What Is Science Anyway?

It is a curious but widely ignored fact that, despite the undeniable success of science, we have no accepted definition of it. I can’t say that this bothers me much, as there are a lot of things that we talk about without defining them: life, love, lollapalooza, you name it. That said, it has been interesting to see Elon Musk and Meta’s AI chief Yann LeCun – and several thousand other people –  getting into an argument over this. If you want to chime in, you can find summaries here and here and the offensive tweet here.

This episode of Science News covers quantum physics. Quantum physics could revolutionize everything… at least that’s what some news headlines would have you believing. For those with a few billion dollars to spare to invest in the next big quantum technology, there are a few things you should look out for. You can take the quiz here.

Details about Google’s Search Algorithm Leaked by Anonymous Source

A recent leak on GitHub spilled the beans about the details of Google’s Search Algorithm, though it’s unclear how old the code is. That is, it is possible – likely even – that the modules are no longer used or no longer used in that particular way. Still, it confirms some of our suspicions, including that Google tracks clicks on search results and how quickly people hit the back button, likely still uses some version of page rank, on occasion white-lists pages (e.g. for election results), and uses human evaluation to assess website quality. More here and here.

Restore the planet, right from your home

Planet Wild is a nature protection organization that connects people who want to save nature with projects that know how to do it efficiently.Every month, Planet Wild works with a new nature protection partner across the globe thanks to our monthly contributions. It starts at just $6/month, and you’ll get to see how you're making a difference through monthly videos on YouTube! See it for yourself with this gift: first month for free!

New Lens Is Only Three Atoms Thick

Image: Guarneri et al, Nano Lett.  24, 21, 6240 (2024)

A group of scientists from Stanford and the University of Amsterdam have created the world's thinnest lens. It’s made from tungsten disulphide and just three atoms thick, with a pattern of concentric rings. When the layer absorbs light, it creates excitons (that are excited electrons bound to positively charged holes) that re-emit the light in different directions. While most light passes through unaffected, the red light that’s redirected by excitons forms a bright focal point. It’s a proof of principle for ultra-thin lens designs that could one day be used in smartphones or VR glasses. Press release here, paper here.

Our podcast “Science with Sabine” is available on Spotify, Amazon, Apple, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Radio Public, and YouTube.