World of knowledge august 2016 au

1. ISSUE41 AUGUST2016
$6.95(INCL. GST) NZ $7.90 (INCL. GST)
PP100009783
ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR
WhyBIGCATS
aretaking
overcities
REAL-LIFE CRIME
Thehorrorsof
history'sbiggest
WITCHHUNT
TheEXPERIMENTtobringdeadpeopleback!
THE MONARCHY'S CONTROVERSIAL LINKS TO HITLER
SECRETNAZIPAST

2. W
ITH ONE OF THE WORLD’S great whale
migrations taking place along the NSW
coastline this winter, it’s time to head to
a coastal national park to see the ocean’s
most majestic creature.
National parks make up almost 50 per cent of the NSW
coastline and provide some of the best lookouts, headlands and
foreshores to see whales on their annual migration.
The north coast – from Tweed Heads to Port Stephens – offers
some of the best whale watching in the country. Popular spots
such as Cape Byron State Conservation Area and Tomaree
National Park (NP) are ideal for seeing breaching humpbacks
and southern right whales.
Sydney and its surrounds offer many places for whale watching
and it’s an incredible opportunity to see them migrating past
Australia’s largest city.Top spots can be found in Sydney Harbour,
Ku-ring-gai Chase and Kamay Botany Bay national parks.
The south coast, from Shoalhaven to Batemans Bay and Eden,
is home to several generous stretches of coastal wilderness, with
large numbers of whales making an appearance on their annual
migration. Head to Jervis Bay and Meroo national parks for
fantastic vantage points.
There’s also a range of accommodation in NSW national
parks that offers a unique holiday experience. Stay in a restored
lighthouse cottage perched on a headland. Choose from
spectacular locations including Cape Byron, the wildlife sanctuary
of Montague Island Nature Reserve and Green Cape Lightstation
in Ben Boyd National Park.
For family-friendly coastal cabins and a fun whale-watching
getaway, enjoy a stay at Pretty Beach and Depot Beach, in
Murramarang National Park on the south coast.
SPECIALACCOMMODATIONOFFERS
To make the most out of your whale-watching
experience, take advantage of great accommodation
deals in NSW national parks, ranging from luxury
lighthouse cottages to coastal cabins.
Visit: www.wildaboutwhales.com.au
for more information, plus terms and conditions.
JOINTHEWHALE-LOVINGCOMMUNITY
Stay connected and get the latest whale sightings
and information:
Website – for all your whale info, best vantage
points, tips for whale watching and coastal accom-
modation, visit www.wildaboutwhales.com.au
FREE Mobile App – download the Wild About
Whales app to see whale sightings and record your
own – just search ‘whales NSW’ in your app store
Facebook – join the whale-loving community to
stay updated and share photos and experiences at:
www.facebook.com/wildaboutwhales
Twitter – share your sightings on Twitter with
the @wildaboutwhales community using #whaleon
BenBoydNationalPark
TomareeNationalPark
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Tomaree Head
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Visit www.wildaboutwhales.com.au toplanyourwhale-watchingadventure

3. In the 1950s, three out of 10 people believed
that Queen Elizabeth II descended from god.
Conduct the same survey today and you’d be
lucky to find three in a million who’d give the same
results, even though support for the monarchy is
now back to 1950s levels. You’d probably be
sectioned for even posing the question.
Our morals, values and opinions can shift
seismically in a short space of time. Rewind
10 years. Could anyone have imagined a devout
Catholic nation such as Ireland voting to legalise
gay marriage, as happened in May 2015? Or anti-
smoking feeling being so strong now that the habit
would be banned in pubs and clubs across Australia?
In the same vein, it’s difficult to comprehend
that members of the British royal family – that
eccentric, cuddly bunch who are met by grinning
crowds of disciples wherever they travel – could have
once been sympathetic towards the Nazi Party, only
a few years before Britain would fight against the
regime. But, alas, there’s some powerful evidence to
confirm that this was the case.
Before World War Two, fascism wasn’t the dirty
word it is now, especially among the English
aristocracy who believed it was the best weapon
for battling the spread of Communism. Even if
that meant climbing in bed with the Führer.
What a relief, then, that our morals, values and
opinions do change. We’re generally a wiser species
for it. And not praying to statues of Lizzie every
Sunday morning. Vince Jackson, Editor
Follow me on Twitter: @vince_jackson1
SOLVIN ZANKL
Photographer
The nature enthusiast spent
two years photographing the
inhabitants of an oak tree –
and discovered a fascinating
natural universe.
PAGE 18
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MARCO STRENG
Mathematician
The director of Genesis
Mining makes money
every day – in the most
literal sense. His firm
generates bitcoins,
the dollars and cents
of the internet.
PAGE 82
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Neuroscientist
The brain specialist is
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osteoporosis
or even cancer.
PAGE 40
EXPERTS IN THIS ISSUE
3

4. 4
08
40 50
64 70
18
ON THE
COVER
ON THE
COVER
Spectacular perspectives:
natural wonders as
you’ve never seen
them before
One tree – a microcosm of life
Are chemicals in
food making us
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manipulate our
brains
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A shocking report on
the leopards taking
over Mumbai
The British royal family’s
links to Hitler and
the Nazis revealed

5. AUGUST 2016
CONTENTS
15 issues for
the price of 12!
Turn to page 16 now for more
details about our amazing
money-saving subscription deal
32
56
86
ON THE
COVER
ON THE
COVER
NATURE
18 The Mysterious Universe Of The Oak
The fascinating world of the oak tree (and its inhabitants)
50 New Cat On The Block
Why leopards are moving to the big city
55 Smarter In 60 Seconds
Theme: Big cats
70 A Drone’s Eye View Of The World
How drones can outshine even the best photographers
86 You Can’t Kill Me
Introducing the greatest survival artists on Earth
SCIENCE
56 Waking The Dead
Can money and a vat of dry ice buy eternal life?
THE HUMAN BODY AND MIND
40 The Deceptive Sense Of Taste
The secret tricks of the food corporations
WORLD EVENTS
64 When Selfies Turn Deadly
The fatal hunt for a viral hit
HISTORY
8 The Royal Family’s Nazi Connection
The evidence behind the monarchy’s fascist links
32 The Psychology Of A Witch Hunt
Can paranoia affect an entire village?
TECHNOLOGY
82 I Am A Bitcoin Miner
The secret factories where digital currency is made
REGULARS
3 Experts In This Issue
Professional people offering their insights this month
90 Questions And Answers
Amazing facts from science, technology and everyday life
96 And Finally
Gannets leave fish with nowhere to hide
98 Letters
Your views and questions aired
Could we really live forever?
These little chaps
are as hardy as
they are tiny…
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NLOO WKHP
reveals about the
human psyche

8. THE
Delve into the British monarchy’s past
and you’ll find a family history dotted
with flirtations with fascism, covered-up
German ancestry and even Nazi relatives
The Queen

9. T
he movie is just 20
seconds long, but its
effects on the Royal
Family’s reputation
will linger for decades,
hanging over the House of Windsor
like a black cloud.
The grainy black-and-white footage
is shot in the gardens of Balmoral
Castle, between 1933 and 1934.
Frolicking around on the lawns are
the Queen Mother, Prince Edward
(who’d later become King Edward
VIII), Princess Margaret – and a
seven-year-old Princess Elizabeth.
At first, there’s nothing sinister
about the video. The family are
playing with the royal corgis. Then,
out of the blue, it happens: the girl
who one day will be Queen faces
the camera and raises her arm in
what appears to be a Nazi salute,
followed by her mother and Uncle
Edward. The two adults then
encourage Margaret to follow suit.
The controversial film, first leaked
by the UK newspaper The Sun in
July 2015, sent shockwaves through
British society. Here was a future
monarch, now head of state and the
Commonwealth, performing a ritual
during the 1930s. Even more
staggering is the fact that just seven
years later, the Queen Mother and
her husband George VI would
become symbols of wartime
defiance as London was bombed
during the Blitz of 1940.
Historians, though, are quick to
pour water over suggestions that
the Queen or the Queen Mother
were ever Nazi sympathisers
pointing out that the video
be watched in context. Re
scholar James Holland tol
Sun: “They are all having
there are lots of smiles,
all a big joke. I don’t thi
was a child in Britain in
or 40s who has not pe
mock Nazi salute as
It just shows the Ro
are as human as th
Others historians
commented that a
the now-90-year-
couldn’t have co
the future impli
making a Nazi
What’s not u
however, are
inclinations
King before controversially
abdicating. Edward’s links with
Hitler’s fascism are a poorly kept
secret. He once described the
Führer as “a decent chap”.
“It is right that it [the film] is put
into the public domain,” says Dr
Karina Urbach from the Institute of
Historical Research. “It’s high time
the Royal Archives were open for
serious research on the 1930s and
issue of Edward’s politics and
n his generation
ese
EVIDENCE #1: LEAKED VIDEO
WHY WAS THE QUEEN FILMED DOING A NAZI SALUTE?
HISTORY
9
queenelizabeth
le of ars after th
e
“It is disappointing that
film shot eight decades
ago and apparently from
Her Majesty’s personal
family archive have been
obtained and exploited in
this manner.”
Statement from
Buckingham Palace
Queen Mother

10. T
o the average Brit,
Edward VIII is a
romanticised figure;
the handsome devil of
a king who abdicated
from the throne in order to marry
his true love, the twice-divorced
American, Wallis Simpson. History
has proved, however, that the
debonair monarch hid a darker
side from the public, one which
harboured far-right-wing views and a
questionable relationship with Hitler.
Like mo
family (see page
had close ties with Ger
parents Queen Mary and Geo
boasted strong Germanic heritage.
Edward himself was fluent in
the German language, once
telling his friend Diana Mosley,
wife of British fascist leader
Oswald Mosley, that “every drop
of blood in my veins is German.”
This extended to his politics.
Edward, like many British aristocrats
Sir Dudley Forwood, reported: “We
were none of us averse to Hitler
politically. We felt the Nazi regime
EVIDENCE #2:
WAS BRITAIN’S KING A NAZI
10
AUDIENCE WITH THE FÜHRER
After abdicating, the Duke of
Windsor (centre) met Hitler in
Germany in 1937. The details of
their meeting are still unknown.
in 1933 one o Edward’s e uerries
“The Führer hoped
to install Edward
back on the throne
once the Nazis
conquered England.”
Andrew Morton,
royal biographer.

