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NeuroLogica Blog
Diamond Batteries Again Why does news reporting of science and technology have to be so terrible at baseline? I know the...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
Why does news reporting of science and technology have to be so terrible at baseline? I know the answers to this question – lack of expertise, lack of a business model to support dedicated science news infrastructure, the desire for click-bait and sensationalism – but it is still...
Yale e360
A Win for Farmers and Tribes Brings New Hope to the Klamath In the long-contentious Klamath River watershed, an experiment that turned a barley field into a...
2 weeks ago
7
2 weeks ago
In the long-contentious Klamath River watershed, an experiment that turned a barley field into a wetland not only improved water quality. It also offered a path forward for restoring populations of two endangered fish species that are of cultural importance to Native tribes. Read...
pcloadletter
Impact-based performance evaluation in big tech is terrible My theory is that some performance consultants got paid a lot of money one day for a single word:...
a year ago
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a year ago
My theory is that some performance consultants got paid a lot of money one day for a single word: "impact." If you have worked in big tech, you're probably all too familiar with this word because your annual performance evaluations are based on your impact. As an employee,...
Stephen Wolfram...
What’s Really Going On in Machine Learning? Some Minimal Models The Mystery of Machine Learning It’s surprising how little is known about the foundations of machine...
10 months ago
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10 months ago
The Mystery of Machine Learning It’s surprising how little is known about the foundations of machine learning. Yes, from an engineering point of view, an immense amount has been figured out about how to build neural nets that do all kinds of impressive and sometimes almost...
Quanta Magazine
A New Experiment Casts Doubt on the Leading Theory of the Nucleus By measuring inflated helium nuclei, physicists have challenged our best understanding of the force...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
By measuring inflated helium nuclei, physicists have challenged our best understanding of the force that binds protons and neutrons. The post A New Experiment Casts Doubt on the Leading Theory of the Nucleus first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Blog - Practical...
HEAVY CONSTRUCTION of a Sewage Pump Station - Ep 1 Check out our new series! This is the first episode of a five-part pilot series to gauge your...
a year ago
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a year ago
Check out our new series! This is the first episode of a five-part pilot series to gauge your interest in "How It's Made"-esque heavy construction videos. Drop a comment or send me an email to let me know what you think! Watch on YouTube above or ad-free on Nebula here.
nanoscale views
Science slow down - not a simple question I participated in a program about 15 years ago that looked at science and technology challenges...
4 days ago
3
4 days ago
I participated in a program about 15 years ago that looked at science and technology challenges faced by a subset of the US government. I came away thinking that such problems fall into three broad categories. Actual science and engineering challenges, which require...
Yale e360
Growing Risk of 'Thirstwaves' as the Planet Warms The atmosphere is getting thirstier. A new study finds that warming is leading to more frequent...
2 months ago
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2 months ago
The atmosphere is getting thirstier. A new study finds that warming is leading to more frequent bouts of hot, dry weather that cause soils to lose large volumes of water to evaporation. Read more on E360 →
The Roots of...
Event, Feb 29: “Towards a New Philosophy of Progress” in Boston and on Zoom On Thursday, February 29, I’ll be giving my talk “Towards a New Philosophy of Progress” to the New...
a year ago
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a year ago
On Thursday, February 29, I’ll be giving my talk “Towards a New Philosophy of Progress” to the New England Legal Foundation, for their Economic Liberty Speaker Series. The talk will be held over breakfast at NELF’s offices in Boston, and will also be livestreamed over Zoom. See...
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...
3 weeks ago
1
3 weeks 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...
NeuroLogica Blog
Latest Gallup Creationism Poll Surveys are always tricky because how you ask a question can have a dramatic impact on how people...
11 months ago
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11 months ago
Surveys are always tricky because how you ask a question can have a dramatic impact on how people answer. But it is useful to ask the exact same question over a long period of time, because that can indicate how public attitudes are changing. This is one of the benefits of...
IEEE Spectrum
The Cold War Arms Race Over Prosthetic Arms In 1961, Norbert Wiener, the father of cybernetics, broke his hip and wound up in Massachusetts...
a year ago
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a year ago
In 1961, Norbert Wiener, the father of cybernetics, broke his hip and wound up in Massachusetts General Hospital. Wiener’s bad luck turned into fruitful conversations with his orthopedic surgeon, Melvin Glimcher. Those talks in turn led to a collaboration and an invention: the...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Six Stages Of Health Tech Grief Pt. 1 | Out-Of-Pocket we should pay people to be healthy + building a new EMR
a year ago
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...
3 months ago
1
3 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...
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
Yale e360
Whiplash: How Big Swings in Precipitation Fueled the L.A. Fires Climate scientist Daniel Swain says that two very wet years followed by a very dry one helped to...
5 months ago
4
5 months ago
Climate scientist Daniel Swain says that two very wet years followed by a very dry one helped to turn the Los Angeles wildfires into raging infernos. This phenomenon of “hydroclimate whiplash,” he says, is expected to occur in more and more places as the world warms. Read more...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
2022 Healthcare Predictions | Out-Of-Pocket Nikstradamus strikes again
a year ago
Quanta Magazine
An Old Conjecture Falls, Making Spheres a Lot More Complicated The telescope conjecture gave mathematicians a handle on ways to map one sphere to another. Now that...
a year ago
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a year ago
The telescope conjecture gave mathematicians a handle on ways to map one sphere to another. Now that it has been disproved, the universe of shapes has exploded. The post An Old Conjecture Falls, Making Spheres a Lot More Complicated first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Yale e360
Cambodian Forest Defenders at Risk for Exposing Illegal Logging The lush forests that have long sustained Cambodia’s Indigenous people have steadily fallen to...
a month ago
1
a month ago
The lush forests that have long sustained Cambodia’s Indigenous people have steadily fallen to illicit logging. Now, community members face intimidation and risk arrest as they patrol their forests to document the losses and try to push the government to stop the cutting. Read...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Time Toxicity - A Real-World Example | Out-Of-Pocket Being sick is already annoying, now I gotta spend time on the phone???
a year ago
Yale e360
A Craze for Tiny Plants Is Driving a Poaching Crisis in South Africa South Africa’s Succulent Karoo is the most biodiverse arid region on the planet, with thousands of...
3 months ago
1
3 months ago
South Africa’s Succulent Karoo is the most biodiverse arid region on the planet, with thousands of plants found nowhere else. But to meet a demand fueled by social media, criminal networks have been poaching these colorful succulents by the millions and smuggling them...
Eukaryote Writes...
Will the growing deer prion epidemic spread to humans? Why not? If a fatal neurological virus were spreading across deer in the US, and showed up in cooked infected...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
If a fatal neurological virus were spreading across deer in the US, and showed up in cooked infected meat, my default assumption would be “we're in danger.” But a prion isn’t a virus. Why does that matter?
Yale e360
How a Former Herder Protected Mongolia's Vast Grasslands Batmunkh Luvsandash has fought to protect more than a million acres of steppe lands in his native...
2 months ago
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2 months ago
Batmunkh Luvsandash has fought to protect more than a million acres of steppe lands in his native Mongolia. In an interview with Yale Environment 360, he explains how, by drawing on the knowledge of local herders, he was able to take on the powerful mining industry and win. Read...
ToughSF
Advanced Solar Energy in Space: Part II In this post, we continue looking at high power density options for solar energy. Brayton...
over a year ago
12
over a year ago
In this post, we continue looking at high power density options for solar energy. Brayton cycle We commonly see the Brayton cycle used to convert heat into work in jet engines and the steam turbines of power plants. There are three main components: a compressor, a heat...
Blog - Practical...
How Sewage Recycling Works [Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] Wichita Falls, Texas, went...
2 weeks ago
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2 weeks ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] Wichita Falls, Texas, went through the worst drought in its history in 2011 and 2012. For two years in a row, the area saw its average annual rainfall roughly cut in half, decimating the levels in the three...
IEEE Spectrum
Why L. Ron Hubbard Patented His E-Meter zombie mysteries, historical fiction, pirate adventure tales, and westerns. science fiction. The...
a year ago
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a year ago
zombie mysteries, historical fiction, pirate adventure tales, and westerns. science fiction. The publishers of Astounding Science Fiction approached Hubbard to write stories that focused on people, rather than robots and machines. His first story, “The Dangerous Dimension,” was...
Sean Carroll
New Course: The Many Hidden Worlds of Quantum Mechanics In past years I’ve done several courses for The Great Courses/Wondrium (formerly The Teaching...
a year ago
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a year ago
In past years I’ve done several courses for The Great Courses/Wondrium (formerly The Teaching Company): Dark Matter and Dark Energy, Mysteries of Modern Physics:Time, and The Higgs Boson and Beyond. Now I’m happy to announce a new one, The Many Hidden Worlds of Quantum Mechanics....
IEEE Spectrum
When IBM Built a War Room for Executives Computer History Museum’s collection has a biography of sorts—a life before CHM, a tale about how it...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
Computer History Museum’s collection has a biography of sorts—a life before CHM, a tale about how it came to us, and a life within the museum. The chapters of that biography include the uses made of it, and the historical and interpretive stories it can be made to tell. This then...
NeuroLogica Blog
Will AI Make Work Redundant? Artificial Intelligence (AI) is coming for your job. This, at least, is increasingly conventional...
a year ago
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a year ago
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is coming for your job. This, at least, is increasingly conventional wisdom, but I’m not so sure. In a recent interview, Elon Musk predicted that AI would “make paid work redundant.” I encountered the same opinion watching the latest season of...
Quanta Magazine
Will Better Superconductors Transform the World? Scientists are pursuing materials that can conduct electricity with perfect efficiency under ambient...
a year ago
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a year ago
Scientists are pursuing materials that can conduct electricity with perfect efficiency under ambient conditions. In this episode, the physicist Siddharth Shanker Saxena tells co-host Janna Levin about what makes this hunt so difficult and consequential. The post Will...
symmetry magazine
CERN opens Science Gateway About 1,400 people attended the grand opening of CERN’s new science education center.
a year ago
NeuroLogica Blog
AI Video Recently OpenAI launched a website showcasing their latest AI application, Sora. This app, based on...
a year ago
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a year ago
Recently OpenAI launched a website showcasing their latest AI application, Sora. This app, based on prompts similar to what you would use for ChatGPT or the image creation applications, like Midjourney or Dalle-2, creates a one minute photorealistic video without sound. Take a...
Quanta Magazine
An Easy-Sounding Problem Yields Numbers Too Big for Our Universe Researchers prove that navigating certain systems of vectors is among the most complex computational...
a year ago
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a year ago
Researchers prove that navigating certain systems of vectors is among the most complex computational problems. The post An Easy-Sounding Problem Yields Numbers Too Big for Our Universe first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Blog - Practical...
How Different Spillway Gates Work [Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] In the heart of Minneapolis,...
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 the heart of Minneapolis, Minnesota on the Mississippi River is the picturesque Upper Saint Anthony Falls Lock and Dam, which originally made it possible to travel upstream on the river past the falls...
Yale e360
As War Halts, the Environmental Devastation in Gaza Runs Deep The war in Gaza has taken a heavy toll on the environment, with water supplies contaminated, raw...
