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Why Insect Memories May Not Survive Metamorphosis
The reshuffling of neurons during fruit fly metamorphosis suggests that larval memories don’t persist in adults.
How (Nearly) Nothing Might Solve Cosmology’s Biggest Questions
By measuring the universe’s emptiest spaces, scientists can study how matter clumps together and how fast it flies apart.
New Proof Shows That ‘Expander’ Graphs Synchronize
The proof establishes new conditions that cause connected oscillators to sway in sync.
Math That Lets You Think Locally but Act Globally
Knowing a little about the local connections on flight maps and other networks can reveal a lot about a system’s global structure.
To Move Fast, Quantum Maze Solvers Must Forget the Past
Quantum algorithms can find their way out of mazes exponentially faster than classical ones, at the cost of forgetting the path they took. A new result suggests that the trade-off may be inevitable.
Mathematicians Solve Long-Standing Coloring Problem
A new result shows how much of the plane can be colored by points that are never exactly one unit apart.
How Quantum Physicists Explained Earth’s Oscillating Weather Patterns
By treating Earth as a topological insulator — a state of quantum matter — physicists found a powerful explanation for the movements of the planet’s air and seas.
Underground Cells Make ‘Dark Oxygen’ Without Light
In some deep subterranean aquifers, cells have a chemical trick for making oxygen that could sustain whole underground ecosystems.
How to Build a Big Prime Number
A new algorithm brings together the advantages of randomness and deterministic processes to reliably construct large prime numbers.