investigation training.
their work will not only determine who (or what) is respon- If an engine crew is first to arrive, they’re encouraged to
sible, but may also lead to legal proceedings ranging from identify the location of the fire before it spreads, take photos
misdemeanor citations to indictments for arson, criminal or a video if possible, and get contact info from witnesses.
negligence and manslaughter. Financial judgments can reach That early intel helps qualified investigators zero in on the
into the millions and even billions of dollars. fire’s general origin area, or GOA.
Training and testing to become a certified wildland fire Gianni Muschetto, Cal Fire’s chief of law enforcement,
inspector — known in the acronym-prone firefighting notes that the agency has between 85 and 100 full-time law
FROM TOP: NASA/JOSHUA STEVENS.; ROEN KELLY/DISCOVER
community as INVF — requires advanced coursework in fire enforcement officers who are also certified wildland investiga-
behavior and forensic techniques. Although specific require- tors. But with thousands of wildland fires occurring every
ments vary from agency to agency, they invariably reflect year, it isn’t possible to have a certified investigator respond
the investigative procedures found in the Guide to Wildland to every fire location. “A lot of fires get investigated by those
Fire Origin and Cause Determination, a highly detailed, personnel on the fire engine,” says Muschetto. “That’s why
337-page publication of the National Wildfire Coordinating they get that initial training.”
Group. Created in 2016 with input from 22 state, federal and Securing the area and preserving evidence is a primary
international agencies, the peer-reviewed guide is considered objective — if not an outright obsession — of investigators.
the cornerstone of wildland fire investigations. Muschetto says the best way to preserve evidence is to treat
“It’s really the standard for what we do,” says John Bird, a all GOAs as crime scenes, keeping the area undisturbed and
special operations and enforcement unit investigator for the restricting unauthorized access until investigators know
CAL FIRE, local
police and other
for certain the cause of the fire and organizations,
whether criminal charges are war- share data
ranted. “If we don’t secure the scene to develop a
timeline for the
and take the evidence of a crime, or [if fire, which forced
we] mess that up, it could cause us to the evacuation
lose a case and impact a victim’s ability of several
towns, including
to recover costs later on,” he adds. Paradise (right).
TO A CASUAL observer, the blackened remains of a

wildfire appear as bleak, scorched landscapes, with denuded
trees standing over soot-covered soils. But investigators see
a tableau of clues: patterns that point toward a GOA.
On smaller burns of a half-acre or so, the GOA may be
quickly identified. On larger burns, the GOA may cover several
acres. In all instances, investigators begin their search by look-
ing for indicators — residue and charred remains that tell the
story of the fire’s passage. These can range in size from large
macroscale indicators, such as scorched trees, to microscale
indicators that may require a magnifying glass to identify.
Protection indicators are found at both macro- and
microscale levels and are considered primary clues: Objects
such as rocks, downed logs, and pinecones will show
charring on the surfaces exposed to the fire’s advance and counter to the overall direction of the wind — burns through
unburned surfaces on the protected sides. The charring the bottoms of grass stems, causing the upper stalk to fall and
indicates the direction of the GOA. Taken together, an array point in the direction of the GOA. A field of burned grasses
of protection indicators becomes a reliable map of the fire’s from a backing fire can be like hundreds of fingers leveling
movement. an accusation.
“It might be a gopher hole mound, or the stubs of small Indicators, however, aren’t slam-dunks. Uneven ter-
clumps of grass,” says Muschetto. “You might have to get rain or a change in wind speed and direction can create
down and dust off the ash to see what’s left to be able to contradictory signs. Investigators must continually assess
identify which direction the fire is moving.” scores of clues to ensure they’re moving toward the GOA
A phenomenon known as foliage freeze is both a macro- and, ultimately, the SOA, or specific origin area, a more
and microindicator. It occurs when smaller branches that precise determination of the fire’s beginning. Throughout
escape being burned are softened by intense heat. Prevailing the process, they take copious notes and document their
winds and drafts created by the fire bend those branches. findings with photographs — details necessary for writing
When they cool, the leaves and needles regain rigidity and unimpeachable reports that may be cited in a court of law.
remain “frozen” in position — signaling the direction of the As they begin to zero in, investigators must also slow
fire’s movement. down. It’s important not to work too quickly and risk over-
COURTESY NIST
Burnt grasses provide additional clues. An advancing fire looking vital clues. Shuffling around on hands and knees is
burns away stalks from the top down so only the base of the standard procedure as they establish search grids and comb
plant remains. However, a backing fire — one that moves through the ashes, hunting for something that may be no
bigger than a single paper match — burnt remains virtually As he followed the lumbering bulldozer into the canyon,
indistinguishable from acres of scorched surroundings. Kluge began to see macro fire patterns — char indicators
and foliage freeze. A quarter-mile later, indicators suggested
SCOTT STRAZZANTE/SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE/HEARST NEWSPAPERS VIA GETTY IMAGES
KLUGE HEADED UP narrow California Highway 70 he had entered the backing vector, or “heel,” of the fire.
toward Pulga as the smoke column loomed on the horizon. Somewhere nearby was the GOA.
Nearing the fire, he pulled into a temporary command post The canyon sides were steep and sandy; the sun was hot
that had been set up in the tiny village of Yankee Hill. There and the wind was bending the tall conifers. The roar of the
he learned that several nearby towns were already under growing burn was overlaid with the thrum of air tankers and
mandatory evacuation. The fire was beginning to rage. helicopters as firefighting response began to gear up.
Preliminary reports said that access to the probable origin Kluge radioed for additional investigators — it’s strict
area was blocked. Kluge put on his protective fire-resistant protocol that wildfire investigators do not work alone on
suit, got back in his truck and headed toward the burn. larger burns. The hazards are many: falling debris from fire-
When he turned onto the road that led into the canyon, weakened trees, smoldering remains suddenly bursting into
he saw the reports were right — falling rocks and burning fresh flames, poisonous snakes. A team watches each other’s
debris had blocked access. But he had a bit of luck — he’d backs, especially important in remote locations.
spotted a bulldozer sitting on a flatbed trailer on a Highway By midafternoon, two more Cal Fire investigators arrived,
70 turnout. The heavy equipment operator was responding and the team began the painstaking work of mapping the
to the fire alert but didn’t have a specific duty. Kluge gave him area, planting small colored flags to mark their progress. Red
one: Clear the access roads. is used for advancing fire indicators, yellow for laterals and
N OV/D E C 2 02 3 . D IS C OVER 35
THE CAMP
FIRE quickly blue for where the fire may have backed people trying to escape in their cars. Multiple deaths were a
engulfed whole up. Green indicates points of interest — certainty, but an exact count was unknown.
communities.
In some places,
items that may be specific clues as to how The fire now had a name: the Camp Fire. In keeping with
the fire moved the fire began— while white is reserved wildfire-incident protocol, it was named after a landmark
so quickly that it for evidence. near the fire’s origin — Camp Creek. The Camp Fire would
overtook people
even as they
The indicators began to lead them up become one of the nation’s most notorious wildfires, and it
tried to escape the steep slopes. They zigzagged as they was just beginning.
in their cars. climbed, walking carefully on the incline.
“It was slow going,” recalls Kluge. “Two WILDLAND FIRES start in a variety of ways and under
steps up and three steps back.” Above them, shrouded in a host of circumstances, but each incident falls into one of
smoke, was a high-voltage transmission tower. two basic categories. Most naturally caused fires — about
Cresting the ridge, the investigators began to outline a 13 percent of the annual total — are the result of lightning
GOA about a quarter-acre in size. Old construction debris strikes. Human activity accounts for the vast majority of the
was strewn about the footings of the nearly 100-year-old remainder.
tower: pieces of rusted wire, cracked ceramic insulators, Naturally caused fires that aren’t the result of lightning
bits of steel. They noted broken equipment up in the tower strikes, such as those caused by volcanic eruptions, are
structure. But as they begin searching for clues, the raging extremely rare. A bit more common are fires that start
fire threatened their position. underneath transmission lines because of birds. “You’ll get KARL MONDON/MEDIANEWS GROUP/THE MERCURY NEWS VIA GETTY IMAGES (2)
“The winds are intense, the conditions are not great,” birds that’ll get electrocuted and fall to the ground on fire,”
recalls Kluge. “We hear the fire roaring. The winds have says Muschetto. “It happens quite often. I’ve had a snake
changed. That’s made it more dangerous. Fuel is starting to – I’m assuming a hawk took a snake up and landed on the
pick up with fire intensity. We have fire below us, fire behind power lines and the snake was big enough it touched between
us. The only place that doesn’t have fire is the direction we two lines, completed an arc and created a spark. Half the
came in from.” snake was still soldered to the conductor.”
Making the decision to “get the heck off this hill,” the team The Guide to Wildland Fire Origin and Cause
took photos and made their way out of the canyon. Before Determination lists 17 fire-cause categories. Careless neg-
leaving, Kluge called a private security service to guard the ligence is a major contributor: say, throwing a lit cigarette
entry to Camp Creek Road and prevent anyone from enter- out a car window or burning debris during windy conditions.
ing the origin area. More obscure causes include overheating electrical cattle
By evening the blaze had engulfed the towns of Concow, fences, tracer bullets fired by gun enthusiasts and sunlight
Paradise and Magalia. It moved so fast it had overtaken focused through broken glass.
MOST NATURALLY CAUSED FIRES
— ABOUT 13 PERCENT OF THE
ANNUAL TOTAL — ARE THE RESULT
OF LIGHTNING STRIKES. HUMAN
ACTIVITY ACCOUNTS FOR THE VAST
MAJORITY OF THE REMAINDER.
example, some perpetrators attach paper matches to a lit

cigarette. The slow-burning cigarette gives the arsonist time
to vacate the area and avoid detection before the match heads
burst into flame. When discovered, the remains of ignition
devices are photographed, carefully extracted and placed in
sealed containers. Evidence goes to a crime laboratory where
it can be examined for fingerprints and DNA.
Disturbingly, some of the most notorious arsonists have
been firefighters and fire investigators. With their intimate
knowledge of fire behavior, firefighting responses and
investigation techniques, they can be difficult to identify
The National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) says arson and apprehend.
may be responsible for as much as 20 percent of all human- In one of the most sensational cases, a single fingerprint
caused wildland fires in the U.S. — and in some jurisdictions on an unburned fragment of an incendiary device led to the
the number may be as high as 70 percent. Of the 61,429 1991 arrest of John Orr, a 17-year veteran of the Glendale,
wildfires attributed to humans in 2022, it’s probable that California, fire department. Orr, a well-respected fire
arsonists set at least 12,000. investigator, was convicted of 20 cases of arson. Authorities
Serial arsonists set multiple fires over a span of weeks, believe he may have set 2,000 fires during a seven-year spree,
months, or even years. They often use time-delay ignition including hundreds of brush fires and a fire that killed four
devices so they can put some distance between themselves people who were trapped in a hardware store.
and the scene of the crime. The average serial arsonist is
suspected of setting 35 fires before being apprehended, but KLUGE AND HIS team couldn’t return to the GOA
due to the difficulty of finding conclusive evidence at every the following day, as howling winds and erratic fire behavior
location, is likely to be charged with only two or three. made the location too dangerous. On the third day, Nov. 10,
A suspected case of serial arson begins with the same they made their way back into the canyon. There they found a
methodical procedures given to every wildland fire inves- discouraging sight — high winds had dislodged their indica-
tigation: homing in on a probable cause. If patterns start tor flags, meaning they had to start all over again to ensure the
to emerge — multiple fires occurring in the same general integrity of their search.
location or the appearance of the same type of ignition device Again, the investigators slogged their way up the steep,
— an arson investigation kicks into gear. A multiperson team sandy slope, methodically planting flags. Near the transmis-
is assembled that includes state law enforcement officers and sion tower, they reestablished a GOA. They scoured the
INVFs. Certified wildland fire investigators who are also law area with metal detectors and magnets to look for pieces of
enforcement officers, such as Muschetto, make ideal team evidence that might have been covered over. A magnet, for
leaders. example, might detect the staple holding a recently used book
Arson investigation involves tried-and-true detective of matches together. The team took hundreds of photos, using
legwork: interviewing witnesses and poring through security telephoto lenses to look closely at the damaged hardware on
camera footage to look for people and vehicles that regularly the transmission tower and confirm the presence of a black-
appear near wildfire sites. Investigating officers may even ened discoloration that indicated a high-voltage discharge.
don camouflage uniforms and hide in the forests to track As they worked, Kluge had developed several hypotheses,
the comings and goings of suspects. although one was becoming a stronger possibility — that
If the remains of ignition devices can be found, they’re damaged equipment on the tower had arced with enough
helpful in establishing a signature for the serial arsonist. For heat to melt metal, and the molten metal had dripped to the
THE NOSE
KNOWS
hunting skills, Bird’s bloodhounds
can find missing children and lost
hikers, as well as fugitives and
criminals. Bird says their tracking
ability is uncanny. “We can run
J
OHN BIRD has a nose for finding arsonists. But it’s through crowds and they can
not his nose — it’s the extraordinary sniffer of Boone, still track that one person, even
a specially trained bloodhound who accompanies with hundreds of people standing
Bird during arson investigations. “I love him,” says Bird. “He’s around,” says Bird. “They’ll nudge
an energetic handful, but once the harness goes on, he’s ’em out of the way and still track
hardworking and microfocused.” that one person.”
Bird starts training puppies when
Bird, a Special Operations and Although there are thousands of they’re a gregarious 9 weeks old.
Enforcement Unit Investigator specially trained dogs employed “Training is a big game for them and
for the West Virginia Division in all areas of law enforcement they love it,” laughs Bird. “They get
of Forestry, has trained several throughout the country, Bird is so excited and so happy.”
bloodhounds over his 26-year currently the only canine handler An important first step is to
career in fire prevention and with a dog strictly devoted to introduce the young pups to a
investigation. Unlike other law tracking wildfire arsonists. “I’m the variety of environmental situations
enforcement dogs that may be last one,” says Bird. “No others in so they won’t get nervous in new
trained to find explosives or this nation are directly related to or unusual circumstances. That
chemicals, his bloodhounds are wildfire investigations.” helps the dog stay on task when
devoted to finding human suspects. In addition to their arsonist- tracking through charred remains
and when firefighting personnel and
clamorous equipment are nearby.
To initiate the pups for tracking,
a trainer will hold a puppy while a
partner hides in a nearby location.
When the puppy finds the hidden
person, it’s given a treat. Within a
few months, the young bloodhounds
are able to track a trainer up to
several miles.
By itself, having a dog track a
suspect to a house or a vehicle
isn’t enough to have a warrant
issued or to make an arrest, but
it’s a vital piece of information that
can help investigators close in on
an arsonist. In addition to monthly
training sessions, the West Virginia
Police Canine Association evaluates
these four-legged investigators
annually to recertify their tracking
skills. Certifications help ensure that
evidence the dogs sniff out stands
up in court.
Bird takes Boone on the job
with him regularly. So far, the
3-year-old bloodhound has helped
solve dozens of arson cases. “I’m
COURTESY JOHN BIRD
extremely pleased with him,” says

Bird. “He does a really good job and
WITH HIS HUMAN partner John Bird, police bloodhound Boone has helped to has a great success rate.” — J.R.
solve dozens of arson cases.
ground, starting fires in the dry grass. Experienced investiga- preventing them. Devlin LaFrombois, a certified wildland
tors know, however, that any hypothesis must stand up to fire investigator for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai
serious skepticism. Tribes of the 1.3-million-acre Flathead Reservation in
“You never make an assumption,” says Kluge. “You have to western Montana, says investigation and prevention are
go through the scientific process and disprove any hypothesis. closely related.
It’s absolutely vital that we treat all of our investigations the “Fire investigation and fire prevention go hand in hand,”
same way. You have to make sure the truth is told.” says LaFrombois. “If we can reduce person-caused fires, that’s
Over the next few days, the investigative team would collect our main job. If we can catch arsonists and they get pros-
over 200 pieces of evidence from the GOA, each carefully ecuted, then everybody sees that and hopefully that deters
packaged and sent to a guarded storage facility in Butte people from lighting fires on purpose.”
County. From there, many pieces were sent across the country He adds that outreach is essential for all firefighting
to the FBI national crime lab in Quantico, Virginia, to be agencies when educating people about preventing wildland
examined by a metallurgist for signs of wear and fatigue. fires. Public service announcements on social media, local
The molten-metal theory was one of several possible expla- television and radio help raise awareness of accidental causes
nations. One by one, the investigators analyzed their data to of fires, such as burning trash on windy days or neglecting to
disprove other hypotheses. The nearest railroad tracks were thoroughly extinguish campfires.
1,370 feet away, so a random spark wasn’t feasible. Sunrise “We go out and visit people,” says LaFrombois. “We have
had occurred after the fire’s start, so light focused through a patrol plan where we patrol in high-fire-danger areas. We
broken glass couldn’t have been a cause. get out and talk to the public at recreation sites, campsites,
Slowly, methodically, Kluge’s hypothesis came into focus: fishing areas. We hand out fire prevention pamphlets at local
A metal C-hook used to town events. It’s a fun part of
secure transmission cables to what we do.”
the tower had, over decades, Lucas Woolf, who turned
worn to the point of failure his 23 years as a Forest Service
and caused a live conductor to wildland fire investigator into a
swing down and make contact wildfire investigative business
with the metal tower. The in Arizona, stresses the preven-
resulting arcing caused molten tion side of the fire equation:
metal to fall to the ground and “The No. 1 thing to prevent
start several grassfires. wildland fires is to know what
The transmission tower causes them,” he says. “If you
was owned by the massive don’t know what’s causing your
California utility company fires, you don’t know how to
Pacific Gas and Electric. prevent them.”
In short, it was likely that Reflecting on the Camp Fire,
PG&E was responsible for Kluge, now a Cal Fire battalion
the destructive Camp Fire. chief, says the incident had a
The Camp Fire caused at EQUIPMENT lasting effect on his role as a
failure on a
least 85 civilian fatalities and injured five firefighters. wildfire investigator. It didn’t alter his meticulous
high-voltage
It covered an area of 153,336 acres and destroyed tower caused approach to his job, but the devastation under-
more than 18,000 structures. In May of 2019, after the Camp Fire. scored the seriousness and profound implications
six months of research and analysis, investigators Utility giant of his work.
PG&E was found
were able to confirm that equipment failure on PG&E liable for the “I saw a lot of people who were just
transmission lines did indeed cause the Camp Fire. catastrophic shellshocked,” he says, recalling that first day
“A fire investigation is very, very methodical and it damage and of the fire. “And it hit me hard. These were my
deaths.
takes a lot of time,” Cal Fire spokesperson Mike Mohler partners, people in my community, friends and
told the Los Angeles Times after the investigative report family that were directly affected by it. It was
was released. “Our investigators don’t have an opportunity to shocking, disturbing.
be 80 percent right, we have to be 100 percent right, and it’s “This was more than just a fire investigation. It was hum-
about getting closure for the fire survivors and victims.” bling. It changed things for me. It put a different perspective
In December, PG&E announced a $13.5 billion settlement on the work we were doing. I was the only person on duty that
NOAH BERGER/ASSOCIATED PRESS
with the victims of the Camp Fire and other transmission- day, and there was a reason it was me. It was amazing how, by
line-sparked California wildfires. In June of 2020, the utility God’s hand or stars aligned or whatever reason, it was me.” D
pleaded guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter.
John Riha is the author of Incident 395, a novel about a family
INVESTIGATORS may be devoted to pinning down trapped by a fast-moving wildfire in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness of
the causes of wildfires, but they are equally committed to southern Oregon.
COVER
STORY
The artifacts from