11. U
nder British law, government documents declared to
be in the public interest must be transferred to the
openly accessible National Archives after 30 years,
unless they pose a threat to national security. Why,
then, are the Royal Archives not subject to this kind
of scrutiny? This is the question being posed by historians after the
Queen’s Nazi salute footage was anonymously linked to The Sun
newspaper last year (see pages 10-11). Especially since these files
are believed to contain large volumes of correspondence between
the royal family and various Nazi politicians and aristocrats.
“The royal family can’t suppress their own history forever,”
says Karina Urbach of the Institute of Historical Research.
“This is censorship. Censorship is not a democratic value.
They have to face their past. I’m coming from a country,
Germany, where we all have to face our past.”
Urbach, author of Go-Betweens For Hitler, a book about the
relationship between the royals and the Nazis, has spent years
trying to get her hands on documents in the Royal Archive relating
to Nazi Germany – with no luck. She claims she’s seen rows of
boxes containing information on the all-important 1930s era that’s
off-limits to everyone, even suggesting that certain files belonging
to this period “no longer existed”.
“The Archives are a beautiful place to work but not if you want
to work on 20th-century material… you don’t get any access to
anything political after 1918. We know that after ’45 there was
a big clean-up operation. The royals were very worried about
correspondence resurfacing and so it was destroyed.”
Still, Buckingham Palace hasn’t been able to totally control the
flow of information. Much of the juiciest knowledge about the link
between the royals and the Nazis may have been swept under the
carpet if it wasn’t for the efforts of two A
Professor David Harris (then working wit
the US State Department) and Dr Paul
Sweet, who successfully campaigned for
the so-called Windsor File – which amon
other things revealed Edward VIII’s
relationship with Hitler – to finally
be published in 1957, after years
of legal wrangling.
PALACE COVER-UP
DID THE ROYAL FAMILY DESTROY
DAMNING NAZI EVIDENCE?
as a more appropriate government
an the Weimar Republic, which
d been extremely socialist.”
If Edward was drawn to Hitler,
en the feeling was mutual.
ccording to Andrew Morton’s book
7 Carnations: The Royals, The
azis And The Biggest Cover-Up
History – a publication which
uckingham Palace tried to ban
– the Führer began wooing Edward
soon after becoming chancellor in
1933, encouraging teenage German
aristocrat Princess Friederike to
romance the then-bachelor prince.
Hitler hoped to revive bygone days
when English and German royalty
only married each other.
Edward eventually wed Mrs
Simpson but that didn’t stop Hitler
from inviting Edward and his wife –
now titled the Duke and Duchess of
indsor post-abdication – to visit
im at his German mountain retreat
tober 1937. Edward and Hitler
ute private chat, the
main a mystery
ard
king’
ritain
tall
e once the
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ered Spanish
try and
in Europe,
e in southern
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ut the Duke and
errified by Nazi-
rs that the British
urder them
able assumption given
acrimonious relationship
x-king. Under enormous
, the couple fled to the
as, and Hitler was left
e -handed.”
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COVER-UP CLAIMS
The Royal Archives
are held at Windsor
Castle. Historians
believe they’re
being censored.

12. Y
ou know him
as Prince Philip,
Duke of Edinburgh,
husband and consort
to the Queen. His full
name is less familiar and rarely used
in public: Philip Mountbatten. But
that itself doesn’t tell the full story.
Mountbatten is, in fact, an anglicised
version of the dynastic name
Battenberg, which Philip’s German
family members adopted during
World War One due to the British
public’s anti-German feeling.
And here’s where it gets really
interesting. The prince himself took
the Mountbatten name in 1947, when
he married Princess Elizabeth. The
deed may have helped deflect
attention away from the Prince’s
lesser-known heritage, as a fully
paid up member of the House
of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-
Glücksburg – a prominent
German royal dynasty.
The now 94-year-old Duke of
Edinburgh was born Prince Philip of
Greece and Denmark in 1921. He’s
been described by biographers
as having an unsettled, lonely
childhood; his parents separated
after his schizophrenic mother was
put into a mental hospital, and he
was moved from school to school,
from country to country. One of these
establishments was Schule Schloss
Salem in southern Germany, where
he arrived in the autumn of 1933,
eight months after Hitler had been
in power. Schloss Salem was one
of the country’s most prominent
schools, and the Nazis’ Hitler Youth
movement quickly cemented its hold
over the place, making all the boys
– including Philip – perform Nazi
salutes. He stayed for just two years,
before being shipped to Gordonstoun
school in Scotland.
While there’s no suggestion that
Prince Philip – who went on to fight
against the Germans in World War
Two in the British Royal Navy – ever
had Nazi sympathies, the same
perhaps can’t be said of three of his
EVIDENCE#4: FUNERAL PHOTOS
WHY DOES PRINCE PHILIP HAVE SO MANY NAZI RELATIVES?
NAZI PROCESSION
A 16-year-old Prince
Philip at a funeral for
his sister in 1937,
surrounded by senior
Nazi officers.

13. YOUTH MOVEMENT
The young prince attended
Schule Schloss Salem in
Germany, where Hitler Youth
policies were implemented.
13
prin
sisters, Margarita, Cecile
and Sophie, all of whom married
German aristocrats with senior
positions in the Nazi Party.
Last year, an English TV
documentary entitled Prince
Philip: The Plot To Make A King,
broadcasted excerpts from the
memoirs of one of those siblings
– Princess Sophie – in which she
describes Hitler as a “charming and
seemingly modest man”. When she
gave birth to her first son with
husband Prince Christoph von
Hessen, the chief of Hermann
Goering’s secret intelligence
service, she named him Karl
Adolf in honour of the Führer.
The documentary also
photos of a 16-year-old Pr
attending a Nazi funeral in
near Frankfurt (see photo o
page), after his sister Cecile
killed in an air crash in 1937
dressed sombrely in a dark
but he’s flanked by grieving
all clad in their Nazi uniforms.
In an honest and rare interv
about his German past for the
book Royals And The Reich, the
Duke of Edinburgh admitted that
he found Hitler’s attempts to restore
Germany’s prestige after World
War One as “attractive”, and
admitted his German relatives
had “inhibitions about the Jews”.
get things
going. You can understand how
attractive it was.”
Philip insisted he was never
“conscious of anybody in the family
actually expressing anti-Semitic
views”, but added that there were
“inhibitions about the Jews” and
”jealousy of their success”.
WIVES OF THE SS
Philip’s sisters
Magarita (left) and
Sophie (right) both
eventually married
senior Nazi officers.
“You can
understand
how attractive
Nazism was.”
Prince Philip,
excerpt from
Royals And The
Reich

14. I
n 1714, the British royal
family was faced with a
problem. Queen Anne,
who famously united the
kingdoms of England and
Scotland into one sovereign state,
died after a year-long illness. That
meant her direct Stuart family line
had come to a halt. Worse still,
all the likely candidates for next
monarch among her 50-odd closest
suitable relatives were Catholic –
which was forbidden by 1701’s Act
of Settlement. So instead, the gig
was given to a foreigner – George
Ludwig, Prince Elector of Hanover:
a German through and through.
In that moment, the British royal
house name changed from Stuart to
Brunswick-Lüneburg-Hanover. The
new German throne-sitters had a
good run, lasting until 1837 when
Queen Victoria took over the top
job. The new monarch followed
a strong tradition of English royalty
marrying German royalty by
wedding (her first cousin) Prince
Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha,
another richly Germanic dynasty
– taking his family name, too. And
from here, it’s only four generations
– Queen Victoria is Queen
Elizabeth’s great-great grandmother
– until we arrive at the current
members of the royal family.
It’s not clear whether the average
pre-20th-century Brit knew, or even
gave a hoot, that their royals had
so much German blood flowing
through their veins, but come 1914
things had changed. The English
and German royals found
themselves on opposing sides in
World War One, and suddenly
having the family surname Saxe-
Coburg and Gotha was not a good
look for the Palace. In recognition
of this delicate situation, reigning
monarch George V changed the
family name to Windsor, which
remains to this day.
It’s worth nothing that of George’s
29 first cousins on his father’s side,
19 were German, the rest half-
German. A look on his mother’s side
reveals that of her 31 first-cousins,
six were German and 25 half-
German. Not a single one was
British. George V’s wife Mary was
the first royal consort in 400 years
EVIDENCE#5: WINDSOR FAMILY TREE
HOW GERMAN IS THE QUEEN AND HER FAMILY?
NAME CHANGERS
During WW1, the
royal family –
pictured here in
1989 – changed
its surname from
Saxe-Coburg and
Gotha to Windsor.
14
PHOTOS:Alamy(7);GettyImages(6);PR(3)WORDS:VinceJackson

15. O
n the night of May 10, 1941, Germany’s deputy
Führer Rudolf Hess entered British airspace over
Scotland in a light aircraft piloted by himself, tracked
by a pair of RAF Spitfires. At 11:06 pm, Hitler’s
right-hand man realised he was low on fuel and took
the decision to parachute from his plane. Hess was subsequently
captured and held as a prisoner of war at the Tower of London.
The motives for Hess’s daring Scottish mission have been
endlessly debated by historians. Some insist he fled Germany
without Hitler’s permission to start peace talks. Others claim Hitler
actually rubber-stamped the trip, and that Hess’s orders were to
secure a military alliance with Britain against Russia.
Authors John Harris and Richard Wilbourn have a more
scandalous theory. After studying more than 10,000
documents for their book Rudolf Hess: Treachery And
Deception, the pair believe Hess’s mission was part of
a coup to topple British PM, Winston Churchill – a mutiny
that was organised by Prince George, the Duke of Kent, the
younger brother of wartime monarch King George VI.
“The aristocracy had the most to lose from Churchill staying in
power. All they knew was that Germany was bombing Britain
nightly, softening the country up prior to an invasion, which would
surely cost them their wealth, their status and their lives. They
e also unhappy that Churchill’s strategy revolved around a US
nce, which many quite correctly saw as the end of the British
pire. A peace treaty with Germany, a country that had historic
with the Royal Family, would have seemed like the most
sible option to them. Communism was the real enemy;
icularly to those with much to lose. There were many parties
lved in the plot but our research points time and again
ne man who was connected to them all: Prince George.”
he historians claim that Prince George was in Scotland on the
of Hess’s arrival. When the Nazi landed, he’s believed to have
ediately asked for the Duke of Hamilton, a good friend of the
ce’s. According to Harris and Wilbourn, a 30,000-strong army
lied Poles, who’d fled their homeland and were also based
cotland, had been primed to support the coup.
EVIDENCE #6:
THE HESS INCIDENT
WAS THERE A ROYAL/NAZI PLOT
TO OVERTHROW CHURCHILL?
to speak British as a mother tongue.
While it’s clear that the Queen and
her family have close blood ties with
Germany, historian Dominic Selwood
points out in the UK’s Guardian
newspaper that Elizabeth II is also
descended from a millennia’s worth
of different British royal dynasties, too.
“To be honest, if we scrutinise
the royal family’s connections
with the Fatherland, we should take
a long look at our own, too, and
acknowledge that this country [the
UK] has had the most profound
and close genetic and cultural ties
with the people of Germany and
Scandinavia for over 1,500 years.”
GERMAN BLOOD
King George V
had 19 German
first cousins on his
father’s side alone.
ROYAL MUTINY
It’s claimed Prince George
colluded with Nazi deputy
leader Rudolf Hess (right)
‘George V’s wife
Mary was the
first royal consort
in 400 years to
speak British as
a mother tongue.’
thewindsors

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18. NATURE
It can live for centuries, gives shelter to
thousands of different animal species and
provides us with the oxygen we need to live.
Oak trees are one of the most incredible
miracles of nature
THE UNKNOWN CONTINENT ON OUR DOORSTEP
THE MYSTERIOUS

19. 19
OAK
HOME SWEET HOME
Using its body-length proboscis, the
female acorn weevil drills a hole in the
shell of an acorn so that it can lay a
single egg in the opening. This makes
an ideal nursery for developing larvae
as they’re protected from predators
and provided with sufficient nutrients.
OFTHE

20. THE CAMOUFLAGED HUNTER
The mossy roots of European
oak trees are the ideal hunting
grounds for common toads. They
provide a safe hiding place where
they can lie in wait for their prey
– mainly insects and worms –
before ambushing them.
THE DECOMPOSER
Every year an oak tree sheds up to
300,000 leaves weighing around 100kg.
The slater plays a central role here: as
the primary decomposer of plant waste,
it ensures the forest doesn’t disappear
under a layer of leaves that would grow
by metres every year.
RICH DELIGHTS
Acorns are rich in carbohydrates
(40%), fats (15%) and proteins
(6%). In autumn larger mammals
take advantage of the falling acorns
while the soft fallen leaves provide
food for many invertebrates.
MEAL TIME!
Moss mites feed on dead plant
material that the oak sheds,
transforming it into humus soil.
:+$7 -2% '2(6 7+(
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21. 21
HOW MANY FLOORS DOES
AN OAK TREE HAVE?
Oaks are like high-rise buildings, composed of several storeys:
the moss or soil layer (up to 0.15 metres), the herb layer (up to
1.5 metres high), the shrub layer (up to 5 metres high) and lastly the
tree layer which can reach a height of up to 50 metres. Each of these
floors has its own habitat with specific residents who fulfil defined
tasks. This helps the ecosystem of the oak to function properly.

