Sophie Bushwick: Can you tell what a cat is thinking, just from looking at it? Tulika Bose: Probably not! Cats evolved to be solitary hunters stalking their prey, not social animals like us humans. Bushwick: And that poker face might be handy while you’re out stalking prey, but it’s a real problem if humans are… Continue reading AI Can Now Read Your Cat’s Pain
Tag: Quantum Stuff
The Theorist Who Sees Math in Art, Music and Writing
After a while, my set of pictures started to look like a particular set of graphs that were listed in a book about Coxeter groups that was in my office, and I began to hope that it was this exact set of graphs. If it was, then that would fill in the hole in my… Continue reading The Theorist Who Sees Math in Art, Music and Writing
Evolution: Fast or Slow? Lizards Help Resolve a Paradox.
Over time, however, that variability averaged out into stasis. Even if traits wobbled off their optimal, moderate peak from one generation to the next, there was a net effect of stabilization — ultimately leading to little change over the multiple generations. Experts who reviewed Stroud and his team’s data were impressed by its thoroughness and… Continue reading Evolution: Fast or Slow? Lizards Help Resolve a Paradox.
FDA Approves First CRISPR Gene Editing Treatment for Sickle Cell Disease
CRISPR, the gene-editing technology that has revolutionized biological research, is finally available as a medical treatment with regulatory approval. On December 8 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first CRISPR treatment for sickle cell disease. The treatment, called exa-cel and made by the companies Vertex and CRISPR Therapeutics, edits a gene involved in… Continue reading FDA Approves First CRISPR Gene Editing Treatment for Sickle Cell Disease
Tyrannosaur’s Stomach Contents Have Been Found for the First Time
For the first time, scientists have unearthed direct proof of what a tyrannosaur—often thought of as the epitome of fearsome predators—actually ate. The fossilized stomach contents of one member of this dinosaur family were described in a new study published on Friday in Science Advances. This remarkable discovery gives insights into the tyrannosaur diet and… Continue reading Tyrannosaur’s Stomach Contents Have Been Found for the First Time
The ‘Accidental Activist’ Who Changed the Face of Mathematics
Lenore Blum’s long career has spanned the breadth of mathematics and computer science. She’s done influential work in logic and cryptography, and she formulated an entirely new model of computation. And though she didn’t set out to do so, she’s also devoted a significant chunk of her time to building institutions to help women follow… Continue reading The ‘Accidental Activist’ Who Changed the Face of Mathematics
Deep Beneath Earth’s Surface, Clues to Life’s Origins
At most, Lang expected to find trace amounts of hydrogen so far underground. But the deepest water sample contained so much gas that as it surfaced, bubbles formed in the tube, a phenomenon similar to what happens when you crack open a fresh can of soda. “We were like, holy crap,” Lang said, recalling her… Continue reading Deep Beneath Earth’s Surface, Clues to Life’s Origins
73 Pre-Incan Mummies, Some with ‘False Heads,’ Unearthed in Peru
December 9, 2023 2 min read Burials holding mummies with false heads have been discovered from the Wari Empire in Peru By Owen Jarus & LiveScience The ruins of Pachacamac, an ancient archaeological site on the Pacific coast just south of Lima, Peru. Archaeologists in Peru have unearthed the burials of at least 73 people… Continue reading 73 Pre-Incan Mummies, Some with ‘False Heads,’ Unearthed in Peru
Mathematicians Identify the Best Versions of Iconic Shapes
Over the last two years, mathematicians have identified the best versions of a child’s playroom’s worth of shapes. These results occupy a quirky corner of math and, fittingly, have been produced by unlikely collaborations, involving a mathematician practicing origami with his wife and a professor teaching her undergraduates to play with paper. The work takes… Continue reading Mathematicians Identify the Best Versions of Iconic Shapes
Ultrasound Enables Remote 3-D Printing–Even in the Human Body
Mechanical engineers Shervin Foroughi and Mohsen Habibi were painstakingly maneuvering a tiny ultrasound wand over a pool of liquid when they first saw an icicle shape emerge and solidify. The pair shrieked so loudly that their colleagues down the hall at Montreal’s Concordia University could hear them. “Well, they would have heard us, if they… Continue reading Ultrasound Enables Remote 3-D Printing–Even in the Human Body