Randomness
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Space
Belief in multiverse requires exceptional vision
If you can’t see it, it doesn’t exist. That’s an old philosophy, one that many scientists swallowed whole. But as Ziva David of NCIS would say, it’s total salami. After all, you can’t see bacteria and viruses, but they can still kill you. Yet some scientists still invoke that philosophy to deny the scientific status […]
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Space
Long the stuff of fantasy, wormholes may be coming soon to a telescope near you
For decades now, black holes have been the rock stars of popular astrophysics, both fact and fiction. Physicists rely on them to explain all sorts of mysterious astrophenomena, and black holes have been essential plot devices in various films, from Star Trek (2009) to Galaxy Quest (1999) to (obviously) The Black Hole (1979). But black […]
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Math
Systems biology tunes in to cancer networks
If cable TV systems had a channel called The Cancer Network, doctors would be wise to tune in. But there’s no such channel. So for now, they’ll just have to read articles in scientific journals that publish papers on the science of networks. Scientists in the new field of systems biology have made a lot […]
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Health & Medicine
Even if science can’t make life longer, perhaps a pill can make a long life better
To live long and prosper (physically, not financially), you’d probably rather take a pill than starve yourself. So far, though, most of the evidence says very-low-calorie diets are the best strategy for living a longer life. At least if you’re a worm or a fly. It hasn’t been established that less food means a longer […]
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Life
Microbes at home in your gut may also be influencing your brain
When your gut grumbles or growls, it’s speaking to your brain. And it’s a perfectly reasonable thing to do. Evolution favors guts that can tell a brain what they want. So it’s not surprising that the brain and the gut should have a reliable communications connection. But suppose the gut’s messaging system was hacked by […]
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Humans
Greed may breed financial fitness, but evolution allows unselfishness to survive
If greed is good, as Gordon Gekko proclaimed in the 1987 movie Wall Street, then economics ought to be a superlative science. After all, at the core of economic theory sits a greedy idealization of human nature known as Homo economicus. It’s a fictitious species that represents the individual economic agent, motivated by selfishness. H. […]
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Humans
Reports of junk DNA’s ‘demise’ were based on junky logic and dubious definitions
Science is an oddly successful enterprise. On the whole, it provides an impressive guide to reality. From antibiotics and atomic bombs to laser beams and X-rays, science enables humans to forge powerful tools from nature’s secrets. Yet many aspects of science are deeply flawed, from the politicization of research funding to widespread misuse of math […]
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Math
Real-life Maxwell’s demon adds fuel to debate about status of the second law
Fight Club had its First Rule (don’t talk about Fight Club). The Transporter enforces Rule Number 1 (never change the deal). And NCIS Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs observes Rule 1 (never mix the suspects together in the same room). Physics has the second law of thermodynamics. It’s weird when you think about it. Movies […]
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