22. TUMMY TROUBLES
Although squirrels are
associated with acorns, they
can’t digest the nutrient-rich
nuts properly. Often they
cause the animal painful
stomach aches.
OAK AFICIONADOS
Oaks provide a bed and a
food delivery service for
raccoons: when they’re
not spending the day
sleeping in a tree hollow,
they greedily chow down
masses of acorns. This
helps them put on the
winter fat they need to
survive the cold months.
HOLLOW-DWELLERS
The hornet is another insect
that likes to seek shelter in
old oak hollows. They build
communal nests by chewing
bark to make a papery pulp.
Their notorious reputation
as a killer insect means
they are often looking for
shelters where they can
hide out in peace.
When choosing their
homes, UK blue tits are not
particularly picky – but they
like things to be cosy: they
often build in neglected
hollows in oak trees and
furnish their homes with
moss and grass.
1(676 20)

23. 23
HOW MANY INHABITANTS LIVE ON
THE
The oak is a complex microcosm. More than a thousand different
species typically call a tree home, including many different types of
butterfly and all kinds of beetle – few other species of tree provide so
much shelter. The giants, which can grow to be 50 metres high, serve as
both hiding place and sustenance for the entire population.

24. TOXIC CATERPILLAR
As moths they are harmless,
but the caterpillar of the oak
processionary moth is not to
be trifled with. Each one has
over 600,000 toxic stinging
hairs which can cause a
life-threatening allergic
reaction when touched.
KNOCK, KNOCK! WHO’S THERE?
Great spotted woodpeckers pound
against brittle oak wood up to 20
times per second. A type of shock
absorber inside its head ensures
that it doesn’t get a headache.
:+ ,6 7+(
:+$7 0$.(6 7+(
TREETOP PREDATOR
European pine martens spend
a large portion of their lives in
the treetops. The furry predators
swing from branch to branch in
their hunt for prey. While climbing
they can even rotate their feet
by 180 degrees.
RESIDENT BIRD
The tawny owl prefers
to make its nest in the
branches or hollows of
old oaks. Once the owl
has found its territory,
it won’t stray from it for
the rest of its life.

25. 25
WHICH OAK INHABITANTS
CAN ALSO BE DANGEROUS
TO HUMANS?
Owls, martens and woodpeckers are among the most
prominent treetop residents. Of the lesser-spotted species,
the oak processionary moth is a creature few of us have heard of
– even though the larvae of this unassuming moth can pose a
risk to humans as well as trees. The members of the Lepidoptera
order, which have recently been spotted in parts of southeast
England, crawl down from the tree crown in their thousands in
early summer to feed on the oak leaves. Once they have emerged
from their cocoons, they leave behind millions of tiny toxic hairs
that can float on the air for up to 100 metres and can cause
shortness of breath if accidentally inhaled.

26. {rom one second to the next the
gnarled branch of the old oak tree
is transformed into an arena: as the
sun sets on the horizon, two male
stag beetles get ready for a treetop
duel – their antler-like mandibles
directed threateningly in the other’s
direction. Usually, this would be the
cue for them to storm towards
each other and attempt to throw
the other onto its back with their
three-centimetre-long jaws, or to
push their opponent from the
branch. But this time things are
rather different: one of the beetles
begins to teeter precariously and
shortly afterwards tumbles to the
ground below.
The duel is over before it has
begun – because the beetle
made a fatal mistake: before
the battle it slurped away on
a sugary juice found dripping
from a crack in the oak. What
the insect didn’t realise was
the oak’s sweet sap had
been fermented into
alcohol by bacteria. The
beetle’s opponent doesn’t
look in the least bit worried
by this: he’s excited about
picking up the spoils of his victory,
a female, and lets off a triumphant
buzzing to celebrate. This is just
one of many fascinating storylines
that play out daily in the universe of
the oak, and which have done for
millions of years.
WHERE IS THE OLDEST
OAK TREE IN THE WORLD?
The Pechanga Great Oak Tree in
Temecula, California, is around
2,000 years old. And Standing
in a field in Manthorpe in the UK
is a tree believed to be about 1,000
years old. Known as the Bowthorpe
Oak, the tree’s trunk is now hollow
but its staggering 15-metre
circumference is so cavernous
it’s claimed that 39 people once
managed to stand inside it.
These two giant trees have
observed the lives and deaths of
several generations of people.
They’ve seen wars and natural
disasters, and been witness to
exciting new eras – almost in a time
lapse, as if they have lived life in
slow motion. Oaks grow just four
centimetres in height every year
while a spruce manages 37
centimetres per year. An oak grows
for half a century before it carries
its first blossoms. And yet every
oak forges its own individual
history as a microcosm for
thousands of living organisms.
The tree is a mysterious continent
on which the greatest miracle of
nature is waiting to be discovered.
HOW MANY TONS OF DUST
DOES AN OAK FILTER FROM
THE AIR?
In spring, once the cold weather
has gone and temperatures are
finally rising, the oak wakes
up from its winter sleep. The
buds start to open pretty much
immediately and the first green
leaves soon become visible.
Shortly afterwards, the
characteristic lobed leaves begin
to shoot everywhere on the oak’s
branches and twigs. The first
blossoms appear. On every male
flower or catkin there are up to
40,000 pollens, which are carried
to the female flowers by the wind.
The leaves of the oak are true
miracles of nature: not only do
they act as a source of nutrients
and a nesting place for countless
animal species, they also serve
as umbrellas, climate control
units, air filters and oxygen
factories combined.
“Using its 150,000 leaves,
a 100-year-old oak tree converts
around 6,000kg of carbon dioxide
per year into 45,000 kg of oxygen,”
explains biologist Mario Ludwig.
That’s equivalent to the annual
requirement of 11 people. The
tree also functions as an active
“There is
something to
discover in every
oak. If you are
quiet and patient,
the tree will reveal
its secret.”
SOLVIN ZANKL, PHOTOGRAPHER
LEAF ARTIST
Before laying their
eggs, female
leaf-rolling weevils
use their proboscis
and legs to create
artful nests from
oak leaves.

27. 27
HANGING BY A THREAD
The grubs of the winter
moth feed on oak leaves
and pull themselves from
tree to tree using self-spun
threads. At the end of May
they make their way down
to the ground to pupate.
air filter: with a leaf surface area
of up to 1,600 square metres,
it filters up to a ton of pollution-
containing dust a year.
Above all, the silent giants are
a complex ecosystem that offer a
habitat to more than 1,000 species
of animal – no other tree provides
as much shelter. Over the course
of evolution each one has adapted
to the unique living conditions of
the oak tree and developed
strategies to survive.
WHICH ANIMALS NEED
DYING OAKS TO SURVIVE?
Many creatures benefit from eating
the carbohydrate-rich, fatty fruits of
the oak: the acorns. Unlike wild
boar or dormice, at least the
Eurasian jay makes itself useful
while doing so by contributing –
albeit unintentionally – to the
dispersal of the tree. In autumn it
buries acorn reserves under the
soil that it can often not find again
so that, in some spots, new oak
saplings are already sprouting by
the next year.
Many insects have also
discovered the nutrient-rich tree
fruits for themselves – both as a
hiding place for their offspring and
as a source of nourishment. The
acorn weevil deposits its eggs in
acorn shells, which helps protect
them from hungry predators as well
as meaning the larvae will be
greeted with an opulent feast when
they hatch. Their close relation, the
oak leaf-rolling weevil, folds artful
nests from the oak leaves by
cutting through the leaf, rolling up
the sides and curling it up from the
tip. It then lays a single egg inside.
Even inside the oak leaves and
deep in the tree bark there exists
a wealth of hidden riches unique to
the oak tree: here the leaf miners
are in charge – the tiny larvae of
flies, butterflies and beetles which
eat straight through the oak and
leave behind empty corridors,
known as mines, in the process.
Some of them, like the oak bark
beetle, can quickly become a real
nuisance to the giant trees thanks
to their insatiable hunger. Trees
infested by the pest exhibit general
symptoms of decline including
reduced growth, wilted foliage and

28. 28
Thanks to their green
leaf dye, the tree can
convert carbon dioxide,
air and water into vital
nutrients and distribute
them all over the tree.
HOW MANY TREES ARE
THERE ON EARTH?
Trees grow from tiny seeds into
gigantic titans. To date they have
conquered almost every corner of the
world: More than 25% of the Earth’s land
areas are forested – that’s 40 million
square kilometres. Researchers estimate
that there are around three trillion trees
in all of the forests in the world. This
number can then be divided into 100,000
different tree species – there are 600
different types of oak alone. Trees are the
lungs of the Earth, producing most of the
oxygen on the planet.
SUMMER
The big growth
phase: the roots
grow deeper.
SPRING
The oak begins
to produce
leaves.
AUTUMN
The connections
to the leaves
are severed.
EMERGENCY
BUDS
Oaks have buds that
only grow when they
are in danger. The
‘sleeping eyes’ can
be 100 years old.
DNA
The acorn contains
the genetic
information of
the tree.
SHIFT WORK
The wood of the tree consists of
many different layers. Every one
has its task. The cambium is
responsible for the tree’s growth.
RIVER OF NUTRIENTS
CURRENT OF WATER
BUDS
The acorns that fall in
autumn germinate the
following spring.
A cold winter will
mean they sprout
sooner.
MALE FLOWERS
Pollination mostly
happens thanks to
the wind – and not
as a result of
insects searching
for nectar.
AN OAK
TREE NEEDS
LITRES OF
40
WATER
PER DAY
WINTER
The tree hunkers
down for winter.
Nutrient reserves are
stored in the bark.

