Year in Review
2024 Biggest Breakthroughs in Computer Science
The year’s biggest computer science stories included a new understanding of large language models, and a breakthrough in being able to compute complex quantum systems.
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2024 Biggest Breakthroughs in Computer Science
2024 Biggest Breakthroughs in Biology
2024 Biggest Breakthroughs in Physics
2024 Biggest Breakthroughs in Math
2023’s Biggest Breakthroughs in Math
2023’s Biggest Breakthroughs in Physics
2023’s Biggest Breakthroughs in Computer Science
2023’s Biggest Breakthroughs in Biology and Neuroscience
2022’s Biggest Breakthroughs in Math
2021’s Biggest Breakthroughs in Math and Computer Science
2021’s Biggest Breakthroughs in Physics
2021’s Biggest Breakthroughs in Biology
2020’s Biggest Breakthroughs in Biology
2020’s Biggest Breakthroughs in Math and Computer Science
2020’s Biggest Breakthroughs in Physics
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Minhyong Kim: Connecting Number Theory to Physics
Minhyong Kim wanted to make sure he had concrete results in number theory before he admitted that his ideas were inspired by physics.
Federico Ardila: A Mathematician Who Dances to the Joys and Sorrows of Discovery
Federico Ardila on the joys and challenges of teaching math and helping students find their mathematical voice.
Michael Assis: The Atomic Theory of Origami
Michael Assis demonstrates how defects can be used to tune the properties of Miura-ori origami.
Rebecca Goldin: Why Math Is the Best Way to Make Sense of the World
Rebecca Goldin explains why quantitative literacy is so important.
Nigel Goldenfeld: Seeing Emergent Physics Behind Evolution
Nigel Goldenfeld explains how condensed matter physics provides insights into the collective state of early life on Earth.
Neil Johnson: A Physicist Who Models ISIS and the Alt-Right
Neil Johnson on the physics of collective human behavior.
Svitlana Mayboroda: Taming Rogue Waves
Svitlana Mayboroda describes how the landscape function helps solve the mystery of wave localization.
Jay Pasachoff: Eclipse Hunter Reveals the Science That Can Only Be Done in the Dark
Jay Pasachoff explains what scientists can learn during a total solar eclipse.
Andrea Ghez: Black-Hole Hunter Takes Aim at Einstein
In this 2017 interview, the UCLA astrophysicist Andrea Ghez explains how tracking the movement of stars revealed the existence of a supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy.