Math

Photographs of 3D-printed shapes show soft cells derived from space filling polyhedra. Blue is derived from a truncated octahedron, pink is from a hexagonal prism and green is from a cube.

MathematicsNovember 19, 2024

Mathematicians Discover a New Kind of Shape That’s All over Nature

Mathematicians have found a new kind of shape with connections to nature and art

Elise Cutts

Illustration of a hand and multiple numbers against a purple background.

MathematicsNovember 19, 2024

Math Puzzle: Find the Secret System

How are these numbers organized?

Heinrich Hemme

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Illustration of 3d numbers piled infinitely

OpinionNovember 1, 2024

Record-Breaking Prime Number, 41 Million Digits Long, Blows Mathematicians’ Minds

The discovery of a new prime number highlights the rising price of mathematical gold

Jack Murtagh

photo illustration, donut cut into three sections on a blue background

MathematicsOctober 29, 2024

Math and Puzzle Fans Find Magic in Martin Gardner’s Legacy

Scientific American columnist Martin Gardner started a long mathematical conversation that continues today

Sarah Lewin Frasier

Games illustration with a green background

LanguageOctober 15, 2024

Science Crossword: Girl With Kaleidoscope Eyes

Play this crossword inspired by the November 2024 issue of Scientific American

Aimee Lucido

MathematicsOctober 15, 2024

Math Puzzle: Play Architect with These Houses of Cards

Can this house of cards be built?

Hans-Karl Eder

Three hearts drawn on a chalkboard with arrows connecting them in various combinations

MathematicsOctober 10, 2024

The ‘Stable Marriage Problem’ Solution Underpins Dating Apps and School Admissions

An elegant matchmaking algorithm called Gale-Shapley can find the best possible pairings for everybody

Max Springer

A a conceptual representation showing a boy in a blue shirt facing away from the camera, working on math.

MathematicsOctober 9, 2024

A Century-Old Question Is Still Revealing Answers in Fundamental Math

Mathematicians have made lots of recent progress on a question called the Mordell conjecture, which was posed a century ago

Rachel Crowell

A small blue sphere orbits a larger green sphere against a purple background, with "Science Quickly" written underneath.

MathOctober 4, 2024

Infinite Tiling Presents a Modern Mathematical Challenge

Today’s mathematicians grapple with higher-order mathematical questions and real-world applications.

Kyne Santos, Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Madison Goldberg, Jeffery DelViscio

Close-up image of cake slice varieties on multicoloured plates

MathematicsOctober 1, 2024

How Mathematicians Wrestled with the Biggest Controversy in the Field

A surprisingly simple concept shook the foundations of mathematics

Manon Bischoff

MathSeptember 27, 2024

Is Math Part of Nature or an Invention of the Mind?

Mathematics communicator and drag queen Kyne Santos guides you through the ongoing debate about what math really is.

Kyne Santos, Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Madison Goldberg, Jeffery DelViscio

MathSeptember 20, 2024

Finding Math’s Beauty and Power with Drag Queen Kyne Santos

Mathematics communicator and drag queen Kyne will help you discover the beauty and power of math in this miniseries.

Kyne Santos, Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Madison Goldberg, Jeffery DelViscio