4 months ago
4
4 months ago
The war in Gaza has taken a heavy toll on the environment, with water supplies contaminated, raw sewage pouring into the Mediterranean, once-fertile soils ruined, and the land stripped of trees. Experts say the extent of the damage needs to be tallied to help plan for a...
Quanta Magazine
The Most Important Machine That Was Never Built When he invented Turing machines in 1936, Alan Turing also invented modern computing. ...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
When he invented Turing machines in 1936, Alan Turing also invented modern computing. The post The Most Important Machine That Was Never Built first appeared on Quanta Magazine
symmetry magazine
Searching for the matter that hides its shine Just because matter is visible doesn’t mean it’s easy to see.
over a year ago
Out-of-Pocket Blog
What Do Hospitals Care About? | Out-Of-Pocket Let’s look at three big priorities and a real hospital
4 months ago
Quanta Magazine
The Core of Fermat’s Last Theorem Just Got Superpowered By extending the scope of the key insight behind Fermat’s Last Theorem, four mathematicians have...
a month ago
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a month ago
By extending the scope of the key insight behind Fermat’s Last Theorem, four mathematicians have made great strides toward building a “grand unified theory” of math. The post The Core of Fermat’s Last Theorem Just Got Superpowered first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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
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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 →
Quanta Magazine
Math That Goes On Forever but Never Repeats Simple math can help explain the complexities of the newly discovered aperiodic monotile. ...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
Simple math can help explain the complexities of the newly discovered aperiodic monotile. The post Math That Goes On Forever but Never Repeats first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NeuroLogica Blog
Where Are All the Dwarf Planets? In 2006 (yes, it was that long ago – yikes) the International Astronomical Union (IAU) officially...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
In 2006 (yes, it was that long ago – yikes) the International Astronomical Union (IAU) officially adopted the definition of dwarf planet – they are large enough for their gravity to pull themselves into a sphere, they orbit the sun and not another larger body, but they don’t...
Damn Interesting
The Traveler and His Baggage On 19 May 1943, a news report from Berlin deepened the already dreary gloom that clung to the people...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
On 19 May 1943, a news report from Berlin deepened the already dreary gloom that clung to the people of Nazi-occupied Paris. Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels proudly announced to the world that the German capital of Berlin was officially judenfrei–free of all Jews. As this...
Damn Interesting
The Ancient Order of Bali In the 1970s, the Indonesian island of Bali went through a period of rapid change. Along the...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
In the 1970s, the Indonesian island of Bali went through a period of rapid change. Along the stunning beaches on the southern side of the island, tourism boomed. Parking lots were put up, together with swinging hot spots and hotels of various colours. Hip young travellers from...
Casey Handmer's blog
Why am I searched every time I go to Australia? The Australian Border Force won’t stop searching me and my personal devices when I visit Australia....
2 months ago
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2 months ago
The Australian Border Force won’t stop searching me and my personal devices when I visit Australia. Despite being an Australian citizen, under Australian law, I have zero recourse to this continued flagrant invasion of my privacy. After two years of harassment I am publicizing...
Quanta Magazine
Physicists Create Elusive Particles That Remember Their Pasts In two landmark experiments, researchers used quantum processors to engineer exotic particles that...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
In two landmark experiments, researchers used quantum processors to engineer exotic particles that have captivated physicists for decades. The work is a step toward crash-proof quantum computers. The post Physicists Create Elusive Particles That Remember Their Pasts...
Quanta Magazine
The Physical Process That Powers a New Type of Generative AI Some modern image generators rely on the principles of diffusion to create images. Alternatives...
a year ago
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a year ago
Some modern image generators rely on the principles of diffusion to create images. Alternatives based on the process behind the distribution of charged particles may yield even better results. The post The Physical Process That Powers a New Type of Generative AI first...
The Works in...
NIMBYism and how to resolve it A diagnosis and a solution.
a month ago
NeuroLogica Blog
Is Mars the New Frontier? In the excellent sci fi show, The Expanse, which takes place a couple hundred years in the future,...
a year ago
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a year ago
In the excellent sci fi show, The Expanse, which takes place a couple hundred years in the future, Mars has been settled and is an independent self-sustaining society. In fact, Mars is presented as the most scientifically and technologically advanced society of humans in the...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Out-Of-Pocket’s 2025 Predictions | Out-Of-Pocket I’m like 50% right every year, I just never know which 50%
6 months ago
NeuroLogica Blog
Everything Will Evaporate What will be the ultimate fate of our universe? There are a number of theories and possibilities,...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
What will be the ultimate fate of our universe? There are a number of theories and possibilities, but at present the most likely scenario seems to be that the universe will continue to expand, most mass will eventually find its way into a black hole, and those black holes will...
Yale e360
Scientists Look to Changing Tree Color to Predict Volcanic Eruptions NASA scientists believe it may be possible to predict when a volcano will erupt by using satellites...
a month ago
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a month ago
NASA scientists believe it may be possible to predict when a volcano will erupt by using satellites to track changes in the color of surrounding trees. Read more on E360 →
wadertales
Iceland’s waders in decline It is estimated that 1.5 million pairs of waders breed in Iceland, most of which spend the winter in...
4 months ago
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4 months ago
It is estimated that 1.5 million pairs of waders breed in Iceland, most of which spend the winter in West Europe and West Africa. There is a lot of guesswork associated with this number and little national monitoring information to assess whether species are doing well or badly....
The Works in...
How DC densified Washington, DC, has avoided the worst price rises that have plagued other American cities. Arlington...
2 months ago
24
2 months ago
Washington, DC, has avoided the worst price rises that have plagued other American cities. Arlington might be the reason.
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,...
4 months ago
2
4 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
Checkup on Climate Change There is good evidence that if you want to lose weight, you need to weigh yourself at least weekly....
over a year ago
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over a year ago
There is good evidence that if you want to lose weight, you need to weigh yourself at least weekly. You need the constant feedback of the scale to adjust your behavior. This is a good general principle – having outcome feedback to measure the effect of what you are doing so you...
Asterisk
China’s Policy Failures China’s experimental policy regime catalyzed the country’s economic ascent. Today, the system seems...
a year ago
15
a year ago
China’s experimental policy regime catalyzed the country’s economic ascent. Today, the system seems incapable of providing effective governance.
NeuroLogica Blog
Stem Cells for Parkinson’s Disease For my entire career as a neurologist, spanning three decades, I have been hearing about various...
3 months ago
28
3 months ago
For my entire career as a neurologist, spanning three decades, I have been hearing about various kinds of stem cell therapy for Parkinson’s Disease (PD). Now a Phase I clinical trial is under way studying the latest stem cell technology, autologous induced pluripotent stem cells,...
Casey Handmer's blog
Anti-aging tech fixes demographic collapse With the latest studies on GLP-1 drugs showing not just a drop in all-cause mortality but also an...
10 months ago
31
10 months ago
With the latest studies on GLP-1 drugs showing not just a drop in all-cause mortality but also an apparent slowing of aging, I thought I’d write a quick note on how I think this technology, if it replicates, can drastically improve our lives. It’s hard to believe I’m writing...
The Works in...
Where inflation comes from How we calculate inflation has always been contested with small changes leading to large differences...
7 months ago
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7 months ago
How we calculate inflation has always been contested with small changes leading to large differences in how well-off we think we are.
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
Quantum Frontiers
Happy 200th birthday, Carnot’s theorem! In Kenneth Grahame’s 1908 novel The Wind in the Willows, a Mole meets a Water Rat who lives on a...
7 months ago
83
7 months ago
In Kenneth Grahame’s 1908 novel The Wind in the Willows, a Mole meets a Water Rat who lives on a River. The Rat explains how the River permeates his life: “It’s brother and sister to me, and aunts, and company, … Continue reading →
The Works in...
How Poor Maintenance Loses Wars: 1973, Israel Maintains A new section from Stewart Brand's Maintenance on Books in Progress
a year ago
Quanta Magazine
Quantum Speedup Found for Huge Class of Hard Problems It’s been difficult to find important questions that quantum computers can answer faster than...
3 months ago
34
3 months ago
It’s been difficult to find important questions that quantum computers can answer faster than classical machines, but a new algorithm appears to do it for some critical optimization tasks. The post Quantum Speedup Found for Huge Class of Hard Problems first appeared...
ToughSF
How to Live on Other Planets: Uranus The weirdest of the planets. A blue giant, resting on its side. Could we find a home in...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
The weirdest of the planets. A blue giant, resting on its side. Could we find a home in the Uranian system? Description Uranus is the fourth-largest planet and the first ‘ice giant’. It orbits between 18.3 and 20.1 AU from the Sun, making it four times more distant than...
Quantum Frontiers
Quantum Algorithms: A Call To Action Quantum computing finds itself in a peculiar situation. The number one question asked about quantum...
2 months ago
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2 months ago
Quantum computing finds itself in a peculiar situation. The number one question asked about quantum computers by outsiders is very common sensical: What are they good for? The honest answer reveals an elephant in the room: We don’t fully know yet. For theorists like me, it’s an...
Quanta Magazine
New Proof Finds the ‘Ultimate Instability’ in a Solar System Model For the first time, mathematicians have proved that planetary orbits in a solar system will always...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
For the first time, mathematicians have proved that planetary orbits in a solar system will always be unstable. The post New Proof Finds the ‘Ultimate Instability’ in a Solar System Model first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Chris Grossack's...
Internal Group Actions as Enriched Functors Earlier today this month on the Category Theory Zulip, Bernd Losert asked an extremely natural...
a year ago
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a year ago
Earlier today this month on the Category Theory Zulip, Bernd Losert asked an extremely natural question about how we might study topological group actions via the functorial approach beloved by category theorists. The usual story is to treat a group $G$ as a one-object...
NeuroLogica Blog
Another UFO Whistleblower How seriously should we take the claims of David Grusch? He is an airforce veteran and former member...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
How seriously should we take the claims of David Grusch? He is an airforce veteran and former member of the UAP (unidentified aerial phenomena) task force, which is enough to at least hear him out. He gave an exclusive interview to journalist Ross Coulthart from NewsNation, part...
Yale e360
Planned Indian Mega-Port Could 'Wipe Out' Isolated Tribe The Shompen, residents of a small island in the Indian Ocean, are among the world's last isolated...
2 months ago
4
2 months ago
The Shompen, residents of a small island in the Indian Ocean, are among the world's last isolated tribes. But that may soon change as the Indian government moves forward with plans for a massive port that could "wipe out" the tribe, a watchdog group says. Read more on E360 →
Uncharted...
Become a World-Class Communicator I’m running a 2nd cohort of my course: How to Become a World-Class Communicator, starting in two...
8 months ago
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8 months ago
I’m running a 2nd cohort of my course: How to Become a World-Class Communicator, starting in two weeks, on November 4th!
Probably...
Confidence In the Press This is the fifth in a series of excerpts from Elements of Data Science, now available from Lulu.com...
6 months ago
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6 months ago
This is the fifth in a series of excerpts from Elements of Data Science, now available from Lulu.com and online booksellers. It’s based on Chapter 16, which is part of the political alignment case study. You can read the complete example here, or run the Jupyter notebook on...
