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Out-of-Pocket Blog
Breaking Down Electronic Data Interchange, X12, and Stedi | Out-Of-Pocket
a year ago
NeuroLogica Blog
The Next Step in Space Travel The European Space Agency (ESA) has announced they are developing their own commercial space...
a year ago
25
a year ago
The European Space Agency (ESA) has announced they are developing their own commercial space capsule. This will be used initially for cargo, but then eventually for crew as well. They anticipate a maiden voyage in 2028. I think this is a positive development. It seems we are...
Asterisk
Community Organizing
8 months ago
Quanta Magazine
What Makes Life Tick? Mitochondria May Keep Time for Cells Every species develops at its own unique tempo, leaving scientist to wonder what governed their...
a year ago
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a year ago
Every species develops at its own unique tempo, leaving scientist to wonder what governed their timing. A suite of new findings suggests that cells use basic metabolic processes as clocks. The post What Makes Life Tick? Mitochondria May Keep Time for Cells first...
Yale E360
How Herbicide Drift from Farms Is Harming Trees in Midwest Researchers are starting to pay closer attention to the widespread damage wrought by agricultural...
2 months ago
8
2 months ago
Researchers are starting to pay closer attention to the widespread damage wrought by agricultural herbicides. Drifting sprays may not kill trees, shrubs, and other nontarget plants outright, but experts believe they are making them vulnerable to insects, fungi, and disease. Read...
Quanta Magazine
Hyperjumps Math Game Play Quanta Magazine’s daily interactive math game, Hyperjumps! The post Hyperjumps Math...
a year ago
46
a year ago
Play Quanta Magazine’s daily interactive math game, Hyperjumps! The post Hyperjumps Math Game first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine
How Quickly Do Large Language Models Learn Unexpected Skills? A new study suggests that so-called emergent abilities actually develop gradually and predictably,...
a year ago
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a year ago
A new study suggests that so-called emergent abilities actually develop gradually and predictably, depending on how you measure them. The post How Quickly Do Large Language Models Learn Unexpected Skills? first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Yale E360
Chimps Found Treating Each Other's Wounds Chimpanzees in Uganda were found treating the injuries of other, unrelated chimps, including those...
2 months ago
6
2 months ago
Chimpanzees in Uganda were found treating the injuries of other, unrelated chimps, including those caught in hunting snares.  Read more on E360 →
NeuroLogica Blog
A Discussion about Biological Sex At CSICON this year I gave talk about topics over which skeptics have and continue to disagree with...
8 months ago
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8 months ago
At CSICON this year I gave talk about topics over which skeptics have and continue to disagree with each other. My core theme was that these are the topics we absolutely should be discussing with each other, especially at skeptical conferences. Nothing should be taboo or too...
NeuroLogica Blog
A Greener Li-Ion Battery It is increasingly obvious that battery technology is one of the keys to transitioning our...
a year ago
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a year ago
It is increasingly obvious that battery technology is one of the keys to transitioning our civilization away from burning fossil fuels. Batteries facilitate the use of cheap, green, but intermittent energy sources. They also allow for the electrification of technology sectors...
NeuroLogica Blog
Using Plants as Biofactories When you think about it, plants are self-reproducing solar-powered biological factories. They are...
over a year ago
47
over a year ago
When you think about it, plants are self-reproducing solar-powered biological factories. They are powered by the sun, extract raw material from the air and soil, and make all sorts of useful molecules. Mostly we use them to make edible molecules (food), but also to make textiles,...
Yale E360
World Likely to Breach 1.5-Degree Target, Research Finds The world is set to blow past its goal to limit warming to 1.5 degrees C, new research shows. Read...
5 months ago
Quanta Magazine
In the Milky Way’s Stars, a History of Violence Our galaxy's stars keep a record of its past. By reading those stories, astronomers are learning...
a year ago
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a year ago
Our galaxy's stars keep a record of its past. By reading those stories, astronomers are learning more about how the Milky Way came to be — and about the galaxy we live in today. The post In the Milky Way’s Stars, a History of Violence first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Yale E360
Dust from Car Brakes More Harmful than Exhaust, Study Finds In cars, pollution doesn't come from exhaust alone. It also comes from wear and tear on roads,...
5 months ago
2
5 months ago
In cars, pollution doesn't come from exhaust alone. It also comes from wear and tear on roads, tires, and brakes. According to new research, tiny bits of dust cast off by brake pads may inflict more harm than car exhaust. Read more on E360 →
Melting Asphalt
A Natural History of Beauty A mashup of ideas from David Deutsch, Geoffrey Miller, and Richard Prum, with a little César Hidalgo...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
A mashup of ideas from David Deutsch, Geoffrey Miller, and Richard Prum, with a little César Hidalgo thrown in for good measure. —— Of all the problems that can plague a discussion of beauty — and there are several — perhaps… Read more ›
Quanta Magazine
Avi Wigderson, Complexity Theory Pioneer, Wins Turing Award The prolific researcher found deep connections between randomness and computation and spent a career...
a year ago
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a year ago
The prolific researcher found deep connections between randomness and computation and spent a career influencing cryptographers, complexity researchers and more. The post Avi Wigderson, Complexity Theory Pioneer, Wins Turing Award first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NeuroLogica Blog
The AI Conundrum What the true impact of artificial intelligence (AI) is and soon will be remains a point of...
2 months ago
19
2 months ago
What the true impact of artificial intelligence (AI) is and soon will be remains a point of contention. Even among scientifically literate skeptics people tend to fall into decidedly different narratives. Also, when being interviewed I can almost guarantee now that I will be...
NeuroLogica Blog
The Future of (Unpaid) Work If we think of the top inventions that had a positive impact on human society and our quality of...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
If we think of the top inventions that had a positive impact on human society and our quality of life most lists would contain things like the printing press, the wheel, or the computer. One invention that should be on everyone’s list but is easy to overlook is – the washing...
Andrew Fraknoi –...
A Comet Visible in Our Evening Sky A newly discovered comet is now faintly visible in our skies soon after sunset, if you have clear...
9 months ago
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9 months ago
A newly discovered comet is now faintly visible in our skies soon after sunset, if you have clear skies and a view low toward the west-southwest horizon. See our diagram from Sky & Telescope magazine, in which the yellow numbers show you the comet’s location in the evening sky...
Tikalon Blog by Dev...
A.I., Wine, and Beer There have been many studies using scientific instrumentation, mostly gas chromatography, in...
a year ago
18
a year ago
There have been many studies using scientific instrumentation, mostly gas chromatography, in attempts to find what distinguishes a superb wine from an inexpensive house wine. A typical wine can contain more than 800 different aroma compounds. One study examined two Australian...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Emergent, Fringe Behaviors in Healthcare | Out-Of-Pocket tweeting out your labs, induced mental states, and more
2 months ago
The Works in...
How ships escaped the great stagnation Agglomeration unmoored
2 months ago
Breck's Blog
Ford
2 months ago
Quanta Magazine
Fish Have a Brain Microbiome. Could Humans Have One Too? The discovery that other vertebrates have healthy, microbial brains is fueling the still...
7 months ago
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7 months ago
The discovery that other vertebrates have healthy, microbial brains is fueling the still controversial possibility that we might have them as well. The post Fish Have a Brain Microbiome. Could Humans Have One Too? first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Blog - Practical...
The Bizarre Paths of Groundwater Around Structures [Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] In 2015, an unusual incident...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] In 2015, an unusual incident happened on the construction site for a sewage lift station in British Columbia, Canada. WorksafeBC, the provincial health and safety agency, posted a summary of the event on...
Stephen Wolfram...
Yet More New Ideas and New Functions: Launching Version 14.1 of Wolfram Language & Mathematica For the 36th Time… the Latest from Our R&D Pipeline There’s Now a Unified Wolfram App Vector...
11 months ago
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11 months ago
For the 36th Time… the Latest from Our R&D Pipeline There’s Now a Unified Wolfram App Vector Databases and Semantic Search RAGs and Dynamic Prompting for LLMs Connect to Your Favorite LLM Symbolic Arrays and Their Calculus Binomials and Pitchforks: Navigating Mathematical...
Casey Handmer's blog
Moon Escape! [One from the archives, a previously unpublished short story I wrote c. 2017 on the theme of BASE...
5 months ago
68
5 months ago
[One from the archives, a previously unpublished short story I wrote c. 2017 on the theme of BASE jumping.] Why anyone thought a prison on the Moon was a good idea was beyond me. Remote, dangerous, inhospitable, to be sure. But certainly not impossible to escape from, as I was...
Quanta Magazine
Clashing Cosmic Numbers Challenge Our Best Theory of the Universe As measurements of distant stars and galaxies become more precise, cosmologists are struggling to...
a year ago
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a year ago
As measurements of distant stars and galaxies become more precise, cosmologists are struggling to make sense of sparring values. The post Clashing Cosmic Numbers Challenge Our Best Theory of the Universe first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NeuroLogica Blog
Giant Eels, Loch Ness, and Probability At this point it is pretty clear that the Loch Ness Monster (Nessie) does not exist. I know,...
a year ago
22
a year ago
At this point it is pretty clear that the Loch Ness Monster (Nessie) does not exist. I know, logically it is impossible to prove a negative, so if we want to be technical we can say that the probability of a large creature similar to that believed to be Nessie approaches zero....
NeuroLogica Blog
Fossil Fuels – Reduce Demand or Supply? This is a bit of a false choice – we can do both, or neither – but it is an important question and a...
a year ago
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a year ago
This is a bit of a false choice – we can do both, or neither – but it is an important question and a somewhat of a dilemma. Is the optimal path to reductions and eventual elimination of fossil fuel burning through reduced demand or supply? There are some interesting tradeoffs...
Quanta Magazine
Michel Talagrand Wins Abel Prize for Work Wrangling Randomness The French mathematician spent decades developing a set of tools now widely used for taming random...
a year ago
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a year ago
The French mathematician spent decades developing a set of tools now widely used for taming random processes. The post Michel Talagrand Wins Abel Prize for Work Wrangling Randomness first appeared on Quanta Magazine
symmetry magazine
Collaboration builds fantastical stories from nuggets of truth What happens when you pair CERN scientists with science fiction writers to create short stories...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
What happens when you pair CERN scientists with science fiction writers to create short stories inspired by particle physics?
Quanta Magazine
Doubts Grow About the Biosignature Approach to Alien-Hunting Recent controversies bode ill for the effort to detect life on other planets by analyzing the gases...
a year ago
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a year ago
Recent controversies bode ill for the effort to detect life on other planets by analyzing the gases in their atmospheres. The post Doubts Grow About the Biosignature Approach to Alien-Hunting first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Yale E360
Trees That Have Never Known Plentiful Rainfall Better Prepared for Drought A new study finds that trees that have lived through many wet years struggle to cope with dry...
6 months ago
Yale E360
Ten Remarkable Plants and Fungi Named by Science This Year In 2024, researchers at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, recorded 172 new species of plants and fungi...
6 months ago
5
6 months ago
In 2024, researchers at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, recorded 172 new species of plants and fungi across the globe, from England to Cameroon. Read more on E360 →
Yale E360
A.I. Model Can Predict When Lightning Will Spark Wildfires Researchers have developed an AI model that can predict with 90 percent accuracy when and where...
3 months ago
5
3 months ago
Researchers have developed an AI model that can predict with 90 percent accuracy when and where lightning will ignite wildfires. Read more on E360 →
Asterisk
Why Isn’t the Whole World Rich? The question of why some countries join the developed world while others remain in poverty has vexed...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
The question of why some countries join the developed world while others remain in poverty has vexed economists for decades. What makes it so hard to answer?
The Roots of...
The environment as infrastructure A good metaphor for the ideal relationship between humanity and the environment is that the...
over a year ago
50
over a year ago
A good metaphor for the ideal relationship between humanity and the environment is that the environment is like critical infrastructure. Infrastructure is valuable, because it provides crucial services. You want to maintain it carefully, because it’s bad if it breaks down. But...
