Maths is Cooked: AI's Latest Breakthrough -- And What's Next

As AI continues to improve its reasoning abilities, mathematicians are increasingly worried about the computer algorithms replacing them. In late May, those fears got even worse when OpenAI revealed that one of its general-purpose reasoning models had written a proof solving a ma … | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 7 hours ago

Did Physics Just Lose a Brilliant Idea?

One of the most popular ideas in physics right now is something named “ER = EPR.” This theory has it that entangled particles are actually linked by tiny, tiny wormholes. Recently, a group of physicists tested the idea – let’s take a look at their findings. | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 2 days ago

We're Not Ready for Self-Building AI, But it's Happening

Artificial Intelligence is beginning to improve itself. In today's video I have a summary of recent events. Are we ready for the intelligence explosion? I think not. | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 4 days ago

Physicists Are Rethinking Dark Matter… In The Wrong Way.

Physicists believe that 80% of the matter in the universe is made of ‘dark matter’ that we can’t see. But despite decades of work, they haven’t been able to confirm that this matter really exists. In the past years, physicists have been rethinking the dark matter idea… but not in … | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 6 days ago

Microsoft Announces Breakthrough With Quantum Chip

Last year, Microsoft announced its Majorana quantum computing chip, which supposedly used topological qubits to make calculations. The problem was that the paper published alongside the announcement didn’t show any evidence for those claims. Now they’ve announced a new quantum ch … | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 8 days ago

America is coming for Europe's most important machine

The Dutch company ASML is the only company that produces a special type of machine used to produce microchips, which are a key component of many modern technologies. Now, companies across the globe are looking to break ASML’s monopoly using a wide variety of new processes. Let’s … | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 12 days ago

This Giant Ring In Space Poses A Massive Problem For Cosmology

Scientists say that they’ve just detected a massive cloud of gas some 3 billion lightyears in diameter, floating in space roughly 7 billion light years away from us. This is pretty cool, but the problem is that our current models of the universe say that it (and other massive str … | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 14 days ago

Super El Niño: How Accurate Are These Predictions?

According to predictions from weather organizations across the planet, a super El Niño weather event is likely to begin over the next few weeks. It’s predicted to drive up temperatures across the globe, bringing increased chances of heatwaves, drought, wildfires, and even famines … | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 17 days ago

These Physicists Claim They Can Send Messages To The Past

When you try to combine quantum physics with Einstein’s theories, you quickly run into some pretty serious problems. The biggest is that causality – the order in which events occur – becomes uncertain as the rest of quantum physics. A group of physicists have leveraged that uncer … | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 22 days ago

I Looked at the New Cold Fusion Breakthroughs. It's Complicated.

Investors across the globe are putting record amounts of money into cold fusion technology, which promises to bring us nuclear fusion without the need to create miniature stars on Earth. But are these companies actually delivering, or is this just another speculative tech bubble? … | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 25 days ago

I Looked at the New Cold Fusion Breakthroughs. It's Complicated.

Investors across the globe are putting record amounts of money into cold fusion technology, which promises to bring us nuclear fusion without the need to create miniature stars on Earth. But are these companies actually delivering, or is this just another speculative tech bubble? … | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 25 days ago

The unbearable blandness of the 2020s

In today's rant I complain that I now sound like every other YouTuber. | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 27 days ago

The unbearable blandness of the 2020s

In today's rant I complain that I now sound like every other YouTuber. | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 27 days ago

Biologists Say They Cracked One of Life’s Biggest Mysteries

Life on Earth has a peculiar property – many biological molecules have a handedness, or a “chirality.” DNA twists one way and not the other, and all the rest of life must fit to this reality. In a new paper, researchers say they know why: It all comes down to physics! The answer … | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 29 days ago

Biologists Say They Cracked One of Life’s Biggest Mysteries

Life on Earth has a peculiar property – many biological molecules have a handedness, or a “chirality.” DNA twists one way and not the other, and all the rest of life must fit to this reality. In a new paper, researchers say they know why: It all comes down to physics! The answer … | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 29 days ago

This Startup Promises Energy From Nothing—Here's What's Wrong

The company Casimir Inc promises "unlimited power" from the vacuum by using the Casimir effect. Here is why you shouldn't believe what they say. | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 1 month ago

This Startup Promises Energy From Nothing—Here's What's Wrong

The company Casimir Inc promises "unlimited power" from the vacuum by using the Casimir effect. Here is why you shouldn't believe what they say. | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 1 month ago

These new nuclear reactors solve the safety problem

Generating electricity via nuclear fission is a great idea, at least in principle. But the risk of nuclear meltdowns causing mass destruction and long-lasting contamination isn’t appealing. Luckily, a crop of companies are looking to solve this problem by creating subcritical nuc … | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 1 month ago

These new nuclear reactors solve the safety problem

Generating electricity via nuclear fission is a great idea, at least in principle. But the risk of nuclear meltdowns causing mass destruction and long-lasting contamination isn’t appealing. Luckily, a crop of companies are looking to solve this problem by creating subcritical nuc … | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 1 month ago

AI Will Hit a Wall in 2026, if nothing changes.

