Phenomenon

If you were online, and specifically on Tumblr, over the weekend of November 18-20, you’ve definitely heard of Goncharov (1973). Widely considered one of Martin Scorsese’s lost masterpieces of Mafia cinema, it was released in 1973 but suppressed in the states for various reasons. Alternatively, it was never released. Or, in another timeline, Goncharov won several awards and is already in the Criterion Collection. Everyone agrees that all this is true.With complete sincerity, Goncharov (1973) is (if you hadn’t guessed…

Ice isn't always ice all the way through. Even at temperatures well below freezing, its surface can be coated in a film of quasi-liquid atoms, with its thickness usually only a few nanometers.The process of its formation is known as premelting (or 'surface melting'), and it's why your ice cubes can stick together even in the freezer.In addition to ice, we've observed a premelted surface layer in a wide range of materials with crystalline structures, those where the atoms inside are arranged in a neatly ordered lattice,…

European moles shrink their brains by 11% before the winter and grow them again by 4% by the summer.Researchers find another brain-shrinking mammal.European moles face an existential crisis in the depths of winter. Their high-limit mammal metabolisms need more food than is available during the coldest months. Instead of migrating or hibernating to deal with the seasonal challenge, moles have devised an unexpected energy-saving strategy: shrinking their brains.In a recent study, a group from the Max Planck Institute of…

On an April afternoon in 1978, Haruki Murakami was sitting in the stands of Jingu Stadium in Tokyo watching a baseball game when he underwent a life-changing epiphany. It happened just as a player for his local team struck a ball into left field, to the delight of the home crowd. “In that instant,” he writes, “and based on no grounds whatsoever, it suddenly struck me: I think I can write a novel.”Within six months, Murakami had written his first book, a short novel called Hear the Wind Sing. He sent the only manuscript…

An artist’s impression of two colliding black holes. Researchers have identified a peculiar twisting motion in the orbits of two colliding black holes, an exotic phenomenon predicted by Einstein’s theory of gravity.Gravitational waves identify what could be a rare one-in-1000 event.Astronomers at Cardiff University have identified a strange twisting motion in the orbits of two colliding black holes. This exotic phenomenon is predicted by Einstein’s theory of gravity.Their study reports that this is the first time this…

Have you ever had that weird feeling that you've experienced the same exact situation before, even though that's impossible?Sometimes it can even seem like you're reliving something that already happened. This phenomenon, known as déjà vu, has puzzled philosophers, neurologists, and writers for a very long time.Starting in the late 1800s, many theories began to emerge regarding what might cause déjà vu, which means "already seen" in French.People thought maybe it stemmed from mental dysfunction or perhaps a type of brain…

The Fruit of the Loom logo has never had a cornucopia. Credit: Wikimedia Commons Imagine the Monopoly Man. Is he wearing a monocle or not? If you pictured the character from the…

Calling a band “an institution” can feel like putting them out to pasture, critically. It would be more accurate to peg Hot Chip, now on their eighth album, as a perpetual motion machine, rarely faltering – a particularly fine example of British engineering. It’s a surprise, then, when this theoretically urbane electronic outfit come to an abrupt halt because their beast of a drummer has burst the skin on his kick drum. And yet here is Hot Chip percussionist Leo Taylor, greeting the news that he’s been playing too hard by…

The discovery is a step towards much more accessible superconductivity.It may be possible to develop superconductors that operate at room temperature with further knowledge of the relationship between spin liquids and superconductivity, which would transform our daily lives.Superconductors offer enormous technical and economic promise for applications such as high-speed hovertrains, MRI machines, efficient power lines, <span class="glossaryLink" aria-describedby="tt" data-cmtooltip="<div…

Image via Warner Bros. From sustained discussions for a revival to fan-made recasts for an updated reboot, fans of animation have long been obsessed with Scooby Doo and the flamboyant gang from Mystery Inc. And, while Scoob has been depicted in various forms of media since the late-60s, movie-lovers are most fascinated by the pop-culture phenomenon surrounding 2002’s live-action Scooby Doo. Directed by Raja Gosnell with a screenplay from Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn, the ever-popular film follows…