Popular Science Magazine for Students and Their Parents

#1 2020
DECEMBER

www.oyla.us
 #1 D ECEMBER 2020 3

S O C IE T Y

TABLE OF CONTENTS
PL ANET EARTH

Geological periods P. 36 100 seconds to the end

In what time do we live? of the world P. 80
M AT H S The fate of our planet
MIC RO BIO LO GY
is in our hands
Mysterious
What’s in fractals P. 4
a Petri dish? And where to find
them
DI Y SPORT

P. 48 Hydroponics P. 42 This is soccer P. 74

Growing vegetables without soil Your guide to the world’s most
PH YSIC S
Antibiotics, genetically- popular sport
modified bacteria, Antimatter at the service
and germ art of humankind P. 10 S K E P T IC
Myths and reality Illuminati confirmed?
P. 86
C H E MIS T RY Understanding
conspiracy theories
Sudsy soap and
other surfactants P. 16
Why do we use soap?
M E G A PROJ E C T M E DIC IN E

BIO L O GY Cables at the bottom of the sea P. 54 Your special person P. 90

Old Fourlegs P. 20 Connecting people across the oceans Getting in touch and making

friends
Our distant relative
from the sea

ME DIC IN E

The history
of Parkinson’s disease P. 24
From the “shaking palsy” to stem T E C H N O L O GY
cell therapy
(Im)possible The evolution
G EO G R A PH Y
engines P. 60 of the container P. 68
Lake Vostok P. 30 Will we ever reach From coal mining to martian stations
What awaits us at its bottom? the stars?
 M AT H #1 D ECEMBER 2020 5

WHAT IS A FRACTAL? The Koch snowflake is a geometric fractal, as are the Can-

E ARE TWO
tor set, the Sierpiński triangle, the Peano curve (space-filling
R
In the language of mathematics, a fractal is a set with the

E
TH
property of self-similarity. In other words, each member of the curve), and many others. It was with these models that the theory

TY set is an exact or approximate copy of a part of itself. One of of fractals began in the 19th century, due to the fact that the prop-

T PE the simplest examples to help us understand fractals is a Koch erties of self-similarity are most apparent in geometric fractals.

HA
snowflake. Let’s build one first for ourselves:
S
T

OF
K
HIN

PEO
Cantor set
Fractals are described by simple rules, which must be per-
WHO T

PLE: TH
formed repeatedly. The advent of the computer caused a revival
of interest in the study of fractals, as they were perfectly suited
to perform such operations.
Fractals are a highly abstract mathematical concept, but,
surprisingly, we frequently encounter objects in nature which
possess their main property — self-similarity. This is linked to
●
1 Draw an equilateral triangle. two main trends in the practical application of fractal theory.
E

●
2 On each side of the triangle, draw more equilateral triangles. Firstly, there are attempts to copy a natural fractal object using

OS E W
S

a simplified mathematical model. Computer animation achieved

●
3 On each side of the smaller triangles, draw even more
great results in this trend. Secondly, there are efforts to analyze
O

triangles, and so on. a natural object and reveal the fractal structures within it.
H

The Koch snowflake occupies a limited area. For example, it can

T

be limited to a circle of a certain length. But meanwhile, the

snowflake has an infinite perimeter(!). Say that the triangle’s side is
D

H
one whole. Then, with each step, its length (l) increases 4/3 times.
N

O
It is easy to derive the ratio of the length of the side
A

l =( 4 )
K n-1
, NO at nth step,
n 3
R E W As n approaches infinity, the side length will also approach infinity. Peano curve
WH A
AT FRACTALS

In everyday life, we rarely hear the Fractals can be applied in

mysterious word “fractal,” but we various areas: from image
Hindu temples have self-similar fractal structures,
encounter them on a daily basis. compression algorithms to the wherein separate parts resemble the whole. The
Trees, mountains, smoke, plants, study of blood vessels of living central tower represents the deity Shiva, and the
groups of similar smaller towers are the endless
and even the circulatory system organisms. repetition of the universes in Hindu cosmology.
have fractal structures. So what is a fractal? The Khajuraho Group of Monuments
 M AT H #1 D ECEMBER 2020 7

Coastlines are the most unusual example of fractals. If in

the rest of these examples, a person could visualize the object WHERE IS FRACTAL THEORY APPLIED?
in its entirety, then coastlines are more complicated: standing on
the ground, you can only observe a small portion of the shore.
IMAGE COMPRESSION
A fractal algorithm for image com-
pression has a high compression ratio:
the image becomes much smaller in size,
which saves memory on the computer.
The compression ratio when using a frac-
tal algorithm is roughly comparable to
the most popular compression method,
FRACTALS IN NATURE JPEG.
Corals, sea stars, hedgehogs, broccoli, coastlines, mountain The essence of the JPEG function is
ranges, and snowflakes all possess fractal properties. One of the detection of “self-similar” proportions
the clearest examples of this structure is a tree. Many branch- of the image. This makes it possible for
es extend from the trunk of the tree, and from those, smaller Lake Atatürk is a water reservoir created by the Atatürk Dam. It is the the image to increase in size later while
branches, and so on. third-largest lake in Turkey, second in size only to the Tuz and Van res- preserving its quality.
The tree possesses the main property of fractals, self-sim- ervoirs. This photo was taken by astronaut Anatoli Ivanishin from the The original image, increased to 512x512 The image, compressed using the fractal
ilarity: each branch is similar to the whole tree. The human International Space Station. pixels method,and then increased to 512x512 pixels
circulatory system is also arranged in a similar way. From the
arteries, thinner vessels, called arterioles, extend. From arteri- THE COASTLINE PARADOX
oles, capillaries extend, which are the smallest of all vessels. Measuring the length of a shoreline is an extremely difficult task. Example of a stochastic fractal in computer graphics
Due to these properties of blood vessels, scientists have been First, it is not a straight line; the shoreline bends and curves
able to study and explain various anomalies in the human body. anywhere from a few yards to a few thousand miles. The
coast has so many bends of varying lengths that it is difficult
LEONARDO’S RULE OF BRANCHES to find and measure them all. Because of these variances, if you
divide the coast into segments of 25 mi and count the total
In the 14th century, L  Leonardo da Vinci’s
length of the segments, the result will be radically different from
V developed a rule about the drawing
what you get if you divide the coastline into 50-mi segments
thickness of tree branches: “all the
and sum those. English mathematician L F R
branches of a tree at every stage of its
encountered this paradox in 1951. He noticed that Portugal
height when put together are equal in
thought the length of their land border with Spain was 987 km
thickness to the trunk.” Scientists have
(≈613 mi), while Spain thought it was 1,214 km (≈754 mi). They
not found an exact explanation for
solved this problem by adopting the smallest fragment as a
this phenomenon. Some associate it
unit of measurement. For example, if the length of a coastline
with the transportation of water in the
is measured in miles, then small bends which are much less
bark of the tree, while others believe it
than half a mile long are not taken into account.
is due to the tree’s resistance to exter-
nal mechanical influences.

Blood vessel
system of
a heart

Unit = 124 mi Unit = 62 mi Unit = 31 mi

Length ≈ 1,491 mi Length ≈ 1,740 mi Length ≈ 2,113 mi
 M AT H #1 D ECEMBER 2020 9

ART MEDICINE CONSTRUCTION

wire
Clouds, trees, flowers, mountains, the sea, and many other natu- Modern medical equipment (MRI and tomography) allow you to Modern engineers use high-tech cables, which are woven according strand
ral objects that can be seen in computer games and cartoons are obtain a huge amount of digital data about the internal organs to the fractal principle (a cable is formed from a bundle of cables, rope
generated with the help of fractal algorithms. When using the of a patient. The computer performs a mathematical analysis which are, in turn, formed from smaller wires, and so on).
fractal method, you do not need to draw each detail of a graphic of this data and identifies fractal structures. Cancerous tumors The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco is one example in
object separately (a tree branch, mountaintop, or flower petal); and emphysema have a more complex structure, while healthy which such technology was used.
you can simply set the initial parameters of the algorithm, and areas are simple. The principle of self-similarity in a fractal core
the rest of the work will be done by the computer. Because of allows us to reveal deviations in the very earliest stages and do
this, it is also possible to change an object quite quickly just by so automatically, without the participation of a doctor. Strands of History, 1936–1976.
altering the initial parameters of the algorithm. Golden Gate Bridge original
Emphysema A model of fractal analysis suspender cable. Souvenir.

Fractal tree in the diagnosis of lung cancer

Lung cancer Cross section of the Golden Gate Bridge’s cable

Cancerous tumors are made through the anomalous, rapid

growth of cells, which are accompanied by the formation of
new and disordered blood vessels. Healthy blood vessels have
an ordered fractal structure.
Live tree

Normal vasculature Tumor vasculature

CG tree
 P H Y S IC S #1 D ECEMBER 2020 11

ANTIMATTER
HOW DIRAC CAME TO DISCOVER THE ANTIWORLD
Consider Dirac’s simplified relativistic equation for an to which there cannot be more than one electron in one
electron. quantum state at the same time. That is, each hole has
energy speed of light one electron. Furthermore, Dirac suggested that, most
likely, this is not just a fragment of emptiness, but a positive
mass of a particle E² = m0² c4+ p²c² momentum
particle electron, or a positron. The Dirac model explains why the
at rest particles appear in pairs (particle-antiparticle), and energy is
released when they are annihilated.
E =± m0² c4+ p²c² This theory was met with skepticism. It could only be proven
This equation for calculating energy has two solutions: through experimentation. They had to either find this parti-
negative and positive. But the negative value was discard- cle or disprove the hypothesis.
ed as impossible because, as energy changes continuously,
THE CLASSICAL DIRAC’S HYPOTHESIS
it cannot change its sign. But Dirac set out to explain and REPRESENTATION
interpret the physical meaning of negative energy. In
Absorption of Energy re- The appearan- Annihilation of
quantum theory, unlike classical theory, changes in energy
energy and lease and ce of an an electron and
occur intermittently.
transition to transition to electron- a positron
Dirac suggested that the negative energy levels are already a high energy a low energy positron
filled with some kind of invisible particles (called the Dirac level level
sea). Suppose that we transfer energy to one of these e– e–
particles. According to our expectations, it should move to a E2
higher energy level in the positive area, where we will see
it as an electron. At the particle’s place in the negative zone, e– e– e– e–
a “hole” is formed. Because there was a negative particle
E1
(an electron) here before, the hole must acquire a positive
charge exactly equal to the charge of the electron. After all, E0
before we transferred energy to an invisible particle, it had a Dirac Sea
neutral charge (otherwise, it would be visible).
e+ e+
Why can’t this hole be occupied by another invisible parti- –E1
cle? Because of the Pauli exclusion principle, according

published in the journal Nature in 1898.

He also conjectured that when matter As a result of the
and antimatter meet, their equivalent annihilation of an
electron and a
quantities should disappear, turn into
positron, gamma
nothing, and annihilate one another
quanta photons
(from the Latin nihil, for “nothing”). The
are formed. In the
idea was not entirely correct. It should most common
be noted that, at that time, the scientif-
This term is often found in science fiction because authors IN THE BEGINNING, THERE ic community had not yet fully adopted
case, this is two

love to attribute the most unbelievable properties to this

WAS AN IDEA the concept of atoms and molecules. Al-
photons, each of
which possesses
It all started with the idea of antigravity. though, in 1897, yet another British physi- energy equal to
mysterious substance. But what does science know about it? In the 1880s, British physicist and math- cist, J.J. T, discovered the electron. the resting energy
First of all, antimatter actually exists. Secondly, there is very ematician W H (don’t mix him Fast-forwarding, we can now say that an- of an electron or
up with Peter Higgs!) was considering timatter does not possess antigravity, but positron
little of it. And thirdly, it can shed light on the laws under the vortex theory of gravity. According to it does know how to annihilate. (0.511 MeV).
which our universe exists. this theory, the attraction between bod- Physicists decidedly liked these terms,
ies arises from vortices of aether which so they coined them as a way to describe
penetrate space. Hicks proposed that a these hypothetical phenomena. The be-
substance with negative gravity exists. ginning of the 20th century was a time of When solving the Schrödinger wave equation in 1928,
Another British physicist, S A rapid development in physics: quantum one of the greatest physicists in history, Englishman
S, reduced this idea to the term mechanics, wave-particle duality, and PAUL DIRAC, predicted that an electron should have
“antimatter,” which he used in a letter other daunting ideas came into the world. a counterpart similar in mass but opposite in charge.
 P H Y S IC S #1 D ECEMBER 2020 13

and changed accordingly with the curva-

AN ABOVE-GROUND ture of the trajectory. There was nothing MOVEMENT OF PARTICLES IN A MAGNETIC FIELD
DISCOVERY left to do but to recognize that “positive-
The discovery of antimatter did not take ly-charged electrons” originate in space. Positron
place entirely on Earth. In 1932, a young The scientist called this particle a “pos- Proton
American physicist, C A, set itron” (from “positive electron”) and pro-
up a series of experiments on the study posed changing the name of the electron External
of cosmic rays in a cloud chamber. to “negatron,” by analogy with the positron. magnetic field υk υk
Based on the deviation of the parti- Anderson’s article was published on March
cle trajectory in the chamber, it was clear 15, 1933, in the journal Physical Review. В
that this particle was the carrier of a sin- Neutron
gle positive charge. At first, everyone
EXITING
thought about the good old proton. But
the proton has a much larger ionization
POSITRON
υ υk
potential (the ratio of the energy need-
ed to detach the particle from its charge);
that is, a much larger mass. This value, by
magnitude, coincided with the value of X-particle υk
an electron. From all appearances, the LEAD PLATE
mass of the unusual particle was ap-
proximately equal to that of an electron. υk
But there was still the possibility that
these were not positively charged par- ENTERING
ticles but only electrons that changed POSITRON
direction as a result of scattering. To rule A picture of the tracks of subatomic Electron Antiproton
out this possibility and trace the direction particles in a cloud chamber
of the particle’s motion, Anderson devel- Trace of the trajectory of a positron in the
oped an elegant experiment: he placed Wilson cloud chamber from Anderson’s 1932 However, six months earlier, the physicist
a ¼-inch lead plate parallel to the Earth experiment. The particle loses a part of its had announced the first antiparticle in a
in a chamber. Now the particle, passing energy when passing through the lead plate short message in Science magazine.
through it, should have reduced its energy and rotates in the magnetic field.

FROM ANTIPARTICLES
The Wilson cloud chamber is one of the first instruments in history TO ANTIMATTER
designed to record the tracks of charged particles. It was named after And that’s how antiparticles were dis-
its inventor, Scottish physicist C W. In the chamber, a su- covered. Well, more precisely, how one
persaturated vapor is created, through which a stream of charged par- of them was discovered. In 1955, E
ticles is passed. The particles leave ions behind them, which causes G S and O C dis-
the vapor to condense. The user then photographs the condensate covered the antiproton, winning a Nobel
formed along the trajectory of the particle. Prize for their work along the way. A year
Cosmic rays are a stream of elementary particles later, B C and his colleagues dis-
Alcohol vapor condense Camera Felt ring soaked in alcohol
to form liquid droplets (to supply alcohol vapor to and nuclei of atoms moving with high energies in covered the antineutron , and it thus
around the ionised the chamber) outer space. They were discovered by the Austrian became possible to study antimatter.
Plastic lid
molecule physicist V F H, who launched his In principle, the antiproton was
Radioactive source
(produces radiation and measurement instruments in a balloon and ob- already the core of antihydrogen, but
causes ionization of served that at altitude, the ionization level of the something was missing. In 1965, an an-
vapor) air is higher and remains the same day and night. tideuteron—a hybrid of an antiproton and
The baton was then passed to the american sci- an antineutron—was obtained. In the
entist R A. M, who, following the ad- 1970s, antitritium and antihelium nu-
Lamp
Dry ice (cools the alcohol
clei were discovered in Serpukhov, USSR A real breakthrough in the study of antimatter was achieved in the
vapour until it is vice of the soviet physicist D S,
staturated) adapted Wilson’s camera to study the tracks of (present-day Russia). Only in 1995 CERN 2010s. Thirty-thousand antiprotons, cooled down to – 99.4°F, and 2
Foam (supports dry cosmic ray particles. His student, C A, physicists were able to “assemble” an million positrons, chilled to –387.4° F, yielded 38 antihydrogen atoms
antihydrogen atom. But at that time, they
ice) conducted research with a cloud chamber on that lived for 172 milliseconds. A year later, 309 atoms were created,
mountain peaks and in hot air balloons. were separate atoms.
and they existed for 1000 seconds!
 P H Y S IC S #1 D ECEMBER 2020 15

ANTIMATTER AT THE SERVICE

THE NATURE OF ANTIMATTER OF HUMANKIND
Physicists were able to make use of much But most interestingly, antimatter has been at humankind’s
smaller quantities of antimatter. Now we service for four decades. During certain medical research on
know for sure that antimatter interacts grav- the human body, annihilation takes place.
itationally in the same way as matter. The
spectrum of anti-atoms is identical to that
of ordinary atoms. Therefore, we do not dis-
tinguish between anti- and normal matter
through a telescope.
MILLION DOLLARS
That is how much the production of
a approximately 3.5 oz of positrons,
the simplest variety of antimatter,
costs. This makes antimatter the most
But the main mystery still remains: why does the expensive substance on Earth, and it AN ANTIMATTER BOMB
world around us most likely consist of matter, is also extremely difficult to maintain.
In D B’ novel Angels and Demons, villains steal a
while there is very, very little antimatter? gram (about 0.035 oz) of antimatter from CERN and threat-
en to blow up Rome. Now we know that when a substance
J C and V F won the
meets antimatter, both masses disappear, turning into
Nobel Prize for demonstrating that in-
radiation strictly according to Einstein’s formula: E = mc2.
variance is violated during the disintegra-
As you can see, there is a monstrous magnitude in this for-
tion of neutral kaon. Their experiments One example of this stems from our need to see the activity of
mula — approximately 671,080,888 mph, which is roughly
exhibited that this violation is not suffi- brain regions in real-time. What is required to accomplish this?
equal to the speed of light. This makes antimatter much
The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (FGST) cient to obtain the required amount of One cyclotron, one chemical laboratory, and a positron emission
more powerful than a thermonuclear bomb. Calculations
In accelerator experiments, particles is a gamma-ray astronomy observatory in low a substance, because reactions going tomography, or PET scanner, the first versions of which were
show that the annihilation of that stolen gram of antimatter
are produced only in pairs: an an- Earth orbit, used to observe high-energy spikes backward in time are not identical to created back in the 1970s.
would have been equivalent to around 474,000 t of TNT!
tiparticle and a particle. The same in space, for example, in galactic nuclei those going forward. Our brain, although it only weighs 1.5–2% of our total body
thing probably happened at the time and pulsars It has also been suspected that dark weight, is voracious and consumes 20% of all of our energy,
of the Big Bang — an equal number matter consists of antimatter. But, in that generally in the form of glucose. In locations where the brain is
of particles and antiparticles ap- case, gamma-telescopes should register more active at a given moment, there is A PET scan
peared. But in that case, all matter signals from its annihilation. The results more glucose in the blood. But how of the brain
would have been annihilated and the of a 413-week observation session of can we see it? It’s simple. In a cy- of a patient
universe would consist of radiation the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope clotron, you develop an isotope of
alone. The paradox of the so-called were recently published, but there was fluorine ¹⁸F, the half-life of which
Baryon asymmetry (cases in which nothing suspicious! is 109.8 minutes. This isotope
there is matter but no antimatter) On a daily basis, the same telescope exhibits beta plus decay, which
remains unresolved. observes the birth of large amounts of emits a positron. Next, a typical The rest is a matter of tech-
One of the most prominent ver- antimatter on Earth. glucose molecule is taken and nique. Construct straight lines in
sions of the paradox is the violation one of the hydroxyl groups in it is the opposite direction and, where
of CP symmetry. What is this? For replaced by a fluorine atom, which Radioactive they converge, you will “see” the
a long time, it was believed that if
In 2011, Fermi recorded gamma-flares is close in size.
tracer
point of annihilation. Where there are more
all particles were simultaneously re- caused by the annihilation of positrons produced This makes 18-fluorodeoxyglu- annihilations, there were more fluorine
placed by antiparticles and a mirror in the air by ordinary lightning. Powerful lightning, as it turned out, cose, and you drink this solution before atoms, and, hence, glucose. This means that
image of the physical system was can produce up to 100 trillion positrons. undergoing the test. Glucose enters the it was those spots where the brain was
made, then the laws of physics would brain and the fluorine atoms continue to more active. For greater accuracy, linking
not “notice” the inversion; everything disintegrate. activity to anatomical details, you can si-
would remain the same. This is CP The annihilation multaneously conduct an MRI or CT scan.
of particles in a brain γ-radiation Gamma ray detectors
invariance. What emerged from it is Oncologists look for metastases in the
that there is no difference between That is to say, positrons are being born right inside our brains. They same way, but instead of fluorinated glu-
particles and antiparticles, including cose, they use radiopharmaceuticals that
don’t get very far, though: after moving just a few fractions of an inch,
the way they come into existence. locate cancerous tumors with great preci-
However, in the 1960s, two annihilation occurs. The positron disappears, and two gamma quanta sion. So antimatter is, of course, still the
American physicists proved that in- shoot out in opposite directions, before being “caught” by the sensors in stuff of fantasy, but at the same time, it is a
variance is violated in some instances. the ring of the scanner. reality that saves many lives every year.
 C H E MI S T RY #1 D ECEMBER 2020 17

HOW DOES SOAP WORK?