Current AI technology seems to be making decent progress despite concerns about it slowing over time. But while AI is slowly becoming more “intelligent”, the industry is running into another problem: energy supply. Let’s take a look at why energy is quickly becoming a major probl … | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 1 month ago

AI Will Hit a Wall in 2026, if nothing changes.

Current AI technology seems to be making decent progress despite concerns about it slowing over time. But while AI is slowly becoming more “intelligent”, the industry is running into another problem: energy supply. Let’s take a look at why energy is quickly becoming a major probl … | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 1 month ago

Einstein's Theory Has a Problem -- This Idea Solves It

Physicists have been trying to reconcile the differences between Einstein’s theory of spacetime and our observations of quantum mechanics for almost a century. One way that they’ve attempted to do this involves theories that treat space as one-dimensional at very short distances. … | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 1 month ago

Einstein's Theory Has a Problem -- This Idea Solves It

Physicists have been trying to reconcile the differences between Einstein’s theory of spacetime and our observations of quantum mechanics for almost a century. One way that they’ve attempted to do this involves theories that treat space as one-dimensional at very short distances. … | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 1 month ago

Quantum physics is an unnecessary complication, researchers say

To this day, researchers don’t fully understand quantum physics. But in a new paper, physicists from MIT say that that’s okay – because the phenomena we use quantum physics to explain can actually be understood using classical physics. Really? Let’s take a look. | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 1 month ago

Quantum physics is an unnecessary complication, researchers say

To this day, researchers don’t fully understand quantum physics. But in a new paper, physicists from MIT say that that’s okay – because the phenomena we use quantum physics to explain can actually be understood using classical physics. Really? Let’s take a look. | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 1 month ago

New Theory Explains How Time Began

The biggest open problem in the foundations of physics is that Einstein’s theory of gravity, General Relativity, does not cooperate with quantum mechanics. Physicists have tried to solve this issue by coming up with a theory of quantum gravity, but those theories fall apart when … | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 1 month ago

New Theory Explains How Time Began

The biggest open problem in the foundations of physics is that Einstein’s theory of gravity, General Relativity, does not cooperate with quantum mechanics. Physicists have tried to solve this issue by coming up with a theory of quantum gravity, but those theories fall apart when … | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 1 month ago

Bacteria could survive trip on asteroid, scientists find

That life might have come to earth traveling through outer space used to be a fringe theory called ‘panspermia’. But in the past decade or so, we have seen an interesting shift in how scientists regard the idea. Let’s take at one new study that might support ‘panspermia,’ as well … | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 1 month ago

Bacteria could survive trip on asteroid, scientists find

That life might have come to earth traveling through outer space used to be a fringe theory called ‘panspermia’. But in the past decade or so, we have seen an interesting shift in how scientists regard the idea. Let’s take at one new study that might support ‘panspermia,’ as well … | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 1 month ago

The Fermi Paradox Just Got Worse

The Fermi Paradox is the question of why we haven’t been contacted by any extraterrestrial species. In a recent paper, astrophysicists analyzed the paradox by instead examining how civilizations with the ability to send signals through space might develop. Unfortunately for us, t … | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 1 month ago

The Fermi Paradox Just Got Worse

The Fermi Paradox is the question of why we haven’t been contacted by any extraterrestrial species. In a recent paper, astrophysicists analyzed the paradox by instead examining how civilizations with the ability to send signals through space might develop. Unfortunately for us, t … | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 1 month ago

A New Anomaly in Particle Physics!

Recently, physicists at CERN announced that they’d re-discovered an anomaly in the way that certain particles (called B mesons) decay. The anomaly has been noted in multiple other analyses over the years, though most recently it had disappeared. It could indicate that there are p … | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 1 month ago

A New Anomaly in Particle Physics!

