Two people can look at the exact same run of bad luck and walk away with completely different conclusions. One decides the world is chaotic and nothing can be predicted. The other starts looking for the pattern hiding underneath the noise. Abraham de Moivre, the French mathematician who spent much of his career pricing gambling…
The clock or the calendar is not truly required for you to be on time. According to a recent experiment conducted by a physicist, time emerges and changes by itself, regardless of the ticking hands or flipping pages. According to a study published on June 11 in the journal Physical Review Research, Giovanni Barontini, a…
An aerial view of the San Andreas Fault crossing the Carrizo Plain in California (Getty images) Scientists have discovered hidden movements beneath California’s San Andreas Fault with the help of artificial intelligence, revealing a type of slow fault slip that had largely gone unnoticed till now. The researchers say these silent movements may play a…
The pink light visible in recent timelapse footage from the International Space Station is not a camera effect or a reflection from Earth. Instead, it comes from a small plant-growing facility tucked inside the station’s Columbus laboratory, where astronauts have been tending crops as part of an ongoing experiment into how plants behave beyond our…
Forecasts for the tropical Pacific have shifted noticeably over the past month, with climate scientists now placing greater confidence in the arrival of a particularly powerful El Niño later this year. While these events are part of a natural climate cycle, their effects rarely stay confined to the Pacific Ocean. Changes in ocean temperatures can…
For mathematicians, there is not much in the world whose reasoning cannot be substantiated with calculation. The beings that are in love with numbers and associations, view the world through a numerical lens, as a puzzle to be solved with the right method. While many mathematicians have graced the world with shocking methods, theorems and…
pc: University of California San Diego Robotic surgery has become a familiar part of modern healthcare, but the machines used in operating theatres are usually purpose-built systems designed for a narrow set of tasks. humanoid robots, despite rapid advances in recent years, have largely remained outside the surgical environment. That has now begun to change….
Mice are some of the most invasive animals on the planet. Quick to enter and escape they have managed to make many a human mind burst with anger and panic. The max that can be done about them is setting up a trap or spreading some poison around. But imagine an island filled with mice…
Every day, countless substances cling to surfaces around us without becoming part of the material itself. This fascinating process is known as adsorption, and the verb that describes it is adsorb. Although it is often confused with absorption, the two processes are fundamentally different. While absorption involves a substance being taken into the interior of…
From luxury truffles to everyday chocolate bars, foil has long been one of the most recognisable forms of chocolate packaging. While its glossy metallic appearance adds a premium feel, its purpose goes far beyond aesthetics. Chocolate is highly sensitive to heat, moisture, oxygen and strong odours, all of which can affect its texture, flavour and…