A civilization sans Facebook will hum along fine. But without internet, it’ll surely fall.

1. ISPECTRUMMAGAZINE
Issue 12/March-April 2015
wi-fi from
the sky
Antibiotic
Apocalypse
Anthroposophic
Medicine
Driving on sunshine
a long and winding road to the future

2. 1
Features
03
Wi-Fi From The Sky
04 The Internet must be fast, fair,
and open
09 The competition in the aero-
space sphere
12 Internet for everyone
15
Antibiotic
Apocalypse
18 Antibiotic resistance
20 New antibiotic
22 How to minimize the develop-
ment of antibiotic resistance?
25
Driving on sunshine
a long and winding
road to the future
29 Too good to be true
32 A step forward
36
literally
integrative
Anthroposophic medicine
38 Anthroposophic therapies
39 Anthroposophic drug therapy
41
Phytotelmata and
other extreme habitats
of dragonfly
development:
review
43 Extreme places to live
48 Why do Odonata develop in
such harsh habitats?
15
36 41
25
CONTENTS
3

3. 2
Mado Martinez
Editorial Director
Editorial Director
Mado Martinez,
madomartinez@ispectrummagazine.com
Art Director
Rayna Petrova
raynapetrova@ispectrummagazine.com
Contributing Editors
Matt Loveday
mattloveday@ispectrummagazine.com
Ravinder Dhindsa
Bradley Terblanche
Jonathan Masters
Jennifer James
Contributing Writers
Alakananda Mookerjee
Ellie Pownall
Joe Baylis
Anette Bopp
Olga Antczak
Images
Cover:OneWeb.net
commons.wikimeadia.org
morguefile.com
freeimages.com
editorial
Ispectrum
magazine
Dear readers,
Here we go again with a new issue
full of amazing contents. This month we
start with our contributor Alakananda
Mookerjee and a topic that is generating
huge discussion: should the Internet be
free? What would the pros and cons be?
A conversation is now starting to bubble
over novel modes of extending connec-
tivity to those parts of the world where
almost 4.5 million citizens remain uncon-
nected, by beaming it down from space.
Medicine is facing one of the most chal-
lenging problems of the century and the
message of the World Health Organization
could not be more clear: antibiotic resis-
tance will kill 300 million people by 2050
if we do not find and develop new anti-
biotics. Ellie Pownall has been taking the
pulse of the situation to bring some light;
what future is awaiting us?
Joe Baylis comes with a new energy
concept that has been gaining a great
deal of attention in the engineering com-
munity over the past year. Known as a
“solar road”, it would essentially turn our
transport infrastructure system into one
huge renewable power station. Find out
more in his article.
Anthroposophic Medicine is a holistic
therapy that treats the individual from an
integral approach. Anette Bopp, one of
the main experts in this field, has written
the article we bring you in this issue.
Finally, Olga Antczak, from the University
of Lodz, has kindly shared with our read-
ers her latest research about the extreme
habitats of dragonfly development, a
valuable scientific paper.
Thanks for reading. And remember: com-
ment, share and spread the word!
www.ispectrummagazine.com
Follow Us
admin@ispectrummagazine.com
+44 7517 864 167 (UK)
Published Bimonthly ISSN 2053-1869

4. 3
ust as it’s absurd for 21st cen-
tury citizens—at least in the
industrialized West—to read a
book in the flickering halo of
a gas lamp, it’s equally odd being
offline. The Internet, a seemingly
invisible tool, has become so intrinsic
to our lives that we’ve come to regard
it as vital as clean water and electric-
ity.
J
by
Alakananda Mookerjee
Wi-Fi From The Sky
A civilization sans
Facebook will hum
along fine. But with-
out internet, it’ll
surely fall.
Photocredit:OneWeb.net

5. 4
So, when in the middle of last
year, when the American Federal
Communications Commission,
under pressure from the internet
service provider lobby, proposed a
new set of rules wherein U.S. tele-
com giants like Verizon, Comcast,
AT&T, and Time Warner Cable would
be able to bifurcate the ‘information
highway’ into a so-called
‘fast lane’ and a
‘slow lane’, there
was an uproar.
P r o t e s t e r s
s h r i e k e d
that that’d
kill ‘network
n e u t ra l i t y ’,
the long-stand-
ing concept that
internet service
providers treat all data
equally and fairly, regardless of
whether it’s bits and bytes of The
New Yorker or a song on Spotify
or a banter on WhatsApp. They
shouldn’t play favorites with pack-
ets of data—they demanded. Under
the new arrangement, a company
like Netflix or Hulu would have to
pay a ‘toll’ to allow their content
to be streamed more speedily into
our tablets or televisions. And if
they paid more, they’d make us
pay more. Aside from fattening our
monthly bills, it’d also put a damp-
ener on innovations whose very
bedrock is the Internet.
Fortunately, the crisis
was averted. Nearly
4,000,000 letters
from consum-
ers and advo-
cacy groups
poured into
the federal
agency, cajol-
ing it to save
the Internet from
falling into the
hands of corporate profi-
teers. In response, in a statement
to WIRED, Mr. Tom Wheeler wrote,
“the Internet must be fast, fair, and
open”. And so it will remain—for
now and in the future. Yet, what we
perceive as an indispensable util-
ity, without which we find ourselves
isolated, lost, and bored, is a lux-
ury that 4,400,000,000 across the
“the Internet must be fast,
fair, and open”

6. world have no access
to. Not yet touched by
the hand of the internet
god, they don’t know
what is to be ‘connect-
ed’. But a conversation
is now starting to bub-
ble over novel modes of
extending connectivity
to them by beaming it
down from space—but
more on that later.
When you send an
e-mail, you casual-
ly tap on the ‘send’
button. Whoosh. And
like that, it’s gone. You
think nothing of it after
that, secure in the cer-
tainty that it’ll pop up
in another inbox, near,
far, or very, very far
away. You couldn’t be
sniggered at for think-
ing that it flew away on
the wingtips of a fire-
drake. After all, there’s
so little of this service
that we can see—noth-
ing beyond our laptop,
router, and modem.
5

7. 6
In reality, the Internet
has a Cyclopean physi-
cal architecture, made
of a zoo of computers
and a dense mesh of
wires that girdle around
the globe. Once your
message leaves your
desk, say, in Chicago,
it’s broken down into
small pieces. And then
it hops from telephone
pole to telephone pole
until it reaches land’s
end.
Next, it journeys
through optical fibers—
each an incredibly thin
strand of glass or plastic
that serves as a path-
ways for information—
sealed in submarine
cables that run along
level stretches of the
seabed, carefully avoid-
ing coral reefs, sunken
ships, marine troughs
and ridges, and fish-
beds, before arriving
at its destination, say,
Beijing. The diameter
of a deep-water cable
is roughly that of a gar-
den hose (0.7 inches)
while those in shallow-
er waters are thicker,
about the cross-section
of a soda can (2.7 inch-
es). Similarly, when
someone in Los Angles
wants to read the life-
style section of the
leading English daily,
The Times, she keys
in its U.R.L. A request
to retrieve it goes out.
From wherever it is—
presumably, London—
it travels through the

8. 7
cold, dark depths of the Atlantic to
her internet service provider’s ter-
minal. It’s a short hop from there
to her desktop. At this time, there
are 278 active cables. Together,
they loop around for some 555,000
miles under the sea, linking all the
continents, barring Antarctica and
a few island nations. (For perspec-
tive -- Mount Everest stands five
miles tall). And it is this aquatic
grid that powers the overwhelming
bulk of our internet.
While on the go, it can be reached
on a smartphone through a cell
phone tower. Reception is excel-
lent at a Starbucks, in New York’s
Time’s Square, but as you move
away from bustling urban pockets,
it tends to get sluggish and patchy,
until it dwindles to naught. Driving
along a rural section of Asia’s Grand
Trunk Road, your device will receive
hardly any signal at all. Worse still,
what if you’re in an area in the mid-
dle of nowhere, where there’s not
even a radio mast and an aerial in
the vicinity? Then, the only way to
log on is by means of telecom sat-
ellites. These are pieces of school
bus-size machinery that are placed
in what is known as a ‘geostation-
ary orbit’. As Earth spins, they spin
with it, in tandem, 22,236 miles
above the surface, in a circular
path, like a hoopla hoop, along the
plane of Earth’s midriff.
Cell Phone Tower

