Grade school math students are likely familiar with teachers admonishing them not to just guess the answer to a problem. But a new proof establishes that, in fact, the right kind of guessing is ...

In recent years, quantum computers have lost some of their luster. It once seemed that they might be able to solve hard problems exponentially faster than classical computers, but so far, that’s ...

To learn math, students must build a mental toolbox of facts and procedures needed for different problems. But students who can recall these foundational facts in isolation often struggle to use them ...

The three body problem is famous for being impossible to solve. The three body problem is famous for being impossible to solve. But actually it's been solved many times, and in ingenious ways. Some of ...

Katie has a PhD in maths, specializing in the intersection of dynamical systems and number theory. She reports on topics from maths and history to society and animals. Katie has a PhD in maths, ...