A shard of smooth bone etched with irregular marks dating back 20,000 years puzzled archaeologists until they noticed something unique – the etchings, lines like tally marks, may have represented ...

(CNN) — For many people, prime numbers have faded into the background since distant grade school days. However, for Luke Durant, a 36-year-old former Nvidia programmer, prime numbers became an ...

For years, a French mathematician searched for a proof that a gigantic number is prime. His method is still used 150 years ...

Here’s a number to savor: 2 43,112,609-1. Its size is mind-boggling. With nearly 13 million digits, it makes the number of atoms in the known universe seem negligible, a mere 80 digits. But its true ...

NPR asked the typographers at Hoefler & Frere-Jones to estimate how long this Mersenne prime would be if typed out -- all 12,987,189 digits. The answer, it turns out, depends not only on the font but ...

You are able to gift 5 more articles this month. Anyone can access the link you share with no account required. Learn more. KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Mathematicians at the University of Central Missouri have ...

When they're not being used to send e-mails or play solitaire, about 50,000 personal computers around the world are engaged in a search -- for the world's largest prime number. Prime numbers -- like 2 ...