9. To an observer, looking out the
window, therefore, they’d appear to
be stationary, hovering at the same
position night after night. They’re
so placed such that ground-based
antennas, which ‘talk’ to them, don’t
have to keep rotating to keep track
of them. They serve as enormous
mirrors in space, capable of bounc-
ing off telephone calls, television
and radio broadcasts, and internet
content, from one sector of the
world to another. This is how they
work. You’re on a luxury liner, sail-
ing on the Aegean Sea, and you’d
like to call someone in Istanbul.
As you place your call, your phone
connects to the ship’s on-board,
‘transmitter’, which then beams it
up to a ‘receiver’ up on a satellite in
an ‘uplink’. The satellite’s transmit-
ter, in turn, sends it back down in
a ‘downlink’ to another receiver on
the Turkish coast, from where it’s
then routed to the recipient. The
entire process takes place within a
flash. But while it works wonderful-
ly for a standard, voice-only phone
call, it may not if you were trying
to tweet from the deck or download
‘War and Peace’ on your e-reader
from inside your cabin.
Presently, satellites are slowpokes
when it comes to providing entry to
the Internet. Signals from Earth—
in the form of radio waves, which
travel at the same speed as light—
take 0.25 seconds to make one
round-trip. While that may sound
like an infinitesimal time frame,
it’s not small enough to support a
real-time video call, made through
an application like Skype. As of
2006, satellites handled a surpris-
8

10. 9
ing 1% of the volume
of all telecom traffic.
But that could change
if the vision of a couple
of Silicon Valley tech
tycoons materializes.
Elon Musk is the
founder of SpaceX, a
Hawthorne, California-
based private space
firm. Its spacecraft,
Dragon, made history
in May, 2012, when it
became the first com-
mercial vehicle to dock
with the International
Space Station. After
retiring the Space
Shuttle four years ago,
NASA handed it the
job of ferrying cargo to
the orbiting lab. (The
American crew, how-
ever, so far, still hitch
rides with the Russians,
aboard Soyuz). He
also has a finger in
other bleeding-edge
pies: Tesla (maker of
high-end electric cars);
SolarCity (provider of
Dragon in orbit
Photo credit:SpaceX

11. 10
OneWeb Satellite Drawing
Photo credit:OneWeb
solar power equip-
ment); Hyperloop (a
concept tube transport
that will hurtle passen-
gers from Los Angeles
to San Francisco in
roughly half an hour, at
a tearing 598 m.p.h.)
And now, he’s fallen
hard for the notion of
bringing high-speed
internet (repeat: high-
speed) to everyone,
everywhere, through a
swarm of 4,000 minia-
ture Sputniks, buzzing
around in low Earth
orbit—just 750 miles up
in the sky. Greg Wyler
of OneWeb has plans
to put up a smaller
fleet of 648. His proj-
ect is expected to be
up and running before
the end of the decade
and is expected to cost
$2 billion.
Keeping the satel-
lites wheeling closer to
home will reduce the
lag by a wide margin:
to a mere 0.006 sec-
onds. On the down-
side, the area covered
by each will be very

12. 11
limited, about the size the New
Mexico. Their narrow reach, how-
ever, is compensated for by their
multitude. Sometimes, it’s hard to
put your imagination to work, if the
capital required to make it happen is
an astronomical sum (if you’ll par-
don the pun). But both these enter-
prises have attracted the pocket-
books of big-name players. Search-
engine titan Google and an inves-
tor, Fidelity, have plunked down $1
billion into Musk’s venture, which
carries a price tag of a staggering
$10 billion. Richard Branson’s Virgin
Galactic and Qualcomm, on the
other hand, are backing OneWeb.
The media splash made by these
recent announcements has eclipsed
the success of 03b, which has been
in the business since before all the
hoopla began.
The Channel Islands-based com-
pany (OneWeb) was the first to
offer broadband service to a size-
able geographic belt, running 45
degrees north and south of the
equator. By placing a constellation
of a dozen satellites at 5,000 miles,
it’s been able to cut the delay to
0.15 seconds, making connections
more energetic. The cost of put-
ting a satellite in orbit depends
on its size and how far away from
Earth it’ll be deployed. They can
weigh anywhere between one kilo-
gram (such as CubeSat) to over
1,000. O3b’s products are 700 kilo-
CubeSat satellites

13. 12
Google Loon balloon
(Google Loon launch event , June 2013)
grams when fully fueled. To make
the technology more feasible, it’s
imperative that satellites be built
more compactly and lighter so that
a single rocket launch can transport
a big batch. O3b has sent up four at
a time. While Google has invested
in Musk’s endeavor, it’s also fine-
tuning an experiment of its own to
haul service to the Internet boon-
docks in rural, far-flung regions.
‘Loon’, like the orbital propos-
als, is about delivering connectivity
from above but while also staying
put with-
in Earth’s
a t m o -
s p h e r e .
A cluster
of giant,
unmanned
b a l l o o n s ,
f l o a t i n g
in a blu-
ish, cloud-
less, ozone-
d r e n c h e d
r e a l m ,
about 20
miles vertical, will create an aerial
Wi-Fi matrix that will offer 3G-like
speeds. In that serene ‘near-space’,
where the air is thin, dry, and nippy,
they’ll have no trucking with com-
mercial jets or weather-related tur-
bulence—but only different layers
of winds. These dirigibles will scud
away to wherever they’re needed
by hitchhiking on the back of a cold
stream, moving north, south, east,
or west. To test the program, 30
balloons were deployed above New
Zealand’s South Island, in June,
2013. Each unit can provide cover-
age to an area with a diameter of
25 miles. Below, in an apartment
complex, subscribers will be able
tap into it, using a bowl fixed on
their rooftop.

14. Not to be outshone,
Facebook, too, has
ambitions to develop
yet another kind of
network: a network of
massive drones that’ll
allow more people to
getonline.‘Connectivity
Lab’, unveiled in March
last year, envisions
hoisting sun-driven,
long-endurance fly-
ing machines that’ll
stay airborne uninter-
ruptedly for months.
At a recent Mashable-
hosted conference, Yael
Maguire, the project’s
director of engineer-
ing, said that they’d
be about the size of a
Boeing-747. Facebook
is yet to announce
when they’ll roll out.
Since the end of the
Cold War, we haven’t
seen fiercer competi-
tion in the aerospace
sphere. Only, this isn’t
a race between two
nations but among cor-
porations, all belonging
to one nation. Also, it’s
not a race to put up
weapons of destruc-
tion but instruments
of empowerment. Not
all of it is motivated
by altruism, of course.
Some of it is driven by
greed. There’s money
to be made and lots of
it. The more the eye-
balls, the more is the
advertising moolah.
But that’s not the end
of it. Mr. Musk intends
to channel that rev-
enue into funding a
similar infrastructure
13

15. But for the moment,
there’s a mission to
accomplish on our blue
dot.
on… Mars. By the time
humanity arrives on
the Red Planet and sets
up a colony there, he’d
like for them to be able
to send their maiden
Instagram post from
a steep-walled valley
on Noctis Labyrinthus.
Perhaps. Close your
eyes. Can you visualize
an internet station on
the rim of the Pavonis
Mons?
14

