Scientific American (January 2017)

76 Pages·2017·15.671 MB·English

by  Scientific American

WHY ROBOTS SHOULD DISOBEY US GENE THERAPY TO HEAL HEARTS
PAGE 44 PAGE 38
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PAGE 56
JANUARY 2017
ScientiicAmerican.com
© 2016 Scientific American

January 2017
VOLUME 316, NUMBER 1
0506
NEUROSCIENCE COMPUTING
26 Lab-Built 44 The Case for
Brains Robot Disobedience
Scientists copy nature’s most com­ Don’t worry about deiant ma ­
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January 2017, ScientiicAmerican.com 1
© 2016 Scientific american
3 From the Editor
4 Letters
7 Science Agenda
Presidential elections have a way of 
rearranging nasa’s goals. B y the Editors
8 Forum
Armed security guards in hospitals do more harm
than good. B y Nathaniel P. Morris
10 Advances
Some monkeys create “tools” that look suspiciously
like those of early humans. STDs on the rise. A huge
8
telescope from miniature satellites. Hidden side efects.
22 The Science of Health
Is supercooling the entire body therapeutic?
By Dina Fine Maron
24 TechnoFiles
E­mail will never be secure. By David Pogue
68 Recommended
Historic brain drawings. Physics in everyday life.
The Anthropocene epoch is now. By Clara Moskowitz
69 Skeptic
Why deeply held beliefs get stronger in the face of
overwhelming contrary evidence. By Michael Shermer
14
70 Anti Gravity
Baseball’s acceptance of analytics is a lesson
for other ields. By Steve Mirsky
71 50, 100 & 150 Years Ago
72 Graphic Science
The top air polluters in the U.S. By Mark Fischetti
ON THE WEB
Breakthrough Prize
Scientiic American s potlights the 2017 winners’
out stand ing scientiic achievements.
Go to www.ScientiicAmerican.com/jan2017/breakthrough
71
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2 Scientiic American, January 2017
© 2016 Scientific american
FROM
THE EDITOR
Mariette DiChristina is editor in chief of S cientiic American.
Follow her on Twitter @mdichristina
What’s Next
those stances after victory were quickly dashed. His irst ac­
tions as president­elect included putting forward a climate
for Science? change skeptic to head the Environmental Protection Agency
and reportedly looking to make good on his earlier intent to
pull out of the Paris climate accord.
For 171 years, Scientific American h as chronicled the advanc­
Wednesday, November 9, dawned gray and es of science (and even fostered its applica­
raw in Berlin. I was there to moderate a cou­ tion, with its patenting oices, starting in
ple of panels at an annual meeting called 1850). While at Falling Walls, I relected on
Falling Walls. The name and timing cele­ how many voters had come to feel disenfran-
brate the an niversary of the Berlin Wall’s chised in the face of that progress, leaving
fall, as well as the free exchange of ideas if them with a sense of reduced opportunity. I
only we can knock down barriers. I looked thought about how we who work in and
forward to a series of inspiring talks about around science could be more inclusive in
how science, which I have often called the our outreach to them and to policy leaders
“engine of hu man prosperity,” could help us and how we could help take a systems ap-
solve some of our greatest challenges. proach to better ensure that research will be
We all crowded into a large room at the applied in ways that result in greater public
start of the day. A live broadcast began, loom­ beneit. I thought about how we could still
BERLIN WALL being destroyed
ing above us on an enormous screen. The work together to build a better world. We just
in November 1989.
Falling Walls attendees watched the accep­ might have to try a little harder to get there.
tance speech of the U.S. president­elect, Donald Trump, whose For these reasons, we are expanding the scope of our reporting
campaign included a promise to build a new wall. on public policies that will afect science to round out our tradi-
What would this mean for science, I wondered? As a candi­ tional coverage of the impact of that research on human lives.
date, Trump had made some troubling antiscience statements, One thing is as clear today as it was when this magazine
including tweeting that global climate change is a Chinese plot, was founded in 1845, during the lowering of the industrial
threatening that he would dismantle the agency that enforces revolution in the U.S.: a world in search of solutions to hu-
clean air and water regulations, and endorsing the long­disproved manity’s challenges needs information about science, and
link between vaccines and autism. Any hope that he would soften Scientific Am eri can will be tireless in providing it.
