Duality principle is “safe and sound”: Researchers clear up apparent violation of quantum mechanics’ wave-particle duality
When scientists in Germany announced in 2012 an apparent violation of a fundamental law of quantum mechanics, The results were both “strange” and “incredible.” It took Robert Boyd and his colleagues nearly a year and a half to figure out what was going on.
Alternate mechanism of species formation picks up support, thanks to a South American ant
A newly-discovered species of ant supports a controversial theory of species formation. “Most new species come about in geographic isolation,” said Christian Rabeling, assistant professor of biology at the University of Rochester. “We now have evidence that speciation can take place within a single colony.”
Mapping the optimal route between two quantum states
As a quantum state collapses, it will follow a path known as a quantum trajectory. In a new paper featured this week on the cover of Nature, scientists have shown that it is possible to track these quantum trajectories and compare them to a theory, recently developed by University of Rochester physicists, for predicting the most likely path a system will take.
First-of-its-kind study connects music, Saint Anne
You will find no references to St. Anne in the New Testament. And yet, from the early 15th to early 16th centuries, the apocryphal mother of the Virgin Mary was a subject of great veneration by women of all social ranks, especially among royalty. In his new book, Michael Alan Anderson, associate professor of musicology at the Eastman School, examines how this devotion was expressed in the music of this time period.
Lake sturgeon making a comeback in the Genesee
Blood-sampling studies led by comparative medicine professor and chair Jeff Wyatt are showing promising signs for the fish, for the once-troubled embayment of the lower Genesee — and, potentially, for the local economy.
Women feel threatened by ‘the lady in red’
In a new study, psychology graduate student Adam Pazda found that women believe that other women who wear red are more sexually promiscuous and were less likely to introduce their husband or boyfriend to a woman wearing red.
“Compressive sensing” provides new approach to measuring a quantum system
Physicists have shown that a technique called compressive sensing offers a way to measure both variables at the same time, without violating the Uncertainty Principle.
Monkeys also believe in winning streaks, study shows
Humans have a well-documented tendency to see winning and losing streaks in situations that, in fact, are random. Now in the first study in non-human primates of this systematic error in decision making, researchers find that monkeys also share our unfounded belief in lucky streaks.
When it comes to learning numbers, culture counts
The findings of a new study suggest that number learning is a fundamental process that follows a universal pathway. However, the timing of the process depends on a child’s environment.
‘Vital signs’ of teaching captured by quick, reliable in-class evaluation
A 20-minute classroom assessment that is less subjective than traditional in-class evaluations by principals can reliably measure classroom instruction and predict student standardized test scores.