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Mathematics
Insights puzzle
How Star Trek’s Lieutenant Uhura Overcame Astronomical Odds
Readers rescued a Star Trek crew from a probabilistic predicament armed only with the power of mathematical reasoning.
Quantized Academy
How Big Is Infinity?
Of all the endless questions children and mathematicians have asked about infinity, one of the most fascinating has to do with its size.
geometry
The New Math of Wrinkling
A comprehensive mathematical framework treats wrinkling patterns as elegant solutions to geometric problems.
information theory
How Mathematical Curves Enable Advanced Communication
A simple geometric idea has been used to power advances in information theory, cryptography and even blockchain technology.
education
The Math Evangelist Who Preaches Problem-Solving
Richard Rusczyk, founder of Art of Problem Solving, has a vision for bringing “joyous, beautiful math” — and problem-solving — to classrooms everywhere.
information theory
How Shannon Entropy Imposes Fundamental Limits on Communication
What’s a message, really? Claude Shannon recognized that the elemental ingredient is surprise.
Quantized Columns
How Isaac Newton Discovered the Binomial Power Series
Rethinking questions and chasing patterns led Newton to find the connection between curves and infinite sums.
algebraic geometry
Old Problem About Mathematical Curves Falls to Young Couple
Eric Larson and Isabel Vogt have solved the interpolation problem — a centuries-old question about some of the most basic objects in geometry. Some credit goes to the chalkboard in their living room.
Insights puzzle
Help Star Trek’s Lieutenant Uhura Overcome Astronomical Odds
In honor of the actor and activist Nichelle Nichols, this month’s puzzle imagines a Star Trek adventure in which her character, Lieutenant Uhura, faces a life-and-death conundrum.