Across
- 1. The philosophical challenge of justifying predictions about unobserved events based on past observations.
- 6. The first human in space, an icon of exploration.
- 7. Heat bouncing off greenhouse gases, keeping Earth warmer.
- 11. Ultra-cooperative communities, epitomized by bees and ants.
- 12. A cosmological model proposing that the universe alternates between expansion and contraction cycles.
- 15. Nature’s endless loop of carbon through air, water, and earth.
- 17. When greenhouse gases can’t absorb more heat.
- 22. Venusian volcanic formations, flat and circular.
- 23. A fundamental rule or equation dictating how systems transform across time.
- 24. The philosophy prioritizing individual freedom, often clashing with determinism.
- 27. The spacecraft that carried Yuri Gagarin into orbit.
- 28. Surreal, oppressive, and illogical situations that defy understanding.
- 30. A model of spacetime where past, present, and future coexist equally as a “frozen” whole.
- 31. Saturn’s moon with methane lakes and a dense atmosphere.
- 33. The process where quantum spacetime transitions into the classical geometry we observe today.
- 35. Protective behaviors to fend off rivals and ensure reproductive exclusivity.
- 42. The evolutionary principle stating males gain more from multiple mates than females.
- 44. A thought experiment featuring a being capable of perfect prediction if it knew the precise location and momentum of every particle.
- 45. Substellar objects too small to ignite nuclear fusion.
- 46. How trapped gases heat a planet’s atmosphere.
- 49. A realm of icy objects and dwarf planets beyond Neptune.
- 50. The rapid rotation of Venus’s atmosphere, far exceeding its surface rotation.
- 51. The delusion of being better, smarter, or more capable than others.
- 52. The philosophical stance reconciling free will with deterministic principles.
- 53. A harmless species masquerading as a harmful one to evade predators.
- 54. The apparent motion of stars due to Earth’s orbit.
- 55. Mobile DNA elements that can move within the genome, reshaping its structure.
Down
- 2. The reason the sky appears blue on Earth.
- 3. Bold, disruptive patterns designed to baffle and mislead predators or prey.
- 4. Human spacecraft currently exploring interstellar space.
- 5. The assumption that humans are the universe’s pinnacle.
- 8. The study of planets by comparing their features and processes.
- 9. Probe that landed on Titan, unveiling its mysterious surface.
- 10. A sneaky tactic where eggs are laid in another species’ nest to avoid parenting.
- 13. The nearly unsolvable task of predicting the motion of three gravitationally interacting bodies.
- 14. Hypothetical cloud of icy bodies at the edge of the solar system.
- 16. The birthplace of the Keeling Curve and modern climate science.
- 18. Hameroff and Penrose suggest that consciousness and free will emerge from this sub-neuronal structure.
- 19. Saturn’s explorer, revealing its rings and moons.
- 20. Thresholds where small changes unleash irreversible climate impacts.
- 21. Named after Vulcan, the fiery Roman god.
- 25. The trio of toxic traits: narcissism, Machiavellian cunning, and psychopathy.
- 26. The quantum state where particles exist in multiple configurations simultaneously.
- 29. The starting state of a system that determines how it evolves over time.
- 32. The boundary where the Sun’s solar wind meets interstellar wind.
- 34. The conviction that one’s group is uniquely superior to all others.
- 36. How complex phenomena arise from simple individual interactions.
- 37. The philosophy that every event, including moral decisions, is governed by prior causes.
- 38. The oceans’ subtle swelling as water warms and expands.
- 39. The graph that tells the story of rising CO2.
- 40. Lixing Sun proposed two laws governing this universal behavior in nature.
- 41. The method of understanding complex systems by breaking them into simpler components.
- 43. The universe’s properties are naturally-tuned for our existence.
- 47. Astronauts’ life-changing view of Earth from space.
- 48. Neptune’s icy moon with a retrograde orbit.