When it comes to hard problems, computer scientists seem to be stuck. Consider, for example, the notorious problem of finding the shortest round-trip route that passes through every city on a map exactly once. All known methods for solving this “traveling salesperson problem” are painfully slow on maps with many cities, and researchers suspect there’s… Continue reading ‘Reverse Mathematics’ Illuminates Why Hard Problems Are Hard
China Is Worried About AI Job Losses
In Shanghai, jobless young professionals are paying $5 a day to sit beneath fluorescent lights at the aptly named Pretend to Work Co., one of many faux offices across the city that offer Wi-Fi, coffee, and the illusion of employment. Likely no more than a few blocks away, rural migrant workers sleep in shifts in… Continue reading China Is Worried About AI Job Losses
Can Dogs, Cats and Other Pets Truly Improve Your Health?
September 16, 2025 4 min read Can Dogs, Cats and Other Pets Truly Improve Your Health? Pets can improve your health—but only if you have a strong relationship with the animals By Lydia Denworth edited by Josh Fischman We got our first dog when my oldest son was 10. A friend who was a teacher… Continue reading Can Dogs, Cats and Other Pets Truly Improve Your Health?
Particle Physicists Detect ‘Magic’ at the Large Hadron Collider
Quantum information researchers began looking for ways to generate and enhance magic in quantum systems. This caught the attention of a few particle physicists — including Martin and Chris White — who wondered how magic appears in systems of elementary particles. “We thought, the LHC is a quantum system. Top quarks are a quantum system.… Continue reading Particle Physicists Detect ‘Magic’ at the Large Hadron Collider
The Problem with Billionaire Science
September 16, 2025 3 min read The Problem with Billionaire Science Science may need to increasingly rely on wealthy patrons, but privately funded projects don’t always pan out By David M. Ewalt Scientific American, October 2025 A poster-size version of the front page of the very first issue of this magazine hangs in the lobby… Continue reading The Problem with Billionaire Science
The Sword of St. Michael (and More Weird Questions)
Podcast: Download MYS393: It’s our annual Thanksgiving Weird Questions episode, and this time Cy Kellett is asking Jimmy Akin questions about whether the Holy Spirit has chromosomes, what sacraments angels can perform (if any), whether Zoroaster was a savior before Jesus, and what to make of the sword of St. Michael. Get all new episodes… Continue reading The Sword of St. Michael (and More Weird Questions)
A Simple Blood Test Could Spot Alzheimer’s Early—But It’s Complicated
This article is part of “Innovations In: Alzheimer’s Disease” an editorially independent special report that was produced with financial support from Eisai. The first hints that Gregory Nelson might be having cognitive troubles were subtle. So subtle, in fact, that his doctor assured him nothing was wrong. “Everyone who hits a certain age just misses… Continue reading A Simple Blood Test Could Spot Alzheimer’s Early—But It’s Complicated
Bird Migration Is One of Nature’s Greatest Spectacles. Paleontologists Just Found Clues to Its Origin
Golden autumn sunlight glints through the sedges and shrubs of the tundra in northern Alaska. Winter is approaching, and soon the region will be buried under snow and ice. For the past three months the chatter of the Arctic Tern colony has served as the soundtrack of the summer breeding season. But now, with daylight… Continue reading Bird Migration Is One of Nature’s Greatest Spectacles. Paleontologists Just Found Clues to Its Origin
Corey O’Connor Wants to Prove Democrats Can Still Govern
Corey O’Connor sits in his downtown transition office fielding calls and reviewing appointments, friendly and businesslike, considerably more buttoned-down than his father, Bob, the late mayor whose ready smile and bouffant hair made him a beloved figure in this city for decades. The younger O’Connor, who will be sworn in as Pittsburgh’s 62nd mayor on… Continue reading Corey O’Connor Wants to Prove Democrats Can Still Govern
How to Solve the Looming Dementia Care Crisis
This article is part of “Innovations In: Alzheimer’s Disease” an editorially independent special report that was produced with financial support from Eisai. The rate of Alzheimer’s diagnosis has declined steadily in recent decades, but as baby boomers age, the number of new cases continues to rise. The top risk factor for dementia is age, and… Continue reading How to Solve the Looming Dementia Care Crisis