In a dry river valley on Mars, NASA’s Perseverance rover may at last have found its reason for being: evidence of ancient alien life—and with it, a lifeline for the space agency’s grand but troubled plan to bring Red Planet materials to Earth. This potentially cosmos-quaking evidence may look like merely a humble rock, but… Continue reading Signs of Ancient Alien Life May Lurk within This Newfound Martian Rock
Overturning Chevron: A Wrong Made Right
This June, the Supreme Court struck a major blow to the bureaucratic behemoth of the administrative state by overturning Chevron. The 1984 Chevron decision had long directed courts to defer to the administrative state’s interpretation of the law, granting enormous powers, including the judicial branch’s core power of interpreting law, to an unelected, entrenched bureaucracy.… Continue reading Overturning Chevron: A Wrong Made Right
Monumental Proof Settles Geometric Langlands Conjecture
In classical signal processing, sound waves get built up out of sine waves whose frequencies correspond to the pitches contained in the sound. It’s not enough to know which pitches the sound contains — you must also know how loud each pitch is. That information allows you to write your sound as a combination of… Continue reading Monumental Proof Settles Geometric Langlands Conjecture
How America’s Democratic Foundation Promotes Innovation and U.S. Security
The United States is in a global competition with other nations for leadership in critical and emerging technologies. To succeed, we must protect the national treasures that will ensure America leads the world in such fields as semiconductors, artificial intelligence, advanced communications and biotechnology. In this race to the top of innovation dominance, the United… Continue reading How America’s Democratic Foundation Promotes Innovation and U.S. Security
Vacuum of Space to Decay Sooner Than Expected (but Still Not Soon)
Vacuum decay, a process that could end the universe as we know it, may happen 10,000 times sooner than expected. Fortunately, it still won’t happen for a very, very long time. When physicists speak of “the vacuum,” the term sounds as though it refers to empty space, and in a sense it does. More specifically,… Continue reading Vacuum of Space to Decay Sooner Than Expected (but Still Not Soon)
Book Review: Nathaniel Ellison’s Essential ‘Crypto Confidential’
Shein is a Singapore-based clothier that makes clothes in just-in-time fashion as a way of it relentlessly trying to mirror the needs and styles of its users. While future brides frequently purchase custom-made wedding dresses, Shein makes it possible for its customers to buy every clothing item as though they’re a bride. Have you heard… Continue reading Book Review: Nathaniel Ellison’s Essential ‘Crypto Confidential’
Musical Memories Don’t Fade with Age
Musical Memories Don’t Fade with Age Eighty-year-olds are able to identify familiar tunes just as well as teenagers can By Bianca Nogrady & Nature magazine Musical memory might be resistant to age-related cognitive declines because it stirs emotions and becomes more encoded in memory. The ability to remember and recognize a musical theme does not… Continue reading Musical Memories Don’t Fade with Age
How Americans Mourned the Assassination of a Controversial Leader
It is easy to forget how unpopular Abraham Lincoln was during his lifetime. In fact, he was hated by much of the country—not only in the South, which seceded after his election in 1860, but also in the North. Shortly after Lincoln moved into the White House in 1861, a New Jersey editor wrote privately… Continue reading How Americans Mourned the Assassination of a Controversial Leader
NASA’s Hopes for Space Solar Power Are Looking Dim
The sun may be setting on NASA’s plans to build a space-based solar power (SBSP) satellite system to alleviate our energy needs on Earth. In January, the agency released a report that, citing launch costs specifically, concludes that generating power from orbit is simply too expensive, especially compared with solar power made right here on… Continue reading NASA’s Hopes for Space Solar Power Are Looking Dim
How Arguments that Embryos Are People Pose a Threat to IVF
On February 16 the Alabama Supreme Court brought fertility care in that state to a screeching halt—and started a national conversation—by declaring that frozen embryos were people in the eyes of the law. In support of its decision, the court cited a 19th-century Alabama statute, the state’s constitution and, in a memorable concurrence from Chief… Continue reading How Arguments that Embryos Are People Pose a Threat to IVF