2014 Fields Medal and Nevanlinna Prize Winners Announced
Latest Articles
Are the Mysteries of Quantum Mechanics Beginning To Dissolve?
Columnist Philip Ball thinks the phenomenon of decoherence might finally bridge the quantum-classical divide.
Physicists Make Electrons Flow Like Water
We describe electricity as a flow, but that’s not what happens in a typical wire. Physicists have begun to induce electrons to act like fluids, an effort that could illuminate new ways of thinking about quantum systems.
Fed on Reams of Cell Data, AI Maps New Neighborhoods in the Brain
Machine learning is helping neuroscientists organize vast quantities of cells’ genetic data in the latest neurobiological cartography effort.
Long-Sought Proof Tames Some of Math’s Unruliest Equations
Mathematicians finally understand the behavior of an important class of differential equations that describe everything from water pressure to oxygen levels in human tissues.
Expansion Microscopy Has Transformed How We See the Cellular World
How physically magnifying objects using a key ingredient in diapers has opened an unprecedented view of the microbial world.
How Modern and Antique Technologies Reveal a Dynamic Cosmos
Today’s observatories document every pulse and flash in the sky each night. To understand how the cosmos has changed over longer periods, scientists rely on a more tactile technology.
Once Thought To Support Neurons, Astrocytes Turn Out To Be in Charge
New experiments reveal how astrocytes tune neuronal activity to modulate our mental and emotional states. The results suggest that neuron-only brain models, such as connectomes, leave out a crucial layer of regulation.
Networks Hold the Key to a Decades-Old Problem About Waves
Mathematicians are still trying to understand fundamental properties of the Fourier transform, one of their most ubiquitous and powerful tools. A new result marks an exciting advance toward that goal.
Is Particle Physics Dead, Dying, or Just Hard?
Columnist Natalie Wolchover checks in with particle physicists more than a decade after the field entered a profound crisis.