The First Sightings of Hofstadter’s Butterfly Emerged from a Happy Accident

[ad_1] Almost 50 years ago, computer scientist Douglas Hofstadter predicted that a butterfly would spread its wings in the quantum world. Under the right conditions, tiny electrons in a quantum system could produce an energy spectrum composed of fractals, intricate self-repeating structures that would “form a very striking pattern somewhat resembling a butterfly,” he wrote…

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Camera trap spots endangered elephant mother and calf on the move

[ad_1] African forest elephants Will Burrard-Lucas Night has fallen; an elephant mother and her calf walk through Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park, which covers more than 4000 square kilometres of rainforest in the northern Republic of the Congo. This remarkable photograph above of the critically endangered African forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis) was captured using a camera trap….

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When Was the First Exoplanet Discovered?

[ad_1] For centuries, humans have wondered if planets exist around other stars and dreamed of what these alien worlds might be like. Eventually technology began catching up with our imagination. Despite many false starts and dead ends over all that time, astronomers announced the first discovery of exoplanets in 1992. These planets were not like…

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