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Solution: ‘Randomness From Determinism’
Readers’ modifications of a bean machine showed how deterministic laws are capable of producing random-seeming behavior.
Are Saturn’s Rings Really as Young as the Dinosaurs?
A surprisingly youthful estimate of the age of the rings has stirred a backlash.
The Architect of Modern Algorithms
Barbara Liskov pioneered the modern approach to writing code. She warns that the challenges facing computer science today can’t be overcome with good design alone.
Hologram Within a Hologram Hints at Fate of Black Holes
Calculations involving a higher dimension are guiding physicists toward a misstep in Stephen Hawking’s legendary black hole analysis.
Playing Hide-and-Seek, Machines Invent New Tools
After millions of games, machine learning algorithms found creative solutions and unexpected new strategies that could transfer to the real world.
Cells That ‘Taste’ Danger Set Off Immune Responses
Taste and smell receptors in unexpected organs monitor the state of the body’s natural microbial health and raise an alarm over invading parasites.
Neutrinos Lead to Unexpected Discovery in Basic Math
Three physicists stumbled across an unexpected relationship between some of the most ubiquitous objects in math.
Mathematicians Calculate How Randomness Creeps In
Mathematicians have figured out exactly how many moves it takes to randomize a 15 puzzle.
Virginia Trimble Has Seen the Stars
How a young celebrity became one of the first female astronomers at Caltech, befriended Richard Feynman, and ended up the world’s foremost chronicler of the science of the night sky.