Category: Quantum Stuff

Explore Nearly 400,000 years after the Big Bang, the primordial plasma of the infant universe cooled enough for the first atoms to coalesce, making space for the embedded radiation to soar free. That light—the cosmic microwave background (CMB)—continues to stream through the sky in all directions, broadcasting a snapshot of the early universe that’s picked… Continue reading Shadows in the Big Bang Afterglow Reveal Invisible Cosmic Structures

There have been surprisingly few experimental efforts to explore the possible avenues by which Hawai‘i’s snails might have crossed oceans to arrive in their new home. In fact, to date there has been precisely one study on this topic of which I am aware. In 2006, Brenden Holland, a researcher in the biology department at… Continue reading How Snails Cross Vast Oceans

How does your math timeline intersect with your history as a trans person? I transitioned at the tail end of grad school. When I was coming out, I didn’t know of any other trans people in math. I remember I found one article by this trans guy who wrote a short account of his experiences.… Continue reading Emmy Murphy Is a Mathematician Who Finds Beauty in Flexibility

For the first time, researchers have sequenced all 3,117,275,501 bases of our genetic code Credit: Martin KrzywinskiAdvertisement The human genome is at last complete. Researchers have been working for decades toward this goal, and the Human Genome Project claimed victory in 2001, when it had read almost all of a person’s DNA. But the stubborn… Continue reading See How Scientists Put Together the Complete Human Genome

An aggressive plant pathogen that wipes out olive trees is projected to cost Italy billions of euros over the next 50 years. Xylella fastidiosa—a bacterium named for its pickiness when grown in the laboratory—was detected in southern Italy in 2013. It is now designated a “quarantine organism” in the European Union: infected trees, some hundreds… Continue reading AI Diagnoses Devastating Olive Tree Infection

Researchers have developed an approach to break down a class of long-lasting chemicals that they say is easier and cheaper than the harsh methods currently used. The work also hints at how these chemicals, which have been linked to health problems, fall apart — a finding that could help to ultimately destroy these persistent pollutants. Per-… Continue reading Cheap New Method Breaks Down ‘Forever Chemicals’

Reading about death and suicidality can be distressing. Please read this in a moment where you feel safest and ready to do so. Pediatricians, child psychologists and psychiatrists, social workers and pediatric emergency teams know something that many people who care for children don’t: we are much busier during the school year. I’m a full-time… Continue reading Children’s Risk of Suicide Increases on School Days

After more than two years of disrupted lessons during the pandemic, it’s clearer than ever that schools are more than just places to learn: they are vital safe spaces for students to build friendships, receive nourishing meals and talk to trusted adults. And they can be more—schools can also provide health care. Around 3,000 school-based… Continue reading We Need More Health Clinics at Schools

No one paid much attention to paragraph 1C of the executive order New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed on Jan. 27, 2020. Its directive for state environmental officials to “integrate climate change considerations” into regulations seemed vague. The deadline — two years — was remote. But New Jersey officials since have made clear they are… Continue reading Bold New Jersey Shore Flood Rules Could Be Blueprint for Entire U.S. Coast