Tag: Quantum Stuff

The Symmetry That Makes Solving Math Equations Easy

Think of the tune to “Pop Goes the Weasel.” Now sing these lyrics: Neg-a-tive b, plus or minusThe square root of b squaredmi-nus four a cAll! over two a This jingle has helped generations of algebra students recall the quadratic formula that solves every equation of the form $latex ax^2+bx+c=0$. The formula is as useful… Continue reading The Symmetry That Makes Solving Math Equations Easy

Shadows in the Big Bang Afterglow Reveal Invisible Cosmic Structures

Explore Nearly 400,000 years after the Big Bang, the primordial plasma of the infant universe cooled enough for the first atoms to coalesce, making space for the embedded radiation to soar free. That light—the cosmic microwave background (CMB)—continues to stream through the sky in all directions, broadcasting a snapshot of the early universe that’s picked… Continue reading Shadows in the Big Bang Afterglow Reveal Invisible Cosmic Structures

Emmy Murphy Is a Mathematician Who Finds Beauty in Flexibility

How does your math timeline intersect with your history as a trans person? I transitioned at the tail end of grad school. When I was coming out, I didn’t know of any other trans people in math. I remember I found one article by this trans guy who wrote a short account of his experiences.… Continue reading Emmy Murphy Is a Mathematician Who Finds Beauty in Flexibility

See How Scientists Put Together the Complete Human Genome

For the first time, researchers have sequenced all 3,117,275,501 bases of our genetic code Credit: Martin KrzywinskiAdvertisement The human genome is at last complete. Researchers have been working for decades toward this goal, and the Human Genome Project claimed victory in 2001, when it had read almost all of a person’s DNA. But the stubborn… Continue reading See How Scientists Put Together the Complete Human Genome

AI Diagnoses Devastating Olive Tree Infection

An aggressive plant pathogen that wipes out olive trees is projected to cost Italy billions of euros over the next 50 years. Xylella fastidiosa—a bacterium named for its pickiness when grown in the laboratory—was detected in southern Italy in 2013. It is now designated a “quarantine organism” in the European Union: infected trees, some hundreds… Continue reading AI Diagnoses Devastating Olive Tree Infection

Cheap New Method Breaks Down ‘Forever Chemicals’

Researchers have developed an approach to break down a class of long-lasting chemicals that they say is easier and cheaper than the harsh methods currently used. The work also hints at how these chemicals, which have been linked to health problems, fall apart — a finding that could help to ultimately destroy these persistent pollutants. Per-… Continue reading Cheap New Method Breaks Down ‘Forever Chemicals’

How the Inside of a Black Hole Is Secretly on the Outside

Theoretical physics has been in crisis mode ever since 1974, when Stephen Hawking argued that black holes destroy information. Hawking showed that a black hole can evaporate, gradually transforming itself and anything it consumes into a featureless cloud of radiation. During the process, information about what fell into the black hole is apparently lost, violating… Continue reading How the Inside of a Black Hole Is Secretly on the Outside

Children’s Risk of Suicide Increases on School Days

Reading about death and suicidality can be distressing. Please read this in a moment where you feel safest and ready to do so. Pediatricians, child psychologists and psychiatrists, social workers and pediatric emergency teams know something that many people who care for children don’t: we are much busier during the school year. I’m a full-time… Continue reading Children’s Risk of Suicide Increases on School Days