Although scientists work diligently to conduct research that accurately reflects natural phenomena, society is becoming increasingly aware of certain biases that can exert an influence on individuals and even social institutions. Consequently, attention is turning to ways in which the worlds of academic research and academic publishing may not be living up to the ideal of equality.
The successful observation of a time crystal using Google’s quantum computing hardware has recently been reported. Time crystals, first proposed in 2012, are delicate quantum systems that have structures whose lowest-energy states are periodic in both time and space. The name comes from the analogy to a physical crystal, such as a diamond, which has atoms that are arranged periodically in space.
Disruptions in regular work are one of the challenges faced by society due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In academic publishing, however, there has been an increase in productivity. The jump in the number of manuscript submissions compared to previous years was most noticeable in the field of medicine and life sciences, which are most closely tied to the topic of COVID-19 itself, but a general rise was also seen across all scientific disciplines, indicating a clear trend towards increased work output.
Although evolution is generally considered to be a process that can only be observed over extremely long time scales, it is sometimes possible to catch a glimpse of evolution at work today. Famously, naturalists in the United Kingdom were able to observe the evolution of darker coloration in the peppered moth during the Industrial Revolution. The burning of massive quantities of coal released ash and soot, which remained in the atmosphere and settled onto surfaces like trees. Consequently, darker-colored moths became less conspicuous to predators and had better success passing their genes onto later generations.
