Looking probably isn’t something you need to practice. People believe they can apprehend a painting at a glance. They read coworkers’ messages and assume they understand a situation. Or they […]
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Trust can be a fragile thing. Like decorative china or a ship in a bottle, it breaks if handled clumsily. But unlike those, you can’t set trust in your curio […]
It’s literally the one and only trick that separates top-notch physicists from crackpots, dropouts, and those who can’t cut the mustard.
Here’s what it means for the field.
To break “analysis paralysis,” reduce the number of available options — and introduce an element of chance.
Nikolaas Tinbergen’s concept of “supernormal stimulus” explains why humans are attracted to a heightened version of reality.
Automation technologies manufacture goods or provide labor with minimal human intervention. They can trace their origins as far back as the 16th century—and arguably further—but didn’t take off until the […]
It has been 50 years since an American has claimed the title of World Chess Champion. Will it ever happen again?
Cryptocurrencies are digital currencies that use online ledgers, called blockchains, to record transactions. These blockchains are decentralized, meaning the permanent record is not stored in one location but exists on […]
What if your best friend was an informant?
Perhaps the whole Universe is the result of a vacuum fluctuation, originating from what we could call quantum nothingness.
We used to think the Big Bang meant the universe began from a singularity. Nearly 100 years later, we’re not so sure.
Back in 1990, we hadn’t discovered a single planet outside of our Solar System. Here are 10 facts that would’ve surprised every astronomer.
The world isn’t ending! But we are likely at the beginning of a profound transformation.
With economic turmoil looming, everyone wants a way to keep their funds safe. But is that really possible?
Passing chunks of ice can fertilize ocean waters and play a role in the planet’s carbon cycle.
Cosmologists are largely still in the dark about the forces that drive the Universe.
Early on, only matter and radiation were important for the expanding Universe. After a few billion years, dark energy changed everything.
It doesn’t matter how ridiculous a lie is. As long as it is repeated often enough, some people will believe it.
Even after the first stars form, those overdense regions gravitationally attract matter and also merge. Here’s how they grow into galaxies.
In 1920, astronomers debated the nature of the Universe. The results were meaningless until years later, when the key evidence arrived.
In General Relativity, white holes are just as mathematically plausible as black holes. Black holes are real; what about white holes?
When the Universe was first born, the ingredients necessary for life were nowhere to be found. Only our “lucky stars” enabled our existence.
There were many other species of human on the planet. Svante Pääbo discovered one of them.
Just by observing the tiny amount of deuterium left over from the Big Bang, we can determine that dark matter and dark energy must exist.
To put things in perspective, the cost of sequencing a single genome in 2012 was around $10,000.
For some reason, the bodies of deceased monks stay “fresh” for a long time.
The state of global democracy is relatively strong — but there are clear signs of recent erosion.
Problem-solving skills are in demand. Every job posting lists them under must-have qualifications, and every job candidate claims to possess them, par excellence. Young entrepreneurs make solutions to social and […]
We should not expect aliens to look anything like us. Creatures that resemble octopuses or birds or even robots are legitimate possibilities.