Uncategorized

  1. Math

    Probabilities in Bingo

    One of the little pleasures of our annual winter vacation is an evening Bingo party. After a day of sledding and cross-country skiing, it’s relaxing to indulge in a social game that requires minimal thought, affords young and old the same chance of winning, and has a strong element of suspense. To play Bingo, each […]

    By Ivars Peterson
  2. Paleontology

    Sea Dragons

    About 235 million years ago, as the earliest dinosaurs stomped about on land, some of their reptilian relatives slipped back into the surf, took on an aquatic lifestyle, and became ichthyosaurs—Greek for fish lizards.

    By Sid Perkins

  3. 19104

    In this article Swedish scientists report finding “as much as 200 µg/kg [of acrylamide] in mashed potatoes,” while stating in a subsequent paragraph that boiling potatoes “appeared to generate none.”