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How Many Microbes Does It Take to Make You Sick?

By Tara C. Smith
September 27, 2023
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Exposure to a virus isn’t an all-or-nothing proposition. The concept of “infectious dose” suggests ways to keep ourselves safer from harm.

explainers

How Scientists Are Tackling the Tricky Task of Solar Cycle Prediction

By Javier Barbuzano
September 7, 2023
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Scientists have struggled to accurately forecast the strength of the sun’s 11-year cycle — even after centuries of solar observations.

explainers

Alan Turing and the Power of Negative Thinking

By Ben Brubaker
September 5, 2023
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Mathematical proofs based on a technique called diagonalization can be relentlessly contrarian, but they help reveal the limits of algorithms.

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How Genetic Surprises Complicate the Old Doctrine of DNA

By C. Brandon Ogbunu
July 31, 2023
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For over a century, biologists have had to contend with a complicated picture of genetics, which they’ve only recently begun to understand.

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How Math Achieved Transcendence

By David S. Richeson
June 27, 2023
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Transcendental numbers include famous examples like e and π, but it took mathematicians centuries to understand them.

Illustration of a brain surrounded by castle walls that keep out blood vessels.
explainers

How the Brain Protects Itself From Blood-Borne Threats

By Yasemin Saplakoglu
June 20, 2023
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To buffer the brain against menaces in the blood, a dynamic, multi-tiered system of protection is built into the brain’s blood vessels.

A cube full of colorful shapes is connected to a smaller cube stuffed with the same shapes.
information theory

Data Compression Drives the Internet. Here’s How It Works.

By Elliot Lichtman
May 31, 2023
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One student’s desire to get out of a final exam led to the ubiquitous algorithm that shrinks data without sacrificing information.

algorithms

The Most Important Machine That Was Never Built

By Sheon Han
May 3, 2023
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When he invented Turing machines in 1936, Alan Turing also invented modern computing.

algorithms

How Randomness Improves Algorithms

By Ben Brubaker
April 3, 2023
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Unpredictability can help computer scientists solve otherwise intractable problems.


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