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Mathematics

Cool Finds

The Ig Nobel Prize Turns 25

Celebrating a quarter-century of the goofiest work in science

Arthur Benjamin speaks at a TED Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, in June 2013.

From Poof to Proof: Inside the Mind of a Mathemagician

Arthur Benjamin has a few new tricks up his sleeve to help people learn “alge(cada)bra”

Trending Today

After 21 Years, the U.S. Has Snagged a Coveted Math Competition Victory

Two decades later, American students grab brag-worthy math title

Roses mark a window filled with bullet holes after a shooting spree in Denmark.

New Research

Shootings and Mass Murders Seem to Be Contagious

Data spanning decades shows how high-profile events can cause outbreaks of similar killings that mirror the spread of disease

Fear the claw. More often than no, claw machines are likely rigged for you to lose.

Cool Finds

Here’s How Claw Machines Are Rigged to Make Sure You Lose

That’s why simply grabbing a prize is so deceptively difficult

Surprise, surprise. The best campfires are as tall as they are wide.

New Research

How to Build the Perfect Campfire

Science confirms that the best way to build a campfire really is the best way to build a campfire

A fairy circle in the Namibian desert — one of many large patches of barren earth ringed by short grass

New Research

Mysterious “Fairy” Circles Share Qualities With Human Skin

Researchers noticed that the pattern of Namibia’s “fairy” circles strongly resembles that of skin cell growth

From Auto-Tune to Motor Oil, Pi Helps Power the World

More than just a famously never-ending number, pi has a knack for appearing in the mathematical formulas we use every day

Pi Day pies.

Indiana Almost Made Pi Equal to 3.2, and Other Pi Day Facts

As you celebrate the mathematical holiday, here’s a history of notable moments in the irrational number’s past

This sinkhole in Belize has drawn scientists and divers, shedding light on the mystery that ended the Mayan Empire.

The World is Full of Circles

In honor of a very special Pi Day, enjoy this map that explores the human-made and natural structures that come closest to a perfect circle

New Research

Teachers Give Lower Math Scores to Girls

Teachers’ unconscious beliefs in the aptitude of boys over girls come out when grading math tests

A former bombe operator shows the back of a drum from the decryption machine at Bletchley Park.

Brains Make Decisions the Way Alan Turing Cracked Codes

A mathematical tool developed during World War II operates in a similar way to brains weighing the reliability of information

The variable stars flickering to the golden ratio are RR Lyrae — a class of pulsars first found in the constellation Lyra (bisected by the Milky Way here)

New Research

Pulsing Stars Flicker in a Pattern Close to the Golden Ratio

The famed ratio, which shows up in art, architecture and nature, can also be found in space

Think Big

Why String Theory Still Offers Hope We Can Unify Physics

Evidence that the universe is made of strings has been elusive for 30 years, but the theory’s mathematical insights continue to have an alluring pull

This 1897 calendar is brought to you by parading cats.

After 12/13/14, What Are the Next Fun Dates for Math Lovers?

Sequential integers are a bit boring, anyhow. Here are some more exciting sequences to celebrate over the next 89 years

Cool Finds

The Foolproof Way to Fix a Wobbly Table

Solving life’s challenges one at a time—with math!

Cool Finds

Humans Outnumber Rats in NYC

There’s actually about one rat for every four people

Texas Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler tags out Tampa Bay Rays' Sam Fuld on a stolen base attempt.

Breaking Down the Science of the Stolen Base

What does it take to swipe second? Math and physics lend their advice

A dense flock of starlings in the sky above Rome.

How Just One Bird Can Urge an Entire Flock to Change Directions

The equations that describe these movements are equivalent to those that govern waves

Maryam Mirzakhani, a mathematician at Stanford University, won the Fields Medal for breakthroughs in geometry and dynamical systems.

Trending Today

This Female Mathematician Just Became the First Woman to Ever Win the Fields Medal

The Fields Medal is mathematics’ equivalent to the Nobel Prize

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