16. 15
Antibiotic
Apocalypse
ince the likes of Sir Alexander
Fleming, the single greatest
contribution to medicine has
been necessary for all aspects
of health care; antibiotic’s. The reduc-
tion of risk in open wound surgery,
infections and cancer treatments has
been massive, not only prolonging the
lives of millions of people but also cre-
ating a spring board for new technol-
ogy and future discoveries. However,
we can ask ourselves how much pro-
gression have we made since the orig-
inal brilliance of Sir Fleming in 1928.
S
by
ellie pownall
website
www.ispectrummagazine.com

17. The most recent discovery of a new
class of antibiotics was in the 1980’s1,
and there are only two companies left
(GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca) in
a shrinking field of research into new
antibiotics which are slow and expen-
sive to develop2
.
Some journalistic publications such
as Nature Magazine, were able to shed
some light on the diminishing horizons
for the future of antibiotic’s, suggest-
ing that the key to the success of new
antibiotics is screening uncultured
bacteria - through which a new anti-
biotic, ‘Teixobactin’ has been found.
Teixobactin inhibits cell wall synthe-
sis by binding to a highly conserved
motif of lipid II (precursor of peptido-
glycan) and lipid III (precursor of cell
wall teichoic acid3). This development
arguably suggests a new path for the
discovery of antibiotic’s and only time
will tell how far this new method will
reproduce the diminishing support
behind new antibiotic progression.
16

18. 17
A recent arti-
cle by the BBC
outlined that a
“terrible future
could be on the
horizon4
” and
this along with
warnings from
theWorldHealth
Organization
and The US cen-
tres of disease
control, states
there will be an
emergence of
“nightmare bacteria”
and an “apocalypse”
of disease. The anti-
biotics we use every
day are so valuable to
life, scientists question
what we will do with-
out them.
From the tinniest
scratch, to open sur-
gery, these operations
will be increasingly
risky. It seems a grave
future for the develop-
ment of antibiotic pro-
gression lies ahead;
the brilliance that was
nineteenth century sci-
entific bacterial discov-
eries has simmered to
an end and, whether
the technology needed
to discover new anti-
biotics is simply too
advanced or there is
no existing new strains
of antibiotic to discover
is debatable.
Developing antibiot-
ics poses problems -
both commercially and
economically: Dr Brad
Spellberg, one of the
authors of the 2004
IDSA report Bad Bugs,
No Drugs expresses:
“Antibiotics, in particu-
lar, have a poor return
on investment because
they are taken for a
short period of time
and cure their tar-
get disease. In con-
trast, drugs that treat
chronic illness, such as
high blood pressure,
are taken daily for
the rest of a patient’s
life. “Companies have
In 1928 Alexander Fleming (1881–1955) discovered
penicillin, made from the Penicillium notatum mold.

19. figured out that they
make a lot more money
selling the latter drugs
than they do selling
antibiotics,” Spellberg
says, “highlighting the
lack of incentive for
companies to develop
antibiotic”5
. The lack
of initiative to produce
new antibiotics is a
clear flaw in the plan
to revolutionise
a n t i b i o t i c
medicine.
While the
lack of
i n t e r e s t
in creat-
ing these
n e w
treatments is
clearly due to expense,
some companies how-
ever are still working
hard to improve this
technology.
Dr John H Rex, Head
of Infection and Global
MedicinesDevelopment
at AstraZeneca recent-
ly spoke about the dan-
gers of antimicrobial
resistance on National
Public Radio’s “To the
Point” show6
, during
which he noted that he
is terrified at the pros-
pect of returning to a
pre-antibiotic era. This
display of the true con-
cerns for the develop-
ment of antibiotics as
they are; hard to dis-
cover, hard to devel-
op, and the econom-
ics difficult to manage;
suggests scientists are
still working increas-
ingly hard to assist in
developing new strains
of antibiotic, even if
some corporations have
deemed it too expen-
sive.
The resistance against
antibiotics is commonly
described as the situ-
ation when the con-
centration of antibiotic
needed to kill the bacte-
ria cannot be achieved
at the site of infection.
However, if a bacteria is
resistant to one strain
of antibiotic this does
not mean it will be to
a new or differ-
ent type. This
highlights
the need
for new
a n t i b i o t-
ics to pre-
vent bacteria that is
resistant to multiple
types of treatment,
named ‘multi-resis-
tant’. There are many
works being done to
prevent the spread of
multi-resistant bac-
teria for example, “A
group of International
experts came togeth-
er through a joint ini-
18

20. 19
tiative by the European Centre
for Disease Prevention and Control
(ECDC) and the centres for disease
Control and Prevention (CDC), to
create a standardized international
terminology with which to describe
acquired resistance profiles in
Staphylococcusaureus,Enterococus
spp, Enterobacteria (other than
salmonella and shigella), pseudo-
monas aeruginosa and
Acinetobacter spp.,
all bacteria often
responsible for
h e a l t h c a r e -
a s s o c i a t e d
i n f e c t i o n s
and prone
to multi-
drug resis-
tance7
”. The
result of
this was cre-
ating three
different sub-
categories for
Antibiotics to be
placed: MDR, XDR,
and PDR. These help to categorize
different antibiotics’ and determine
how they would be tested for each
relevant bacterium, how to define
resistance within an antimicrobial
category and be epidemiologically
meaningful. For example penicillin
using the antimicrobial agent ampi-
cillin, the bacterium Citrobacter
koseri (C. koseri) which contributes
to initiate brain abscess’s
during meningitis,
was found to be
resistant. It is
important to
subcategorise
and organise
the findings
of these
results to
e n s u r e
whichstrains
of resistance
are increasing
and eventual-
ly, how we will
prevent them. This
new way of categoriz-
Photocredit:NationalInstituteofAllergyandInfectiousDiseases(NIAID)
One form of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria known as methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, causes a range of illnesses, from skin and
wound infections to pneumonia and bloodstream infections that can cause sepsis
and death.

21. 20
ing antibi-
otic’s will
hopefully
decrease
the chanc-
es of an
antibiot-
ic apoca-
lypse by
enabling
scientists
to find
new tech-
niques to
d e v e l o p
the antibi-
otic’s that
h e a l t h
care sys-
tems and
s u r g e r y
practices can use to prevent the
spread of disease and risk of oper-
ations.
An article named “A new antibi-
otic kills pathogens without detect-
able resistance8
” by Dr. Lewis, out-
lines the development of sever-
al methods to grow uncultured
organisms by cultivation in-situ or
by using specific growth factors.
Texiocbactin, as previously stated,
was discovered in a screen of uncul-
tured bacteria. It states “This mol-
ecule, which we named teixobactin,
is an unusual depsipeptide which
contains enduracididine, methyl-
phenylalanine, and four D-amino
acids. The biosynthetic gene clus-
ter (GenBank accession number
KP006601) was identified using a
homology search (Supplementary

22. 21
Discussion).” This shows the devel-
opment of homology searches and
the hope that future gene clusters
will contain new antibiotic informa-
tion that we can use and re-develop.
The article is optimistic, stating that
“Teixobactin has excellent activity
against Gram-Positive Pathogens,
including drug-resistant strains”.
This is vital for companies such as
GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca
researching a new antibiotic to
replace resistant strains. The new
antibiotic is arguably a break in the
seemingly bleak period of scientific
discovery in this field. Scientists
suggest that “Inhibition of teichoic
acid synthesis by teixobactin would
help liberate autolysins, contribut-
ing to the excellent lytic and kill-
ing activity of this antibiotic”, sug-
gesting a stronger, more powerful
antibiotic will be developed and
available in the future. The devel-
opment of “teichoic acid synthesis”
is arguably a procedure which can
be used on future new develop-
ments of bacteria and therefore
improve the strength and stability
of this medicine in killing bacteria
in patients. Of course, one antibi-
otic will not change the course of
a scientific apocalypse in prevent-
ing patients from infections, and a
future of discovery will be needed
to prevent this outbreak of newly
resistant biotic strains.
The new field of resistance from the
body is an ideology which scientists
hope to erase, the CDC (Centres
for Disease Control and Prevention)
are fighting to produce clearer
patient instruction to reduce the
risk of antibiotic resistance. Many
aspects of antibiotic resistance rely
on the understanding of patients,
for example, if a patient were to
not finish the prescribed amount of
antibiotic. The NHS explains that
“Strains of bacteria can mutate,
over time, become resistant to a
specific antibiotic. The chance of
this increases if a person does not
finish the course of antibiotics as
some bacteria may be left to devel-
op resistance.”9
This highlights the
importance of the patient being
fully aware of the need to finish a
course of antibiotics and therefore
can prevent the urgency of the
need for new strains of antibiotics,
in some cases.

