A new proof shows that a knot some thought would contradict the famed slice-ribbon conjecture doesn’t.

Richard Feynman’s path integral is both a powerful prediction machine and a philosophy about how the world is. But physicists are still struggling to figure out how to use it, and what it means.

“Liquid” neural nets, based on a worm’s nervous system, can transform their underlying algorithms on the fly, giving them unprecedented speed and adaptability.

Type Ia supernovas are astronomers’ best tools for measuring cosmic distances. In a first, researchers have managed to re-create one on a supercomputer, giving a boost to a leading hypothesis for how they form.

As The Joy of Why podcast returns for a second season, producer Polly Stryker and host Steven Strogatz invite listeners to join them and their brilliant new guests on another voyage of discovery.

Is it possible to fill space “cubically” with shapes that act like spheres? A proof at the intersection of geometry and theoretical computer science says yes.

Regenerative medicine researcher Kristy Red Horse’s discoveries may someday help damaged hearts heal better. Her stewardship of her Native American heritage may advance science in other ways too.

The neocortex of our brain is the seat of our intellect. New data suggests that mammals created it with new types of cells that they developed only after their evolutionary split from reptiles.

Large language models still struggle with basic reasoning tasks. Two new papers that apply machine learning to math provide a blueprint for how that could change.

Mathematicians have struggled to understand the moduli space of graphs. A new paper uses tools from physics to peek inside.

“Virovores” — organisms that survive and multiply by eating viruses — might influence the flow of energy through ecosystems.

The quantum energy teleportation protocol was proposed in 2008 and largely ignored. Now two independent experiments have shown that it works.

Big Freeze, Big Rip, Big Crunch, Bounce or vacuum decay? Steven Strogatz speaks with theoretical cosmologist Katie Mack about the five ways that scientists think the universe could come to an end.

Several real-life pathogens can change a host’s behavior against their will. Here’s what we know about these zombie-like infections.

There appear to be too many gamma rays coming from the sun. New higher-energy measurements reveal that this excess continues for a bit, then disappears — a cutoff that could help clarify what’s going on.

Feelings of loneliness prompt changes in the brain that further isolate people from social contact.

Lek-Heng Lim uses tools from algebra, geometry and topology to answer questions in machine learning.

Cryptographers have shown how perfect security can undermine machine learning models.

Explore a universe of numbers and arithmetic in our new interactive math game, Hyperjumps!

By replacing thousands of equations with just one, ecology modelers can more accurately assess how close fragile environments are to a disastrous “tipping point.”

New calculations suggest that the event horizons around black holes will ‘decohere’ quantum possibilities — even those that are far away.