Tikalon Blog by Dev...
Brain Size Deep thought is what distinguishes humans from other animals. The brain is the medium for thought;...
10 months ago
25
10 months ago
Deep thought is what distinguishes humans from other animals. The brain is the medium for thought; so, there's the idea that brain size is important, with larger brains allowing more profound thought. Larger brains in hominids appears to have an evolutionary advantage, but the...
Drew Ex Machina
Recollections of NASA’s Apollo 11 Mission Like a lot of kids who grew up during the ‘60s and ‘70s, I had a fascination with spaceflight. This...
11 months ago
84
11 months ago
Like a lot of kids who grew up during the ‘60s and ‘70s, I had a fascination with spaceflight. This interest started honestly enough back around […]
Quanta Magazine
How Do Machines ‘Grok’ Data? By apparently overtraining them, researchers have seen neural networks discover novel solutions to...
a year ago
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a year ago
By apparently overtraining them, researchers have seen neural networks discover novel solutions to problems. The post How Do Machines ‘Grok’ Data? first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NeuroLogica Blog
911 Conspiracy Theories Persist On September 11, 2001, as part of a planned terrorist attack, commercial planes were hijacked and...
7 months ago
53
7 months ago
On September 11, 2001, as part of a planned terrorist attack, commercial planes were hijacked and flown into each of the two towers at the World Trade Center in New York. A third plane was flown into the Pentagon, and a fourth crashed after the passengers fought back. This, of...
Quanta Magazine
Scientists Find a Fast Way to Describe Quantum Systems After years of false starts, a team of computer scientists has found a way to efficiently deduce the...
a year ago
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a year ago
After years of false starts, a team of computer scientists has found a way to efficiently deduce the Hamiltonian of a physical system at any constant temperature. The post Scientists Find a Fast Way to Describe Quantum Systems first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Drew Ex Machina
The Hurricane Hunter Satellites: A Weather Nanosatellite Constellation As part of ongoing outreach efforts by Tropical Weather Analytics (TWA) to the meteorological...
2 months ago
29
2 months ago
As part of ongoing outreach efforts by Tropical Weather Analytics (TWA) to the meteorological community, TWA’s Chief Scientist, Andrew LePage, attended the National Tropical Weather Conference […]
Yale e360
Penguin Droppings May Be Seeding Clouds, Study Finds Penguin droppings may play a role in the formation of clouds over Antarctica, new research...
a month ago
10
a month ago
Penguin droppings may play a role in the formation of clouds over Antarctica, new research finds. Read more on E360 →
Quanta Magazine
How Hans Bethe Stumbled Upon Perfect Quantum Theories Quantum calculations amount to sophisticated estimates. But in 1931, Hans Bethe intuited precisely...
4 months ago
48
4 months ago
Quantum calculations amount to sophisticated estimates. But in 1931, Hans Bethe intuited precisely how a chain of particles would behave — an insight that had far-reaching consequences. The post How Hans Bethe Stumbled Upon Perfect Quantum Theories first appeared on...
Quanta Magazine
A Mutation Turned Ants Into Parasites in One Generation A new genetics study of ant “social parasites” shows how complex sets of features can emerge rapidly...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
A new genetics study of ant “social parasites” shows how complex sets of features can emerge rapidly and potentially split species. The post A Mutation Turned Ants Into Parasites in One Generation first appeared on Quanta Magazine
The Works in...
The Spanish grid collapse Inertia and why we need it
2 months ago
IEEE Spectrum
The Incredible Story Behind the First Transistor Radio But that’s pretty much what Pat Haggerty, vice president of Texas Instruments, did in 1954. The...
9 months ago
100
9 months ago
But that’s pretty much what Pat Haggerty, vice president of Texas Instruments, did in 1954. The result was the Regency TR-1, the world’s first commercial transistor radio, which debuted 70 years ago this month. The engineers delivered on Haggerty’s audacious goal, and I...
Quanta Magazine
The Mathematician Who Finds the Poetry in Math and the Math in Poetry The links between math, music and art have been explored for thousands of years. Sarah Hart is now...
a year ago
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a year ago
The links between math, music and art have been explored for thousands of years. Sarah Hart is now turning a mathematical eye to literature. The post The Mathematician Who Finds the Poetry in Math and the Math in Poetry first appeared on Quanta Magazine
The Works in...
Whatever happened to the industrial R&D lab? From the Works in Progress archives.
a year ago
Beautiful Public...
Pilot Manual for a 1940's U.S. Navy Blimp This 122 page manual contains all of the operating instructions and technical details needed to...
over a year ago
48
over a year ago
This 122 page manual contains all of the operating instructions and technical details needed to pilot this sleek, silver, 250 foot long, weaponized anti-submarine dirigible.
Beautiful Public...
A Rover's First 590 Days* on Mars I downloaded 60,000 images to experience what NASA's Perseverance rover has been seeing since...
over a year ago
64
over a year ago
I downloaded 60,000 images to experience what NASA's Perseverance rover has been seeing since landing there in Feb. 2021.
Blog - Practical...
Why Are Rails Shaped Like That? [Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] Maybe more than any other type...
a year ago
64
a year ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] Maybe more than any other type of infrastructure, railways have a contingent of devoted enthusiasts. “Railfans” as they call themselves; Or should say “ourselves”? Maybe it's the nostalgia of an earlier era or...
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...
3 weeks ago
9
3 weeks 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...
Yale e360
How Climate Change Puts the Safety of Drinking Water at Risk Wildfires, floods, intense heat, droughts, and other extreme events fueled by climate change are...
4 months ago
1
4 months ago
Wildfires, floods, intense heat, droughts, and other extreme events fueled by climate change are threatening water systems in the U.S. and around the globe. Experts warn of the increasing threat of contamination and the need to improve infrastructure to keep drinking water...
Interaction Magic -...
The UX of LEGO Interface Panels LEGO interface panels are beautiful, iconic, and great for learning interface design basics. I...
over a year ago
18
over a year ago
LEGO interface panels are beautiful, iconic, and great for learning interface design basics. I bought 52 of them from BrickLink to explore the design, layout and organisation of complex interfaces.
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Emergent, Fringe Behaviors in Healthcare | Out-Of-Pocket tweeting out your labs, induced mental states, and more
2 months ago
Yale e360
As Earth's Magnetic Field Grows Stronger, Oxygen Levels Rise When the magnetic field around the Earth grows stronger, oxygen levels rise. That is the surprising...
2 weeks ago
1
2 weeks ago
When the magnetic field around the Earth grows stronger, oxygen levels rise. That is the surprising finding of a new study looking at more than half a billion years of planetary history. Read more on E360 →
The Roots of...
Four lenses on AI risks All powerful new technologies create both benefits and risks: cars, planes, drugs, radiation. AI is...
over a year ago
40
over a year ago
All powerful new technologies create both benefits and risks: cars, planes, drugs, radiation. AI is on a trajectory to become one of the most powerful technologies we possess; in some scenarios, it becomes by far the most powerful. It therefore will create both extraordinary...
Quanta Magazine
Dogged Dark Matter Hunters Find New Hiding Places to Check Perhaps dark matter is made of an entirely different kind of particle than the ones physicists have...
a year ago
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a year ago
Perhaps dark matter is made of an entirely different kind of particle than the ones physicists have been searching for. New experiments are springing up to look for these ultra-lightweight phantoms. The post Dogged Dark Matter Hunters Find New Hiding Places to Check...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
The New (Experimental) Ways To Tackle The Mental Health Crisis | Out-Of-Pocket let's try some new stuff to scale mental health care
a year ago
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...
2 months ago
4
2 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 →
Quanta Magazine
A Quantum Trick Implied Eternal Stability. Now the Idea May Be Falling Apart. A series of advances seemed to promise the impossible: the existence of quantum states that would...
a year ago
58
a year ago
A series of advances seemed to promise the impossible: the existence of quantum states that would never, ever fall into disarray. But physicists are now discovering that the pull of disorder may not be so easily overcome. The post A Quantum Trick Implied Eternal...
Cremieux Recueil
Fertility Policy For Rich Countries A brief proposal to fix Social Security and grow the population
3 months ago
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
39
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 the Universe Differs From Its Mirror Image From living matter to molecules to elementary particles, the world is made of “chiral” objects that...
a month ago
24
a month ago
From living matter to molecules to elementary particles, the world is made of “chiral” objects that differ from their reflected forms. The post How the Universe Differs From Its Mirror Image first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine
Where Does Meaning Live in a Sentence? Math Might Tell Us. The mathematician Tai-Danae Bradley is using category theory to try to understand both human and...
2 months ago
27
2 months ago
The mathematician Tai-Danae Bradley is using category theory to try to understand both human and AI-generated language. The post Where Does Meaning Live in a Sentence? Math Might Tell Us. first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NeuroLogica Blog
Dwarf Planet Ring Mystery Scientists love mysteries, because that is where new discoveries lay. It is nice to find evidence...
over a year ago
48
over a year ago
Scientists love mysteries, because that is where new discoveries lay. It is nice to find evidence consistent with existing theories, providing further confirmation, but it’s exciting to find evidence that cannot be explained with existing theories. Astronomers may have found such...
NeuroLogica Blog
Science News in 2023 This is not exactly a “best of” because I don’t know how that applies to science news, but here are...
a year ago
26
a year ago
This is not exactly a “best of” because I don’t know how that applies to science news, but here are what I consider to be the most impactful science news stories of 2023 (or at least the ones that caught by biased attention). This was a big year for medical breakthroughs. We are...
Explorations of an...
A Quest Nature Tour To Borneo: Kota Kinabalu, Mount Kinabalu, Sepilok And The Kinabatangan River Our Quest Nature Tours group assembled in Kota Kinabalu on the evening of October 3 and the...
7 months ago
16
7 months ago
Our Quest Nature Tours group assembled in Kota Kinabalu on the evening of October 3 and the following morning we were off. Kota Kinabalu is situated on the coast, but is only a two hour drive from the mountains that form the spine of Borneo and its highest peak, Mount Kinabalu....
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
45
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
Chris Grossack's...
Talk -- 2-Categorical Descent and (Essentially) Algebraic Theories A few weeks ago I gave a talk at the CT Octoberfest 2023 about some work I did over the summer that...
a year ago
23
a year ago
A few weeks ago I gave a talk at the CT Octoberfest 2023 about some work I did over the summer that I’m really proud of. Unfortunately, while writing up the result I found a 1999 paper by Pedicchio and Wood that proves the same theorem (with roughly the same proof), so I...
Uncharted...
The Moral Case for More People on Earth Today we’re going to cover four points that have emerged from the last few articles on growing our...
7 months ago
38
7 months ago
Today we’re going to cover four points that have emerged from the last few articles on growing our population, but which I haven’t covered yet:
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Patient Communities Should Change | Out-Of-Pocket Evolving from ads to outcomes
a year 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...
3 months ago
5
3 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 →
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
24
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...