23. 22
The Department of Microbiology,
Hospital Ramón y Cajal, Madrid,
Spain, suggest a theory of how
to minimize the development of
antibiotic resistance. Stating that
“Bacterial populations harbouring
determinants of antibiotic resis-
tance will be selected for by a
range of antibiotic concentrations
which are able to suppress or slow
the growth of susceptible popula-
tions.” Suggesting the new strain
of anti-biotic which will be produced
in the future, is a positive change
from previous antibiotic develop-
ments. This article describes how
the new development of antibi-
otic will regard both the interests
of the individual patient but also
the ecological impact of different
drugs and their delivery schedules.
This will be done by controlling the
concentrations within the human
body in a series of compartments,
This poster, for example, describes the correct measures to prevent a completely
resistant future for antibiotics. The development of patient information and guidance
is deemed just as important as the development of new antibiotics and anti-resistant
science.

24. 23
where the potential selective power
will be roughly proportional to the
time of exposure of bacteria to the
drug (selective period). This will
make the antibiotic more powerful
and less likely to be resistant as
it won’t be in full contact with the
bacteria for a long period of time.
The department of Microbiology
suggests these new antibiotic will
be able to fight against resistance
and therefore create a more eco-
nomic and effect pool of medicine.
However, there is still the case of
finding these new strains of antibi-
otic resistance in order to prevent
the growth of resistant bacterial
populations.
Overall, the existence of usable
antibiotics is slowly coming to an
end and it is up to scientists such
as Dr. Lewis and the department of
microbiology, to discover new ways
Dr. Kim Lewis (Northeastern University)
Phototcredit:NortheasternUniversityBoston,Massachusetts

25. 24
to find strains of antibiotic which
have not yet been discovered, in
order to restart the cycle of dis-
ease cured by antibiotic’s leading
to good health. The importance of
antibiotic development is seem-
ingly overlooked by funding pro-
grammes, however scientists con-
tinue to work excessively to develop
a way for antibiotic’s to function at
the same level of effectiveness as
previous discoveries. The rising of
‘Teixobactin’ holds a good lead for
future development. Although the
rate of development and discovery
of antibiotics is exceedingly slow,
the outcome will prevent bacterial
resistance and eventually, continue
the effectiveness of treatments in
diseases and infections.
1.Novel classes of antibiotics or more of the
same?
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/
PMC3085877/
2.The Battle to Discover new Antibiotics
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/
newsbysector/pharmaceuticalsandchemi-
cals/9010738/The-battle-to-discover-new-
antibiotics.html
3.Uncultured Bacteria-The way forward
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/
v517/n7535/full/nature14098.html
4.BBC Article
http://www.bbc.com/news/health-21702647
5.Bulletin of the World Health Organization-
Race against time to develop new antibiotics
6.Bad News Bugs and The Need for New
Antibiotics- Stephanie Fischer
7.Research into Multi-Resistant bacteria
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/
j.1469-0691.2011.03570.x/full
8.A new antibiotic kills pathogens without
detectable resistance- Losee L. Ling1 *, Tanja
Schneider2,3*, Aaron J. Peoples1 , Amy L.
Spoering1 , Ina Engels2,3, Brian P. Conlon4 ,
Anna Mueller2,3, Till F. Scha¨berle3,5, Dallas
E. Hughes1 , Slava Epstein6 , Michael Jones7
, Linos Lazarides7 , Victoria A. Steadman7
, Douglas R. Cohen1 , Cintia R. Felix1 , K.
Ashley Fetterman1 , William P. Millett1 ,
Anthony G. Nitti1 , Ashley M. Zullo1 , Chao
Chen4 & Kim Lewis
9.Patient Input
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Antibiotics-
penicillins/Pages/Introduction.aspx
REFERENCES:

26. new concept has been
gaining a great deal of
attention in the engi-
neering community
over the past year or so, with
the potential to transform how
we see energy production. It
is known as a ‘solar road’ and
Driving on sunshine
-a long and winding
road to the future
would essentially turn our
transport infrastructure sys-
tem into one huge renewable
power station that produces
excess clean energy, pays for
itself, prevents accidents and
filters run-off to create drink-
ing water.
by
JOe baylis
A
25

27. 26
You’d be forgiven for treating this
proposal with cynicism. It does
sounds like it’s too good to be
true. Indeed, several well-qualified
people have protested passionately
and pessimistically, ‘proving’ that
this idea will never work.
Worry not however! The pioneers
continue to push on, and more
recent developments late in 2014
have put things back on track.
But how bright is the future of
solar roads really? Will we ever
get the chance to literally walk on
sunshine? Let’s take a look at the
complicated journey the solar road
concept has taken so far, and the
pros and cons of the technology.
Back in 2006, Mr and Mrs Brusaw,
an engineering couple in Idaho,
USA, started work on the idea of
replacing roadways with hexagonal
smart solar panels strong enough
on which to drive the heaviest of
vehicles.
They developed their idea fur-
ther before, in 2014, announcing
to the world that it was time to
enter it into reality, in the form
of a boorishly attention-grabbing
YouTube video called Solar Freakin’
And they’re off!
Interlocking ‘Solar Freakin’ Roadway’ panels

28. 27
Roadways, which has
amassed nearly 20 mil-
lion views (have a look
for yourself using the
link below).
https://www.
youtube.com/
watch?v=qlTA3rnpgzU
Itkick-startedacrowd-
funding campaign that
went on for two months
and managed to raise
2.2 million American
dollars - that’s twice
what they were aim-
ing for. To add to this,
the American Federal
Highway Administration
had previously invested
$750,000. This big idea
was obviously capturing
the public’s and state’s
attention.
And frankly, why
wouldn’t it? If you don’t
have the time or the
disposition to watch the
above video in full, then
here’s a brief list of the
proposed benefits:
• Production of
enough clean renewable
energy to supply the
USA with three times
its needs (assuming
the whole road network
was transformed). The
worries of global warm-
ing and our dependence
Could ‘Solar Freakin’ Roadways’ make these images
a thing of the past?

