Does time come from the entire universe running computations? | New Scientist
What if the universe is just one big computer? NASA/ESA/J. Lee and pro500/Shutterstock
The following is an extract from our Lost in Space-Time newsletter. Each month, we dive into fascinating ideas from around the universe. You can sign up for Lost in Space-Time here.
Medieval text family trees suggest 60% of works vanished over centuries
For every King Arthur or Roland, whose adventures readers can still enjoy today, another hero of ancient literature may have been lost forever. Before the printing press, texts were copied manually. This process introduced errors and innovations. Like mutations in the replication of DNA, these manuscript changes can be used to create evolutionary trees that philologists call stemmata. Since these trees are based on the extant copies, they do not reflect the full evolutionary history of texts and cannot account for those that are completely lost.
Rare color shifting discovered in iconic Australian frog
University of Newcastle researchers have documented one of the clearest examples of iridescence ever recorded in an amphibian, revealing that the endangered green and golden bell frog (Ranoidea aurea) possesses intricate color-shifting skin previously unseen in the species.