Category: Quantum Stuff

How Genetic Surprises Complicate the Old Doctrine of DNA

Does an unseen force lurk within genetics? Biologists have made enormous strides over the past 100 years in understanding the role of the millions of parcels that convey our genetic information — DNA, RNA and proteins. But they have also learned about undetectable interactions between these biochemical agents, hiding in their midst like ghosts in… Continue reading How Genetic Surprises Complicate the Old Doctrine of DNA

The World’s Oldest Moss Outlived the Dinosaurs, but It May Not Survive Climate Change

CLIMATEWIRE | For nearly 400 million years, the world’s oldest moss has survived the shifting landscapes of planet Earth. Takakia, as the genus is known by scientists, has lived through ice ages and mass extinctions, and endured age after age of natural warming and cooling. It outlasted the dinosaurs, and it was there when the first… Continue reading The World’s Oldest Moss Outlived the Dinosaurs, but It May Not Survive Climate Change

Ninth Dedekind Number Found by Two Independent Groups

Richard Dedekind was a 19th-century mathematical giant, responsible for reshaping the field right down to its foundations. He was the first to give a rigorous definition of infinity; he also came up with the definition of the real numbers that form the basis of much of modern mathematics. In 1897, he published an investigation into… Continue reading Ninth Dedekind Number Found by Two Independent Groups

How to Protect Yourself from Ticks and the Dangerous Diseases They Spread

Summer is the season for stone fruit, pool parties, cookouts and, increasingly for Americans, ticks. Ecologist Felicia Keesing had an uncanny sense for ticks for as long as she could remember. If one bit her, she could feel it and would quickly pluck it off with tweezers. But last year this superpower failed her when… Continue reading How to Protect Yourself from Ticks and the Dangerous Diseases They Spread

AI Promises Humanity One Last Job. Helping AI Help Humanity

From dethroning chess masters and game show champions to outperforming radiologists, the dazzling—and at times overwhelming—world of artificial intelligence raises deep questions about the future of human jobs. In the last century, our capacity to store and process data has soared, with electronics marching from the vacuum tube to the transistor to today’s semiconductor chips.… Continue reading AI Promises Humanity One Last Job. Helping AI Help Humanity

New Calculations Show How to Escape Hawking’s Black Hole Paradox

Akers had already convinced himself that the conversion program should be written in the language of quantum error correction, as Harlow had already worked out for empty space. The semiclassical interior would be the message, and the quantum exterior would be the transmission. And given that the interior seemed to grow inside a shrinking horizon,… Continue reading New Calculations Show How to Escape Hawking’s Black Hole Paradox

Selfish, Virus-Like DNA Can Carry Genes Between Species

Previous studies of horizontal transfers have often focused on the mobile genetic elements called transposons. These privileged “jumping genes” can hop around the genome of an organism by replicating themselves and inserting their copies. Their sole concern is to promote their own survival within the genome rather than the fitness of the organism, which is… Continue reading Selfish, Virus-Like DNA Can Carry Genes Between Species

This Ancient Language Has the Only Grammar Based Entirely on the Human Body

One morning in December 2004, elders and children were wandering on the shore of Strait Island in the Bay of Bengal when one of them noticed something odd. The sea level was low, and weird-looking creatures that normally inhabit the deep twilight zone of the ocean were bobbing near the water’s surface. “Sare ukkuburuko!”—the sea… Continue reading This Ancient Language Has the Only Grammar Based Entirely on the Human Body

AI Chatbots Could Help Provide Therapy, but Caution Is Needed

On Reddit forums, many users discussing mental health have enthused about their interactions with ChatGPT—OpenAI’s artificial intelligence chatbot, which conducts humanlike conversations by predicting the likely next word in a sentence. “ChatGPT is better than my therapist,” one user wrote, adding that the program listened and responded as the person talked about their struggles with… Continue reading AI Chatbots Could Help Provide Therapy, but Caution Is Needed