Atlases (collections of maps), especially those made centuries ago, were not always accurate; it was not just due to a lack of proper technology, but also because of fabrications. Some cartographers would fill in empty areas with fantastical elements like sea monsters or fake islands conjured from their imaginations. An example of such a feature was “Painter’s Wife’s Island” in the Strait of Gibraltar, which was painted in by a cartographer after his wife asked him to so that she could pretend that she had an island of her own. Read full article here
Science
‘Ghostly’ neutrinos provide new path to study protons
In groundbreaking research, an international collaboration of scientists from the University of Rochester have used a beam of neutrinos to measure the size and shape of the protons that make up the nuclei of atoms. This feat, once thought impossible, provides scientists with a new way of looking at the small components of an atom’s nucleus and opens up a wealth of new information about the structure of an atom’s nucleus and the dynamics of the forces that affect neutrino interactions. The researchers solved the challenge of harnessing neutrinos in large numbers by using a neutrino detector containing a target of both hydrogen and carbon atoms, and over nine years of data collection at Fermilab’s accelerator. Read full article here
Merv
March 25, 2023
