Ambiguity and its cousins, contradiction and paradox, are everywhere in mathematics, both in content and thinking. Strangely, the subject that appears to be the very paradigm of reason, and that is ...

Editor’s Note: Published in 1957, this article comes from Martin Gardner’s legendary Scientific American column Mathematical Games. Read more in our special digital issue, Fun and Games. A paradox is ...

Stephen has degrees in science (Physics major) and arts (English Literature and the History and Philosophy of Science), as well as a Graduate Diploma in Science Communication. Stephen has degrees in ...

Humans are usually pretty good at recognizing when they get things wrong, but artificial intelligence systems are not. According to a new study, AI generally suffers from inherent limitations due to a ...

Some scientific discoveries matter because they reveal something new — the double helical structure of DNA, for example, or the existence of black holes. However, some revelations are profound because ...

We are always solving problems, some of which have instantly obvious solutions and others that do not. In the latter case, the word puzzle comes to mind instead. A problem can be defined therefore as ...

From ancient Greek puzzles to modern-day conundrums, this video explores the fascinating world of paradoxes that challenge our understanding of logic, reality, and human behavior. Join us on this ...