When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The Ishango bone, from Africa's Congo region, has dozens of parallel notches cut into its surface ...

Occasionally a reader suggests a topic for my column as with the above title. My thanks. This question is important because it applies to more than mathematics. For example, did Michelangelo create ...

Futurama is one of the best science fiction TV shows of all time and unsurprisingly relies heavily on math. First, no matter how many times it gets canceled, it seems to adjust the numbers and pop ...

Archaeologists working in northern Mesopotamia say they have uncovered visual patterns that look a lot like structured ...

Here’s a philosophical question for you: was math invented or was it discovered? Granite Geek David Brooks has been thinking about this question, and will lead leading a discussion after tomorrow ...

Many people think that mathematics is a human invention. To this way of thinking, mathematics is like a language: it may describe real things in the world, but it doesn’t “exist” outside the minds of ...

Bob Moriarty of 321gold discusses misunderstandings over the role of banks versus speculators in commodity trading. I lived in California when I was in the 7 th grade. The state led the rest of the US ...

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev is backing a new commercial research lab working in the field of artificial intelligence. Here are the details. What Happened: Known best as a leading CEO in the financial ...

"Why was math invented? How was it invented?," asked a student at the Schaumburg Township District Library's Summer Science program. Steve Condie, math teacher at the Illinois Math and Science Academy ...

Katie has a PhD in maths, specializing in the intersection of dynamical systems and number theory. She reports on topics from maths and history to society and animals. Katie has a PhD in maths, ...