Is the field fooling itself?

Math and Science News from Quanta Magazine View this email in your browser QUANTUM COMPUTING | ALL TOPICS   Major Quantum Computing Strategy Suffers Serious Setbacks By PHILIP BALL So-called topological quantum computing would avoid many of the problems that stand in the way of full-scale quantum computers. But high-profile missteps have led some experts to question whether the field is fooling itself. Read the article PARTICLE PHYSICS   'Impossible' Particle Discovery Adds Key Piece to the Strong Force Puzzle By CHARLIE WOOD The unexpected discovery of the double-charm tetraquark has given physicists a new tool with which to hone their understanding of the strongest of nature's fundamental forces. Read the blog Related:  What Goes On in a Proton? Quark Math Still Conflicts With Experiments. by Charlie Wood (2020) Q&A   Anil Seth Finds Consciousness in Life's Push Against Entropy Interview by DAN FALK; Video by EMILY BUDER In a new book, the neuroscientist describes the principles, philosophy and experimentation that have brought scientists closer to understanding the phenomenon of consciousness. Read the interview | Watch the video Related:  Neuroscience Readies for a Showdown Over Consciousness Ideas  by Philip Ball (2019) TOPOLOGY   In Topology, When Are Two Shapes the Same? By KEVIN HARTNETT As topologists seek to classify shapes, the effort hinges on how to define a manifold and what it means for two of them to be equivalent. Read the blog Related:  New Math Book Rescues Landmark Topology Proof by Kevin Hartnett QUANTA SCIENCE PODCAST   How Many Numbers Exist? Infinity Proof Moves Math Closer to an Answer. Podcast Hosted by SUSAN VALOT; Story by NATALIE WOLCHOVER The number of real numbers was long thought to be unknowable. But mathematicians now feel they may be closing in on an answer. Hear the podcast | Read the article Around the Web Water You Know DeepMind has unveiled its next project, a program that usually bests simulations at near-term rain forecasting, Will Douglas Heaven reports for MIT Tech Review. Deep learning algorithms find hidden patterns. Similar programs have seen eight times further into the future of chaotic systems than rival methods, Natalie Wolchover reported for Quanta in 2018. One More Sun Than Tatooine Researchers have found what may be the first planet known to orbit three stars. The giant reveals its presence by clearing a gap in a dusty disk surrounding the stellar triplet, Jonathan O'Callaghan reports for The New York Times. Textbook theories are now being put to the test thanks largely to ALMA, an array of radio telescopes capable of catching planets in the act of formation from dusty stellar disks, Josh Sokol reported for Quanta in 2018. Follow Quanta Simons Foundation 160 5th Avenue, 7th Floor New York, NY 10010 Unsubscribe | About Quanta Privacy Policy | Terms | Contact Us   Copyright © 2021 Quanta Magazine, an editorially independent division of the Simons Foundation