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Why Evolution Reversed These Insects’ Sex Organs
Among these cave insects, the females evolved to have penises — twice. The reasons challenge common assumptions about sex.
The Double Life of Black Holes
Perfect black holes are versatile mathematical tools. Just don’t mistake them for the real thing.
The Trouble With Turbulence
Turbulence is everywhere, yet it is one of the most difficult concepts for physicists to understand.
A Child’s Puzzle Has Helped Unlock the Secrets of Magnetism
People have known about magnets since ancient times, but the physics of ferromagnetism remains a mystery. Now a familiar puzzle is getting physicists closer to the answer.
Gene Drives Work in Mice (if They’re Female)
Biologists have demonstrated for the first time that a controversial genetic engineering technology works, with caveats, in mammals.
A Movement to Close the Gender Gap in Mathematics
The Brazilian mathematician Carolina Araujo, who calls herself “a bit of an anarchist,” is organizing meetings and building a support network to study and solve the problems women face in mathematics.
Asteroid Rate Jumped in Solar System’s Past
An analysis of lunar craters has found that we’ve been living in a relatively violent period in cosmic history.
Unscrambling the Hidden Secrets of Superpermutations
A science fiction novelist and an internet commenter made breakthroughs on a longstanding problem about the number of ways you can arrange a set of items. What did they discover?
How Nearby Stellar Explosions Could Have Killed Off Large Animals
Subatomic particles called muons are thought to have streamed through the atmosphere and irradiated megafauna like the monster shark megalodon.