Are you convinced that the shuffle mode on your iPod is messing with your mind? Or that certain numbers are bound to come up in the next lottery? If yes, you may be holding on to some serious ...

Randomness would seem to make a mathematical statement harder to prove. In fact, it often does the opposite. Of all the tools available to the mathematician, randomness would seem to offer little ...

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. You take the interstate to get home and rely on the water utility for a drink. But have you ever ...

Ask a computer to pick a random number and you’ll probably get a response that isn’t completely unpredictable. Because they are deterministic automatons, computers struggle to generate numbers that ...

Electricity, water, gas – these are just some of the public utilities we use every day, whether for cooking food in the morning, heating homes throughout the day, or charging computers at night. But ...

Random chance mechanics in video games can be frustrating. Missing a 90% shot in XCOM, when you really need it to hit, can cause some players to throw their controller or rage quit. But not all ...

Say the words “quantum supremacy” at a gathering of computer scientists, and eyes will likely roll. The phrase refers to the idea that quantum computers will soon cross a threshold where they’ll ...

Suppose you are trying to transmit a message. Convert each character into bits, and each bit into a signal. Then send it, over copper or fiber or air. Try as you might to be as careful as possible, ...

You take the interstate to get home and rely on the water utility for a drink. But have you ever felt the need for some publicly available randomness? Governments and researchers around the world ...