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How to Make the Universe Think for Us
...image, and the “learning” needed to classify such images correctly. A system that mastered both tasks would leverage the universe’s ability to act mathematically without actually doing math. “We never...
The Secret Math Behind Mind-Reading Magic Tricks
...de Bruijn sequence of order 4 using 16 cards. This puzzle is one of many mathematics-based card tricks in the book Magical Mathematics: The Mathematical Ideas That Animate Great Magic...
How Complex Is a Knot? New Proof Reveals Ranking System That Works.
“Ribbon concordance” will let mathematicians compare knots by linking them across four-dimensional space. Back in 1981, Cameron Gordon introduced a new way to relate two knots — mathematical constructs modeled...
How to Write Software With Mathematical Perfection
...How are they different? Coq was designed to do real mathematics and to be able to capture the reasoning that mathematicians do. It’s what Georges Gonthier used to prove the...
The Man Who Revolutionized Computer Science With Math
Leslie Lamport talks about the importance of programming instead of coding, how he developed distributed systems and his favorite algorithm. Photo by Talia Herman for Quanta Magazine; video by Emily...
Where Do Space, Time and Gravity Come From?
...of the biggest unanswered questions in science and math today. In this episode, we’re going to be discussing the mysteries of space and time, and gravity, too. What’s so mysterious...
Think of a Number. How Do Math Magicians Know What It Is?
...Carroll was an Oxford mathematician and avid puzzler, whose math puzzles have entertained many mathematicians, including the famous Terence Tao. Puzzle 1 This magic trick is designed for a child...
New Proof Illuminates the Hidden Structure of Common Equations
...help solve lots of other equations in our mathematical system, like x2 – 20 = 0. (Note that here, our mathematical system is limited to polynomials and rational numbers.) But...
The Secrets of Zugzwang in Chess, Math and Pizzas
Learn the magic and math of how to win games when your opponent goes first. Most games that pit two players or teams against each other require one of them...