Today in Science: Bitcoin encryption comes from Renaissance art

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April 28, 2025—Male elephants have more complicated social lives than scientists thought. Plus, Renaissance paintings laid the foundation for modern encryption; and spring bird migrations are about to peak. —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor TODAY'S NEWS A male Blackburnian warbler (Setophaga fusca) singing a territorial song. George Grall/Alamy Stock Photo For the next few weeks, most of the U.S. is entering peak bird migration. Here's how to make the most of it. | 2 min read Ancient Phoenicians developed an early alphabet and spread their culture around the world. But they surprisingly don't share ancestry with ancient Middle Easterners, according to a new analysis. | 2 min read This is how the EPA may revoke the endangerment finding—which paved the way for the nation's rules on climate pollution from cars, power plants and across other sectors. | 7 min read Can sound travel through space? Surprisingly, in some places sound can travel quite well. | 5 min read Climate-warming carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere grew at a record-breaking speed in 2024, surging by 3.7 parts per million, a recent NOAA data analysis found. | 4 min read More News TOP STORIES When young male elephants visit the waterhole with their families, they get to interact with bachelor males and learn who they can trust when the time comes to set out on their own. Caitlin O'Connell and Tim Rodwell Male Elephant Culture Researchers observed groups of elephants at the Mushara waterhole in Namibia's Etosha National Park. For the first time, the scientists recorded instances of male elephants using vocalizations to coordinate actions within groups of the animals. The scientists also determined different types of leadership that emerge in groups of male elephants: Active leaders solicit others to follow them and exert social influence through their dominance, social position or experience. In contrast, some older individuals can become passive leaders that youngsters trail after, even if they're not welcomed.   Why this is interesting: Elephants live in matriarchal societies in which elder females lead families made up of their female relatives and young to water, food and safety. Most of what we know about elephant social behavior has come from studies of these female-led family groups, and for a long time, male elephants were thought to be loners with simple social lives.   What the experts say: "Male elephants, we are learning, are sensitive social animals that crave companionship and need emotional support," writes Caitlin O'Connell, a behavioral ecologist and elephant researcher at Stanford University. Engagement and play among male elephants are hallmarks of a very sophisticated society, O'Connell says. "Each ritual helps to reinforce the rules of engagement within the group, thus strengthening bonds."  An architectural view by Francesco di Giorgio Martini showcases Renaissance perspective drawing. Art Collection 3/Alamy Stock Photo Cryptography Renaissance In Renaissance Italy, sculptor-turned-architect Brunelleschi figured out how to represent three-dimensional scenes on a two-dimensional surface by using perspective. The idea introduced concepts like vanishing points, where parallel lines seem to meet far off in the distance. This "perspective" is a visual way of dealing with infinity, since two parallel lines meet at infinity. In the centuries that followed, mathematicians built on perspective geometry to develop projective geometry, discover elliptic curves and group theory, and ultimately create elliptic curve cryptography.   Why this matters: Elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) could be a simpler, faster and stronger type of cryptography compared with more widely used RSA cryptography. Although the technique is growing in popularity—bitcoin technology runs ECC—RSA cryptography still dominates most secure web traffic. Principles from ECC are being used to try to develop cryptographic systems that are more resistant to hacking attacks by quantum computers.   How ECC works: An encryption key is a number used to lock or unlock digital information. Encryption keys come in pairs: a private key, which is kept secret, and a public key, which is shared openly. In elliptic curve cryptography, both keys are generated by performing operations on points on an agreed-upon curve. Because of the special properties of elliptic curves, both parties can independently arrive at the same shared secret without exposing their private keys.   Want to dive deeper into the science that interests you? Consider a subscription to Scientific American. Today in Science readers get special discounts! EXPERT PERSPECTIVES "Science breeds diplomacy. It counters division. It tells us what is, not what we want things to be. Science enables democracy," writes Megha Satyanarayana, chief opinion editor of Scientific American. "The way the Trump administration is approaching it, by cutting funds for projects that run afoul of conservative values, such as ones related to diversity, or calling for research into claims that have already been debunked, which is the case for the idea that vaccines are linked to autism, defies all this. If that approach succeeds, it will make us a poorer nation in every sense of the word." | 4 min read More Opinion

Innovation in science and technology doesn't happen in a vacuum. Each discovery, whether a minor new finding or a big paradigm-shifter, is the result of hundreds of years of curiosity, experimentation and innovation. "Connect bitcoin cryptography to Renaissance art" sounds a bit like a six-degrees-of-separation challenge, but it is, in a sense, a centuries-long evolution of one idea.  Thanks for exploring this scientific world with me. You can always send your thoughts and feedback to: newsletters@sciam.com. Until tomorrow.    —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor

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