It may not seem like a spectacular feat for a group of university mathematicians to solve an equation, but when that equation is 140 years old (not to mention, has implications for many other scientific fields), it begins to catch some attention.
The Boltzmann Equation has been used since the late 1860s to help mathematicians and scientists model how gases distribute themselves and respond to environmental changes. Although it has been widely used for such a long time (and has worked, for that matter), it had not been explained until now.
Two researchers from the University of Pennsylvania recently unlocked the equation to help us see that it does, in fact, hold water. Their work has added validity to many scientific practices of the past century.