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Wanted: More Data, the Dirtier the Better

June 6, 2017

The computational immunologist Purvesh Khatri embraces messy data as a way to capture the messiness of disease. As a result, he’s making elusive genomic discoveries.

Why Quantum Computers Might Not Break Cryptography

May 15, 2017

A new paper claims that a common digital security system could be tweaked to withstand attacks even from a powerful quantum computer.

How to Use a Sphere to Talk to Mars

April 12, 2017

To avoid garbled messages, mathematicians might translate them into geometric form.

Graph Isomorphism Vanquished — Again

January 14, 2017

Just five days after posting a retraction, László Babai announced that he had fixed the error in his landmark graph isomorphism algorithm.

Complexity Theory Problem Strikes Back

January 5, 2017

The legendary graph isomorphism problem may be harder than a 2015 result seemed to suggest.

Q&A

How to Force Our Machines to Play Fair

November 23, 2016

The computer scientist Cynthia Dwork takes abstract concepts like privacy and fairness and adapts them into machine code for the algorithmic age.

Do You Love or Hate Math and Science?

October 20, 2016

Quanta Magazine invites readers to share about their early math and science learning experiences and to explore the interactive survey results.

The Art of Teaching Math and Science

October 11, 2016

The impasse in math and science instruction runs deeper than test scores or the latest educational theory. What can we learn from the best teachers on the front lines?

All Is Not Fair in Cake-Cutting and Math

October 7, 2016

When divvying something up, there's more than one way to define what's fair.

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