Computer science

Climate science is the most significant scientific collaboration in history. This series from Quanta Magazine guides you through basic climate science — from quantum effects to ancient hothouses, from the math of tipping points to the audacity of climate models.

Building an accurate model of Earth’s climate requires a lot of data. Photography reveals the extreme efforts scientists have undertaken to measure gases, glaciers, clouds and more.

In cellular automata, simple rules create elaborate structures. Now researchers can start with the structures and reverse-engineer the rules.

You’re carrying around in your head a model of how the world works. Will AI systems need to do the same?

The quest to find the longest-running simple computer program has identified a new champion. It’s physically impossible to write out the numbers involved using standard mathematical notation.

The new science of “emergent misalignment” explores how PG-13 training data — insecure code, superstitious numbers or even extreme-sports advice — can open the door to AI’s dark side.

Mary Wootters discusses how error-correcting codes work, and how they are essential for reliable communication and storage.

A canonical problem in computer science is to find the shortest route to every point in a network. A new approach beats the classic algorithm taught in textbooks.

Fan Chung, who has an Erdős number of 1, discusses the importance of connection — both human and mathematical.