https://www.wired.com/story/mathematicians-discover-the-perfect-way-to-multiply/ > Four thousand years ago, the Babylonians invented multiplication. Last month, mathematicians perfected it. > On March 18, two researchers described the fastest method ever discovered for multiplying two very large numbers. The paper marks the culmination of a long-running search to find the most efficient procedure for performing one of the most basic operations in math.