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A Brief History of Tricky Mathematical Tiling

By David S. Richeson
October 30, 2023
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The discovery earlier this year of the “hat” tile marked the culmination of hundreds of years of work into tiles and their symmetries.

number theory

A New Generation of Mathematicians Pushes Prime Number Barriers

By Erica Klarreich
October 26, 2023
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New work attacks a long-standing barrier to understanding how prime numbers are distributed.

An illustration of a sheet of cells, each with sixfold rotational symmetry. Markings outline that symmetry in a handful of individual cells. Within the tissue, cells also exhibit a higher-order twofold symmetry that emerges at more zoomed-out scales and is indicated by different colors.
biophysics

Biophysicists Uncover Powerful Symmetries in Living Tissue

By Elise Cutts
October 25, 2023
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After identifying interlocking symmetries in mammalian cells, scientists can describe some tissues as liquid crystals — an observation that lays the groundwork for a fluid-dynamic theory of how tissues move.

Q&A

The Computing Pioneer Helping AI See

By Susan D'Agostino
October 24, 2023
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Alexei Efros has spent his career learning how machines see differently from humans. Now he’s helping to bridge the gap.

evolution

Fossilized Molecules Reveal a Lost World of Ancient Life

By Yasemin Saplakoglu
October 23, 2023
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A new analysis of ancient sediments fills a gap in the fossil record — revealing a massive dynasty of ancient eukaryotes, which may have reigned for 800 million years and shaped the history of life of Earth.

An illustration of calipers, a tape measure and a protractor attempting to measure the properties of three spherical qubits.
quantum computing

The Quest to Quantify Quantumness

By Charlie Wood
October 19, 2023
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What makes a quantum computer more powerful than a classical computer? It’s a surprisingly subtle question that physicists are still grappling with, decades into the quantum age.

Astrocytes from the brain of a mouse are stained in neon colors that emphasize their stretched, starlike shape.
neuroscience

These Cells Spark Electricity in the Brain. They’re Not Neurons.

By Laura Dattaro
October 18, 2023
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For decades, researchers have debated whether brain cells called astrocytes can signal like neurons. Researchers recently published the best evidence yet that some astrocytes are part of the electrical conversation.

quantum computing

Thirty Years Later, a Speed Boost for Quantum Factoring

By Ben Brubaker
October 17, 2023
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Shor’s algorithm will enable future quantum computers to factor large numbers quickly, undermining many online security protocols. Now a researcher has shown how to do it even faster.

obituary

The Mathematician Who Sculpted the Shape of Space

By Steve Nadis
October 16, 2023
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Eugenio Calabi, who died on September 25, conceived of novel geometric objects that later became fundamental to string theory.


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