Mathematics formula found on Maya wall rivals insights of ancient masters Mathematical texts from a Maya site in Guatemala identify an astronomer called Sak Tahn Waax. By Chris Simms

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-02170-8?utm_source=Live+Audience&utm_campaign=4360c264ca-nature-briefing-daily-20260714&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-33f35e09ea-50432164 Maya glyph names maths powerhouse A mathematical formula inscribed on a wall at the Maya site of Xultun in Guatemala has revealed the name of an important Maya mathematician-astronomer. Sak Tahn Waax, or ‘White-Chested Fox’, was a scholar comparable with mathematical giants of the past, researchers suggest. The calculations inscribed in this set of hieroglyphs expresses the relationships between several calendar systems in a playful manner that hasn’t been seen before in Mayan texts, says archaeologist and study co-author Heather Hurst. “I think it was a mathematical flex,” she says.