Want to solve a complex problem? Applied math can help

You can probably think of a time when you've used math to solve an everyday problem, such as calculating a tip at a restaurant or determining the square footage of a room. But what role does math play in solving complex problems ...

Soft cells: Rounded tile shapes echo those found in nature

Tiles that fill two- and three-dimensional spaces with no gaps—including triangles, squares, hexagons, cubes, and other polyhedra—are typically designed with sharp corners and flat faces (straight edges).

Mathematicians model a puzzling breakdown in cooperative behavior

Darwin was puzzled by cooperation in nature—it ran directly against natural selection and the notion of survival of the fittest. But over the past decades, evolutionary mathematicians have used game theory to better understand ...

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