Almost immediately, the preprint garnered interest, particularly from Andrew Sutherland, a research scientist at MIT who is one of the managing editors of the LMFDB. Sutherland realized that 3 million elliptic curves weren’t enough for his purposes. He wanted to look at much larger conductor ranges to see how robust the murmurations were. He pulled… Continue reading Elliptic Curve ‘Murmurations’ Found With AI Take Flight
Cellular Self-Destruction May Be Ancient. But Why?
The genes for apoptosis reminded Kaczanowski and Zielenkiewicz of an arms race between a predator and its prey. In their new paper, they speculated that they might be holdovers from the tools evolved by a prey organism, presumably the original mitochondrial bacterium, to defend itself. Maybe, once caught inside our ancient ancestor, apoptotic proteins became… Continue reading Cellular Self-Destruction May Be Ancient. But Why?
We Shouldn’t Be This Invested In a Presidential Election
The reality of a Trump-Biden rematch has provoked a torrent of weeping and gnashing of teeth in the mainstream media. One article after another had declared the 2020 redux as the matchup Americans “don’t want” and are “least excited about,” with one pollster describing it as a “cruel joke.” All of this consternation highlights one… Continue reading We Shouldn’t Be This Invested In a Presidential Election
The Science behind Humpback Whales’ Eerie Songs
Devin Farmiloe: Those are the haunting melodies of baleen whales reverberating through the ocean waves. Many people across the globe are familiar with the 1970 album Songs of the Humpback Whale, produced by biologist Roger Payne. While I am a little too young to have caught its release, I remember seeing the CD for sale… Continue reading The Science behind Humpback Whales’ Eerie Songs
A Satanist Asks for Help (Possession, Obsession, Vexation, Infestation)
Podcast: Download MYS302: When a Satanist recently asked Jimmy Akin for help with whether he might be possessed, Jimmy offered his best advice. Jimmy Akin and Dom Bettinelli discuss that advice and explore how one could approach a similar situation with empathy, charity, and reason, while taking this kind of situation seriously. Get all new… Continue reading A Satanist Asks for Help (Possession, Obsession, Vexation, Infestation)
There’s a Therapist Under Ocean Blvd
Abigail Shrier’s new book Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren’t Growing Up opens with an epigraph quoting Lana Del Rey’s song “Born to Die.” Lana’s lyrics (sometimes love is not enough / and the road gets tough / I don’t know why) are perhaps apt as an anthem for people around my age. Despite being… Continue reading There’s a Therapist Under Ocean Blvd
A Wild Claim about the Powers of Pi Creates a Transcendental Mystery
Pi (π) is probably the most famous number in mathematics. Not only have experts studied it extensively, but it also fascinates amateurs: books, films and songs have been dedicated to the number. Part of its appeal may be that even though it describes the circle, one of the simplest and most symmetrical geometric objects, it… Continue reading A Wild Claim about the Powers of Pi Creates a Transcendental Mystery
Groundwater Is Declining Globally, but There Are Hopeful Exceptions
January 24, 2024 3 min read Groundwater Is Declining Globally, but There Are Hopeful Exceptions The most detailed global look at groundwater yet shows a lot of loss but also stories of success in restoring some aquifers By Stephanie Pappas Groundwater-fed irrigation of maize in Kabwe, Zambia. In 1997 Union County in southern Arkansas faced… Continue reading Groundwater Is Declining Globally, but There Are Hopeful Exceptions
TikTok Paranoia, Brought To You By the Architects of the Corona-Lockdowns
“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” – Ben Franklin As of May of 2020, more than 40 million Americans had filed for unemployment. The 40 million represented one quarter of the U.S. workforce. There’s a tendency even now for people to say that… Continue reading TikTok Paranoia, Brought To You By the Architects of the Corona-Lockdowns
New Breakthrough Brings Matrix Multiplication Closer to Ideal
That’s where Strassen’s laser method finally comes into play. “The laser method typically works very well and generally finds a good way to kill a subset of blocks to remove the overlap,” Le Gall said. After the laser has eliminated, or “burned away,” all the overlaps, you can construct the final product matrix, C. Putting… Continue reading New Breakthrough Brings Matrix Multiplication Closer to Ideal