29. 29
PHOTOS:SolvinZankl(19),FrankHecker(1)/FrederkingThalerVerlag;GettyImages;Caters
ILLUSTRATION:Sol90Images
branch dieback, all of which can
ultimately kill the tree.
But dead oaks also serve as
an important source of food for
numerous species of animals as
well as a breeding ground or
a hiding place. The stag beetle likes
to lay its 80 or so eggs in the rotting
tree trunks so that its larvae can
stumble upon the decaying but
nutritious wood immediately after
hatching. The great spotted
woodpecker uses the dead wood to
create rooms for its offspring. When
the chicks have fledged, they are
often re-used by owls, dormice and
squirrels as a hideout. In parts of
Europe an animal with a migrant
background also likes to withdraw
into neglected woodpecker nests:
the raccoon, which migrated from
America 80 years ago, often seeks
refuge in oaks in order to spend
the winter there or simply to take
a refreshing nap.
DO OAKS HAVE THEIR OWN
INTERNAL RESET BUTTON?
Even from a distance the brown
treetop catches the eye next to the
lush green forest. In comparison to
the beech tree, nibbled bare and
with naked branches, the majestic
oak radiates vitality. The reason for
the different appearances of the
two trees is down to the mighty
oak’s survival strategy. Over the
course of evolution the oak has
developed a unique ability to react
to feeding attacks by harmful bugs.
Every year in summer, the most
large-scale regeneration process in
nature begins anew. It forces the
pinkish-green leaf buds, meant
for next spring, to sprout for the
second time there and then. Using
FAVOURITE SNACK
Acorns are one of the
favourite meals of wild
boar – for good reason: no
other tree nut contains as
many nutrients.
this trick even oaks that have been
nibbled bare can regenerate within
the shortest amount of time – and
their leaves are sorely needed:
scientists have discovered that oak
leaves are at the top of the menu
for 285 species of butterflies. The
larvae of the oak processionary
moth are particularly ravenous and
from April onwards the caterpillars
band together to form chains more
than ten metres long, in order to
take over the oak leaves like an
armada. Often the only thing they
leave behind is a landscape of
utter devastation.
The second leaf budding is,
however, not the only strategy
used by the oak to react to
specific threats: before it sheds
its foliage in late autumn, it draws
important nutrients like the green
leaf dye chlorophyll from its leaves
in order to store them in the trunk
and roots for the duration of the
winter. The remaining reddish-
yellow leaves do not only make
for a beautiful spread of foliage,
they are also the leaves’ own
protective shields. They have
a similar function to the UV
filters in suncream – to protect
against sunlight. In addition the
leaves contain substances that are
toxic to some insects, which help
them defend themselves against
hungry insect larvae.
In Europe at least, the oak tree is
also prepared against cold winters.
Its thick bark keeps in heat and
water and the tree can also produce
an internal anti-freeze to prevent
the water in its cells from freezing
and exploding as a result.
All of these protective measures
ensure that the oak tree is able to
store enough energy during winter
to be able to form leaves next
spring and embark again on one
of the biggest miracles of nature.
A process that has been happening
for millions of years and which will
continue to happen in just the same
way for the next million.

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32. 32

33. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF A
In 1692, the North American town of Salem was rocked by a horrific massacre,
which saw more than 20 people brutally murdered. For 300 years historians
have been trying to figure out how such an event could have happened
– in part so that we can better understand our present
HISTORY

34. CAN PARANOIA AFFECT
AN ENTIRE TOWN?At first it’s just a few girls who are
visited by the mysterious
hallucinations. But soon the hysteria
spreads like a plague through the whole of
Salem, culminating in a bloody witch-hunt.
How could it have come to this? Many
historians point to a crucial factor linked to
Puritanism – a strict Christian denomination
brought to America by settlers from England.
The Puritans, who lived predominantly in
Massachusetts, not only rejected all forms
of authority – they also preached their
beliefs about their own divine rights as the
chosen ones. They considered other races
and religions to be the inferior spawn of the
devil, no ethnicity more so than the Native
Americans. As one in ten settlers had lost
their life in the war against the natives, it
was easy for fanatical preachers like
Samuel Parris or Cotton Mather (below) to
condemn anybody who sympathised with
them as sorcerers or witches in this climate
of fear. The absence of regulated courts and
central administrations allowed the Puritan
judges to carry out arbitrary show trials,
costing 24 people in Salem their lives.
RELIGIOUS
WARRIOR
The Puritan
minister Cotton
Mather believed
in the existence
of witches,
who he saw
as the devil’s
messengers.

35. awn is just
breaking when
the torchlit
procession
reaches the
tree-lined cliff.
The exposed
location has
been chosen
deliberately –
from here every
resident of the
town can clearly
see what is about to happen: the
enforcement of a judgment which
is supposed to serve as a chilling
warning to the inhabitants of
Salem. Her legs trembling, her
hands bound, Bridget Bishop
climbs the ladder. As the noose
is placed around her neck, she
pleads her innocence one last time
But it’s all in vain. Without
warning, the ladder under
Bridget’s feet is ripped away,
leaving her legs thrashing
helplessly in the air. After three
minutes, which must seem like
an eternity, her torturous death
struggle is over – but the Salem
witch trials have only just begun.
They will change the small town
on America’s east coast forever
and go down as one of the biggest
miscarriages of justice in the
annals of American history.
HOW DOES A VIOLENT
MOB FORM?
Since time immemorial there have
been countless cases of targeted
massacres, witch-hunts and
lynchings around the world – but
arguably no historical event has
been as well-researched as the
events in Salem. Why? Perhaps
because they show an example of
how a seemingly intact, peaceful
community can suddenly transform
into an angry mob and how quickly
honest, upright citizens can
become cold-blooded murderers.
“Nobody doubts that
there is a devil – except
those who are under his
direct influence.”
COTTON MATHER, Puritan judge
UNDER THE
DEVIL’S SPELL
The priests of Salem were
convinced that the girls
had been bewitched by
Native Americans with
satanic rituals and saw
these cases as evidence
that Salem had been
taken over by the devil.
!
35

36. THE HEXAGRAM OF DEATH
Mary Whittredge Mary Green, fled
Nehemiah Abbot Jr
Lydia Dustin, died in custody
Edward Farrington
Mary Barker
Sarah Cloyce
Abigail Faulkner Sr, pardoned
† Bridget
Bishop
Mary Bradbury,
fled
Elizabeth Booth, Elizabeth
Hubbard, Mercy Lewis, Betty
Parris, Ann Putnam Jr,
Margaret Rule, Susannah
Sheldon, Mercy Short,
Martha Sprague, Mary
Walcott, Mary Warren,
Abigail Williams
Mary Lacey Sr, pardoned
after confession
† Rebecca
Nurse
† Susannah
Martin
† Elizabeth Howe
† George Burroughs,
Ex-Minister
† Sarah Wildes
† Martha Carrier
† George Jacobs Sr
† John Proctor
† John WillardSarah Wardwell,
pardoned after
confession
† Mary Eastey
† Ann Pudeator
Ann Foster,
died in custody
† Sarah Good
† Wilmot
Redd
† Mary Parker
Elizabeth Proctor,
pardoned
† Margaret Scott
Dorcas Hoar, pardoned
after confession
† Samuel Wardwell Sr
† Alice Parker
† Martha Corey
Arthur Abbot
Sarah Osborne, died
in custody
Job Tookey
Margaret Prince
Sarah Swift
Abigail Barker
Giles Corey,
tortured to death
Elizabeth Dicer
Katherina Biss
Bethiah Carter Sr.
Sarah Rist
Thomas Carrier Jr.
Roger Toothaker, probably
tortured to death
Hannah Tyler
William Barker Sr
Mary Marston
Sarah Bishop
William Barker Jr
Abigail Rowe
Edward BishopJohn Bradstreet
John Porter Sr
Edward Bishop III
Rachel Clinton
Stephen Johnson
Mary Bridges Sr
Rev. John Busse,
Minister of Wells, Maine
Bethiah Carter Jr
Rebecca Dike
Sarah Carrier
Dorothy Faulkner
Sarah Cole
Thomas Farrer Sr,
detained in Boston jail for
seven years
Margaret Jacobs
Eunice Frye
Sarah Hawkes Jr
Sarah Hale, wife of Reverend John Hale,
Minister of Beverly, Massachusetts
Rebecca Jacobs
Ann Foster
Elizabeth Johnson Sr
Daniel Andrew
Hannah Post
Mary Toothaker, wife of
Roger Toothaker and sister
of Martha Carrier
Dorothy Good, daughter
of Sarah Good
Susanna Rootes
Joan Penney
Mary Rowe Jr
Frances Hutchins
Sarah Carrier
Mary Rowe
Abigail Faulkner Jr
Elisabeth Dicer
James Howe, husband of Elisabeth Howe
William Barker SrMary Tyler
Mary Lacey Jr, daughter
of Mary Lacey Sr and
granddaughter of Ann Foster
Mary and Philip English
Lady Mary Phips, wife of
Governor Sir William Phips
George Jacobs Jr.
Margaret Prince
John Alden Jr.
Esther Elwell
Anne Bradstreet
Rachel Vinson
Daniel and Lydia Eames
Edward Farrington, fled
Sarah Dustin
Mehitable Downing
Phoebe Day
Sarah Bridges
Tituba, Caribbean slave
Mary Bridges Jr.
Mercy Wardwell
William Proctor
Dudley Bradstreet
Abigail Rowe
Hezekiah Usher II.
Thomas Carrier Jr
Israel Porter
Susannah Post
Edward Wooland
Mary Black, slave
Sarah Wilson
Mercy, daughter of Sarah Good, who was born and died in
prison shortly before her mother’s execution
Elizabeth Hutchinson Hart Margaret Sheaf Thacher
Reverend Francis Dane, Minister
of Andover, Massachusetts
DENUNCIATORS SENTENCED († HANGED) THE ACCUSED
The statements given by the two girls Abigail Williams
and Betty Parris set in motion a deadly spiral, the effects
of which are felt throughout Salem in a matter of weeks.
Everyone is affected, be they prosecutor, defendant or relative.
Neighbour testifies against neighbour. Children against parents.
Husbands betray wives – even religious ministers are accused.
Children die in prisons. Families are destroyed. The hysteria and
paranoia that has overtaken Salem spreads like wildfire to the
surrounding communities. It is only when the wife of Governor
Phips is accused that this horrific spectacle comes to an end.

