Short Wave The Trouble With Zero
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Jan 1, 2025 
Yasemin Saplakoglu, a science writer at Quanta Magazine, explores the fascinating history and neuroscience of zero. She reveals how zero, first acknowledged in 7th century India, faced skepticism in medieval Europe. The discussion dives into the brain's unique processing of numbers, particularly how we comprehend nothingness versus other values. Yasemin highlights groundbreaking research on how our brain reacts to zero and the complexity of numerical cognition, showcasing the intricate relationship between absence and understanding.
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Zero's History
- Zero wasn't always a number; ancient Babylonians used it as a placeholder.
- It only became a number in 7th-century India, later spreading to Europe via Fibonacci.
Numbered Neurons
- Our brains have "numbered neurons" that fire more strongly for specific numbers.
- Numbers smaller than four are processed precisely; larger numbers are compared, not counted.
Zero in the Brain
- Two research groups studied how brains process zero, one at a larger scale than the other.
- One found zero processed like other numbers; the other found subtle differences, with more neurons preferring zero as their preferred number.