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Mirror Molecules: The Symmetry Rule Life Never Breaks

Most organic molecules have a mirror-image twin. This concept is known as chirality. Yet life only uses one chiral molecule, not the other. The reason for this asymmetry is one of the greatest mysteries of biology.


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Tim Maudlin: A Defense of the Reality of Time

May 16, 2017

Tim Maudlin explains how math has led physicists to believe some very strange things about the nature of time.

John Novembre: A Map of Human History, Hidden in DNA

April 20, 2017

John Novembre explains how he uses genomic data to map human history.

Sharon Glotzer: ‘Digital Alchemist’ Seeks Rules of Emergence

March 8, 2017

Sharon Glotzer explains how emergence, entropy and order can all fit together.

Sylvia Serfaty: In Mathematics, ‘You Cannot Be Lied To’

February 21, 2017

Sylvia Serfaty explains why you don’t have to be a genius to become a mathematician.

Francis Su: Math and the Good Life

February 2, 2017

Francis Su explains how mathematics can help a person to live well.

Francis Su: Math Is for Everybody

February 2, 2017

Francis Su discusses how the community of mathematicians tends to exclude certain people.

Marcus Feldman: In Search of Actions That Alter Evolution

January 5, 2017

Marcus Feldman explains how he models the effects of a cultural preference — in this case, a preference for sons over daughters in China.

Elena Aprile: In the Deep, a Drive to Find Dark Matter

December 20, 2016

Elena Aprile explains how she hunts for dark matter in the world’s largest underground laboratory.

Janet Conrad: On a Hunt for a Ghost of a Particle

December 8, 2016

Janet Conrad explains how sterile neutrinos might help physicists move past the Standard Model.