Tut’s tomb have been
recorded and repaired
— and poked, prodded
and photographed —
since their discovery
over a century ago.
Today, scientists are
still digging through
their secrets.
TUTANKHAMUN’S
TREASURES
IN 1922, a team of
archaeologists led by Howard
Carter (pictured above)
stumbled across the final
resting place of Tutankhamun,
a historically unimportant
pharaoh who happened
to be buried alongside the
biggest, best-preserved stash
of ancient Egyptian artifacts
ever found. Since then, Tut
has become one of the most
recognizable rulers in Egypt’s
history, while his treasures
— ranging from golden
masks to glittering daggers
— have gained their own rich
reputations.
And they’re only getting
richer. Even today, the
Egyptologists that study these
objects uncover surprising
evidence that they were
swapped, stolen and even
sourced from far-flung,
extraterrestrial settings.
A MULTI-PHARAOH MASK
BY EMILIE LE BEAU LUCCHESI AND SAM WALTERS
OVER 100 YEARS ago, a British archaeologist 3,200 years. While the tomb surrounded by a series of four
stood on the cliffs of Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, appears to have been robbed shrines, a stone sarcophagus
twice within a few years of its and three coffins. When these
around 3 miles northwest of Luxor. Since initial closure in 1323 B.C., its trappings were removed,
antiquity, 61 of the site’s ancient tombs chambers were restored and Carter found the ruler wore a
had been identified and exhumed. Experts resealed, albeit shoddily, in finely modeled funeral mask.
assumed that they’d exhausted the area, the aftermath of the thefts. Weighing around 22 pounds
leaving nothing left to unearth. The tomb itself seems small and portraying a pharaoh in
in comparison to the others striped regalia, the solid gold
But the 48-year-old archaeol- Egypt for around a decade. in the valley. “One curious accessory symbolized Tut’s
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ogist, Howard Carter, sensed Over a century later, they still thing about Tutankhamun’s authority over Egypt.
otherwise, emboldened by struggle to piece together tomb is its size,” says Nicholas Since its discovery, the
earlier discoveries bearing his history, including the Reeves, an Egyptologist and funeral mask has become
the name of a pharaoh whose details of his death. But recent former curator for the British the quintessential image of
body had yet to be found. research into Tut’s mask, the Museum and Metropolitan Tutankhamun. But in recent
Carter was right, and on most iconic item found inside Museum of Art. “It is tiny.” Yet years, Reeves has exposed THIS PAGE: NICK BRUNDLE PHOTOGRAPHY/MOMENT VIA GETTY IMAGES
Nov. 4, 1922, he and his team the tomb, has started to fill in it took Carter’s team almost a evidence that the mask was
identified a stairway leading the gaps. decade to work through the never even intended for Tut,
down to a tomb door. After handful of rooms, includ- indicating that the pharaoh
years of excavation, they THE ANCIENT Egyptians ing the outer corridor and died suddenly, without
reached the tomb’s inner believed in sending the chambers (the antechamber proper preparation.
chamber and found a mum- deceased to the afterlife and the annex), the burial
mified pharaoh, adorned with with items they would need chamber, and the treasury. In DESPITE HIS current
a gleaming, golden mask. to thrive, including food, total, the team identified over celebrity, Tutankhamun
At the time of the discovery, furniture and clothing. 5,000 artifacts that had been wasn’t especially impressive
archaeologists didn’t know Tutankhamun’s tomb was heaped into haphazard piles to the Egyptians of his era.
much about the pharaoh — packed with these presents, before the tomb was sealed. Taking the throne as a boy of
a boy who took the name which remained mostly Within the burial chamber, only 9 or 10 years old, Tut’s
of Tutankhamun and ruled untouched for more than Tutankhamun’s mummy was private affairs and public
achievements were of little then-19-year-old was buried rush to arrange the funeral. EGYPT’S
consequence, even in antiq- according to tradition, deep in “Tutankhamun’s death came 18TH DYNASTY
uity. Following his funeral, his the Valley of the Kings. as a shock,” Reeves says, “with CA 1353 B.C.
life and legacy were forgotten, no preparations for his burial Akhenaten takes the
says Reeves, whose book about FOLLOWING THEIR removal yet having begun.” throne, compelling mass
conversions to monotheism.
the pharaoh, The Complete and restoration, the bulk of the According to Reeves, at CA 1336 B.C.
Tutankhamun, was revised artifacts from Tutankhamun’s least 80 percent of the tomb’s Akhenaten dies, potentially
and republished in January. tomb were transferred to the required burial equipment transferring the throne to
Nefertiti or to one or two
Though Tutankhamun’s Egyptian Museum in Cairo, was recycled. Even the other intermediary pharaohs.
parentage is still debated, where they sat for most of a tomb itself seems to have CA 1333 B.C.
experts have used a combina- century — whenever they been intended for another Tutankhamun takes the
tion of tomb inscriptions and weren’t touring the world. occupant, with its left-facing throne at age 9 or 10.
CA 1333-1323 B.C.
genetic analyses to tentatively In 2015, museum curators orientation reminiscent of a Tutankhamun’s regents
identify one of Tut’s prede- adjusted some displays, repo- tomb for a queen. “The tomb restore the traditional
cessors, Akhenaten, as his sitioning and relighting the has been adapted, and on religion and reconstruct the
traditional temples of Egypt.
father. Ruling around 1353 to mask to reveal the underside more than one occasion,” says CA 1323 B.C.
1336 B.C., Akhenaten of its inscriptions. Reeves, who wrote in a series Tutankhamun dies at age 19.
was widely resented Published that of papers from 2015 to 2020
for forcing his same year in the that the original occupant
people to trade
their traditional FIRST
polytheism for TUTANKHAMUN
a strange form SEASON,
of sun-focused
A.D. 1922-1923
NOV 1922:
monothesim. Discovery of the
After Akhenaten’s tomb’s stairway.
death, the throne may have NOV 1922:
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP RIGHT: SATOSHI KIKYO/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES; JAROSLAV MORAVCIK/SHUTTERSTOCK; HEMRO/SHUTTERSTOCK; NUFATHER/DREAMSTIME.COM
Discovery of the tomb’s

