We know stories are more interesting when they start with funny questions. “What is the most boring number in the world?” This is a legitimate mathematical question, and it turns out that there are interesting numbers (primes, powers of 2) and not-so-interesting numbers. Perhaps this paradox is predictable.If numbers are particularly boring, aren’t they interesting? Manon Bischoff, Theoretical Physicist, Editor of Partner Publications spectrum In Germany, we show you how to classify numbers as boring and why it matters.
I will admit that I was skeptical when we first started discussing story proposals for treating multiple personalities. Haven’t some of the classic cases been exaggerated or hoaxed? It explains how it develops and how it manifests. This is a hopeful and generous story that takes us through the healing process and reveals how one can begin to recover from extreme trauma.
When weather disasters occur, people want to know if climate change is to blame. If so, to what extent? The field of “attribution science” has advanced dramatically over the past decade. As investigative journalist Lois Purshley writes, researchers are now finding out how much floods, hurricanes, wildfires, droughts and other disasters have been made worse by the human-made climate crisis, or more likely to be made worse. can now say whether This knowledge helps people respond to ongoing disasters and plan for future disasters.
Drug-resistant hookworms are prevalent among pet dogs, and researchers trace their origins to greyhounds bred for racing. Parasites can kill puppies and can sometimes cause nasty infections in humans. Science journalist Bradley Van Palidon explains how this superparasite has evolved and migrated across greyhound racetracks, rescue dogs and dog parks.
Electrons behave strangely. When they jump over crystals or perform quantum tunneling feats that escape energy barriers, they are too fast to observe in detail. To understand the strange properties of matter, physicists are creating models made of light. Physicist Charles D. Brown II shares how a light-assisted version of graphene can be used to study how particles behave in crystal lattices. In the author’s words, “Quantum physics is a journey!”
Some of the most distinctive languages on earth are spoken, if barely, by people living in the Andaman Islands off the coast of India. The Andaman peoples came to the islands about 50,000 years ago, but genetic and linguistic studies show they were mostly isolated until recently. Linguist Ambita Abbbi worked with the last speakers of several indigenous languages to preserve and understand their heritage. She found that the grammar of the Andaman languages, unlike any known language family, is fundamentally based on body parts.
What will the future of fusion look like? Is it always 20, 30, or 50 years away? In our cover story, author Philip Ball examines recent advances in fusion energy, including the first reaction that produced more energy than was used to cause it. Nuclear fusion is not part of our urgently needed transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. But it can still succeed…in the next 20, 30, or 50 years. Ball breaks the hype and explores the physical limits and possibilities of the energy that powers stars.
