Pose a question to a Magic 8 Ball, and it’ll answer yes, no or something annoyingly indecisive. We think of it as a kid’s toy, but theoretical computer scientists employ a similar tool. They often ...

Albert Einstein famously said that quantum mechanics should allow two objects to affect each other’s behaviour instantly across vast distances, something he dubbed “spooky action at a distance” 1.

The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. 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 ...