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

FROM THE ARCHIVE The Timeless Journey of the Möbius Strip After the disaster of 2020, let's hope we're not on a figurative one By Serena Alagappan | January 2021

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