Physicists Create Quantum Particles That Remember Their Pasts

Plus: Untangling an AI 'not'; Parasites mutate in one generation; Math for humanity's challenges; Quanta Science Podcast on Alzheimer's (Pt. 2)

Math and Science News from Quanta Magazine View this email in your browser QUANTUM COMPUTING | ALL TOPICS   Physicists Create Elusive Particles That Remember Their Pasts By CHARLIE WOOD In two landmark experiments, researchers used quantum processors to engineer exotic particles that have captivated physicists for decades. The work is a step toward crash-proof quantum computers. Read the article MACHINE LEARNING   Chatbots Don't Know What Stuff Isn't By MAX G. LEVY Today's language models are more sophisticated than ever, but they still struggle with the concept of negation. That's unlikely to change anytime soon. Read the article Related:  Machines Beat Humans on a Reading Test. But Do They Understand? By John Pavlus (2019) EVOLUTION   A Mutation Turned Ants Into Parasites — Quickly By VIVIANE CALLIER A new genetics study of ant "social parasites" shows how complex sets of features can emerge very rapidly and potentially split species. Read the article Related:  How Supergenes Fuel Evolution Despite Harmful Mutations By Carrie Arnold (2022) Q&A   A Plan to Address the World's Challenges With Math By KEVIN HARTNETT Minhyong Kim is leading a new initiative called Mathematics for Humanity that encourages mathematicians to apply their skills to solving social problems. Read the interview QUANTA SCIENCE PODCAST   Scientists Rethink the Causes of Alzheimer's (Part 2) Podcast hosted by SUSAN VALOT; Story by YASEMIN SAPLAKOGLU If plaques of amyloid protein in the brain aren't the root cause of Alzheimer's disease, what is? Listen to the podcast Read the article Around the Web The Human "Pangenome" A new genome map based on 47 diverse individuals aims to capture the full genetic variation of humans, reports Antonio Regalado for MIT Technology Review. Despite the human genome being declared "complete" in 2000, additional sequencing has been an ongoing, decades-long effort. In a 2021 interview for Quanta, Carrie Arnold spoke with Karen Miga, one of the primary researchers behind the new "pangenome" project, about her work filling in the missing pieces of the human genome. Nutty Non-Newtonians Although peanut butter doesn't flow like water, it's still a liquid. For The Conversation, mechanical engineer Ted Heindel explains the physics of the sandwich spread and other non-Newtonian fluids. Some non-Newtonian fluids are viscoelastic: They seize up when they flow too fast. In 2022, Adam Mann wrote for Quanta about a new discovery that chaotic flow causes this counterintuitive phenomenon. Follow Quanta Simons Foundation 160 5th Avenue, 7th Floor New York, NY 10010 Unsubscribe | About Quanta Privacy Policy | Terms | Contact Us   Copyright © 2023 Quanta Magazine, an editorially independent division of the Simons Foundation