These are math’s most famous open questions. Solve one, and you’ll win a $1-million prize—but it’s only happened once since ...

A new quantum-inspired algorithm has cracked a problem so massive that conventional supercomputers struggle to even approach it. Researchers used the method to simulate extraordinarily complex quantum ...

Penn researchers have developed a smarter AI method for solving notoriously difficult inverse equations, which help scientists uncover hidden causes behind observable effects. By introducing ...

Liam Price just cracked a 60-year-old problem that world-class mathematicians have tried and failed to solve. He’s 23 years old and has no advanced mathematics training. What he does have is a ChatGPT ...

What are the most pressing global crises in 2026? Each year, the International Rescue Committee’s (IRC) Emergency Watchlist identifies the countries at greatest risk of new or worsening humanitarian ...

Determining the least expensive path for a new subway line underneath a metropolis like New York City is a colossal planning challenge—involving thousands of potential routes through hundreds of city ...

The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. If you want to solve a tricky problem, it often helps to get organized. You might, for example, break the problem into pieces and tackle ...

You’re neck-deep in IKEA assembly instructions. Furniture parts lie strewn across the floor. Your new purchase sits half-complete in front of you, mocking your fruitless hours. As an uninterested ...

Like the rest of its Big Tech cadre, Google has spent lavishly on developing generative AI models. Google’s AI can clean up your text messages and summarize the web, but the company is constantly ...

If you want to solve a tricky problem, it often helps to get organized. You might, for example, break the problem into pieces and tackle the easiest pieces first. But this kind of sorting has a cost.