Tag: Quantum Stuff

Pose a question to a Magic 8 Ball, and it’ll answer yes, no or something annoyingly indecisive. We think of it as a kid’s toy, but theoretical computer scientists employ a similar tool. They often imagine they can consult hypothetical devices called oracles that can instantly, and correctly, answer specific questions. These fanciful thought experiments… Continue reading Why Computer Scientists Consult Oracles

You may think it’s a few weeks early to celebrate the new year, but that’s only because you’re Earthist: November 12, 2024, marks the new year for Mars, when the calendar turns the page from 37 to 38. And here I am, still putting 37 on all my checks. Why would anyone pick November 12… Continue reading Happy New Year! (If You’re a Martian)

When I was a baby, a long drought drove my family from our rural village in Kenya to Kibera, the largest slum in the country. My single mother wanted to provide us a better life, but with few prospects we ended up in the most vulnerable part of Nairobi. Climate change has shaped my life… Continue reading Let African Communities Manage Their Climate Adaptation Plans

November 8, 2024 5 min read What Trump Can—And Probably Can’t—Do to Reverse U.S. Climate Policy The new president-elect can go beyond just pulling out of the Paris Agreement. But it may be more difficult to roll back clean energy policies By Gautam Jain & The Conversation US In 2019, then-President Donald Trump visited a… Continue reading What Trump Can—And Probably Can’t—Do to Reverse U.S. Climate Policy

Fifty years ago researchers working in the Afar region of Ethiopia recovered a remarkable fossil of an ancient relative of ours. This specimen of a female hominin, or member of the human family, soon became the most famous fossil in the world. If you’ve ever had even a passing interest in human origins, you have… Continue reading The Lucy Fossil’s Extraordinary Journey to Becoming an Icon of Human Evolution

Rachel Feltman: Happy Monday, listeners! For Scientific American’s Science Quickly, this is Rachel Feltman.  First, I just want to say that I believe radical optimism is going to be an important part of our tool kit in the months to come. So I’m going to do my best to bring you stories that show how… Continue reading Baseball Mud Bath Has Scientific Backing

November 11, 2024 6 min read I Destroyed a Car to Explore Some Music Myths Two years of experimentation taught a Nashville guitarist not every musical myth makes sense By Jim Lill edited by Daniel Vergano Jim Lill playing his guitar made from a car. This is the story of how (and why) I had… Continue reading I Destroyed a Car to Explore Some Music Myths

November 11, 2024 3 min read Worker Protections for Extreme Heat in Peril after Trump’s Election A Biden administration proposal that would require employers to provide cooling measures under extreme heat conditions may be scuttled by the incoming Trump administration By Ariel Wittenberg & E&E News A worker adjusts his helmet on a construction site in… Continue reading Worker Protections for Extreme Heat in Peril after Trump’s Election

I didn’t find math particularly exciting when I was in high school. To be honest, I only studied it when I went to university because it initially seemed quite easy to me. But in my very first math lecture as an undergraduate, I realized that everything I thought I knew about math was wrong. It… Continue reading How Geometry Revealed Quantum Memory

Space explorers need grit, strength and resolve to navigate the hostile environments beyond Earth. This might explain why around 60 percent of NASA’s astronauts have come from military service. A smaller fraction have had medical experience. And Jonny Kim is among the fewer than a dozen in NASA’s history to share both backgrounds. After serving… Continue reading Jonny Kim’s Third Act: NASA Astronaut