AUTHOR
SURFACTANT MONOMERS MICELLE

The polarized surfactant head

SUDSY SOAP The non-polarized surfactant tail

and Other Surfactants

Every day, more than 6.5 lbs of these

substances are produced per inhabit-
ant of the Earth. No, we’re not talking
about food products. We mean
compounds that reduce the surface
tension of liquids.
Soap dissolves in water Surfactant ions orientate Agitation begins to sepa- Process continues Cleaning complete
themselves in grease rate grease from surface
and water
The hydrophobic part of the molecule is active in all non-po-
HEAVEN-SENT CLEANLINESS lar solvents, such as gasoline or oil, so soap is well-suited for the
Soap can arguably be considered the most popular surfactant. removal of such contaminants. It is interesting that surfactants
Sodium or potassium salts of fatty acids make up the core of the can work only at the interface between two states: liquid-gas,
cleansing agent, and they have a complex structure. The molecule liquid-solid, or two immiscible liquids. They look for boundaries
of such acids is “bilateral”: one half repels water (hydrophobic), between states, just like spies, and this is why substances that Adsorption
and the other is attracted to it (hydrophilic). When you soap up reduce surface tension are called surfactants , or “surface-
your hands, the hydrophobic parts of the molecules come into active agents.” The surfactants have mastered an entire pro-

Diffusion

Diffusion
operation, moistening the grease. When we put our hands in cedure for transit from the liquid solution to the state interface —
Interconversion
water, the hydrophilic side comes into play — it attaches itself adsorption, the essence of which lies in the accumulation of
to the water and carries away the whole molecule, along with substances in the surface layer. Surfactant molecules are able to Micelle Monomers
harmful substances and bacteria, into the sewer system. If you independently move to the interface of two substances.
simply rinse your hands with water, the fatty particles and the If there are too many surfactants, more than the bound- droplets of micelles (from the Latin “micella,” meaning a small
contaminants they have accumulated will remain on your skin. ary can hold, the molecules gather into microscopic spherical particle).
 C H E M I S T RY #1 D ECEMBER 2020 19

The micelle is a sphere of molecules with protruding hy-

drophilic ends and a diameter of a few nanometers. DIFFERENT SURFACTANTS ARE Modern surfactants are divided into ionic and non-ionic. Amphoteric surfactants are the sort of “Dr. Jekkyl and Mr.
NECESSARY They are distinguished by their behavior in aqueous solutions; Hyde” among ionic substances because they are able to manifest
Ninety-nine percent of all surfactants are organic substances — ionic surfactants become ions when dissolved. Both positive both as cationic in acidic solutions and as anionic substances in
alcohols, fatty acids, and their salts, as well as other compounds charge ions (cations) and negative charge (anions) can display alkaline solutions. Non-ionic substances do not decompose into
based on carbon and hydrogen. According to the stories of the surface activity. They are called cationic and anionic, respectively. ions in water, but they dissolve perfectly due to the formation of
ancient Roman writer P  E, people were able to Cationic surfactants are organic bases with salts, while anionic a hydrogen bond between the H20 molecule and the functional
use such compounds as surfactants even before the common ones are organic acids with salts. group of surfactants. Such surfactants appeared relatively re-
era. To do so, they mixed wood ash from beech with goat fat, cently, in Germany in the 1930s, but they already hold a steady
and voila! The first soap was created. Later, alchemists thought IONIC SURFACTANTS position in the world in terms of production volume, second
up the idea of treating natural oils with sulfuric acid, and the only to anionic surfactants.
French scientist E F prepared detergents from olive ANIONIC
and almond oils in 1831.

In Germany in 1843, people added coconut oil

to their cooking pots for soap. At first, though,
the aromatic soap did not sell very well.
The new product did not have the familiar CATIONIC
unpleasant smell of rancid fat,
Water Negative Hydrophobic Hydrophilic which people had grown used to, so
molecule ion tail head
they thought the coconut soap to
be low-quality.
Acquiring a micellar solution is simple: to make it, pour a thin
stream of liquid soap into water until it becomes cloudy. Such a INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE
solution with microparticles of liquid soap, capable of wetting A DAILY CHEMICAL In toothpaste Detergents such as soaps, washing powders, and shampoos
many surfaces, is called a colloidal solution . By the way, milk SLS is added to the paste as a foaming
account for almost half of the global production of surfactants.
and blood also belong to the category of colloidal solutions. SODIUM LAURYL SULFATE agent. It also irritates the taste buds in the Workers in the oil industry add surfactants to water-oil emul-
mouth. This substance suppresses taste sions to quickly get rid of impurities in the water, as well as to
White powder
buds and destroys phospholipids, which improve oil recovery from underground reservoirs.
act as inhibitors of acute stimuli receptors.
1 2
СH3(CH2)11OSO3Na Drinking orange juice after brushing your
teeth will seem unpleasant to you since
SLS dulls your taste buds and strengthens Injection water Production
oil
the juice’s bitter aftertaste. well well
Sodium lauryl sulfate (also known as sodium do- nano hybrid
decyl sulfate or SLS) is a surfactant present in many Engine degreaser
cleaning products such as toothpaste, shampoo, Sodium lauryl sulfate is present in some
3 4 engine degreasing agents. The substance
shaving foam, and bath foam.
is present in such degreasers in a much
larger amount than in shampoos, for ex-

surfactant
ample. They are also used by various in-

polymer

moving
water

oil
dustries as a leather softener, wool
cleanser, and floor cleaner.

DEMONSTRATION OF THE WORK OF SURFACTANTS Potential protection from sharks

In shampoo Studies conducted in 2001 showed that
Take a thin copper wire, wrap it a few times into a spiral, and lightly
sodium lauryl sulfate exhibits shark-repel-
grease it with vegetable oil. Gently place it on the surface of the water. Sodium lauryl sulfate is a surfactant, We also need surfactants to mix liquids that do not want to
the molecule of which contains both a lant properties due to its hydrophobic na-
Due to the low weight and hydrophobic fat, the copper wire does not be in the same solution, for example, oil lubricating mixtures.
water-soluble and water-insoluble part. ture. However, despite this potential
sink. Now for the main act — drip liquid soap from a pipette into the Surfactants are used to produce nano-objects in the process of
It attaches to grease or dirt and tends application, the substance is not used as a
center of the spiral. The copper wire will start spinning and then sink!
Soap, merely by means of its presence, enables water to moisten the to dissolve in water. This substance also primary means of protection against shark liquid dispersion (grinding of solid bodies) and emulsification
reduces the surface tension of water attacks. Semiochemicals, as well as defen- (mixing of two or more liquids that are normally immiscible).
fat, and the difference in surface tension on different parts of the wire
sive toxins of marine organisms, were pro- In metalworking processes, surfactants are used as cutting
makes it rotate, and eventually the wire sinks. The stronger the sur- and forms bubbles.
posed as alternative repellent agents.
factant, the faster the rotation. fluids that reduce friction and simplify cutting and milling.
 BIO L O G Y

A SCALY
#1 D ECEMBER 2020 21

ANCESTOR
Toothy, dark blue, 5 feet in length,
covered in scales, and even with legs.
Have you guessed who this is? None other
than our shared great-grandmother!
Of course, coelacanths, or the genus Latimeria,
are not our direct ancestors, but they are still relatives
of beings that first left the seas 385 million years ago and
became four-legged terrestrial animals, from which we
sprung. And these relatives are still alive today!

OLD FOURLEGS Ms. Courtenay-Latimer was an ordinary museum worker, but

On December 22, 1938, floating off the South African coast in jaws. This was not just any fish — it had scales, fins, and...limbs. after a single glance at the creature, she immediately realized that from Ms. Courtenay-Latimer: ‘’And then a bomb
the Indian Ocean, fishermen from the Irvin & Jones Company Or, more precisely, rudiments thereof. Moreover, there were there was something unique in front of her. The animal was like a seemed to burst in my brain, and beyond that sketch
caught an unknown creature. It weighed 188.5 lbs, was about seven of them: two on the back, three on the belly, and another bridge between a fish and a lizard. She looked through the records and the paper of the letter, I was looking at a series
5 ft in length, dark blue in color, and unabashedly chomped its pair on the head. and could not find anything similar. Meanwhile, she needed to of fishy creatures that flashed up as on a screen,
It should be noted that the local population occasionally caught work quickly — the fish was decomposing in the African heat right
fishes no longer here, fishes that lived in dim past
these creatures and had even come up with a name for them, in front of her.
gombes sa, which can be translated as “bitter fish.” The residents Ms. Courtenay-Latimer had a hard time persuading a local ages gone, and of which only fragmentary remains in
knew that it was nearly inedible (it was consumed due to the belief taxi driver to take the decaying carcass to the museum or to rocks are known. I told myself sternly not to be a fool,
that its meat helped to cope with malaria symptoms), although it even let her drag it into the car. And then, she had to listen to but there was something about the sketch that seized
was possible to make something like sandpaper from their extreme- D. B B, the Chairman of the museum, mocking her: on my imagination and told me that this was some-
ly strong and bristly scales. So for the local fishermen, perhaps, it “To you, all ugly ducklings seem to be swans.”
was not such a curiosity; nevertheless, they called the curator of the Nevertheless, she sent the fish to a taxidermist, sketched an
thing far beyond the usual run of fishes in our seas...”
local East London Museum, M C-L. The approximate picture of the find, and sent for her friend, ichthyologist But that “burst” happened not only in Smith’s brain. At that
museum had a standing arrangement with the fishermen, requesting J. L. B. S, who was in a different city at the time. time, the entire scientific world waited with bated breath. It
that they report all unusual findings. turned out that the scientists had something more extraordi-
Smith, who later wrote a book about the fish they nary on their hands than a dinosaur — it was a living ancestor,
Ms. Courtenay-Latimer and the fish she discovered discovered, called Old Fourlegs: The Story of the Coe- believed to have died out about 70 million years ago. In honor
lacanth, described his feelings upon reading the letter of Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer, Smith named the fish Latimeria.
* Photo: The South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity
 B IO L O G Y #1 D ECEMBER 2020 23

Previously, species of Latimeria

were called brushfishes, but
this term has since become ob-
solete. A specimen discovered Ichthyostega
in South Africa was named Tiktaalik
Latimeria chalumnae, and in
1997–1999, a second species Eusthenopteron
(which was brown in colour), Coelacanth
Latimeria menadoensis, was
discovered and described near Latimeria
menadoensis million years ago 385 375 365 360
the island of Sulawesi in Indo-
nesia. All other species of Coe- Latimeria In addition to the class of lobe-finned years ago, many “fleshy-footed” beings bodies of water — in those distant times,
lacanthiformes are now thought chalumnae fish, there is the famous Tiktaalik, a more began to find themselves on land, just there were not enough decomposers,
to be extinct. “advanced” species than Latimeria, which like Tiktaalik. There were many reasons like fungi and bacteria, to process dead
lived 375 million years ago and was a for this: from the large number of arthro- vegetation and animals, meaning that
transitional form between fish and am- pods who floated along the banks of riv- they died in the water and stayed there
OUR COUSIN’S GRANDPA phibians. It, too, was probably not our ers and lakes, to the increasing threat of for a very long time, making the space
This fish is, of course, not our direct (as Latimeria was christened) can be con- instead something like a chord, a flexible direct ancestor. Around 385–375 million predators, to the eutrophication of small very cramped.
ancestor. Terrestrial vertebrates (also sidered our distant relative. elastic rod running along its back, which
called tetrapods), to which we belong, Since the birth of the lobe-finned was the predecessor of our bodies. Also,
are closer to the lungfish, an ancient fish 400 million years ago, it has changed, it has a small appendage at the end of DEEPER AND COLDER
group of fish possessing both lungs and albeit not too dramatically: its size has its body, similar to the embryo of the The coelacanth is a tropical fish, but that
gills. Nevertheless, both the coelacanth increased, its swim bladder is filled not tails seen in amphibians. But most impor- does not mean that it loves sunlight and
and the lungfish come from the same with air but with fat, and the proportions tantly, the coelacanth has the rudiments heat. On the contrary, this fish prefers the
ancestor, and both belong to the same of its body have been modified. None- of limbs, the very ones that helped our depths (from 650 to 2,300 ft) and surfac-
class of lobe-finned fish. Therefore, the theless, Latimeria resembles our distant ancestors to climb out from the sea onto es to a level of 250-330 ft only at night.
“zoological sensation of the 20th century” forefathers. It does not have a spine but dry land. Coelacanths are predators (again,
look at those teeth!). Their diet includes
fish and even small sharks. Most of the
Sarcopterygii, or lobe-finned fish, are a coelacanth’s meals live in underwater
class of bonefish, the first category of which crevices and caves, where the fish prefers fields, caused by contact between living Coelacanths have very long lifespans.
is the order of Coelacanthiformes. The sec- to swim. The animal’s mouth structure tissues and water at the bottom of the They can live to see their 80th and even
ond, Rhipidistia, is of lungfish. Most lobe- allows it to move not only the lower jaw ocean. To do so, Old Fourlegs has special 100th birthday. They are also ovovivipa-
First dorsal fin finned fish possess well-developed, fleshy but also the upper one, enabling it to organs called electro-receptors. rous, which means that they do not
Second dorsal fin
blades in their paired fins. efficiently suck in food. Interestingly, the fin movement of spawn like most fish that we know, and
The coelacanth can turn upside the Latimeria is similar to that of the ex- they do not lay eggs like lizards. Instead,
Posterior
down and hang in this position for up to tremities of most terrestrial vertebrates: they carry the eggs inside themselves.
caudal fin two minutes. Scientists have found that, first, the fish simultaneously moves the Thirteen months after conception (yes,
Rostral organ in this way, the fish detects weak electric left thoracic and right ventral fins, and Latimeria pregnancies last even longer
then the right thoracic and left abdomi- than in humans), the young hatch from
nal simultaneously as well. their eggs.
UNDERWATER HABITATS
Temperature °F
0 ft
Dolphin
650 ft 78.8°
Tuna
71.6°
White shark
64.4°
Swordfish
Caudal fin Pectoral fin 57.2°
Anal fin Pelvic fin Coelacanth
3,300 ft Sperm whale 50°

