There are many ways computers store numbers
Andrew Ostrovsky/Panther Media GmbH/Alamy
Changing the way numbers are stored on computers could improve the accuracy of calculations without increasing energy consumption or computing power, and could be useful for software that needs to quickly switch between very large and small numbers. There is a gender.
Numbers can be surprisingly difficult for computers to work with. The simplest ones are integers, that is, whole numbers without decimal points or fractions. As integers get larger, they require more storage space, so trying to reduce these requirements can cause problems – the infamous Millennium…
