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If spacetime is like a liquid—a concept some physicists say could help resolve a confounding disagreement between two dominant theories in physics—it must be a very special liquid indeed. A recent study compared astrophysical observations with predictions based on the notion of fluid spacetime, and found the idea only works if spacetime is incredibly smooth and freely flowing—in other words, a superfluid. Thinking of spacetime as a liquid may be a helpful analogy....

Paleontologist Gregory M. Erickson of Florida State University provides the following explanation of “how a 5-ton teeter-totter gets up.” Scientific inquiry has focused on the utility of the diminutive arms of tyrannosaurs for nearly a century. Several theories, including some regarding the arms’ role in raising these animals from the ground, have long been kicked around. American paleontologist Henry Fairfield Osborn, the first one to describe T. rex, initially expressed doubts that the relatively small humerus, or upper arm bone, associated with this enormous animal really belonged to it....

His finalist year: 1970 His finalist project: Looking at properties of equations with four-dimensional variables What led to the project: Joe Buff had two big interests as a kid: math and the U.S. Navy. He taught himself calculus in junior high school and his father, a former Seabee (the U.S. Navy’s construction division), told him stories of ships and subs. When Buff was 11, however, his parents divorced and his father did not play a big role in his life after that....

Jupiter’s icy moon Europa, home to a probable buried ocean, just added another twist to its exotic cool. The Hubble Space Telescope has spotted possible plumes of water spraying from Europa’s south pole. The jets resemble the giant icy geyser seen on Saturn’s moon Enceladus. Plumes on Europa could be even more exciting because they hint at the ability to tap a subsurface habitat that might even harbor extraterrestrial life....

Mentally simulating another person’s efforts to use self-control may trick your brain’s “fuel gauge” into mistakenly thinking that your own resources have been depleted, a new study suggests. “We’re not as individual as we might like to think,” says Yale University psychologist Joshua Ackerman. “Often how we understand the world is by relying on the understanding of other people.” If your friend scratches her eyebrow or crosses her arms, studies suggest, odds are you’ll unthinkingly mimic the gesture....

Compared with other bodily excretions, tears are vastly understudied. Collecting the salty drops is tedious—weepy donors are rare, men hardly ever sign up and tears must be “fresh” for their makeup to be properly analyzed. As a result, researchers lack a consensus about the purpose of a basic human behavior. Is crying a primal way to communicate that many species share, as some chemists hypothesize? Or is it, as psychologists have put forth, a uniquely human key to social bonding?...

Levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, a potent greenhouse gas, have been on the upswing over the last century. How the earth’s plant life, particularly trees, will react to the change remains unclear. Some researchers have proposed, however, that the rising concentrations will spur plant growth and thus allow them to store additional amounts of carbon dioxide, thereby mitigating the atmospheric increase to some degree. Now a report published in the journal Science disputes this claim....

In an effort to spur big science discoveries, the U.S. government and private groups have started offering cash prizes. Some examples: $25 million Name: Virgin Earth Challenge Goal: A system that can remove greenhouse gases from the air for 10 years or more and that is eco-friendly. From: Al Gore and Richard Branson $10 million Name: NewOrgan Prize Goal: To use regenerative medicine to grow a new organ and to transplant that organ into a patient and have it function for at least two years by 2020....

After just four years of rapid development, China has the world’s fourth largest wind power capacity: more than 12 gigawatts. However, the power of the breeze has become available so fast that the nation is struggling to make use of it. For instance, the Jiuquan wind power base in Gansu Province—better known as “Three Gorges on Land”—is expected to supply 10 gigawatts of electricity when it reaches peak capacity in 2020....

In the standard story, the computer’s evolution has been brisk and short. It starts with the giant machines warehoused in World War II–era laboratories. Microchips shrink them onto desktops, Moore’s Law predicts how powerful they will become, and Microsoft capitalizes on the software. Eventually small, inexpensive devices appear that can trade stocks and beam video around the world. That is one way to approach the history of computing—the history of solid-state electronics in the past 60 years....

The moment that started martha mcclintock’s scientific career was a whim of youth. Even, she recalls, a ridiculous moment. It is summer, 1968, and she is a Wellesley College student attending a workshop at the Jackson Laboratory in Maine. A lunch-table gathering of established researchers is talking about how mice appear to synchronize their ovary cycles. And 20-year-old McClintock, sitting nearby, pipes up with something like, “Well, don’t you know? Women do that, too....

We live in America with two bits of contradictory received wisdom — that you’d be a lot better off if you made more money, and that money can’t buy you happiness. Now two scholars suggest another way of thinking about the relationship between cash and joy: To a large degree, how you spend is just as important as how much you spend. Michael Norton, an associate professor at Harvard Business School and coauthor – with Elizabeth Dunn – of Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending, answered questions from Mind Matters editor Gareth Cook....

The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research. Thankfully, most people who get COVID–19 don’t become seriously ill—especially those who are vaccinated. But a small fraction do get hospitalized, and a smaller fraction do die. If you are vaccinated and catch the coronavirus, what are your chances of getting hospitalized or dying? As an epidemiologist, I have been asked to respond to this question in one form or another throughout the pandemic....

Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. Eusebius Pamphili (aka Eusebius of Caesarea, 260-340 CE) was a Christian historian, exegete, and polemicist. He became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima in 314 CE and served as court bishop during the reign of Constantine I (r. 306-337 CE). Eusebius is known as “the father of Christian history” for his works: Preparation for the Gospel, On Discrepancies Between the Gospels, Ecclesiastical History, and Life of Constantine....

Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. Women in ancient Egypt had more rights than in any other ancient culture and were valued with greater respect. This is evident not only in the physical evidence and inscriptions but in their religion. Some of the most powerful and important deities in the Egyptian pantheon are female and some versions of the creation myth itself present the goddess Neith, not the god Atum, as the creator....

Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. Slavery was practiced by the Native Americans before any Europeans arrived in the region. People of one tribe could be taken by another for a variety of reasons but, whatever the reason, it was understood that the enslaved had done something – staked himself in a gamble and lost or allowed himself to be captured – to warrant such treatment....

Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. The word ‘plague’, in defining a lethal epidemic, was coined by the physician Galen (l. 130-210 CE) who lived through the Antonine Plague (165 - c. 180/190 CE) but the disease was recorded long before in relating the affliction of the Plague of Athens (429-426 BCE) which killed many of the city’s inhabitants, including the statesman Pericles (l....

Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. With 7600 perimeter miles (12,231 km), the Scythians roamed and ruled over an astonishing 1.5 million mi² (2.4 million km²) of territory between the 7th and 3rd centuries BCE. Although building an empire was never in their interest, Scythian territorial expanse was remarkable, and they were unconquerable due to several factors: their form of governance, social structure, and military machine....

Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. The Native Americans of Pre-Colonial North America built thousands of mounds across the continent which served various purposes and sometimes reached heights over 100 feet. Many of the mound sites were thriving urban centers – such as Cahokia in Illinois – while others seem to have served strictly religious/ritualistic purposes, as in the case of Pinson Mounds in Tennessee....

Did you like this article? Editorial Review This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication. The Papyrus Lansing is an ancient Egyptian document that dates to the reign of the Pharaoh Senusret III (also known as Sesostris III, and, arguably, the legendary Sesostris written of by Herodotus) the 5th ruler of the 12th Dynasty of Egypt from 1878-1839 BCE. It was written by the scribe Nebmare-nakht to his younger apprentice Wenemdiamun and is a document which praises the profession of a scribe while denouncing other trades....