WINNER: Atomic Dreams
By J茅r么me Cigut, UK
NY Times, 1937
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Tesla Presents Nuclear Engine
The famous inventor yesterday unveiled the machine on which he had been working reclusively for the past 10 years: a functioning heat engine, based not on combustion but on recently discovered atomic reactions.
鈥淎ll it took was some plumbing skills,鈥� the inventor said, modestly.
Washington Post, 1943
Japan Surrenders!
鈥il-starved, the Japanese navy was unable to keep pace with the US鈥檚 nuclear ships鈥�
Detroit Free Press, 1953
Spectacular Advance!
Ford Unveils Atom-Fuelled Car!
鈥溾�ith our new model 鈥楢鈥�, you will never have to go to the gas station again: just drop your car off at one of our garages once a year for a regular service, and our technicians will take care of everything, including replacing the uranium rods!鈥�
鈥M is expected to follow shortly with its own model鈥�
Wall Street Journal, 1963
Large Oil Companies Filing for Bankruptcy
NY Times, 1971
Supreme Court Rejects Mechanics鈥� Complaint
鈥溾�et it be clear: there is no evidence that the plaintiffs鈥� cancer was caused by our products. Nuclear cars are safe and foolproof, they have been thoroughly tested, and they represent all the good things that happen when the smartest scientists and the largest companies team up to offer the best products to the American people鈥︹��
The Lancet, 1985
Substantial evidence of cancer-inducing radioactive leaks in cars
CNN, 1985
鈥溾�bsolutely no proof whatsoever鈥� Well-maintained cars are perfectly safe鈥︹��
USA Today, 1997
Cars Can Cause Cancer, Manufacturers Admit
BBC, 1999
1998 coldest year on record: start of a new ice age?
Wall Street Journal, 2001
Detroit Car Manufacturers Considering Bankruptcy
鈥溾�awsuits and class actions are threatening our businesses and the hundreds of thousands of jobs that we provide鈥︹��
Financial Times, 2003
Peak uranium?
Specialists are concerned that the world鈥檚 uranium production might start to decline in coming years, as some of the main mines start to be depleted鈥�
New 杏吧原创, 2005
Fossil future?
Abundant, natural and safe for health 鈥� could two resources not tapped since the Second World War cure our addiction to uranium? We investigate coal and petroleum.
J茅r么me Cigut is an economist fascinated by how science transforms the world
RUNNER-UP: Starfall
By Kevlin Henney, UK
鈥淗old me.鈥�
I wrapped my arms around her, her and the bump, the house still shaking from the distant airburst. That had been London.
In May our group in Oxford received confirmation from the La Palma observatory. Not only was our working theory a good fit for observations, it was the best fit. The excitement swept through everyone at the centre. Our group鈥檚 work was the next and final step in understanding the forces of our universe. History would record us following and furthering the steps of Leibniz, Poincar茅 and others.
Leibniz鈥檚 calculus and laws of gravity and motion described the epicyclic motion of the planets around the Earth and the simpler movement of the sun and moon. Poincar茅鈥檚 theory of luminiferous relativity gave space substance, something through which light could wave. His theory of rotational relativity explained the movement of all the worlds. All the worlds, but not the motionless stars. A century after his work, we determined that stars remain fixed by maintaining an equilibrium, not because they are fixed in some firmament. The force of their light and their attraction to one another balances the pull of Earth.
A slight buzz of champagne and talk of future work and Nobels kept me later than usual. I arrived home to be greeted by more good news and, for me at least, another celebratory glass. A day to remember.
That was May. A lot can happen in six months. Cosmology rarely graces the headlines. The universe is a simple and ordered place. Where is the news? More detailed work on the observations began to suggest otherwise, with implications both disturbing and newsworthy. Headlines soon rebranded the Centre for Cosmological Studies as the Chicken Licken Lab. The mocking humour fell silent when the constellations started to drift and fade.
Stars have dimmed and fallen before. But, as history tells, these comets are occasional and exceptional. The thousands of other stars remain unperturbed. But stars cannot burn forever. It seems their natural lifetime is around 6000 years. And now they are falling, together.
The house shakes.
鈥淗old me.鈥�
Kevlin Henney is a software development consultant and writer
RUNNER-UP: Gaius Secundus ER
By Shaun Freney, Australia
鈥溾�nd so with this new type of treatment we only need a few millilitres of interferon per cancer patient,鈥� said Dr Arist Turtle.
鈥淢arvellous!鈥� proclaimed Dr Plinus Elder. 鈥淎lways something new out of Africa 鈥� what is it called?鈥�
鈥淗omo鈥� homeapothacary鈥� wait, I wrote it down somewhere鈥︹��
A gurney burst through the doors, trailing emergency staff. Dr Elder approached and eyed the elderly, bloodied patient.
鈥淪ituation? Donalds, stop that bleeding. Turtle, duck eggs, stat!鈥�
鈥淗orseless chariot accident, sir,鈥� said a paramedic. 鈥淗it-and-gallop. Broken bones, lacerations, some internal damage.鈥�
鈥淩ight, send him to X-ray. Get his humours cross-matched and perform a bile transfusion.鈥�
Dr Turtle hurried forward, proffering three small eggs.
鈥淭hose are hen鈥檚 eggs, you fool! What do you think this is, a touch of gout?鈥�
鈥淪orry sir, it鈥檚 all we have. Cutbacks, you see鈥︹��
鈥淲e鈥檙e losing him!鈥�
The heart monitor changed from an intermittent beep to a long continuous one. Dr Elder pressed forward.
鈥淐ardiac arrest. Beginning CPR.鈥�
Dr Elder began to push down rhythmically on the patient鈥檚 chest, while a nurse applied a breathing mask supplying nutmeg, oxygen and pepper. No change.
Again.
Still no change.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not working. Get ready to defibrillate.鈥� Dr Elder took a small package made of a vulture鈥檚 heart wrapped in the skin of a slaughtered she-dog and washed in the spittle of a male virgin from a nurse.
鈥淐濒别补谤!鈥�
He placed it on the patient鈥檚 chest.
Nothing.
He picked it up and held it out. 鈥淩echarging!鈥�
Turtle leaned forward, with slight embarrassment, and spat on the package.
鈥淐濒别补谤!鈥� He placed it on the patient again.
Nothing, then the patient convulsed violently. The heart monitor began to beep again.
鈥淪teady pulse, doctor.鈥�
鈥淩ight, get him to surgery immediately. And leech him for a good 20 minutes.鈥�
Dr Turtle was inspecting the patient鈥檚 head. 鈥淭his man has a nasty head wound. Shouldn鈥檛 we see to this first?鈥�
Dr Elder sighed. 鈥淚f the only long-term injury he sustains is to a blood-cooling organ then he can count himself lucky. Now come, we have some stool samples to diagnose.鈥�
Shaun Freney is completing a degree in molecular biotechnology at Curtin University, Bentley, Western Australia.
- You can read all 10 short-listed stories, as well as Neil Gaiman鈥檚 comments, at newscientist.com/article/dn19845