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The Scientist Who Cooks Up the Skies of Faraway Worlds

April 8, 2019

Astronomers will soon take their first glance at the atmosphere of a distant exoplanet. Sarah Hörst is writing the guidebook for these exoplanetary explorers, one that will reveal what a distinctive atmosphere says about the world underneath.

Scientists Discover Exotic New Patterns of Synchronization

April 4, 2019

In a world seemingly filled with chaos, physicists have discovered new forms of synchronization and are learning how to predict and control them.

Usain Bolt’s Split Times and the Power of Calculus

April 3, 2019

Just how fast can the fastest human run? This adapted book excerpt from Infinite Powers reveals how calculus helps us investigate the nature of motion and change.

Cryptography That Is Provably Secure

April 2, 2019

Researchers have just released hacker-proof cryptographic code — programs with the same level of invincibility as a mathematical proof.

In Quantum Games, There’s No Way to Play the Odds

April 1, 2019

These games combine quantum entanglement, infinity and impossible-to-calculate winning probabilities. But if researchers can crack them, they’ll reveal deep mathematical secrets.

Goals and Rewards Redraw the Brain’s Map of the World

March 28, 2019

Two new studies show that the brain’s navigation system changes how it represents physical space to reflect personal experience.

Proof Finds That All Change Is a Mix of Order and Randomness

March 27, 2019

All descriptions of change are a unique blend of chance and determinism, according to the sweeping mathematical proof of the “weak Pinsker conjecture.”

Sum-of-Three-Cubes Problem Solved for ‘Stubborn’ Number 33

March 26, 2019

A number theorist with programming prowess has found a solution to 33 = x³ + y³ + z³, a much-studied equation that went unsolved for 64 years.

How the Brain Links Gestures, Perception and Meaning

March 25, 2019

Neuroscience has found that gestures are not merely important as tools of expression but as guides of cognition and perception.

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