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In a Multiverse, What Are the Odds?

November 3, 2014

Testing the multiverse hypothesis requires measuring whether our universe is statistically typical among the infinite variety of universes. But infinity does a number on statistics.

Dwarf Galaxies Dim Hopes of Dark Matter

October 25, 2014

For five years physicists have been tantalized by possible evidence of dark matter in the Milky Way’s center. But new results from small satellite galaxies have complicated the story.

Mental Leaps Cued by Memory’s Ripples

October 22, 2014

The same mental processes that organize memories may also coordinate how we make decisions.

At the Far Ends of a New Universal Law

October 15, 2014

A potent theory has emerged explaining a mysterious statistical law that arises throughout physics and mathematics.

Brain’s Positioning System Linked to Memory

October 7, 2014

The 2014 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to three researchers who discovered how the brain navigates the world. Their work may also help illuminate how the mind stores memories.

Elusive Form of Evolution Seen in Spiders

October 2, 2014

A study of diverse colonies of spiders supports a controversial idea in evolution — that natural selection can act on communities as well as on individuals.

Lizard Stowaways Revise Principle of Ecology

September 24, 2014

The movement of lizards around the Caribbean is forcing researchers to account for human activity in even their most basic ecological models.

‘Big Bang Signal’ Could All Be Dust

September 21, 2014

Cosmic dust in the high latitudes of the Milky Way could account for the entire swirl pattern that had been presented as proof of a leading Big Bang theory, according to a new data analysis from the Planck satellite.

Q&A

Finding Dark Energy in the Details

September 18, 2014

The astrophysicist Joshua Frieman seeks to pinpoint the mysterious substance driving the accelerating expansion of the universe.