The most bizarre numbers in the universe

Within mathematics, some infinities are bigger than others

While the concept of infinity refers to a countless set of items, these infinite sets can be compared to one another by matching an item from one set to an item in another, one by one. This analysis shows that certain sets must be larger than others because some infinite sets have leftover, unmatched items.

Infinity can come in different sizes and be ordered by these sizes

Russian mathematician Georg Cantor demonstrated that certain sets of numbers (e.g., the natural numbers) form countable infinities, while others cannot be counted (e.g., the real numbers) and are therefore uncountable, representing larger versions of infinity. Through the axiom of choice, German mathematician Ernst Zermelo proved this concept of ordering infinities.

Calculators convert input values into a form of scientific notation—a fixed set of digits with a decimal multiplied by a base to some exponent—to store and process very large or very small quantities efficiently at the cost of rounding errors.

The most mysterious (known) star in the universe

Something massive, with roughly 1,000 times the area of Earth, is blocking the light coming from a distant star known as KIC 8462852. One of astronomers' more intriguing theories: Alien technology. Discovered via NASA's Kepler space telescope and a...

There are more chess game variations than observable atoms in the universe

Mathematician Claude Shannon estimated there are 10 to the 120th power variations of chess games possible. Known as the "Shannon number," this is more than the estimated number of atoms in the cosmos.

The world's weirdest flowers

We mostly marvel at the beauty of flowers, but some kinds of flowers are incredibly weird. This video highlights 15 of the world's strangest flowers, from the massive Titan Arum to the rare Lady Slipper Orchid.

How many galaxies are there? (Hint: a lot)

The universe is considered by some to be infinite, while others find comfort in the fact that it may have an end. Click for more.

In mathematics, a 'perfect number' is equal to the sum of the numbers it is divisible by, excluding itself, such as 28, which can be evenly divided by 1, 2, 4, 7, and 14, and 1 + 2 + 4 + 7 + 14 equals 28.

Explore interactive simulations of strange attractors, the graphs that help visualize chaos

Although simple, linear equations reach an explicit value for a given input, such as *f(x) \= x* + 1 equaling 4 when *x* equals 3, some chaotic, nonlinear systems tend to evolve towards multiple values simultaneously. These simulations allow users to observe the unusual mathematical artifacts created by systems as their outputs evolve toward these distinct values.

Five of the strangest cemeteries in the world

Since forever ago, people have been burying the dead in odd ways that are still practiced today. Here's a roundup of some of the strangest burial spots in the world.

In 2000, the Clay Mathematics Institute placed million-dollar bounties on seven unsolved problems in mathematics—the Millennium Prize Problems—in the hopes of spurring solutions.

Explore a list of the world’s weirdest and wildest ETFs

Whether you’re leaping straight into the future and looking for stocks picked by AI, a sci-fi aficionado who wants to invest in space travel, or a drama enthusiast looking to make money on stock market volatility, the ETF market’s weird corners have something for you.

The mystery of the expanding universe

One of the most surprising discoveries about our universe over the past century is that it's expanding. Even more surprising is that it’s speeding up, and scientists aren’t entirely sure why. The rate should be roughly dependent on the total energy contained in the universe, but calculations keep coming up short. Explore the so-called “Hubble Tension,” along with potential candidates to solve the riddle.

How the number 15 solved a longstanding math challenge

The “packing coloring” problem asks how many numbers are needed to fill an infinite grid so that identical numbers never get too close to one another. A new computer-assisted proof finds a surprisingly straightforward answer—only 15. While...

13 unanswered questions about black holes

Here's a quick rundown on black hole basics, the cosmic enigmas digesting massive swaths of the universe and destabilizing our fundamental ideas of space, time, and matter. Learn how they got their name, what happens in the unfortunate instance you fall into one, and more with this list of 13 questions about black holes.

Explore a visualization of the scale of objects across the universe, from an astronaut and planets to stars and galaxy clusters, in this interactive adventure.

The observable universe has a mass of 100 sexdecillion kilograms

The amount of visible matter in the universe is most accurately determined by measuring the cosmic microwave background. Quantities of dark matter and dark energy are calculated through the observed bending of light around galaxies and the expansion of the universe, respectively.

