The "knapsack problem" is a widespread computing challenge—and no, it doesn't have to do just with literal backpacks. golubovy / iStock Imagine you’re a thief robbing a museum exhibit of tantalizing ...

Scientists recently announced progress on an elusive problem from 1960 known as the Sunflower Conjecture. While it doesn’t involve any plant biology, it does deal with objects called “mathematical ...

All of modern mathematics is built on the foundation of set theory, the study of how to organize abstract collections of objects. But in general, research mathematicians don’t need to think about it ...