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The Voyage to the End of Ice
Summer sea ice could vanish later this decade, with disastrous consequences. It all depends on the physics of ice.
Why I’m Hosting The Joy of x Podcast
The noted mathematician and author Steven Strogatz explains why he wanted to share intimate conversations with leading researchers from diverse fields in his new podcast.
Hidden Computational Power Found in the Arms of Neurons
The dendritic arms of some human neurons can perform logic operations that once seemed to require whole neural networks.
For Fluid Equations, a Steady Flow of Progress
A startling experimental discovery about how fluids behave started a wave of important mathematical proofs.
An Idea From Physics Helps AI See in Higher Dimensions
The laws of physics stay the same no matter one’s perspective. Now this idea is allowing computers to detect features in curved and higher-dimensional space.
How Simple Math Can Cover Even the Most Complex Holes
No one knows how to find the smallest shape that can cover all other shapes of a certain width. But high school geometry is getting us closer to an answer.
Continents of the Underworld Come Into Focus
Giant blobs nestled deep in the Earth may influence everything from the structure of island chains to mass-extinction events.
Biodiversity Alters Strategies of Bacterial Evolution
In evolution, context is everything: Bacteria with neighbors evolve to rebuff viruses in a different way.
Unscrambled Eggs: Self-Organization Restores Cells’ Order
To scientists’ surprise, blended mixtures of cytoplasm can reorganize themselves into cell-like compartments with working structural components.