Watch: Last Week in Science (April 9-15, 2018)

The fact that we can do this dance with our eyebrows could be a major reason for how we are different from our ape ancestors, suggests new research. If you look at the skull of the oldest hominins like Homo Habilis or Australopithecus, or more recent ones like Homo Heidelbergensis or the Neanderthal, a prominent eyebrow ridge is common. This big ridge was thought to have helped in filling space between the eyes and the brain, or perhaps help absorb pressure from chewing hard food. But computer model testing has rubbished these theories. And scientists now believe the shrinking of the bony ridge in modern humans is somehow correlated with our ability to communicate in more subtle ways. We can raise our eyebrows at this theory, but the fact that we can sort of seems to prove it, no?

Think Indian food is spicy? Well, try the Carolina Reaper. Actually, don’t. This menacing-looking hot pepper, a hybrid between the ghost pepper and the red habanero, measures over 2 million heat units on the Scoville scale, and held the world record for hottest chilli between 2013 and 2017. It can also send you to the emergency room in intense pain. A medical case report study has revealed that a 34-year-old man in 2016 ate one Carolina Reaper in a contest and suffered thunderclap headaches for days and days. What happened? The Reaper had made his brain’s blood vessels spasm and shrink in a condition called Reversible Cerebral Vasoconstriction Syndrome. It took five weeks for the man’s arteries to heal. Technically speaking, pungency or spiciness is only an imaginary sensation of heat in the mouth. But, the pain can be quite real.

How to make your password unhackable...

Your password is not safe. This is because it is made up of characters generated by some algorithm or pattern, which a hacker can understand and predict. If you want a truly random password, you need to adopt Schrödinger’s cat as your pet (and use quantum mechanics). Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology used a process called quantum entanglement, where two particles are in a superposition (meaning, they’re in all possible states at once), and therefore, basically unpredictable until measured. Modelling a random-number generator on this quantum process will guarantee that the string of characters you use to encrypt your data cannot be hacked unless the hacker can travel faster than light. So, not even Superman, then.