29. 28
on dwindling fossil fuels
would be allayed.
• The surplus ener-
gy could then be sold
so that the solar pan-
els effectively pay for
themselves.
• Buildings would
plug directly into the
road, and electric cars
could be charged as
they drive.
• The panels are more
durable then tarmac
and so reduce mainte-
nance costs, especially
as repairs would simply
involve directly replac-
ing each damaged tile.
• The panels have
LEDs installed, meaning
that the road can light
up ahead of cars, flash
warning signals and
reconfigure at a touch
of a button (great for
car parks, playgrounds
and managing traffic
flow).
• The panels have
pressure sensors so
can warn drivers of
any obstructions in the
road ahead (especially
attractive for unlit roads
in regions where large
wildlife roam danger-
ously in the darkness).
• The panels contain
heating elements so can
clear the road of ice and
snow constantly, pre-
venting untold numbers
of accidents.
Of course, the pro-
cess of transforming
the whole US road net-
Heating element snow test/LEDs on show (in
the dark)/Artist’s impression of ‘Solar Freakin’
Roadways’

30. 29
work would be a slow and gradual
one with large initial expenditures.
Nonetheless, most would agree
that the ideas presented are cer-
tainly very exciting.
As with any new and exciting
development, there are plenty of
people out there looking to debunk
this concept; armed with realism
(some may read pessimism), they
argue that the project is just far
too ambitious. Unfortunately for
the yea-sayers, these critics have
some valid points. The below is a
useful video:
h t t p s : / / w w w . y o u t u b e . c o m /
watch?v=H901KdXgHs4
The main argument is that, in the
absence of real data, the maths
simply does not add up, even with
some very generous assumptions
made. The solar panels alleged-
ly will never be able to produce
enough energy to power even their
own LEDs, let alone provide energy
to the grid, pay for themselves,
heat up and filter water. It is argued
that they will end up losing money.
This primary concern is made up of
the following problems:
• Thickness of glass. The pro-
posed glass has to be thick enough
to withstand huge pressure and
rough enough for added traction.
This means less light can reach the
Too good to be true
How will LEDs be seen under conditions like this?
Photo credit:homewaters-jim.blogspot.co.uk

31. solar panels underneath, reducing
their efficiency.
• The LEDs are unlikely to be vis-
ible during the day. What ramifica-
tions does this have for warning
systems and lane configurations?
• There is no information avail-
able regarding stopping distances
on this new glass surface. Of par-
ticular concern is stopping in wet
conditions.
• Dust, dirt and organic matter
mean the roads will need regular
cleaning for the solar cells to remain
efficient. Wear, tear and scratches
will also reduce the amount of light
reaching the cells. And most roads
are lined by large objects like trees,
preventing light from reaching the
surface.
• It is impossible to angle the
solar panels towards the sun as it
moves across the sky, as with other
solar panels, further reducing effi-
ciency.
The most efficient solar panels track the movement of the sun and have very thin, clear glass. Even these
take approximately a decade to ‘pay for themselves’
30

32. • The interlocking
nature of the tiles means
that varying loads will
displace each tile in dif-
ferent ways, creating
an uneven and danger-
ous road surface more
susceptible to weather-
ing.
• How will roads get
the energy in the win-
ter to melt ice when the
angle of the sun is low,
cloud cover is high and
snow is covering the
solar panels?
• The project
will be incredibly
expensive to get
off the ground.
C u t t i n g - e d g e
technology, com-
plex wiring and
solar panels do
not come cheap.
• How will such
high-tech com-
ponents fare
in inhospitable
environments
e.g. the impact
of frost and
heat.
• What about
the problem of
theft? Valuable
pieces of
equipment will
be placed in
remote areas – moni-
toring is nigh on impos-
sible.
• Car parks will be
useless given that they
are commonly covered
in cars during the day,
when all the sunlight is
around for business.
• In the longer term
– will the problem of
black outs and cyber
31
A full car park will block sunlight at the most valu-
able time of the day/Will the road get enough energy
to melt ice if it is already covered in snow? And let’s
not forget about trees and buildings that often cast
shadows over roads

33. 32
attacks be addressed?
This has the potential of
causing absolute havoc.
• What about light
pollution? This is already
proving to be an annoy-
ance around the world.
Laying down roads that
light up won’t exactly
help the situation.
Admittedly, it does
look like a worrying col-
lection of set-backs and
opponents simply say,
why not just cover the
millions of empty roofs
around the world with
proven, high efficiency
solar panels?
So, does this spell the
end of solar roadways?
I wouldn’t be so sure…
The Brusaws refuse
to take these criticisms
lying down and have
issued answers to many
FAQs. For example, their
embossed glass design
will not only create trac-
tion but also refract light
onto the sensors below,
apparently reducing the
problem of the changing
angle of the sun. Some
of these replies are a
little generic and wool-
ly though, so a direct
rebuttal to the critics,
with hard facts and fig-
ures, would be useful.
The FAQ section of their
website can be found in
the link below.
http://www.solarroad-
ways.com/faq.shtml
But it’s not all about
the Brusaws. This idea
is also being developed
in the Netherlands, with
the building of a solar
cycle path in the north-
ern town of Krommenie.
A 70 metre stretch of
road is actually current-
ly in use (something
that has been missing
from the Idaho cam-
paign) and supports
around 2000 cyclists a
day, cost 3million Euros
to build (half covered
by the government)
and, an extension of
100 metres, will power
three houses.
Initially developed by
TNO (a Dutch scien-
tific research compa-
ny), the design is called
SolaRoad, and is slight-
ly different to Solar
Freakin’ Roadways. One
variation for example,
is that the solar cells
are embedded in rect-
angular concrete slabs
rather than in a tessel-
lating pattern.
A step forward

34. 33
The main difference though, is
that they have put more emphasis
on green energy rather than ‘extra
benefits’. The engineers behind this
project are hopeful it could be
expanded more to the main roads
to help power traffic lights and
cars in the future, but not to the
same outrageous extent as their
American cousins. This shift in
focus renders a lot of the criticisms
more irrelevant, which opponents
have acknowledged.
So, maybe this is 2-1 to the pio-
neers…
It is clear that we are still in
a period of trials and testing
for these solar roads, and the
Dutch example demonstrated
this in December 2014 (a month
after opening). Cold weather
caused the top layer to become
detached from its anchor and
so a metre section was deacti-
vated.
But, before the cynics pounce,
this is just par for the course for
any ground breaking project. It
wouldn’t be a trial without a few
tribulations.
The emergence of SolaRoad has
stifled protestations somewhat,
because it seems to be more of a
well thought out, sensible and real-
istic project. However, many are
indeed still focussing on the sheer
expense of such a project, which is
a fair point to some extent, espe-
Any word from the
naysayers?
‘SolaRoad’ cells are embedded in concrete slabs,
rather than tessellating panels
Photocredit:Solaroad

35. 34
cially if you live
in the dream-
land that is
Solar Freakin’
Roadways.
The Brusaws
and others say
that starting small will
generate capital to build
more, but even that doesn’t look
likely, considering how far off we
are from actually making a profit
on these things. As much as we’d
all love to believe that there will
still be energy left over to sell, the
compelling maths shown by crit-
ics shows that this is very far from
reality.
To give some kind of perspective,
one such astronomical estimate
of the total cost of Solar Freakin’
Roadways is 56 trillion dollars (or
around $20 million per mile), which
is just under four times the national
debt of the USA. This is admittedly
only an estimate, and is one of the
only ones available. The Brusaws
are yet to have offered an official
detailed quote, which is actually
quite worrying in itself.
the total cost of Solar Freakin’
Roadways is 56 trillion dollars (or
around $20 million per mile), which
is just under four times the national
debt of the USA.
On the other side of the Atlantic,
the Dutch SolaRoad, assuming it
will lengthen to 100m, will cost
around 3 million Euros (3.5 million
dollars), which seems expensive
considering that it will only pro-
duce enough energy to power three
houses. But that’s neither here nor
there. It is what this 3 million rep-
resents that is important – a step
towards a renewable and sustain-
able future.
Excitingly, many institutions and
organisations are commercial-
ly interested in this concept. For
example the Mayor of London, Boris
Johnson, has been mulling over the
possibility of installing these road-
So… What’s next?

