New studies reveal the ancient, shared genetic “grammar” underpinning the diverse evolution of fish fins and tetrapod limbs.

The post Flying Fish and Aquarium Pets Yield Secrets of Evolution first appeared on Quanta Magazine

Decades ago, a mathematician posed a warmup problem for some of the most difficult questions about prime numbers. It turned out to be just as difficult to solve, until now.

The post Mathematicians Outwit Hidden Number Conspiracy first appeared on Quanta Magazine

A new paper shows how to create longer disordered strings than mathematicians had thought possible, proving that a well-known recent conjecture is “spectacularly wrong.”

The post Mathematician Hurls Structure and Disorder Into Century-Old Problem first appeared on Quanta Magazine

By carefully constructing a multidimensional and well-connected graph, a team of researchers has finally created a long-sought locally testable code that can immediately betray whether it’s been corrupted.

The post Researchers Defeat Randomness to Create Ideal Code first appeared on Quanta Magazine

Scientists thought that the brain’s hearing centers might just process speech along with other sounds. But new work suggests that speech gets some special treatment very early on.

The post The Brain Processes Speech in Parallel With Other Sounds first appeared on Quanta Magazine

The molecular signaling systems of complex cells are nothing like simple electronic circuits. The logic governing their operation is riotously complex — but it has advantages.

The post Biologists Rethink the Logic Behind Cells’ Molecular Signals first appeared on Quanta Magazine

Deep in the mantle, a branching plume of intensely hot material appears to be the engine powering vast volcanic activity.

The post A Massive Subterranean ‘Tree’ Is Moving Magma to Earth’s Surface first appeared on Quanta Magazine

For over two decades, physicists have pondered how the fabric of space-time may emerge from some kind of quantum entanglement. In Monika Schleier-Smith’s lab at Stanford University, the thought experiment is becoming real.

The post One Lab’s Quest to Build Space-Time Out of Quantum Particles first appeared on Quanta Magazine

Investigations of the simplest possible clocks have revealed their fundamental limitations — as well as insights into the nature of time itself.

The post The New Thermodynamic Understanding of Clocks first appeared on Quanta Magazine

Familiar categories of mental functions such as perception, memory and attention reflect our experience of ourselves, but they are misleading about how the brain works. More revealing approaches are emerging.

The post The Brain Doesn’t Think the Way You Think It Does first appeared on Quanta Magazine