Now is the best time in the history of the U.S. to cast a vote. Yes, American elections have flaws. They’re marred by voter disenfranchisement, gerrymandering, the inherent weirdness of the electoral college and recent cases of ballot box arson. But the act of voting itself has been unfairly tarnished, most notably by former president… Continue reading Voting Has Never Been More Secure Than It Is Right Now
Category: Quantum Stuff
The Poetry Fan Who Taught an LLM to Read and Write DNA
We scored likelihoods from the model using experimental tests of protein function. We found that if a base pair has high likelihood under Evo, then that base pair is likely to preserve or improve the protein’s function. But if that base pair has low likelihood, then putting that base pair into a protein sequence will… Continue reading The Poetry Fan Who Taught an LLM to Read and Write DNA
How Noether’s Theorem Revolutionized Physics
But symmetries go beyond shape. Imagine you do an experiment, then you move 10 meters to the left and do it again. The results of the experiment don’t change, because the laws of physics don’t change from place to place. This is called translation symmetry. Now wait a few days and repeat your experiment again.… Continue reading How Noether’s Theorem Revolutionized Physics
Cosmologists Try a New Way to Measure the Shape of the Universe
There are slight variations in the CMB: Some spots on the last scattering surface (where the CMB photons originated) are a bit warmer than average, while others are a bit cooler. These patterns were created by sound waves propagating through the plasma of the early universe. The waves themselves were triggered by minute quantum fluctuations… Continue reading Cosmologists Try a New Way to Measure the Shape of the Universe
Epic Gravity Lens Lines Up Seven-Galaxy View
November 4, 2024 2 min read Epic Gravity Lens Lines Up Seven-Galaxy View A galaxy cluster bends light from seven background galaxies around it, letting astronomers peer into space and time By Tom Metcalfe edited by Sarah Lewin Frasier The Carousel Lens (center) bends the light of seven background galaxies. DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys/LBNL/DOE &… Continue reading Epic Gravity Lens Lines Up Seven-Galaxy View
How Does Life Happen When There’s Barely Any Light?
Their estimate is a conservative one, he added, and it’s possible even fewer photons got through. “The ice cover is quite heterogeneous,” he explained. Because some parts of the sheet might allow more light through than others, the research team selected the upper thresholds of their light measurements. “In the end there’s some variety, and… Continue reading How Does Life Happen When There’s Barely Any Light?
The 2024 Election Will Change American Education and Set Global Climate Priorities
[CLIP: Theme music] Rachel Feltman: Happy Monday, listeners! For Scientific American’s Science Quickly, this is Rachel Feltman. We usually start off the week with a news roundup, but today we’re doing something a little different. On Friday we talked to a few Scientific American editors about how the upcoming election could impact issues of science… Continue reading The 2024 Election Will Change American Education and Set Global Climate Priorities
The Law Must Respond When Science Changes
November 4, 2024 5 min read The Law Must Respond When Science Changes What was once fair under the law may become unfair when science changes. The law must react to uphold due process By David Faigman & Jeff Kukucka edited by Megha Satyanarayana Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón shakes hands with Joan… Continue reading The Law Must Respond When Science Changes
Chatbot Software Begins to Face Fundamental Limitations
On December 17, 1962, Life International published a logic puzzle consisting of 15 sentences describing five houses on a street. Each sentence was a clue, such as “The Englishman lives in the red house” or “Milk is drunk in the middle house.” Each house was a different color, with inhabitants of different nationalities, who owned… Continue reading Chatbot Software Begins to Face Fundamental Limitations
Clean Energy Is Bringing Electricity to Many in the Navajo Nation
CLIMATEWIRE | ON NAVAJO LAND, Arizona — It was a solar panel array that finally gave Norma Toledo a place to call home. For nights at a time this year, Toledo slept outside a Walmart in the cab of her Toyota Tacoma. But on one milestone day last month, as temperatures dipped below freezing, Toledo… Continue reading Clean Energy Is Bringing Electricity to Many in the Navajo Nation