Plus: Huge gravitational waves; New insights into causes of species diversity; What jellyfish can teach about fluid dynamics; Transcendent math

Math and Science News from Quanta Magazine View this email in your browser ASTROPHYSICS | ALL TOPICS   A New Map of the Universe, Painted With Cosmic Neutrinos By THOMAS LEWTON Physicists finally know where at least some of these high-energy particles come from, which helps make the neutrinos useful for exploring fundamental physics. Read the article GRAVITATIONAL WAVES   An Enormous Gravity 'Hum' Moves Through the Universe By JONATHAN O'CALLAGHAN Astronomers have found a background din of exceptionally long-wavelength gravitational waves pervading the cosmos. The cause? Probably supermassive black hole collisions, but more exotic options can't be ruled out. Read the article Related:  Gravitational Waves Should Permanently Distort Space-Time By Katie McCormick (2021) ECOLOGY   The Key to Species Diversity May Be in Their Similarities By VERONIQUE GREENWOOD Scientists are intrigued by forests where the biodiversity is far higher than niche theories of ecology say it should be. New findings show that similarities in the life histories of organisms may explain the discrepancy. Read the article Related:  A Physicist's Approach to Biology Brings Ecological Insights By Gabriel Popkin (2020) THE JOY OF WHY   What Can Jellyfish Teach Us About Fluid Dynamics? Podcast hosted by STEVEN STROGATZ Jellyfish and other aquatic creatures embody solutions to diverse problems in engineering, medicine and mathematics. John Dabiri, a fluid dynamics expert, talks with Steven Strogatz about what jellyfish can teach us about going with the flow. Listen to the podcast Read the transcript QUANTIZED COLUMNS   How Math Achieved Transcendence By DAVID S. RICHESON The vast majority of real and complex numbers are transcendental. Yet, despite their abundance, these numbers are exceedingly difficult to find, and it was once not obvious that they should even exist. Read the column Related:  When Math Gets Impossibly Hard By David S. Richeson (2020) Around the Web Progress on Human Model Embryos In a study published this week in Nature, a team led by Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz, a biologist at the University of Cambridge, claims to have produced human embryo models that are equivalent to a normal 14-day-old embryo. In an article published earlier this month in Quanta, Philip Ball described the state of this rapidly advancing area of research and its associated ethical challenges. Dark Energy's Bright Future Set to launch into orbit next month, the Euclid telescope will precisely measure the dark energy constant and — physicists hope — will reveal the origin of the mysterious force, reports Daniel Clery for Science Magazine. The Euclid satellite will take billions of images of galaxies to give Valeria Pettorino and other cosmologists a better understanding of the evolution of the universe. In 2018, Siobhan Roberts spoke with Pettorino for Quanta about what she hopes the new data will reveal about dark energy. 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