Ring galaxies, the rarest kind in the universe

Galaxies come in different sizes, but when it comes to shapes there are just four kinds: spiral, elliptical, irregular, and the rarest kind, ring. Ring galaxies only form in the event of a small galaxy passing through a large one, but there's more to them that that. This page explores these rare and beautiful heavenly bodies.

The 10 most amazing deep sea creatures

In this video, researchers from the world-renowned Monterey Bay Aquarium discuss the most fascinating deep sea creatures, and how they developed some of their strangest features.

The sophisticated math jokes of 'The Simpsons'

"The Simpsons" has always been a slyly sophisticated show and has featured more than a few references to complex mathematical concepts. That's largely due to its writers' room, which has featured more than one writer who studied math before transitioning to comedy.

There may be 74,963 kinds of ice, resulting from water molecules rearranging themselves

The theoretical limit greatly expands the known types of ice, with type Iₕ being the most common on Earth and forming hexagonal crystals. The extreme environments of planets like Uranus and Neptune can create a variety of ice with unique structures and properties, as these conditions can reshape these crystals into new geometries.

A scale of the universe, from atoms to cosmos

Can you really appreciate just how small protons are, or how massive the universe is? To attempt to grasp it, watch this short video which zooms out from a young woman in California to the very limits of the cosmos using established scales. Then, dive deep into the atoms of her white blood cells for a fully-rounded effect.

Quantum mechanics and general relativity—two of the most successful explanations of the physics seen across the universe—are logically incompatible with one another because they use contradictory models for space and time.

Quantum computers harness weird physics to explore unsolvable problems

Classical computers manipulate bits as either 0 or 1, but quantum computers use qubits to hold combinations of both, enabling new algorithms. This new approach could one day help with breakthroughs in medicine, chemistry, and AI.

A "no math" primer on quantum mechanics

Quantum mechanics may not immediately grasped, but it can be slowly understood through the experiments and discussions offered here by writer Dr. Miguel F. Morales. A professor of physics at the University of Washington in Seattle, Dr. Morales makes understanding the basics of quantum mechanics fun with a promised "no math" approach.

One model of the universe expresses all constants using only time

About seven base units, such as meters for length, have historically been used to describe everything in our physical reality. However, researchers have shown that, through relativistic space-time, clocks can serve as replacements for rulers, scales, and other instruments, allowing everything to be measured in terms of time.

Data suggests that claims about the golden ratio underlying the geometry seen in nature, from mollusk shells to human proportions, are largely exaggerated.

The mysterious origins of the universe’s biggest black holes

Think you know everything about black holes? You might be surprised. Thought of as massive vacuum cleaners sucking up everything in their cosmic path, black holes actually accrete matter at an incredibly slow pace. Yet, some black holes existed when the universe was only a few billion years young. Learn more in this BBC report.

What lies inside a black hole remains one of the universe's greatest mysteries

At the center of black holes is a theoretical point of infinite density called a singularity. Alternatively, one theory suggests a black hole's core could form a Planck star—a mind-bogglingly tiny object just a trillionth trillionth trillionth of a meter in size.

A naked singularity is an infinitely dense point without a black hole's event horizon

Their existence would reveal where Einstein’s theory breaks down and quantum gravity takes over. The prevailing idea—cosmic censorship—suggests these singularities are always hidden behind black hole horizons, shielding the rest of the universe from their unpredictability.

Emergent quantum phenomena can produce nonfundamental quasiparticles

While physicists have discovered new particles by colliding known ones at high speeds, placing known particles in extreme environments or configurations can allow quantum mechanics to produce bizarre behaviors, making them seem like new types of matter.

'Scorigami' attempts to chart every NFL game score

The rules of the sport set bounds on possible final outcomes, so this adept statistician mined some fascinating takeaways. Some scores are impossible (like 5 to 1) and some are more common (like 20-17, occurring over 300 times since 1944). Watch for a deluge of numbers.

The Ishango bone suggests mathematics was born about 20,000 years ago

Ancient civilizations developed mathematical systems for various purposes, including the Egyptians for the construction of the pyramids and the Ancient Greeks for logical reasoning in theorems. However, these systems were predated by the Ishango bone—found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo—whose notches suggest a base ten system, prime numbers, and simple mathematical operations.

An animation illustrating the enormity of the universe

Look around you. Where are you? Where is this place you are occupying? Somewhere in a room, maybe in a city on a continent on a planet orbiting a star in a galaxy among billions. But… where is all of that?

