Large language models can write essays, solve math problems, and generate computer code, but it’s not fully understood how ...

The question comes up constantly in Nigerian WhatsApp groups, X threads, and career conversations among young people trying ...

Dylan Kane likes his math curriculum. But there’s one important piece missing, he says. The 7th grade math teacher in Leadville, Colo., uses a program that teaches math skills through real-world ...

Scientists have uncovered a hidden mathematical secret inside the leaves of the Chinese money plant: a naturally occurring geometric pattern known as a Voronoi diagram, something typically associated ...

This story was originally published in 2016. With the NCAA tournament fast approaching, you may be thinking this is your year. This is the tournament where you do what no one has ever done before — ...

The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. Imagine a town with two widget merchants. Customers prefer cheaper widgets, so the merchants must compete to set the lowest price.

Imagine a town with two widget merchants. Customers prefer cheaper widgets, so the merchants must compete to set the lowest price. Unhappy with their meager profits, they meet one night in a ...

Algorithms, which are just sets of instructions expressed in code, are harder to restrict than physical goods. But governments, including the U.S., have long tried to prevent their export. The ...

If you’ve ever shuffled a deck of playing cards, you’ve most likely created a unique deck. That is, you’re probably the only person who has ever arranged the cards in precisely that order. Although ...

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The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. Computer scientists often deal with abstract problems that are hard to comprehend, but an exciting new algorithm matters to anyone who ...