What's up in

Quantized Columns

Latest Articles

How Steven Weinberg Transformed Physics and Physicists

August 11, 2021

When Steven Weinberg died last month, the world lost one of its most profound thinkers.

How to Find Rational Points Like Your Job Depends on It

July 22, 2021

Using high school algebra and geometry, and knowing just one rational point on a circle or elliptic curve, we can locate infinitely many others.

How ‘Long COVID’ Keeps Us Sick

July 1, 2021

Other diseases with long-term symptoms can help us understand how COVID can affect us long after the virus itself is gone.

What Makes Quantum Computing So Hard to Explain?

June 8, 2021

To understand what quantum computers can do — and what they can’t — avoid falling for overly simple explanations.

Can Machines Control Our Brains?

May 17, 2021

Advances in brain-computer interface technology are impressive, but we’re not close to anything resembling mind control.

How to Solve Equations That Are Stubborn as a Goat

May 6, 2021

Math teachers have stymied students for hundreds of years by sticking goats in strangely shaped fields. Learn why one grazing goat problem has stumped mathematicians for more than a century.

How Radio Astronomy Reveals the Universe

April 13, 2021

Radio waves, longer and less energetic than visible light, give astronomers access to some of the most obscure physics in the cosmos.

The Mysterious Math of Perfection

March 15, 2021

Enter the world of perfect numbers and explore the mystery mathematicians have spent thousands of years trying to solve.

Isadore Singer Transcended Mathematical Boundaries

March 4, 2021

A former graduate student reflects on how Isadore Singer, who died on February 11, brought together mathematicians, physicists and anyone else interested in the deeper connections between diverse fields.

Get highlights of the most important news delivered to your email inbox