Groundbreaking results show that neutron stars of different masses may have the same size — upending astrophysical models.

Jordan Ellenberg enjoys studying — and writing about — the mathematics underlying everyday phenomena.

Playing with numbers can lead to deep mathematical and scientific insights.

Scientists have begun to decipher the subtle signs that reveal how explosive a volcanic eruption is going to be.

In some symbiotic partnerships, an RNA-based mechanism may sabotage the growth of greedy hosts.

A new proof establishes the boundary at which a shape becomes so corrugated, it can be crushed.

Scientists have long struggled to understand how common planets form. A new supercomputer simulation shows that the missing ingredient may be magnetism.

The discovery of a gene shared by two unrelated species of fish is the latest evidence that horizontal gene transfers occur surprisingly often in vertebrates.

The accelerating effort to understand the mathematics of quantum field theory will have profound consequences for both math and physics.

Superconductivity has been discovered in graphene devices without any twists, suggesting the form of superconductivity in the material might be mundane after all.

Federica Coppari uses the world’s most powerful laser to recreate the cores of distant worlds.

Animals sculpt the optical properties of their tissues at the nanoscale to give themselves “structural colors.” New work is piecing together how they do it.

In three towering papers, a team of mathematicians has worked out the details of Liouville quantum field theory, a two-dimensional model of quantum gravity.

Researchers have finally seen how some smell receptors bind to odor molecules. The work yields new insights into one of the most mysterious and versatile senses.

Jupiter and Saturn should be freezing cold. Instead, they’re hot. Researchers now know why.

For all their triumphs, AI systems can’t seem to generalize the concepts of “same” and “different.” Without that, researchers worry, the quest to create truly intelligent machines may be hopeless.

Even in an incomplete state, quantum field theory is the most successful physical theory ever discovered. Nathan Seiberg, one of its leading architects, talks about the gaps in QFT and how…

Genomic surveillance of the SARS-CoV-2 virus can help control the current pandemic and prevent future ones. But the process is marred by insufficient data and geographic inequities.

In this month’s puzzle, math is a question of life or death.

These ultrabright flashes have recently been tracked for days, upending ideas about the cataclysms that create them.