Archive

When 50 mathematicians spend a week in the woods, there’s no telling what will happen. And that’s the point.

Three progressively heavier copies of each type of matter particle exist, and no one knows why. A new paper by Steven Weinberg takes a stab at explaining the pattern.

While the age-old chicken-and-egg paradox is easily answered, the question of infinite regress in physics is far from resolved.

A recently unearthed fossil and new genomic discoveries are filling important gaps in scientists’ understanding of how primitive green algae eventually evolved into land vegetation.

The paleontologist Pincelli Hull has nailed down the timing and speed of the extinction that killed off the dinosaurs — details that carry ominous warnings for today.

The mathematician Rebecca Goldin and the psychology researcher Brian Nosek speak with host Steven Strogatz about what it’s like to be the bearers of unpopular truths.

How does experience alter our perceptions? This adapted book excerpt from We Know It When We See It describes how the brain’s visual system rewires itself to make the best use of its neural resources.

We give our genes and our environment all the credit for making us who we are. But random noise during development might be just as important.

A study has cemented the link between an intense global warming episode 56 million years ago and volcanism in the North Atlantic, with implications for modern climate change.