37. THE ACCUSERS THE ACCUSED
TOWN OF SALEM
IPSWICH ROAD
SALEM VILLAGE
8
KM
For decades, psychologists have
studied historical sources from the
time. They’ve found that often just
one single factor is enough to ignite
a conflict that has been simmering
away for some time. In Salem’s
case that trigger was a fatal
combination of paranoid fear and
religious fanaticism. Together, these
two factors sparked their own
dynamic that radicalised everything
in the briefest period of time: thoughts, words, actions – and
eventually even history itself.
CAN CONTAMINATED GRAIN
UNLEASH MASS HYSTERIA?
It all begins in January 1692, when
11-year-old Abigail Williams starts
behaving strangely. She utters
peculiar sounds, throws things,
and contorts herself into strange
positions. Soon her cousin Betty
Parris and other girls in Salem start
exhibiting similar behaviour. This is
the cue for Betty’s father, Reverend
Samuel Parris, to enter the scene.
As head of the strictly Puritan
community, he is dedicated to
fighting Satan and his messengers
on Earth – witches. Reverend Parris
quickly suspects who is behind the
girls’ bizarre behaviour – and the
medical diagnosis confirms his
suspicions: Abigail and Betty have
been possessed by the devil. The
minister is convinced that there
must be accomplices – likely
Native Americans or witches who
have placed a curse on the pair.
He harasses the two girls until they
accuse three local women, all of
whom are considered outsiders in
the village community: Sarah
Contaminated grain can cause
hallucinations and behavioural changes –
symptoms that occurred in Salem.”
NICHOLAS COZZI, pharmacologist
!
WAS A SECRET
WAR RAGING
IN SALEM?
Looking at the map of
Salem one thing stands out:
there was a clear division between
the accusers and the accused.
While the former all lived in the
heart of Salem Village, 82% of the
accused came from the suburbs or
neighbouring towns. To give this
some context: in the years leading
up to the witch trials, a smouldering,
latent rivalry had built up between
the traditional peasant population
and the more affluent, worldly
businessmen of the outer districts.
Concerned that their puritan values
were under threat, the preachers
saw the witch trials as a welcome
opportunity to rid the community of
unwanted ‘new money’ types.
SHOW TRIA/
In court, the accused were confronted with the girls
– who promptly suffered new seizures. For the judge
the case was clear cut.
37

38. THE TRIALS IN NUMBERS
people were
hanged in Salem
people were convicted of
witchcraft and hanged in
New England – before 1692.
of the accused were women
women men
19
12
14 5
of the accused
pleaded guilty
during the
trial
Good, a homeless beggar; an
impoverished old woman, Sarah
Osborne; and Parris’ Caribbean
slave, Tituba.
All three women are quickly
arrested. It is the start of a wave of
persecution that spreads through
the village and also affects
numerous other communities
in New England. More than 200
people in 25 towns and cities
are accused of witchcraft – the
youngest is just four, the oldest
almost 80. It’s still not entirely clear
what caused the mass hysteria.
One explanation suggests the
abnormal habits of the accusers
were caused by the fungus ergot,
which can be found in cereal
grasses including rye and wheat.
Toxicologists say eating ergot-
contaminated foods can lead to
muscle spasms and hallucinations.
There’s just one snag with this
theory: although it could explain
the behaviour of the girls, it ignores
the fact that a whole village
voluntarily joined in the subsequent
purge. For that reason, many
historians believe that a variety of
factors led to the witch-hunts:
superstitions played a part, as did
DOG EAT DOG
Many residents of Salem used the
witch trials to do away with
unwelcome citizens.
the feelings of paranoia that had
swept through the town as a result
of attacks by Native Americans.
Family feuds, land disputes and a
smallpox epidemic also contributed
to the explosive mood, along with
one more important element –
scheming. The witch-hunt provided
the perfect opportunity to do away
with unwelcome guests: long-
suppressed hatred against one’s
neighbours could suddenly be
displayed in public.
WERE THE WITNESSES FED
FALSE MEMORIES?
The Puritan judges also contributed
to the malaise by steering the
witnesses to say what they wanted
to hear. Not only did they exert
huge pressure on the girls, they
actually sought to directly influence
their testimony. “Even in those
days people knew tricks, ways
to fiddle with other people’s
memories,” says cognitive
psychologist Elizabeth Loftus.
A glance at the list of the accused
shows that most were a thorn in the
side of Parris and his fellow judges
because they sympathised with the
Native Americans or acted against
In the course of the witch-hunts
200 people were accused of
being in league with the devil, 150 of
whom landed behind bars. While 19
people were condemned as witches
and hanged, four more died in jail.
The most agonising death was
suffered by Giles Corey: because the
80-year-old farmer refused to
incriminate others he was “pressed to
death”. Covered in heavy stones, he
suffocated three days later.

39. Puritan beliefs – priests and former
ministers included. The judges
were involved in some decidedly
murky goings-on. According to
historian Richard Trask, confessions
were tortured out of defendants
and vital evidence withheld. In
total the special court handed
down 19 death sentences. How
arbitrary these judgements often
were is illustrated by the case of
Rebecca Nurse, whose acquittal
was quickly retracted after protests
from the audience.
As the witch-hunt continued, it
also took a toll on the economy:
since a majority of Salem’s farmers
were either in prison, involved in
the trials in some way or had fled in
panic, the fields were no longer
being tilled and sawmills stood
empty. Trade was practically at a
standstill. Critical opinions began
to be aired – and when his own
wife was accused of witchcraft,
Governor Sir William Phips finally
halted the trials and ordered that
the court be dissolved. In the
spring of 1693, therefore, the
hysteria disappeared as suddenly
as it had arrived in the town.
Although the trials took place
almost 325 years ago, sociologists
claim much can be learnt from
them – in particular about how
people behave in a community.
Many of the factors that led to the
witch-hunt are timeless and had
nothing to do with the current
reality at that time. When factors
combine in a perfect storm, such
as in Salem, it is almost impossible
to prevent violence – even in
apparently intact societies.
PHOTOS:iStock(3);BauerStock(3);Alamy(2);Fotolia;AKG-Images/DPA(2);RexFeatures;Shutterstock;PR
PREORDAINED JUDGMENT
In later depictions of the trials, the accused
were shown as sorcerers who had sworn
allegiance to the devil. It was only in 2001
that the last women were declared innocent.
“The shocking thing about Salem is that all
of those involved thought they were doing the
right thing – ministers, judges, prosecutors –
and that led to the deaths of 24 people.”
KATHERINE HOWE, US author and descendant of a Salem victim
39

40. That’s enough to fill a 2,400-kilometres-long
convoy of trucks. End-to-end they would
stretch from Sydney to Cairns. More than
80% of the world’s production is consumed
in Asia, with Europe gobbling up 95,000
tons’ worth. It’s found in a massive range
of Australian foods including snacks,
seasoning and stock cubes.
The worldwide
GLUTAMATE
1.5 MILLION
TONS
HUMANBODY

41. 6(16( 2)
7$67(
THE DECEPTIVE
Can flavours make us overweight and
ill? According to food researchers, they
can. They claim additives in food not only
manipulate taste but also our brains
They’re far cheaper for the manufacturer
to use than natural ingredients. More
than 1.2 million tons of flavourings are
produced worldwide every year.
SENSORY LABORATORIES
where FLAVOUR CHEMISTS
FLAVOURING AGENTS
41

42. et’s imagine we’re conducting an
experiment: think about your favourite
chocolate, how it melts in your mouth –
the delicate, smooth consistency, its
sensual cocoa flavour and velvety
sweetness. Now, if you had to describe
the flavour in precise detail, what
would you say? Would your
account include words such as
“crisps”, “gherkins”, “peach”
or even “sweat”? Probably
not, although in reality all
of these flavours form
part of the unique
taste of chocolate.
In fact, chocolate’s
distinctive taste
comes from the
interaction of 500
different flavours.
This discovery by the
German Research
Centre for Food
Chemistry has turned the
whole field of taste research on its
head. Although people have always eaten
food, the scientific investigation of our
sense of taste is relatively new. It’s a field
of research that goes by the rather strange
name of neurogastronomy and it aims to
answer the following: what exactly
happens when we taste? Why do we like
certain foods more than others? And do
some flavours affect our body weight?
42

43. HOW OUR
SURROUNDINGS
AFFECT THE
WAY WE TASTE
DOES THE PRICE OF WINE AFFECT
ITS TASTE?
Californian brain researchers have
investigated how much the price of
wine influences the assessment of the
drinker – with amazing results. Wine
tasters judged expensive wines to be
superior to cheaper ones, even when in
reality they were drinking the same
wine. The reaction is visible on brain
scans with activity heightened in the
medial orbitofrontal cortex, where
tastes are assessed. The scientists
write that the price of wine affects the
activity in this region of the brain.
WHICH CUP GIVES COFFEE THE
BEST FLAVOUR?
A blue one. A study showed that the
taste of coffee is influenced by the
colour of the cup. For instance, it’s
perceived as more bitter when drunk
from a brown mug than it is from a blue
one or a glass one. This is because the
brain associates the colour brown with
a bitter taste. Thus, the more that
coffee’s ‘brownness’ is accentuated, the
more bitter it will taste. A clear glass
mug, conversely, triggers a feeling of
‘sweetness’. The colour blue indicates
both ‘sweet’ and ‘bitter’ at the same
time – making the taste more intense.
WHICH SPOON SHOULD WE USE
TO EAT YOGHURT?
Psychologists from the UK’s University
of Oxford have found that a spoon’s
weight affects how we much we enjoy
eating yoghurt. The heavier the spoon,
the more watery and cheap the yoghurt
will taste. A lighter spoon has the
opposite effect as it makes the yoghurt
feel heavier and thus more expensive.
Scientists explain that food is mentally
upgraded when the weight of the cutlery
corresponds to the user’s expectations.
This means that a dessert spoon should
always be light.
TASTE: THE LAST, VITAL
TEST OF OUR FOOD
We now know that our sense of
taste probably didn’t develop so
we could feel pleasure and joy
while eating. Instead, we use
it to give our food a kind of final
once-over. In a split second, our
sense of taste gives the brain the
information it needs to make a vital
decision: to swallow or not to
swallow? The brain asks five
questions which the five established
basic tastes help answer:
1. Does the food contain salt?
(salty) 2. Is it full of protein?
(umami) 3. Does it provide
sugar? (sweet) 4. Is it acidic?
(sour) 5. Is it toxic? (bitter).
This information is conveyed
to the brain via three
nerve pathways – by
comparison, the eyes use
just one. The information
is then evaluated in
the brain stem.
Salty, sweet and umami
are tastes that indicate
edible, energy-rich food.
If the brain detects them, it
stimulates salivation, initiates
the swallowing process and
activates the digestive
system. Sour tastes, on the
other hand, indicate unripe
or rotten food, while
dangerous, natural toxins
have a bitter taste which
makes you grimace, open
your mouth, hold your
breath and spit it out – the
gag reflex. In other words,
the sense of taste acts like
the body’s early warning
system: it decides whether
you have something edible or
poisonous in your mouth and
triggers an appropriate reaction.
While all this is going on,
something else happens in the
brain: an emotional assessment is

