Math

  1. Quantum Physics

    Quantum computers could break the internet. Here’s how to save it

    Today's encryption schemes will be vulnerable to future quantum computers, but new algorithms and a quantum internet could help.

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  2. Math

    Here’s how we could begin decoding an alien message using math

    A new mathematical approach looks for order in strings of bits – without relying on human assumptions.

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  3. Math

    A ‘vampire einstein’ tile outdoes mathematicians’ latest feat

    A newfound shape covers an infinite plane with a pattern that doesn’t repeat and without mirror images of the shape.

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  4. Math

    ‘Once Upon a Prime’ finds the hidden math in literature

    In her new book, mathematician Sarah Hart explains how math shapes all sorts of literary works, from nursery rhymes to Moby-Dick.

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  5. Math

    How Pythagoras turned math into a tool for understanding reality

    Reality was made of numbers, Pythagoras said, and he employed numbers to explain the “harmony of the heavens.”

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  6. Physics

    These worms can escape tangled blobs in an instant. Here’s how

    Tangled masses of California blackworms form over minutes but untangle in tens of milliseconds. Now scientists know how.

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  7. Math

    Dense crowds of pedestrians shift into surprisingly orderly lines. Math explains why

    New research into collective behavior adds to decades of study on the wisdom of crowds.

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  8. Math

    Here’s why the geometric patterns in salt flats worldwide look so similar

    New research suggests the shared geometry of salt flats from Death Valley to Iran comes from fluid flows underground.

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  9. Math

    Chia seedlings verify Alan Turing’s ideas about patterns in nature

    New experiments confirm that complex patterns in plants emerge from a model proposed by mathematician Alan Turing.

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  10. Math

    Mathematicians have finally discovered an elusive ‘einstein’ tile

    After half a century, mathematicians succeed in finding an ‘einstein,’ a shape that forms a tiled pattern that never repeats.

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  11. Math

    Here’s a peek into the mathematics of black holes

    The universe tells us slowly rotating black holes are stable. A nearly 1,000-page proof confirms it.

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  12. Animals

    Jumping beans’ random strategy always leads to shade — eventually

    Jumping beans use randomness to maximize their chances of getting out of the sun’s heat, a new study finds.

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