Biology

The paleontologist Neil Shubin talks with host Steven Strogatz about hunting for a 375 million-year-old fossil and finding novel traits that evolved many times.

Researchers are tracking the different strains of SARS-CoV-2 and studying how they spread through our population and our bodies.

The learning algorithm that enables the runaway success of deep neural networks doesn’t work in biological brains, but researchers are finding alternatives that could.

By digging out signals hidden within the brain’s electrical chatter, scientists are getting new insights into sleep, aging and more.

Unusual proteins that can quickly fold into different shapes provide cells with a novel regulatory mechanism.

In the fight against COVID-19, disease modelers have struggled against misunderstanding and misuse of their work. They have also come to realize how unready the state of modeling was for this pandemic.

In grafted plants, shrunken chloroplasts can jump between species by slipping through unexpected gateways in cell walls.

Inside cells, droplets of biomolecules called condensates merge, divide and dissolve. Their dance may regulate vital processes.

Online comment platforms can bring out the best — and the worst — in people. At the end of a tumultuous year, Quanta’s editors highlight some of our favorite things you had to say.