44. 44
carried out by its limbic system
which regulates emotions, instincts
and drives behaviour. The result is
we can’t eat without distinguishing
between “I like” and “I don’t like”.
Foods that are salty, sweet or
umami (a savoury-type taste)
immediately unleash a feeling
of pleasure. Our taste memory
stores this reaction, driving us
to eat foods associated with this
positive feeling in the future.
1.5 MILLIONS TONS
OF GLUTAMTE
WORLDWIDE
The food industry is now using
this age-old mechanism to its
advantage. If a consumer associates
a product with a feeling of pleasure,
he or she will buy it again and again.
So, to help the industry attain their
repeat custom, more and more
foods are having flavourings and
other additives added to them.
A whole range of foods from
crisps and instant soups to sweets
and yoghurts are being packed with
industrially produced flavourings:
worldwide more than 1.5 million
tons of the taste enhancer
glutamate are consumed every
year. It’s estimated that every third
product in the Australia has had its
taste manipulated in some way,
something that industry flavourists
are responsible for. These ‘taste
designers’ create chemically
produced flavourings
to make cheaply produced food
more palatable and, therefore,
seem of higher quality.
This means that food nowadays
is full of ‘information’ – because
that’s what taste is. But, warns
neuroscientist Dr Achim Peters,
this could lead to problems.
“If this information is artificially
manufactured or distorted, it can
lead to software malfunctions in
the brain. Just like computer
viruses that manipulate computer
drives, false signals from food can
alter the food detection and energy
distribution networks in our brains.”
The false signals work in the
same way as Trojans hijacking a
computer’s hard drive do: they alter
the software without you noticing
at first. In the long term, the
misinformation can cause illnesses
such as Alzheimer’s, osteoporosis
or even cancer. Another vastly
underestimated side effect is that
these substances can make
us fat – without us noticing. They
manipulate our energy balance,
causing us to eat more than our
brain and body actually need.
A well-known example is the
sweetener aspartame. Use artificial
sweetener instead of regular sugar,
and you’ll confuse your brain. The
taste buds signal a ‘sweet’ taste,
but, after ten minutes, the brain
realises there isn’t any glucose,
only chemicals. Thus it requests
more energy. “If the brain is
repeatedly deceived by
sweeteners, it becomes irritated
and declares an energy state of
emergency – which then leads to
Plan B. And Plan B, of course, is to
eat more,” explains Dr Peters. This
leads to food cravings, which
mean we get fatter. What do we do
then? That’s right: we consume
more sweeteners. A vicious circle
begins. Watch out for sweeteners
is Dr Peters’ stark warning. “Treat
them with extreme care – the less
you’re exposed to them, the
greater the chance your metabolic
system will recover.”
Just as aspartame can make
us sick and overweight, so too
can other flavours or flavour
carriers. For details of what
these are and how they work,
see the table on page 48.
HOW
PLEASURE
CAN BE
TRAINED
Dr Harald Hahn, a food
and flavour analyst,
reveals another problem
with additives: “The
combination of so many flavours
dulls our taste buds, which means

45. HOW TASTE
SOUNDS
How does fresh bread
sound when you bite into
it? Do you hear a crunch
when you enjoy an apple?
Sound also influences
how we perceive taste
and assess a foodstuff.
NO SMELL,
NO TASTE
When chewed, scent
molecules arrive in the
nose via the throat.
About 80% of a taste
is determined by this
‘retronasal smelling’.
WHERE CHILLI
BURNS
The brain’s trigeminal
nerve senses stimuli such
as burning hot (e.g. chilli)
or cooling (menthol).
FOOD AND FEELINGS
Taste and smell receptors are
directly linked to the sensory
centre of the brain. The limbic
system decides: is the food
delicious or disgusting?
Memories saved in the
hippocampus can also be
involved in this decision.
THE EYES ALSO EAT
The appearance of food, such as
its colour, can lead us to make
conclusions about its quality.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Orthonasal smelling, or
normal ‘sniffing’ with the
nose, is the first method
we use to inspect food. If it
smells off, we won’t eat it.
HOW YOU FEEL FOOD
The consistency of a food must
correspond to our expectations.
It’s the only way to achieve
a good feeling in the mouth.
WHERE TASTES COME FROM
There are roughly 10,000 taste buds in the mouth.
Each has between 50 and 100 taste receptor cells.
Their perceptions are conducted via electrical
impulses in the nervous system to the brain.
The thing we generally refer to as ‘flavour’ is
far more than what we perceive via receptors
on the tongue. It’s more a combination of
many different sensations, which finally
merge in the brain to become a ‘taste’. It also
relies on stimuli such as the temperature,
consistency and colour of a foodstuff. Taste
is, consequently, a multi-sensory experience,
with expressions such as ‘a feast for the eyes’
having a scientific basis.
SYMPHONY OF THE SENSES
LIMBIC SYSTEM
NOSE
NOSTRIL
TONGUE
TASTE BUDS
TASTE CELLS
TASTE PORES
TONGUE TISSUES
NERVE FIBRES

46. “You‘ll begin to notice a change after just
one session,” says Hoenig. Her five
recommended exercises are listed right:
TASTE EXERCISES
Close your eyes and hold your nostrils shut with your
fingers. Now try to distinguish between the taste of apple,
pear, raw potato and celery. Tricky, isn’t it? Now let go of
your nose. Notice the difference? You’ll find that the
flavours are significantly heightened.
To test your personal sensitivity to four different
taste areas, you’ll need a litre of lukewarm water with:
– 1 tablespoon, 1 teaspoon and ½ teaspoon of sugar (sweet)
– 3 teaspoons, 2 teaspoons and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice (sour)
– 2 grams, 1 grams and half a gram of salt (salty)
– 3 teaspoons, 2 teaspoons and 1 teaspoon of wormwood tea
(bitter), which should be prepared according to the instructions
on the packet.
In turn, try small amounts of the three sugar solutions on
your tongue. Start with the lowest concentration and decide
the concentration at which you can first perceive the flavour.
Do the same with the other solutions. Try a maximum of two
flavours after one another. Rinse your mouth with water
between sips.
Potato exercise: Cook a jacket potato and hold it in your hand.
While it’s still warm, feel whether it’s soft or dry and floury.
Now put a piece in your mouth. Did you have to break a piece
off or did the potato fall apart? Crush a small piece between
your palate and tongue to feel whether it’s fine like a puree,
coarse and mealy, or feels like pudding. The scent coming
from the potato skin is a hint. Sometimes it’s earthy, sweet or
smells slightly of caramel. Volatile flavour compounds
influence how it smells, while the taste is dictated by
non-volatile compounds. The nuances of flavours range from
powerful, typical, species-specific flavour to neutral, bland,
slightly sweet, bitter, earthy, strong and pungent.
Sweet tooth test: Compare the sweet taste of various
sweeteners. You will need four glasses, each containing
100ml of room-temperature water.
– Put ½ teaspoon of sugar in glass 1
– Put ½ teaspoon of honey in glass 2
– Put ½ sweetener tablet in glass 3
– Don’t put anything in glass 4
Now try them. To neutralise your sense of taste, begin
with a sip of water. Then pick a solution, take a sip and
roll it across your tongue to perceive all of the flavour
components. Do the same with the other solutions. Have
a sip of water between them. What do you notice? How
does the sweetness feel in your mouth? Is there an
aftertaste? Which sweetness do you like most?
For adventurous and advanced tasters: Completely refrain from
eating granulated sugar and products containing sugar for two
weeks – just look at the list of ingredients. After 14 days, these
products will seem significantly sweeter than before the test.
This means you can reduce your ‘sweetness threshold’ and go
for much longer without sugar.
51
2
3
4
5
we need ever more intense
flavour impressions. The temptation
for food companies is to provide
these artificially.”
But among all this doom and
gloom is some good news: taste can
be trained. In France, children attend
Classes du Goût, lessons on the
curriculum that teach about taste
and taste buds. It’s no wonder that
the French are famous for their
sophisticated palates. But similar
lessons and exercises could help
each of us regain an original, natural
sense of taste. It all comes down to
habits. Deliberately reduce all
unnatural flavours and you’ll be able
to reprogramme your taste memory
after just a handful of meals: highly
processed foods become too salty,
a sweetener’s aftertaste too
pronounced. Many nutritionists,
Nicole Hoenig among them, now
offer taste training programmes to
their patients.

47. 47
WHY
‘NATURAL’
ISN’T REALLY
NATURAL
INTERVIEW / CHRISTIAN NIEMEYER /
W
HY DOES THE FOOD
INDUSTRY USE SO
MANY FLAVOURINGS?
DON’T NATURAL PRODUCTS
TASTE BETTER?
By using flavourings, it’s possible to produce food at
a considerably cheaper cost. Raspberries are tasty but
expensive – global supply is only enough to cover 5%
of the demand. You would have to pay more than $46
for 100kg of yoghurt flavoured with fresh raspberries.
But when identical but chemically synthesised flavours
are used instead, the cost falls to just eight cents.
Many foods are made affordable in this way.
WHAT DOES ‘NATURAL FLAVOUR’ MEAN?
The term ‘flavour’ in the list of ingredients may
mean that a flavour molecule that normally occurs
in nature has been entirely reconstructed by a
chemical process. In contrast, products that have
‘natural flavour’ use the natural equivalent. But
this may also be certain types of bacteria or mould.
It’s also possible to extract a vanilla fragrance from
rice bran – or the smell of raspberries from cedar.
Buckwheat husks are a source of the pineapple
aroma. However, the promise that a product
contains natural flavours doesn’t necessarily equal higher
quality for the consumer. For example, when ‘natural
strawberry flavour’ is listed in the ingredients then 95%
of the flavour must come from the fruit – but 5% is
allowed to come from other substances.
WHO ARE FLAVOURINGS UNSUITABLE FOR?
Anyone who wants to spend their money on real
ingredients should steer clear of flavourings – and
children, in particular, should avoid them. That’s because
our sense of taste is extremely impressionable when
young. If lots of flavoured products are eaten at this
vulnerable stage of development, the body’s ability to
regulate flavours will be severely disrupted. Later in life
the person will prefer artificial flavours to natural ones.
CAN FLAVOURS TRIGGER ALLERGIES?
Flavours are complex combinations and some flavours
are suspected of promoting allergies or triggering
intolerances. But carriers such as lactose or Balsam of
Peru can also be responsible. Artificial perfumes in air
fresheners, cleaning products and detergents or
cosmetics can also be problematic.
WHAT ADVICE DO YOU
HAVE FOR CONSUMERS?
Flavourings not only make food tastier and cheaper,
they also allow food manufacturers to rely on their
large bag of tricks. Consumers should, therefore,
be wary of accepting their wholesale use. Flavourings
may be substances that appeal to the senses but
in no way do they increase the quality of the food.

48. Acidifier
35 times sweeter than sugar
Acidifier
Tastes both sweet and salty
– enhances the flavour of the
food, rather than changing
it entirely.
Glutamate / E620
200 times sweeter than sugar.
The market-leading sweetener
in Europe and America.
Aspartame / E951
Just as sweet as household sugar.
Citric acid / E330
Phosphoric acid / E338
Cyclamate / E952
Fructose
Additive / flavour
Obesity, headaches,
Alzheimer’s,
multiple sclerosis,
Parkinson’s,
depression – the list
of potential side
effects from flavours
and flavour enhancers
is an extremely long
one. In recent years,
scientists have studied
how exactly they affect
the metabolism – and the
consequences this might
have in the long term.
Neurological disorders
that damage the nervous
system were commonly
observed. These
usually appear in the
form of dementia or
movement disorders.
The table here shows
how these substances
work, how they taste
and how you can
recognise them on the
supermarket shelves.
WHAT
SHOULD
I NOT
EAT?