passed to Nefertiti — the sealed doorways.
deceased pharaoh’s principal NOV 1922:
wife — before transferring to Official opening of the
Tutankhamun. Because of his tomb’s antechamber and
annex.
youth, regents ruled on his FEB 1923:
behalf, restoring old traditions Official opening of
in a campaign that continued the tomb’s burial
chamber and
after Tut’s death in 1323 B.C. treasury.
Egyptologists still aren’t TUT’S BURIAL equipment was adorned with MAY 1923:
sure how Tutankhamun died. inscriptions from the Book of the Dead, an ancient Transportation of
text whose words guided the deceased to the afterlife. the tomb’s first
Theories have ranged from
artifacts to the
a brutal bludgeoning to a Journal of Ancient Egyptian may still reside Egyptian Museum.
chariot accident, though both Interconnections, Reeves’ in a secret, inner
possibilities have fallen out analysis of the impressions section of the tomb.
of favor. In 2010, researchers found that another name, Whether or not that theory
proposed that the pharaoh’s potentially that of Nefertiti, holds true, archaeologists SECOND
parents were siblings, had originally appeared on the agree that the trappings of the THROUGH 10TH
probably contributing to the mask, only to be replaced by pharaoh all hold their own TUTANKHAMUN
genetic disorders identified Tut’s before the tomb’s sealing. hidden histories. “The com- SEASONS,
in their son. According to “There is no question that plexities of Tutankhamun’s A.D. 1923-1932
DEC 1923:
the researchers, one of these the mask had originally been tomb have been overlooked Dismantling of Tut’s
disorders — avascular bone made for someone else,” for a century,” Reeves says. shrines begins.
necrosis — left Tut prone Reeves says. And when con- “Only now are we beginning FEB 1924:
Dismantling of Tut’s
to injury, with a leg fracture sidered with the other objects to look beyond the gold sarcophagus.
and malarial infection likely from the tomb with similar and treat the materials in a OCT 1925:
sending him to the world of signs of appropriation, the rigorous, forensic manner. Dismantling of Tut’s coffins.
the dead. A separate analysis mask suggests the pharaoh The results so far show that NOV 1925:
Autopsy and analysis of
confirmed his inbred parent- died without warning, requir- there is always more to be Tut’s body begins.
age in 2020. But whatever the ing royal artisans to alter said about even the seemingly FEB 1932:
cause of death, the body of the already-made items in their most hackneyed of finds.” Transportation of the
tomb’s final artifacts to
the Egyptian Museum.
TUT RESURRECTED
The opening of Tutankhamun’s
tomb — and the announcement
of its treasures through
sensationalized news stories
and striking photos — gave the
pharaoh another chance to rule.
“No greater archaeological revelations
could be summoned from history,”
announced a New York Times article
during the first season of the dig, “than
is told by the mute objects in this tomb
of King Tutankhamen — mute objects
that speak with golden eloquence and
IN OCTOBER 1925, Carter and his colleagues lifted the lid of the first of Tut’s
whose message is now being revealed three coffins. Cleaning the face of the second in the photograph above,
to the world.” Carter wrote that the opening “was a moment as anxious as exciting.”
Inspiring everything from film
and fashion to architecture and
AN OTHERWORLDLY
advertisement, Tut had a hold on the
culture of the 1920s. And his influence
endured through subsequent decades,
sustained by
the traveling
exhibitions of
WEAPON BY MARISA SLOAN
his treasures
that began in FOR THOUSANDS of years, a dagger sat dormant
the 1960s. and dusty in the depths of Tutankhamun’s tomb.
On these With a golden grip dripping in gemstones and an
tours, millions of iron blade forged from an ancient meteorite, the
museum visitors weapon would remain magnificent throughout
from New York
its time in the darkness and would mystify
FROM TOP: SATOSHI KIKYO/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES; HARRY BURTON/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS; ALCAHUANTZI/SHUTTERSTOCK
to Tokyo
researchers for decades following its discovery.
meandered
through darkened It’s easy to see why researchers melting and subsequent casting;
corridors might be confused. The art of iron or low-temperature heating and
IN THEIR TIME on the road, crammed smelting, or melting and manipu- subsequent forging.”
the artifacts from Tut’s tomb with artifacts lating iron ore, is thought to have Ultimately, the chemical and
have captivated crowds
in a myriad of countries,
and arranged appeared in the Near East around archaeological analyses by Matsui
including the U.S., the U.K., in general 1200 B.C., some 120 years after and his colleagues cast doubt on
France and Japan. approximations of the sealing of the tomb. If smelting whether the weapon was crafted
the tomb. Gazing was off the table, how might the in Egypt. Instead, they present
upon the pharaoh’s mask and assorted dagger have been made? the possibility that the king of
mementos, the visitors viewed the The late Takafumi Matsui, then the nearby Mitanni Empire gave
objects almost as if they were part president of the Chiba Institute of the dagger to Tutankhamun’s
of the original excavation. Technology in Japan, visited the grandfather as a wedding gift.
As recently as 2019, 150 artifacts weapon at the Egyptian Museum
from the tomb were ogled by a record- in 2020 to find out. “A number of MANY PREHISTORIC iron
breaking 1.4 million museum visitors in manufacturing processes are pos- artifacts are known to have been
Paris. After a brief trip to London, these sible,” he and his colleagues wrote forged from meteorites. But
objects were then transferred to their in Meteoritics & Planetary Science while scientists have suspected
new facilities in the Grand Egyptian in 2022, “such as cold working, the cosmic source of iron in
Museum in Cairo, anticipated to open in which an iron meteorite is the pharaoh’s dagger since the
in late 2023 or early 2024. — S.W. cut and polished; hot working, 1970s, it wasn’t confirmed until
involving high-temperature a team analyzed its elemental
composition for the first time in window. “These lines of evidence
2016. Though historical artifacts lead to a conclusion that the
made from Earth-based iron Tutankhamun iron blade was
contain less than 4 percent nickel, made by low-temperature heat
the team found that the blade’s forging,” Matsui and his colleagues
high nickel concentration was write. But they had yet to solve the
instead consistent with space rock. mystery of the weapon’s maker.
Four years later, Matsui
and his colleagues used X-ray THE TEAM turned next to the
fluorescence, which determines an dagger’s decorated hilt, adorned
object’s material makeup, to map with gold and lapis lazuli, a deep-
the elements on the surface of the blue gemstone. In Tutankhamun’s
blade — not just iron and nickel, time, Egyptians used organic
but also cobalt, chlorine and man- glues to gild their treasures. But
ganese, among others. They found high amounts of calcium on the
that the bumpy, black spots on the dagger’s handle suggest its artisans
blade’s face likely originated from used a stronger adhesive: lime
troilite, a sulfur-filled mineral plaster, composed of calcium-
often found in iron meteorites — oxide lime, sand and water.
CLOCKWISE FROM FROM LEFT: DEA/S. VANNINI/DE AGOSTINI VIA GETTY IMAGES; WIDMAN/KEVINZIM/KEVIN WALSH/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS; OLTAU/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
though the traces of sulfur were Much like smelting, the use of
mostly lost after being heated to lime plaster arose in Egypt after
1,300 degrees Fahrenheit. Tutankhamun’s death. But both
The alignment of these elements were already prevalent in Mitanni
proved just as informative as their to the north, suggesting that the
abundance. “Discontinuous weapon was given to the Egyptians
banded arrangements” were as a gift from a neighboring realm.
found on the surface of the The 3,400-year-old Amarna
weapon, according to the authors letters, considered to be some
of the 2022 study. This three- of the world’s oldest documents
dimensional texture, known as a of diplomacy, support this idea.
Widmanstätten pattern, appears Comprising hundreds of com-
in meteorites when their iron- munications between Egyptian
nickel concoctions cool and sepa- pharaohs and nearby kings, the
rate into bands, meaning letters contain a list of
that the blade was gifts — including
probably never an iron dagger
heated above with “an inlay of
1,700 degrees genuine lapis
Fahrenheit. lazuli” — that
Using the the king of
process of Mitanni sup-
elimination, posedly sent to
the research- Tutankhamun’s
ers threw both grandfather,
cold working and Amenhotep III,
hot working out the when the pharaoh
married a Mitanni princess.
THE FACE of the blade features a
banded Widmanstätten pattern Though the puzzle pieces seem
(pictured above), which is often to have fallen perfectly into place,
associated with iron meteorites. only future research can confirm
whether the heirloom mentioned
in the letters is indeed the same
heirloom sitting in the Egyptian
Museum. Until then, researchers
can celebrate the fact that the
tomb’s contents were nothing
short of out-of-this-world.
GILDED IN GOLD and inlaid with brilliant blue, turquoise
and red glass, Tut’s second coffin depicts a ruler with the
crook and flail — traditional Egyptian symbols that stood
for the power of the pharaohs and the fertility of their land.
ANCIENT LOST AND

FOUND BY SAM WALTERS
WHEN HOWARD Carter and his team removed

the first item, a small painted box, from
Tutankhamun’s tomb in December 1922,
they had only scratched the surface of the
treasures contained within. Thousands
of artifacts — from shimmering statues to
sandals — were carried from its interior to be
cataloged, conserved, swathed in packing
paper and sent to the Egyptian Museum.
But some of these items team had cleared the stairs

never made it to Cairo. of debris and breached the
They disappeared during door of Tutankhamun’s
MISSOURI/WILLIAM ROCKHILL NELSON TRUST/IMAGE COURTESY NELSON-ATKINS MEDIA SERVICES

the decade-long excavation, tomb. Thus began the to Cairo, as was required by Gabolde at the Centennial
FROM TOP: JDZACOVSKY/SHUTTERSTOCK; THE NELSON-ATKINS MUSEUM OF ART, KANSAS CITY,

only to turn up today, in daunting task of recording Egyptian law. Tutankhamun Conference
museum collections and removing the Egyptologists have long in November 2022.
and auction thousands of trea- suspected that Carter
sites across sures inside. pocketed several items IDENTIFIED IN various
the U.S. and To start, the during this process, but states of disarray, some
Europe. The members the identity and location pieces of jewelry were dis-
only logical of the team of many of these items have mantled, while other pieces
explanation, took photos remained elusive. Now, by were disassembled and reas-
experts say, is of the arti- comparing photographs sembled in anachronistic
that they were facts in the from the tomb with photo- arrangements with beads
diverted by none tomb. They then graphs from museums and added or omitted. Among
other than Carter transported those auctions, researchers have Gabolde’s finds are the
himself. items to a nearby archaeol- identified several pieces of hawk-headed terminals and
ogy studio, where they Tutankhamun’s jewelry that teardrop beads of a broad
WITHIN ONE MONTH of were classified, conserved had been taken by Carter, collar, which Carter stripped
the identification of the and photographed further, according to a presentation from Tutankhamun’s corpse
tomb steps, Carter and his before being transported by French Egyptologist Marc in 1926 and subsequently
DISASSEMBLED COMPONENTS of one
of Tut’s collars (virtually reconstructed
above) have been found at the Nelson-
Atkins Museum of Art in Missouri (lower
left) and private auctions (below).
passed to friends or family. Montpellier, writes in a self- antiquities. “I suppose that

While the golden terminals published pre-print about he would have felt trapped,”
were eventually purchased the research from 2018. Gabolde says of this pos-
from an art collector by the “Carter kept some pieces sibility. “The only way was
Nelson-Atkins Museum for himself, and these are to keep these objects.”
PRIVATE COLLECTION PHOTO © CHRISTIE’S IMAGES/BRIDGEMAN IMAGES
of Art in Missouri, the now on display in various Though the motives

teardrop beads made their museums.” remain a mystery, Gabolde
way to private auction. And Carter’s motivations for says that further investiga-
similar stories have surfaced the thefts remain unclear. It’s tions could reveal additional
for other tomb accessories, possible, Gabolde says, that artifacts in the future.
too, according to Gabolde. the archaeologist saw the “Recognition of relevant
“We have seen that not jewelry as partially his own pieces is complicated,”
all of the jewelry found on and thus free for the taking. Gabolde writes in the
FROM TOP: MARC GABOLDE;
Tutankhamun’s mummy It’s also possible that the pre-print, “but there is
went to the Egyptian archaeologist brought the good reason to hope that
Museum in Cairo,” artifacts back to Britain for more lost pieces from
Gabolde, who teaches at the further analysis, only to find Tutankhamun’s tomb will
Paul-Valéry University of himself harboring stolen ultimately resurface.” D
N OV/ D E C 2 02 3 . D IS C OV ER 47
Q&A
SCIENCE SLEUTH
ELISABETH BIK IS ON A MISSION TO
EXPOSE SCIENTIFIC FRAUD IN PUBLISHED
RESEARCH — AND THOUSANDS OF
PEOPLE ARE WATCHING.
BY ANNA FUNK
Science has a problem: It’s conducted by humans.

