When a suitcase in motion becomes unstable, it can rock back and forth from wheel to wheel. Researchers have determined why that happens and how to stop it

Near-miss math provides exact representations of almost-right answers.

Neuroscientists have used a classic branch of maths in a totally new way to peer into the structure of our brains. What they've discovered is that the brain is full of multi-dimensional geometrical structures operating in as many as 11 dimensions.

For each certified genius, there are at least a hundred great people who helped achieve such outstanding results.

Contrary to conventional scientific wisdom, conscious beings and other macroscopic entities might have greater influence over the future than does the sum of their microscopic components.

It took me a long time to understand the mysterious mathematical property of compactness. By Evelyn Lamb.

The proposed method relies on the invention of a material known as ‘exotic matter.’ By Abigail Beall.

On the search for an efficient algorithm to tell if a number is prime. By Kaneenika Sinha.

The decisions we make in life often come down to Bayes' Theorem, but most of us don't even realise what it is. So how does it work?

The history of science has been distorted by a longstanding conviction that correct theories about nature are always the most elegant ones. By Philip Ball. (Aug. 11, 2016)

A look at the balanced ternary notation and it’s use in Setun, a Soviet computer. By Andrew Buntine.

It’s harder than you think to make up a random sequence. Our ability to do so  changes with age – and could give insight into cognitive decline

If Elizabeth Bennet’s house is ten miles away from Mr. Darcy’s house, how far will her mother go to arrange a suitable marriage?

Fractals are patterns that repeat at increasingly fine magnifications. They turn up in the natural world and in artists’ work. Research suggests they contribute to making something aesthetically appealing. By Richard Taylor.

When it comes to the fabled Riemann zeta function, the world's best mathematicians have suffered 160 years of dead-end after dead-end.

Sometimes statistics and probability can produce unexpected or counter-intuitive results. If we're hoping to use numbers to make good decisions, we should be wary of the traps.

When a German retiree proved a famous long-standing mathematical conjecture, the response was underwhelming.

A retired German man has found the proof to a complex geometry and probability problem that experts have tried to solve for decades, only for his achievement to go largely unnoticed.  Thomas Royen found the solution to the conjecture, known as the Gaussian correlation inequality (GCI). 

Mosquitos generate lift via three mechanisms, two of them new to us.

"Picturing Math" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art has prints dating back to the 15th century, all expressing the beauty of mathematics.