This week, researchers reported an effective way to protect working dogs from heat stress: training them to dunk their heads in cool water. A new computational technique provided a breakthrough in understanding the so-called "pseudogap" in quantum physics, a development that could lead to room-temperature superconductivity. And a bunch of scientists agree: Evidence now supports global action to combat microplastics. And a few other things happened, too. Among them:

Physics guys were arguing the same point, actually

Niels Bohr, the father of electron energy levels, and John von Neumann, the father of the quantum mathematical framework, independently developed concepts about measuring quantum systems: Bohr wanted, nay, demanded, a distinction between the quantum systems being analyzed and the classical measurement system used to measure them. von Neumann argued that quantum physics should apply universally to everything, including classical measurement apparatuses.

Physicists have historically regarded this as the physics world's version of two CG football helmets clashing together in an exciting broadcast NFL segment. But a new paper argues that maybe those two football helmets were actually rubbing affectionately against each other like happy kittens. Specifically, the author, Federico Laudisa of the University of Trento, suggests that a close analysis of von Neuman's conceptual approach was actually in alignment with Bohr's views.

The CMB/distance ladder rivalry

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