The most exciting OpenAI math claims

Plus, how "odd couple" black holes find each other ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­

October 9, 2026—Our reporters sifted through OpenAI’s heap of new math claims and found the best ones. Also, black hole pairings and the scientific scoop on a new movie. —Emma Gometz, Newsletter Editor TODAY'S NEWS Shutterstock/Tech Solution Open AI dropped a heap of new math proofs that provide solutions to previously unsolvable problems. Here are the most exciting ones. | 9 min read Feverish after a vaccine? A recent study found it could be because of your gut microbiome and a protein called flagellin. | 2 min read ​I took a social media scientist to see The Social Reckoning, a new movie about the dangers of Facebook’s content moderation practices. Here’s what she had to say. | 5 min read Inserting an IUD can really hurt, and often patients are told there’s no way around it. This doctor is fighting for change. | 18 min podcast Our sun has a few unusual properties, such as a surprisingly weak magnetic field. Does that mean it doesn’t qualify as a “sunlike star”? | 5 min read Scientists are using attachment theory to figure out if we should be concerned about human-AI relationships. | 4 min read TOP STORIES Thomas Fuchs ​“Odd Couple” Black Holes Binary black holes are pairs of black holes that orbit around each other and slowly move closer together. Some of them eventually merge into a single, faster-spinning black hole. Now, research suggests that some black holes that were the result of a merger are finding love again and go on to join new black hole partnerships called “hierarchical mergers.” In two recently released studies, scientists used gravitational waves to capture a distinct group of binary black holes that have “strong signatures” of hierarchical merging—one of the pair is much larger, is spinning faster and orbits out of alignment with its partner. ​ Why this matters: This picture of black holes’ origin stories could help clarify how supernova physics work and how galaxies evolve, plus add to our understanding of general relativity and the history of the universe. One study suggested that about 14 percent of black hole duos out there may be hierarchical mergers.   ​ What the experts say: “At minimum, we’re finding evidence that there are these highly spinning and weirdly tilted black holes in the dataset, and the most straightforward way to interpret that, the Occam’s razor answer, is that these black holes probably came from previous mergers,” says Cailin Plunkett, lead author on one of the recent studies and a Ph.D. candidate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

SCIENCE QUIZ Did you catch the answer to this first quiz question in Scientific American this week? And see how you do on the rest of today's science quiz. MOST POPULAR STORIES OF THE WEEK OpenAI unleashes hundreds more math results upon a field already in shock | 3 min read Mathematicians name 50 of the highest-stakes problems in math | 6 min read 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine awarded to scientists behind optogenetics | 3 min read Tiny investment, enormous universe: subscribe to Scientific American for 90 days for just $1 and help keep this newsletter going. Subscribe The Nobel Prizes were announced this week, and I want to thank our amazing news team for waking up long before sunrise to report on the winners. If you haven’t already, read all about the prizes in Physics, Chemistry, and Physiology or Medicine! And be sure to scroll down to the middle of each article to see Adam Kovac, Jackie Mogensen and Joe Howlett sharing the news bright-eyed and bushy tailed on camera. Please send your thoughts, comments or feedback to: newsletters@sciam.com. Have a great long weekend, Andrea will be back on Tuesday. —Emma Gometz, Newsletter Editor

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Week in Science: OpenAI unleashes hundreds more math results

Plus, this week's Nobel prize winners                    

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October 9—This week, Nobel Prizes were awarded to scientists studying genetics, neutrinos and the fundamental geometry of molecules. Also, more AI upheaval in the world of mathematics and a particular ancient tomb. Think you know science news? Take our Friday quiz to find out. —Emma Gometz, Newsletter Editor Have thoughts or feedback on our coverage? Email newsletters@sciam.com anytime.

Top Stories

OpenAI unleashes hundreds more math results upon a field already in shock A month after resolving one of the six biggest open problems in mathematics, the company says its new internal model has toppled heaps more—this time without the multimillion-dollar price tag Joseph Howlett

Mathematicians name 50 of the highest-stakes problems in math Mathematicians have a new bucket list of open questions to chase Lyndie Chiou

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2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine awarded to scientists behind optogenetics Karl Deisseroth, Georg Nagel and Peter Hegemann developed optogenetics, which uses light and genetics to control individual cells Jackie Flynn Mogensen

2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded to pioneers in ‘mirror’ chemistry The prize recognizes Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai’s discovery of nonlinear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis Adam Kovac

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2026 Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to Francis Halzen, pioneer of high-energy neutrinos Francis Halzen is a leader in the study of neutrinos, ghostly particles from across the universe that hint at exciting new physics Joseph Howlett

How AI helped bring an ancient tomb dating to before the Roman Empire back to life Pairing artificial intelligence with acoustic technology helped reveal an Etrurian tomb in new light Jacqueline Ortoleva, Maurizio Forte, The Conversation US

Why the creative brain feeds on movement Movement and creativity go hand in hand. Scientists are working to discover why Amanda Loudin

These Super Mario levels are mathematically unsolvable In math and Mario Land, there are questions that are algorithmically undecidable, meaning they will demonstrably never have an answer Manon Bischoff

Mathematicians marvel, and grumble, at OpenAI’s trove of new results The “slop drop” contains a number of groundbreaking proofs, but how it was generated remains unclear and contentious Joseph Howlett

This September was the hottest ever on record for the U.S. It’s been a blistering year. A record-hot September doesn’t bode well for the rest of it Jackie Flynn Mogensen

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