Mathematicians Think Saudi Arabia’s Ambitious ‘Line’ City Should Be a Circle
Despite efforts to make a planned city in the Saudi Arabian desert sustainable, its layout could create problems
Manon Bischoff is a theoretical physicist and editor at Spektrum, a partner publication of Scientific American. Credit: Nick Higgins
Despite efforts to make a planned city in the Saudi Arabian desert sustainable, its layout could create problems
Don’t be annoyed if you fail at a certain level of the popular game Candy Crush Saga; computers also have their problems with it
Huge data sets and matrices help online companies predict what you will click next
A surprisingly simple answer to a mathematical puzzle intrigues the math world
The founder of a Japanese media company has offered a large cash prize to anyone who can find a flaw in an unusual proof
As it turns out, felines can survive a fall from any height—at least in theory
There are infinite real and natural numbers—yet real numbers exceed natural numbers thanks to the mind-bending logic of infinities
Large language models such as ChatGPT tend to make things up. A new approach now allows the systems to explain their responses—at least partially
To craft a better password, first learn how people crack them
Perfectly wrapping spherical objects together seems trivial, but it’s a task that has stumped mathematicians for centuries
Most real numbers are unknown—even to mathematicians
A thought experiment that’s dividing mathematicians can help illuminate how belief shapes rational decisions
The Archimedes experiment will weigh the void of empty space to help solve a big cosmic puzzle
Information theory can help people mathematically calculate the best starting guess for a popular online game
A new shape called an einstein has taken the math world by storm. The craggy, hat-shaped tile can cover an infinite plane with patterns that never repeat.
Argentine mathematician Luis Caffarelli has won the 2023 Abel Prize for making natural phenomena more understandable and eliminating dreaded “infinities” from a calculation
Hairiness is the perfect way to demonstrate the math underlying the “pigeonhole principle,” first conceived in 1622
That prime numbers and powers of 2 fascinate many people comes as no surprise. In fact, all numbers split into two camps: interesting and boring
Some voting districts are tilted intentionally toward one party or another—a factor in the midterms. Geometry plays a critical role in gerrymandering
Mathematician Frank Ramsey showed how to discover coherent patterns among a multitude of number groupings
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