Stories by Davide Castelvecchi

Yves Meyer wins the Abel Prize for development of a theory with applications ranging from watching movies to detecting gravitational waves

 The cloud-based "IBM Q" service is not expected to outperform conventional computers—yet

A new solution to a decades-old geometry puzzle might unlock the secrets of our planet's inner structure

It missed the historic discovery, but the Virgo lab in Italy is now primed to extend LIGO’s reach and precision

A new study reports the compression of hydrogen gas to a metallic state, but skeptics are unconvinced

Google, Microsoft and a host of labs and start-ups are racing to turn scientific curiosities into working machines

For the first time, researchers have measured how antimatter absorbs light

Artificial-intelligence algorithms can learn a lot from playing immersive 3D video games

A modified bacterial enzyme is taught to make bonds that evolution avoids  

Supercomputer calculation suggests hypothesized particle may be heavier than thought

The new estimate could help astronomers better understand how galaxies form and grow

Artificial intelligence is everywhere. But before scientists trust it, they first need to understand how machines learn

The Internet giant claims its latest service employs neural networks to cut the error rate by 60 percent

Tiangong 2 will develop expertise for a future space station and conduct science experiments

The first results from the Gaia mission are poised to rewrite astronomy textbooks, starting with an upgrade to the size of our galaxy

IceCube observatory reports null result in search for particle

A rare appearance by enigmatic Shinichi Mochizuki brings faint optimism about his famously impenetrable work

Experiment hints we sense light’s tiniest specks “at the threshold of imagination”  

Pioneering techniques could settle longstanding controversy about the accuracy of previous simulations

The technique could allow quantum computers to address otherwise-intractable problems in particle physics

A molecule made by trees can seed clouds, suggesting that pre-industrial skies were less sunny than thought

Four published papers offer diverse explanations for a possible new particle

Multiple teams finally have the material they need to repeat an enigmatic experiment

A momentous signal from space has confirmed decades of theorizing on black holes—and launched a new era of gravitational-wave astronomy