BOARD OF ADVISERS
Leslie C. Aiello Kaigham J. Gabriel Christof Koch Martin A. Nowak Terry Sejnowski
President, Wenner-Gren Foundation President and Chief Executive Oicer, President and CSO, Director, Program for Evolutionary Professor and Laboratory Head
for Anthropological Research Charles Stark Draper Laboratory Allen Institute for Brain Science Dynamics, and Professor of Biology and of Computational Neurobiology
Roger Bingham Harold “Skip” Garner Lawrence M. Krauss of Mathematics, Harvard University Laboratory, Salk Institute for
ArCTDthoihre-euF Scrotc uoCienra,nd Dpceleirav Nainsnie o dtn wD ooirfr eMkc teodri,c al Ethics, EPaGonfxre ieOdmnc eCsuatterteiciynovs tCep,e EaaDr tdrfhieowri erRca c BeMrtidsooee riVa ndairfiancoc dihCrnm oPNelr aleoettifgwceesso s aronkrd , MDADoriirrrizteeeoccnnttooa Lrr S,,. HOtKaerrtideign oiUngnnsei aiIvln:b eTitarrisacyigtthiyFv oe,n den RCoaDBLrbeieroaemaldrnyietn,n rUEg, PC.hn oPaaivmrsaesclr iaoCnszi io t zIylmlo eo gaf geA ionlafg bA Sarmctisea an anctde Sciences MMBPPiiccurioohhblfoaaleisgeeshsillc eoSSarrhn,l oS Syefktd ruGemepdertineei c ers m t icasg, aSztainnef ord
DNeYpUa rLtamnegnotn oef M Poepduiclaatl iCoenn Hteera lth, MDicirheacetol rS, .S Gagaez Czaenntiegra f o r the Study Ranedse Uanrcivhe Grsriotyu po,f UAnairvheurss ity of Oxford TSepaamce, Sacnide nDciere Icntsotrit, uCtIeC LOPS, MUicnhivaeerls Eit.y WScehbobole orf Medicine
ViCnhtioenf I Cnteerrfn et Evangelist, Google oSfa Mntian Bda, Urbnairvae rsity of California, StPMervaoenfenas gKseoymrl eoef n At,p Cpolirende Ellc Uonniovmeriscist yand ViDUlaniryievacentrousrirt, yCS oe. fnR Ctaeamrl iffoaorcr nBhiraaan, iSnda arnna Ddn iC e oggon ition, CaDnoed-pd Aairrsetsmcotceoinar,tt Ceo lfPe Mraonef eEcshnsaeonrrgi,c y a Iln Ecnugbinateoerr, i ng,
George M. Church David J. Gross University of Texas at Austin
Robert S. Langer Lisa Randall
Director, Center for Computational Professor of Physics and Permanent Steven Weinberg
Genetics, Harvard Medical School Member, Kavli Institute for Theoretical David H. Koch Institute Professor, Professor of Physics, Director, Theory Research Group,
AP Photo N GAPS III RDERdiirDUaoFRPSDctweontfarihnii caosrwPud iahaeCntfv unieJrc arfneoEbdoodsdtrrglnolsedhr s iwuWdoDcrr nidDt, i r aHessUyyCa .a onh l H weoneFlw fde afnio eBd v kkBlMtpltie iietoUhonnkreareassin srnnf niroFi tysdv gyo rl e aB iCuInrnnlnhsoedfidaooet Cyiarmrr imotmPniblorglaaeeon,tn rgfi geo,e s nS Ps coahrr,ok o l LDDVeiaaPBMoCCoaEonnnnfffnnhalo oaaeAECderyin-sldeb nc rslapVDsyigial henl pcK eioyirMHarfcsrlaofsg hiiek,L er iU1try.(orclamd9 neNl,oKnt bis 3EiroPsdaaoiloa5gnv arhnt, br, m e ea BD yP,aRe rrAasetrslimge isoorripPcnyttkdrfsperyi eeyenai , ln zHsw,olinHg eeseU fdu aaoy d aCin ib nur rRsMia vl hvo ePe laeiefis hf narroPoddynsdr hus iPdsnUtyrir,yc ic AsnoaL sei i,fcpL, vs eS2sCp esG a0arrsno0rsnootip4drtau ry) ip a,t e LJMMoaDEPPICHECCi.hmwg nnrrooaGaenooggumrrl-mplffr ndiieePeeeannaueeign.sslrreen n grsseteMNceesmooogi ceecorrilrrtoeii cho ef, nnoML oroHoCnlgggrae f,Mtrey lo a,gMs eaC e,olMrr lsnWUleo onvfii i dcsngC.naernIer trg l.P h ioTUli evd laueU.blre n LMm bnirnfioaovsl iii lewivecrcot d erya P gSsir lcoPy isc ta ilrhayitolcy no fy deo, s l sor MJJEeouHAoIoRaSDCCafhngntffehosair sranreCCdtgaltrteetur niivoaeieRAotcynrmamnu si,tneU g e mDAroRttborgdb esnrCdoie.om , raai PU ovevSiT.el nd orUfieecnSahs sogAogroroin eccf v seyRllseri hooide Ev ttysoarrgtsey as y nosCt ryor ia dnsto,t r lhiy Wo utAoa ymInnfsna cStdyssrio h,tloP ,iUi itp lrn uonShgtficyetveios,ees i nscnrs osc i,ret y GNAJoneDU(PCDIPQIPannnNottrrrhnieufiaoooohrotorepieaitfffvnagbarmeeeanhcemtn eesssrttZairiolssstuv csa WMnemPoooermaitt,i rrrr i lZyleGo .oi BiooozN nnnWiollefffitofto a,fg tCLQe iboUnTlrhneao hauf eao nwir gPelPtaxip iVnyme hv anhah,eys si tyn yHri usirssaasddsitmaictlici r ce ortFsAys syvsOf,o , u, a a 1C o r Qp9nsrefodt 7tdcuVimi 9nc aUa i) sespn n,tn utii uvnnteemgarr sity
