Mathematics

Auto Added by WPeMatico

MIT in the media: Exploring how curiosity-driven science is an essential ingredient in America’s success

Over the past 80 years, America’s bold, sustained investment in scientific research, and the discoveries, ideas and innovations that flowed from it made America a world leader. The nation’s scientific leadership has been essential to our shared prosperity and national security, and delivered real benefits for all Americans.On June 16, Scientific American released a special section, […]

MIT in the media: Exploring how curiosity-driven science is an essential ingredient in America’s success Read More »

When it comes to predicting people’s preferences, it pays to consider “the power of three”

In his 1927 paper, “A law of comparative judgment,” the American psychologist L. L. Thurstone proposed that when people select one option among multiple alternatives, they are picking the one that has the highest value to them, even though they cannot assign a particular number to that choice. Thurstone was a pioneer of “psychometrics” — a

When it comes to predicting people’s preferences, it pays to consider “the power of three” Read More »

NSF renews support for MIT-led AI and physics institute, expanding a new model for discovery

The MIT-led Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Fundamental Interactions (IAIFI) has received renewed support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for an additional five years, increasing annual funding from $4 million to $4.98 million. The renewal marks a new phase for IAIFI, which has spent its first five years building a research model and an

NSF renews support for MIT-led AI and physics institute, expanding a new model for discovery Read More »

Mathematicians warn of AI threats to profession as industry encroaches

Mathematicians warned against rising tech industry influence in a declaration describing the many challenges that AI poses to mathematics research. The timing of the declaration comes two weeks after OpenAI publicized one of its AI models as having disproved an 80-year-old mathematical conjecture in geometry. The declaration was developed by a working group of 16

Mathematicians warn of AI threats to profession as industry encroaches Read More »

OpenAI makes breakthrough on 80-year-old maths problem

Company says work on Paul Erdős planar unit distance problem shows advance in AI reasoningOpenAI has claimed a further advance in AI reasoning after its technology successfully tackled an 80-year-old maths problem.The company behind ChatGPT said it had made a breakthrough with a challenge first posed by Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdős in 1946: the planar

OpenAI makes breakthrough on 80-year-old maths problem Read More »

Two from MIT named 2026 Knight-Hennessy Scholars

MIT master’s student Sunshine Jiang ’25 and Rupert Li ’24 are recipients of this year’s Knight-Hennessy Scholarship. Now in its ninth year, the highly competitive scholarship provides up to three years of financial support for graduate studies at Stanford University. Sunshine Jiang  ’25Sunshine Jiang, from Hangzhou, China, graduated from MIT in 2025 with a bachelor’s degree

Two from MIT named 2026 Knight-Hennessy Scholars Read More »

No flattery please, Claude: I’m British | Brief letters

Richard Dawkins and chatbots | LLM meaning | Flattery battery | Dancing in PE | Maths breakthroughThe otherwise admirable Richard Dawkins should adjust the local settings of the chatbot or tell it to be less obsequious (Richard Dawkins concludes AI is conscious, even if it doesn’t know it, 6 May). Such bots are initially geared

No flattery please, Claude: I’m British | Brief letters Read More »

MIT scientists build the world’s largest collection of Olympiad-level math problems, and open it to everyone

Every year, the countries competing in the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) arrive with a booklet of their best, most original problems. Those booklets get shared among delegations, then quietly disappear. No one had ever collected them systematically, cleaned them, and made them available, not for AI researchers testing the limits of mathematical reasoning, and not

MIT scientists build the world’s largest collection of Olympiad-level math problems, and open it to everyone Read More »

The quiz that keeps families connected | Brief letters

Saturday quiz | Avoiding AI | Size matters It was lovely to read Sabrina Olson’s letter (6 March) on the quiz as it has been a family ritual for us for years. It kept us all connected through our children’s time at university, then moving into their own homes, and in some cases working abroad.

The quiz that keeps families connected | Brief letters Read More »