Archive

The most comprehensive survey of how we share our microbiomes suggests a new way of thinking about the risks of developing some diseases that aren’t usually considered contagious.

Cosmologists are using secondary signatures from the cosmic microwave background to map the universe’s hidden matter.

Arvind Narayanan uses quantitative methods to expose and correct the misuse of quantitative methods.

Using “refreshingly old” tools, mathematicians resolved a 50-year-old conjecture about how to categorize important functions called modular forms, with consequences for number theory and theoretical physics.

By genetically instructing cells to perform tasks that they wouldn’t in nature, synthetic biologists can learn deep secrets about how life works. Steven Strogatz discusses the potential of this young field with researcher Michael Elowitz.

A paper in Nature reports the discovery of a superconductor that operates at room temperatures and near-room pressures. The claim has divided the research community.

New calculations suggest that the event horizons around black holes will ‘decohere’ quantum possibilities — even those that are far away.

By replacing thousands of equations with just one, ecology modelers can more accurately assess how close fragile environments are to a disastrous “tipping point.”

Cryptographers have shown how perfect security can undermine machine learning models.