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Quantum Cryptography Pioneers Win Turing Award
Charles Bennett and Gilles Brassard were recognized for their foundational work in quantum information science.
Why Do Humanoid Robots Still Struggle With the Small Stuff?
The last decade has seen vast improvements in humanoid robots, but graduating to widespread use might require going back to the fundamentals.
Where Some See Strings, She Sees a Space-Time Made of Fractals
Pushed down to a certain scale, the laws of physics seem to fall apart. Astrid Eichhorn, a leader in an area of study called asymptotic safety, thinks we just need to push a little further.
What Crystals Older Than the Sun Reveal About the Start of the Solar System
Microscopic crystals extracted from meteorites could help settle a debate about the birth of our patch of the Milky Way.
A New Complexity Theory for the Quantum Age
Henry Yuen is developing a new mathematical language to describe problems whose inputs and outputs aren’t ordinary numbers.
Are the Mysteries of Quantum Mechanics Beginning To Dissolve?
Columnist Philip Ball thinks the phenomenon of decoherence might finally bridge the quantum-classical divide.
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.
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.
Using AI, Mathematicians Find Hidden Glitches in Fluid Equations
A $1 million prize awaits anyone who can show where the math of fluid flow breaks down. With specially trained AI systems, researchers have found a slew of new candidates in simpler versions of the problem.