Synchrony is ubiquitous throughout the universe. But physicists’ equations predicted there could also be erratic exceptions marching to their own beat. Now they’ve been spotted in firefly swarms.
I’m a mathematician whose hobby is origami. It has inspired mathematicians to solve problems once thought impossible, and create folding telescope lenses, airbags and solar panels.
Thomas Stace, The University of Queensland and Clemens Müller, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich
Physicists have designed an electrical component that breaks time-reversal symmetry. Not quite the time machine from Hollywood but it should help with communication technology and quantum computing.
Many scientists didn’t believe that crystals made up of never-repeating patterns could exist. But they do and scientists are starting to understand the weird maths behind them.