Many of these humans follow the rules and procedures
outlined by the scientific method and conduct themselves
with integrity. But as with any sector of society, there are bad
actors who cheat to get ahead.
In 1912, an archaeologist named the incidents that have been caught. But
Charles Dawson combined and altered work like Bik’s helps to provide a mini-
pieces of human and ape skulls, mum estimate: Her screening of more
claiming to have found the evolutionary than 20,000 papers published between
“missing link” between humans and 1995 and 2014 found 3.8 percent had
apes. His sham wasn’t discovered until problematic figures. About half of those
1953, after the invention of new bone- had signs of deliberate manipulation.
dating techniques. Though Dawson Bik’s ultimate goal is to reduce these
couldn’t get away with this today, for wrongs, or at least generate scrutiny
every new technology that uncovers and corrections from the journals
a fake, there’s another that provides a publishing scientific research. So far,
new way to fake findings. she has contributed to more than 1,000
One place this crops up is in falsified retractions; in practical terms, this often
images presented as results in research means a warning label is added to the
papers. Fortunately, Elisabeth Bik — a online version of the article. This doesn’t
Dutch microbiologist turned “science- prevent researchers from unknowingly
integrity detective” — is fighting back referring to an already downloaded
against this kind of fraud. Working as or printed copy. But it’s still
a digital vigilante, she has amassed an an important fail-safe to
audience of more than 140,000 followers make sure scientists don’t NO LONGER
WORKING FROM a
on Twitter. She’s meticulous, with an base future work on false lab, Bik hunts for
incredible eye for detail and the patience information. research fraud from
to put that eye to serious work. And she’s As she logged her 7,163rd her home office in
become a master at spotting certain types problematic paper find, Bik California.
of falsified images in research papers. spoke with Discover about
Stats estimating the frequency of fraud how she got into research fraud
in scientific research are hard to come by, detection, what her job is like and
in part because we can only know about what it all means for science.
Q Your expertise is spotting image
duplications. What does that
mean?
EB: Research papers have figures that show results.
And in some fields, these figures are actual images,
actual photos. For instance, a microbiology paper
might have a figure with multiple panels of photos
showing cells that have been treated differently.
When there’s a duplicated image, instead of each
panel being unique as it should be, two of the panels
are identical. Or maybe two of the images overlap,
meaning the researcher took a second photo of the
same sample under the microscope, but just moved
it over a little bit so that some of the same cells
appear in both images. Of course, if they had just
moved the sample a little bit farther, there would be
no overlap for me to find. So, I really only find the tip
of the iceberg — I can only catch a small percentage
of actual fraud that likely occurs.
Q What do you think motivates

people to commit research fraud?
EB: There is pressure to publish as
scientists. And there are situations where there
could be a bully professor. There are labs that are run
by big egos who might say to a young researcher,
“Why did your experiment fail? I will hire someone
else who will make it work. I’ll fire you, I’ll send
you back.” A lot of researchers might be working
internationally on a visa and, if they get fired, they
have to go back to their home country within weeks.
I think in a situation like that, researchers will feel
the pressure to make up results in order to produce
what the professor wants, and everybody is afraid to
speak up. The graduate students and the postdoc-
toral researchers might be the ones photoshopping,
but who is responsible for the atmosphere and
the integrity of the lab? That’s the professor.
Q How did you get into this work?

EB: I was born and raised in the
Netherlands, and then worked at Stanford
University for 15 years in the human and dolphin
microbiome field. While there I became interested
in plagiarism — and by coincidence, one of the
Ph.D. theses I was investigating had images that
were duplicated. I realized I have a talent to look
for these things, so I started scanning the biomedical
literature for them.
COURTESY OF ELISABETH BIK
I focused on papers that had photographic

images, like in molecular biology and oncology,
and that used techniques I was familiar with from
my own research. I started scanning in a systematic
way, because I wanted to know: How often can we
N OV/D E C 2 02 3 3 . D IS C OVER 49
Q&A
BIK’S SCREENING OF MORE found several papers that are suspicious

and have duplications. When I started
THAN 20,000 PAPERS out, I’d look for duplications by eye, but
now I use a software called ImageTwin.
PUBLISHED BETWEEN It scans and extracts all the images in a
1995 AND 2014 FOUND paper and compares them to each other,
as well as to images in other papers. It’s
PROBLEMATIC FIGURES very good at finding overlaps.
IN 3.8 PERCENT. ABOUT When I find a duplication, I’ll take a
screenshot and outline the duplication,
HALF OF THOSE HAD then post it on PubPeer. That’s an online
SIGNS OF DELIBERATE database for scientific publications where
you can comment for authors, publishers
MANIPULATION. and other scientists to see. I try not to
make any judgments there, since some
duplications might be honest errors. Even
when it’s very likely that it has been done
intentionally, I won’t say, “This is fraud.” I
find these types of images? Out of 20,000 papers, I found try to stay as objective as possible.
4 percent of them had these duplicated images. I did that for a From there, the paper authors should get an automated
while, and then worked as an industry scientist for a few years email from PubPeer, and they can reply. Most don’t. Some
while continuing my image duplication work as a hobby. journals or publishers will also get an email, though many
screen manually for entries about their papers. The publish-
Q Is this a full-time job now?

EB: Eventually, in 2019, I realized I talked more
ers can then decide whether to retract the paper.
enthusiastically about my image duplication work

than my job. I decided to quit the next day, and that actually
turned out to be sustainable. I created a Patreon account
so that supporters can donate to fund my work, which puts
Q Do you think these duplications are
typically intentional?
EB: When it’s just the same photo twice, I almost
always think it’s probably an honest error. It’s easy to imagine
me in a unique position that allows me to call out these bad that a scientist might take hundreds of photos and put them
papers: I don’t need to worry about my job because I don’t all in labeled folders — this is this sample, that is that sample
have a job. And I’m late enough in my career to not have to — and one day instead of a two, they type a three, and they
worry about my career. It’s not that I’m super courageous, happen to use the mislabeled one for their paper. Yes, it’s
rather that most people are not in a situation where they sloppy. Yes, they should have noticed it, or another author
can raise these issues without damaging their own careers. might have noticed it, but nobody did.
But sometimes a paper has a lot of duplicated images. Or
Q How do you decide what papers to check,

and how do you go about checking them?
EB: I’ll often follow threads, since researchers and
labs who do this tend to do it repeatedly. For instance, just
sometimes you see the same photo twice, but it’s rotated
or mirrored. In these cases, it’s more likely that it was done
intentionally. And sometimes the image itself has been
altered, like a photo of cells in a tissue where the same group
last night I discovered a “lab of interest” in the U.S. that has of cells has been stamped multiple times in the image. That
worked with several labs of interest in China. I’ve already will almost always be intentionally done.
UPON THE PUBLICATION of this 2014 paper on insulin delivery, Bik noted that panels B and D appear to overlap. It was retracted in 2021.
SOURCE: Hadebe, Silindile I., et al, “Transdermal Delivery of Insulin by Amidated Pectin Hydrogel Matrix Patch,“ PLOS ONE, 2014
BIK POINTS OUT
image duplications
she found in a 2013
research paper,
which was retracted
Q Do you ever come across entire papers the answer is always much more compli- six years after
publication.
that have been faked? cated than we thought.
EB: Yes. There’s another situation where people can I’ve worked on over 7,000 papers; 980 have
purchase an entirely fake paper from what’s called a paper issued corrections and 1,028 have been retracted,
mill. The paper mills we’re finding are mainly or almost but there are millions of papers published every year.
exclusively active in China, because there are heightened Science fraud is only a tiny fraction of science. I always remind
expectations there: Medical students and clinicians are often people that I’m not trying to be a science denier and that this
pushed to publish scientific papers — even though these are is the only way we can solve the big problems we’re facing, like
medical doctors who are not interested in research and don’t climate change and pandemics and whatever else. We need to
have time to do research. So, they just buy an authorship from be critical within science in order to make science better. D
a paper mill. But the paper is totally fake, made by profes-
sionals. The patients are made up. The photos can be real, but This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
they’re not representing what they say they are. And maybe
they make use of artificial intelligence to generate fake images. Anna Funk is a science writer and editor based in Kansas City, MO.
Find her on Twitter @DrAnnaFunk.
Q How worried are you about AI being

used for research fraud?
EB: I’m very worried. ImageTwin is looking for
duplications, but AI-generated photos are unique — I’m not OTHER TYPES OF RESEARCH FRAUD
sure if I would recognize a well-done microscopy image that
is completely fake. But we tend to believe photos, right? We Bik is a whiz at finding duplicated images. But
are so reliant on our eyes. If you see a photo in a scientific there are other issues she sometimes encounters
OPPOSITE PAGE TOP AND THIS PAGE: AMY OSBORNE/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES (2)
in research papers that might point to foul play.

paper, you tend to think it’s real, and it will pass peer review.
But if we can no longer trust photos, I don’t know where TABLE TROUBLES: TORTURED PHRASES:
we’re heading. Anyone could misuse AI to generate false Two separate papers might Pioneered by fellow
information, photos and text. And that’s what I’m worried have tables with numerous fraud-buster Guillaume
about, because we cannot distinguish it from what’s real. identical values. If data Cabanac, these are key
presented in one study match words and phrases that
Q It seems like public trust in science is

pretty shaky lately. How do you feel your
work plays into that?
EB: Misconduct is bad for scientists. But it’s also bad
the numbers in a different
experiment, that may be
reason to retract a paper.
have been replaced with
awkward synonyms. A
plagiarized paper about bird
identification, for example,
for science, because it could be used for people with the PLOT PROBLEMS: discusses “winged animal
agenda of denying science. I feel the work that I do is Sometimes a duplication isn’t recognition” but provides
important because science should be self-correcting. in a photo, but in a graph. no new information.
Sometimes our hypothesis might not be quite right, and
N OV/ D E C 2 02 3 3 . D IS C OV ER 51
ARTIST LYNETTE
Cook’s favorite
exoplanet is the gas
giant HD 222582
b. This view shows
the planet as seen
from the surface of
a hypothetical moon
that undergoes
periods of melting
and refreezing as the
temperature swings
wildly with its host
planet’s proximity to
the star.
HOW DO WE DRAW
ALIEN
With every big
exoplanet discovery
comes a stunning
artist’s rendition of a
new world. Are these
images realistic?
BY ALISON KLESMAN
PLANETS? N OV/ D E C 2 02 3 . D IS C OVER 53

