Replacing fMRI with a slightly less accurate technique called near-infra-red spectroscopy produced two further successful trials involving a different volunteer.

ECONOMIST: Reading the brain

That started happening in 2006, when Dr Jiao developed a technique called time-series observation-based infra-red epifluorescence microscopy, or TIREM for short, that is able to measure the amount of AAPB in the oceans accurately.

ECONOMIST: Bacteria and climate change