mathematics

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Why It's Hard to Learn Math in English

Words like "eleven" mess us up

(Newser) - When it comes to learning math, English speakers face a disadvantage that has nothing to do with the classroom environment. Research suggests that the English language simply makes it hard to talk about numbers, the Wall Street Journal reports. A key reason comes when kids reach the number 11: A...

First Woman Wins 'Math's Nobel Prize'

Stanford's Maryam Mirzakhani awarded Fields Medal

(Newser) - An Iranian-born Stanford University professor has become the first woman to win the Fields Medal—the most prestigious prize in mathematics, and one that the San Jose Mercury News describes as "math's Nobel Prize." Maryam Mirzakhani, 37, is one of four mathematicians under 40 being awarded the...

Brutal Beating Turns Man Into Math Whiz
Brutal Beating Turns Man
Into Math Whiz
in case you missed it
May 10, 2014 11:42 AM CDT

Brutal Beating Turns Man Into Math Whiz

Jason Padget can visualize math objects since savage attack

(Newser) - A furniture salesman from Tacoma, Washington, is now a math whiz who can easily visualize mathematical objects—and all it took was a few blows to the head, LiveScience reports. Jason Padget was leaving a karaoke bar in 2002 when two men savagely beat him, leaving him with PTSD, a...

We Can Find Malaysia Plane With ... Math?

Bayesian statistics have helped experts find planes, boats before

(Newser) - Forget satellite images and aerial searches—the best way to find Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 may be with mathematical techniques dating back to the 18th century, the BBC reports. That's how Air France flight 447 was found in 2009 , using "Bayesian statistics" to measure the probability of the...

Girl, 13, Has Memorized 2.3K Digits of Pi
 Girl, 13, Has 
 Memorized 
 2.3K Digits of Pi 
3.14159265...
Mar 20, 2014 12:55 PM CDT

Girl, 13, Has Memorized 2.3K Digits of Pi

She recites 1.7K in competition to win prize

(Newser) - On Friday, March 14—dubbed "Pi Day" because, well, 3/14—13-year-old Rachel Ooi won $314.15 (yes, 1 and 5 are the next two digits in pi) by reciting 1,715 digits of pi from memory. And that's not the best she can do: Ooi tells the Tennessean...

Think Math Is Boring? Blame Our 1K-Year-Old Curriculum

Mathematician Edward Frenkel thinks there is a better way

(Newser) - "Our current math curriculum is more than 1,000 years old," declares mathematician Edward Frenkel in the Los Angeles Times , and it's time to change things up so that kids stop asking, "Why study math?" Yes, we still need to teach those centuries-old equations, but it'...

&#39;Beautiful&#39; Math May Make Us Emotional
 'Beautiful' Math 
 May Make Us 
 Emotional 
study says
Feb 16, 2014 9:00 AM CST

'Beautiful' Math May Make Us Emotional

It elicits reaction similar to great art

(Newser) - It may not have seemed possible in high school, but math can be beautiful, a study suggests—in fact, an equation can "activate the emotional brain," a researcher tells the BBC . His team scanned 15 mathematicians' brains as the subjects were shown 60 equations. Mathematicians were tasked with...

There Is No Such Thing as a 'Math Person'

It's all about hard work, say Miles Kimball and Noah Smith

(Newser) - Think you simply weren't born a "math person"? Think again, say economics professor Miles Kimball and assistant finance professor Noah Smith. "The truth is, you probably are a math person," they write at Quartz , "and by thinking otherwise, you are possibly hamstringing your own...

Think You're 'Bad at Math'? You're Just Being Lazy

Americans fall back on that tired phrase, instead of working harder: Allison Schraeger

(Newser) - Americans have a lousy mindset when it comes to math education, writes economist Allison Schraeger in Quartz . When a student starts doing poorly, we too often shrug it off, say some people just aren't cut out for math, and allow the kid to focus on something else. But you...

Explained: The Complex Math Jokes Hidden in The Simpsons

Staff of math-nerd writers have inserted many mind-blowing freeze-frame gags

(Newser) - Many of us can quote endlessly from The Simpsons, citing obscure plots, characters, and gags from the show's 24 seasons. But not so many people are aware of the complex math jokes that have been quietly slipped into the series over the years, writes Simon Singh, who calls The ...

