The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. A new proof has brought mathematicians one step closer to understanding the hidden order of those “atoms of arithmetic,” the prime ...

A red knot is a tiny shorebird that makes an epic 9000-mile journey all the way from the arctic to the tip of southern Chile and back. Biologists and nature enthusiasts congregate at various points ...

Here’s a game: Ask a friend to give you any number and you’ll return one that’s bigger. Just add “1” to whatever number they come up with and you’re sure to win. The reason is that numbers go on ...

An understanding of numbers is often viewed as a distinctly human faculty—a hallmark of our intelligence that, along with language, sets us apart from all other animals. Practically every animal that ...