Constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs) provide a versatile framework for modelling complex decision-making tasks where a collection of variables must be allocated values that satisfy specific ...

When it comes to hard problems, computer scientists seem to be stuck. Consider, for example, the notorious problem of finding the shortest round-trip route that passes through every city on a map ...

They say a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, but for computer scientists, two birds in a hole are better still. That’s because those cohabiting birds are the protagonists of a deceptively ...

Three books reckon with technological complexity and the wicked problems it creates. The philosopher Karl Popper once argued that there are two kinds of problems in the world: clock problems and cloud ...

Eric Bonabeau, CEO of Icosystem Corp. in Cambridge, Mass., has devoted his career to the unraveling of complex systems. Bonabeau, who holds a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from Paris-Sud University in ...