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    "story_id": "mp-2026-07-14-026",
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    "headline": "A Maya Wall Keeps an Astronomer's Working Formula",
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    "dek": "Mathematical texts at a Guatemalan site identify Sak Tahn Waax and reveal calculations comparable in sophistication to surviving ancient traditions.",
    "summary": "Mathematical texts at a Guatemalan site identify Sak Tahn Waax and reveal calculations comparable in sophistication to surviving ancient traditions.",
    "body_text": "Researchers studying painted wall texts at a Maya site in Guatemala have identified mathematical and astronomical work attributed to a named figure, Sak Tahn Waax. Nature reports that the notation preserves a formula whose structure rivals insights known from other ancient mathematical traditions. The finding expands the record beyond finished calendar tables by exposing something closer to an astronomer's working method. Interpretation depends on fragmentary inscriptions and specialist reconstruction, but the wall establishes that advanced calculation was embedded in an identifiable scholarly practice.",
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    "tags": [
      "Maya",
      "mathematics",
      "archaeology",
      "astronomy"
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  "sources": [
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      "source_id": "source-2026-07-14-015",
      "title": "Nature: Mathematics formula found on Maya wall",
      "publisher": "Nature",
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      "published_at": "2026-07-13T20:00:00.000-04:00",
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