Asterisk
The Puzzle of Non-Proliferation Today, only nine countries have nuclear weapons. That outcome was hardly inevitable, and the story...
over a year ago
17
over a year ago
Today, only nine countries have nuclear weapons. That outcome was hardly inevitable, and the story of how we arrived there holds important lessons for AI.
Eukaryote Writes...
Web-surfing tips for strange times Meditations on what's bad about the internet lately and how to use it anyhow.
a year ago
Uncharted...
Why Do We Like Concerts? It's not what you think
4 months ago
Damn Interesting
The Unceasing Cessna Hacienda Warren “Doc” Bayley was a man of the people. When he and his wife Judy opened their Las Vegas resort...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
Warren “Doc” Bayley was a man of the people. When he and his wife Judy opened their Las Vegas resort in 1956, Bayley had no plans to compete with the flashier, corporate casinos at the center of the Strip. Instead, the Hacienda Hotel catered to families, as well as to locals who...
The Works in...
Youtube Rules A new section from Stewart Brand's Maintenance on Books in Progress
a year ago
Quanta Magazine
How Did Altruism Evolve? If evolution favors the survival of the fittest, where did the impulse to help others come from?...
a year ago
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a year ago
If evolution favors the survival of the fittest, where did the impulse to help others come from? Host Janna Levin speaks with Stephanie Preston, a neuropsychologist who studies the biology of altruism. The post How Did Altruism Evolve? first appeared on Quanta...
NeuroLogica Blog
How Should We Talk About Autism RFK Jr.’s recent speech about autism has sparked a lot of deserved anger. But like many things in...
2 months ago
16
2 months ago
RFK Jr.’s recent speech about autism has sparked a lot of deserved anger. But like many things in life, it’s even more complicated than you think it is, and this is a good opportunity to explore some of the issues surrounding this diagnosis. While the definition has shifted over...
The Works in...
Apply for Invisible College 2025 Our residential seminar for 18–22 year olds was such a success that we are running it again
3 months ago
Yale E360
A Third of Forests Lost This Century Will Likely Never Be Restored Of the forest lost so far this century, roughly a third was destroyed to make room for farms, a new...
a month ago
2
a month ago
Of the forest lost so far this century, roughly a third was destroyed to make room for farms, a new analysis finds. Those woodlands, which spanned an area larger than Mongolia, will likely never be restored, authors say. Read more on E360 →
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Newsletter One + Patient Zero | Out-Of-Pocket Shall we begin?
a year ago
Quanta Magazine
Tracing the Hidden Hand of Magnetism in the Galaxy Susan Clark is helping to unravel the mysterious workings of the Milky Way’s magnetic field, a...
a year ago
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a year ago
Susan Clark is helping to unravel the mysterious workings of the Milky Way’s magnetic field, a critical missing piece of the galactic puzzle. The post Tracing the Hidden Hand of Magnetism in the Galaxy first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Blog - Practical...
Why Bridges Don't Sink [Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] The essence of a bridge is not...
a year ago
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a year ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] The essence of a bridge is not just that it goes over something, but that there’s clear space underneath for a river, railway, or road. Maybe this is already obvious to you, but bridges present a unique...
NeuroLogica Blog
World Events and the Conspiracy Instinct By now most people have heard that on Saturday there was a failed assassination attempt on candidate...
a year ago
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a year ago
By now most people have heard that on Saturday there was a failed assassination attempt on candidate Trump at a rally. While it has only been a few days, preliminary investigation has found that 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, using a AR style rifle purchased legally by his...
Sean Carroll
Energy Conservation and Non-Conservation in Quantum Mechanics Conservation of energy is a somewhat sacred principle in physics, though it can be tricky in certain...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
Conservation of energy is a somewhat sacred principle in physics, though it can be tricky in certain circumstances, such as an expanding universe. Quantum mechanics is another context in which energy conservation is a subtle thing — so much so that it’s still worth writing papers...
NeuroLogica Blog
What Is a Grand Conspiracy? Ah, the categorization question again. This is an endless, but much needed, endeavor within human...
a year ago
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a year ago
Ah, the categorization question again. This is an endless, but much needed, endeavor within human intellectual activity. We have the need to categorize things, if for no other reason than we need to communicate with each other about them. Often skeptics, like myself, talk about...
Probably...
Multiple Regression with StatsModels This is the third is a series of excerpts from Elements of Data Science which available from...
7 months ago
12
7 months ago
This is the third is a series of excerpts from Elements of Data Science which available from Lulu.com and online booksellers. It’s from Chapter 10, which is about multiple regression. You can read the complete chapter here, or run the Jupyter notebook on Colab. In the previous...
The Works in...
Lost Science When discoveries are forgotten and then found
a year ago
Quanta Magazine
Topologists Tackle the Trouble With Poll Placement Mathematicians are using topological abstractions to find places where it’s hard to vote. ...
a year ago
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a year ago
Mathematicians are using topological abstractions to find places where it’s hard to vote. The post Topologists Tackle the Trouble With Poll Placement first appeared on Quanta Magazine
The Roots of...
What is progress? In one sense, the concept of progress is simple, straightforward, and uncontroversial. In another...
a year ago
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a year ago
In one sense, the concept of progress is simple, straightforward, and uncontroversial. In another sense, it contains an entire worldview. The most basic meaning of “progress” is simply advancement along a path, or more generally from one state to another that is considered more...
Quanta Magazine
Mathematicians Find Hidden Structure in a Common Type of Space In 50 years of searching, mathematicians found only one example of a “subspace design” in a vector...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
In 50 years of searching, mathematicians found only one example of a “subspace design” in a vector space. A new proof reveals that there are infinitely more out there. The post Mathematicians Find Hidden Structure in a Common Type of Space first appeared on Quanta...
Stephen Wolfram...
Who Can Understand the Proof? A Window on Formalized Mathematics Related writings: “Logic, Explainability and the Future of Understanding” (2018) » “The...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
Related writings: “Logic, Explainability and the Future of Understanding” (2018) » “The Physicalization of Metamathematics and Its Implications for the Foundations of Mathematics” (2022) » “Computational Knowledge and the Future of Pure Mathematics” (2014) » The Simplest Axiom...
NeuroLogica Blog
Dog Soundboards I am a lifelong dog owner, and like many dog owners am often impressed with how smart my dogs have...
10 months ago
62
10 months ago
I am a lifelong dog owner, and like many dog owners am often impressed with how smart my dogs have been. They pick up on subtle body language and non-verbal cues, they seem to understand specific words, and they are capable of successfully communicating their wants and desires....
Chris Grossack's...
$\mathsf{B}\text{Diff}(\Sigma)$ Classifies $\Sigma$-bundles I’ve been trying to learn all about topological (quantum) field theories, the cobordism hypothesis,...
6 months ago
90
6 months ago
I’ve been trying to learn all about topological (quantum) field theories, the cobordism hypothesis, and how to use $(\infty,n)$-categories. This is all in service of some stuff I’m doing with skein algebras (which are part of a “$3+1$ TQFT” often named after Crane–Yetter, but...
Cremieux Recueil
Focusing on Healthcare’s Administrative Costs Is Misguided Substantial thinking about healthcare reform starts with acknowledging that administrative bloat...
7 months ago
NeuroLogica Blog
Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carriers as Fuel The press release for a recent study declares: “New catalyst could provide liquid hydrogen fuel of...
a year ago
25
a year ago
The press release for a recent study declares: “New catalyst could provide liquid hydrogen fuel of the future.” But don’t get excited – the optimism is more than a bit gratuitous. I have written about hydrogen fuel before, and the reasons I am not optimistic about hydrogen as a...
Yale E360
World's Richest 10 Percent Responsible for Two-Thirds of Warming The wealthiest 10 percent of people on Earth have fueled two-thirds of the warming since 1990,...
2 months ago
5
2 months ago
The wealthiest 10 percent of people on Earth have fueled two-thirds of the warming since 1990, according to a new modeling study. Read more on E360 →
Yale E360
Recycling Nuclear Waste: A Win-Win or a Dangerous Gamble? As interest in nuclear power rises, startups are pursuing plans to recycle spent fuel and reuse its...
3 months ago
5
3 months ago
As interest in nuclear power rises, startups are pursuing plans to recycle spent fuel and reuse its untapped energy to power reactors. Advocates tout new recycling methods as a breakthrough, but many experts warn it will extract plutonium that could be used for nuclear...
Quanta Magazine
The Year in Math Landmark results in Ramsey theory and a remarkably simple aperiodic tile capped a year of...
a year ago
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a year ago
Landmark results in Ramsey theory and a remarkably simple aperiodic tile capped a year of mathematical delight and discovery. The post The Year in Math first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine
New Breakthrough Brings Matrix Multiplication Closer to Ideal By eliminating a hidden inefficiency, computer scientists have come up with a new way to multiply...
a year ago
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a year ago
By eliminating a hidden inefficiency, computer scientists have come up with a new way to multiply large matrices that’s faster than ever. The post New Breakthrough Brings Matrix Multiplication Closer to Ideal first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Drew Ex Machina
NASA’s Explorer 18: The First Interplanetary Monitoring Platform Among the greatest scientific achievements of the opening years of the Space Age was the...
a year ago
40
a year ago
Among the greatest scientific achievements of the opening years of the Space Age was the characterization of Earth’s magnetic field and the discovery of what became […]
Quanta Magazine
How Math Has Changed the Shape of Gerrymandering New tools make it possible to detect hidden manipulation of maps. The post How Math Has...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
New tools make it possible to detect hidden manipulation of maps. The post How Math Has Changed the Shape of Gerrymandering first appeared on Quanta Magazine
nanoscale views
Nanopasta, no, really Fig. 1 from the linked paper Here is a light-hearted bit of research that touches on some fun...
7 months ago
18
7 months ago
Fig. 1 from the linked paper Here is a light-hearted bit of research that touches on some fun physics.  As you might readily imagine, there is a good deal of interdisciplinary and industrial interest in wanting to create fine fibers out of solution-based materials.  One...
Quantum Frontiers
Colliding the familiar and the anti-familiar at CERN toise me at CERN was a box of chocolates. CERN is a multinational particle-physics collaboration....
a year ago
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a year ago
toise me at CERN was a box of chocolates. CERN is a multinational particle-physics collaboration. Based in Geneva, CERN is famous for having “the world’s largest and most powerful accelerator,” according to its website. So a physicist will take for … Continue reading →
Quanta Magazine
Sparse Networks Come to the Aid of Big Physics A novel type of neural network is helping physicists with the daunting challenge of data analysis. ...
over a year ago
54
over a year ago
A novel type of neural network is helping physicists with the daunting challenge of data analysis. The post Sparse Networks Come to the Aid of Big Physics first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Yale E360
Dust from Car Brakes More Harmful than Exhaust, Study Finds In cars, pollution doesn't come from exhaust alone. It also comes from wear and tear on roads,...
5 months ago
8
5 months ago
In cars, pollution doesn't come from exhaust alone. It also comes from wear and tear on roads, tires, and brakes. According to new research, tiny bits of dust cast off by brake pads may inflict more harm than car exhaust. Read more on E360 →
NeuroLogica Blog
About Those Lab Leak Documents It was recently revealed that the House subcommittee probing the origins of COVID-19 accidentally...
over a year ago
33
over a year ago
It was recently revealed that the House subcommittee probing the origins of COVID-19 accidentally released a “trove” of documents related to their investigations. The documents include e-mails and internal communications among the scientists and experts who put together the first...
Casey Handmer's blog
Powering the Mars base This post is part of the series on space topics. This post is not the last word on this topic. The...
8 months ago
53
8 months ago
This post is part of the series on space topics. This post is not the last word on this topic. The usual caveats apply. I’m curious if you have strong opinions on different fuel mixes. A growing Mars base has a prodigious need for power. I’ve previously written two posts on...
