Explainers

Exposure to a virus isn’t an all-or-nothing proposition. The concept of “infectious dose” suggests ways to keep ourselves safer from harm.

Scientists have struggled to accurately forecast the strength of the sun’s 11-year cycle — even after centuries of solar observations.

Mathematical proofs based on a technique called diagonalization can be relentlessly contrarian, but they help reveal the limits of algorithms.

For over a century, biologists have had to contend with a complicated picture of genetics, which they’ve only recently begun to understand.

Transcendental numbers include famous examples like e and π, but it took mathematicians centuries to understand them.

To buffer the brain against menaces in the blood, a dynamic, multi-tiered system of protection is built into the brain’s blood vessels.

One student’s desire to get out of a final exam led to the ubiquitous algorithm that shrinks data without sacrificing information.

When he invented Turing machines in 1936, Alan Turing also invented modern computing.

Unpredictability can help computer scientists solve otherwise intractable problems.