What is a singularity?

It's hard to imagine a singularity, which are described as an infinitely tiny point, created by gravity, until it has zero volume. The definition feels impossible, though perhaps not at the center of a black hole or at the beginning of the universe. Even then, singularities may be something else entirely. Singularities are a mathematical quandary that challenge us to better understand physics and the universe.

More than 40 quintillion black holes are estimated to exist in the universe, including about 100 million in the Milky Way, each with masses up to hundreds of times that of the sun.

Mathematicians often solve problems using wordless mental processes

It's a common technique among expert mathematicians, where thinkers rely on intuition, blurry perceptions and subconscious work—no writing, no formulas. The state is distinct from daydreaming, and often relies on sudden illuminations stemming from extended periods of subconscious reflection.

Explore the fundamental constants of the metric system

In 2019, the International System of Units was revised, such that all seven fundamental units are defined in terms of combinations of seven fundamental constants of the universe. These include the speed of light in a vacuum, Planck's constant, Avogadro's number, and the elementary charge of protons and electrons.

Early 20th-century debates about horses with 'paranormal mathematical abilities' helped shape modern approaches to psychological research.

The mathematics of general relativity does not rule out the existence of wormholes

Such objects, also known as Einstein-Rosen bridges, would resemble funnel-like tunnels connecting two regions of spacetime, allowing for instant travel across the universe. However, such structures would be incredibly unstable and require undiscovered materials with negative energy to keep them open.

Scientists are experimenting with ways to probe the multiverse theory

Researchers are simulating vacuum bubbles—the theorized starting points of universes—using quantum computers, digital models, and exotic lab setups to study how they form, expand, and possibly collide. One experiment aims to "blow" artificial universe-like bubbles inside ultra-cold quantum gases, potentially capturing real-time glimpses of cosmic birth processes in a lab.

Mathematical breakthroughs influenced Shakespeare’s stories

New ideas in math were transforming Europe at the time Shakespeare penned his plays, including newly popular conceptions of zero via philosophers Descartes and Leibniz.

Explaining 'impossible' black holes

When stars collapse, the black holes they form can have the mass of either 50 suns or over 120—but current models claim strongly that no black hole should have a mass that falls in between that range. But in 2019, gravitational wave observatories detected two within it: one at 66 solar masses, the other at 85. The discovery disrupted established science and left researchers questioning the Standard Model of physics.

How math whizzes exploit sportsbooks

Chris Dirkus is a professional sports bettor who approaches the hobby as a math problem, not from a fan's perspective. He focuses on mispriced odds in popular games where many fans are betting for high liquidity. He's one of a rare segment of sports bettors exploiting slow models and human mistakes.

Explore an interactive map of the unified theories of everything

This interactive concisely describes many highly complex theories ranging from quantum gravity and black holes to dark matter and energy. Supplementary resources, key questions, and possible solutions accompany each description. As of 2026, no developed theory provides an accepted explanation of all observed phenomena in the universe at all scales.

The world's quirkiest time zones

In contrast to telling time by physical signs like the sun or stars, cultural time relies on political agreement and standards. The convention of time zones arose due to transportation and communication advancements, and while many work just fine, some are pretty wild. Chief among those is the time zone of the uninhabited Baker and Howland Islands in the central Pacific, which results in a technical 26-hour day.

Quantum mechanics-based technology may explain the Fermi paradox

It describes the discrepancy between the high likelihood of life beyond Earth given the vastness of the universe and the lack of evidence for such life, since extraterrestrial civilizations have not communicated with us. However, quantum communication—a more information-dense and effective method than classical means—requires massive receivers and very narrow signals, which would easily miss Earth, making a lack of signals expected.

About 85% of the matter in the universe is dark matter—an invisible substance that only interacts with its surroundings through gravity.

As of 2025, the Standard Model has at least five unresolved problems

Among the issues with the most successful theory of the universe at subatomic scales is its inability to explain the extreme imbalance observed between visible matter and antimatter, since both should be roughly equal. The Standard Model also omits gravity and cannot account for the observed rate of cosmic expansion.

If the universe is infinite, it may be impossible to say what's beyond it

The universe is defined as all that exists, including space and time. If the universe is infinite, as observations currently suggest, there is no boundary from which we can ask what lies beyond.