The stunningly simple rule that will always get you out of a maze
12 July 2023
You thought the maze looked fun, but now you can’t find your way out. Luckily, mathematics is here to help you escape, says Katie Steckles
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Premium
Decade-long struggle over maths proof could be decided by $1m prize
11 July 2023
Mathematician Shinichi Mochizuki's Inter-universal Teichmüller theory has attracted controversy since it was published in 2012, with no one able to agree whether it is true. Now, a $1 million prize is being launched to settle the matter
Should all mathematical proofs be checked by a computer?
5 July 2023
Proofs, the central tenet of mathematics, occasionally have errors in them. Could computers stop this from happening, asks mathematician Emily Riehl
Mathematicians calculate 42-digit number after decades of trying
3 July 2023
Dedekind numbers describe the number of ways sets of logical operations can be combined, and are fiendishly difficult to calculate, with only eight known since 1991 - and now mathematicians have calculated the ninth in the series
How maths can help you pack your shopping more efficiently
7 June 2023
How can you ensure you use the fewest bags when loading your shopping? A dash of maths will help, says Peter Rowlett
Mathematicians make even better never-repeating tile discovery
30 May 2023
An unsatisfying caveat in a mathematical breakthrough discovery of a single tile shape that can cover a surface without ever creating a repeating pattern has been eradicated. The newly discovered "spectre" shape can cover a surface without repeating...
How maths reveals the best time to add milk for hotter tea
3 May 2023
If you want your cup of tea to stay as hot as possible, should you put milk in immediately, or wait until you are ready to drink it? Katie Steckles does the sums
Mathematician wins Abel prize for solving equations with geometry
22 March 2023
Luis Caffarelli has been awarded the most prestigious prize in mathematics for his work on nonlinear partial differential equations, which have many applications in the real world
Breakthrough in fiendishly hard puzzle has mathematicians partying
21 March 2023
Calculating Ramsey numbers is so difficult that one mathematician once said he'd rather fight off an alien invasion. Now, mathematicians have made the first major advance in nearly a century
Mathematicians discover shape that can tile a wall and never repeat
21 March 2023
Aperiodic tiling, in which shapes can fit together to create infinite patterns that never repeat, has fascinated mathematicians for decades, but until now no one knew if it could be done with just one shape
