Explainer: the evidence for the Tasmanian genocide
At a public meeting in Hobart in the late 1830s, Solicitor-General Alfred Stephen, later Chief Justice of New South Wales, shared with the assembled crowd his solution for dealing with "the Aboriginal problem". If the colony could not protect its convict servants from Aboriginal attack "without extermination", said Stephen, "then I say boldly and broadly exterminate!"
Source: https://phys.org/news/2018-01-evidence-tasmanian-genocide.html
Physicists find clues to the origins of high-temperature superconductivity
Ever since cuprate (copper-containing) superconductors were first discovered in 1986, they have greatly puzzled researchers. Cuprate superconductors have critical superconducting temperatures—the point at which their electrical resistance drops to zero—of up to 138 K at ambient pressure, which far exceeds the critical temperatures of other superconductors and is even higher than what is thought possible based on theory.
Source: https://phys.org/news/2018-01-physicists-clues-high-temperature-superconductivity.html
What science tells us about the pros and cons of grunting in tennis
One of tennis' perennial debates has ignited early at this year's Australian Open, after Belarusian player Aryna Sabalenka was accused of grunting too loudly during her first-round loss to Australian Ash Barty.
Source: https://phys.org/news/2018-01-science-pros-cons-grunting-tennis.html
Glacial moulin formation triggered by rapid lake drainage
Scientists are uncovering the mystery of how, where and when important glacial features called moulins form on the Greenland Ice Sheet. Moulins, vertical conduits that penetrate through the half-mile-deep ice, efficiently funnel the majority of summer meltwater from the ice surface to the base of the ice sheet. The lubricating effects of the draining water can lead to faster sliding of the ice sheet. A new study published in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union, finds meltwater lakes that form on the ice surface can drain through moulins in a matter of hours.
Source: https://phys.org/news/2018-01-glacial-moulin-formation-triggered-rapid.html
Australia's 'deadliest natural hazard'—what's your heatwave plan?
Heatwaves are Australia's deadliest natural hazard, but a recent survey has found that many vulnerable people do not have plans to cope with extreme heat.
Source: https://phys.org/news/2018-01-australia-deadliest-natural-hazardwhat-heatwave.html
Crowds within crowd found to outperform 'wisdom of the crowd'
A team of researchers affiliated with institutions in Argentina, the U.S. and Germany has found that there is a way to improve on the "wisdom of the crowd"—separate the people in a given crowd into smaller groups and let them talk about an issue at hand before an answer is given. In their paper published in the journal Nature Human Behavior, the group describes an experiment they carried out with a large crowd of volunteers, and what they learned from it.
Source: https://phys.org/news/2018-01-crowds-crowd-outperform-wisdom.html
Source: https://phys.org/
