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Unheralded Mathematician Bridges the Prime Gap

May 19, 2013

A virtually unknown researcher has made a great advance in one of mathematics’ oldest problems, the twin primes conjecture.

Perpetual Motion Test Could Amend Theory of Time

April 25, 2013

A radical theory predicting the existence of “time crystals” — perpetual motion objects that break the symmetry of time — is being put to the test.

Scientists Parse Ocean’s Dynamic Role in Climate Change

April 11, 2013

New data collected by mathematicians and oceanographers in the frigid waters of the Southern Ocean could dramatically improve climate models.

Solid or Liquid? Physicists Redefine States of Matter

April 3, 2013

Glass and other strange materials have long confounded textbook definitions of what it means to be solid. Now, two groups of physicists propose a new solution to the riddle.

Biologists Home In on Turing Patterns

March 25, 2013

New research has prompted a resurgence of interest in the patterning mechanisms Alan Turing proposed 60 years ago.

Treading Softly in a Connected World

March 18, 2013

In an increasingly interconnected world, scientists are seeking safeguards against catastrophic cascades of failure like stock market crashes and widespread blackouts.

Peering Into the Early Universe

March 7, 2013

Three “extremely large telescopes” poised to begin observations within a decade could help answer some of the universe’s oldest and best-kept secrets.

How to Make Impossible Wallpaper

March 5, 2013

A new collection of arresting wallpaper designs seems to defy the crystallographic restriction.

In Computers We Trust?

February 22, 2013

As the role of computers in pure mathematics grows, researchers debate their reliability.

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