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Solution: ‘The Problem With Dancing Shapes’
Assigning elements from a large collection to one of two categories can yield almost “magical” predictions about highly complicated problems without actually solving them.
The Quantum Secret to Superconductivity
In a virtuoso experiment, physicists have revealed details of a “quantum critical point” that underlies high-temperature superconductivity.
From Einstein’s Theory to Gravity’s Chirp
The path from a revolutionary set of equations to the detection of gravitational waves was strewn with obstacles and controversy, explains the physicist Daniel Kennefick — and the struggle continues.
How to Build Life in a Pre-Darwinian World
Perhaps chemistry played a more instrumental role in the origin of life than scientists thought.
Gravitational Waves Discovered at Long Last
Ripples in space-time have been detected a century after Einstein predicted them, launching a new era in astronomy.
The Problem With Dancing Shapes
In a geometrically designed social club, how do dancing, triangles and hexagons mix?
Scientists Debate Signatures of Alien Life
Searching for signs of life on faraway planets, astrobiologists must decide which telltale biosignature gases to target.
Solution: ‘Sleeping Beauty’s Dilemma’
The solution to this month’s puzzle gets to the bottom of the famously ambiguous Sleeping Beauty probability problem.
Searching for the Algorithms Underlying Life
The biological world is computational at its core, argues computer scientist Leslie Valiant.