Premiere of "The Joy of Why"; Dennis Sullivan wins the Abel Prize; Dopamine linked to movement; LIGO hunts dark matter; Handshake math challenge

Math and Science News from Quanta Magazine View this email in your browser THE JOY OF WHY | ALL TOPICS   Why Do We Die Without Sleep? By STEVEN STROGATZ The reasons why sleep is so vital often hide in unexpected parts of the body, as host Steven Strogatz discovers in conversations with researchers Dragana Rogulja and Alex Keene. Listen to the podcast | Read the transcript  Related Video:  Steven Strogatz's Secrets of Math Communication Q&A filmed live at the Simons Foundation NEUROSCIENCE   Brain Chemical Helps Signal to Neurons When to Start a Movement By ALLISON WHITTEN Work showing that dopamine helps trigger movement is the latest revelation about the power of neuromodulators. Read the article Related:  New Brain Maps Can Predict Behaviors by Monique Brouillette (2021) ABEL PRIZE   Dennis Sullivan, Uniter of Topology and Chaos, Wins the Abel Prize By JORDANA CEPELEWICZ The American mathematician invented entire new ways to understand shapes and spaces. Read the blog Related:  In Topology, When Are Two Shapes the Same? by Kevin Hartnett (2021) PARTICLE PHYSICS   A New Tool for Finding Dark Matter Digs Up Nothing By THOMAS LEWTON Physicists are devising clever new ways to exploit the extreme sensitivity of gravitational wave detectors like LIGO. But so far, they've seen no signs of exotica. Read the blog Related:  The Search for Dark Matter Is Dramatically Expanding by Charlie Wood (2020) QUANTIZED ACADEMY   What a Math Party Game Tells Us About Graph Theory By PATRICK HONNER Can we just shake on it? Play this simple math game with your friends to gain insights into some fundamental principles of graph theory. Read the column Related:  Mathematicians Answer Old Question About Odd Graphs by Kevin Hartnett (2021) Around the Web Quantum Magnetic Migration Birds navigate by "seeing" Earth's magnetic field. Peter J. Hore writes for Scientific American about his research into the quantum effects occurring in a bird's eye that enable this extra perception. Of course, quantum effects don't usually survive in warm, open environments. But in 2016 Jennifer Ouellette wrote for Quanta about a theory that entanglement can protect quantum particles from decoherence even in classical environments like a bird's eye. Divine Distinctions Some researchers theorize that what sets humans apart as a species is our capacity for abstract ideas like geometry and religion, reports Siobhan Roberts for The New York Times. Emulating our talent for symbolic reasoning could be a necessary step toward building truly intelligent AI. In a 2021 interview for Quanta, John Pavlus spoke with Melanie Mitchell, a computer scientist who teaches AI to think with analogies. Follow Quanta Simons Foundation 160 5th Avenue, 7th Floor New York, NY 10010 Unsubscribe | About Quanta Privacy Policy | Terms | Contact Us   Copyright © 2022 Quanta Magazine, an editorially independent division of the Simons Foundation