Today, we look at new A.I.-generated findings that are moving the frontiers of higher math, the woman who got us to the moon and the first nuclear clocks. Plus: your most pressing unsolved questions and a quiz. ‘Breathtaking,’ ‘Devastating’: Mathematics Reels After OpenAI Release
“If a human did this, it would be an instant Fields Medal, no questions asked.” That’s how Alex Kontorovich, chair of the department of mathematics at Rutgers, responded to an A.I.-generated proof that OpenAI, the artificial intelligence giant, released on Tuesday. And that single proof — worthy, in Dr. Kontorovich’s assessment on social media, of arguably the highest honor in the field of mathematics — was just one among more than 350 findings that the company released that day, all at once. Not all of them were quite so remarkable. But Martin Bridson, a mathematician at Oxford and the president of the Clay Mathematics Institute, which established the coveted Millennium Prize Problems, called OpenAI’s release “breathtaking.” “Until very recently, it would have been impossible to imagine that the frontiers of mathematics could move so far in one day,” Dr. Bridson said. The woman who got us to the moon
Margaret Hamilton, who led the 100-person team that wrote the onboard software for the Apollo missions, guiding Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to a safe landing on the moon, died on Sept. 30. But for decades, almost no one had heard of her or known of her role in Apollo. And yet, long before software engineering became a boys’ club — the exclusive domain of tech bros and a mythical force that threatens to either transform the world or snuff it out — it was just Margaret’s thing. Your biggest unsolved questionsTo kick off our Unknowns project, we asked 100 scientists about the biggest unsolved questions in their fields. They sent back provocations — on the origins of life, the possibilities for human progress and much more. But there are so many more avenues to explore, based on the nearly 500 comments left by readers. Here are some of your most pressing questions: 1. Why do subjective conscious experiences exist? — Loki, Calif.2. Do the evolutionary traits that allowed us to survive and advance also doom us to seek to conquer and destroy? — Kathy, N.J.3. Is the universe infinite? — Matthew, N.J.4. Are all human languages descendants of a single proto-language? — Bill, Va.5. How do we eat healthfully and sustainably in the coming century? — Ian, U.K.6. What is the role of nature and nurture in mental illness? — Victoria, Ore.7. Our universe has two foundational constants: Planck’s constant and the speed of light. Were they set by the Big Bang? — Andre, VancouverDo you have a big question worth pondering? Send it to sciencenewsletter@nytimes.com The first nuclear clocks start to tick
Telling time is an affair of counting ticks and tocks. Whether it’s the dulcet swoosh of a pendulum in a grandfather clock, or the rapid oscillations of electrons in an atomic clock, the principle is the same. Two independent teams in Vienna and Beijing have now simultaneously built the first clocks that keep time by counting the squishing and unsquishing of the atomic nuclei of thorium, a heavy radioactive element. These nuclear clocks are so precise they would lose one second once every few million years or so. We hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times.
One more thingTEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE This quiz question comes from an article featured in Tuesday’s Science Times newsletter. Click an answer to see if you’re right. (The link will be free.) We’re still unsure if babies are conscious, but they do exhibit some markers of consciousness. Which of the following is NOT one of them? Producing distinct brain “blips” in response to a change in frequencies. The ability to carry out simple forms of math in their heads. Recognizing that the face is more than a sum of its parts. Thanks for joining us this week! Let us know how we’re doing at sciencenewsletter@nytimes.com.
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