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Latest Articles
Droplets That ‘Come to Life’
Life might have originated in droplets that behave surprisingly like living cells.
Graph Isomorphism Vanquished — Again
Just five days after posting a retraction, László Babai announced that he had fixed the error in his landmark graph isomorphism algorithm.
How Curvature Makes a Shape a Shape
The ancient study of an object’s curvature is guiding mathematicians toward a new understanding of simple equations.
Complexity Theory Problem Strikes Back
The legendary graph isomorphism problem may be harder than a 2015 result seemed to suggest.
Test Your Mathematical Sculpting Skills
Can you turn a two-dimensional fractal into a 3-D object? Break out your scissors and tape for a chance to win a 3-D printed sculpture.
On the Moon’s Far Side, Clues to a Cataclysm?
A mission to collect samples from the far side of the moon could answer questions about a barrage of asteroids nearly 4 billion years ago.
Quantum Gravity’s Time Problem
The effort to unify quantum mechanics and general relativity means reconciling totally different notions of time.
The Math That’s Too Difficult for Physics
How do physicists reconstruct what really happened in a particle collision? Through calculations that are so challenging that, in some cases, they simply can’t be done. Yet.
The Devil in the Polling Data
The same problem that caused the 2007 financial crisis also tripped up the polling data ahead of this year’s presidential election.