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How to Force Our Machines to Play Fair
The computer scientist Cynthia Dwork takes abstract concepts like privacy and fairness and adapts them into machine code for the algorithmic age.
A Conductor of Evolution’s Subtle Symphony
At first, the biologist Richard Lenski thought his long-term experiment on evolution might last for 2,000 generations. Nearly three decades and over 65,000 generations later, he’s still amazed by evolution’s “awesome inventiveness.”
A Wormhole Between Physics and Education
The theoretical particle physicist Helen Quinn has blazed a singular path from the early days of the Standard Model to the latest overhaul of science education in the United States.
Watching Evolution Happen in Two Lifetimes
The biologists Rosemary and Peter Grant have spent four decades on a tiny island in the Galápagos. Their discoveries reveal how new animal species can emerge in just a few generations.
A Seeker of Dark Matter’s Hidden Light
The astrophysicist Tracy Slatyer is searching for faint wisps of dark matter annihilating in the early universe — and perhaps in hiding places closer to home.
Moonshine Master Toys With String Theory
The physicist-mathematician Miranda Cheng is working to harness a mysterious connection between string theory, algebra and number theory.
The Maestro of Memory Manipulation
The neuroscientist Sheena Josselyn can evoke and erase memories in mice using new tools that precisely control the brain.
An Explorer of Quantum Borderlands
Suchitra Sebastian’s searches for quantum anomalies have led to the potential discovery of a new building block of matter.
A Life Inspired by an Unexpected Genius
Greatness was always expected of Ken Ono. But as he struggled with his parents’ expectations, he found solace and inspiration in the life of two-time college dropout — and mathematical genius — Srinivasa Ramanujan, the subject of the film The Man Who Knew Infinity.