Category: Quantum Stuff

Number theorists are always looking for hidden structure. And when confronted by a numerical pattern that seems unavoidable, they test its mettle, trying hard — and often failing — to devise situations in which a given pattern cannot appear. One of the latest results to demonstrate the resilience of such patterns, by Thomas Bloom of… Continue reading Math’s ‘Oldest Problem Ever’ Gets a New Answer

Explore The brain is often called a black box but any neuroscientist who has looked inside knows that’s a sobering understatement. Technological advances are making our neural circuitries increasingly accessible, allowing us to closely watch any number of neurons in action. And yet the mystery of the brain only deepens. What’s the meaning embedded in… Continue reading AI Is Helping Scientists Explain the Brain

Imagine going to your local hardware store and seeing a new kind of hammer on the shelf. You’ve heard about this hammer: It pounds faster and more accurately than others, and in the last few years it’s rendered many other hammers obsolete, at least for most uses. And there’s more! With a few tweaks —… Continue reading Will Transformers Take Over Artificial Intelligence?

After years of being encouraged to choose a job I love so I’ll never work a day in my life, I figured I had found my ticket: science. Like many academics, I identify with my work. I pursued a Ph.D. largely because I’ve always thought of myself as curious and enthusiastic about nature, particularly the… Continue reading We’re Killing Ourselves with Work

1972 Surprise: Mars Volcano “Mars continues to surprise the investigators associated with Mariner 9, which has been in orbit around the planet since November 13. Perhaps the most spectacular feature is a volcanic cone at least 300 miles in diameter at the base, making it larger than any comparable feature on the earth. Close-ups of… Continue reading 50, 100 & 150 Years Ago: March 2022

I botched my first interview with Chris Fuchs. Fuchs is a physicist at the University of Massachusetts Boston and the leading proponent of QBism, one of the newest and most controversial of quantum theory’s many interpretations. It goes something like this: Quantum mechanics, the theory physicists use to predict the behavior of elementary particles like… Continue reading My Quantum Leap

Credit: NASAAdvertisement MEXICO Small freshwater fish called sulfur mollies synchronously splash their tails to create waves, and scientists have now demonstrated that this strategy can deter hungry birds. Researchers triggered the wave-making process using slingshots and found that birds waited twice as long between attacks. CHILE An investigation of sedimentary rock cores revealed that a… Continue reading Science News Briefs from around the World: March 2022

Today’s most successful artificial intelligence algorithms, artificial neural networks, are loosely based on the intricate webs of real neural networks in our brains. But unlike our highly efficient brains, running these algorithms on computers guzzles shocking amounts of energy: The biggest models consume nearly as much power as five cars over their lifetimes. Enter neuromorphic… Continue reading AI Overcomes Stumbling Block on Brain-Inspired Hardware

What started in 1989 as an e-mail list for a few dozen string theorists has now grown to a collection of more than two million papers—and the central hub for physicists, astronomers, computer scientists, mathematicians and other researchers.On January 3 the preprint server arXiv.org crossed the milestone with a numerical analysis paper entitled “Affine Iterations… Continue reading ArXiv.org Reaches a Milestone and a Reckoning

In most two-player games, it is generally better to win the toss and go first. And if you are sharing a pizza with someone and want to have a larger portion, it’s usually better to grab the first slice and pick a really large one. But there are situations in which it might be better… Continue reading Play First and Lose: Zugzwang in Chess, Math and Pizzas