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Experiments Spell Doom for Decades-Old Explanation of Quantum Weirdness
Physical-collapse theories have long offered a natural solution to the central mystery of the quantum world. But a series of increasingly precise experiments are making them untenable.
Inside the Proton, the ‘Most Complicated Thing You Could Possibly Imagine’
The positively charged particle at the heart of the atom is an object of unspeakable complexity, one that changes its appearance depending on how it is probed.
The Computer Scientist Who’s Boosting Privacy on the Internet
Harry Halpin wants our internet conversations to be more private. He’s helped create a new kind of network that might make it possible.
Mathematicians Discover the Fibonacci Numbers Hiding in Strange Spaces
Recent explorations of unique geometric worlds reveal perplexing patterns, including the Fibonacci sequence and the golden ratio.
Teenager Solves Stubborn Riddle About Prime Number Look-Alikes
In his senior year of high school, Daniel Larsen proved a key theorem about Carmichael numbers — strange entities that mimic the primes.
Human Brains Are Hard to Study. He Grows Useful Substitutes.
With stem cell technology and lab-grown brain organoids, Sergiu Paşca seeks the causes of autism and other neuropsychiatric conditions.
Lab-Grown Human Cells Form Working Circuits in Rat Brains
Letting human brain organoids grow in animal brains could be an ethical new option for experimental studies of neurological disorders.
How Do You Prove a Secret?
Zero-knowledge proofs allow researchers to prove their knowledge without divulging the knowledge itself.
Machine Learning Highlights a Hidden Order in Scents
Efforts to build a better digital “nose” suggest that our perception of scents reflects both the structure of aromatic molecules and the metabolic processes that make them.