List by Author: Rachel Thomas and Marianne Freiberger

Our changing picture of gravity

To celebrate the recent centenary of the first major test of Einstein's general theory of relativity, we look back over how our picture of gravity has changed.

Looking for love?

Find out how OKCupid's algorithm works.

Missing a complex opportunity

How Heron of Alexandria missed his chance to explore the unknown mathematical land of complex numbers.

How high is your frustum?

How calculating the height of a frustum gave a glimpse of the mathematical frontier.

Too big to write but not too big for Graham

Meet the number that's bigger than the observable Universe!

Flying home with quantum physics

Quantum mechanics is usually associated with weird and counterintuitve phenomena we can't observe in real life. But it turns out that quantum processes can occur in living organisms, too, and with very concrete consequences. Some species of birds use quantum mechanics to navigate. And as Plus found out at a recent conference, studying these little creatures' quantum compass may help us achieve the holy grail of computer science: building a quantum computer.