We are fond of saying things are symmetric, but what does that really mean? Intuitively we have a sense of symmetry as a kind of mirroring. Suppose we draw a vertical line through the middle of a ...

For decades, temporal and inversion symmetry were taught as static geometric concepts, but 2026 has shattered that view with real-world demonstrations of symmetry in motion. From the first ...

Receive emails about upcoming NOVA programs and related content, as well as featured reporting about current events through a science lens. Symmetry also has an aesthetic meaning, although this is ...

Reflective symmetry is when a shape can be folded in half, with either side of the fold being a mirror image of the other. Rotational symmetry is when a shape can be rotated and it still looks the ...

The 2008 Abel Prize was awarded to John Griggs Thompson of the University of Florida and Jacques Tits of the Collège de France for their contributions to group theory, the mathematical field that ...

There's a part of the brain that enables us to perceive magnitude -- we can compare loudness when hearing different tones or compare the number of dots in a group at a glance. Neuroscientists have ...

Hello, I'm Mr Firth, and together we're going to learn about lines of symmetry. Symmetry is when one side of a shape looks exactly like the other—just flipped. Lots of buildings use symmetry because ...

On the road to algebra, children must learn a weird idea: that numbers can be smaller than zero (negative) and can be mixed with numbers greater than zero (positive) in an equation. Now researchers at ...

Big Idea – We can describe, measure, and compare spatial relationships. to build on students' knowledge of line symmetry and develop students' reasoning with properties of symmetry to develop an ...

Editor’s note: This story is part of Meet a UChicagoan, a regular series focusing on the people who make UChicago a distinct intellectual community. Carolyn Yackel, SB'92, flipped through photos of ...