An unorthodox symbiotic theory about the origin of eukaryotes’ defining characteristic may soon be put to the test.

At 21, Ashwin Sah has produced a body of work that senior mathematicians say is nearly unprecedented for a college student.

In three bursts of adaptive change, one species of cichlid fish in Lake Tanganyika gave rise to hundreds.

A team in Paris has made the most precise measurement yet of the fine-structure constant, killing hopes for a new force of nature.

The result highlights a fundamental tension: Either the rules of quantum mechanics don’t always apply, or at least one basic assumption about reality must be

Jelani Nelson designs clever algorithms that only have to remember slivers of massive data sets. He also teaches kids in Ethiopia how to code.

The simple insight that most changes are random had a profound effect on genetics, evolution and ecology.

Mathematicians have long pondered the reach of a grazing goat tied to a fence, only finding approximate answers until now.

The goal of the “busy beaver” game is to find the longest-running computer program. Its pursuit has surprising connections to some of the most profound

The neuroscientist Catherine Dulac is overturning preconceptions about “male” and “female” instincts and opening new avenues to treating postpartum depression.

Over the past two years, astronomers have rewritten the story of our galaxy.

Lauren Williams has charted an adventurous mathematical career out of the pieces of a fundamental object called the positive Grassmannian.

We don’t know why the universe appears to be expanding faster than it should. New ultra-precise distance measurements have only intensified the problem.

Mistletoes have all but shut down the powerhouses of their cells. Scientists are still trying to understand the plants’ unorthodox survival strategy.

Today’s information age is only possible thanks to the groundbreaking work of a lone genius.

Featuring paradoxical black holes, room-temperature superconductors and a new escape from the prison of time.

Featuring paradoxical black holes, room-temperature superconductors and a new escape from the prison of time.

Even as mathematicians and computer scientists proved big results in computational complexity, number theory and geometry, computers proved themselves increasingly indispensable in mathematics.

While the study of the SARS-CoV-2 virus was the most urgent priority, biologists also learned more about how brains process information, how to define individuality and why sleep deprivation kills.

Online comment platforms can bring out the best — and the worst — in people. At the end of a tumultuous year, Quanta's editors highlight some of our favorite things you had to say.

A number theorist recalls his first encounter with the Riemann hypothesis and breaks down the math in a new Quanta video.