Math
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Math
Spinning to a Rolling Stop
Spin a coin on a tabletop. As it loses energy and tips toward the surface, the coin begins to roll on its rim, wobbling faster and faster and faster. Toward the end, the coin generates a characteristic rattling sound of rapidly increasing frequency until it suddenly stops with a distinctive shudder. Mathematician H. Keith Moffatt […]
- Math
A Remarkable Dearth of Primes
The pursuit of prime numbers–integers evenly divisible only by themselves and 1–can lead to all sorts of curious results and unexpected patterns. In some instances, you may even encounter a mysterious absence of primes. In 1960, Polish mathematician Waclaw Sierpinski (1882–1969) proved that there are infinitely many odd integers k such that k times 2n […]
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- Math
Lacing Shoes, Revisited
What is the best way to lace your shoes? This seemingly simple question, rooted in everyday life, can provoke passionate argument–and prompt a mathematical response. Three common lacing styles. Here are some alternative lacings you could try. The first two work only if your shoes have an even number of eyelet pairs. Watch out, though. […]
- Math
Lacing Shoes, Revisited
What is the best way to lace your shoes? This seemingly simple question, rooted in everyday life, can provoke passionate argument–and prompt a mathematical response. Three common lacing styles. Here are some alternative lacings you could try. The first two work only if your shoes have an even number of eyelet pairs. Watch out, though. […]
- Math
Drama in Numbers
Several mathematics-rich stage productions of the last few years have not only captivated mathematicians but also attracted diverse and enthusiastic audiences.
- Math
Drama in Numbers
Several mathematics-rich stage productions of the last few years have not only captivated mathematicians but also attracted diverse and enthusiastic audiences.
- Math
Super Bowls and stock markets
The predictive power of the Super Bowl "theory," which involves an apparent correlation between stock market performance and the results of the National Football League championship game, has declined precipitously in recent years.
- Math
Pursuing punctured polyhedra
A mathematician has proved that it's possible to construct a mathematical shape made up of flat faces and straight edges in which every face has a "hole" where the vertex of one constituent polyhedron pokes into the face of another.
- Math
The Power of Partitions
Writing a whole number as the sum of smaller numbers springs a mathematical surprise.
- Math
Punctured Polyhedra
A tetrahedron. Examples of unacceptable faces. A portion of an infinite lattice of interpenetrating tetrahedra. A tetrahedron has four triangular faces, four vertices, and six edges. Consider what happens when a vertex of one tetrahedron pierces the face of a second tetrahedron to form a new, more complicated polyhedron. In the resulting geometric form, one […]
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