))
How Amateurs Solved a Major Computer Science Puzzle
Manage episode 491867304 series 3528290
Content provided by Quanta Magazine. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Quanta Magazine or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://ppacc.player.fm/legal.
The Busy Beaver Challenge, an open online collaboration, started in 2022 to finally solve a major problem in theoretical computer science. Over time, the online community grew to include more than 20 contributors from around the world, most of them without traditional academic credentials. In July 2024, the group announced that they finally solved the puzzle, bringing a conclusion to over 40 years of effort.
On this week’s episode of The Quanta Podcast, computer science staff writer Ben Brubaker explains the tantalizing Busy Beaver puzzle, which he covered in depth last year, in "With Fifth Busy Beaver, Researchers Approach Computation’s Limits."
Each week on The Quanta Podcast, Quanta Magazine editor in chief Samir Patel speaks with the minds behind the award-winning publication to navigate through some of the most important and mind-expanding questions in science and math.
273 episodes
Share
