A prime number is a whole number that can only be divided by 1 and itself. A former Nvidia programmer discovered the world's largest known prime number using graphics processing units.

The largest known prime number has been discovered, smashing the previous record by more than 16 million digits.

Ever since Euclid revealed in 300 B.C.E. that infinitely many prime numbers exist, mathematicians have been on the hunt for increasingly larger ones.