Whale shark 42.8°

Angler
35.6°
 M E DIC I N E #1 D ECEMBER 2020 25

THE BEGINNING: JAMES

PARKINSON

PARKINSON’S DISEASE:
Matthew retired not too long ago. Several
years ago, he discovered that it became
difficult for him to move his hand, and a
neurologist came to a tragic conclusion:
“You have Parkinson’s disease in its ini-
tial stages. But don’t be upset — we will

A 200-YEAR STRUGGLE treat it.” From that time on, Matthew read
constantly to learn more about his illness.
Since he was interested in history, the
first thing he discovered was the person
after whom the disease was named.
J P was born on April
11, 1755, in East London to the family of
surgeon John Parkinson. He followed in
One of few existing images of James Parkinson (in the center). All of the rest, including photos
his father’s footsteps, becoming a doctor.
found on the internet, are falsified. In Parkinson’s day, cameras had not yet been invented.
He was a talented practitioner, saved
many people’s lives, and even became
one of the first members of the Royal Interestingly, the afflicted were not Thirdly, their hands trembled, hence the
Humane Society (a charitable organiza- his patients — as a doctor, Parkinson often title of the essay “On the Shaking Palsy.”
tion which provided first aid to those who walked in the streets of London and ob- Fourthly, one of the afflicted person’s
were affected by disasters). served people with similar symptoms. hands was extended forward as if they
Parkinson was observant and no- It used to be very easy to distinguish were counting or rotating something,
ticed many things. This helped him in his this type of patient. First, their posture like money, pills, or prayer beads. Due
scientific research: in 1817, Whittingham was hunched, as if they were begging. to muscle spasms, these people moved
and Rowland published his work, “An Secondly, the person’s face was prac- very little and took small steps, but some-
Essay on the Shaking Palsy,” in which tically devoid of facial expression and times, they could set off into a full run —
he summarised six clinical cases. almost did not show emotions at all. this is called a propulsive gait. It is rare

SYMPTOMS OF PARKINSON’S DISEASE

Tremor Slowed
A tremor, or shaking, usually begins in a limb,
often your hand or fingers. You may a rub your movement
To this day, we do not fully understand how and why it arises or how to treat it. We thumb and forefinger back-and-forth, known as Over time, Parkinson's
can only relieve its symptoms—and even for a relatively long time. It spares no one: a pill-rolling tremor. Your hand may tremor disease may slow your
when it's at rest. movement, making sim-
Mohammed Ali was not the only famous patient with this diagnosis. Pope John Paul ple tasks difficult and
II died from complications of Parkinson’s disease. The 41st President of the United time-consuming. Your
States of America, George Bush Sr., suffered from this ailment; and the star of the steps may become
shorter when you walk.
Back to the Future trilogy, Michael J. Fox, has struggled with this disease since 1991. Speech changes
You may speak softly, quickly, slur or hesitate be-
And successfully at that: recently, he was able to perform on stage with a guitar! fore talking. Your speech may be more of a mono-
tone rather than with the usual inflections.
 M E DIC I N E #1 D ECEMBER 2020 27

to see such a vivid picture of the illness

now, because patients generally receive MOVING ON: WHAT
proteins, and they are a characteristic
sign of dementia , the loss of mental
THE PATH OF DOPAMINE the main motor system (the pyramidal, or cor ticospinal tract),
maintaining muscle tone and coordinating movements. In the
maintenance therapy that alleviates many ABOUT THE BRAIN? abilities. TO THE BRAIN case of such a breach, this system is “disinhibited”: redundant
of the symptoms. Matthew did not stop his search, and At this point, Matthew deduced that movements like tremors and other characteristic symptoms
Alas, Parkinson’s contemporaries did he spent long winter evenings leafing the symptoms of his illness were caused Dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra use dopa- appear.
not take note of his work: neurological through books. From a textbook on neu- by the death of nerve cells in the sub- mine to transmit signals to the basal ganglia, which con-
diseases were not held in great esteem rology, he learned that in his illness, stantia nigra. This idea was first proposed trols the movements of an organism, making it active.
at the beginning of the 19th century. This clots of foreign matter formed within by Soviet neuropathologist K When these neurons are destroyed (due to the accu- LEVODOPA THE SAVIOR
illness was discovered once more by the nerve cells, preventing them from work- T. mulation of Lewy bodies), dopamine becomes short in Matthew realized what was happening in his brain. But what
“Napoleon of Neuroses,” J-M ing normally (why this happens is still a Substantia nigra, or “black substance” supply and movement is constrained. Motor activity de- did the doctor prescribe him? And how does this medicine help?
C, who, it seems, had a hand in mystery). These are called Lewy bodies. in Latin, is a part of the human midbrain. creases, and muscle spasms appear. Lack of the neurotransmitter dopamine plays the primary
studying or naming almost all neuro- “Interesting,” thought Matthew, as he This is where neurons responsible for the Substantia nigra — in a brain with Parkinson’s disease, role in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease. Its biochemical
logical illnesses. Exactly 60 years later, opened up a search engine in his browser. synthesis of the neurotransmitter dopa- this is where neurons are destroyed precursor is the amino acid tyrosine. The tyrosine enzyme, hy-
in 1877, he described the “trembling It turned out that in 1912, these mine are found. If they die, this destroys droxylase, uses a “hanging” hydroxyl group (-OH) to convert ty-
palsy” anew and proposed renaming it strange interneuronal bodies were the neural path through which excitation rosine to levodopa (L-DOPA). In turn, the L-DOPA-decarboxylase
Parkinson’s disease (“la mal adie de discovered by a German scholar, F- is passed along to the basal ganglia, as enzyme converts levodopa into dopamine.
Parkinson”).  H L. Today, we know that well as the substantia nigra, which is part Basal ganglia Dopamine is not able to pass by itself through the blood-
these bodies are made up of components of the extrapyramidal system . This brain barrier — a powerful line of defense and control that
of the alpha-synuclein protein and other system controls movements parallel to prevents all of the things that “float” in our blood from entering
into our brains. Therefore, taking it as a medicine is pointless.
On the other hand, levodopa passes through perfectly. This
promised a bright future in pharmacology.
Levodopa is an abbreviation of L-3,4-dihydroxyphenyla-
lanine, or L-dopa. Matthew learned from a chemistry textbook
Dendrites that levodopa was first synthesized by the Polish chemist K-
 F in 1911 (he also invented the word “vitamin”). This
Neuron event went unnoticed for a long time, but everything changed
dramatically in 1938 when German pharmacologist and phys-
iologist P H and his collaborators discovered the
Axon L-DOPA-decarboxylase enzyme. This allowed us to understand
the way that dopamine and other mediators are produced, and
put levodopa and dopamine in the group of the most important
“informational” molecules of the brain.
Levodopa’s fate stirred up curiosity in Matthew and he found
Nerve impulse out that in the middle of the 20th century, Swedish pharma-
Dopamine is is an activating neurotrans-
cologist and future Nobel laureate, A K, set up
mitter: when it acts on another neuron, the
an experiment: he immobilized guinea pigs with the strongest
latter’s activity level increases
possible tranquilizer, reserpine, a vegetable poison, and then
Synapse introduced levodopa to them. They went from lying on the
floor with lowered ears to jumping on their feet in practically
an instant!
In the early 1960s, Austrian pharmacologist D. O
H discovered a sharp decrease in dopamine in
the basal ganglia of patients suffering from Parkinson’s dis-
ease. The facts lined up quite logically: dopamine is necessary
to maintain the motor activity of the body, and levodopa is its
direct biological precursor.
Matthew enthusiastically read about how Hornykiewicz
consulted his colleague, Viennese neurologist W B-
THE MECHANISM OF ACTION OF DOPAMINE , offering him two grams of levodopa (0.07 oz) for clinical
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is produced in the experiments. Intravenous administration of the substance led
human body by special dopaminergic neurons. It transmits in- When a person has Parkinson’s disease, there to a quick, albeit temporary, improvement in the condition of
formation from one cell to another using intercellular con- is not enough dopamine in their synapses, and patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease. These first experi-
tacts, or synapses. the cell’s synthesis processes are disrupted Neurons with pathological accumulations ments allowed for a new era in the history of the illness, making
of Lewy bodies (shown by arrows) levodopa therapy the gold standard of treatment.
 M E DIC I N E #1 D ECEMBER 2020 29

