Stories by Emma R. Hasson

Hang a painting poorly in this math puzzle

New solutions found to picture-hanging problems

For 20 years, this computational linguistics competition has inspired new generations of innovators in AI and language preservation

When can mathematicians reverse engineer basketball tournament results from your friends’ brackets?

Use some creative arithmetic on this math puzzle

Random coin flips, floppy needles and mathematical mysteries reveal pi in new ways

Mental math shortcuts suggest future STEM performance—and gender is a significant predictor

Pick an unusual winning poker hand in this math puzzle

A traditional card deck happens to dodge a tricky poker paradox. Other poker variants aren’t so lucky

Solve a holey shape conundrum in this math puzzle

The noperthedron has a surprising property—which disproves a long-standing conjecture

Learn the fundamentals of the burgeoning field of knot theory while solving some puzzles along the way

Which of these knots are secretly “unknots”? Try our math puzzle to find out

AI can transfer strange qualities through seemingly unrelated training—from a love of owls to something more dangerous

Figure out how to split the square in this math puzzle

Beneath the surfaces of distant planets, microbes might subsist on harsh radiation rather than starlight, a new study suggests

A new brain prosthesis can read out inner thoughts in real time, helping people with ALS and brain stem stroke communicate fast and comfortably

Though the Fibonacci sequence shows up everywhere in nature, these young mathematicians were surprised to find it in the answer to a variation of the pick-up sticks problem⁠—a nearly two-century-old form of puzzle

Satellite streaks are ruining astronomical images. Can scientists and space companies find solutions before it’s too late?

When she was just 17 years old, Hannah Cairo disproved the Mizohata-Takeuchi conjecture, breaking a four-decade-old mathematical assumption

A lighting flash that spanned from East Texas to an area near Kansas City in 2017 is officially the longest lightning strike ever measured, according to the World Meteorological Organization

Here’s how the new tetrahedron-based design for the “Trionda” soccer ball may affect next year’s big game

In only its second year, the International Logic Olympiad is already booming as logic becomes more and more crucial in our ever changing world

A 72 percent reduction in federal funding is devastating to math research. The American Mathematical Society is offering $1 million in backstop grants—but it’s likely not enough