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mathematics

Latest Articles

geometry

‘Monumental’ Math Proof Solves Triple Bubble Problem and More

By Erica Klarreich
October 6, 2022
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The decades-old Sullivan’s conjecture, about the best way to minimize the surface area of a bubble cluster, was thought to be out of reach for three bubbles and up — until a new breakthrough result.

Insights puzzle

How Star Trek’s Lieutenant Uhura Overcame Astronomical Odds

By Pradeep Mutalik
September 30, 2022
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Readers rescued a Star Trek crew from a probabilistic predicament armed only with the power of mathematical reasoning.

Quantized Academy

How Big Is Infinity?

By Patrick Honner
September 27, 2022
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Of all the endless questions children and mathematicians have asked about infinity, one of the biggest has to do with its size.

geometry

The New Math of Wrinkling

By Stephen Ornes
September 22, 2022
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A comprehensive mathematical framework treats wrinkling patterns as elegant solutions to geometric problems.

A spacecraft, laptop, QR code and CD
information theory

How Mathematical Curves Enable Advanced Communication

By Jordana Cepelewicz
September 19, 2022
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A simple geometric idea has been used to power advances in information theory, cryptography and even blockchain technology.

Richard Rusczyk standing in front of a yellow wall in an Art of Problem Solving classroom in San Diego.
education

The Math Evangelist Who Preaches Problem-Solving

By Erica Klarreich
September 13, 2022
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Richard Rusczyk, founder of Art of Problem Solving, has a vision for bringing “joyous, beautiful math” — and problem-solving — to classrooms everywhere.

Illustration of thumbs flipping coins.
information theory

How Shannon Entropy Imposes Fundamental Limits on Communication

By Kevin Hartnett
September 6, 2022
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What’s a message, really? Claude Shannon recognized that the elemental ingredient is surprise.

Quantized Columns

How Isaac Newton Discovered the Binomial Power Series

By Steven Strogatz
August 31, 2022
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Rethinking questions and chasing patterns led Newton to find the connection between curves and infinite sums.

algebraic geometry

Old Problem About Mathematical Curves Falls to Young Couple

By Jordana Cepelewicz
August 25, 2022
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Eric Larson and Isabel Vogt have solved the interpolation problem — a centuries-old question about some of the most basic objects in geometry. Some credit goes to the chalkboard in their living room.


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