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Science News January 11, 2003 Ivars Peterson |
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. |
Science News January 4, 2003 Ivars Peterson |
Sound-Byte Math Music Swedish composer Daniel Cummerow has created mathematical sound bytes belonging to a category known as algorithmic music. Each musical fragment is determined by a mathematical recipe -- a formula that links digits with musical notes and their duration... |
Science News December 21, 2002 Ivars Peterson |
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. |
Science News December 14, 2002 Ivars Peterson |
A Trillion Pieces of Pi Computer scientist Yasumasa Kanada and his coworkers at the University of Tokyo Information Technology Center have now succeeded in computing 1,241,100,000,000 decimal digits of pi, smashing their own previous world record of 206,158,430,000 digits, set in 1999. |
Science News December 7, 2002 Ivars Peterson |
Five-Suit Decks, Traffic-Jam Puzzles, and Other Treats Tired of playing the same old card games with the same old cards? One option is to expand the deck to include five suits instead of just four. |
Science News November 30, 2002 Ivars Peterson |
Fold-and-Cut Magic Accordion folds and judicious cutting can produce a string of paper dolls or a variety of geometric patterns. This activity also suggests a mathematical question. |
Science News November 23, 2002 Ivars Peterson |
Ancient Infinities An ancient manuscript long hidden from public view has provided significant, new insights into the way Archimedes did his mathematical work more than 2,000 years ago. |
Science News November 16, 2002 Ivars Peterson |
Card Shuffling Shenanigans Application of statistics to card shuffling machines shows that they have flaws. |
Science News October 26, 2002 Ivars Peterson |
Tetris Is Hard As many computer- and video-game players have long known, the insanely addictive, immensely popular game of Tetris is tough. Now, researchers from MIT's Laboratory for Computer Science have analyzed Tetris from a computational perspective. |
Science News October 19, 2002 Ivars Peterson |
A Fibonacci Fountain Lake Fibonacci is a recently created reservoir at the Maryland Science and Technology Center, bordered by Curie Drive and Science Drive. The lake's remarkable centerpiece is a massive, yet elegant mathematical fountain that spurts water as high as 36 feet into the air. |
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