Lot's Wife Edition 8 2013

SCIENCE
public concern continue to be consciously ignored by Monsanto. This
lack of certainty surrounding the existence or nonexistence of longterm
environmental risks, which potentially outweigh the acclaimed
advantaged of yield-enhancing GM technology, makes it difficult for
the public to direct their outrage. Until such a time as Monsanto gives
me reason to believe – despite my antipathy of their ruthless crowding
out of small-holder farms and monopolisation of seeds – that the social
and environmental benefits of genetically modified food outweighed the
disadvantages then I would concede that there was no reason to reject
GM food production on the grounds of sustainability. Of course, this
would not justify its business ethics, but that is a topic warranting its
own discussion. Until then, I shall continue to employ the precautionary
principle with respect to my diet. Strictly local or organic puh-lease.
SCIENCE LESSONS FROM...
GAME OF THRONES
Chris Pase
The fictional world of Westeros where Game of Thrones is set is subject
to unusual seasonal patterns. We’ve been warned: winter is coming, and
it could last generations. Seasons are mostly controlled by a planet’s tilt
towards the Sun, with Uranus’ North Pole pointed towards the Sun for
42 years and then away from it for another 42. Unusually long seasons are
definitely possible, but the seasons on Westeros seem to arrive unpredictably
and vary dramatically in length. Astrophysicist Greg Laughlin of The
University of California says a ‘wobbly’ axis like the one on Mars can vary
season length, but only makes gradual changes over thousands of years,
not the random fluctuations seen on Westeros. Laughlin has suggested
that if Westeros were part of a multi-planet system, with its orbit being
pulled out and affected by the planets around it, wild season change could
occur. Similarly, a group of graduate students from John Hopkins University
in the United States have released a research paper concluding that
Westeros orbits 2 suns; yielding an irregular orbit, meaning it is impossible
to predict the length of seasons.
***
Another weather related phenomenon, the ice wall, seems harder to
explain from a scientific point of view. Over 200m tall and almost 500km
long, the ice wall is an impressive natural defence against the North.
According to Engineer Mary Alibert from the Ice Drilling Program Office
at Dartmouth College, “even at very cold temperatures, large ice masses
deform under their own weight,” let alone “hold its original shape for
thousands of years.” The ice wall is far too big to support its own weight,
with a slope needed to support a structure that high. This means the wall
would be 40 times wider than it is high – still an impressive structure but
slightly easier to scale. Once again gravity spoils all the fun, and with no
evidence to suggest gravity varies greatly between Westeros and Earth this
one has to be put down to the magic that helped create it.
***
The wildfire used in the battle at Blackwater Bay is strikingly similar to
ancient Greek fire, or the modern equivalent, napalm. Greek fire was used
by the Byzantines to sink rival ships, exactly as Tyrion did. Furthermore,
Greek fire was a closely guarded state secret, just as the Alchemist’s Guild
in King’s Landing controlled the creation of wildfire. While the makeup
of Greek fire was lost, it is most commonly believed to be petroleum based
like napalm. All these weapons are activated in two stages; firstly the
delivery of the flammable substances, and secondly a reactant to ignite
the fuel. George R.R. Martin makes his wildfire a little more dramatic,
its haunting green glow turning into an eerie explosive light show. This
colouring wouldn’t be hard to achieve, with compounds such as trimethyl
borate producing emerald flames and copper chloride providing the green
tinge to the liquid.
***
Incest. It appears to be one of Martin’s favourite plot drivers. One of the
sub-characters, Craster, is a wildling who continually reproduces with his
daughters. And their daughters. This means some of his daughters are also
his granddaughters, and sisters with their own mothers. A slightly less
confusing case is Joffrey Baratheon, said to be the love child of his mother
Cersei Lannister and her brother Jaime despite the former being married
to king Robert Baratheon. Robert Baratheon has a host of bastard children
all born to other women, all of which take after his father in having
dark hair. Yet Joffrey has blonde hair (as well as his two siblings) like his
mother and uncle (father?). It is possible that while Robert has dominant
dark hair alleles (groups of genes), these may mask blonde alleles.
However, given none of his bastard children have blonde hair but all of
Cersei’s children do, the odds are stacked against him. That and the scene
where Jamie shows off his swordsmanship to his sister Cersei.
LOT’S WIFE EDITION 8 • 2013
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