A theory has been developed that characterizes how rattling is related to the amount of time that a system spends in a state, explaining self-organization in nonequilibrium systems such as bacterial colonies, protein complexes, and hybrid materials.
A new study suggests that the wheel may have been invented by copper miners in the Carpathian Mountains around 3900 B.C., using techniques from structural mechanics to trace the evolution of the wheel and axle.
Researchers have mapped the complete neural connectome of a fruit fly, detailing all 139,255 nerve cells and their connections. This advance offers insights into how the brain processes information.
Theories of consciousness span a spectrum from physicalist to nonphysicalist, including materialism, non-reductive physicalism, quantum theories, panpsychisms, and dualisms, among others, with extensive subcategories particularly in materialism. Each theory is typically described by its proponents without much critique or comparison to other theories. The implications of these theories are evaluated based on their answers to questions about meaning, AI consciousness, virtual immortality, and survival beyond death, offering a comprehensive landscape of consciousness.
Physicist Sara Imari Walker is using principles of physics to redefine the concept of life. She introduces Assembly Theory, which measures molecular complexity to distinguish living from non-living systems. This approach could help detect unfamiliar life forms on other planets and better understand life on Earth.
This review article examines the current understanding of the origin and early evolution of eukaryotic cells, highlighting key events and players involved in this process, particularly focusing on the symbiotic relationship between an archaeal host and a bacterial endosymbiont.
Researchers at the University of Michigan have used the anesthetic drug propofol to identify the intricate brain geometry behind the unconscious state, offering an unprecedented look at brain structures that have traditionally been difficult to study.
A new model explains the small Higgs mass and the strong-CP problem by invoking a multiverse scenario. It predicts distinctive signals at hadronic EDM, fuzzy dark matter, and axion experiments.
This study uses ecological niche modeling to reconstruct the palaeodistribution of Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans during Marine Isotope Stage 5, identifying the Zagros Mountains as a potential contact and interbreeding zone.
A new study suggests that cumulative culture, the accumulation of technological knowledge over generations, began in hominin populations around 600,000 years ago, leading to rapid increases in technological complexity.
