Articles

Time in a block universe

Fundamental physics says time is symmetric - so why does time move forwards for us in a block universe?

Why not block time?

Is time real? Are we just puppets living out a future already written? Marina Cortês explains why she thinks time is fundamental and that we don't live in a block universe.

The future is time

Marina Cortês is one of a growing number of physicists who believe time is fundamental. We ask her about the alternatives theories to the block universe, where time comes first.

There may be more than one of you

The possibility that there might be many parallel worlds has just become a little more likely.

Have you heard? The maths of rumour spreading

Mathematical models predict how fast a rumour will spread and how many people it's likely to reach.

Hunting and being hunted

A model of the interaction between predators and prey explains why sometimes frogs appear to eat snakes.

Maths in a minute: Einstein's general theory of relativity

What would happen if the Sun suddenly exploded? Einstein wondered the same thing, and completely changed our understanding of the Universe.

Time to go retro

A model of backward causation in which the future affects the past could help unite quantum mechanics and general relativity – and satisfy a challenge thrown down almost a century ago by Arthur Eddington.

The cosmic family tree

Mapping the ancestral history of spacetime in an effort to unite quantum mechanics and general relativity.

Is gravity time's archer?

A new model argues the forces between particles in the early universe loosed time’s arrow, creating temporal order from chaos.

The Basel problem

This problem about an infinite sum has a surprising answer.

Euler's polyhedron formula

This surprising result about 3D shapes tells us something deep about the nature of space.