stronomical websites and press releases brim with pictures of swirling gas
giants, watery terrestrial worlds, and strange planetary systems with exotic
suns. But just how realistic are these artist’s concepts? Do they truly show
newly discovered worlds, or are they simply fanciful pictures meant to
draw you into reading about the latest addition to the exoplanetary
menagerie?
“These aren’t just people slapping up a new exoplanet template
every time that one is discovered. This is a real depiction, if we can
have one,” says prominent exoplanet may start by providing information Often, the artist will make several
artist Lynette Cook, who has been about the star — such as age, mass, and mock-ups, going back and forth with
illustrating other worlds since 1995. “It’s type (a proxy for temperature) — as well the researchers to determine which is
based on scientific fact, as far as the facts as the mass and distance of the planet. best and any details that might need
go that we have. And then beyond that, That may seem like only a basic adjustment, Cook says. After all, many
it’s fact-based theory.” Even when artis- framework, but hidden within these planets look similar, so it is typically the
tic license is involved — which it often few numbers is a wealth of information. small details that differentiate one from
is — “it is at least within the boundaries Stars with different temperatures put another.
of what seems plausible,” she says. out their maximum light at different Those details increasingly require
But how do we even know what’s colors — cool stars are red, middling less guesswork. Watching the way
plausible? Illustrating an extrasolar stars are orange-yellow, hot stars are light filters through an exoplanet’s
world for a publication or press release, blue — so the star’s type tells the artist atmosphere as the planet crosses in front
Cook says, starts and ends with conver- its color. Its age determines whether it of its star can reveal the structure and
sations. The artist works closely with might have few or many starspots (what chemical composition of otherworldly
researchers to learn as much as possible we call sunspots on the Sun) as well as atmospheres. The presence of certain
about the planet or system they’ve been how active it’s likely to be. A planet’s molecules can dictate the color the
tasked with depicting. The researchers mass dictates whether it is terrestrial or planet might appear — red and tan like
gassy, while its distance informs the size Jupiter, blue like Neptune, or perhaps a
its sun appears in its sky and whether hue absent from our own solar system
the world sits in the habitable zone, and altogether, such as purple or pink.
thus whether surface water is liquid or And some researchers model the sur-
ice (or likely not present at all). And faces and climates of exoworlds, showing
tidally locked planets — those with one what distant planets could look like
side permanently facing their star — based on different scenarios. By tweak-
can have vastly different features than ing factors such as ocean salinity and
those that are not. atmospheric composition on a watery
Astronomical artists take these world, for example, such models can
seemingly disparate bits of scientific produce simulated, generic global maps
data and “synthesize all those aspects to of ocean, land, and ice, which artists can
show us what it would be like to be in then turn into a stunningly realistic —
those places,” says William Hartmann, a and scientifically plausible — image. PREVIOUS PAGE: LYNETTE COOK. THIS PAGE: NASA, ESA, CSA, JOSEPH OLMSTED
noted planetary scientist and artist who

has been envisioning planets around WITH THESE DETAILS in hand, an
other stars since before any had been artist can go about creating a compelling
discovered. exoplanet surface view. For Hartmann,
two things are most important: “What
THIS ARTIST’S concept of the tidally interesting things might be seen in the
locked gas giant WASP-39 b was sky, and what sort of surface do we want
developed in part from a transmission to depict?” He likes to imagine views
spectrum taken by the James Webb Space
Telescope as the planet transited its star. from planets in star systems and situa-
The data show evidence of carbon dioxide tions unlike our own — for example, he
in the atmosphere; other telescopes have says, a planet whose central star has been
found water vapor, sodium and potassium.
Astronomers believe the planet has clouds thrown out of its parent galaxy during a
but no Jupiter-like bands. galactic merger.
BEYOND THE towering clouds of a saturnian
evening, passing moons trundle back and forth. The
spectacular rings seem to bend as the light passes
through denser air toward the horizon.
Regardless of the view, one of the we do in nature here.” But even then, Cook agrees that sometimes a bit of
most challenging concepts to com- “you can fake it a little bit” for the sake artistic license is called for — and vital.
municate in alien landscapes is a sense of providing a familiar perspective the For example, when showing an entire
of scale, says longtime science writer audience can connect with, he says. system of planets from the perspective
and illustrator Michael Carroll, whose After all, these stunning illustrations of a distant ice giant, the innermost
art (above) often includes the worlds of are meant to educate. “The astronomi- planets near the host star would simply
our own solar system as well as those cal artist builds a bridge between that look like tiny dots, rather than visible
MICHAEL CARROLL
beyond. Sometimes a planet, moon, or abstract pile of information and spheres. But, she argues, such a realistic
asteroid doesn’t have an atmosphere, something that an untrained person depiction would confuse the general
“so you don’t have those visual cues that can understand,” Carroll says. public. A layperson might have trouble
N OV/D E C 2 02 3 . D IS C OVER 55
NEPTUNE-SIZED Gliese 436 b is so close to its bright parent star that the planet’s atmosphere is evaporating away, leaving a cometlike tail
trailing behind the planet, as depicted in this artist’s rendering.
finding those inner planets among the do a diagram, you can do a painting low- or no-pressure conditions, and
background stars. “So, I would make that shows everything just great and features like dunes can be found across
[the inner planet] a little tiny circle,” she is totally uninspired. Or you can try the solar system, on planets, dwarf
says. “Now, that’s artistic license, but it’s to bring a little bit of beauty into the planets, and even comets. “You have
also part of the education process.” world.” to be careful with analogues,” Carroll
In some cases, Cook adds, she’s given says, “but they’re really the backbone of
more latitude, such as setting the view IN THE DECADES since the first what informs us as to what these exotic
of a known gas giant on the surface of discovery of an extrasolar planet in worlds will look like.”
a hypothetical moon to “put this really 1992, the field has veritably exploded, And some might be truly exotic. In
gorgeous landscape in the with more than 5,000 con- lower gravity, “a tower of ice can be five
foreground … so it’s all gor- Even when firmed planets known today. times as tall,” Carroll points out. Or,
geous and you feel like you’re artistic Still, many images found Hartmann says, “a red and blue pair
standing on it.” in news stories or press of stars in a double star system would
license is
In other cases, researchers releases look similar. And create shadows in different colors. The
might only want to show what involved, it’s not despite the deluge of shadow cast by the red star would get
is known and nothing else, it is still scientific data; it’s because of it. only light from the blue star, hence be
which can present its own kind within the Although astronomers are still bluish, and vice versa.”
of challenge. “If you’ve just got boundaries hashing out the details, we do With so many planets known, and
a gas giant, then it’s a matter of, of what’s know that the overall process more to come, there are plenty of
how do I make it look different plausible. of building planets is remark- options, both exotic and familiar. So
from all the gas giants that I’ve ably uniform throughout the although each illustration comes from
already painted?” she says. “It galaxy: All planets seem to the imagination of an artist, it is an
has to look like the thing it is, but you form from the disk of debris left over informed, careful depiction of what
don’t want to just totally recreate the after their parent star has ignited, could be reality that is designed to
NASA, ESA, STSCI, AND G. BACON
same thing over and over again, so that though even tiny variances can render both educate and inspire. D
becomes more of an artistic challenge vastly different planets and systems over
rather than a scientific challenge.” time. Alison Klesman is a senior editor at
Ultimately, it’s about not only That means our own solar system Astronomy and is fascinated by the artistic
educating, but also about creating often serves as a jumping-off point. For process, though she herself is unable to draw
something new, Carroll says: “You can example, ice crystals still form even in so much as a non-lumpy circle.
Actual size
is 38.1 mm
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HISTORY LESSONS
EMILY MCCRARY-RUIZ-ESPARZA
co-founded London’s Society for

the Recovery of Persons Apparently
Drowned (later called the Royal
Humane Society) in 1774, justifies the
therapy like this: “It is not only the
admission of a kindly warmth into the
LONDON’S ROYAL internal parts of the body which in all
HUMANE SOCIETY
boasted a series of
cases must prove advantageous, but
Blowing Smoke receiving houses
featuring beds and
its stimulus connected with its warmth
seems admirably adapted to excite
baths to “restore
MODERN CPR WAS DEVELOPED IN THE MIDDLE OF the apparently
irritability and to restore the suspended
THE 20TH CENTURY. BEFORE THAT, LIFE-SAVERS drowned.” The or languid peristaltic motion of the
EMPLOYED THE TOBACCO-SMOKE ENEMA. land for the house intestines.”
in Hyde Park (left) Various devices were used to
was a gift of King
I
f you were to drown in the Thames River in the late 18th administer the enema: a regular tobacco
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: ENGRAVING/WELLCOME COLLECTION; ARTOKOLORO/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO; WELLCOME COLLECTION
George III.
century, your best chance of survival would be for a good pipe, tubes of different kinds with metal
Samaritan to pull you from the water and carry you to a nozzles on each end, and, eventually, a
receiving house outfitted with basic medical equipment bellows. As far back as the 15th century,
— possibly even located in the pub you had just stumbled physicians believed rectal insufflation
out of — established by the local life-saving organization, the had reanimating powers. Instructions
Royal Humane Society. There, medical assistants who had been from the physician Paulus Bagellardus
trained for exactly this kind of rescue would begin the work of to midwives in 1472 recommended a
bringing you back from sudden death. similar therapy for stillborn babies: “If
They would strip you bare, dry you off, and clean your she find [the newborn] warm, not black,
mouth and nostrils. They would warm your body, either by she should blow into its mouth, if it has
rubbing your skin with wool or heated brandy, or by laying you no respiration … or into the anus.”
near a fire. And then one of the assistants would light a tobacco
pipe, cover the bowl with his handkerchief, insert the opposite
end into your rectum, and blow.
THERAPIES
FOR REVIVING
WHETHER YOU lived or died would have nothing to do drowning victims
with the tobacco-smoke enema, of course. But at the time, this ranged from blood-
letting to applying
was one of the most popular therapies for drowning victims, red-hot irons to
believed to be “amongst the most efficacious applications” — or the feet — or using
so writes physician Thomas Cogan in a pamphlet published in a convenient kit
to administer a
1795 by the Royal Humane Society. (The italics are Cogan’s.) tobacco enema.
Tobacco has long been understood to be an irritant, and
therefore a stimulant. Cogan, who with William Hawes
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HISTORY LESSONS
TODAY, MOST
PEOPLE learn to
THE TOBACCO-SMOKE enema was one of swim as children.
According to the Royal Humane Society’s 1795
several remedies for drowning victims used in Not so in the 18th report, 70 percent of the 2,572 rescue attempts
Europe at the end of the 1700s. If the enema didn’t century, though: made by the society were successful (though what
reanimate the victim, a rescuer might try shaking The founders of medical state the apparently “drowned” were actu-
the Royal Humane
the person vigorously, blood-letting, or even Society hoped ally in may have varied).
applying red-hot irons to the bottom of the feet. their intervention “What was lacking was not the creativity of devis-
Chest compressions, delivering air to the lungs (see would curb the ing rescue techniques but the ability to separate
resultingly high
sidebar), or applying electric shock to the heart rate of drownings. effective from ineffective therapies,” writes Mickey
also were recommended alongside rectal fumiga- Eisenberg, an emergency medicine specialist, in his
tion — techniques remarkably close to our modern book, Life in the Balance: Emergency Medicine and
resuscitation procedures. the Quest to Reverse Sudden Death.
These therapies for resuscitating drowned So, is there any efficacy in that once highly
persons were spread by life-saving societies. A “What was recommended smoke enema? “The short answer is:
response to the high rate of drownings — in the lacking was none whatsoever,” says Thomas Rea, a professor of
18th century, it was a leading cause of accidental … the ability medicine at the University of Washington School
death in Europe — the first life-saving society was of Medicine and the director of the Center for
to separate
founded in the canal-threaded city of Amsterdam Progress in Resuscitation. “Tobacco was a known
FROM TOP: R. SMIRKE/WELLCOME COLLECTION (2); JOSEPH JACQUES DE GARDANE/WELLCOME COLLECTION

