One July afternoon in 2024, Ryan Williams set out to prove himself wrong. Two months had passed since he’d hit upon a startling discovery about the relationship between time and memory in computing.

This transcript was prepared by a transcription service. This version may not be in its final form and may be updated. Speaker 1: The term algorithm is so often wrapped up in conversations about the ...

The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. Imagine a town with two widget merchants. Customers prefer cheaper widgets, so the merchants must compete to set the lowest price.