Quanta Magazine
Elliptic Curve ‘Murmurations’ Found With AI Take Flight Mathematicians are working to fully explain unusual behaviors uncovered using artificial...
a year ago
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a year ago
Mathematicians are working to fully explain unusual behaviors uncovered using artificial intelligence. The post Elliptic Curve ‘Murmurations’ Found With AI Take Flight first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Yale E360
How Herbicide Drift from Farms Is Harming Trees in Midwest Researchers are starting to pay closer attention to the widespread damage wrought by agricultural...
2 months ago
2
2 months ago
Researchers are starting to pay closer attention to the widespread damage wrought by agricultural herbicides. Drifting sprays may not kill trees, shrubs, and other nontarget plants outright, but experts believe they are making them vulnerable to insects, fungi, and disease. Read...
Many Worlds
After Seven Years Away Exploring an Asteroid, OSIRIS-REx is Landing Soon with Precious Samples Bits of pebbles and dust from the asteriod Bennu that were collected during the long journey of the...
a year ago
32
a year ago
Bits of pebbles and dust from the asteriod Bennu that were collected during the long journey of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft should be landing in the Utah desert later this month. The delivery will be a first for NASA — its first sample return from an asteroid and one of a very...
Quanta Magazine
The Physicist Working to Build Science-Literate AI By training machine learning models with enough examples of basic science, Miles Cranmer hopes to...
4 months ago
40
4 months ago
By training machine learning models with enough examples of basic science, Miles Cranmer hopes to push the pace of scientific discovery forward. The post The Physicist Working to Build Science-Literate AI first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine
What Causes Giant Rogue Waves? Once dismissed as myths, monstrous rogue waves that tower over ships and appear without warning are...
over a year ago
68
over a year ago
Once dismissed as myths, monstrous rogue waves that tower over ships and appear without warning are real. Wave-science researcher Ton van den Bremer and Steven Strogatz discuss how rogue waves can form in relatively calm seas and whether their threat can be predicted. ...
Quanta Magazine
Researchers Refute a Widespread Belief About Online Algorithms Three computer scientists have disproved a long-standing conjecture about a fundamental problem...
a year ago
21
a year ago
Three computer scientists have disproved a long-standing conjecture about a fundamental problem involving imperfect information. The post Researchers Refute a Widespread Belief About Online Algorithms first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NeuroLogica Blog
Hunger Circuitry One of the organizing principles that govern living organisms is homeostasis. This is a key feature...
a year ago
35
a year ago
One of the organizing principles that govern living organisms is homeostasis. This is a key feature of being alive – maintaining homeostatic equilibrium both internally and externally. Homeostatic systems usually involve multiple feedback loops that maintain some physiological...
Quantum Frontiers
Quantum Frontiers salutes an English teacher If I ever mention a crazy high-school English teacher to you, I might be referring to Mr. Lukacs....
a year ago
90
a year ago
If I ever mention a crazy high-school English teacher to you, I might be referring to Mr. Lukacs. One morning, before the first bell rang, I found him wandering among the lockers, wearing a white beard and a mischievous grin. … Continue reading →
Quanta Magazine
‘The Rest of the World Disappears’: Claire Voisin on Mathematical Creativity The recipient of the 2024 Crafoord Prize in Mathematics discusses math as art, math as language, and...
a year ago
39
a year ago
The recipient of the 2024 Crafoord Prize in Mathematics discusses math as art, math as language, and math as abstract thought. The post ‘The Rest of the World Disappears’: Claire Voisin on Mathematical Creativity first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Out-of-Pocket Blog
More 2022 predictions | Out-Of-Pocket A curation of your 2022 predictions
a year ago
Quanta Magazine
A New Map of the Universe, Painted With Cosmic Neutrinos Physicists finally know where at least some of these high-energy particles come from, which helps...
over a year ago
45
over a year ago
Physicists finally know where at least some of these high-energy particles come from, which helps make the neutrinos useful for exploring fundamental physics. The post A New Map of the Universe, Painted With Cosmic Neutrinos first appeared on Quanta Magazine
The Works in...
How to start an advance market commitment A practical guide from the founders of Frontier
a year ago
NeuroLogica Blog
Artificial Robotic Muscles By now we have all seen the impressive robot videos, such as the ones from Boston Dynamics, in which...
10 months ago
72
10 months ago
By now we have all seen the impressive robot videos, such as the ones from Boston Dynamics, in which robots show incredible flexibility and agility. These are amazing, but I understand they are a bit like trick-shot videos – we are being shown the ones that worked, which may not...
Quanta Magazine
How the Higgs Field (Actually) Gives Mass to Elementary Particles In this article adapted from his new book, "Waves in an Impossible Sea," physicist Matt Strassler...
10 months ago
54
10 months ago
In this article adapted from his new book, "Waves in an Impossible Sea," physicist Matt Strassler explains that the origin of mass in the universe has a lot to do with music. The post How the Higgs Field (Actually) Gives Mass to Elementary Particles first appeared on...
Yale E360
With 'Big Beautiful Bill,' U.S. to Reverse Course on Clean Energy The Republican spending bill, signed into law Friday, will reset the course for the U.S. energy...
a week ago
9
a week ago
The Republican spending bill, signed into law Friday, will reset the course for the U.S. energy sector, analyses show. The law rapidly phases out tax credits for wind, solar, and electric cars, while making it cheaper to drill and mine for fossil fuels on federal lands.  Read...
Cremieux Recueil
The Value of Foreign Diplomas Is that immigrant high-skilled or do they just have a fancy degree?
5 months ago
Stephen Wolfram...
On the Nature of Time The Computational View of Time Time is a central feature of human experience. But what actually is...
9 months ago
117
9 months ago
The Computational View of Time Time is a central feature of human experience. But what actually is it? In traditional scientific accounts it’s often represented as some kind of coordinate much like space (though a coordinate that for some reason is always systematically...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
What does Innovaccer actually do? A look under the hood | Out-Of-Pocket A conversation about EHRs, who their customers actually are, and building apps
a month ago
The Works in...
The discovery of copper New ways to find and extract copper from the earth.
2 months ago
Quanta Magazine
Computer Scientists Inch Closer to Major Algorithmic Goal A new paper finds a faster method for determining when two mathematical groups are the same. ...
over a year ago
32
over a year ago
A new paper finds a faster method for determining when two mathematical groups are the same. The post Computer Scientists Inch Closer to Major Algorithmic Goal first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine
Perplexing the Web, One Probability Puzzle at a Time The mathematician Daniel Litt has driven social media users to distraction with a series of...
10 months ago
74
10 months ago
The mathematician Daniel Litt has driven social media users to distraction with a series of simple-seeming but counterintuitive probability puzzles. The post Perplexing the Web, One Probability Puzzle at a Time first appeared on Quanta Magazine
symmetry magazine
Spacetime: All the universe’s a stage In the 1900s, Albert Einstein unified the concepts of space and time, giving us a useful new way to...
a year ago
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a year ago
In the 1900s, Albert Einstein unified the concepts of space and time, giving us a useful new way to picture the universe.
Uncharted...
Interesting News & Game Theory of Sex | Q3 2024 Trans & bathrooms, the end of nation states, woke pendulum, trigger warnings, is breastfeeding...
9 months ago
42
9 months ago
Trans & bathrooms, the end of nation states, woke pendulum, trigger warnings, is breastfeeding actually good for IQ, are differences in household work justified, and more
Marine Madness
Book Club: ‘How To Read Water: Clues and Patterns from Puddles to the Sea’ In this absolute must-have for all walkers, sailors, swimmers, divers, photographers, and nature...
over a year ago
59
over a year ago
In this absolute must-have for all walkers, sailors, swimmers, divers, photographers, and nature lovers, Natural Navigator Tristan Gooley shares his knowledge and skills to help you navigate and interpret the water around you. Combining elements of natural navigation history,...
NeuroLogica Blog
Hunter-Gatherers and Childcare What is “natural” for humans? It’s often hard to say, and in my opinion this is a highly overused...
a year ago
18
a year ago
What is “natural” for humans? It’s often hard to say, and in my opinion this is a highly overused concept. Primarily this is because humans are adaptable – we adapt to our environment, our situation, and our culture. So it is “natural” for us not to have a natural state. But this...
Yale E360
To Protect Amazon from Drug Traffickers, Title Indigenous Lands, Report Says Drug traffickers are violently seizing Indigenous lands in the Peruvian Amazon to clear rainforest...
a month ago
2
a month ago
Drug traffickers are violently seizing Indigenous lands in the Peruvian Amazon to clear rainforest and grow coca. To combat the drug trade, a new report calls for titling Indigenous territories along major trafficking routes.  Read more on E360 →
Uncharted...
Desalination: a Future of Infinite Water Desalination is finally cheap, and it’s only getting cheaper. Will this usher a world of plentiful...
8 months ago
33
8 months ago
Desalination is finally cheap, and it’s only getting cheaper. Will this usher a world of plentiful water everywhere? Will we be able to build in the Sahara?
The Works in...
Fixing retail with land value capture How to create beautiful shopping streets everywhere
a year ago
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Silly little rules in healthcare | Out-Of-Pocket The industry is chock full of ‘em, here's 3
a year ago
The Works in...
Everything drugs The promise of SGLT2 inhibitors
2 months ago
NeuroLogica Blog
Electronic Noses I am always sniffing around (pun intended) for new and interesting technology, especially anything...
8 months ago
65
8 months ago
I am always sniffing around (pun intended) for new and interesting technology, especially anything that I think is currently flying under the radar of public awareness but has the potential to transform our world in some way. I think electronic nose technology fits into this...
IEEE Spectrum
A Spy Satellite You’ve Never Heard of Helped Win the Cold War In the early 1970s, the Cold War had reached a particularly frigid moment, and U.S. military and...
5 months ago
62
5 months ago
In the early 1970s, the Cold War had reached a particularly frigid moment, and U.S. military and intelligence officials had a problem. The Soviet Navy was becoming a global maritime threat—and the United States did not have a global ocean-surveillance capability. Adding to the...
NeuroLogica Blog
End of Life on Earth Let’s talk about climate change and life on Earth. Not anthropogenic climate change – but long term...
a month ago
22
a month ago
Let’s talk about climate change and life on Earth. Not anthropogenic climate change – but long term natural changes in the Earth’s environment due to stellar evolution. Eventually, as our sun burns through its fuel, it will go through changes. It will begin to grow, becoming a...
Yale E360
Out of the Wild: How A.I. Is Transforming Conservation Science Artificial intelligence is being called a game changer for enabling scientists and conservationists...
a month ago
3
a month ago
Artificial intelligence is being called a game changer for enabling scientists and conservationists to process vast troves of data collected remotely. But some warn its use could keep biologists from getting out in the field with the animals and ecosystems they are studying. Read...
Quantum Frontiers
To thermalize, or not to thermalize, that is the question. If Hamlet had been a system of noncommuting charges, his famous soliloquy may have gone like this…...
a year ago
93
a year ago
If Hamlet had been a system of noncommuting charges, his famous soliloquy may have gone like this… To thermalize, or not to thermalize, that is the question:Whether ’tis more natural for the system to sufferThe large entanglement of thermalizing dynamics,Or … Continue reading →
Many Worlds
Many Worlds Archive is Available I had the pleasure of reporting and writing the Many Worlds column — sponsored by NASA’s NExSS...
a year ago
59
a year ago
I had the pleasure of reporting and writing the Many Worlds column — sponsored by NASA’s NExSS initiative and the Lunar & Planetary Institute — for almost eight years. But the run came to an end in October. Now an archive of the more than 400 columns is easily available at...
Andrew Fraknoi –...
My Free Introductory Astronomy Textbook Hits a Milestone This time I am posting something a bit personal. I am the lead author of a free book that is part of...
a year ago
50
a year ago
This time I am posting something a bit personal. I am the lead author of a free book that is part of a nonprofit experiment to help students with the costs of college. Here is the news from our publisher: OpenStax, the open textbook publisher based at Rice University, is pleased...