in 1767. Inspired by the success of the Dutch society effective from stimulant, so the logic was it might help stimulate
and a growing humanitarian movement, similar ineffective response and resuscitation.”
organizations popped up in Paris, Milan, Venice, therapies.” Eisenberg provides an additional hypothesis
London, Hamburg for its use, writing, “It is
and St. Petersburg in possible that the dilation
the following decade, of the anus by the tube
and in the 1780s, in provided some reflex
Philadelphia and Boston. stimulus of respiration.”
These organizations were And before its toxic
often founded by doctors effects were under-
and published research stood, tobacco smoke
on the latest life-saving was thought to have
techniques. Some even therapeutic qualities. In
paid monetary rewards, 1660s England, tobacco
funded by a combination fumigation (in this case
of public and private of the lungs) was believed
donations, to the good to be a prophylactic
Samaritans who aided against the plague. As late
drowning rescues. as the mid-19th century
in America, it was considered a says Serdeczny, “most practices
disinfectant, particularly against around resuscitating the drowned
cholera. But Rea says he’s never were meant to restore respiration,
come across the use of tobacco in order to, as a result, restore
smoke for “therapeutic interven- circulation — as if the respiratory
tion” in modern medicine. “There is arrest was merely an obstacle to
no modern evidence to support its the continuation of circulation.”
use in this situation,” he says. It would be more than
Criticism of the practice did a century before medicine
eventually arrive. “When nicotine understood that resuscitation
was discovered to be a poison, the requires the combination of both
critics became more harsh in the respiration and circulation, and in
beginning of the 19th [century], the case of ventricular fibrillation,
but without leading to a learned electric shock. The first successful
consensus about the legitimacy [and] efficiency Various devices defibrillation using electricity was recorded in 1947;
of the method,” says Anton Serdeczny, a senior were used to what we know as CPR was not developed until the
research fellow at the Medici Archive Project in administer mid-20th century.
Florence, Italy, and author of Du Tabac pour le Some of the original lifesaving societies exist
Mort: Une Histoire de la Réanimation (Tobacco for
the enema: a in different forms today: Early rescue societies in
the Dead: A History of Resuscitation). regular tobacco the U.S. later evolved into the present-day United
pipe, tubes with States Coast Guard, and the Royal Humane Society
RECTAL FUMIGATION is, obviously, not CPR metal nozzles, continues to recognize acts of bravery by ordinary
(cardiopulmonary resuscitation). “There was no and, eventually, citizens. Perhaps most profound is that the work
idea about the respiratory chemical process at least a bellows. of these organizations, in their earliest forms,
until the end of the 18th century,” Serdeczny says. advanced our ability to reverse sudden death and
Anecdotal reports of rescuers using chest com- paved the way for one of our most effective life-
pressions appear at the same time tobacco enemas saving tools: CPR. D
were being used, but physicians of the day did not
understand which methods of resuscitation were Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza is a writer who covers the
truly working, and certainly not how. For example, workplace, history and language. Her work has appeared
though 18th-century medical professionals did in The Washington Post, Fast Company, Food Technology,
grasp the importance of circulation to vitality, Lit Hub and Richmond magazine, among others.
A MOUTH-TO-MOUTH HISTORY
Ironically, blowing smoke down upon by the medical one option rescue
FROM TOP: SCIENCE MUSEUM GROUP/JSTOR; ANIWAT PHROMRUNGSEE/SHUTTERSTOCK
into the rectum may have been profession; historical analyses of many — breathing to
preferred to blowing smoke refer to their technique as including be largely
into a drowning victim’s mouth: “inelegant,” “undignified” and blood-letting replaced by
“In 18th-century England, the “the method practised [sic] by and rectal ventilation
practice of placing one’s mouth the vulgar to restore stillborn fumigation via bellows,
on the mouth of a lifeless adult children.” By the late 1700s, — and of metal tubes, and
was considered particularly though, doctors in Europe lower priority than wooden pipes. Today,
repugnant,” writes Mickey began to recognize the value in warming and drying the guards, shields and masks
Eisenberg in Life in the Balance: the practice of forcing air into body. (such as the one shown above)
Emergency Medicine and the sudden-death victims’ lungs, By the end of the 18th are recommended for those
Quest to Reverse Sudden Death. advocating it to and through century, distaste for actual performing mouth-to-mouth
Midwives had likely been life-saving organizations. mouth-to-mouth contact — “it resuscitation — not because
practicing mouth-to-mouth But instead of being seen as was degrading to touch those such contact is “vulgar,” but
resuscitation on their neonatal the first and most necessary who had died an Unnatural rather to inhibit the spread
patients for centuries, but were step for resuscitation, rescue Death,” a 1796 account states of communicable diseases.
often isolated from and looked breathing was often considered — had caused mouth-to-mouth — E.M.R.E. AND ELISA R. NECKAR
ITINERARY
BY TIM BRINKHOF
SPANNING
ROUGHLY 3,200
SQUARE MILES,
Floating in the Clouds Lake Titicaca

is more than
twice the size of
ONE OF THE OLDEST ANDEAN INDIGENOUS Rhode Island.
COMMUNITIES SURVIVES ON ARTIFICIAL ISLANDS The average
depth is 460 to
DRIFTING ATOP SOUTH AMERICA’S LARGEST, 600 feet, though
HIGHEST LAKE. pre-Columbian engineering that’s far
the maximum
depth drops to more accessible than the Inca citadel to
S
tepping onto one of the Uros islands in southern Peru 920 feet toward the north. For locals, they form the lit-
the Bolivian
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: YANA_N /ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES; HYOTOGRAPHICS/SHUTTERSTOCK; QUALTAGHVISUALS/SHUTTERSTOCK
can feel like walking on a bouncy castle. Your feet sink eral foundation of their cultural identity,
shore.
a bit into the mushy floor, which trembles slightly which they have packaged into a unique
when a motorboat speeds past. That’s because this land and otherworldly tourism destination
is actually floating — on the largest lake in South America, that is now integral to their economy.
located 12,500 feet above sea level in the Andes Mountains. No one knows exactly how old the
Hundreds of miles south of Peru’s famous Machu Picchu Titicaca island culture is. Oral tradition
ruins, dozens of artificial islands pepper the surface of Lake holds it was established by the Uros
Titicaca, situated along the border of Peru and Bolivia. The peoples’ claimed ancestors, the Urus.
veritable floating city made of roots and reeds is currently Those ancestors are known as one of
home to about 2,000 residents. the first major ethnic groups to settle in
For visitors, the structures demonstrate a living version of For visitors, the the Andes, migrating from the Amazon
perhaps as early as 3,700 years ago. They
Uros islands
initially lived on Titicaca’s shores, but
demonstrate a took refuge inside the lake’s labyrinthine
living version of reedbeds when the Incas rose to power
pre-Columbian in the early 15th century.
engineering. The Urus could not have asked for a
For locals, better hideout. Even today, it’s virtually
impossible to reach the islands without
they form the a guide. Luckily, boating and kayaking
foundation of tours are available for anyone who
their cultural wants to visit. Sipping on Peruvian
identity. coffee or mate de coca — a beverage
made from the leaves of the coca plant
(Erythroxylum coca), which abates
altitude sickness — visitors on day trips get a
glimpse of Uros history, culture and engineering.
They are also cajoled to buy bracelets, necklaces or
miniature caballitos de totora, a toy version of the
traditional boats used by Titicaca fishers. While
the souvenirs (and some vendors’ assertiveness)
might feel commercialized and uncomfortable,
these tourism exchanges have become the primary
source of income for the majority of the islanders.
Overnight stays can offer visitors a more immersive
alternative.
TODAY’S LOCALS build their islands the same

