Scientific American - March 2018 USA.pdf

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THE SEARCH FOR OTHER EARTHS
Powerful new telescopes will open the next frontier
PAGE 32
FUTURE OF REPRODUCTION
Could skin cells replace sperm and eggs?
PAGE 60
SELF-
TAUGHT
ROBOTS
Artificially intelligent
machines are starting
to learn spontaneously
S
PLU
BUILDING
A BACKUP
BEE
Replacing the
embattled honeybee
PAGE 66
MARCH 2018
© 2018 Scientific American
ScientificAmerican.com
March 2018
VO LU M E 3 1 8 , N U M B E R 3
40
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
26 Self-Taught Robots
Machines that learn like children
provide deep insights into how
the mind and body act together
to bootstrap knowledge and skills.
By Diana Kwon
P L A N E TA RY S C I E N C E
try where novel substances
last longer than a moment.
By Christoph E. Düllmann and
Michael Block
NEUROSCIENCE
54 A Look Within
Imaging technologies could find
the best treatments for depression
and addiction—and could even
reshape education.
By John Gabrieli
MEDICINE
32 Shadows of Other Worlds
Two telescopes due to launch this
year should reveal a host of new
exoplanets.
By Joshua N. Winn
E VO LU T I O N
40 The Baddest Bite
Adrenaline-fueled studies of the
bite force of crocodiles and their
relatives uncover secrets of the
group’s evolutionary success.
By Gregory M. Erickson
C H E M I S T RY
60 The Means of
Reproduction
Could scientists one day use blood
and skin cells to replace sperm
and eggs?
By Karen Weintraub
AG R I C U LT U R E
ON ThE c OVE r
ICub, an android being studied at the
University of Plymouth in England, can
learn like a child by experimenting with
its body and with objects in its environment.
Such robots are helping researchers explore
new avenues in machine intelligence while
yielding insights into child development.
Photograph by Sun Lee.
BERNARD RADVANER
Getty Images
66 Building a Backup Bee
The world’s largest almond grower
is creating a novel replacement for
the embattled honeybee.
By Paige Embry
46 Island of Heavyweights
A race is on to create the world’s
heaviest elements—and to explore
an “island of stability” in chemis-
March 2018, ScientificAmerican.com
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© 2018 Scientific american
4 From the Editor
6 Letters
8 Science Agenda
How sexual misconduct subverts science.
By the Editors
10 Forum
The departure of a House committee chair could be
good news for science.
By Andrew A. Rosenberg
12 Advances
Tracing the origins of an ancient root language. A tape
recorder that runs on DNA. Why do some birds get
divorced? Frisky fish produce deafening sounds.
18
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24 The Science of Health
Neglecting osteoporosis has become a crisis.
By Claudia Wallis
25 TechnoFiles
Why we hold our phones vertically but see horizontally.
By David Pogue
72 Recommended
The women who made the Internet. Can technology—or
caution—save the environment? Magical mystery tour
of particle physics.
By Andrea Gawrylewski
73 Skeptic
24
00
Living in a post-truth world may overturn some
people’s biases.
By Michael Shermer
74 Anti Gravity
Pride doth not come before a literal fall.
By Steve Mirsky
75 50, 100 & 150 Years Ago
76 Graphic Science
How the daylight can save you.
By Katie Peek
ON THE WEB
“Fake” Transparency
Scientific American
investigates how government agencies
subtly control the flow of scientific information to the
press, even as their media policies preach transparency.
Go to www.ScientificAmerican.com/mar2018/gov-info
72
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Scientific American (ISSN 0036-8733), Volume 318, Number 3, March 2018, published monthly by Scientific American, a division of Nature America, Inc., 1 New York Plaza, Suite 4500, New York, N.Y. 10004-1562. Periodicals postage
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Scientific American, March 2018
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