CultureOctober 8, 2020
Perplexing Perspectives
Conflicting viewpoints coexist at the crossroads of math and art
Math
MathSeptember 21, 2020
For Math Fans: A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Number 42
Here is how a perfectly ordinary number captured the interest of sci-fi enthusiasts, geeks and mathematicians
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TechnologySeptember 18, 2020
Can an Algorithm Help Solve Political Paralysis?
As faith in government hits historic lows, organizers in the U.K. are trying a new math-based approach to democracy. Would it work in the bitterly divided U.S?
The SciencesSeptember 1, 2020
Algorithm Aids Search for Those Lost at Sea
A new process pinpoints ocean “attractors” to find missing travelers
Quantum PhysicsAugust 1, 2020
How Scientists Solved One of the Greatest Open Questions in Quantum Physics
The story of a macroscopic quantum system and a mathematical odyssey
Space & PhysicsJuly 16, 2020
How Many Aliens Are in the Milky Way? Astronomers Turn to Statistics for Answers
The tenets of Thomas Bayes, an 18th-century statistician and minister, underpin the latest estimates of the prevalence of extraterrestrial life
OpinionJuly 7, 2020
The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle of Social Science Modeling
It’s known as the “curse of dimensionality,” and it’s why our estimates of how a disease will behave will always have imprecision
The SciencesJuly 1, 2020
Coronavirus Antibody Tests Have a Mathematical Pitfall
The accuracy of screening tests is highly dependent on the infection rate
OpinionJune 7, 2020
The Last Root of Unity
It’s time to say goodbye to the blog
OpinionJune 7, 2020
One Weird Trick to Make Calculus More Beautiful
The strange power of complex analysis
The SciencesJune 6, 2020
Proving a Legendary Mathematician Wrong
Remembering “Euler’s spoilers,” who showed that special magic squares exist
OpinionJune 5, 2020
When Rational Points Are Few and Far Between
BEAM program manager Ruthi Hortsch shares her love of Faltings’s theorem