2021 in Review
Latest Articles
Live from ICM 2026: What Is Math For in the Age of AI?
In this special live recording from the International Congress of Mathematicians in Philadelphia, July 2026, the central question discussed was what do mathematicians really value about doing mathematics in the first place?
In an Age of AI, a Physicist Seeks What Endures
Sarah Demers, chair of the physics department at Yale University, sees the potential for large language models to both help and harm her field.
Genome Duplication Is a Radical Evolutionary Gamble
By doubling their entire genome, organisms can evolve extremely rapidly — or they can lose it all. New studies reveal how to survive the high-risk, high-reward evolutionary event.
‘Stunning’ Percolation Proof Solves Decades-Old Puzzle About Phase Transitions
Mathematicians found that a broad class of networks will abruptly shift behavior past a critical point.
Does Computer Science Need Computers?
The theoretical side of the field doesn’t require computing machines. But many questions would never have been posed without them.
In Hilbert Space, All Things Are Quantumly Possible
To explore quantum phenomena, we must leave the familiar world and enter the abstract realm of Hilbert space.
A New Framework for How the Brain Compresses Our Noisy World
An updated view of categorization reflects the modern understanding that the nervous system is more of a prediction engine than a filing cabinet.
‘Huge Breakthrough’ in the Math of Imbalance
For the first time in 30 years, computer scientists have found a better way to allocate objects evenly between two groups.
Are We Thinking Correctly About AI Intelligence?
Computer scientist Melanie Mitchell discusses why artificial intelligence doesn’t “think” or “reason” like humans, and how we can create better methods for measuring machine cognition.