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Smarter Parts Make Collective Systems Too Stubborn
As researchers delve deeper into the behavior of decentralized collective systems, they’re beginning to question some of their initial assumptions.
How Our Universe Could Emerge as a Hologram
Physicists have devised a holographic model of “de Sitter space,” the term for a universe like ours, that could give us new clues about the origin of space and time.
Smaller Is Better: Why Finite Number Systems Pack More Punch
Recent progress on the “sum product” problem recalls a celebrated mathematical result that revealed the power of miniature number systems.
Artificial Intelligence Finds Ancient ‘Ghosts’ in Modern DNA
With the help of deep learning techniques, paleoanthropologists find evidence of long-lost branches on the human family tree.
Why Evolution Reversed These Insects’ Sex Organs
Among these cave insects, the females evolved to have penises — twice. The reasons challenge common assumptions about sex.
Gene Drives Work in Mice (if They’re Female)
Biologists have demonstrated for the first time that a controversial genetic engineering technology works, with caveats, in mammals.
How Nearby Stellar Explosions Could Have Killed Off Large Animals
Subatomic particles called muons are thought to have streamed through the atmosphere and irradiated megafauna like the monster shark megalodon.
Jellyfish Genome Hints That Complexity Isn’t Genetically Complex
Jellyfish didn’t need novel genes to take an evolutionary leap in complexity.
Ancient Turing Pattern Builds Feathers, Hair — and Now, Shark Skin
A primordial developmental toolkit shared by all vertebrates, and described by a theory of the mathematician Alan Turing, sets the growth pattern for all types of skin structures.