Drew Ex Machina
Top Ten Posts of 2022 Now that we are at the end of 2022, it is time to look back at this year’s material published on...
over a year ago
46
over a year ago
Now that we are at the end of 2022, it is time to look back at this year’s material published on Drew Ex Machina and see […]
Quanta Magazine
The Year in Math Landmark results in geometry and number theory marked an exciting year for mathematics, at a time...
6 months ago
113
6 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
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...
2 weeks ago
12
2 weeks 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 →
Quanta Magazine
How Can Math Help Beat Cancer? Cancer treatment has come a long way in recent decades. But finding the best course of treatment for...
8 months ago
54
8 months ago
Cancer treatment has come a long way in recent decades. But finding the best course of treatment for each case of this diverse, dynamic disease remains a challenge. In this episode, co-host Steven Strogatz speaks with computational biologist Franziska Michor about how math,...
NeuroLogica Blog
UFOs and SGU on John Oliver The most recent episode of John Oliver, Last Week Tonight, featured a discussion of the UFO...
a year ago
91
a year ago
The most recent episode of John Oliver, Last Week Tonight, featured a discussion of the UFO phenomenon. I’m always interested, and often disappointed, in how the mainstream media portrays skeptical topics. One interesting addition here is that Oliver actually referenced an SGU...
Yale e360
A.I. Is Quietly Powering a Revolution in Weather Prediction Weather forecasts powered by artificial intelligence are usually more accurate — and require less...
2 months ago
4
2 months ago
Weather forecasts powered by artificial intelligence are usually more accurate — and require less computational energy and fewer human hours — than conventional predictions. But questions remain about A.I. systems’ reliability and their ability to forecast extreme weather...
Blog - Practical...
4 Myths About Construction Debunked [Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] Construction is something you...
over a year ago
48
over a year ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] Construction is something you probably either love or hate, depending on your commute or profession. Obviously, as a civil engineer, it’s something I think a lot about, and over the past 6 years of reading...
NeuroLogica Blog
Will Apple’s Vision Pro Change Anything? For the first time in over a decade, Apple has announced a new product designed to change computing....
over a year ago
58
over a year ago
For the first time in over a decade, Apple has announced a new product designed to change computing. There was the transition to personal computing with the Apple computer, then to portable computing with the iPhone, and now they hope to usher in the transition to virtual...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Transforming Healthcare Data with Tuva Health | Out-Of-Pocket The nitty, gritty, and shitty of working with health data
a year ago
Asterisk
It’s 2024 and Drought is Optional In the early 20th century, the United States diverted and dammed nearly every major river that runs...
a year ago
15
a year ago
In the early 20th century, the United States diverted and dammed nearly every major river that runs through the West, ushering in an era of unparalleled dominion over water. Today, California once again struggles with water scarcity — but solar energy could change all that.
nanoscale views
Items for discussion, including google's latest quantum computing result As we head toward the end of the calendar year, a few items: Google published a new result in...
6 months ago
15
6 months ago
As we head toward the end of the calendar year, a few items: Google published a new result in Nature a few days ago.  This made a big news splash, including this accompanying press piece from google themselves, this nice article in Quanta, and the always thoughtful blog post by...
Willem Pennings
Balancing cube This cube manages to balance itself on a corner, and can simultaneously rotate around its axis in a...
a year ago
43
a year ago
This cube manages to balance itself on a corner, and can simultaneously rotate around its axis in a controlled manner. It does so using clever controls and a set of three reaction wheels. The original idea for this device comes from researchers at ETH Zürich, who demonstrate...
Yale e360
'Green Grab': Solar and Wind Boom Sparks Conflicts on Land Use Solar and wind farms are proliferating and increasingly taking up land worldwide, prompting...
4 months ago
1
4 months ago
Solar and wind farms are proliferating and increasingly taking up land worldwide, prompting criticism from rural communities and environmentalists. Solutions range from growing crops or grazing livestock under PV panels to putting floating solar farms on lakes and...
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
41
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...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Healthcare in India | Out-Of-Pocket From the eyes of someone on the ground
a year ago
Yale e360
Renewables Did Not Cause Spanish Blackout, Investigations Find In the aftermath of a massive blackout that hit Spain and Portugal in April, some pundits were quick...
a week ago
1
a week ago
In the aftermath of a massive blackout that hit Spain and Portugal in April, some pundits were quick to blame wind and solar for the loss of power. But official inquiries have found that a shortfall in conventional power led to the outages. Read more on E360 →
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
25
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
IEEE Spectrum
The Battle for Better, Broader, More Inclusive AI AI’s inclusivity problem is no secret. According to the ACLU, AI systems can perpetuate housing...
a year ago
90
a year ago
AI’s inclusivity problem is no secret. According to the ACLU, AI systems can perpetuate housing discrimination and bias in the justice system, among other harms. Bias in the data an AI model relies on is reproduced in its results. Large Language Models (LLMs) share this problem;...
Quanta Magazine
‘Metaphysical Experiments’ Probe Our Hidden Assumptions About Reality Experiments that test physics and philosophy "as a single whole" may be our only route to surefire...
11 months ago
107
11 months ago
Experiments that test physics and philosophy "as a single whole" may be our only route to surefire knowledge about the universe. The post ‘Metaphysical Experiments’ Probe Our Hidden Assumptions About Reality first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Asterisk
Oops
a year ago
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Scaling Organizations, Patient Payments, and Collections with Lora Rosenblum | Out-Of-Pocket Why am I getting bills 6 months later, Lora pls help
a year ago
Blog - Practical...
How Railroad Crossings Work [Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] If you’ve ever ridden a bike,...
a year ago
109
a year ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] If you’ve ever ridden a bike, driven a car, or operated pretty much any other vehicle on earth, there’s a fact you’ve probably taken for granted: you can see farther than it takes to stop. Within the span...
NeuroLogica Blog
Microbes Aboard the ISS As I have written many times, including in yesterday’s post, people occupying space is hard. The...
a year ago
33
a year ago
As I have written many times, including in yesterday’s post, people occupying space is hard. The environment of space, or really anywhere not on Earth, is harsh and unforgiving. One of the issues, for example, rarely addressed in science fiction or even discussions of space...
Blog - Practical...
Which Is Easier To Pull? (Railcars vs. Road Cars) [Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] Imagine the room you’re in...
a year ago
53
a year ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] Imagine the room you’re in right now was filled to the top with gravel. (I promise I’m headed somewhere with this.) I don’t know the size of the room you’re in, but if it’s anywhere near an average-sized...
IEEE Spectrum
Zen and the Art of Aibo Engineering Sony’s team made that happen. And since Aibo’s debut, the company has sold more than 170,000 of...
6 months ago
72
6 months ago
Sony’s team made that happen. And since Aibo’s debut, the company has sold more than 170,000 of the cute little quadrupeds—a huge number considering their price of several thousand dollars each. From the start, Aibo could express a range of simulated emotions and learn through...
Quanta Magazine
What Is the True Promise of Quantum Computing? Despite the hype, it’s been surprisingly challenging to find quantum algorithms that outperform...
3 months ago
32
3 months ago
Despite the hype, it’s been surprisingly challenging to find quantum algorithms that outperform classical ones. In this episode, Ewin Tang discusses her pioneering work in “dequantizing” quantum algorithms — and what it means for the future of quantum computing. The...
Quanta Magazine
Matter vs. Force: Why There Are Exactly Two Types of Particles Every elementary particle falls into one of two categories. Collectivist bosons account for the...
a week ago
9
a week ago
Every elementary particle falls into one of two categories. Collectivist bosons account for the forces that move us while individualist fermions keep our atoms from collapsing. The post Matter vs. Force: Why There Are Exactly Two Types of Particles first appeared on...
Cremieux Recueil
Storks Take Orders From the State Pronatal benefits and economic booms lead to greater numbers of births
2 months ago
The Works in...
Chinese towers and American blocks The difference comes down to regulation, not culture.
2 months ago
Tikalon Blog by Dev...
Wiedemann-Franz Law Science is most useful when it makes predictions. Predictions are based on theory, and one problem...
a year ago
16
a year ago
Science is most useful when it makes predictions. Predictions are based on theory, and one problem with most theories in materials science is that they are based on data that might not exist for all of the intended class of materials. Simple rules were developed to remedy this...
Breck's Blog
Experiments
2 months ago
Many Worlds
Preparing For The Habitable Worlds Observatory, Our Best Shot at Finding ET Life In a solar system far, far away, life of some sort is just waiting to be found.  Or so the world of...
a year ago
31
a year ago
In a solar system far, far away, life of some sort is just waiting to be found.  Or so the world of astrobiology sure hopes it is. The new player in the astrobiology world, now called the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), is planned to launch in the 2040s if all goes well. ...
Wanderingspace
The First Ever Real-Time Video from Another Planet When you watch this video, if you find yourself thinking of the Apollo moon landings— here is why:...
over a year ago
34
over a year ago
When you watch this video, if you find yourself thinking of the Apollo moon landings— here is why: this is the first real-time video taken from another world since 1972, and this is the first ever taken on another planet. Most “video” you see from other planetary missions are...
nanoscale views
So you want to build a science/engineering laboratory building A very quick summary of some non-negative news developments: The NSF awarded 500 more graduate...
2 weeks ago
12
2 weeks ago
A very quick summary of some non-negative news developments: The NSF awarded 500 more graduate fellowships this week, bringing the total for this year up to 1500.  (Apologies for the X link.)  This is still 25% lower than last year's number, and of course far below the original...
Quanta Magazine
Three Hundred Years Later, a Tool from Isaac Newton Gets an Update A simple, widely used mathematical technique can finally be applied to boundlessly complex problems....
3 months ago
44
3 months ago
A simple, widely used mathematical technique can finally be applied to boundlessly complex problems. The post Three Hundred Years Later, a Tool from Isaac Newton Gets an Update first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NeuroLogica Blog
Should Tech Companies Be Liable for Content The Supreme Court (SCOTUS) is hearing a case that will have profound effects on social media – is...
over a year ago
78
over a year ago
The Supreme Court (SCOTUS) is hearing a case that will have profound effects on social media – is Google liable for a terrorist killing? The family of Nohemi Gonzalez is suing Google, because she was shot by an Islamic terrorist in 2015 and the family alleges this act was abetted...
NeuroLogica Blog
MOBE – A New Gene Editing System Have you memorized yet what CRISPR stands for – clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic...
a year ago
62
a year ago
Have you memorized yet what CRISPR stands for – clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats? Well, now you can add MOBE to the list – multiplexed orthogonal base editor. Base editors are not new, they are basically enzymes that will change one base – C (cytosine), T...
Quanta Magazine
New ‘Superdiffusion’ Proof Probes the Mysterious Math of Turbulence Turbulence is a notoriously difficult phenomenon to study. Mathematicians are now starting to...
a month ago
29
a month ago
Turbulence is a notoriously difficult phenomenon to study. Mathematicians are now starting to untangle it at its smallest scales. The post New ‘Superdiffusion’ Proof Probes the Mysterious Math of Turbulence first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine
The ‘Elegant’ Math Model That Could Help Rescue Coral Reefs Physicists and marine biologists built a quantitative framework that predicts how coral polyps...
