ScientistPankaj: Mathematician Solves 50-Year-Old Möbius Strip Puzzle

Friday, September 15, 2023

Mathematician Solves 50-Year-Old Möbius Strip Puzzle

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September 14, 2023

This week, we're pondering both sides of a problem. Möbius strips are mindbending mathematical objects possessing only a single-sided surface, yet they're as easy to make as twisting and taping together a scrap of paper. Our top story reports on the newfound solution to a long-standing riddle: Exactly how small can a papercraft Möbius strip be? The answer might surprise you. Elsewhere this week, we have stories on the science of shooting stars, a fossil's controversial journey to space, the mathematical complexity of Candy Crush, and much more. Enjoy!

Lee Billings, Senior Editor, Space & Physics

Mathematics

Mathematician Solves 50-Year-Old Möbius Strip Puzzle

A trapezoid was key to discovering the elusive answer to a riddle about Möbius strips

By Rachel Crowell

Space Exploration

Nearby Worlds May Tell Us How Life Might Look in Our Galaxy

TRAPPIST-1 could make or break the extended push to make red dwarfs an astrobiological priority

By Kaitlin Rasmussen

Astronomy

The Science of Shooting Stars

Earth is bombarded by millions of bits of cosmic debris every day. Here's how to distinguish between the different types

By Phil Plait

Anthropology

Ancient Human Fossil Trip to Space Raises Questions and Criticism

The decision to send hominin bones on a commercial spaceflight has raised eyebrows among paleontologists

By Ewen Callaway,Nature magazine

Planetary Science

Mysterious Moonquake Traced to Apollo 17 Lunar Lander Base

The Apollo 17 lunar lander base is creating small-scale moonquakes on a daily basis

By Stefanie Waldek,SPACE.com

Psychology

Moon Landing Denial Fired an Early Antiscience Conspiracy Theory Shot

Apollo moon landing conspiracy theories were early hints of the dangerous anti-vax, antiscience beliefs backed by politicians today

By Phil Plait

Mathematics

Candy Crush Is Complicated--Even from a Mathematical Point of View

Don't be annoyed if you fail at a certain level of the popular game Candy Crush Saga; computers also have their problems with it

By Manon Bischoff

Mathematics

Mathematicians Think Saudi Arabia's Ambitious 'Line' City Should Be a Circle

Despite efforts to make a planned city in the Saudi Arabian desert sustainable, its layout could create problems

By Manon Bischoff

Particle Physics

How Antisemitism and Professional Betrayal Marred Lise Meitner's Scientific Legacy

Letters between Lise Meitner and the chemist Otto Hahn reveal how she struggled with Hahn's failure to credit her work and condemn the Nazi atrocities

By Katie Hafner,Ashraya Gupta,The Lost Women of Science Initiative

Climate Change

Humans Have Crossed 6 of 9 'Planetary Boundaries'

Scientists analyzed nine so-called planetary boundaries and found humans are currently transgressing six

By Meghan Bartels

Climate Change

Lethal Heat Is Spreading across the Planet

Since 1970 more than 350 weather stations have experienced at least one six-hour period of a potentially deadly combination of heat and humidity. Scientists expect these episodes will increase as temperatures rise

By Chelsea Harvey,E&E News

Pollution

The Ozone Hole Showed Humans Could Damage Earth and That We Could Heal It

The discovery of a hole in Earth's protective ozone layer in 1985 led to a worldwide effort to heal it. But are there lessons that can be applied to today's treaty talks on climate change?

By Jonathan Schienberg,Retro Report

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"To treat ancestral remains in such a callous, unethical way -- to blast them into space just because you can -- there's no scientific merit in this."

Robyn Pickering, a geologist at the University of Cape Town, on ancient hominin fossils flown on a recent Virgin Galactic suborbital launch

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