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How Math Achieved Transcendence
Transcendental numbers include famous examples like e and π, but it took mathematicians centuries to understand them.
How the Brain Protects Itself From Blood-Borne Threats
To buffer the brain against menaces in the blood, a dynamic, multi-tiered system of protection is built into the brain’s blood vessels.
Data Compression Drives the Internet. Here’s How It Works.
One student’s desire to get out of a final exam led to the ubiquitous algorithm that shrinks data without sacrificing information.
The Most Important Machine That Was Never Built
When he invented Turing machines in 1936, Alan Turing also invented modern computing.
How Randomness Improves Algorithms
Unpredictability can help computer scientists solve otherwise intractable problems.
The Colorful Problem That Has Long Frustrated Mathematicians
The four-color problem is simple to explain, but its complex proof continues to be both celebrated and despised.
Bob Metcalfe, Ethernet Pioneer, Wins Turing Award
The American researcher was recognized for his central role in inventing, standardizing and commercializing the ubiquitous networking technology.
Can Our Brains Be Taken Over?
Several real-life pathogens can change a host’s behavior against their will. Here’s what we know about these zombie-like infections.
Researchers Discover a More Flexible Approach to Machine Learning
“Liquid” neural nets, based on a worm’s nervous system, can transform their underlying algorithms on the fly, giving them unprecedented speed and adaptability.