How Big Data Carried Graph Theory Into New Dimensions
Graph theory isn’t enough. The mathematical language for talking about connections, which usually depends on networks — vertices (dots) and…
Category: Features
A New Theory for Systems That Defy Newton’s Third Law
Newton’s third law tells us that for every action, there’s an equal reaction going the opposite way. It’s been reassuring…
How to poison a feral pig
EARLY ONE WINTER MORNING in 2020, Kurt VerCauteren discovered a cluster of dead birds in a barren field in northwest Texas.…
Mathematicians Resurrect Hilbert’s 13th Problem
Success is rare in math. Just ask Benson Farb. “The hard part about math is that you’re failing 90% of the…
How Close Are Computers to Automating Mathematical Reasoning?
In the 1970s, the late mathematician Paul Cohen, the only person to ever win a Fields Medal for work in…
Whales get a second life as deep-sea buffets
Last October, a team of marine explorers sent Hercules — a remote-controlled vehicle — to the bottom of the ocean. Its mission:…
Your Hyperbolic Mind
The human brain is both a marvel and a mystery of evolution: Packed into a volume about one-quarter that of…
Symbolic mathematics finally yields to neural networks
More than 70 years ago, researchers at the forefront of artificial intelligence research introduced neural networks as a revolutionary way…
Exotic super magnets
ONE April night in 1820, the Danish experimentalist Hans Christian Øersted made a remarkable discovery. By bringing an electrical wire…
How math makes movies like Doctor Strange so otherworldly
For wild chase scenes, it’s hard to beat Doctor Strange. In this 2016 film, the fictional doctor-turned-sorcerer has to stop villains who want…