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The New Quest to Control Evolution
Modern scientists aren’t content with predicting how life evolves. They want to shape it.
Pierre de Fermat’s Link to a High School Student’s Prime Math Proof
How Fermat’s less famous “little theorem” got mathematicians young and old to play with prime-like Carmichael numbers.
A Brief History of Tricky Mathematical Tiling
The discovery earlier this year of the “hat” tile marked the culmination of hundreds of years of work into tiles and their symmetries.
How Simple Math Moves the Needle
The spatial intuition behind a three-point turn offers an on-ramp to a century-old geometry problem.
How Many Microbes Does It Take to Make You Sick?
Exposure to a virus isn’t an all-or-nothing proposition. The concept of “infectious dose” suggests ways to keep ourselves safer from harm.
The Hidden Brain Connections Between Our Hands and Tongues
Sticking out your tongue while doing delicate work with your hands reveals a history of evolutionary relationships.
How Genetic Surprises Complicate the Old Doctrine of DNA
For over a century, biologists have had to contend with a complicated picture of genetics, which they’ve only recently begun to understand.
Math That Lets You Think Locally but Act Globally
Knowing a little about the local connections on flight maps and other networks can reveal a lot about a system’s global structure.
How Math Achieved Transcendence
Transcendental numbers include famous examples like e and π, but it took mathematicians centuries to understand them.