Author archives: Mapping Ignorance

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The equivalence of entropic uncertainty with wave-particle duality

The equivalence of entropic uncertainty with wave-particle duality

Quantum physics

By Mapping Ignorance

Researchers have confirmed a theory that proposes a connection between the complementarity principle and entropic uncertainty. “Our results have no clear or direct application right now. It’s basic research that lays the foundation for future technologies in quantum information and quantum computers. There’s enormous potential for completely new discoveries in many different research fields,” says […]

Monolayers from aligned hexagonal islands

Monolayers from aligned hexagonal islands

Materials

By Mapping Ignorance

A method that can grow a useful insulating material into exceptionally high-quality films that are just one atom thick and are suitable for industrial-scale production has been developed. The material, called hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), is used in semiconductor devices and can also enhance the performance of other two-dimensional (2D) materials such as graphene and […]

All-optical nonlinear Compton scattering using a ultrahigh intensity laser pulse

All-optical nonlinear Compton scattering using a ultrahigh intensity laser pulse

AstrophysicsPhysicsQuantum physics

By Mapping Ignorance

A team of researchers has successfully demonstrated nonlinear Compton scattering (NCS) between an ultra-relativistic electron beam and an ultrahigh intensity laser pulse using the 4-Petawatt laser at the Center for Relativistic Laser Science (CoReLS) within the Institute for Basic Science at Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Korea. The innovation is the use of […]

A self-organizing nervous system of robots

A self-organizing nervous system of robots

Robotics

By Mapping Ignorance

The deployment of robot teams could allow humans to complete various real-world tasks faster and more efficiently. For instance, multiple co-operating robots could help to quickly find and rescue survivors of natural disasters or monitor pollution across large geographical areas. Researchers at Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) have developed a new swarm architecture inspired by […]

Multiple Denisovan interbreeding events with modern humans

Multiple Denisovan interbreeding events with modern humans

AnthropologyEvolutionGenetics

By Mapping Ignorance

Scientists believe individuals of the most recently discovered hominin group (the Denisovans) that interbred with modern day humans passed on some of their genes via multiple, distinct interbreeding events that helped shape early human history. In 2010, the first draft of the Neanderthal genome was published, and comparisons with modern human genomes revealed that Neanderthal […]

Increasing effects of global warming found on wildfire dynamics

Increasing effects of global warming found on wildfire dynamics

EconomicsPhysicsPlanetary ScienceSociology

By Mapping Ignorance

Climate change is increasingly influencing fire behaviour worldwide and intensifying fire smoke, endangering public health from air pollution caused by fires. These are the results of two new climate change impact attribution studies, both published in Nature Climate Change, with the involvement of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research PIK. The first study finds […]

Assessing the quality of citizen science in archaeology

Assessing the quality of citizen science in archaeology

Archaeology

By Mapping Ignorance

More than 6,500 volunteers have supported the accurate identification of approximately 1,000 prehistoric burial mounds in the Netherlands in just four months, proving the value of involving volunteers in archaeology. In 2018, the Heritage Quest project was launched to harness the power of citizen scientists, utilizing crowd-sourcing to identify archaeological features on lidar imagery of […]