IEEE Spectrum
This Clock Made Power Grids Possible On 23 October 1916, an engineer named Henry E. Warren quietly revolutionized power transmission by...
a year ago
47
a year ago
On 23 October 1916, an engineer named Henry E. Warren quietly revolutionized power transmission by installing an electric clock in the L Street generating station of Boston’s Edison Electric Illuminating Co. This master station clock kept a very particular type of time: It used a...
Explorations of an...
Borneo: Manukan Island And The Tempasuk Plain October 18, 2024 Following our adventure at Trus Madi, our remaining time in Borneo had dwindled to...
6 months ago
20
6 months ago
October 18, 2024 Following our adventure at Trus Madi, our remaining time in Borneo had dwindled to just three days. On October 19 we planned to visit a hide often attended by the Bornean Peacock-Pheasant.  This gave us October 18th as a free day.  After mulling over a few other...
symmetry magazine
How to put together an international physics experiment To build the DUNE neutrino experiment and its associated accelerator upgrade, experts invent...
over a year ago
52
over a year ago
To build the DUNE neutrino experiment and its associated accelerator upgrade, experts invent customized ways to transport fragile, expensive and highly specialized components. On a late-September day, in the high-bay building of Daresbury Laboratory in the...
Asterisk
Development Finance Done Right A veteran diplomat explains how to navigate the U.S. development ecosystem, master the interagency...
a year ago
15
a year ago
A veteran diplomat explains how to navigate the U.S. development ecosystem, master the interagency process, and bring electricity to 200 million people.
Quanta Magazine
‘Entropy Bagels’ and Other Complex Structures Emerge From Simple Rules Simple rules in simple settings continue to puzzle mathematicians, even as they devise intricate...
a year ago
39
a year ago
Simple rules in simple settings continue to puzzle mathematicians, even as they devise intricate tools to analyze them. The post ‘Entropy Bagels’ and Other Complex Structures Emerge From Simple Rules first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Yale E360
Heat and Fire Making Pollution Worse Across Much of the U.S. By several measures, air pollution is getting worse in the U.S., a trend due in large part to more...
2 months ago
2
2 months ago
By several measures, air pollution is getting worse in the U.S., a trend due in large part to more severe heat and wildfires, according to a new report. Read more on E360 →
IEEE Spectrum
RCA’s Lucite Phantom Teleceiver Introduced the Idea of TV addressed a small crowd outside the RCA pavilion at the New York World’s Fair. “Today we are on the...
over a year ago
21
over a year ago
addressed a small crowd outside the RCA pavilion at the New York World’s Fair. “Today we are on the eve of launching a new industry, based on imagination, on scientific research and accomplishment,” he proclaimed. That industry was television. RCA president David Sarnoff’s...
Quanta Magazine
Will We Ever Prove String Theory? Promise and controversy continues to surround string theory as a potential unified theory of...
a month ago
22
a month ago
Promise and controversy continues to surround string theory as a potential unified theory of everything. In the latest episode of The Joy of Why, Cumrun Vafa discusses his progress in trying to find good, testable models hidden among the ‘swampland’ of impossible universes. ...
Asterisk
Prediction Markets Have an Elections Problem Weeks after it was clear that Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, you could still make pennies on...
a year ago
19
a year ago
Weeks after it was clear that Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, you could still make pennies on the dollar betting Joe Biden would win. Why doesn’t smart money drive out dumb money in election markets?
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Is vision insurance a scam? | Out-Of-Pocket the weird, verticalized world of vision "insurance"
a year ago
NeuroLogica Blog
Quiet Supersonic Aircraft Ready for Testing It was six years ago that I first wrote about NASA’s X-59 QueSST project, contracted to Lockheed...
over a year ago
51
over a year ago
It was six years ago that I first wrote about NASA’s X-59 QueSST project, contracted to Lockheed Martin. Now the plane has finally been built and is ready for testing. At the time it was reported that NASA “had a design” for a quiet supersonic jet, one that would not create a...
Quanta Magazine
New Maps of the Bizarre, Chaotic Space-Time Inside Black Holes Physicists hope that understanding the churning region near singularities might help them reconcile...
4 months ago
42
4 months ago
Physicists hope that understanding the churning region near singularities might help them reconcile gravity and quantum mechanics. The post New Maps of the Bizarre, Chaotic Space-Time Inside Black Holes first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Blog - Practical...
Merrimack Valley Gas Explosions: What Really Happened? [Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] On September 13, 2018, a...
over a year ago
96
over a year ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] On September 13, 2018, a pipeline crew in the Merrimack Valley in Massachusetts was hard at work replacing an aging cast iron natural gas line with a new polyethylene pipe. Located just north of Boston, the...
Asterisk
Is Cultivated Meat For Real? Cultivated meat faces a wall of scientific skepticism, but investors haven’t been deterred. A decade...
over a year ago
17
over a year ago
Cultivated meat faces a wall of scientific skepticism, but investors haven’t been deterred. A decade in, how close are we to seeing it on our plates?
Quanta Magazine
Brain’s ‘Background Noise’ May Explain Value of Shock Therapy Electroconvulsive therapy is highly effective in treating major depressive disorder, but no one...
a year ago
49
a year ago
Electroconvulsive therapy is highly effective in treating major depressive disorder, but no one knows why it works. New research suggests it may restore balance between excitation and inhibition in the brain. The post Brain’s ‘Background Noise’ May Explain Value of...
Casey Handmer's blog
To Conquer the Primary Energy Consumption Layer of Our Entire Civilization [Originally posted on the Terraform blog April 3, 2025.] Three years ago we set out to make cheap...
3 months ago
37
3 months ago
[Originally posted on the Terraform blog April 3, 2025.] Three years ago we set out to make cheap synthetic natural gas from sunlight and air. At the time I didn’t fully appreciate that we had kicked off the process of recompiling the foundation layer of our entire industrial...
Quanta Magazine
Mathematicians Uncover a New Way to Count Prime Numbers To make progress on one of number theory’s most elementary questions, two mathematicians turned to...
7 months ago
98
7 months ago
To make progress on one of number theory’s most elementary questions, two mathematicians turned to an unlikely source. The post Mathematicians Uncover a New Way to Count Prime Numbers first appeared on Quanta Magazine
symmetry magazine
Life along the future DUNE beamline Unseen neutrinos, visible lives: A photographer journeys through the Midwest.
a year ago
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Machine Vision, Robots, and Endoscopes with Matt Schwartz | Out-Of-Pocket When GI met AI
a year ago
NeuroLogica Blog
Betavoltaic Batteries In 1964 Isaac Asimov, asked to imagine the world 50 years in the future, wrote: “The appliances of...
a year ago
35
a year ago
In 1964 Isaac Asimov, asked to imagine the world 50 years in the future, wrote: “The appliances of 2014 will have no electric cords, of course, for they will be powered by long- lived batteries running on radioisotopes. The isotopes will not be expensive for they will be by-...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Start your healthcare company outside of the US | Out-Of-Pocket Gotta start somewhere...else?
a year ago
Explorations of an...
2024 (Part 1 of 2) Another year has come and gone. As is tradition, I have written a couple of blog posts documenting...
6 months ago
19
6 months ago
Another year has come and gone. As is tradition, I have written a couple of blog posts documenting some of my natural history highlights throughout the year.  January Pre-dawn on January 1, 2024 saw me heading south towards Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia in search of a Gray Heron,...
Blog - Practical...
Why Are Cooling Towers Shaped Like That? [Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] This is not smoke. And this...
8 months ago
98
8 months ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] This is not smoke. And this isn’t a smoke stack (at least not the kind we normally think of). It serves a totally different purpose at a power plant than smoke stacks whose job is moving combustion products...
Quanta Magazine
How Does Graph Theory Shape Our World? Maria Chudnovsky reflects on her journey in graph theory, her groundbreaking solution to the...
2 weeks ago
13
2 weeks ago
Maria Chudnovsky reflects on her journey in graph theory, her groundbreaking solution to the long-standing perfect graph problem, and the unexpected ways this abstract field intersects with everyday life. The post How Does Graph Theory Shape Our World? first appeared...
Quanta Magazine
Mathematicians Prove Hawking Wrong About the Most Extreme Black Holes For decades, extremal black holes were considered mathematically impossible. A new proof reveals...
10 months ago
78
10 months ago
For decades, extremal black holes were considered mathematically impossible. A new proof reveals otherwise. The post Mathematicians Prove Hawking Wrong About the Most Extreme Black Holes first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Light from Space
Lagoon and the Hourglass A view of the center region of the Lagoon Nebula (Messier 8, Sharpless 25). There's several other...
over a year ago
39
over a year ago
A view of the center region of the Lagoon Nebula (Messier 8, Sharpless 25). There's several other objects visible, notably the Hourglass Nebula and open star cluster NGC 6530, as well as numerous Bok globules (the small dark clouds, that will one day form new stars). Click...
Asterisk
Modeling the End of Monkeypox The journalistic and public health response to the US monkeypox outbreak was noisy and contentious....
over a year ago
17
over a year ago
The journalistic and public health response to the US monkeypox outbreak was noisy and contentious. What tools do we have for predicting its spread?
Quanta Magazine
Astronomers Dig Up the Stars That Birthed the Milky Way There once was a cosmic seed that sprouted the Milky Way galaxy. Astronomers have discovered its...
over a year ago
98
over a year ago
There once was a cosmic seed that sprouted the Milky Way galaxy. Astronomers have discovered its last surviving remnants. The post Astronomers Dig Up the Stars That Birthed the Milky Way first appeared on Quanta Magazine
nanoscale views
Pushing back on US science cuts: Now is a critical time Every week has brought more news about actions that, either as a collateral effect or a deliberate...
a month ago
13
a month ago
Every week has brought more news about actions that, either as a collateral effect or a deliberate goal, will deeply damage science and engineering research in the US.  Put aside for a moment the tremendously important issue of student visas (where there seems to be a policy of...
The Works in...
Degrowth and the monkey's paw Fifteen years ago, when I worked in the “social innovation” field, there was a world-view that was...
over a year ago
120
over a year ago
Fifteen years ago, when I worked in the “social innovation” field, there was a world-view that was very popular among my colleagues about what was wrong with society and how to fix it. The idea was that people and governments needed to stop seeing economic growth as a good thing,...
Cremieux Recueil
Just Pay Them Off The International Longshoremen's Association is protecting people whose jobs are no longer...
9 months ago
31
9 months ago
The International Longshoremen's Association is protecting people whose jobs are no longer necessary. Stop fighting and just pay them so they go away.
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Dental Insurance, Value-Based Dental, and Beam Benefits | Out-Of-Pocket Why doesn’t dental have value-based care?
a year ago
Quanta Magazine
Undergraduate Upends a 40-Year-Old Data Science Conjecture A young computer scientist and two colleagues show that searches within data structures called hash...
5 months ago
53
5 months ago
A young computer scientist and two colleagues show that searches within data structures called hash tables can be much faster than previously deemed possible. The post Undergraduate Upends a 40-Year-Old Data Science Conjecture first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine
The Quest to Quantify Quantumness What makes a quantum computer more powerful than a classical computer? It’s a surprisingly subtle...
a year ago
22
a year ago
What makes a quantum computer more powerful than a classical computer? It’s a surprisingly subtle question that physicists are still grappling with, decades into the quantum age. The post The Quest to Quantify Quantumness first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Yale E360
Did Climate Change Help Fuel the Los Angeles Wildfires? Wildfires in Southern California have burned tens of thousands of acres, destroyed thousands of...
6 months ago
1
6 months ago
Wildfires in Southern California have burned tens of thousands of acres, destroyed thousands of buildings, and killed at least 10 people. Experts say global warming may have set the stage for the catastrophic blazes. Read more on E360 →
Cremieux Recueil
What’s the Deal With Autism Rates? Explaining the "autism epidemic".
2 months ago
The Works in...
Issue 16: I dream of genes Plus: how humans are outdoing nature's shiniest creations; the history of measuring price rises; and...
