Larry Liebovitch is a professor in the Department of Physics and the Department of Psychology at Queens College, and at the Physics Program of the Graduate Center, City University of New York. He is also a core faculty member of the...
Scientists are now using new quantum chemistry computing procedures to categorize hypothetical electrocatalysts that are 'too slow' or 'too expensive', far more thoroughly and quickly than was considered possible a few years ago.
A new algorithm provides a framework for solving complex linear inverse problems that doesn't require a supercomputer and also enhances security and privacy.
In efforts to automatically capture important data from scientific papers, computer scientists have developed a method that can accurately detect small, geometric objects such as triangles within dense, low-quality plots contained in...
A murmuration of starlings. Photo: Walter Baxter , CC BY-SA 2.0 . Emergence is a concept that's become quite famous in popular culture, but still has a ring of the magical and mystical about it. In this podcast we talk to Chris Budd ,...
New rules of engagement on the battlefield will require a deep understanding of networks and how they operate according to new Army research. Researchers confirmed a theory that find that networks of no more than 150 are optimal for...
If aerosol transmission of COVID-19 is confirmed to be significant, we will need to reconsider guidelines on social distancing, ventilation systems and shared spaces. Researchers in the U.K. believe a better understanding of droplet...
The study of cellular dynamics is crucial to understand how cells develop and how diseases progress. Scientist have now created 'scVelo' - a machine learning method and open source software to estimate the dynamics of gene activity in...
Researchers examined gender stereotypes baked into 25 languages to explore why fewer women enter science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields.
Prolific mathematician who came up with the inordinately large ‘Graham’s Number’ and was committed to making his subject fun Ron Graham, who has died aged 84, was one of the most productive American mathematicians of the past half...
How can a machine learn to distinguish a picture of a cat from a picture of a dog? Artificial intelligence and machines that train themselves might sound like a plot from a science fiction movie, but these things are already part of our...
By Marianne Freiberger How can we all get back to work safely in the face of a lingering pandemic? To answer this question we need hard science about the virus and its transmission. But we also need people who can solve tricky...
Researchers have solved a 20-year-old problem in quantum information theory on how to calculate entanglement cost -- a way to measure entanglement -- in a manner that's efficiently computable, useful, and broadly applicable in several...
Extensive power outages and satellite blackouts that affect air travel and the internet are some of the potential consequences of massive solar storms. These storms are believed to be caused by the release of enormous amounts of stored...
The possibility of achieving room temperature superconductivity took a tiny step forward with a recent discovery by a team of P physicists and materials scientists.
Chiara Marletto. Physics is a hugely successful branch of science, but there are some things it has trouble getting a handle on. It is a bit hazy on some of the things we learn about in the physics classroom, such as temperature, heat...
Researchers have shown that an approach called federated learning is successful in the context of brain imaging, by being able to analyze magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of brain tumor patients and distinguish healthy brain tissue...
By Rachel Thomas You are reading this article. Have you ever thought about how you are doing that? How is your brain interpreting what your eyes see on the screen: recognising the shapes as letters, recognising the groups of...
By Rachel Thomas A key part of building a model of the world is how we build meaning. Children quickly understand what the word "dog" means from seeing just a few examples in pictures or real life. They build higher level...
Researchers identified a problem that holds the key to whether all encryption can be broken -- as well as a surprising connection to a mathematical concept that aims to define and measure randomness.
The answers to today’s geometrical riddles Earlier today I set you the following two puzzles. Here they are again, together with solutions. 1. A 12cm x 12cm square piece of paper is marked as below. Continue reading...
Two geometrical riddles It is a truism to say that once you know the answer to a puzzle it becomes trivially easy. Yet this statement is especially true when it comes to geometrical problems, which are often solved with a single insight...
New software techniques make lighting in computer-generated images look more realistic for use in video games, extended reality, and scientific visualization tools.
If physical distancing measures in the United States are relaxed while there is still no COVID-19 vaccine or treatment and while personal protective equipment remains in short supply, the number of resulting infections could be about the...
In a tank in an underground laboratory in Cambridge a little green alga is executing a powerful breaststroke. It belongs to a group of algae called volvocales and it doesn't have a brain. So how can it coordinate its tiny little "arms"...
Physics is a hugely successful branch of science, but there are some things it has trouble getting a handle on. It is a bit hazy on some of the things we learn about in the physics classroom, such as temperature, heat and work. It has...
By Marianne Freiberger In the previous article we looked at some things physics as we know it can't quite explain. These include the bulk behaviour of molecules, the mysteriously slippery concept of information, life, and also the...
By Marianne Freiberger In a recent Twitter poll we asked our followers if they thought they had free will. Out of the people who responded 72.5% said yes and 27.5% said no. So over 1 in 4 of these people think that all their...
A bold and optimistic theory of gender and cooperation, based on the insights of maths Eugenia Cheng is on a mission to change the world for the better, using maths. Her first book, How to Bake Pi , used recipes to teach readers how to...
Episodes of social unrest rippled throughout Chile in 2019. Researchers specializing in economics, mathematics and physics in Chile and the U.K. banded together to explore the surprising social dynamics people were experiencing. Social...
Respiratory droplets from a cough or sneeze travel farther and last longer in humid, cold climates than in hot, dry ones, according to a study on droplet physics.
The tenets of Thomas Bayes, an 18th-century statistician and minister, underpin the latest estimates of the prevalence of extraterrestrial life -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Researchers have combined mathematical models, marine science, and metagenomics to answer a decades-old question - why are there so many species in the ocean?
From Covid-19 to the tobacco industry to the climate crisis ... a punchy, amusing history of the deliberate misuse of statistics The old saw that there are “lies, damned lies and statistics” is attributed to various figures, but was...
A new study suggests that a number of practices in video games, such as token wagering, real-money gaming, and social casino spending, are significantly linked to problem gambling.
How is it that we can recognise the shape of an object despite only seeing a limited range of wave lengths? Radboud mathematician Walter van Suijlekom explains in a new publication in the journal Communications in Mathematical Physics on...
Researchers quantified the collective action of small schools of fish using information theory. They found that groups of three act very differently compared with groups of just two. This work may help solve longstanding problems in...
The quantum spin liquid (QSL) state is an exotic state of matter where the spin of electrons, which generally exhibits order at low temperatures, remains disordered. Now, scientists have developed a new material where a two-dimensional...
When it comes to accurately flagging hate speech on social media, context matters, says a new study aimed at reducing errors that could amplify racial bias.
It’s known as the “curse of dimensionality,” and it’s why our estimates of how a disease will behave will always have imprecision -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Consider this scenario: A vaccine for the novel coronavirus has been developed that is 91.27% effective. If public health officials present this information using the specific number, people are likely to think the vaccine is actually...
Scientists have gained new insight into a common type of plasma hiccup that interferes with fusion reactions. These findings could help bring fusion energy closer to reality.
Researchers from the University of Warwick, Imperial College London, EPFL (Lausanne) and Sciteb Ltd have found a mathematical means of helping regulators and business manage and police Artificial Intelligence systems' biases towards...
Mathematicians based in Australia and China have developed a method to analyze the large amount of data accumulated during the COVID-19 pandemic. The technique, described in the journal Chaos, can identify anomalous countries—those that...
Researchers have found a mathematical means of helping regulators and business manage and police Artificial Intelligence systems' biases towards making unethical, and potentially very costly and damaging commercial choices - an ethical...
The shattering solutions to today’s puzzles Earlier today I set the following three puzzles: 1. With two straight line cuts, divide the vase into three pieces that can be reassembled to form a square. No single director can open the safe...