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Do Brains Operate at a Tipping Point? New Clues and Complications
New experimental results simultaneously advance and challenge the theory that the brain’s network of neurons balances on the knife-edge between two phases.
Physicists Debate Hawking’s Idea That the Universe Had No Beginning
A recent challenge to Stephen Hawking’s biggest idea — about how the universe might have come from nothing — has cosmologists choosing sides.
Quantum Leaps, Long Assumed to Be Instantaneous, Take Time
An experiment caught a quantum system in the middle of a jump — something the originators of quantum mechanics assumed was impossible.
Immune Cells Measure Time to Identify Foreign Proteins
Immunologists confirm an old hunch: T-cells identify what belongs in the body by timing how long they can bind to it.
Why the Proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem Doesn’t Need to Be Enhanced
Decades after the landmark proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem, ideas abound for how to make it even more reliable. But such efforts reflect a deep misunderstanding of what makes the proof so important.
The Body’s Clock Offers a Rhythmic Target to Viruses
Viruses and other parasites may sync with their host’s biological clock — or reset it — to gain an advantage.
Ancient DNA Yields Snapshots of Vanished Ecosystems
Surviving fragments of genetic material preserved in sediments allow scientists to see the full diversity of past life — even microbes.
What’s the Magic Behind Graphene’s ‘Magic’ Angle?
A new theoretical model may help explain the shocking onset of superconductivity in stacked, twisted carbon sheets.
Computer Scientists Expand the Frontier of Verifiable Knowledge
The universe of problems that a computer can check has grown. The researchers’ secret ingredient? Quantum entanglement.