All Stories by Erica Klarreich
- Math
Manuscripts as Fossils
A new mathematical model estimates how many medieval manuscripts have survived to the present.
- Math
New largest prime discovered
Computers have discovered a new largest prime number with a whopping 7,816,230 digits.
- Math
Life on the Scales
A mathematical equation helps explain life processes on all biological scales, from molecules to ecosystems.
- Math
Hospitals motivated to skimp on infection control
A new mathematical model suggests that the presence of nearby hospitals may give a hospital an economic incentive to relax its infection-control efforts.
- Math
Sizing Up Complex Webs: Close or far, many networks look the same
Complex networks, including the World Wide Web, have a common architecture with snowflakes and trees.
- Math
When Laziness Pays: Math explains how cooperation and cheating evolve
Researchers have developed a mathematical model that helps explain how cooperation and cheating evolve among simple organisms.
- Math
Take a Chance
Researchers are helping to turn the art of generating randomness into a precise science.
- Math
Con Artist: Scanning program can discern true art
A new mathematical tool distills painting style into an array of statistics as a potential means to spot forgeries.
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- Math
Generous Players
Game theory is helping to explain how cooperation and other self-sacrificing behaviors fit into natural selection.
- Math
Theorems for Sale
In April, an eBay auction offered math enthusiasts the rare opportunity of linking their names with one of the most famous mathematicians of the 20th century.
- Math
Glimpses of Genius
By studying a puzzle that Archimedes pondered 2,200 years ago, mathematicians are obtaining new insights into its intriguing geometric structure.
