A solution to P vs NP could unlock countless computational problems—or keep them forever out of reach. 1. On Monday, July 19, 2021, in the middle of another strange pandemic summer, a leading computer ...

Constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs) provide a versatile framework for modelling complex decision-making tasks where a collection of variables must be allocated values that satisfy specific ...

The most widely used technique for finding the largest or smallest values of a math function turns out to be a fundamentally difficult computational problem. Many aspects of modern applied research ...

We are clearly on the verge of a revolution in medicine—one in which the sequence of As, Ts, Gs, and Cs is as much a part of a patient’s phenotypic profile as are the sounds of the heart or were the ...

They say a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, but for computer scientists, two birds in a hole are better still. That’s because those cohabiting birds are the protagonists of a deceptively ...

Many aspects of modern applied research rely on a crucial algorithm called gradient descent. This is a procedure generally used for finding the largest or smallest values of a particular mathematical ...

Thousands of notoriously difficult problems in computer science are actually the same problem in disguise If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by ...

The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. Say you want to send a private message, cast a secret vote, or sign a document securely. If you do any of these tasks on a computer, you ...

Genetically engineered bacteria, rigged up as a distributed computing system, might help realize synthetic biology’s loftier goals. E. coli thrives in our guts, sometimes to unfortunate effect, and it ...