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probability

Multimedia

The Map of Mathematics

By Kevin Hartnett
February 13, 2020
Read Later

Explore our surprisingly simple, absurdly ambitious and necessarily incomplete guide to the boundless mathematical universe.

A rogue wave and a sailboat.
fluid dynamics

The Grand Unified Theory of Rogue Waves

By Charlie Wood
February 5, 2020
Read Later

Rogue waves — enigmatic giants of the sea — were thought to be caused by two different mechanisms. But a new idea that borrows from the hinterlands of probability theory has the potential to predict them all.

An illustration of a pink hand reaching for quantum dice.
Quantized Columns

Where Quantum Probability Comes From

By Sean Carroll
September 9, 2019
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There are many different ways to think about probability. Quantum mechanics embodies them all.

Art for "In the Universe of Equations, Virtually All Are Prime"
number theory

In the Universe of Equations, Virtually All Are Prime

By Kevin Hartnett
December 10, 2018
Read Later

Equations, like numbers, cannot always be split into simpler elements.

Illustration for "How the DNA Computer Program Makes You and Me"
Insights puzzle

Solution: ‘The DNA Computer Program’

By Pradeep Mutalik
April 27, 2018
Read Later

Computer code serves as a useful analogy for what our genes do, but the complexity and messiness of life go well beyond simple analogies and mathematical models.

Illustration for "How the DNA Computer Program Makes You and Me"
Insights puzzle

How the DNA Computer Program Makes You and Me

By Pradeep Mutalik
April 5, 2018
Read Later

Can a set of simple instructions produce complex, three-dimensional living structures?

520px illustration of a man falling and missing a hay stack to land on.
Insights puzzle

Solution: ‘When Probability Meets Real Life’

By Pradeep Mutalik
March 2, 2018
Read Later

When our brains don’t have a good intuition for reasoning with numbers, explicit probabilistic thinking can lead to improved decision-making.

520px illustration of a man falling and missing a hay stack to land on.
Insights puzzle

When Probability Meets Real Life

By Pradeep Mutalik
February 8, 2018
Read Later

When faced with a difficult decision, should you go with your gut or carefully calculate the attendant risks?

Thomas Royen at his home in Schwalbach am Taunus, Germany.
statistics

A Long-Sought Proof, Found and Almost Lost

By Natalie Wolchover
March 28, 2017
Read Later

When a German retiree proved a famous long-standing mathematical conjecture, the response was underwhelming.


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