Are birds using quantum entanglement to navigate?

Sounds wild, but it may well be so.

(MattiaATH/Shutterstock)
  • Birds' navigation using Earth's very faint magnetic fields suggests an incredible level of sensitivity.
  • There's reason to think that sensitivity may be based on quantum entanglement in cryptochrome in their eyes.
  • Identifying the role of quantum physics in biology could lead, well, who knows where?
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A new study proves parachutes are useless

A new study flies in the face of anecdotal evidence and raises questions about how we read data.

Yeh et al.
  • Scientists working at medical schools across the United States discovered that parachutes don't lower the death rate of people jumping out of airplanes.
  • The study flies in the face of decades of anecdotal evidence.
  • The findings should be carefully applied, due to "minor caveats" with the experimental structure.
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The first successful flight of an ionic-wind aircraft

Silent, carbon-free propulsion with no moving parts.

(Barrett, et al/Nature)
  • A team of scientists at MIT have flown the first ionic-wind aircraft.
  • It's the first successful test of the emission-free technology.
  • The days of propellers and combustion engines are numbered. Imagine silent aircraft gliding overhead!
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What people smuggle onto airplanes and why

Most of those who try to sneak stuff onboard succeed.

(James R. Martin/Shutterstock)
  • 32.4% American travelers try to sneak forbidden items onboard.
  • 87.7% of them succeed.
  • It's mostly about recreational drugs, but also about explosives, poisons, and infectious items.
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BlackFly ‘flying car’ to hit the market in 2019 for the price of an SUV

Are we sure this isn't alien technology?

(Opener)
  • A Larry Page-backed company has announced that its flying car will go on sale in 2019.
  • It's called the BlackFly.
  • Not quite the escape from traffic you had in mind, but it's a jaw-dropping start.
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