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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.
The Evolutionary Argument Against Reality
The cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman believes that evolution and quantum mechanics conspire to make objective reality an illusion.
In Warm, Greasy Puddles, the Spark of Life?
The biologist David Deamer proposes that life evolved from a collection of interacting molecules, probably in a pool in the shadow of a volcano.
Michael Atiyah’s Imaginative State of Mind
At 86, Britain’s preeminent mathematical matchmaker is still tackling the big questions and dreaming of a union between the quantum and the gravitational forces.
From Einstein’s Theory to Gravity’s Chirp
The path from a revolutionary set of equations to the detection of gravitational waves was strewn with obstacles and controversy, explains the physicist Daniel Kennefick — and the struggle continues.
Searching for the Algorithms Underlying Life
The biological world is computational at its core, argues computer scientist Leslie Valiant.
Taming Superconductors With String Theory
The physicist Subir Sachdev borrows tools from string theory to understand the puzzling behavior of high-temperature superconductors.
The Information Theory of Life
The polymath Christoph Adami is investigating life’s origins by reimagining life as self-perpetuating information strings.
The Woman Who Stared at Wasps
The biologist Joan Strassmann discusses cooperation in social insects, how amoebas can teach us about competition, and why the definition of “organism” needs an overhaul.