Explainers

Is it possible to invent a computer that computes anything in a flash? Or could some problems stump even the most powerful of computers? Computational complexity theorists study these questions and others in the hopes of determining the limits of a computer’s powers.

Alexei Efros describes how he combines massive online data sets with machine learning algorithms to understand, model and re-create the visual world.

The trailblazing work of the biochemist Carrie Partch has revealed crucial details about how clock proteins in our cells produce our daily circadian rhythm.

Cynthia Chiang describes the experiments she hopes will illuminate the early universe.

Andrew Granville muses on how artificial intelligence could profoundly change math.

David Richeson discusses the history and significance of the four color theorem.

Kalai discusses the meaning of cryptography and how essential it is to our daily lives.

Oppenheim describes why he thinks gravity can’t be squeezed into the same quantum box as the other fundamental forces — and what he’s proposing as an alternative.

Leonard Susskind and collaborators set out to understand why black hole interiors grow forever. They ended up proposing a new law of physics.