Practical Magic

504 papers · Page 4 of 6

Multiple-choice tests are actually making students worse at knowing what they don't know.

Society & Education edarxiv | Mar 26

Cracking down on people skipping transit fares has a massive mental benefit for everyone else that’s worth way more than the money.

Economics ssrn | Mar 26

A simple vaccine for diarrhea is actually one of the best ways to stop kids from suffering from lifelong malnutrition and stunting.

Economics ssrn | Mar 26

Electing a woman instead of a man causes an immediate, measurable drop in local crimes against women.

Economics ssrn | Mar 26

Giving cash to people in drug rehab doesn't actually lead to them spending that money on more drugs.

Economics ssrn | Mar 26

We're failing to stop malaria with free mosquito nets because of a myth that the chemicals in them go bad after a year.

Economics ssrn | Mar 26

Breaking AI safety rules isn't about how long you try—it's about how smart you are. Experts can do it in four turns.

Economics ssrn | Mar 26

Pandemic 'social bubbles' work just as well if you pair up with people who have similar work schedules instead of similar family sizes.

Economics ssrn | Mar 26

Banks that offer 'Islamic banking' options actually end up taking way bigger risks with their loans.

Economics ssrn | Mar 26

Tech giants might be faking their profits by pretending AI chips last ten years when they actually die in two.

Economics ssrn | Mar 26

Companies could get sued for 'waste' if they let good employees quit, just like if they let a multi-million dollar factory rot.

Economics ssrn | Mar 26

Policies meant to boost 'tourism' actually did a better job of cleaning up water pollution than actual environmental laws did.

Economics ssrn | Mar 26

Only about 4% to 7% of those big 'green hydrogen' projects people announce actually ever get finished on time.

Economics ssrn | Mar 26

If we want to fix the massive shortage of care workers, we need to start explicitly recruiting men for those jobs.

Economics ssrn | Mar 26

Democracies should have an 'immune system' that automatically gives citizens extra rights if a leader starts acting like a dictator.

Economics ssrn | Mar 26

Instead of charging money, we could give things out more fairly just by making the 'right' to use them expire really fast.

Economics ssrn | Mar 26

Prison inmates actually managed to hack the Argentine President’s house just by tricking a soldier with a digital scam.

Economics ssrn | Mar 26

In cultures where 'saving face' is a big deal, companies are way more likely to lie about their environmental record while actually doing a terrible job.

Economics ssrn | Mar 26

Scientists are fixing city-wide traffic jams by treating every car like a quantum particle that can take every possible route at the exact same time.

AI & ML arxiv | Mar 27

The same software tricks that let massive video games like World of Warcraft handle thousands of players at once are now being used to design spaceships.

AI & ML arxiv | Mar 27

Engineers built a simple circuit that uses microwaves to solve impossible math problems the second you flip the switch.

Physics arxiv | Mar 27

Scientists just used a bunch of simulated magnets to solve a geometry puzzle that's been stumped people for ages.

Physics arxiv | Mar 27

We finally got high-speed footage of gold atoms literally dancing and changing shape in a liquid. It's like a microscopic rave.

Physics arxiv | Mar 27

We took an insanely precise atomic clock out on a boat and it actually kept perfect time even while being tossed around by the waves.

Physics arxiv | Mar 27

If you freeze liquid in a tiny tube, you can use it to store computer data 100 times better than the tech we have now.

Physics arxiv | Mar 27

We figured out how to make electricity flow perfectly through materials that are normally terrible at it. It shouldn't work, but it does.

Physics arxiv | Mar 27

We built a gadget that takes the heat from your laptop and uses it to power a cooling pump. It’s a pump that runs on its own waste.

Physics arxiv | Mar 27

Stores actually make more money when they let you see their lower online prices while you're shopping in person—even if you haggle for the discount.

Economics ssrn | Mar 27

Those 'Opportunity Zone' tax breaks actually worked. They didn't just move projects around; they got 400,000 new homes built from scratch.

Economics ssrn | Mar 27

If you ignore your 'assigned' commute time and just drive whenever, you might actually be helping the whole city get to work faster.

Economics ssrn | Mar 27

Online-only banks are making the whole economy way more twitchy when interest rates change. It's like we're all driving on a much bumpier road.

Economics ssrn | Mar 27

Want to make more money in the stock market? Invest in companies where employees aren't afraid to speak their minds. It pays out big.

Economics ssrn | Mar 27

If an underwater internet cable snaps, it doesn't just kill the Wi-Fi—it can actually tank a country's entire economy by 7%.

Economics ssrn | Mar 27

Publishers have a new trick: they can hide invisible 'traps' in their work that make it legally impossible for AI to learn from them.

