Denisovan fossils in China reveal ancient ‘hunting paradise’

This post was originally published on here Denisovan remains discovered in southwestern China reveal that Yunnan province’s warm, biodiverse plateau was a “hunting paradise” for the hominins during a global glacial period, according to new research published in the journal Nature. Within the region’s coniferous forests and forest-steppe environments, this archaic human group established a…

Physicists discover a hidden “curveball” in quantum light

Researchers have experimentally demonstrated the optical Magnus effect for the first time, revealing that a tightly focused laser interacts most strongly with an atom slightly away from the beam’s center. The unexpected shift is similar to the physics that makes a spinning table tennis ball curve through the air. Because lasers are used to control qubits, the effect could create errors in quantum computers, but it might also provide a new way to couple qubits together.