Maps
22 articles-
Should Scientists Use the Phrase “Quantum Supremacy”?
Forget for a moment that you know the meaning of “quantum supremacy,” the idea of a quantum computer outdoing its conventional counterpart. What does the phrase instantly bring to mind? Perhaps the idea that the quantum world, with its electrons, neutrons, and quarks, is, somehow, better than ours—more dazzling and awe-inspiring. Or perhaps it’s the […]
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What Really Inflamed the Coronavirus Epidemic
Censorship didn’t worsen the deadly virus outbreak. Incompetence did.
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Color-Changing Material Unites the Math and Physics of Knots
Reprinted with permission from Quanta Magazine’s Abstractions blog.One sunny day in the summer of 2019, Mathias Kolle, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, took a couple of eminent colleagues out sailing. They talked about their research. They had some drinks. Then Kolle noticed something was off: A rowboat tied to his boat had come […]
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Why We Love to Be Grossed Out
Disgust may not be a straightforward extension of the immune system’s aversion to harmful substances, but rather “a psychological nebula, lacking definite boundaries, discrete internal structure, or a single center of gravity,” says psychologist Nina Strohminger.Photograph by Star Stock / Flickr Nina Strohminger, perhaps not unlike many fans of raunchy comedies and horror flicks, is […]
