News

The Elusive Calculus of Insects’ Altruism and Kin Selection

How the ultra-cooperative behavior of ants, bees and other social insects could have evolved continues to challenge formal analysis. But a new theory that includes hedging bets against nature’s unpredictability may help to change the math and shift the debate.

Interactive computational neuroscience – part 1, spiking neurons

Neurons are cells — small bodies of mostly water, ions, amino acids and proteins with remarkable electrochemical properties. They are the primary functional units of the brain. Our mental experiences — our perceptions, memories, and thoughts — are the result of the ebb and flow of salts across neural bi-lipid membranes and the synaptic transmissions between neurons.

Researchers find genetic cause for Alzheimer’s, possible method to reverse it

Peptide-based biogenic dental product may cure cavities

Researchers at the University of Washington have designed a convenient and natural product that uses proteins to rebuild tooth enamel and treat dental cavities.

Soviet-Era Industrial Design

From domestic appliances to clothing to children’s toys, everyday items from Soviet life are the subject of the new book Designed in the USSR: 1950 – 1989. It’s a comprehensive look at a momentous four decades, in which otherwise mundane products often had an additional purpose: to replicate items from the West, or to promote Soviet achievements.

Assumptions about how children learn to read have been disproven by research

Was there a civilization on Earth before humans?

Schmidt is the director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (a.k.a. GISS) a world-class climate-science facility. One day last year, I came to GISS with a far-out proposal. In my work as an astrophysicist, I’d begun researching global warming from an “astrobiological perspective.”

Why Tesla is having a harder time than SpaceX

SpaceX debuted a powerful new rocket, the Falcon Heavy, and has successfully launched seven orbital missions. Tesla has struggled to produce its Model 3 electric sedan at promised rates, raising questions about the company’s cash flow and encouraging short-sellers. On March 23, a driver was killed after his Tesla’s autopilot system steered the car into a barrier, though the system is not intended to be used without a driver’s hands on the wheel.

Scientists Make a Molecule by Manipulating Just Two Atoms

The physics here isn’t too hard to understand. Scientists have long been able to push around single atoms within clouds of many atoms. In this case, they used two optical “tweezers” at two specific wavelengths.

Voters could decide whether to split California into three smaller states