“What if mathematicians were asked to defuse bombs?”
In 1998, a few dozen computer scientists and mathematicians gathered at a picturesque seaside resort on the Tuscan island of…
Year: 2020
Exotic super magnets
ONE April night in 1820, the Danish experimentalist Hans Christian Øersted made a remarkable discovery. By bringing an electrical wire…
Hotspots for superbolts
Not every lightning strike is the same. Some skip from cloud to cloud. Others strike the ground, delivering a shocking…
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…
God is my co-investigator
Religious fasts offer opportunities for reflection, penitence and good data about human dietary needs. Unlike laboratory rats, humans can’t be…