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Why South Asia’s COVID-19 Numbers Are So Low (For Now)
Many theories have been offered for why the official COVID-19 toll on the Indian subcontinent has been surprisingly low. The best explanation may be the shortage of good, timely data.
This Cosmologist Knows How It’s All Going to End
The astrophysicist and social media phenom Katie Mack is ready to tell you about the fate of the universe.
How to Breed a Pomsky and Other Questions About Dogs and Sex
Solve a puzzle about mixed dog breeds, sexual reproduction and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dark Matter Experiment Finds Unexplained Signal
Researchers say there are three possible explanations for the anomalous data. One is mundane. Two would revolutionize physics.
The Two Forms of Mathematical Beauty
Mathematicians typically appreciate either generic or exceptional beauty in their work, but one type is more useful in describing the universe.
Why Gravity Is Not Like the Other Forces
We asked four physicists why gravity stands out among the forces of nature. We got four different answers.
Random Search Wired Into Animals May Help Them Hunt
The nervous systems of foraging and predatory animals may prompt them to move along a special kind of random path called a Lévy walk to find food efficiently when no clues are available.
A Surprise Discovery Points to the Source of Fast Radio Bursts
After a burst lit up their telescope “like a Christmas tree,” astronomers were able to finally track down the source of these cosmic oddities.
The ‘Useless’ Perspective That Transformed Mathematics
Representation theory was initially dismissed. Today, it’s central to much of mathematics.