Plus: Conway's 'Game of Life' proved omniperiodic; A universal theory of microbial assembly; Proving safety in driverless cars

Math and Science News from Quanta Magazine View this email in your browser COSMOLOGY | ALL TOPICS   Clashing Cosmic Numbers Challenge Our Best Theory of the Universe By LIZ KRUESI As measurements of distant stars and galaxies become more precise, cosmologists are struggling to make sense of sparring values. Read the article GAMES   Math's 'Game of Life' Reveals Long-Sought Repeating Patterns By ALEX STONE John Conway's Game of Life, a famous cellular automaton, has been found to have periodic patterns of every possible length. Read the blog Related:  John Conway Solved Mathematical Problems With His Bare Hands By Kevin Hartnett (2020) MICROBIOLOGY   The Quest for Simple Rules to Build a Microbial Community By DAN SAMORODNITSKY Microbiologists are searching for a theory of how bacteria form communities based not on their species but on the roles they play. Read the article Related:  Simpler Math Tames the Complexity of Microbe Networks By Jordana Cepelewicz (2018) MACHINE LEARNING   How to Guarantee the Safety of Autonomous Vehicles By STEVE NADIS Computer scientists have proved that autonomous vehicles like drones and driverless cars can be guaranteed to be safe, so long as their sensory data falls within a specified range of accuracy. Read the blog Follow Quanta Unsubscribe | About Quanta | My Bookmarks Privacy Policy | Terms | Contact Us   Copyright © 2024 Quanta Magazine, an editorially independent division of the Simons Foundation Simons Foundation 160 5th Avenue, 7th Floor New York, NY 10010