Archive

Enter the world of perfect numbers and explore the mystery mathematicians have spent thousands of years trying to solve.

Spurred on by quantum experiments that scramble the ordering of causes and their effects, some physicists are figuring out how to abandon causality altogether.

A supernova-like explosion dubbed the Camel appears to be the result of a newborn black hole eating a star from the inside out.

Scientists have struggled to formulate a universal definition of life. Is it possible they don’t need one?

The molecular biologist Bonnie Bassler is deciphering the chemical languages that bacteria use to coordinate their assaults on a host.

By harnessing randomness, a new algorithm achieves a fundamentally novel — and faster — way of performing one of the most basic computations in math and computer science.

A former graduate student reflects on how Isadore Singer, who died on February 11, brought together mathematicians, physicists and anyone else interested in the deeper connections between diverse fields.

A new thought experiment indicates that quantum mechanics doesn’t work without strange numbers that turn negative when squared.

In a second season of enlightened conversations, Steven Strogatz and leading researchers nourish our pandemic-starved minds.