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Predicting Eclipses: The Three Body Problem

Solar eclipse prediction has driven innovation across the history of science and mathematics, from the Saros cycle to Greek geometry to Newton’s calculus to the three-body problem.


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Emily Riehl: Mathematician, Musician, Educator

September 2, 2020

Riehl talks about how higher category theory is like the viola, why she’s drawn to expository writing, and the responsibility mathematicians have to address social justice issues.

Claudia de Rham: “Gravity Is the Law That Makes Everything Happen”

August 18, 2020

Claudia de Rham explains why gravity is so fundamental to our understanding of everything in the universe.

John Priscu and the Search for Life Under Ice

July 20, 2020

The microbial ecologist John Priscu of Montana State University discusses what led him to seek life beneath the barren, frozen wastes of Antarctica — and how his discoveries there are shaping the search for life on other worlds.

Liz MacDonald on the strangest auroras in the world.

July 9, 2020

Liz MacDonald discusses what more people should know about the auroras.

James Maynard Solves the Hardest Easy Math Problems

June 30, 2020

James Maynard talks about why he’s obsessed with prime numbers.

Katie Mack Knows How It’s All Going to End

June 22, 2020

Katie Mack describes the most likely scenario for the end of the universe.

Epidemiologist Tara Smith Answers Coronavirus Questions

June 18, 2020

Highlights from Tara C. Smith’s live YouTube event on May 1, 2020, in which she answered reader questions about the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pincelli Hull Explains What Killed Off the Dinosaurs

March 25, 2020

Evidence from the oceans decisively shows that an asteroid strike caused the last mass extinction, argues Pincelli Hull. The cataclysm continues to hold lessons for today.

Ronald Rivest on Building Better Elections

March 11, 2020

Ronald Rivest of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology describes the role of computers in voting and what makes elections trustworthy.