Nature: Nico Declercq and Cindy Dekeyser of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta believe they have discovered why ancient Greek theaters have such wonderful acoustics: The key is the arrangement of the stepped rows of seats reports Philip Ball.A performer in the ancient Greek theatre of Epidaurus for example, can be heard 60 meters away in the back row. The stepped rows of seats act as a low-frequency filter, suppressing background noise, while passing on the high frequency of the performers voice.
The finding that the Saturnian moon may host layers of icy slush instead of a global ocean could change how planetary scientists think about other icy moons as well.
Modeling the shapes of tree branches, neurons, and blood vessels is a thorny problem, but researchers have just discovered that much of the math has already been done.
January 29, 2026 12:52 PM
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