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‘Next-Level’ Chaos Traces the True Limit of Predictability
In math and computer science, researchers have long understood that some questions are fundamentally unanswerable. Now physicists are exploring how even ordinary physical systems put hard limits on what we can predict, even in principle.
A New, Chemical View of Ecosystems
Rare and powerful compounds, known as keystone molecules, can build a web of invisible interactions among species.
Years After the Early Death of a Math Genius, Her Ideas Gain New Life
A new proof extends the work of the late Maryam Mirzakhani, cementing her legacy as a pioneer of alien mathematical realms.
The Physicist Working to Build Science-Literate AI
By training machine learning models with enough examples of basic science, Miles Cranmer hopes to push the pace of scientific discovery forward.
The ‘Elegant’ Math Model That Could Help Rescue Coral Reefs
Physicists and marine biologists built a quantitative framework that predicts how coral polyps collectively construct a variety of coral shapes.
New Maps of the Bizarre, Chaotic Space-Time Inside Black Holes
Physicists hope that understanding the churning region near singularities might help them reconcile gravity and quantum mechanics.
How ‘Event Scripts’ Structure Our Personal Memories
By screening films in a brain scanner, neuroscientists discovered a rich library of neural scripts — from a trip through an airport to a marriage proposal — that form scaffolds for memories of our experiences.
After 20 Years, Math Couple Solves Major Group Theory Problem
Britta Späth has dedicated her career to proving a single, central conjecture. She’s finally succeeded, alongside her partner, Marc Cabanes.
Catalytic Computing Taps the Full Power of a Full Hard Drive
Ten years ago, researchers proved that adding full memory can theoretically aid computation. They’re just now beginning to understand the implications.