Archives: Quanta
Dark Energy Tested on a Tabletop
Is dark energy a cosmic chameleon that can fade into its surroundings? A recent test brings the mysterious anti-gravitational force down to earth.
Did Neurons Evolve Twice?
The comb jelly, a primitive marine creature, is forcing scientists to rethink how animals got their start.
‘Penguin’ Anomaly Hints at Missing Particles
A penguin-shaped anomaly first detected two years ago has survived a comprehensive new analysis of data from the first run of CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC).
Mathematicians Chase Moonshine’s Shadow
In 1978, the mathematician John McKay noticed what seemed like an odd coincidence. He had been studying the different ways of representing the structure of a mysterious entity called the monster group, a gargantuan algebraic object that, mathematicians believed, captured a new kind of symmetry. Mathematicians weren’t sure that the monster group actually existed, but they knew that if it did exist, it acted in special ways in particular dimensions, the first two of which were 1 and 196,883.
Killer Epidemic Is Invading Koala DNA
An infection sweeping through Australia’s koala population is revealing how retroviruses insert themselves into the genome
Genetic Geometry Takes Shape
Inside the cell’s nucleus, the double helix folds up in myriad loops and twists. The quest to unravel this structure is revealing the subtle genetic orchestration of all life on Earth.
In Fake Universes, Evidence for String Theory
Researchers are demonstrating that, in certain contexts, string theory is the only consistent theory of quantum gravity. Might this make it true?
Game Theory Calls Cooperation Into Question
A recent solution to the prisoner’s dilemma, a classic game theory scenario, has created new puzzles in evolutionary biology.
Breakthrough DNA Editor Borne of Bacteria
Interest in a powerful DNA editing tool called CRISPR has revealed that bacteria are far more sophisticated than anyone imagined.
Networks Reveal the Connections of Disease
Enormous databases of medical records have begun to reveal the hidden biological missteps that make us sick.