Is the universe finite or infinite?

Two possiblities exist: either the Universe is finite and has a size, or it's infinite and goes on forever. Both possibilities have mind-bending implications.

The ABC's of animal speech: Not so random after all

The calls of many animals, from whales to wolves, might contain more language-like structure than previously thought, according to study that raises new questions about the evolutionary origins of human language.

A vexing math problem finds an elegant solution

(Phys.org) —A famous math problem that has vexed mathematicians for decades has met an elegant solution by Cornell researchers. Graduate student Yash Lodha, working with Justin Moore, professor of mathematics, has described ...

Telling the tale of the wealth tail

A mathematical physicist and her colleague, both from the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy, are about to publish a study in European Physical Journal B on a family of taxation and wealth redistribution models. The ...

Researchers identify mechanism that maintains stem cells readiness

An immune-system receptor plays an unexpected but crucially important role in keeping stem cells from differentiating and in helping blood cancer cells grow, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center report today in the ...

Engineered materials: Custom-made magnets

A novel approach to designing artificial materials could enable magnetic devices with a wider range of properties than those now available. An international team of researchers have now extended the properties and potential ...

Tackling the big unanswered problems

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientific research is known to happen slowly but the timeframes pale into insignificance compared to the years spent on some of the great unsolved Maths problems.