Supercomputers can take months to simulate the climate – but my new algorithm can do it ten times faster

These are some of the most complex and important pieces of software ever written.

Samar Khatiwala, Professor of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford • conversation
May 1, 2024 ~8 min

Climate models can run for months on supercomputers – but my new algorithm can make them ten times faster

These are some of the most complex and important pieces of software ever written.

Samar Khatiwala, Professor of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford • conversation
May 1, 2024 ~7 min


Study demonstrates efficacy of MIT-led Brave Behind Bars program

Programming course for incarcerated people boosts digital literacy and self-efficacy, highlighting potential for reduced recidivism.

Rachel Gordon | MIT CSAIL • mit
April 24, 2024 ~8 min

From thousands to millions to billions to trillions to quadrillions and beyond: Do numbers ever end?

Here’s a game: Tell a friend to give you any number and you’ll return one that’s bigger. Just add ‘1’ to whatever number they come up with and you’re sure to win.

Manil Suri, Professor of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Maryland, Baltimore County • conversation
April 15, 2024 ~8 min

Dali hit Key Bridge with the force of 66 heavy trucks at highway speed

A civil engineer lays out the physics behind Dali’s crash into the Francis Scott Key Bridge pier.

Amanda Bao, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering Technology, Environmental Management and Safety, Rochester Institute of Technology • conversation
April 8, 2024 ~5 min

Why we need to rethink what we know about dust

New research reveals our understanding of dust’s role in the environment is far from settled.

Adrian Chappell, Professor in Climate Change Impacts, Cardiff University • conversation
April 2, 2024 ~6 min

How AI and a popular card game can help engineers predict catastrophic failure – by finding the absence of a pattern

What mathematicians call ‘disordered collections’ can help engineers explore real-world worst-case scenarios. The simple card game Set illustrates how to predict internet and electrical grid failures.

John Edward McCarthy, Professor of Mathematics, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis • conversation
March 26, 2024 ~7 min

The ‘average’ revolutionized scientific research, but overreliance on it has led to discrimination and injury

The average might come in handy for certain data analyses, but is any one person really ‘average’?

Zachary del Rosario, Assistant Professor of Engineering, Olin College of Engineering • conversation
March 1, 2024 ~9 min


Understanding how the brain works can transform how school students learn maths

Principles from cognitive science can help help in the design of more effective teaching materials for maths.

Colin Foster, Reader in Mathematics Education, Loughborough University • conversation
Feb. 28, 2024 ~7 min

Anyone can play Tetris, but architects, engineers and animators alike use the math concepts underlying the game

People young and old love the classic video game Tetris. A working knowledge of the spatial reasoning concepts underlying Tetris can set students up for success in mathematics.

Leah McCoy, Professor of Education, Wake Forest University • conversation
Feb. 28, 2024 ~7 min

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