Science

As a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1999, Elizabeth Kolbert has spent decades informing the reading public about the science of our changing planet, the complicated part humans have played in climate change and the possible solutions for our future. Kolbert has traveled the world in pursuit of these stories, written countless essays and articles, and published several celebrated books, including “The Sixth Extinction,” which won a Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction. The Washington Post named her 2021 book, “Under a White Sky,” one of the 10 best books of the year. Kolbert has also won two National Magazine Awards, one National Academies award and the BBVA Biophilia Award for Environmental Communication. On Monday, February 24 , Kolbert will come to the Columbia Climate Scho...

David Parker/Science Photo Library What is the difference between artificial intelligence and quantum computing? One is a sci-fi-sounding technology that has long promised to revolutionise our world, providing researchers can sort out a few technical wrinkles like the tendency to make errors. Actually, so is the other. And yet, while AI appears to have breathlessly and inescapably taken over, well, everything, the average person has had no experience with quantum computing. Does this matter? Practitioners in both fields are certainly guilty of hyping up their wares, but part of the problem for would-be quantum proponents is that the current generation of quantum computers is essentially useless. As we detail in our special report on the state of the industry (see “Quan...

Part of the KM3NeT neutrino detector on the seafloorKM3NeT A shockingly powerful neutrino that ripped through a new particle detector in the Mediterranean Sea has taken physicists by surprise, and it could be a first tantalising glimpse into some of the universe’s most cataclysmic events, such as the merging of supermassive black holes. Neutrinos, sometimes referred to as “ghost particles”, barely interact with most matter because they are nearly massless and have no electric charge. This means that neutrino detectors typically incorporate vast amounts of dense substance, such as water or ice, in the hopes that a powerful neutrino might knock into an atom and produce a shower of particles that reveal tell-tale signs of its existence. Damien Dornic at the Centre fo...

Ally Peccia, a fourth year Ph.D. candidate at Columbia’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, studies the origins of volcanic gases and the interactions between volcanoes and the climate. Peccia has also worked to integrate her passions for science and art through unique initiatives, including creating a “Field Guide” with scientists at the Metropolitan Museum of Art focused on volcano-related works and helping to organize the “Research as Art” event at Lamont this past fall. In her own ceramics practice, Peccia often incorporates volcanic themes and materials. In the Q&A below, Peccia reflects on her lifelong love of learning, the mentors who inspired her studies and the importance of fixing the “leaky pipeline” to leadership for women scientists. Courtesy of Ally Peccia How di...

The robotic arm at different stages of activationWei et al An origami-inspired robot arm made with material from cotton plants and pigs biodegrades when no longer needed. Such a soft robot could be further developed to carry out medical procedures inside the body and then pass safely through it. Soft robotics is a growing field because there are a number of applications where a hard, rigid device would be unsafe or unwelcome, such as when working in extremely tight spaces in machinery or in close proximity to – or even inside – people. Most experimental soft robots are made with synthetic materials such as silicon rubber. Now, Hanqing Jiang at Westlake University in Zhejiang, China, and his colleagues have created a simple version from cellulose derived from cotto...