49. According to studies by Spanish
scientists, glutamate reduces the amount
of the ‘slimming hormone’ leptin in our
bodies within minutes of being ingested,
meaning the brain receives false
messages about the supply situation and
gives the order to begin eating – even
though there’s no need. Thus there
is a significant risk of weight gain.
Sweeteners such as aspartame or
saccharin confuse the body. Their sweet
taste promises the brain strength in the
form of calories that is then not
delivered. When the brain notices that
it’s been cheated out of the expected
sugar, it signals an energy emergency
and orders us to eat more. We can
actually gain weight from these cravings.
Fruit sugar is considered healthy and
natural – but it tricks the brain’s
appetite centre. American researchers
have found our brain reacts normally to
glucose, but not to fructose. Although
fructose provides us with a lot of energy,
our appetite centre remains active.
Consequently, we eat more and more.
Citric acid itself is not necessarily unhealthy.
However, it transports metals such as lead
and aluminium (found in some coffee
whiteners, cheese and cake mixes) and
therefore promotes their absorption. The
metals dock with citric acid molecules,
meaning the body doesn’t recognise them as
a foreign substance – and can even outwit
the blood-brain barrier. The brain metabolises
the citric acid, but the aluminium remains.
This molecule is a powerful neurotoxin
which attacks nerve cells.
“The high concentration of phosphate
in cola drinks destabilises the calcium
balance in the body by preventing the
absorption of mineral calcium by the
bones,” says leading nutritionist
Anja Baustian.
The sweet taste of the artificial sugar can
trigger overproduction of insulin. The
hormone is released into the body to
collect calories – and store them as fat.
The amino acid compound destroys
neurons in the brain which can lead to
headaches, nausea or problems with the
eyes. Animal experiments have shown
that glutamate can cause small holes, or
lesions, to form in certain areas of the
brain – a risk factor for neurodegenerative
diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s
or multiple sclerosis.
Aspartame is metabolised into aspartate
by the body. This can damage our brain
cells and is therefore a risk factor for
the neurodegenerative diseases outlined
above. Methanol and formaldehyde are
also produced when aspartame is
metabolised. Long-term studies have
shown both to be carcinogenic.
Research by the British Nutrition
Foundation shows that there is a strong
correlation between the increased
consumption of fructose and the
incidence of obesity and high blood
pressure. This can lead to diabetes or
stroke. Studies conducted by Harvard
School of Medicine have also found that
a high consumption of fructose is bad
for the liver and the heart.
Aluminium has not only been
associated with learning disabilities
and hyperactivity disorders (such as
ADHD); it has also been linked to the
emergence of Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s
and multiple sclerosis. The chemical
element also considerably exacerbates
pre-existing conditions.
Phosphoric acid prevents the absorption
of calcium into the body, which
increases the risk of developing
osteoporosis. If you regularly drink cola,
the phosphoric acid can damage your
tooth enamel. This can result in tooth
decay, especially in children.
Continuous consumption can lead
to obesity and an aversion to
products that are not as sweet.
Banned in the US for decades.
E620 – glutamic acid or
monosodium glutamate.
Yeast extract also contains
large amounts of glutamate.
You’ll find it in many salty
things with long shelf lives
– for example, sauces,
sausages and crisps.
E951 – aspartame-
acesulfame salt, ‘contains
phenylalanine’. It’s often
added to cream cake,
biscuits, canned fish and
fruit, snacks, desserts and
sugar-free drinks.
Fructose – fruit sugar,
glucose-fructose syrup or
fructose-glucose syrup.
E330 – commonly
found in ketchup,
lemonade, iced tea,
sweets, jam, marmalade
and pasta.
E338 – orthophosphoric
acid or phosphate. Often
found in cola drinks,
sports drinks, whipping
cream, dairy drinks and
coffee whitener.
E952 – sodium cyclamate.
Used in diet drinks, desserts
and sweet spreads including
marmalades and jams.
PHOTOS: iStock; Getty Images (4); Fotolia (2); Alamy (4); PR. ILLUSTRATIONS: Geo/Picture Press
Identification Acute effects Long-term effects
49

50. +THE SECRET KING OF MUMBAI
A leopard sits on a hill above the roofs of the
Indian metropolis of Mumbai. The animal waits
until the city has gone to sleep before starting
its nightly hunt, under the cover of darkness.
The number of leopard attacks on humans has
risen to almost 300 per year.
NATURE

51. Leopards are among the most successful predators on the planet. But
much of their territory is being lost to modern development, meaning
the animals are having to encroach on human settlements for food
51

52. A FORCE OF
NATURE ERUPTS…
…and leaps powerfully
onto his back. The
animal plunges its claws
into the vet’s back and
sinks its six-centimetre
teeth into his neck. In
the nick of time, the
troops manage to
wrestle the leopard off
and force it away.
Seriously injured, the vet
makes his escape. But
the big cat’s city break is
far from over…
THE HUNTER BECOMES
THE HUNTED
Backed up by local rangers,
a vet tries to catch a leopard
running amok in a small
Indian city. This is the
moment he makes a grave
error: as the animal doctor
turns his back for a split-
second, the cornered animal
prepares to lunge…
+
+

53. During its prowl through the
city the leopard injures five
other residents. After
several hours of cajoling,
the ten rangers corner the
animal in a small alley. But
the 60kg predator doesn’t
go lightly. Quite the opposite
– it goes on the counter-
attack. With one giant
spring, the leopard leaps
onto the 2.5-metre high
jeep. It proves to be the
final action of the day
as a tranquiliser gun brings
a halt to proceedings.
ONE AGAINST
53

54. PHOTOS:SteveWinter/NGAS;GettyImages(3)
he news ripples through the city:
a leopard is on the loose in
Guwahati, north-eastern India. It
was last spotted prowling through
the Silpukhuri district. Pintu Dey’s
heart starts to race: that’s where
his family lives. The 40-year-old
labourer runs home, fevered
thoughts running through his head.
Are his children playing outside?
Dey reaches the backyard of his
house when suddenly an angry
snarl stops him in his tracks. Before
Dey can react, a 60kg leopard leaps
at him. He feels the force of a
violent swipe: the animal’s razor-
sharp claws have scalped him.
The attack ends as quickly as it
began. With one impressive leap,
the leopard – nearly two metres
long – flees into the urban jungle,
bounding from rooftop to rooftop.
Eventually, the big cat is trapped in
a shop, where a ranger uses a
tranquiliser dart to stun the animal
and bring the terror to an end.
And yet everybody knows it’s
only a matter of time until it
happens again. Over the past
five decades, big cats in India
have lost 85% of their habitat as
a result of deforestation. Leopards
are solitary creatures that won’t
tolerate competition within their
territories, which can stretch as far
as 155 square kilometres. The
nature reserves that host India’s
7,000 leopards are being squeezed
ever smaller by an expanding
population; as a result, animals
driven out of the reserves are
forced into villages and settlements.
“They’re looking for food there,”
explains Jimmy Borah from
WWF-India. Their quarry includes
chickens, dogs and children – in
terms of their size, they perfectly
fit a leopard’s idea of prey.
Against the odds, Pintu Dey
survives the gruesome attack. His
children are unharmed, too. But
not everyone is so lucky.
MASTER OF DISGUISE
Since a neighbour’s child was killed
by a leopard, housewife Kusum has
listened to the radio a lot. “I have it
on every day until 1am,” she says.
Kusum’s not a huge music fan. “But
it helps keep the leopards away,”
she explains. In India alone more
than 300 people are attacked by
leopards every year. That’s hardly
surprising: as well as being the most
densely populated area on Earth,
the Indian subcontinent is home to
the largest leopard population in the
world. And in contrast to most wild
cats, leopards are true masters of
adaptation. They can survive at
43ºC in the Kalahari desert, at
minus 25ºC in Russia – or in the
middle of the big city. That’s
because they’ll eat almost anything,
from rodents to antelopes. Or
people. Particularly in the aftermath
of the monsoon. “Once the rains
stop it’s only a matter of time before
the leopards arrive in the cities,”
explains conservationist Krishna
Tiwari. The reason: the monsoon
season is also mating time for the
animals – and the pregnant females
need more food than usual.
It only recently became apparent
that the rise in attacks might also
have an entirely different cause.
Biologist Vidya Athreya spent five
years researching leopard attacks
in the Indian city of Junnar. After the
incidents, dozens of animals were
caught using traps in the forested
areas bordering the city. They were
later released back in the wild, 35
kilometres away, in an area less
densely populated by people. But
the study by Athreya and her team
revealed that the translocation
resulted in a 325% increase in
leopard attacks on people in the
vicinity of the release sites.
“The animals were confused.
Stress levels rose as a result of
their capture and confinement,
while interacting with humans
meant they no longer feared
us,” explains Athreya.
Authorities in Junnar have now
stopped their trapping and resettling
programme – and instead offer
workshops on how to deal with
leopards. Their three golden rules:
1) Always stand upright. Leopards
avoid people who appear too big
for them to tackle. 2) If out at night,
play loud music and carry a stick or
torch. Never go out alone. 3) Should
you encounter a leopard, make sure
the animal has an escape route and
isn’t pushed into a corner. This was
the mistake that Pintu Dey almost
paid for with his life.
After the monsoon season,
leopards transform into
city hunters
KRISHNA TIWARI, LEADER OF THE CITY FOREST INITIATIVE, MUMBAI
54

55. PHOTOS:NGS;Alamy
Lions are successful in one out of every five hunts.
For tigers and leopards the success rate lies between
five and 38%, while our own domestic cats taste
victory on every third attempt. All of these rates pale in
comparison to Africa’s black-footed cat. The 40cm-long
wild cat happily snares between ten and 14 prey a night,
including birds and shrews, with a success rate of 60%.
It needs them, too – the cat has to ingest at least 250 grams
of food daily, a whopping sixth of its body weight.
A hyena’s famous squeaky cackle, which sounds
uncannily like a human’s laugh, has a serious side to it.
Researchers have recently discovered that the pitch of
the laugh reveals the age of the animal, as well as conveying
status when fighting over food. Hyenas can increase the
intensity of the cry to recruit allies, for instance when one or two
of the animals are outnumbered by lions fighting over some kill.
The ‘tone’ of the giggle can also be used to sound the alarm if
the animal is snapped up by a predator.
Who is the most successful predator?Can you sound the alarm by laughing?
For years it was
assumed that
male lions leave
the hard work to the
females, only making an
appearance at the dinner
table after the big hunt.
But scientists have now
shown the very opposite
to be true. Thanks to a
new technique of
following the hunt, they
found that male lions
also get their paws dirty.
Unlike the females, who
hunt in a pack and kettle
their prey, male lions go
it alone. They hide in the
undergrowth and lie in
wait. The image of male
lions as lazy chauvinists
is, it turns out, a myth.
lazy all the time?
Are male lions
4 FASCINATING QUESTIONS ABOUT BIG CATS
55
SMARTER IN 60 SECONDS…
Javier Sotomayor’s world record for the high jump currently stands
at 2.45 metres. That’s pretty impressive by human standards
(it’s stood for 23 years now), but it’s a distance that a puma
would find laughable. The feline predators can leap more than double
that height – up to 5.4 metres from a standing position. And big cats
also far outdo humans in the long jump. Snow leopards can achieve
a distance of 15 metres in just a single leap. That’s ten times the
length of their bodies.
Who can jump the furthest?

