Getting the universe to think; Exploring life's origins on "The Joy of Why"; Impossible-seeming surfaces confirmed; Hints at the early nervous system

Math and Science News from Quanta Magazine View this email in your browser VIDEO | ALL TOPICS   The Langlands Program, Explained Video by EMILY BUDER Column by ALEX KONTOROVICH The Langlands program provides a beautifully intricate set of connections between various areas of mathematics, pointing the way toward novel solutions for old problems. Watch the video Read the column NEURAL NETWORKS   How to Make the Universe Think for Us By CHARLIE WOOD Physicists are building neural networks out of vibrations, voltages and lasers, arguing that the future of computing lies in exploiting the universe's complex physical behaviors. Read the article Related:  Powerful 'Machine Scientists' Distill the Laws of Physics From Raw Data by Charlie Wood THE JOY OF WHY   How Could Life Evolve From Cyanide? Podcast hosted by STEVEN STROGATZ How did life arise on Earth? Steven Strogatz speaks with the Nobel Prize-winning biologist Jack Szostak and Betül Kaçar, a paleogeneticist and astrobiologist, to explore our best understanding of how we all got here. Listen to the podcast Read the transcript TOPOLOGY   Surfaces Beyond Imagination Are Discovered After Decades-Long Search By LEILA SLOMAN Using ideas borrowed from graph theory, two mathematicians have shown that extremely complex surfaces are easy to traverse. Read the article Related:  Elegant Six-Page Proof Reveals the Emergence of Random Structure by Jordana Cepelewicz EVOLUTION   Brain-Signal Proteins Evolved Before Animals Did By VIVIANE CALLIER Some molecules that neurons use to create signals for one another have been around longer than even the simplest nervous systems. Read the blog Related:  Sponge Genes Hint at the Origins of Neurons and Other Cells by Viviane Callier (2021) Around the Web Do Look Up Scientists have designed a new algorithm to sift through telescope images for new asteroids, reports Kenneth Chang for The New York Times. Keeping track of asteroids is especially important in our current era. In 2019 Joshua Sokol wrote for Quanta about how studying lunar craters revealed that the last 300 million years have been particularly violent, with more frequent asteroid collisions. Rapid Evolution A large-scale study of 19 different animal populations over more than a decade reveals that natural selection is happening 2 to 4 times faster than previously thought, reports Qamariya Nasrullah for Cosmos Magazine. Evolution can occur surprisingly quickly over short timescales, but sometimes these rapid short-term changes cancel out over the long run, as Carrie Arnold wrote for Quanta in 2017. 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