Pennsylvania’s latest national rankings are not just embarrassing – they’re a policy indictment. But for Republicans, they also offer something else: a clear political opportunity. U.S. News & World Report ranks Pennsylvania 41st out of 50 states. Of the six states bordering the Commonwealth, five ranked higher. Only West Virginia fared worse. The drivers of this steep decline… Continue reading Turning PA’s Poor Rankings into a Winning GOP Agenda
Finding Beauty and Truth in Mundane Occurrences
A stain drying on the counter. A raindrop splashing onto the sidewalk. A pile of gravel settling. Historically, such phenomena have rarely caught the attention of physicists, as they seem mundane and devoid of fundamental significance. At the same time, these everyday happenings are also deceptively hard to understand. Out of balance and disordered, they… Continue reading Finding Beauty and Truth in Mundane Occurrences
What Do the Next Four Years Hold for U.S. Science and Health Agencies?
[CLIP: Theme music] Rachel Feltman: For Scientific American’s Science Quickly, I’m Rachel Feltman. We’re 18 days into the second Trump administration, and when it comes to the president’s impact on health and science, things have been pretty chaotic. There’s been sweeping confusion around a plan to freeze federal funding, much of health agencies’ communications with… Continue reading What Do the Next Four Years Hold for U.S. Science and Health Agencies?
Unbridled: How Massive Pentagon Spending Happens by Design
Like the weather, everyone complains about Pentagon spending and mismanagement, but no one does anything about it. Leaders of the world’s most expensive military have refused to conduct or failed to complete every internal financial audit since Congress first demanded such accountability in the 1990s. The Department of Defense owns over 70% of the nation’s assets and can’t account… Continue reading Unbridled: How Massive Pentagon Spending Happens by Design
The Fastest Way Yet to Color Graphs
Here’s a scary scenario: You’ve been put in charge of air traffic control at Newark airport near New York. You need to make sure every plane can taxi between the runway and its gate without hitting any other planes. Let’s bring the power of mathematics to bear on your problem. First, create a big, abstract… Continue reading The Fastest Way Yet to Color Graphs
How Can We Know If an Asteroid Will Hit Earth?
You’ve no doubt seen this kind of news headline: “Astronomers Say Space Rock May Hit Earth in the Not-Too-Distant Future!” We usually get such warnings about one or two objects every year; the latest iteration concerns an asteroid, 2024 YR4, that is estimated to be more than 50 meters wide. For a while there was… Continue reading How Can We Know If an Asteroid Will Hit Earth?
What Happens When AI Starts To Ask the Questions?
When Mario Krenn was studying quantum physics at the University of Vienna, he was trained in a particular way of designing new experiments: “You go to a blackboard, and you think very hard,” he said. In 2014, Krenn was trying to come up with a way to observe a particular quantum state. A typical setup… Continue reading What Happens When AI Starts To Ask the Questions?
The 3 Pillars of the American Idea
Unalienable rights and self-evident truths are the two core ideas of the American founding. Expand the number of core ideas under consideration to three and you get unalienable rights, self-evident truths, and free market economics. You could call them the three pillars of the American Idea. These three pillars are the direct gifts to America of… Continue reading The 3 Pillars of the American Idea
The U.S. Is Not Ready for Bird Flu in Humans
February 7, 2025 4 min read The U.S. Is Not Ready for Bird Flu in Humans Bird flu is infecting more people than we think. We need to stop it now before a new pandemic begins By Megha Satyanarayana Aberration Films LTD/Science Photo Library/Getty Images Right after President Donald Trump took office, amid the flurry… Continue reading The U.S. Is Not Ready for Bird Flu in Humans
Psychiatrist Fired for University-Disfavored Views Vindicated
Dr. Allan Josephson risked his career to become one of the first psychiatrists to publicly oppose the “transitioning” of children. When he spoke out, his employer, the University of Louisville, demoted him, harassed him, and ultimately fired him. Now, after a six-year legal battle to defend his First Amendment rights, Dr. Josephson stands vindicated. The… Continue reading Psychiatrist Fired for University-Disfavored Views Vindicated