The Math Gender Gap, Quantum "Neglectons," and the Hunt for Planet Nine

The Point by Modern Sciences - January 21, 2026

Author

Don Smith
January 21, 2026

By The Modern Sciences Team

January 21, 2026

Long time no see, Cultivators of Curiosity!


Welcome to the 2nd volume of The Point by Modern Sciences for 2026! This week, we delve into three stories that challenge our assumptions about the world—from the classrooms where our children learn to the outer reaches of our solar system.


We examine a massive study that pinpoints the exact moment the math gender gap emerges, offering a new path toward educational equity. We also explore a "neglected" discovery in the quantum realm that could finally unlock universal computation, and we follow a cosmic trail of heat signatures that brings us closer than ever to finding the elusive Planet Nine. Read on to see how these breakthroughs are redefining the boundaries of human knowledge and technological potential.

School science book close-up.

MATH AND THE SCIENCES

French study: Math gender gap appears in 1st few school months

A landmark study of 2.5 million French schoolchildren has found that the math gender gap is not innate but learned within the first few months of formal schooling. While boys and girls start first grade with equal abilities, a significant gap favoring boys appears and widens as they progress, pointing to classroom instruction as the critical factor in creating the disparity.



The Point:

  • Math gender gap emerges in the classroom: A landmark study of 2.5 million children found the gap appears within four months of first grade, not before.

  • Schooling, not biology, is the cause: The gap widened with more time in school, not with age, ruling out innate differences as the primary driver of the disparity.

  • Early instruction is the new focus for solutions: Findings pinpoint the first year of formal education as the key period for interventions to ensure equitable math outcomes.


ENGINEERING

'Neglected' particle unlocks quantum computing power

Researchers have discovered that adding a single, previously overlooked particle—dubbed a "neglecton"—can upgrade a leading quantum computing platform. This breakthrough, rooted in a new mathematical framework, enables universal quantum computation using only the braiding of particles, a significant step toward building robust, fault-tolerant quantum machines capable of solving currently intractable problems.



The Point:

  • Ising anyons fall short of universal computing: These promising quasiparticles, central to topological quantum computing, can only perform a limited set of operations through braiding, preventing them from running all possible quantum algorithms.

  • A 'neglecton' provides the missing ingredient: By expanding the underlying math, scientists identified a new, stationary anyon that, when added to the system, enables complete universal computation using only the braiding of Ising anyons around it.

  • Mathematical 'flaws' are cleverly quarantined: The new theory has mathematical irregularities, but researchers designed a method to isolate these issues, ensuring the computation remains stable and protected within a well-behaved part of the framework.


SPACE

Infrared search for hidden ‘Planet Nine’ reveals two new candidatesn AI

Astronomers searching for the elusive Planet Nine have taken a new approach, hunting for its faint heat signature instead of reflected light. By meticulously analyzing archival data from the AKARI space telescope, a research team has identified two compelling candidates in a region of the sky where the hidden world is predicted to be, offering the most promising leads yet in this cosmic detective story.



The Point:

  • Astronomers pivot to search for Planet Nine's heat signature: Researchers abandoned the search for faint reflected sunlight in favor of analyzing infrared data, as a distant planet's thermal glow fades much less dramatically with distance.

  • Archival telescope data reveals potential candidates: Using the AKARI space telescope's data, the team filtered a specific region of the sky, removing known objects and isolating sources with a slow-moving orbital pattern.

  • Two promising Planet Nine candidates have been identified: The analysis pinpointed two sources whose positions and brightness match predictions for the hidden world, although follow-up observations are now required to confirm their planetary nature.