This criterion not philosophical does pass primarily efforts to their relieve suffering. intentions good the of involved, parties the programmes shewrites about, Cowan cites worst flash-flooding on . on Earth. worst flash-flooding Mitton, presents of the overview agood Lorenz and astronomy writer Jacqueline gulliesat the carved rates far inexcess of lakes. the Andliquidethane fills methane nia and water, similar to antifreeze. Liquid isnotcanoes liquid rock, but amixof ammo- Themagmaflowing fromon vol- the Earth. bons, totalling more than the coalreserves all dunethe are particles not sand, but hydrocar- Welcome to , Saturn’s largest moon. of dunes,vast fields some 100metres high. canic domes regions loom. Other harbour etched into terrain, the over which huge vol- Networksseas. of channels and canyons are of lakes, some mere ponds and others inland tudes, the landscape is dotted with thousands sky,the rainfall the istorrential. At lati- high ahurricane-sizedwhen storm sweeps across it. Droughts may last many years there, but duty rain gear, but prepared be not to need destination would warn usto bring our heavy- remote this to guidebook tourist future A A rough guidetoTitan and each one isunique. Thesimplicity of DNA answers.easy There are many genetic diseases, with resilience. their patients although alwayseveryone, astound few and unsatisfactory. its Thistakes toll on options for treatment, which are generally withdiscussing patients and parents the arily buried, that each geneticist feels when custom- acknowledges hiddensadness, isthe wantseveryone to help. cause great diseases humantary and suffering ofit get matter: toheart the does heredi- the opponents. Although heranalysis iscursory, muster, nor isit tosway sufficient vehement of themselves. geneticists have hadto adapt to patients’ views resent by being defined trait. their Medical NATURE $29.95, £17.95 Princeton University Press: 2008.296pp. by RalphLorenz andJacquelineMitton Explored Titan Unveiled: Saturn’s Mysterious Moon Titan Unveiled Titan would go guidebook Our on toexplain that The hard isthat truth not genetics does offer What nocommentator genetics on medical To morally justify genetic-screening the | Vol 453 | 22 May 2008 , by planetary scientist Ralph scientist, by Ralph planetary

the sonal anecdotes by Lorenz, labelled “Ralph’s California, USA. MyDaughtersDNA.org, basedinSanFrancisco, is illusory —our DNAis illusory ispopularly regarded Log”. Key to book’s the sections success, these found. been has ammonia and forface, evidence of an liquid ocean water mountain sur- ranges. icy underthe Deep active, including volcanism and uplifting of and like acts rock. Themoon isgeologically (94 surface K, or –179 °C), water isfrozen extremelythe cold temperatures on Titan’s itsbetween gas,liquid and states. solid At on phase changes the of methane, shifting based weather atmosphere experiences Earth’s water-based weather system, Titan’s atmosphere.oped inathick Analogous to only moon inour System Solar that isenvel- learned. Larger than Mercury, Titan isthe moreeven intriguing iswhat remains to be gained our current knowledge isfascinating; we how of story The wrong. proved been what we once hypothesized about Titan has ing for readers. and areparallel Earth thus most engag- the andsurface lower atmosphere, regions that on interests, hiskey include which Titan’s Titan’s focuses in2005.Thebook surface andurn the probe it dropped onto involved mission with Cassini the to Sat- and isaccessible to most.Lorenz isclosely state of our knowledge of moon, curious this Hugh Young Jr Rienhoff hope for the campaign to be successful. Cowan understands that we must share all that managementcessful than genetic conditions. warrants morediseases genuine for hope suc- anddissected better nofamily understood, of further genome is As the hope. to persevere, persuasion:fact, to heedadvice, to push and foundationthe of work, their but key is,in the misery. dispatch to simple so were it only If information. genetic may relieve some anxiety about of misuse the InformationGenetics Non-discrimination Act adopted.to be As law United inthe States, the plicity prevails, testing islikely the technology complaints. In genetic where cases those sim- Physicians rarely cause know of true the our ferent meanings topatients and physicians. more often yieldnotions of that risk have dif- as our medicalfate, but DNA interrogations Modern may healers to claim be science Scattered throughout text the are per- Unveiled Titan describes how mostof describes isdirector of ■ about synaesthesia; aphysicist architecture. muse Soundartists performance, new mediaand its useineducation,photography, will discussthephysics oflight, June) A symposium (from 30May to1 Toronto, thisweek. Canada,starting Subtle Technologies Festival in science are thefocus oftheannual The manyand shadesoflightinart www.cmoa.org of paintings. Carnegie Prize for her Celmins, whoreceived theUS$10,000 includingVija40 internationalartists, Bowie’s song,offers 300works from Life onMars (untilJanuary 2009). Museum ofArt this monthatPittsburgh’s Carnegie survey ofcontemporary itopened art, Carnegie International.The largest US vast Universe isthethemeof55th human inarapidly changing world and An exploration ofwhatitmeanstobe BEING HUMAN www.rhs.org.uk/chelsea/2008 ecosystems andpractices must adapt. will beonhandtoexplain how plants, Research inHarpenden,andothers University ofReading, Rothamsted the Tyndall Centre inNorwich,the climate change. UKresearchers from exhibits toeducateplantlovers about Horticultural Society, includesscientific London (until24 May), runby theRoyal This week’s ChelseaFlower Show in as average temperatures creep up. andpestsspreadingoften inrange early, lawns thatneedmowing more change: first tonotice budsblooming Gardeners are thecanariesofclimate www.subtletechnologies.com describes how toimage cells. in Provence, France; andabiologist explains why painters love thelight NORTHERN LIGHTS GREEN FINGERS , named after David, namedafter Night Sky series OPINION

