Latest Articles

With Fifth Busy Beaver, Researchers Approach Computation’s Limits

July 2, 2024

After decades of uncertainty, a motley team of programmers has proved precisely how complicated simple computer programs can get.

Q&A

Tracing the Hidden Hand of Magnetism in the Galaxy

July 1, 2024

Susan Clark is helping to unravel the mysterious workings of the Milky Way’s magnetic field, a critical missing piece of the galactic puzzle.

Why Is This Shape So Terrible to Pack?

June 28, 2024

Two mathematicians have proved a long-standing conjecture that is a step on the way toward finding the worst shape for packing the plane.

How AI Revolutionized Protein Science, but Didn’t End It

June 26, 2024

Three years ago, Google’s AlphaFold pulled off the biggest artificial intelligence breakthrough in science to date, accelerating molecular research and kindling deep questions about why we do science.

The Question of What’s Fair Illuminates the Question of What’s Hard

June 24, 2024

Computational complexity theorists have discovered a surprising new way to understand what makes certain problems hard.

How the Square Root of 2 Became a Number

June 21, 2024

Useful mathematical concepts, like the number line, can linger for millennia before they are rigorously defined.

How Is Science Even Possible?

June 20, 2024

How are scientists able to crack fundamental questions about nature and life? How does math make the complex cosmos understandable? In this episode, the physicist Nigel Goldenfeld and co-host Steven Strogatz explore the deep foundations of the scientific process.

Across a Continent, Trees Sync Their Fruiting to the Sun

June 18, 2024

European beech trees more than 1,500 kilometers apart all drop their fruit at the same time in a grand synchronization event now linked to the summer solstice.

The Enduring Mystery of How Water Freezes

June 17, 2024

Making ice requires more than subzero temperatures. The unpredictable process takes microscopic scaffolding, random jiggling and often a little bit of bacteria.

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