Repetition doesn’t always have to be humdrum. In mathematics, it is a powerful force, capable of generating bewildering complexity. Even after decades of study, mathematicians find themselves unable to answer questions about the repeated execution of very simple rules — the most basic “dynamical systems.” But in trying to do so, they have uncovered deep… Continue reading ‘Entropy Bagels’ and Other Complex Structures Emerge From Simple Rules
Robotic Dinosaur Tests How Dinos (and Birds) Got Wings
January 25, 2024 3 min read Robotic Dinosaur Tests How Dinos (and Birds) Got Wings Scientists built a robotic dinosaur to terrify grasshoppers, all in hopes of understanding how truly pathetic wings could offer prehistoric animals an evolutionary advantage By Meghan Bartels In any group, not everyone can be a fearsome Tyrannosaurus rex or a… Continue reading Robotic Dinosaur Tests How Dinos (and Birds) Got Wings
This Tiny Marsupial Gives Up Sleep for Sex, Then Drops Dead
January 25, 2024 3 min read The mouselike male antechinus goes all out for its first and final mating season By Jack Tamisiea Dusky antechinus marsupial on moss at Mount Wellington in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. During the breeding season, time is not on a male antechinus’s side. These carnivorous marsupials, which resemble a mousy shrew,… Continue reading This Tiny Marsupial Gives Up Sleep for Sex, Then Drops Dead
Maze Proof Establishes a ‘Backbone’ for Statistical Mechanics
Imagine that a grid of hexagons, honeycomb-like, stretches before you. Some hexagons are empty; others are filled by a 6-foot tall column of solid concrete. The result is a maze of sorts. For over half a century, mathematicians have posed questions about such randomly generated mazes. How big is the largest web of cleared paths?… Continue reading Maze Proof Establishes a ‘Backbone’ for Statistical Mechanics
Renewable Power Set to Surpass Coal Globally by 2025
CLIMATEWIRE | Global electricity demand will step up its rate of growth over the next three years — but the additional power use will be covered by low-emissions sources, according to a report released Wednesday by the International Energy Agency. The IEA’s Electricity 2024 report forecasts that renewable energy is set to overtake the world’s use of coal… Continue reading Renewable Power Set to Surpass Coal Globally by 2025
The Chronovisor (Vatican, Time Travel, Time Viewer)
Podcast: Download MYS299: In 1972, an Italian newspaper published a photo it said was the face of Christ as shown by a machine that could view any point in history. Jimmy Akin and Dom Bettinelli ask whether the photo and the machine, the Chronovisor, was real; who was the priest who claimed to create it;… Continue reading The Chronovisor (Vatican, Time Travel, Time Viewer)
Lions Are Changing Their Hunting Strategy because of Ant Invasion
January 25, 2024 4 min read Big-headed ants are invading new territories in Kenya—and the consequences are rippling through the whole ecosystem, scientists have found By Meghan Bartels Young female (left) and male lions stalk prey within a “pristine” (uninvaded) savanna. The whistling-thorn trees in the foreground provide cover used by lions to stalk and… Continue reading Lions Are Changing Their Hunting Strategy because of Ant Invasion
‘Sue and Settle’ Looks to Some Like Crony Democracy. Under Biden’s Lawfaring Eco-Politics, It’s Back.
When the Biden administration announced in 2022 that it would remove some 4 million acres of federal land in Western states from oil and gas exploration, environmental groups hailed the decision as a milestone in their fight against global warming. Scott Pruitt: “The era of regulation through litigation is over,” said Trump’s EPA administrator. AP… Continue reading ‘Sue and Settle’ Looks to Some Like Crony Democracy. Under Biden’s Lawfaring Eco-Politics, It’s Back.
64,000 Pregnancies Caused by Rape Have Occurred in States with a Total Abortion Ban, New Study Estimates
January 25, 2024 4 min read Researchers calculated the number of pregnancies resulting from rape in states where abortion was banned throughout pregnancy after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision By Tanya Lewis Abortion rights protesters rally outside of the Texas State Capital in 2022. A new study estimates the number of rape-related pregnancies in states with abortion… Continue reading 64,000 Pregnancies Caused by Rape Have Occurred in States with a Total Abortion Ban, New Study Estimates
Critics of ‘Isolationism’ Cherry-Pick the Worst Arguments For It
When he returned home from a visit to the Soviet Union in 1981, Cato Institute co-founder Ed Crane wrote a classic essay (Fear and Loathing In the Soviet Union) in which he called into question the views of both left and right about the U.S.’s then-foremost enemy: To those on the left who felt communism… Continue reading Critics of ‘Isolationism’ Cherry-Pick the Worst Arguments For It