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When Probability Meets Real Life

February 8, 2018

When faced with a difficult decision, should you go with your gut or carefully calculate the attendant risks?

The Argument Against Quantum Computers

February 7, 2018

The mathematician Gil Kalai believes that quantum computers can't possibly work, even in principle.

With Strategic Zaps to the Brain, Scientists Boost Memory

February 6, 2018

Stimulating part of the cortex as needed during learning tasks improves later recall. The finding reveals more about the brain's memory network and points toward possible therapies.

How Math (and Vaccines) Keep You Safe From the Flu

February 5, 2018

Simple math shows how widespread vaccination can disrupt the exponential spread of disease and prevent epidemics.

Quantum Algorithms Struggle Against Old Foe: Clever Computers

February 1, 2018

The quest for "quantum supremacy" – unambiguous proof that a quantum computer does something faster than an ordinary computer – has paradoxically led to a boom in quasi-quantum classical algorithms.

How the Universe Got Its Bounce Back

January 31, 2018

Cosmologists have shown that it’s theoretically possible for a contracting universe to bounce and expand. The new work resuscitates an old idea that directly challenges the Big Bang theory of cosmic origins.

Solution: ‘Triangulation and Motion Sickness’

January 30, 2018

A method for estimating distances in sailing and astrophysics helps explain why riding on buses and boats can make us nauseous.

Q&A

In Birds’ Songs, Brains and Genes, He Finds Clues to Speech

January 30, 2018

The neuroscientist Erich Jarvis found that songbirds' vocal skills and humans' spoken language are both rooted in neural pathways for controlling learned movements.

Job One for Quantum Computers: Boost Artificial Intelligence

January 29, 2018

The fusion of quantum computing and machine learning has become a booming research area. Can it possibly live up to its high expectations?

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