1411
Joro spiders likely to spread beyond Georgia
New research suggests the invasive but relatively harmless Joro spider could colonize the entire East Coast.
Topics /
Science & Space
The most popular blog posts about science & space on Hacker News. 4,455 posts.
1412
When did computer science theory get so hard?
I posted on When did Math get so hard? a commenter pointed out that one can also ask When did Computer Science Theory Get so Hard? For t...
1413
The exponential function is a miracle
From the highly eclectic blog of Mark Dominus
1414
Domes are overrated
Part of my series on common misconceptions in space journalism. It is an unwritten rule of space journalism that any article about Moon or Mars bases needs to have a conceptual drawing of habitatio…
1415
New studies offer insight into Lyme disease’s treatment, lingering symptoms
In two new studies led by bacteriologist Brandon L. Jutras, Northwestern scientists have identified an antibiotic that cures Lyme disease at a fraction of the dosage of the current “gold standard” treatment and discovered what may cause a treated infection to mimic chronic illness in patients.
1416
Color wheels are wrong? How color vision actually works
Artists say all colors are a mixture of red, yellow, and blue. But physics and TV screens and printers disagree. How does color really work?
1417
It’s not just p=0.048 vs. p=0.052
Peter Dorman points to this post on statistical significance and p-values by Timothy Taylor, editor of the Journal of Economic Perspectives, a highly influential publication of the American Economic Association.
1418
Referees’ home-bias in football disappears without audience: study
We analyzed referees’ performances in 1283 games from the top four Eu
1419
Spooky Alignment of Quasars Across Billions of Light-years
New observations with ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile have revealed alignments over the largest structures ever discovered in the Universe. A European research team has found that the rotation axes of the central supermassive black holes in a sample of quasars are parallel to each other over distances of…
1420
The Largest Black Hole in the Known Universe
It’s a huge surprise, and shows up in the most unlikely of places!
1421
A Gemma model helped discover a new potential cancer therapy pathway
We’re launching a new 27 billion parameter foundation model for single-cell analysis built on the Gemma family of open models.
1422
Protein biomarkers predict dementia 15 years before diagnosis in new study
In the largest study of its kind, scientists have shown how protein “biomarkers” predict dementia 15 years before diagnosis.
1423
Air India Express 737 Hits ILS, Damages Wall on Departure, Flies for 4 Hours
Air India Express flight IX611 struck an ILS lighting tower and damaged a nearby brick wall at the departure end of RWY 27 in Trichy on departure.
1424
Particle physics may have reached the end of the line
Science News, Physics, Science, Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
1425
Insects feel persistent pain after injury, evidence suggests
Pain researchers at University of Sydney have found compelling evidence that insects feel persistent pain after injury. Read more.
1426
Researchers discover molecular difference in autistic brains
Brains of autistic individuals have fewer of a specific kind of glutamate receptor, supporting an idea that autism is driven by a signaling imbalance. The
1427
What DeepMind’s AlphaFold 2 really achieved (2020)
Disclaimer: this post is an opinion piece based on the experience and opinions derived from attending the CASP14 conference as a doctoral student researching protein modelling. When provided, quotes have been extracted from my notes of the event, and while I hope to have captured them as accurately as possible, I…
1428
AI for American-produced cement and concrete
Meta is continuing its long-term roadmap to help the construction industry leverage AI to produce high-quality and more sustainable concrete mixes, as well as those exclusively produced in the Unit…
1429
1430
Instant stone (just add water) (2018)
If cement weren't 10,000 years old, it would seem like a futuristic technology: liquid rock!
1431
What is a zero refractive index material?
I’m currently writing a textbook on Electromagnetic Waves for my graduate optics students. I was reading up on zero refractive index materials for a chapter section and thought it would be fu…
1432
1433
Extremely Low Frequencies
The submarine is a surprisingly ancient technology—at least in its early, primitive forms. The idea is quite simple, that a well-enough-sealed boat ought to be able to submerge and resurface. It's the practicalities that make the whole thing difficult. It is generally considered that the US Civil War was the first use…
1434
Getting Started with Quantum Computing in Python
Quantum computers might sound a bit exotic and far into the future, but in reality, they are now accessible in the cloud or through emulators for everyone to write quantum code. In this tutorial, we’ll go through how you can program a simple quantum computer to generate random numbers.
1435
American solar farms
Benchmarks & Tips for Big Data, Hadoop, AWS, Google Cloud, PostgreSQL, Spark, Python & More...
1436
The Fermi Paradox
The Fermi Paradox: There should be 100,000 intelligent alien civilizations in our galaxy — so why haven't we found any of them?
1437
Got food cravings? What’s living in your gut may be responsible
A new Pitt study shows that the gut microbiome of mice influences their preferred diet. The results, researchers say, could apply to humans, too.
1438
Perl Saved the Human Genome Project (1996)
The human genome project was inaugurated at the beginning of the decade as an ambitious international effort to determine the complete DNA sequence of human beings and several experimental animals. The justification for this undertaking is both scientific and medical. By understanding the genetic makeup of an organism…
1439
Quantum supremacy, now with BosonSampling
Update (12/5): The Google team, along with Gil Kalai, have raised questions about whether the results of the new BosonSampling experiment might be easier to spoof classically than the USTC team tho…
1440
Neutrinos Faster Than Light, or FPGA artifacts?
I spent my week-end reading comments from theoretical physicists,geodesists, and other scientists, speculating on the news of the OPERA experiment that appe...