Economics ssrn | Mar 27

The government wants AI companies to prove their tech is 100% safe before they release it, but it’s actually mathematically impossible to do that.

Economics ssrn | Mar 27

When it gets record-breakingly hot, mental health hotlines get slammed. High heat is a literal trigger for a psychological crisis.

Economics ssrn | Mar 27

Once a corner of the internet gets filled with more than 60% AI junk, the platforms start hiding almost everything in that niche.

Economics ssrn | Mar 27

The government has a literal 'secret menu' they use to mess with legal businesses they just don't happen to like.

Economics ssrn | Mar 27

Instead of testing a whole city's sewage, you can find new drugs 300 times faster just by checking the pipes at one homeless shelter.

Economics ssrn | Mar 27

Turning your house into a 'smart home' to save energy might be great for the planet, but it probably won't save you a single dime.

Economics ssrn | Mar 27

The law is weird: if you're in a wheelchair in a crosswalk, you're protected. If you're pushing a stroller? Not so much.

Economics ssrn | Mar 27

We finally figured out how to switch off brain seizures by treating the brain like a glitchy electrical circuit.

Physics arxiv | Mar 30

This new math trick just crushed a massive logistics nightmare that used to take two weeks; now it’s done in 19 minutes.

AI & ML arxiv | Mar 30

AI agents are finding multi-million dollar holes in bank code that even the best human experts completely walked past.

AI & ML arxiv | Mar 30

We might have been missing the very first stars in the universe just because we didn't think to tilt our antennas the right way.

Space & Astronomy arxiv | Mar 30

You can now charge your phone anywhere in a room without a single cable or one of those ugly charging stands.

Physics arxiv | Mar 30

Your future phone might have 'liquid' antennas that physically move around inside to hunt down the best signal.

Physics arxiv | Mar 30

There’s now a way to map exactly how much sky you can actually see from any street corner in a city full of skyscrapers.

Physics arxiv | Mar 30

Mathematicians just dropped the ultimate cheat code for sports betting, showing exactly how to win big on parlays.

Physics arxiv | Mar 30

There’s a new 'quantum band-aid' that can fix computer errors perfectly, no matter how much digital noise is in the way.

Physics arxiv | Mar 30

Scientists made a paper-thin plastic crystal that turns light into power just as well as expensive, high-tech sensors.

Physics arxiv | Mar 30

We just made a material so slippery it makes graphene look like sandpaper.

Physics arxiv | Mar 30

The same tech we use to hunt for dark matter is now being used to make medical scanners four times sharper.

Physics arxiv | Mar 30

Scientists stuffed a single molecule inside a carbon shell and made it do complex math.

Physics arxiv | Mar 30

Freezing lab-grown immune cells doesn't kill them with ice; it basically causes them to have a metabolic 'overdose' from the cold.

Life Science biorxiv | Mar 30

The way you type and the music you listen to on your phone can predict your politics better than your age or your paycheck.

Psychology psyarxiv | Mar 30

Government grants meant to help poor states actually just give the smartest young scientists a plane ticket out of there.

Economics ssrn | Mar 30

We can make driving way safer for seniors in busy cities just by planting more trees on the sidewalk.

Economics ssrn | Mar 30

Researchers have built computer chips that can run 'backward' to solve math problems that are normally impossible for modern hardware.

AI & ML arxiv | Mar 31

Researchers can now predict the exact moment an AI agent will go 'rogue' and leak data before it actually happens.

AI & ML arxiv | Mar 31

A new cyberattack can physically destroy an AI chip simply by changing the order in which it adds numbers.

AI & ML arxiv | Mar 31

Sanctioned crypto users are evading asset freezes by 'bribing' the computers that process blockchain transactions.

AI & ML arxiv | Mar 31

A new computer chip uses the quantum flipping of individual electron spins to solve physics problems that are too 'random' for standard processors.

AI & ML arxiv | Mar 31

A new 'smart skin' for rooms can bend radar waves to see heartbeats and movements hidden in shadows or around corners.

Physics arxiv | Mar 31

Scientists have developed a way to control swarms of microscopic nanorobots inside the body without needing to talk to them individually.

AI & ML arxiv | Mar 31

A massive study of AI-generated code reveals that 15% of all AI suggestions contain bugs or security flaws that developers simply leave in the software.

AI & ML arxiv | Mar 31

Researchers have developed a way to turn an entire room into a wireless charger that powers tiny, battery-free gadgets anywhere in the space.

Physics arxiv | Mar 31

Scientists have trained an AI 'agent' to take control of individual atoms, teaching them to sense magnetic fields with a precision that humans can't design.

