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computer science
quantum computing
Quantum Algorithms Conquer a New Kind of Problem
Computer scientists have found a new type of problem that quantum computers can solve dramatically faster than their classical counterparts.
2022 Fields and Abacus Medals
The Scientist Who Developed a New Way to Understand Communication
Mark Braverman has spent his career translating thorny problems into the language of information complexity.
The Joy of Why
Can Computers Be Mathematicians?
Artificial intelligence has bested humans at problem-solving challenges like chess and Go. Is mathematics research next? Steven Strogatz speaks with mathematician Kevin Buzzard to learn about the effort to translate math into language that computers understand.
machine learning
By Exploring Virtual Worlds, AI Learns in New Ways
Intelligent beings learn by interacting with the world. Artificial intelligence researchers have adopted a similar strategy to teach their virtual agents new tricks.
Q&A
The Computer Scientist Who Parlays Failures Into Breakthroughs
Daniel Spielman solves important problems by thinking hard — about other questions.
networks
Researchers Achieve ‘Absurdly Fast’ Algorithm for Network Flow
Computer scientists can now solve a decades-old problem in practically the time it takes to write it down.
neural networks
How to Make the Universe Think for Us
Physicists are building neural networks out of vibrations, voltages and lasers, arguing that the future of computing lies in exploiting the universe’s complex physical behaviors.
computational complexity
How Computer Scientists Learned to Reinvent the Proof
Why verify every line of a proof, when just a few checks will do?
Q&A
How to Write Software With Mathematical Perfection
Leslie Lamport revolutionized how computers talk to each other. Now he’s working on how engineers talk to their machines.