Mathematics

This shape, dubbed the scutoid, had no name until researchers found it while modeling how skin cells pack together.

Introducing the Scutoid, Geometry's Newest Shape

The scutoid allows skin cells to remain packed tightly together even over curved surfaces

Math in yarn

What Knitting Can Teach You About Math

In this professor's class, there are no calculators. Instead, students learn advanced math by drawing pictures, playing with beach balls—and knitting

Thermodynamics holds the answers to your wildest campfire dreams.

The Scientific Quest For the Perfect S’more

A trial by fire

The Fountain of Youth, Lucas Cranach the Elder

Study Suggests There's No Limit on Longevity, But Getting Super Old Is Still Tough

After the age of 105, the odds of dying plateau, meaning it's possible to live beyond the current record of 123 years

Australian researchers have shown that bees can distinguish nothing from various positive numbers.

Bees May Understand Zero, a Concept That Took Humans Millennia to Grasp

If the finding is true, they'd be the first invertebrates to join an elite club that includes primates, dolphins and parrots

Agnesi was an Italian mathematician, philosopher, theologian, and humanitarian.

The 18th-Century Lady Mathematician Who Loved Calculus and God

After writing a groundbreaking math textbook, Maria Agnesi quit math for good

Artists and poets have long been inspired by the mathematical patterns found in nature—for instance, the remarkable fact that a sunflower's seeds follow the Fibonacci sequence. But there are myriad other ways that the realms of poetry and mathematics can intersect.

How Poetry and Math Intersect

Both require economy and precision—and each perspective can enhance the other

Primes still have the power to surprise.

Why Prime Numbers Still Surprise and Mystify Mathematicians

2300 years later, new patterns continue to show up in these indivisible tricksters

Small differences account for a shooter’s consistency.

The Math Behind the Perfect Free Throw

A basketball computer program simulates millions of trajectories in search of the ideal shot

Is the Fall Equinox the Secret to the Pyramids' Near-Perfect Alignment?

One engineer says yes

The Olympic Flame was lit from the sun's rays using a parabolic mirror, during the final dress rehearsal for the lighting ceremony at Ancient Olympia, in southwestern Greece, on Monday, Oct. 23, 2017.

Your Burning Questions About the Olympic Torch, Answered

Curious minds will want to know that the blaze is lit not with matches or a lighter, but using a method that dates to Ancient Greece

Every dazzling jump on the ice—like Yuzuru Hanyu's quadruple Lutz at the 2017 Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Moscow, Russia—requires a mastery of balance, rotational speed and angular momentum.

How Physics Keeps Figure Skaters Gracefully Aloft

Every twist, turn and jump relies on a mastery of complex physical forces

This Is the Largest Known Prime Number Yet

The newly discovered prime is 23 million digits long

The Ten Best Children's Books of 2017

Our picks are full of silly words, weird animals and unknown histories

The Ten Best Science Books of 2017

These books not only inspired awe and wonder—they helped us better understand the machinations of our world

The Ten Best STEM Toys of 2017

Kid tested and parent approved, these tech toys stand out for holiday wish lists

The formerly wobbly Millennium Bridge

What Makes Bridges Wobble? Your Awkward Walk

A new study asks: How many people does it takes to set a pedestrian bridge a-swaying?

Watch the Winners of the 2017 Dance Your Ph.D. Competition

From sea stars to mathematical braids, scientists translate their work into hot moves and killer choreography

The astrolabe is a rare and highly sophisticated navigational tool.

Rare Mariner’s Astrolabe Found in Shipwreck Near Oman

Contrary to some reports, it may not be the earliest-known marine navigational tool—but it's still a spectacular find

NASA Dedicates New Facility to Katherine Johnson, the Pioneering Mathematician of ‘Hidden Figures’

'I think they're crazy,' the 99-year-old jokingly said of the honor

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