Hurricane Harvey devastated the Houston area when it stalled over southeastern Texas in August 2017. In the weeks that followed, Hurricane Irma traveled up the mainland of Florida, and Hurricane Maria pummeled Puerto Rico. The year 2017 would become the most expensive hurricane season on record. For decades, climate researchers using computer models have predicted […]
How does climate change influence extreme weather? Read More »
I’m proud to announce that my book Math Art: Truth, Beauty, and Equations, will be published in April 2019 by Sterling. A preview of the book was published in the August 2018 issue of Scientific American. Shown here: Aurora Australis by Carlo H. Séquin.
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The antagonists in video games tend to be monsters or zombies, but Quantum Moves pits players against the fundamental laws of nature. The player’s goal is straightforward: Move an atom from one place to another as quickly and efficiently as possible while a timer counts down the seconds.Waves represent the changing probability distribution of the
Quantum games aim to demystify heady science Read More »
Frank Borman was probably the first person to barf in space. Borman was part of NASA’s Apollo 8 mission, which lifted off a launch pad in Florida on December 21, 1968. Over the next six days, the mission made history as it circled the moon and returned home. But Borman, who led the mission, became
En route to Mars, astronauts may face big health risks Read More »
ONCE A MONTH, 40-year-old Kristen Kilmer drives nearly 400 miles from her home in Spearfish, South Dakota, to the Avera Cancer Institute in Sioux Falls. On some mornings, she leaves as early as 1:30 a.m. after kissing her sleeping 11-year-old daughter goodbye. Without traffic or inclement weather, it’s a six-hour haul from one side of the
Searching Blood for Cancer Clues Read More »
Something about going to Mars has captivated the space-curious for generations; from scientists who want to build the spaceships and go, to politicians who can approve the spending. “Mankind is drawn to the heavens for the same reason we were once drawn into unknown lands and across the open sea,” said US President George W
The long road to Mars Read More »
Seven years after her brain cancer diagnosis, Liz Salmi decided she wanted to know more about the makeup of the tumor that changed her life. Salmi had already undergone two surgeries to remove the grade II astrocytoma, an invasive but usually slow-growing brain tumor. After her second surgery, she was treated with Temodar (temozolomide), a chemotherapy drug, for two
Targeting brain cancer Read More »
Many smartphone apps don’t cost anything to download and use. But don’t be fooled: There’s still a price. “Your privacy is what’s paying for it,” says Brian Krupp. He’s a computer engineer at Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, Ohio. Behind the scenes, he says, apps are “leaky.” They may deliberately collect more data than they
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Forget reality: In virtual reality, you can be whomever and wherever you want. VR makes the unreal real, using computer software and hardware that responds to our body’s movements to immerse us in a convincing alternate existence. There’s plenty of space to roam. VR places can be huge. In Second Life, an early pioneer of virtual
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The fourth book of Euclid’s Elements, a 2,300-year-old geometry text, includes directions for constructing a 15-sided polygon inside a circle. The first step is familiar to geometry students: Draw an equilateral triangle and a regular pentagon so their vertices touch the circle and the two shapes share one vertex. In addition to text directions, the Elements included diagrams that
Researchers find history in the diagrams of Euclid’s Elements Read More »
