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Mathematics

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Treading Softly in a Connected World

March 18, 2013

In an increasingly interconnected world, scientists are seeking safeguards against catastrophic cascades of failure like stock market crashes and widespread blackouts.

How to Make Impossible Wallpaper

March 5, 2013

A new collection of arresting wallpaper designs seems to defy the crystallographic restriction.

In Computers We Trust?

February 22, 2013

As the role of computers in pure mathematics grows, researchers debate their reliability.

In Mysterious Pattern, Math and Nature Converge

February 5, 2013

All complex correlated systems, from Arctic melt ponds to the Internet, appear to be governed by the same math as a random matrix.

Privacy by the Numbers: A New Approach to Safeguarding Data

December 10, 2012

A mathematical technique called “differential privacy” gives researchers access to vast repositories of personal data while meeting a high standard for privacy protection.

Getting Into Shapes: From Hyperbolic Geometry to Cube Complexes and Back

October 2, 2012

Thirty years after William Thurston articulated a grand mathematical vision, a proof by Ian Agol marks the end of an era in the study of three-dimensional shapes.

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