What's up in

Abstractions blog

Latest Articles

Visionary Mathematician Vladimir Voevodsky Dies at 51

October 11, 2017

Voevodsky’s friends remember him as constitutionally unable to compromise on the truth — a quality that led him to produce some of the most important mathematics of the 20th century.

Ultra-Powerful Radio Bursts May Be Getting a Cosmic Boost

October 10, 2017

Repeating radio bursts are among the most mysterious phenomena in the universe. A new theory explores how some of their puzzling properties can be explained by galactic lenses made of plasma.

One-Way Salesman Finds Fast Path Home

October 5, 2017

The real-world version of the famous “traveling salesman problem” finally gets a good-enough solution.

Supercool Protein Imaging Gets the Nobel Prize

October 4, 2017

This year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry goes to researchers who made it possible to see proteins and other biomolecules at an atomic level of detail.

LIGO Architects Win Nobel Prize in Physics

October 3, 2017

The American physicists Rainer Weiss, Kip Thorne and Barry Barish were honored for dreaming up and realizing the experiment that confirmed the existence of gravitational waves.

Nobel Prize Awarded for Biological Clock Discoveries

October 2, 2017

Three U.S. biologists share the Nobel Prize in Medicine for their research into the molecular mechanism that drives circadian rhythm.

The Math That Promises to Make the World Brighter

September 6, 2017

The color of LED lights is controlled by a clumsy process. A new mathematical discovery may make it easier for us to get the hues we want.

The Oldest Mini-Brains Have Lifelike Young Cells

August 29, 2017

"Organoid" brain tissue models grown in a lab for two years can help scientists study a critical period of development just before and after birth.

For Astronomers, Neutron Star Merger Could Eclipse Eclipse

August 25, 2017

Even as the solar eclipse was mesmerizing millions, astronomers were training their space- and land-based telescopes on a far more violent astrophysical event.

Get highlights of the most important news delivered to your email inbox