Explainers

Earth’s radiation can send some molecules spinning or vibrating, which is what makes them greenhouse gases. This infographic explains how relatively few heat-trapping molecules can have a planetary effect.

Amid the chaos of revolutionary France, one man’s mathematical obsession gave way to a calculation that now underpins much of mathematics and physics. The calculation, called the Fourier transform, decomposes any function into its parts.

Fundamental technique lets researchers use a big, expensive “teacher” model to train a “student” model for less.

Every elementary particle falls into one of two categories. Collectivist bosons account for the forces that move us while individualist fermions keep our atoms from collapsing.

From living matter to molecules to elementary particles, the world is made of “chiral” objects that differ from their reflected forms.

AI researchers are using techniques inspired by neuroscience to study how language models work — and to reveal how perplexing they can be.

Neural networks power today’s AI boom. To understand them, all we need is a map, a cat and a few thousand dimensions.

A simple primer to the 19 most important concepts in artificial intelligence.

When pigeons outnumber pigeonholes, some birds must double up. This obvious statement — and its inverse — have deep connections to many areas of math and computer science.