We give our genes and our environment all the credit for making us who we are. But random noise during development might be a deciding factor, too.

How does experience alter our perceptions? This adapted book excerpt from We Know It When We See It describes how the brain’s visual system rewires itself to

The paleontologist Pincelli Hull has nailed down the timing and speed of the extinction that killed off the dinosaurs — details that carry ominous warnings for today.

A recently unearthed fossil and new genomic discoveries are filling important gaps in scientists’ understanding of how primitive green algae eventually evolved

While the age-old chicken-and-egg paradox is easily answered, the question of infinite regress in physics is far from resolved.

Three progressively heavier copies of each type of matter particle exist, and no one knows why. A new paper by Steven Weinberg takes a stab at explaining the

When 50 mathematicians spend a week in the woods, there’s no telling what will happen. And that’s the point.

This April, find the fatal flaws in two paradoxical claims — one about a perpetual source of energy and the other about whether you will ever see the solution

Sometimes a mirror that reflects 99.9999% of light isn’t good enough.

Mathematicians have figured out how to expand the reach of a mysterious bridge connecting two distant continents in the mathematical world.

The laws of physics imply that the passage of time is an illusion. To avoid this conclusion, we might have to rethink the reality of infinitely precise numbers.

A landmark proof in computer science has also solved an important problem called the Connes embedding conjecture. Mathematicians are working to understand it.

In their search for sources of genetic novelty, researchers find that some “orphan genes” with no obvious ancestors evolve out of junk DNA, contrary to old assumptions.

Freeman Dyson — physicist, mathematician, writer and idea factory — died on February 28, but his vitality lives on.

To stay healthy, humans and some other animals rely on a complex community of bacteria in their guts. But research is starting to show that those partnerships might be more the exception than the rule.

The first official evidence of a key imbalance between neutrinos and antineutrinos provides one of the best clues for why the universe contains something rather

For pioneering computer scientist Donald Knuth, good coding is synonymous with beautiful expression.

The legendary mathematician, who died on April 11, was curious, colorful and one of the greatest problem-solvers of his generation.

The inside of a slipping fault line may look something like an avalanche.

And why is the black hole at the center of our own galaxy so dim?

Why did sex evolve? Theories usually focus on the diversity of future generations, but some researchers find compelling explanations in the immediate benefits to individuals.