Bronze Age combat, moral philosophy and Reddit's AITA, Mondrian's fractal tree, and seven other fascinating papers.

There is rarely time to write about every cool science paper that comes our way; many worthy candidates sadly fall through the cracks over the course of the year. But as 2024 comes to a close, we've gathered ten of our favorite such papers at the intersection of science and culture as a special treat, covering a broad range of topics: from reenacting Bronze Age spear combat and applying network theory to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, to Spider-Man inspired web-slinging tech and a mathematical connection between a turbulent phase transition and your morning cup of coffee. Enjoy!

Reenacting Bronze Age spear combat Physics of Ned Kahn’s kinetic sculptures How brewing coffee connects to turbulence Network theory and Bach's music The philosophy of Reddit's AITA Fractal scaling of trees in art IDing George Washington’s descendants Spidey-inspired web-slinging tech Solving a mystery of a 12th century supernova Reviving a “lost” 16th century score

...read more at arstechnica.com