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How languages recycle parts of words to avoid confusion

Many languages recycle words, giving them different meanings. For example, in English, "run" can mean to move quickly but also to manage something, like "run a company." In Spanish, "lengua" is both the word for tongue and ...

S-M-A-R-T! These researchers used math to crack Wordle

Every day, millions of people play Wordle, the popular New York Times game that challenges users to guess a secret five-letter word. Using information theory, a team of researchers at Binghamton University, State University ...

What network science can tell us about the 2026 World Cup

Team Australia kicked it long from the goalkeeper. Switzerland took a slower approach and preferred short passes over long drives. Spain, on the other hand, tended to string the ball with sharp, sideways passes across the ...

'Shoot for the moon?' Aim a bit lower, researchers say

How ambitious should you be? Folk wisdom offers conflicting advice: "Shoot for the moon," but also, "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good." A new study by researchers at the University of Wyoming, Stanford University ...

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AI tackles one of math's most brutal problems: Inverse PDEs

Penn Engineers have developed a new way to use AI to solve inverse partial differential equations (PDEs), a particularly challenging class of mathematical problems with broad implications for understanding the natural world.