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The Physicist’s New Book of Life
Jeremy England says religious ideas can inform our scientific quest for the origin of life.
Why Physics Can’t Tell Us What Life Is
The origin of life can’t be explained by first principles.
The Self-Driving Car Is a Red Herring
Ghost roads of robot workhorses will power cities through the shocks of the 21st century.
How to Pull Off a Socially Distanced Deep-Sea Mission
Early in the pandemic, the ocean research vessel Falkor ended up going on an unplanned, month-long journey into the depths of the Australian sea—led by scientists who never set foot onboard.
An Infinite Universe of Number Systems
The p-adics form an infinite collection of number systems based on prime numbers. They’re at the heart of modern number theory.
Room-Temperature Superconductivity Achieved for the First Time
Physicists have reached a long-sought goal. The catch is that their room-temperature superconductor requires crushing pressures to keep from falling apart.
New Clues to Chemical Origins of Metabolism at Dawn of Life
The ingredients for reactions ancestral to metabolism could have formed very easily in the primordial soup, October 2020 work suggests.
Our Mind-Boggling Sense of Smell
How your brain identifies an aroma from its minute molecular traces is a marvel.