Explainers

We asked four physicists why gravity stands out among the forces of nature. We got four different answers.

Representation theory was initially dismissed. Today, it’s central to much of mathematics.

To distinguish between fundamentally different objects, mathematicians turn to invariants that encode the objects’ essential features.

Mathematicians try to figure out when problems can be solved using current knowledge — and when they have to chart a new path instead.

As COVID-19 cases continue to increase, our extensive knowledge of other coronaviruses informs our understanding.

And why is the black hole at the center of our own galaxy so dim?

Zoonotic diseases like influenza and many coronaviruses start out in animals, but their biological machinery often enables them to jump to humans.

A curious physicist has discovered an unexpected link between theoretical block collisions and a famed quantum search algorithm.

By considering simple symmetries, physicists working on the “bootstrap” can rediscover the basic form of the known forces that shape the universe.