All Stories

  1. Materials Science

    A New Cool: Prototype chills fast and electrifies, too

    Researchers have incorporated an efficient thermoelectric material into a prototype device that can cool or produce electricity.

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  2. Math

    Zeroing In on Catalan’s Conjecture

    Fermat’s last theorem is just one of many examples of innocent-looking problems that can long stymie even the most astute mathematicians. It took about 350 years to prove Fermat’s scribbled conjecture, for instance. Now, Preda Mihailescu of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich has proved a theorem that is likely to lead to […]

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  3. Math

    Zeroing In on Catalan’s Conjecture

    Fermat’s last theorem is just one of many examples of innocent-looking problems that can long stymie even the most astute mathematicians. It took about 350 years to prove Fermat’s scribbled conjecture, for instance. Now, Preda Mihailescu of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich has proved a theorem that is likely to lead to […]

    By
  4. Math

    Zeroing In on Catalan’s Conjecture

    Fermat’s last theorem is just one of many examples of innocent-looking problems that can long stymie even the most astute mathematicians. It took about 350 years to prove Fermat’s scribbled conjecture, for instance. Now, Preda Mihailescu of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich has proved a theorem that is likely to lead to […]

    By
  5. Math

    Zeroing In on Catalan’s Conjecture

    Fermat’s last theorem is just one of many examples of innocent-looking problems that can long stymie even the most astute mathematicians. It took about 350 years to prove Fermat’s scribbled conjecture, for instance. Now, Preda Mihailescu of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich has proved a theorem that is likely to lead to […]

    By
  6. Math

    Square of the Hypotenuse

    There’s a delightful mathematical moment in the movie Merry Andrew, when Danny Kaye, playing schoolmaster Andrew Larabee, breaks into song to teach the Pythagorean theorem. I was reminded of this scene by a sentence in an article about the Pythagorean theorem in the October issue of Mathematics Magazine. The Pythagorean theorem “is probably the only […]

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  7. Autism Advance: Mutated genes disrupt nerve cell proteins

    Two gene mutations that cause autism suggest that nerve cell connections called synapses are key to the disorder.

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  8. Math

    Poe’s Secret

    Writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) is famous for his short stories of the mysterious and the macabre. His popular tale “The Gold-Bug,” published in 1843, is often cited as one of the best works of fiction that turn upon a secret message. Poe had a longstanding interest in cryptology. When he became editor of Graham’s […]

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  9. Math

    Poe’s Secret

    Writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) is famous for his short stories of the mysterious and the macabre. His popular tale “The Gold-Bug,” published in 1843, is often cited as one of the best works of fiction that turn upon a secret message. Poe had a longstanding interest in cryptology. When he became editor of Graham’s […]

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  10. Animals

    Careful Coots: Do birds count their eggs before they hatch?

    A coot may tally the eggs in her nest, a rare example of an animal counting in the wild, suggests a new study.

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  11. Health & Medicine

    Progress Against Dementia: Drug slows Alzheimer’s in severely ill patients

    The drug memantine slows the progression of late-stage Alzheimer's disease in patients previously considered untreatable.

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  12. Math

    Mathematical Art on Display

    The term “mathematical art” usually conjures up just one name–that of Dutch graphic artist M. C. Escher (1898–1972). Many people are familiar with Escher’s endless staircases, hyperbolic tilings, Möbius ants, intricate tessellations, and other creations. They may also be aware of the intertwining of mathematics and art during the Renaissance, with the development of perspective […]

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