Previous DNA computer models have been able to calculate square roots with up to 4-bit binary numbers, says the team, led by researcher Chunlei Guo, in the paper's abstract.

Economists often use computer models to try to understand the economy. Planet Money checks back in on a model it used a few years ago to predict what would happen with unemployment.

Bill Hunt, a professor of Biology and Agricultural Engineering at North Carolina State University, has developed an easy-to-use computer model to predict how landscape impacts water pollution.