In a three-dimensional scene, each point is like a candy whose color changes depending on the viewing angle. To describe this play of shades, dozens of numbers are stored for each point — a special mathematical function invented by Joseph Fourier. Memory fills up instantly.

The new method groups candies with similar color habits: instead of the exact shade of each, an average is stored with a small correction. Similarly, in spectroscopy, the light of a star is described without listing every photon. By filtering out details invisible to the eye using entropy — a measure of disorder — the data is compressed even more. Blocks built into the graphics card unpack them instantly, just as in photometry every fraction of a second counts.

Unexpected fact: the very formulas that govern the color of the virtual world were originally born in physics to describe the shape of electron clouds — probabilistic "fuzzballs" around atomic nuclei. Now they help render games and simulators smooth even on weak laptops.