To see how one cube can pass through another, imagine holding a cube over a table and examining its shadow (assuming it’s ...

The recent paper studies algorithmic pricing through the lens of game theory, an interdisciplinary field at the border of ...

Neuroscientists probing the boundary between sleep and awareness are finding many types of liminal states, which help explain ...

The math of even the simplest ocean waves is notoriously uncooperative. A team of Italian mathematicians has made major ...

The leading approach to the simplex method, a widely used technique for balancing complex logistical constraints, can’t get any better.

Geometry may have its origins thousands of years ago in ancient land surveying, but it has also had a surprising impact on modern physics. In the latest episode of The Joy of Why, Yang-Hui He explores ...

The same pulling force that causes “tears” in a glass of wine also shapes embryos. It’s another example of how genes exploit ...

Here’s a test for infants: Show them a glass of water on a desk. Hide it behind a wooden board. Now move the board toward the glass. If the board keeps going past the glass, as if it weren’t there, ...

“Anomalous” heat flow, which at first appears to violate the second law of thermodynamics, gives physicists a way to detect quantum entanglement without destroying it. If there’s one law of physics ...

Every Tuesday, editor in chief Samir Patel sits down with writers and editors to discuss our most thought-provoking stories in science and math. Audio editions of Quanta’s stories with Susan Valot ...