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Decades-Old Graph Problem Yields to Amateur Mathematician
By making the first progress on the “chromatic number of the plane” problem in over 60 years, an anti-aging pundit has achieved mathematical immortality.
Ultra-Accurate Clocks Lead Search for New Laws of Physics
Atomic clocks are letting physicists tighten the lasso around elusive phenomena such as dark matter.
Trouble Detected in Infamous Dark Matter Signal
Independent scientists have cast serious doubt on a claimed detection of dark matter.
A Revealer of Secrets in the Data of Life and the Universe
The statistician Donald Richards lives to uncover subtle patterns hiding in real-world data.
The Elusive Calculus of Insects’ Altruism and Kin Selection
How the ultra-cooperative behavior of ants, bees and other social insects could have evolved continues to challenge formal analysis. But a new theory about hedging bets against nature’s unpredictability may change the math and shift the debate.
Mathematicians Explore Mirror Link Between Two Geometric Worlds
Decades after physicists happened upon a stunning mathematical coincidence, researchers are getting close to understanding the link between two seemingly unrelated geometric universes.
How the DNA Computer Program Makes You and Me
Can a set of simple instructions produce complex, three-dimensional living structures?
New Brain Maps With Unmatched Detail May Change Neuroscience
A technique based on genetic bar codes can easily map the connections of individual brain cells in unprecedented numbers. Unexpected complexity in the visual system is only the first secret it has revealed.
Quantum Correlations Reverse Thermodynamic Arrow of Time
A recent experiment shows how quantum mechanics can make heat flow from a cold body to a hot one, an apparent (though not real) violation of the second law of thermodynamics.