How to Dispel Your Illusions
Freeman Dyson reviews Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking Fast and Slow (Farrar, Strauss and Giroux).
Freeman Dyson reviews Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking Fast and Slow (Farrar, Strauss and Giroux).
Scientists have taken a first early step toward escaping the limits of a technological principle called Moore’s Law by creating a working transistor using a single phosphorus atom. The atom was etched into a silicon bed with “gates” to control electrical flow and metallic contacts to apply voltage, researchers reported in the journal Nature Nanotechnology….
Former vice president Al Gore posted on his webpage that scientific studies of clouds and atmospheric pressure suggests that, “more likely than not, our planet will experience cataclysmic warming by the end of the century.” That would take mankind to the year 2100 before all hell breaks loose. Gore, who taught the world about the…
Our universe could have popped into existence 13.7 billion years ago without any divine help whatsoever, researchers say. That may run counter to our instincts, which recoil at the thought of something coming from nothing, but scientists say, we should trust the laws of physics. In the very weird world of quantum mechanics, which describes…
Scientists can’t travel deep space the way Columbus sailed and charted the New World or Lewis and Clark mapped the west. But, researchers at Case Western Reserve University and two partnering institutions have found a possible way to map the spread and structure of the universe, guided by the light of quasars. The technique, combined…
Gentle electrical zaps to the brain can accelerate learning and boost performance on a wide range of mental tasks, scientists have reported in recent years. But a new study suggests there may be a hidden price: Gains in one aspect of cognition may come with deficits in another. Researchers who study transcranial electrical stimulation, which…
The story of how humans evolved from knuckle-walking primates to upright bipeds is still a matter of great debate among anthropologists. One of today’s leading theories suggests that our forest-dwelling ancestors began walking on two feet as climate change stripped away the trees they lived in, forcing them to move to the ground. Another explanation…