OH Technology Policy, Princeton University Partner, Khosla Ventures Neuroengineering, Duke University National Center for Science Education Science, Harvard University
J
Illustration by Nick Higgins January 2017, ScientiicAmerican.com 3
© 2016 Scientific American
LETTERS
[email protected]
“ Although increasing multiverse is pure conjecture and no one
knows how the fundamental physical
the years of healthy
constants emerged from the big bang,
life reduces the costs Shermer’s stubborn physicalism is not
true to the current situation in science.
of health care,
A growing cadre of investigators has
healthy elderly still opened the door to a once forbidden sub-
ject: consciousness. Until we understand
consume resources.”
how consciousness comes about, both nor-
martin j. greenwood s tirling, australia mal and paranormal events are equally
mysterious. Two observers—one claiming
to see angels, the other to see nebulae and
the complex human mind—and complete galaxies—derive their experience from
person—we should also reairm the criti- totally unknown processes by which the
cal skills psychiatrists need to understand brain, using ordinary electrochemical ac-
and communicate efectively with that tivity, produces a 3-D world. Max Planck
person. Psychiatry has never been more declared, “All matter originates and exists
compelling, and it needs good people. only by virtue of a force.... We must as-
September 2016 Jon D. Sobotka sume behind this force the existence of
Corvallis, Ore. a conscious and intelligent Mind. This
Mind is the matrix of all matter.” Werner
THE ANTHROPOCENE SUSTAINABLE CENTENARIANS? Heisenberg asserted, “The atoms or the
In “A History in Layers,” Jan Zalasiewicz Bill Giford does not discuss the economic elementary particles themselves are not
argues that humans’ efect on the earth burden that would be created by a substan- as real [as phenomena in daily life]; they
calls for the establishment of a distinct tial increase in healthy life span in “Living form a world of potentialities or possibil-
geologic epoch called the Anthropocene. to 120.” Many human activities are benign ities rather than one of things or facts.”
If humans stay around on the earth for when only a few participate but become It’s time for Shermer to read these
millions of years, naming the present era problematic when too many do it. Living seminal physicists so that instead of rely-
the Anthropocene will most likely be jus- longer is an afordable indulgence when ing on a primitive belief that all phenom-
tiied. On the other hand, there is a dis- becoming a centenarian is rare enough ena come down to the interaction of par-
tinct possibility that we shall succeed in that it can be marked by a letter from the ticles, he gets into the game when it’s i-
exterminating ourselves within a short pe- British monarch. What happens when nally becoming interesting.
riod. In that case, the impact of humanity 7.4 billion of us aspire to such an age? Al- Deepak Chopra
would rather resemble that of the asteroid though increasing the years of healthy University of California, San Diego,
that killed the dinosaurs. On the geologic life reduces the costs of health care, the School of Medicine
timescale, it would be the blink of an eye— healthy elderly still consume resources.