4 months ago
52
4 months ago
Physicists and marine biologists built a quantitative framework that predicts how coral polyps collectively construct a variety of coral shapes. The post The ‘Elegant’ Math Model That Could Help Rescue Coral Reefs first appeared on Quanta Magazine
brr
Doors of McMurdo Doors, in a variety of shapes and styles.
over a year ago
Sean Carroll
The Biggest Ideas in the Universe | 24. Science For the triumphant final video in the Biggest Ideas series, we look at a big idea indeed: Science....
over a year ago
38
over a year ago
For the triumphant final video in the Biggest Ideas series, we look at a big idea indeed: Science. What is science, and why is it so great? And I also take the opportunity to dip a toe into the current state of fundamental physics — are predictions that unobservable universes...
Sean Carroll
Thanksgiving This year we give thanks for Arrow’s Impossibility Theorem. (We’ve previously given thanks for the...
over a year ago
48
over a year ago
This year we give thanks for Arrow’s Impossibility Theorem. (We’ve previously given thanks for the Standard Model Lagrangian, Hubble’s Law, the Spin-Statistics Theorem, conservation of momentum, effective field theory, the error bar, gauge symmetry, Landauer’s Principle, the...
Quanta Magazine
In a Fierce Desert, Microbe ‘Crusts’ Show How Life Tamed the Land Extreme microorganisms carpeting the Atacama Desert in Chile illuminate how life might have first...
a year ago
50
a year ago
Extreme microorganisms carpeting the Atacama Desert in Chile illuminate how life might have first taken hold on Earth’s surface. The post In a Fierce Desert, Microbe ‘Crusts’ Show How Life Tamed the Land first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine
How a Problem About Pigeons Powers Complexity Theory When pigeons outnumber pigeonholes, some birds must double up. This obvious statement — and its...
3 months ago
29
3 months ago
When pigeons outnumber pigeonholes, some birds must double up. This obvious statement — and its inverse — have deep connections to many areas of math and computer science. The post How a Problem About Pigeons Powers Complexity Theory first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NeuroLogica Blog
Frozen Embryos Are Not People Amid much controversy, the Alabama State Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are children. They...
a year ago
70
a year ago
Amid much controversy, the Alabama State Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are children. They did not support their decision with compelling logic, with cited precedence (their decision is literally unprecedented), with practical considerations, or with sound ethical...
Cremieux Recueil
Grading the World's Shortest Manifesto It gets an F and the student has earned the death penalty
6 months ago
Yale e360
Lightning Strikes the Arctic: What Will It Mean for the Far North? A warmer world is expected to bring more thunderstorms, especially at higher latitudes. Scientists...
2 weeks ago
7
2 weeks ago
A warmer world is expected to bring more thunderstorms, especially at higher latitudes. Scientists are now reporting a dramatic surge in lightning in the far north and are scrambling to parse how this could affect wildfires, the chemistry of the atmosphere, and Arctic...
Drew Ex Machina
First Pictures: Color View of the Earth & A Tropical Depression from Space – October 5, 1954 While today we are inundated with color images of the Earth, our earliest views from space were...
9 months ago
72
9 months ago
While today we are inundated with color images of the Earth, our earliest views from space were confined to monochromatic or black and white images (see […]
Asterisk
How We Can Regulate AI The chips used to train the most advanced AIs are scarce, expensive, and trackable — giving...
over a year ago
18
over a year ago
The chips used to train the most advanced AIs are scarce, expensive, and trackable — giving regulators a path forward.
NeuroLogica Blog
Nadir Crater – A Double Tap for Dinosaurs? It is now generally accepted that 66 million years ago a large asteroid smacked into the Earth,...
9 months ago
67
9 months ago
It is now generally accepted that 66 million years ago a large asteroid smacked into the Earth, causing the large Chicxulub crater off the coast of Mexico. This was a catastrophic event, affecting the entire globe. Fire rained down causing forest fires across much of the globe,...
The Works in...
Issue 17: No great stagnation in cruise ships Plus: animals as chemical factories, how progress lost its glamour, and how Madrid built 120 miles...
7 months ago
Explorations of an...
A Quest Nature Tour to Colombia: Tour Extension To Los Llanos The topography of Colombia is dominated by the Andes. While manifested as a single mountain range...
2 months ago
19
2 months ago
The topography of Colombia is dominated by the Andes. While manifested as a single mountain range from Ecuador southwards, the mountains split into three ranges (or cordilleras) near the Colombia/Ecuador border, and these three ranges span the length of Colombia from this...
Quanta Magazine
Data Compression Drives the Internet. Here’s How It Works. One student’s desire to get out of a final exam led to the ubiquitous algorithm that shrinks data...
over a year ago
54
over a year ago
One student’s desire to get out of a final exam led to the ubiquitous algorithm that shrinks data without sacrificing information. The post Data Compression Drives the Internet. Here’s How It Works. first appeared on Quanta Magazine
nanoscale views
Cryogenic CMOS - a key need for solid state quantum information processing The basis for much of modern electronics is a set of silicon technologies called CMOS, which stands...
6 days ago
8
6 days ago
The basis for much of modern electronics is a set of silicon technologies called CMOS, which stands for complementary metal oxide semiconductor devices and processes.  "Complementary" means using semiconductors (typically silicon) that is locally chemically doped so that you can...
Uncharted...
Is Desalination Everywhere Realistic? Which countries are doing it already? Are they happy? Is desalinated water safe to drink? Does it...
7 months ago
33
7 months ago
Which countries are doing it already? Are they happy? Is desalinated water safe to drink? Does it taste good? Does it pollute too much? Can we shrink its cost?
Quanta Magazine
What Can Jellyfish Teach Us About Fluid Dynamics? Jellyfish and other aquatic creatures embody solutions to diverse problems in engineering, medicine...
over a year ago
41
over a year ago
Jellyfish and other aquatic creatures embody solutions to diverse problems in engineering, medicine and mathematics. John Dabiri, a fluid dynamics expert, talks with Steven Strogatz about what jellyfish can teach us about going with the flow. The post What Can...
Yale e360
Russia’s War Has Destroyed Forest Twice the Size of New York City Ukraine lost roughly 600 square miles of forest in the first two years of its war with Russia, an...
3 months ago
5
3 months ago
Ukraine lost roughly 600 square miles of forest in the first two years of its war with Russia, an area of woodland twice the size of New York City. Read more on E360 →
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
7
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 →
NeuroLogica Blog
An Earth-like Climate is Fragile One of the biggest questions of exoplanet astronomy is how many potentially habitable planets are...
a year ago
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a year ago
One of the biggest questions of exoplanet astronomy is how many potentially habitable planets are out there in the galaxy. By one estimate the answer is 6 billion Earth-like planets in the Milky Way. But of course we have to set parameters and make estimates, so this number can...
The Works in...
Notes on Progress: The stats gap Students understand just enough statistics to get by
over a year ago
nanoscale views
How badly has NSF funding already been effectively cut? This NY Times feature lets you see how each piece of NSF's funding has been reduced this year...
a month ago
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a month ago
This NY Times feature lets you see how each piece of NSF's funding has been reduced this year relative to the normalized average spanning in the last decade.  Note: this fiscal year, thanks to the continuing resolution, the actual agency budget has not actually been cut like...
Beautiful Public...
Mapping Volcano Eruptions With Drones Drones have become an essential tool to map, measure and observe the extremely dangerous...
over a year ago
121
over a year ago
Drones have become an essential tool to map, measure and observe the extremely dangerous environments surrounding volcanic eruptions.
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
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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?
The Works in...
One simple deregulation that would save thousands of lives What we’ve been reading: urbanism, medicine, science, tech, AI, housing, energy, economics, culture,...
a month ago
Quanta Magazine
How AI Revolutionized Protein Science, but Didn’t End It Three years ago, Google’s AlphaFold pulled off the biggest artificial intelligence breakthrough in...
a year ago
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a year ago
Three years ago, Google’s AlphaFold pulled off the biggest artificial intelligence breakthrough in science to date, accelerating molecular research and kindling deep questions about why we do science. The post How AI Revolutionized Protein Science, but Didn’t End It...
ToughSF
Fusion Highways in Space A transport system that can get spacecraft to Jupiter in 10 days, but without a massive onboard...
over a year ago
13
over a year ago
A transport system that can get spacecraft to Jupiter in 10 days, but without a massive onboard reactor, using antimatter fuel or riding a gigantic laser beam?  What we need instead is a Fusion Highway to connect the Solar System in unprecedented ways.  The art above is by...
brr
Cape Crozier A nearby field camp, and my first helicopter flight!
over a year ago
wadertales
Juvenile settlement in Black-tailed Godwits Adult waders tend to be exceptionally consistent in their use of time and space, with marked...
9 months ago
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9 months ago
Adult waders tend to be exceptionally consistent in their use of time and space, with marked individuals turning up on the same estuaries at the same time year after year, as discussed in the Whimbrel blog ‘Whimbrel: time to leave’. How do these patterns become established? Do...
Asterisk
The Unbearable Loudness of Chewing Why do some people find certain sounds intolerable? And why has it taken so long for scientists to...
6 months ago
17
6 months ago
Why do some people find certain sounds intolerable? And why has it taken so long for scientists to get even a preliminary answer?
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
8
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...
The Works in...
The failure of the land value tax Implementing them in Britain destroyed the then-dominant Liberal Party.
2 months ago
Melting Asphalt
Crony Beliefs [Note: if you prefer audio, you can listen to this essay narrated by Grognor on his excellent...
over a year ago
21
over a year ago
[Note: if you prefer audio, you can listen to this essay narrated by Grognor on his excellent podcast Second Enumerations. —Ed.]   Credits up front: This essay draws heavily from Overcoming Bias, Less Wrong, Slate Star Codex, Robert Kurzban, Robert… Read more ›
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
69
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
NeuroLogica Blog
Was Jesus a Con Artist? Let me start out by saying that I think the answer to that question is no – but this requires lots...
11 months ago
69
11 months ago
Let me start out by saying that I think the answer to that question is no – but this requires lots of clarification. This was, however, the discussion here, while although poorly informed, does raise some interesting questions. This is a Tik Tok video of a popular podcast which...
Blog - Practical...
Is the World Really Running Out of Sand? [Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] If you have to know the answer...
9 months ago
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9 months ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] If you have to know the answer right away, it’s no; or at least, my goal with this video is to convince you that the world is not running out of sand. But if it were that simple, I wouldn’t be here (right?) and...
Quanta Magazine
How Metabolism Can Shape Cells’ Destinies A growing body of work suggests that cell metabolism — the chemical reactions that provide energy...
3 months ago
25
3 months ago
A growing body of work suggests that cell metabolism — the chemical reactions that provide energy and building materials — plays a vital, overlooked role in the first steps of life. The post How Metabolism Can Shape Cells’ Destinies first appeared on Quanta Magazine
symmetry magazine
Do hidden influences give neutrinos their tiny mass? The quest to understand the small mass of neutrinos is also a quest to discover new particles. ...
over a year ago
43
over a year ago
The quest to understand the small mass of neutrinos is also a quest to discover new particles. Neutrinos are the byproducts of astronomical events that give us life.  They shoot out from the nuclear fusion reaction within the sun and radiate from supernovas....
