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Quanta’s Science and Math Crossword Puzzle
This holiday season, catch up on science and math news while solving our year-end crossword.
Mathematicians Find Wrinkle in Famed Fluid Equations
Two mathematicians prove that under certain extreme conditions, the Navier-Stokes equations output nonsense.
A Mathematician Who Decodes the Patterns Stamped Out by Life
Corina Tarnita deciphers bizarre patterns in the soil created by competing life-forms.
The End of the RNA World Is Near, Biochemists Argue
For decades, an origin-of-life story starring RNA has prevailed. New research may be shaking that theory’s hold on our understanding of life’s beginnings.
Why Is M-Theory the Leading Candidate for Theory of Everything?
The mother of all string theories passes a litmus test that, so far, no other candidate theory of quantum gravity has been able to match.
Light-Triggered Genes Reveal the Hidden Workings of Memory
Nobel laureate Susumu Tonegawa’s lab is overturning old assumptions about how memories form, how recall works and whether lost memories might be restored from "silent engrams."
New Bird Species Arises From Hybrids, as Scientists Watch
The rapid, unorthodox emergence of a new finch in the Galápagos hints that speciation isn’t rare. New hybrid species may quietly appear and disappear without anyone noticing.
Neutrinos Suggest Solution to Mystery of Universe’s Existence
Updated results from a Japanese neutrino experiment continue to reveal an inconsistency in the way that matter and antimatter behave.
The (Math) Problem With Pentagons
Triangles fit effortlessly together, as do squares. When it comes to pentagons, what gives?