Recently, physicists at CERN announced that they’d re-discovered an anomaly in the way that certain particles (called B mesons) decay. The anomaly has been noted in multiple other analyses over the years, though most recently it had disappeared. It could indicate that there are p … | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 1 month ago

Human Evolution Can't Keep Up With Modern Life, Scientists Say

Natural selection allows animals – including humans – to slowly adapt to their environments over tens of thousands of years. Unfortunately for us humans, we’re quickly changing our environments and lifestyles, building sprawling cities and working at desks for 10 hours a day. Acc … | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 1 month ago

Human Evolution Can't Keep Up With Modern Life, Scientists Say

Natural selection allows animals – including humans – to slowly adapt to their environments over tens of thousands of years. Unfortunately for us humans, we’re quickly changing our environments and lifestyles, building sprawling cities and working at desks for 10 hours a day. Acc … | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 1 month ago

The Truth About China’s Green Energy Industry

Over the past few years, China has invested heavily in its renewable energy sector. In 2025, the country built enough energy capacity to power Germany twice over, with the vast majority of that capacity coming from solar and wind power. But while it’s invested in green energy, Be … | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 1 month ago

The Truth About China’s Green Energy Industry

Over the past few years, China has invested heavily in its renewable energy sector. In 2025, the country built enough energy capacity to power Germany twice over, with the vast majority of that capacity coming from solar and wind power. But while it’s invested in green energy, Be … | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 1 month ago

Scientists Prove That Virtual Particles Are Actually Real

Virtual particles, depending on who you ask, are either a yet-unsolved quirk of the mathematics that we use to calculate physics, or a type of real particle that’s constantly popping into existence before quickly disappearing. In a recent paper, physicists claim that they’ve done … | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 1 month ago

Scientists Prove That Virtual Particles Are Actually Real

Virtual particles, depending on who you ask, are either a yet-unsolved quirk of the mathematics that we use to calculate physics, or a type of real particle that’s constantly popping into existence before quickly disappearing. In a recent paper, physicists claim that they’ve done … | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 1 month ago

FBI investigates suspicious disappearances of scientists tied to classified research

I looked at the cases of vanishing scientists in the US and have to admit... it's very odd. Here are my thoughts. | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 1 month ago

FBI investigates suspicious disappearances of scientists tied to classified research

I looked at the cases of vanishing scientists in the US and have to admit... it's very odd. Here are my thoughts. | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 1 month ago

Mathematician Collapses All Functions to One Weird Formula

Mathematical functions are built from operations, which are used to perform the calculations that make science and technology run. But what if we could do away with multiplication, addition, subtraction, and division? That’s what one mathematician has done in a new paper – he cla … | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 1 month ago

Mathematician Collapses All Functions to One Weird Formula

Mathematical functions are built from operations, which are used to perform the calculations that make science and technology run. But what if we could do away with multiplication, addition, subtraction, and division? That’s what one mathematician has done in a new paper – he cla … | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 1 month ago

This Calculation Could Change The Periodic Table

If it’s been a while since you’ve taken a chemistry class, you’re lucky – over time, the periodic table has been expanding as physicists produce brand-new atomic nuclei. But the thing about these nuclei is they’re extremely short-lived, sticking around for less than a nanosecond. … | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 2 months ago

This Calculation Could Change The Periodic Table

If it’s been a while since you’ve taken a chemistry class, you’re lucky – over time, the periodic table has been expanding as physicists produce brand-new atomic nuclei. But the thing about these nuclei is they’re extremely short-lived, sticking around for less than a nanosecond. … | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 2 months ago

This Quantum Tech was likely used to find missing soldier in Iran

According to the New York Post, the U.S. used a “long-range quantum magnetometer” that can “find the electromagnetic fingerprint of a human heartbeat” in its Easter weekend operation to rescue an F-15 weapons systems officer. But does the U.S. actually have the crazy quantum surv … | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 2 months ago

This Quantum Tech was likely used to find missing soldier in Iran

According to the New York Post, the U.S. used a “long-range quantum magnetometer” that can “find the electromagnetic fingerprint of a human heartbeat” in its Easter weekend operation to rescue an F-15 weapons systems officer. But does the U.S. actually have the crazy quantum surv … | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 2 months ago

The Dark Matter Mystery Just Took a Weird Turn

MOND (Modified Newtonian Dynamics) is a theory of gravity that explains the physical phenomena we observe in galaxies with surprising accuracy, but it falls apart when it’s applied to galaxy clusters. The widely accepted dark matter theory, meanwhile, can apply to both. But accor … | Continue reading


@backreaction.blogspot.com | 2 months ago