Archive

Only a few genetic changes were enough to change an ordinary stomach bug into the bacteria responsible for the plague.

Using crowd-sourced and traditional mathematics research, Terence Tao has devised a solution to a long-standing problem posed by the legendary Paul Erdős.

A major advance in computational complexity reveals deep connections between the classes of problems that computers can — and can’t — possibly do.

The solution to this month’s puzzle uses both mathematics and psychology to explain trouble with choosing the fastest route.

Nima Arkani-Hamed is championing a campaign to build the world’s largest particle collider, even as he pursues a new vision of the laws of nature.

The biologist Nancy Moran has spent a career investigating the surprising nature of symbiosis, a phenomenon in which two species can appear to merge into one.

Cellular clocks are almost everywhere. Clues to how they work are coming from the places they’re not.

Einstein refused to believe in the inherent unpredictability of the world. Is the subatomic world insane, or just subtle?

In the drive to safeguard data from future quantum computers, cryptographers have stumbled upon a thin red line between security and efficiency.