Week in Science: A Long-Held Mathematical Belief is Overturned

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September 5—This week, humans and primates share a drive to 'people watch', AI can spot subtle consciousness cues days before physicians, and mathematicians discover a key conjecture about knot theory. All that and more below! —Andrea Tamayo, Newsletter Writer

Top Stories

New Knot Theory Discovery Overturns Long-Held Mathematical Assumption Mathematicians have unraveled a key conjecture about knot theory Max Springer

Should You Spend $2 to Win $1.7 Billion? Inside Powerball Math Winning more than $1 billion in Powerball is an exciting possibility, but keeping a cool math mind can help you decide whether that opportunity is worth your $2 bet Mark Fischetti

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Huge Cracks in the Earth Are Slicing through Cities, Swallowing Houses and Displacing Thousands of People Hundreds of thousands of people are at risk of losing homes, businesses—and lives—as giant "gullies" expand into cities across Africa Miryam Naddaf, Nature magazine

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What's the Smallest Particle in the Universe? The answer to this supposedly simple particle physics question isn't so simple Gayoung Lee

Quantum Physics Is Bizarre. So Why Have We Loved It for 100 Years? A survey of Scientific American's century of quantum coverage helps explain the enduring popularity of strange physics Jacklin Kwan

AI Spots Hidden Signs of Consciousness in Comatose Patients before Doctors Do A machine-learning algorithm spotted signs of "covert consciousness" in coma patients—in some cases, days before doctors could do so Andrew Chapman

A Forgotten Math Idea Could Supercharge Quantum Computers Scientists have revived an ignored area of math to envision a path toward stable quantum computing Ananya Palivela

A Cosmic Void May Be Skewing Our Understanding of the Universe Our understanding of cosmology hinges on how well we know our own local universe, which remains poorly mapped and poorly understood Paul M. Sutter

How to See Faster-Than-Light Motion Superluminal velocities are common but illusory Phil Plait

Is Consciousness the Hallmark of Life? As AI grows more fluent in mimicking human empathy, language and memory, we're left asking: If a machine can fake awareness so well, what exactly is the real thing? Andrea Gawrylewski

EPA Fires 'Dissent' Statement Signers The EPA fired five agency employees who signed a June declaration decrying moves that contradict science and undermine public health and issued removal notices to four more Dan Vergano

The Primal Pull of People Watching Our social voyeurism may have deep evolutionary roots Clarissa Brincat

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