Math
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Math
Great Computations
From sifting through radio telescope signals for signs of extraterrestrial life to searching for record-breaking prime numbers, home and office computers contribute via the Internet to a variety of research efforts.
- Math
A fair deal for housemates
A new mathematical recipe for fair division allows people to resolve disputes over the splitting up of rent, goods, or even burdensome chores.
- Math
Packing spheres around a sphere
A mathematician has proved that the optimal arrangement of 12 identical spheres around and touching a 13th is a highly symmetric pattern based on the 12-faced geometric shape known as the dodecahedron.
- Math
Trailing after double bubbles
A proof of the double-bubble conjecture for the case in which the two bubbles' volumes are unequal appears within reach.
- Math
Unveiling the work of Archimedes
An ancient manuscript long hidden from public view may provide significant insights into the way Archimedes did his mathematical work more than 2,000 years ago.
- Math
Losing to win
Two games of chance, each guaranteed to give a player a predominance of losses in the long term, can add up to a winning outcome if the player alternates between the two games.
- Math
Squares, primes, and proofs
Mathematicians have proved the so-called local Langlands correspondence, a broad generalization of a surprising connection between prime numbers and perfect squares.
