The SciencesMarch 14, 2017
Pi in the Sky
Elegant new visualization maps the digits of pi as a star catalogue
Math
The SciencesMarch 11, 2017
What Is the Probability That Alien Life Exists?
Are we alone in the universe? If so, why? If not, where is everybody? Thankfully, math can help us with these astronomically profound questions
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PolicyMarch 9, 2017
On Hidden Figures and Being the Only Woman in the Room
The Oscar-nominated film illuminates just one group of women whose contributions have long gone unrecognized
The SciencesMarch 6, 2017
Being a Trans Mathematician: A Q&A with Autumn Kent
"Being trans is beautiful"
The SciencesFebruary 28, 2017
A Few of My Favorite Spaces: Fatou's Pancake
Because “the bounded Fatou domain of the function f(z)=(z+z^2)/2” doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue
The SciencesFebruary 28, 2017
The Serenity of Kakeya
I turn to the Kakeya needle problem for reassurance in difficult times
The SciencesFebruary 21, 2017
How to Celebrate Fatou's Day
A calendrical-linguistic coincidence leads to a thrice-in-a-century holiday.
The SciencesFebruary 19, 2017
Language and Error-Correcting Codes
Contemplating communication with Claude Shannon
The SciencesFebruary 15, 2017
Fractal Secrets of Rorschach’s Famed Ink Blots Revealed
The simplicity of the stains' repeating patterns is key to why we see so many images in them
The SciencesFebruary 10, 2017
How Math Could Help Map Earth's Interior
A new solution to a decades-old geometry puzzle might unlock the secrets of our planet's inner structure
The SciencesFebruary 1, 2017
Great Literature Is Surprisingly Arithmetic
Great literature is surprisingly arithmetic
The SciencesFebruary 1, 2017
The Race to Replace the Kilogram
The long-running effort to ditch the decaying, 19th-century artifact that defines the kilogram nears its conclusion