Week in Science: Physicists debate the quantum mechanics of reality

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August 15—This week, the simple algorithm that protects credit card numbers, we explain a glacial outburst flood, and a new human ancestor discovered. All that and more below! —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor

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The Math Trick Hidden in Your Credit Card Number Find out how this simple algorithm from the 1960s keeps your wallet safe Jack Murtagh

Physicists Can't Agree on What Quantum Mechanics Says about Reality A survey of more than 1,000 physicists finds deep disagreements in what quantum theories mean in the real world Elizabeth Gibney, Nature magazine

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How the New Chikungunya Virus Outbreak in China Could Reach the U.S. Experts say the painful infection, spread to people from mosquitoes, can get to many countries if it finds the right hosts Josh Fischman

Deep-Sea Desalination Pulls Fresh Water from the Depths Companies are experimenting with deep-sea tech to produce cheaper fresh water Vanessa Bates Ramirez

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Entirely New Species of Human Ancestor Discovered Ancient teeth found in Ethiopia belong to a never-before-seen species in the Australopithecus genus of human ancestors Kate Wong

How an Unsolved Math Problem Could Train AI to Predict Crises Years in Advance An artificial intelligence breakthrough uses reinforcement learning to tackle the Andrews-Curtis conjecture, solving long-standing counterexamples and hinting at tools for forecasting stock crashes, diseases and climate disasters Deni Ellis Béchard

These Spiders Puke Up Toxic Digestive Fluid to Marinate Their Prey Alive Without a venomous bite, some spiders use a disturbing second option to prepare their food Gennaro Tomma

Cosmic Tornado from Star's Birth Whirls in Dazzling JWST Image This telescope has revealed the whipped-up dust from the birth of a star—and a shining background galaxy—more clearly than ever before Gayoung Lee

Did Disease Defeat Napoleon? Napoleon's campaign against the Russian Empire was one of the most costly wars in history. Many soldiers died of diseases. Some of these illnesses are only now being identified Daniel Lingenhöhl

Why ChatGPT Shouldn't Be Your Therapist Using AI chatbots for "therapy" is dangerous, mental health experts say. Here's why Allison Parshall

Why Glacial Lake Outbursts like the One in Alaska May Happen More Often Meltwater from a glacial lake outburst is flooding Juneau, Alaska. Such events are likely to happen more often as climate change destabilizes ice and glacial lakes fill with more meltwater Stephanie Pappas

Echoes of Light Illuminate the Cosmos Bizarre phenomena called light echoes create strange, shifting shapes seen in some telescopic images and help astronomers chart the heavens above Phil Plait

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