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emergence

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Nikta Fakhri looks at a test tube.
Q&A

Starfish Whisperer Develops a Physical Language of Life

By Charlie Wood
January 11, 2023
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Nikta Fakhri is adapting and extending concepts from physics to describe how tiny biological components give rise to living organisms.

Illustration of planets and other objects floating above the deformable sheet of space-time.
The Joy of Why

Where Do Space, Time and Gravity Come From?

By Steven Strogatz
May 4, 2022
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Einstein’s description of curved space-time doesn’t easily mesh with a universe made up of quantum wavefunctions. Theoretical physicist Sean Carroll discusses the quest for quantum gravity with host Steven Strogatz.

water molecules, droplets and a wave
Abstractions blog

How Mathematical ‘Hocus-Pocus’ Saved Particle Physics

By Charlie Wood
September 17, 2020
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Renormalization has become perhaps the single most important advance in theoretical physics in 50 years.

A nearly homogeneous field of yellow cytoplasm spontaneously compartmentalizes itself into clumps around the dots of nuclei.
Abstractions blog

Unscrambled Eggs: Self-Organization Restores Cells’ Order

By Wynne Parry
January 2, 2020
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To scientists’ surprise, blended mixtures of cytoplasm can reorganize themselves into cell-like compartments with working structural components.

Abstractions blog

How Swarming Insects Act Like Fluids

By Jordana Cepelewicz
July 10, 2019
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By studying a swarm of flying midges as though it were a fluid, physicists have learned how collective behaviors might stabilize a group against environmental disruptions.

Art for "Scientists Discover Exotic New Patterns of Synchronization"
patterns

Scientists Discover Exotic New Patterns of Synchronization

By Natalie Wolchover
April 4, 2019
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In a world seemingly filled with chaos, physicists have discovered new forms of synchronization and are learning how to predict and control them.

Abstractions blog

Smarter Parts Make Collective Systems Too Stubborn

By Jordana Cepelewicz
February 26, 2019
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As researchers delve deeper into the behavior of decentralized collective systems, they’re beginning to question some of their initial assumptions.

In Theory

How Complex Wholes Emerge From Simple Parts

By John Rennie
December 20, 2018
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Throughout nature, throngs of relatively simple elements can self-organize into behaviors that seem unexpectedly complex. Scientists are beginning to understand why and how these phenomena emerge without a central organizing entity.

520px photo of army ants forming a bridge
Abstractions blog

The Simple Algorithm That Ants Use to Build Bridges

By Kevin Hartnett
February 26, 2018
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Even with no one in charge, army ants work collectively to build bridges out of their bodies. New research reveals the simple rules that lead to such complex group behavior.


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