At the end of 2017, a clinical study for a new form of therapy

A STRANGE CURE, began to recruit participants. Two-year long trials on macaques
BUT IT WORKS were successful, so all that was left was to try it on humans.
In addition to levodopa, which in com- Using the method proposed by Yamanaka, scientists repro-
bination with carbidopa is still the only Taking dopamine as grammed the cells of healthy humans and produced young do-
effective drug to treat the disease, there medicine is pointless. It paminergic neurons, which were then implanted onto the brains
Dopamine
is another method—deep brain stim- does not pass through the of macaques with damaged substantia nigras. Transplantation
ulation, or DBS. It helps, but as of now, blood-brain barrier, unlike of the neurons significantly relieved symptoms of the illness,
we’re not sure exactly why. levodopa. and the observed effects were long-term: the improvement
During DBS, long and thin electrodes (without tumor development) lasted for 21 months until the
The Blood-Brain Barrier
with a width of only hundredths of an experiment concluded.
inch are implanted in the brain, pointing Today the whole world, Matthew included, waits anxiously
towards a target area the size of a corn for the results of the experimentation on humans. Parkinson’s
kernel—the subthalamic nucleus in the patients have new hope. And in the meantime, Matthew decid-
basal ganglia. Electrodes gently stimulate L-DOPA (Levodopa) ed to sign up for a consultation with a neurosurgeon to learn
it, which eases the motor symptoms of further about deep brain stimulation and see if this method is S Y is a Japanese scientist and winner
Parkinson’s disease. suitable for him. After all, he wants to stay active for as long as of the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine
After perusing the internet, Matthew possible.
learned that about 10,000 people un-
dergo DBS operations each year for the DEEP BRAIN STIMULATION (DBS) DOPAMINE NEURONS MADE OF STEM CELLS FOR TRANSPLANTATION
treatment of Parkinson’s. Statistics have
already aggregated the results of over This method is used to relieve the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. A small neu-
140,000 patients who have used these rostimulator is implanted under the collarbone. The device uses electrodes to The idea is to replace dead
electrodes. The first DBS operation was send electrical signals to the subthalamic nucleus in the brain, blocking signals neurons. After transplantation,
performed in 1987 in the French city of with symptoms of the illness. The method does not heal it completely, but it ●
5 young neurons form connec-
Grenoble, and the patient is still alive to slows down the development of the disease, relieves symptoms, and improves tions with existing cells and
this day. It’s not surprising that doctors the patient’s quality of life. produce dopamine. Scientists
think of this method as something be- Dopamine neurons can reprogram mature cells —
1 Extraction of cells
●
tween science, art, and shamanism. But for example, skin cells, into
it prolongs life. 2 Reprogramming
● immature stem cells, from
Electrodes
3 Reproduction
● ●
4
which cells of other types can
Electrical be developed. Stem cells are
NEW HOPE Impulse of stem cells primitive, divide actively, and
Subthalamic
Matthew was most struck by a piece of 4 Differentiation
information that he stumbled upon by
Nucleus ● are able to develop into more
specialized tissues (like neu-
chance: it turns out that if a section of 5 Transplantation
● rons) through a process known
Stem cells
neurons has died, new neurons can be as differentiation. At first, they
transplanted onto the location! Experi- are multiplied in laboratory
ments using this method on macaques conditions, and then, by acting
have been very successful. ●
3
on various growth factors, they
Over the past ten years, cellular tech- are converted into young do-
nology has made a huge leap, and we no Implanted Wire paminergic neurons. Then,
longer need the neurons of donors—we they are implanted onto the
know how to grow our own. This became brain to replace those that are
possible thanks to the work of Japanese deceased.
scientist S Y, who devel- Stem cells
Thus, stem cell therapy may
oped a method for generating stem cells
prove to be a promising strat-
from existing cells in the body, such as
egy for the treatment of Par-
skin (which gives rise to all cells in the ●
2
kinson’s. The main task at
body). As a result, we now can grow any-
hand is to make sure that the
thing from them. Unsurprisingly, Yamana- Neurostimulator cells do not become tumorous,
ka was the recipient of the Nobel Prize ●
1
and that they function normal-
for Physiology and Medicine in 2012.
ly after transplantation.
A breakthrough in the treatment
Patient’s cells
of Parkinson’s also happened in Japan.
 geOgr Aphy #1 D ECEMBER 2020 31

SECRETS OF THE PEACEFUL BOREHOLE 5G

CONTINENT The water in the lake has been complete-
Antarctica was lucky: in 1959 in Wash- Kapitsa suggested that there must be ly isolated from the outside world for
ington, the 12 countries that had scien- a huge subglacial lake with a length of several million years. However, evolution
tific missions on the continent signed more than 155 mi, a width of over 30 mi, continued there, and biological species
an agreement to ban establishing mili- and a depth of more than half a mile! appeared and went extinct. Life under-
tary bases, conducting military maneu- It wasn’t until the 1990s that a tech- water “froze,” which, of course, means it
vers, and testing any kind of weapons nique was developed to confirm the ex- is of great interest to researchers.
on its territory. Since then, humans have istence of a body of water. The powerful In 1990, the first thermal drills dug
gone there exclusively in the name of radar and modern radio-locating method into the ice of Antarctica in the area of
science. The results of the work of one of geomagnetic deep sounding (GDS) the Vostok station. The goal was to get to
such mission suggested that at a depth enabled a British-Russian collective of the lake and take samples of its unique
of several miles under the ice cap of scientists, led by G R, to get water. It should be noted that Soviet
Antarctica, the temperature is close results that even the most consum- scientific expeditions had been drilling
to the melting point of ice. This as- mate of skeptics could not doubt: there into the ice of the southern continent
sumption was expressed in 1957 and is a giant lake under the layers of ice. since the 1970s — four of their wells were
was the first step to a grand discov- Its contours appear on the icy surface classified as being deep. Therefore, when
ery. Another mission involved seismic of the continent. Jeff Ridley proved this the thermal borehole at Lake Vostok was
soundings of ice in the area of the So- in 1993 through the use of extremely drilled, the well was called “5G”, from
viet-operated Vostok Station (the word precise satellite laser altimetry. It turns the Russian piataia glubokaia, or “fifth
vostok means “east” in Russian), which out that the Vostok Polar Station is in deep well.” This was achieved through
was conducted by a scientific expedi- the center of an icy plain that is as flat as thermal boring, when ice is melted by
tion led by Soviet geographer A a table and can be considered a projec- the movement of a heated drill head.
K, son of Nobel laureate P tion of the lake onto the surface. This required a huge amount of electric-
K. As a result, a signal was re- ity — ten times more than with tradition-
corded, reflecting off a surface under al mechanical drilling. For this reason,
the ice. For about 30 years, it served and also because of the poor quality
as evidence of the presence of a layer of the ice patch selected, the research-
of frozen rock under an ice shell many ers switched out the thermal drill for
miles deep. However, the reflecting the electromechanical KEMS–132. This
plane was so smooth that even Andrey shift happened at a depth of 9,000 ft.

THE LOST
The lake was named Vostok
in honor of the Soviet scientific
station established in this
district in 1957

VOSTOK
Dreamers’ visions of a forgotten world may become
a reality. Only, this world is not lost in the vast expanses
of South America but on the coldest continent: Antarctica.
Deep beneath the ice, a giant lake is hidden, which was
isolated from the outside world for millions of years.
What awaits us at its bottom?
 GEOGR APHY #1 D ECEMBER 2020 33

THE SOUTHERN OUTPOST OF SCIENCE

Communications
tower
ICE TEMPERATURE DEPENDS ON DEPTH

0 —Modern average surface temperature

—Little Ice Age
Living quarters
Engine

Distance from the surface, ft

Drilling complex — 1640 —Interglacial
room

Tread marks Ice — 3280

m Ice age

ov
em
— 4921

ent
dir
ct
ion Warming from bedrock

e
The 5G drilling
— 6562
Living quarters Meteorology
building complex I I I I I I I
Living quarters
THE VOSTOK STATION — 25.6 –23.8 –22 –20.2 –18.4 –16.6 –14.8
Engine
room
Temperature, °F
The climatic conditions at the Russian of oxygen among polar explorers. The Antarctica for scientific purposes. In ad- Ice
m
Vostok station are probably the most se- multi-month adaptation required in these dition, the South Magnetic Pole, which is

ov
vere on the planet. In July 1983, the low- conditions is very taxing for the body: also an object of study, is located nearby.

em
TEMPERATURE Vostok is located at one

ent
est temperature on Earth was recorded weight loss can reach 22–26 lbs for There is practically no life around Vostok, of the coldest places on the planet. On

dir
ct
ion

e
E
there: –128.6°F (in such cold, eyeballs some living here. But people have been only trace amounts of microorganisms. July 21, 1983, a temperature of –128.6° ro
The 5G drilling
freeze almost instantaneously). The al- working at Vostok since 1957; they study During the summer, the station employs complex
was recorded at the station, the record low
of the 20th century.
titude of the station, 11,443 ft above the climate of the continent, its geol- up to 50 people, while only 20 call it Ice
m

sea level, causes a constant shortage ogy and, of course, drill into the ice of home during the winter months.

ov
AIR Antarctica is one of the driest places

em
ent
on Earth. Therefore, the air near the station

dir
ct
ion

e
has zero absolute humidity and is also
strongly ionized. Polar explorers oftenThe 5G drilling
But in 1998, at the 11,886-ft mark, MAP OF THE  SUBGLACIAL LAKES OF ANTARCTICA experience respiratory problems due complex
to low
the work was stopped. Why? Drillers oxygen content.
Through the use of radar and satellites that penetrate through
were using a mixture of aviation ker- POLAR NIGHT Lasts for 120 days.
the icy depths, over 150 subglacial lakes have been discovered under Vostok station
osene with a special weighting agent,
the Antarctic ice sheet.
freon, as drilling fluid. The weighting STAFF OF RESEARCHERS During
agent is necessary to fully compensate for the summer, there are about 50 people at
the rock pressure of the ice mass: without the station, while during the winter months,
it is staffed by only 20 scientists and
it, the borehole may collapse into itself.
engineers.
Can you imagine what this poisonous
mixture would do if it got into the lake?
The majority of its unique biota would Vostok station
die as soon as the drill entered the water.
That is why, for the purpose of preserving Filchner-Ronne
Ice Shelf
the lake’s ecology, work was suspended
for eight whole years, just a little under uth Pole
So OXYGEN CONTENT The water in the lake
500 ft away from the lake’s surface. This
was on the initiative of SCAR, the Scientif- L AKE ELLSWORTH is fresh, with a very high oxygen content
(50 times higher than the norm). Oxygen
ic Committee on Antarctic Research. Later,
enters the water from melting ice.
oligodimethylsiloxane silicone fluid com- L AKE VOSTOK
pounds came along to help researchers WATER TEMPERATURE At that depth,
and drillers. This hydrophobic liquid, due Ross the temperature fluctuates around 50°.
to its chemical inertness, is harmless to Ice Shelf The water is presumably heated by under-
humans and animals, which means there ground geothermal sources.
is a good probability that its effect on PRESSURE Calculations show that
the microorganisms of the lake is also SOUTHERN
the pressure in the lake is over 300 atm;
neutral.  Additionally, the mechanical drill OCEAN these conditions are created by the thickness
was replaced with a thermal one. of the ice.
 GEOGR aPHy #1 D ECEMBER 2020 35

