Math
How two outsiders tackled the mystery of arithmetic progressions
Computer scientists made progress on a decades-old puzzle in a subfield of mathematics known as combinatorics.
By Evelyn Lamb
Math
More Stories in Math
- Math
Here are some astounding scientific firsts of 2023
Notable feats include discovering a planet-eating star, extracting RNA from an extinct animal and more.
- Math
‘Is Math Real?’ asks simple questions to explore math’s deepest truths
In her latest book, mathematician Eugenia Cheng invites readers to see math as more than just right or wrong answers.
- Math
An enduring Möbius strip mystery has finally been solved
Playing with paper and scissors helped one mathematician figure out just how short the twisted loops can be.
- Math
Non-Western art and design can reveal alternate ways of thinking about math
Focusing on the relationship between math and culture can boost student learning and expand mathematical knowledge, researchers say.
- Animals
Seen Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster? Data suggest the odds are low
Floe Foxon is a data scientist by day. But in his free time, he applies his skills to astronomy, cryptology and sightings of mythical creatures.
- Health & Medicine
A catalog of all human cells reveals a mathematical pattern
Smaller cells occur in larger numbers in the human body, and cells of different size classes contribute equally to our overall mass.
- Math
Here’s why mathematicians are so interested in cake cutting
The question of how to fairly divide resources attracts game theorists, computer scientists, economists, legal experts and more.
- Math
How geometry solves architectural problems for bees and wasps
Adding five - and seven - sided cells in pairs during nest building helps the colonyfit together differently sized hexa gonal cells , a new study shows.
- Life
A 407-million-year-old plant’s leaves skipped the usual Fibonacci spirals
Most land plants living today have spiral patterns involving the famous Fibonacci sequence of numbers. But an extinct, ancient plant did not.
