Quanta
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The Oracle of Arithmetic
At 28, Peter Scholze is uncovering deep connections between number theory and geometry.
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New Life Found That Lives Off Electricity
Scientists have figured out how microbes can suck energy from rocks. Such life-forms might be more widespread than anyone anticipated.
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The Downside to Neanderthal DNA
The regions of DNA around our genes are conspicuously absent of Neanderthal DNA, suggesting that natural selection weeded it out. Now Rasmus Nielsen of the University of California, Berkeley, and […]
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Computing’s Search for Quantum Questions
Recent tests show that quantum computers made by D-Wave systems should solve some problems faster than ordinary computers. Researchers have begun to map out exactly which queries might benefit from […]
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Simple Set Game Proof Stuns Mathematicians
A new series of papers has settled a long-standing question related to the popular game in which players seek patterned sets of three cards.
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A Life Inspired by an Unexpected Genius
The mathematician Ken Ono believes that the story of Srinivasa Ramanujan — mathematical savant and two-time college dropout — holds valuable lessons for how we find and reward hidden genius.
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New Support for Alternative Quantum View
An experiment claims to have invalidated a decades-old criticism against pilot-wave theory, an alternative formulation of quantum mechanics that avoids the most baffling features of the subatomic universe.
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Tiny Tests Seek the Universe’s Big Mysteries
Huge supercolliders aren’t the only way to search for new physical phenomena. A new generation of experiments that can fit on a tabletop are probing the nature of dark matter […]
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A Secret Flexibility Found in Life’s Blueprints
A new study reveals that individual genes can create many different versions of the molecular machinery that powers the cell.