Math Trek

  1. Math

    Free Choice + Punishment = Cooperation

    In a computer simulation of a multi-player game, cheaters didn't prosper when other participants could choose not to play.

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  2. Math

    Sudoku and Graph Theory

    Solving sudoku puzzles may not require mathematics, but mathematicians have found plenty to say about the popular brainteasers.

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  3. Math

    A Golden Sales Pitch

    A design incorporating the golden ratio makes blue jeans aesthetically pleasing, or so the manufacturer claims.

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  4. Math

    Summing Up Literature

    Statistical analyses of literary texts provide new insights about novels.

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  5. Math

    Summing Up Literature

    Statistical analyses of literary texts provide new insights about novels.

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  6. Math

    Musical Illusions

    An auditory phenomenon that resembles a familiar optical illusion sheds light on how our brains process sound.

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  7. Math

    Trisecting an Angle with Origami

    A paper-folding technique can solve a classic math problem.

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  8. Math

    Covering New Ground with Polygons

    Mathematicians can cover larger areas than they'd realized using polygons with fixed diameters.

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  9. Math

    Miles from Nowhere

    Scientists have developed a new technique for calculating the ecological value of road-free areas of land and representing them geometrically.

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  10. Math

    A Grove of Evolutionary Trees

    "Trees of life" show patterns of evolutionary descent, and they fit together mathematically to form an abstract forest.

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  11. Math

    The Mathematical Lives of Plants

    Scientists are figuring out why plants grow in spiral patterns that incorporate the 'golden angle'.

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  12. Computing

    Computer, Name That Tune!

    Computers can analyze music mathematically and use the result to track down songs, without even knowing the composer, performer, or title.

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