Plus: Math proof resembles 'Minesweeper'; eDNA on Everest; Why the brain and body are crisscrossed; Infinity on The Joy of Why

Math and Science News from Quanta Magazine View this email in your browser MATHEMATICAL PHYSICS | ALL TOPICS   A New Kind of Symmetry Shakes Up Physics By KEVIN HARTNETT So-called "higher symmetries" are illuminating everything from particle decays to the behavior of complex quantum systems. Read the article COMBINATORICS   The Number 15 Describes the Secret Limit of an Infinite Grid By KEVIN HARTNETT With computer muscle and clever simplification, a grad student and his adviser solved a packing coloring problem that has kept mathematicians busy for two decades. Read the article Related:  The Colorful Problem That Has Long Frustrated Mathematicians By David Richeson Q&A   She Tracks the DNA of Elusive Species That Hide in Harsh Places By RACHEL CROWELL; Video by CHRISTOPHER W. YOUNG On Mount Everest and in the Peruvian Andes, Tracie Seimon uses DNA to study how species and ecosystems respond to climate change, pathogens and other influences. Read the interview | Watch the video Related:  Ancient DNA Yields Clues to Past Biodiversity By Monique Brouillette (2019) QUANTIZED COLUMNS   Why the Brain's Connections to the Body Are Crisscrossed By R. DOUGLAS FIELDS In all bilaterally symmetrical animals, nerves cross from one side of the body to the opposite side of the brain. There's no known biological reason for it, but geometry points to an answer. Read the column THE JOY OF WHY   How Can Some Infinities Be Bigger Than Others? Podcast hosted by STEVEN STROGATZ All infinities go on forever, so how is it possible for some infinities to be larger than others? The mathematician Justin Moore discusses the mysteries of infinity with Steven Strogatz. Listen to the podcast Read the transcript Around the Web Jellyfish Have a 'Cobweb of Neurons' The invertebrates called comb jellies have a nervous system that's so fundamentally different from that of other animals, scientists now believe that their brains evolved separately from the brains of other animals, Jake Buehler reports for Science News. New research reveals that rather than being interconnected by synapses, a comb jelly's neurons are directly fused together. Scientists have long suspected that the comb jellies evolved their nervous system independently: Emily Singer reported for Quanta on preliminary evidence for it in 2015. New Methods for Spotting Exoplanets By combining two different exoplanet-search techniques, astronomers have discovered a new planet around another star — a giant world designated HIP 99770 b, reports Nola Taylor Tillman for Scientific American. As astronomers invent new ways to hunt for exoplanets, planets that have wider ranges of masses and of orbital distances from their suns become ripe for discovery. In 2020, Nola Taylor Tillman wrote for Quanta about a novel technique for detecting the auroras around giant planets. Follow Quanta Simons Foundation 160 5th Avenue, 7th Floor New York, NY 10010 Unsubscribe | About Quanta Privacy Policy | Terms | Contact Us   Copyright © 2023 Quanta Magazine, an editorially independent division of the Simons Foundation