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Computer Science

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Mapping the Brain to Build Better Machines

April 6, 2016

A project to decipher the brain’s learning rules could revolutionize machine learning.

Is AlphaGo Really Such a Big Deal?

March 29, 2016

The Go-playing program teaches itself to replicate something very much like human intuition, an advance that promises far-reaching consequences.

Q&A

Searching for the Algorithms Underlying Life

January 28, 2016

The biological world is computational at its core, argues computer scientist Leslie Valiant.

Landmark Algorithm Breaks 30-Year Impasse

December 14, 2015

Computer scientists are abuzz over a fast new algorithm for solving one of the central problems in the field.

‘Outsiders’ Crack 50-Year-Old Math Problem

November 24, 2015

Three computer scientists have solved a problem central to a dozen far-flung mathematical fields.

The Physical Origin of Universal Computing

October 27, 2015

The physical nature of computers might reveal deep truths about their uniquely powerful abstract abilities.

Theorists Draw Closer to Perfect Coloring

October 20, 2015

A theorem for coloring a large class of “perfect” mathematical networks could ease the way for a long-sought general coloring proof.

A New Map Traces the Limits of Computation

September 29, 2015

A major advance in computational complexity reveals deep connections between the classes of problems that computers can — and can’t — possibly do.

A Tricky Path to Quantum-Safe Encryption

September 8, 2015

In the drive to safeguard data from future quantum computers, cryptographers have stumbled upon a thin red line between security and efficiency.

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