People Differ Widely in Their Understanding of Even a Simple Concept Such as the Word 'Penguin'

Sponsored by

    

April 28, 2023

Psychology People Differ Widely in Their Understanding of Even a Simple Concept Such as the Word 'Penguin' We think about what a penguin is like in dozens of different ways—one reason why we often talk past each other By Simon Makin

Neuroscience How Our Team Overturned the 90-Year-Old Metaphor of a 'Little Man' in the Brain Who Controls Movement A pillar of every neuroscience textbook, the classic “homunculus” has just gone through a radical revision By Nico U.F. Dosenbach

Astrophysics Is Time Travel Possible? The laws of physics allow time travel. So why haven’t people become chronological hoppers? By Sarah Scoles

Renewable Energy Renewable Energy Is Charging Ahead Renewable energy has seen considerable growth in recent years, but there is a long way to go to achieve a clean energy future that averts the worst effects of the climate crisis By Andrea Thompson

Sponsor Content Provided by HowTheLightGetsIn 20% off festival tickets to HowTheLightGetsIn Hay 2023 The world's largest music and philosophy festival HowTheLightGetsIn (Hay-on-Wye, Wales, 26-29th May) attracts Nobel Laureates, Pulitzer prize winners, and pioneering scientists to debate the most urgent issues of today. Explore the full programme and get 20% off tickets using code SCIAM23 here.

Climate Change World's Largest Logjam Stores 3 Million Tons of Carbon Dead trees have accumulated in an Arctic basin for centuries, creating one of the largest “carbon pools” in the world By Daniel Cusick,E&E News

History Who Invented the Measurement of Time? The first timekeeping devices were probably natural materials lost to the ages, but the ancient Egyptians were the first to leave records of their timekeeping methods By Stephanie Pappas

Medicine The Bad Side of 'Good' Cholesterol Very high HDL cholesterol levels almost double your risk of heart problems. By Tanya Lewis,Josh Fischman,Jeffery DelViscio,Alexa Lim | 07:59

Arts How My AI Image Won a Major Photography Competition Boris Eldagsen submitted an AI-generated image to a photography contest as a “cheeky monkey” and sparked a debate about AI’s place in the art world By Allison Parshall

Psychology Did Time Tick Slower for a Woman Who Spent 500 Days Alone in a Cave? Here's why a woman who spent 500 days in extreme isolation lost her sense of time By Ruth Ogden,The Conversation US

Particle Physics Physicists See 'Strange Matter' Form inside Atomic Nuclei New research attempts to discern how bizarre particles of strange matter form in the nuclei of atoms By Stephanie Pappas

Conservation A Rare Glimpse into Afghanistan's Spectacular, Vanishing Forests Afghanistan’s rare and majestic woodlands can’t shake the echoes of war, desperation and poverty By Kern Hendricks

Animals 50,000 Worms Tangled Up in a Ball Unravel in an Explosive Burst when a Predator Appears California blackworms make a contribution to the math and physics of knot tying by demoing twisting motions that help them escape a tangled worm ball By Jack Tamisiea

FROM THE STORE Scientific American Volume 328, Issue 5

BRING SCIENCE HOME Falling Buttered Toast Is it bad luck--or good science? Perform your own scientific tests to see if, when dropped, toast really is more likely to land butter-side down.  Credit: George Retseck   Have you ever while buttering toast had the bread slip away, tumble down and land on the floor butter-side-down? Would you blame the butter landing on bad luck—or physics? Time for science to tell us! Take a slice, try it out and learn about the science behind a falling slice of toast!

LATEST ISSUES

Questions?   Comments?

Download the Scientific American App

To view this email as a web page, go here. You received this email because you opted-in to receive email from Scientific American. To ensure delivery please add news@email.scientificamerican.com to your address book. Unsubscribe     Manage Email Preferences     Privacy Policy     Contact Us