Tag: Quantum Stuff

The biological world is awash in chemical signals. Ants lead their nest mates to food with winding trails of pheromones, plants exude aerosols to warn their neighbors of herbivores, and everything you experience as “smell” is a molecule latching onto your nose. Some molecular messages find their targets; most linger unread in the environment. But… Continue reading A New, Chemical View of Ecosystems

I remember once going to a restaurant and, being pretty hungry, ordering the biggest burger on their menu. I grossly overestimated my appetite; what arrived at my table was a ridiculously huge slab of meat, almost impossible for me to finish. Still, it was a lot smaller than HH 30, a cosmic “hamburger” billions of… Continue reading JWST Spies a Giant Space Hamburger—and Maybe Planetary Origins, Too

Physics dazzled Miles Cranmer from an early age. His grandfather, a physics professor at the University of Toronto, gave him books on the subject, and his parents took him to open houses at universities near their home in southern Ontario, Canada. The Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics was a favorite. “I remember someone talking about… Continue reading The Physicist Working to Build Science-Literate AI

But using Mirzakhani’s limited formula, Monk and Anantharaman saw a way to prove a relatively large spectral gap. “It looked almost like a miracle,” Anantharaman said. “It’s still quite mysterious to me that it works so well.” What if she and Monk could sharpen Mirzakhani’s formula to count the more complicated geodesics, too? Perhaps they… Continue reading Years After the Early Death of a Math Genius, Her Ideas Gain New Life

Our brains are full of plastic. This was the fun news I read earlier this week while picking up dinner take-out, packed in plastic containers, crammed in a plastic bag and accompanied by Styrofoam cups. Great, I thought, convenience culture is killing us. But is it? This is the problem with the slew of research… Continue reading Why Aren’t We Losing Our Minds Over the Plastic in Our Brains?

February 14, 2025 3 min read How Do You Cook a Perfect Egg? Scientists Have Figured It Out Materials scientists have found a way to perfectly cook an egg white and egg yolk simultaneously By Arminda Downey-Mavromatis edited by Andrea Thompson Hard-boiling, soft-boiling or using a trendy sous vide—no matter the approach, cooking a whole… Continue reading This Method of Cooking a Perfect Egg Sounds Absurd, But Scientists Swear Its Worth It

Plasticity differs from evolution because it happens within an individual’s lifetime. Understanding a polyp’s adjustments can therefore help biologists grasp the limits of adaptation in an era of unprecedented change. How quickly does coral grow? How densely can polyps pack together? What shapes do colonies assume to adapt to different environments? What’s the minimum number… Continue reading The ‘Elegant’ Math Model That Could Help Rescue Coral Reefs

Men are struggling—at least, that’s what many headlines suggest. Compared with women, they report having fewer and less supportive friendships. Men lag behind dramatically in achievements such as higher education attainment. Suicide rates, too, reveal a grim gender disparity: women attempt suicide more often, but men are far more likely to die by it. Concerns… Continue reading The Hidden Costs of Men’s Social Isolation

Cancer arises as an enemy from within. One of the body’s own cells becomes damaged or corrupted and then multiplies to create copies of its aberrant self. The ballooning army of deviant cells may invade nearby tissues, damaging them and causing symptoms. Deepening the betrayal, the body itself becomes complicit. Blood vessels grow toward the… Continue reading Tumors Hijack the Nervous System to Fuel Their Own Growth