Artificial intelligence

Our genetic heritage is not a blueprint or an algorithm, as many biologists have imagined, but something else entirely.

With automated proof-checkers, a problem can be broken up into small chunks, solved bit-by-bit, then reassembled with confidence that every piece is correct. For some, this heralds a new area in mathematical research.

AI is being used to prove new results at a rapid pace. Mathematicians think this is just the beginning.

Our tales of AI developing the will to survive, commandeer resources, and manipulate people say more about us than they do about language models.

The last decade has seen vast improvements in humanoid robots, but graduating to widespread use might require going back to the fundamentals.

Columnist Natalie Wolchover explores whether applied category theory can be “green” math.

The planet is getting hotter, but one factor in particular makes it hard to tell just how hot it will get. Physicists and computer scientists are racing to solve the problem of clouds.

Machine learning is helping neuroscientists organize vast quantities of cells’ genetic data in the latest neurobiological cartography effort.

A $1 million prize awaits anyone who can show where the math of fluid flow breaks down. With specially trained AI systems, researchers have found a slew of new candidates in simpler versions of the problem.