Physics arxiv | Mar 31

AI has 'learned' the fundamental rules of how plasma particles collide, discovering patterns that have eluded human physicists for nearly a century.

Physics arxiv | Mar 31

Scientists have successfully built a computer circuit that processes data using high-speed sound waves instead of electricity.

Physics arxiv | Mar 31

A new mathematical tool can predict when a complex system is about to fail by looking only at the 'shape' of its data.

Physics arxiv | Mar 31

Fundamental material properties like density and stiffness can be created 'out of thin air' just by vibrating the boundaries between layers of matter.

Physics arxiv | Mar 31

A legendary unsolved math problem from the famous Paul Erdős has been solved using a workflow where ChatGPT proposed the strategy and a computer-logic assistant verified the final proof.

Physics arxiv | Mar 31

Spacecraft traveling to other stars can be kept on course using nothing but the pressure of the laser beam pushing them.

Physics arxiv | Mar 31

Scientists can now 3D print flat objects that automatically crawl, fold, or expand into new shapes without any motors or electronics.

Physics arxiv | Mar 31

A flat sheet of paper with simple cuts can generate flight-like lift even when held perpendicular to the wind.

Physics arxiv | Mar 31

Scientists can now make perfect prescription glasses with zero waste by letting liquid plastic shape itself using surface tension.

Physics arxiv | Mar 31

Researchers are creating vivid, permanent colors by carving nanoscopic 'voids' into silicon instead of using pigments or ink.

Physics arxiv | Mar 31

Scientists have designed a 'graviton transducer' that could turn invisible gravity waves into detectable flashes of light.

Physics arxiv | Mar 31

A high-energy particle beam can be made to focus itself simply by 'bouncing' its own magnetic field off a stack of metal foils.

Physics arxiv | Mar 31

Adding randomly selected 'independent' citizens to a government can make it more efficient than one run entirely by political parties.

Physics arxiv | Mar 31

Engineers are silencing high-pressure hydrogen engines using 'acoustic black holes' that trap and swallow sound waves.

Physics arxiv | Mar 31

Cracking modern internet encryption may require 100 times fewer quantum qubits than previously thought.

Physics arxiv | Mar 31

Common laboratory freezing techniques selectively 'erase' specific types of genetic information, potentially biasing years of biological research.

Life Science biorxiv | Mar 31

Scientists have developed a way to grow entire sheets of replacement skin using only a few hairs from a patient's head.

Health & Medicine medrxiv | Mar 31

Growing a natural beard makes you just as difficult for others to recognize as wearing a surgical mask.

Psychology psyarxiv | Mar 31

When people lose access to specialized mental health AI, they are twice as likely to use a generic chatbot like ChatGPT than to seek help from a human professional.

Psychology psyarxiv | Mar 31

Dropping out of an apprenticeship only hurts your career if you are from a poor family.

Society & Education socarxiv | Mar 31

Refugees find jobs faster when living in private homes than in government housing.

Society & Education socarxiv | Mar 31

To stop a whole class from cheating with AI, a teacher only needs to randomly audit 2 to 4 students.

Economics ssrn | Mar 31

Standard HIV antibody tests for toddlers have a 3.3% misdiagnosis rate because maternal antibodies persist six months longer than medical guidelines assume.

Economics ssrn | Mar 31

AI tools designed to help nature enthusiasts identify birds and plants are accidentally flooding scientific databases with 'fake' rare species sightings.

Economics ssrn | Mar 31

The long-term, rigid contracts used to fund green energy projects have become the primary obstacle to actually sharing and using that clean electricity.

Economics ssrn | Mar 31

Giving ride-hailing platforms better algorithms to predict driver availability actually makes the service less reliable for passengers.

Economics ssrn | Mar 31

Complex mathematical models used by professional option traders are consistently outperformed by a simple average of the last 21 days' prices.

Economics ssrn | Mar 31

Private colleges in California spent over 20 years using a state agency to seize citizens' tax refunds to pay off small-dollar school debts without any legal authorization.

Economics ssrn | Mar 31

Ethical certifications like 'Fair Trade' or 'Organic' act as a hidden trap that can prevent startups from growing or innovating.

Economics ssrn | Mar 31

Stock market trading costs for regular people significantly decrease when professional financial analysts go on summer vacation.

Economics ssrn | Mar 31

Bosses who deliberately choose to ignore their employees' misconduct end up with more cooperative and successful teams than those who monitor closely.

Economics ssrn | Mar 31

A specialized class of 'stealth' law firms helps corporations hide mergers from antitrust regulators by gaming reporting thresholds.

Economics ssrn | Mar 31