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Some Animals Have No Microbiome. Here’s What That Tells Us.
To stay healthy, humans and some other animals rely on a complex community of bacteria in their guts. But research is starting to show that those partnerships might be more the exception than the rule.
Remembering the Unstoppable Freeman Dyson
Freeman Dyson — physicist, mathematician, writer and idea factory — died on February 28, but his vitality lives on.
Where Do New Genes Come From?
In their search for sources of genetic novelty, researchers find that some “orphan genes” with no obvious ancestors evolve out of junk DNA, contrary to old assumptions.
Graced With Knowledge, Mathematicians Seek to Understand
A landmark proof in computer science has also solved an important problem called the Connes embedding conjecture. Mathematicians are working to understand it.
Moon Duchin on Fair Voting and Random Walks
Can geometry save democracy from gerrymandering? Mathematician Moon Duchin discusses the possibilities with host Steven Strogatz.
Does Time Really Flow? New Clues Come From a Century-Old Approach to Math.
The laws of physics imply that the passage of time is an illusion. To avoid this conclusion, we might have to rethink the reality of infinitely precise numbers.
‘Amazing’ Math Bridge Extended Beyond Fermat’s Last Theorem
Mathematicians have figured out how to expand the reach of a mysterious bridge connecting two distant continents in the mathematical world.
To Make the Perfect Mirror, Physicists Confront the Mystery of Glass
Sometimes a mirror that reflects 99.9999% of light isn’t good enough.
How to Design a Perpetual Energy Machine
This April, find the fatal flaws in two paradoxical claims — one about a perpetual source of energy and the other about whether you will ever see the solution to these puzzles.