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Computer Science

A GIF of a fluctuating plane with a ball rolling over its peaks and valleys and then off the screen.
computational complexity

Computer Scientists Discover Limits of Major Research Algorithm

By Nick Thieme
August 17, 2021
Read Later

The most widely used technique for finding the largest or smallest values of a math function turns out to be a fundamentally difficult computational problem.

Illustration of colorful flowchart using raised blocks against a black background
proofs

Proof Assistant Makes Jump to Big-League Math

By Kevin Hartnett
July 28, 2021
Read Later

Mathematicians using the computer program Lean have verified the accuracy of a difficult theorem at the cutting edge of research mathematics.

Q&A

The Computer Scientist Training AI to Think With Analogies

By John Pavlus
July 14, 2021
Read Later

Melanie Mitchell has worked on digital minds for decades. She says they’ll never truly be like ours until they can make analogies.

An array of blocky orange objects of all different shapes, with a single blue blob in one of the rows and columns.
artificial intelligence

Same or Different? The Question Flummoxes Neural Networks.

By John Pavlus
June 23, 2021
Read Later

For all their triumphs, AI systems can’t seem to generalize the concepts of “same” and “different.” Without that, researchers worry, the quest to create truly intelligent machines may be hopeless.

Quantized Columns

What Makes Quantum Computing So Hard to Explain?

By Scott Aaronson
June 8, 2021
Read Later

To understand what quantum computers can do — and what they can’t — avoid falling for overly simple explanations.

An illustration showing pink and purple particles flowing around a geometric computer chip.
artificial intelligence

Latest Neural Nets Solve World’s Hardest Equations Faster Than Ever Before

By Anil Ananthaswamy
April 19, 2021
Read Later

Two new approaches allow deep neural networks to solve entire families of partial differential equations, making it easier to model complicated systems and to do so orders of magnitude faster.

A close-up, head-on portrait of computer scientist Rediet Abebe.
Q&A

A Computer Scientist Who Tackles Inequality Through Algorithms

By Rachel Crowell
April 1, 2021
Read Later

Rediet Abebe uses the tools of theoretical computer science to understand pressing social problems — and try to fix them.

Abel Prize

Pioneers Linking Math and Computer Science Win the Abel Prize

By Kevin Hartnett
March 17, 2021
Read Later

Avi Wigderson and László Lovász won for their work developing complexity theory and graph theory, respectively, and for connecting the two fields.

algorithms

New Algorithm Breaks Speed Limit for Solving Linear Equations

By Kevin Hartnett
March 8, 2021
Read Later

By harnessing randomness, a new algorithm achieves a fundamentally novel — and faster — way of performing one of the most basic computations in math and computer science.


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