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  1. Math

    DNA’s Error-Detecting Code

    Computers employ a variety of schemes to check whether a chunk of digital information–transmitted as a message, stored in a database, or functioning as a set of instructions–remains error-free. Such error-detection codes would detect, for example, the change of one bit from 0 to 1 or 1 to 0 in corrupted data. Nucleotides may be […]

    By Ivars Peterson
  2. Math

    Abbott and Costello’s Wacky Math

    The Math in the Movies Web page (http://world.std.com/~reinhold/mathmovies.html) provides an annotated list of films in which mathematics plays some sort of role. The choices range from the calculus lessons of Stand and Deliver to the mystifying numerology of the 1998 thriller Pi. Among the notable omissions are several movies featuring the comedy team of Bud […]

    By Ivars Peterson

  3. Gender Gap: Parasites’ bias for big animals gives female mammals longevity

    Parasites infect male mammals more often than females, possibly contributing to the tendency among mammals of males to die earlier than females.