short and terrible. Then some other fu- Martin J. Greenwood SHERMER REPLIES: T he door to the once
ture species will handle the naming issue. Stirling, Australia forbidden subject of consciousness was
Soeren Hansen opened by hard-core natural scientists
Kongens Lyngby, Denmark CONSCIOUSNESS AND PHYSICS such as Francis Crick and Christof Koch,
In “At the Boundary of Knowledge” [Skep- who collaborated on models to explain how
WHITHER NEUROSCIENTISTS? tic], Michael Shermer argues that phys- conscious experiences arise from neural ac-
Senior editor Gary Stix reports on the con- ics disproves, or reduces to the vanishing tivity without invoking the supernatural.
trast between a growing number of neuro- point, the possibility of paranormal phe- And it is tautologous to assert that con-
science Ph.D.s and the progressively re- nomena. Instead of beating the dead horse scious experiences are explained by con-
duced number of positions in academic re- of scientiic atheism, he should have con- sciousness. How neural processes lead to
search and asks, “Where Will All the New sidered a far more amazing current trend conscious experiences is becoming under-
Neuroscientists Go?” [Advances]. As a psy- that places so-called supernatural phe- stood through the tools of neuroscience, and
chiatrist, I encourage such Ph.D.s to go to nomena on the same playing ield as nat- while the hard problem of explaining con-
medical school and specialize in psychiatry. ural events: in physics and biology, a cri- sciousness is not yet solved, by no means is
Individuals who sufer from mental illness, sis of knowledge has developed when at- it the result of “totally unknown processes.”
and those who treat them, are greatly in tempting to account for the fundamental As for Planck and Heisenberg: two
need of more neuroscientists to help delin- deinitions of time, space, matter, energy quotes do not an argument make. Most
eate the biological underpinnings of men- and life. In a cosmos ruled by dark mat- physicists do not assume a conscious, in-
tal disorders and their efective treatments. ter and energy, where no empirical evi- telligent mind is behind matter and ener-
Because these underpinnings help create dence exists about the origin of time, the gy, and the nature of atoms and elemen-
4 Scientiic American, January 2017
© 2016 Scientific American

LETTERS
[email protected]
ESTABLISHED 1845
EDITOR IN CHIEF AND SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT
Mariette DiChristina
tary particles may be a world of potential- EXECUTIVE EDITOR Fred Guterl DESIGN DIRECTOR Michael Mrak
MANAGING EDITOR Ricki L. Rusting DIGITAL CONTENT MANAGER Curtis Brainard COPY DIRECTOR Maria-Christina Keller
ities, but at the macro level, where we live, EDITORIAL
you need only to thrust your fist into a NEWS EDITOR Dean Visser OPINION EDITOR Michael D. Lemonick
TOPIC EDITORS
brick wall to refute Chopra’s assertions. Mark Fischetti Josh Fischman Seth Fletcher Gary Stix
SUSTAINABILITY LIFE SCIENCES PHYSICAL SCIENCES and TECHNOLOGY MIND / BRAIN
SENIOR EDITORS
DEAD TAPE Christine Gorman BIOLOGY / MEDICINE Clara Moskowitz SPACE / PHYSICS Kate Wong EVOLUTION
In “What to Do with All Those Cassettes” PODCAST EDITOR Steve Mirsky SENIOR VIDEO PRODUCER Eliene Augenbraun
SPANISH-LANGUAGE EDITOR Debbie Ponchner (ScientiicAmerican.com/espanol)
[TechnoFiles], David Pogue describes “the EDITOR AT LARGE Claudia Wallis
world’s VCR and camcorder tapes” as now ASSOCIATE EDITORS
Lee Billings SPACE / PHYSICS Larry Greenemeier TECHNOLOGY Dina Fine Maron BIOLOGY / MEDICINE Annie Sneed SUSTAINABILITY
“rotting in boxes” and encourages read­ Amber Williams ADVANCES ENGAGEMENT EDITOR Sunya Bhutta COLLECTIONS EDITOR Andrea Gawrylewski
ers to digitize them. Pogue shouldn’t be ART
so fast to imply that analog media are no ART DIRECTOR Jason Mischka SENIOR GRAPHICS EDITOR Jen Christiansen PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR Monica Bradley ART DIRECTOR, ONLINE Ryan Reid
ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR Liz Tormes ASSISTANT GRAPHICS EDITOR Amanda Montañez
longer used at all. I have stacks of video­
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cassettes and audiocassettes—even eight­ SENIOR COPY EDITORS Michael Battaglia, Daniel C. Schlenof COPY EDITOR Aaron Shattuck
MANAGING PRODUCTION EDITOR Richard Hunt SENIOR PRODUCTION EDITOR Michelle Wright
track tapes. I also have shelves of vinyl LPs, PREPRESS AND QUALITY MANAGER Silvia De Santis
some of which are irreplaceable. And a few DIGITAL
weeks ago I wandered into a bookstore SENIOR EDITORIAL PRODUCT MANAGER Angela Cesaro TECHNICAL LEAD Nicholas Sollecito
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(another rarity), and what do I see right
CONTRIBUTORS
inside the doors? A huge display of vinyl EDITORIAL David Biello, W. Wayt Gibbs, Ferris Jabr, Anna Kuchment, Robin Lloyd, George Musser, Christie Nicholson, John Rennie
LPs and signs touting their advantages. ART Edward Bell, Bryan Christie, Lawrence R. Gendron, Nick Higgins
EDITORIAL ADMINISTRATOR Ericka Skirpan SENIOR SECRETARY Maya Harty
Sandor Frecska
Mannington, W.V.
