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puzzles

Art for "How to Find Simple Treasures in Complex Numbers"
Insights puzzle

Solution: ‘How to Find Simple Treasures in Complex Numbers’

By Pradeep Mutalik
March 22, 2019
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Puzzle solvers used “imaginary” numbers to solve a real world problem: finding long-lost treasure.

Art for "How to Find Simple Treasures in Complex Numbers"
Insights puzzle

How to Find Simple Treasures in Complex Numbers

By Pradeep Mutalik
February 14, 2019
Read Later

In spite of their name, “imaginary” numbers are as real as any other numbers, especially when it comes to hunting for lost treasure.

Crossword puzzle - abstract illustration
2018 in Review

Quanta’s Science and Math Crossword Puzzle

By Pradeep Mutalik
December 21, 2018
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Celebrate a year’s worth of scientific and mathematical insights by solving this brain-teasing cryptic crossword from our puzzle columnist.

Photo of Tadashi Tokieda
Q&A

A Collector of Math and Physics Surprises

By Erica Klarreich
November 27, 2018
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Tadashi Tokieda discovers new physical phenomena by looking at the everyday world with the eyes of a child.

Art for "How Equality and Inequality Shape the Birds and the Bees"
Insights puzzle

Solution: ‘How Equality and Inequality Shape Birds and Bees’

By Pradeep Mutalik
November 9, 2018
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Puzzle solvers explored how evolution may have used negative and positive control mechanisms to shape the conflicting parental functions of reproduction and child rearing.

Art for "How Equality and Inequality Shape the Birds and the Bees"
Insights puzzle

How Equality and Inequality Shape the Birds and the Bees

By Pradeep Mutalik
October 17, 2018
Read Later

Two dynamic, seemingly opposing forces likely played an important role in the evolution of reproduction and child rearing in social animals like bees and humans.

Art for "Evolutionary Math and Just-So Stories"
Insights puzzle

Solution: ‘Evolutionary Math and Just-So Stories’

By Pradeep Mutalik
September 7, 2018
Read Later

How much stock should we put in mathematical models of evolution that have not been validated by rigorous empirical data?

Art for "Evolutionary Math and Just-So Stories"
Insights puzzle

Evolutionary Math and Just-So Stories

By Pradeep Mutalik
August 15, 2018
Read Later

Evolutionary stories like the grandmother hypothesis are easy to construct from mathematical models, but how well do they reflect reality?

Illustation for "The Slippery Math of Causation"
Insights puzzle

Solution: ‘The Slippery Math of Causation’

By Pradeep Mutalik
June 29, 2018
Read Later

The all-too-intuitive picture of a straight arrow going from cause to effect is far too simplistic to describe the real world.


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