Uncharted...
Why Do We Like Concerts? It's not what you think
3 months ago
The Works in...
Issue 09: Cheap shots and killer bots Plus: Why scientific writing is so bad, how to stop snakebites from killing 100,000 people every...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
Plus: Why scientific writing is so bad, how to stop snakebites from killing 100,000 people every year, and what science can learn from the fight against global poverty.
The Works in...
Pieces we would like to commission Write for Works in Progress
3 months ago
Explorations of an...
A Month In Northern Peru, Part 17: White-sand Birding At RN Allpahuayo-Mishana and Muyuna Lodge... February 24, 2024 Just outside of the city of Iquitos lies an expansive area containing white-sand...
3 months ago
30
3 months ago
February 24, 2024 Just outside of the city of Iquitos lies an expansive area containing white-sand forest. The particular forest types that grow on white sand are somewhat uncommon in the Amazon, yet the stunted tree growth provides quite the contrast to "typical" Amazonian...
Quanta Magazine
A Multitalented Scientist Seeks the Origins of Multicellularity The pathbreaking geneticist Cassandra Extavour pursues the secrets of multicellular life while...
a year ago
53
a year ago
The pathbreaking geneticist Cassandra Extavour pursues the secrets of multicellular life while balancing careers in both science and singing. The post A Multitalented Scientist Seeks the Origins of Multicellularity first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine
How a Biofilm’s Strange Shape Emerges From Cellular Geometry Micro decisions can have macro consequences. A soft matter physicist reveals how interactions within...
2 months ago
25
2 months ago
Micro decisions can have macro consequences. A soft matter physicist reveals how interactions within simple cellular collectives can lead to emergent physical traits. The post How a Biofilm’s Strange Shape Emerges From Cellular Geometry first appeared on Quanta...
NeuroLogica Blog
Trust in Science How much does the public trust in science and scientists? Well, there’s some good news and some bad...
a year ago
18
a year ago
How much does the public trust in science and scientists? Well, there’s some good news and some bad news. Let’s start with the bad news – a recent Pew survey finds that trust in scientist has been in decline for the last few years. From its recent peak in 2019, those who answered...
Yale e360
Entries Invited for Yale Environment 360 Film Contest The 12th annual Yale Environment 360 Film Contest is now accepting entries. Read more on E360 →
2 months ago
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Food as medicine | Out-Of-Pocket The most cost-effective intervention we have
a year ago
Yale e360
Renewables Did Not Cause Spanish Blackout, Investigations Find In the aftermath of a massive blackout that hit Spain and Portugal in April, some pundits were quick...
a week ago
8
a week ago
In the aftermath of a massive blackout that hit Spain and Portugal in April, some pundits were quick to blame wind and solar for the loss of power. But official inquiries have found that a shortfall in conventional power led to the outages. Read more on E360 →
Yale e360
Endangered Eels a Top Target for Traffickers in Europe Endangered eels are a top target for wildlife traffickers in Europe and generating billions in...
a week ago
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a week ago
Endangered eels are a top target for wildlife traffickers in Europe and generating billions in profits for smugglers globally, according to two new reports. Read more on E360 →
Damn Interesting
Devouring the Heart of Portugal On the morning of Thursday, 04 December 1924, a tall and well-dressed Dutch trader named Karel...
over a year ago
30
over a year ago
On the morning of Thursday, 04 December 1924, a tall and well-dressed Dutch trader named Karel Marang strolled along Great Winchester Street in the City of London, among the bustling crowds of bankers and brokers of the business district, unaware that the parcel he carried held...
Quanta Magazine
How Pools of Genetic Diversity Affect a Species’ Fate A new, deeper understanding of how the breeding structure of species affects their genetic diversity...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
A new, deeper understanding of how the breeding structure of species affects their genetic diversity is giving conservationists better tools for saving animals. The post How Pools of Genetic Diversity Affect a Species’ Fate first appeared on Quanta Magazine
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
32
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 Biology In a year packed with fascinating discoveries, biologists pushed the limits of synthetic life,...
a year ago
38
a year ago
In a year packed with fascinating discoveries, biologists pushed the limits of synthetic life, probed how organisms keep time, and refined theories about consciousness and emotional health. The post The Year in Biology first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine
Unfolding the Mysteries of Polygonal Billiards The surprisingly subtle geometry of a familiar game shows how quickly math gets complicated. ...
a year ago
64
a year ago
The surprisingly subtle geometry of a familiar game shows how quickly math gets complicated. The post Unfolding the Mysteries of Polygonal Billiards first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine
A New Generation of Mathematicians Pushes Prime Number Barriers New work attacks a long-standing barrier to understanding how prime numbers are distributed. ...
a year ago
36
a year ago
New work attacks a long-standing barrier to understanding how prime numbers are distributed. The post A New Generation of Mathematicians Pushes Prime Number Barriers first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Yale e360
Warming Doubled the Odds of Record Fires in South Korea Warming fueled the hot, dry, windy weather that gave rise to a spate of record-breaking fires in...
2 months ago
1
2 months ago
Warming fueled the hot, dry, windy weather that gave rise to a spate of record-breaking fires in South Korea in March, an analysis finds. Read more on E360 →
Quantum Frontiers
The first and second centuries of quantum mechanics At this week’s American Physical Society Global Physics Summit in Anaheim, California, John Preskill...
3 months ago
31
3 months ago
At this week’s American Physical Society Global Physics Summit in Anaheim, California, John Preskill spoke at an event celebrating 100 years of groundbreaking advances in quantum mechanics. Here are his remarks. Welcome, everyone, to this celebration of 100 years of … Continue...
Breck's Blog
Ford
2 months ago
Yale e360
Deadly Encounter: Mountain Lion Attacks Spark Controversy A mountain lion attack that killed a young California man last year has reignited a debate over how...
5 months ago
3
5 months ago
A mountain lion attack that killed a young California man last year has reignited a debate over how the big cats should be managed. Some are calling for renewed hunting of the animals, while others are advocating nonlethal methods of instilling a fear of humans in the big...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Some Common Mistakes to Avoid When Pitching Angels | Out-Of-Pocket With some real decks and emails!
a year ago
Willem Pennings
Fixing my heating system The heating system in my apartment building consists of a group of heat pumps that deliver warm...
a year ago
60
a year ago
The heating system in my apartment building consists of a group of heat pumps that deliver warm water to the underfloor heating system of about a dozen apartments, including mine. During the warm summer months, the system supplies cool water instead. The heat pumps figure out...
Quanta Magazine
The Road Map to Alien Life Passes Through the ‘Cosmic Shoreline’ Astronomers are ready to search for the fingerprints of life in faraway planetary atmospheres. But...
3 months ago
27
3 months ago
Astronomers are ready to search for the fingerprints of life in faraway planetary atmospheres. But first, they need to know where to look — and that means figuring out which planets are likely to have atmospheres in the first place. The post The Road Map to Alien Life...
NeuroLogica Blog
What Is Orbitronics You have definitely heard of electronics. You may (if you are a tech nerd like me) have heard of...
9 months ago
64
9 months ago
You have definitely heard of electronics. You may (if you are a tech nerd like me) have heard of spintronics and photonics. Now there is also the possibility of orbitronics. What do these cool-sounding words mean? Electronic technology is one of those core technologies that has...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Scams, Frauds, and Audits | Out-Of-Pocket Lots of money to be...not lost
a year ago
Quanta Magazine
How the Human Brain Contends With the Strangeness of Zero Zero, which was invented late in history, is special among numbers. New studies are uncovering how...
8 months ago
64
8 months ago
Zero, which was invented late in history, is special among numbers. New studies are uncovering how the brain creates something out of nothing. The post How the Human Brain Contends With the Strangeness of Zero first appeared on Quanta Magazine
ToughSF
Lasers, Mirrors and Star Pyramids Lasers can hit targets at extreme ranges, at the fastest speed possible. They are ideal weapons for...
over a year ago
15
over a year ago
Lasers can hit targets at extreme ranges, at the fastest speed possible. They are ideal weapons for space warfare.  However, everyone knows that lasers bounce off mirrors... does this make lasers useless? The post is inspired by the discussion that arose from the conclusions...
Yale e360
Endangered Eels a Top Target for Traffickers in Europe Endangered eels, a top target for wildlife traffickers in Europe, are generating billions in profits...
a week ago
2
a week ago
Endangered eels, a top target for wildlife traffickers in Europe, are generating billions in profits for smugglers globally, according to two new reports. Read more on E360 →
The Roots of...
A plea for solutionism on AI safety Will AI kill us all? This question has rapidly gone mainstream. A few months ago, it wasn’t...
over a year ago
50
over a year ago
Will AI kill us all? This question has rapidly gone mainstream. A few months ago, it wasn’t seriously debated very far outside the rationalist community of LessWrong; now it’s reported in major media outlets including the NY Times, The Guardian, the Times of London, BBC, WIRED,...
Quantum Frontiers
It from Qubit: The Last Hurrah Editor’s note: Since 2015, the Simons Foundation has supported the “It from Qubit” collaboration, a...
a year ago
21
a year ago
Editor’s note: Since 2015, the Simons Foundation has supported the “It from Qubit” collaboration, a group of scientists drawing on ideas from quantum information theory to address deep issues in fundamental physics. The collaboration held its “Last Hurrah” event at … Continue...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Physicians and Pharma Marketing | Out-Of-Pocket oh we getting that drug money
a year ago
Quantum Frontiers
May I have this dance? This July, I came upon a museum called the Haus der Musik in one of Vienna’s former palaces. The...
a year ago
54
a year ago
This July, I came upon a museum called the Haus der Musik in one of Vienna’s former palaces. The museum contains a room dedicated to Johann Strauss II, king of the waltz. The room, dimly lit, resembles a twilit gazebo. … Continue reading →
Uncharted...
Canada vs the 51st State How can Canada fight against an aggressive US?
a month ago
Quanta Magazine
Merging Fields, Mathematicians Go the Distance On Old Problem Mathematicians have illuminated what sets of points can look like if the distances between them are...
a year ago
92
a year ago
Mathematicians have illuminated what sets of points can look like if the distances between them are all whole numbers. The post Merging Fields, Mathematicians Go the Distance On Old Problem first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NeuroLogica Blog
Flow Batteries – Now With Nanofluids Battery technology has been advancing nicely over the last few decades, with a fairly predictable...
a year ago
52
a year ago
Battery technology has been advancing nicely over the last few decades, with a fairly predictable incremental increase in energy density, charging time, stability, and lifecycle. We now have lithium-ion batteries with a specific energy of 296 Wh/kg – these are in use in existing...
Quanta Magazine
Underground Cells Make ‘Dark Oxygen’ Without Light In some deep subterranean aquifers, cells have a chemical trick for making oxygen that could sustain...
a year ago
33
a year ago
In some deep subterranean aquifers, cells have a chemical trick for making oxygen that could sustain whole underground ecosystems. The post Underground Cells Make ‘Dark Oxygen’ Without Light first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Blog - Practical...