PRESIDENT
Dean Sanderson
CLARIFICATIONS EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT Michael Florek EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, GLOBAL ADVERTISING AND SPONSORSHIP Jack Laschever
PUBLISHER AND VICE PRESIDENT Jeremy A. Abbate
“A History in Layers,” by Jan Zalasiewicz,
MARKETING AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
referred to the Holocene starting 11,700
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years ago, with glaciers “melting so much Eileen Long
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6 Scientiic American, January 2017
© 2016 Scientific American
SCIENCE AGENDA
OPINION AND ANALYSIS FROM
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN’S BOARD OF EDITORS
Let nasa
Take Flight
Donald Trump and Congress
should end Washington’s bad habit
of shifting our space goals
By the Editors
As a newly minted president, Barack Obama told nasa to
steer away from the moon—a destination set by his prede-
cessor George W. Bush—and head for Mars instead. Rich-
ard Nixon encouraged nasa to cancel its inal Apollo mis-
sions to divert funds to the space shuttle program. Unfortu-
nately, President-elect Donald Trump seems set to follow this
precedent. “After taking oice, we will have a comprehensive
review of our plans for space and will work with Congress to
set both priorities and mission,” he told S paceNews a month
before the election.
These repeated relaunches come at great cost. Space explo-
ration is a long-term proposition: changing our minds every
four or eight years means wasting efort, time and money. An -
other reshule could prove disastrous. nasa has inally regained
momentum after its last change of plans in 2010 and says it is years have led to delays on new spaceships that nasa is de-
on track with its giant Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, in - veloping with commercial companies to carry astronauts to the
tended to target the Red Planet. “This is not a time that we can space station. The Pioneering r eport advocates that Congress
start over,” nasa administrator Charles Bolden said in October create a fund that the agency can draw from as needed. This
2015. Our space program needs stability, and several groups would let it spend more in years when large missions are start-
have proposed changes that could help. ing up, then bank savings later when costs taper of.
One is that nasa administrators should serve terms longer Some of these goals overlap with the Space Leadership Pres-
than four years. Currently, when each president takes oice, he ervation Act, introduced in 2015 by Representative John Culber-
or she can nominate a new administrator, to be conirmed by son of Texas, that was never voted on. It would have created a
the Senate. The nonproit Space Foundation suggested in a board of directors to oversee nasa and make its yearly budget
2012 report titled Pioneering t hat nasa administrators should requests. That board would have also recommended candidates
serve renewable terms of ive years to prevent an overhaul for nasa administrator to the president, who would then nomi-
every time someone new moves into the White House. nate someone from the list to serve a 10-year term. The bill was
The report also argued that scientists and experts should opposed by House Democrats who objected that board mem-
play a stronger role in setting our country’s human spacelight bers picked by the president and Congress, using a formula
goals, suggesting that the president and Congress appoint an based on which party held majorities in the House and Senate,
independent commission to approve 10- and 30-year plans de - “would inject partisan politics into that Board.”
veloped by nasa. The agency would then submit these plans to Although they difer on particulars, this bill, the Space Foun-
Congress for approval every ive years. This method closely re- dation report and other proposals agree that nasa needs lon-
sembles the way nasa already sets its research goals for phys- ger-serving administrators and an advisory board to help set
ics, earth science, and other ields and allocates the funds allot- its goals based on science. When President Trump and the new
ted from Congress, based on priorities determined through in - Congress take oice, they should enact these changes. By giv-
dependent surveys conducted every 10 years by the National ing nasa more independence, they can free it to tackle truly
Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. visionary goals whose payofs lie many years in the future.
