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This sample of red trinitite was found to contain a previously unknown type of quasicrystal.Credit: Luca Bindi, Paul J. Steinhardt
First nuke made ‘impossible’ quasicrystals
Scientists searching for quasicrystals — so-called ‘impossible’ materials, with unusual, non-repeating structures — have identified one in remnants of the world’s first nuclear-bomb test. The previously unknown structure, made of iron, silicon, copper and calcium, probably formed from the fusion of vapourized desert sand and copper cables. Similar materials have been synthesized in the laboratory and identified in meteorites, but this is the first example of a quasicrystal with this combination of elements.
Do humans dream of randomized data?
The inherent strangeness of dreams might help us to prepare for the unexpected, according to a new dream theory inspired by artificial intelligence (AI). The theory’s proponents drew from a study showing that randomized data helped AI to learn and adapt to new information. The study led neuroscientist Erik Hoel to suggest that “it is the very strangeness of dreams in their divergence from waking experience that gives them their biological function”. The idea joins a pantheon of dream theories, all hoping to explain why our brains spout nonsense when we sleep.
Features & opinion
University of Cape Town battles racist legacy
Six years after a statue of Cecil Rhodes — a nineteenth-century diamond magnate and representative of colonial rule over southern Africa — was toppled at the University of Cape Town (UCT), students and staff are still working to improve equity and representation. Four UCT students and staff members reflect on developments since 2015, including the 2018 suicide of Bongani Mayosi, UCT’s dean of health sciences; a 2019 report on UCT’s institutional culture; the COVID-19 pandemic; and a devastating fire last month that gutted the university’s African studies reading room and some of South Africa’s most treasured histories.
‘Angell rushes in where fools fear to tread’
Austen Angell, who has died aged 87, was one of the most versatile physical chemists of his generation, write colleagues Pablo Debenedetti, Peter Poole, Srikanth Sastry and Francesco Sciortino. His pioneering experimental discoveries on glasses and liquids shaped the ideas that chemists, physicists and engineers use to investigate these challenging materials. He was also an irrepressible explorer, unafraid to to speculate, and had an infectious love of discovery. Robin Speedy, his long-time colleague and collaborator, quipped, “Angell rushes in where fools fear to tread.”
Why bother with presentation skills
There are good reasons to move ‘polish my presentation skills’ up on your priority list, argues David Rubenson, director of the scientific-communications firm No Bad Slides. Insights gained from audiences and the opportunity to take a fresh look at your research are among the benefits, he writes.
