Prime numbers are sometimes called math’s “atoms” because they can be divided by only themselves and 1. For two millennia, mathematicians have wondered if the prime numbers are truly random, or if ...

Scroll down for a transcription of this episode. What happens when imagination meets perception, and ordinary objects come alive? We explore the science of pareidolia. Summary: Our minds are wired to ...

The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. In 1876, Peter Guthrie Tait set out to measure what he called the “beknottedness” of knots. The Scottish mathematician, whose research ...