Quantumania

Eco-friendly poo bricks

To view this email as a web page, go here.

1/30/23 Thank you for subscribing to The Cheat Sheet, from Science News Explores. If you like this newsletter, share it with a friend or colleague. Did someone forward this to you? Sign up for our weekly updates. Got questions, suggestions or comments? Email us at sns@sciencenews.org and put “The Cheat Sheet” in the subject line. We’d love to hear from you. Coming Soon In the upcoming Marvel movie Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the film’s heroes venture into the quantum realm — the universe on scales smaller than atoms. Here, the normal rules of physics don’t apply. And though we may not have the tech to shrink people down to this size in real life, Marvel does get one thing right: demonstrating the quantum realm is truly bizarre.  For example, quantum-sized objects sometimes act like bits of matter, other times like waves. They can exist in more than one place at a time. And specially linked particles — entangled ones — can mirror each other perfectly, even when they’re a universe apart. (This finding led to the 2022 Nobel prize in physics.) Researchers have observed the effects of such bizarre quantum physics in the lab. But the question of why matter and energy at the tiniest scales act so strangely remains one of the biggest mysteries in the cosmos.  A New Magazine for Kids Learn more and subscribe to Science News Explores, a new magazine designed to satisfy young readers’ curiosity about how the world works.      SUBSCRIBE NOW   Catch up with the latest from Science News Explores Analyze This: Salt may quash lightning over the sea: Bits of airborne salt may help raindrops form, removing water from clouds before it can freeze as part of the process that makes lightning.  Readability: 7.0 Resources: power words, graphs Mouth-crawling superbugs cause severe cavities in kids: In kids with severe tooth decay, fungi and bacteria team up to create superorganisms that can crawl across teeth. Readability: 7.9 Resources: power words, animated image Insect-inspired drones work together to 3-D print structures: For the first time, flying drones have 3-D printed structures. In the future, such drones might be able to build in hard-to-reach places. Readability: 7.0 Resources: power words, classroom questions, video How salty does the sea have to be for an egg to float?: Some objects float on top of the ocean, and other objects sink to the bottom. Why? Try this eggs-periment to find out! Readability: 6.9 Resources: power words, experimental details For a better brick, just add poop: Sewage sludge. Cow dung. They’re not just waste — scientists are finding uses for processed poop in construction materials. Readability: 7.1 Resources: power words, classroom questions, video Scientists Say: Fusion: Nuclear fusion is the physics that powers the sun and could someday provide abundant clean energy on Earth. Readability: 8.2  Resources: power words, audio recording Opportunity Applications are now open for the Society for Science’s Advocate Program. This program provides a stipend, training and year-round support to teachers and mentors who help students from traditionally underrepresented groups and low-income households to enter STEM research competitions. Applications are due March 5.   Find out more about the resources available for using Science News Explores stories for learning. And if you like this newsletter, please share it with a friend or colleague. Did someone share this with you? Subscribe to this newsletter here. If you’ve got questions, suggestions or comments, email us at sns@sciencenews.org. Thank you for reading! Privacy policy  |  Update Profile  | Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe This email was sent by: Society for Science 1719 N Street NW Washington, DC, 20036, US