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  1. Math

    Lacing Shoes, Revisited

    What is the best way to lace your shoes? This seemingly simple question, rooted in everyday life, can provoke passionate argument–and prompt a mathematical response. Three common lacing styles. Here are some alternative lacings you could try. The first two work only if your shoes have an even number of eyelet pairs. Watch out, though. […]

    By Ivars Peterson

  2. Brain learns to sharpen its focus

    A brain-imaging study indicates that visual learning intensifies activity in a specific part of the neural gateway for information transmitted from the eyes.

    By Bruce Bower
  3. Astronomy

    Runaway black hole

    Observing a black hole and its visible companion star caroming through our galaxy, astronomers have found the best evidence to date that stellar-mass black holes are born during supernova explosions.