Jeff Cassman

Sunlight melts snowflakes. Fire turns logs into soot and smoke. A hot oven will make a magnet lose its pull. Physicists know from countless examples that if you crank the temperature high enough, structures and patterns break down. Now, though, they’ve cooked up a striking exception. In a string of results over the past few… Continue reading Heat Destroys All Order. Except for in This One Special Case.

November 5, 2024 2 min read These Bird Nests Show Signs of an Architectural ‘Culture’ Culture may play a role in how birds build collectively in the Kalahari Desert By Gennaro Tomma edited by Sarah Lewin Frasier White-browed Sparrow-Weaver nests and roosts. Wolfgang Kaehler/Alamy Stock Photo From long and winding migration flights to intricate songs… Continue reading These Bird Nests Show Signs of an Architectural ‘Culture’

He knew that his observation of one neuron firing didn’t mean there was only one neuron for every concept. If that were true, “the chance of finding it would be close to zero,” he said. “I used to joke that, if this were the case, I should quit science and start gambling because I would… Continue reading Concept Cells Help Your Brain Abstract Information and Build Memories

Calculus is a powerful mathematical tool. But for hundreds of years after its invention in the 17th century, it stood on a shaky foundation. Its core concepts were rooted in intuition and informal arguments, rather than precise, formal definitions. Two schools of thought emerged in response, according to Michael Barany, a historian of math and… Continue reading The Jagged, Monstrous Function That Broke Calculus

Computer scientists often deal with abstract problems that are hard to comprehend, but an exciting new algorithm matters to anyone who owns books and at least one shelf. The algorithm addresses something called the library sorting problem (more formally, the “list labeling” problem). The challenge is to devise a strategy for organizing books in some… Continue reading New Book-Sorting Algorithm Almost Reaches Perfection

CLIMATEWIRE | Some of this election’s most important battlegrounds for climate policy have nothing to do with the Electoral College. Governors’ mansions, legislatures and even climate policy itself are on the ballot across the country. In Washington state, voters will render an up-or-down verdict on one of the country’s most aggressive systems for cutting emissions.… Continue reading Climate Is on State Ballots This Election