Last spring, scientists retrieved a trove of mantle rocks from underneath the Atlantic seafloor — a bounty that could help write the first chapter of life’s story on Earth.

Researchers are discovering the shortest knots and fattest Möbius strips, among other “optimal shapes.”

Biologists discovered that mitochondria in different tissues talk to each other to repair injured cells. When their signal fails, the biological clock starts winding down.

Locally correctable codes need barely any information to fix errors, but they’re extremely long. Now we know that the simplest versions can’t get any shorter.

In an atomically thin stack of semiconductors, a mechanism unseen in any natural substance causes electrons’ spins to align.

The links between math, music and art have been explored for thousands of years. Sarah Hart is now turning a mathematical eye to literature.

As computer-driven cars and planes become more common, the key to preventing accidents, researchers show, is to know what you don’t know.

John Conway’s Game of Life, a famous cellular automaton, has been found to have periodic patterns of every possible length.

As measurements of distant stars and galaxies become more precise, cosmologists are struggling to make sense of sparring values.

Far from being “stochastic parrots,” the biggest large language models seem to learn enough skills to understand the words they’re processing.

The cerebellum is responsible for far more than coordinating movement. New techniques reveal that it is, in fact, a hub of sensory and emotional processing in the brain.

Some neighborhoods in the Milky Way may be better suited for making habitable planets than others.

The Joy of Why podcast returns for a third season, with two co-hosts, 24 brilliant guests and 24 all-new episodes.

If Anna beats Benji in a game and Benji beats Carl, will Anna beat Carl?

For decades, a small group of mathematicians has patiently unraveled the mystery of what was once math’s most popular picture. Their story shows how technology transforms even the most abstract mathematical landscapes.

Integer linear programming can help find the answer to a variety of real-world problems. Now researchers have found a much faster way to do it.

Two mathematicians have shown that origami can, in principle, be used to perform any possible computation.

A mutant seedling revealed how plant tissues scatter incoming light, allowing plants to sense its direction and move toward it.

Terence Tao, who has been called the “Mozart of Mathematics,” wrote an essay in 2007 about the common ingredients in “good” mathematical research. In this episode, the Fields Medalist joins Steven Strogatz to revisit the topic.

The Reykjanes Peninsula has entered a new volcanic era. Innovative efforts to map and monitor the subterranean magma are saving lives.

The pathbreaking geneticist Cassandra Extavour pursues the secrets of multicellular life while balancing careers in both science and singing.