Back in 1961, physicist Eugene Wigner proposed a thought experiment in which measuring the polarization of a single photon can result in incompatible realities. The first observer, known as “Wigner’s friend,” would measure the polarization of the photon, discovering if it is horizontal or vertical. Wigner however, outside his friend’s laboratory, would have no way…

It’s no secret that in the last five or six decades, pop music has gotten…less complicated (I originally typed “crappier” but journalistic integrity prevailed). Gone are the intricacies of Swing, Jazz, and the Big Bands, replaced by thumping beats and simplified melodic hooks. And before you dismiss these observations as the rantings of old guys…

Nikolai Semenovich Kardashev is not exactly a household name, unless you live in a house full of astrophysicists and other space watchers. Although he had an august career in science, culminating with a stint as chairman of the Russian Academy of Sciences Council on Astronomy, he is best known in the West as the creator…