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Mathematics news
A finely tuned mess—how disorder can make networks more stable
Perfection is overrated—at least when it comes to complex systems like the power grid, food webs and advanced materials. For decades, scientists generally assumed that networks function most reliably when their individual ...
Mathematics
15 hours ago
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How a simple game of 20 questions could help make AI fit for the future
Artificial intelligence programs used to classify images could be trained much more cheaply using a surprisingly simple method inspired by the childhood game of 20 Questions, according to new research posted to the arXiv ...
Mathematics
21 hours ago
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7
Mathematician challenges a 2,000-year-old legend about the Parthenon's optical illusions
One of Athens' crowning jewels is the Parthenon, a classical temple on the Acropolis that overlooks the Greek capital. According to legend, many historians, textbooks and tour guides say the ancient Greek architects who designed ...
OpenAI says 10,000 AI agents cracked one of math's hardest problems in 88 hours
OpenAI said Tuesday that one of its unreleased artificial intelligence models had solved a mathematical puzzle that has eluded mathematicians for generations, a claim that also drew a fight with rival researchers over credit.
Mathematics
Sep 9, 2026
1
84
Some disagreement makes groups more trustworthy, mathematical framework finds
When humans are making decisions, they are known not to rely solely on their own considerations and the evidence available to them. Past behavioral science and psychology studies have shown that people are often also influenced ...
Can a full moon really bring bad luck? What about Friday the 13th?
Jeffrey Rosenthal was a young professor at the University of Toronto when he discovered he was born on a Friday—though not just any Friday.
Mathematics
Sep 4, 2026
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17
Rapid simulation of heat propagation through multiple rods
There is an elegant mathematical equation behind many different natural phenomena. From the fractal pattern of a romanesco cauliflower sitting on a grocery store shelf to the flow of rivers, they all have underlying mathematical ...
Mathematics
Sep 3, 2026
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7
New clustering method uncovers hidden regularities in data
One dataset, one model? This approach does not always produce the most useful insights, as a dataset often contains many different relationships. To better understand them, researchers at the Paluno Research Institute in ...
Mathematics
Sep 2, 2026
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13
Switching gravity on and off leaves particles behind, mathematical model finds
Hawking radiation causes black holes to eventually evaporate. This is because particle pairs are spontaneously created near the event horizon (the position of the last ray of light that can escape the black hole's gravitational ...
Mathematics
Sep 1, 2026
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391
How high scores in an online brain teaser made mathematicians lie for three years
It might not yet be the phenomenon that is Wordle, but for hundreds of thousands of players, Digit Party has scratched the itch of a casual brain teaser to break up their day.
Mathematics
Aug 26, 2026
0
35
More than half of adults in US say they lack basic statistical understanding
From the daily weather forecast to a baseball player's batting average to an individual's risk of developing lung cancer, understanding statistics can help people in the United States navigate their lives, according to Mark ...
Mathematics
Aug 21, 2026
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59
Dice design solves board gaming's most surprisingly complex problem—who goes first?
It took nearly 15 years, researchers around the world and enough computing power to search through a universe of possibilities to answer one question: Who goes first?
Mathematics
Aug 17, 2026
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202
Can math prove that Humpty Dumpty was simply mismanaged?
Humpty Dumpty had all the king's horses and all the king's men, but it wasn't enough to put him back together again. This raises the question: How many horses and men did he actually need?
Mathematics
Aug 17, 2026
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9
Quantum Latin squares cannot solve Euler's 36 officers problem without entanglement
Latin squares are arrangements of symbols in a grid in which every symbol appears exactly once in each row and column. These symbol arrangements, which were first studied more than three centuries ago, are now widely used ...
Consistency-based rewards could build lasting cooperation better than punishing free-riders
A vaccine only protects a whole community if enough people get it, including those who would stay safe anyway once their neighbors are covered. The same tension runs through climate action and social movements: The shared ...
Mathematics
Aug 11, 2026
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9
When it comes to predicting people's preferences, it pays to consider 'the power of three'
In his 1927 paper, "A law of comparative judgment," the American psychologist L. L. Thurstone proposed that when people select one option among multiple alternatives, they are picking the one that has the highest value to ...
Mathematics
Aug 10, 2026
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Generative AI has changed mathematics forever. Where to from here?
A little over a week ago, artificial intelligence company OpenAI announced 10 advances in mathematics and computer science made with its as-yet-unreleased model Astra. The discoveries cover a wide range of mathematical fields, ...
Mathematics
Aug 10, 2026
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47
Building better prediction models for consumer choices
As consumers, we are constantly making choices about things like what to eat at a restaurant, what clothing to buy at a store and the type of car we'd like to purchase, and so much more. Savvy producers of such goods look ...
Mathematics
Aug 6, 2026
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Math shows why your vote may not count the way you think it does
Mathematicians have shown that completely fair elections are—in a sense—impossible. No electoral system can guarantee both that local votes translate directly into local seats and that total seat distribution matches overall ...
Mathematics
Jul 31, 2026
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39
What is a p‑value? Expert explains the most misunderstood number in science
If you've ever tried to read a scientific paper, you've almost certainly run into a p-value. And if you found it confusing, you're in good company: Plenty of working scientists misunderstand it too.
Mathematics
Jul 29, 2026
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