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How the Body’s Trillions of Clocks Keep Time
Cellular clocks are almost everywhere. Clues to how they work are coming from the places they’re not.
Einstein’s Parable of Quantum Insanity
Einstein refused to believe in the inherent unpredictability of the world. Is the subatomic world insane, or just subtle?
A Tricky Path to Quantum-Safe Encryption
In the drive to safeguard data from future quantum computers, cryptographers have stumbled upon a thin red line between security and efficiency.
The Road Less Traveled
When there are two paths to your destination, why does it always seem like you’re on the road with more traffic?
A New Design for Cryptography’s Black Box
A recent cryptographic breakthrough has proven difficult to put into practice. But new advances show how near-perfect computer security might be surprisingly close at hand.
A Life in Games
The mathematician John Horton Conway’s myriad accomplishments — including the Game of Life, sprouts and the surreal numbers — are the product of a mind at play.
How Mutant Viral Swarms Spread Disease
A new understanding of viral swarms is helping researchers predict how viruses will evolve and where disease is likely to spread.
The Case for Complex Dark Matter
The physicist James Bullock explains how a complicated “dark sector” of interacting particles may illuminate some puzzling observations of the centers of galaxies.
A Surprise Source of Life’s Code
Emerging data suggests the seemingly impossible — that mysterious new genes arise from “junk” DNA.