WHEN a number is given, and it is required, without the aid of tables, to find its factors, there is nor, I believe, any other method known except the simple but laborious one of dividing it by every ...

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 ...

It’s time for a new prime to shine. The largest known prime number is now 2 74,207,281 – 1, smashing the previous record by nearly 5 million digits. This mathematical monster was discovered by Curtis ...

Luke Durant, a researcher and amateur mathematician, has identified the largest new prime number known to humankind. The newly discovered prime number is 2 to the power of 136,279,841, then minus one.

An odd new paper without peer review claims prime numbers have "genes," "roots," and “offspring." Prime numbers are essential to modern life because they underpin all of encryption. What is written ...

This past week, a FedEx employee from Germantown, Tenn., made a massive discovery — and it wasn't in any packages. John Pace found the largest prime number known to humankind. And that number goes on ...

Here’s a number to savor: 2 43,112,609-1. Printing out all 13 million digits in 12-point type would create a number 30 miles long. But here are a few of the digits, from the beginning and the end of ...