Scribble & Clue can solve math by barking! Image credit: Gutmann & Neuhaus 2025, CC BY 4.0/A. Carpineti, IFLScience/Valentin Drull/Shutterstock.com In one of the most hilarious papers we have read this year, two scientists challenged some famous quantum factorization records, pointing out how these approaches are only possible using very specific numbers or by changing the problem into an altogether easier-to-solve one. The team calls it sleight of hand, and are calling it out using old computers, an abacus, and even a dog! You most likely learned factorization in elementary school. You take a number and, using some known rules...