This Bridge Should Have Been Closed Years Before It Collapsed [Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] On January 28, 2022, about an...
a year ago
99
a year ago
[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] On January 28, 2022, about an hour before dawn, the four-lane Fern Hollow Bridge in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, collapsed without warning. Five vehicles, including an articulating bus, fell with the bridge, and...
Quanta Magazine
Why Everything in the Universe Turns More Complex A new suggestion that complexity increases over time, not just in living organisms but in the...
3 months ago
36
3 months ago
A new suggestion that complexity increases over time, not just in living organisms but in the nonliving world, promises to rewrite notions of time and evolution. The post Why Everything in the Universe Turns More Complex first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NeuroLogica Blog
DNA Directed Assembly of Nanomaterials Arguably the type of advance that has the greatest impact on technology is material science....
a year ago
37
a year ago
Arguably the type of advance that has the greatest impact on technology is material science. Technology can advance by doing more with the materials we have, but new materials can change the game entirely. It is no coincidence that we mark different technological ages by the...
Yale e360
Peatland Algae to Soak Up More Carbon as Planet Warms New research finds that microalgae in northern peat bogs will absorb more carbon dioxide as the...
3 months ago
6
3 months ago
New research finds that microalgae in northern peat bogs will absorb more carbon dioxide as the planet warms, helping to take a bite out of emissions. Read more on E360 →
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
12
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...
Yale e360
Peatland Algae to Soak Up More Carbon as Planet Warms New research finds that microalgae in northern peat bogs will absorb more carbon dioxide as the...
3 months ago
3
3 months ago
New research finds that microalgae in northern peat bogs will absorb more carbon dioxide as the planet warms, helping to take a bite out of emissions. Read more on E360 →
Explorations of an...
A Month In Northern Peru, Part 19: More From Muyuna Lodge (February 27-28, 2024) February 27, 2024 The rains fell sometime after we went to bed and continued through the night,...
2 months ago
29
2 months ago
February 27, 2024 The rains fell sometime after we went to bed and continued through the night, infiltrating our dreams. Light rain was still dripping from the trees as we awoke, and the dawn chorus was proportionally muted.  We had a quick breakfast and by 6:30 were on the small...
Quanta Magazine
Scientists Re-Create the Microbial Dance That Sparked Complex Life Evolution was fueled by endosymbiosis, cellular alliances in which one microbe makes a permanent...
6 months ago
62
6 months ago
Evolution was fueled by endosymbiosis, cellular alliances in which one microbe makes a permanent home inside another. For the first time, biologists made it happen in the lab. The post Scientists Re-Create the Microbial Dance That Sparked Complex Life first appeared...
Yale e360
A Craze for Tiny Plants Is Driving a Poaching Crisis in South Africa South Africa’s Succulent Karoo is the most biodiverse arid region on the planet, with thousands of...
3 months ago
5
3 months ago
South Africa’s Succulent Karoo is the most biodiverse arid region on the planet, with thousands of plants found nowhere else. But to meet a demand fueled by social media, criminal networks have been poaching these colorful succulents by the millions and smuggling them...
Chris Grossack's...
An Empty Product of Nonempty Sets A few days ago I saw a cute question on mse asking about a particularly non-intuitive failing of...
a month ago
12
a month ago
A few days ago I saw a cute question on mse asking about a particularly non-intuitive failing of the axiom of choice. I remember when I was an undergrad talking to a friend of mine about various statements equivalent to choice, and being particularly hung up on the same...
Quanta Magazine
Simple Equation Predicts the Shapes of Carbon-Capturing Wetlands To calculate the amount of carbon stored inside peatlands, researchers developed a unified theory of...
a year ago
105
a year ago
To calculate the amount of carbon stored inside peatlands, researchers developed a unified theory of “bog physics” applicable around the world. The post Simple Equation Predicts the Shapes of Carbon-Capturing Wetlands first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NeuroLogica Blog
Solution Aversion Fallacy I like to think deeply about informal logical fallacies. I write about them a lot, and even have an...
a year ago
62
a year ago
I like to think deeply about informal logical fallacies. I write about them a lot, and even have an occasional segment of the SGU dedicated to them. They are a great way to crystalize our thinking about the many ways in which logic can go wrong. Formal logic deals with arguments...
Eukaryote Writes...
Learn to write well BEFORE you have something worth saying Lessons learned from trip reports and journal articles.
6 months ago
Quanta Magazine
Computer Scientists Establish the Best Way to Traverse a Graph Dijkstra’s algorithm was long thought to be the most efficient way to find a graph’s best routes....
8 months ago
56
8 months ago
Dijkstra’s algorithm was long thought to be the most efficient way to find a graph’s best routes. Researchers have now proved that it’s “universally optimal.” The post Computer Scientists Establish the Best Way to Traverse a Graph first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine
How Many Microbes Does It Take to Make You Sick? Exposure to a virus isn’t an all-or-nothing proposition. The concept of “infectious dose” suggests...
a year ago
39
a year ago
Exposure to a virus isn’t an all-or-nothing proposition. The concept of “infectious dose” suggests ways to keep ourselves safer from harm. The post How Many Microbes Does It Take to Make You Sick? first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine
Teen Mathematicians Tie Knots Through a Mind-Blowing Fractal Three high schoolers and their mentor revisited a century-old theorem to prove that all knots can be...
7 months ago
49
7 months ago
Three high schoolers and their mentor revisited a century-old theorem to prove that all knots can be found in a fractal called the Menger sponge. The post Teen Mathematicians Tie Knots Through a Mind-Blowing Fractal first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NeuroLogica Blog
Virtual Reality for Mice Scientists have developed virtual reality goggles for mice. Why would they do this? For research....
a year ago
28
a year ago
Scientists have developed virtual reality goggles for mice. Why would they do this? For research. The fact that it’s also adorable is just a side effect. One type of neuroscience research is to expose mice in a laboratory setting to specific tasks or stimuli while recording their...
Quanta Magazine
A New Proof Smooths Out the Math of Melting A powerful mathematical technique is used to model melting ice and other phenomena. But it has long...
3 months ago
35
3 months ago
A powerful mathematical technique is used to model melting ice and other phenomena. But it has long been imperiled by certain “nightmare scenarios.” A new proof has removed that obstacle. The post A New Proof Smooths Out the Math of Melting first appeared on Quanta...
Quanta Magazine
How Paradoxical Questions and Simple Wonder Lead to Great Science Manu Prakash works on the world’s most urgent problems and seemingly frivolous questions at the same...
a month ago
17
a month ago
Manu Prakash works on the world’s most urgent problems and seemingly frivolous questions at the same time. They add up to a philosophy he calls “recreational biology.” The post How Paradoxical Questions and Simple Wonder Lead to Great Science first appeared on Quanta...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Transcarent, AI Therapists, Interoperability, and more | Out-Of-Pocket Plus Out-Of-Pocket is hiring!!
5 months ago
Uncharted...
The Most Important Time in History Is Now AGI Is Coming Sooner Due to o3, DeepSeek, and Other Cutting-Edge AI Developments
5 months ago
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
107
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...
Quanta Magazine
Science, Promise and Peril in the Age of AI An exploration of how artificial intelligence is changing what it means to do science and math, and...
2 months ago
10
2 months ago
An exploration of how artificial intelligence is changing what it means to do science and math, and what it means to be a scientist. The post Science, Promise and Peril in the Age of AI first appeared on Quanta Magazine
NeuroLogica Blog
AI Humor It’s been less than two years (November 2022) since ChatGPT launched. In some ways the new large...
10 months ago
47
10 months ago
It’s been less than two years (November 2022) since ChatGPT launched. In some ways the new large language model (LLM) type of artificial intelligence (AI) applications have been on the steep part of the improvement curve. And yet, they are still LLMs with the same limitations. In...
Cremieux Recueil
Evaluating a Sitting Senator's Healthcare Claims If you're a public official who wants to to use numbers, use correct numbers, and if you're going to...
6 months ago
77
6 months ago
If you're a public official who wants to to use numbers, use correct numbers, and if you're going to speculate, try not so speculate wildly, lest you end up telling brazen lies to the American people
Asterisk
We Can, Must, and Will Simulate Nematode Brains Scientists have spent over 25 years trying — and failing — to build computer simulations of the...
4 months ago
15
4 months ago
Scientists have spent over 25 years trying — and failing — to build computer simulations of the smallest brain we know. Today, we finally have the tools to pull it off.
Quanta Magazine
The Question of What’s Fair Illuminates the Question of What’s Hard Computational complexity theorists have discovered a surprising new way to understand what makes...
a year ago
44
a year ago
Computational complexity theorists have discovered a surprising new way to understand what makes certain problems hard. The post The Question of What’s Fair Illuminates the Question of What’s Hard first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Eukaryote Writes...
I got dysentery so you don’t have to On turning 30 in a human challenge trial ward.
8 months ago
ToughSF
Space Tethers: Stringing up the Solar System All the methods we have used to reach space so far have been subject to the Tsiolkovsky rocket...
over a year ago
15
over a year ago
All the methods we have used to reach space so far have been subject to the Tsiolkovsky rocket equation - propellant must be ejected and more and more of it is needed to go further. What if we could break that equation with rotating orbital tethers? The tether I have worked...
Confessions of a...
My Teaching Philosophy As mentioned previously, I need to complete a teaching portfolio over my year as a lecturing intern...
over a year ago
46
over a year ago
As mentioned previously, I need to complete a teaching portfolio over my year as a lecturing intern as part of the PTIS scheme.  Central to this portfolio is a personal teaching philosophy, detailing why teaching is important to me, what my objectives are as a teacher, what...
Asterisk
Methods Section
a year ago
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
4
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 →
Yale e360
Global Economy More Vulnerable to Warming Than Previously Thought A new study finds warming could inflict far more damage to the global economy than previously...
3 months ago
The Works in...
Fermenting revolution The Victorian fight against bad bread and its role in women’s liberation
a year ago
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
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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:...
Out-of-Pocket Blog
Why don’t healthcare companies say what they do? | Out-Of-Pocket And some tips to figure out what a company does
a year ago
Asterisk
The EA-Progress Studies War is Here, and It’s a Constructive Dialogue! We’re hoping Marc Andreessen doesn’t read this and polarize everyone again.
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
IEEE Spectrum
The Story Behind Pixar’s RenderMan CGI Software Watching movies and TV series that use digital visual effects to create fantastical worlds lets...
a year ago
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a year ago
Watching movies and TV series that use digital visual effects to create fantastical worlds lets people escape reality for a few hours. Thanks to advancements in computer-generated technology used to produce films and shows, those worlds are highly realistic. In many cases, it can...
Yale e360
With the Great Mussel Die-Off, Scientists Scramble for Answers One of the most endangered animals in the world, freshwater mussels are threatened by pollution,...
3 months ago
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3 months ago
One of the most endangered animals in the world, freshwater mussels are threatened by pollution, climate change, habitat loss, and invasive species. But in the epicenter of their diversity — the Southeastern U.S. — the root cause of a catastrophic die-off remains a mystery.  Read...
