Conversations

Riehl talks about how higher category theory is like the viola, why she’s drawn to expository writing, and the responsibility mathematicians have to address social justice issues.

Claudia de Rham explains why gravity is so fundamental to our understanding of everything in the universe.

The microbial ecologist John Priscu of Montana State University discusses what led him to seek life beneath the barren, frozen wastes of Antarctica — and how his discoveries there are shaping the search for life on other worlds.

Liz MacDonald discusses what more people should know about the auroras.

James Maynard talks about why he’s obsessed with prime numbers.

Katie Mack describes the most likely scenario for the end of the universe.

Highlights from Tara C. Smith’s live YouTube event on May 1, 2020, in which she answered reader questions about the COVID-19 pandemic.

Evidence from the oceans decisively shows that an asteroid strike caused the last mass extinction, argues Pincelli Hull. The cataclysm continues to hold lessons for today.

Ronald Rivest of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology describes the role of computers in voting and what makes elections trustworthy.