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Is Infinity Real?

June 16, 2016

Three puzzles test whether the concept of infinity has purchase in the physical world.

LIGO Reports Second Black-Hole Merger

June 15, 2016

The spokesperson for the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory called it “a promising start to mapping the populations of black holes in our universe.”

The Downside to Neanderthal DNA

June 14, 2016

How interbreeding among early hominins harmed humans but may have slowed the Neanderthals’ decline.

A Glimpse Through a Cosmic Keyhole

June 14, 2016

What could cause galaxies millions of light years apart to all spew material in the same direction?

Have Physicists Discovered a New Boson?

June 14, 2016

A group of little-known Hungarian physicists claim to have found a new fundamental particle. Now other researchers are raising questions about the team’s past work.

Q&A

An Explorer of Quantum Borderlands

June 9, 2016

Suchitra Sebastian’s searches for quantum anomalies have led to the potential discovery of a new building block of matter.

Evidence of a ‘Fifth Force’ Faces Scrutiny

June 7, 2016

A lab in Hungary has reported an anomaly that could lead to a physics revolution. But even as excitement builds, closer scrutiny has unearthed a troubling backstory.

Simple Set Game Proof Stuns Mathematicians

May 31, 2016

A new series of papers has settled a long-standing question related to the popular game in which players seek patterned sets of three cards.

Solution: ‘A Random Place at the Table’

May 26, 2016

Try these shortcuts for solving problems that seem to require a lengthy calculation.

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