Cats, Octopuses, and Phase Transitions: May’s Fresh Science Highlights
Ars Technica's May roundup surveys a range of science stories: evidence suggesting prehistoric copper smelting at a Pyrenees site based on malachite-bearing hearths; the description of Microeledone galapagensis, a newly identified tiny blue octopus; comparisons of slapsticks' acoustics; a topological analysis differentiating real abstract art from AI-generated work; and a physics-inspired view of political polarization as a phase transition driven by campaign spending, alongside the finding that cats preferentially respond to silver vine over catnip.
