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The Illuminating Geometry of Viruses
Mathematical insights into how RNA helps viruses pull together their protein shells could guide future studies of viral behavior and function.
In Game Theory, No Clear Path to Equilibrium
John Nash’s notion of equilibrium is ubiquitous in economic theory, but a new study shows that it is often impossible to reach efficiently.
Eva Silverstein’s Spirals and Strings
Daily bike rides, serendipitous interactions and long periods of solo thinking inspire this string cosmologist.
Missing Mutations Suggest a Reason for Sex
Sex might help natural selection purge excessive mistakes from our genes.
Cell Atlases Reveal Biology’s Frontiers
New techniques expose unexpected diversity within seemingly uniform tissues.
Marjorie Rice’s Secret Pentagons
A California housewife who in the 1970s discovered four new types of tessellating pentagons is dead at 94.
Pentagon Tiling Proof Solves Century-Old Math Problem
A French mathematician has completed the classification of all convex pentagons, and therefore all convex polygons, that tile the plane.
Subhash Khot, Playing Unique Games in Washington Square Park
The theoretical computer scientist behind the influential Unique Games Conjecture delights in the wonders of New York’s Washington Square Park, where he ponders the impossible.
Why Are There Two Sexes?
Asexual reproduction can produce twice as many offspring as sexual reproduction without the hassle of finding and courting a mate. So why do most complex animals have two sexes? Why not three?