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How Life and Luck Changed Earth’s Minerals

August 11, 2015

Did the minerals on our planet arise in a predictable fashion, or did they result from chance events? The answers could eventually help scientists identify planets likely to harbor life.

Q&A

The Connoisseur of Number Sequences

August 6, 2015

For more than 50 years, the mathematician Neil Sloane has curated the authoritative collection of interesting and important integer sequences.

Theories of Everything, Mapped

August 3, 2015

Explore the deepest mysteries at the frontier of fundamental physics, and the most promising ideas put forth to solve them.

The Slippery Eel of Probability

July 30, 2015

How do you solve probability problems that appear to have more than one correct answer?

At Tiny Scales, a Giant Burst on Tree of Life

July 28, 2015

A new technique for finding and characterizing microbes has boosted the number of known bacteria by almost 50 percent, revealing a hidden world all around us.

The Rise of Computer-Aided Explanation

July 23, 2015

Computers can translate French and prove mathematical theorems. But can they make deep conceptual insights into the way the world works?

Solution: ‘Information From Randomness?’

July 22, 2015

The counterintuitive solution to this month’s puzzle raises philosophical questions about randomness and information.

Famous Fluid Equations Are Incomplete

July 21, 2015

A 115-year effort to bridge the particle and fluid descriptions of nature has led mathematicians to an unexpected answer.

The New Laws of Explosive Networks

July 14, 2015

Researchers are uncovering the hidden laws that reveal how the Internet grows, how viruses spread, and how financial bubbles burst.

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