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Coverage dated October 30, 2024 to October 31, 2024

Could a monkey type Shakespeare before the universe dies? Infinite theory test says adage is bananas

Headline from NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, on the newest of 2 developments

The Infinite Monkey Theorem hypothesizes that, given a typewriter and an infinite amount of time, a monkey could produce the works of Shakespeare.

NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth's own description from its feed. We collect headlines and these descriptions, not full articles; read the original reporting below.

Developments in this update

2 dated developments, oldest first, newest marked. Each is named by one outlet's own headline; open its reports to see every outlet that covered it.

  1. Scientists Confirm Monkeys Do Not Have The Time to Write Shakespeare

    Headline from Science Alert ·

  2. Newest

    Could a monkey type Shakespeare before the universe dies? Infinite theory test says adage is bananas

    Headline from NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth ·

Read the reports

Reports & sources

15 articles, oldest first.

  1. Science Alert

    Scientists Confirm Monkeys Do Not Have The Time to Write Shakespeare (opens Science Alert)

    Published

    Science Alert's feed description

    If you sit sufficient monkeys in front of sufficient typewriters and give them sufficient time, eventually their random banging will reproduce the works of Shakespeare.

  2. Gizmodo

    Sorry, Monkeys Won’t Write Shakespeare Before the Universe Ends (opens Gizmodo)

    Published

    Gizmodo's feed description

    The Infinite Monkey Theorem is legit, but the universe will die before any simian could reprise the Bard's poems and prose.

  3. Breitbart News

    Not enough time in universe for monkeys to pen Shakespeare: study (opens Breitbart News)

    Published

    Breitbart News's feed description

    If a monkey types randomly at a keyboard for long enough, it will eventually write the complete works of Shakespeare. This thought experiment has long

  4. NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

    Could a monkey type Shakespeare before the universe dies? Infinite theory test says adage is bananas (opens NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth)

    Published

    NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth's feed description

    The Infinite Monkey Theorem hypothesizes that, given a typewriter and an infinite amount of time, a monkey could produce the works of Shakespeare.

  5. CNN

    Those typing monkeys will never produce Shakespeare’s works, mathematicians say (opens CNN)

    Published

    CNN's feed description

    Monkeys will not be able to type the complete works of William Shakespeare, or even a short book, before the death of the universe, a new study suggests.

  6. The Guardian

    Universe would die before monkey with keyboard writes Shakespeare, study finds (opens The Guardian)

    Published

    The Guardian's feed description

    Australian mathematicians call into question the ‘infinite monkey theorem’ in new research on old adage

  7. NBC News

    Could a monkey write Shakespeare before the universe dies? (opens NBC News)

    Published

    NBC News's feed description

    Two mathematicians in Australia now say that the Infinite Monkey Theorem is wrong and monkeys could not write Shakespeare before the universe dies.

  8. New York Post

    Could a monkey randomly type out Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’ over time? Mathematicians say they have the answer (opens New York Post)

    Published

    New York Post's feed description

    Australian scientists have tested an old adage claiming that a monkey could eventually write Shakespeare if given unlimited time.

Identical headlines usually mean shared wire copy. They are counted as separate articles but are not independent confirmation.

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