mathematics
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FedEx Employee Discovers Largest Known Prime Number Containing A Staggering 23 Million Digits
Using a computer powered by an off-the-shelf Intel Core i5-6600 processor, a FedEx employee from Tennessee has discovered the largest prime number known to humanity. At 23,249,425 digits long, it’s nearly a million digits longer than the previous record holder.
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Scientists Want To Update These Four Fundamental Constants
Some numbers don’t change. These values are deeply connected to the very fabric of the universe and our human existence. Until they aren’t, of course. Then we change them – for good reason.
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Why Computers Are Having Such A Hard Time With This Deceptively Simple Chess Puzzle
A popular chess problem known as the Queen’s Puzzle has captivated mathematicians and computer scientists for years, yet no one has been able to write a computer program that can solve the conundrum quickly and efficiently. Researchers from the UK now claim that computers will never be up to the task — and they’re offering…
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Basic Assumptions Of Physics Might Require The Future To Influence The Past
One of the most well-accepted physical theories makes no logical sense. Quantum mechanics, the theory that governs the smallest possible spaces, forces our human brains to accept some really wacky, uncomfortable realities. Maybe we live in a world where certain observations can force our universe to branch into multiple ones. Or maybe actions in the…