The Problem with Flying Cars

For years, startups have been developing eVTOL (electric vertical take-off & landing) aircraft. The idea is that these vehicles could one day act as electric-powered flying cars or aerial taxis, helping people take short-haul flights without the need for fossil fuels. But despite roughly 15 years of development and billions of dollars of investment, there are no flying vehicles buzzing overhead in cities anywhere. Let’s take a look at why.

Scientists Discover a Law of Natural Laws

People often talk about mathematics as a sort of language. Languages are known to have near-universal regularities, which brings up the question of whether the mathematics that we use in physics has similar features. According to a new study which just appeared, this is indeed the case: The maths of natural laws has a hidden law itself — but it’s not the same law that governs other languages. What might this mean? Let’s take a look.

The crisis in physics is real: Science is failing

In which I apologize that my videos sometimes lack nuance and explain why I think we are witnessing the failure of science.

Did the Black Hole Information Paradox just Disappear?

Do black holes destroy information? Physicists have been trying to answer that question for decades, because the idea that black holes could irreversibly destroy information is incompatible with the principles of quantum physics. Now, researchers claim that some information actually can escape black holes, so there was never a problem to begin with. Let’s take a look.

Democracy is having a hard time

Since the Jan 6 attack on the US Capitol in 2021, some Americans have increasingly insisted that their country is not a democracy, but a republic. What’s the difference? Why is democracy having such a hard time at the moment and would randomly picking members of parliament help?



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The Amplituhedron: Why Space-Time Is Not Doomed

Scientific magazines and websites have been raising quite the hubbub about the Amplituhedron, a geometric structure that can be used to simplify calculations in particle physics. They claim that its existence means “space-time is doomed,” or some other nonsense along those lines. Today I will (try to) explain what all this is about.

Small Nuclear Reactors Have A Big Problem

Small modular nuclear reactors are supposed to fix the problem of conventional nuclear reactors being too expensive and time-consuming to build. But we’ve been hearing about how promising they are for 15 years now. So where are they? A report that just appeared sheds light on what happened.

This new “AI Scientist” can “fully automate discovery”, researchers claim

AI has already replaced writers, software developers, customer service agents, and more. Now it’s coming for science. In two new papers, researchers present AI agents that can do the entire job of a scientist – from hypothesis formulation, to literature research, data collection and analysis, all the way to writing a paper.

A New Pattern in Nature

Mathematicians are obsessed with patterns. They've been obsessed for so long you'd think they've got it figured all out. But just recently they discovered a new type of pattern that is everywhere in nature. Once you have seen it, you can't help but notice that it's really everywhere.

“Neutral Science is Undesirable” Climate Scientists Argue

Climate scientists on social media are constantly pushing the idea that their research demands action. On one hand, climate change is a very real and pressing issue. But should climate scientists be mixing their research with activism?

This Theory of Everything Could Actually Work: Wolfram’s Hypergraphs

Mathematician and Computer Scientist Stephen Wolfram wants to do no less than revolutionising physics. He wants to do it with computer code that gives rise to all the fundamental laws of nature that we know and like -- and maybe more. Unfortunately, Einstein’s theories of general relativity inherently clash with how computers work. And yet, he and his team might have found a clever way around this problem.

AI Can’t Reason. Should It Drive Cars?

If you’ve paid any attention to current AI models like ChatGPT, you know that they... have problems. But they have already acquired emergent abilities, and some researchers think that the current AIs will also learn to use logic and reasoning. In a new paper now, researchers say that this is unlikely. Let’s take a look.

Tiny Black Holes Might Have Left Holes in… Everything

That dark matter is made of black holes is an old idea that never worked well and yet never went entirely away. In a new paper, physicists have now proposed that microscopic black holes, even if not enough to make up dark matter, could leave holds in everything, including us. Let’s take a look.



This video comes with a quiz which you can take here:

New Alien Signal Rumour -- What's Behind It?

In the past week, we have seen several headlines claiming that an announcement is coming up that the SETI institute has found signs of intelligent extraterrestrial life. I've had a look at what we know about the rumours.

Most Age Records are Pension Fraud, Scientist Says

According to a new (not yet peer reviewed) study, there’s a strangely strong correlation between longevity and living in areas with low income levels and high crime rates. Are people who claim they’re over 110 years old really that old? Let’s take a look.

The Quantum Computing Collapse Has Begun

A year ago, I predicted that quantum computing would not have a good 2024. The year is almost over, so let’s take a look at developments in the world of quantum computing, which has been a wild mix of good and bad news, including IBM’s revised quantum roadmap, Google’s error correction progress, and the fate of other quantum computing firms.

New Theory: Is the Universe a Bubble? I had a look

I recently saw a new paper that claims our observations could be better explained if the universe was surrounded by a shell. According to the author, that could do away with dark energy and alleviate the Hubble tension. I had a look at the paper.

Scam or Breakthrough? Energy Saving with Electron Spins

Holcomb Energy Systems says they’re working on a new invention that’s “The Future of Energy on Planet Earth.” The invention supposedly saves massive amounts of energy by harnessing the power of electron spins in electrical steel. Too good to be true? Probably. Let’s take a look.

A Watched Quantum State Doesn’t Change. Really?

The quantum Zeno effect is that, if you observe a quantum state it won’t change. Is this a real effect? What does it mean and when does it apply? I have answers.

Surprise Comeback: Dark Energy Could Be Holographic After All

Dark energy is (probably) real, but physicists still don’t know what it’s made of or how to interact with it. One idea that solves this problem is that dark matter isn’t made of anything, but is a consequence of the universe being holographic. While that idea has been floating around since the ‘90s, it's had a few problems. Now a pair of physicists claim to have solved that problem.

This video comes with a quiz which you can take here: