COMPLEX SYSTEMS | ALL TOPICS

The Quest to Decode the Mandelbrot Set, Math's Famed Fractal

By JORDANA CEPELEWICZ

For decades, a small group of mathematicians has patiently unraveled the mystery of what was once math's most popular picture. Their story shows how technology transforms even the most abstract mathematical landscapes.

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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

New Theory Suggests Chatbots Can Understand Text

By ANIL ANANTHASWAMY

Far from being "stochastic parrots," the biggest large language models seem to learn enough skills to understand the words they're processing.

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Related:
The Unpredictable Abilities
Emerging From Large AI Models
By Stephen Ornes (2023)

THE JOY OF WHY

Why Locusts Swarm, Humans Do Good and Time Marches On

By JANNA LEVIN

"The Joy of Why" podcast returns for a third season as a coproduction of Quanta and PRX, with two co-hosts, 24 brilliant guests and 24 all-new episodes beginning next week.

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Listen to the trailer

ASTRONOMY

The Best Neighborhoods for Starting a Life in the Galaxy

By REBECCA BOYLE

Some neighborhoods in the Milky Way may be better suited for making habitable planets than others.

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Related:
In the Milky Way's Stars,
a History of Violence
By Rebecca Boyle (2023)

QUANTIZED COLUMNS

The Brain Region That Controls Movement Also Guides Feelings

By R. DOUGLAS FIELDS

The cerebellum is responsible for far more than coordinating movement. It's also a hub of complex processing in the brain.

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Related:
New Cell Atlases Reveal Untold Variety in the Brain and Beyond
By Yasemin Saplakoglu (2023)

QUANTIZED ACADEMY

The Surprisingly Simple Math Behind Puzzling Matchups

By PATRICK HONNER

The transitive property of math is so foundational, you might use it regularly without even noticing it. When it's removed from a problem, solving it can be tricky.

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Related:
Mathematicians Roll Dice
and Get Rock-Paper-Scissors
By Erica Klarreich (2023)

QUANTA SCIENCE PODCAST

An Old Conjecture Falls, Making Spheres a Lot More Complicated

By KEVIN HARTNETT;
Podcast hosted by SUSAN VALOT

The telescope conjecture gave mathematicians a handle on ways to map one sphere to another. Now that it has been disproved, the universe of shapes has exploded.

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