The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. The simplest ideas in mathematics can also be the most perplexing. Take addition. It’s a straightforward operation: One of the first ...

A new proof illuminates the hidden patterns that emerge when addition becomes impossible. The simplest ideas in mathematics can also be the most perplexing. Take addition. It’s a straightforward ...

An artificial intelligence created by the firm DeepMind has discovered a new way to multiply numbers, the first such advance in over 50 years. The find could boost some computation speeds by up to 20 ...