453 CULTURE DISH WWW.SUBTLETECHNOLOGIES.COM OPINION NATURE|Vol 453|22 May 2008

convey how planetary exploration, Liquid ethane fills lakes it from Earth nearly every night, new and science in general, progresses as on the surface of Titan, discoveries are regular. It is inevitable a human enterprise. Lorenz commu- Saturn’s largest moon. that any book on Titan is a little out- nicates what it is like to be a scientist of-date before it is released, but this AP PHOTO/NASA AP PHOTO/NASA involved with a current space mission, reflects the vitality of the research. working with diverse colleagues and We won’t be able to book a ticket following your curiosity to make new to Titan in the next few decades, discoveries. but further robotic spacecraft will Advances may come serendipi- be sent to explore. A Titan orbiter tously, but they are usually hard-won could map the surface, observe the following years of intense work, car- seasonal weather patterns and study ried out with the risk of failure and the subsurface ocean. Balloon-borne research dead-ends. Some obstacles to detectors could examine the atmos- progress are simple to overcome. For phere and surface up close. And a example, Lorenz recounts how, while new mission will add detail to our working alone at night at an observa- guidebook to Titan. Hopefully, tory, he was once held back by a crucial piece Huygens probe after its launch. It required a someone working on that mission will write of equipment that lay behind a locked stor- major effort to retarget and replan nearly the an insider’s account, like Titan Unveiled, to age-room door. His eventual solution was to entire mission, involving hundreds of people tell us how it all happened. ■ remove the door’s hinges. Other challenges are and thousands of hours of work. Henry Roe is an astronomer at Lowell Observatory, greater, such as the discovery of an engineer- With the Cassini mission flying past Titan 1400 West Hill Road, Flagstaff, ing problem with the radio transmitter on the every few weeks and astronomers observing Arizona 86001, USA.

before the Second World War was Secrets How science hit the small screen of Nature (1922–33), produced by British Instructional Films. Its successor was Secrets of Films of Fact they stimulated demand for nature-based Life (1934–50). Celebrated cameraman Percy Science Museum, London films. Producer Charles Urban exploited Smith, a clerk at the UK government’s Depart- From 29 May to 2 November 2008. this commercial potential in a series of photo- ment of Education, worked on both series. He Films of Fact: A History of Science in micrography films called ‘The Unseen World: specialized in filming through microscopes Documentary Films and Television Revealing Nature’s Closest Secrets by Means of or glass aquaria in his London greenhouse, by Timothy Boon the Urban–Duncan Micro-Bioscope’, which using a timing device he made from a cuckoo Wallflower Press: 2008. 224 pp. included The Circulation of the Protoplasm of clock to record plant growth with time-lapse £45.00 (hbk), £16.99 (pbk) the Canadian Waterweed (1903). Nature series photography. quickly became established as a popular genre Television programming about science took “Is it not a scandal, in this day and age, that and remain so today, from movies of meerkat off in the mid-1950s in the United Kingdom, there seems to be no place for continuing series antics to marching penguins. two decades after broadcasting began there of programmes about science?” asked veteran The most successful nature film series in 1936. Some science series were designed natural history broadcaster David Attenbor- to teach. Producers and scientists worked ough, lecturing on the future of public service together, mostly in live broadcasts such as Eye television in London on 30 April. “If you want on Research (1957–61), which took cameras an informed society, there has to be a basic into research establishments. understanding of science.” As television became a mass medium, sci- An exhibition opening next week at Lon- entists tried to influence how broadcasters don’s Science Museum, Films of Fact, charts represented science, but they did not always how science was introduced to the UK public get a good reception. “Priority must be given in documentary films and on television in the to the medium rather than scientific pedantry,” early twentieth century, from the birth of these ruled Aubrey Singer, head of the BBC’s science media to the 1960s. department in 1966. “The aim of scientific pro- Animals and plants featured in the first sci- gramming … is not necessarily the propagation ence films made for public viewing. Lasting of science” but “an enrichment of the audience for 56 seconds, the 1903 film Cheese Mites experience”. Similar attitudes prevail today. was first screened at London’s Alhambra Other documentaries, many commercially

Music Hall as part of a musical and theatri- sponsored, explored how new technologies THE BRITISH FILM INSTITUTE SUPPLIED BY GRID PLC; © NATIONAL cal playbill that included ballet and magic were transforming everyday life. Influential tricks. Filmed down a microscope by amateur film-maker Paul Rotha’s 1933 documentary natural historian Francis Martin Duncan, the Contact, sponsored by Imperial Airways, greatly magnified mites scuttle about. They captures aeroplane manufacture using beguil- may not seem riveting to our jaded eyes, but Comic chemistry: Rotha’s 1938 New Worlds for Old. ing and original cinematography. From the

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