56. WAKING
The Bizarre W
SCIENCE

57. HE DEAD
Cryonicists hope to give death the
cold shoulder – literally. By
paying for their bodies to be
frozen, supporters hope to be
reanimated when future medicine
can revive them. Could it work?
t is summer, 2120. The
location: a refrigerated
depot in the US state of
Arizona. All is quiet in the
vast warehouse, the calm
interrupted only by the
steady, reassuring hum of
the deep freezers housed
here. At first glance this
looks like a storage hall
for frozen supermarket
goods. But the truth is far
more macabre. Because
the cold storage here was not designed
for refrigerated steaks or chilled ready
meals. These imposing stainless steel
cells hold over 100 human corpses.
They are the lifeless bodies of the
long deceased, individuals who chose
to be frozen after their deaths in the
hope that they might be revived in a
distant future and cured of whatever
malady originally killed them. Stored
four bodies or ten brains to a freezer,
the corpses (known as ‘patients’) are
locked in purpose-built suspension
capsules at the glacial temperature of
minus 196 degrees Celsius. The icy
steel coffins, which stand 3.5 metres
57
rld Of Cryonics

58. tall, are filled with liquid nitrogen,
which must be continuously added
in small amounts to maintain the
extremely low temperatures. The
bodies are hung upside-down in
sleeping bags: were the liquid
nitrogen supply to fail, this ensures
that the patients’ brains would be
the last to thaw and start
decomposing. The people in these
tanks hope to be revived in a
faraway future, once future science
can thaw them, cure them and
restore them to youthful vitality.
They are members of the cryonics
movement and they believe, quite
literally, in life after death.
One such member is Jack Lee.
The 35-year-old died in 2020, a
victim of brain cancer, and chose
to have his body stored in this
Arizona ice box in a last-ditch
attempt to skirt death were a cure
ver found. Advances in modern
edicine mean that brain tumours
an now be cured using nanobots
at hunt down the malignant cells
nd destroy them. The researchers
ope that once Jack is ‘defrosted’,
e will respond well to treatment
nd make history, achieving
omething that, today, still remains
futuristic dream – bringing
person back from the dead.
HE HISTORY OF THE
RYONICS MOVEMENT
ack’s resurrection is, of course,
hypothetical scenario that
ay never come to pass – even
undreds of years from now. But
for the supporters of cryonics,
it is a scenario into which they
are willing to invest hope – and
staggering amounts of money.
Cryonics as a movement first
gained traction in the 1960s,
though the history of freezing
people in a kind of ‘suspended
animation’ runs far deeper. Science
fiction novels and films have long
spun tales of humans being
‘brought back to life’ by being
frozen, often accidentally, and
thawing out centuries later.
In contrast, the aspirations of the
fledgling cryonics movement were
propelled by an altogether different
goal – they weren’t much interested
in time travel. Their ambition was to
outrun their mortality: ultimately,
they wanted to live forever.
The era in which the movement
evolved is crucial to understanding
the birth of cryonics. It was the
1960s, an epoch of futuristic
medical advances – a decade that
saw the first heart and kidney
1967 Dr. James
H. Bedford, a US
psychology professor,
becomes the first
human to be placed
in cryonic suspension
after his death from
lung cancer.
1966 Bob Nelson
founds the Cryonics
Institute of
California, which
goes on to freeze
the first man just
one year later.
1889 Ten
Thousand Years
In A Block Of
Ice, a French
novel, is
published. The
plot sees a man
wake up after
being frozen for
millennia.
1964 Robert
Ettinger publishes
the book The
Prospect Of
Immortality, making
his case for cryonic
technology.
1766 The British
surgeon John Hunter
begins experimenting
with freezing an
assortment of animals,
including mice and
carp, to see if they
could be thawed and
revived. The
experiments failed.
On 12th January 1967 Dr. James H.
Bedford, an American professor of
psychology, became the first person to
be cryogenically frozen after his death
from cancer. In his will, Bedford left
$4,200 to cover the cost of a steel
tank and enough liquid nitrogen to
keep his body cooled at almost -200ºC
for the foreseeable future. In 1991,
after 24 years in cryostasis, the
professor’s body was evaluated before
being transferred to a multi-patient,
cutting-edge cryocapsule operated by
Alcor Life Extension. On freezing the
first man, cryonics pioneer Bob Nelson
reflected: “He’s survived the Cold War,
the Vietnam War, the Gulf War,
Watergate, the collapse of the Soviet
Union and 9/11 – which is more than
a lot of his contemporaries can say.”
Who was the first
person to be
cryopreserved?
“You can’t argue
with the fact that
you’re better off
being cryogenically
preserved than buried
or cremated. In that
case you’ll never be
brought back to life.”
MURRAY BALLARD
Cryonics photographer
KEEP ME ON ICE
Cryonicists prepare James
Bedford’s cryocapsule in 1967.

59. transplants, entirely new classes of
antibiotics and the first working
laser. In this atmosphere of feverish
medical improvement, the idea of
freezing a dead person so that they
might be brought back to life one
day suddenly didn’t seem so
far-fetched after all. It was in this
enlightened environment that a
physics professor from Michigan,
Robert Ettinger, published The
Prospect Of Immortality. The book
posed a simple question: what if
death, like some illnesses, was not
necessarily fatal? What if it could
be treated and kept at bay? Could
humans then live forever?
Ettinger was motivated by the
belief that death would one day be
eradicated. If freezing can preserve
human tissue indefinitely and
medicine will one day be capable of
solving all of the body’s fatal flaws,
then couldn’t death be reversed?
In that light, chilling a person’s
corpse made perfect sense: in
future, Ettinger argued, burials and
cremations would be purely the
domain of eccentrics. Freezer-
assisted immortality would become
the new normal. Eventually people
wouldn’t need to be frozen at all;
medicine would cure all ailments.
Ettinger’s book sparked a media
sensation and inquiries streamed in
from around the globe. Cryonics
enjoyed particular popularity
among sci-fi fans though the
movement’s ideas were scorned by
most of the mainstream medical
community. As a 1964 article in the
journal Science decried: “There is
2004 Advances
in freezing
technology allow
for the vitrification
of human tissues,
adding significant
protection to
cryonics patients.
2011
Robert
Ettinger, the
cryonics
founder, dies
aged 92. He
is placed in
cryostasis.
1994 Alcor
moves its HQ
from California to
the city of
Scottsdale in
Arizona because
of the region’s
low risk of
natural disasters.
1976
The
Cryonics
Institute,
based in
Michigan,
is founded
by Robert
Ettinger.
1979 A
Cryonics Institute
of California
facility in
Chatsworth, CA is
found to contain
several rotting
bodies after filing
for bankruptcy.
1972 Alcor
Society for Solid
State Hypothermia
in the State of
California is
founded, changing
to its current name
Alcor Life Extension
in 1977.
ON THIN ICE
Bob Nelson and a colleaguepractise cryonics techniquesbefore Bedford’s suspension.
7KH HDUO IDLOXUHV RI FURQLFV
The cryonics movement has suffered
its fair share of setbacks. In 1979,
a Cryonics Institute facility in
Chatsworth, California was broken
into by the relatives of those frozen
there – they had grown suspicious
after a breakdown in contact with the
owners. Inside they made a grisly
discovery: nine badly decomposing
bodies, stored in rudimentary
polystyrene coffins. The ice meant
to keep their corpses cool had long
since melted. The operator, TV
repairman Bob Nelson, claimed he
had done his best to maintain the
facility though he could not afford to
pay for a constant supply of liquid
nitrogen. Despite this, relatives of the
deceased later sued for fraud and won
significant compensation for their
ordeal. The Chatsworth disaster, as it
is known, would darken the reputation
of cryonics for decades.
Nelson later wrote a book about his
experiences, Freezing People Is (Not)
Easy. In it he revealed the obstacles
he faced when freezing the first man,
James Bedford, in 1967. In the hurried
hours after the suspension, Bedford’s
cryocapsule was moved from his son’s
house to Nelson’s garage, where it
was guarded by his children for a
morning. Despite the chaos
surrounding Bedford’s preservation,
when technicians opened his cryopod
in 1991, they deemed it to be in good
condition with a ‘reasonable’ chance
of being reanimated.
absolutely no evidence that low
temperature storage and recovery
procedures will be possible.”
Despite this scepticism, the
number of organisations peddling
their own refrigeration services
multiplied. In 1966 the Cryonics
Society of Michigan, now called the
Immortality Society, was founded.
That same year the Cryonics
Society of California was set up by
Bob Nelson, a television repairmen
with no scientific expertise. Despite
this, the group went on to freeze
the first human a year later. On
12th January 1967, a professor
named James Bedford died of lung
cancer and, after being cooled in
an ice bath and stored in a vat of
liquid nitrogen, began his long icy
sojourn in a cryo-pod crudely
59

60. CHEMISTRY OF
OPRESERVATION
You’ve signed up for full-body
cryopreservation, and have taken
out life insurance to pay for the
costs of freezing your body. What
next? Let’s imagine you lead
a happy life, not giving much
thought to your eventual demise
– until you are diagnosed with a
terminal illness. At this point, you
relocate to Arizona, where Alcor
Life Extension are based. They
provide a team of on-call doctors
who will rush to your bedside
once the end looks nigh. Soon
after, you bid farewell to life in an
Alcor-approved hospice. That’s
when the real action begins.
Now the medical team on
standby begin what is known as
the bedside rescue. Their mission
is to take immediate action to
keep your blood circulating and
begin rapid cooling once your
heart stops beating.
Your corpse is packed in ice,
pumped full of the anti-clotting
drug heparin and connected to
a heart-lung machine. This
device keeps the patient’s blood
circulating artificially, ensuring the
brain continues to be supplied
with oxygen. Then all of the water
must be extracted from your
body, including all of the blood
contained in your cells. Once this
has happened, the patient’s
blood is replaced with a fluid that
can only be described as a
human anti-freeze. Sixteen
different chemicals are injected
into the body to halt cell decay.
Once the patient has been
perfused with cryoprotectants,
the cooling process can begin.
Alcor aims to cool patients by
one degree Celsius per hour,
finally refrigerating the body to
minus 196 degrees Celsius
weeks after death. After
the body is hung
de-down in its new
me: a stainless steel
ar, alongside five other
ies. Some patients opt
a neuro-suspension. In
se cases, only the
ain is vitrified: severed
m the rest of the body,
erfused and cooled,
is then stored in
freezer with up
o ten other heads.
)UHH]LQJ YV 9LWULILFDWLRQ
If you like the sound of being frozen after death, you can’t simply ask
your relatives to put your body in the kitchen freezer when the time
comes. Alcor takes pains to point out that the technology they use to
cool their members after death differs from conventional freezing in
several key aspects. The entire process is designed to prevent the
damage that frozen water molecules would inflict on bodily cells. The
firm’s state-of-the-art technology employs a form of vitrification.
Unlike the freezing that keeps your bag of peas cool, vitrifying is an
ice-free process which cools water without altering the chemical
composition of the molecules. But for this to work on a human being,
up to 60% of the water in the body must be replaced with protective
chemicals known as cryoprotectants. So far, human embryos, eggs
and skin cells have been successfully vitrified and revived. A rabbit
kidney has even been vitrified to minus 45 degrees Celsius before
being successfully transplanted back into its owner. In essence:
vitrification stops the biological clock. A vitrified body could survive
intact for 10,000 years, after which time the level of background
radiation sustained would likely be too high to survive.
BONE-CHILLING
The cooling process begins
immediately after the heart
stops and takes two weeks.