Climate
A new map traces the sky’s water highways
Atmospheric rivers bring heavy rain and floods, but if they don’t come around, it could mean drought. A new global map reveals little-known pathways.
Math
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
More Stories in Math
- Math
AI cracked an Erdős math problem. Now experts want guardrails
The result is correct but challenges core norms of mathematics: checking proofs, crediting ideas and keeping research open to everyone.
- Math
The math of choosing a restaurant meal is revealed in Richard Feynman’s notes
Physicist Richard Feynman turned a lunch dilemma into a math problem. Researchers finally cracked his notes and found people approximate his solution on their own.
- Math
Here’s how to make an origami torus with the fewest folds possible
A mathematician found the most efficient way to fold paper into a doughnutlike shape.
- Math
Jazz and classical music have become simpler, a new study finds
Mathematical analysis suggests that melodies and harmonies have become less complex as music evolves and musicians find new ways “to create great music.”
- Particle Physics
To understand black holes, physicists turn to a mathematical ‘Rosetta stone’
A link between particle physics and gravity equations, called the double copy, applies to Hawking radiation, creating a new way into black hole puzzles.
- Math
The Proof in the Code traces efforts to digitally verify mathematical truths
Journalist Kevin Hartnett chronicles how code-checking tools and AI are being used to tackle difficult math problems.
- Math
Math long resisted a digital disruption. AI is poised to change that
The painstaking process of formalization to verify proofs is starting to surge thanks to AI. That could radically change the way people do math.
- Math
Huge Numbers tackles mathematics at its most incomprehensibly large
Mathematician Richard Elwes surveys googology, the study of enormous numbers, in a new book.
- Chemistry
This molecule puts a new twist on the Möbius strip
A molecule made of carbon and chlorine is half as twisty as the paper loops common in math classes.
