Latest Articles

The Year in Computer Science

December 21, 2022

Computer scientists this year learned how to transmit perfect secrets, why transformers seem so good at everything, and how to improve on decades-old algorithms (with a little help from AI).

The Year in Biology

December 21, 2022

Momentum for new ideas in Alzheimer’s research joined advances in neuroscience, developmental biology and origin-of-life studies to make 2022 a memorable year of biological insights.

‘Fullertubes’ Join the Family of Carbon Crystals

December 20, 2022

The buckminsterfullerene revolution never came, but some researchers are eagerly exploring the properties of newfound carbon crystals known as fullertubes.

Q&A

She Finds Keys to Ecology in Cells That Steal From Others

December 19, 2022

The ecologist Holly Moeller studies microorganisms that expand their range by absorbing organelles and gaining new metabolic talents from their prey.

‘Nasty’ Geometry Breaks Decades-Old Tiling Conjecture

December 15, 2022

Mathematicians predicted that if they imposed enough restrictions on how a shape might tile space, they could force a periodic pattern to emerge. But they were wrong.

How the Brain Distinguishes Memories From Perceptions

December 14, 2022

The neural representations of a perceived image and the memory of it are almost the same. New work shows how and why they are different.

What Does It Mean to Align AI With Human Values?

December 13, 2022

Making sure our machines understand the intent behind our instructions is an important problem that requires understanding intelligence itself.

Q&A

She Turns Fluids Into ‘Black Holes’ and ‘Inflating Universes’

December 12, 2022

By using fluids to model inaccessible realms of the cosmos, Silke Weinfurtner is “looking for a deeper truth beyond one system.” But what can such experiments teach us?

What Causes Alzheimer’s? Scientists Are Rethinking the Answer. (Pt. 2)

December 8, 2022

If plaques of amyloid protein in the brain aren’t the root cause of Alzheimer’s disease, what is?

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