Sabine

Exploding stars made of dark matter could heat up universe

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85% of matter in the universe is dark matter, astrophysicists say. Which might make you wonder what all this stuff is doing. I mean, some of the matter in the universe has learned to ...

Whatever happened to string theory?

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String theory. It was supposed to be physicists’ crowning achievement,  a theory that explains no less than everything, with just one simple and elegant idea: it’s all string...

Heat Pumps finally make sense

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What does civilization mean to you? To me the most essential part of civilization is shelter. Yes, YouTube comes a close second of course. But on top of the list, I have a safe, dry, ...

Yes, AI will eventually become sentient.

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I’m convinced that it won’t be long until a computer program will reach human level intelligence and also become conscious.  But I don’t think we’re quite there yet. Let'...

Compact Disks make Comeback: Memory could Exceed Petabytes

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What do we want? Better memory.

When do we want it? Want what?

Joking aside, I have a two Terabyte hard disk and used to think that’s a lot. Then I bought a new video ca...

Illogical Chatbots, Bioengineers’ Visions, & Adolescents’ Mental Health

Want Good Maths? Think Like a Trekkie

2024-03-06 16:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post

Anti-matter for space-travel?

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I got some questions the other week about an article in business insider  that says it’s possible to power rockets with anti-matter and the only thing that’s preventing us fr...

Scientists Aarn About AI Collapse

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In the past year or so, we’ve all become used to AI generated text and images and audio and increasingly also videos. There’s been a lot of talk about how terrible this is for wri...

New approach to quantum computing could soon beat IBM

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Last week we had bad news for quantum computing, this week we have the most excellent good news. Thanks for living with me through the ups and downs. The news is  2024-03-03 16:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post

Black holes might be layers of shells: New solution found

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I had a prof who used to say that black holes can’t exist because, quote “god wouldn’t separate himself from part of his universe” end quote.  Now you might think that th...

Astrophysicists keep finding things that “shouldn’t exist”. I think I know why.

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We’ve seen a lot of headlines in the past years saying there are things in the universe that supposedly shouldn’t exist.  You may have been wondering how many things can astr...

First quantum measurement of gravity: What does it mean?

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The great thing about physics is that it makes the simplest things mindbogglingly complicated.  Take space. What is it?  Well space is whatever is between here and there. No...

Galactic Waves, Clean Energy From AI, and Seeing Around Corners

There’s a Wave in Our Galaxy…and It Might Have Passed Through Us

2024-02-28 23:50:18 +0000 UTC View Post

I was worried about climate change. Now I worry about climate scientists.

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A few weeks ago, I made a video on climate sensitivity, explaining why I am worried about it. There have now been a few reactions by climate scientists. I’d like to briefly comment...

Test of controversial new quantum propulsion didn't go as planned

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The Quantum Drive, a controversial new propulsion system based on the idea of “Quantized Inertia”  was launched into space for a test in November. Testing was supposed to start early Feb...

Rewrite the textbooks: New type of magnetism confirmed

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As everyone knows, there are three different types of magnetism.  So I was a bit surprised to learn of a new, third type of magnetism.  Didn’t we already have three? What�...

Do we create reality with our mind?

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Do we create reality with our minds? I got this question on twitter the other day and after rolling my eyes ab...

Energy Conservation: Does Violating it explain Dark Energy?

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I got quite a few questions about a paper that 2024-02-24 16:00:08 +0000 UTC View Post

Hydrogen might self-renew, reservoir found in France

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I’ve been very critical of the so-called hydrogen economy.  But I’ve recently reconsidered my position because of an interesting development. 2024-02-23 16:00:16 +0000 UTC View Post

Bad News for Quantum Computing: Another advantage gone

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Sometimes people ask me why I’m now doing science news. It’s so that you can fully appreciate the drama of scientific discovery,  in which one result contradicts a previous o...

Chinese Maglev Breaks Speed Record

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News from China say the Chinese have broken their own, and the global, speed record for magnetically levitating trains, which you might know under the name hyperloop. Let’s have a look.
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Small Thorium Reactors are Coming to Europe

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Phasing out nuclear power is the dumbest thing the Germans have ever done.  Each time I say this on twitter, people come and tell me that Hitler did a few things that were even dumber.  I disagree. ...

AI played wargames. It wasn't reassuring.

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A group of researchers had artificial intelligence play wargames, and that gives us a good idea for how we cou...

Scientific Fraud is on the rise, and it will get worse

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Science has a big problem and it’s been getting rapidly worse in the past two years or so, to no small part because of recent advances in artificial intelligence. Fraudulent papers ...

We might finally know what time crystals are good for: Nobel Prize possible

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Time Crystals sounds  like something from Hogwarts,  but it’s actually solid-state physics. Maybe not quite as mysterious as the name suggests, but nonetheless interesting...

The recent Toyota emissions scandal is just the tip of the iceberg

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A lot of climate targets are lip confessions.  But some of those confessions get written into law,  and that can create some, hmm, interesting tensions between what governme...

Human-level Artificial Intelligence likely by 2050, Experts say

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Artificial Intelligence is changing the world rapidly, and many of you have asked me to comment on the threat that AI poses for human civilization. Well thanks for your faith in me, b...

Americans Surprisingly Rational about Climate Change, German Study Finds

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I am fascinated by science deniers. Flat earthers, anti-vaxxers, climate change deniers, it’s just amazing to see how badly the human brain can malfunction. Of course, it’s ...

Physicists find that ageing is reversible -- in glass (sorry)

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One of the reasons I am doing these science news episodes is that sometimes there’s a news item which touches on a really deep question, but it’s so technical that no one dares ta...

Universe might be full of singularities, and they could make up dark matter

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Ok, I have seen a lot of weird ideas for what dark matter could be, but this one surprised even me. A team of ...