Latest Articles
A Bird’s-Eye View of Nature’s Hidden Order
Scientists are exploring a mysterious pattern, found in birds’ eyes, boxes of marbles and other surprising places, that is neither regular nor random.
A Quasicrystal’s Shocking Origin
By blasting a stack of minerals with a four-meter-long gun, scientists have found a new clue about the backstory of a very strange rock.
Rumors Cast Doubt on Diphoton Bump
Rampant rumors and a new analysis undercut hopes of a major discovery at the Large Hadron Collider.
The Universe Is Not a Snowflake
Nature’s laws are beautiful because they strike a compromise between boring symmetry and confusing asymmetry, physicists say.
LIGO Reports Second Black-Hole Merger
The spokesperson for the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory called it “a promising start to mapping the populations of black holes in our universe.”
A Glimpse Through a Cosmic Keyhole
What could cause galaxies millions of light years apart to all spew material in the same direction?
Evidence of a ‘Fifth Force’ Faces Scrutiny
A lab in Hungary has reported an anomaly that could lead to a physics revolution. But even as excitement builds, closer scrutiny has unearthed a troubling backstory.
Mathematicians Bridge Finite-Infinite Divide
A surprising new proof is helping to connect the mathematics of infinity to the physical world.
Janna Levin’s Theory of Doing Everything
The astrophysicist, conceptual writer and host of standing-room-only scientific soirees at a repurposed factory in Brooklyn sees science as a powerful force in culture.