Often viewed as “spooky” or downright bizarre, quantum mechanics is fueling a powerful new era of amazing technology. In this program, today’s top quantum physicists discuss the information shake-up underway—and predict when we can expect a quantum computer of our own.
What does fear smell like? Love? Can we use scent to control behavior? Do humans really sense pheromones? What if you could diagnose diseases just by smelling them? And exactly how does our brain convert floating organic molecules into chemical signals that our brain processes as odor?
For all that Darwin contributed to our understanding of the biological world, he was haunted by one vexing question: How does the incremental process of evolution suddenly produce, say, humans—animals who walk upright, communicate through language, and possess the brainpower to travel to the moon?
It’s an old question: What is consciousness? Today, sophisticated brain imaging technologies, clinical studies, as well as the newfound ability to listen to the whisper of even an individual nerve cell, are bringing scientists closer than ever to the neurobiological basis of consciousness.
In 1955, a young scientist named Mildred Dresselhaus was told “women have no place in physics!”. Despite this, she became the “Queen of Carbon” and a champion of women in …
Stuff happens. The weather forecast says it’s sunny, but you just got drenched. You got a flu shot—but you’re sick in bed with the flu. Your best friend from Boston met your other best friend from San Francisco. Coincidentally. What are the odds?