Surprising Science — March 31, 2014

Exploring Einstein’s Theory of Relativity

Einstein’s quantum description of light earned him a Nobel prize, but he’s mostly remembered for relativity.

At their core, special and general relativity are, in fact, not relative. Explore Einstein’s most famous theory in this video by OneMinutePhysics:

Image credit: Shutterstock

Starts With A Bang

A failed proton decay search accidentally birthed neutrino astronomy

Before we discovered gravitational waves, multi-messenger astronomy got its start with light and particles arriving from the same event.

The Past

Japan isolated itself from the rest of the world for 265 years. Here’s why.

Japan just opened to tourists for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began, echoing the island country’s isolationist policies during the feudal era.

13.8

The choice we must face when our loved ones die

There’s no escaping the death of loved ones. But that doesn’t mean we’re powerless in the wake of loss.

The Present

Desalinating seawater sounds easy, but there are cheaper, better ways to get fresh water

Flashy desalination technology is more costly and cumbersome than many other solutions.

Hard Science

What Einstein and Bohr’s debate over quantum entanglement taught us about reality

Uncertainty is inherent to our Universe.

Up Next

Strange Maps

Orwellian Cartography 101: How to Tell Two Truths with One Map

All maps tell lies, but this one does it better than most.