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Decades-Old Graph Problem Yields to Amateur Mathematician

April 17, 2018

By making the first progress on the “chromatic number of the plane” problem in over 60 years, an anti-aging pundit has achieved mathematical immortality.

Ultra-Accurate Clocks Lead Search for New Laws of Physics

April 16, 2018

Atomic clocks are letting physicists tighten the lasso around elusive phenomena such as dark matter.

Trouble Detected in Infamous Dark Matter Signal

April 12, 2018

Independent scientists have cast serious doubt on a claimed detection of dark matter.

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A Revealer of Secrets in the Data of Life and the Universe

April 11, 2018

The statistician Donald Richards lives to uncover subtle patterns hiding in real-world data.

The Elusive Calculus of Insects’ Altruism and Kin Selection

April 10, 2018

How the ultra-cooperative behavior of ants, bees and other social insects could have evolved continues to challenge formal analysis. But a new theory about hedging bets against nature’s unpredictability may change the math and shift the debate.

Mathematicians Explore Mirror Link Between Two Geometric Worlds

April 9, 2018

Decades after physicists happened upon a stunning mathematical coincidence, researchers are getting close to understanding the link between two seemingly unrelated geometric universes.

How the DNA Computer Program Makes You and Me

April 5, 2018

Can a set of simple instructions produce complex, three-dimensional living structures?

New Brain Maps With Unmatched Detail May Change Neuroscience

April 4, 2018

A technique based on genetic bar codes can easily map the connections of individual brain cells in unprecedented numbers. Unexpected complexity in the visual system is only the first secret it has revealed.

Quantum Correlations Reverse Thermodynamic Arrow of Time

April 2, 2018

A recent experiment shows how quantum mechanics can make heat flow from a cold body to a hot one, an apparent (though not real) violation of the second law of thermodynamics.

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