Week in Science: Dueling OpenAI proofs astound scientists

Plus, three in four NFL players die with CTE, study finds                    

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October 30—Happy almost-Halloween! This week, even more AI-generated math proofs continue to bring shock and awe to the research community. Also, a new landmark study shows three-quarters of thousands of NFL players surveyed died with CTE, a new government UFO release shows a strange triangular craft, and much more. P.S.—Daylight saving ends early Sunday morning! If you happen to be up late on Halloween, set your clocks back an hour at 2:00am—you'll get an extra hour to keep the party going. Think you know all the science news from this week? 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 just scooped mathematicians’ work on another million-dollar problem Another bombshell result shows how artificial intelligence is fueling fierce competition at the frontiers of math and physics Joseph Howlett

Dueling proofs from OpenAI and Anthropic astound scientists The results resolve major problems in math, physics and computer science. But like other recent AI-generated “slop drops,” the releases are already controversial Joseph Howlett, Peter Hall

Subscriber Event Inside Social Media Addiction: Join Us Live Why is social media so hard to put down? Join Scientific American associate editor Allison Parshall and neuroscientist Eva Telzer on November 5 for a virtual discussion exploring the science behind social media addiction and how to build healthier relationships with technology.

Mathematicians find an infinite number of Ramanujan equations Knots show how to generate infinitely many formulas of a kind developed by the visionary genius Lyndie Chiou

Landmark study finds three in four NFL players die with CTE The staggering new estimate is based on an analysis of thousands of former players’ medical records Jackie Flynn Mogensen

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Strange triangular craft reported in new U.S. government UFO release The latest batch of declassified files includes eyewitness sightings from earlier this year of a flying black triangle performing inexplicable aerial maneuvers Adam Kovac

RFK, Jr., loosens restrictions for six popular peptides, bypassing the FDA Under the new policy, compounded combinations of these unproven peptides can now be dispensed by certain pharmacies Adam Kovac

How a 16th-century pirate accidentally spawned a centuries-old math problem A question posed by Sir Walter Raleigh about cannonballs inadvertently led to a puzzle that mathematicians have been trying to solve for centuries Manon Bischoff

Warhound wants to engineer and clone military superdogs—can they do it? The start-up is the brainchild of a founder of Anduril, the military tech firm, and Colossal Biosciences, a biotech company known for its de-extinction efforts Mary Randolph

Disgusting or scary? What an aversion to clusters of holes tells us about the brain Research suggests this aversion is driven by an instinct to avoid disease Gabriela Galvin

Astronomers may have just discovered our solar system’s sixth dwarf planet Located farther away from Earth than Pluto, the object was hidden in the light of the Milky Way’s stars Adam Kovac

Trump-appointed CDC deputy director resigns after just four months in the role Jennifer Shuford, a well-respected infectious disease researcher, cited a desire to spend more time with her family Adam Kovac

Underwater data centers may be coming to the U.S.—smack in the middle of endangered whale habitat Ocean water could help dissipate the heat from data centers, but the infrastructure could threaten endangered whales Ryan Green

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