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The Shape-Shifting Army Inside Your Cells
Proteins work like rigid keys to activate cellular functions — or so everyone thought. Scientists are discovering a huge number of proteins that shape-shift to do their work, upending a century-old maxim of biology.
Graph Isomorphism Vanquished — Again
Just five days after posting a retraction, László Babai announced that he had fixed the error in his landmark graph isomorphism algorithm.
How Many Half-Lives Do You Have?
Gaining an intuition about half-life requires some unintuitive thinking.
Infant Brains Reveal How the Mind Gets Built
Is the brain a blank slate, or is it wired from birth to understand the world?
How Curvature Makes a Shape a Shape
The ancient study of an object’s curvature is guiding mathematicians toward a new understanding of simple equations.
Complexity Theory Problem Strikes Back
The legendary graph isomorphism problem may be harder than a 2015 result seemed to suggest.
Finding the Actions That Alter Evolution
The biologist Marcus Feldman creates mathematical models that reveal how cultural traditions can affect the evolution of a species.
Test Your Mathematical Sculpting Skills
Can you turn a two-dimensional fractal into a 3-D object? Break out your scissors and tape for a chance to win a 3-D printed sculpture.
3-D Fractals Offer Clues to Complex Systems
By folding fractals into 3-D objects, a mathematical duo hopes to gain new insight into simple equations.