The universe may seem shapeless because it is so vast, but it does have a form that astronomers can observe. So, what is it shaped like? Physicists think the universe is flat. Several lines of ...

When most people think of shapes, they imagine a triangle, a rectangle, or maybe even a fancier-sounding rhombus or trapezoid. But to mathematicians, shapes encompass a vast universe of surprising ...

A key question that remains in biology and biophysics is how three-dimensional tissue shapes emerge during animal development. Research teams have now found a mechanism by which tissues can be ...

How few corners can a shape have and still tile the plane?” mathematician Gábor Domokos asked me over pizza. His deceptively simple question was about the geometry of tilings, also called ...

Researchers have developed a polymer structure inspired by a classic “Chinese lantern” that can change into more than a dozen curved, three-dimensional shapes when it is compressed or twisted. These ...