DESPITE our attempts to define, measure and make life black and white, the world turns out to be unexpectedly vague (see “Kees van Deemter: The importance of being vague”). It’s not just that things we think of as well-defined are actually a series of approximations, like the metre. More profoundly, vagueness is a key part of communication: unless we get to grips with it, robots will never “talk” naturally to people and the much-hyped semantic web won’t work at all. Just as well, then, that we have finally started to think precisely about vagueness.
To continue reading, today with our introductory offers
Advertisement
More from New Scientist
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Environment
June heatwave may have killed around 20,000 people in Europe
News
Physics
Random wobbles in time could finally solve gravity’s greatest mystery
News
Life
Synthetic biology may finally be ready to solve life's biggest mystery
Leader
Environment
Geoengineering could expose plane passengers to sulphuric acid
News
Popular articles
Trending New Scientist articles
1
Humans sleep the least of all apes – is it the secret to our success?
2
A type of fibre that stimulates GLP-1 release approved for use in food
3
The weirdness of neutrinos could completely rewrite particle physics
4
The world's fastest spider tops 3.5 metres per second
5
The 4 must-watch science-fiction films of the year so far
6
This physicist is hunting for the biggest black hole in the universe
7
Babies are born with the neural foundations for maths
8
Random wobbles in time could finally solve gravity’s greatest mystery
9
Remote-controlled cockroach swarm can now breathe underwater
10
The best new science-fiction novels published in July 2026
