As measurements of distant stars and galaxies become more precise, cosmologists are struggling to make sense of sparring values.

John Conway’s Game of Life, a famous cellular automaton, has been found to have periodic patterns of every possible length.

Microbiologists are searching for a universal theory of how bacteria form communities based not on their species but on the roles they play.

As computer-driven cars and planes become more common, the key to preventing accidents, researchers show, is to know what you don’t know.

The links between math, music and art have been explored for thousands of years. Sarah Hart is now turning a mathematical eye to literature.

In an atomically thin stack of semiconductors, a mechanism unseen in any natural substance causes electrons’ spins to align.

Locally correctable codes need barely any information to fix errors, but they’re extremely long. Now we know that the simplest versions can’t get any shorter.

Biologists discovered that mitochondria in different tissues talk to each other to repair injured cells. When their signal fails, the biological clock starts winding down.

Researchers are discovering the shortest knots and fattest Möbius strips, among other “optimal shapes.”