Supernovae More Dangerous Than Previously Thought

A new paper calculates the potential long-term hazard from a nearby supernova. The researchers point out that it’s not just the initial radiation burst that’s the problem, but that the initial radiation could cause gas nearby the supernovae to emit X-rays for hundreds of years. Summary here. 

The Brain May Use Quantum Effects

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Making Models More Complex May Not Improve Predictions

A new study published in Scientific Reports has analyzed how adding more variables to models, such as pandemic or climate models, can increase the uncertainty and hence, counter-intuitively, make predictions worse rather than better. Good summary here.

New Dark Matter Experiment under Construction

The Windchime Project, a collaboration among several American universities, aims to measure the gravitational pull of dark matter as it passes by us. Dark matter, if it exists, is thought to be at rest with the center of the Milky Way, and would thus create a wind relative to Earth. However, this experiment can only find a pull from extremely heavy dark matter grains or noise from extremely light ones.

Quantum Winter Is Coming

In this week’s video, I talk about some of the recent hype about quantum computing, the concerns that have been raised about it, and what happens when the bubble bursts.

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Existential Physics: The Big Questions Raised by Modern Physics

A contrarian scientist wrestles with the big questions that modern physics raises, and what physics says about the human condition. Order it here today!