Archive

Machine learning works spectacularly well, but mathematicians aren’t quite sure why.

Nature offers species a panoply of ways to determine an organism’s sex. That flexibility suggests we need not be concerned about losing sex chromosomes, but it raises the question of why such a fundamental property is so variable.

The solution to this month’s puzzle explains how to find a rule behind a given sequence of numbers and challenges readers to take on a ‘lovely’ unsolved problem.

Three computer scientists have solved a problem central to a dozen far-flung mathematical fields.

The polymath Christoph Adami is investigating life’s origins by reimagining life as self-perpetuating information strings.

Scientists are homing in on a warning signal that arises in complex systems like ecological food webs, the brain and the Earth’s climate. Could it help prevent future catastrophes?

Can you infer the simple rule behind a number sequence that spikes up and down like the beating of a heart?

Scientists have begun to identify the symphony of biological triggers that powered the extraordinary expansion of the human brain.

The biologist Joan Strassmann discusses cooperation in social insects, how amoebas can teach us about competition, and why the definition of “organism” needs an overhaul.