Matt von Hippel

2 weeks ago | buff.ly | Stephen Ornes |Eric James Beyer |Matt von Hippel |Ben Brubaker

Quantum computers still can’t do much. Almost every time researchers have found something the high-tech machines should one day excel at, a classical algorithm comes along that can do it just as well on a regular computer. One notable exception? Taking apart numbers. In 1994, the mathematician Peter Shor devised an algorithm that would let quantum computers factor big numbers exponentially faster than classical machines.

Mar 12, 2025 | quantamagazine.org | Elise Cutts |Charlie Wood |Lyndie Chiou |Matt von Hippel

Introduction In the late 1970s, Saturn’s odd moon Titan, a hazy orange world, was expecting visitors — first, NASA’s Pioneer 11 probe, then the twin Voyager spacecraft. Most moons are airless or boast little more than gauzy, gaseous veils. But Titan is cloaked in a blanket of nitrogen and methane so thick that, with a pair of wings and a running start, astronauts on the frosty satellite could fly just by flapping their arms.

Nov 25, 2024 | technewstube.com | Matt von Hippel

Tech News Tube is a real time news feed of the latest technology news headlines.Follow all of the top tech sites in one place, on the web or your mobile device.

Nov 1, 2024 | quantamagazine.org | Jordana Cepelewicz |Erica Klarreich |Matt von Hippel

Introduction Much of mathematics is driven by intuition, by a deep-rooted sense of what should be true. But sometimes instinct can lead a mathematician astray. Early evidence might not represent the bigger picture; a statement might seem obvious, only for some hidden subtlety to reveal itself. Unexpectedly, three mathematicians have now shown that a well-known hypothesis in probability theory called the bunkbed conjecture falls into this category.

Oct 21, 2024 | quantamagazine.org | Jordana Cepelewicz |Erica Klarreich |Matt von Hippel

Introduction One afternoon in January 2011, Hussein Mourtada leapt onto his desk and started dancing. He wasn’t alone: Some of the graduate students who shared his Paris office were there, too. But he didn’t care. The mathematician realized that he could finally confirm a sneaking suspicion he’d first had while writing his doctoral dissertation, which he’d finished a few months earlier.