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Linguistics

Talk Is Cheap

Iris Berent

Speech and language are so tightly linked that they are often considered inseparable. But what of sign language? Iris Berent sheds some light on this oft-neglected branch of linguistics.

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Zoology

The Social Cetaceans

Kieran Fox

Though separated from humans by tens of millions of years of independent evolution, whales and dolphins are recognizably like us, if only in ways that we can sense but cannot quite measure.

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Physics

Reflections on Project Orion

Jeremy Bernstein

How might nuclear bombs propel a spaceship? Very carefully. Jeremy Bernstein recalls studying this problem with Freeman Dyson. Dyson’s previously unpublished remarks on the project are included.

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Physics

Apollo 11 and Fundamental Science

Álvaro De Rújula

Over the years, some commentators have unkindly suggested that the only interesting spin-off from the entire Apollo enterprise was the development of Moon Boots. This is simply not the case.

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Geology

Reading Seawater

Marcia Bjornerud

Parsing the composition of seawater has been an age-old effort. Marcia Bjornerud reviews seawater’s history and its effects on the earth’s health, from ancient beliefs to modern research.

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Archaeology

+ French version

Central Saharan Rock Art

Jean-Loïc Le Quellec

On the sunburnt rocks of the central Sahara, ancient peoples inscribed testimony of their way of life. Jean-Loïc Le Quellec reviews the field of research into ancient central Saharan rupestrian art.

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Mathematics

Trading Volatility

Emanuel Derman

The Black–Scholes equation takes the idea of Brownian motion from physics and uses it to explain volatility in stock options markets. Emanuel Derman reviews its impact on options traders.

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Physics

Einstein’s Entanglements

Jeremy Bernstein

In three short pieces, Jeremy Bernstein explores Einstein’s views on quantum theory, Einstein and Oppenheimer’s contrasting views on black holes, and Einstein’s long friendship with Michele Besso.

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Economics

+ French version

A Lingering Crisis

Henri Lepage

Global economic recovery since the 2008 financial crisis has been weak. Henri Lepage reviews the work of economists at the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, who think they know why.