Quantized Columns

Smallpox was eradicated relatively quickly, but other diseases have proved harder to eliminate. The reasons are a mix of biology and psychology.

Looking for answers in infinite space is hard. High school math can help narrow your search.

Researchers finally seem to have a quantum computer that can outperform a classical computer. But what does that really mean?

The way you learned to multiply works, but computers employ a faster algorithm.

There are many different ways to think about probability. Quantum mechanics embodies them all.

The theoretical particle physicist Ann Nelson, who died on August 4 at age 61, was a font of brilliant ideas and a champion of ending discrimination in the field.

Polynomials aren’t just exercises in abstraction. They’re good at illuminating structure in surprising places.

Decades after the landmark proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem, ideas abound for how to make it even more reliable. But such efforts reflect a deep misunderstanding of what makes the proof so important.

A little high school geometry can help you understand the basic math behind movie recommendation engines.