Space & Physics
Search Escalates for Key to Why Matter Exists
Physicists have completed a new round of searches for the answer to why matter dominates antimatter. But the radioactive decay that would solve the puzzle evades them
Stories by Quanta Magazine
The Sciences
A Digital Copy of the Universe, Encrypted
As physics prepares for ambitious projects like the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, the field is seeking new methods of data-driven discovery
Evolution
Debate on Evolution of Multicellular Organisms Starts to Gain Focus
Cassandra Extavour and her colleagues, who study the origins of multicellular organisms and the evolution of cooperation, still disagree on the meaning of key concepts such as cooperation, competition and fitness...
Biology
Evolution Is an Opportunist
A computational study reveals surprising flexibility hidden within metabolic networks, providing new evidence for an evolutionary concept called exaptation
Biology
In Natural Networks, Strength in Loops
In the complex architecture that ferries fluids in plants and brains, scientists are finding a model of resilience
The Sciences
Mathematical Impressions: Making Music with a Möbius Strip
Musical chords naturally inhabit certain topological spaces, which show the possible paths that a composer can use to move between chords
Cognition
As Machines Get Smarter, Evidence Grows that They Learn Like Us
Studies suggest that computer models called neural networks may learn to recognize patterns in data using the same algorithms as the human brain
The Sciences
Mathematical Impressions: Goldberg Polyhedra [Video]
Because of their aesthetic appeal, organic feel and easily understood structure, Goldberg polyhedra have a surprising number of applications ranging from golf-ball dimple patterns to nuclear-particle detector arrays...
Biology
Tiny Genomes May Offer Clues to First Plants and Animals
Symbiotic bacteria that dwell within insect cells are intricately intertwined with their hosts, prompting scientists to question when these bacteria stop being bona fide organisms and become part of the cell...
Space & Physics
New Physics Complications Lend Support to Multiverse Hypothesis
Decades of confounding experiments have physicists considering a startling possibility: the universe might not make sense
The Sciences
The Mathematics of Juggling [Video]
Juggling has advanced enormously in recent decades, thanks in part to the mathematical study of possible patterns
The Sciences
Follow That Bike!
The direction a bicycle has traveled can be determined by examining its tracks and thinking about tangent lines, geometric constraints and the bike's steering mechanism
Biology
Biologists Home in on Tiger Stripes and Turing Patterns [Slide Show]
New research has prompted a resurgence of interest in the patterning mechanisms Alan Turing proposed 60 years ago
The Sciences
Mathematical Impressions: An Exploration of Symmetric Structures [Video]
Objects with icosahedral symmetry occur in nature only at microscopic scales, including quasicrystals, many viruses and some beautiful protozoa in the radiolarian family
Math
How to Make Impossible Wallpaper
A new collection of arresting wallpaper designs seems to defy the crystallographic restriction
The Sciences
The Real Power of Crystals: Attesting to Atoms
The exact angles of crystals reveals their underlying structure as given by repeating lattices of atoms and molecules, as explained in this video by geometer George Hart
The Sciences
Mathematical Impressions: The Surprising Menger Sponge Slice [Video]
What happens when this well-studied cube-like fractal is sliced on a diagonal plane? Try to predict the solution the puzzle before minute 3:25 in this video
The Sciences
Mathematical Impressions: Can You Turn a Rubber Band into a Knot? [Video]
Theory suggests it is impossible, but geometer George Hart shows that the band's thickness can help you solve this puzzle
Evolution
Hunger Game: Is Honesty Between Animals Always the Best Policy?
A game theory model suggests that animal communication may have evolved to be honest most of the time, but not always
Health
Privacy by the Numbers: A New Approach to Safeguarding Data
A mathematical technique called “differential privacy” gives researchers access to vast repositories of personal data while meeting a high standard for privacy protection
