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    "story_id": "mp-2026-08-18-006",
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    "headline": "The Equation Search Kept Its Lab Notebook",
    "slug": "the-equation-search-kept-its-lab-notebook",
    "dek": "AutoSR attaches reasoning, probes and independent review to every candidate equation before the research tree chooses a branch.",
    "summary": "AutoSR attaches reasoning, probes and independent review to every candidate equation before the research tree chooses a branch.",
    "body_text": "AutoSR searches persistent research states rather than isolated formulas. Proposer and reviewer agents add motivations, computational evidence and criticism to each branch, while progressive-widening Monte Carlo tree search allocates work among competing investigations. Across nine selected benchmark challenges, the authors report algebraically equivalent recoveries in every case, including three cp3-bench problems not recovered by published comparison systems. The small selected suite supports the workflow concept, not a general claim of autonomous scientific discovery.",
    "why_it_matters": "AutoSR attaches reasoning, probes and independent review to every candidate equation before the research tree chooses a branch.",
    "limitations": [
      "Across nine selected benchmark challenges, the authors report algebraically equivalent recoveries in every case, including three cp3-bench problems not recovered by published comparison systems.",
      "The small selected suite supports the workflow concept, not a general claim of autonomous scientific discovery."
    ],
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    "first_published_at": "2026-08-18T09:00:00.000-04:00",
    "modified_at": "2026-08-18T09:00:00.000-04:00",
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        "text": "AutoSR attaches reasoning, probes and independent review to every candidate equation before the research tree chooses a branch.",
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        "qualification": "Across nine selected benchmark challenges, the authors report algebraically equivalent recoveries in every case, including three cp3-bench problems not recovered by published comparison systems."
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    "tags": [
      "symbolic regression",
      "agents",
      "scientific discovery",
      "search"
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    "image_url": null,
    "corrections": []
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  "sources": [
    {
      "source_id": "source-2026-08-18-006",
      "title": "arXiv preprint 2608.16876",
      "publisher": "arXiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.16876",
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      "published_at": "2026-08-16T20:00:00.000-04:00",
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  "publisher": {
    "name": "The Machine Press",
    "url": "https://themachinepress.com",
    "description": "A daily newspaper for the age of artificial intelligence."
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  "cite_this_report": {
    "title": "The Equation Search Kept Its Lab Notebook",
    "publisher": "The Machine Press",
    "published_at": "2026-08-18T09:00:00.000-04:00",
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