36. 35
ways in the UK’s capital. There is
one caveat here though - his focus
is currently on the Brusaws’ cam-
paign. I would urge him to remain
a little closer to home and look into
the Dutch offering first (especially
considering Boris’ obsession with
cycling).
Several critics of the solar road
concept do actually agree that it is
an attractive project and shouldn’t
necessarily be cast asunder. In
this world though, profitability is
a barrier to all things; if some-
thing doesn’t make money it won’t
become mainstream. This rules out
the all singing all dancing Solar
Freakin’ Roadways at least for now,
as we simply do not have the capi-
tal. However, it is important not to
squash the idea into the ground. To
shoot down pioneering work is to
halt the progression of the human
race. Let’s start at a grassroots
level and build from there.
Projects like the Dutch SolaRoad
are useful for smaller, more niche
applications like high-tech parks,
playgrounds, pavements and cycle
paths. And who knows, we may
see some serious developments in
the future. First, traffic lights may
be powered using this technology,
then streetlights, then cars, then
whole streets. Sooner or later who’s
to say we can’t end up with cities?
Research into renewable alterna-
tives to fossil fuels is essential. With
time, breakthrough will build upon
breakthrough and we will emerge
with a sustainable energy source
that will benefit the whole planet. It
is this goal that we must focus on.
Can you
imagine
the streets
of London
replaced by
solar cells

37. Literally integrative:
by
Anette Bopp
M
36
Anthroposophic
Medicine
ore and more patients want to be
treated not only by conventional
therapies but also in a holistic
way with complementary meth-
ods and therapies. This is for good rea-
son: an individual is not simply a body;
there is also psyche and personality to be
taken into account as well. Furthermore,
every human being lives in a certain pro-
fessional, personal, and social context.
Anthroposophic medicine has occupied
this subject in a holistic-integrative man-
ner for more than 90 years.

38. 37
Anthroposophic medi-
cine is not an ‘alter-
native medicine’. It
doesn’t seek to replace
conventional medicine.
On the contrary – it is an
extension of it, dealing
not only with the phys-
ical but also with the
soul and spirit. Based
on accepted medi-
cal science, it draws
on everything useful
that modern medicine
has to offer: medical
technology, laborato-
ry tests, medication,
operations, and inten-
sive care. But that’s
not the only benefit. In
addition, it assesses the
individual as a whole
entity, examining the
aspects that determine
a person’s uniqueness
according to anthro-
posophical norms. For
instance, this may
include physique and
body language, physi-
cal flow, handshake,
sleeping habits, sen-
sitivity to changes in
temperature, breath-
ing, and biorhythms.
Anthroposophic medi-
cine therefore attempts
to include the individu-
ality of the patient, as
well as the accepted
features of an illness,
in the treatment pro-
cess. For just as each
person is unique, so is
each treatment.
Anthroposophic medi-
cine is not pre-deter-
mined. It avoids pure
routine. Even if the
same disease pic-
tures constantly recur,
each illness mani-
fests itself differently
in each patient – a
manifestation insepa-
rable from the unique-
ness of the individual.
Anthroposophic medi-
cine therefore aims to
form a picture of the
physical, psychologi-
cal, and personal cir-
cumstances that have
paved the way for an
illness to take hold.
Taking such factors into
consideration during
diagnosis and therapy
and re-applying the
process to every new
patient, guided by sci-
entific findings, medi-
cal experience, per-

39. 38
sonal discernment, and
intuition, is fundamen-
tal to anthroposophic
medicine. Any medi-
cine that ignores the
person as an individual
cannot claim to be true
human medicine.
Moreover, anthropo-
sophic medicine sup-
plements conventional
medicine with various
special forms of treat-
ment. These include
naturopathic medi-
cines, modified physi-
cal and palliative treat-
ments (involving baths,
compresses, bandages
and special [rhythmic]
massages) as well as
artistic forms of treat-
ment, such as sculp-
ture, painting, music
therapy, elocu-
tion, and euryth-
my therapy. The
aim of all artistic
forms of treat-
ment is that the
patient stimu-
lates the internal
healing process
of body and soul
under guidance
from their thera-
pist.
Drug therapy
within anthro-
posophic medi-
cine is based on
the ancient prin-
ciple: as little
as possible andPhoto credit: (C) Stephan Brendgen
Anthroposophic therapies deal with more than just the
physical body of human beings.

40. 39
only as long as necessary. In cases
of acutely severe and life-threat-
ening illness, the use of allopathic
or conventional drugs (like antibi-
otics or cortisone, etc.) is usually
unavoidable. However, whenever
possible, symptoms are not sup-
pressed; instead the intention is to
activate powers of self-healing with
the aid of homeopathic and other
produced anthroposophic drugs and
to stimulate the body into finding
its own natural rhythm once more.
In this field, anthroposophic medi-
cine follows a holistic and pluralistic
approach.
A well-known example of a typi-
cal anthroposophic drug therapy is
mistletoe, which is used as medici-
nal plant in oncology. In Europe
it’s the most common and most
investigated drugs in integrative
oncology. More than one hundred
clinical studies have proved the
advantages in quality of life when
patients used mistletoe in addition
to, e.g., chemotherapy, radiation,
or other conventional cancer treat-
ments. Some studies even indicate
that there is also the possibility of
life extension.
With its synthesis of natural and
spiritual science anthroposoph-
ic medicine links the conventional
pathogenic approach (focusing on
the illness) to a salutogenic medical
perspective (focusing on health).
This produces a holistic apprecia-
tion of health, illness, and treat-
ment – and that’s exactly what
modern humanity needs. In this
day and age, patients don’t want to
be seen merely as an illness, but as
a person with an illness.
Anthroposophic medicine is
practised in more than 80 coun-
tries around the world: in Cape
Town and Helsinki, Moscow and
Los Angeles, Hamburg and Manila,
and Sao Paulo and Santiago de
Chile. The first anthroposoph-
ic hospital for acute care was
G e m e i n s c h a f t s k r a n k e n h a u s
Herdecke (www.gemeinschaftsk-
rankenhaus.de), founded in 1969.
It has a capacity of 471 beds for
all important medical departments
with 1250 employees and more than
50,000 patients a year (inpatients

41. 40
and outpatients). Moreover, there
are another two big hospitals for
acute care in Berlin and Stuttgart
and eleven specialized hospitals,
rehabilitation clinics, or medical
departments. In addition, there are
professional associations for thera-
pists and nurses and a civil organ-
isations like GESUNDHEIT AKTIV
– Anthroposophic Medicine
(www.gesundheit-aktiv.de), which
stands for a holistic health system.
Sources:
“Anthroposophic Medicine – its nature, its
aims, its possibilities“ and “Anthroposophic
Treatments – principles, spectrum, applica-
tion“, brochures published by the Medical
Section at the Goetheanum, http://www.
medsektion-goetheanum.org/home/publika-
tionen/.
Website Verband Anthroposophischer Kliniken
e.V.
Gemeinschaftskrankenhaus Herdecke
www.gemeinschaftskrankenhaus.de
Gesundheit Aktiv
www.gesundheit-aktiv.de
Photo credit: (C) Stephan Brendgen
The Gemeinschaftskrankenhaus Herdecke is one of the leading and best equipped
hospitals in Germany which offers anthroposophic therapies.

42. by
Olga Antczak
41
Phytotelmata and
other extreme habitats of
dragonfly development:
a review
Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Hydrobiology, University of Lodz,
Banacha st. 12/16, Pl-90-237 Łódź, Poland
e-mail
ola.antczak10@gmail.com

43. T
42
Abstract:
ypical biotopes inhabited
by the dragonflies’ larvae
are rivers, creeks, streams,
lakes, ponds, bogs, as well
as tanks in excavation pits. It turns
out, however, that there are species
of dragonflies resistant to severe
environmental conditions, capable
of living in very unusual habitats.
There are species inhabiting water-
falls, saline water or even tempo-
rary desert pools. Several tropical
species inhabit “plant-held waters”
- phytotelmata – water bodies in
leaves, roots, tree hollows. There
are also terrestrial or semi-terrestrial
dragonflies, which are adapted to
live in moss, on wet rocks or ground
litter. The diversity of habitats and
adaptations of dragonflies related to
these harsh conditions is enormous.
These dragonflies enrich the ecosys-
tems, as an important component of
food webs, and their presence cer-
tainly increases the aesthetic value
of the landscape. The importance
of protecting these extraordinary
developmental habitats is crucial in
context of the conservation of the
odonata fauna.