10 months ago
74
10 months ago
Plus: how humans are outdoing nature's shiniest creations; the history of measuring price rises; and how America's favourite type of coffee got really, really good.
Quanta Magazine
How Randomness Improves Algorithms Unpredictability can help computer scientists solve otherwise intractable problems. The...
over a year ago
66
over a year ago
Unpredictability can help computer scientists solve otherwise intractable problems. The post How Randomness Improves Algorithms first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NeuroLogica Blog
What Policies Affect Climate Change? What is the potential for climate change policy to affect climate change? I often discuss, here and...
a year ago
30
a year ago
What is the potential for climate change policy to affect climate change? I often discuss, here and on the SGU, the science of climate change, and specifically focus on what we can do about it, mostly by reducing our CO2 emissions. Often I get push back explicitly promoting the...
Yale E360
Carnivorous Squirrels Discovered in California Scientists have discovered that in addition to seeds and nuts, some California ground squirrels also...
6 months ago
9
6 months ago
Scientists have discovered that in addition to seeds and nuts, some California ground squirrels also eat voles. Read more on E360 →
Quanta Magazine
Never-Repeating Tiles Can Safeguard Quantum Information Two researchers have proved that Penrose tilings, famous patterns that never repeat, are...
a year ago
63
a year ago
Two researchers have proved that Penrose tilings, famous patterns that never repeat, are mathematically equivalent to a kind of quantum error correction. The post Never-Repeating Tiles Can Safeguard Quantum Information first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine
The Ecosystem Dynamics That Can Make or Break an Invasion By speedrunning ecosystems with microbes, researchers revealed intrinsic properties that may make a...
4 weeks ago
14
4 weeks ago
By speedrunning ecosystems with microbes, researchers revealed intrinsic properties that may make a community susceptible to invasion. The post The Ecosystem Dynamics That Can Make or Break an Invasion first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Yale E360
In a First, Chimps Found Sharing Fermented Fruit For the first time, wild chimpanzees have been caught on film sharing fermented fruit. The footage...
2 months ago
2
2 months ago
For the first time, wild chimpanzees have been caught on film sharing fermented fruit. The footage comes from Cantanhez National Park in the West African nation of Guinea-Bissau, where camera traps recorded chimps eating fermented breadfruit together on 10 separate...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Some crypto x healthcare ideas | Out-Of-Pocket Decentralized EMRs, Insurance DAOs, and Drug Picking Models
a year ago
Wanderingspace
Triton Image from Voyager Colored Nice update to an old Voyager image with colors added based on actual colors captured in other...
over a year ago
39
over a year ago
Nice update to an old Voyager image with colors added based on actual colors captured in other images. See original post here by Jason Major.
Blog - Practical...
Why Some Roadways Are Made of Styrofoam [Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] If you’ve ever driven or...
over a year ago
49
over a year ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] If you’ve ever driven or ridden in an automobile, there’s a near 100% chance you’ve hit a bump in the road as you transition onto or off of a bridge. In fact, some studies estimate that it happens on a quarter...
Blog - Practical...
How the Hawaiian Power Grid Works [Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] In January of 2024, right on...
a year ago
115
a year ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] In January of 2024, right on the heels of a serious drought across the state, a major storm slammed into the Hawaiian islands of Oahu and Kauai. Severe winds caused damage to buildings, and heavy rain flooded...
The Works in...
Gentrification as a housing problem The root cause of displacement is inflexible supply
12 months ago
Yale E360
With Sea Ice Melting, Killer Whales Are Moving Into the Arctic Killer whales have begun to migrate farther into previously icy regions of the Arctic, preying on...
5 months ago
2
5 months ago
Killer whales have begun to migrate farther into previously icy regions of the Arctic, preying on narwhal, beluga, and bowhead. Scientists say their increasing numbers could shift food webs in ways that affect both endangered whale populations and subsistence Inuit hunters. Read...
NeuroLogica Blog
Odysseus Lands on the Moon December 11, 1972, Apollo 17 soft landed on the lunar surface, carrying astronauts Gene Cernan and...
a year ago
44
a year ago
December 11, 1972, Apollo 17 soft landed on the lunar surface, carrying astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt. This was the last time anything American soft landed on the moon, over 50 years ago. It seems amazing that it’s been that long. On February 22, 2024, the Odysseus...
Yale E360
African Solar Installations Headed for Banner Year African solar installations are projected to grow by 42 percent this year, according to an industry...
4 months ago
7
4 months ago
African solar installations are projected to grow by 42 percent this year, according to an industry group. Read more on E360 →
Quanta Magazine
Biophysicists Uncover Powerful Symmetries in Living Tissue After identifying interlocking symmetries in mammalian cells, scientists can describe some tissues...
a year ago
58
a year ago
After identifying interlocking symmetries in mammalian cells, scientists can describe some tissues as liquid crystals — an observation that lays the groundwork for a fluid-dynamic theory of how tissues move. The post Biophysicists Uncover Powerful Symmetries in Living...
The Works in...
The wonder of modern drywall How gypsum changed construction
a month ago
NeuroLogica Blog
Luminescent Solar Concentrators for Solar Power Solar power is on the upswing. In 2023, 407–446 GW of solar power was installed globally, bringing...
10 months ago
73
10 months ago
Solar power is on the upswing. In 2023, 407–446 GW of solar power was installed globally, bringing the total to 1.6 TWdc. To put this into perspective, this was 55% of new power capacity added to energy production. For the first time, a renewable energy source contributed the...
Quanta Magazine
The Brainstem Fine-Tunes Inflammation Throughout the Body The evolutionarily ancient part of the brain that controls breathing and heart rate also regulates...
a year ago
70
a year ago
The evolutionarily ancient part of the brain that controls breathing and heart rate also regulates the immune system — a discovery about the brain-body axis made by experts on taste. The post The Brainstem Fine-Tunes Inflammation Throughout the Body first appeared on...
Uncharted...
Where to Build 10 New Cities in the US, Part 1 Plus vote on new types of content for Uncharted Territories!
6 months ago
Yale E360
As Wind and Solar Grow, China Ships More Coal Overseas A slowing economy and the rapid growth of wind and solar have blunted demand for coal in China....
3 weeks ago
13
3 weeks ago
A slowing economy and the rapid growth of wind and solar have blunted demand for coal in China. Increasingly, producers are selling coal overseas. Read more on E360 →
Blog - Practical...
How The Channel Tunnel Works [Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] 2024 marks thirty years since...
a year ago
84
a year ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] 2024 marks thirty years since the opening of the channel tunnel, or chunnel, or as they say in Calais, Le tunnel sous la Manche. This underground/undersea railroad tunnel connects England with France, crossing...
NeuroLogica Blog
Mach Effect Thrusters Fail When thinking about potential future technology, one way to divide possible future tech is into...
a year ago
53
a year ago
When thinking about potential future technology, one way to divide possible future tech is into probable and speculative. Probable future technology involves extrapolating existing technology into the future, such as imaging what advanced computers might be like. This category...
The Works in...
Why we stopped building subways cheaply We used to dig up roads to put trains underneath
a month ago
Damn Interesting
The Kingpin of Shanghai Respectable heads of state rarely admit to keeping company with gangsters. But in April 1927, about...
over a year ago
43
over a year ago
Respectable heads of state rarely admit to keeping company with gangsters. But in April 1927, about 15 years after the collapse of the last imperial dynasty, Chiang Kai-shek and China were at a crossroads. Chiang had followed a murky path to leadership of the Chinese Nationalist...
Probably...
Reject Math Supremacy The premise of Think Stats, and the other books in the Think series, is that programming is a tool...
7 months ago
14
7 months ago
The premise of Think Stats, and the other books in the Think series, is that programming is a tool for teaching and learning — and many ideas that are commonly presented in math notation can be more clearly presented in code. In the draft third edition of Think Stats there is...
Blog - Practical...
Why Are Beach Holes So Deadly? [Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] Even though it’s a favorite...
3 months ago
58
3 months ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] Even though it’s a favorite vacation destination, the beach is surprisingly dangerous. Consider the lifeguard: There aren’t that many recreational activities in our lives that have explicit staff whose only job...
Drew Ex Machina
GOES Video of Solar Eclipse – October 14, 2023 Solar eclipses have fascinated humanity since ancient times and the annular eclipse of October 14,...
a year ago
63
a year ago
Solar eclipses have fascinated humanity since ancient times and the annular eclipse of October 14, 2023 was no different. Unlike a total solar eclipse where the […]
Quanta Magazine
AI Starts to Sift Through String Theory’s Near-Endless Possibilities Using machine learning, string theorists are finally showing how microscopic configurations of extra...
a year ago
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a year ago
Using machine learning, string theorists are finally showing how microscopic configurations of extra dimensions translate into sets of elementary particles — though not yet those of our universe. The post AI Starts to Sift Through String Theory’s Near-Endless...
symmetry magazine
Muon g-2 doubles down with latest measurement, explores uncharted territory Fermilab's Muon g-2 experiment brings particle physics closer to a showdown between theory and...
a year ago
Out-of-Pocket Blog
The New Price Transparency Laws And Turquoise Health | Out-Of-Pocket Are we actually moving to a healthcare shopping experience?
a year ago
Quanta Magazine
In Our Cellular Clocks, She’s Found a Lifetime of Discoveries For decades, Carrie Partch has led pioneering structural research on the protein clockwork that...
a year ago
26
a year ago
For decades, Carrie Partch has led pioneering structural research on the protein clockwork that keeps time for our circadian rhythm. Is time still on her side? The post In Our Cellular Clocks, She’s Found a Lifetime of Discoveries first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine
How (Nearly) Nothing Might Solve Cosmology’s Biggest Questions By measuring the universe’s emptiest spaces, scientists can study how matter clumps together and how...
a year ago
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a year ago
By measuring the universe’s emptiest spaces, scientists can study how matter clumps together and how fast it flies apart. The post How (Nearly) Nothing Might Solve Cosmology’s Biggest Questions first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Yale E360
Trees That Have Never Known Plentiful Rainfall Better Prepared for Drought A new study finds that trees that have lived through many wet years struggle to cope with dry...
6 months ago
Out-of-Pocket Blog
New Health Plans Need New Operating Systems with Flume Health | Out-Of-Pocket this claim is automatic, programmatic, hypnotic, funky fresh
a year ago
ToughSF
Riding Sunbeams with Solar Sails Reset your expectations of solar sails. They are a fast and free way to travel to any point in the...
over a year ago
24
over a year ago
Reset your expectations of solar sails. They are a fast and free way to travel to any point in the Solar System, as many times as you want, any time of the year. Solar sails can carry passengers and they have a nearly unlimited number of uses. You just have to... think...
Eukaryote Writes...
Book Review: Cuisine and Empire Things people nigh-universally like to eat: salt, fat, sugar, starch, sauces, meat, drugs...
a year ago
Yale E360
Carbon Dioxide Levels Rose by a Record Amount Last Year Carbon dioxide is accumulating in the atmosphere faster than ever before, putting hopes of limiting...
5 months ago
2
5 months ago
Carbon dioxide is accumulating in the atmosphere faster than ever before, putting hopes of limiting warming in jeopardy. Read more on E360 →
Melting Asphalt
The Elephant in the Brain It's finally here! The Elephant in the Brain: Hidden Motives in Everyday Life — my first book,...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
It's finally here! The Elephant in the Brain: Hidden Motives in Everyday Life — my first book, coauthored with Robin Hanson — is now widely available. You can find the ebook version on Kindle, Google Play, and iBooks. It's also… Read more ›
Confessions of a...
A first step into the unknown world of academia……. At the beginning of this blog I did promise to include some writings that would at least be...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
At the beginning of this blog I did promise to include some writings that would at least be semi-useful (hopefully!) to future students hoping to move into a career in marine science; so here it goes! From today I am beginning a year long Postgraduate Teaching Internship at UWA....
Yale E360
Pakistan's Solar Revolution Is Bringing Power to the People Fed up with pricey electricity from an unreliable grid, Pakistanis have snapped up cheap solar...
