The principles of thermodynamics are cornerstones of our understanding of physics. But they were discovered in the era of steam-driven technology, long before anyone dreamed of quantum mechanics. In this episode, the theoretical physicist Nicole Yunger Halpern talks to host Steven Strogatz about how physicists today are reinterpreting concepts such as work, energy and information… Continue reading Can Thermodynamics Go Quantum? | Quanta Magazine
Category: Quantum Stuff
The Paris Olympics Are a Lesson in Greenwashing
The Summer Olympics will soon begin in Paris against the backdrop of heat waves and drought throughout much of Southern Europe. The organizers of the games say that in light of climate change, they’ve made sustainability a centerpiece of their enterprise. Channeling their inner Greta Thunberg, they promise that the event will be “historic for… Continue reading The Paris Olympics Are a Lesson in Greenwashing
How Did a Landslide Shake the Earth for Nine Days?
No evidence to support any of these ideas was forthcoming. People started jokingly wondering if it was aliens or dragons having a rave or a tantrum. Some sort of leviathan “always comes up” when abnormalities like this baffle seismologists, Hicks said. Three days after the great collapse, the Danish navy surveyed the fjord to chronicle… Continue reading How Did a Landslide Shake the Earth for Nine Days?
China-U.S. Science Collaborations Are Declining, Slowing Key Research
China-U.S. Science Collaborations Are Declining, Slowing Key Research The U.S. and China are collaborating less on projects across scientific disciplines amid a culture of fear in both countries By Gemma Conroy & Nature magazine Manuel Augusto Moreno/Getty Images China’s scientific collaboration with other countries has declined since the pandemic, driven by falling partnerships with the… Continue reading China-U.S. Science Collaborations Are Declining, Slowing Key Research
Major Breakthrough Puts Element 120—the Heaviest Ever—within Reach
New Superheavy Element Synthesis Points to Long-Sought ‘Island of Stability’ A novel way of making superheavy elements could soon add a new row to the periodic table, allowing scientists to explore uncharted atomic realms By Max Springer Jacklyn Gates, head of the Heavy Element Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, is leading an… Continue reading Major Breakthrough Puts Element 120—the Heaviest Ever—within Reach
Do We Need a New Theory of Gravity?
Observations of the cosmos suggest that unseen sources of gravity — dark matter — tug at the stars in galaxies, while another mysterious force — dark energy — drives the universe to expand at an ever-increasing rate. The evidence for both of them, however, hinges on assumptions that gravity works the same way at all… Continue reading Do We Need a New Theory of Gravity?
Perplexing the Web, One Probability Puzzle at a Time
In late January, Daniel Litt posed an innocent probability puzzle on the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) — and set a corner of the Twitterverse on fire. Imagine, he wrote, that you have an urn filled with 100 balls, some red and some green. You can’t see inside; all you know is… Continue reading Perplexing the Web, One Probability Puzzle at a Time
Biden Enacted Landmark Heat Protections. Millions of Public Employees Are Still in Danger
CLIMATEWIRE | President Joe Biden heralded the nation’s first-ever proposal to protect workers from heat as a lifesaving measure at a time when searing temperatures are killing more Americans than any other disaster. But the draft rule announced this month is haunted by a 50-year-old loophole that would stop it from defending about 7.9 million… Continue reading Biden Enacted Landmark Heat Protections. Millions of Public Employees Are Still in Danger
First ‘Cocaine Sharks’ Discovered off Brazil
Sharks in Brazil Test Positive for a Surprising Contaminant: Cocaine Cocaine has been detected in sharks for the first time, but scientists aren’t sure of the impact By Stephanie Pappas Researchers found cocaine in sharpnose sharks off Brazil. These sharks are in the same genus as the Atlantic sharpnose shark, shown here with a student… Continue reading First ‘Cocaine Sharks’ Discovered off Brazil
Chatbots Aren’t Sentient, but You Should Be Nice to Them Anyway
If you’ve ever caught yourself saying “please” and “thank you” to ChatGPT, you’re in good company. In an informal online survey by Ethan Mollick, an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania, nearly half of the respondents said they are often polite to the artificially intelligent chatbot, and only about 16 percent said they “just… Continue reading Chatbots Aren’t Sentient, but You Should Be Nice to Them Anyway