In 2016, the staff of the cryobiology SOUNDING THE  EARTH

ICE CUTTINGS FROM laboratory at the Petersburg Nuclear
DIFFERENT BOREHOLE Physics Institute announced the discov- While exploring the depths of the planet, scientists carry out mini-earthquakes
ery of a microorganism, for now clas- of sorts. Typically, these are powerful explosions, the shockwaves of which are
DEPTHS
sifi ed by the code w123–10. Around directed into the ground. Based on the behavior of the waves as they travel through
The ice shell on the surface is con- 14 % of this microbe’s genome is com- rock, we can determine the structure of the crust of the Earth. Seismic survey
stantly forming as snow is compacted posed of unique nucleotide sequences, stations are installed to record the reflected seismic waves, which help us to, among
by new precipitation and becomes which makes it possible to classify it as other things, find oil and gas deposits at extreme depths, as well as caves and
immersed in lower layers, where it has previously unknown. Interestingly, this subterranean lakes. Seismological studies of Antarctica in the late 1950s made it
a granular structure and is located at organism was not the first underwater possible to make an important discovery, determining the thickness of the ice
a depth of up to 177 ft. Further on, it “alien” to be discovered: in 2004, even sheet, which turned out to range from 1½–2½ mi. This method makes it possible
becomes denser — in the more recent at a drilling stage of just over 1¾ mi, to conduct a fairly accurate reconnaissance, but it is very energy-consuming and
snow, up to 6,027 ft, bands of annual Hydrogenophilus thermoluteolus bac- expensive. A more modern method is geomagnetic deep sounding, in which
snowfall are clearly visible. At the bot- teria was found. These organisms are a powerful radar “radiates” the Earth’s crust with electromagnetic pulses, recording
tom of the borehole (10,009 ft), the ice characterized by their unique ability the signal reflected back. This method, which employs a ground-penetrating radar
has impurities of sand and silt. to live at –58°. Don’t let the relatively installed on an airplane, was used to determine the true dimensions of
The lower the layer of ice, the more low number of organisms found so far the subglacial Lake Vostok.
pressure it is under. mislead you: to this day, wherever water
has been found on Earth, so, too, has life.
Сargo is delivered by plane There are still many discoveries ahead.
in the summertime; in win-
A sample of ice from a depth of 174–177 ft
Lake Vostok cannot be called
ter, it is almost impossible unique: in Antarctica, there are well
to reach the station over 400 under-ice reservoirs, though
In 1989, a team of research- From 6,023–6,027 ft they are much smaller in size. For ex-
ers from France, the USSR, ample, Lake Ellsworth, according to
and the USA began drilling the hypothesis of British scientists, has
the SG–1 borehole. The pro- been isolated from the outside world
ject aimed to study changes From 10,006–10,010 ft for more than 125,000 years and is now
in the Earth’s climate. becoming an important object of re-
search. Water samples from the small
subglacial Lake Whillans (just a few feet
The Uncovering below a 2,600-ft ice sheet) were collect-
On November 28, 2011, a new drilling unit arrived at the Vostok ed by US polar explorers in early 2013.
Station to undertake its journey downwards. By January 12, 2012, It turned out that the lake is inhabited
the ice-borer reached a depth of 12,262 ft, and on February 4, at by colonies of microorganisms, whose the bottom of the lake, where tempera- become a model for the development
a depth of  12,355 ft, it came into contact with the surface of the water, concentration is only ten times lower tures are not as low, deep immersion into of extraterrestrial life. We won’t be able
thus ending the under-ice lake’s 15 million years of isolation. than in oceanic water. These bacteria these subglacial waters could provide to land on the satellites of Saturn and
Much of this complicated technical operation did not go as do not get their energy from the Sun, answers to many questions, including Jupiter in the foreseeable future, but it is
planned. In particular, it turned out that the water temperature but rather from breaking down carbo- the possibility of life beyond our planet. quite possible to penetrate the depths of
in the lake was 27.23°, and that the pressure there exceeded hydrates. Take Saturn’s moon, Enceladus, for a terrestrial subglacial lake.
400 atm! Therefore, the water from Lake Vostok rose 2,000 ft Decades of research on unique lakes example. It is covered with many miles This epic of the depths of Antarctica
through the borehole, mixing with the drilling fluid and freezing. have allowed us to only barely touch of icy crust. Underneath, there could be is a remarkable example of cooperation
About 8-10 gal of water mixed with water-polluting microorgan- the surface of underwater, icy relicts, a hidden ocean, full of life. And Enceladus between the international scientific com-
isms was extracted from the surface. A year later, they managed and these attempts can hardly be called is not unique: Jupiter’s moons, Ganymede, munity, where relations between coun-
to isolate a 6½-foot ice core and investigate its composition. wildly successful. Scientists suggest that Callisto, and Europa are also presumably tries and individual people are not
However, ice in the hole complicated the re-drilling, so on Jan- if life flourishing in Vostok is closer to home to deep oceans. Lake Vostok can overshadowed by military operations or
The TBPO-132 creates an additional buffer layer in thaw- uary 15, 2015, scientists made a parallel well and re-entered political sentiment. The Scientific Com-
ing water under an organosilicon wash solution. The density the relict snow. The extremely weak current in Lake Vostok implies that the floor sediments mittee on Antarctic Research has become
of the liquid in the well had to be lowered so that its pressure Predictably, no dissolved organic carbon was found in the ice, have stayed unchanged for millions of years. This is a very enticing opportu- a roundtable where leading scientifi c
was 0.3–0.4 MPa, below the estimated pressure in Vostok. This but it was highly saturated with oxygen — up to 0.11 oz per gallon, nity for geologists, who could possibly determine the history of the whole powers share information and synthesize
way, the drilling mud would not enter the lake. The water had which is ten times higher than the limit values at which bacteria continent based on this sediment alone. Its shape and composition can tell their knowledge on the challenging busi-
to independently travel 100–130 ft upwards in the borehole can survive. Microbiologists had to spend a lot of time isolating us about the climate and movement of Antarctica’s ice sheet. For now, geolo- ness of studying Antarctica. We continue
and instantly freeze. It was proposed that the “fresh” relict ice the so-called contaminant bacteria that got into the samples gists will keep studying the borehole that has already revealed information to follow the quest of the “lost Vostok”—
be obtained with the help of a mounted electromechanical drill. as a result of external contamination. But it wasn’t long before about the climate over the last 400,000 years! the future promises to surprise us!
they discovered rare species.
PL ANET EARTH #1 D ECEMBER 2020 37

STONE CHRONICLE STENO’S LAWS OF STRATIGRAPHY

Geological
How can we even begin to understand what was happening on
our planet millions of years ago? Our main source of information T L  S
is rock formations that developed during those distant eras. Younger layers of rocks are located

Per
By studying them, geologists can try to reconstruct the condi- on top of older ones
tions that existed at the time of their formation. For example,

iod
if a layer of solidified lava or volcanic ash is found, it is evident
that a volcano was erupting nearby. A layer of clay suggests that T L  O
there was a sea, and quite a deep one. In addition, fossilized re- H
mains of ancient animals and plants are often preserved in sed- Layers of sedimentary rocks are in-
imentary rocks, which can be used to restore their appearance. itially flat, parallel to the horizon
If we find a place where several different layers are visible Initial Position after
one above the other (this is called a geological outcrop ), position tilting
then it is logical to assume that the higher up the layer, the

s
later it was formed. This method was applied in the 17th cen- T L  L
tury by the Danish scientist N S (also known as C
Nicolaus Stenonius or Nicolas Steno) — today, this idea is called Rock layers are continuous until
Steno’s law of superposition. Based on it, you can determine they collide with other solids that
the relative age of rocks that are in one place; that is, we can block their deposition, or until they
are affected by agents that ap-
understand which rocks formed earlier and which formed later.
peared after deposition occurred
However, this does not help us to determine how many millions
(or maybe thousands? or billions?) of years ago they appeared:
their absolute age.
T L  C-C
R
Geological outcrops in Karijini National Rock layers A and B must be older
Park, Australia than the intruder C

FROM LAYERS TO CENTURIES

Can we compare the ages of rocks from different outcrops?
It is clear that if the layers are located close to each other, at a
distance of only several miles, then the rocks contained in them
will most likely be very similar, if not identical, so it will not be
difficult to compare them. But if the outcrops are located hun-
dreds or thousands of miles from each other, or even on different
continents, the rocks in them are likely to be different, and direct
comparison will be impossible. A way to solve this problem was
proposed in 1799 by the British engineer W S.

You’re probably familiar with

at least one geological period.
Who hasn’t heard of the film Jurassic
Park? The entire history of the Earth over the
past 540 million years is divided into periods,
which are in turn divided into epochs and
centuries. But how do geologists know when a
particular stage started and ended?
 PL ANET EARTH #1 D ECEMBER 2020 39

This model did not take into account

William Smith’s geologic map of England and Wales many parameters, so it is not surprising
Sketch of a sequence of layers and their relative heights that the result was incorrect — more than
a hundred times younger than the cur-
rent estimate! But until the end of the
19th century, this value was accepted by
most scientists. It is clear that the length
of geological periods based on this figure
were also greatly underestimated.

THE PROBLEM OF THE

PRECAMBRIAN
In the 19th century, the geologic time
scale was designed only for rocks that
were formed no earlier than the Cam-
brian period. In the previously-formed
An imprint of a Dickinsonia, a genus of an-
rocks, it was absolutely impossible to
imals that lived in the Ediacaran (the last
Precambrian period) in the seas to the south find not only characteristic sets of fos-
of modern Australia sils but any traces of life at all, which
means that the principle of combining
IN SEARCH OF Sometimes entire “pages” of Earth’s history layers according to the index fossils, as
ABSOLUTE TIME are lost due to rock erosion or other factors. developed by Smith, did not work. In the
However, it remained completely unknown For example, the neighboring layers of sedi- 20th century, traces of life in Precambrian
how long ago all these periods took place mentary rocks of the Grand Canyon vary deposits were found, but the Precambrian
Index fossils by which William Smith identified one of the ge- greatly in age. The lower formations belong
ological layers
and how long they lasted. There have periods are still mainly distinguished not
been attempts to estimate the rate to the Precambrian, while the upper ones by characteristic sets of fossils but by the
Working on the construction of canals it displayed the distribution of rocks on from the County of Devonshire in England; at which precipitation accumulates in belong to the Paleozoic era. Almost a billion results of absolute dating.
years have been “lost!” This phenomenon is
in different parts of England, he noticed the surface, with rocks of the same age Permian from the city of Perm in Russia; modern seas and, based on this value, to
called the Great Unconformity.
that the findings in rock layers exposed by represented by the same color. and the Jurassic from the Jura Mountains calculate the length of periods during Limestone
canal excavations did not occur randomly. Over the next two and a half decades, on the border of Switzerland and France. which layers of known depth have ac-
Each rock layer is characterized by its own geologists systematized the geologic time In some cases, names of characteristic cumulated. However, this is a very slow Shale
set of fossils — the mineralized remains of scale, identifying large geological layer rocks were used. process — usually, over the course of
organisms and traces of their life activity. systems and their corresponding time For example, there are many coal 100 years, not even half an inch is depos- Sandstone
Moreover, the order of these sets intervals, periods . By 1841, almost all beds in the Carboniferous deposits, and ited; and in addition, over time, precipi-
of fossils is the same in different places. the existing periods had been determined. chalk deposits in the Cretaceous. By the tation is strongly compacted (though it Composite
rocks
When Smith decided to classify rock lay- Their names are derived mainly from the end of the 19th century, the periods were was not yet known by how much). So, this
ers based on these sets of fossils (which names of localities where the corre- grouped into three eras — the Paleozoic, method did not provide us with any relia-
is why they are called index fossils), it sponding deposits are widespread. Thus, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic, and divided into ble data. Therefore, scientists relied mainly
turned out that the vertical sequence of the name of the Devonian Period comes smaller parts: epochs and centuries. on estimates of the total age of the Earth
the layers is the same everywhere. He and then tried to calculate the length of Paleozoic
then assumed that layers with the same each period, assuming that its share in the ≈ 252–541 million years
index fossils were formed at the same Diagram for building a geological total history of the Earth is proportional to
cross-section across multiple outcrops Colorado
time, and he combined layers from several 8 the share of the corresponding deposits river
different outcrops in one diagram. 7 in the combined section. The problem was
As a result, he obtained a framework 6 that it was also impossible to determine
for the sequence of layers with the same 5 the age of the Earth very accurately. For
index fossils (geologists call them strata) example, in 1868, the British physicist
— a geologic time scale. Each layer corre- 4 W T (who later received
sponds to the time interval in which it was 3 the title of 1st Baron Kelvin for his sci-
formed. Based on this finding, Smith made Exposure 3 2 entific achievements), based on a mathe-
a geologic map of England and Wales in matical model, suggested that its age is

Precambrian
1 Paleoproterozoic
1815 (this was the first time in history 20-40 million years — during this time, the ≈ 1.6–2.5 billion years
that such a vast territory was mapped by Exposure 2 Layers once-hot planet would have cooled to its
Exposure 1
geologists). The map looked very modern: present temperature. Archaean
> 2.5 billion years
 PL ANET EARTH #1 D ECEMBER 2020 41