6 days ago
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6 days ago
Fed up with pricey electricity from an unreliable grid, Pakistanis have snapped up cheap solar panels. In an interview, Muhammad Mustafa Amjad, of Islamabad-based Renewables First, says his country can stand as a model for other nations as they transition away from fossil...
Quanta Magazine
Nobel Prize Honors Inventors of ‘Quantum Dot’ Nanoparticles The Nobel Prize for Chemistry has been awarded to three researchers who harnessed the quantum...
a year ago
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a year ago
The Nobel Prize for Chemistry has been awarded to three researchers who harnessed the quantum behaviors of semiconductor nanocrystals. The post Nobel Prize Honors Inventors of ‘Quantum Dot’ Nanoparticles first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine
To Defend the Genome, These Cells Destroy Their Own DNA Under a microscope, cells in a worm embryo deliberately eliminated one-third of their genome — an...
a year ago
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a year ago
Under a microscope, cells in a worm embryo deliberately eliminated one-third of their genome — an uncompromising tactic that may combat harmful genetic parasites. The post To Defend the Genome, These Cells Destroy Their Own DNA first appeared on Quanta Magazine
IEEE Spectrum
32 Bits That Changed Microprocessor Design In the late 1970s, a time when 8-bit processors were state of the art and CMOS was the underdog of...
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a month ago
In the late 1970s, a time when 8-bit processors were state of the art and CMOS was the underdog of semiconductor technology, engineers at AT&T’s Bell Labs took a bold leap into the future. They made a high-stakes bet to outpace IBM, Intel, and other competitors in chip...
Cremieux Recueil
Storks Take Orders From the State Pronatal benefits and economic booms lead to greater numbers of births
2 months ago
Asterisk
Through the Looking Glass, and What Zheludev et al. (2024) Found There Every time microbiologists develop a new way of looking, they find that there’s more to see than...
a year ago
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Why don’t we screen healthy people to catch diseases early? | Out-Of-Pocket the fight that comes up every month
a year ago
Yale E360
As U.S. Scientists Look Abroad, China Aims to Lure Top Talent Chinese locales are looking to lure top scientific talent from overseas by offering lavish sums for...
a month ago
2
a month ago
Chinese locales are looking to lure top scientific talent from overseas by offering lavish sums for resettling, as well as housing, health care, and other perks. The moves come as the Trump administration cuts funding for science and works to expel Chinese students. Read more on...
Quanta Magazine
Plants Find Light Using Gaps Between Their Cells A mutant seedling revealed how plant tissues scatter incoming light, allowing plants to sense its...
a year ago
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a year ago
A mutant seedling revealed how plant tissues scatter incoming light, allowing plants to sense its direction and move toward it. The post Plants Find Light Using Gaps Between Their Cells first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Confessions of a...
Shark Bay: a pristine template for marine ecosystems worldwide Here in Western Australia, we are lucky to be in the global centre of seagrass diversity.  As such,...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
Here in Western Australia, we are lucky to be in the global centre of seagrass diversity.  As such, we have a coastline dominated by many different species of seagrasses – from large, temperate seagrasses like Posidonia australis to small, tropical species like Halodule...
Yale E360
Renewables Made Up More Than 90 Percent of New Power Installed Globally Last Year Renewables accounted for 92 percent of new power capacity worldwide last year, a new report...
3 months ago
The Works in...
The value of family Traditional values don't deliver babies
a year ago
The Roots of...
Neither EA nor e/acc is what we need to build the future Over the last few years, effective altruism has gone through a rise-and-fall story arc worthy of any...
a year ago
40
a year ago
Over the last few years, effective altruism has gone through a rise-and-fall story arc worthy of any dramatic tragedy. The pandemic made them look prescient for warning about global catastrophic risks, including biosafety. A masterful book launch put them on the cover of TIME....
Yale E360
A Decade After a Lead Crisis, Flint Has At Last Replaced Its Pipes A decade after Flint, Michigan, was beset by widespread lead contamination, officials confirmed the...
a week ago
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a week ago
A decade after Flint, Michigan, was beset by widespread lead contamination, officials confirmed the city has replaced its lead pipes, as ordered by a federal court. Read more on E360 →
nanoscale views
A Grand Bargain and its chaotic dissolution After World War II, under the influence (direct and indirect) of people like Vannevar Bush, a "grand...
2 months ago
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2 months ago
After World War II, under the influence (direct and indirect) of people like Vannevar Bush, a "grand bargain" was effectively struck between the US government and the nation's universities.  The war had demonstrated how important science and engineering research could be, through...
Quanta Magazine
‘Sensational’ Proof Delivers New Insights Into Prime Numbers The proof creates stricter limits on potential exceptions to the famous Riemann hypothesis. ...
a year ago
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a year ago
The proof creates stricter limits on potential exceptions to the famous Riemann hypothesis. The post ‘Sensational’ Proof Delivers New Insights Into Prime Numbers first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine
The New Quest to Control Evolution Modern scientists aren’t content with predicting how life evolves. They want to shape it. ...
a year ago
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a year ago
Modern scientists aren’t content with predicting how life evolves. They want to shape it. The post The New Quest to Control Evolution first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine
Math Proof Draws New Boundaries Around Black Hole Formation For a half century, mathematicians have tried to define the exact circumstances under which a black...
a year ago
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a year ago
For a half century, mathematicians have tried to define the exact circumstances under which a black hole is destined to exist. A new proof shows how a cube can help answer the question. The post Math Proof Draws New Boundaries Around Black Hole Formation first...
Beautiful Public...
1,000 Photos of Dolphin Fins Scars, scratches and wounds abound in these photos as encounters with unknown creatures and boat...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
Scars, scratches and wounds abound in these photos as encounters with unknown creatures and boat propellers leave their marks, imprinting a story of close escapes and cheating death.
Quanta Magazine
What Is Distributed Computing? Our computers can get a lot more done when they share the load with other machines. The...
7 months ago
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7 months ago
Our computers can get a lot more done when they share the load with other machines. The post What Is Distributed Computing? first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Big Changes Coming | Out-Of-Pocket What's temporary vs. permanent?
a year ago
Out-of-Pocket Blog
AI in healthcare - defensibility, capabilities, and cost reduction | Out-Of-Pocket fine fine I'll write about AI
a year ago
Quanta Magazine
Elliptic Curves Yield Their Secrets in a New Number System Ana Caraiani and James Newton have extended an important result in number theory to the imaginary...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
Ana Caraiani and James Newton have extended an important result in number theory to the imaginary realm. The post Elliptic Curves Yield Their Secrets in a New Number System first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Fitbits, Bundled Payments, and Rollercoasters | Out-Of-Pocket some papers I think are cool
a year ago
Cremieux Recueil
Fertility Policy For Rich Countries A brief proposal to fix Social Security and grow the population
3 months ago
Stephen Wolfram...
Can AI Solve Science? Note: Click any diagram to get Wolfram Language code to reproduce it. Wolfram Language code for...
a year ago
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a year ago
Note: Click any diagram to get Wolfram Language code to reproduce it. Wolfram Language code for training the neural nets used here is also available (requires GPU). Won’t AI Eventually Be Able to Do Everything? Particularly given its recent surprise successes, there’s a somewhat...
Yale E360
Chimps Found Treating Each Other's Wounds Chimpanzees in Uganda were found treating the injuries of other, unrelated chimps, including those...
2 months ago
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2 months ago
Chimpanzees in Uganda were found treating the injuries of other, unrelated chimps, including those caught in hunting snares.  Read more on E360 →
Quanta Magazine
When Did Nature Burst Into Vivid Color? Scientists reconstructed 500 million years of evolutionary history to reveal which came first:...
2 weeks ago
12
2 weeks ago
Scientists reconstructed 500 million years of evolutionary history to reveal which came first: colorful signals or the color vision needed to see them. The post When Did Nature Burst Into Vivid Color? first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NeuroLogica Blog
AI – Is It Time to Panic? I’m really excited about the recent developments in artificial intelligence (AI) and their potential...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
I’m really excited about the recent developments in artificial intelligence (AI) and their potential as powerful tools. I am also concerned about unintended consequences. As with any really powerful tool, there is the potential for abuse and also disruption. But I also think that...
Quanta Magazine
The Poetry Fan Who Taught an LLM to Read and Write DNA By treating DNA as a language, Brian Hie’s “ChatGPT for genomes” could pick up patterns that humans...
5 months ago
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5 months ago
By treating DNA as a language, Brian Hie’s “ChatGPT for genomes” could pick up patterns that humans can’t see, accelerating biological design. The post The Poetry Fan Who Taught an LLM to Read and Write DNA first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NeuroLogica Blog
Bill Gates Backs Nuclear No one ever said that nuclear power is simple or easy. It’s a tricky and expensive technology. But...
a year ago
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a year ago
No one ever said that nuclear power is simple or easy. It’s a tricky and expensive technology. But it also has tremendous potential to create large amounts of reliable green low carbon energy, and many believe that we cannot ignore this potential if we are going to tackle climate...
Yale E360
Saving U.S. Climate and Environmental Data Before It Goes Away Some 2,000 records went missing from government data sets after the Trump administration took office...
4 months ago
2
4 months ago
Some 2,000 records went missing from government data sets after the Trump administration took office in January. Canadian geographer Eric Nost talks about the work he and colleagues are doing to archive data related to climate and the environment while it is still...
Light from Space
The Helping Hand of LDN 1355 LDN 1355 is a dark nebula in Cassiopeia, vaguely in the shape of an outstreched human hand—the dark...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
LDN 1355 is a dark nebula in Cassiopeia, vaguely in the shape of an outstreched human hand—the dark dust obscuring the reflection nebula behind it. Total exposure time: 58h 50' (211,800s) Image resolution: 5,216 × 3,909px (1.924″/px) Shot from my driveway
Yale E360
The ‘Green’ Aviation Fuel That Would Increase Carbon Emissions The U.S. agriculture lobby has long promoted ethanol for cars. If President Trump’s “Big Beautiful...
a month ago
2
a month ago
The U.S. agriculture lobby has long promoted ethanol for cars. If President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” becomes law, the industry would be given tax credits for producing crop-based fuel for planes, too, despite evidence it would spur deforestation and increase emissions. Read...
Light from Space
Vaporwave Crescent Shooting space with a monochrome camera means using various filters—when choosing narrowband filters...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
Shooting space with a monochrome camera means using various filters—when choosing narrowband filters (those with only a few nanometers of bandpass) one can limit the sensor capturing only very specific wavelengths of light, namely the emissions of certain gasses (basically,...
Quanta Magazine
The New Math of How Large-Scale Order Emerges The puzzle of emergence asks how regularities emerge on macro scales out of uncountable constituent...
a year ago
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a year ago
The puzzle of emergence asks how regularities emerge on macro scales out of uncountable constituent parts. A new framework has researchers hopeful that a solution is near. The post The New Math of How Large-Scale Order Emerges first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine
The Thought Experiments That Fray the Fabric of Space-Time These three imagined scenarios lead many physicists to doubt that space-time is fundamental. ...
9 months ago
42
9 months ago
These three imagined scenarios lead many physicists to doubt that space-time is fundamental. The post The Thought Experiments That Fray the Fabric of Space-Time first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine
The Enduring Mystery of How Water Freezes Making ice requires more than subzero temperatures. The unpredictable process takes microscopic...
a year ago
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a year ago
Making ice requires more than subzero temperatures. The unpredictable process takes microscopic scaffolding, random jiggling and often a little bit of bacteria. The post The Enduring Mystery of How Water Freezes first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Probably...
What’s a Chartist? Recently I heard the word “chartist” for the first time in my life (that I recall). And then later...
7 months ago
9
7 months ago
Recently I heard the word “chartist” for the first time in my life (that I recall). And then later the same day, I heard it again. So that raises two questions: To answer the second question first, it’s someone who supported chartism, which was “a working-class movement for...