Such guidelines would also give nasa badly needed inancial
stability. When Congress resets the agency’s funding every year,
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it plays havoc with space projects that can take a decade to get
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of the ground. For example, reduced budgets over the past ive or send a letter to the editor: [email protected]
Illustration by Scott Park January 2017, ScientiicAmerican.com 7
© 2016 Scientific American
FORUM
COMMENTARY ON SCIENCE IN Nathaniel P. Morris i s a resident physician in psychiatry
THE NEWS FROM THE EXPERTS
at the Stanford University School of Medicine.
Keep Hospitals
Weapons-Free
Tasers and guns issued to security
guards do more harm than good
By Nathaniel P. Morris
If you were in a hospital, would you want armed guards roam­
ing the corridors? It is an increasingly relevant question for pa­
tients. Today armed guards are becoming more common in health
care facilities. According to a 2014 study, 52 percent of hospitals
provide handguns for security personnel, and 47 percent have
Tasers available. These numbers are considerably higher com­
pared with similar surveys from 2009 and 2011.
Last year this trend drew national attention when the N ew
York Times and T his American Life reported on the 2015 shoot­
ing of Alan Pean. Admitted to a Houston hospital during a psy­
chotic episode, Pean was confused, dancing naked and wandering
out of his room. After nurses called security for as sistance, Pean
allegedly assaulted the responding oicers. He was shocked with
a Taser and then shot in the chest.
Pean survived, but his story raises a question: Why have hos­
pitals taken up arms? Advocates point out that hospitals can be not yet shown that arming hospital guards consistently saves
surprisingly violent places. Every year, says the Department of lives or improves outcomes for patients.
La bor, health care employees sufer 15,000 to 20,000 injuries from Meanwhile many in the medical community are decrying the
on­the­job violence that re quire time of; the number of serious militarization of patient care. In the summer of 2016 the Ameri­
injuries nearly matches every other industry combined. can Medical Association passed a resolution to limit the use of
In my ield—mental health—clinicians are at even greater guns and Tasers in health care workplaces. A petition expressing
risk of workplace violence. We often treat patients sufering from outrage at the 2015 shooting of Pean gathered thousands of sig­
psychosis, substance use or other conditions that can cause agi­ natures, largely from health care workers. Doctors and journal­
tation. I am pursuing residency training in psychiatry, and re­ ists have called for more research into the risks.
search suggests that one quarter to one half of my peers will be Hospitals might instead employ nonlethal security measures,
physically assaulted during our training. So it might make sense such as pepper spray or physical restraints. Active shooter plans
then for hospital security guards to have weapons. can prepare hospital staf for emergency situations. For high­
Yet as the Pean shooting shows, combining weapons and pa­ risk areas such as emergency departments, some medical cen­
tient care can have serious consequences. Security oicers who ters have installed metal detectors. Clinicians can treat agitated
might not be trained to deal with symptoms of mental illness can pat ients with medications, and medical organizations have re ­
act rashly, harming the very people who came to the hospital for leased guidelines for managing these scenarios.
care. These weapons could also get into the wrong hands. As In 2010 Paul Warren Pardus brought a handgun into Johns
noted in the T imes article, a 2012 study found that 23 percent of Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. Distraught over his mother’s
emergency department shootings involved a gun taken from care, he shot a surgeon, his mother and then himself. The doctor
security. In many states, patients have stolen guns from guards survived, but Pardus and his mother died. After unarmed hospi­
and escaped hospitals, terrifying surrounding communities. tal guards and local police secured the scene, Johns Hopkins oi­
Some hospitals use less deadly means, such as Tasers. But cials released a statement that included these profound words:
these are still dangerous: Tasers can cause cardiac arrest and even “Hospitals are and must re main places of hope and healing that
death. Their use also raises doubts about the quality of care pro­ are open to the public. They cannot be turned into armed cita­
vided when hospitals resort to electrocuting patients. dels.” I can’t help but agree.
Extreme situations that involve active shooters may necessi­
tate the use of weapons to protect hospital patients and staf.
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But these incidents are rare and unpredictable. Police forces can
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handle them better than security guards can, and research has or send a letter to the editor: [email protected]
8 Scientiic American, January 2017 Illustration by Ileana Soon
© 2016 Scientific American