Surprising Science — March 25, 2014

Scultpures of Magnetic Particles

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

How does NASA control the flow of fluids in Space? NASA invented ferrofluid. It turns out the stuff is multipurpose when you apply rare earth magnets. Check out the ferrofluid “sculptures” in this video:

Image credit: Tesladownunder

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Grayscale image showing a flying object captured on radar screen with various data markings.

13.8

New UFO hearings continue an “endless loop” of sensation

Astronomer Adam Frank asks: With so many extraordinary claims, why can’t anybody produce the proof?

A glitch art depiction of an old sketch reminiscent of Da Vinci, featuring a bearded man in a hat with digital distortion weaving through his face.

High Culture

Ken Burns on what we get wrong about Leonardo da Vinci

Burns’ latest documentary dives into the long-romanticized life and work of the Italian polymath.

A glowing, abstract representation of a brain, with intricate patterns and lights reminiscent of the innovative spirit behind the Nobel Prize in Physics 2024, set against a dark backdrop.

Starts With A Bang

How ideas from physics drive AI: the 2024 Nobel Prize

Artificial intelligence is much more than image generation and smart-sounding chatbots; it’s also a Nobel-worthy endeavor rooted in physics!

A clock face with moon phases as numbers, set against a blue sky with scattered clouds, creates a whimsical portrayal of lunar time.

Hard Science

Moon time is a thing now—here’s why it matters

Physicists recently created Coordinated Lunar Time, a time zone for our Moon.

A fiery landscape with molten lava flows and a distant orange sky. Smoke rises from several volcanoes, the most prominent one in the middle emitting a large plume reminiscent of things sent into space. Rocky foreground.

Hard Science

The weirdest stuff we’ve sent into orbit

Fifteen human space oddities.

Up Next

Can Google Really Be Mindful?

Mindfulness in corporate culture has been an emergent field over the past decade. Companies such as Google and the US Army offer yoga and meditation to their workers in hopes […]