Colin Chapman made a name for himself with the philosophy of “simplifying and adding lightness.” When in doubt, in other words, do less—decrease complexity, remove anything you don’t absolutely need, ...

Computer science, at its most fundamental, is all about inputs and outputs. Consider the simple case of multiplying two numbers on a pocket calculator. You punch in some inputs — the specific numbers ...

Feb 17 Dynamic programming 6.1, 6.2 Feb 19 Dynamic programming: subset sum 6.4 5 out Feb 24 Sequence alignment, Bellman-Ford shortest paths 6.6, 6.8 Feb 26 Ford-Fulkerson max-flow algorithm, ...

While the creation of this new entity marks a big step toward avoiding a U.S. ban, as well as easing trade and tech-related tensions between Washington and Beijing, there is still uncertainty ...

Instagram is introducing a new tool that lets you see and control your algorithm, starting with Reels, the company announced on Wednesday. The new tool, called “Your Algorithm,” lets you view the ...

The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. If you want to solve a tricky problem, it often helps to get organized. You might, for example, break the problem into pieces and tackle ...

An exclusive excerpt from Every Screen On The Planet reveals how the social media app’s powerful recommendation engine was shaped by a bunch of ordinary, twentysomething curators—including a guy named ...

Chinese tech giant ByteDance finalized its agreement to sell a majority stake in its video platform TikTok to a group of U.S. investors. TikTok announced on Jan. 22, 2026, that it has formed TikTok ...

You’re at the checkout screen after an online shopping spree, ready to enter your credit card number. You type it in and instantly see a red error message ...

If you want to solve a tricky problem, it often helps to get organized. You might, for example, break the problem into pieces and tackle the easiest pieces first. But this kind of sorting has a cost.

Many authors have written about the harm of oversimplification, pointing out that it distorts reality, leads to shallow understanding, impairs problem-solving, and fuels biases. In culture wars, it ...

The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. In 1950 the Italian physicist Enrico Fermi was discussing the possibility of intelligent alien life with his colleagues. If alien ...