Archive
Latest Articles
A Mathematical Model Unlocks the Secrets of Vision
Mathematicians and neuroscientists have created the first anatomically accurate model that explains how vision is possible.
The Puzzling Search for Perfect Randomness
Does objective, perfect randomness exist, or is randomness merely a product of our ignorance?
Can New Species Evolve From Cancers? Maybe. Here’s How.
Researchers agree it’s a long shot, but transmissible cancers could theoretically evolve into independent species. Certain weird parasites might be living proof.
To Make Two Black Holes Collide, Try Three
How do black holes merge and make gravitational waves? Maybe with a little help from their friends.
New Proof Settles How to Approximate Numbers Like Pi
The ancient Greeks wondered when “irrational” numbers can be approximated by fractions. By proving the longstanding Duffin-Schaeffer conjecture, two mathematicians have provided a complete answer.
Color Me Polynomial
Polynomials aren’t just exercises in abstraction. They’re good at illuminating structure in surprising places.
For Embryo’s Cells, Size Can Determine Fate
Modeling suggests that many embryonic cells commit to a developmental fate when they become too small to divide unevenly anymore.
Cosmologists Debate How Fast the Universe Is Expanding
New measurements could upend the standard theory of the cosmos that has reigned since the discovery of dark energy 21 years ago.
A Call for Courage as Physicists Confront Collider Dilemma
Carlo Rubbia, leader of the bold collider experiment that in 1983 discovered the W and Z bosons, thinks particle physicists should now smash muons together in an innovative “Higgs factory.”