The Metaverse Is Coming; We May Already Be in It

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February 22, 2022

Computing The Metaverse Is Coming; We May Already Be in It As in the world of The Matrix, we may not be able to tell what's real and what's not By Rizwan Virk

Politics Ukrainian Scientists Fear for their Lives and Future Amid Russian Threat Researchers say that conflict will hinder progress made since Ukraine's revolution in 2014 By Holly Else,Nisha Gaind,Nature magazine

Inequality Vaccine Inequality Has Shut Vulnerable People Out of Plans to Save the Planet Those with the most at stake were heard the least By Nnimmo Bassey

Materials Science Quantum Friction Explains Water's Freaky Flow Physicists have finally solved the long-standing mystery of why water moves faster through narrower nanotubes By Karmela Padavic-Callaghan

Climate Change White House Predicts Major Delays to Climate Rules After Court Nixes Carbon Metric A court order barring use of an interim social cost of carbon could slow at least 38 pending rules from four agencies By Niina H. Farah,Heather Richards,E&E News

Animals Honeybees Social Distance to Prevent Disease, Too The insects balance separation and care for those infected by parasites By Tanya Lewis

Particle Physics How Light Is a Neutrino? The Answer Is Closer Than Ever The latest effort to weigh the elusive particle produces a more precise estimate of its upper limit By Davide Castelvecchi,Nature magazine

Agriculture This Maine Farm is Harvesting the Sun's Power While it Picks the Blueberries In Rockport, an array of nearly 11,000 solar panels will soon begin a solar harvest, as the sweet berries growing below them ripen on the bush. By Teresa L. Carey | 07:27

Oceans We Need a Global Plastics Treaty to Stop an Environmental Disaster Truly global participation in the process will create more than just a Paris Agreement for plastics By Dave Ford,Henry Englert

Inequality Shoddy Harassment Investigations Are a Stain to Academia It's time to hold committees responsible for how they manage harassment claims By Morteza Mahmoudi

Astronomy Record-Breaking Supernova Is Part of a New Class of Objects A recently spotted bright light in the sky is improving astronomers' understanding of stellar death By Briley Lewis

FROM THE STORE Scientific American Volume 326, Issue 3

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FROM THE ARCHIVE Should Big Tech's Plan for a Metaverse Scare Us? Tech companies seek to create far more immersive digital environments, possibly mediated by brain implants By John Horgan | October 2021

QUOTE OF THE DAY "The metaverse has moved beyond science fiction to become a "technosocial imaginary," a collective vision of the future held by those with the power to turn that vision into reality." Rizwan Virk, computer scientist and video game pioneer, founder of Play Labs @ MIT

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