These are not the kinds of objects that concern Scott Sheffield. Sheffield, a professor of mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, studies shapes that are constructed by random ...

We thought it was evolution, but an experiment with pencils shows that tips like teeth and thorns may owe their rounded shape ...

Mathematicians have had a hard time finding commonalities in large groups of random shapes — until recently. A pilot takes off from New York’s John F. Kennedy airport and flies in a straight line for ...

In Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones must find a secret chamber that contains the legendary Ark of the Covenant. To identify its exact location, Indy must uncover a special map that’s only ...

Behavioral researchers have long known that humans are drawn to symmetry. But there are many different types of symmetries in the world and many shapes in which they appear. So which ones are the most ...