Category: Science
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Measuring laws…
One of the fundamental physical constants, the 'weak axial vector coupling constant' (gA), has now been measured with very high precision for the first time. It is needed to explain nuclear fusion in the sun, to understand the formation of elements shortly after the Big Bang, or to understand important experiments in particle physics. With…
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Colour. And shape…
There are hundreds of thousands of distinct colors and shapes that a person can distinguish visually, but how does the brain process all of this information? Scientists previously believed that the visual system initially encodes shape and color with different sets of neurons and then combines them much later. But a new study from Salk…
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Asteroids. Death. Opportunities.
When the asteroid hit, dinosaurs weren't the only ones that suffered. Clouds of ash blocked the sun and cooled the planet's temperature, devastating plant life. But fungi, which decompose dead stuff, did well. So what happened to the lichens, which are made of a plant and fungus living together as one organism? "We thought that…
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Bias. For bias!
A new study suggests people stop gathering evidence earlier when the data supports their desired conclusion than when it supports the conclusion they wish was false. (1) So much bias. Why care? Why being so much biased against bias? Bias is useful after all! It helps you concentrate to the things you want. Otherwise you…
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Sensing atoms… So?
It sounds like an old-school vinyl record, but the distinctive crackle in the music streamed into Chris Holloway's laboratory is atomic in origin. The group at the National Institute for Standards and Technology, Boulder, Colorado, spent a long six years finding a way to directly measure electric fields using atoms, so who can blame them…
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