2020-08-14

封面图上展示的是在伊拉克北部城市埃尔比勒外Khazir难民营的一场足球比赛。一项随机研究将一些流离失所的基督徒与一些无家可归的穆斯林组成一支足球队，或是分配到一支全是基督徒的球队中。在一个混合的团队中，基督徒会对穆斯林同伴的行为有所改善，但对其他穆斯林的行为却没有什么改善。这一研究结果突出了战后群体间接触的潜力和局限性。

A soccer game at Khazir refugee camp outside Erbil, northern Iraq. A randomized study assigned displaced Christians to a soccer team with displaced Muslims or to an all-Christian team. Playing on a mixed team improved Christians' behaviors toward Muslim peers, but not toward Muslims more broadly. The results highlight the potential and limitations of intergroup contact after war.

2020-08-21

封面图展示的是冰岛泥泞的Markarfljót河将大量的沉积物带入大海。在世界范围内，泥——这种细颗粒沉积物与水的混合物——是最常见的、也是非常重要的物质之一。无论好坏与否，现如今人类都在严重影响着泥浆的形成方式与堆积地点。

The muddy Markarfljót River in Iceland carries a heavy load of sediment to the sea. Throughout the world, mud—a mix of fine sediment and water—is one of the most common and consequential substances. For better and worse, humans are now heavily influencing how mud forms and where it piles up.

2020-08-28

Sycamore是谷歌量子处理器的名称，它是由一组新型超导电荷量子位组成的，可以模拟二氮烯分子在不同构象下的能量。通过结合误差抑制与改进的量子位校准技术，这种模拟准确地仿制了异构化的路径，该路径使氢原子（图中白色部分）围绕氮原子之间的中心键（蓝色）重新定向。

The Sycamore quantum processor, composed of an array of superconducting transmon qubits, simulates the energy of the diazene molecule in various conformations. By combining error mitigation and improved qubit calibration techniques, the simulation accurately models the isomerization pathway that reorients the hydrogen atoms (white) about the central bonds between nitrogen atoms (blue).

2020-09-04

封面插图描绘的是民主这一全球现象，而可能使它失去平衡的无数挑战也是屡见不鲜。暴力和镇压、两极分化，以及虚假信息、多样性与不平等，所有这些都需要社会和行为科学家的特别关注与思考，当我们面对这些障碍的时候，民主应该如何适应，甚至如何繁荣地发展下去。

Democracy is a global phenomenon, but so are the myriad challenges that threaten to throw it off balance. Violence and repression, polarization and disinformation, diversity and inequality—all highlight the need for social and behavioral scientists to understand how democracy might adapt and even thrive in the face of such obstacles.