Opportunity cost refers to the gains one forfeits by choosing one option over another one. John A. List illustrates opportunity cost through the story of his failed golf career. After realising he would never be a pro golfer, he decided to shift gears and take up economics; it was a field he was skilled in and enjoyed. If he had chosen to be a golfer, he would have missed out on his teaching and consulting careers and a lot of publications, which are more important than being a lousy golfer. 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