LAW OF RADIOACTIVE DECAY GEOLOGIC EXACT BOUNDARY

TIME SCALE The boundaries between successive strata look slightly dif-
ferent in different outcrops: after all, strata may be com-
Initial amount
posed of different rocks, and the set of fossils varies slightly
Eon Era Period
The half-life is the period of time dur- 0 from place to place. Therefore, geologists agreed to find a
ing which exactly half of all the nuclei Quaternary section for each boundary between strata in which it would
Amount of radioactive substance

of a radioactive substance decay. This 2.58 be most noticeable, called the stratotype. When you high-
indicator does not depend on external Cenozoic Neogene light the boundaries between strata in other outcrops, the
23
conditions, so the number of decayed Paleogene stratotype is used as a reference.
nuclei in an object can be fairly accu- 66
rate in determining age. Cretaceous
145
Mesozoic Jurassic
201

Phanerozoic
Triassic

millions of years ago

252 Dating R A
Permian
299
Carboniferous Steno’s Laws, paleomagnetism, paleopalynology (the Radiometric, uranium-lead, optical, thermoluminescent,
359 Methods
study of fossilized pollen), nitrogen dating, etc. archaeomagnetic dating, dendrochronology, etc.
Devonian
1 2 3 4 Paleozoic 419
Silurian
Half-life time Relative dating methods cannot determine the absolute
444 Absolute dating methods using absolute referent crite-
Ordovician Description age of an object or event, but they can determine
The situation changed when the age of not only the Earth but also any ria mainly include radiometric dating methods.
485 whether event A occurred before or after event B.
French chemist H B dis- rocks that contain radioactive isotopes. Cambrian
covered the phenomenon of radioactivity However, the age of a rock rarely coin- 541
in 1896. In 1904, the British physicist cides with the age of its constituent min- Ediacaran
Neo- 635
E R discovered that erals. For example, a layer of sand may Cryogenian
radioactive isotopes have a certain pe- have been deposited ten thousand years proterozoic
720
riod of time, independent of external ago, while the grains of quartz that make Tonian OUR EPOCH
conditions, during which half of their in- it up were formed millions or even bil- 1 The Quaternary Period began 2.6 mil- allocate a new epoch — the Anthropocene. a new era, it was proposed to designate
Stenian
itial amount decays, and he called it the lions of years ago. Therefore, only those 1.2
lion years ago, and it continues to this Their main arguments focused on the the sharp increase in radioactive isotopes
Meso-
Proterozoic

half-life. At the same time, he proposed rocks that were formed simultaneously Ectasian day. Until recently, geologists divided it sharply-increased impact of human activ- in sediments around the world, associated
proterozoic
the idea of radiometric dating . This or almost simultaneously with the min- 1.4 into two epochs — the Pleistocene, which ity on Earth, which is expressed in the with the beginning of nuclear testing.
technique is based on the fact that if a erals that make up their composition are Calymmian covers almost the entire period, and the mass extinction of species, global climate Thus, for the beginning of the Anthropo-
1.6
mineral contains a radioactive isotope, by suitable for radiometric dating — that is, Statherian
Holocene, which began only 11,700 warming, and environmental pollution, cene, you can specify the exact date of
Precambrian

determining the ratio of the mass of this igneous rocks that arose as a result of 1.8 years ago. However, in 2016, delegates including substances not found on Earth reference: July 16, 1945, when the first
isotope to the mass of the isotope formed the cooling and solidification of magma Orosirian of the 35 th International Geological in nature (plastic, aluminum, reinforced nuclear bomb was detonated at the Alam-

billions of years ago

Paleo-
as a result of decay, you can calculate the or lava. 2.05 Congress, held in Cape Town, voted to concrete). As a marker of the transition to ogordo test site in New Mexico.
proterozoic
Rhyacian
time of formation of the mineral. At the same time, the geologic time
2.3
The first experiments in radioisotope scale is based, as you already know, on Siderian Crushed stone and asphalt are typical
dating, conducted independently in 1907 the order of sedimentary rocks. There- 2.5 deposits of the Anthropocene
by Rutherford and the American radio- fore, geologists usually follow this pro- Neoarchean
2.8
chemist B B, although cedure: find a layer of igneous rock lying
Mesoarchean
Archean

very inaccurate, still proved that there are between two successive strata of sed- 3.2
minerals on Earth that are at least two imentary rocks and date it, thus deter- Paleoarchean
billion years old, and therefore the planet mining the absolute age of the boundary 3.6
Eoarchean
itself can be no younger. In the following between these strata. By now, all borders
4
years, dating technologies further devel- have been dated using this method, not Hadean
oped, and in 1956, the age of the Earth only between periods but also between 4.6
was determined to be approximately the epochs and centuries that make The Phanerozoic Eon (which began 541 million
4.54 billion years — since then, this esti- them up. But due to the fact that dating years ago and continues to this day) is the largest
mate has not changed much. is constantly being refined, geologists interval of geologic time. It is famous for its abun-
It would seem that radiometric dat- still prefer to use relative rather than dance of living organisms, the components of fos-
ing would allow you to determine the absolute age. sils in sedimentary rocks.
 DI Y #1 D ECEMBER 2020 43

THE HISTORY OF
HYDROPONICS
The idea of growing plants without soil
is not new. Back in 1699, the English
naturalist J W described
his experiments growing peppermint
in a soilless environment. The plant
died in desalinated, distilled water, but
it continued to grow in untreated water.
Probably, Woodward reasoned, the mint
extracts something from the water that
is necessary for growth.
Now we know that the plant needs
many mineral substances for normal
growth and development, including cal-
cium (Ca), iron (Fe), potassium (K), magne-
sium (Mg), phosphorus (P), and sulfur (S).
Plants take them from the soil (some pred-
ators, like Venus flytraps, get them from
the bodies of their victims), but for this,
there must be water in the soil to dissolve

AV
the mineral substances, making them ac-
cessible to the roots. Plants don’t need
the soil itself, they just require mineral
substances from it. Woodward’s experi-
ments gave rise to much reflection, but,

eg
until the beginning of the 20th century,
the cultivation of plants without soil re-

eta
mained an area of exclusively scientific
interest.
In the 1930s, American biologist W-
 F. G brought hydroponics

ble
out of the laboratory and into the light.
He insisted that growing plants on a large
scale without soil, but instead on nutrient
solutions, is not only possible but also

Ga
makes a lot of sense. His colleagues were
skeptical about this idea at first, but when
Gericke showed them tomato shrubs a few

wi
yards tall that were grown with an aque-

r
Science and technology don’t ous solution of mineral substances, they

ou den
th
changed their mind. The University of Cal-
stand in place: scientists around ifornia, where Gericke worked, even allo-
the world work to ensure that cated huge areas for such experimental
greenhouses. He called his revolutionary
the production of fresh and

tS
method “aquaculture,” but there was some
healthy foods is simple, cost-effec- confusion: the word was already in use for
tive, and environmentally friendly. the breeding of aquatic organisms (fish,

oil
algae, mollusks). It was then that he intro-
So, in place of classic garden beds duced a new term— hydroponics— which
and greenhouses comes hydro- we still use to this day, as it carries the un-
derstanding that this is the cultivation
ponics: growing plants in nutrient of plants using nutrient solutions and
solutions without soil. without soil.
 di y #1 D ECEMBER 2020 45

a high yield of local vegetables and fruits.

Why Water In cities with poor ecology, the cultiva- THE STRUCTURE OF
Is Better tion of plants without soil solves sever- HYDROPONIC FARMS
Than Soil al problems at once: greenery appears, Hydroponic farms are similar
Humankind has been which is typically rare in densely built- to conventional greenhouses, but in-
growing fruit and veg- up areas, and along with it, food prod- stead of beds, there are special shelves,
etables for thousands ucts start to grow in homes and offices, under which grooves with nutrient fluid
of years. Why spend which leads to almost unlimited access are located. Seeds are kept in a special
money on technological to fresh, healthy food. The deciding argu- incubator until the first shoots appear,
development when you ment in favor of hydroponics is the high and only then are they sent to the hy-
can just stick a plant in environmental friendliness of this type droponic farm. Since the roots of plants
the ground? Because of agriculture. The water circulates are immersed directly in the nutrient
NASA is studying the prospects of growing
hydroponics has a lot in a closed system: it passes through solution, vital substances do not need
vegetables in space of advantages. It gives us the opportunity purification systems, is enriched with to break through the soil layers, the root
to grow food in places where traditional nutrients, and again flows to the plants. system grows minimally.
The first mention of the commercial agriculture is impossible. In arid climates, This is extremely important for areas Thus, all organic substances synthe-
use of hydroponics was in 1938 when like Israel and Egypt, hydroponics has where there is little water, such as in sized by the plant go to the construction
Time magazine published an article been used for several decades. Thanks the Middle East and parts of Africa. Be- of shoots, leaves, and fruits. Under such
about tiny Wake Island in the Pacific to  this method, it became possible sides, almost no pesticides are required: conditions, the plant grows extremely
Ocean, where Pan American Airways to purchase locally-produced food on the conditions on farms are practical- quickly: a salad bush on the soil bed
planes landed for refueling. Among other the market, rather than importing these ly sterile, and hydroponics require only grows in a couple of months, while in
things, the article said that barrels with products from other countries at a high about 25 % of the amount of fertilizer a hydroponic farm, it takes only 30 days.
mineralized water, in which beans, toma- cost. Similarly, hydroponics are needed necessary for growing plants in soil. This To obtain a large crop, it is not enough
toes, and other vegetables were grown, where space is limited, even for humans. approach saves money and contributes to just provide plants with nutrients.
were installed on the island. This food For example, in Bermuda, these systems to the preservation of the environment. The growth of crops is affected by many
was intended for the aircraft crew. During occupy only 20 % of the amount of land Finally, since the food is grown on-site, factors that need to be kept under con- HOW DOES A  HYDROPONIC SYSTEM WORK?
World War II, there were more of these that would be required for crops. In re- there is no need for it to be transport- trol. To do so, dozens of sensors are in-
kinds of farms: the military needed fresh gions that are cold and have few sunny ed — again, both the producer and nature stalled in the greenhouses: they monitor water for irrigation, ambient temperature, collected much earlier. Knowing exact-
vegetables, and it was difficult to deliver days, hydroponics allows you to harvest benefit. the acidity and electrical conductivity of humidity, brightness, and CO2 supply. ly how each part of the light spectrum
them. Today, hydroponics is widely used Well-designed heating systems lo- operates on cultivated plants, scien-
all over the world. For example, NASA is cated near the plants create a uniform tists and engineers have created phy-
studying the possibility of growing veg- temperature regime around the plant tolamps that emit light in the red and
etables on a spaceship in a closed eco- and enhance gas exchange. Artificial blue regions of the spectrum. Conditions
Hydroponic garden
logical life-support system. The success lighting allows you to control the devel- are created to enable the maximum in-
of such an experiment will lead to new opment of plants, to accelerate or slow tensity of photosynthesis, and plants
prospects for space travel. down flowering, and to affect the mat- begin to grow faster. The conditions
uration process. All you have to do is in the greenhouses are so conducive
extend daylight and the development to growth that the plants grown in them
of long-day plants will accelerate, are always beautiful, bright, and juicy,
which means that the harvest can be just like in the pictures.

Ripe strawberries grown in hydroponic farms are an object of agricultural tourism in Israel.
Tourists can take part in harvesting at any time of the year.

The idea of hydroponics is that soil is not an obligatory companion of plants,

but is rather just support for it. Therefore, the substrate can have many dif-
ferent compositions — coconut fiber, sawdust, mineral wool, crushed stone,
expanded clay, etc. It is only important that it conducts moisture well, allows
air to circulate, and does not chemically react with the nutrient solution.
By the way, moist air can also serve as a substrate (this is called aeroponics).
 DI Y #1 D ECEMBER 2020 47

HOW DO YOU PLANT A  HYDROPONIC GARDEN AT HOME?

