Nearly a century ago, the physicist Erwin Schrödinger called attention to a quirk of the quantum world that has fascinated and vexed researchers ever since. When quantum particles such as atoms interact, they shed their individual identities in favor of a collective state that’s greater, and weirder, than the sum of its parts. This phenomenon… Continue reading Computer Scientists Prove That Heat Destroys Entanglement
Category: Quantum Stuff
Komodo Dragons’ Nightmare Iron-Tipped Teeth Are a Reptilian First
Komodo Dragons’ Nightmare Iron-Tipped Teeth Are a Reptilian First Reptile teeth have long been considered simple and cheap because the animals replace them regularly. That isn’t so, Komodo dragons show By Meghan Bartels An adult Komodo dragon seen at a zoo. Jürgen & Christine Sohns/imageBROKER.com GmbH & Co. KG/Alamy Stock Photo There aren’t many scenarios… Continue reading Komodo Dragons’ Nightmare Iron-Tipped Teeth Are a Reptilian First
Basic Income Gives Money without Strings. Here’s How People Spend It
In 2020, amid widespread layoffs and economic turmoil brought on by the COVID pandemic, 1,000 low-income people in Texas and Illinois won something of a lottery. They were selected to receive $1,000 per month—with no strings attached—for three years as part of a study on guaranteed income by OpenResearch, a nonprofit research organization funded in… Continue reading Basic Income Gives Money without Strings. Here’s How People Spend It
Waning Dark Energy May Evade ‘Swampland’ of Impossible Universes
At the time, the work seemed to conflict with what physicists thought they knew about the universe, with its presumed cosmological constant. And some string theorists still argue that stable universes with positive cosmological constants can exist in string theory; one attempt at constructing such a solution appeared earlier this month. Nevertheless, in light of… Continue reading Waning Dark Energy May Evade ‘Swampland’ of Impossible Universes
If Trump Were to Pull the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement Again, It Will Be Much Harder to Rejoin
CLIMATEWIRE | Donald Trump pulled America out of the Paris climate agreement once. But while his loud condemnations of the deal drew rebukes from world leaders, the withdrawal itself resulted in ripples rather than tidal waves for the landmark agreement. It could be different if Trump is elected this year. That’s because the terms of… Continue reading If Trump Were to Pull the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement Again, It Will Be Much Harder to Rejoin
Mathematicians Prove Hawking Wrong About ‘Extremal’ Black Holes
To understand the universe, scientists look to its outliers. “You always want to know about the extreme cases — the special cases that lie at the edge,” said Carsten Gundlach, a mathematical physicist at the University of Southampton. Black holes are the enigmatic extremes of the cosmos. Within them, matter is packed so tightly that,… Continue reading Mathematicians Prove Hawking Wrong About ‘Extremal’ Black Holes
How Base 3 Computing Beats Binary
The hallmark feature of ternary notation is that it’s ruthlessly efficient. With two binary bits, you can represent four numbers. Two “trits” — each with three different states — allow you to represent nine different numbers. A number that requires 42 bits would need only 27 trits. If a three-state system is so efficient, you… Continue reading How Base 3 Computing Beats Binary
The Geometric Tool That Solved Einstein’s Relativity Problem
After Albert Einstein published his special theory of relativity in 1905, he spent the next decade trying to come up with a theory of gravity. But for years, he kept running up against a problem. He wanted to show that gravity is really a warping of the geometry of space-time caused by the presence of… Continue reading The Geometric Tool That Solved Einstein’s Relativity Problem
The Webb Telescope Further Deepens the Biggest Controversy in Cosmology
But Freedman suspects that the Cepheid-based H0 measurement is not as trustworthy as the others. It is extremely sensitive to assumptions about, for example, the elemental composition of the Cepheids, and each star’s neighborhood. Dust in the galactic disks where Cepheids live can absorb their light and dim them. The Webb’s infrared vision pierces the… Continue reading The Webb Telescope Further Deepens the Biggest Controversy in Cosmology
Is Technology in the Olympics a Form of Doping or a Reality of Modern Sport?
Today’s Olympic Games are a technological marvel. Slow-motion cameras play back the milliseconds-long difference between first and second place. Wearable sensors detect clean hits in a bout of fencing or a round of tae kwon do. Olympic athletes use motion tracking, microcurrents and lactic acid monitors to improve form, speed up recovery and prevent injuries.… Continue reading Is Technology in the Olympics a Form of Doping or a Reality of Modern Sport?