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Are dogs conscious, with thoughts and feelings of their own? What about pigeons? Honeybees? Earthworms? Jellyfish? How you answer will probably reflect the human tendency to ascribe consciousness to familiar and so-called “higher” animals, while doubting that it extends to “simpler” ones, such as invertebrates. In fact, we can never be certain if another being Continue Reading
Hugh Schulte/Millennium Images, UK For some of us, the phrase “mindset” might bring to mind the unscientific platitudes that you find in certain kinds of self-help books. A growing body of research, though, is showing that our mindset can powerfully shape our lives, thanks to its impact on our perception, motivation and behaviour. This story Continue Reading
Illustration of TRAPPIST-1, a red-dwarf star with at least seven orbiting planets Mark Garlick/Alamy The search for atmospheres around the TRAPPIST-1 star system, one of the most promising locations for life elsewhere in the galaxy, might be even more difficult than astronomers first thought because of short-lived radiation blasts from the star. TRAPPIST-1, first discovered Continue Reading
koto_feja/Getty Images koto_feja/Getty Images When we think of particles, we tend to think of them as real objects – tiny, point-like entities with definite properties such as position or speed. But particles are really just energetic spikes in the underlying fields that permeate the universe, which themselves can’t be observed directly. All of which can Continue Reading
When we look out into the universe, we know it can support life – if it couldn’t, we wouldn’t exist. This has been stated in different ways over the years, but the essential thrust makes up the core of a philosophical argument known as the anthropic principle. It sounds obvious, even tautological, but it isn’t Continue Reading
Zhang Bin/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images Over the past decade, quantum computing has grown into a billion-dollar industry. Everyone seems to be investing in it, from tech giants, such as IBM and Google, to the US military. But Ignacio Cirac at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Germany, a pioneer of the Continue Reading
There is always a “look of indignation” on students’ faces when they first learn about quantum superposition, says physicist Marcelo Gleiser. He has taught quantum mechanics, the theory governing the microcosmic world of atoms and particles, for decades, and his students’ consternation inevitably emerges right on cue: when he reaches the part about quantum objects Continue Reading
NASA tested RS-25 engine No. 20001 on June 20, at the Fred Haise Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center at Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Test teams fired the engine for almost eight-and-a-half minutes (500 seconds), the same amount of time RS-25 engines fire during a launch of an SLS (Space Launch System) rocket on Continue Reading
Through a survey of 300 health care executives and a program of interviews with industry experts, startup leaders, and academic researchers, this report explores the best practices for success when implementing integrated digital solutions into health care, and how these can support decision-makers in a range of settings, including laboratories and hospitals. Key findings include: Continue Reading
The first spectacular images taken by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory have been released for the world to peruse: a panoply of iridescent galaxies and shimmering nebulas. Much has been written about the observatory’s grand promise: to revolutionize our understanding of the cosmos by revealing a once-hidden population of far-flung galaxies, erupting stars, interstellar objects, Continue Reading
