Archive

The Kakeya conjecture predicts how much room you need to point a line in every direction. In one number system after another — with one important exception — mathematicians have been proving it true.

In the days after the mega-telescope started delivering data, astronomers reported new discoveries about galaxies, stars, exoplanets and even Jupiter.

Mathematicians have been studying the distribution of prime numbers for thousands of years. Recent results about a curious kind of prime offer a new take on how spread out they can be.

Nia Imara is working to understand the mysterious clouds of gas and dust that collapse into stars.

Structural studies of the robust material called sporopollenin reveal how it made plants hardy enough to reproduce on dry land.

Three computer scientists have posted a proof of the NLTS conjecture, showing that systems of entangled particles can remain difficult to analyze even away from extremes.

In 1973, Paul Erdős asked if it was possible to assemble sets of “triples” — three points on a graph — so that they abide by two seemingly incompatible rules. A new proof shows it can always be done.

What makes a proof stronger than a guess? What does evidence look like in the realm of mathematical abstraction? Hear the mathematician Melanie Matchett Wood explain how probability helps to guide number theorists toward certainty.

Surprising as it may sound, 107 years after the introduction of general relativity, the meanings of basic concepts are still being worked out.