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Mathematicians Prove Hawking Wrong About the Most Extreme Black Holes
For decades, extremal black holes were considered mathematically impossible. A new proof reveals otherwise.
Diminishing Dark Energy May Evade the ‘Swampland’ of Impossible Universes
The largest-ever 3D map of the cosmos hints that the dark energy that’s fueling the universe’s expansion may be weakening. One community of theoretical physicists expected as much.
The Viral Paleontologist Who Unearths Pathogens’ Deep Histories
Sébastien Calvignac-Spencer searches museum jars for genetic traces of flu, measles and other viruses. Their evolutionary stories can help treat modern outbreaks and prepare for future ones.
Are Robots About to Level Up?
Today’s AI largely lives in computers, but acting and reacting in the real world — that’s the realm of robots. In this week’s episode, co-host Steven Strogatz talks with pioneering roboticist Daniela Rus about creativity, collaboration, and the unusual forms robots of the future might take.
The Webb Telescope Further Deepens the Biggest Controversy in Cosmology
A long-awaited study of the cosmic expansion rate suggests that when it comes to the Hubble tension, cosmologists are still missing something.
The Geometric Tool That Solved Einstein’s Relativity Problem
Tensors are used all over math and science to reveal hidden geometric truths. What are they?
How Base 3 Computing Beats Binary
Long explored but infrequently embraced, base 3 computing may yet find a home in cybersecurity.
Physicists Pinpoint the Quantum Origin of the Greenhouse Effect
Carbon dioxide’s powerful heat-trapping effect has been traced to a quirk of its quantum structure. The finding may explain climate change better than any computer model.
Grad Students Find Inevitable Patterns in Big Sets of Numbers
A new proof marks the first progress in decades on a problem about how order emerges from disorder.