Quanta Magazine
How ‘Idle’ Egg Cells Defend Their DNA From Damage How do immature egg cells maintain genetic quality for decades before they mature? Scientists find...
a year ago
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a year ago
How do immature egg cells maintain genetic quality for decades before they mature? Scientists find unusual safeguards in this quiescent cell that may inform research into fertility. The post How ‘Idle’ Egg Cells Defend Their DNA From Damage first appeared on Quanta...
Wanderingspace
OSIRIS-REX Leaves Bennu The OSIRIS-REX mission in on a two year trajectory back to Earth after capturing fragments of the...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
The OSIRIS-REX mission in on a two year trajectory back to Earth after capturing fragments of the near Earth asteroid Bennu after successfully executing a sample touchdown last fall. [LINK] The sampling of of the asteroid’s surface is shown above.
Quanta Magazine
The Year in Math Landmark results in geometry and number theory marked an exciting year for mathematics, at a time...
7 months ago
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7 months ago
Landmark results in geometry and number theory marked an exciting year for mathematics, at a time when advances in artificial intelligence are starting to transform the subject’s future. The post The Year in Math first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Uncharted...
6 Questions You Asked Yourself about Solar How fast will it take over, how fast are costs shrinking, why is it so cheap, what industries will...
8 months ago
33
8 months ago
How fast will it take over, how fast are costs shrinking, why is it so cheap, what industries will it birth, how much surface will it take up, where will it appear first?
Tikalon Blog by Dev...
Green Ammonia Ammonia is an important industrial chemical with an estimated worldwide production exceeding 150...
11 months ago
18
11 months ago
Ammonia is an important industrial chemical with an estimated worldwide production exceeding 150 million metric tons. About 70% of ammonia is used to make nitrate fertilizers. Unfortunately, the production of ammonia is energy and it's a major source of carbon dioxide emission. ...
Casey Handmer's blog
Solar and batteries for generic use cases A brief note on using solar and batteries as generic power sources. Over the last few years of work...
8 months ago
42
8 months ago
A brief note on using solar and batteries as generic power sources. Over the last few years of work at Terraform Industries, we’ve developed several useful heuristics to understand how rapid progress in solar and battery costs will change industry. This includes the bifurcation...
Yale E360
U.S. Support and New Investments Buoy Hopes for Marine Energy Producing energy from waves and tides has a stop-and-start history. But with a new U.S. testing site...
6 months ago
2
6 months ago
Producing energy from waves and tides has a stop-and-start history. But with a new U.S. testing site opening in 2026, recent federal investment, and accelerating efforts to reach net zero emissions, developers aiming to harness the vast power of the sea are feeling...
Yale E360
In Vermont, a Push to Prevent Flooding or Get Out of the Way An increase in extreme precipitation events has hit the tiny, mountainous state of Vermont...
5 months ago
1
5 months ago
An increase in extreme precipitation events has hit the tiny, mountainous state of Vermont especially hard. As disaster declarations mount, state officials and community groups are collaborating to restore floodplains, reduce runoff from slopes, and buy out vulnerable...
IEEE Spectrum
Smalltalk Blew Steve Jobs’s Mind Late in 1979, Steve Jobs and other colleagues from Apple visited the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center...
over a year ago
42
over a year ago
Late in 1979, Steve Jobs and other colleagues from Apple visited the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). There they were introduced to the experimental Alto computer and the Smalltalk language and computing environment, developed by Alan Kay’s Learning Research Group....
Yale E360
Severe Cold Spells May Persist Because of Warming, Not in Spite of It Huge swaths of North America are facing subfreezing temperatures this week as cold Arctic air pushes...
6 months ago
6
6 months ago
Huge swaths of North America are facing subfreezing temperatures this week as cold Arctic air pushes southward. Paradoxically, such cold spells may persist or even become more common as the planet warms, scientists say. Read more on E360 →
Asterisk
How Long Til We’re All on Ozempic? Over 100 million Americans, and possibly many more, could benefit from GLP-1 drugs. When can they...
a year ago
21
a year ago
Over 100 million Americans, and possibly many more, could benefit from GLP-1 drugs. When can they expect to get them?
Quanta Magazine
Is Gravity Just Entropy Rising? Long-Shot Idea Gets Another Look. A new argument explores how the growth of disorder could cause massive objects to move toward one...
a month ago
24
a month ago
A new argument explores how the growth of disorder could cause massive objects to move toward one another. Physicists are both interested and skeptical. The post Is Gravity Just Entropy Rising? Long-Shot Idea Gets Another Look. first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NeuroLogica Blog
New Material for Nanoconductors One of the things I have come to understand from following technology news for decades is that...
6 months ago
51
6 months ago
One of the things I have come to understand from following technology news for decades is that perhaps the most important breakthroughs, and often the least appreciated, are those in material science. We can get better at engineering and making stuff out of the materials we have,...
Cremieux Recueil
Lessons About the Civil Service and Political Appointees What does history tell us about how the executive branch can run the government?
5 months ago
Quanta Magazine
Math That Lets You Think Locally but Act Globally Knowing a little about the local connections on flight maps and other networks can reveal a lot...
a year ago
31
a year ago
Knowing a little about the local connections on flight maps and other networks can reveal a lot about a system’s global structure. The post Math That Lets You Think Locally but Act Globally first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NeuroLogica Blog
The Superconductor Flap of 2023 If you are at all interested in science and technology news, you have probably heard that a team...
a year ago
20
a year ago
If you are at all interested in science and technology news, you have probably heard that a team from South Korea claims to have developed a material that is a superconductor at room temperature and ambient pressure. Interestingly, if you are someone who does not follow such...
Quanta Magazine
Secret Messages Can Hide in AI-Generated Media In steganography, an ordinary message masks the presence of a secret communication. Humans can never...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
In steganography, an ordinary message masks the presence of a secret communication. Humans can never do it perfectly, but a new study shows it’s possible for machines. The post Secret Messages Can Hide in AI-Generated Media first appeared on Quanta Magazine
SubAnima
The Problem With Richard Dawkins How should we view The Selfish Gene 50 years on?
over a year ago
IEEE Spectrum
Taking the Measure of the Earthquake That Destroyed Tokyo At 11:58 am on Saturday, 1 September 1923, the Kanto region of Japan started to shake. The...
a year ago
33
a year ago
At 11:58 am on Saturday, 1 September 1923, the Kanto region of Japan started to shake. The earthquake began with a violent horizontal back-and-forth motion, followed by two vertical jolts, and then another horizontal shock even stronger than the first. The intensity of the tremor...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Announcing the Out-Of-Pocket Job Board! | Out-Of-Pocket Recruiting a ton? Get your healthcare jobs in front of the right people
a year ago
NeuroLogica Blog
Converting CO2 to Carbon Nanofibers One of the dreams of a green economy where the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is stable, and not...
a year ago
38
a year ago
One of the dreams of a green economy where the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is stable, and not slowly increasing, is the ability to draw CO2 from the atmosphere and convert it to a solid form. Often referred to as carbon capture, some form of this is going to be necessary...
IEEE Spectrum
This Little Mars Rover Stayed Home Sojourner sent back photos of the Martian surface during the summer of 1997. I was not alone. The...
a month ago
15
a month ago
Sojourner sent back photos of the Martian surface during the summer of 1997. I was not alone. The servers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab slowed to a crawl when they got more than 47 million hits (a record number!) from people attempting to download those early images of the Red...
IEEE Spectrum
50 Years Later, This Apollo-Era Antenna Still Talks to Voyager 2 For more than 50 years, Deep Space Station 43 has been an invaluable tool for space probes as they...
a year ago
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a year ago
For more than 50 years, Deep Space Station 43 has been an invaluable tool for space probes as they explore our solar system and push into the beyond. The DSS-43 radio antenna, located at the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex, near Canberra, Australia, keeps open the line...
Blog - Practical...
Why Railroads Don't Need Expansion Joints [Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] One of the most common...
a year ago
67
a year ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] One of the most common attributes folks imagine when they think of trains is the clickety-clack sound they make as they roll down the tracks. The thing is, most trains don’t make that sound anymore. Or really,...
Quanta Magazine
The Year in Physics Physicists discovered strange supersolids, constructed new kinds of superconductors, and continued...
7 months ago
94
7 months ago
Physicists discovered strange supersolids, constructed new kinds of superconductors, and continued to make the case that the cosmos is far weirder than anyone suspected. The post The Year in Physics first appeared on Quanta Magazine
symmetry magazine
Is dark matter the most powerful wave in the universe? Dark matter could consist of particles so ultralight, they behave more like waves.  ...
over a year ago
50
over a year ago
Dark matter could consist of particles so ultralight, they behave more like waves.  Although the motions of galaxies provide evidence that dark matter exists, scientists have yet to directly detect the invisible stuff, or figure out what it could be made...
The Works in...
Notes on Progress: In pursuit of decent coffee No great stagnation in home espresso
over a year ago
Quanta Magazine
RNA Is the Cell’s Emergency Alert System How does a cell know when it’s been damaged? A molecular alarm, set off by mutated RNA and colliding...
yesterday
4
yesterday
How does a cell know when it’s been damaged? A molecular alarm, set off by mutated RNA and colliding ribosomes, signals danger. The post RNA Is the Cell’s Emergency Alert System first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Yale E360
China's Disastrous Summer Floods Linked to Unusually Warm Spring in Tibet A new study links devastating summer floods in southern China to unusually warm spring weather over...
5 months ago
2
5 months ago
A new study links devastating summer floods in southern China to unusually warm spring weather over the Tibetan plateau. Read more on E360 →
Quanta Magazine
In a ‘Dark Dimension,’ Physicists Search for the Universe’s Missing Matter An idea derived from string theory suggests that dark matter is hiding in a (relatively) large extra...
a year ago
98
a year ago
An idea derived from string theory suggests that dark matter is hiding in a (relatively) large extra dimension. The theory makes testable predictions that physicists are investigating now. The post In a ‘Dark Dimension,’ Physicists Search for the Universe’s Missing...
Yale E360
Facing High Tariffs in U.S., Chinese Solar Flows to Poorer Countries Facing high tariffs in the U.S. and Europe, Chinese solar and battery companies have been selling a...
2 months ago
9
2 months ago
Facing high tariffs in the U.S. and Europe, Chinese solar and battery companies have been selling a growing share of their products to poorer countries, a new analysis finds. Read more on E360 →
Out-of-Pocket Blog
All of the main problems with US healthcare | Out-Of-Pocket let's get all of our problems out on the table
a year ago
Quanta Magazine
Tiny Tweaks to Neurons Can Rewire Animal Motion Altering a protein in the neurons that coordinate a rattlesnake’s movement made a slow slither...
a year ago
42
a year ago
Altering a protein in the neurons that coordinate a rattlesnake’s movement made a slow slither neuron more like a speedy rattle neuron, showing one way evolution can generate new ways of moving. The post Tiny Tweaks to Neurons Can Rewire Animal Motion first appeared...
Explorations of an...
A Quest Nature Tour To Borneo: Tabin Wildlife Reserve And Danum Valley We left the Kinabatangan River behind and transferred to our next destination, the Tabin Wildlife...
7 months ago
18
7 months ago
We left the Kinabatangan River behind and transferred to our next destination, the Tabin Wildlife Reserve. This is the largest swath of protected forest; an area of lowland primary and logged forest that is home to iconic species like the Bornean Pygmy Elephant, the Sun Bear and...
IEEE Spectrum
How Engineers at Digital Equipment Corp. Saved Ethernet I’ve enjoyed reading magazine articles about Ethernet’s 50th anniversary, including one in the The...
a year ago
98
a year ago
I’ve enjoyed reading magazine articles about Ethernet’s 50th anniversary, including one in the The Institute. Invented by computer scientists Robert Metcalfe and David Boggs, Ethernet has been extraordinarily impactful. Metcalfe, an IEEE Fellow, received the 1996 IEEE Medal of...
Asterisk
Why We Have Prison Gangs America’s prison gangs first emerged in the late 1950s. Why did they form? What keeps them going?...