MATERIALS
• A young, healthy plant (it will adapt more easily to a new
habitat)
• A planter (must be opaque; otherwise algae will start
to grow and not let water pass through)
• An inner plastic pot with drain holes (to allow air and nu-
trient solution in); it should be able to sit “suspended” in
the outside pot
• A substrate of expanded clay (you can buy this in a flower
shop)
• A hydroponics nutrient solution (you can buy this in
a flower shop as well)
• Clean, room-temperature water
• Water level indicator

METHOD
VERTICAL FARMS
●
1 ●
2 ●
3
In the near future, the growth of the world’s population will The day before the transplant, water Insert the indicator into the inner Spread the roots of the plant and
lead to a shortage of arable land. the plant well. Thoroughly rinse pot. surround them with expanded clay.
Vertical farms allow us not only to abandon soil but also the roots with warm water, so that
to use space economically, placing hydroponic installations they do not have any soil left on them.
in several tiers. Remove rotten and damaged roots.

WHY HYDROPONICS?

●
4 ●
5 ●
6
Place the inner pot inside the ex- Put the pot in a warm and bright, but Change the solution once
DOES NOT REQUIRE SOIL SIMPLE TECHNOLOGY YEAR-ROUND HARVESTS
ternal one and pour clean, not very sunny place. In a week, a month in the summer and
Does not require special skills room-temperature water into the plant can be watered with a solu- once every 5–8 weeks in
A reusable substrate is used Fast growth in any season the outer pot. If you immediately tion for hydroponics until the liquid winter (unless otherwise
or knowledge
pour a nutrient solution, the plant fills one-third of the inner pot. When stated in the solution’s
will be under stress and may die. adding the nutrient solution, watch instructions). Over time,
the water level on the indicator. transplant the plant
into a larger pot.

CONTROL ECO-FRIENDLY WATER-EFFICIENT

The composition of the nutri- Small quantity of fertili- 5–8 weeks
Through water reuse
ent solution can be changed zers and pesticides
 MIC R O BIO L O G Y #1 D ECEMBER 2020 49

THE

Petri
Dish A N D I T S STO RY

From the first antibiotics to the growth

of stem cells, from observing micro-
organisms to the testing of new medicines —
it’s all possible thanks to the Petri
dish, a short, flat cylinder cove-
red with a transparent lid of a cor-
responding shape. This humble
glass plate has its own fascinating story.
 2 hours

M IC R O B IO L O G Y #1 D ECEMBER 2020 51

A macro image of Mycobac-

A PURE CULTURE terium tuberculosis colonies.
In 1872, R K, who would later become a renowned
WHY DO WE NEED PURE CULTURES? They are distinguished by a
microbiologist, was named the District Medical Officer in Woll- colorless, uneven surface.
stein (now Wolsztyn in Poland), where an anthrax outbreak was
running rampant at the time. The disease was known even back
in antiquity when it was called “sacred fire”: people thought
5 hours
Microorganisms divide approxi-
that only furious gods could have sent such a scourge to Earth.
mately every 20 minutes, and
Anthrax was a threat to all agricultural settlements — more
therefore, only three hours after
often than not, livestock were infected. However, animals were
transplanting a microbe into a
not the only ones to die: the illness also claimed the lives of Petri dish, you may already see
farmers, shepherds, and milkmaids. colonies. Within 24 hours, the
Looking through a microscope at the blood of the deceased number of bacteria is estimated
animals, Koch discovered that the development of the disease to already be in the millions.
could be blamed on a single Bacillus microbe (Bacillus anthracis).
The researcher successfully isolated the bacteria and was able A TOUGH WORLD collected samples from each colony,
to grow a pure culture from it — a culture that is composed After his report on the discovery of the and he noticed under the microscope
8 hours
of a single type of microbe. He infected an entirely healthy an- agent that causes anthrax, Robert Koch that each spot was a colony of a single
imal with this pure culture, thus giving it anthrax. The scientist was invited to head a laboratory at the species of microbe! In liquid media, the
understood that the creation of a pure culture was the key to Microbes are very small (0.5–5 µm on average) and do not Hygiene Institute in Berlin, and he was microbes mixed and separated, making
successfully determining the cause of an infection. differ much in appearance, which causes difficulties in offered the post of Advisor to the Imperial them extremely difficult to work with.
Koch, like his predecessors, developed bacterial cultures in studying them. For research, it is necessary to single out Health Office. Koch suddenly had good But in a solid medium, they stayed in a
a liquid medium, broths made of meat or cereal grains. Koch did one microbe from the surrounding world, which is filled to equipment, talented assistants, and the single spot, multiplying and giving birth
manage to create a pure culture of Bacillus anthracis in a liquid the brim with radically different microorganisms. Microbi- ability to solve a mystery that had long to a pure culture!
broth, but he was still searching for another method, and with al cells, after landing in the growth medium, produce off- haunted him. It was known that tubercu- Koch once again began to diligently
good reason. If several species of bacteria happened to get into spring — a cluster of identical cells called a colony, which losis was also caused by some kind of mi- cultivate tuberculosis cultures. Yet, the
the broth, they would mix together, making it extremely difficult can be studied like a single microorganism. It turns out crobe: the tissues of a sick person could bacteria did not grow on the potato slic-
to separate them. It was necessary to develop the bacteria more that, by manipulating the conditions of cultivation, it is infect healthy animals. Koch managed to es. He then began to use gelatin to turn 12 hours
than once. Koch would take a small drop from the solution where possible to obtain a pure form of the cells of any microor- find a technique for staining prepared the broth into a solid growth medium.
the target bacteria were in the highest concentration, and then ganism. Thereafter, you give it a name, describe its proper- tissues to discern the pathogen bacteria After many unsuccessful attempts, Koch
he would transfer it to a fresh broth. In this new broth, there ties, and classify it. Thanks to Koch’s discovery, under a microscope. But his joy didn’t last added blood serum to the substance to
were already fewer foreign bacteria, but he had to repeat this microbiology has been recognized as a science in its own for long — the bacteria did not want to recreate the conditions of a living or-
monotonous operation several times to achieve a monoculture right. grow in normal growth media. ganism. After 15 days (it had never taken
of a single species of microbe in the growth medium. One day, the scientist noticed that a that long for Bacillus anthracis), droplets
pile of moldy potatoes left on the table of colonies of the dangerous Mycobacte-
had an abundance of colored spots— rium tuberculosis began to appear on the
colonies—of gray, yellow, and green. He surface of the medium.

24 hours

Koch’s accidental ob-

servation fomented a
revolution: fresh pota-
toes became one of
the first solid media
R K (1843–1910) for cultivating micro-
was a German microbiologist. organisms. However,
He discovered Bacillus anthracis, such a nutritious sub-
Vibrio cholerae, and Mycobacterium strate was not suit-
tuberculosis (Koch’s Bacillus). In able for all microbes, 30 hours
1905, he was awarded the Nobel Before Robert Koch, researchers believed that microorganisms were colorless, which led to numer- and, therefore, the
Prize in Physiology and Medicine ous mistakes. Koch used aniline dyes, which selectively stained microbes. After Koch’s experiments, search for an alterna-
“for his investigations and discover- researchers around the world began to use this technique of dyeing bacteria. Then, in 1884, tive solid medium
ies in relation to tuberculosis.” Dr. H C G developed a method of staining that became the primary approach to de- continued.
termining the presence of a type of bacteria in a given substrate.
M IC R O B IO L O G y #1 D ECEMBER 2020 53

MICROBIOLOGICAL ART A Talented Lab

Assistant
In 1928, the British bacte­
At that time, the only piece of laboratory
riologist Alexander Fleming dis­
covered that in the agar in one glassware that was suitable for growing
of his Petri dishes, a colony of microbes was a test tube. But handling
mold fungi had grown next to it required skill: if you laid the tube
bacteria. Bacterial colonies horizontally, the unshielded medium
around the mold turned pale: would pour out; if you put it at an angle,
their cells had been destroyed. it could fall and break. Your chances of
Fleming isolated the substance catching a dangerous disease literally
destroying the bacterial cells — multiplied before your eyes! Then, Koch
penicillin, the first antibiotic and his laboratory assistants came up
created from mold. Fleming’s with the idea of housing growth media
discovery changed not only in cups covered with high glass caps.
medical science but also the But to observe the colony, you had to
fate of many would­be hopeless remove the cap, which was a surefire way
patients. to catch the infection. That’s when one
of the laboratory assistants, Julius Petri,
British bacteriologist Alexander of cultivation so that a monochromat­ had his moment in the sun. He reduced
Fleming, who discovered penicillin, ic area would grow simultaneously the height of the walls of the cup in which
also created a new art form: drawing and not blur the lines between colors. the microbes were developed and covered
with bacteria on a solid growth medi­ The American Society for Microbiolo­ it with another transparent cup. This made
um. Fleming, as a member of the gy (ASM), inspired by Fleming and his it far easier to observe the colonies.
Chelsea Art Club, created “amateur” colleagues, has held an “Agar Art Con­ Petri worked under Koch’s leadership
watercolors. The scientist painted test” every year since 2015. Talented for only a couple of years (1877–1879),
graceful ballerinas, luxurious homes, microbiologists paint real pictures, but in that time, he radically influenced when heated or kept in a warm place. In
soldiers, and other scenes using some choosing their own subjects, the future of microbiology. Petri’s inno­ that environment, the colonies literally
bacteria. The creation of a painting while others reproduce famous paint­ vation gave medicine a powerful push turned into a hot mess.
required patience: one needed not ings with astounding accuracy, such and saved millions of lives. After his W H, another laboratory
only to find bacteria of various pig­ as Van Gogh’s Starry Night. work with Koch, he went on to head the assistant of Koch’s, invented the medi-
ments but also to calculate the time Gobersdorf Sanatorium, the first Euro­ um that became the basis for agar. He
To determine the effectiveness of
pean center for treating tuberculosis joined the ranks along with his wife, antibiotics in the pharmaceutical in-
patients. F H, who was not a laboratory dustry, special tests are used — for
employee but worked as a scientific illus- example, agar diffusion. In this
trator, sketching the organisms that she method, microorganisms are set into
Agar-Agar saw under the microscope. Petri dishes and then antibiotics in
Koch’s laboratory did not just produce the One day, Fanny was making some jelly various doses are placed on the sur-
Petri dish but also the standard filling for at home, and Walther noticed that it did face at an equal distance from one
it, the agar growth medium. Its predeces­ not lose its shape or melt in the sun. He another. The larger the radius of the
sor, the gelatin medium, melted easily found out that the main component of jelly inhibited growth zone, the more ef-
fective that medicine will be against
the microorganism.

is agar-agar, a substance extracted from study the effectiveness of antibiotics, the

red and brown algae. Walther replaced safety of different foods, and to develop
the solid gelatin with this substance, and genetically-engineered bacteria that syn-
the bacterial growth media became firmer. thesize insulin, a substance necessary for
Agar is used today for medium preparation, individuals with diabetes.
but it is purified with a special technique. Petri dishes are made in different
At first, the Petri dish was only used sizes and from a wide variety of materi-
for growing cell cultures, but now it is als: glass, plastic, and even stainless steel.
widespread across many fields of science. All a scientist has to do is pick the one
For example, Petri dishes are used to appropriate for their work.