Plants Can Do Arithmetic: Study
 Plants Can Do Arithmetic: Study 
in case you missed it
Jun 29, 2013 7:50 AM CDT

Plants Can Do Arithmetic: Study

Leaves can calculate exactly how much starch a plant will need each night

(Newser) - How do plants survive without starving through the night when there's no sunlight to nourish them? Simple arithmetic. A study by UK scientists to be published in the journal eLife found that plants precisely calculate and adjust the amount of starch to store and consume overnight, to make sure...

Become a Millionaire: Solve This Math Problem

Billionaire Andrew Beal offers reward if you solve his conjecture

(Newser) - One of the apparent perks of being a billionaire is that if a complex math equation has you stumped, you can offer up a $1 million reward to de-stump it. Such is the case with Andrew Beal, a Texas banking billionaire, who will bestow the money on anyone who can...

Bad at Math? Consider a Zap to the Brain

 Bad at Math? 
 Consider a 
 Zap to the Brain 
study says
May 17, 2013 1:45 PM CDT

Bad at Math? Consider a Zap to the Brain

Study finds that 'transcranial random noise stimulation' helps

(Newser) - Terrible at math? No worries, it's nothing that a little electrical stimulation can't help. Researchers from the UK and Austria found that transcranial random noise stimulation ( Popular Science describes it as "a painless zap to the brain") helped subjects to learn arithmetic more quickly—and...

'Oldest Person' Title Changes Every .65 Years

Because mathematicians wanted to know, that's why

(Newser) - The headline crops up every so often, one about the "oldest person in the world" dying. But only a mathematician or someone in a macabre betting pool would wonder exactly how often, and that's what prompted the site Stackexchange to put the question to its math-loving readership. The...

Mathematicians Make Leap in Solving Age-Old Proof

Theory on infinite pairs of 'twin primes' closer to resolution

(Newser) - If you're the type to get into bar bets about prime numbers, we have exciting news. Mathematicians have taken a big step toward solving one of the oldest math problems on record, one involving "twin primes," reports Nature . The upshot is that they're closer to stating...

Happy Pi Day
 Happy Pi Day 
Mar 14, 2013 3:14 PM CDT

Happy Pi Day

It's a happy occasion for number nerds

(Newser) - Microsoft is offering 3.14% off Dell tablets today, notes Time . The Your Pie pizza chain is offering pizzas for $3.14 all day in the Southeast. And Caltech students began a pie party at 1:59am featuring 130 pies—26 varieties of five each. Which, as the Pasadena Sun...

Big Discovery: Largest Prime Number

Newest Mersenne 'like finding a diamond'

(Newser) - The Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search just paid dividends in the hunt for ever-bigger prime numbers, the New Scientist reports. University of Central Missouri mathematician Curtis Cooper has discovered the biggest prime number yet, a 17 million-digit behemoth, as part of GIMPS. The project uses a huge network of volunteer...

Asia Still Kicking Our Kids&#39; Butts in Math, Science
Asia Still Kicking Our
Kids' Butts in Math, Science
New test results
Dec 11, 2012 10:14 AM CST

Asia Still Kicking Our Kids' Butts in Math, Science

Singapore dominates, according to new testing results

(Newser) - The results of new testing are, unfortunately, more of the same: US kids remain behind a host of other countries in math and science, specifically those in East Asia. American fourth-graders rank 11th in math and 7th in science, while eighth-graders are 9th in math and 10th in science. Leading...

Math Can Hurt You&mdash;Physically
 Math Can Hurt  
 You—Physically 
Study Says
Nov 1, 2012 12:17 PM CDT

Math Can Hurt You—Physically

Just thinking about it hurts, say researchers

(Newser) - Thanks to Barbie, we've long known that math class is tough. But now scientists say just the thought of math can be downright painful, reports Stuff . Researchers used MRIs to measure subjects' brain activity in a variety of hypothetical situations, including "walking to math class" and "receiving...

A Fertile Uterus Is Mathematically ... Perfect

Gynecologist finds the Golden Ratio in fertile uteri

(Newser) - The world's most mysterious number has popped up in the uterus. Known as the Golden Ratio, 1.618 is hailed by devotees as the formula for perfect natural beauty. Fanatics say the most aesthetically-pleasing rectangle and the most attractive smiles adhere to the numeral. Now Jasper Verguts, a Belgian...

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