Proposed a century ago to better explain the mind-bending behavior of the smallest constituents of the universe, quantum theory has implications far beyond the atom. This rich set of laws has applications both practical and extraordinary.

“The infinite! No other question has ever moved so profoundly the spirit of man,” said David Hilbert, one of the most influential mathematicians of the 19th century. A subject extensively studied by philosophers, mathematicians, and more recently, physicists and cosmologists, infinity still stands as an enigma of the intellectual world.

On July 4, 2012 the champagne flowed. The elusive Higgs boson—the fundamental particle that gives mass to all other particles—had been found. After generations of work, the last puzzle piece …

In recent years, machines have grown increasingly capable of listening, communicating, and learning—transforming the way they collaborate with us, and significantly impacting our economy, health, and daily routines. Who, or what, are these thinking machines? As we teach them to become more sophisticated, how will they complement our lives?

While artificial intelligence lacks empathy, reason, and even basic common sense, we already rely on it to make major decisions that affect human lives. Who gets hired? Who gets fired? …

The history of computers is a history of competition and collaboration: Innovators have worked together, but also clashed over the place of computers in society and how they should function.