Quantum weirdness in 'chicken or egg' paradox | Jacqui Romero

Sept. 3, 2018 (Phys.org) -- The "chicken or egg" paradox was first proposed by philosophers in Ancient Greece to describe the problem of determining cause-and-effect. Now, a team of physicists from The University of Queensland and the NÉEL Institute has shown that, as far as quantum physics is concerned, the chicken and the egg can both come first. Dr. Jacqui Romero from the ARC Centre of Excelle ...

New study reveals why women take sexy selfies | Isabelle Dubach

Credit: University of New South Wales Aug. 27, 2018 (Phys.org) -- A new study has revealed the science behind sexy selfies, showing that women tend to sexualize themselves in environments with greater economic inequality, rather than where they might be oppressed because of their gender. In the University of New South Wales study -- published in the prestigious journal PNAS -- the team analyzed t ...

Nuclear Calendar -- August 26, 2018 | FCNL

Nuclear Calendar -- Friends Committee on National Legislation Aug. 26, 2018 Aug. 28 4:30-5:30 p.m., Francis Gavin, Johns Hopkins University, "Rethinking American grand strategy in the age of Trump," Arundel House, 6 Temple Place, London. Register interest online. Aug. 31 Application deadline for GW-NSWG Congressional Nuclear Security Fellowship. Sep. 3 12:30-1:30 p.m., Mark Hibbs, Carnegie Endowm ...

Evaluating creativity in computational co-creative systems | Ingrid Fadelli

Three main trends in creative systems: creativity support tools, fully autonomous systems and co-creative systems. Credit: Karimi et al. Aug. 8, 2018 (TechXplore) -- Computer programs assist humans in a variety of ways, including in their creative endeavors. Researchers at UNC Charlotte and the University of Sydney have recently developed a new framework for evaluating creativity in co-creative s ...

Global warming may be twice what climate models predict | Alvin Stone

Sunset. Credit: Patrik Linderstam, Unsplash July 5, 2018 (Phys.org) -- A new study based on evidence from past warm periods suggests global warming may be double what is forecast. Future global warming may eventually be twice as warm as projected by climate models and sea levels may rise six meters (20 feet) or more even if the world meets the 2°C target, according to an international team of res ...

Eight Things I learned About Palestine While Touring Eight Western Nations | Ramzy Baroud

Ramzy Baroud -- World News Trust May 30, 2018 On February 20, 2018, I embarked on a global book tour that has, thus far, taken me to eight nations. The main theme of all my talks in various cultural, academic and media platforms was the pressing need to refocus the discussion on Palestine on the struggle, aspirations and history of the Palestinian people. But, interacting with hundreds of people ...

Physicists invent flux capacitor, break time-reversal symmetry | Jared Cole

Schematic representation of the proposed circulator. Credit: FLEET May 28, 2018 (Phys.org) -- In the popular movie franchise "Back to the Future," an eccentric scientist creates a time machine that runs on a flux capacitor. Now a group of actual physicists from Australia and Switzerland have proposed a device that uses the quantum tunneling of magnetic flux around a capacitor, breaking time-rever ...

Earth BioGenome Project aims to sequence DNA from all complex life on Earth | Harris A. Lewin

The Earth BioGenome Project aims to sequence all eukaryotic species. This superkingdom of life includes all organisms except bacteria and archaea. Credit: Mirhee Lee. April 23, 2018 (Phys.org) -- An international consortium of scientists is proposing what is arguably the most ambitious project in the history of biology: sequencing the DNA of all known eukaryotic species on Earth. The benefits of ...

How young children run around all day without getting tired | Sébastien Ratel & Anthony Blazevich

Credit: Robert Kraft/public domain April 24, 2018 (Phys.org) -- Children not only have fatigue-resistant muscles, but recover very quickly from high-intensity exercise -- even faster than well-trained adult endurance athletes. This is the finding of new research published in open-access journal Frontiers in Physiology, which compared the energy output and post-exercise recovery rates of young boy ...

Seeing is believing—precision atom qubits achieve major quantum computing milestone | Michelle Simmons

A scanning tunnelling microscope image showing the electron wave function of a qubit made from a phosphorus atom precisely positioned in silicon. Credit: UNSW March 7, 2018 (Phys.org) -- The unique Australian approach of creating quantum bits from precisely positioned individual atoms in silicon is reaping major rewards, with UNSW Sydney-led scientists showing for the first time that they can mak ...

Gene variants identified that may influence sexual orientation in men and boys | Bob Yirka

Credit: CC0 Public Domain Dec. 8, 2017 (Medical Xpress) -- Scientists have found two gene variants that appear to be more prevalent in gay men than straight men, adding further evidence of sexual orientation having a biological component. In their paper published in Scientific Reports, the large team of researchers from several institutions in the United States, and one each from Australia and th ...