8 months ago
18
8 months ago
America’s prison gangs first emerged in the late 1950s. Why did they form? What keeps them going? And how do they govern themselves?
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Canvas: A Bet On New EMRs | Out-Of-Pocket what if EMRs didn't totally suck?
a year ago
Asterisk
Crash Testing GPT-4 Can we tell if an AI model is safe before it’s released? The group that tested GPT–4 is trying to...
over a year ago
17
over a year ago
Can we tell if an AI model is safe before it’s released? The group that tested GPT–4 is trying to figure out how.
Quanta Magazine
The Mysterious Flow of Fluid in the Brain A popular hypothesis for how the brain clears molecular waste, which may help explain why sleep...
3 months ago
42
3 months ago
A popular hypothesis for how the brain clears molecular waste, which may help explain why sleep feels refreshing, is a subject of debate. The post The Mysterious Flow of Fluid in the Brain first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Quantum Frontiers
Announcing the quantum-steampunk creative-writing course! Why not run a quantum-steampunk creative-writing course? Quantum steampunk, as Quantum Frontiers...
9 months ago
83
9 months ago
Why not run a quantum-steampunk creative-writing course? Quantum steampunk, as Quantum Frontiers regulars know, is the aesthetic and spirit of a growing scientific field. Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction. In it, futuristic technologies invade Victorian-era settings:...
Wanderingspace
New View of IO from JUNO! From processor Ted Styrk, “The Juno Jupiter orbiter flew by Io, Jupiter's super-volcanic moon, on...
a year ago
84
a year ago
From processor Ted Styrk, “The Juno Jupiter orbiter flew by Io, Jupiter's super-volcanic moon, on May 16, returning arguably the best imagery of the moon since the Galileo Orbiter around the beginning of this century. Definitely the best since New Horizons in 2006.”
Yale E360
Environmental Enforcement Slows Under Trump Federal enforcement of environmental laws has slowed significantly under President Trump. Read more...
2 months ago
3
2 months ago
Federal enforcement of environmental laws has slowed significantly under President Trump. Read more on E360 →
Andrew Fraknoi –...
Celebrating the Centennial of Galaxies January 1 2025 On January 1, 1925, at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Washington, DC, astronomer...
6 months ago
77
6 months ago
On January 1, 1925, at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Washington, DC, astronomer Henry N. Russell read a paper contributed by a young astronomer named Edwin Hubble (who was too junior to earn a trip across the country from the California observatory where he...
Quanta Magazine
A New Pyramid-Like Shape Always Lands the Same Side Up A tetrahedron is the simplest Platonic solid. Mathematicians have now made one that’s stable only on...
2 weeks ago
14
2 weeks ago
A tetrahedron is the simplest Platonic solid. Mathematicians have now made one that’s stable only on one side, confirming a decades-old conjecture. The post A New Pyramid-Like Shape Always Lands the Same Side Up first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Melting Asphalt
Going Critical Background: This is an interactive blog post. I wanted to host it here, but don't know how to make...
over a year ago
28
over a year ago
Background: This is an interactive blog post. I wanted to host it here, but don't know how to make it play nice with WordPress. So I decided to host it on another part of the site instead. Click here for… Read more ›
nanoscale views
Seeing through tissue and Kramers-Kronig There is a paper in Science this week that is just a great piece of work.  The authors find that by...
10 months ago
12
10 months ago
There is a paper in Science this week that is just a great piece of work.  The authors find that by dyeing living tissue with a particular biocompatible dye molecule, they can make that tissue effectively transparent, so you can see through it.  The paper includes images (and...
Yale E360
How Tearing Down Small Dams Is Helping Restore Northeast Rivers More than 30,000 small dams currently block river tributaries from Maine to Maryland. New...
5 months ago
2
5 months ago
More than 30,000 small dams currently block river tributaries from Maine to Maryland. New initiatives to remove them are aimed at restoring natural flows, improving habitat for aquatic life, and reopening thousands of river miles to migratory fish, from shad to American...
Blog - Practical...
When Natural Gas Had No Smell [Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] Excitement and hope permeated...
12 months ago
103
12 months ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] Excitement and hope permeated the crowds gathered in a dusty farm carved from the piney woods in east Texas. The rumor was that Columbus Joiner had struck oil. At 70 years old, Joiner had already won and lost...
Yale E360
In Europe, Solar Power Overtakes Coal For the first time in the EU, solar supplied more power than coal did last year, a new analysis...
5 months ago
1
5 months ago
For the first time in the EU, solar supplied more power than coal did last year, a new analysis finds. Read more on E360 →
nanoscale views
What is multiferroicity? (A post summarizing recent US science-related events will be coming later.  For now, here is my...
3 months ago
29
3 months ago
(A post summarizing recent US science-related events will be coming later.  For now, here is my promised post about multiferroics, inspired in part by a recent visit to Rice by Yoshi Tokura.) Electrons carry spins and therefore magnetic moments (that is, they can act in some ways...
Yale E360
Head of African Bank Warns of 'Carbon Grabs' by Foreign Firms Akinwumi Adesina, outgoing president of the African Development Bank, is warning that foreign firms...
3 months ago
6
3 months ago
Akinwumi Adesina, outgoing president of the African Development Bank, is warning that foreign firms are underpaying for carbon credits from African forests. Read more on E360 →
Yale E360
To Breed Heat-Proof Cows, Nigerian Farmers Source Brazilian Bull Genes As the planet warms, Nigerian farmers are looking to breed cattle that can take the heat, importing...
5 months ago
2
5 months ago
As the planet warms, Nigerian farmers are looking to breed cattle that can take the heat, importing semen from a Brazilian breed suited to balmy tropical weather. Read more on E360 →
Yale E360
Russia's War Is Driving Up Emissions by Forcing Planes to Reroute Since war broke out in Ukraine, Western airlines have been charting longer routes to avoid flying...
5 months ago
6
5 months ago
Since war broke out in Ukraine, Western airlines have been charting longer routes to avoid flying over Russia, with a discernible impact on emissions. Read more on E360 →
symmetry magazine
What the Higgs boson tells us about the universe The Higgs boson is the only fundamental particle known to be scalar, meaning it has no quantum spin....
over a year ago
44
over a year ago
The Higgs boson is the only fundamental particle known to be scalar, meaning it has no quantum spin. This fact answers questions about our universe, but it also raises new ones. When it was first discovered in 2012, the Higgs boson captured the popular...
NeuroLogica Blog
Some Climate Change Trends and Thoughts Climate change is a challenging issue on multiple levels – it’s challenging for scientists to...
7 months ago
67
7 months ago
Climate change is a challenging issue on multiple levels – it’s challenging for scientists to understand all of the complexities of a changing climate, it’s difficult to know how to optimally communicate to the public about climate change, and of course we face an enormous...
Yale E360
Planned EV Battery Plant Threatens Uncontacted Tribe in Indonesia A planned EV battery factory in Indonesia poses a grave threat to an uncontacted tribe, a watchdog...
2 weeks ago
9
2 weeks ago
A planned EV battery factory in Indonesia poses a grave threat to an uncontacted tribe, a watchdog group warns. Read more on E360 →
Yale E360
Cuts to U.S. Climate Aid Will Leave Large Gap in Global Funding The U.S. provides nearly a tenth of all climate finance globally, a well of funding that is at risk...
4 months ago
2
4 months ago
The U.S. provides nearly a tenth of all climate finance globally, a well of funding that is at risk of drying up as the Trump administration takes aim at overseas spending. Read more on E360 →
Uncharted...
The Players of the Syrian Chessboard What will Israel, Russia, Turkey, the Kurds, Europe, and Lebanon do?
7 months ago
SubAnima
The Forgotten Piece of Evolutionary Theory What if we took the 'struggle for life' seriously again?
a year ago
Quanta Magazine
The Mystery of the Missing Multicellular Prokaryotes Why have bacteria never evolved complex multicellularity? A new hypothesis suggests that it could...
a year ago
71
a year ago
Why have bacteria never evolved complex multicellularity? A new hypothesis suggests that it could come down to how prokaryotic genomes respond to a small population size. The post The Mystery of the Missing Multicellular Prokaryotes first appeared on Quanta...
NeuroLogica Blog
A Bit of Energy Pseudoscience Remember the 1980 film, The Formula? Probably not, because it was a mediocre film that did not age...
a year ago
28
a year ago
Remember the 1980 film, The Formula? Probably not, because it was a mediocre film that did not age well. The basic plot is that Nazi chemists during WWII developed a formula for synthetic gasoline. A detective investigating a murder gets embroiled in a conspiracy to cover up the...
The Roots of...
What I’ve been reading, September 2023 A quasi-monthly feature. Recent blog posts and news stories are generally omitted; you can find them...
a year ago
300
a year ago
A quasi-monthly feature. Recent blog posts and news stories are generally omitted; you can find them in my links digests. I’ve been busy helping to choose the first cohort of our blogging fellowship, so my reading has been relatively light. All emphasis in bold in the quotes...
Yale E360
Britain Sees Sunniest Spring on Record This spring was the warmest and sunniest on record in the U.K., a symptom of a rapidly warming...
a month ago
3
a month ago
This spring was the warmest and sunniest on record in the U.K., a symptom of a rapidly warming climate, weather officials say. Read more on E360 →
Asterisk
Growing Up Overnight A look at the past few years of LLM progress.
over a year ago
Quanta Magazine
How Genetic Surprises Complicate the Old Doctrine of DNA For over a century, biologists have had to contend with a complicated picture of genetics, which...
a year ago
20
a year ago
For over a century, biologists have had to contend with a complicated picture of genetics, which they’ve only recently begun to understand. The post How Genetic Surprises Complicate the Old Doctrine of DNA first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Quick Hinge Health S-1 Thoughts | Out-Of-Pocket This episode of Out-Of-Pocket is brought to you by…
3 months ago
Quanta Magazine
Selfish, Virus-Like DNA Can Carry Genes Between Species Genetic elements called Mavericks that have some viral features could be responsible for the...
a year ago
22
a year ago
Genetic elements called Mavericks that have some viral features could be responsible for the large-scale smuggling of DNA between species. The post Selfish, Virus-Like DNA Can Carry Genes Between Species first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Announcing…our next event this fall!!! And other fun stuff!! | Out-Of-Pocket Calling all the builders
4 days ago
Yale E360
Cuts to U.S. Climate Aid Will Leave Large Gap in Global Funding The U.S. provides nearly a tenth of all climate finance globally, a well of funding that is at risk...
4 months ago
2
4 months ago
The U.S. provides nearly a tenth of all climate finance globally, a well of funding that is at risk of drying up as the Trump administration takes aim at overseas spending. Read more on E360 →
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Clinical Pharmacists, Generative AI, and InpharmD | Out-Of-Pocket Going under the hood of a generative AI product
a year ago
NeuroLogica Blog
Marmosets Call Each Other By Name Humans identify and call each other by specific names. So far this advanced cognitive behavior has...
10 months ago
64
10 months ago
Humans identify and call each other by specific names. So far this advanced cognitive behavior has only been identified in a few other species, dolphins, elephants, and some parrots. Interestingly, it has never been documented in our closest relatives, non-human primates – that...
NeuroLogica Blog
Some Future Tech Possibilities It’s difficult to pick winners and losers in the future tech game. In reality you just have to see...
a year ago
38
a year ago
It’s difficult to pick winners and losers in the future tech game. In reality you just have to see what happens when you try out a new technology in the real world with actual people. Many technologies that look good on paper run into logistical problems, difficulty scaling, fall...
IEEE Spectrum
The Lost Story of Alan Turing’s Secret “Delilah” Project It was 8 May 1945, Victory in Europe Day. With the German military’s unconditional surrender, the...
5 months ago
42
5 months ago
It was 8 May 1945, Victory in Europe Day. With the German military’s unconditional surrender, the European part of World War II came to an end. Alan Turing and his assistant Donald Bayley celebrated victory in their quiet English way, by taking a long walk together. They had been...