way their distant ancestors built theirs: from totora,
a giant bulrush sedge native to South America and
found throughout Titicaca. Each year, the Uros
harvest fresh roots from the lakebed. The roots are
then bound into buoyant clusters and covered with
piles of dried reeds stacked 6 feet tall. This compli-
cated craft was passed down from one generation to DAY-TRIP TOURS
the next since before the Inca Empire crumbled in to the islands
may include
the 16th century. (from top)
Nelson Coila Lujano, who lives on an island explanations
called Utama with his wife and three kids, describes of daily life,
encouragement
an idyllic childhood, being raised on the lake: “I to buy handmade
used to listen to the songs of the birds and had a crafts and
deep appreciation for the water, the sky, and the demonstrations
of island-building
sun, because they kept us safe, healthy and happy.” techniques.
His neighbor, who goes by the host name Helmer
on Airbnb, paints a similarly enchanting picture.
“When I was younger, I thought the whole world
was made of fresh water and totora,” he says.
FROM TOP: BELIKOVA OKSANA/SHUTTERSTOCK; MILTON RODRIGUEZ/SHUTTERSTOCK; MARIANO GASPAR/SHUTTERSTOCK
Helmer is one of many islanders who now rent out

rooms on their flotilla through Airbnb. The book-
ing service offers a more personalized experience It’s difficult to say just how many islands exist
than group tours, allowing guests to spend time on the lake, partly because islands are periodically
with a host family and see the islands from their broken down and reconstructed, and partly because
perspective. its residents are constantly moving back and forth
between the water and the Peruvian mainland.
Most estimates settle on 70 to 80, although Coila
Lujano claims there are as many as 120 scattered
across the 3,200-square-mile expanse.
The average island measures 21 by 32 yards, and
is shared between three to eight different families.
“When I was Each is connected to the lakebed via a network of
younger, I ropes and anchors. Their fluid, makeshift structure
thought the dictates every aspect of Uros social life: Young
couples seal their love in special romantic boats
whole world
woven from totora, and when two families have
was made of a falling out, they can cut off their section of the
fresh water island and reattach it elsewhere in the community.
and totora.” Previously, the islands were moved around the lake
to avoid the Incas; nowadays, they follow the ebbs
and flows of the tourism industry.
ITINERARY
WHEN THE INCAS drove the Urus off

Titicaca’s shores, the latter were forced
to give up agriculture. Without access
to soil, their descendants continue to
survive primarily as hunter-gatherers,
subsisting on fish, birds and eggs found
on the lake. They also barter for meat
and vegetables with merchants from
Puno, a city on the western shore.
Life on the islands poses many
challenges, including limited access to WITH NO SOIL
clean water. For centuries, people drank directly to support on fires made from dried reeds and wood — a
from the lake, putting themselves at risk of contract- agriculture, the risky enterprise considering that nearly everything
Uros people
ing waterborne parasites and bacteria like E. coli. continue to on the islands, from houses themselves to the
Hospital trips were common, especially among subsist on fish, ground its inhabitants walk upon, is flammable.
children and the immunocompromised. birds and eggs Unsurprisingly, fires have broken out. When they
from the lake,
The turn of the millennium brought the arrival much as their do, the Uros can do little except sit and wait until the
of new technologies. Several islands now have bio- ancestors did. fire brigade arrives from Puno, a trip that can take
toilets that use worms and microbes to decompose Today’s Uros up to 30 minutes by boat during the day, and even
also barter with
waste, as well as filtration systems that purify lake mainlanders.
longer in the dark of night. In 2022, one incident
water by sifting it through layers of increasingly fine that began with a stray spark destroyed more than
sand. Solar panels, first installed in the ’90s, now 25 acres of reeds. Fortunately, no one was injured.
generate enough power for simple electronics such But once a year, the Uros intentionally set their
as lamps, phones and black-and-white TVs. islands ablaze. According to Sayda Coila, a tour
With few refrigerators or stoves, food is cooked guide working at Iguana Hostel in Puno whose
parents were born and raised on the lake, this is the
Titicaca equivalent of slash-and-burn agriculture,
aimed at replacing rotted reeds with new vegetation
PLANNING A VISIT TO THE ISLANDS to harvest during the rainy season, which lasts from
CLOSCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: IZUSEK/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES; VERGANI FOTOGRAFIA/SHUTTERSTOCK; PAKHNYUSHCHY/SHUTTERSTOCK
December until March.
Transportation: Lake Titicaca can be reached by bus from Lima or Cusco,
both of which have international airports. IF THE ADVANTAGES of living on artificial
Lodging: Visitors can either stay in Puno or book a room on one of the islands don’t outnumber the disadvantages, they at
floating islands through Airbnb. Staying on an island provides the chance least outweigh them. “There is no noise,” says Coila
to get to know locals, creating a personal experience that differs from a Lujano. “Our houses do not use padlocks because
shorter group tour. there is no theft. In difficult times we survive by
Tours: If you stay in Puno, you can access the hunting. These are the blessings of having been
islands via boating or kayaking tours. Guides born on the highest lake in the world.” Until
can be booked through hotels and hostels in recently, he continues, people seldom wore shoes
Puno. If you stay on an island, usually your because they hardly visited the mainland.
host will act as your guide. Currently, the Uros maintain a good relationship
Activities: Depending on your tour guide, with the people of Puno and beyond. But that
you can explore the islands, learn how they wasn’t always the case. For years, their political
are made, talk to islanders about the history opponents, often anthropologists and academics
and culture of the islands, and buy clothing from Puno and Lima universities, challenged the
and crafts. While the Uros can be persistent about selling their wares, these ethnic legitimacy and origin of the Uros people,
sales remain one of the main ways they earn money. claiming the present-day islanders are related to
Duration: One day is often enough time to experience the islands, though the ancient Urus in name only.
longer stays allow for a more immersive experience. This opinion was — and to some extent contin-
Altitude: Lake Titicaca is 12,507 feet above sea level, and an estimated ues to be — shared by locals like Augusto Salcedo
4 in 10 visitors experience altitude sickness. You can buy medication at Parodi, a Puno-based architect who says the
pharmacies, or order coca tea in hotels, hostels, cafes, and restaurants. culture went extinct when the last person to speak
Coca tea, in addition to coffee, is served on the islands. the original Uru language died in the early 20th
century. “Later,” he says, “others learned to create
artificial islands with totora, and turned the islands. Now, vindicated by genetic data,
lake into a money-making machine.” the Uros can interact with the officials from
The islanders denied this, and in 2013 they the Reserva Nacional as equals rather than
were backed up by genetic research. An effort subjects. And they no longer have to pay
called the Genographic Project — conducted them any taxes.
by researchers from Brazil’s Federal University
of Minas Gerais in Brazil and Lima’s San THE FUTURE of the islands is again up
Martin de Porres University — revealed that in the air. Reliant on tourism, the Uros
many islanders share genetic traits with Uros suffered from pandemic travel restrictions.
people in Peru and Bolivia, but are genetically Then, just as Peru was reopening, national
distinct from other Indigenous people in the protests and airport closures followed the
South American highlands. The DNA results, arrest of President Pedro Castillo (accused of
published in Plos One, were celebrated by rebellion and conspiracy) in December 2022.
the Uros, and for good reason. In the Andes, Puno became a hotbed for anti-government
proof of a differentiated identity is the most protests, which derailed the Uros economy
effective way marginalized communities can HOME TO over to the point that islanders struggled to afford
100 species of
secure their political and civil rights. “We always ask birds, including
school supplies for their children.
ourselves whether we are Uros or not,” Julio Vilca, the white heron, More recently, the unrest seems to be dying
mayor of the Titicaca Uros, told lead anthropologist Lake Titicaca is down. This has rekindled opportunities for
a Ramsar site
Michael Kent at the time. “Proving that we are Uros visitors to drift through a forest of totora reeds and
MARK GREEN/SHUTTERSTOCK
— a UNESCO
is going to help us in our struggle.” designation given encounter the living communities of Lake Titicaca,
Prior to the Genographic Project, the Uros to “wetlands of which feel truly set apart from historic sites that
were held at the mercy of the Reserva Nacional international remain frozen in time. D
importance.”
del Titicaca, a Peruvian government agency created
in 1978 to regulate tourism on the lake and the Tim Brinkhof is a Dutch-born, New York-based travel writer.
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#ScienceIRL
BY TREE MEINCH
Northern-lights
hunters can track the
weekly forecast, or set
up “aurora alerts,” by
following NOAA’s Space
Weather Prediction
Center at www.swpc.
noaa.gov.
THE NOT-SO-NORTHERN LIGHTS
T
hese milky swirls of chartreuse, purple, red and blue are commonplace in
Alaska, Canada and Scandinavia. This year, however, the ethereal northern
lights have made appearances in dozens of the lower 48 U.S. states, even SHARE YOUR PHOTOS
dancing across dark skies as far south as Arizona last spring. And you can We want to feature your
awe-inspiring “Science in Real
expect similar spectacular shows over the next few years. Life” photos from your cities,
That’s due in part to an 11-year cycle within our sun’s atmosphere. Essentially, every nature, the arts and beyond.
11 years the solar magnetic field temporarily collapses — or “looks like a bowl of spaghetti Tag #ScienceIRL and Discover
ROB SCHULTZ/ISTOCK VIA GETTY IMAGES
for a while,” according to space physicist Don Hampton of the Geophysical Institute at the Magazine on Instagram or Twitter
for a chance to see your photo
University of Alaska Fairbanks — then reverses. This cyclical shift is forecast to peak in late featured here.
2024 to 2025, bringing an influx of solar storms, flares and the coronal mass ejections of
particles that cause the aurora borealis (or aurora australis, in the Southern Hemisphere).
As the charged particles reach our atmosphere, they gravitate toward the magnetic poles twitter.com/DiscoverMag
and emit a shower of color when they collide with nitrogen and oxygen. The solar drama instagram.com/discover.magazine
over the next couple of years bodes well for the usual global hot spots and for locations like
the lower 48 that don’t typically experience the celestial show. D
DISCOVER Magazine (ISSN 0274-7529, USPS No. 555-190) is published bimonthly (January/February, March/April, May/June, July/August, September/October, November/December) by Kalmbach Media Co., 21027 Crossroads Circle, P.O. Box 1612,
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