Quanta

The biologist Deborah Gordon has uncovered how ant colonies search efficiently without central organization, an insight that might improve computer networks.

By replacing black holes with fuzzballs — dense, star-like objects from string theory — researchers think they can avoid some knotty paradoxes at the edge of physics.

By swapping ancient genes into modern E. coli, scientists hope to tease out the rules of evolution.

A 150-year-old conundrum about how to group people has been solved, but many puzzles remain.

Quantum theorist Christopher Fuchs explains how to solve the paradoxes of quantum mechanics. His price: physics gets personal.

One of the greatest mysteries in physics could be solved by a mattress-like axion field that permeates space and time.

When a legendary mathematician found a mistake in his own work, he embarked on a computer-aided quest to eliminate human error. To succeed, he has to rewrite the century-old rules […]

Physicists are beginning to unravel the mysteries of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays, particles accelerated by the most powerful forces in the universe.

Researchers build the world’s largest evolutionary tree and conclude that species arise because of chance mutations — not natural selection.