A key question was the origin of the logarithmic scaling of the greenhouse effect—the 2-to-5-degree temperature rise that models predict will happen for every doubling of CO2. One theory held …
The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. Vacuum decay, a process that could end the universe as we know it, may happen 10,000 times sooner than expected. …
After 30 days, the algae in the middle were still unicellular. As the scientists put algae from thicker and thicker rings under the microscope, however, they found larger clumps of …
The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. Sometimes mathematicians try to tackle a problem head on, and sometimes they come at it sideways. That’s especially true when …
When were you first drawn to learning about it? I don’t think that was from some deep-seated, lifelong need to study magnetism, but it grabbed me in grad school as …
A complex system exhibits emergence, according to the new framework, by organizing itself into a hierarchy of levels that each operate independently of the details of the lower levels. The …
The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. In the movie Oppenheimer, Niels Bohr challenges the physicist early in his career: Bohr: Algebra is like sheet music. The important thing …
“There has to be some kind of triage to remember what is relevant and forget the rest,” Zugaro said. “Understanding how specific memories were selected for storage was still lacking …
The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. Say you want to send a private message, cast a secret vote, or sign a document securely. If you do …
Robert Brandenberger, a physicist at McGill University who was not involved with the study, said the new paper “sets a new standard of rigor for the analysis” of the mathematics …