Category: Quantum Stuff

Trump’s Administration Will Attack Health Care from Multiple Angles

Former President Donald Trump’s election victory and looming return to the White House will likely bring changes that scale back the nation’s public health insurance programs — increasing the uninsured rate, while imposing new barriers to abortion and other reproductive care. The reverberations will be felt far beyond Washington, D.C., and could include an erosion… Continue reading Trump’s Administration Will Attack Health Care from Multiple Angles

Scientists Re-Create the Microbial Dance That Sparked Complex Life

The pair had initially accepted each other, but that was only the first step. Giger patiently waited, and then saw what he was looking for under the microscope: The bacteria had wiggled their way into the fungal spores to hitchhike to the next generation. “I had to make sure the signal was the real deal,… Continue reading Scientists Re-Create the Microbial Dance That Sparked Complex Life

Consciousness Might Hide in Our Brain’s Electric Fields

The neuron, the specialized cell type that makes up much of our brains, is at the center of today’s neuroscience. Neuroscientists explain perception, memory, cognition and even consciousness itself as products of billions of these tiny neurons busily firing their tiny “spikes” of voltage inside our brain. These energetic spikes not only convey things like… Continue reading Consciousness Might Hide in Our Brain’s Electric Fields

The Weight Debate in Health Care

This episode is part of “Health Equity Heroes,” an editorially independent special project that was produced with financial support from Takeda Pharmaceuticals. Rachel Feltman: According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at least one in five U.S. adults in each state are categorized as, quote, unquote, “living with obesity.” But for… Continue reading The Weight Debate in Health Care

Why Computer Scientists Consult Oracles

Pose a question to a Magic 8 Ball, and it’ll answer yes, no or something annoyingly indecisive. We think of it as a kid’s toy, but theoretical computer scientists employ a similar tool. They often imagine they can consult hypothetical devices called oracles that can instantly, and correctly, answer specific questions. These fanciful thought experiments… Continue reading Why Computer Scientists Consult Oracles

Let African Communities Manage Their Climate Adaptation Plans

When I was a baby, a long drought drove my family from our rural village in Kenya to Kibera, the largest slum in the country. My single mother wanted to provide us a better life, but with few prospects we ended up in the most vulnerable part of Nairobi. Climate change has shaped my life… Continue reading Let African Communities Manage Their Climate Adaptation Plans

What Trump Can—And Probably Can’t—Do to Reverse U.S. Climate Policy

November 8, 2024 5 min read What Trump Can—And Probably Can’t—Do to Reverse U.S. Climate Policy The new president-elect can go beyond just pulling out of the Paris Agreement. But it may be more difficult to roll back clean energy policies By Gautam Jain & The Conversation US In 2019, then-President Donald Trump visited a… Continue reading What Trump Can—And Probably Can’t—Do to Reverse U.S. Climate Policy

The Lucy Fossil’s Extraordinary Journey to Becoming an Icon of Human Evolution

Fifty years ago researchers working in the Afar region of Ethiopia recovered a remarkable fossil of an ancient relative of ours. This specimen of a female hominin, or member of the human family, soon became the most famous fossil in the world. If you’ve ever had even a passing interest in human origins, you have… Continue reading The Lucy Fossil’s Extraordinary Journey to Becoming an Icon of Human Evolution