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Steve Nadis

Contributing Writer

Latest Articles

machine learning

Some Neural Networks Learn Language Like Humans

By Steve Nadis
May 22, 2023
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Researchers uncover striking parallels in the ways that humans and machine learning models acquire language skills.

a worm superimposed with lines and nodes representing neural networks
neural networks

Researchers Discover a More Flexible Approach to Machine Learning

By Steve Nadis
February 7, 2023
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“Liquid” neural nets, based on a worm’s nervous system, can transform their underlying algorithms on the fly, giving them unprecedented speed and adaptability.

Fanciful illustration of galaxies with various geometric shapes at their centers.
mathematical physics

Mathematicians Find an Infinity of Possible Black Hole Shapes

By Steve Nadis
January 24, 2023
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In three-dimensional space, the surface of a black hole must be a sphere. But a new result shows that in higher dimensions, an infinite number of configurations are possible.

Harry Halpin in a T-shirt and sports coat outdoors
Q&A

The Computer Scientist Who’s Boosting Privacy on the Internet

By Steve Nadis
October 18, 2022
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Harry Halpin wants our internet conversations to be more private. He’s helped create a new kind of network that might make it possible.

An illustration with a black disc in the middle evoking a black hole.
mathematical physics

At Long Last, Mathematical Proof That Black Holes Are Stable

By Steve Nadis
August 4, 2022
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The solutions to Einstein’s equations that describe a spinning black hole won’t blow up, even when poked or prodded.

Illustration of a rotating object that warps the space-time fabric around itself, as seen by eyes located in different places
general relativity

Mass and Angular Momentum, Left Ambiguous by Einstein, Get Defined

By Steve Nadis
July 13, 2022
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Surprising as it may sound, 107 years after the introduction of general relativity, the meanings of basic concepts are still being worked out.

geometry

An Ancient Geometry Problem Falls to New Mathematical Techniques

By Steve Nadis
February 8, 2022
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Three mathematicians show, for the first time, how to form a square with the same area as a circle by cutting them into interchangeable pieces that can be visualized.

Color photo of Ana Caraiani in a black coat standing on a bridge
Q&A

The Mathematician Who Delights in Building Bridges

By Steve Nadis
November 17, 2021
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Ana Caraiani seeks to unify mathematics through her work on the ambitious Langlands program.

Illustration of people along a path classifying colorful mathematical trees
set theory

Mathematicians Solve Decades-Old Classification Problem

By Steve Nadis
August 5, 2021
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A pair of researchers has shown that trying to classify groups of numbers called “torsion-free abelian groups” is as hard as it can possibly be.


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About the author

Steve Nadis lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His articles have appeared in numerous magazines, including Discover and Astronomy. He is co-author, most recently, of The Shape of a Life.
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