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Gravitational Waves Discovered at Long Last

February 11, 2016

Ripples in space-time have been detected a century after Einstein predicted them, launching a new era in astronomy.

The Problem With Dancing Shapes

February 9, 2016

In a geometrically designed social club, how do dancing, triangles and hexagons mix?

Scientists Debate Signatures of Alien Life

February 2, 2016

Searching for signs of life on faraway planets, astrobiologists must decide which telltale biosignature gases to target.

Solution: ‘Sleeping Beauty’s Dilemma’

January 29, 2016

The solution to this month’s puzzle gets to the bottom of the famously ambiguous Sleeping Beauty probability problem.

Q&A

Searching for the Algorithms Underlying Life

January 28, 2016

The biological world is computational at its core, argues computer scientist Leslie Valiant.

New Clues to How the Brain Maps Time

January 26, 2016

The same brain cells that track location in space appear to also count beats in time. The research suggests that our thoughts may take place on a mental space-time canvas.

Q&A

Taming Superconductors With String Theory

January 21, 2016

The physicist Subir Sachdev borrows tools from string theory to understand the puzzling behavior of high-temperature superconductors.

Quantum Weirdness Now a Matter of Time

January 19, 2016

Bizarre quantum bonds connect distinct moments in time, suggesting that quantum links — not space-time — constitute the fundamental structure of the universe.

Sleeping Beauty’s Necker Cube Dilemma

January 14, 2016

Like a visually ambiguous Necker cube, the famous Sleeping Beauty problem can be perceived in two seemingly valid ways.

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