Exotic super magnets
ONE April night in 1820, the Danish experimentalist Hans Christian Øersted made a remarkable discovery. By bringing an electrical wire…
Writings
Hotspots for superbolts
Not every lightning strike is the same. Some skip from cloud to cloud. Others strike the ground, delivering a shocking…
How math makes movies like Doctor Strange so otherworldly
For wild chase scenes, it’s hard to beat Doctor Strange. In this 2016 film, the fictional doctor-turned-sorcerer has to stop villains who want…
God is my co-investigator
Religious fasts offer opportunities for reflection, penitence and good data about human dietary needs. Unlike laboratory rats, humans can’t be…
Scientists find the secret to colossal bubbles
Justin Burton’s fascination with soap bubbles began in Barcelona, Spain, six summers ago. “It was hot and humid, and there…
Blockchain beyond Bitcoin
In 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto introduced the world to Bitcoin, a volatile digital currency that’s untethered to any specific institution or…
This robot’s parts are helpless alone, but turn smart as they team up
When you imagine a robot, you might picture R2-D2 in Star Wars, the Omnidroid from The Incredibles or the big-armed machines that build cars…
For these artists, math is their muse
Every year, the Joint Mathematics Meeting brings more than 5,000 math lovers together. It’s the largest math meeting in the…
Settling the Score
The debate over one of the most contested exams in medical education comes to a head. The next few months…
Life at the bottom
What does Absolute Zero mean? Temperature tends to be relative — the air is below freezing, her fever is above normal. But scientists probe…