Surprising Science — February 8, 2011

Science and Music

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Physics are nothing but the laws of harmonies on a string, and the universe is a symphony.

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Ask Ethan: How does the Universe’s temperature change over time?

Today, the deepest depths of intergalactic space aren’t at absolute zero, but at a chill 2.73 K. How does that temperature change over time?

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.

Abstract design with human profiles, a silhouette of a person walking, and text reading "The Happiness Paradox 4" on a grid background.

The Present

Why happiness is not the best indicator of well-being

Achieving values and pursuing growth is the real secret to a fulfilled life.

A man rubs his eyes while holding his glasses in his left hand and wearing a white shirt, with a watch on his left wrist, perhaps tired from hours of Zoom science sessions.

Business

Not remotely cool: The science of “Zoom fatigue”

Why “audio gaps” in video meetings wear us out — and why we need the meaningful relationships forged in communal workspaces.

dark matter substructure intracluster light

Starts With A Bang

Does dark matter interact non-gravitationally at all?

In theory, dark matter is cold, collisionless, and only interacts via gravity. What we see in ultra-diffuse galaxies indicates otherwise.

Up Next

Guest Thinkers

There Ain’t No Fascists (Worth Ranting About) in America These Days

My fellow BIG THINK blogger, Mark Seddon, has written that Glenn Beck is “Goebbels” or a Fascist or Nazi rousing the masses up in a dangerous, murderous way. Palin and the Tea […]