Pentaquarks and Tetraquarks

"LHCb discovers three new exotic particles"

The international LHCb collaboration at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has observed three never-before-seen particles: a new kind of “pentaquark” and the first-ever pair of “tetraquarks”, which includes a new type of tetraquark. The findings, presented today at a CERN seminar, add three new exotic members to the growing list of new hadrons found at the LHC. They will help physicists better understand how quarks bind together into these composite particles.

Tolkien And Evil

"'The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power' Gets A Controversial New Trailer"

Better CRISPR

"'Soft CRISPR': Safer gene editing could bring a 70 percent success rate". (Via H.R.)

Fields Medals 2022

Congratulations to the 2002 winners of the Fields Medal in Mathematics!

Hsieh Forbes Column: How Public Health Technology Can Be Misused To Stifle Dissent

My latest Forbes piece is now out: "How Public Health Technology Can Be Misused To Stifle Dissent"

Mystery Moon Rocket

"'Mystery rocket' that crashed into the Moon baffles NASA scientists"

Brief Holiday Hiatus

Admin note: We will take a brief holiday hiatus for the US July 4th holiday!

Quickly Disable Face ID On iPhone

"How to Temporarily Disable Face ID or Touch ID, and Require a Passcode to Unlock Your iPhone or iPad":

Just press and hold the buttons on both sides. Remember that. Try it now. Don’t just memorize it, internalize it, so that you’ll be able to do it without much thought while under duress, like if you’re confronted by a police officer. Remember to do this every time you’re separated from your phone, like when going through the magnetometer at any security checkpoint, especially airports. As soon as you see a metal detector ahead of you, you should think, “Hard-lock my iPhone”.

Owning Colors

"Can a corporation 'own' a color?"

Zero Star Hotel

"Swiss 'zero star hotel' offers sleepless nights to ponder world's crises"

Domino Physics

"How fast a row of dominoes topples depends on friction".

Academic paper: "Effects of Friction and Spacing on the Collaborative Behavior of Domino Toppling"

 

Lotsa Galaxies

"There are more galaxies in the Universe than even Carl Sagan ever imagined"

Wright Doghouse

"A Doghouse Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright Is Now on Display"

 

Old Math Problem

"Math's 'Oldest Problem Ever' Gets a New Answer"

Dad Texts

Meryl Cates: "Texts My Father Sent That Can Also Be Microfiction"

Smell And Friendship

Fascinating story on how people are more inclined to form friendships with others with similar body odor.

The methodology seems pretty sound. I'm intrigued that this could be yet another arena in which our ancient evolutionary/animal heritage can have a powerful subliminal effect on our "civilized" human life experience.

Popular press summary: "Scent of a Friend: Similarities in Body Odor May Contribute to Social Bonding".

Academic paper: "There is chemistry in social chemistry" (Science Advances, 24 Jun 2022, Vol 8, Issue 25).

Historical Sense

"Five Facts That Will Mess With Your Perception of Time".

I did not know any of these except for #5.