Wanderingspace
Goodbye Ingenuity Mission completed. Ingenuity is left alone on Mars after damage to one of its blades renders it...
a year ago
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a year ago
Mission completed. Ingenuity is left alone on Mars after damage to one of its blades renders it inoperable..
NeuroLogica Blog
How Were the Pyramids Built? The Egyptian pyramids, and especially the Pyramids at Giza, have fascinated people probably since...
a year ago
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a year ago
The Egyptian pyramids, and especially the Pyramids at Giza, have fascinated people probably since their construction between 4700 and 3700 years ago. They are massive structures, and it boggles the mind that an ancient culture, without the benefit of any industrial technology,...
Quanta Magazine
‘Groups’ Underpin Modern Math. Here’s How They Work. What do the integers have in common with the symmetries of a triangle? In the 19th century,...
10 months ago
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10 months ago
What do the integers have in common with the symmetries of a triangle? In the 19th century, mathematicians invented groups as an answer to this question. The post ‘Groups’ Underpin Modern Math. Here’s How They Work. first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Casey Handmer's blog
Stuff you should have been taught in college but weren’t As part of my job running Terraform Industries, I get to build an amazing team of super smart...
4 months ago
59
4 months ago
As part of my job running Terraform Industries, I get to build an amazing team of super smart people, and that involves interviewing hundreds of people. Over time certain patterns have become obvious, but I remember when they weren’t obvious to me on the other side of the table!...
Yale e360
Uncertain Future for Clean Tech Boom Underway in Republican Strongholds Government support for clean energy has spurred new projects across the U.S., with more than 80...
4 months ago
1
4 months ago
Government support for clean energy has spurred new projects across the U.S., with more than 80 percent of the spending flowing to Republican districts. But since President Trump took office, new project announcements have seen a precipitous drop. Read more on E360 →
Asterisk
The Biggest Community Development Program You’ve Never Heard Of The pilot of the Indian Community Development Program — among the first holistic development...
8 months ago
21
8 months ago
The pilot of the Indian Community Development Program — among the first holistic development interventions to elicit widespread community participation — was a resounding success. Why did it fail to scale? And what can that tell us about development programs today?
Quanta Magazine
How Randomness Improves Algorithms Unpredictability can help computer scientists solve otherwise intractable problems. The...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
Unpredictability can help computer scientists solve otherwise intractable problems. The post How Randomness Improves Algorithms first appeared on Quanta Magazine
Quanta Magazine
Pleasure or Pain? He Maps the Neural Circuits That Decide. The work of the neuroscientist Ishmail Abdus-Saboor has opened up a world of insights into precisely...
a year ago
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a year ago
The work of the neuroscientist Ishmail Abdus-Saboor has opened up a world of insights into precisely how much pleasure and pain animals experience during different forms of touch. The post Pleasure or Pain? He Maps the Neural Circuits That Decide. first appeared on...
Quanta Magazine
Cellular Self-Destruction May Be Ancient. But Why? How did cells evolve a process to end their own lives? Recent research suggests that apoptosis, a...
a year ago
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a year ago
How did cells evolve a process to end their own lives? Recent research suggests that apoptosis, a form of programmed cell death, first arose billions of years ago in bacteria with a primitive sociality. The post Cellular Self-Destruction May Be Ancient. But Why? first...
Quantum Frontiers
The rain in Portugal My husband taught me how to pronounce the name of the city where I’d be presenting a talk late last...
a year ago
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a year ago
My husband taught me how to pronounce the name of the city where I’d be presenting a talk late last July: Aveiro, Portugal. Having studied Spanish, I pronounced the name as Ah-VEH-roh, with a v partway to a hard b. … Continue reading →
nanoscale views
A science anecdote palate cleanser Apologies for slow posting.  Real life has been very intense, and I also was rather concerned when...
a month ago
16
a month ago
Apologies for slow posting.  Real life has been very intense, and I also was rather concerned when one of my readers mentioned last weekend that these days my blog was like concentrated doom-scrolling.  I will have more to say about the present university research crisis later,...
Melting Asphalt
Social Status II: Cults and Loyalty So my previous post on social status was recently treated to a review/​critique by Scott Alexander...
over a year ago
26
over a year ago
So my previous post on social status was recently treated to a review/​critique by Scott Alexander over at Slate Star Codex. I expect most of my readers are already big fans of Scott's blog (as am I). But for those… Read more ›
Quanta Magazine
Primitive Asgard Cells Show Life on the Brink of Complexity As researchers race to cultivate more of the intriguing cells from the deep seafloor, the few cells...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
As researchers race to cultivate more of the intriguing cells from the deep seafloor, the few cells now growing in labs are giving us our best glimpses of the forerunners of all complex life. The post Primitive Asgard Cells Show Life on the Brink of Complexity first...
Bartosz Ciechanowski
Bicycle There is something delightful about riding a bicycle. Once mastered, the simple action of pedaling...
over a year ago
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over a year ago
There is something delightful about riding a bicycle. Once mastered, the simple action of pedaling to move forward and turning the handlebars to steer makes bike riding an effortless activity. In the demonstration below, you can guide the rider with the slider, and you can also...
NeuroLogica Blog
Predicting Outcome in Severe Brain Injury One of the most difficult situations that a person can face is to have a loved-one in a critical...
a year ago
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a year ago
One of the most difficult situations that a person can face is to have a loved-one in a critical medical condition and have to make life-or-death medical decisions for them. I have been in this situation many times as the consulting neurologist, and I have seen how weighty this...
Quanta Magazine
What Makes for ‘Good’ Mathematics? Terence Tao, who has been called the “Mozart of Mathematics,” wrote an essay in 2007 about the...
a year ago
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a year ago
Terence Tao, who has been called the “Mozart of Mathematics,” wrote an essay in 2007 about the common ingredients in “good” mathematical research. In this episode, the Fields Medalist joins Steven Strogatz to revisit the topic. The post What Makes for ‘Good’...
Quanta Magazine
JWST Spots Giant Black Holes All Over the Early Universe Giant black holes were supposed to be bit players in the early cosmic story. But recent James Webb...
a year ago
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a year ago
Giant black holes were supposed to be bit players in the early cosmic story. But recent James Webb Space Telescope observations are finding an unexpected abundance of the beasts. The post JWST Spots Giant Black Holes All Over the Early Universe first appeared on...
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
18
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
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
nanoscale views
Quick survey - machine shops and maker spaces Recent events are very dire for research at US universities, and I will write further about those,...
a month ago
17
a month ago
Recent events are very dire for research at US universities, and I will write further about those, but first a quick unrelated survey for those at such institutions.  Back in the day, it was common for physics and some other (mechanical engineering?) departments to have machine...
NeuroLogica Blog
The Transition to Agriculture It is generally accepted that the transition from hunter-gatherer communities to agriculture was the...
3 months ago
21
3 months ago
It is generally accepted that the transition from hunter-gatherer communities to agriculture was the single most important event in human history, ultimately giving rise to all of civilization. The transition started to take place around 12,000 years ago in the Middle East,...
NeuroLogica Blog
The Physics of Flocks Most people have watched large flocks of birds. They are fascinating, and have interested scientists...
a year ago
61
a year ago
Most people have watched large flocks of birds. They are fascinating, and have interested scientists for a long time. How, exactly, do so many birds maintain their cohesion as a flock? It’s obviously a dynamic process, but what are the mechanisms? When I was young I was taught...
Asterisk
China’s Silicon Future China dreams of competing with global superpowers in the semiconductor industry. Whether its efforts...
over a year ago
16
over a year ago
China dreams of competing with global superpowers in the semiconductor industry. Whether its efforts will succeed is far from clear.
IEEE Spectrum
Sony Kills Recordable Blu-Ray And Other Vintage Media Physical media fans need not panic yet—you’ll still be able to buy new Blu-Ray movies for your...
5 months ago
53
5 months ago
Physical media fans need not panic yet—you’ll still be able to buy new Blu-Ray movies for your collection. But for those who like to save copies of their own data onto the discs, the remaining options just became more limited: Sony announced last week that it’s ending all...
Yale e360
Chimps Found Treating Each Other's Wounds Chimpanzees in Uganda were found treating the injuries of other, unrelated chimps, including those...
a month ago
16
a month 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
The Quest to Quantify Quantumness What makes a quantum computer more powerful than a classical computer? It’s a surprisingly subtle...
a year ago
20
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
The Roots of...
What I’ve been reading, May 2023 This is a monthly feature. As usual, I’ve omitted recent blog posts and such, which you can find in...
over a year ago
65
over a year ago
This is a monthly feature. As usual, I’ve omitted recent blog posts and such, which you can find in my links digests. John Gall, The Systems Bible (2012), aka Systemantics, 3rd ed. A concise, pithy collection of wisdom about “systems”, mostly human organizations, projects, and...
Quanta Magazine
Physicists Who Explored Tiny Glimpses of Time Win Nobel Prize The development of attosecond pulses of light allowed researchers to explore the frame-by-frame...
a year ago
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a year ago
The development of attosecond pulses of light allowed researchers to explore the frame-by-frame movement of electrons. The post Physicists Who Explored Tiny Glimpses of Time Win Nobel Prize first appeared on Quanta Magazine
The Roots of...
The Commission for Stopping Further Improvements On May 24, 1847, a bridge over the Dee River in Chester, England, collapsed. A passenger train...
over a year ago
41
over a year ago
On May 24, 1847, a bridge over the Dee River in Chester, England, collapsed. A passenger train plunged into the river; five people were killed and nine seriously injured. The subsequent investigation blamed the bridge’s cast iron girders. Cast iron, like concrete but unlike...
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
59
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
NeuroLogica Blog
Artificial Robotic Muscles By now we have all seen the impressive robot videos, such as the ones from Boston Dynamics, in which...
9 months ago
70
9 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...
Willem Pennings
Home Assistant-compatible air quality sensor I recently moved and our new home is equipped with a ventilation system that distributes fresh...
over a year ago
28
over a year ago
I recently moved and our new home is equipped with a ventilation system that distributes fresh (outside) air through the house and recoups heat from the air that is exhausted. There is a problem with this system, though. Sometimes, for example when a neighbour lights their wood...
Quanta Magazine
What Can Tiling Patterns Teach Us? If you cover a surface with tiles, repetitive patterns always emerge — or do they? In this week’s...
a year ago
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a year ago
If you cover a surface with tiles, repetitive patterns always emerge — or do they? In this week’s episode, mathematician Natalie Priebe Frank and co-host Janna Levin discuss how recent breakthroughs in tiling can unlock structural secrets in the natural world. The...
Yale e360
Wildlife Returns to Site of Devastating Southern California Wildfire Four months after the Eaton Fire tore through Altadena, California, wildlife is making a...
2 months ago
Quanta Magazine
New Cell Atlases Reveal Untold Variety in the Brain and Beyond Recent efforts to map every cell in the human body have researchers floored by unfathomable...
a year ago
27
a year ago
Recent efforts to map every cell in the human body have researchers floored by unfathomable diversity, with many thousands of subtly different types of cells in the human brain alone. The post New Cell Atlases Reveal Untold Variety in the Brain and Beyond first...