SATELLITE-GUIDED BOMBS: GPS and the Next War FEBRUARY 2003 $4.95 WWW.SCIAM.COM COPYRIGHT 2003 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC. february 2003 contentsSCIENTIFIC AMERICAN Volume 288 Number 2 features ASTROPHYSICS 34 Magnetars BY CHRYSSA KOUVELIOTOU, ROBERT C. DUNCAN AND CHRISTOPHER THOMPSON Intensely magnetic neutron stars alter the quantum physics of their surroundings. NEUROBIOLOGY 44 Why? The Neuroscience of Suicide BY CAROL EZZELL Brain chemistry might explain why some people impulsively choose to end their lives. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 52 Evolving Inventions BY JOHN R. KOZA, MARTIN A. KEANE AND MATTHEW J. STREETER Using Darwinian evolution, computer programs can create patentable inventions. ENVIRONMENT 60 Explaining Frog Deformities BY ANDREW R. BLAUSTEIN AND PIETER T. J. JOHNSON The alarming increase in abnormal amphibians has three primary causes. 52 Better WEAPONRY circuits through evolution. 66 Satellite-Guided Munitions BY MICHAEL PUTTRÉ Global Positioning System data make “dumb” bombs “smart” and deadly accurate. MEDICINE 74 Drink to Your Health? BY ARTHUR L. KLATSKY Alcohol in moderation offers cardiovascular benefits, but what should that mean to drinkers? www.sciam.com SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN 3 COPYRIGHT 2003 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC. departmentsSCIENTIFIC AMERICAN Volume 288 Number 2 6SA Perspectives A bad law hurts vaccination efforts. 7How to Contact Us 7 On the Web 90 32 8Letters 12 50, 100 & 150 Years Ago 27 Staking Claims 14 News Scan The bizarre world of business-method patents. ■ Greenhouse lawsuits against the government. 28 Innovations ■ Massaging clinical trial data. Drug trials in virtual patients. ■ Mass knockout gas. 32 Profile: Troy Duster ■ T cell transplants combat cancer. Even if race is largely a genetic myth, this sociologist ■ Giant-size quantum cats. argues, it is an epidemiological reality. ■ Rubber-band security. ■ By the Numbers: Evolution of religion. 82 Working Knowledge ■ Data Points: Oil spills. Artificial diamonds. 84 Technicalities Robots for the rest of us. 88 Reviews T CELL ATTACKS CANCER 18 A Shortcut through Time is an essential guide to the emergence of quantum computing. columns 31 Skeptic BY MICHAEL SHERMER Why scientists doubt ESP and psi phenomena. 90 Puzzling Adventures BY DENNIS E. SHASHA Choosing trustworthy flares. 92 Anti Gravity BY STEVE MIRSKY Moon-landing lunacy. 93 Ask the Experts Why do some people get more cavities than others? Why are snowflakes symmetrical? 94 Fuzzy Logic BY ROZ CHAST Cover image by Don Dixon. Scientific American (ISSN 0036-8733), published monthly by Scientific American, Inc., 415 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10017-1111. Copyright © 2003 by Scientific American, Inc. All rights reserved. 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Printed in U.S.A. 4 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN FEBRUARY 2003 COPYRIGHT 2003 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC. SA Perspectives No Immunity to Pork Critics may gripe about whether the new Homeland from children’s vaccines, although medical authorities Security Act fights terrorism well, but no one can say generally maintain that the mercury exposure was too it doesn’t do a great job of protecting drug companies low to cause autism’s neurological defects. Studies from autistic children. have repeatedly failed to find an epidemiological tie be- A short provision at the end of the act, added qui- tween vaccines and autism, but an Institute of Medi- etly just days before its passage, exempts Eli Lilly and cine review in 2001 concluded that the thimerosal the- other firms from direct civil litigation over whether ory was “biologically plausible,” and so investigation vaccine additives cause autism. Parents suing on behalf continues. of their autistic children are shunted to a federal “vac- The U.S. needs a better, comprehensive strategy for cine court,” where damages are vaccines. Vaccines are the most effective public health capped. Conveniently, in late measure ever devised, but drug companies are reluc- November 2002 the Justice De- tant to work on them because the profitability is low partment also requested that the and the liability risks are high. If we want new vaccines court seal documents relating to against bioweapons such as smallpox, we will proba- hundreds of the lawsuits, com- bly need to give the pharmaceutical industry more in- plicating the cases for plaintiffs. centives and protection. Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee Ever since these shameful de- outlined one such scheme in 2002, but his proposal velopments became public, they caught legislative flu and died. have drawn bipartisan scorn. Then, presto: language crafted as a shield against Beyond the provision’s offen- thimerosal torts suddenly materialized at the end of the siveness as political pork, it is nearly 500-page Homeland Security Bill. No one—not harmful to lifesaving vaccina- Eli Lilly, not administration officials, not committee VACCINATION FEARS are fed by tion efforts. members who oversaw the bill—will admit to having bad legislation. Worries about childhood inserted the vaccine rider. It just appeared, a Thanks- vaccines and autism stretch back giving miracle for drugmakers. for years. Studies suggest that rates of autism may have The provision does nothing to promote new vac- as much as tripled in the past decade. Autism’s first cine development. By lending support to the impres- symptoms often emerge around age two, shortly after sion that the industry has something to hide, it fuels most infants start to receive vaccinations against distrust of vaccines—exactly when better data absolv- measles, whooping cough and other illnesses. Because ing the drugs are emerging. Consequently, too many the number of vaccinations that children receive has also parents are denying their children vaccinations that skyrocketed, concerned parents sought a linkage, and could save them from potentially fatal diseases. they found one in thimerosal, a mercury compound Here’s a suggestion: If no one will accept respon- used as a preservative in many vaccines. Some symp- sibility for the mysterious legislation, would any of its toms of autism resemble those of mercury poisoning. beneficiaries like to repudiate it? To ask for the repeal As a precaution, in 1999 the Food and Drug Ad- of the rider so that vaccine policies can be debated in- ministration ordered the elimination of thimerosal telligently, as they deserve? Anyone? SATURN STILLS/SPL/PHOTO RESEARCHERS, INC. THE EDITORS [email protected] 6 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN FEBRUARY 2003 COPYRIGHT 2003 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC. How to Contact Us On the Web WWW.SCIENTIFICAMERICAN.COM EDITORIAL ADVERTISING For Letters to the Editors: www.sciam.com has electronic Letters to the Editors contact information for sales FEATURED THIS MONTH Scientific American representatives of Scientific American in all regions of the U.S. Visit www.sciam.com 415 Madison Ave. and in other countries. 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