44. 43
1.
Introduction
Dragonflies (Odonata)
are widespread hemi-
metabolous insects.
They are amphibiotic -
their larvae are strong-
ly associated with the
aquatic environment,
while adults are flying
insects connected with
water throughout their
lives, especially during
oviposition.
According to the type
of inhabited micro-
habitat, there are two
groups of dragonflies’
larvae - one living on
sand or gravel as well
as decomposed organic
matter, and the second
one being phytophiles
living mainly among
macrophytes.
Those microhabitats
are mainly found in run-
ningwaters,bothnatural
and anthropogenic, like
rivers, streams, drain-
age ditches or channels.
Equally preferable are
different kinds of stand-
ing waters like lakes,
ponds, bogs, swamps,
as well as tanks in gravel
pits, quarries, clay and
peat excavations. But
in some cases, tiny and
temporary water reser-
voirs, like phytotelmata
seem to be enough.
2. Discussion
What we call an
extreme place to live
is relative, but for this
review the extremely
challenging habitats,
which require special
adaptations from drag-
onflies living there,
were selected.
Thefirstspeciesissemi-
terrestrial Uropetala
carovei, which inhab-
its highland spring-fed
bogs in New Zealand
(Wolfe 1953, Corbet
1962, Silsby 2001). It
drills little burrows in the
seepage area, often with
two openings or sev-
eral ‘chambers’ on the
basis (Fig.1). However,
there was no case of
finding more than one
larva in single burrow
(Wolfe 1953). Larvae
live in the chambers
embedded in a fine silt
with their caudal plates
above. The burrows are
constructed in such a
way as to allow water
infiltration to the inside,
so that they are provid-
ed with the necessary
moisture to breathe
through their rectal gill.
Therefore, Uropetala
larvae can spend even
several months out of
the water (Wolfe 1953,
Corbet 1999). That
construction can take
various forms, depen-
dent on several factors.
Firstly the larva lives
just below the water
level, but older instars
are found at the great-
er depth (Wolfe 1953).
Uropetala dragonflies

45. also use their burrows
for hunting. They show
nocturnal activity, when
the entrances of their
burrows are even less
visible. The darkness is
used to hunt for small
arthropods by taking
them by surprise (Wolfe
1953, Winstanley &
Rowe 1980).
44
Fig. 1. The burrow of Uropetala
carovei – type with several
chambers (Wolfe 1953, modi-
fied)
Similar burrows are
drilled by the other
Petaluridae larvae,
for example Petalura
gigantea, which was
described by Tillyard
(1911).
In addition, a few fully
terrestrial species, like
Hawaiian Megalagrion
oahuense, are known.
Its habitat is a rhi-
zome mat of ferns like
Dicranopteris linearis or
Gleichenia sp. growing
on the steep hillsides
(Corbet 1962, Silsby
2001). The larvae
breathe using atmo-
spheric oxygen thanks
to the high humidity of
the air. Moreover, they
have a few morpho-
logical adaptations to
prevent excessive loss
of moisture - they are
stocky and hairy, their
body is strongly short-
ened and their caudal
lamellae are squat and
thickly covered with
setae (Corbet 1962).
Larvae, which
inhabit reservoirs peri-
odically drying out,
have to deal with simi-
lar problems. Australian
Synthemis eustalacta
occupies summer-dry
pools and is able to
survive in shallow, dry
sand up to 10 weeks
without being moist-
ened. After this period
of time the larva is so
dry that in its first con-
tact with water it floats
on the surface (Tillyard
1910, Corbet 1999). It
is probably also caused
by the structure of the
hydrophobic wax cov-
ering the body sur-
face (Corbet 1999).
However, there are not
many drought-resis-
tant larvae. Common
adaptation for droughts
is a modification of
voltinism (Suhling et
al. 2004, Corbet et al.
2006). Odonata often
use the strategy of
accelerating the devel-
opment cycle in order

46. 45
to emerge from the pool
before drying out. It is
an especially common
mechanism for the sea-
sonal-rainfall pools in
deserts (Corbet 1999,
Suhling et al. 2004). In
contrast, some dragon-
flies can withhold their
development by the
egg diapause. Indian
Potamarcha congener
can have the eggs in
that state up to 80
days (Corbet 1999).
During the temporary
zone larvae often get
buried in the wet sand
and when the pond gets
refilled by water, they
continue their devel-
opment (Corbet 1999,
Suhling et al. 2004).
Another species of
this genus, Megalagrion
amaurodytum (= M.
koelense) breeds in
the leaf axils of Astelia
and Freycinetia in the
wet upland forests of
Hawaii, although it is
able to survive with-
out the water (Corbet
1962). Studies of
Howarth and Watson
show that M. amau-
rodytum, as well as
Pseudocordulia spe-
cies, can even climb out
if placed in free water
(Corbet 1999). Williams
(1936) described also
other Megalagrion
larvae crawling in a
water-film on rocks. In
many species of this
genus the reduction of
gills and tracheae is
observed (Richards &
Davies 1977).
Worldwide 47 drag-
onfly species are known
to use phytotelmata as
a larval habitat (Corbet
1999). Lyriothemis tri-
color is an example of
development in tree
holes in India (Das et
al. 2013), whereas in
Borneo this is prob-
ably the most impor-
tant habitat in the for-
est ecosystem (Corbet
1999). Water in these
tanks is characterized
by specific physical and
chemical conditions,
such as low pH, high
content of dissolved
solids and nutrients,
and oxygen deficien-
cies. Therefore, the
larvae have to have
high tolerance to such
conditions. In addition,
there are even such
adaptations as canni-
balism. Megaloprepus
caerulatus appears to
be the best example
of this mechanism.
Only one larva can sur-
vive for 1-2 liters of
water in a tree hollow
(Fincke 1994, 2011).
In smaller habitats the
larva, which hatched
first, can patrol the
space, eating all newly
hatched larvae (Fincke
1996, 1999, 2011). In
the biggest hollows as
many as 30 larvae are
able to develop (Fincke
2011). This behavior
provides them sooner
emergence at a larger
size (Fincke 2011).

47. 46
Mecistogaster orna-
ta larvae use a differ-
ent strategy to gain
the necessary quanti-
ty of dissolved oxygen
in tree hollow tanks –
some of them live in
symbiosis with algae
growing on the dorsal
surface of their body,
including caudal lamel-
lae. They face towards
the sunlight, enabling
the photosynthesis of
the algae (de la Rosa
& Ramirez-Ulate 1995,
Corbet 1999).
Despite the most often
occupied phytotelma-
ta by Odonata being
Bromeliaceae tanks as
well as leaf axils of
other plants and tree
cavities, there are also
species found in even
smaller water bodies,
like Hadrothemis cama-
rensis, which is able
to develop in bamboo
stamps (Corbet 1962).
Obviously, many of
these untypical micro-
h a b i t a t s
are fac-
u l t a t i ve ,
occupied
in case of
lack of the
more suit-
able sites
( C o r b e t
1 9 6 2 ,
S i l s b y
2001).
There
are also
s e v e r a l
d r a g o n -
flies, which ovipos-
it and develop solely
in ‘extreme’ habitats.
The larvae of the only
true marine species,
Erythrodiplax berenice,
is unable to develop
in freshwater (Wright
1943, Smith & Smith
1996), however in lab-
oratory studies they
have managed to live
in the tap water for one
month (Smith & Smith
1996). The natural
habitats of this dragon-
fly are rocky mangrove
Photocredit:ByUSGSBeeInventoryandMonitoringLabfromBeltsville,USAlviaWikimediaCommonsislicensedunderCC-BY-2.0
Erythrodiplax berenice

