In 1940, from a jailhouse in Rouen, France, André Weil wrote one of the most consequential letters of 20th-century mathematics. He was serving time for refusing to join the French army, and he filled his days in part by writing letters to his sister, Simone, an accomplished philosopher living in London. In a previous letter,… Continue reading A Rosetta Stone for Mathematics
Joe Fisher’s Hungry Ghosts! (Siren Call of the Hungry Ghosts, Guides, Mediumship, Channeling)
Podcast: Download MYS311: Last time, Jimmy Akin and Dom Bettinelli discussed Joe Fisher’s mid-1980s experiences with spirit guides, and they continue to look at what he learned as he researched the guides and their claims and come to their own conclusions about what had entered Joe’s life. Get all new episodes automatically and for free:… Continue reading Joe Fisher’s Hungry Ghosts! (Siren Call of the Hungry Ghosts, Guides, Mediumship, Channeling)
Recognize the Spanish Contribution to American Independence
May 8th is Gálvez Day in Pensacola, Florida. A celebration of Bernardo de Gálvez, commander of the Spanish force that defeated Britain at the 1781 Siege of Pensacola, it recalls the Spanish role in the American Revolution. The day, however, should be more than a local holiday. It should be recognized throughout the nation as… Continue reading Recognize the Spanish Contribution to American Independence
Dogged Dark Matter Hunters Find New Hiding Places to Check
If or when SLAC’s planned project, the Light Dark Matter Experiment (LDMX), receives funding — a decision from the Department of Energy is expected in the next year or so — it will scan for light dark matter. The experiment is designed to accelerate electrons toward a target made of tungsten in End Station A.… Continue reading Dogged Dark Matter Hunters Find New Hiding Places to Check
New AI Tools Predict How Life’s Building Blocks Assemble
They’ll be especially useful for creating rough predictions that can then be tested out computationally or experimentally. The biochemist Frank Uhlmann had the opportunity to pretest AlphaFold3 after running into a Google employee in a hallway of the Francis Crick Institute in London, where he works. He decided to look up a protein-DNA interaction that… Continue reading New AI Tools Predict How Life’s Building Blocks Assemble
What Does Milk Do for Babies?
Milk is more than just a food for babies. Breast milk has evolved to deliver thousands of diverse molecules including growth factors, hormones and antibodies, as well as microbes. Elizabeth Johnson, a molecular nutritionist at Cornell University, studies the effects of infants’ diet on the gut microbiome. These studies could hold clues to hard questions… Continue reading What Does Milk Do for Babies?
How the Solar Eclipse Will Impact Electricity Supplies
This article is part of a special report on the total solar eclipse that will be visible from parts of the U.S., Mexico and Canada on April 8, 2024. The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research. During the most recent total solar eclipse visible in… Continue reading How the Solar Eclipse Will Impact Electricity Supplies
How Trustees Can Save Columbia, Brown, Northeastern, Penn, Indiana, Yale…
In an unprecedented display of leadership, the president, flanked by the provost and the chairman of the board of trustees, announced to the chanting and drumming students encamped in the South Quad: Out of respect for the rights of the members of our academic community, we have restrictions on the time, manner, and place for… Continue reading How Trustees Can Save Columbia, Brown, Northeastern, Penn, Indiana, Yale…
Moving Trees North Could Save Forests from a Changing Climate
On a brisk September morning, Brian Palik’s footfalls land quietly on a path in flickering light, beneath a red pine canopy in Minnesota’s iconic Northwoods. A mature red pine, also called Norway pine, is a tall, straight overstory tree that thrives in cold winters and cool summers. It’s the official Minnesota state tree and a… Continue reading Moving Trees North Could Save Forests from a Changing Climate
Does AI Know What an Apple Is? She Aims to Find Out.
What does “understanding” or “meaning” mean, empirically? What, specifically, do you look for? When I was starting my research program at Brown, we decided that meaning involves concepts in some way. I realize this is a theoretical commitment that not everyone makes, but it seems intuitive. If you use the word “apple” to mean apple,… Continue reading Does AI Know What an Apple Is? She Aims to Find Out.