What's up in

Q&A

Latest Articles

Q&A

In Search of God’s Perfect Proofs

March 19, 2018

The mathematicians Günter Ziegler and Martin Aigner have spent the past 20 years collecting some of the most beautiful proofs in mathematics.

Q&A

A Statistical Search for Genomic Truths

February 27, 2018

The computer scientist Barbara Engelhardt develops machine-learning models and methods to scour human genomes for the elusive causes and mechanisms of disease.

The Argument Against Quantum Computers

February 7, 2018

The mathematician Gil Kalai believes that quantum computers can't possibly work, even in principle.

Q&A

In Birds’ Songs, Brains and Genes, He Finds Clues to Speech

January 30, 2018

The neuroscientist Erich Jarvis found that songbirds' vocal skills and humans' spoken language are both rooted in neural pathways for controlling learned movements.

Q&A

A Neurobiologist Thinks Big — and Small

January 18, 2018

By developing new tools for visualizing subcellular structure and activity in molecular detail, Ed Boyden advances on his goal of understanding how the brain works.

Q&A

In Praise of Simple Problems

January 9, 2018

The mathematician Richard Schwartz finds the hidden depth lurking in simple mathematical puzzles.

Q&A

A Mathematician Who Decodes the Patterns Stamped Out by Life

December 20, 2017

Corina Tarnita deciphers bizarre patterns in the soil created by competing life-forms.

Q&A

A Physicist’s Physicist Ponders the Nature of Reality

November 28, 2017

Edward Witten reflects on the meaning of dualities in physics and math, emergent space-time, and the pursuit of a complete description of nature.

Q&A

A Mathematician Who Dances to the Joys and Sorrows of Discovery

November 20, 2017

Federico Ardila opens up about his journey as a mathematician, teacher, Colombian transplant, DJ and creator of mathematical spaces.

Get highlights of the most important news delivered to your email inbox