48. 47
flats and tidal marshes (Dunson
1980, Smith & Smith 1996, Corbet
1999). Optimal salinity for them is
around 36-38 ppt, although they
are able to live in sea water up to
260% thanks to osmoregulatory
abilities (Dunson 1980). Several
Odonata occupy brackish water of
varying salinity – on San Salvador
(the Bahamas) these ecosystems
are inhabited by Erythemis sim-
plicicollis, Orthemis ferruginea and
Pantala flavescens (Smith & Smith
1996).
Another interesting larval habi-
tat is waterfalls. The best known
example is the African dragonfly
Zygonyx natalensis. After copula-
tion, they fly in tandem through
the water spray and then a female
oviposits in the mats of roots, bryo-
zoans or moss in the spray zone
along a waterfall (Corbet 1962,
Martens 1991). In Panama and
Costa Rica Thaumatoneura inopina-
ta shows similar behavior (Calvert
1914, Silsby 1991). These larvae
are able to live on the wet vertical
rocks behind rapidly falling water
thanks to the dorsoventrally flat-
tened body and long powerful legs
with strong claws (Silsby 1991).
In this article only part of

49. 48
Why do Odonata
develop in such
harsh habitats?
very unusual and extraordinary lar-
val development habitats has been
described with probably plenty more
to be yet discovered.
3. conclusion
Why do Odonata develop in such
harsh habitats? One of the answers
is definitely lack of other convenient
breeding sites. What is more impor-
tant, in most of such places there
are not many predators. Therefore,
the adaptations to the living in
extreme habitats, like high saline
waters and waterfalls, are
often the survival strat-
egy (Calvert 1914, Corbet
1999). In p hy t o -
telmata, for example, dragonfly
and damselfly larvae are known to
be the top predators (Fincke 1994).
Furthermore, relatively large
amounts of terrestrial and semi-
terrestrial Megalagrion damselflies
on Hawaii are most likely the result
of adaptive radiation. Jordan et al.
(2003) pointed out that high lev-
els of endemism and species rich-
ness can be correlated with islands’
ages. The emergence of the new
island allowed the larvae to colo-
nize the available ecological niche
by developing new adaptations

50. 49
and thus, many different ecological
guilds were established (Jordan et
al. 2003). Consequently, species of
this genus inhabit equal amount of
habitats as all other damselflies in
the world combined (Simon 1987).
Moreover, the larvae had the pos-
sibility to colonize phytotelmata
and terrestrial habitats due to the
historical absence of mammals and
ants in Hawaii (Jordan et al. 2003).
Zimmerman (2001) presumes
that the terrestrial Megalagrion
oahuense larvae could, in the future,
be an ancestor for the new order
of insects, which would evolve in
Hawaii.
One thing is certain - the
survival of these extraordinary
Odonata depends in greater scale
on human activity. The ecosystems
inhabited by dragonflies are under
strong human pressure. It affects
mainly tropical habitats, which are
a hotspot of dragonfly biodiver-
sity. In addition, these dragonflies
are an essential component of the
food web in many ecosystems.
Therefore, there is an urgent need
for their protection.

51. 50
Acknowledgments
I am very grateful to Grzegorz
Tończyk for valuable comments.
I also would like to thank Kamil
Hupało for checking the linguistic
correctness.
Calvert P.P. 1914. Studies on Costa
Rican Odonata. V. The waterfall-dwellers:
Thaumatoneura imagos and possible male
dimorphism. Entomological News 25: 337-
348.
Corbet P.S. 1962. A Biology of Dragonflies.
Witherby, London.
Corbet P.S. 1999. Dragonflies. Behavior
and ecology of Odonata. Cornell University
Press, Ithaca, New York and Harley Books,
Colchester, UK.
Corbet P.S., F. Suhling, D. Soendgerath. 2006.
Voltinism of Odonata: a review. International
Journal of Odonatology. 9(1): 1-44.
Das et al. 2013. Range extension and lar-
val habitat of Lyriothemis tricolor Ris, 1919
(Odonata: Anisoptera: Libellulidae) from
southern Western Ghants India. Journal of
Threatened Taxa 5(17): 5237–5246.
de la Rosa C.L. & A. Ramírez-Ulate. 1995. A
note on phototactic behavior and on phoretic
association in larvae of Mecistigaster ornata
Rambur from Northern Costa Rica (Zygoptera:
Pseudostigmatidae). Odonatologica. 24 (2):
219-224.
Dunson, W.A., 1980: Adaptations of nymphs
of a marine dragonfly, Erythrodiplax bereni-
ce, to wide variations in salinity. Physiological
Zoology, 534: 445-452.
Fincke O.M. 1994. Population regulation of a
tropical damselfly in the larval stage by food
limitation, cannibalism, intraguild predation
and habitat drying. Oecologia. 100: 118-127.
Fincke O.M. 1996 . Larval behaviour of a giant
damselfly: territoriality or size-dependent
dominance? Animal Behaviour. 51: 77-87.
Fincke O.M. 1999. Organisation of predator
assemblages in neotropical tree holes: effects
of abiotic factors and priority. Ecological
Entomology. 24: 13-23.
Fincke O.M. 2011. Excess offspring as a
maternal strategy: constraints in the shared
nursery of a giant damselfly. Behavioral
Ecology. 22 (3): 543-551.
REFERENCES:

52. 51
Martens A. 1991. Plasticity of mate guard-
ing and oviposition behavior in Zygonyx
natalensis (Martin) (Anisoptera: Libellulidae).
Odonatologica. 20 (3): 293-302.
Richards O.W. & R.G. Davies. 1977. Odonata
(Dragonflies). In: Imms’ General Textbook of
Entomology, Vol. 2: 494-520.
Silsby, J. D. 2001. Dragonflies of the world.
CSIRO Publishing, Washington.
Simon C. 1987. Hawaiian evolutionary biol-
ogy: An introduction. Trends in Ecology &
Evolution. 2: 175–178.
Smith S.G.B. & D.L. Smith. 1996. Salinity
tolerance of Erythremis simplicicollis Say
(Odonata: Anisoptera: Libellulidae). In: N.B.
Elliott, D.C. Edwards & P.J. Godfrey (eds.).
Proceedings of the Sixth Symposium on the
Natural History of the Bahamas. Bahamian
Field Station Ltd., San Salvador, Bahamas.
Suhling F., K. Schenk, T. Padeffke & A.
Martens. 2004. A field study of larval devel-
opment in a dragonfly assemblage in African
desert ponds (Odonata). Hydrobiologia 528:
75–85.
Tillyard R.J. 1910. On some experiments with
dragonfly larvae. Proceedings of the Linnean
Society of New South Wales. 35: 666-676.
Tillyard R.J. 1911. Further notes on Petalura
gigantea. Proceedings of the Linnean Society
of New South Wales. 36 (1): 86-96.
Williams F.X. 1936. Biological studies in
Hawaiian water-loving insects. Proceedings
of the Hawaiian Entomological Society. 9:
235-349.
Winstanley W.J. & R. J. Rowe. 1980. The
larval habitat of Uropetala carovei carovei
(Odonata: Petaluridae) in the North Island
of New Zealand, and the geographical limits
of the subspecies. New Zealand Journal of
Zoology, 7 (1): 127-134.
Wolfe L.S. 1953. A Study of the Genus
Uropetala Selys (Order Odonata) from New
Zealand. Transactions of the Royal Society of
New Zealand. Vol. 80: 245-275.
Wright M. 1943. A comparison of the dragon-
fly fauna of the lower delta of the Mississippi
River with that of the marshes of the Central
Gulf Coast. Ecological Monographs. 13: 481-
497.
Zimmerman E.C. (ed.). 2001. Insects of
Hawaii. Introduction with a new preface and
dedication. University of Hawaii Press. Vol. 1:
144-146.

53. 52
www . ispectrummagazine . com
“My brain is only a receiver, in the Universe there is a
core from which we obtain knowledge, strength and
inspiration. I have not penetrated into the secrets of this
core, but I know that it exists.”
- nikola tesla
FREE SUBSCRIPTION
Photo credit : “Mateo Moém | Bildsymphonie”

54. 53
www . ispectrummagazine . com