Abstractions blog

Peter Scholze is a favorite to win one of the highest honors in mathematics for his contributions in number theory and geometry.

Rampant rumors and a new analysis undercut hopes of a major discovery at the Large Hadron Collider.

Nature’s laws are beautiful because they strike a compromise between boring symmetry and confusing asymmetry, physicists say.

Metal-eating microbes get energy from rocks and could teach us about life on other worlds — but first scientists had to learn how to grow them in the lab.

Figuring out how these molecules form in the deep recesses of interstellar space might illuminate the origins of one of life’s distinguishing features.

The spokesperson for the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory called it “a promising start to mapping the populations of black holes in our universe.”

How interbreeding among early hominins harmed humans but may have slowed the Neanderthals’ decline.

What could cause galaxies millions of light years apart to all spew material in the same direction?

A group of little-known Hungarian physicists claim to have found a new fundamental particle. Now other researchers are raising questions about the team’s past work.