Time Has No Meaning at the North Pole

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March 13, 2020

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Here's what's featured in today's roundup:

Several U.N. meetings meant to tackle global warming are being postponed or canceled outright in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

When full-fledged quantum computers arrive, what should we do with them? Physicist Rolando Somma evaluates how far researchers have come and some of the difficult problems quantum computing could solve.

At the North Pole, there are no boundaries, no lands, no people. The sun rises and sets just once per year, so "time of day" is meaningless. It's simultaneously all of Earth's time zones and none of them. Our main story explores the bewildering point where time functions and feels different than anywhere else on the planet.

Sunya Bhutta, Senior Editor, Audience Engagement
@sunyaaa

Climate

Time Has No Meaning at the North Pole

The utter lack of time zones, daylight and people creates a bizarre world

Public Health

Coronavirus Spurs Mass Cancellation of Climate Meetings

The outbreak could also complicate the rollout of an airline emissions trading program

By Nathanial Gronewold,E&E News

Computing

Are We Ready for Quantum Computers?

Hardware hasn't caught up with theory, but we're already lining up many previously intractable problems for when it does

Engineering

Pricey Storm-Surge Barriers May Be Worth It

Failing to protect our coasts from sea-level rise would cost vastly more

By Wade Roush

Climate

February 2020: Earth's 2nd Warmest February and 3rd Warmest Month on Record

Europe and Asia crush their all-time warmest winter records by a huge margin

By Jeff Masters

Behavior & Society

Online Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic

What do we gain and what do we lose when classrooms go virtual?

By Yoshiko Iwai
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FROM THE ARCHIVE

New Party Food: Oxygen Cakes

Originally published in February 1907

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