It was also an exciting year in geometry. The most attention-getting result of the year was the discovery of a new kind of tile that covers the plane in a pattern that never repeats. A two-tile combination that does this has been known since the 1970s, but the single tile, discovered by a hobbyist named… Continue reading The Biggest Discoveries in Math in 2023
Tag: Quantum Stuff
Subterranean ‘Microbial Dark Matter’ Reveals a Strange Dichotomy
Devoid of light and deprived of nutrients, the depths of Earth might seem too barren to bother scouring for signs of life. But subterranean microbial organisms actually make up an enormous part of our planet’s biosphere. They are second only to plants in terms of total estimated biomass. Now an abandoned gold mine in South… Continue reading Subterranean ‘Microbial Dark Matter’ Reveals a Strange Dichotomy
Green Glow of ‘Mesospheric Ghosts’ Decoded
December 12, 2023 3 min read Mysterious green displays in the sky dubbed “mesospheric ghosts” can sometimes accompany the dramatic red atmospheric lights called sprites By Meghan Bartels Red sprites above a supercell thunderstorm as lightning illuminates the cumulonimbus cloud below near Hay Springs, Nebraska. If you’re ever lucky enough to spot the atmospheric drama… Continue reading Green Glow of ‘Mesospheric Ghosts’ Decoded
An Easy-Sounding Problem Yields Numbers Too Big for Our Universe
Most researchers thought Lipton had cooked up the most complex possible vector addition systems, meaning he’d raised the lower bound as high as it could go. The only thing missing, in that case, would be an upper bound to go with it — that is, a proof that there could be no system in which… Continue reading An Easy-Sounding Problem Yields Numbers Too Big for Our Universe
Cats Kill a Staggering Number of Species across the World
December 12, 2023 4 min read Domestic cats are cherished human companions, but a new study shows the enormous breadth of species the felines prey on when they are left to roam freely By Jack Tamisiea Exotic species such as pythons, Asian carp and cane toads often dominate the invasive species discourse. Few biological invaders,… Continue reading Cats Kill a Staggering Number of Species across the World
The (Often) Overlooked Experiment That Revealed the Quantum World
Before Erwin Schrödinger’s cat was simultaneously dead and alive, and before pointlike electrons washed like waves through thin slits, a somewhat lesser-known experiment lifted the veil on the bewildering beauty of the quantum world. In 1922, the German physicists Otto Stern and Walther Gerlach demonstrated that the behavior of atoms was governed by rules that… Continue reading The (Often) Overlooked Experiment That Revealed the Quantum World
‘A-Team’ of Math Proves a Critical Link Between Addition and Sets
The lists have fixed lengths, and each bit can be either 0 or 1. You add them together by adding each entry to its counterpart in another list, with the rule that 1 + 1 = 0. So (0, 1, 1, 1, 0) + (1, 1, 1, 1, 1) = (1, 0, 0, 0, 1).… Continue reading ‘A-Team’ of Math Proves a Critical Link Between Addition and Sets
She Studies How Addiction Hijacks Learning in the Brain
You’re also an advocate for women in science. Where did that drive come from? Nobody in my family had a graduate degree before me. Because my dad’s in sports, there wasn’t a huge emphasis on academics. Then I ended up in a space that — I don’t want to say I had no business being… Continue reading She Studies How Addiction Hijacks Learning in the Brain
PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’ Found in Freshwater Fish, Yet Most States Don’t Warn Residents
Bill Eisenman has always fished. “Growing up, we ate whatever we caught — catfish, carp, freshwater drum,” he said. “That was the only real source of fish in our diet as a family, and we ate a lot of it.” Today, a branch of the Rouge River runs through Eisenman’s property in a suburb north… Continue reading PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’ Found in Freshwater Fish, Yet Most States Don’t Warn Residents
Male Songbirds Need Daily Vocal Practice to Woo Females
December 12, 2023 4 min read Birds might sing in the morning because they need a vocal workout By Olivia Ferrari A male zebra finch (Taeniopygia castanotis). Most professional singers agree that practice makes perfect. And now research published in Nature Communications shows that songbirds also rely on a daily vocal workout—if they want to… Continue reading Male Songbirds Need Daily Vocal Practice to Woo Females