Evolution may have moved energy to brain from ovaries Human brain growth may have taken off by seizing energy left after ovarian follicles adapted to require less fuel. The math shows that evolution freed up about the same amount of energy from follicular maintenance that human brains needed to reach their current size. Full Story: […]
Electrical transport in non-centrosymmetric materials departs from the well-established phenomenological Ohm’s law. Instead of a linear relation between current and electric field, a non-linear conductivity emerges along specific crystallographic directions. This non-linear transport is fundamentally related to the lack of spatial inversion symmetry. Ohm’s law is one of the most established relations in Physics and […]
A roasted and ground coffee matrix is a highly complex porous medium characterized by multiscale features. A typical coffee matrix used for double-shot espresso brew is about 15 ml in volume and consists of millions of coffee particles. These coffee particles are produced by grinding roasted coffee beans, and have an approximately bimodal size distribution […]
In organic chemistry, π-stacking systems are supramolecular structures that arise due to the dispersion force, a type of intermolecular noncovalent interaction. They are a common occurrence in nature. The stabilized structure of DNA is a very prominent example of a π-stacking system, and so are the arrangement of amino acids in certain proteins. Interestingly, π-stacking […]
Imagine you’re standing near the edge of the Antarctic Ice Sheet, gazing out over the ocean, when the ice near you starts to melt very rapidly. A surge of meltwater flows into the ocean. Surprisingly, you watch the sea level fall – not rise. But why? When we think of sea level rise, we picture […]
Fossils reveal worm with toothed, retractable throat An examination of well-preserved fossils uncovered in the 1920s has found a previously unidentified species of 10-centimeter sea worm with rows of sharp teeth covering a retractable throat that it could throw out to catch prey. Radnorscolex latus likely became extinct 424 million years ago and was the […]
The urban heat island effect has become a critical issue in urban areas, intensifying heat-related problems and increasing energy consumption. Urban areas tend to experience higher temperatures compared to those of surrounding rural areas, this is known as the urban heat island effect. The elevated temperature in cities is primarily attributed to the high density […]
Modern physics suggests time may be an illusion. Einstein’s theory of relativity, for example, suggests the universe is a static, four-dimensional block that contains all of space and time simultaneously – with no special “now”. What’s the future to one observer, is the past to another. That means time doesn’t flow from past to future […]
Digital skills differ among individuals. This can be related to inequality of accessibility, affordability and/or availability of training resources that are necessary to participate in the digital world. These digital divides were even more evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, in which there were school closures. On one hand, education systems were not prepared for a […]
I am these days reading the delightful (though at times quite demanding) Reviel Netz’s A New History of Greek Mathematics, and I have not resisted the temptation of sharing with you some of the many pearls it contains. One of the most interesting aspects of the book is that it is not a mere ‘survey’ […]