Mathematics
12/12/12 and the Myriad of Number Patterns in Dates
Seen from a mathematical perspective, today's date--12/12/12--is more than a coveted wedding anniversary
December 12, 2012 |
By Mohi Kumar
Quirky Holiday Gift Ideas for Science Nerds
A roundup of unique (if impractical) science gifts, from glass anatomical models to retro adding machines
December 07, 2012 |
By Joseph Stromberg
The Natural Beauty of Math
The Geometrization Theorem may not sound the sexiest, but it reveals geometry’s innate splendor
November 01, 2012 |
By Dana Mackenzie
Top 5 “Science Done Right” Moments in Movies
Directors take note: scientist and author David Kirby commends the accuracy in these popular films
September 21, 2012 |
By Megan Gambino
Infographic: The Rise and Fall of Scoring in Baseball
From the dead-ball era to the steroids era, the balance between pitchers and hitters has always been in flux
April 05, 2012 |
By Craig Robinson
Alan Turing’s 60-Year-Old Prediction About Patterns in Nature Proven True
Sixty years ago, with nothing but numbers, logic and some basic know-how, the inventor of the Turing Test explained how to make a stripe
February 21, 2012 |
By Virginia Hughes
Super Bowl Science: Are Football Coaches Irrational?
Studies show that coaches often make poor choices in crucial situations. But one coach may have a secret advantage
February 03, 2012 |
By Joseph Stromberg
Could the Death Star Destroy a Planet?
Students in England concluded that the Star Wars space station could easily have destroyed an Earth-like planet
January 11, 2012 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Five Historic Female Mathematicians You Should Know
Albert Einstein called Emmy Noether a "creative mathematical genius"
October 07, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Six Ways to Celebrate Pi Day
Today is March 14, or 3.14, the day we celebrate the mathematical constant pi (π). Pi, the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, is an irrational number, meaning that it can't be expressed as a simple fraction of two integers. It is also a transcendental number, which means it is not a...
March 14, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Win A Million Dollars With Science
Last week, a neurologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston won $1 million from Prize4Life for his discovery of a reliable way to monitor progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Prize4Life, which also has an ongoing competition for deve...
February 07, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
A Walk Through the Woods Leads to Insight on Numbers
You're familiar with partition numbers, even if you don't recognize the term; even kindergartners know them. The partition of a number is all the ways that you can use integers to add up to that number. Start with 2. There is only one way to get there: 1 + 1. The number 3 has 2 partitions: 2 + 1 an...
January 24, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Comedians Discussing Chaos Theory? Only on British TV
One of the things I love about visiting the U.K. is British television. Specifically what my friend calls "quiz shows." That's not quite the right name for them, though, because they usually consist of a panel (or two) of comedians discussing anything from current events to music to natural history...
October 25, 2010 |
By Sarah Zielinski
The Science of Football
A roundup of how scientists explain America's most popular sport
September 09, 2010 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Time to Stop Measuring Fuel Economy in MPG?
Today, if you go to buy a new car, you'll find a sticker like the one on the right giving you a bunch of data on fuel economy: the miles per gallon you'll get on the highway and in the city and the estimated annual fuel cost (based on 15,000 miles driven over a year and gas costing $2.80 per gallon...
September 01, 2010 |
By Sarah Zielinski
The Calculus Diaries
Though I was a very good at math in school, I usually found the subject incredibly boring, so much so that I often slept through class (teachers didn't mind as long as I aced the exams). The one exception was a college math course for biologists that gave us real-world problems like figuring out th...
August 31, 2010 |
By Sarah Zielinski
A Coral Reef Constructed From Yarn
This fall, a different kind of coral reef will be on display in the National Museum of Natural History's Ocean Hall. It's not made out of the calcium carbonate skeletons of living coral. It's made out of wool. And acrylic, and cotton, and whatever other fibers local yarn artists get their hands on....
July 29, 2010 |
By admin
How Much of Your Tax Money Went to Science?
By now you probably should have mailed off those forms or pushed the send button on that computer program—it's April 15, tax day—though I'm sure there are plenty who will be making that 11:45 p.m. drive to the post office tonight. I've joked in the past that my tax money only goes to science (someo...
April 15, 2010 |
By Sarah Zielinski
A Level Playing Field for Science
I suppose, in a way, I should thank the woman who tried to compliment me when I was in high school by saying that I was too pretty for science. What she was really saying was that girls don't belong in science, and that got me so riled up I'm still ticked off nearly two decades later. But at least ...
March 23, 2010 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Elementary School Teachers Pass on Math Fear to Girls
We know that girls can do math, and be very good at it. But a new study published this week in PNAS shows that some girls in elementary school aren't learning just how to add one plus one—they are learning that girls should be scared of those numbers. Just like their teachers.University of Chicago ...
January 26, 2010 |
By Sarah Zielinski
