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Why Did The Universe Begin?

Most cosmologists agree that our universe had a beginning. But the finer details about the Big Bang remain a mystery. A history of everything would explain all, or so theoretical physicists hoped. In his final years, Stephen Hawking working with Thomas Hertog proposed a striking idea: The laws of physics were not precisely determined before the Big Bang; they evolved as the universe evolved.

In this episode of The Joy of Why, Hertog speaks with co-host Janna Levin about his work and partnership with Hawking. Hertog, now at KU Leuven in Belgium, explains why they rejected the popular multiverse theory and instead explored the idea that the universe’s properties are a result of cosmological natural selection. According to Hertog and Hawking, these properties must be viewed through the lens of human observers, who are also the consequence of natural selection.

So, how could the universe have created the conditions needed for life to emerge? Listen to the episode below to find out.

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt warns of AI superintelligence outpacing Earth’s energy limits: ‘Chips will outrun power needs’

AIs future may be limited not by chips, but by the power to run them. Eric Schmidt highlights how data centers fueling AI models are consuming record amounts of water and electricity, risking an environmental crisis. As big tech races toward superintelligence, the looming question is whether our energy grid can handle the load.

Outbreak of Chikungunya Virus Poses Global Risk, Warns WHO

The World Health Organization warned on Tuesday a major chikungunya virus epidemic risks sweeping around the globe, calling for urgent action to prevent it.

The WHO said it was picking up exactly the same early warning signs as in a major outbreak two decades ago and wanted to prevent a repeat.

Chikungunya is a mosquito-borne viral disease that causes fever and severe joint pain, which is often debilitating. In some cases it can be deadly.

Macquarie University’s new study shows DNA ‘glue’ could help prevent and treat age related disorders

Macquarie University new study could hold the key to developing therapies for devastating age-related diseases such as motor neuron disease (MND), Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease.

The research at Macquarie University conducted by neurobiologist, Dr. Sina Shadfar and colleagues in the Motor Neuron Disease Research Centre, reveals a protein called protein disulphide isomerase (PDI) helps repair serious deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) damage. This breakthrough opens new possibilities for therapies aimed at boosting the body’s ability to fix its own DNA, a process that becomes less efficient as we age.

Dr. Shadfar, Associate, Macquarie Medical School stated “Brain cells are very vulnerable. Unlike skin or blood cells, they don’t divide or renew so any damage that builds up in them stays and if the damage isn’t repaired, it can eventually lead to the death of these critical cells.”

Complex organic molecules found in young star’s disk hint at cosmic origins of life

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), a team of astronomers led by Abubakar Fadul from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) has discovered complex organic molecules—including the first tentative detection of ethylene glycol and glycolonitrile—in the protoplanetary disk of the outbursting protostar V883 Orionis.

New method decodes the hidden origins of magnetism

We know magnetism as a fundamental force of nature that plays a crucial role in both the natural world and modern technology. It governs the behavior of materials at the atomic level and is essential for the functioning of countless devices in our everyday life, including data storage, sensing, wireless charging, sound recording and playing systems, and more.

New surveillance technology can track people by how they disrupt Wi-Fi signals

Hi-tech surveillance technologies are a double-edged sword. On the one hand, you want sophisticated devices to detect suspicious behavior and alert authorities. But on the other, there is the need to protect individual privacy. Balancing public safety and personal freedoms is an ongoing challenge for innovators and policymakers.

This debate is set to reignite with news that researchers at La Sapienza University in Rome have developed a system that can identify individuals just by the way they disrupt Wi-Fi signals.

The scientists have dubbed this new technology “WhoFi.” Unlike traditional biometric systems such as fingerprint scanners and , it doesn’t require direct physical contact or visual feeds. WhoFi can also track individuals in a larger area than a fixed-position camera, provided there is a Wi-Fi network.

New memristor-based system could boost processing of radiofrequency signals

The development of more advanced technologies to process radiofrequency signals could further advance wireless communication, allowing devices connected to the internet to share information with each other faster and while consuming less energy. Currently, radio frequency signals are processed using software-defined radios (SDRs), systems that can modulate, filter and analyze signals using software rather than hardware components.

Despite their widespread use, these systems rely on purely digital hardware in which computing and memory modules are physically separated, leading to constant data shuttling between the two and hence extra energy consumption. Furthermore, the extensive use of circuit components known as analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), which convert incoming radiofrequency signals into digital values that can then be processed by digital computers, often results in processing delays (i.e., latency) and substantial energy consumption. Electronics engineers have thus been trying to develop alternative systems that can directly manipulate signals in their original (i.e., analog) form, which would reduce the movement of data and lower energy consumption.

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Texas A&M University and TetraMem Inc. recently introduced a promising new system for processing analog radiofrequency systems, which is based on non-volatile memory devices known as memristors integrated on a chip. Their proposed system, presented in a paper in Nature Electronics, was found to process radiofrequency signals significantly faster and more energy-efficiently than existing SDRs.

First direct images reveal atomic thermal vibrations in quantum materials

Researchers investigating atomic-scale phenomena impacting next-generation electronic and quantum devices have captured the first microscopy images of atomic thermal vibrations, revealing a new type of motion that could reshape the design of quantum technologies and ultrathin electronics.

Yichao Zhang, an assistant professor in the University of Maryland Department of Materials Science and Engineering, has developed an electron microscopy technique to directly image “moiré phasons”—a physical phenomenon that impacts superconductivity and heat conduction in for next-generation electronic and .

A paper about the research, which documents images of the thermal vibration of for the first time, has been published in the journal Science.

Genetic variants linked with higher risk of developing bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder is a mental health condition characterized by extreme mood swings, with alternating periods of depression and manic episodes. Past research suggests that bipolar disorder has a strong genetic component and is among the most heritable psychiatric disorders.

To better understand the that increase the risk of developing this mental health disorder, neuroscientists and geneticists have carried out various genome-wide association studies (GWAS). These are essentially studies aimed at identifying specific regions of the human genome that are linked with an increased risk of having bipolar disorder, also referred to as bipolar risk loci.

While earlier works have identified many of these regions, causal single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for the disorder are largely unknown. These are essentially genetic variants that primarily contribute to bipolar disorder risk, as opposed to just being mere markers of it.