Friday, February 16, 2024

A ‘Lobby’ Where a Molecule Mob Tells Genes What to Do

Math and Science News from Quanta Magazine
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GENE REGULATION | ALL TOPICS

 

A 'Lobby' Where a Molecule Mob Tells Genes What to Do

By PHILIP BALL

Highly repetitive regions of junk DNA may be the key to a newly discovered mechanism for gene regulation.

Read the article

PUZZLES

 

Quanta Relaunches Hyperjumps Math Game

By THOMAS LIN

If you love math puzzles, you'll love Hyperjumps, a daily arithmetic game from Quanta. We're relaunching the game today with fun new features and simplified gameplay.

Read the introduction


Play the game

THE JOY OF WHY

 

How Did Altruism Evolve?

Podcast hosted by JANNA LEVIN

If evolution favors the survival of the fittest, where did the impulse to help others come from? Host Janna Levin speaks with Stephanie Preston, a neuropsychologist who studies the biology of altruism.

Listen to the podcast


Read the transcript

 

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

 

How Quickly Do LLMs Learn Unexpected Skills?

By STEPHEN ORNES

A new study posits that "emergent abilities" actually develop gradually and predictably, depending on how you measure them.

Read the blog


Related: 
New Theory Suggests Chatbots
Can Understand Text

By Anil Ananthaswamy

QUANTIZED COLUMNS

 

Unfolding the Mysteries of Polygonal Billiards

By DAVID S. RICHESON

The surprisingly subtle geometry of a familiar game shows how quickly math gets complicated.

Read the column


Related: 
A Tenacious Explorer
of Abstract Surfaces

By Erica Klarreich (2014)

Q&A

 

To See Black Holes in Stunning Detail, She Uses 'Echoes' Like a Bat

Interview by MICHAEL GRESHKO;
Video by EMILY BUDER and CHRISTOPHER WEBB YOUNG

The astrophysicist Erin Kara measures time lags in black holes' X-ray glows, which reveal the complexity of the objects' closest surroundings.

Read the interview


Watch the video

 

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